Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2017, 07:53:58 am
I know its in progress, and it's miles long, but I really need more players. The overarching plot: This is a satire of fantasy fiction. The universe as a whole is trying to preserve a plot of a few rebels defeating an immense empire. We’re based in Antarctica and have colonized/taken over Argentina. Our main piece of technology is a wormhole connecting these two places. The rebels want to destabilize this wormhole. They think this’ll just create a black hole, but actually it’ll just explode with the force of a nuclear bomb. The main theme of all this is that blind adherence to an ideology is extremely dangerous for all involved.
So most RPGs, and even most action fiction in general, feature a huge asymmetry between the protagonist and antagonist, right? The protagonists are a tiny, divided band of ill-equipped commoners. The antagonists are this huge organization with vast forces and technology and resources far above those that Our Heroes can bring to bear - but they lose because the protagonists are resilient, clever, driven, and special - and frankly, they're the good guys and this is a story.
Well, suppose we turned that around? Suppose we play as the big, evil empire, and try to save our own hides, having the full knowledge that our enemies hide in the shadows, steal all our plans, run circles around our troops - and that all our bullets tend to miss them?
Welcome to (SG) SPAMOVERLORD.
-----
To begin, let's have some background on this.
The time period is:
A: Far past; think Greek or Roman stuff
B: Victorian era/Steampunk; horses, cars, and huge dresses are found in around equal numbers
C: Present day; the Internet and nuclear weapons control everything
D: Far future; most speculative tech has become reality, we have interplanetary and some interstellar colonies.
The character, the person you control, is the individual most responsible for the defence of an empire of questionable morality that holds the majority of the known human population subject.
Your position is:
A: Commander in Chief; a brilliant tactician and military general.
B: Chief intelligence officer; tasked with keeping us in the loop and keeping them out
C: Scientist; creating weapons and technologies to give us an edge over those that wish to destroy us
D: The Emperor; if you want something done right, do it yourself, eh?
The primary weapon of the Empire is:
A: An unstoppable army that crushes anything in it's path
B: A system of deception and control that prevents anyone from knowing they're enslaved a la Orwell
C: A huge technological advantage over anyone that challenges them
D: A solid and flexible bureaucracy that responds to any threat with stunning speed.
The most annoying part of your culture is:
A: Mandatory and brutal military training
B: A rite of passage that involves betraying and being betrayed by your loved ones
C: A strict meritocracy where anyone that does not success is punished harshly
D: Arranged marriage and regular corrupt politicking
Also, come up with names for empire, character, and/or Emperor!
Explanations:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Stuff about me:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Please place any questions or comments below. Post to play!
NEXT STORY POST (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7544808#msg7544808)
Post by: 10ebbor10 on August 19, 2017, 08:03:12 am
Post by: Strongpoint on August 19, 2017, 08:15:35 am
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2017, 08:21:04 am
Post by: Kashyyk on August 19, 2017, 08:38:47 am
Post by: NRDL on August 19, 2017, 09:08:30 am
BCDC
Post by: cronos5010 on August 19, 2017, 09:10:50 am
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2017, 09:19:26 am
:DBCDC
Post by: Puppyguard on August 19, 2017, 12:25:54 pm
Post by: chubby2man on August 19, 2017, 02:29:49 pm
And let's do all the annoying things about our culture options :D
Post by: Playergamer on August 19, 2017, 05:39:00 pm
BDCD+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 20, 2017, 05:30:50 am
I'll lock in votes once someone gives names. Until then, keep voting!
Post by: Glass on August 20, 2017, 07:23:15 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 20, 2017, 07:33:37 am
As for a name How About: The Democratic People's Republic Of the Southern Hemisphere?
Edit: See: people's republic of tyranny.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 20, 2017, 07:42:36 am
I will be out of contact for the next two days, so expect a delay before it starts.
Post by: Glass on August 20, 2017, 07:44:48 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 23, 2017, 03:19:29 am
Post by: neblime on August 23, 2017, 03:30:35 am
BDDD
im sad that most of my vote is irrelevant though
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 23, 2017, 03:31:51 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 23, 2017, 05:10:52 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 23, 2017, 06:02:30 am
This seems like it's going to pretty fun. Hidden battling guns everywhere, I can just see it, clockwork spying birds,frankenstoids glorious propaganda, etc.
I was going to make your strength a new alloy of iron, but that isn't really clockworks. How about I give you electricity instead?
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Antarctica.svg/300px-Antarctica.svg.png)
Hey look, penguins!
Post by: Glass on August 23, 2017, 06:30:55 am
It makes perfect sense! All the scientists we sent to study Antarctica got sent back in time and chose to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 23, 2017, 07:21:32 am
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OmnidisciplinaryScientist
Post by: Haspen on August 23, 2017, 09:43:10 am
:DBCDC
Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 23, 2017, 10:53:12 am
Quick question: will we be able to determine anything about our characters appearance, you're more importantly since we've already decided on the scientist, (if I'm reading things correctly) do we get to vote on which branch of science they're most proficient in? Or, are they going to be one of those "omnidisciplinary" scientists I've heard so much about? ::)
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OmnidisciplinaryScientist
Having a scientific background manifests itself as general competence with all things scientific (i. e. a +2 on 2d6). He specializes in the primary strength of the Empire, energy and electricity. Feel free to, you know, give him a name or something.
:DBCDC
Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis
Votes are already locked, and that would only open the tie again. Feel free to stick around!
Post by: Glass on August 23, 2017, 11:04:16 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 23, 2017, 07:12:11 pm
His name is Erin Quill, and he is dissatisfied, preferring to work in his personal fields of interest, teleportation and transdimensional physics.Hey look, opinions. If I was a competent dictator I'd have your head.
BCCD
Military: 0
Informational: 0
Scientific: +2+3-3 = 2
Political: -1+1 = 0
Yay no debuffs! I only just realized that the debuff thing actually rewards concentrating on one power. Oh well.
Ability: All technological rolls have one die guaranteed 6.
Alright, so we're talking a 19th century empire based off technological prowess. I'm starting you in Antarctica, because Antarctica is cool.
(https://d3jkudlc7u70kh.cloudfront.net/penguins-fact.jpg)
And penguins. Who doesn't love penguins?
Welcome,
As part of your initiative to tighten security, you go ahead and identify a few gaping holes in our defensive plan. You are confident you can fix one, so that nobody can exploit it, but only one.
Select a problem to fix.
A: Some of our more outdated electrical defenses can be disabled by simply waving a magnet at them. There are points in the capital defense perimeter only covered by these.
B: Guard shifts cause a momentary and repetitive lack of surveillance on a particular part of the castle wall, facing the ice. For five minutes every day, nobody is watching this bit and someone could get through.
C: Most of our ships are only designed for open water; we have quite few icebreakers. During the few months when the ice is thick enough to stop the ships but thin enough to not support wagons, a resourceful enemy on foot or dogsled could attack with ease.
D: Iron ore for the smelteries is brought in huge trucks. Someone could conceivably sneak on, as there are no inspection points from the outer gate to the smelteries. The only hassle would be leaving without getting fried - but then they have access to the heart of our industry.
Some notes:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Votes locked 24 hours from my mark.
Mark (https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/election?iso=20170824T191211&p0=263&msg=Polls+Close%3A+Problem+to+Fix&font=slab&csz=1).
NEXT STORY POST (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7545793#msg7545793)
Post by: Glass on August 23, 2017, 07:20:10 pm
As for weaknesses: I say D. Everything else is them getting inside our areas where the guards are; that one is them getting inside where the tech is.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on August 23, 2017, 07:20:26 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 23, 2017, 09:07:46 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 23, 2017, 09:38:53 pm
His name is Jebediah Kerman!
As for weaknesses: I say D. Everything else is them getting inside our areas where the guards are; that one is them getting inside where the tech is.
Wait, you play KSP as well?
In order to temper the obvious superiority of D a bit... lemme make it clear that D only takes the enemy from the outer gate of the city. You still need to get past dozens of guards at the ports or checkpoints, but after that you're free. Also, getting out of the melting pot is... non-trivial, and might result in singed hair. Also, while D gets enemies to the economic heart of the Empire, A and B yield access to the inner city, literally a hop skip and jump away from the King and Royal Family themselves.
Post by: Glass on August 23, 2017, 09:40:10 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 23, 2017, 09:41:31 pm
I don't care about the royal family. I want all my teleportation devices to be safe.
...and also a hop skip and jump away from the laboratories, obviously. They might even teleport themselves out. And keep the teleporter. And you're kinda supposed to preserve the empire.
Post by: Glass on August 23, 2017, 10:03:18 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 23, 2017, 10:10:22 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 24, 2017, 06:26:48 am
We stand at ADD --> D.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 24, 2017, 07:28:34 am
Okay D it is then, I think.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 24, 2017, 07:59:19 pm
It is absolutely unacceptable that any fool with the patience to stare at hematite for 45 minutes gets a free pass into the center of the South's industrial complex. A series of edicts make sure that iron ore is now transferred by a series of wagons, far too small for anyone to hide in, with inspections at each intersection to boot. Some bureaucratic optimization ensures that production does not suffer much at all.
Sadly, the time to prepare appears to be over, as there are reports of dissent and even revolt in one of the Republic's colonies closer to the equator.
Your response:
A: Burn the entire town. No people, no rebels, eh?
B: Identify and arrest the perpetrators of the rebellion. Make them an example for anyone else with second thoughts about the Republic's rule.
C: Do nothing for now, but keep a close eye on the rebellion to make sure it doesn't get serious.
D: Hold the families of the leaders hostage in order to attempt to silence them.
E: Get spies into the dissenting organization and gather information from within.
F: Create a loud and widespread propaganda campaign to prevent any further traitorous thoughts.
G(lass): Send in our own people, disguised as rebellion people, to go out and say things that we might plausibly be doing, but which we actually aren't. Then, when people demand the truth, we show it to them: 9 out of the 10 things they were accusing us of were wrong, go home, you were rebelling over nothing.
H: Feel free to suggest any other course of action I haven't thought of.
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Post by: Glass on August 24, 2017, 08:10:27 pm
We don't show them that last tenth.
Also, may I simply say that A never works?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 24, 2017, 10:33:24 pm
Post by: VoidSlayer on August 24, 2017, 10:59:31 pm
Who knows how far this conspiracy to destroy us goes!
Post by: Puppyguard on August 25, 2017, 12:08:43 am
This is the first of many outbreaks. Let's stop them from within.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on August 25, 2017, 12:09:58 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 25, 2017, 04:28:28 am
G: Send in our own people, disguised as rebellion people, to go out and say things that we might plausibly be doing, but which we actually aren't. Then, when people demand the truth, we show it to them: 9 out of the 10 things they were accusing us of were wrong, go home, you were rebelling over nothing.
We don't show them that last tenth.
That's literally brilliant. If they take the bait and have no better sources. Disinformation is fun.
Your sentiments have been recorded in the original options.
Also, may I simply say that A never works?
Thing is, it might. I'll roll a d5 to decide the rebellion's course of action:
40% total attack
40% silent infiltration
20% disband and de-escalate
Then it's rock-paper-scissors - you win if you attack an infiltrator, infiltrate a de-escalator, or make peace with an aggressor. Plus attack-attack and infiltrate-infiltrate go to symmetric warfare, and both de-escalate means world peace, no casualties. Peace-peace will end this segment of the game in your favor instantly; in all other cases both sides drag on.
I'll let that sink in before locking votes.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 25, 2017, 05:04:33 am
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Your spies send information to the colonial governor about a planned attack on the governor's mansion.
Said attack promptly arrives on the governor's doorstep, and captures the governor.
Around half the town is rebel-held, in various degrees of security. The other half is still loyalist. Your guards outnumber the rebels 2:1 and have much better weapons (up to gatling guns) but the rebels have barricaded themselves inside the Governor's mansion and various other civil buildings.
Now what?
Paxiecrunchle's Suggestion: Send in negotiators with suicide vests, prepare to starve them out if required.
(I'm taking the first suggestion to get 2 +1's - tend to +1 others instead of proposing your own.)
Well, of course they'd teleport themselves out. There's teleporters for everyone worth assassinating. If the heroes come to the lab, I'll have them test any prototypes I need run through testing. Heroes love testing new stuff, y'know?
Right, since you want a teleporter so badly:
We have a wormhole. 3 years ago, Erin Quill built a machine that uses a vast amount of energy to extract and expand a wormhole from the quantum foam. One end was placed in the capital's deepest room, while the other was hidden in a military base in one of the colonial towns.
The catch? The wormhole throat is 3 inches wide and 120 meters long. This basically means that nothing useful can go through. It appears as a glass sphere the size of a football, hovering over a pedestal covered in metal and wires. Quill has demonstrated that it is impossible to expand it further. Right now, it's being fed a steady stream of ticker tape to keep the government informed of developments in the colonies.
As an aside, Quill is the empire's only theoretical physicist, the only person that understands the wormhole stabilizing mechanism and the only person that can fix it if something goes wrong. Since with gravitational forces of this magnitude "something goes wrong" amounts to "decrement existing continent count by one", he has excellent job security.
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Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 25, 2017, 07:00:54 am
If that fails, then we can starve them out and shoot any that don't surrender immediately.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 25, 2017, 07:06:26 am
I suggest that we send out some negotiations and try and figure out why they wanted to kill the governor, for PR's sake, however those same individuals will be strapped with remotely detonatable explosives so that if we can't get them to stand down then we can at least get rid of a few of them with the element of surprise, it will also let us eliminate anyone supposedly from our side that tries to collide with them.
If that fails, then we can starve them out and shoot any that don't surrender immediately.
The reason they want to capture (not kill) the governor is obvious. They're in a monarchy, the monarch pissed them off. Nevertheless, your plan will be added to the question post.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 26, 2017, 04:59:57 am
Post by: neblime on August 26, 2017, 05:29:10 am
Post by: Glass on August 26, 2017, 06:36:11 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 26, 2017, 08:23:04 am
*shrugs*
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
The negotiators are received surprisingly well. The reason for the seizing of the governor is given as a hodgepodge of various atrocities allegedly conducted by the government. Someone claims the King had his father killed; for someone else it's his daughter, for another it's his pig.
Almost nothing gets done, but the negotiators are able to secure their entry to the rebel-held mansion.
Now, do you blow them sky high?
A: Yes.
B: No.
NEXT STORY POST (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7547464#msg7547464)
Post by: Glass on August 26, 2017, 11:48:48 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 26, 2017, 12:56:38 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 26, 2017, 01:18:31 pm
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
The talks appear to be going well. After the requisite threats and dogma have been given from both sides, the rebels agree to release a few prisoners as a display of faith.
However, around halfway through, the four rebel leaders watching the negotiations withdraw to a corner to consult. They glance at the negotiators' vests, then appear to be heading to an escape route.
It looks like they've found out.
One of the negotiators manages to communicate this in slightly worried tones. You now have the option to blow up the rebel held mansion.
Do you do it?
A: Yes
B: No
C: Reveal the existence of the bombs and attempt to get them to stand down under a mutual-destruction logic.
D: Some other thing I haven't listed.
NEXT STORY POST (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7548727#msg7548727)
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 26, 2017, 01:38:38 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 26, 2017, 01:43:24 pm
I'm torn between A(Blow them up now!), and C. Telling them that the whole building is rigged (w're the empire, and they'll be in too much danger to disregard this even if it is a lie.) As well as our own people, etc. nobody gets out alive unless they co-operate.
Well, if I was an empire, I would have a small nuke under every important building for just this situation. But I'm not, and it wasn't stated before, so it didn't happen. The explosives the negotiators brought, while not enough to actually level the building, are more than enough to kill everyone inside.
Post by: Puppyguard on August 26, 2017, 02:11:53 pm
;) goodbye.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 26, 2017, 06:49:28 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on August 26, 2017, 07:35:22 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 27, 2017, 03:42:48 am
Post by: VoidSlayer on August 27, 2017, 12:55:12 pm
Post by: Glass on August 27, 2017, 12:55:45 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 27, 2017, 05:23:38 pm
A. The blame can fall on rebels suicide bomb method via pr spinning.
Yeah, not going to work, given that it's their force that blew up. Still, though, the overwhelming majority says A.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
After some debate and moral wrangling, the Big Red Button is pressed.
...
;) goodbye.
(this)
(https://ak8.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/21323266/thumb/1.jpg)
BOOM!
Amidst the smoldering wreckage, you discover a circular tunnel carved into the ground, as well as some fragments of some strange green material that glows brightly and appears glossy when you hold it up to the sun.
Along with a bit of molten gold and a charred pearl, with a few shreds of carbonized skin stuck on one end. They're that are all that's left of the necklace the governor's wife wore, which he gave her right after their 20th anniversary, which he nearly missed because he wanted to attend a meeting that would have almost certainly gotten him promoted. He canceled at the last minute because he wanted to show that his position wouldn't take those he loved most from him.
Just to, you know, remind you of what you've done.
What now?
A: Analyze the green shards.
B: Follow the escape tunnel
C: Recast and frame the necklace as a metaphor for the limits of power.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Plus, stuff added to the OP:
-->State of the Empire<--
Quote
We're a 19th century technocracy based in Antarctica that happens to have a wormhole. We've imposed inspections on iron ore carts so nobody can sneak into our industrial sector with them. A rebellion in a coastline city captured the governor. We sent in negotiators with suicide vests and were forced to remotely detonate them, leveling the governor's mansion and killing the governor and most of the rebels.
(State of the Empire is a quick summary of events so far intended to bring a new player up to speed from the get-go.)
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Post by: Puppyguard on August 27, 2017, 06:11:11 pm
It was for the good of the empire.
We can analyze the shards after we explore the tunnel.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 27, 2017, 06:16:50 pm
We can analyze the shards after we explore the tunnel.
Well...
...for a -1, you can. Read the note...
Post by: omada on August 27, 2017, 06:38:22 pm
A later cause it's our "strenght" and we can wait.
And hmmm C for a free +1 political? There is a catch somewhere that i am not noticing
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 27, 2017, 06:38:40 pm
Anyway, I think C should be good for now.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 27, 2017, 06:40:56 pm
I don't know why the GM has to be so… negative.
Anyway, I think C should be good for now.
Firstly - you just sentenced a whole roomful of people to death, half of which were on your side. Secondly - I tend to describe morbid things in great detail.
I absolutely agree, though, it had to be done. Although if you hadn't blown it up, they'd assume that you would and run away... leaving you standing in a mansion full of all their plans and stuff...
There's no catch on C. Just me rewarding you for retaining a vestige of morality, physically if not mentally.
Fluff writing has begun.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on August 27, 2017, 10:03:58 pm
B. Gotta check tunnels.
Post by: Glass on August 27, 2017, 10:06:39 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 28, 2017, 07:38:21 am
Just to clarify for the recordI don't know why the GM has to be so… negative.
Anyway, I think C should be good for now.
Firstly - you just sentenced a whole roomful of people to death, half of which were on your side. Secondly - I tend to describe morbid things in great detail.
I absolutely agree, though, it had to be done. Although if you hadn't blown it up, they'd assume that you would and run away... leaving you standing in a mansion full of all their plans and stuff...
There's no catch on C. Just me rewarding you for retaining a vestige of morality, physically if not mentally.
Fluff writing has begun.
I actually voted for C rather than A the last time, I was hoping to use threat of force to ensure compliance rather just blow everyone sky high, under the presumption that if everyone understood that co-operating would lead to their highest chance of survival, they would take it.(assuming no one was suicidal in the room.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 28, 2017, 10:44:28 am
We are a overlord. Morality is a subject matter. If the governor did his job well his wife would have not gone boom. I have played games as a villain protigantist. So morals is not big to me.
B. Gotta check tunnels.
I do not deny that that is true, but let me point out two things. First, the governor was mid-level unnecessary mook in an evil empire about to be attacked by a ragtag group of rebels - his job was basically to get himself blown up. There's nothing he could have done. Secondly, had you refused to blow them up (B) they would have evacuated assuming you would, leaving you with everything they had.
Just saying.
The overwhelming sentiment seems to be B.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Your soldiers are sent in. They pass the first few bends.
There is a squelch.
Then silence.
There wasn't any screaming, so they might still be alive.
Send more?
A: Send more soldiers, better armored this time.
B: Send engineers, told to find and disabled anti-infantry traps.
C: Ignore the whole thing, seal it up, and leave.
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Post by: Glass on August 28, 2017, 11:44:30 am
Post by: johiah on August 28, 2017, 12:45:54 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 28, 2017, 01:11:24 pm
...idiots. You don't just stroll in to unknown territory; you're supposed to be careful. How poorly-trained are these buffoons?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy)
Frankly, though, it makes sense. Order them to move, they go with guns drawn, expecting a human enemy. Then... chop...
B, clearly. Assuming I can join.
Course you can join.
Post by: Glass on August 28, 2017, 01:21:46 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 28, 2017, 01:45:32 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on August 28, 2017, 02:57:21 pm
Post by: omada on August 28, 2017, 04:14:29 pm
If there is no catch, can we still have the necklace so? That could make our political minions more attached for the cause, while we can still put propaganda and (try to, it never works) blame the rebels for the bombing "They even don't even know how to use bombs safely to make their own troops secure, they *cough* killed our negotiators"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 28, 2017, 07:23:42 pm
Is B, followed by A but with shotguns, an option we can take?
It's implied that the engineers have shotgun backup, and the muscle has screwdriver backup. But the tunnel is kinda... small... and who you pick to lead the initial charge matters.
This is not a matter of "how well can you shoot". I am well aware that evil minions couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. This is a question of "look where you're going, 二百五".
It's the same idea. Evil minions must get minced by the simplest of traps in order to keep the plot moving. Also, it's dark and small and cramped and the traps are just holes in the wall at best, you can't really see them.
Plus, is there a reason you wrote "205" in Chinese?
If there is no catch, can we still have the necklace so? That could make our political minions more attached for the cause, while we can still put propaganda and (try to, it never works) blame the rebels for the bombing "They even don't even know how to use bombs safely to make their own troops secure, they *cough* killed our negotiators"
Well, no catch if you picked the necklace. It was supposed to be one of three things you could pick.
I have to admit, I didn't really think that one out, cause both the tunnel and crystal are fairly important to the plot. Let's just say that if you picked the necklace, you'd have gotten -1 on both the tunnel and crystal for wasting time on useless trinkets; that option is gone now.
By the way, I'm going to -2 political for sufficiently dumb propaganda.
In other news, it seems B is leading.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Moving forward, the engineers rapidly identify the traps, a series of metal bars in the walls that swing down to kill or maim anyone underneath. With calm expertise, they find and jam the mechanism then step aside for an exchange of fire between the security detail with shotguns following behind, and the four remaining rebels hiding behind the trap and waiting for an opportunity to ambush.
Said exchange does not go well. Our forces appear unable to hit the broad side of a barn, even at this distance, and most of our shots go nowhere. The rebels, armed with pistols and knives, rapidly pick off around half our security force in the close quarters, but eventually are driven off by the sheer volume of fire.
After they run off into the darkness, a thorough inspection is made of the area and our first force is found battered but mostly unharmed, caged in a corner by an earlier trap.
Your forces begin searching the tunnel they ran down. It branches. To the left is a draft and the sound of rushing water, while to the right is the sound of many feet.
Direction of search:
A: The left
B: The right
C: Give up
D: Split (-4 to all combat, you explore both)
I also assume you want to analyze the green crystalline material... results for that next turn.
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Post by: Glass on August 28, 2017, 07:30:26 pm
Plus, is there a reason you wrote "205" in Chinese?It's an expression. It means "halfwit".
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 28, 2017, 07:32:50 pm
Plus, is there a reason you wrote "205" in Chinese?It's an expression. It means "halfwit".
I am Chinese, and I didn't know that. Wa.
Post by: Glass on August 28, 2017, 07:37:29 pm
My mandarin teacher told me that. Maybe you're just from different regions.
Post by: neblime on August 28, 2017, 09:09:45 pm
do we have the option to split up and send a token force left? (splitting up always works well against the heroes)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 29, 2017, 06:15:20 am
A: Go right
do we have the option to split up and send a token force left? (splitting up always works well against the heroes)
I refer you to option D. There's so few people that splitting would be a token force either way.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on August 30, 2017, 08:18:13 pm
A: Go right
do we have the option to split up and send a token force left? (splitting up always works well against the heroes)
Isn't A to go left?
I say B go right. Splitting up is never a good idea, less ground but more competences in everyone's part.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 30, 2017, 08:23:31 pm
Now you have to keep voting...
On second thought, you both voted right. So yeah...
The guards come to a section of the tunnel that is blocked by a grate. Behind the grate, many small pinpricks of light can be seen. There is no sign of the rebels.
What do you do? (I’ll take first suggestion)
A: Force the grate
B: Wait there
C: Try the other path
D: Leave and ignore it
The results from the analysis of the green crystalline material have also come in.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
The green substance is analyzed and turns out to be adantesite, a rare mineral that couples the electromagnetic and gravitational forces by a poorly-understood process. This mineral has the property that, when fed a electric current of the correct polarity and voltage, it converts polarized near-ultraviolet light into a linear resonant gravitational wave that destabilizes regions of negative gravitational mass, such as those used to hold open an Einstein-Rosen Bridge.
What this means is that all you have to do is power it, reflect sunlight onto it, and point it at Erin’s Oracle (the wormhole), and the wormhole will disconnect. Both sides, however, will instantly become black holes, which will suck in the matter around them before decaying and exploding with the force of a small nuclear bomb.
All you need is a mirror and a battery, and both the Capital in the South and the Military Base in the North become nice, big, smoldering craters in the ground.
As you might expect, this poses a bit of a security risk.
A countermeasure is developed that can repel the effects of such a destabilizing beam; a sort of gravitational shield that can be formed around a wormhole mouth and manipulated to cancel out outside influences. This, however, comes with its own problems. The shield requires your own adantesite to build; this can be more fragmented than the destabilizing chunk, so the shards you found count, but aren’t nearly enough.
The shield will also require an order of magnitude more power than the destabilizing beam requires. The infrastructure on the Northern Mouth can barely support it, and it likely will have to be cycled on and off several times a day to allow the batteries to recharge.
NEXT STORY POST (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7551980#msg7551980)
Post by: johiah on August 30, 2017, 08:24:34 pm
There you go.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 30, 2017, 08:30:25 pm
A
There you go.
Wow... This is getting really fast...
Doesn't matter anyway, the other two voted for right, but thanks for your interest!
Post by: johiah on August 30, 2017, 08:32:35 pm
Edit: Keeping it on A
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 30, 2017, 08:33:38 pm
Yeah I was apparently slow on that vote.
Well, I edited instead of new-posting, and you apparently responded fast.
Thoughts on the grate? Or the MacGuffin for that matter?
Post by: johiah on August 30, 2017, 08:34:50 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 30, 2017, 08:35:36 pm
Lol this is getting messy. Refer to my above post.
Wait, so A for the second vote as well...?
FLUFF WRITING HAS BEGUN.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on August 30, 2017, 08:37:38 pm
Edit: Besides gotta see where other end leads to. Find the rebel, crush the rebel. Suffer not their lies!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 30, 2017, 08:42:59 pm
A. Check the grate carefully. Maybe the rebels were trying to get more Macguffin to destabilize our empire by black holing the capital. Or at least find clues before going the other way. But some should keep distance, traps and all.
Well, I was going to take the first suggestion in an effort to simulate the instinctive nature of war, and to get this to pick up a bit.
But it doesn't matter. Surprisingly little matters here.
I'll take suggestions for steps in order to prevent a black-holey death for all of us.
Post by: Puppyguard on August 30, 2017, 09:54:39 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 30, 2017, 11:05:58 pm
A: it would mask my sound.
B: it might mask my scent.
C. There's a chance it might inconvenience my pursuers.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 31, 2017, 07:50:50 am
Why did you guys all assume that just because we heard people, or sound that sounded vaguely like people running in One Direction that's where they actually would be, maybe they tossed some stones in that direction, or it could've been an animal, or a record player, or something, if I was them I would have ran for the water for several reasons.
A: it would mask my sound.
B: it might mask my scent.
C. There's a chance it might inconvenience my pursuers.
Very perceptive, that's exactly the idea I was going for.
A was selected.
The grate is forced. Spiders come out.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Shelobpj.jpg)
Yes, huge spiders with luminous eyes begin pushing through the hole. Those were the sounds you heard earlier.
Even worse, the tunnel turns near the spider nest to merge with the other branch, after the section with water. So the heroes would be the ones facing a mob of spiders if you hadn't nicely distracted them by forcing that grate. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NiceJobFixingItVillain)
Yeah, now what?
A: FIGHT!!!
B: Retreat back up the tunnel
C: Run down the other branch
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Post by: johiah on August 31, 2017, 08:24:51 am
C?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 31, 2017, 11:48:19 am
Post by: Puppyguard on August 31, 2017, 12:46:03 pm
maybe we can tame these beasts at a later date and use them against our foes.
Post by: omada on August 31, 2017, 02:12:21 pm
C.A.M.E.L.S for short
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 31, 2017, 02:35:02 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 31, 2017, 08:56:14 pm
B, retreat the rebels seem like less of a threat now that we know we have giant spiders lurking just below the city...somehow....also we want to keep our engineers alive and down as many of these beasties as possible.
The rebels didn't dig this tunnel; the former King of this little coastal town built it as an escape route, and it was then abandoned when we conquered the place, and infested by spiders. This was all in the notes, by the way, which were only found after the entire thing had happened.
By the way, here's how it actually looks.
(http://i.imgur.com/SxZoOG9.png?1)
OOC: we could always just ask theempiresrepublics best supplier for 🐫's Hassan is always available or so I hear. ;D
The only hit I could get on "Hassan Camels" was from... 1d4chan. Or a wiki describing it anyways.
Whatever.
In character: We don't have camels.
We, in fact, have everything but camels. Snakes, horses, pigs, buffalo, zebras, goats, turtles, dolphins... have all been found, studied, tamed, and studied for military use, with wildly varying degrees of success. We haven't gotten to the desert, though.
No camels.
Choice is B.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
The soldiers rush out of the hole, out of breath. "Close the gate!" one exclaims.
The gate to the escape hatch is shut just in time. One spider is crushed with its feet sticking out of the hatch. There is a chittering and the sound of many feet behind it.
Well, that went well.
It's free action time now. Name any action that you can take to improve the situation before the rebels resurface. Take the Overlord List (http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html) for inspiration - if you don't specifically name it here, I'll assume the empire's defences to be the most cliched and least effective possible. Everything here is subject to a roll. Remember that thanks to your bonuses all rolls involving design of new equipment get one dice guaranteed 4 in addition to your typical +2 scientific.
NEXT STORY POST (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7553512#msg7553512)
Post by: Puppyguard on August 31, 2017, 09:22:13 pm
If we don't I recommend we invent those before we make handheld superweapons.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on August 31, 2017, 10:24:27 pm
And also I personally watch both the EOL and the Tvtropes Addendum for it : http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TVTropesAdditionalEvilOverlordVows?from=Main.TVTropesAdditionalEvilOverlordVows
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 01, 2017, 11:08:04 am
Throws off their game. -An attempt to make space marines/ skiitrai in a even more horrifying manner.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 01, 2017, 01:11:33 pm
I say we use psycho surgery with mechanized armor to make a youth legion. Heros can deal with killing animals, undead and robots. But people, especially young ones?
Throws off their game. -An attempt to make space marines/ skiitrai in a even more horrifying manner.
This, right here, we shouldn't modify their cute little faces though, might undercut the sympathy card and make them less effective and less horrifying.
The only problem I can see with this is that if the general populace thinks that we're going to turn their children into monsters at any seconds notice, then that might start some rebellions on the town in this easy as it is to quash some of these things would be preferable not to start them in the first place.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 01, 2017, 01:22:32 pm
Perhaps we should put some bounties on their heads? And offer to publicly execute anyone who assistants them, by say impalment?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 01, 2017, 08:07:08 pm
Do we have DNA-coded triggers yet?
If we don't I recommend we invent those before we make handheld superweapons.
DNA is kinda hard as it requires a scraping of flesh and some time. I'll do biometrics in general.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
We do have fingerprints and DNA scanners, but they are too bulky and slow to be used in firearms.
We do mount them on all doors, however, including armory ones.
Is training cybernetic hounds to hunt for these troublemakers and option we can put on the table?
Fair idea.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
We've been using dogs in cruel neural experiments for so long, it's high time they saw the benefits.
New techniques for biochemical interfaces and cerebral manipulation let us grant critical thinking and consciousness to dogs, elevating them to around the level of sentience and intelligence of a 6-year-old child.
They are now able to operate in their own units, making decisions without any input from human handlers. They retained their immense loyalty, sensory prowess, and keen instincts, making them almost impossible to evade, bribe, or delude.
By far the biggest success so far.
I say we use psycho surgery with mechanized armor to make a youth legion. Heros can deal with killing animals, undead and robots. But people, especially young ones?
Throws off their game. -An attempt to make space marines/ skiitrai in a even more horrifying manner.
Firstly, -1 political for suggesting such a thing. Secondly...
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Some children are quietly secreted away and enhanced with various biological techniques. They are given faster movement, better instincts, power suits integrated to their bodies… basically the Spartans from Halo. What’s left is a genetically augmented, cybernetically engaged hunk of flesh and metal, capable of incredible agility as well as extreme strength. Plus, we have psychological conditioning and neural interfaces to make it literally impossible for them to defect.
This is done with a minimum of fuss, but there are bound to be some sore parents searching for answers out there.
What about implementing some Identification system that required renewal three times a year to pass between major settlements, surely that would give our opponents some difficulty as long as we can discourage the citizenry from helping them...
Perhaps we should put some bounties on their heads? And offer to publicly execute anyone who assistants them, by say impalment?
Done.
Seriously. No roll. You just walk out, state these changes, then it's over.
I’m coming up with the next bit of plot as you read. Suggest more ideas, or come up with ways to remedy the problems with these. I’d encourage you to focus on the andantesite itself.
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Post by: omada on September 01, 2017, 08:23:55 pm
If this work later we can slowly convince that we adopt indigo children as angels on earth to aid our emperor, we can even give some of them gold colored armor to deal with the public giving basic goods for tax-payers to survive.
This is a long-term goal, sure, make people unaware of their surroundings, give bunch of circus and see us as saviors.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 01, 2017, 08:33:07 pm
We should work on propaganda, bribe some religious cults into slowly spreading our emperor image as a god-chosen (We can make some technology/drug on water system to make people more religious and easy to control, give huge amounts to religious leaders so it make easier to convince them)
If this work later we can slowly convince that we adopt indigo children as angels on earth to aid our emperor, we can even give some of them gold colored armor to deal with the public giving basic goods for tax-payers to survive.
This is a long-term goal, sure, make people unaware of their surroundings, give bunch of circus and see us as saviors.
You were given the choice of "deluded public, hidden control" as weapon. We're pretty firmly in technocracy territory now. Most people know they're being overlorded, they just don't care or can't rebel. It's not realistic that we could brain that knowledge from people, even in a generation or two.
Changing over to full-on Orwellian is kinda too big, and will require a vote. Anyone else interested in this?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 01, 2017, 08:48:07 pm
I'm not interested in going full Orwellian it won't work properly without other massive countries working to fund the delusion and we only control half the world right now, and I assume that there are at least a few other nations on the scope that are actively hostile towards our interests.
Besides our government is anything but subtle The way it's presented itself, I prefer trying to get the public to believe that we are at least in a twisted matter working towards the greater good, that would at least convince some people to form some sort of grassroots organizations in support of the empire, like the USSR was able to manage in Africa and Latin America.
Post by: Glass on September 01, 2017, 08:48:45 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 01, 2017, 09:06:13 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 01, 2017, 09:27:32 pm
I kind of just like "...meh that could have been handled better..." what we did with the children I would've preferred creating some voluntary youth legions or at least making it seem like it came with societal prestige, or at absolute minimum having something along the lines of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Youth .
I'm not interested in going full Orwellian it won't work properly without other massive countries working to fund the delusion and we only control half the world right now, and I assume that there are at least a few other nations on the scope that are actively hostile towards our interests.
Besides our government is anything but subtle The way it's presented itself, I prefer trying to get the public to believe that we are at least in a twisted matter working towards the greater good, that would at least convince some people to form some sort of grassroots organizations in support of the empire, like the USSR was able to manage in Africa and Latin America.
The way you and others put it, the children were to be horribly and surgically modified. Nobody would submit to that willingly, so we found... unwilling volunteers.
Other countries don't know you exist. Your farthest colonies are barely at the Mediterranean.
And the public does believe that the Republic is working towards the greater good. Why? Because it is working for the greater good! For most of these tiny poor countries, the Southerners were the best thing to happen to them! Electricity, running water, half decent sewage... Of course, the nobility sees everyone else as pawns at best and trash at worst and they show it with random acts of hatred, but those are easy enough to cover up.
We're the scientist, remember? Not Overlord Kerman. And besides, religion only fits with science when you're in WH40K.
This.
Although the "who we are" doesn't really matter at this point, the players kinda make up an omnipresent "voice of the empire".
But the WH40K thing is true.
Continue!
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 01, 2017, 10:01:11 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 01, 2017, 10:35:41 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 02, 2017, 08:04:11 am
I think aside rebel crushing and would be conquering, we should devote our time to making the people's lives a little bit better. Next free time anyway.
We kind of do! The government does plenty to help the people. It's a fairly effective government, and we're a fairly civilized society. Imagine 19th Century England, less slums, more nobles.
Public approval of the government is extreme. There are those that feel something wrong with one man having all the power, but they realize that there's no reason to do anything about it. The rebels are generally regarded as terrorists and/or madmen.
Anything in particular that improves upon this state... can be said specifically.
In any rate, the time for preparation is up.
You get reports of a break-in at a museum a good ways up the coast from the incident with the governor. Someone apparently beat up all the guards on one side, blasted a hole in the wall, and is still there. The museum is a preserved ancient ruin from one of the previous Empires to conquer this continent.
What do you do?
(By the way, "reports" from the continent are sent to the Military Base in the central mountains, where they are fed into Erin's Oracle (the wormhole) down to Central Command in Antarctica. Recall that the wormhole is hundreds of meters in length and blocks electromagnetic radiation; this basically means that reports are encoded into someone yanking a string from back and forth on one end. It's slow, but works.)
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Post by: omada on September 02, 2017, 10:08:13 am
a) Is the incident related to the governor case or just another one? (probably we will only discover after solving the problem)
b) What else is rumored to be in the museum, weapons? Magical shit from other worlds? Maps of an old sewer that may help the rebels sneak past us? Or just something to demoralize us?
2. Secure and lock
A) close all ground-level exits, no one come near, there is a madman there trying to erase history that we have to deal before he hurts innocent people (and this way we can screw him with our more unethical ways without someone noticing)
B) Survey the area, any tunnel or sewer entrance that we can close/send our troops in a surprise attack?
3) attempt to *cough* negotiate *cough*
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 02, 2017, 11:53:09 am
1. Get info
a) Is the incident related to the governor case or just another one? (probably we will only discover after solving the problem)
Witnesses give descriptions similar to those of the four rebels that escaped the earlier fiasco, namely, a old man, two boys, and a girl, in the 16-22 range.
b) What else is rumored to be in the museum, weapons? Magical shit from other worlds? Maps of an old sewer that may help the rebels sneak past us? Or just something to demoralize us?
Ooh. This is a goodie.
The Emperor that built this place was rumored to have a coastal defence system known as "The Wall" - a 100-mile-long wall which was able to manipulate gravity (!) to generate tsunamis and destroy attacking ships. The working core of the Wall was a glossy green crystalline material which was studded along the barrier and created gravitational anomalies when exposed to sunlight.
Sound familiar? Yeah, right... They just happened upon the treasure trove of andantesite.
The museum was built around the control center of The Wall, an ornate cathedral with an organ-looking thing in the center. The control crystals were small, de-energized pieces of andantesite, each of which was linked to a crystal in The Wall just outside. Rotation of the control crystal would cause the larger crystal outside to change the direction of gravity near it - this could be used to fire precise waves at incoming ships.
Most of the Wall was shelled to pieces when Robert the Conqueror attacked the coastal empire around 250 years ago. Robert promptly got beaten up by us, the Southern Republic. The rest was ruined when a chance lightning bolt hit the control panel 76 years ago, destroying most of the control mechanism and overloading every remaining weapon crystal, causing the entire wall to sail two miles in the air before crashing back to Earth. Most of the crystals were either annihilated or shattered in this event.
The museum also contains some original texts describing the operation of the weapon. No successful firing is on record, so most regard it as some kind of a myth. The comparatively recent discovery of andantesite's characteristics and uses lends more credence to this theory.
But still, big problem.
2. Secure and lock
A) close all ground-level exits, no one come near, there is a madman there trying to erase history that we have to deal before he hurts innocent people (and this way we can screw him with our more unethical ways without someone noticing)
Done. It's blockaded, all exits are watched including the gaping hole in the wall where they went in. The intruders have sealed themselves in the control room, taking the researchers there hostage.
B) Survey the area, any tunnel or sewer entrance that we can close/send our troops in a surprise attack?
The old building didn't have sewers or tunnels. The museum uses modern plumbing that is just barely big enough to stick a head and shoulders in. One of our uplifted huskies could fit... for a certain value of "fit" that involves some squishing and a really long pole. Plus, the dogs were developed in Antarctica and the first shipment is still half a day away.
3) attempt to *cough* negotiate *cough*
It's become common knowledge among political circles that the last batch of negotiators was made into a smudge on the ground. This batch wants your personal guarantee that there are no explosives in their vests.
Do you give it?
A: Don't give them suicide vests and tell them this fact.
B: Tell them it's bombs or nothing.
C: Tell them they're safe, but still put bombs in their vests
D: Don't put bombs, but tell them there are (don't know why you would like to do this, psychological stuff maybe?)
E: Give up.
F: Give them strictly non-lethal weapons and inform them of this fact.
G: Reassure them that if they fail, we won't blow them up - we'll just blockade the place and let them starve with the rest.
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Post by: johiah on September 02, 2017, 12:12:53 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 02, 2017, 12:14:48 pm
F: gas bombs instead. Something to knock out the rebels. tell the diplos that there are no explosives.
This is within our chemical ability.
Added as option F.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 02, 2017, 12:17:07 pm
Which is to say that if they mess this up we will be unable to extract them until this whole thing is over.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 02, 2017, 12:18:48 pm
F: tell them not to worry, we can't afford to use explosives around such a delicate historical artifact that we might leave be able to restore into weapon system. Tell them however that if they fail, will send in another team to seal up all the exits until the starving hooligans surrender.
And we aren't restoring this into a weapon system anytime soon... as I've said, the control panel is almost entirely gone and so is the actual weapons engine.
Taking next proposal to get 2 votes.
Post by: Glass on September 02, 2017, 12:57:10 pm
F: gas bombs instead. Something to knock out the rebels. tell the diplos that there are no explosives.+1.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 02, 2017, 01:07:28 pm
"Don't worry" the diplomats are told, "This is just chloroform".
The diplos walk up to the gate and knock. "We're here to parly!" they shout.
There is silence for several long minutes - then the middle-aged man appears on one of the ledges outside the control room (but inside the walls). He holds a gun to the head of some random researcher.
"I'm tired of your games!" he shouts. "Here's the deal - you're going to let us all out with whatever we need or everyone in here's dead."
State of the Empire in OP has been updated.
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Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 02, 2017, 01:27:40 pm
>Tell then that they can go ahead and shoot the researchers we can train more, tell them that if they surrender now we will offer amnesty to any of their associates and that we will commute their sentence from excruciatingly slow death, to exile in the wilderness.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 02, 2017, 01:40:41 pm
It'll be a shame to lose those researchers....but from what I've gathered if these guys successfully get those materials, then our capital is just about finished, so I'm afraid we might have to break a few eggs to make this omelette.
>Tell then that they can go ahead and shoot the researchers we can train more, tell them that if they surrender now we will offer amnesty to any of their associates and that we will commute their sentence from excruciatingly slow death, to exile in the wilderness.
No. The only andantesite in the museum is the three remaining control shards as well as a bunch of fragments. These are large enough to be used in the Shield, but to do an overload they would need something like an entire offensive crystal, and if any of those are still intact they'd be scattered along the coast.
Plus, they need to get sunlight into the deepest bunker of our military base - not an easy job! Plus nobody knows where the base actually is.
Still, anyone wanna +1?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 10:00:14 am
The rebels are told that they can just go ahead and shoot those researchers, they aren't getting the materials out. Amnesty and exile are offered to anyone that surrenders.
The old man prepares to start killing. The girl runs out and stops him. The two boys show up and chip in. There's soon a full blown moral argument on the balcony.
You could conceivably do something while they're distracted.
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Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 03, 2017, 01:20:09 pm
Joke Suggestion: Grab some popcorn, and a listening device, tell them to take as long as they need as they are clearly providing a good example of the disunity and chaos that comes from opposing the "benevolent" ruler of the "democratic" southern republic .
Real Suggestion: See if we can fire gass cannister into their midst while their arguing, if it seems we can't get an accurate trajectory call for a camouflaged dirigible to drop some parachutist police into the the building, if none of that becomes available, tell them that they have 1 minute to surrender before we start shooting them. (Mostly The Older gentleman as he's clearly armed and a threat)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 02:11:18 pm
I'm sorry for being your biggest fan, you probably deserve better :-(
Joke Suggestion: Grab some popcorn, and a listening device, tell them to take as long as they need as they are clearly providing a good example of the disunity and chaos that comes from opposing the "benevolent" ruler of the "democratic" southern republic .
Real Suggestion: See if we can fire gass cannister into their midst while their arguing, if it seems we can't get an accurate trajectory call for a camouflaged dirigible to drop some parachutist police into the the building, if none of that becomes available, tell them that they have 1 minute to surrender before we start shooting them. (Mostly The Older gentleman as he's clearly armed and a threat)
The "Joke Suggestion" might actually be better than the real one. The rule is to never assume the Empire is smarter than it is stated to be. You didn't ask for gas launchers or dirigibles or parachutists, so you don't get them. It's just a classic police blockade at this point.
By the way, I'm not a stickler for separating casual conversation from story posts, but if I'm editing a conversation post I'll double post on the story, because you don't get notified of edits, and I want you notified of my story. I can stop if you want.
Post by: Glass on September 03, 2017, 02:42:22 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 02:47:18 pm
We're doing the joke suggestion because demoralizing the enemy is always better.
Fine by me, as a bit of googling reveals there's no such thing as knockout gas.
The debate slowly moves inside the building as the negotiators keep up a steady commentary about how divided they are, along with eating popcorn and attempting to intercept their conversation.
Several minutes later, one of the teenage boys opens the door with his hands up.
He offers to surrender and says he only got dragged into this because he had a crush on the girl, that he's sick and tired of all this killing and having to be scared all the time.
The girl almost shouts herself hoarse calling him a traitor from the balcony. The older gentleman drags her away.
What do you do with the guy?
A: Exile him into the wild as promised
B: Question him on the group's next action
C: Let him go but quietly follow him
D: Imprison him
E: Kill him
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Post by: Glass on September 03, 2017, 02:58:47 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 03, 2017, 03:03:10 pm
I was about to ask how my later suggestion could even be used but then the thread caught up.
I suggest we leave him on the South Georgia Islands, (assuming they're mostly abandoned in this world as well) it would be a good show of the empires "mercy and benevolence" which will help immensely with PR in discrediting further heroics.
EDIT: also the point of tossing in gas canisters, in my eyes but I've been to blind and confuse them, for just long enough that they could be safely apprehended.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 03:04:41 pm
Exile him to the wilderness... to the Australian wilderness. If he's not dead in a week, have him quietly assassinated, set up to look like an attack by the local wildlife.
He's currently in Brazil... so that means leaving him on a boat for a week. Do you really want to do that?
I was about to ask how my later suggestion could even be used but then the thread caught up.
I suggest we leave him on the South Georgia Islands, (assuming they're mostly abandoned in this world as well) it would be a good show of the empires "mercy and benevolence" which will help immensely with PR in discrediting further heroics.
EDIT: also the point of tossing in gas canisters, in my eyes but I've been to blind and confuse them, for just long enough that they could be safely apprehended.
That's true. What with modern steamboats optimized for operation between Antarctica and Brazil (our largest subject country) we'll get there in around a day.
Post by: Glass on September 03, 2017, 03:06:30 pm
When did this happen?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 03:07:05 pm
Wait, we're in Brazil?
When did this happen?
I specified "A continent with lush forests in the southern hemisphere, near Antarctica". It ain't called Brazil, but it is.
Post by: Glass on September 03, 2017, 03:07:54 pm
I'd missed that part...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 03:08:45 pm
Well, what's it gonna be?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 03, 2017, 03:11:04 pm
Wait, let's do a bit of A and B, question him before we exile him, with the promise of being given more survival equipment the more he blabs.
Afterall amnesty and exile was only promised to those who surrendered if I recall correctly.( I still recommend the south Georgia islands)
.....
I'll try not to edit posts further, but making new posts should work fine right?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 03:13:57 pm
Sorry for the almost doublepost but I think I had a better idea:
Wait, let's do a bit of A and B, question him before we exile him, with the promise of being given more survival equipment the more he blabs.
Afterall amnesty and exile was only promised to those who surrendered if I recall correctly.( I still recommend the south Georgia islands)
.....
I'll try not to edit posts further, but making new posts should work fine right?
Well, you get a warning if you're ninja'd by a new post, but not for edits. That's what counts.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 03, 2017, 09:57:53 pm
During trip to islands we have a female Cherubim on board (youth trooper/legion code as they keep their youthful looks as kids or teens. Any how)
Have our agent befriend him. Due to being female and genetically perfect. If he fell for some rebellious tramp. This will be easy.
Keep him occupied during trip to island and leave him. Maybe give the two radios to still be friendly, possibly get info, and ambush via cyber hounds, or her via bare hands when no longer useful. ( Keep in mind she cannot fall in love with him. As she is psycho surged, we control what feelings she has. So ha! And sure has loop holes. But a perfect overlord reign is well. Boring to rule the world.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 10:10:37 pm
I say we do A but alter it.
During trip to islands we have a female Cherubim on board (youth trooper/legion code as they keep their youthful looks as kids or teens. Any how)
Have our agent befriend him. Due to being female and genetically perfect. If he fell for some rebellious tramp. This will be easy.
Keep him occupied during trip to island and leave him. Maybe give the two radios to still be friendly, possibly get info, and ambush via cyber hounds, or her via bare hands when no longer useful. ( Keep in mind she cannot fall in love with him. As she is psycho surged, we control what feelings she has. So ha! And sure has loop holes. But a perfect overlord reign is well. Boring to rule the world.)
Not genetically perfect, just really souped up with genetic modifications. I'd say around 250% the strength of a regular human? Good looks were not in the brochure, but it didn't hurt their appearance either.
Cybernetic linking doesn't control emotion. She might still fall for him. But she's disallowed from having any rebellious thoughts against the Empire - she would really care about him, and think he's making a mistake - she'll try her best to turn him.
It's just that some poor sap at the control center is going to have to sit through all her mushy gushy emotions... ugh.
And he might still be falling for said rebellious tramp. His dialogue is almost up, then you can question him a bit more then release him as specified by Tyrant.
Post by: Glass on September 03, 2017, 10:17:15 pm
I say we do A but alter it.I feel like this is made of terrible ideas.
During trip to islands we have a female Cherubim on board (youth trooper/legion code as they keep their youthful looks as kids or teens. Any how)
Have our agent befriend him. Due to being female and genetically perfect. If he fell for some rebellious tramp. This will be easy.
Keep him occupied during trip to island and leave him. Maybe give the two radios to still be friendly, possibly get info, and ambush via cyber hounds, or her via bare hands when no longer useful. ( Keep in mind she cannot fall in love with him. As she is psycho surged, we control what feelings she has. So ha! And sure has loop holes. But a perfect overlord reign is well. Boring to rule the world.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 10:20:19 pm
I say we do A but alter it.I feel like this is made of terrible ideas.
During trip to islands we have a female Cherubim on board (youth trooper/legion code as they keep their youthful looks as kids or teens. Any how)
Have our agent befriend him. Due to being female and genetically perfect. If he fell for some rebellious tramp. This will be easy.
Keep him occupied during trip to island and leave him. Maybe give the two radios to still be friendly, possibly get info, and ambush via cyber hounds, or her via bare hands when no longer useful. ( Keep in mind she cannot fall in love with him. As she is psycho surged, we control what feelings she has. So ha! And sure has loop holes. But a perfect overlord reign is well. Boring to rule the world.)
Well, why? Preying on emotions too unreliable? Or too cliched?
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 03, 2017, 10:24:48 pm
I say we do A but alter it.
During trip to islands we have a female Cherubim on board (youth trooper/legion code as they keep their youthful looks as kids or teens. Any how)
Have our agent befriend him. Due to being female and genetically perfect. If he fell for some rebellious tramp. This will be easy.
Keep him occupied during trip to island and leave him. Maybe give the two radios to still be friendly, possibly get info, and ambush via cyber hounds, or her via bare hands when no longer useful. ( Keep in mind she cannot fall in love with him. As she is psycho surged, we control what feelings she has. So ha! And sure has loop holes. But a perfect overlord reign is well. Boring to rule the world.)
Not genetically perfect, just really souped up with genetic modifications. I'd say around 250% the strength of a regular human? Good looks were not in the brochure, but it didn't hurt their appearance either.
Cybernetic linking doesn't control emotion. She might still fall for him. But she's disallowed from having any rebellious thoughts against the Empire - she would really care about him, and think he's making a mistake - she'll try her best to turn him.
It's just that some poor sap at the control center is going to have to sit through all her mushy gushy emotions... ugh.
And he might still be falling for said rebellious tramp. His dialogue is almost up, then you can question him a bit more then release him as specified by Tyrant.
Then no. Hell to the no. Trying to turn him means showing him mercy and I realize the folly that this is the material of modern day young adult fiction. :Shoots plan out of a cannon into the sun.: Too many cliches.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 10:36:39 pm
I say we do A but alter it.
During trip to islands we have a female Cherubim on board (youth trooper/legion code as they keep their youthful looks as kids or teens. Any how)
Have our agent befriend him. Due to being female and genetically perfect. If he fell for some rebellious tramp. This will be easy.
Keep him occupied during trip to island and leave him. Maybe give the two radios to still be friendly, possibly get info, and ambush via cyber hounds, or her via bare hands when no longer useful. ( Keep in mind she cannot fall in love with him. As she is psycho surged, we control what feelings she has. So ha! And sure has loop holes. But a perfect overlord reign is well. Boring to rule the world.)
Not genetically perfect, just really souped up with genetic modifications. I'd say around 250% the strength of a regular human? Good looks were not in the brochure, but it didn't hurt their appearance either.
Cybernetic linking doesn't control emotion. She might still fall for him. But she's disallowed from having any rebellious thoughts against the Empire - she would really care about him, and think he's making a mistake - she'll try her best to turn him.
It's just that some poor sap at the control center is going to have to sit through all her mushy gushy emotions... ugh.
And he might still be falling for said rebellious tramp. His dialogue is almost up, then you can question him a bit more then release him as specified by Tyrant.
Then no. Hell to the no. Trying to turn him means showing him mercy and I realize the folly that this is the material of modern day young adult fiction. :Shoots plan out of a cannon into the sun.: Too many cliches.
Realize that the cliches are going to win this no matter what you do. Cool idea while it lasted.
And realize, she's totally banned from having rebellious thoughts. You order her to kill him, it'll get done.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 03, 2017, 10:40:47 pm
- Jacob Edlin, himself. Reluctantly there, slightly shortish, moved from Antarctica a few years ago. Fell into this entire thing when he followed Anna to a meeting, after which he got dragged to the governor's office on pain of death.
- Anna Drimoxi, blond, kinda short, who got dragged into all this by her father around 2 years ago, and who both boys in La Group have a not-so-subtle crush on.
- Samael "Sam" Drimoxi, your textbook older gentleman and political fanatic, claims (with some validity) to be descended from the original rulers of Alternate Brazil, been covertly planning this for over 20 years, is really mad at the government for various reasons.
- Andrew "A. C." Calvin, popular, tall, wears his hair in a ridiculous slick, slightly cruel and callous, joined the rebellion a few months ago for various political reasons of his own.
He also goes ahead and confirms that they know about the properties of Andantesite, and are planning to destabilize the wormhole in the capital with it.
Anything specific you want to ask him? Give me exact quotes.
NEXT STORY POST (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7555492#msg7555492)
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 03, 2017, 11:06:25 pm
We can brand him so that no one will mistake him for just a usual citizen.
Edit: or perhaps we could try to sway him to our cause as it's the only real chance he'll be able to save anyone associated with the group, and it will cause him emotional anguish, maybe?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 03, 2017, 11:11:29 pm
What does your group call itself?
Are you just one cell among many?
Would you be willing to rejoin the empire in a years time, perhaps you could even work to avoid your "freinds" meeting a nasty end through the official channels?
If you hated them empire why didn't you flee to the North? I'm sure they're are plenty of tribes their that we don't really care about.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 03, 2017, 11:11:41 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 03, 2017, 11:17:36 pm
Yes. Branding him is a good way to identify the body when he is found one way or another. Hmmm. My original idea was choloform him, put tracking devices and let him pick wilderness in case rebels find him, we find rebels. Too many variables. Like how female agent had too much cheese.
So you don't like the idea of relying on his feelings for the other rebels to turn him into a disposable, and highly knowledgeable agent of ours? Of course it would work better if we were able to take some more hostages, we should independently look into these people… And their families some kidnapping might be in order to get them to fully cooperate with us.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 04, 2017, 07:03:05 am
What does your group call itself?
"I never heard a name from the larger rebellion, and if they had one, the rest aren't using it because there are four - wait, three - rebels left.
Are you just one cell among many?
"Every dissenting citizen we knew of was in that mansion, or the smaller revolts taking place around the city. They haven't told me much about this."
Would you be willing to rejoin the empire in a years time, perhaps you could even work to avoid your "freinds" meeting a nasty end through the official channels?
"I'll come back, but trying to bring them back? No, I'm totally out of this mess."
If you hated them empire why didn't you flee to the North? I'm sure they're are plenty of tribes their that we don't really care about.
"Hey, like I said, I haven't got any problem with you. Sam wants the empire totally destroyed, thinks he's avenging the slaughter of millions of innocents."
NEXT STORY POST (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7555772#msg7555772)
Post by: omada on September 04, 2017, 09:09:08 am
Part of me knows that he is just an incompetent and this trope never works, he will only slow down a rebel with a shit talk while being left to die or gaining a mercy shot, so letting him go after 1 month of prison or just letting him go "What? he was just a hostage of rebel group, we can give the rebels 1 more year for each in jail for that"
Either way, we should implant an hidden tracker/microphone/whatever to make sure he isn't meeting/writing/talking to any rebel
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 04, 2017, 09:36:21 am
Part of me want's to recruit this guy, put him in a fake prison for about 1 month doing psychological tests to discover where his skills really are and then recruit him.
Part of me knows that he is just an incompetent and this trope never works, he will only slow down a rebel with a shit talk while being left to die or gaining a mercy shot, so letting him go after 1 month of prison or just letting him go "What? he was just a hostage of rebel group, we can give the rebels 1 more year for each in jail for that"
Either way, we should implant an hidden tracker/microphone/whatever to make sure he isn't meeting/writing/talking to any rebel
Never hurts to try, right? (Yes it does.)
Any questions for him?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 04, 2017, 02:28:43 pm
Next action?
A: Release him
B: Release him, but with a tracker
C: Release him, but follow him
D: Imprison him
E: Kill him
F: Something else...
Also give where you want him placed, and the exact process to transfer him
At the same time, you receive the following message from a telegraph line leading into the museum.
I'M A HOSTAGE, FOUND AN UNGUARDED LINE. REBELS ARE TALKING ABOUT <a pause> REBELS HAVE ESCAPED. THEY FOUND A BACK DOOR. THEY'RE ALL GONE.
Your response?
A: Storm in and rush through the building, trying to find the back way
B: Attempt to verify rebel presence in the building using vantage points
C: Keep asking questions of the hostage
D: Clusterbomb the building
E: Proceed with the siege
Updated State of the Empire. Created linkchain in case anyone that joins wants to read it all.
Post by: omada on September 04, 2017, 03:32:35 pm
Too suspicious
B and C
Comand people to use advantage points of view and question the guy "Where is the backdoor? Do they took hostages? And if they're gone why can't you leave the building now and yell it in the windows?"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 04, 2017, 03:45:26 pm
B:release him, with a tracker and tell the press he was a hostage
Release him as in desert-island release, or streets-of-the-city release?
B and C
Comand people to use advantage points of view and question the guy "Where is the backdoor? Do they took hostages? And if they're gone why can't you leave the building now and yell it in the windows?"
THEY TIED US UP NEAR A TELEGRAPH HA HA
FOUND A TUNNEL NEAR THE CONTROL CONSOLE, USING OUR NOTES
Scouts report that they can't be sure, but the center appears rebel-free and has several researchers tied up, one of which is tapping something.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 04, 2017, 03:47:37 pm
B:release him, with a tracker and tell the press he was a hostage
Too suspicious
B and C
Comand people to use advantage points of view and question the guy "Where is the backdoor? Do they took hostages? And if they're gone why can't you leave the building now and yell it in the windows?"
For once I totally agree with you.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 04, 2017, 03:50:34 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 04, 2017, 03:57:46 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 04, 2017, 04:11:41 pm
I also came up with a counter to those whacky rebel scum should they do the black hole thing.
Lastly. Send all nearby armed services at all entry/escape of site and keep asking this "hostage" questions. This sounds like a trap.
Post by: omada on September 04, 2017, 04:51:08 pm
THEY TIED US UP NEAR A TELEGRAPH HA HA
FOUND A TUNNEL NEAR THE CONTROL CONSOLE, USING OUR NOTES
Scouts report that they can't be sure, but the center appears rebel-free and has several researchers tied up, one of which is tapping something.
"Sending agents in, did you hear they put any trap? You know where the tunnel is headed?"
If we already have an anti-trap unit on local send it first, if not send our disposable agents first. Search for the tunnel and read the notes, we might wait for them in the other side.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 04, 2017, 06:56:00 pm
Post by: Puppyguard on September 04, 2017, 06:58:31 pm
Release him with a tracker and a bomb, far from the capital.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 04, 2017, 07:01:01 pm
Release him in another city far from the capital anywhere in our control as a new man, in the way interrogate him to more precise info about the rebels and where he thinks they might hide.
He's already in another city far from the Capital - this is all going on in Brazil. He's from Antarctica, sent here alone over the summer.
Your options for exile are: (and this really matters so pay attention)
A: South Georgia Islands
B: Brazil's forests
C: Brazil's cities
D: Australia
E: Antarctica (capital)
Make up your minds already.
I also came up with a counter to those whacky rebel scum should they do the black hole thing.
TELL MEEEEEEE!!!! I really want to know what can defeat my idea.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 04, 2017, 07:30:58 pm
But that doesn't really matter.
Surprisingly little matters here.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Special forces swarm the building but find no tunnel. They do find the researchers, tied up in the middle. None have a telegram.
When they are untied, one steps up. "Quick, they said something about knocking out some guards and leaving admist the chaos."
Outside, some questioning glances are thrown at the three figures in bomb squad uniforms walking around the perimeter of the building, but they manage to dive into the woods admist gunfire.
You just lost some rebels.
In the meantime, the uplifted dogs and upgraded kids have arrived at the port. You have time to unload one, at most, and either would outrun the ordinary police.
What now?
A: Send a conventional force
B: Send the dogs
C: Send the Cherubs (lobotomized kids)
D: Let them go
E: Carefully search the building first.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 04, 2017, 07:31:26 pm
we can recover him later if need be but right now it seems useless enough that we should put them somewhere out-of-the-way.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 04, 2017, 07:31:54 pm
A: South Georgia island
we can recover him later if need be but right now it seems useless enough that we should put them somewhere out-of-the-way.
Ninja'd by evil minion failure.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 04, 2017, 07:34:17 pm
As for these darn rascally rebels
B: UNLEASH THE DOGS OF WAR 🐩!
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 04, 2017, 09:59:32 pm
As for pursuit, B for cyber dogs. That is their purpose.
The Cherubs will not be used, as if they fail will make them less valued, they are met for pure combat or operation work.
Other thing is, do not want public to see the Cherubs yet. And if have to, all but handful masked, and last resort. I met for them to crush their numbers in a straight fight.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 05, 2017, 07:00:29 am
Also, have we gotten around to having ID badges on all uniforms, as well as non-face concealing visors? It's on the Evil Overlord List!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 05, 2017, 07:24:06 am
Also, have we gotten around to having ID badges on all uniforms, as well as non-face concealing visors? It's on the Evil Overlord List!
Assume our guards are like normal police - carry badges, lightly armored, uniform.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 05, 2017, 07:54:34 am
Post by: Glass on September 05, 2017, 08:03:57 am
Yeah, ain't cutting it. From now on, everybody, not just the normal guards(except the Cherubs, at least not yet) must have a very visible badge on them at all times. Anybody who does not have a badge must be captured for questioning. Furthermore, each badge should have a photograph of the guard who owns it on said badge. If the faces do not match, take them in for interrogation. No excuses are acceptable.These badges will have a code that is connected to a file of their criminal record, if they have one.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 05, 2017, 09:56:05 am
And as for base security this is double enforced. Anyone trying to get in without proof via photo or code is to be detained or kill outright. Only way to stay safe. And by detain as in imprisoned by themselves. No fear or cute pets to bail them out.
Post by: qwertyuiopas on September 05, 2017, 04:31:45 pm
Hmm... While a regular armoury would attract them if they were looking for weapons/uniforms, could labelling the wormhole rooms as "siege engine workshops" convey the right combination of that-will-be-guarded and nothing-useful-for-me? I guess another critical part is that few of the regular guards need a reason to know about the actual purpose. Also, another constraint would be names that draw attention for espionage, so anything research-related might not work either.
If the rebels understand the meaning, how about "radioactive waste storage"? Or "poisonous spider breeding"? Both go would be actively dangerous rather than unpleasant as mere sewage would be, and are the sort of thing that you would naturally want to put out of the way deep underground. Also, very few people would ever have a reason to go there, so it would be far harder for them to bluff their way in. Actually, wouldn't that raise suspicion, with the obvious traffic? So maybe the wormhole room itself is labelled that way, to discourage breaking in through alternate routes, but a room connected to it (indirectly?) is where all of the human traffic to the wormhole approaches from, and has a valid reason for that much activity. "Records storage" would have too much intelligence value and attract the rebels again, so how about "records auditing"? Unless all information to/from the wormhole rooms is already carried by voice tube and/or electrical signal, so the room itself needs minimal foot traffic.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 05, 2017, 07:27:36 pm
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
The dogs catch on to the scent quickly enough, but the rebels have had something of a head start. The dogs track them as far as the coast, after which they began walking along the beach and they became harder to track.
Next action?
A: Have dogs continue the search of the beach
B: Recall the dogs and search the beach by hand
C: Send Cherubs (not to be used lightly, top secret)
D: Quietly designate them wanted and wait for reports
E: Take no action, wait for new developments
By the way, reports reach you of a gravitational anomaly on the beach near where they disappeared to
Send who to investigate? Pick as many as you like, they'll all be used, but for each extra group above one you get a -1 to the dice roll
A: Classical soldiers/police
B: Bomb squad
C: Scientists/Engineers
D: Uplifted Dogs
E: Cherubs
Badges… badges are a good idea.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
ID cards are distributed and displayed within a few hours of this announcement. These are found to greatly increase the transparency and speed of military-civilian interactions, causing an increase in both public perception and actual efficiency of the regime.
+1 military, +1 political
Also, make sure that any maps or signs label the wormhole ends as a place that the rebels definitely would not want to go. While the Overlord List suggests something to do with sewage, that might appeal to them as a place that guards would not go either, so good for hiding. I'd think someplace likely to have alert guards and unlikely to have loose guard equipment laying around. Unfortunately, the possibility that the rebels have a "free the prisoners" attitude, and the many types of room that might be left unguarded if their presence was discovered and every available guard needed eliminates many options.
Hmm... While a regular armoury would attract them if they were looking for weapons/uniforms, could labelling the wormhole rooms as "siege engine workshops" convey the right combination of that-will-be-guarded and nothing-useful-for-me? I guess another critical part is that few of the regular guards need a reason to know about the actual purpose. Also, another constraint would be names that draw attention for espionage, so anything research-related might not work either.
If the rebels understand the meaning, how about "radioactive waste storage"? Or "poisonous spider breeding"? Both go would be actively dangerous rather than unpleasant as mere sewage would be, and are the sort of thing that you would naturally want to put out of the way deep underground. Also, very few people would ever have a reason to go there, so it would be far harder for them to bluff their way in. Actually, wouldn't that raise suspicion, with the obvious traffic? So maybe the wormhole room itself is labelled that way, to discourage breaking in through alternate routes, but a room connected to it (indirectly?) is where all of the human traffic to the wormhole approaches from, and has a valid reason for that much activity. "Records storage" would have too much intelligence value and attract the rebels again, so how about "records auditing"? Unless all information to/from the wormhole rooms is already carried by voice tube and/or electrical signal, so the room itself needs minimal foot traffic.
Information is carried to the wormhole room on both ends through telegraph, telephone, and fax. The information is sent along the wormhole proper by a system of strings. There are usually several officers coming and going to get the latest on the situation. The wormhole room is well known enough that it doesn't need to have signs pointing to it.
The issue is size. The wormhole throat itself is only 3 centimeters wide, but the gravitational distortions extend out to around a softball-size and the stabilizing mechanism is around the size of a large truck, stood on its end. And the doors of the room are kinda... small... and the walls are kinda... thick... and to disassemble the stabilizing mechanism for even a moment would mean OH NO BLACK HOLE for all. Plus it's in a place of relative importance in both the Capital and Sector Command, plus the scientists keep dragging instrumentation in and out to analyze and maintain the link.
Not a lot of possibilities for disguise there.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 05, 2017, 08:52:40 pm
Can we at least put some guards in the wormhole room? Or maybe... do we have security cameras yet? If we don't, can we drill a tiny hole in the wall that can be looked through in a second room?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 05, 2017, 08:59:50 pm
Can we at least put some guards in the wormhole room? Or maybe... do we have security cameras yet? If we don't, can we drill a tiny hole in the wall that can be looked through in a second room?
We don't quite have security cameras. The room is generally chock-full of people at their stations - and no, they are not all facing away from the entrance, there's generally several officers waiting around, ready to grab a weapon if an attack shows up. There's no sneaking into here.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 05, 2017, 09:49:42 pm
The populace should already be looking for them, and as great as soldiers , cherubs and dogs ARE they won't know how to investigate gravitational anomaly's our scientists should and if it's some sort of weapon causing problems, theeen we need to be careful.
Anyone see a problem with this plan of mine?
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 05, 2017, 11:42:41 pm
Adding more teams makes negative die rolls and really scientists do anolmay.
And public should now deal with rebel hunt.
Cherubs are for killing things dead.
Post by: omada on September 06, 2017, 08:06:31 am
A, dogs still are good trackers, if their track lead to the anomaly they will get there for free :v
C,E Cherubs are too weird to be on the citizens views right now, but they are a hell of a fighter with a cute face (in case it's rebels) so they can protect the scientists, and the scientists could deal better with the anomaly
The specialists and their protectors
Being a Brazilian this all is being very funny to imagine. I can even visualize the rebels running my street and going in the general direction of the beach
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 06, 2017, 11:10:06 am
A: Dogs + police
B: Bomb squad + engineers
C: Just scientific team
D: Scientists and Cherubs
Please state your team choice in terms of these options.
Being a Brazilian this all is being very funny to imagine. I can even visualize the rebels running my street and going in the general direction of the beach
Cool! I know nothing about Brazil, so I suppose I'm doing something right.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 06, 2017, 04:21:19 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 06, 2017, 07:15:47 pm
Post by: Puppyguard on September 06, 2017, 07:29:12 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 07, 2017, 01:10:39 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 07, 2017, 07:23:14 am
As tempting as D is we need a cover story for why scientists are to the layman's eyes escorting children to a disaster zone, I say B is what we need.
A gravitational anomaly isn't a disaster zone.
It's fairly conspicuous though.
Also the search vote is tied between dogs and wanted posters.
But it doesn't matter.
Surprisingly little matters here.
Post by: Glass on September 07, 2017, 09:15:07 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 07, 2017, 04:57:56 pm
B.
Thank you.
Now the second vote is tied as well.
I'm sure I am not getting any first-vote votes anymore, so I'll default it to A because dogs implies with public search and public search implies no dogs.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 08, 2017, 03:25:37 pm
There are two things happening here, the dogs trying to find the rebels and the rebels finding the anomaly, possibly by following your troops. If the latter succeeds the former is moot as the rebels go right to you.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
The team of scientists and engineers, with their Cherub bodyguards, arrive at the anomaly. A large patch of the ocean seems to have peeled up, forming a long swirling something above the ocean surface. At the center, something green throbs.
The scientists stop along the shore and report back. “That's a original Wall offensive crystal - someone's activated it. It's inverting gravity around it, and we can't move it because of the repulsion field, but with enough time I could break the link and deactivate it.”
The commander overseeing this mission is also confident that the Cherubs have enough strength to push through the field, but it would need all of them for several minutes.
One of the team notice three figures standing on a nearby spit of sand. One of them jumps off and swims towards the anomaly.
Options:
A: Have the scientists work on the anomaly and the Cherubs go after the figures
B: Have the Cherubs attempt to remove the object
C: Do nothing, wait for the figure to approach closer.
D: Order the scientists to work with all possible speed; watch the figures
Post by: Glass on September 08, 2017, 03:33:10 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 08, 2017, 04:02:52 pm
Post by: Glass on September 08, 2017, 04:08:31 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 08, 2017, 04:48:01 pm
I'd enjoy going the friendly enemies (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FriendlyEnemy) route with these guys, at least as much as we're able to. If they're going to defeat us, I'd at least like to be able to respect them, and have their respect back.
So then that means that you the no B would be a better option?
Post by: omada on September 08, 2017, 05:24:41 pm
part of me thinks we are going to help them if we solve the anomaly, part of me thinks they might use it against us,
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 08, 2017, 08:09:46 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 09, 2017, 02:43:06 am
B, let's not fight them until we have too, no point in wasting lives right now.
Post by: Glass on September 09, 2017, 07:38:22 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 09, 2017, 07:39:46 am
...so, you mean D?
I'll hold off on locking votes until this is cleared up.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 09, 2017, 08:21:19 am
Okay I'll change my vote since I've been outvoted.
B, let's not fight them until we have too, no point in wasting lives right now.
Aww, you fell for it!
The Cherubs leap into the eye of the anomaly and struggle against the antigravity, straining against the exposed ocean surface to reach the crystal causing it.
Suddenly something shifts.
The anomaly reverses direction.
The first thing the Cherubs feel is gravity now pressing them furiously to the ground. The second thing is a couple thousand gallons of water cascading upon their heads.
Between the now miles of water drawn on top of them, and the now 10G gravitational force pressing them to the ground, the Cherubs... well...
*squelch!*
You now have scientists, dogs, and bomb squad. They evidently have the control crystal and know how to use it. What do you do?
Post by: Glass on September 09, 2017, 08:32:08 am
Post by: omada on September 09, 2017, 11:43:04 am
Scientists, continue working on sabotage
dogs, send some after the figures still on the beach outside the anomaly zone to squash or capture them. (hostages hohoho)
Send the bomb squad to distract the anomaly user from the other side? They could spread and shot him with their normal guns and make the anomaly user focus on them not on the scientists/dogs. and maybe with them spread he can only take a few of them each time.
Call reinforcements, later we tell people that a bunch of kids were hiding near the anomaly zone but we couldn't save them from the rebels.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 09, 2017, 03:06:40 pm
This is why I said, "If they look like they're going to do something with the crystal, we shoot them".
They didn't do anything visible with the crystal. Maybe one of the figures fumbled with a control in their hand, but remember, the command crystals are thumbnail sized or less and they're a good mile away.
Hmmm, shit.
Scientists, continue working on sabotage
dogs, send some after the figures still on the beach outside the anomaly zone to squash or capture them. (hostages hohoho)
Send the bomb squad to distract the anomaly user from the other side? They could spread and shot him with their normal guns and make the anomaly user focus on them not on the scientists/dogs. and maybe with them spread he can only take a few of them each time.
There really isn't a "other side". They're on a spit of land, you see. Here, I'll draw a pretty picture.
(https://i.imgur.com/Pbl6eiF.png)
I'll take your suggestion, however.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
The dogs corner the rebels on a spit of sand. They don't even see anything coming, they're too focused on the anomaly.
The bomb squad opens fire to distract the rebels. The rebels swivel, confused, before firing back, but by then the dogs are upon them.
The dogs leap upon the rebels, who rapidly turn their shotguns upon the dogs. A few are winged, and one gets its brains blown out onto the sand. For their part, the rebels are extremely confused at the level of intellect which the dogs display in their tactical movements.
The rebels barely manage to dodge the dogs and escape down the spit. As they pass the bomb squad, a chance bullet catches one in the leg, and the other has to drag him into the forest.
In the debrief, the dogs report that the rebels watching from the shoreline were the grandparent the girl - meaning Calvin (the cool kid) had gone to get the anomaly. Sam Drimoxi had been wounded. One dog also saw an amulet with control shards of andantesite glittering in it in Anna Drimoxi's hand - likely the control device. They attempted to damage it, but failed.
Meanwhile, Andrew Calvin has almost reached the anomaly, now a growing blob of water in the deep sea.
A quick fluid dynamics lesson is in order. The enhanced gravity is pulling Andrew, but also the water, so he's in fact more buoyant than he usually would be. He basically cannot reach the crystal unless the gravity is shut down.
On the minus side, dogs and bomb squads don't like to swim.
What do you do?
A: Chase after Andrew
B: Chase after the Drimoxis
C: Make a PR spectacle about the dead kids and shot dog, giving you +2 political
Again, you can choose two, but the second one (chosen next post) will have a -1 to it's roll. C provides only +1 next turn.
Also describe every extraordinary measure used to ensure the safe transfer of Jacob Eldin (the coward) from the museum to the South Georgias. Trucks, boats, guards, etc. Otherwise I apply the Conservation Of Ninjutsu (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu) and make all the guards useless mooks.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 09, 2017, 03:28:31 pm
There is a second smaller ship carrying a few soldiers circling around his just in case he man just make it into the water, which would kill him eventually anyway, but best not take chances.
As for the current situation, you should definitely make a PR campaign piece out of it. That Is option C.
Post by: omada on September 09, 2017, 03:42:23 pm
When we capture him we can make him rat the other rebels.
And with luck, one of them might kill themselves when they see that they killed kids and are hated even more by the population
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 09, 2017, 04:48:25 pm
The headline reads, REBEL ATTACK ROCKS COASTLINE; KILLS THREE CHILDREN, DOG. Public outrage about the rebels intensifies; you will likely be able to use this to sneak some more... unscrupulous methods of catching the rebels under the radar.
+2 to political, for a net +2 (-1 cherubs +1 ID +2 this)
Jacob Eledin is physically shackled and guarded by a squad composed of police from our most violent urban areas that we had on hand, Proffesonal game trackers should he escape and several blood hounds with articles of his clothing are on board, he is in one of our older simpler steamships, with the room reserved for him, this room has only one entrance and one exit, nonetheless we will have some cards stationed below the room if possible in case he should somehow break through the floor.
There is a second smaller ship carrying a few soldiers circling around his just in case he man just make it into the water, which would kill him eventually anyway, but best not take chances.
As for the current situation, you should definitely make a PR campaign piece out of it.
Nice! Roll on complications.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Storms along the Drake Passage (the hazardous, rough patch of sea between the end of South America and Antarctica) mean that the area will be closed to boat travel for the next week and a half at least. You need to pass this to reach the South Georgias.
What do you do?
A: Continue onward during a subsidence of the storms
B: Delay the transfer and hold him until the Drake Passage calms
C: Seek an alternate destination for exile
What about the current situation? (-1 now)
A: Pursue Andrew, who has now swam right up to the edge of the anomaly
B: Pursue the Drimoxis, who have run into the jungle at the edge of the beach
C: Wait for reinforcements
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 09, 2017, 04:56:36 pm
Just an idea.
I personally think we should wait for the Drake passage to clear up, but if the consensus moves against that than, how quickly could we dump him the Galapagos?
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 09, 2017, 05:53:42 pm
2; Need better gear. Like sniper level weapon art to counter this.
3: Spin it that they were harmless with fake ids and make the scum painted as child murdering monster cultists.
5: Invest in cloning so we can just darn well clone cherub genes so no need to child snatch.
But yeah have security forces open fire as scientist keep trying to unravel it. The kid you guys make the call.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 09, 2017, 05:58:17 pm
I personally think we should wait for the Drake passage to clear up, but if the consensus moves against that than, how quickly could we dump him the Galapagos?
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current, along with our experience in the region, make a Brazil-Georgias trip take much less time (days against weeks) than a Galapagos run, even though they are around the same distance.
The Galapagos represent the northern limit of our exploration, and are mostly uninhabited. Most people think the tortoises are cute.
1: There better be more of them as they are not cheap.
We only brought 3 - there are 7 more.
2; Need better gear. Like sniper level weapon art to counter this.
To counter the rebels inverting a gravitational anomaly on you?
3: Spin it that they were harmless with fake ids and make the scum painted as child murdering monster cultists.
Already done, as part of the PR spin
But yeah have security forces open fire as scientist keep trying to unravel it. The kid you guys make the call.
We're a bit too... far... for proper aim at this distance, especially with the bomb squad's limited weapon choice. Security will have to go in the water.
Post by: omada on September 09, 2017, 06:25:36 pm
IF he survives the trip (or a hidden rebel cell uses this chance to rescue him) we go back to the reinforced crew
B Send the dogs in the jungle bomb squads and scientists remain at the beach
Hmmm, have the cherubs some weapon droped?
Have the bomb squad grab it and do suppressing fire on the swimming guy, he can't concentrate on whatever he is doing. If they land a hit it's an blessing. (or just wait patiently to discover what will happen)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 09, 2017, 06:28:15 pm
Hmmm, make the rebel pass through the drake passage, but this time with expendable crew and ship
IF he survives the trip (or a hidden rebel cell uses this chance to rescue him) we go back to the reinforced crew
B Send the dogs in the jungle bomb squads and scientists remain at the beach
Hmmm, have the cherubs some weapon droped?
Have the bomb squad grab it and do suppressing fire on the swimming guy, he can't concentrate on whatever he is doing. If they land a hit it's an blessing. (or just wait patiently to discover what will happen)
If he passes the Drake with the skeleton crew, he's in either Antarctica or the Georgias already.
Anything the Cherubs dropped is wallowing in 10G at the bottom of the anomaly now.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 09, 2017, 06:45:23 pm
What about leaving him in the Falklands(my new suggestion unless someone find something wrong with it).with still the crew suggestions that I've made out, I actually don't want him to die on us because if he's just been lying this whole time then there's a chance that other rebels might try and rescue him, they won't Try and rescue a dead man, unless they don't know that he's a dead man.
Also I agree that we should work on cloning, but unless we can get those clowns to grow faster than normal then it will be a long-term investment rather than the short term one as it should still take us a few years to get a good batch of that.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 10, 2017, 11:46:35 am
So my vote is now C, A
What about leaving him in the Falklands(my new suggestion unless someone find something wrong with it).with still the crew suggestions that I've made out, I actually don't want him to die on us because if he's just been lying this whole time then there's a chance that other rebels might try and rescue him, they won't Try and rescue a dead man, unless they don't know that he's a dead man.
Also I agree that we should work on cloning, but unless we can get those clowns to grow faster than normal then it will be a long-term investment rather than the short term one as it should still take us a few years to get a good batch of that.
Falklands is... also through the Drake. We are on the Pacific Coast of Brazil; the Wall runs down Chile.
Nobody's suggested anything reasonable for the Drake, so I'm going to go with "wait for storms to clear up". But it's pretty clear that everyone wants the bomb squad to open fire.
The bomb squad fires at extreme range as Andrew reaches the edge of the anomaly. The bullets splash into the water, doing nothing. Suddenly the anomaly reverses once again, turning from a huge bump of water to a dimple, repelling water.
Andrew is swept under by the wave. He takes a breath and swims downwards. The sea bottom is now quite accessible, between the lowering surface and the decreased buoyancy force. Something green glitters at the bottom.
Now what?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 10, 2017, 03:12:39 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 10, 2017, 03:28:31 pm
OOC: I thought we were on the Atlantic coast, as Brazil doesn't border the pacific, that would be Peru and Chile or their alt world equivalents.
We aren't calling the big thing west of Chile the Pacific?
Then what is it?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 10, 2017, 04:35:32 pm
As I just said,I thought we were on the east because I just said Brazil doesn't border the pacific, the pacific is still the pacific. If realized we were in choke I would never have votes for any of that stuff.OOC: I thought we were on the Atlantic coast, as Brazil doesn't border the pacific, that would be Peru and Chile or their alt world equivalents.
We aren't calling the big thing west of Chile the Pacific?
Then what is it?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 10, 2017, 04:38:04 pm
As I just said,I thought we were on the east because I just said Brazil doesn't border the pacific, the pacific is still the pacific. If realized we were in choke I would never have votes for any of that stuff.OOC: I thought we were on the Atlantic coast, as Brazil doesn't border the pacific, that would be Peru and Chile or their alt world equivalents.
We aren't calling the big thing west of Chile the Pacific?
Then what is it?
Sorry. We're in South America, specifically Chile. Sorry for not keeping track of such things...
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 10, 2017, 09:01:40 pm
Aside galvaniacs (has other good things) cloning, and my counter idea should the rebels do black hole thing. I say we make a robo double be our puppet as we do our work and build a bomb network. Should they kill us (double) the doubles death triggers bomb.
Use the populace as a human shield that way.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 10, 2017, 09:06:40 pm
As for what could have been a counter: Galvaniac fire arms. Gravity propelled bullets that shoot bullets at fraction of light speed. Have the rebel assholes react to that as they try stuff while turned to cheese.
Aside galvaniacs (has other good things) cloning, and my counter idea should the rebels do black hole thing. I say we make a robo double be our puppet as we do our work and build a bomb network. Should they kill us (double) the doubles death triggers bomb.
Use the populace as a human shield that way.
That's a horrible idea. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoadBearingBoss) Not only is the capital gone, but everyone else too. Why... why would you suggest such a thing?
Besides revealing it to the rebels, at least.
Post by: omada on September 10, 2017, 09:27:21 pm
The swimming friend might have another control
Use the control that they tried to break, we got it right?
Give it to the scientists and make the water smash the rebel/ his control device
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 10, 2017, 09:51:43 pm
Still a body double isn't a bad idea as long as they are loyal, dumb, and good at acting. If they're smart loyal, and good acting they might actually came into the populist they are us, and take a roll, they might even be better at it than us and claim that taking a role would be quote for the "good of the republic"z
If they're better than acting, no one will be convinced, and do I really need to point out the problems with them potentially being disloyal?
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 11, 2017, 05:38:32 pm
My counter for wormhole failure is that we construct a well fortified underground city base. Maybe in a mountain and have personal and ourselves there. Also clone tanks to chur our our forces to take the world by storm. That and invest in better weapons while entertaining the masses, somehow. And use cloning to make their lives better too. Food and donor tissue.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 11, 2017, 11:14:29 pm
Post by: omada on September 11, 2017, 11:22:48 pm
Rebels will always arise, besides that, we ONLY conquered half of the world, what kind of overlord would satisfy with that?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 11, 2017, 11:24:57 pm
I double doubt it.The apathetic "I'll let my minims dispose of this problem" kind?
Rebels will always arise, besides that, we ONLY conquered half of the world, what kind of overlord would satisfy with that?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 13, 2017, 02:09:05 pm
Hey GM, if all our current "heros" die will it end the game? I hope not, this has been so much fun:
They won't die.
Plot armor, remember?
I haven't had any time to update this, but that does NOT mean we're going on hiatus - updates are just going to be much less often, but still regular.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 18, 2017, 03:56:07 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 18, 2017, 11:18:30 am
So, is this now dead?
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS NOT DEAD.
So, I didn't think we got any suggestions past discussion about where this all is. So I'll just take your actions as "wait".
Eldin is held until storms clear out. Guards wait until Andrew gets the crystal and swims within range.
The guards stand at the edge. When he gets the crystal, the anomaly vanishes and he swims into sniping range.
Spoiler: Do you hit him? (click to show/hide)
Your bullets go wild… somehow. Andrew holds the crystal over his head as he paddles towards shore.
Suddenly it glows.
A massive ocean wave crashes into the shore, knocking over all the guards and sending Andrew hurtling onto the beach.
What now?
A: SHOOT HIM!!!
B: Allow him to escape then follow him
C: Turn the dogs on him
D: Scan the area for anyone who might be controlling the crystal
Post by: omada on September 18, 2017, 12:32:05 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 18, 2017, 01:48:42 pm
D
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
I think we're at a net +2 science and +2 military, correct?
You spot the girl on top of a tree, at the edge of the forest. She's holding the controller mechanism.
As you watch, she gives it a twist, and Andrew - who had been hurtling towards the trees - begins to fly upwards. Andantesite doesn't affect itself, so the crystal is weighing him down.
What do you do?
Post by: omada on September 18, 2017, 04:06:18 pm
Dogs knock the girl out of that tree (i know that dogs usually fail on these, but these aren't normal dogs)
The rest, SHOOT, aim at the crystal as it might be redirecting shots (and there is a chance of him being hurt in the process of redirecting shots) if the guns don't work throw rocks don't matter
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 18, 2017, 04:13:16 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 18, 2017, 06:19:06 pm
A: Andrew + Crystal
B: Anna + Manipulator
Guns target:
A: Andrew + Crystal
B: Anna + Manipulator
Vote!
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 18, 2017, 06:51:50 pm
B girl
Post by: omada on September 18, 2017, 09:20:31 pm
Dogs A.
B girl
Bah, they aren't too far from each other to make a difference right?
+1
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 18, 2017, 11:49:19 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 19, 2017, 07:19:18 am
B, A feels more appropriate from my point of view, after all without the crystal in Poseidon of the rebels the fact that they can control it becomes less of an issue.
That's implying that bad guys can shoot.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 19, 2017, 04:35:26 pm
B, A feels more appropriate from my point of view, after all without the crystal in Poseidon of the rebels the fact that they can control it becomes less of an issue.
That's implying that bad guys can shoot.
Ah, I forgot, plot armor.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 19, 2017, 04:36:11 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 19, 2017, 11:04:41 pm
B, A feels more appropriate from my point of view, after all without the crystal in Poseidon of the rebels the fact that they can control it becomes less of an issue.
That's implying that bad guys can shoot.
Ah, I forgot, plot armor.
Yep plot armor. Bane of all of us. I hope to fix things to have the guys like, do something useful.
Because aside super science we stink.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 20, 2017, 07:41:47 am
Because aside super science we stink.
Every empire ever.
But seriously though. They were supposed to defuse bombs - instead, they have to shoot with small arms at extreme range and get doused with a wave for no good reason. Anyone would be shaken.
If it was a fair fight, we might have won. This was not a fair fight. I think the vote now is B,A? I'll get that later.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 21, 2017, 07:43:00 am
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Getting up to the tree is easy enough. Andantesite doesn't discriminate; it's generating a large column of inverted gravity, which the dogs locate and use to travel up.
The issue is that now Sam Drimoxi is standing below them with a shotgun.
Yeah, that doesn't go well.
The dogs do manage to make it into the tree in which Anna is sitting, however. And it's in close range that these guys really shine. After a brief time getting snapped at by the hounds, Anna jumps out of the tree.
She manages to catch a part of the gravity cylinder, but there is still a satisfying splat as she hits.
Sam bellows and helps her into the forest.
All the while we're shooting at Andrew, but unable to stop him from gliding to a landing deep in the forest. The inversion lessens to let him down, indicating that someone still had the control crystal.
Just then we get reports that Eldin is escaping.
You may turn your attention to one situation only, the other gets the idiot ball.
A: The control crystal
B: The escapees
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 21, 2017, 08:20:20 am
Post by: Glass on September 21, 2017, 08:22:16 am
A: The control crystal!+1
Also, how about we just don't bother with the escapees? Rather than making a fool of ourselves, let's just focus on the crystal.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 21, 2017, 09:21:14 am
Post by: omada on September 21, 2017, 10:02:26 am
(and that's how villains die and jacob or becomes a kind of comic relief or the unexpected hero))
although, the control Crystal is their greatest asset/danger
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 21, 2017, 12:08:01 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 21, 2017, 06:55:13 pm
Get that ****ing crystal!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 21, 2017, 08:07:01 pm
A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get that ****ing crystal!
Alright.
The rebels holding the crystal have disappeared into the jungle. However, by now, reinforcements have arrived, and based on the injuries we're sure they have hastily hidden themselves in one of these areas:
(https://i.imgur.com/MMXj9Gp.png)
The Search: Rules
We'll scan one zone per day (post) for human activity. Each day (post) the rebels will undertake one action critical to their mission. I won't disclose how many actions there are in total, but when they run out bad things will happen.
Each zone has been assigned a sensitivity and specificity (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitivity_and_specificity). Sensitivity is the chance (out of 6) that we successfully find activity there. Specificity is the chance (also out of 6) that we mistakenly identify something else as rebel activity.
You will select a zone every day. You may select the same zone several days in a row. When you select a zone, the following happens:
- If the zone contains rebel activity, then a dice is rolled. If it is below the sensitivity, then you are told that there is activity. If it is not, then you are told, wrongly, that there is no rebel activity. If there is no rebel activity, then a dice is rolled and compared to the specificity to decide if you receive this information correctly or not.
- If a neighboring zone (up, down, left, right, four directions) contains rebel activity, the same is done. Information about neighboring zones does not include which one it is.
At any time, you may perform a detailed search on a zone. If you are correct, then the search will proceed to the next stage without any chance for rebels to act. If you are wrong, I will state so, the rebels gain an action, and move randomly to any zone.
Therefore, low sensitivity high specificity zones like Mountain are safe - you likely won't catch them, but when you catch them you can be pretty sure. High sensitivity low specificity zones like Grasslands are loose cannons - you likely will catch the rebels, but might detect something else if they aren't there.
Our first zone will be!
A: Mountains
B: Swamp
C: Beach
D: Grasslands
Post by: Glass on September 21, 2017, 08:09:41 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 21, 2017, 08:11:21 pm
B, check the swamp.
You read the rules in two minutes!?!?!?!
I'll lock votes in half a day. I'm predicting this nonsense to go on for at least a week in-game.
Post by: Glass on September 21, 2017, 08:12:16 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 21, 2017, 08:17:24 pm
:)
On another note, do you think I'm doing a good job with my first SG? I designed it to be a new style - one with a lot of behind the hood complex stuff but a very intuitive interface that is easy to understand. Take this thing for example - I have all this false positive/false negative stuff set up but the values are quite intuitive (nobody goes to mountains, easy to spot people on grasslands, etc) so there's a lot to contribute. It's hopefully complex enough to be rewarding to analyze but simple enough to be rewarding to play.
But what do you think? Any ways I could improve? Is the plot too dry?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 21, 2017, 09:15:02 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 21, 2017, 09:40:54 pm
Let's take a gander at grasslands, even if we don't catch them something interesting is likley to happen.
I... don't have plans for extraneous complications. It's all there in the rules.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 21, 2017, 10:00:01 pm
Let's take a gander at grasslands, even if we don't catch them something interesting is likley to happen.
I... don't have plans for extraneous complications. It's all there in the rules.
I read the rules it's how I came to that conclusion that your disputing.
"zones like Grasslands are loose cannons - you likely will catch the rebels, but might detect something else if they aren't there."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 21, 2017, 10:03:37 pm
Let's take a gander at grasslands, even if we don't catch them something interesting is likley to happen.
I... don't have plans for extraneous complications. It's all there in the rules.
I read the rules it's how I came to that conclusion that your disputing.
"zones like Grasslands are loose cannons - you likely will catch the rebels, but might detect something else if they aren't there."
You might detect something else that isn't the rebels and interpret it as the rebels as a false positive. We're not rustling up lions or anything.
Sorry if I wasn't clear, but this is just a simple false positive/false negative choice.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 21, 2017, 10:34:35 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 22, 2017, 09:40:39 am
Of course we aren't russling up lions, but what about jaguars and maned wolves? this is South America after all.
We will, but I just won't simulate it.
Seriously, no more votes? Next vote breaks tie, just saying.
Post by: omada on September 22, 2017, 09:43:09 am
Just kidding
Nice walk on the grasslands GO
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 22, 2017, 09:57:57 am
i'll vote the mountain...
Just kidding
Nice walk on the grasslands GO
If you had voted mountain I would have been so mad...
Also, lemme note that the only "dynamic" (non-rules-based) portion of this is the actions the rebels undertake. If you catch them while they're still wounded, for example, the resulting fight is easier. Other than that it's all in the numbers.
I'm not doing flavor text this section, lest I give away too much information.
GRASSLANDS scanned
SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY DETECTED in GRASSLANDS
SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY DETECTED adjacent to GRASSLANDS
Day 1 has elapsed
Remember, you can fine-grain scan any area at any time, at the expense of TWO (changed from one) days of activity and rebels get to move if you're wrong.
Post by: Glass on September 22, 2017, 01:30:08 pm
Post by: omada on September 22, 2017, 06:50:18 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 22, 2017, 07:39:52 pm
If we don't do the "fine-grain" stuff we can still find them on the run? with regular rolls?
Yeah! But they'll be up to full manpower and psychologically refreshed from a nice jaunt in the wilderness. All the traditional hero-type stuff - confronting flaws, banding together, healing wounds, doing research - it's all on my list of things they'll do.
Catch them now and you have a much easier time.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 01:53:40 pm
Do we check the swamp? Because I'd like to check the swamp.
Really, now? No other votes? Oh well.
SWAMP scanned.
NO SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY in SWAMP
NO SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY adjacent to SWAMP
Day 2 has elapsed.
Spoiler: Past results (click to show/hide)
Post by: Glass on September 23, 2017, 02:00:20 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 02:02:53 pm
Fine-grain the beach, guys?
How on earth are you always the first and only person to respond to my stuff?
Post by: Glass on September 23, 2017, 03:07:49 pm
Anyway, reasoning is that I have far more trust that a negative response from the Plains will be true than that a positive response from it will be. In addition, we got a positive response from the Beach+Swamp when combing the Plains, and got a negative from the Swamp. So, Beach seems like maybe the right place.
Anyone care to argue otherwise? Honestly, I'd like to get some other opinions.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 05:00:15 pm
Anyway, reasoning is that I have far more trust that a negative response from the Plains will be true than that a positive response from it will be.
From a mathematical standpoint:
It's one-in-four that the Grasslands has the rebels. If they do, it's five-in-six that you find them and if they don't, it's four-in-six that you think you have them. A bit of fractional multiplication reveals that, out of 24:
5 you find them
6 you don't find them
12 you think you have them but you don't
1 you think you don't have them but you do
Thus a positive result has a 5/12 chance of being correct, while a negative has a 6/7. This corresponds to the logic that "if they were there, we'd have found them" because of the high Sensitivity.
Post by: Glass on September 23, 2017, 05:02:23 pm
I mean, if we think we saw something, there's a less than one third chance we actually did. If we don't see anything, it's very likely that we really truly didn't.
So yes, if they were there, we'd have found them. But it's basically impossible to say that they are there, because almost any situation will lead to us "spotting them".
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 05:56:24 pm
If they're there, yes. But it's a 5/17 chance (not 5/12, because it's 5 times it's right and 12 times it's wrong, which is 5 to 12 odds but 5/17 chances), and we also got a negative response, which is a 6/7 chance. I trust it more.
I mean, if we think we saw something, there's a less than one third chance we actually did. If we don't see anything, it's very likely that we really truly didn't.
So yes, if they were there, we'd have found them. But it's basically impossible to say that they are there, because almost any situation will lead to us "spotting them".
...ok, now I'm just confused.
Almost any situation will lead us to think we saw them. Thus, if we got a negative response, it would be a good indication that they were really not there.
But we got a positive result, which really doesn't say anything.
On another note, IS ANYONE ELSE GOING TO VOTE???
Post by: Glass on September 23, 2017, 06:00:10 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 06:15:50 pm
But remember, we also got a negative on sightings while they were adjacent. Which means we got a negative from the Mountains (the most probable case from it, so who cares) and from the Plains (very unlikely), so I trust that negative result.
I knew I would regret not clearing this up...
Sightings on adjacent are thought of as "tracking them through this one". So the high-sensitivity low-selectivity of the plains is applied to both the Mountains and the Swamp. The values of the adjacent things themselves aren't taken into account.
Plus, you're talking about the Swamp results. We can't really conclude anything from the Plains results, so they don't help us interpret the Swamp results.
Post by: Glass on September 23, 2017, 06:18:42 pm
Let's go and do a normal search of the beach, then.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 06:20:28 pm
Oh. So basically, we just know that according to the swamp, there's nothing in it, the mountains, or the plains, and according to the plains, there's stuff in it, the swamp, and the beach. All using its formulas, so all of them basically equally useless.
Let's go and do a normal search of the beach, then.
Yes, that's spot on. We're asking each area it's opinion on what's in it.
And we will search the beach unless anyone else has anything to say about it?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 23, 2017, 06:26:37 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 06:34:27 pm
I say swamp!
Scan the swamp, or fine-grain the swamp?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 23, 2017, 06:43:56 pm
I say swamp!
Scan the swamp, or fine-grain the swamp?
Scan the beach, fine grain the swamp.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 06:48:55 pm
I say swamp!
Scan the swamp, or fine-grain the swamp?
Scan the beach, fine grain the swamp.
Well, one comes before the other.
BEACH scanned.
SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY DETECTED in BEACH
NO SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY adjacent to BEACH
Day 3 has elapsed.
Spoiler: Past results (click to show/hide)
Post by: Glass on September 23, 2017, 09:09:18 pm
(It's luck, Blue. I just finished watching Forrest Gump.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 10:14:06 pm
Fine-grain the beach.
(It's luck, Blue. I just finished watching Forrest Gump.)
I SWEAR
HOW DID I GET ONE PLAYER THAT JUST INSTANTLY RESPONDS TO ANYTHING I SAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!
Go help crack Newscience (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=167426.60).
Post by: Glass on September 23, 2017, 10:24:15 pm
It was two hours between your post and my response...Fine-grain the beach.
(It's luck, Blue. I just finished watching Forrest Gump.)
I SWEAR
HOW DID I GET ONE PLAYER THAT JUST INSTANTLY RESPONDS TO ANYTHING I SAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!
Also, I have notifications on.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 23, 2017, 10:26:06 pm
It was two hours between your post and my response...Fine-grain the beach.
(It's luck, Blue. I just finished watching Forrest Gump.)
I SWEAR
HOW DID I GET ONE PLAYER THAT JUST INSTANTLY RESPONDS TO ANYTHING I SAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!
Also, I have notifications on.
I noted that after I posted. I'm just surprised that you're so much faster than the rest, I guess.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on September 23, 2017, 10:50:54 pm
Post by: omada on September 24, 2017, 01:09:35 am
Fine grain the beach, let's hope they didn't get out.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 24, 2017, 08:53:21 am
Fine grain the beach, let's hope they didn't get out.
Let's do that!
...
...
YOU WIN! BEACH was the correct answer!
Day 4 has not elapsed - you may begin SEARCH, PART II during Day 4
I'll post rules for that later, but I just wanted you to know that you won right now.
Post by: Glass on September 24, 2017, 09:00:54 am
Post by: omada on September 24, 2017, 10:36:16 am
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on September 25, 2017, 03:18:41 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 02, 2017, 10:25:14 am
Thank you for your patience! I now present:
The Search Part 2
Having isolated the rebels down to being on the beach, we now have located six suspicious locations, along with maddeningly vague intel on why they are suspicious:
A: There are two trees where there once were three
B: A cave in a rock is wet
C: A sailboat sails into the wind every day
D: A sign that used to point one way points the other way now
E: There are always more footprints at the beginning of a day than the end
F: Most dunes change but this one stays
I can guarantee that the correct answer has a perfectly good reason for the suspicious activity designated… and the rest also have perfectly good reasons with no rebel involvement, so it doesn’t really help.
The rules
Each day, you have six “hours” at your disposal, which you may spend in any distribution over the six locations.
If the rebels are in a location, then the number of hours you spend is the chance, out of six, that you find them. There are no false positives in this process. You could, for example, spend a day to make sure you get a straight answer on a single location, or to make a cursory sweep of all six locations.
You can also allow the Dogs to work alone on a particular location. You then have a ⅚ chance of detection if they are at that location, but you must enter combat with only the dogs if they are found.
Vote on location to search - pick 2
Dog deployment comes later.
Post by: omada on October 02, 2017, 07:48:50 pm
and F
They're using gravity bullshit, in rocks that stay near the beach or in the sea.
(E is also an okay idea, but we should not split our hours a lot)
Post by: Puppyguard on October 02, 2017, 09:35:50 pm
Post by: Glass on October 02, 2017, 09:42:28 pm
C
and F
They're using gravity bullshit, in rocks that stay near the beach or in the sea.
(E is also an okay idea, but we should not split our hours a lot)
C, F+1, these make sense to me.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 03, 2017, 07:28:42 am
Post by: Glass on October 03, 2017, 08:08:34 am
Post by: omada on October 03, 2017, 10:36:38 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 04, 2017, 11:42:43 am
Fine, I'm flipping a coin between A and E.
3 hours C, 3 hours F, dogs on E.
Nothing is found.
Day 4 has elapsed.
Vote on search locations for day 5 - pick 2 or vote twice on one.
Post by: omada on October 04, 2017, 11:56:25 am
A: There are two trees where there once were three (dogs come here)
B: A cave in a rock is wet
C: A sailboat sails into the wind every day
D: A sign that used to point one way points the other way now (6 hours to cross it)
F: Most dunes change but this one stays
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 04, 2017, 01:28:09 pm
Post by: Glass on October 04, 2017, 01:30:59 pm
+1 over here. Makes sense to me.
A: There are two trees where there once were three (dogs come here)
B: A cave in a rock is wet
C: A sailboat sails into the wind every day
D: A sign that used to point one way points the other way now (6 hours to cross it)E: There are always more footprints at the beginning of a day than the end(1/6 chance that it is here)
F: Most dunes change but this one stays
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 04, 2017, 01:36:35 pm
Nothing is found.
Day 5 has elapsed.
Vote on search plans for day 6.
Post by: omada on October 05, 2017, 10:55:58 am
B: A cave in a rock is wet (dogs, if the rebels are here the dogs can battle better)
C: A sailboat sails into the wind every day (6 hours to cross it)
F: Most dunes change but this one stays
nope,
Post by: Glass on October 05, 2017, 11:07:55 am
Post by: omada on October 05, 2017, 11:17:09 am
B: A cave in a rock is wet (dogs, if the rebels are here the dogs can battle better)
C: A sailboat sails into the wind every day
F: Most dunes change but this one stays(6 hours to cross it)
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 07, 2017, 05:13:47 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 07, 2017, 05:59:39 pm
Oh no, has this thread died in my absence?
I blame Madman198237 (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=106376) for causing this delay by driving me off the edge of sanity with Newscience (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=167426.msg7572985#msg7572985) some time ago. Updates are erratic in the best of times, and some RL issues combined with the fact that my every waking moment is plagued with nightmares of compressible water and slanted strata leave me with little time to do this.
Nevertheless, this thread is not dead. And you deserve to at least know how you did.
That's okayA: There are two trees where there once were three(1/6 chance that it is here)
B: A cave in a rock is wet (dogs, if the rebels are here the dogs can battle better)
C: A sailboat sails into the wind every dayD: A sign that used to point one way points the other way nowE: There are always more footprints at the beginning of a day than the end(1/6 chance)
F: Most dunes change but this one stays(6 hours to cross it)
The dogs report that they smell something as they rush towards the cave. They run in, hungry for revenge.
A few minutes later there is a bang and explosion of meat as the lead dog gets its little fuzzy face blown apart by a shotgun.
The correct answer was B, and you won a 1-5 v. 6 dice roll on dogs detecting it. The dogs must now enter combat, having been ambushed and out of contact with the rest of forces.
However, this will not happen instantly. I have some intermissions to post first, which should be coming in a few days.
Post by: Glass on October 07, 2017, 06:19:58 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 07, 2017, 07:06:31 pm
Mind explaining why B was correct, and the others incorrect? Other than that that is how it is, of course.
A: Sometimes trees die on their own, especially when they are near a body of salt water and salt can get in their roots rather easily.
B: On a hot beach, a place with shade, cover, and some water is a good hiding place, especially if you are wounded and cannot move.
C: Sailboats are sometimes used for recreation, and getting one to sail into the wind is not that hard.
D: Some signs are really light and can be blown around by wind, or there was a mistake and it was corrected.
E: Mornings are generally cooler, so some people walk on the beach in the morning, and by the end of the day their footprints are gone.
F: Pure coincidence.
These might sound like really dumb explanations. They were supposed to be. It's really a guessing game, the text is just to give you sort of a hint and make you think.
Post by: Glass on October 07, 2017, 10:13:25 pm
F: Pure coincidence....
You do realise that when your opponents have gravity abilities, the fact that a dune stays when all the others don't really should have been a sign that they're messing with it, or something. Say, the dune is a disguise for the entrance to a base. Coincidence is a bad reason.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 08, 2017, 08:32:40 am
F: Pure coincidence....
You do realise that when your opponents have gravity abilities, the fact that a dune stays when all the others don't really should have been a sign that they're messing with it, or something. Say, the dune is a disguise for the entrance to a base. Coincidence is a bad reason.
Dunes are moved by wind. Wind is unpredictable. The size and position of dunes affects it. There was one combination of size and position that turned out to be stable over a moderately long term. Don't lynch me if this is bad meteorology, I'm not a geophysicist.
Actually, now that I think about it, it would have been likely that there was another gravitational anomaly underneath the dune. Hm. That's interesting.
Post by: Glass on October 08, 2017, 08:36:09 am
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 08, 2017, 01:33:02 pm
We spent our 6/6 on that location. Tell us what we found.There's no such thing as coincidence. +1.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 09, 2017, 11:38:55 am
We spent our 6/6 on that location. Tell us what we found.There's no such thing as coincidence. +1.
You bring up a good point.
Intermission: Don't Touch the Phlebotinum
The team arrives at the non dispersing dune location... and finds a flat piece of land, as the dune has since dispersed. After looking around and feeling dumb for a while, one notices a small green lump of material sticking out of the ground.
The team scientist inspects it, holding it up to the light. "Yep - cracked and a little dusty, but definitely an andantesite crystal. With some work we could get that gravitic shield working."
What do you do with it?
A: Send it to the Military Base and adapt it for shielding there
B: Send it to Antarctica and adapt it for shielding there
C: Try to determine why it was generating an anomaly and why it's stopped
D: Attempt to connect a control crystal so we can use it as a tactical weapon here.
Post by: Glass on October 09, 2017, 11:51:03 am
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 09, 2017, 04:52:03 pm
Post by: omada on October 09, 2017, 06:56:00 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 10, 2017, 09:19:47 pm
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Inspection of before/after surveys reveals that this particular weapons crystal begun generating a gravitational anomaly a week ago, slightly after the rebels escaped from the museum, and ceased to generate the anomaly two days ago. The dune dispersed soon after.
It becomes rapidly apparent that the crystal was linked to a control shard stolen from the museum, and that the rebels sent commands through it to turn on the remaining offensive crystals. Further study reveals a method to delink the crystal and link it to another control shard.
Crystals are linked by entanglement to a control shard, which is easiest at the time of refinement and crystallization - but a link can be broken by subjecting either crystal to a beam of monochromatic, polarized light for a long period of time. Currently the best option is to bombard it with radio waves for 14.03 hours, and the equipment to do that is being moved from the Capital with all possible speed, and should arrive within a week. The time required and frequency of light are inversely proportional, however, and using a visible light beam - such as a laser - would allow near-instantaneous disconnection, with the potential for interesting and humorous tactical deployment.
Next intermission up tomorrow.
Post by: Glass on October 10, 2017, 09:22:34 pm
Crystals are linked by entanglement to a control shard, which is easiest at the time of refinement and crystallization - but a link can be broken by subjecting either crystal to a beam of monochromatic, polarized light for a long period of time. Currently the best option is to bombard it with radio waves for 14.03 hours, and the equipment to do that is being moved from the Capital with all possible speed, and should arrive within a week. The time required and frequency of light are inversely proportional, however, and using a visible light beam - such as a laser - would allow near-instantaneous disconnection, with the potential for interesting and humorous tactical deployment.Next stop, laser guns, boys. :D
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 10, 2017, 09:28:04 pm
Crystals are linked by entanglement to a control shard, which is easiest at the time of refinement and crystallization - but a link can be broken by subjecting either crystal to a beam of monochromatic, polarized light for a long period of time. Currently the best option is to bombard it with radio waves for 14.03 hours, and the equipment to do that is being moved from the Capital with all possible speed, and should arrive within a week. The time required and frequency of light are inversely proportional, however, and using a visible light beam - such as a laser - would allow near-instantaneous disconnection, with the potential for interesting and humorous tactical deployment.Next stop, laser guns, boys. :D
Well, laser-based countermeasures to gravitic manipulation crystals that allow people to fly and manipulate forces of nature...
What am I saying? Laser guns!
Of course we don't have actual harmful lasers, but, say, disabling the MacGuffin while they're in the air... or flying sideways... or using it as a weapon...
And I can confirm that the end result of this will be a button that says "click remote, kill MacGuffin" The rebels will of course now look for a totally different Macguffin to save Anna
Post by: Glass on October 10, 2017, 09:30:06 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 10, 2017, 10:13:39 pm
By now, details have come about regarding the mission to transport Jacob Edlin to his point of exile on the South Georgias Islands.
Apparently, Jacob was assisted in his escape by a guardsman on board his transport ship, the sister of one of the children made into Cherubs. She distracted the other guards and released him from his holding cell. They were able to make it to the bridge, incapacitating the captain and helmsman, and using all the other personnel on the boat as human shields in order to prevent the escort boat from firing. The escort boat did not fire, and the transport ship escaped, warning the escort not to follow.
The order to not fire or follow behind was traced to a lieutenant on the escort ship, in command of the squad of soldiers there. He freely admits to backing off in order to save the people on the transport ship, and most of this information comes from his eyewitness report. He seems competent, if somewhat overconfident.
What do you do with him?
A: Do nothing; allow him to finish his debriefing and go back to his duties.
B: Congratulate and/or promote him for his actions (-1 military, random 0 to 3 gain political)
C: Berate and/or demote him for letting emotions get in the way of his judgement (-1 political, random 0 to 3 gain military)
D: Execute him publically (-3 political, random 0 to 4 gain military)
E: Pretend to congratulate him and then quietly kill him (-2 political, random 0 to 4 gain military, high chance of complications and/or further defections)
F: Ask him a specific question before proceeding (give me questions!)
Post by: omada on October 10, 2017, 10:58:01 pm
She might move
A) To a family house before moving (dumb move, we can even blackmail her)
B) To somewhere she always wanted to visit before moving (another dumb move, we saw your trip megazines lady)
c) just be smart and go to the first tactical place where she can hide better (In the end, there will be no escape from the empire)
These guys is going to get a death penalty for "Plotting against the military and making hostages multiple times"
We have what?
Military +2 (+1ID +1????? i don't know if the cherubs or the dogs counted, i just put 2 here because you said it in another post)
Tech: +2
Info:0
Political:+2 (-1cherubs +1ID +2 from "beach massacre")
I would say that after F we vote or B or C we shouldn't vote anything that make us have a 0 again or a negative number (the ones that sacrifice 2-3 political), But this -1 for a +? is worth it. Then in the science time we can focus on making research to improve our tech and spying better on people
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 11, 2017, 02:57:51 am
B; promote him, I think we could use the good PR.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 01:45:50 pm
First: Which direction the rebels were headed? (west north east northeast up down to hell?)
CELLING: They were moving west when they left sight. They warned us not to pursue, so I came here as fast as possible while staying out of their sight. If I were them, though, I would move in the wrong direction for several miles in order to throw off pursuit.
Info about the traitor, alive parents? Personality? (explosive, calm, smart, dumb, good shooter?)
CELLING: As far as I know, Ensign Armen DeMarco's father was killed in action defending the Baron of Argentina twenty years ago, when she was three. Her mother is still alive. I didn't know her that well, but she seemed calm, though defensive and frustrated with life. And I have it on good authority that she's a terrible shot.
(note: A quick look through our archives confirms all this)
personal opinion where he thinks they might be headed,
CELLING: Well, let's analyze this from a plot perspective.
DEBRIEFER: A what?
CELLING: A plot perspective, as this suggestion game is clearly going to parody a bunch of different cliches.
DEBRIEFER: I have no idea what you are talking about.
CELLING: Of course not. I'm not even talking to you. I'm talking to the mysterious voice of the empire, the group deciding all our actions and pulling all the strings. The people huddled around computers one reality up from here, spinning all our troubles and tribulations for shits and giggles.
DEBRIEFER: If that's so, I doubt they'd approve of you breaking the fourth wall.
CELLING: Fair point. Well, as I was saying, a hero receives a call to adventure, and does he take it? No. He rejects it. He clings on to the ordinary world. He tries to leave, thinks only of himself, physically distances himself from anything disruptive... anything rebellious.
DEBRIEFER: I see. So Jacob Eldin surrendering represents him questioning rebel values and fighting with his own sense of right and wrong. That's for sure.
CELLING: Right. So, having run away from the plot, what do our dear writers do to get him back?
DEBRIEFER: You really should stop breaking the fourth wall.
CELLING: (dismissively) Anyway. The call goes after him. The hero is forced to reconsider the Special World, questions are brought up that demand answers. It can be anything. A person, a battle, a letter, but something goes after him. The conflict is shoved in his face.
DEBRIEFER: And that's Ensign Armen, and her Cherub brother and dead father. A reminder of why he's rebelling.
CELLING: Yes. The conflict is shoved in his face, and what does he do? He accepts. He runs back. He's going back to Argentina, sir, and you would do well to be there when he arrives.
residence of the traitor, knowledge can make us find them again.
CELLING: She's Chilean born. Her mother lives near Cape Horn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Horn). She'll pass it on her way back to the West Coast of South America.
She might move
A) To a family house before moving (dumb move, we can even blackmail her)
B) To somewhere she always wanted to visit before moving (another dumb move, we saw your trip megazines lady)
Oh come on! None of our lieutenants would be that foolish and shallow! She did betray the
These guys is going to get a death penalty for "Plotting against the military and making hostages multiple times"
They'll hang all right.
We have what?
Military +2 (+1ID +1????? i don't know if the cherubs or the dogs counted, i just put 2 here because you said it in another post)
Tech: +2
Info:0
Political:+2 (-1cherubs +1ID +2 from "beach massacre")
I would say that after F we vote or B or C we shouldn't vote anything that make us have a 0 again or a negative number (the ones that sacrifice 2-3 political), But this -1 for a +? is worth it. Then in the science time we can focus on making research to improve our tech and spying better on people
We are only at +1 military. ID was the only thing that increased that. Special forces (cherubs, dogs) have no effect on the general military competence reading.
Post by: Glass on October 11, 2017, 02:15:24 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 11, 2017, 02:44:17 pm
Post by: omada on October 11, 2017, 05:08:29 pm
I had to expend an extra live to answer this.
So, yes Berate him.
And after we deal with a bunch of silly rebels in the cave we are going to the Cape Horn
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 08:23:11 pm
The fourth wall fell on my head.
I had to expend an extra live to answer this.
So, yes Berate him.
And after we deal with a bunch of silly rebels in the cave we are going to the Cape Horn
That's what they all say, and then the plot armor comes out.
COMMANDING OFFICER: Lt. Celling, we aren't going to take any action against you this time, but this kind of behavior is unacceptable. These rebels are no joke, make sure this doesn't happen again. We're going to issue a public statement denouncing you for not killing the traitors when you had the chance.
CELLING: If I had shot, those people would all be dead!
COMMANDING OFFICER: If you had shot, Jacob Eldin wouldn't be on the loose again!
CELLING: Are you kidding me? Do you know how thick the plot armor is around that guy? If I had given the order to shoot, my soldiers wouldn't have fired, or he would have outmaneuvered us, or swam to our ship, or something... anything to stop the heroes from dying! What I did would have meant nothing! I'd just be some common mook shooting at the hero.
COMMANDING OFFICER: Be careful, Wenton. The court martial didn't consider reduction in rank or dishonorable discharge this time, but you are heading down a dangerous path.
CELLING: ...alright. I just hope that +0 military was worth it. Sir.
Yes, you just wasted a Political point.
Post by: Glass on October 11, 2017, 08:32:49 pm
More a "make sure this doesn't happen again" type thing. He did his best. Something just to make it clear, "people, be prepared for this stuff, these rebels are no joke".
EDIT: Also, what did you roll for this?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 08:40:23 pm
That was not what I meant by berate. -_-
More a "make sure this doesn't happen again" type thing. He did his best. Something just to make it clear, "people, be prepared for this stuff, these rebels are no joke".
EDIT: Also, what did you roll for this?
I told RANDOM.org to pick an integer from 0 to 3.
Also, a scathing public denouncement is the military's way of saying "make sure this doesn't happen again". Though I probably should add in those exact words to be clearer.
Post by: Glass on October 11, 2017, 08:41:07 pm
Also, a scathing public denouncement is the military's way of saying "make sure this doesn't happen again". Though I probably should add in those exact words to be clearer.That doesn't mean it's our way of doing so. And it was us doing it. Or at least, people did it under our direct command.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 08:49:53 pm
That doesn't mean it's our way of doing so. And it was us doing it. Or at least, people did it under our direct command.
The public denouncement was required in order to spread the word to the entire military, giving you a chance at a general competence bonus. The message did not stick.
Post by: Glass on October 11, 2017, 08:50:40 pm
The message is "these bastards have plot armor".That doesn't mean it's our way of doing so. And it was us doing it. Or at least, people did it under our direct command.
The public denouncement was required in order to spread the word to the entire military, giving you a chance at a general competence bonus. The message did not stick.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 09:00:02 pm
The message is "these bastards have plot armor".That doesn't mean it's our way of doing so. And it was us doing it. Or at least, people did it under our direct command.
The public denouncement was required in order to spread the word to the entire military, giving you a chance at a general competence bonus. The message did not stick.
That would constitute a fourth wall breach. The Political and Military things represent very specific properties, and the easiest way to link these two properties in-fluff is a public denouncement.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 09:10:56 pm
F; Ask what the traitor looked like, did she ever talk about her beliefs before the incident.
CELLING: Blondish hair. Somewhat short. Thin. Face full of freckles. And as I've said, her aim leaves a lot to be desired. She was going to be on my squad but I figured that simple geometry means the closer she is to the target, the better.
And now that I think about it, she did get really quiet and sullen after discovering something about the Cherub project a few weeks ago... of which her brother was a test subject. I should have known!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 09:24:21 pm
Military: +1
Scientific: +2
Informational: 0
Political: +1
Intermission: The British are Coming!
This was bound to happen.
Yes, we just ran into Magellan on his historic 1520 circumnavigation of the Earth, including a visit to the bottom of South America. First contact with the Europeans and Northern world just happened, and both sides marvel at the literal other side of the world that has just been revealed to them. He tells of their history a little bit - they call this year 1520, and European history is exactly as it is in the real world up to this point.
The greeting committee strategically does not reveal the existence of Andantesite, Erin's Oracle, or the rebels. A quick study of their ship concludes without a doubt that the North is pre-electric as well.
About Andantesite...
A: Describe its peculiar properties and strategic value
B: Ask if they have a mineral by the description without mentioning why
C: Do not mention it
About wormholes
A: Give them a quick demonstration and ask for their help in moving one end to Europe to facilitate easier communication
B: Reveal the existence of such technology so they can construct their own
C: Our most powerful strategic asset cannot be revealed so easily! Hold our silence
About rebels...
A: Make a passing mention about them.
B: Do not mention any dissent within the Empire.
About electricity...
A: Tell them! All must benefit from this modern marvel!
B: Mention it enough to captivate their interest and show our strength, but stay enigmatic.
C: Do not - they can find it themselves if they want it.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on October 11, 2017, 09:25:42 pm
Hell I know we play to lose, that's the fun of dwarf fortress. But hmmm.
: Thinking of what to vote on next time.:
Post by: Glass on October 11, 2017, 09:30:52 pm
Andesite is complete demolition of physics; we need to keep it to ourselves.
The wormhole is basically a way of showing our strength; we can rip a hole in space.
The rest of the world currently looks down on the concept of "freedom" and "rebels". Mentioning that we've had a few issues with a handful of them may lead to assistance. I mean, so long as the Northerners feel that we've got some good deals with them (speaking of which - let's work on some trade routes), they shouldn't see any reason to support these guys. I mean, if they support these rebels, what would their citizens think? They might start demanding freedom of speech, and democratic elections! The horror! (:P)
Electricity... well, they can see all the things we can do, probably. To simply ignore it as everyday (which it is, for us, kinda) just makes it more enigmatic, and makes them see us as having even more power.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 09:34:55 pm
CAAB
Andesite is complete demolition of physics; we need to keep it to ourselves.
The wormhole is basically a way of showing our strength; we can rip a hole in space.
The rest of the world currently looks down on the concept of "freedom" and "rebels". Mentioning that we've had a few issues with a handful of them may lead to assistance. I mean, so long as the Northerners feel that we've got some good deals with them (speaking of which - let's work on some trade routes), they shouldn't see any reason to support these guys. I mean, if they support these rebels, what would their citizens think? They might start demanding freedom of speech, and democratic elections! The horror! (:P)
Electricity... well, they can see all the things we can do, probably. To simply ignore it as everyday (which it is, for us, kinda) just makes it more enigmatic, and makes them see us as having even more power.
Our relations are certainly strengthened by the fact that we are about the same as them. Semi-benevolent all-powerful and annoying nobility? Check.
Trade routes will be discussed. Do note that A on the wormhole just means "carry this back with you" - instant comms with Europe at the cost of comms with Brazil. Europe is 10x farther so it's still a good deal.
Choice B has been changed to "show it off but don't give details". It's not everyday, by the way. We're still very much Steampunk, we only use electricity for laboratory work.
Once we finish our hydrokinetic energy plant and tap the full power of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, however... then it will be everyday.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 09:49:39 pm
...bye-bye Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England).
Post by: Glass on October 11, 2017, 09:51:28 pm
Also, do realize that you are endangering everyone in London. If they bring a wormhole back with them, and the rebels destabilize our end, then, well...Not our fault. We can warn them to set it up in some uninhabited region, anyway, or on a buoy out in the sea, accessible by boat. Problem solved.
...bye-bye Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England).
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 09:55:49 pm
Also, do realize that you are endangering everyone in London. If they bring a wormhole back with them, and the rebels destabilize our end, then, well...Not our fault. We can warn them to set it up in some uninhabited region, anyway, or on a buoy out in the sea, accessible by boat. Problem solved.
...bye-bye Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England).
Revealing the destabilization weakness, however, might reveal the existence of andantesite if they demand to know how it happens. We can just go with a generic "hazardous!" claim, which might work.
More votes anyone?
Post by: Glass on October 11, 2017, 09:58:59 pm
It's a hole in space. No shit it's a hazard.Also, do realize that you are endangering everyone in London. If they bring a wormhole back with them, and the rebels destabilize our end, then, well...Not our fault. We can warn them to set it up in some uninhabited region, anyway, or on a buoy out in the sea, accessible by boat. Problem solved.
...bye-bye Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England).
Revealing the destabilization weakness, however, might reveal the existence of andantesite if they demand to know how it happens. We can just go with a generic "hazardous!" claim, which might work.
More votes anyone?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 10:00:33 pm
It's a hole in space. No shit it's a hazard.Also, do realize that you are endangering everyone in London. If they bring a wormhole back with them, and the rebels destabilize our end, then, well...Not our fault. We can warn them to set it up in some uninhabited region, anyway, or on a buoy out in the sea, accessible by boat. Problem solved.
...bye-bye Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England).
Revealing the destabilization weakness, however, might reveal the existence of andantesite if they demand to know how it happens. We can just go with a generic "hazardous!" claim, which might work.
More votes anyone?
And yet we're totally fine with leaving it in the middle of our capital city and most important military base.
But yeah, we'll warn them to put it somewhere they won't miss.
Post by: Glass on October 11, 2017, 10:02:49 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2017, 10:06:24 pm
Well, our side and their side are basically the two points of failure. And ours is heavily guarded. If that side gets destabilized, then we probably already have some huge problems.
But you're going to want Europe's help in rebuilding if your capital city suddenly becomes a hole. IF it comes to that.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 11, 2017, 10:11:31 pm
Post by: omada on October 11, 2017, 10:19:02 pm
Otherwise or i suggest to don't talk about it, or offer them how they can do that.
teaching them to do their own wormholes can be good and bad
Cons: They might use it to communicate freely between them and use that to deal with us when we go all conquering stuff
The issue off protection is still there
Pros: Good relationship,
When we go conquering stuff we can explode half of their bases and go overtake their government to "save the
Being enigmatic about the electricity is okay, we still might use this to get an upper hand in commerce. And they might reveal what weird resource the Northern people have in this parallel reality
CCAB
or CBAB
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on October 11, 2017, 11:35:13 pm
CAAB
Change the electric bote tomA (the last)'and got my vote.
For future reference I think we should make a underground super stronghold away from rebels due to wormhole issues, warn Brits of risk and maybe ask them to help with rebel scum. I hate rebel scum.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 12, 2017, 09:23:21 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 20, 2017, 11:28:49 am
We have CAAA.
After a times, Erin Quill arrives from Antarctica to greet Magellan in person. After some initial exchanges regarding their history, the explorers are taken to Brazil High Command (secret military base in the mountains) while their ship is inspected to get an idea of their technological progress.
QUILL: Apologies for all the precautions. We've had issues with rebels in this area lately, but this place remains secure.
MAGELLAN: Rebels?
QUILL: Civil buildings burnt down, innocent people taken hostage, brave men gutted like fish, scientific knowledge destroyed or looted, that sort of thing.
MAGELLAN: Savages!
QUILL: (enters into a room and flicks on the lights) Nothing that can't be taken care of, of course. Here's the main meeting room.
MAGELLAN: What are these strange lamps that you use?
QUILL: That? That's electricity. Don't you - oh well. It can be generated and stored and used for light, heating, propulsion… you have lightning where you live, right?
MAGELLAN: You mean to say that your people see by bottled lighting?
QUILL: In a manner of speaking, yes. The particulars are somewhat different, but we will be certain to send a description of our methods and knowledge back with you.
MAGELLAN: That would revolutionize the whole of Europe - tell me, is there anything more you have to show me?
QUILL: Well… do you want to see the hole through the fabric of space and time?
MAGELLAN: Say what?
QUILL: Come on here.
So Magellan’s agreed to take the Brazilian End of Erin’s Oracle to Europe to maintain communications for us. Obviously security must be maintained, lest the rebels intercept it in transport and BOOM! There are a few things working against this, however.
Firstly, as I’ve mentioned, the wormhole containment structure is around five feet wide and ten feet tall. It’s actually two conical shapes pointed at each other. The wormhole has been deactivated for the time being, meaning that it can be contained just by the simple generators integrated into the base, but disassembly of the device for even an instant would mean BOOM!
The wormhole is currently contained in an underground complex made of stone and metal. A large part of it will have to be disassembled to allow it out. A lot of work is going to have to be done and lots of rope will be needed to lift it out. Nobody knows about this base and it is in a secret location within Argentina’s mountains, but you’re going to have to get it to the coast without attracting attention.
First, describe how you’re going to cover up the wormhole moving, and what kind of guards you’re going to assign to the project.
Also, a route must be chosen.
A: Magellan’s fleet is docked at his eponymous straits (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Magellan). It is well known that Republic engineers are making some adjustments to ensure his safe voyage home. We could simply wheel the wormhole down to the Straits and install it. There is a small settlement at the docking site, so civilian interference is unlikely, but moving the wormhole down a mountain is going to be hard. Installation could run into issues, and transport will be unwieldy and easy to ambush.
B: We could have Magellan re dock at our regional capital and install the wormhole there. The roads and equipment at the capital are good enough to quickly and securely move the wormhole. This, however, would require a rather good cover story to avoid media attention.
C: Magellan could proceed on his journey and we could drag the wormhole to an uninhabited spot on the west coast to install it. Nobody would know that we are there. However, it's going to take a really long time, and if someone does catch on then the open fields and beaches of the Brazilian coastline will provide no cover at all.
D: There's a well known mountain pass and bay where we could send the wormhole down. It's a relatively easy road and there's a research station under construction near the bay, which would provide a perfect reason for a large box of metal and equipment to be brought there. Magellan could easily dock out of sight, and nobody important goes there. It's close to Rebel activity, though.
Post by: Glass on October 20, 2017, 12:18:55 pm
You said the research station construction is near rebel activity, yes? Could we say that, as a precaution to prevent the rebels from stealing anything, we're relocating that construction to a different location (that just so happens to be a good pickup spot for Magellan)?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 20, 2017, 12:26:39 pm
Post by: omada on October 21, 2017, 12:51:59 pm
Hmm...
You said the research station construction is near rebel activity, yes? Could we say that, as a precaution to prevent the rebels from stealing anything, we're relocating that construction to a different location (that just so happens to be a good pickup spot for Magellan)?
we could also reinforce the local with small troops, and fast ones like the dogs, so they can patrol the area and make sure, but it's too risky
I am in favor of C as long as we can send alerts t the nearest military garrisons leaders pre-emptivley.
also nice
I'm basically voting for 3 options, both asuggested before, if the extra suggestions are made, and...
B: Midia cover is that we found another civilization up our globe, we are putting a nice show of our military and tech (that they don't have) that will be the basis of external trade with these alien land's that will benefit all of the republic, and that some of our superiors thought that the people needed a bit of fun to make a contrast with recent disasters, we can even spare one of our ships to follow they back with small gadgets some diplomats to make trade deals and chart these foreign lands, and a nice group of canons following it, imagine the British when they see their boats being followed by an alien ship, they will think the sailors captured a sea beast
(Make sure no one of the scalated officers had their children/sister abducted)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 21, 2017, 03:53:30 pm
Hmm...
You said the research station construction is near rebel activity, yes? Could we say that, as a precaution to prevent the rebels from stealing anything, we're relocating that construction to a different location (that just so happens to be a good pickup spot for Magellan)?
No can do. "Near completion" means that the basic structure is already there but the scientific equipment is not. This is why we can sneak the wormhole there real easy - it looks like a fancy particle accelerator, because it is.
I am in favor of C as long as we can send alerts t the nearest military garrisons leaders pre-emptivley.
This can of course be done. However, if you have them escort the thing directly, then more people will know.
B: Midia cover is that we found another civilization up our globe, we are putting a nice show of our military and tech (that they don't have) that will be the basis of external trade with these alien land's that will benefit all of the republic, and that some of our superiors thought that the people needed a bit of fun to make a contrast with recent disasters, we can even spare one of our ships to follow they back with small gadgets some diplomats to make trade deals and chart these foreign lands, and a nice group of canons following it, imagine the British when they see their boats being followed by an alien ship, they will think the sailors captured a sea beast
(Make sure no one of the scalated officers had their children/sister abducted)
So... tell them the truth. It's already rather public knowledge that First Contact has just happened, what they don't know yet is that we're sending anything back with them. Our ships aren't that alien, there's really only one way to build a ship. The biggest difference is likely that our cruisers sit kinda low on the water and have sloped sides, like the ironclad CSS Virginia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Virginia). And I'm sure Magellan's people would appreciate an escort.
So, Glass, you are tiebreak. Choose from B (Tell everyone what's going on and send a military escort dragging the WH) or C (stage a military operation on an uninhabited stretch of Eastern coastline)
Post by: Glass on October 21, 2017, 04:09:59 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 23, 2017, 04:14:42 pm
It is announced that one of our more modern cruisers, the SFN Pylos, will be deployed to escort the visitors back to their home country, carrying with them a sample of our technology. This includes an electrical generator, batteries, and (off the books) the wormhole. All mention of andantesite has been carefully kept off the records given to Magellan. Loading has begun, the ships have re-docked at the capital, and the wormhole is being moved from Brazil HighCom to Argentina Capital.
Hidden dice will later be rolled to determine the success of this cover story
Intermission: Big Damn Heroes
By this time a contact team has been sent to Armen’s parents near Cape Horn to give them news of their daughter’s betrayal. Her mother and stepfather greet them. When they hear that it’s about Armen, the mother responds by asking,
“Oh, did that smartass guy get her in trouble again?”
“What guy?” asks the official in charge of delivering the news.
“That fast-talking chap she dumped in her high school years,” her stepfather replies. “Bound to have trouble when your ex is your Commanding Officer. I think his name was Cellworth… or Ceiling… or something…”
“Celling?” prompts the official.
“Yeah, that guy.”
Meanwhile, it is found the Lieutenant Wenton Celling has abandoned his post and taken a boat in pursuit of Edlin, leaving a note saying thus:
“If you won’t fight the plot, then I will.”
What do you do about him?
A: Give him another round of public denouncement, formally strip him of his rank, and send someone to get him back here for court-marshalling!
B: We have bigger fish to fry than a vengeful lieutenant. Leave him alone, quietly cover it up, take no action, and do not let it get public.
C: If he intends to go up against the plot armor, he isn’t going to be able to do it alone. Attempt to find him as soon as possible and get in communication so we can help him.
Post by: Glass on October 23, 2017, 05:00:13 pm
For the love of God, Celling...
C, this man probably has plot armor of his own and I want his support.
Post by: omada on October 23, 2017, 06:38:08 pm
The viewers usually like this kind of "villian" that breaks the 4th wall
And is the ex-boyfriend of a rebel
So he is the most capable of killing them
C because we need to make sure he will not change sides too
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 23, 2017, 08:54:22 pm
"Some people submit to fate's whims, but others push fate to do what they want. You, I believe, may be one of the latter. Should you succeed, we shall ensure you are greatly rewarded."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 23, 2017, 09:08:44 pm
The agent that just acts for his own against the heroes because he thinks that it's what it should be done or for the greater good?
The viewers usually like this kind of "villian" that breaks the 4th wall
And is the ex-boyfriend of a rebel
If anyone can find a TvTropes page dedicated to people like Celling, then I will switch my d6 for a d7, no questions asked, substituted into every roll.
Post by: Glass on October 23, 2017, 09:13:04 pm
The agent that just acts for his own against the heroes because he thinks that it's what it should be done or for the greater good?
The viewers usually like this kind of "villian" that breaks the 4th wall
And is the ex-boyfriend of a rebel
If anyone can find a TvTropes page dedicated to people like Celling, then I will switch my d6 for a d7, no questions asked, substituted into every roll.
Let's see...
There's the Determinator, for one. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Determinator)
And he's clearly a Fourth Wall Observer. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FourthWallObserver)
And I'd be surprised if he's not a Recurring Boss, at least from the rebels' view. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RecurringBoss)
And we
That enough?
EDIT: Ah, here's the Enigmatic Minion (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnigmaticMinion), too. Not quite sure if that one counts, though, but hey.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 23, 2017, 09:25:48 pm
The agent that just acts for his own against the heroes because he thinks that it's what it should be done or for the greater good?
The viewers usually like this kind of "villian" that breaks the 4th wall
And is the ex-boyfriend of a rebel
If anyone can find a TvTropes page dedicated to people like Celling, then I will switch my d6 for a d7, no questions asked, substituted into every roll.
Let's see...
There's the Determinator, for one. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Determinator)
And he's clearly a Fourth Wall Observer. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FourthWallObserver)
And I'd be surprised if he's not a Recurring Boss, at least from the rebels' view. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RecurringBoss)
And wemightprobably consider him to have been subject to a Mook Promotion. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MookPromotion)
That enough?
EDIT: Ah, here's the Enigmatic Minion (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnigmaticMinion), too. Not quite sure if that one counts, though, but hey.
The specific aspect I wanted troped was "Thinks he's smarter than the rest of his organization". He hasn't really demonstrated exceptional determination, but you're right, he's clearly a fourth wall observer.
Yes, from the hero's perspective he's a recurring boss. He's certainly a Mook Promotion if promoting yourself by flaunting control of the fourth wall counts - this one is enough to earn a new facet on the dice. He's enigmatic from the standpoint of the heroes only - we know what he's doing pretty well.
Would still like a trope closer to my actual aspect request, but these are all good!
Post by: Glass on October 23, 2017, 09:28:03 pm
He hasn't really demonstrated exceptional determination...He is deliberately going to attack people that he knows have plot armor, BT.
EDIT: Here, have a Rogue Agent. That probably fits his actions. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RogueAgent)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 23, 2017, 09:35:24 pm
He hasn't really demonstrated exceptional determination...He is deliberately going to attack people that he knows have plot armor, BT.
He's doing this in supreme (over)confidence that because he can break the fourth wall, he can break the plot armor as well. He thinks that since he's conscious of his role in the plot, he can run circles around the heroes. It's arrogance, really, plus perhaps getting driven mad by love, regret, and vengeance. Think Artemis Fowl.
That does give me an idea regarding the tropes, though. You can either A: Keep them here and gain a bonus dice (d7 rather than d6) or B: Transmit them through the Fourth Wall directly to Lt. Celling, to let him do as he will. On the one hand it'll add to his already formidable genre savviness, on the other hand it'll inflate his ego and weaken the Fourth Wall.
Post by: Glass on October 23, 2017, 09:38:56 pm
EDIT: Or I guess Made of Iron (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MadeOfIron) is the right one for a person.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 23, 2017, 09:43:26 pm
See, either the dice (a real-world thing that affects the fake world) or Celling (fake world thing breaking the 4th wall) get affected by this decision. Of course, there's always the problem of him gaining direct control over the fourth wall and taking over the SPAMOVERLORD reality, Agent Smith style.
Post by: Glass on October 23, 2017, 09:48:47 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 23, 2017, 10:25:08 pm
Post by: omada on October 24, 2017, 08:09:06 am
inb4: We creating an "fourth-wall-breaker-hammer-terminator-3000" to exterminate plot armor (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealityEnsues), of course, it will probably require rare mineral number 31245 and something imoral.
(I just noticed that I don't even know where this INB4 thing begun or what it really means, I just begun using someday)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 24, 2017, 11:36:33 am
So no one wants to vote B then?
Are you voting B or just asking others? You're tiebreak so...
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 26, 2017, 01:20:44 am
So no one wants to vote B then?
Are you voting B or just asking others? You're tiebreak so...
Looked like everyone was voting C, so I was unaware that there was a tie, I vote 2.5 that is help him but do not make a big public show about it. If I cn-no do that then B.
Post by: omada on October 26, 2017, 10:29:14 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 26, 2017, 03:00:43 pm
The tie is about gaining a D7 dice this roll (it was a D6) or to let the ceilling get full acess to the fourth wall, where it can help us or do like agent smith and go all grey goo where it can strike even us.
Not just this one, all rolls. Also, I'm changing it so B just lets him invoke tropes.
Post by: omada on October 26, 2017, 04:04:26 pm
A
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 26, 2017, 04:06:08 pm
ALL ROLLS? changing my vote
A
After seeing how giddy you are, I'm seriously considering rebalancing it.
You know what? Yeah, I will.
All rolls where the word "Celling" appears anywhere within the same post.
Post by: omada on October 26, 2017, 04:14:28 pm
-Okay
*Images of pain and suffering appearing in my forehead with a loud and distorted scream on the background*
okay, we can make him a kind of mage that distort reality invoking tropes, or give him a bonus ingame.
with the mage power he might still go gray-goo into the game...
I keep the A, he will probably go gray-goo and discover how to abuse the fourth wall anyways
Ceilling will begin to get promoted
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 26, 2017, 05:03:07 pm
"Some people submit to fate's whims, but others push fate to do what they want. You, I believe, may be one of the latter. Should you succeed, we shall ensure you are greatly rewarded."
Erin Quill’s voice came through the radios of Celling’s ship, repeating every few minutes like a broken record. “Some people submit…”
Lieutenant - Former Lieutenant, he corrected himself - Former Lieutenant Wenton Celling stood in the control cabin of the small patrol boat he had taken, half-deaf to the words he heard.
They had found him. Of course they had found him. Everyone knew that a small boat was trivial to find on coastal radar these days. The iron hull and steel rigging might as well be a signal flare if you knew to look in the ten-to-a-hundred meter bands.
And they wanted him back. After all, he’d abandoned his post and stolen a boat.
“You, I believe…”
Even before the message, he’d wondered, Why’d I do it? Of course, he knew the answer. A single, determined individual, working tirelessly based on principle and tradition, stood a much better chance of success than the armies of evil and authority - at least, in these kinds of stories.
Still not a very good chance, though, he thought. He wondered if he was the anti-hero, doomed to chase the protagonist across continents and oceans, slowly slipping into ruthlessness and derangement to prove a point to those watching above.
“submit to fate’s whims…”
Though that’s a far-out idea, he commented idly. I probably just followed him because I wanted another crack at that Eldin nutcase… or, more likely, because I still want Armen back.
Of course, if the plot demanded an anti-hero, it could easily come up with any number of justifications for his actions, slipping them into his mind as easily as coins into a wallet.
“you are greatly rewarded…”
If the plot demanded anything, it would get it. No string could be left unpulled in order to make these puppets dance as they should. Oh, there was randomness, and democracy, and unpredictable things, but in a higher, invisible place. All the lives, all the toiling, in this tiny antfarm, going to waste, for the sake of a few lines on a screen. Celling was about ready to shout at the sky, punch at the camera, at the unfairness of it all.
“to do what they want…”
But if that had to be done, why not do it with others?
“Some people submit…”
Enough was enough. He slammed his finger on the big green SEND button on the radio control panel and said, “Alright, Quill. Talk to me.”
Erin Quill was, of course, a civilian, but as it was his wormhole that was in danger of being sabotaged he had been given provisional control over the entire rebel situation until such time as the capital was not in danger of sudden and total failure of existence. Such provisional control also extended to administrative duties, such as contacting and communicating with a rouge lieutenant.
It probably helped that he still had the spare keys to all the radios.
“Should you succeed…”
Celling pressed the button again. “Come on, Erin, it isn’t that late and we both know you’re there. Cut the gramophone already.”
Quill, upon hearing this, let the gramophone go for another full cycle before answering, “It’d be really good to have you back, Celling. The higher-ups are promising some pretty big things in exchange for your help.”
“I need no buying, Dr. Quill. Getting rid of that lunatic Eldin would be reward enough in itself.”
“Oh,” replied Erin. “That in addition to getting back into dear Miss DeMarco’s…”
“Watch it, Quill.”
“...favor. What did you expect me to say? This production is going to be fairly G-rated.”
“Let’s go back to stopping the lunatic.”
“Yes. Lieutenant - no, Captain Wenton Celling, your mission is now officially sanctioned. You mission - to dispose of the threat posed by Jacob Eldin and Armen DeMarco, and bring them back, dead or alive. I’m here to make sure that it doesn’t all go to hell.”
“You have a plan?”
“No, a pineapple. Of course I have a plan. Though you likely won’t need an explicit one. I would say that the gods shine on you, if I was that sort of guy. I’m not, but they kinda do.”
“What are you talking about, Quill?’
“Oh come on. You’re not the only one that can break the fourth wall. Jacob Eldin is going down, down, down. At least, that is, if one seven-sided die and a whole lot of tropes have anything to say about it.”
All intermissions are now complete. A summary of events during intermissions follows.
- A large, intact, but cracked shard of Andantesite is obtained and de-linked
- A method of de-linking a Andantesite crystal from a control shard is found. It currently takes 14.3 hours and a radio generator, but can be improved with lasers.
- Jacob Eldin escapes with the help of Ensign Armen DeMarco and keeps a boat with a lot of hostages
- Lieutenant Wenton Celling is found responsible for losing Eldin by declining to shoot in a hostage situation
- -1 to political
- Contact is made with the Europeans and a wormhole mouth will be sent back with them. The public is told that the Pylos will follow with a cache of Republic technology; we simple neglect to mention that it is the wormhole.
- Wenton Celling goes rouge and takes a ship to go after Eldin and DeMarco; his mission is later officially sanctioned
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +0 informational
- +1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
Post by: omada on October 26, 2017, 05:46:35 pm
Edit:Almost like my life everyday,
Fakeedit: without the action.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 26, 2017, 05:48:11 pm
shit got a bit dark here, even with all the jokes
I translate this into "I accurately captured the despair of having no control over your own actions and no defence against what fate wants of you"
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 26, 2017, 06:13:06 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 26, 2017, 06:33:21 pm
So we do not get to vote right now is my main takeaway from this.
*slams head against wall*
Yes... fluff for the dog thing is still in progress...
Post by: omada on October 26, 2017, 07:02:52 pm
shit got a bit dark here, even with all the jokes
I translate this into "I accurately captured the despair of having no control over your own actions and no defence against what fate wants of you"
I decided right now that if i ever enter the military and don't die in training camp (what might happen) i'm gonna change my second name to Ceilling
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 26, 2017, 07:17:42 pm
shit got a bit dark here, even with all the jokes
I translate this into "I accurately captured the despair of having no control over your own actions and no defence against what fate wants of you"
I decided right now that if i ever enter the military and don't die in training camp (what might happen) i'm gonna change my second name to Ceilling
Celling. His name is Celling. A ceiling is what's over your head right now (hopefully).
And that might take some explaining.
"So, you picked up the Celling name after joining the Army, eh? Where'd it come from?"
"Well, I was playing a forum game about an evil empire where there was a fourth-wall breaking badass named Wenton Celling..."
(bonus to anyone that figures out why I chose that first name)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 26, 2017, 07:22:08 pm
Celling. His name is Celling.
In retrospect, that could make a great climactic scene. With Jacob Eldin standing over him, wielding the Andantesite crystal, which emits a slight hum. Beaten and defeated, while his opponent has hardly a scratch and the very fabric of his reality is bent against him.
"You hear that, Lieutenant?... That is the sound of inevitability... It is the sound of your death... Goodbye, minion of the Empire..."
"My... name... is... CELLING!!!"
(proceeds to sever the Andantesite's control line with a pocket laser while breaking the plot armor and beating the hero)
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 27, 2017, 01:17:05 am
So we do not get to vote right now is my main takeaway from this.
*slams head against wall*
Yes... fluff for the dog thing is still in progress...
0.0 is your head okay?
Post by: dustywayfarer on October 27, 2017, 04:08:24 am
Post by: omada on October 27, 2017, 04:16:30 am
So we do not get to vote right now is my main takeaway from this.
*slams head against wall*
Yes... fluff for the dog thing is still in progress...
0.0 is your head okay?
Is the wall okay?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 28, 2017, 09:27:55 pm
…as the first dog runs into the cave, there is a bang and burst of meat as it gets its face blown in by a shotgun.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
The second dog gets stabbed in the neck by Anna Drimoxi, who is surprisingly dangerous with a sufficiently long knife. There is a brief spurt of blood, and the dog doesn’t even have time to yelp before her brainstem splits open and her tiny heart stops beating.
Andrew Calvin is significantly less effective. He draws a pistol and a grenade, but doesn’t get to use either before two dogs are at him already.
Another dog jumps Anna from behind, grabbing her by the throat. He fumbles with his speech synthesizer for a few seconds before the commanding voice of Erin Quill fills the cave.
“I swear I will!” the device booms. Of course, they aren’t actual speech synthesizers, just speakers on which a button sequence can be pressed to select one of several pre-recorded phrases. Chosen with great prescience, it would seem.
Samael Drimoxi whirls around and aims his shotgun at the dog clinging to his daughter’s neck. The dog simply swivels around in midair so that Anna’s head is facing the gun. A quick press on the synthesizer yields the warning, “You wouldn’t!” The scene would be almost comical if not for its seriousness.
Yet another dog sprints behind Sam, grabs his ammo, and, literally, bites the bullet. He upsets a whole crate of shotgun slugs, sending them tumbling across the cave floor and away from the angry grandpa with the gun.
It is at this point that Andrew Calvin chooses to pull the trigger to the hand grenade off with his teeth and chuck it into the middle of the cave. Now, one would imagine this would be a terrible idea, seeing as the cave is only about two yards wide at the most and the three rebels are crammed together.
It lands on Anna’s foot. She screams and kicks it randomly into the mass of oncoming dogs.
There is a tremendous BOOM! and a flash of orange light, followed by a cloud smoke and a sequence of sickening thuds from the three dogs that had just decided to join the fray. At this point, the dogs have lost half their manpower and decide to move to a more advantageous position.
They bound from the cave, pausing only to deliver a derisively prerecorded “We’ll be back!” Once on the sand again, they form a defensive perimeter around the cave, daring anyone to come out.
I will now be modeling the siege in real time. An hour out of game = An hour in game. Freeform ask for reinforcements and I’ll give you their time of arrival, and when you post the command to attack I’ll model it based on the time elapsed.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 28, 2017, 09:44:42 pm
PTW
Welcome to the nuthouse! Seriously though, more players are better!
I don't tend to post that often, so if it's quiet for a week or so please don't lose hope. Also, a major theme is overuse of cliches in gaming, so a quick jaunt through TvTropes (http://tvtropes.org) may be worth your time.
Also, as you might have noticed, I'm having fun trying out different formats for different events (The Search, Intermissions, Real Time Sieges). Any feedback about this? Also, anyone like the first full-power direct fight scene in this game?
Post by: omada on October 28, 2017, 10:07:39 pm
While at it we grab info about the local geography, do they only have one way out? If yes, okay, if not quickly call someone to cover that way, never it's too much to be safe.
Dog's intel, do they have adantesite with them?
Post by: omada on October 28, 2017, 10:16:04 pm
Get one of that riot gas (i don't know how to call it in english) and gas-mask for the entire squadrom (dogs won't invade)
These "non-lethal" gas bombs in enough quantity can even kill, It killed a bunch of people here in Rio de Janeiro, your face and lungs feel like you ate enough pepper to make you fart fire and the pain made me think slowly, i barely could walk while i felt that the entire road was cosplaying silent hill with a fog because my government decided to throw one of these each meter for about 100m² i dunno.
When all that gas is in position and the squad is with the gas-mask, throw an stupid amount to slowly roll inside the cave, Then invade, invade this shit already throwing some properly lethal granades, keep in formation and shoot everything that moves in front of the squad.
Post by: dustywayfarer on October 28, 2017, 10:20:24 pm
PTW
Welcome to the nuthouse! Seriously though, more players are better!
I don't tend to post that often, so if it's quiet for a week or so please don't lose hope. Also, a major theme is overuse of cliches in gaming, so a quick jaunt through TvTropes (http://tvtropes.org) may be worth your time.
Also, as you might have noticed, I'm having fun trying out different formats for different events (The Search, Intermissions, Real Time Sieges). Any feedback about this? Also, anyone like the first full-power direct fight scene in this game?
Quick jaunt? Last time I visited there I barely escaped with my life. 2/10--Would not return except under threat.
I like the different formats; if something occurs to me, I'll mention it.
After some quick mental math, the dogs Call for reinforcements, and fire off a few shots every now and then to remind the rebels of their dire situation. Use an RPG if available.
Now that i already posted the ask for reinforcements i can think better.Good idea
Get one of that riot gas (i don't know how to call it in english) and gas-mask for the entire squadrom (dogs won't invade)
These "non-lethal" gas bombs in enough quantity can even kill, It killed a bunch of people here in Rio de Janeiro, your face and lungs feel like you ate enough pepper to make you fart fire and the pain made me think slowly, i barely could walk while i felt that the entire road was cosplaying silent hill with a fog because my government decided to throw one of these each meter for about 100m² i dunno.
When all that gas is in position and the squad is with the gas-mask, throw an stupid amount to slowly roll inside the cave, Then invade, invade this shit already throwing some properly lethal granades, keep in formation and shoot everything that moves in front of the squad.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 28, 2017, 10:24:06 pm
Simple soldiers ready in 8 hours. (Can be requested from any nearby base)
Shots will be fired upon soldier arrival. Gas will be used once that arrives.
Anyone care to tell me what time zone the forum time is in?
If I'm asleep when something gets there, I'll retcon it in.
Post by: omada on October 28, 2017, 11:06:19 pm
We have control on the voice things of the dogs? We can make the dogs yell some bullshitery in 3h, 6h, (if they don't break the devices angrily the first time), make them wake up and get scared from the sudden voice, them tell something about how hated they are by the population and/or simply LAUGH to make they feel uncomfortable. then it will be only silence till next time it will yell again. It will be substituted by the shots later.
Post by: omada on October 28, 2017, 11:08:55 pm
Anyone care to tell me what time zone the forum time is in?
I wrote last post 02:06 (in a 24hrs clock, i am horrible in this PM/AM shit) and in the forum it is written 11:06 pm
My area timezone is -3:00hrs, i am too sleepy to know how to calculate this
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 28, 2017, 11:37:36 pm
Hmm, good, this way they won't even sleep well, while our soldiers will be well rested when we start throwing gas and invading
We have control on the voice things of the dogs? We can make the dogs yell some bullshitery in 3h, 6h, (if they don't break the devices angrily the first time), make them wake up and get scared from the sudden voice, them tell something about how hated they are by the population and/or simply LAUGH to make they feel uncomfortable. then it will be only silence till next time it will yell again. It will be substituted by the shots later.
To be clear it’s ME, the physical author knee-deep in this stuff that’s going to sleep. I feel like I’m going to wake up to a huge pile of retcon tomorrow.
But yes. Psychological warfare is on the schedule.
While at it we grab info about the local geography, do they only have one way out? If yes, okay, if not quickly call someone to cover that way, never it's too much to be safe.
Dog's intel, do they have adantesite with them?
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Dogs report that they have the andantesite shard and seem to be experimenting with it - tools and notes are near it and it no longer glows. The dogs also saw that the cave is a dead end.
Post by: omada on October 28, 2017, 11:47:10 pm
Do we have anything resembling a laser or a radio strong enough to begin disrupting their adantesite nearby with that shit of 14 hours of work? If yes take it there, let's coordinate the crystal start acting weird and trying to kill them with the gas starting to spread. If it can't come at least together with the soldiers forget about it. It's not worth siege them more than 16 hours, they might discover something
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 29, 2017, 12:02:12 am
You're going to sleep, The rebels aren't for the next 16 hours, and i double doubt they slept right before the dogs came *evil giggles*
Do we have anything resembling a laser or a radio strong enough to begin disrupting their adantesite nearby with that shit of 14 hours of work? If yes take it there, let's coordinate the crystal start acting weird and trying to kill them with the gas starting to spread. If it can't come at least together with the soldiers forget about it. It's not worth siege them more than 16 hours, they might discover somethingSpoiler (click to show/hide)
Crystal deactivation tech is coming from Antarctica but moving at the speed of plot it'll take 24 hrs to get here.
Post by: omada on October 29, 2017, 12:12:58 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 29, 2017, 03:32:03 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 29, 2017, 09:06:39 pm
If I ever do this again, I’m probably going to have a ratio on the time, or make time not pass during night, or whatever.
I’ve also calculated the Brazil times, so I can tell you that the Siege began at around midnight and it’s beginning to get dark now.. All times are, in military tradition, given as Zulu times (e. g. UTC+0)
The Sequence of Events:
- 0227: Siege beings
- 0307: Request entered for soldiers as general backup. Arrives in 8 hours (at 1107)
- 0316: Request entered for riot gas and gas masks, to be used en masse upon arrival. Arrives in 16 hours (at 1816)
- 0320: Command given for soldiers to fire warning shots upon arrival.
- 0403: Command given for dogs to shout warnings at 3-hour intervals. Dogs will attempt to frighten and demoralize the rebels as well as keeping them awake. Occurs at 0703 and 1003.
- 0447: Request entered for anti-Andantesite radio equipment to be used as needed. Arrives in 24 hours (at 0447 next day)
- 0703: Dogs shout messages challenging the views of the rebels. They appear to be somewhat demoralized and divided.
- 1003: Same as before. No obvious result.
- 1107: Reinforcement soldiers arrive and fire warning shots at the cave. At this point it’s late morning.
- 1816: The gas arrives.
At around 0500, there is some sort of commotion between the rebels. Seems like the girl (Anna) is mad at her father (Sam) for some reason or another. The dogs can hear her move to a different bend of the cave, crying herself to sleep.
At 0703, the dogs let loose with a furious roar of pre-recorded complaints about the actions of the rebels. Sam Drimoxi actually forgets the whole point of a siege and almost runs outside, right into the defensive perimeter. Anna has to haul him back.
At 1107, soldiers arrive and fire warning shots into the cave. Some swearing is heard.
Time is now frozen at 1816 (https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20171029T181600&p1=tz_ct&p2=tz_z&p3=tz_clst&p4=tz_et&p5=tz_pt&p6=213) as I evaluate the results of a gas assault. Feel free to post any other bright ideas you might have.
Post by: dustywayfarer on October 30, 2017, 01:11:09 am
Also, jerry-rigging restraints/handholds that can be used to stabilize each unit in the case of gravitational anomaly wouldn't be a bad idea.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2017, 11:56:53 am
We’re rewinding to the middle of the night, when an argument breaks out among the rebels. There are only dogs here now, reinforcements are still several hours away.
After some time, Anna Drimoxi runs to the edge of the cave, sobbing, and throws the Andantesite crystal out.
What do you do?
A: Try to catch her before she goes back in
B: Secure the crystal as soon as possible
C: It may be a trap - everyone hang onto something
Post by: Glass on October 30, 2017, 12:04:52 pm
Post by: omada on October 30, 2017, 01:53:46 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2017, 02:05:02 pm
C. We can recover it later if it's not.
Back to accepting first suggestion.
It's the middle of the night, by the way, around 2 or 3 am.
The crystal lands in the sand near the cave entrance. You can hear agitated and angry sounds from inside the cave, shouting and crying, then silence.
Everyone is taking cover, making footholds, and holding stumps or roots in order to protect against anomalies. Nothing happens, and some people wonder if it's time to go grab it.
Against my better judgement I'm going to try another real time event. One hour = 2 minutes, post when you want to come out and grab the crystal.
Post by: omada on October 30, 2017, 04:17:59 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2017, 04:46:01 pm
I've chosen three reasonable (reasonable!) times describing the use of the Andantesite crystal, specifically, when they begin watching, when they let down their guard to begin planning other things, and when they do something of their own initiative.
If you attack between times 1 and 2, they will use the Andantesite in self-defence and the time until they let down their guard will be increased. If you allow time 3 to elapse bad things will happen.
So it's a waiting game - grab the crystal when they least expect it. Anytime someone decides to make a go for it it happens. You may take other actions during this time - negotiate with them, question their beliefs, etc. The dogs have a radio so you can talk to them.
286 seconds
A lone dog lopes up to the crystal and quietly picks it up in his mouth.
The crystal glows brightly. The dog gets sand stuffed furiously into its eyes and mouth before being flung ten feet into the air by inverted gravity.
The crystal is now lying in the mouth of the cave (it was previously just outside) on its side, in a crater of its own making. The dog is blinded by the sand.
Post by: omada on October 30, 2017, 05:23:27 pm
Then, maybe if we hear the guy\girl getting back to the end of the cave we can send one other dog to slowly approach, see if there is someone looking in our direction and/or holding the control. If they are not paying attention not in a position to activate it right now just grab and get away from here.
If unsure just keep the siege and ignore it, we shouldn't risk ourselves breaking the siege and letting them free.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2017, 05:47:57 pm
Make the blind dog fall back and just keep watching till they let their guard down, If we hear someone going to the entrance call them on a radio in the back of the cave for "negotiate their rendition"
Then, maybe if we hear the guy\girl getting back to the end of the cave we can send one other dog to slowly approach, see if there is someone looking in our direction and/or holding the control. If they are not paying attention not in a position to activate it right now just grab and get away from here.
If unsure just keep the siege and ignore it, we shouldn't risk ourselves breaking the siege and letting them free.
So I initially wanted to have you blindly guess when they’ve let down their guard. But that’s not fun, so it has to go.
The cave entrance is kinda dark and the waves mask the sound, so someone could easily be peeking and not get noticed.
However, if someone is moving, then you might be able to see them. Though it would be indistinguishable from just a trick of the light...
I will right now roll a hidden “accuracy” dice.
Once they Let Down Their Guard, I will roll another die. If this die is greater than or equal to the accuracy die, I will note the fact that some sounds were made in a post.
At random times of my choosing, I will do the same thing, only I’ll post if the die is less than or equal.
I will now post the algorithm I used to generate my numbers as well. The “Lower Guard” time was chosen with a Gaussian Distribution of Mean 7 and Standard Deviation 3. The “Begin Attack” time was chosen with a Gaussian Distribution of Mean 10 and Standard Deviation 5.
Each time you go for the Andantesite and get driven off, the current Lower Guard time is increased by the original Lower Guard time, and the current Begin Attack time is increased by twice the original Lower Guard time divided by the number of tries you have made, including this one.
You win if you choose between the Lower Guard and Attack times. When the Attack Time comes it will be obvious.
The last try was at 4.77 minutes in game (2 hours 13 minutes out of game)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2017, 10:15:13 pm
TO CLARIFY:
I didn't roll dice on EITHER false detection OR correct detection of them letting down their guard. The time I've calculated as the time they attack using the crystal has PASSED.
At this point, I'm ready to declare the whole real-time thing a bust, unmaintainable from both ends, and go back to the traditional dice-and-votes. So that's what we'll do.
The crystal is sitting in the mouth of the cave. Just then the soldiers, moving at the speed of plot, arrive on the scene.
Suddenly a tower of sand spurts up as the crystal hurls everything around it into the air. Within seconds it begins to fall, turning the whole place into a yellow mess.
The last thing the soldiers see before the cloud totally blocks their vision is the rebels running out from the cave.
What do the men and dogs do?
A: Hold their position, surround the entrance!
B: Scatter and attempt to escape the dust cloud
C: Run into the cave; the crystal is there, it’s sheltered, and the rebels are leaving
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on October 31, 2017, 12:18:19 am
Post by: dustywayfarer on October 31, 2017, 08:19:02 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2017, 09:24:41 am
D; Send half our force into the cave have everyone else hold their ground.
Splitting up rarely works in this kind of thing... But the rebels are blind as well so it might.
E. The captain of the detachment yells for everyone to hit the deck, and the soldiers near him begin firing blindly into the cloud while the ones on the ground form a perimeter of sorts. That's the idea anyway. Plenty of room for awesome stuff to happen and also for stuff to go horribly wrong.
That just sounds like a friendly fire incident in the making.
But good thoughts. Vote, people
Post by: Glass on October 31, 2017, 09:52:28 am
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 31, 2017, 09:52:46 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2017, 01:18:03 pm
E!
I love how more people voted but now we're tied again.
I'll give it a few hours for someone to add in or change their mind before I flip a coin.
Post by: Puppyguard on October 31, 2017, 04:01:32 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2017, 04:23:22 pm
C
Welcome back, Puppyguard. It's nice to see you around again.
In other news, that didn't help at all.
You have precisely thirty-four minutes before I string you up a rafter by implementing C, D, and E all at the same time, and accepting the consequences.
Post by: Glass on October 31, 2017, 04:33:10 pm
What would that even entail? Would we go through a Dragon Break?C
Welcome back, Puppyguard. It's nice to see you around again.
In other news, that didn't help at all.
You have precisely thirty-four minutes before I string you up a rafter by implementing C, D, and E all at the same time, and accepting the consequences.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 31, 2017, 05:44:31 pm
You have precisely thirty-four minutes before I string you up a rafter by implementing C, D, and E all at the same time, and accepting the consequences.
Send everyone into the cave, send half the people into the cave, send nobody into the cave and open fire.
Impossible.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2017, 06:04:30 pm
You have precisely thirty-four minutes before I string you up a rafter by implementing C, D, and E all at the same time, and accepting the consequences.What would that even entail? Would we go through a Dragon Break?
Well, you can see... because you just ran out of time!
Spoiler: The Division (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Dice and Computation (click to show/hide)
The girl escapes
The grandpa gets severely injured
The boy gets killed
Killed 4 mooks, severely injured 1 mook and 1 dog, disabled 2 dogs and grazed 1 mook and 1 dog
Tis the price of random firing. I’ll write descriptions/repercussions/choices in a few hours, please hold.
Post by: Glass on October 31, 2017, 06:14:15 pm
I suggest capturing the old man and getting these troops to safety and medical attention.
Post by: omada on October 31, 2017, 06:57:12 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2017, 06:58:26 pm
At least we killed the boy and hurt an old man.
Today, on Things You'll Only Hear on Bay12...
Post by: omada on October 31, 2017, 07:42:49 pm
So we should use this somehow.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2017, 07:45:46 pm
She’s almost made it when the shots ring out. Ring would perhaps be the wrong word, as something ringing has some sort of harmony to it, some sort of tone. These do not. They sound like miniature explosions, white hot balls of fury and pain, sharp thundercracks of impending death.
Almost on instinct, she whirls around, wondering if the rest are still following her, or already gone, their cold flesh digging into the dry, dead sand. The protecting mist of sand is already gone by now, diminished to a yellow haze through which misty figures can be seen. One is slumped at the ground behind her, and the other is her grandfather, Samael Drimoxi, running, arms at his side, towards her granddaughter - running, running, as if from a demon of old, running up until the time a small, red hole opens up in the side of his torso and a splatter of blood heralds his fall to the ground.
Anna screams, a primal, animalistic scream that shakes her world and that she herself is not fully aware of. She runs back to Sam and kneels down by his side, desperately trying to staunch the sickeningly warm flow of blood from his chest until he chokes out “It’s no use, Anna”.
“NO!” she shouts, even though all her knowledge of medical science tells her otherwise - tells her that the bullet has already passed through, ripping through the liver and splitting open the stomach to expose her grandfather’s insides to the ravishes of hydrochloric acid. Knows that the gush of blood and the bullet lying in the sand next to her grandfather mean that it is already too late, too late, too late…
“Anna,” Sam chokes, groaning after every word, “Anna, I’m sorry about what I said yesterday. I didn’t want those to be my last words before I -”
“You’re not going to, grandpa, you’re not going to-” Anna repeats, whispering into his ear until she cannot even force herself to believe it, until her world comes crashing down beside her feet and she breaks down, crying, salty tears mingling with the sea breeze as they fall down, down down. Sam says, “So I wanted you to have this.” With a momentous effort, like a cripple learning to walk for the first time, he takes a folded stack of papers out from his jacket and drops it, like a dead thing, onto the sand. Anna picks it up. It’s a picture of Sam, along with her mother and his daughter, along with a handwritten note, the contents of which will haunt her for years to come:
I killed her, Anna.
I killed your mother. Not intentionally, but it was me that did it, all the same.
They said she died of thyroid cancer. They pinned it on a lithium leak down the road, but I knew better.
It was when she was your age, and I was beginning my experiments on the green jewel of our legacy. I had only a flawed crystal of Andantesite at the moment, and was repeatedly powering it up in an effort to divine its properties.
What I did not know was that flawed Andantesite releases dangerous and sickening radiation, a spray of gamma rays that jetted out from the cracks in my enthralling green crystal, jetting through carpet and wood, up to where my daughter slept, until a small batch of her cells took in the poison, waiting and conspiring for thirty years until…
I’ll never forgive myself for what I’ve done, Anna. It’s why I’ve taken you in. I couldn’t leave you with no mother and an aloof father. It’s why I’ve shown you the door to the Resistance.
I’d like to say that it was the right thing to do. That many lives are going to be more important than one. But the truth is, Annabelle Drimoxi…
I don’t really know.
Her reading of the note is cut abruptly short by the Republic trooper that stands above her, one gruff hand around her collar. “I’ll take that,” he says.
Without even thinking - without even feeling anything except blinding, hot rage at the man that would take away her grandfather’s final legacy - she thrusts her blade into his stomach.
The four-foot length of steel is designed for this job, and the weaker flesh gives way easily. The trooper’s eyes go wide with surprise and then fill with pain.
Anna Drimoxi twists the knife.
The trooper groans before gargling as a few drops of vomit come to his mouth - then he falls, first to his knees and then flat on his face, nose stuck in the pool of Sam Drimoxi’s blood.
Anna runs, runs from the soldiers still counting their wounded, running from the two bodies, that of her grandfather and that of a random soldier of the Republic. In later days, she would try to tell herself that it was necessary, that he threw his lot in with the Republic, but for now, all she can think is how similar the two bodies are.
SPAMOVERLORD
Darkness above and darkness below | Protect the future, on with the show
How’s that for dark eh?
GRRM, I’m coming for you.
Also 5000 VIEWS YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!
Post by: omada on October 31, 2017, 07:56:05 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2017, 07:56:55 pm
Everything till now was a prelude?
Shit's going to get very, very real now.
And I just thought up that catchphrase.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2017, 08:20:09 pm
Note: blind shots can put a hero on his last words. and not having to throw a 12 to just capture
So we should use this somehow.
And it was more the close range and siege tactics that did it. Heroes can be killed, just not easily.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 01, 2017, 09:41:47 am
How much are you going to tell the public?
About Andrew…
A: Tell the public that he was killed in the firefight (true)
B: Tell the public that he was captured alive
C: Tell the public that he escaped
D: Don’t mention him in public reports
About Sam…
A: Tell the public that he was killed in the firefight
B: Tell the public that he was captured alive (true)
C: Tell the public that he escaped
D: Don’t mention him in public reports
About Anna…
A: Tell the public that she was killed in the firefight
B: Tell the public that she was captured alive
C: Tell the public that she escaped (true)
D: Don’t mention her in public reports
About the soldiers
A: Admit that they were killed by blind friendly fire
B: Claim the rebels shot them
C: Hush up the deaths of the mooks
Post by: dustywayfarer on November 01, 2017, 10:05:17 am
I was hoping something like that would happen. The fewer heroes we have the better.Note: blind shots can put a hero on his last words. and not having to throw a 12 to just capture
So we should use this somehow.
And it was more the close range and siege tactics that did it. Heroes can be killed, just not easily.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 01, 2017, 10:36:57 am
ABDB;I was hoping something like that would happen. The fewer heroes we have the better.Note: blind shots can put a hero on his last words. and not having to throw a 12 to just capture
So we should use this somehow.
And it was more the close range and siege tactics that did it. Heroes can be killed, just not easily.
Yes. If you have such a large advantage over a hero that even the plot is convinced you win, then you win. They were blinded and surrounded and the enemy was willing to shoot their own allies. Plus Andrew's plotarmor wasn't that strong anyway. Is there a trope for when the annoying ally that is cold and cruel and rivals the hero dies?
Do note that he isn't dead yet, though - just shot through the heart and dead by all rights. Plot involvement will still allow for last-minute resuscitation, however.
Post by: dustywayfarer on November 01, 2017, 10:40:56 am
Post by: FallacyofUrist on November 01, 2017, 11:33:54 am
Post by: omada on November 01, 2017, 12:14:45 pm
A,
A (So we can torture/interrogate/ straight kill and Anna will believe that he is dead)
C or E (DANGEROUS REBEL STILL ON THE RUN, SHE SHOT HER OWN FATHER TO GAIN ADVANTAGE AND ESCAPE JUSTICE)
B
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 01, 2017, 04:56:39 pm
Repercussions for this are going to come later, but for now you, as the leader of the remaining mooks and dogs on the scene, are going to have to choose which of these actions to do first. There’s no time to ensure they all get done with the best speed possible:
Choose top 3 priorities:
A: Track down Anna Drimoxi, who is already escaping down the coast. Note that you might not outright find her, as she has a decent head start, but you might get a better idea of where she is going
B: Investigate the cave. The rebels likely covered their tracks, but if they unintentionally left something then the faster the better
C: Get Erin Quill’s assessment on the situation. He is technically the Commanding Officer, and he’s likely to have some good fourth wall powered tips.
D: Investigate the knife that Anna dropped when she killed the mook sent to get her. She dropped it into the ocean and it will soon wash away, but if we get it now it could be an important piece of evidence.
E: Concentrate on saving your men and ensuring the two wounded rebels survive for questioning. Everyone not outright killed will survive if you choose this, otherwise they put their fates in the plot and/or RNG. (Andrew Calvin still lives despite rolling a 1 due to plot armor).
Troop rundown:
- 2 healthy mooks
- 1 mook grazed by a bullet
- 1 mook with serious injuries
- 1 healthy dog
- 1 dog grazed by a bullet
- 2 disabled dogs
- 1 dog with serious injuries
Also get used to drier updates as I’m going to be doing NaNoWriMo (https://nanowrimo.org/). Considered calling this my Novel but thought that might not fly.
Post by: Glass on November 01, 2017, 04:59:32 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 01, 2017, 05:04:10 pm
D and E I think we should do, I'm not sure about the third. And BT, you can use this, but you'd only be able to count the things you do in this month, starting with this update. Get to work, mate. :P
No, for NaNoWriMo this year I'm going to be getting out of my head a novel idea that's been stewing for a long, long time.
If it survives until Camp rolls around I'll use it as Camp appears to accept novel (har har!) formats better.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 01, 2017, 05:04:39 pm
D and E I think we should do, I'm not sure about the third.
I'll count that as two votes for D, one for E then if you don't want to use the third vote.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on November 01, 2017, 05:04:50 pm
C, E, D. We don't have the manpower to catch Anna, and we can always investigate the cave later.
Post by: omada on November 01, 2017, 05:06:53 pm
But we might need the man to other things and still get a chance
CDE
Heal the medics\people with first aid knowledgement first and then the dogs, because they can catch things faster and be free to hunt anna while the cops investigate the cave, there is no time to ensure all is done with the best speed but we can help to make the faster we can
Post by: Glass on November 01, 2017, 05:09:07 pm
C, E, D.
CDE*shrug*
I'll put that third vote in C.
Post by: dustywayfarer on November 01, 2017, 09:40:33 pm
ABE
We need to know where she went to gain plot insight. The plot is obviously one of the more crucial elements to defeating her.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 01, 2017, 09:42:36 pm
We essentially have 3 mooks and 2 dogs.
ABE
We need to know where she went to gain plot insight. The plot is obviously one of the more crucial elements to defeating her.
And here I was celebrating unanimous agreement for once...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 01, 2017, 10:42:12 pm
The first choice is now E, with C and D tied for second fiddle. Here’s how it’s going to work:
Each action has a good or bad outcome. Good outcomes come from seizing the opportunity when you have it. The first item will always get the good outcome, while each of the next two have a ⅔ chance.
Roll 2d3, one for each of C and D, if it’s 1, then take the bad outcome:
1
1
(wait, seriously? Oh well…)
E: The wounded from both sides are quickly taken onto troop transports and shuttled to the nearest hospital. There, prompt and effective medical care manages to prevent further loss of life, even (near-miraculously) resuscitating both wounded rebels. Seeing as one was shot through the lung and the other through the liver this is rather amazing.
D: The knife is spotted, but a wave flips it away before we can get it.
C: A report is carried to Erin Quill about what has transpired on the beach. His secretary gets it.
“Yeah…” she says. “He expected that you might come. He said you should have this.”
She hands the officer an envelope labeled “In case rebels are captured/incapacitated”
I AM CURRENTLY HUNTING DOWN ONE LUNATIC WITH ACTING CAPTAIN WENTON CELLING. UNLESS YOU WOULD LIKE ONE (1) LUNATIC HUNT TO GO DRASTICALLY WRONG I WOULD STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST ATTEMPTING TO FOLLOW ME OR DISCERN MY LOCATION IN. ANY. WAY!
YOU MUST BE VERY CAREFUL TO REPORT ALL REBELS WOUNDED AND CAPTURED AS DEAD, REGARDLESS OF THEIR STATUS OR CHANCES OF SURVIVAL. DOING SO WILL INCREASE THE CHANCES OF SUCCESSFULLY REVIVING THE CAPTIVES AS HAVING THE CAPTIVES LIVE FOR INTERROGATION WILL THEN SET UP A DRAMATIC AND EMOTIONAL REVEAL IN THE 3RD ACT. THIS IS ALSO GOING TO DECREASE THE CHANCES OF THE OTHER REBELS LAUNCHING A DRAMATIC AND ENTERTAINING RESCUE ARC, BUT YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO DEAL WITH CONSEQUENCES IF THEY FIND OUT THE TRUTH. ON THE INTERROGATION SIDE, I WOULD ADVISE LOOKING FOR DIFFERENCES AND DIVISIONS WITHIN THE REBELS, AS SOME ARE SURE TO DEVELOP AT THIS TIME. TRY TO TURN HIM OR, IF THAT FAILS, BRAINWASH HIM, AS THESE PROVIDE A NICE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT.
(yes, that was the favorable outcome for that choice, but as I’d already gotten it planned out and it seemed as if it wouldn’t fall apart if accessed a bit later, I told you anyway.)
Post by: Glass on November 02, 2017, 06:00:51 am
Whelp, you all
Anyway, bonus to turning due to "you're not dead"?
Post by: omada on November 02, 2017, 06:34:18 am
The boy, not that much of memories, brainwashing would be easier, but really, what does he have to offer? Bah with luck we can affect Anna's psychological state making him call her name into a trap whatever
Brainwashed heroes always return, at least one of them is incorrigible and should be killed
Put a minor note on the newspaper of where the rebels bodies are going to be buried. She might not resist the urge of going there, even knowing that it's a trap.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2017, 07:27:31 am
Anyway, bonus to turning due to "you're not dead"?
What do you mean? Tell him he's lucky to be alive, or reveal he's not dead, or...
Post by: Glass on November 02, 2017, 07:43:41 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2017, 07:48:43 am
The first one. If we had done nothing, he'd have died out on the field.
That's... hmm... a pretty good motivator.
Alright next thing.
Sam Drimoxi has woken up, post anything you want to do to get him talking.
Post by: omada on November 02, 2017, 08:04:32 am
Notes and knowledge on adantesite, where he worked at with this
Look at his records together with his interrogations to make sure he isn't fooling us. Maybe we can even find an old lab of his without him talking about it
I was inclined to make him work on a lab.. But I don't want to give him power
Refusal to cooperate may result in torture and and harder punishments for his daughter
If he dies put his brain in a formol or else, we will make a brain reading device sooner or later.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2017, 08:29:15 am
Refusal to cooperate may result in torture and and harder punishments for his daughter
SAM: Don't bother lying. I saw Anna escape. You can't do anything to her and you won't get anything from me.
(also she's his granddaughter)
Post by: omada on November 02, 2017, 08:35:53 am
*Some lights turn out, leaving only one on the top of the tied prisioner*
We were talking about you.
(If he start to look that he will lose sanity before his life, stop for a while)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2017, 08:43:15 am
Also OOC: Provide specific methods of torture.
Good to see that you believe so much in a girl that left the fight having a mental breakdown. Her mind is almost a molten puddle, and about the torture...
*Some lights turn out, leaving only one on the top of the tied prisioner*
We were talking about you.
(If he start to look that he will lose sanity before his life, stop for a while)
Sam: She's stronger than you think. You'll always underestimate children, but they are the downfall of every empire.
And literally gaslamping me? Come on! Do your worst, Southerners.
Post by: Glass on November 02, 2017, 08:44:15 am
Omada, what in nine kinds of hell do you think you're doing?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2017, 08:50:34 am
*through the intercom, from Erin Quill*
Omada, what in nine kinds of hell do you think you're doing?
Quill is still out of contact. Unfortunately.
But his secretary delivers a folded note reading "In case prisoner is to be interrogated/tortured."
"He has a lot of these," she explains.
IF YOU SEEK TO EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM AN UNWILLING SUBJECT YOU WOULD DO WELL TO NOT TORTURE HIM/HER DIRECTLY BUT RATHER THREATEN ANOTHER CAPTIVE, OPTIMALLY WITH PROOF OF THEIR SUFFERING. SUCCUMBING TO TORTURE YOURSELF IS SEEN AS WEAK AND COWARDLY BY PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FOURTH WALL BUT GIVING UP YOUR SECRETS TO PROTECT ANOTHER IS SEEN AS COMPASSIONATE AND SELFLESS. MAKE SURE THEY CANNOT COMMUNICATE LEST THE SECOND CAPTIVE SAY THAT THEY'RE NOT WORTH IT. THIS ALSO ENCOURAGED DIVISION AS THE HEROES MUST ASSIGN PRICES TO THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND PRIORITIES MAY DIFFER BETWEEN HEROES.
Post by: omada on November 02, 2017, 09:03:59 am
Okay, decide tatics ingame as Agent Omada and agent Glass?
*Laughs and let the grandpa alone a long time*
"Okay, let's first see what the boy thinks"
"What do you suggest? Other than info I see no use for him other than setting a trap with his burial, I plan begin with some chinese torture of sleep deprivation, some concussion wounds so no-one can uncover the corpse and see that he wasn't really killed in the fight and a thing that I learned from our militar dictatorship implanted in Brazil, Pau de arara" (parrot stick, stupid name for a horrible thing in this position our government put water in his mouth, not letting someone drowing completely)
*Sees Erin Quills message* hmm, So we wait for the other to wake up, make sure both have their mouths tied to prevent proper communication and lock them in a place with cameras
Other than that next research phase we should suggest a brain reading device. Godamn I have a shit-ton of suggestions for that that i am thinking to write this before research phase just to make sure that I won't lose the chance
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nZFRCPOPI6o/SiCiWFaYn8I/AAAAAAAABVo/AiawHMp_U8c/s400/pau+de+arara+3.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nZFRCPOPI6o/SiCiWFaYn8I/AAAAAAAABVo/AiawHMp_U8c/s400/pau+de+arara+3.jpg)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2017, 09:08:35 am
NO. NOT BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO, BUT BECAUSE IT'S NOT A THING.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2017, 09:25:30 am
DAMN, I love these badass old grandpas, plz glass take control of this because I can't ahushsausahsausah :v
Okay, decide tatics ingame as Agent Omada and agent Glass?
*Laughs and let the grandpa alone a long time*
"Okay, let's first see what the boy thinks"
"What do you suggest? Other than info I see no use for him other than setting a trap with his burial, I plan begin with some chinese torture of sleep deprivation, some concussion wounds so no-one can uncover the corpse and see that he wasn't really killed in the fight and a thing that I learned from our militar dictatorship implanted in Brazil, Pau de arara" (parrot stick, stupid name for a horrible thing in this position our government put water in his mouth, not letting someone drowing completely)
*Sees Erin Quills message* hmm, So we wait for the other to wake up, make sure both have their mouths tied to prevent proper communication and lock them in a place with cameras
Other than that next research phase we should suggest a brain reading device. Godamn I have a shit-ton of suggestions for that that i am thinking to write this before research phase just to make sure that I won't lose the chance
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nZFRCPOPI6o/SiCiWFaYn8I/AAAAAAAABVo/AiawHMp_U8c/s400/pau+de+arara+3.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nZFRCPOPI6o/SiCiWFaYn8I/AAAAAAAABVo/AiawHMp_U8c/s400/pau+de+arara+3.jpg)
Are you doing this in front of Sam or not?
Post by: omada on November 02, 2017, 10:05:48 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 02, 2017, 04:11:53 pm
Because I think this might promote maximal public sympathy for our cause.
Post by: Glass on November 02, 2017, 04:17:57 pm
CAAB...huh?
Because I think this might promote maximal public sympathy for our cause.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 02, 2017, 04:20:08 pm
sorry... Most games do not update this quickly.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2017, 05:10:49 pm
sorry... Most games do not update this quickly.
GOOD! I wanted a highly complex and interactive game.
Try to just check and make seat-of-the-pants decisions instead of looking then thinking about it for a while. It works better.
While you're here... any ideas on wringing information out of an old grandpa?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 02, 2017, 05:42:08 pm
Those might work, since this sort of guy seems like he would be very hard to break under torture and might feed us clever lies, and or simply say what he thinks we want to hear if we get him to start talking anyway.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2017, 10:25:30 pm
Make it in his best interest to give us said infot, such as making him guarantees that we will not lethally punish rebel activities over the next six months if they avoid targeting civilians for example, or let him know about the other rebel we have captured and offer to torture them, say by stripping them naked and tossing them into an icy room for just long enough to avoid inducing hypothermia, and then allowing them to warm up just enough that we can toss them into a seeringly hot metal room without risking their life[tossing them into one right after the other would risk heat shock which could be lethal, which we do not want].
Those might work, since this sort of guy seems like he would be very hard to break under torture and might feed us clever lies, and or simply say what he thinks we want to hear if we get him to start talking anyway.
SAM: Threatening Andrew now? Sorry, I really don't care. By that I mean that he'd know it's for the good of the whole, of course, so don't you dare try to edit out the good bits and use them to turn him against me.
Do we try anyway?
A: Edit the audio to show Sam doesn't care about Andrew and show it to Andrew when he wakes up
B: Just show the entire thing to Andrew
C: Forget it.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 02, 2017, 10:51:33 pm
EDIT; Why not offer sam the first option ??? We do not have to be chaotic evil 24/7 we can be lawful evil or chaotic neutral every now and then.
EDIT 2; E ask, sam why editing it wouldn't work or wouldn't be in our best interest. Tell him we will go easy on him from now on if he co-operates...and turn a blind eye to his associates activities in Africa for the next year or so. If there is some VERY good for reason for us not being able to continue interrogating sam like him having a heart attack or use running out of tape on our tape recorder, then A because , really why not?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 04, 2017, 09:28:57 am
I WAS NOT TRYING TO WRITE THAT AS ACHARACTER DIALOUGG '-_____- >:( If the prisoner is reading or hearing this, he should not be.
EDIT; Why not offer sam the first option ??? We do not have to be chaotic evil 24/7 we can be lawful evil or chaotic neutral every now and then.
EDIT 2; E ask, sam why editing it wouldn't work or wouldn't be in our best interest. Tell him we will go easy on him from now on if he co-operates...and turn a blind eye to his associates activities in Africa for the next year or so. If there is some VERY good for reason for us not being able to continue interrogating sam like him having a heart attack or use running out of tape on our tape recorder, then A because , really why not?
(OOC: You gave a suggestion on how to treat the prisoner. I was accepting suggestions on how to treat the prisoner. I accepted your suggestion.)
SAM: Because he won't believe that I think negatively of him. I didn't give you enough non-positive words to edit. He'll know it's for the good of the whole.
You also didn't get the country right. We're in South America, dummies. And turning a blind eye? Why, exactly, should I trust you?
(OOC: If you choose to edit out a false statement you must choose words from all of Sam's communications since he was captured. The breath before a sentence and intonation change at the end are very obvious, so first or last words must stay that way. You cannot break hyphens or remove contractions. "Non-positive" to "positive" or "can't" to "can" are not valid.)
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 04, 2017, 06:54:07 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 04, 2017, 07:33:04 pm
OOC; I DO KNOW that they arn south america, I just thought that they might have a a network across the hole empire which would include much of africa.
Great.
Great.
Now you've beaten the scope of the organization out of him.
Background: Africa is colonized, but not too much... mainly just military posts along the coasts. There are natives, who are treated with respect and left to govern themselves while we think up ways to gradually improve their civilization. Yes, there's some imperialism and we're mostly convinced that we're better than them, but not to the level of actually enslaving them... ew.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 04, 2017, 09:44:27 pm
IC;As for why you should trust me, In a few simple words rank, Authority, Power, ...and a supply of documentation [has some copies of our files on them them, and me wheeled in] I can authorize...a lessening of our engagments, should you prove to be co-operative, I am not just a random soldier after all.
OOC; we are fairly high ranking, right?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 04, 2017, 09:46:45 pm
OOC; we are fairly high ranking, right?
You have assumed the role of Random Commanding Interrogation Officer #1.
Yes, he's high ranking because that's how we do things around here. The higher ups do the important nitty-gritty things, if you want something done right do it yourself.
Post by: Glass on November 04, 2017, 09:47:47 pm
OOC; we are fairly high ranking, right?We literally decide basically every important thing. Yes we're high-ranking.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 04, 2017, 09:49:38 pm
OOC; we are fairly high ranking, right?We literally decide basically every important thing. Yes we're high-ranking.
Well, OOC you do. Usually you are Erin Quill, who's been put in charge of this entire operation as it's his wormhole. But right now you're just some mook.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 04, 2017, 10:10:52 pm
OOC; we are fairly high ranking, right?We literally decide basically every important thing. Yes we're high-ranking.
Well, OOC you do. Usually you are Erin Quill, who's been put in charge of this entire operation as it's his wormhole. But right now you're just some mook.
OOC fuck, iggnore what i was trying to say then. Would Quill be totaly fine with some mook who now want to learn more about impersonating him to gain mkore information from a vital prisoner ??? Can we send him a telegraph requesting permission or something ??? Can we call him here ???
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 04, 2017, 10:18:51 pm
OOC; we are fairly high ranking, right?We literally decide basically every important thing. Yes we're high-ranking.
Well, OOC you do. Usually you are Erin Quill, who's been put in charge of this entire operation as it's his wormhole. But right now you're just some mook.
OOC fuck, iggnore what i was trying to say then. Would Quill be totaly fine with some mook who now want to learn more about impersonating him to gain mkore information from a vital prisoner ??? Can we send him a telegraph requesting permission or something ??? Can we call him here ???
Like I said... right now you're a high-ranking officer coming down from HQ to lean on the prisoner. Erin Quill is out of contact but is by no means the sole head of this operation. Feel free to promise anything you like.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 08, 2017, 01:06:52 pm
Jacob Eldin steps off the boat first, descending off a metal ramp onto the white sandy beach. Armen DeMarco follows suit soon enough.
Wenton Celling approaches from the path cut into the neighboring woods, emerging from the underbrush as he rounds a turn. He holds his hands up to show that he is unarmed.
“Who the hell are you?” shouts Jacob.
“My name’s Lieutenant Wenton Celling. I declined to fire on your stolen vessel when I had the chance. If not for me, you and all the hostages would be dead.”
“So you’re here to bargain them out, I assume,” Eldin scoffed.
“That’s right. I get that you don’t like the Southern Republic - to be frank, I don’t care much for that festival of fools myself. But those sailors are innocent, Eldin. They didn’t sign up for this.”
Eldin laughed. “They signed up with the Republic.”
“They signed up to take an aging ship carrying a high-priority cargo across the Drake Passage. They didn’t sign up to be gagged and threatened and dragged on a week-long boat trip with a traitor and a rebel. They had no part in getting you captured.”
Armen was getting bored with all this, so she looked around. For some reason she kept focusing on the dunes. Something’s not right… she felt. An odd chill ran down her spine.
It was at that moment that Erin Quill stepped out from behind a dune, wielding a crossbow. Before there was time to react he raised it up to his shoulder, put his finger on the trigger, and-
Captain Celling’s ship, two hours prior. Conversation with Erin Quill over the radio.
“We have limited but workable knowledge about forces that seem to permeate every event in our universe and that appear to knowingly hold sway over the very essence of the reality that we experience. We thus focus on a particular possible turn of events and manipulate it to our ends.”
Erin Quill delivered this long spiel through the radio to Wenton Celling while he was cruising towards the estimated landing site of Jacob Eldin. Celling summarized it in a more succinct way.
“We’re going to use a weaponized cliche.”
“Exactly,” Quill answered. “A particular possible event. A main character is about to be shot and a supporting character leaps in front of the projectile. Events in this universe will tend to include this event if we properly manipulate the ones before and after it.”
Armen DeMarco hit the ground with a thud, a red splotch of blood forming on her shirt. She cried out in pain, the shaft of the arrow sticking up out from her chest.
Jacob Eldin saw Quill’s bolt drive toward its mark, saw Armen realize it and push him down, watched as she took the arrow that was meant for him. Watched as it hit her squarely in the heart, watched as she fell motionless onto the sand.
Eldin jumped up, screamed, and knelt down toward her face. “Please don’t die, please don’t-” Her jaw was already slack, her features distorted with pain.
Jacob suddenly whirled as if possessed toward Celling, shakily aiming his pistol at his head.
“Notice. She needs to notice. She needs to realize something’s not right. What do you remember about Ensign DeMarco?”
Celling thought for a moment. “Argentinien? I knew her when I was little.”
Erin Quill paused thoughtfully. “Your relationship in your younger days?”
Celling considered his options for a moment before answering, “We dated.”
Quill sat bolt upright at this. “And you parted in what way?”
“She left me at the end of high school. We went to different universities. Never saw her again until the Eldin mission.”
“Yes, yes, that would be… predictable. Did you part on amicable terms by any chance?”
“No. No, sir.”
“Alright then. So what doesn’t she like?”
“Being ignored,” Celling answered immediately. “She wants her opinion known.”
“Ah. And what will she happen to look at, if she feels slighted by, say, you totally not mentioning her during your conversation?”
Celling thought about this too. “She grew up near the beach. She’ll look at the sand dunes. But how can you be sure she’ll look just as you stand up?”
“Don’t worry!” Erin Quill answered. “A plot always works.”
“You did this,” Jacob snarled. “You lying, sniveling-”
“Calm down, Jacob, he had nothing to do with it. It was me,” boomed Erin Quill’s voice from across the dune. He was out of cover now, striding rapidly toward the fugitive, cloak flapping in the wind. Jacob twitched spasmodically, jerking his head to face Quill before swiveling around to point the gun at him.
“You killed her.”
“Yes, I did,” Quill answered, his voice maddening in its evenness.
Behind Jacob, Armen choked and took her last breath before everything went dark.
“Please be assured, she won’t actually die,” Quill reassured Eldin.
“Uhh, alright,” he answered. “So why are we going to all this trouble in order to make her look dead?”
“The entire object of this was to capture Armen. We have to set everything up in a way that makes it look like she should be dead. Trick the plot into doing what we want.”
Celling considered that. “And just what are you going to use to get this done?”
“Chemistry,” came the answer. “For a couple of years now I've been studying the toxic creatures of Brazil. We'll combine a bee sting extract with, say, a paralytic dart frog neurotoxin..”
“OK, wait, what?” said Celling, eager to get to the good part.
“We shoot her with a tranquilizer dart, only it hurts like hell too,” Quill concluded. “The head will be hollow and have an explosive charge inside to both drive the dart in and destroy the head, spraying red liquid everywhere. It’ll be pointed enough to make an actual wound, so there will be believable blood. She thinks she’s dead, Jacob Eldin thinks she’s dead, she’s not dead.”
“You killed her,” Eldin repeated again. “You had this guy -” he once again jerked his hand around to aim at Eldin - “You had him distract me so you could shoot me.” His face contorted into a savage, insane smile. “And who cares who got in the way, eh?”
“Drop your weapon!” came several voices from the top of the nearest hill. Several policemen came running down the hill. “We have you surrounded. Come with your hands up and nobody needs to get hurt.”
Eldin glanced up at the men charging at him, then sprung away from Celling and Quill and ran back to the boat. As he escaped, Quill walked briskly up to Armen’s side and took her pulse. He whispered, “Still alive,” to Celling before jumping up and waving his arms at Jacob’s rapidly receding boat.
“I win!” he shouted. He proceeded to turn and duck as a bullet inevitably soared over his head. He leaped up as soon as it passed. “Stop wasting ammo!” he shouted at Jacob as he left. Jacob fired another shot, but was long out of range at this point.
Several of the soldiers dragged Armen away on a stretcher. “And the hostages?” Quill asked of the police commander.
“We got them off safely. As you suspected, they left the back door to the boat unguarded. They’re unharmed.”
“So. See, Celling? I win.”
Celling tapped his foot. “Eldin is still out there.”
Erin Quill replied, “I told you, the plot armor won’t allow us to capture or even harm him right now. He’s too important to be lost halfway through the rising action. What we can do is to make the plot pay for every second he lives.” He caught sight of Celling’s worried expression and said, “He’s not that dangerous anymore. He’s friendless and alone - we caught the grandfather and the kid as well. Come on, let’s get all these people back to base.”
Post by: Glass on November 08, 2017, 01:27:57 pm
“He’s not that dangerous anymore. He’s friendless and alone...”NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO
Goddamnit Erin I trusted you to not say stupid stuff like this.
Post by: omada on November 08, 2017, 02:23:11 pm
“He’s not that dangerous anymore. He’s friendless and alone...”NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO
Goddamnit Erin I trusted you to not say stupid stuff like this.
DAMN ERIN
good work
BUT DAMN
We could make him somehow desire to hurt innocent people, make him stop being the hero and put the plot armor gradually desintegrate as people would lose interest of who really wins the war, take the battle to a level of "anti-hero vs the Anti-villian (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AntiVillain)"
We could work along the lines of "Who is the hero? The ones that make anything to overthrow a strong government (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DesignatedVillain) or the agents (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InspectorJavert) of said government that isn't that bad that are doing anything (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KnightTemplar) to keep order and stability against separatists that took peoples as hostages and have no proof that they are going to work for the people"
Look, one of the motivations of badass grandpa is because he is descendant of the last Brazilian empire's rulers. we can point it as selfish somehow.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 08, 2017, 02:28:43 pm
“He’s not that dangerous anymore. He’s friendless and alone...”NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO
Goddamnit Erin I trusted you to not say stupid stuff like this.
Ditto, but as long as he still has hope of rescuing his buddies we need not worry too much..if he loses that though...things could get dicey! We need to make sure he doesnt think he has nothing left to lose so that he doesn't start mowing people down left and right.
On another note, will it be possible to make further upgrade to our reliable cyber doggos, After alll their hard work they deserve some kind of rewar right, if not upgrades at least a statue commemorating''The Brave Dogs of The Republic'' or similiar?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 08, 2017, 02:40:02 pm
“He’s not that dangerous anymore. He’s friendless and alone...”NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO
Goddamnit Erin I trusted you to not say stupid stuff like this.
"I was just trying to reassure Celling. We both know that until this plot-armored fool is brought to justice, nobody is safe"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 08, 2017, 05:41:37 pm
On another note, will it be possible to make further upgrade to our reliable cyber doggos, After alll their hard work they deserve some kind of rewar right, if not upgrades at least a statue commemorating''The Brave Dogs of The Republic'' or similiar?
We have been gradually toning up their intellectual capabilities. We are by now fairly certain that their analytic capabilities are equivalent to those of our human soldiers - and their sense of direction and smell much better. Of course, their extreme loyalty to each other and to the Republic has been left unchanged.
If you want any specific physical upgrade, please comment.
Look, one of the motivations of badass grandpa is because he is descendant of the last Brazilian empire's rulers. we can point it as selfish somehow.
That was in fact something I thought up, but I don't remember where I told you. Where did I tell you?
Erin Quill strides into the interrogation rooms. The officer in charge told him, “Glad you could come, Quill. Did you get that rebel?”
“Yup.”
“We got two.”
“So I heard,” replied Quill. “I assume you took my advice and reported them as dead rather than captured.”
“We did.”
“Tried brainwashing them yet?”
“I thought you also told us that brainwashing was impossible?”
“No, I told you that there was no such thing as a mind reading machine. It’s perfectly possible to alter the mental state of the prisoners by various means.”
“Oh… ok.”
“Alright. In my lab at Brazil High Command there are a bunch of jars with poison dart frogs in them. Have someone find the one with green skin and yellow empty spots.”
“Yeah…”
“Bring him here. He does brainwashings. I have to talk to Armen once she wakes up.”
Erin Quill explaining what he’s doing.
“This first compound is just a serum of truth. It disables the parts of the brain required to maintain a lie. They will only be able to give information that they themselves believe is true. It’s combined with a healthy dose of oxytocin-like neurotransmitters to make the subject more cooperative, but they can still make lies of omission if they want to.”
Who do we question first:
A: Sam Drimoxi (Old guy)
B: Andrew Calvin (Kid)
And what do we ask them?
Post by: FallacyofUrist on November 08, 2017, 06:14:37 pm
Spoiler: Advisor FallacyofUrist's Guide to Brainwashings (click to show/hide)
If you want any specific physical upgrade, please comment.Cheetah speed or a venomous bite. Preferably both.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 09, 2017, 03:45:12 am
Also Adrew Calvin
Post by: omada on November 09, 2017, 11:01:16 am
The captive's name is Jacob Edlin. He gives us the names of all the major players:
- Jacob Edlin, himself. Reluctantly there, slightly shortish, moved from Antarctica a few years ago. Fell into this entire thing when he followed Anna to a meeting, after which he got dragged to the governor's office on pain of death.
- Anna Drimoxi, blond, kinda short, who got dragged into all this by her father around 2 years ago, and who both boys in La Group have a not-so-subtle crush on.
- Samael "Sam" Drimoxi, your textbook older gentleman and political fanatic, claims (with some validity) to be descended from the original rulers of Alternate Brazil, been covertly planning this for over 20 years, is really mad at the government for various reasons.
- Andrew "A. C." Calvin, popular, tall, wears his hair in a ridiculous slick, slightly cruel and callous, joined the rebellion a few months ago for various political reasons of his own.
He also goes ahead and confirms that they know about the properties of Andantesite, and are planning to destabilize the wormhole in the capital with it.
Nice things, IF we have to make the brainwashed heroes kill each other we can make duels as "grandpa vs jacob" as he will have a hard time wanting to kill the man he wanted to be his father-in-law (I don't know if this is the right word for the wife's father) "hey... i killed your daddy, can we still date?"
Or unless there is a non-monogamous culture in antartica we could make the two boys fight "lover vs lover" make the brainwashed guy say something about "hey, so much we did to end up with the government, I married her now, how you feel?" (Note: Don't mention Anna's name, nor let him hear any real sound as Fallacy told")
The ability to actually speak, or at least mimic humanlike sounds with their own mouths, that way they can give us actual reports, perhaps giving them voiceboxes like that of a lyrebird would work. Last I checked they are mute and only play pre recorded audio snippet taunts, I want them toactually be able to taunt the rebels meaningfully, might feak them out a little more. Plus if they have the ability to mimick other sounds they could say create the noise of an explosion in one place to distract the rebs, etc.
Also Adrew Calvin
inb4: make all the dogs sound like the ones the protagonist failed to destabilize his emotions and lure to a trap, or talk on behalf of our brainwashed rebels to make he think that he is doing services for the elder man on the phone but is just losing time and putting himself in risk of dying
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 10, 2017, 08:27:39 am
You told me here.
<snippety snip>
Nice things, IF we have to make the brainwashed heroes kill each other we can make duels as "grandpa vs jacob" as he will have a hard time wanting to kill the man he wanted to be his father-in-law (I don't know if this is the right word for the wife's father) "hey... i killed your daddy, can we still date?"
Or unless there is a non-monogamous culture in antartica we could make the two boys fight "lover vs lover" make the brainwashed guy say something about "hey, so much we did to end up with the government, I married her now, how you feel?" (Note: Don't mention Anna's name, nor let him hear any real sound as Fallacy told")
Nice one! You actually paid attention to the details!
Polygamy is allowed by the Republic but not really practiced. Alternate Brazil has serious social stigma attached to it.
Also, good suggestions FallacyOfUrist. I actually thought they were copy-pasted from somewhere, but no, a quick google search reveals that they're completely original!
Augmentations:
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
A quick look at the structure of a dog’s leg reveals that no, we can’t make them drastically faster without totally ruining their bone structure. Everything that makes up a dog revolves around a particular balance of speed, endurance, and efficiency, and this balance cannot be tampered with.
The venomous bite has more success. While directly altering the jaw structure of dogs proves fruitless, we have been able to implant needles to inject drugs upon bite. The dogs of course must be careful to not set them off by accident, and they must be reloaded with venom after each use. On the plus side, Quill can customize the substance used to anywhere on the sliding scale between “painfully stun” and “kill”.
And as for putting lyrebird vocal cords on dogs?
No.
No.
Just no.
Firstly, the dogs themselves really aren't keen on the thought. Secondly, birds get their vocal abilities from their brains, not their throats - and copying a neural network is even farther beyond our level of tech. Thirdly, grafting lyrebird vocal cords into a dog is easier said than done. If you haven't noticed, birds are a lot smaller than dogs. Their genomes and blood types are totally incompatible.
Some effort has been made to adapt canine vocal chords to match the human voice, but we simply don't yet have the genetic fine control to make it work. It was a miracle that we ever uplifted dogs. We just fed them a hormonal combination meant to make their brains responsive to bionic implants, they managed to ascend to sentience on their own.
As for tactical data, it turns out that it's much easier to teach people to speak Dog than to teach dogs to speak People. The canine language, already contains a wide variety of terms for all sorts of tactical situations. Position, morale, numbers, tactics… these are all encoded within dog barks. The grammar is considerably more condensed, and messages tend to be terse with no auxiliary information. Officers regularly handling dogs have begun learning what each bark means so they can interpret reports in the natural language of their soldiers. Interestingly enough, Canine doesn't have a word for turning on one's superiors. Wolves, and by extension dogs, are built around the principles of authority and hierarchy, kinship and loyalty.
Erin Quill concluded that it would actually be easier to teach lyrebirds to think than to modify dogs to speak. He gets to work on breeding some as translators between dogs and humans, with the added benefit of using them to spy on rebels, a la Jabberjays.
Then this phone call comes in:
Government of the Republic, I have undeniable evidence of several of your secret projects, such as the Cherubs, lobotomized and modified child soldiers. It would surely damage your reputation if this information was leaked to several major news sources. The people would be outraged at what you have done to innocent children to turn them into weapons. I expect 100 million in cash to be behind the Acme factory on Elm street within 24 hours.
What do you do?
A: Trace the call and try to figure out where he is!
B: Make ready to pay up
C: Pay up, but stake out the site and trap him
D: Ignore him - nobody will believe the stories anyway.
E: Something more specific...
Post by: FallacyofUrist on November 10, 2017, 10:06:11 am
Government of the Republic, I have undeniable evidence of several of your secret projects, such as the Cherubs, lobotomized and modified child soldiers. It would surely damage your reputation if this information was leaked to several major news sources. The people would be outraged at what you have done to innocent children to turn them into weapons. I expect 100 million in cash to be behind the Acme factory on Elm street within 24 hours.Well, that ain't good.
What do you do?
A: Trace the call and try to figure out where he is!
B: Make ready to pay up
C: Pay up, but stake out the site and trap him
D: Ignore him - nobody will believe the stories anyway.
E: Something more specific...
A: Good idea, but if we fail, we're in for hurt.
B: There's no guarantee that he won't blackmail us with this again if we do pay up.
C: If I was this guy, I would send a conspirator or minion to the site to get the money instead of going myself.
D: Recipe for disaster.
So E. A combination plan.
E:
1. Work on tracing the call. If this fails,
2. Prepare the money and deliver it to the location. Then 3.
3. When the bloke shows up to take the money, be ready. Don't move against him, but do use our tracking dogs to follow the man back to his lair, where any co-conspirators he has will be located.
4. Regardless of whether we do 1 through 3, prepare to minimize the damage. Produce false counter evidence to be released in the event that this man releases the evidence of our Cherub project. It's possible that the parents of the children we abducted will try to speak up on this issue... if that proves to be the case, 5.
5. Abduct any parents of Cherubs that try to speak up on this issue, use the Cherubification process on them. They will be called Angels.
6. Regardless of whether we do 1 through 5, if we manage to capture this blackmailer after he releases the information, we will use our brainwashing frog on him. He will then be made to recant the data he released about the Cherub project. He was, after all "blackmailed by rebels to slander the glorious Republic", and "under our protection, he agreed to testify against them".
Post by: Glass on November 10, 2017, 11:03:16 am
Makes sense to me. +1.Government of the Republic, I have undeniable evidence of several of your secret projects, such as the Cherubs, lobotomized and modified child soldiers. It would surely damage your reputation if this information was leaked to several major news sources. The people would be outraged at what you have done to innocent children to turn them into weapons. I expect 100 million in cash to be behind the Acme factory on Elm street within 24 hours.Well, that ain't good.What do you do?
A: Trace the call and try to figure out where he is!
B: Make ready to pay up
C: Pay up, but stake out the site and trap him
D: Ignore him - nobody will believe the stories anyway.
E: Something more specific...
A: Good idea, but if we fail, we're in for hurt.
B: There's no guarantee that he won't blackmail us with this again if we do pay up.
C: If I was this guy, I would send a conspirator or minion to the site to get the money instead of going myself.
D: Recipe for disaster.
So E. A combination plan.
E:
1. Work on tracing the call. If this fails,
2. Prepare the money and deliver it to the location. Then 3.
3. When the bloke shows up to take the money, be ready. Don't move against him, but do use our tracking dogs to follow the man back to his lair, where any co-conspirators he has will be located.
4. Regardless of whether we do 1 through 3, prepare to minimize the damage. Produce false counter evidence to be released in the event that this man releases the evidence of our Cherub project. It's possible that the parents of the children we abducted will try to speak up on this issue... if that proves to be the case, 5.
5. Abduct any parents of Cherubs that try to speak up on this issue, use the Cherubification process on them. They will be called Angels.
6. Regardless of whether we do 1 through 5, if we manage to capture this blackmailer after he releases the information, we will use our brainwashing frog on him. He will then be made to recant the data he released about the Cherub project. He was, after all "blackmailed by rebels to slander the glorious Republic", and "under our protection, he agreed to testify against them".
Post by: dustywayfarer on November 10, 2017, 12:35:24 pm
Post by: omada on November 10, 2017, 01:19:33 pm
Polygamy is allowed by the Republic but not really practiced. Alternate Brazil has serious social stigma attached to it.
So, nothing different from our real Brazil, it's changing a bit right now but we always go back to conservative hands very fast.
I mean, the only difference is that polygamy isn't allowed here.
Erin Quill concluded that it would actually be easier to teach lyrebirds to think than to modify dogs to speak. He gets to work on breeding some as translators between dogs and humans, with the added benefit of using them to spy on rebels, a la Jabberjays.
Toss more money, and test rats too, as these are more easily ignored anywhere on the world and smart. plus, living tissue can pass through the wormhole? If yes these birds/rats can be transported instantly to other parts of the world were the republic is, even on the boat right now.
+1 to fallacy's plan, in the third step we can also register secretely who enters and who leaves the block, if we can do it without being obvious, we have cameras right? I don't know, being a bit steampunk give us a unusual tech advance, if we have we can use some already pre-instaledd surveillance cameras for this.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 10, 2017, 06:30:05 pm
Post by: dustywayfarer on November 10, 2017, 09:57:35 pm
"You fools were planning to destroy the capital, weren't you? Look where it got you!"
"Where did you learn about the properties of andesite, anyway?"
"Is anybody else that you know of involved in this fool's errand?" (Y/N)
(if Y): "What do you know about them? Did someone else send you on this goose-chase? Did you ever stop to think about why such foolishness isn't such a good idea?"
(if N): "Take a long, hard look at what remains of the futile resistance you cherish."
"Look at yourself and know that this nation doesn't take kindly to such foolishness. Surely you can't think to change to course of an entire nation by conveniently liquidating few people or objects! Have you no concept of inertia? Next time you try to 'better' your surroundings, think twice about narrowmindedly pursuing your own vendettas and actually come up with a way to shift the course of such a large cultural and economic mass instead of merely delaying it."
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 10, 2017, 10:00:49 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 10, 2017, 10:49:52 pm
Why did you act like you wanted almost nothing to do with the rebellion before running back into their arms ???
That's Jacob Eldin, not Andrew Calvin.
Post by: omada on November 10, 2017, 10:56:31 pm
Why did you act like you wanted almost nothing to do with the rebellion before running back into their arms ???
that was Eldin not Andrew.
"What do you think of [show each member of rebelion (exclude the new woman from the list)]? What do you know about them?"
"The old man said something about a lab of his own somewhere? Yes or no"
(If yes)"Where?"
"What was the next step of your plan?"
"What were your motivations to become a terrorist?"
Post by: crazyabe on November 10, 2017, 11:05:58 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 10, 2017, 11:15:03 pm
"The old man said something about a lab of his own somewhere? Yes or no"
(If yes)"Where?"
This is OOC knowledge - IC nobody has seen the note where Sam details his experiments. However, I'm letting it slide because Quill and Celling are using the fourth wall as a punching bag and it's conceivable they could just pull OOC knowledge out of nowhere.
Post by: omada on November 10, 2017, 11:38:36 pm
But hmm, come on, this guy were testing the adantesite on a cave, and managed to use it. At least he had education or tested it before the museum break. (okay, could be anyone from the rebellion before they turned into ashes).
We could change the question to
"You know someone that had a laboratory in the rebellion? Y/N"
if yes "Who?"
"where?"
"Someone else? Who? Where?" repeat
"Did you had other Hiding spots on antartica? yes or no! Where?"
"Weapons storage? yes or no! Where?"
Although punching a bit more of the fourth wall is okay, i think the OOC question should be reserved to the old man, I fear a drawback of the fourth wall.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 12, 2017, 10:14:26 am
Erin Quill stands towering over Calvin, hands folded behind his back. Light from the hallway makes him visible only as an almost ethereal silhouette. He glares at Calvin, helpless in his bonds.
“Do you know who I am?” asks Quill.
Calvin opens his mouth and chokes out the words, tired from his ordeal. “You are… Erin Quill,” he manages.
“Correct,” says Quill. “Chief engineer of the Southern Republic and architect of the wormhole known as Erin’s Oracle. I defend the people with knowledge and clarity of thought.”
“Government… dog,” Calvin spits out.
Erin smiles to himself. “Are you implying that the canine members of our military are any less competent than the human ones, Andrew Calvin? Oh yes. We have dogs with far more wits about them that the all of you combined.”
Erin unfolds his hands and produces a glass jar with a small green and yellow frog sitting in it. “Do you know what this is?”
Calvin almost laughed. “That is… a frog,” he said, his voice crackly.
Erin grinned wider. “This is a subspecies of poison dart frog that I have been studying for the last three years. It secretes various neurotoxins that shut down certain circuits of the brain. The particular compound that I have extracted disables the parts that create fabrications. Under this drug, and with the proper prodding, you will tell me everything I want to know.”
Calvin was thrashing against his bonds by now. “No! No! I won’t betray the Resistance!”
“You are welcome to fight, of course. The drug will put you into something of a stupor, but I suppose you could still stay silent. That would just result in more difficulty for you.”
Calvin cried and tossed like a madman. “Kill me! KILL ME!” he shrieked.
“We are not that barbaric around here, Andrew,” Quill answered softly. “But your people are. I will give you one chance to explain yourself. Why did you want to destroy the capital?”
“...what?” Calvin asked.
“Oh come on, now,” said Erin Quill, pacing around the room, “Don’t play dumb. We know of your plans to destabilize the wormhole.”
Calvin looked more shocked than angry. “Destabilize. It would only destroy the palace, suck in the nobles. Then it would dissipate harmlessly.”
Erin suppressed yet another laugh. “I fear your knowledge of quantum mechanics is sadly outdated, Andrew. Black holes are an impenetrable barrier to light, but we have determined that no barrier is impenetrable. It will not dissipate harmlessly, Andrew. Rather, it will explode with the force of a dying star.”
Erin had circled behind Calvin by now, shouting into his ears. “It will emit a blast of scorching gamma rays, and every man, woman, and child in the city will die a horrible death, the skin torn from their bodies, the flesh ripped off their limbs, their eyes crushed within their sockets! Everything in the city will be set alight by that savage light, every building, every house, every cradle, will be made to ash in the conflagration!”
Erin once again stood in front of Calvin. His voice dropped to its typical softness again. “And why, Andrew Calvin? Why must two million people die so you can prove a point?
“Why,” he said, voice rising once more, “why, because of love, of course. The power of the deepest heart unleashing the energies of the darkest star and oh, how the world burns, burns, burns. Blinded by emotion, stupefied by affection, you ignored the blazingly obvious truth - that Sam Drimoxi is just a mad man with a gun and a cute granddaughter, and will be the end of us all!”
He leaned in close again. “Let me tell you a little secret, Andrew. I don’t much like the Republic. It’s functional. Not perfect, but functional. If it can be improved, I’ll improve it. If it must be destroyed, then, well, I’ll destroy it.” He chuckled to himself.
“But you? People like you? People that hate? People that act without thought? People that kill for fickle reasons? People convinced of the righteousness of their most heinous actions?”
He withdrew an ampoule from his cloak and stepped back. “People like you are what keep me up at night, Andrew Calvin.”
He inserted the ampoule into a ready-made slot and the green liquid within sloshed around. “I told you the truth. It is now your turn. I have a few questions for you, Andrew Calvin.”
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 12, 2017, 11:25:58 am
Question Number two; Vanilla, chocolate or strawberry?
Question Number three where Is your main base of operations, pretty please ?
and finally
''dO YOU HAVE ANY KNOWLEGE OF PLOT TO RANDSOME THE REPUBLICS SECRETS, such as the fact that half of our soldies are gien socks one size two small ???'
Post by: Glass on November 12, 2017, 11:27:58 am
Let's put it a different way.
"How much do you know about the law of narrative causality?"
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 12, 2017, 11:37:31 am
...
Let's put it a different way.
"How much do you know about the law of narrative causality?"
'Tell us how much narrativium the rebels have stored at the moment.''
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 12, 2017, 05:03:41 pm
Question number one; What is your favorite color.
Question Number two; Vanilla, chocolate or strawberry?
Question Number three where Is your main base of operations, pretty please ?
and finally
''dO YOU HAVE ANY KNOWLEGE OF PLOT TO RANDSOME THE REPUBLICS SECRETS, such as the fact that half of our soldies are gien socks one size two small ???'
...
Let's put it a different way.
"How much do you know about the law of narrative causality?"
...
Let's put it a different way.
"How much do you know about the law of narrative causality?"
'Tell us how much narrativium the rebels have stored at the moment.''
...what?
What did I say that provoked all these comments about narration? And just what was Paxiecrunchle trying to say with the last one?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 12, 2017, 05:35:25 pm
Ask Andrew:
"Where did you learn about the properties of andesite, anyway?"
“The rebels had a… briefcase full of files, and we took some papers… from the museum. Between historical records and modern mineralogy we found out.”
"Is anybody else that you know of involved in this fool's errand?" (Y/N)
(if Y): "What do you know about them? Did someone else send you on this goose-chase? Did you ever stop to think about why such foolishness isn't such a good idea?"
(if N): "Take a long, hard look at what remains of the futile resistance you cherish."
"Look at yourself and know that this nation doesn't take kindly to such foolishness. Surely you can't think to change to course of an entire nation by conveniently liquidating few people or objects! Have you no concept of inertia? Next time you try to 'better' your surroundings, think twice about narrowmindedly pursuing your own vendettas and actually come up with a way to shift the course of such a large cultural and economic mass instead of merely delaying it."
“There were… other rebel cells… scattered around this continent. The majority were wiped out in the mansion blast. I don’t know any of the locations.”
"What do you think of [show each member of rebelion (exclude the new woman from the list)]? What do you know about them?"
“I used to pick on Jacob Eldin at school. He seems totally incompetent”
“Sam Drimoxi is kinda cranky and seems to hate me but his heart is in the right place.”
“Anna is hot. Don’t tell her I said that.”
"What was the next step of your plan?"
“Close the wormhole… in Antarctica.”
"What were your motivations to become a terrorist?"
“The Republic is a dictatorship, emblematic of everything wrong with humanity. It is driven by greed and deception. It has to go.
"You know someone that had a laboratory in the rebellion? Y/N"
if yes "Who?"
"where?"
"Someone else? Who? Where?" repeat
“Nobody mentioned anything like that.”
"Did you had other Hiding spots on antartica? yes or no! Where?"
“Sam said he had a place.”
"Weapons storage? yes or no! Where?"
“Presumably he hid weapons there.”
Anything else?
Post by: Glass on November 12, 2017, 05:41:57 pm
"How much do you know about the law of narrative causality?"*ahem*
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 12, 2017, 05:45:48 pm
"How much do you know about the law of narrative causality?"*ahem*
Quote from: Erin Quill
Blueturtle1134 would like me to inform you that breaking the fourth wall to characters that don't already know is strictly prohibited.
Post by: Glass on November 12, 2017, 05:49:40 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 12, 2017, 05:50:59 pm
Can we at least ask questions that can help us figure out if he knows?
No. Because I can tell you right now that he doesn't. A fourth-wall breaking evil minion is one thing, but in serious pieces protagonists rarely break the fourth wall.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 12, 2017, 05:52:09 pm
Do you really want that?
Post by: Glass on November 12, 2017, 05:57:21 pm
GM interrogations are fun, aren't they? :P
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 12, 2017, 07:19:56 pm
No. I more wanted to figure out how much he knew. As you have confirmed that amount is 0, the question is answered.
GM interrogations are fun, aren't they? :P
Did anything I say make you think that he knew something? Cause that was NOT the intention.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 12, 2017, 11:55:45 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 13, 2017, 09:00:08 am
I still want to know his favorite flavor of ice cream though.
Calvin: WHY THE HIGH FLYING HELL DOES THAT MATTER?!?!?!
In the meantime Quill's pulled out the next brainwashing compound.
"This next one will inverse the subject's opinion on events in their short term memory. Once it is injected, you may call to his attention certain events in the past. His opinion or emotion about these events will totally change."
What do you convince him of?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 13, 2017, 10:01:53 am
alsoAlso It matters because we should give him a treat for iving us u all this nice information even though it wasnt willingly, that way there is no way he can call us 'monstrous' or whatever, seeds of doubt are importnt, and icecream seems like a good starting point.
Post by: Glass on November 13, 2017, 10:04:31 am
But yeah, convince him that he must have been forced into the Resistance, and that he was regretting being involved with it and would like to go straight.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 13, 2017, 10:23:00 am
Convince him that he never willingly worked with sam. He was clearly coerced somehow.
alsoAlso It matters because we should give him a treat for iving us u all this nice information even though it wasnt willingly, that way there is no way he can call us 'monstrous' or whatever, seeds of doubt are importnt, and icecream seems like a good starting point.
True, true! That will be done.
Also, you'll have to call up a particular event and then the feeling is reversed. You can't specify what it'll reverse to. I know what you mean, but just be careful.
Post by: omada on November 13, 2017, 10:34:22 am
"Do you know of a rebel that wasn't in the mansion?"
"who? What do you know about him/her?"
How much time is exactly "short term"? I saw a GM put 1 year as a short term memory :v
Make he more offended by bad things other rebels said to him.
Make he more happy for things that he thinks the republic did right
Make he fell worse for things that he did not liked to do in the rebellion
Make the girl, less hot
Make him remember when he told that the old man had "the heart on the right place" make him fell doubt when he told that, as if he is not sure.
Make he fell better for not giving 100% of him to the rebellion where he thought that he could do better
And every bad memory about republic, make the emotions less strong, if he is angry just downgrade it to annoyed, if some law that we passed made he almost cry just change it to "I was sad but whatever"
In time he will not understand why he entered the rebellion if things wasn't THAT bad and will be full of regret, only if he could fix things...
Post by: Glass on November 13, 2017, 10:40:21 am
Post by: omada on November 13, 2017, 11:09:53 am
So, just invert the order of things
Reverse things that he thinks that the government did absolutely wrong
Reverse nice things the rebels said, (specially that sometimes nice words can be interpreted as mockery "WHY I WAS MAD? OH, they must be making fun of me)
Reverse his felling when he said that "he has the heart in the right place"
Reverse his attraction to Anna
Reverse his guilty in the moments that he didn't gave 100% of him for the rebels
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 13, 2017, 11:18:55 am
How much time is exactly "short term"? I saw a GM put 1 year as a short term memory :v
I'm using the biological definition of short term. That is, you have to remind him before you can manipulate it. This limits your brainwashing to things you know about.
Of course, you could be vague and let him fill in the details... but that's risky.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 13, 2017, 12:53:56 pm
Post by: omada on November 13, 2017, 12:57:16 pm
and then use brainwashing in all these situations?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 14, 2017, 08:37:52 am
There will be better tools later on that will allow you to distort, conflate, or delete memories.
Post by: Glass on November 14, 2017, 09:38:42 am
What are the specific parts of the Republic that the rebels are unhappy with? Is there some specific policy or group of policies that they're unhappy with?
Remember guys, just because we're authoritarian does not mean we have to be Evil. It just means we have to be Lawful.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 14, 2017, 09:48:36 am
...before we go into emotion reversals, I've got a question.
What are the specific parts of the Republic that the rebels are unhappy with? Is there some specific policy or group of policies that they're unhappy with?
Remember guys, just because we're authoritarian does not mean we have to be Evil. It just means we have to be Lawful.
Well, probably the aristocratic corruption despite us being called a republic and the kidnappings, and maybe the fact that we could be doing more for the rest of the world ???
Post by: Glass on November 14, 2017, 09:54:19 am
-_- how about we get the actual rebel's opinion....before we go into emotion reversals, I've got a question.
What are the specific parts of the Republic that the rebels are unhappy with? Is there some specific policy or group of policies that they're unhappy with?
Remember guys, just because we're authoritarian does not mean we have to be Evil. It just means we have to be Lawful.
Well, probably the aristocratic corruption despite us being called a republic and the kidnappings, and maybe the fact that we could be doing more for the rest of the world ???
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 14, 2017, 10:08:43 am
-_- how about we get the actual rebel's opinion....before we go into emotion reversals, I've got a question.
What are the specific parts of the Republic that the rebels are unhappy with? Is there some specific policy or group of policies that they're unhappy with?
Remember guys, just because we're authoritarian does not mean we have to be Evil. It just means we have to be Lawful.
Well, probably the aristocratic corruption despite us being called a republic and the kidnappings, and maybe the fact that we could be doing more for the rest of the world ???
I was just trying to help :-[
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 14, 2017, 12:45:47 pm
-_- how about we get the actual rebel's opinion....before we go into emotion reversals, I've got a question.
What are the specific parts of the Republic that the rebels are unhappy with? Is there some specific policy or group of policies that they're unhappy with?
Remember guys, just because we're authoritarian does not mean we have to be Evil. It just means we have to be Lawful.
Well, probably the aristocratic corruption despite us being called a republic and the kidnappings, and maybe the fact that we could be doing more for the rest of the world ???
I was just trying to help :-[
You were correct. The rebel reveals, quite strenuously, that he's mad at the aristocratic nature of our government, full of callous, manipulative nobles who act above the law. Quill may be the only exception to this.
Post by: Glass on November 14, 2017, 01:48:44 pm
Why aren't we fixing this?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 14, 2017, 02:19:22 pm
...just wondering, but which idiot made us an aristocracy instead of a meritocracy?
Why aren't we fixing this?
Read the title of the game. It's corrupt and not getting better, that's the whole point. Corrupt systems also tend to take forever to fall.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 14, 2017, 08:14:23 pm
Quill exits the room.
"She... was unaware that the black hole would destroy the capital," he explains. "Like Andrew, she was tricked into thinking that it would only kill the nobility. After the truth was revealed, she became much more cooperative and is now willing to tell us everything. She is shocked by the lengths to which the rebels will go to get their way."
"However, she has requests. One is that she be given amnesty for all her previous actions as they were under false premises."
"And as for the other... as you know, she joined in part because her brother was a subject of the Cherub program, his mind altered to make betrayal impossible and implants used so we can hear his thoughts. She wants to speak to him."
"She wants us to break our control over him and allow her around half an hour of private, unbiased conversation with her brother, as he truly is, unshackled by conditioning or mental links. I have worked out the technological means of doing this, but I also realize that she has no way of telling whether her brother is really being frank. We could still control him throughout."
About amnesty.
A: Grant it! She's on our side now and that should be reflected.
B: Partial. Throw in some charges for larceny so she doesn't get off scot free but the treachery charge can be dropped. No death sentence, not even much imprisonment.
C: No. She must pay for what she did.
About her brother.
A: Give her what she wants. Remove all neural implants and mental shackles. We have no way of hearing or controlling what goes on.
B: Remove the shackles but not the implant, letting him speak freely, but we can still hear his thoughts. We'll be aware if she tries to turn him to the rebel side. He won't know we're still there.
C: Remove neither. He's under our vision and control. Note that this is a burden to conversation, as he will be willingly distressed at any mention of betraying the empire.
D: Allow him to speak freely but have surveillance on the room.
E: Allow him to speak freely but listen in and tell Armen we're listening.
F: No show, don't let him speak with her.
A note on the details - the "mental shackle" is a psychological safeguard that causes the Cherub to be unable to even contemplate betraying the Republic or disobeying a direct order. If forced to discuss these concepts, they are put in extreme pain. It does not give us total control of every thought they have. The "neural implant" allows us to see what they see and hear each and every thought that passes through their minds. We can beam information and issue orders through this, but ordering them to discuss betraying the Republic will likely reduce them to a gibbering wreck.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 14, 2017, 08:26:28 pm
Post by: dustywayfarer on November 15, 2017, 02:10:46 am
Post by: omada on November 15, 2017, 10:10:24 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 15, 2017, 11:21:00 am
B,?
Uh... we need a tiebreak.
Post by: Glass on November 15, 2017, 11:33:08 am
BE.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 08:30:04 am
Erin Quill recieves another phone call.
"I am aware that you will try to find me. Do not. I have associates willing to release the information should I be arrested. I will now demonstrate that I have the capacity and will to cause a public uproar using choice details of your weapons programs."
Before the connection closes Quill retorts,
"My name is Erin Quill. You will live long enough to regret messing with me. But only just."
A few minutes later the media appears to have gotten ahold of details pertaining to our bionic dogs program. That is, the extensive modifications made to their brain, our attempts to modify their bodies with venom glands and lyrebird voiceboxes, and their many gruesome deaths at the hands of the rebels. It is accompanied with gory pictures of dogs in surgery, dogs dead, dogs wounded, etc.
Animal rights groups are now camped outside the testing facility and various civic buildings in Antarctica, accusing us of using dogs as disposable weapons and giving them free will while still enslaving them. They demand that we completely stop research and deployment of modified dogs and turn over the ones we already have to them.
The dogs themselves think this is simultaneously hilarious and terrifyingly stupid as we literally granted them sentience, they continue to help us out of gratitude and entirely from their own volition. They are more predisposed to loyalty, but that is a trait shared by all dogs - they do not forget debts easily.
How do you respond?
ERIN QUILL: "On the upside, my bird research program is revealing results. My parrot is 46.5% of the way to the First Metapsychological Horizon and will be fully sentient in around 13 hours."
"A quick primer on how uplifting works in this universe. Once a brain is large enough to therioretically support self-awareness, it begins a process of radical restructuring of thoughts and memories around the concept of self. This can take anywhere from minutes to days, depending on how rich the subject's life has been before they reached sentience."
"Upon the end of this period, the subject instantly achieves self-awarness, consciousness, and sentience. The subject's temperment and personality immediatly revert to those determined by genetics. This is, for example, why dogs retain their loyalty. The process can be quite jarring to those species not already evolved to it, and is obviously visible to experimenters when chemically induced. It has been termed the First Neurophychological Horizon."
"Dolphins, orcas, and elephants hit the Horizon at the beginning of their adult lives. Particularly gifted or lucky pigs, sheep, and monkeys also achieve it. Humanity has evolved neurochemical pathways to handle the shock of sudden conciousness, which tends to come at three. I suspect this is the reason for the so-called "Oedipus complex" - that three-year-olds experience a temporary reversion to monkey morals and monkey sexuality."
"And by the way, there is no Second Metapsychological Horizon. I mantain the 'First' in the name out of a belief that more will eventually be discovered, ushering in a new age of human thought and development each. (http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-topic/45c68b98779ad) But I digress."
"Thirteen hours later we get a thinking parrot and there's nothing we can do about it."
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2017, 09:17:48 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 09:56:01 am
Can the dogs tell them to f*** off?
They do. The protesters complain about us turning dogs into mindless mouthpieces for our propaganda.
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2017, 10:27:49 am
What kind of information is in the experiment notes involved in the dog uplifting? Is any of it dangerous to be shared with the public? If not, how about releasing that information?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 16, 2017, 10:52:04 am
Post by: omada on November 16, 2017, 12:33:48 pm
Search the past of the leaders of the movements or the movements thenselves: Something nasty and dirty could be found to humans
To the press a counter-propaganda: "Hey [alternate world PETA] you say you wan't want animals rights and we are HELPING IT. Granting them sentience they can chose, learn, and even vote, plans were on the way to release the dogs on a grand scale with citizenship when we made sure they could get intelligence enough to be scientists on their own should they want to learn biology or else, any dogs will soon be free to go anytime, specially when some will begin to have kids to take care for, we will not GIVE them to you, what are you thinking? That we are gonna give our soldiers and friends as if they were pets? You guys disrespect them saying that you speak for them but not listen what they say and call them mindless. You as if they were lab-rats of the cosmetics you use on your hair, we did nothing that science and medicine hasn't done to humans somehow. So far the only difference is that WE are giving sentience to other unique mindsets, unique mindsets that could soon live among us, learn and teach us and see the future in a scope that our brains couldn't before"
And that with our dogs at our side, free to leave or sit and talk on a table with the people and public laughing or mocking with the protesters stupid claim, let all cameras hear the dogs saying "these guys scare me I wan't to go back to see a movie?"
Maybe we could together with this give images of humans receiving similar surgeries or dogs that aren't ours receiving treatment on the veterinary, but none of these on the governments hands, some even that were made for cosmetics or a medicine that almost everyone uses
but the focus is trying to revert the rage of the public to the protesters (If they try to grab one of our dogs with strength and hurt them, make it appear on every media ever, the image of the guards trying to save a scared dog from a weird hippie with angry face) or to dispel their attention, people ALWAYS forget these stuff
We should just set up a trap for this mole, although we should keep in mind that they will suspect it so we need to try and be subtle.The problem is, he revealed only the dogs, the cherubs will be a FAR BIGGER problem if he suspects we are gonna to screw him right now.
We should begin creating fake evidence of a "secondary rebel group that were planning to use children as weapons, and that we were still studying what they were making for military improvements or else before releasing the kids back to their parents, and we only didn't told the population because we don't wanted to give the rebels ideas"
About our tech level: What kind of airplane do we have? as it is steampunk i get a bit confused sometime
If there is none we should begin creating the first Zeppelin, or grandiose things that can steal attention of the media. I
f not a zeppelin I don't know, a submarine so we can take photos of the bottom of the ocean
Or robots so "dangerous but simple jobs won't be risking our lives again, the rescue will come on iron legs" where it will draw a bit of rage about "but our jobs will be stolen" by half of the population and put the other half in a hype with the future coming
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 16, 2017, 12:48:17 pm
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2017, 01:22:11 pm
Post by: omada on November 16, 2017, 05:13:31 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 16, 2017, 05:29:06 pm
We need these ideas to keep calling ourselves villians :v
Oh yeah I almost forgot we were the designated ''bad guys'' for a sencond their, whew ye saved me.
Lets totally make some hyper intelligent jabberjays and train them to be indescriminate suicide bombers then.
/not actually serious please don't do this.
We are villans but only from the eyes of the rebels and only in narravtive fashion overall we are just a slightly better version of the old French aristocracy... but with cyberhpunds, and even at our worst we should have seen as a bad idea because of the potentially crippling PR, enough to create more rebels anyway.
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2017, 07:19:00 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 08:51:55 pm
My goal is to take the "evil" out of "evil empire". This will be far easier for us if we can shift it to "order versus chaos" instead of "good versus evil".
I introduce this game to friends like this.
"You play as the Evil Empire but it's grey and grey. On the one hand we have greedy nobles. On the other hand if the good guys win two million people get vaporized."
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2017, 08:54:26 pm
Just to make sure what I'm saying isn't misinterpreted though: rather than lawful evil and chaotic good, I want lawful and chaotic neutral. Reality can't have a clear "good guy" then, and either the rebels lose plot armor or some of our guys gain it.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 09:02:02 pm
Makes sense.
Just to make sure what I'm saying isn't misinterpreted though: rather than lawful evil and chaotic good, I want lawful and chaotic neutral. Reality can't have a clear "good guy" then, and either the rebels lose plot armor or some of our guys gain it.
Yup, grey and gray. One shade of gray is in power, and is thus trying to be "lawful" to preserve itself; the other is shaking the boat. But that's all it's doing, there's no good or bad, just two neutrals fighting it out.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 16, 2017, 09:21:30 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 09:52:41 pm
I am a fan of whichever neutrals sport the better beards then.
Beards? Nobody in this story has a beard.
While we're talking about characters - the other day I come upon the Bechdel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test) and Mako Mori (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Mako_Mori_test) tests for misogyny in fiction and my first though is, wow, SPAMOVERLORD doesn't pass either of them. Anna Drimoxi and Armen DeMarco never meet, and both could be considered (with a serious stretch) as accessory arcs to Jacob Eldin's.
Now, I know that neither is absolute, and it's kinda justified because:
- I'm parodying mainstream action movies, which feature male protagonists
- I'm a boy and have no delusions about understanding girls
Still, though... remind me to develop Anna's motivations a bit later on...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 10:02:17 pm
@Glass (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7619399#msg7619399) - the full experiment notes have already been leaked. They take issue with the fact that Uplift Dogs are genetically programmed to be loyal.
Their complaint makes sense, if you think about it. “Ooh, we’re going to give you sentience - except your minds don’t even have a concept of authority being wrong, :P.” The dogs never have had the capability to doubt the Republic, so their assurances that they’re doing it out of free will ring awfully hollow to ARC (Animal Rights Cooperative).
It’s really not a problem, however. Firstly, we have no control over the process. Hitting the Horizon immediately causes fallback onto genetic personality and there’s nothing we can do about it. Secondly, the dogs aren’t just a total “obedience is good”. It’s more of a “don’t bite the hand that feeds you” and they can clearly see that the Republic is better for the overall stability of the world. Lastly, they can change! They start out with a loyal personality, but if there was any evidence against the Republic they do have free will and they can decide differently.
Omada suggests (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7619468#msg7619468) the following.
- Track down source of leak
- Investigate + discredit leaders
- Point out upsides of canine intelligence
- Spread the dog's opinion
- Note that gruesome surgeries happen all the time
- Deflect Cherub evidence onto rebel groups
On deflecting Cherub evidence - there are obvious notes, and equipment + evidence if you know where to look, that show that we were creating lobotomized child soldiers, not just studying them.
Soo…
About that caller.
“Tick. Tock. Tick. Three hours to pay up 100 million or your pretty little Cherub secret is BOOM!”
Your response?
A: Pay up! Pay up!
B: Trace the call, try to figure out who it is!
C: Pay up but stake the place out.
Also, any debate with Omada's plan?
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2017, 10:04:36 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 10:15:05 pm
Show them uplifted dog DNA. Show them the exceedingly common piece of normal dog DNA. Highlight the areas in both that cause natural high loyalty. Tell the idiots to please stop wasting our time, we're busy trying to stop the rebels.
It's subtler than that. Predisposition to loyalty is the result of many genes, some of which we don't know, and the public won't appreciate a DNA test result.
Besides, they know already. They know that baseline dogs have loyalty too. They are just mad that we blew it up so much, making them think that loyalty is of their own free will while it's just a genetic trait.
Now that, I realize, is ridiculous. They're suggesting that we should have made dogs disloyal before making them smart. That we should have shattered the very core of their being in the name of giving them a clean slate.
But such is PR.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 10:18:57 pm
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2017, 10:19:34 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 10:23:19 pm
...did we ever say that it wasn't due to genetics?
To who? The people or the dogs?
About what? The loyalty or sentience?
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2017, 10:24:20 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 16, 2017, 10:26:01 pm
We haven't modified their genetic code much either. It's mostly hormonal therapy that we use to boost their brainpower up to sentient-being levels.
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2017, 10:31:00 pm
So there's literally nothing we can do other than wait out this idiocy. Grand.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 17, 2017, 01:22:19 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 17, 2017, 08:23:03 am
*facepalm*
So there's literally nothing we can do other than wait out this idiocy. Grand.
It was meant as an undodgeble first strike by the anonymous caller.
Glass, I'd like your vote on how to deal with the blackmail.
And a while ago you suggested Cherubizing all the parents of the Cherubs, so I have to ask - do you still want to do this?
Post by: Glass on November 17, 2017, 09:31:18 am
And a while ago you suggested Cherubizing all the parents of the Cherubs, so I have to ask - do you still want to do this?Fuck no.
But yeah, combining B and C sounds good. We'll pay honestly; we just want to make sure that our opposite number keep up their end of the deal.
Post by: omada on November 17, 2017, 01:45:59 pm
I would vote A with a "Hey, you won, but just explain something, with a genius mind like your own, why weren't you working for us? you know you would be pay well. No, don't come with morality bullshit, you're blackmailing there is no morality in this, we do what we do to keep stability, what are your motivations?"
That's is why we will plant FAKE evidence, plant a fake rebel laboratory somewhere that will the source of all things weird we discover.
And at least focus the cherubs project on orphans for fuck's sake
God damn, where is the rebels attacking right now? They would clearly help us distracting the public. I might wanna create the internet now
Are we gonna say(lie) that we were previously planning incorporate super-dogs on the society? If people buy into that we can say that any volunteer or professional of area of education and veterinary is welcome to share their personal projects of how doing this efficiently
why so many lines between my text?
I am going to give research projects suggestions in advance for when the right time come:
M.O.O.Q (Massive overview of quality) project
We need to improve our weaponry (and only use the old ones for civilians and exportation) but not just every military mook, because they will miss anyway as plot armor don't mind if it's bullets or arrows, but:
powerarmors for elite shock troops that trade speed for endurance and strenght (in future they will become more and more light until it don't give any debuff
Similar armors for chasers, scouts, rangers elite troops that act on the middle of the jungle but that if possible give speed or at least don't give a debuff
Re-invent our scientists tools, make them lighter more potent more precise whatever is possible, anything that can help them to study on the field.
Land increase
How is china/japan/india/whatever under our rules
See african culture, see if there is patterns in gods, costumes, tribes wars anything that can help us use their religion to make easier for the majority desire to know about us or follow us better. If somewhere they believe in a creature like a dog talking is a divine beast that only helps the pure we will simply patrol with our dogs near them.
And most important, check on their legends mystical materials and haunted places, as there might have special ores that can boost our effectivity
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 17, 2017, 03:09:58 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 17, 2017, 03:24:45 pm
But it just got worse.
They found a dog handler mauled to death by the intelligent dogs.
You know how wolves will challenge their pack leaders?
…yeah.
Apparently this handler made some bad calls that endangered the dogs recklessly, and they stopped acknowledging him as the alpha of the pack. When they told him this he drew his gun and began screaming insults at the dogs. After that, well…
It appears nobody has spread this to the public yet.
Do we reveal it?
A: Yes, publicly
B: No
C: Just to his family
Also, do we talk to the blackmailer or track him down?
A: Just pay and ask his motivations
B: Pay but try to catch him
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 17, 2017, 03:30:42 pm
Post by: crazyabe on November 17, 2017, 03:34:08 pm
Post by: Glass on November 17, 2017, 04:31:09 pm
Also, make this clear: "You wanted proof that the dogs have the ability to choose to be disloyal? There's your fucking proof. We hope you're happy with yourselves." (Not direct quotation.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 17, 2017, 08:27:55 pm
The price has gone up. Two hundred million dollars for the cherubs and the dog mauling. You have an hour. Back of Acme factory.
Should agents approach the money after the time limit you may consider secrets released. Should agents remain on-site after the time limit you may consider secrets released. Should the money be moved before I arrive you may consider secrets released. Should any attempt be made to arrest me or recover the funds you may consider secrets released.
Acceptance of the terms will now result in a -1 to ALL stats. You may now wish to avoid paying up.
The phone has not yet been hung up, you could ask something…?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 17, 2017, 09:25:52 pm
A: Pay up and leave (-1 all)
B: Pay up and stake the place out (-1)
C: Refuse to pay
and
A: Attempt to track the blackmailer
B: Make no such attempt
And the news of the mauling is spread about. The protesters now assert that forcing dogs to clash with human culture was fated to produce volatile results, that we are wrong for using the dogs as weapons, and that we should give them the dogs.
Post by: Puppyguard on November 17, 2017, 09:28:41 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 17, 2017, 09:30:52 pm
C A
Ooh, my rebalance has yielded results.
Post by: omada on November 17, 2017, 11:27:35 pm
A damn we can grow the stats later.
C (B with: ask motivators)
Post by: Glass on November 18, 2017, 09:35:18 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 09:43:15 am
"We are only paying for the Cherubs. No price change."
Ah, so you have released that of your own accord! My price stands. 200 million.
Post by: Glass on November 18, 2017, 09:52:39 am
[phone covered] Who the hell ever thought that the Cherubs could possibly be a good idea?!?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 18, 2017, 11:43:57 am
Ask how on earth he benefits from releasing that information, does he want to see anarchy that badly ???"We are only paying for the Cherubs. No price change."
Ah, so you have released that of your own accord! My price stands. 200 million.
[Contiue work on faking documentation that rebels at least also kidnapped children
Continue doing everything in our power to find this individual.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 11:46:40 am
Post by: omada on November 18, 2017, 12:26:07 pm
GOD DAMN JUST SOMEONE VOTE TO PAY
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 12:27:46 pm
Oh damn, we have a joker here, he will probably burn the money when he get it
GOD DAMN JUST SOMEONE VOTE TO PAY
No, just a prisoner's dilemma. It's not logical that he would release the information if there's nothing to gain... except if he's not logical, in which it would be logical to pay him... in which he could still be logical if you think he's not logical...
This is why America has "don't negotiate with terrorists". It's a thorny situation.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 18, 2017, 12:58:19 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 18, 2017, 01:01:49 pm
-_-Tyrant Leviathan broached the idea, I foolishly supported it.
[phone covered] Who the hell ever thought that the Cherubs could possibly be a good idea?!?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 01:51:59 pm
-_-Tyrant Leviathan broached the idea, I foolishly supported it.
[phone covered] Who the hell ever thought that the Cherubs could possibly be a good idea?!?
Yeah, I just found the posts.
Do we have any way to trace money ??? IF so we pay, if we have another guaranteed way of tracking him we pay, if no then we should begin a media blackout immediately, this will of course raise suspicions but we can claim that a government take over of the network is a temporary measure to prevent them being hacked and our infrastructure destroyed, which in a sense it is.
No, we can't. We can note the serial numbers and run a search if they're deposited though, but it might not turn up results in some places.
Your vote?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 18, 2017, 02:03:13 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 02:06:19 pm
My vote is to do that serial number thing, pay him and stake out the area, if he tries to parse this through a third party we take direct control over the radios and televisions if we have the later. We storm newspaper offices with a separate excuse, the point being that he is an existential threat to the regime at this point and that we cannot treat this lightly. Either will do this directly or we will have to take other measures.
"parse"?
You're saying seize the news before or after he releases?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 02:32:44 pm
losing is FUN!
Post by: Glass on November 18, 2017, 03:39:34 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 18, 2017, 03:48:07 pm
My vote is to do that serial number thing, pay him and stake out the area, if he tries to parse this through a third party we take direct control over the radios and televisions if we have the later. We storm newspaper offices with a separate excuse, the point being that he is an existential threat to the regime at this point and that we cannot treat this lightly. Either will do this directly or we will have to take other measures.
"parse"?
You're saying seize the news before or after he releases?
Dran i may have used the word incorrectly, but basically I meant''If he uses a middle man do not trust it'' and BEFORE, definitely BEFORE.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 04:06:05 pm
My vote is to do that serial number thing, pay him and stake out the area, if he tries to parse this through a third party we take direct control over the radios and televisions if we have the later. We storm newspaper offices with a separate excuse, the point being that he is an existential threat to the regime at this point and that we cannot treat this lightly. Either will do this directly or we will have to take other measures.
"parse"?
You're saying seize the news before or after he releases?
Dran i may have used the word incorrectly, but basically I meant''If he uses a middle man do not trust it'' and BEFORE, definitely BEFORE.
Oh, you mean:
- Put the money
- Grab whoever comes
- If it's not the main guy then BLOCK ALL NEWS
The word is "pass". You "pass" through something, like a middleman.
Can we pick up the loyalists and evacuate to someplace else when the populace rises against us, then wait and let them realize that they have no idea what in nine kinds of hell it is that they're doing?
Issue is there's no real revolt yet, just a bunch of concerned citizens. We can't pick out a loyalist segment to lift out. And if we move everyone but those that protest, well... that'll just make it worse.
Post by: Glass on November 18, 2017, 04:09:28 pm
Let me rephrase that: if we have a legit uprising/revolution/etc. on our hands, can we just say "ok, see you all later, go ahead and figure out how to government for yourselves" and leave for some area with a higher concentration of loyalists??Can we pick up the loyalists and evacuate to someplace else when the populace rises against us, then wait and let them realize that they have no idea what in nine kinds of hell it is that they're doing?
Issue is there's no real revolt yet, just a bunch of concerned citizens. We can't pick out a loyalist segment to lift out. And if we move everyone but those that protest, well... that'll just make it worse.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 04:18:22 pm
Let me rephrase that: if we have a legit uprising/revolution/etc. on our hands, can we just say "ok, see you all later, go ahead and figure out how to government for yourselves" and leave for some area with a higher concentration of loyalists??Can we pick up the loyalists and evacuate to someplace else when the populace rises against us, then wait and let them realize that they have no idea what in nine kinds of hell it is that they're doing?
Issue is there's no real revolt yet, just a bunch of concerned citizens. We can't pick out a loyalist segment to lift out. And if we move everyone but those that protest, well... that'll just make it worse.
Yeah, if we get revolution'd we have reasonably good evac plans for everyone of worth. But where would we go? Everyone in Antarctica lives in the Capital, and Brazil is not the most sympathetic place for us.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 04:26:11 pm
The Acme factory is a large brick building. The back lot is for personnel to park and cargo to be delivered. Looking towards the building, there are some piles of sand and gravel to the right. To the left is a street where cars enter the lot. Behind is a small grove of palm trees. To the far right there is another street then a residential sector, and on the left-hand side of the building there is a door.
The money is placed in a briefcase behind the building, as requested. The serial IDs are noted and placed on the Treasury watchlist so banks will notify us if they are deposited. Our men set up shop around the back lot, taking measuring equipment on all sides of the drop site as well as inside the building. Dogs are put there as well.
A few hours later we get a phone call. It’s the manager of the Acme factory, and says he’s heard of employees seeing suspicious men with surveillance equipment near the building. He asks if we have any operations in the area.
What do we tell him?
A: “Yes, we do, but we can’t tell you.”
B: “Yes,” and explain so he can help us
C: “No, we do not.”
D: “That’s classified, sir.”
E: Something else…
Post by: Glass on November 18, 2017, 04:28:59 pm
"Yes, sir, we do, but the situation is delicate and we cannot give details at this time.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 18, 2017, 04:45:39 pm
Let me rephrase that: if we have a legit uprising/revolution/etc. on our hands, can we just say "ok, see you all later, go ahead and figure out how to government for yourselves" and leave for some area with a higher concentration of loyalists??Can we pick up the loyalists and evacuate to someplace else when the populace rises against us, then wait and let them realize that they have no idea what in nine kinds of hell it is that they're doing?
Issue is there's no real revolt yet, just a bunch of concerned citizens. We can't pick out a loyalist segment to lift out. And if we move everyone but those that protest, well... that'll just make it worse.
Yeah, if we get revolution'd we have reasonably good evac plans for everyone of worth. But where would we go? Everyone in Antarctica lives in the Capital, and Brazil is not the most sympathetic place for us.
We move to europe and become flipping celebrities, thats what.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 18, 2017, 04:53:21 pm
Basically consider who he is before responding, ask him to identify himself and go from there.
[I do not know if we have state-owned industry here, and he could be lying about just being a manager]
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 05:17:33 pm
E; Require him to identify himself, if he convinces us he's harmless, tell him, If he convinces he iss a cive but might be able to spread the info and is untrustworthy from his description when we ask him to then Thats classified If he is someone somewhere even vaugley in the government give him some vauge details but reassure him that barring things going horribly wrong both he and the factory shold be fine.SECRET TEXT CLICK ME: https://imgur.com/a/Zb6qM
Basically consider who he is before responding, ask him to identify himself and go from there.
[I do not know if we have state-owned industry here, and he could be lying about just being a manager]
We don't have state-run industries. He has identified himself as Brufa Deler, manager of the Acme concrete factory on Reta and Kefat streets. This checks out with the records. Nothing to note.
Post by: Glass on November 18, 2017, 05:31:22 pm
KefatThis is supposed to be "Kefut", yes?
Also, your transparency failed miserably. "Rebel Fraud" and "Utter Fake".
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 18, 2017, 05:47:34 pm
E; Require him to identify himself, if he convinces us he's harmless, tell him, If he convinces he iss a cive but might be able to spread the info and is untrustworthy from his description when we ask him to then Thats classified If he is someone somewhere even vaugley in the government give him some vauge details but reassure him that barring things going horribly wrong both he and the factory shold be fine.SECRET TEXT CLICK ME: https://imgur.com/a/Zb6qM
Basically consider who he is before responding, ask him to identify himself and go from there.
[I do not know if we have state-owned industry here, and he could be lying about just being a manager]
We don't have state-run industries. He has identified himself as Brufa Deler, manager of the Acme concrete factory on Reta and Kefat streets. This checks out with the records. Nothing to note.
D, THEN.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 18, 2017, 05:49:38 pm
KefatThis is supposed to be "Kefut", yes?
Also, your transparency failed miserably. "Rebel Fraud" and "Utter Fake".
oH shit, the gig is up then.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 07:33:27 pm
KefatThis is supposed to be "Kefut", yes?
Also, your transparency failed miserably. "Rebel Fraud" and "Utter Fake".
Dammit, I forgot that Notifications convert to plaintext. In the future I'll have to edit it in later to suppress the notification.
I reserve the right to retcon any and all implications of that message all the way to hell.
Post by: Glass on November 18, 2017, 08:02:19 pm
To be quite honest, I was kind of wondering if it was supposed to be as obvious as you (evidently accidentally) made it in order to just confuse us even more. So... basically changes nothing.KefatThis is supposed to be "Kefut", yes?
Also, your transparency failed miserably. "Rebel Fraud" and "Utter Fake".
Dammit, I forgot that Notifications convert to plaintext. In the future I'll have to edit it in later to suppress the notification.
I reserve the right to retcon any and all implications of that message all the way to hell.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2017, 08:09:21 pm
To be quite honest, I was kind of wondering if it was supposed to be as obvious as you (evidently accidentally) made it in order to just confuse us even more. So... basically changes nothing.KefatThis is supposed to be "Kefut", yes?
Also, your transparency failed miserably. "Rebel Fraud" and "Utter Fake".
Dammit, I forgot that Notifications convert to plaintext. In the future I'll have to edit it in later to suppress the notification.
I reserve the right to retcon any and all implications of that message all the way to hell.
I was hoping you'd have to highlight it to see it... and TOTALLY FORGOT that the notif system was a thing.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 19, 2017, 09:45:16 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 19, 2017, 08:59:33 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 19, 2017, 11:11:36 pm
I also am creating a more detailed system to measure civil disruption: The Civil Disruption Quotient
This is simply the percentage of the 2nd dice that will be lost, rounded down. CDQ 75% = 1d4, CDQ 50% = 1d3, and so on.
It starts at 40 and goes down 5% every day (in-game) that nothing increases it.
The penalty for civil disruption applies to these as well. The penalty for paying up, however, does not, as this predates the paying up in game-time
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
We begin an investigation into the source of the leaked information. It seems that the photographs and notes originated from one Sark Rayburg, the surgeon in charge during the operations.
We drag him in for questioning, but he refuses to say anything and asks for his lawyer.
The investigation of protest leaders doesn’t go much better. One, Pileus Read, got into a divorce around 12 years ago, but that can’t be used for anything.
Our attempts at pointing out canine intelligence are just met with more claims of hypocrisy. “You’d never let them join human society!” one protester derides. “They’re just weapons to you and you’d like them to stay that way!”
What helps a bit more is that the dogs give a rather… rousing speech, in which they explain the reason for their loyalty and deride the protestors for insulting their intelligence. “We have decided that the Republic is a cause worth fighting for,” they say. “A pack must stay together to survive. Dogs and humans have very different talents, but that makes it all the more important that we stand together against the evils outside and the darkness within!”
In a surprise turn of events, the dogs also formally request to be acknowledged as citizens of the Republic. This is of course for the courts to decide, but a little pushing from Erin can’t hurt.
Finally, efforts are underway to disguise our part in the Cherub project. Namely, to pin the blame on another rebel group in Brazil. Elaborate sets of fake evidence are being created when one scientist, whose notes were used to falsify evidence, comes forward. He says he’s seen some suspicious things done with his notes and demands to know the reason for this.
CDQ:
For my own benefit as well as yours, here’s everything the Republic has so far:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +0 informational
- +0 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
The following questions are up
- How much do we tell the manager? Knowing that he’s a “rebel fraud” and “utter fake”
- What do we do about Sark Rayburg, suspected of leaking information but uncooperative?
- Do we lean on the courts to allow Canine citizenship?
- What do we do about the scientist, who knows what we’re doing with the fake evidence but is now in our office and could be silenced if needed?
Post by: Glass on November 19, 2017, 11:14:25 pm
Post by: omada on November 20, 2017, 12:13:37 am
Q2. Let his lawyer in, continue investigation to look for evidence
Q3. let they have citizenship, maybe we can even negotiate a proper salary pension for their puppies in case of whatever as military, their kids could study/train whatever (we will need to revolutionize training/pedagogy and if they suceed in somewhere other than military they can follow their new areas of study)
Q4. I am pretty sure, that if we kill him the blackmailer will come.
Hmm, try to get info to know if he is alone on this (if he is we might disappear with him or not) and while we ask if he can't see that if we not do this the stability will be in risk see his backstory, maybe he needs money or have shit somewhere, everyone has his price
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 20, 2017, 10:37:12 am
Hmm, try to get info to know if he is alone on this (if he is we might disappear with him or not) and while we ask if he can't see that if we not do this the stability will be in risk see his backstory, maybe he needs money or have shit somewhere, everyone has his price
Nothing notable about his history. No reason to have beef with the Republic. He says he hasn't told anyone and doesn't want money, if it's for the good of the Republic he'll hold his tongue.
“Oh,” he says. “Now I've said that I'm alone and haven't told anyone, which is the cue for you to put me in a big sack and drag me off to be horrifically experimented on, right?”
Post by: FallacyofUrist on November 20, 2017, 12:52:44 pm
“Oh,” he says. “Now I've said that I'm alone and haven't told anyone, which is the cue for you to put me in a big sack and drag me off to be horrifically experimented on, right?”"Not necessarily. We're going to question you a bit more first. After that... maybe. Experimented, yes. Horrifically, no."
Grant the dogs citizenship.+1.
Also: Canine Retirement Program: For good PR and to make our neo-dogs happier, our older dogs may choose to retire(or pseudo-retire, joining the Canine Reserves) with a Republic family chosen by said dog.
And something we really should do:
Academy in Marksmanship(AIM): Those rebels have proved hard to hit with conventional bullets. The Academy in Marksmanship (Academy of Marksmanship uses better grammar, but doesn't have the good acronym) will train our best marksmen into Elite Mooks with ridiculously good aiming skills. They will furthermore be given training in crossbow use to increase the dramatic odds of their hitting. Bonus points if we can create poisoned and explosive crossbow bolts.
Post by: Glass on November 20, 2017, 01:19:52 pm
+1 to all this. And yes, the rule of drama makes crossbow bolts, which you can see sticking out of their targets, and which are (hypothetically) less likely to be instantly fatal, more likely to actually hit, while still being able to cripple (at least for a little while).“Oh,” he says. “Now I've said that I'm alone and haven't told anyone, which is the cue for you to put me in a big sack and drag me off to be horrifically experimented on, right?”"Not necessarily. We're going to question you a bit more first. After that... maybe. Experimented, yes. Horrifically, no."Grant the dogs citizenship.+1.
Also: Canine Retirement Program: For good PR and to make our neo-dogs happier, our older dogs may choose to retire(or pseudo-retire, joining the Canine Reserves) with a Republic family chosen by said dog.
And something we really should do:
Academy in Marksmanship(AIM): Those rebels have proved hard to hit with conventional bullets. The Academy in Marksmanship (Academy of Marksmanship uses better grammar, but doesn't have the good acronym) will train our best marksmen into Elite Mooks with ridiculously good aiming skills. They will furthermore be given training in crossbow use to increase the dramatic odds of their hitting. Bonus points if we can create poisoned and explosive crossbow bolts.
However, there is one weapon that has these bonuses even more than a crossbow does:
A longbow.
An arrow sticks out clearly on a hit target, it hinders movement while stuck in the wound, it can be dramatically snapped off but would need to be removed carefully because we would barb them, and so on and so forth. They're the ideal ranged weapons to use against heroes when plot armor makes them immune to bullets. Meanwhile, while fiction tends to make arrows out as less lethal than bullets and crossbows, they are actually shot with much more force than crossbow bolts, and can be used in an arc (that is, over walls) unlike bullets.
The real issue is that they're hard to use... but isn't that why these guys are the elite mooks?
Also, query. Our troops have face-concealing helmets, or ones that are clear? If the former, change it to the latter.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 20, 2017, 01:21:48 pm
The manager is told that this information is classified. He thanks us and then hangs up.
A few minutes later we… wait for it… get a call from the blackmailer.
“It is certain that you would not have said it was classified if you were not staking out that site. It would be better for both of us for this deal to continue, though, so I will give you a chance. Take your men from the drop site and I will collect the money. Refuse, and you may consider secrets released. Do not think that you can capture me at the drop site, as I have associates with the same information who will release it the moment something goes wrong.”
“You seem nicely full of yourself, and I understand that,” Erin Quill answers, “but I’m warning you one last time, you do NOT want to mess with the Republic.” The blackmailer hangs up before anything else is said.
A motion is filed to consider all uplifted dogs citizens, as well as implicitly granting them commissions and pay from the military, pensions in case of injury, compensation for the families of the dead, and an option to retire once the present conflict ends and roam the city and/or settle down with a family.
The dogs are very thankful and this also calms down the protesters a bit. -5% CDQ.
Academy in Marksmanship(AIM): Those rebels have proved hard to hit with conventional bullets. The Academy in Marksmanship (Academy of Marksmanship uses better grammar, but doesn't have the good acronym) will train our best marksmen into Elite Mooks with ridiculously good aiming skills. They will furthermore be given training in crossbow use to increase the dramatic odds of their hitting. Bonus points if we can create poisoned and explosive crossbow bolts.
Going to let Quill answer this one, folks.
Quote from: Erin Quill
The problem is Conservation of Ninjutsu (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu). When I use a crossbow, it works great, but give one to everyone and it’ll be cliched into ineffectiveness. Same for bullets. No matter how hard you train if the plot demands a miss it’ll miss.
Also, my crossbow thing only worked by carefully monitoring and adjusting tropes in the area to make it cause serious injury.
Sark Rayburg (Leak suspect) is allowed to meet with his lawyer while we continue the investigation.
What do we do first?
A: Search his house and place of work
B: Interview his colleagues to identify abnormal behavior
C: Build a list of his acquaintances and look for anyone suspicious
Would also like more suggestions regarding the scientist
Post by: FallacyofUrist on November 20, 2017, 01:28:47 pm
Hm.Quote from: Erin QuillThe problem is Conservation of Ninjutsu (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu). When I use a crossbow, it works great, but give one to everyone and it’ll be cliched into ineffectiveness. Same for bullets. No matter how hard you train if the plot demands a miss it’ll miss.
Also, my crossbow thing only worked by carefully monitoring and adjusting tropes in the area to make it cause serious injury.
Firstly, we can increase the power of our elite sniper mooks by decreasing their numbers. The fewer there are, the more Ninjutsu there is to go around. These guys should be the best of the best. Secondly, we could vary things up a bit. Maybe create some kind of super techno-crossbow? With multiple variants? The point is, these blokes need to be notably special. Notably dangerous. We make it clear to the plot that they're elite, and they'll be much more effective against the heroes.
What do we do about the scientist, who knows what we’re doing with the fake evidence but is now in our office and could be silenced if needed?Do we have enough leftover brainwash-juice to use on him?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 20, 2017, 01:48:56 pm
Do we have enough leftover brainwash-juice to use on him?
Quote from: Erin Quill
I could go squeeze the frog again if you want.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 20, 2017, 06:50:07 pm
As for the scientist....try to convince him that we are only doing doing this for the republic, well and even more importantly for the sake of preserving the lives of millions of civilians.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 20, 2017, 06:51:11 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 20, 2017, 08:22:41 pm
Oh and the state of the empire thingy really should be updated, It seems way out of date by now.
Yes... it is... I gave up a while ago, should probably delete it.
Post by: omada on November 20, 2017, 10:15:30 pm
(or give him truth serum again)
about the scientist:
"I don't think we need to do that, we will just make you sign more papers giving harsh punishment if you leak this just for security, we know that you don't want to a fake rebel organization getting the credits for the cherubs, but really, we already passed the line in this one, we must remedy this and put a note to not do something like this again, our aristocracy already pushed some people to become rebels and try to get a anarchy, and we aren't talking about a good utopia here, but here, as we are already here and you are being granted an audience use this chance. Is there something else you want? Our laboratory's don't has that many future projects for now, is there something that our scientists are eager to test?"
And brainwashing will revert their thoughts about the events, really, it's nice to have some extra in stock for situations like these to put drink on it, but i think it will be weird to think:
"Oh hey i felt that this shit about fake rebels is very nice but i came here to convince you guys to stop it"
About the marksman thing, besides doing this we should give better options of non-lethal ammo for our Elite Mooks, it will not KILL them, but will slow them down give problems on the long-run and make the odds against them worse till the point where there is no excuse to live and the plot armor breaks.
Sleep/paralises poison
Electric bullets (and a good aim to destroy EQUIPMENT)
Those anti-adantesite lasers
Invasive Tracker Device (grab the meat and track the victim, they will only get it off hurting themselves badly or amputating the part)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 21, 2017, 12:39:41 pm
- At this point it’s probably productive to tell you exactly what each of the compounds Erin’s frog secretes does.
- Truth - Prevents the subject from fabricating information and makes him VERY VERY likely to not give lies of omission (but not certain). They might not tell you, but what they do tell you is true.
- Inversion - Inverts the emotion associated with a particular memory. Inverts nothing else, just the emotion they associate with it.
- Dissociation - Causes the subject to forget the source of a memory; they’ll know it happened but not when or where, and they’ll likely guess a location and then falsify memories to support it. Use on dialogue to make them forget who said the dialogue.
- Amnesia - Causes the subject to totally forget that something happened. Straightforward as anything else. However, being explicitly and vigorously told the truth by others will revert it, so be sure to “patch the edges” with something else. In some ways the opposite of Dissociation - it deletes the event but not the context.
- Flood delete - Deletes a memory and anything that the subject can think of related to it. As you might think, this is not to be used lightly. An improper Flood Delete can result in totally blanking the mind in question
- Suggestion - Information received under the effect of this drug will seem more true in an implicit manner. Realize they won't forget the statements, so you may want to combine it with Amnesia or do some elaborate deceptions. Subjects will attempt to find evidence themselves to support the suggestions so this is very dangerous.
Post by: Glass on November 21, 2017, 01:08:12 pm
Second: I suggest interviews with colleagues, and as a second priority anyone suspicious that we encounter or hear about we can record for later.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 21, 2017, 03:59:52 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 21, 2017, 04:10:42 pm
I am sorry to interrupt by going back to older events on this thread....but mr blueturtle, I call bullshit on the rebel posing as a manager calling us out simply for not being forthcoming, remember, I would have given the exact same response even if I was 100% sure he was a real manager. Why you may ask? Because we do not give out information on troop movements to random civilians, that's why.
Well, he's fighting the Republic and Erin Quill so he can't be the sharpest tool in the shed.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 22, 2017, 08:58:31 am
In the meantime, I just realized that (A) the blackmail situation is in Antarctica, (B) Erin Quill has been responding to all the calls, (C) Erin Quill is in Brazil interrogating Andrew Calvin, (D) our only method of communication between Brazil and Antarctica is the wormhole, which we just began moving, and (E) Erin Quill can’t be in two places at once, d’oh!
Just assume that he instantly left Brazil after giving Celling the frog and that he can cross the Drake in a couple of days. So he’s in Antarctica now.
Besides this is a fiction piece so speed doesn’t matter. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 23, 2017, 09:41:28 am
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
During the interrogation, the following facts are found:
- Rayburg was brought into the project relatively late, in order to do surgeries on the bionic dogs. By then it had already been realized that previous treatments had given them free will.
- He’s forgotten to use proper sanitation several times and got ejected from surgeries as a result
- Every Friday he drinks at a particular bar in the city
- Language in the newspaper articles indicates that a surgeon wrote the details; only five surgeons would have known that level of detail, and Sark is one of them.
- Nobody in the research team associated closely with Sark; he was an unknown to most of them
- One who did speak with him on more than one occassion states that he was interested in but critical of Erin Quill’s theories regarding sentience
- The photos of the surgeries which made it to the police were in a records folder that Rayburg kept. He reported them stolen the day before they were released
(I realized the truth drug would be the most effective method of questioning, but the frog’s in Brazil and Erin didn’t take any samples to Antarctica, lest they fall into the wrong hands.)
You can now choose to let him go or keep questioning him. If you keep him and he turns out to be innocent, the court case results in a -2 to the next 5 rolls you have.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 23, 2017, 01:51:56 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 23, 2017, 02:30:13 pm
I don't rember what we are accusing him off, but I think we should investigate that bar further. Y'know some of the patrons there might have known him.
Leaking the information. Read the thread.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 23, 2017, 03:06:25 pm
I don't rember what we are accusing him off, but I think we should investigate that bar further. Y'know some of the patrons there might have known him.
Leaking the information. Read the thread.
Ah okay, we still don't have definite evidence for that as far as I've seen all we can say with certainty is that he had a lot of information that he could have leaked.
I say we question him about the photos that got released as that seems the most fishy.
Post by: omada on November 23, 2017, 03:55:44 pm
And meanwhile we investigate his work place and make a list of his acquaintances (say that the orders were made before we let him go, don't investigate the house right now because I don't think we can make him lose enough time to search there, unless we know we can do that safely)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 24, 2017, 07:32:32 am
Post by: omada on November 24, 2017, 10:47:32 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 25, 2017, 07:19:05 am
"Okay, we will let you go, but first can you answer some questions so we can maybe find the leakage source? I wanna talk first about these photos, and now sign these papers, no, we are totally not gaining time"works with me .
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 26, 2017, 01:29:03 pm
"Okay, we will let you go, but first can you answer some questions so we can maybe find the leakage source? I wanna talk first about these photos, and now sign these papers, no, we are totally not gaining time"
SARK RAYBURG: I’ll be going now.
INTERROGATOR: Please answer just one more question. Do you know anything else about those photos?
SARK RAYBURG: I already told you all I know - they were in my desk on Thursday the 27th and they weren’t when I reported to work at 9:00 the next day. They were in a drawer that wasn’t locked, and I rarely lock the door. I go home rather late and nobody else knew they were there.
INTERROGATOR: Alright. Please sign this form explaining that you don’t want to answer any other questions.
RAYBURG: I’m not signing everything.
INTERROGATOR: Sign this form explaining that you don’t want to sign anything.
RAYBURG: Are you trying to delay me?
INTERROGATOR: Now sign this form with the dates and times of your interview.
RAYBURG: Alright, but as I’ve said, I did nothing wrong.
INTERROGATOR: Sign this form explaining that the interview found nothing.
RAYBURG: I’ll sue you for this!
INTERROGATOR: Sign this form noting that your arrest was in error.
RAYBURG: Alright. Can I go now?
INTERROGATOR: Get your lawyer. Then sign this form for us to cover your legal expenses. Then have your lawyer sign all the previous forms.
(etc.)
While this is happening we search his workplace.
His story actually checks out. His office is unlocked, and people around it confirm that it is unlocked most of the time. The cabinet with the folder does not have a lock. The folder is still inside and some pictures are still there. The floor is white linoleum and has been cleaned since then, so there’s no chance of footprints.
There’s no fingerprint evidence because by the time Rayburg reported that the photos were missing, the office had already been cleaned, including a wipe of all the cabinets. This is normal for a Friday.
All in all, nothing from the office.
The list of acquaintances will be rolled.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
As the intelligence agency goes about collecting information on everyone Sark Rayburg is familiar with, one name and address stands out to one of the agents.
Several minutes later, the agent’s suspicions are confirmed. Walter “Bob” Conhan, who is a friend of Sark’s who frequents the same bars and casinos, is in a relationship with Zia DeMarco, the mother of Armen DeMarco, who betrayed the Republic because her brother was made into a Cherub.
The agent had worked on both cases and noticed that Conhan and DeMarco’s addresses were the same. She felt that it was too much of a coincidence that two people suspected of possessing classified information are related so closely.
What now?
Post by: Glass on November 26, 2017, 01:37:35 pm
Post by: omada on November 26, 2017, 02:43:56 pm
And investigate the new guy, routines,workplace, previous records in justice, relationship between this new guy and rebels parents, I don't think the blackmailer has contact with the rebels so directly, nor i think he is an ally, but...
Can we record the telephones? Intercept calls and this stuff?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 26, 2017, 05:18:56 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 27, 2017, 04:39:12 am
To be specific: For the tech level of the Republic, assume "19th century engineering, late 20th century electronics". So we're still running off steam and trains and coal and stuff, but telegrams are getting replaced with telephones, important records can occasionally be digitized, central energy grid exists, semiconductor science beginning, etc.
So sort of like India in the 1920's or something like that.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 27, 2017, 07:48:51 am
Put our guy in observation but "let him go"
And investigate the new guy, routines,workplace, previous records in justice, relationship between this new guy and rebels parents, I don't think the blackmailer has contact with the rebels so directly, nor i think he is an ally, but...
Can we record the telephones? Intercept calls and this stuff?
We met him way back in October and the Intermissions. He’s Armen’s stepfather. See, Mr. DeMarco died 11 years ago, when Armen was still a toddler. Zia DeMarco married Conhan a year and a half ago. As far as we can tell their relationship is not anything close to happy and they're on the verge of breaking up.
Around 8:30 AM, he talks with another man in the front yard. With some clever use of acoustics we hear what he said:
“Going to get the goods. If I don't come back you just do your part.”
The other man just laughs and says he will.
By the way, the blackmail money has been sitting there for around 20 hours now.
What do you do?
Post by: omada on November 27, 2017, 08:51:38 am
If we really found the blackmailer, we will later need to know everyone that is his friend and is in his "business" and imprison everyone at once in one night
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 27, 2017, 11:16:12 am
Monitor him on the distance, see if he is going to the blackmailer money part, don't follow him when he get near the place where we put the money (as he probably put something to notice us there) but watch him when he is going back
If we really found the blackmailer, we will later need to know everyone that is his friend and is in his "business" and imprison everyone at once in one night
ditto.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 27, 2017, 01:23:07 pm
Without even looking back, he responded. “Yes. And who might you be? I literally don’t have time right now.”
“Oh, don’t pretend you don’t know me, Mr. Quill,” the man said in a smug, silky voice.
“Of course. Our dear Guardian of the State, the honorable Sir Padelheb,” Quill said sardonically, abruptly lifting his head from the sheet of orders he was going over. “Foremost advisor to the old King himself. For what reason do you find yourself plugging up my door?”
Padelheb chuckled slightly. “You are under arrest for high treason, Mr. Erin Quill.”
Quill whirled around and narrowed his eyebrows. Padelheb stepped to the side to allow two guards in full armor and wielding pistols to step in.
“Just what do you think you’re charging me with, Padelheb?”
Padelheb laughed again. “Come now, Erin Quill. It’s obvious to everyone.”
“Keep on babbling, nutcase.” Quill stepped subtly to the side of the desk. “What’s obvious?”
“Why, your efforts to ensure that the perpetrators of a rather distressing blackmail get paid, of course.”
Quill sighed and tilted his head to one side. “You know full well that they could wreak some serious damage with that information, Tyro Padelheb. The best option is to pay them.”
“You have, on various and multiple occasions, told insidious lies and invented elaborate reasons to ensure that the enemies of the state get our money! Really, now? There is absolutely no excuse why you are not making the slightest effort to keep our coin! You’re just letting them take it! You are a disgrace to the honorable men of the Republic!”
“Idiot! Look outside!” Erin Quill gestured wildly. “You see that protest? It’ll be a thousand times worse if the Cherub notes get out. What good will your honorable men be when the entire city comes to burn our buildings down, eh?”
Padelheb grinned like a jackal. “Well, then having a bright but antisocial scientist in custody to blame it all on will be a serious help, no?”
Erin Quill grew red in the face. “You are seriously considering-”
“Oh, it will be easy. After all, it was your research into the neurochemical nature of sentience that sparked this project in the first place. Just a few memos changed, a couple gram of silver passed here and there, and it’ll be oh so obvious that Erin Quill, wormhole engineer, was the driving force behind the perversion of our children! Ooh!”
“And, I suppose, you’ll be the hero-”
“Oh?” Padelheb said. “I’ll just be the nice, humble Guardian of the State, doing what has to be done and removing treachery from the highest levels of our government.”
“And then?” Quill inquired.
“And then I'll lead our men to victory and get our secrets and money back, obviously,” he answered. “The payment will be removed. Those people you've caught will be instantly arrested rather than being allowed to continue their devious plots.”
“It'll blow up in your face. You can't get the money back without them spilling the secrets.”
Padelheb chuckled again, his moustache lifting a bit. “You have no idea what I can and can't do, Erin. You're so woefully limited. So… constrained to your principles and your loyalties. No ambition. No desire to move up.”
“That's right. I don't partake in your games of greed and deceit,” Quill spat in answer. “So what do you want?”
“What do I want? I don't want anything. I'm just a devoted servant of the Republic.” Padelheb smiled again. “But it's come to my attention that the old King has no male descendants, so he'll have to appoint a successor.”
“So you want the throne,” Quill concluded.
“And what better way to get into the old King’s favor than to root out scum and corruption from inside the Republic?” Padelheb asked.
“He won't allow this.”
“He's already allowed this,” Padelheb shot back. “He's old, sick, and tired. Isn't it lucky that he has a trustworthy advisor beside him to warn of threats to his role from within?”
Erin thumped his head into his palm. “You have no idea of what's out there waiting for you. I do. You haven't seen the threats I've seen. The cities will burn and the people will die. Secrets, shadows, and horrors that will tear apart the Republic. Take me out, and it'll be chaos everywhere.”
“Chaos is a ladder, Erin,” Padelheb answered. “The people will endure. Most importantly, they'll give their thanks to me.”
Erin Quill froze.
“I… I know what you are,” he stammered, almost whispering.
Padelheb continued to smirk. “I'm the future king of the South, boy,” he said in a condescending tone.
“Not that, you old nutter,” Erin shot back. “Goddamit! I know what you are, I know who you are and where you're from.”
“This would go a lot easier if you didn't ramble nonsense, Quill,” Padelheb said menacingly. He gestured to the guards and they began moving forward.
“You're from outside. You're an expy. An… an interdimensional refugee. A runaway across reality itself. Tried and convicted of your crimes in your home universe,” Erin Quill shouted, shaking as he spoke. “The madness whom even madmen hunt, the evil whom even demons fear, so vile and detestable that even the master of injustice could not resist but to give you what you deserved, God, why didn’t I see, why didn’t I see - Sir Tyro Padelheb. SIR TYRO PADELHEB. A-B-D-E-E-H-I-L-L-O-P-R-R-S-T-Y. Lord Petyr Baelish (http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Petyr_Baelish).”
Padelheb’s confident smirk dropped a bit. “Take him away,” he growled at his guards. “He’s insane.”
The guards caught Quill by the arms. Padelheb stepped away to allow them to drag him to the door. He continued screaming at the tops of his lungs. “Abuser of women, betrayer of kings, manipulator of men, coward, traitor, liar, you will not crush my universe as you crushed your own. You will not tear my world apart like you tore apart yours. You were found out by those you tricked and killed so you ran sniveling, whimpering, over here, burying your past beneath your subconscious-” He jerked his head up and stared piercingly at Padelheb, staring beyond Padelheb, beyond the finely made coat and cruel black eyes, toward the very essence of the man and the threads that held him to this reality. “You have not seen the last of Erin Quill. I will bring you to justice. I will reveal your crimes before everyone else, just as they have been revealed once before. I will find you, Littlefinger. I will hunt you down. And when I do, the fires that you will burn in will make Erebus look like a cakewalk. You are going to burn, Sir Tyro Padelheb. You are going down. I will bring you down!”
As the guards dragged him away, he turned to say one last thing. “After all, Sansa Stark did it, so how hard can it be?”
Then he was gone.
Padelheb stood alone in the room for a few more minutes, musing on what he had just heard, before returning to his quarters.
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/gameofthrones/images/9/9f/Profile-Littlefinger.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/335?cb=20170826005231)
You have lost control of events in Antarctica.
Jacob Eldin has just gotten the soldier that helped him captured. He drifts alone, up and down the coast, wondering what to do next.
Anna Drimoxi has just watched her grandfather and friend get killed on the beaches next to her. She is alone and despondent, questioning her dedication to her past and her mission.
Andrew Calvin is captured, strapped to a chair inside the nightmarish secret base of the Republic. As mind-altering toxins wash through his system, he tries to hang on to one thought - I love Anna Drimoxi. I love her.
Riots dominate the streets of the South. Buildings are stoned and windows shattered. A dark presence manipulates the emotions of the crowd, playing the people of the Republic for his own gain.
And deep within the castles of the Republic, Erin Quill has been deposed. In his place stands Tyro Pandelheb, a shrewd, ruthless man, cutting through his opposition like a sharpened knife. He is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants - and he wants everything.
As light glints across the frozen waste of Antarctica and the South drags itself out of the long polar night, nobody knows the answer to one question: When will it end?
And who will be standing then?
And all the things I didn’t say | Wrecking balls inside my brain | I will scream them loud tonight | Can you hear my voice this time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo1VInw-SKc)
SPAMOVERLORD
CHAPTER II:
ICE AND FIRE
Post by: omada on November 27, 2017, 01:59:18 pm
the
fuck???????????
*I get out of the debris of the fourth wall but an interdimensional portal kills me again*
Hmmm... we "were" Erin who is us now?
The talking birds are in our hands here in Brasil? They already got counciousness? Do we have hands in africa/china/whatever country in south? Now our job is to become as treacherous as him and get our job back in an covert civil war?
Hmm, he will probably screw things over trying to get rebels, because it look like he don't have the fourth wall vision,
Now maybe it's time to make the "fake rebels" really exist and their mission is to "clean the republic of corrupts and people who want to destroy order." If we do that we can get profit and praise from anything we do.
Yes I am suggesting creating a government-controlled rebellion, Lets see if little finger can pull strings better than bay12forums.
We will discover the fabrics behind what brought he here, and we will create wormholes to other dimensions, Earth is not the objective anymore...
Post by: Glass on November 27, 2017, 02:25:51 pm
So we're pulling from other universes now? Two can play at that game.
It's time for Erin to grow into his namesake, as well.
It's time for him to catalyze (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression).
(Note: I'll be giving detail later. To put it simply: Skafoi and Metatropi focus.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 27, 2017, 03:14:50 pm
This is my fight song!
So we're pulling from other universes now? Two can play at that game.
It's time for Erin to grow into his namesake, as well.
It's time for him to catalyze (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression).
(Note: I'll be giving detail later. To put it simply: Skafoi and Metatropi focus.)
Wait... you intend to make Erin an interdimensional traveler too?
No. Nooooo. I actually have a few good reasons why I want him to be originating from this 'verse.
Post by: Glass on November 27, 2017, 04:04:41 pm
EDIT: Alright. Time to do a thing. Here's the book, if you care to follow along. (https://aec352ff-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/moochava/genius/Genius1.1Tabbed.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7crm4ln9QwPk4nMIlSlU_HVtbbAsPv8MxrHe5bMOyO-6MAeZ4joagOwpcrrsp0Pm-tk_t_4_WtQ6FxzC6y5PfknAiyQEM39gNGyoNfgyJC5WJYO6Peaani-1aft_7V81IkcE0O8zg8lxy_A5EyDm1eOEZUDho6EdtBHmuMFuoDk5ZsTAhNmbWl8Pap1oS0zdGMuTfQBijJeqID_7FZgroCmIjBj65rPDgfyrqshiUdNxBusqArs%3D&attredirects=0)
So, first off, Erin's a Hoffnung.
Quote
When some far-seeing scientists reach their Breakthrough, they catch a glimpse of the world As It Could Be. Buoyed with hope of making the world a better place (for their definition of "better") they set to work, filled with frantic energy, to achieve their vision. From honorable captains of industry who work to place a fusion-powered car in every garage, to lunatics eager to replace "undesirables" with pliant robot slaves, the Hoffnungs dream of a world fundamentally changed by the fruits of their Inspiration.
Quote
A Hoffnung is defined by hope for a better tomorrow―whatever they call "better," of course. Their attempts to transform the world define them. Hoffnungs are, of all geniuses, those most determined to make their wonders "work" for regular people, and they are often the most proficient at creating objects of mundane science and technology. Whether building wonders, messing around with mundane technology, or looking to "adjust" human society to make it more amenable to the genius' vision, the Principalities are always defined by what they are doing, at any given moment, to make the world they imagine into reality.
Quote
Favored Axiom: Metaptropi, the Axiom of Transformation. Principalities are masters of changing the physical world, bending it to conform to what they want to see.Ergo, by default, we have Metaptropi, the science of holograms and transformations, as one of our three main axioms. If we were dealing with my personal Erin Quill, this would be mainly seen via his implants that allow him to move in and out of phase - essentially shifting between a ghost-like form and solid reality - and his gun that turns its targets into solid steel (only for a day, though; he's humane). Our Erin may obtain these eventually, but the former is very high-tier, while the latter is simply not what we need right now.
Derangement: Narcissism. Even the kindest Hoffnung, deep down, believes that he is entirely right and correct, making him dangerous to those who cross him.
I'm not quite sure what Merits to give Quill; we can work that out later.
Our second specialized axiom is Skafoi, the science of travel, be it boats, planes, teleporters, or, you guessed it, wormholes. Unfortunately, it is not until Skafoi 4 that we get teleporters; mole machines, however, are permitted at the entry level of Skafoi 2, though they can't really move through metal.
Level 2 Metaptropi, however, is able to transform one material into another - say, stone into dust. Here is where the tensor method comes in - an item that I am, without regrets, stealing from the Reckoners books. Specifically, it can be used on inanimate objects (no people, mate) and turn them into dust (well, it tears it apart into dust; wood becomes sawdust, stone becomes normal dust, etc., and you do not want to breathe it in); with greater control over it, it is possible to carve out usable items with it (say, a sword).
A pair of tensor gloves are going to be our first wonder. They're melee range only, but we don't need anything more than that.
Quote
A wonder of Metaptropi can be built that turns a target into only one material (or one type of creature). This grants a +2 bonus when using the wonder.
After this, we have 5 more choices for our 3rd specialty: Apokalypsi (scanners, mind-reading and telepathy, etc.), Katastrofi (weapons, just every type of weapon you can imagine), Prostasia (defensive anything; includes force fields, though not offensively), Exelixi (improvement in any form, though beware of Mengele-type stuff), Epikrato (control, be it mind control, probability control, or telekinesis), and Automata (robots, clones, and anything else that can act on its own; includes uplifts).
I'm personally partial to Erin having Epikrato as his third axiom, but I'm thinking you guys can think on it yourselves.
If you guys want to try to decide on anything else, the handbook is linked above. Just a note: Erin is a Rogue, because there just plain are no Lemuria or Peerage organizations for him to join.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 28, 2017, 08:35:41 am
You’re talking about using abilities from another universe, right? Sadly, by my rules of interdimensional transit the answer is no. You can view other universes, even move between them - but pulling universal rules from another story in order to upgrade yourself. No, no, NO.
Padelheb, by the way, isn’t an actual interdimensional refugee. Quill was wrong. Padelheb is just an Expy. That is, he’s a man born in the SPAMOVERLORD universe with the exact motives, personality, mannerisms, and appearance of Petyr Baelish as he appears on the Game of Thrones TV show.
Aside from “contradicts my canon” there are a few reasons why I won’t allow using powers from G:tT:
- Genius is sort of a fringe thing that not all of our players might know. Introducing Game of Thrones was already a big hand-wring, but GoT appears to be a big thing in fiction these days.
- I haven’t personally heard much about Genius. Now, this might sound narcissistic (and probably is) but the fact remains that if I’m not interested in it, I can’t write a good crossover.
- Using Catalyst powers would totally trash the theme of SPAMOVERLORD. Unique people with special powers? Leveling up and a few people changing the world? It's exactly the kind of action fiction that I'm trying to parody. Erin Quill is the real hero of this story, but he fights with logic and thought, not insane inspiration and otherworldly power. I know that Catalysts work by science, but if it's extraordinary leaps by a few special people that's not science, that's magic.
Frankly, though, I'm kinda amazed by how closely our images of Erin match up. I know that you specifically requested teleports, but while fleshing out his character I actually concluded that he's motivated by an intense desire to better the rest of the world. And that he's somewhat egotistical and always thinks he's right. (He usually is)
I guess that the Catalysts categories are just a set of characteristics that easily lead to each other, and that you've been slightly influencing my image of Erin as the game went, so it's not that spectacular, but it's still interesting!
I'll make sure there's a GtT crossover at some point. Just not the main focus of the game. If / when you get interdimensional portals you are also free to dial it up.
Now to other questions.
Like I've said, Padelheb is “just” an Expy, not an interdimensional traveler.
You, the players, inhabit Erin Quill and anyone still loyal to him. That means Wenton Celling for now. So I actually want suggestions for what to ask or do to the prisoners now. Refer to the list of brainwashing compounds (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7623396#msg7623396) I posted a while ago.
Post by: Glass on November 28, 2017, 08:47:40 am
Anyway, fine. I just happen to like stealing rules from alternate realities, no matter what it is I'm dealing with. Ask me about the Realmverse at some point if you want details on that.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 28, 2017, 10:22:11 am
Post by: omada on November 28, 2017, 05:59:43 pm
Break his will asking why he tought it was a good idea to destroy entire cities for his sake
What were his motivations for rebellion
Show where he worked before, where is his lab where is his hidding spots
What he knows about adantesite, what was his next step
and the end of the game, where he will cry to not talk, where he thinks anna will go
Andrew see with serum again what he thinks of anna/ rebellion/ sam and republic and invert those symptons, repeat and see if he is still resisting in something.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 28, 2017, 06:09:06 pm
who are we now?
what's the current canon
and what are our options?
ugh. What have you done?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 28, 2017, 06:11:17 pm
WTF IS GOING ON HERE.
who are we now?
what's the current canon
and what are our options?
ugh. What have you done?
Everything. Enjoy, suckers!
Post by: omada on November 28, 2017, 09:21:40 pm
WTF IS GOING ON HERE.
who are we now?
what's the current canon
and what are our options?
ugh. What have you done?
Everything. Enjoy, suckers!
THE CHAOS!! LET'S START A REBELLION AGAINST THE CONSPIRACY TO SAVE THE REPUBLIC (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SaveTheVillain), SHALL WE USE THIS SILLY ATTEMPT OF COUP TO GET MORE POWAAAAAAA
hmm,
1. Does Ceilling knows about the situation of Erin Quill? In game or because of the fourth wall?
2. The parrots,How much of the 13 hours has passed?( I think i forgot to ask)
Post by: Glass on November 28, 2017, 09:29:13 pm
THE CHAOS!! LET'S START A REBELLION AGAINST THE CONSPIRACY TO SAVE THE REPUBLIC, SHALL WE USE THIS SILLY ATTEMPT OF COUP TO GET MORE POWAAAAAAANo Omada, you are the conspiracy to save the Republic.
(And tehn Omada was the conspiracy to save the Republic)
But seriously, we're the
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 29, 2017, 08:57:42 am
WTF IS GOING ON HERE.
who are we now?
what's the current canon
and what are our options?
ugh. What have you done?
Everything. Enjoy, suckers!
THE CHAOS!! LET'S START A REBELLION AGAINST THE CONSPIRACY TO SAVE THE REPUBLIC (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SaveTheVillain), SHALL WE USE THIS SILLY ATTEMPT OF COUP TO GET MORE POWAAAAAAA
hmm,
1. Does Ceilling knows about the situation of Erin Quill? In game or because of the fourth wall?
2. The parrots,How much of the 13 hours has passed?( I think i forgot to ask)
Oh god, I've reduced my players to babbling gibberish.
Celling (his name is CELLING, as in Cell phone, Call-ing) will soon know as a fast mail ship is carrying word. Quill left a bunch of little plots to go off if he was hit by a coup, including hiding all his notes, burning down his laboratory, and making sure that word got out instantly.
The parrots hit sentience yesterday. They’re in Antarctica.
Now to question Sam:
When Samael Drimoxi woke up, he was lying on a hospital bed, alone.
He tried to move his feet and found them bound to the bed. There was a table with a variety of surgical instruments to his left and some life-support machinery to the right.
Wenton Celling pulls open the curtain at the front and steps in. He rolls a chair over to Mr. Drimoxi’s bed and sits down beside the old man.
“You’re lucky to be alive,” he says. “As you may have guessed, you’ve been captured by the Republic of the South.”
Samael coughs. “I know you’re going to make me tell you everything I know, but just tell me one thing. Did Anna get away?”
Wenton Celling sighs and closes his eyes. Concentrating, ge sends a piercing glare up the levels of thought and metathought and through the fourth wall.
“What do we tell him?” he asks.
A: “Yes, your granddaughter escaped.” (True)
B: “She has been captured as well and is being held elsewhere.”
C: “She was also shot and we were unable to save her.”
D: “I’m sure you’ll understand that I cannot tell you that.”
Post by: Glass on November 29, 2017, 09:15:50 am
Seriously, right now, we have lost control of the Republic. We may not be people the rebels like, but we're not nearly as bad as the guy who's taking over.
Post by: omada on November 29, 2017, 10:19:14 am
3 options
SAM: Don't bother lying. I saw Anna escape. You can't do anything to her and you won't get anything from me.
1. Blueturtle forgot this
2. He is faking amnesia
3. He was lying first time about seeing her escaping
E) "Do you not remember?"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 29, 2017, 10:27:37 am
3 options
SAM: Don't bother lying. I saw Anna escape. You can't do anything to her and you won't get anything from me.
1. Blueturtle forgot this
2. He is faking amnesia
3. He was lying first time about seeing her escaping
E) "Do you not remember?"
shoot.. RETCON TIME!!!
I will review both statements and tell you which is canonical.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 29, 2017, 11:38:56 am
This is the story post that shows that. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7606664;topicseen#msg7606664)
Continue!
Post by: omada on November 29, 2017, 12:46:13 pm
(half-truth, she just lost the knife but we need to make him less hopeful for now, it's just because lying with truths is easier)
If he asks what belongings we just say generic things "papers, adantesite stuff (lies) and a knife, that was lost in the sea (truth)"
Post by: Glass on November 29, 2017, 12:54:33 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 29, 2017, 08:40:39 pm
Post by: Glass on November 29, 2017, 08:41:47 pm
Post by: omada on November 29, 2017, 08:44:02 pm
To untie we can go back to A
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 30, 2017, 10:23:55 am
So, nobody agrees. Grand.
Which is sad, because defecting might actually be the best idea. The heroes must win, so by allying with them against a bigger threat the plot may let you live.
I'm actually frantically coming up with ideas to avert this.
Post by: Glass on November 30, 2017, 10:25:44 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 30, 2017, 12:04:50 pm
Actually, Omada changed to A after the "nobody agrees", so we agree now.
I meant the defecting thing.
Post by: omada on November 30, 2017, 03:28:13 pm
Actually, Omada changed to A after the "nobody agrees", so we agree now.
I meant the defecting thing.
he was just talking about the options hehehe
I don't know if the others liked the idea of becoming the heroes to turn villains-of-the-order-side again
And I don't think we should leave the government, I propose we backing off the rebels against our enemies inside the republic
"frantically coming up with ideas to avert this"
avert we becoming rebels or avert the plot letting us live? :v
Post by: Glass on November 30, 2017, 03:30:19 pm
Post by: omada on November 30, 2017, 03:39:14 pm
Hey, just because we start helping them doesn't mean we have to let our coworkers know were helping them.
"Oh, no they escaped, Oh no they kidnaped me, who removed Erin quill? He was pulling all the strings to prevent this, OH, they droped me on the road without killing me. I feel humilliated. Hey, let me Celling take personal control over these brazillian rebels situation, i shall avenge my honor bellow your banner
"Are you sure?"
"He will be on their chase till the end of the world.
Post by: Glass on November 30, 2017, 04:20:22 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on November 30, 2017, 05:03:41 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 01, 2017, 08:32:30 am
Yeah we should join the rebels the republic really must be un-salvageable when the kick out one of their most loyal supporters who was doing his very best to salvage things.
Well, to be sure, this is just Padelheb's doing. One bad apple ruining the whole bunch. The rest of the Republic's admin isn't that bad.
And they didn't kick him out... they want him executed for treason.
If you don't know who Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish is, you'll want to find out (http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Petyr_Baelish) so you know what you're up against. Also, here's the original "chaos is a ladder" speech (https://youtu.be/iRS8a8HjqFs?t=1m57s) and Littlefinger's death scene (https://youtu.be/l3hTmUKR7LI?t=1m11s).
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 02, 2017, 03:18:35 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 02, 2017, 07:54:43 am
The somewhat mad but moral scientist is rejected from the empire and joins the band of heroes against his former employers.
The fact that an amoral man is in charge of the Republic shifts the tone of the series to white/black (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackAndWhiteMorality) morality rather than grey/gray (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GreyAndGrayMorality). Padelheb being so bad means that killing him will serve as a logical conclusion to a novel and the rebels will not feel pressured to destabilize the wormhole as well. Conversley, Quill's joining makes the heroes a Five-Man Band (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand) (Leader Jacob, Lancer Andrew, Smart Guy Erin, Strongman Sam, Chick Anna).
So now I've talked myself into a pretty mouthtrap. I promised that this series is based on the idea that cliches must be followed and tropes decide who wins.
However, there is now an easy to invoke set of tropes that includes you joining the heroes and the heroes winning along with your goals.
Meaning that you have a straightforward, easy to follow win condition that I cannot author-edit out.
Meaning that you win.
Meaning that I lose.
...Tee hee hee, i'm transparent text!
CARP. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GettingCrapPastTheRadar)
Post by: Glass on December 02, 2017, 08:12:00 am
Post by: omada on December 02, 2017, 08:15:40 am
Until when we get back to the power we start conquering the entire world
Post by: Glass on December 02, 2017, 08:17:40 am
I've come to realize that if Erin joins the rebels against Padelheb, that fits a common plot cliche.Just to make sure you can't get rid of what you said here.
The somewhat mad but moral scientist is rejected from the empire and joins the band of heroes against his former employers.
The fact that an amoral man is in charge of the Republic shifts the tone of the series to white/black (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackAndWhiteMorality) morality rather than grey/gray (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GreyAndGrayMorality). Padelheb being so bad means that killing him will serve as a logical conclusion to a novel and the rebels will not feel pressured to destabilize the wormhole as well. Conversley, Quill's joining makes the heroes a Five-Man Band (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand) (Leader Jacob, Lancer Andrew, Smart Guy Erin, Strongman Sam, Chick Anna).
So now I've talked myself into a pretty mouthtrap. I promised that this series is based on the idea that cliches must be followed and tropes decide who wins.
However, there is now an easy to invoke set of tropes that includes you joining the heroes and the heroes winning along with your goals.
Meaning that you have a straightforward, easy to follow win condition that I cannot author-edit out.
Meaning that you win.
Meaning that I lose.
...Tee hee hee, i'm transparent text!
CARP. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GettingCrapPastTheRadar)
Post by: omada on December 02, 2017, 08:23:08 am
NiceI've come to realize that if Erin joins the rebels against Padelheb, that fits a common plot cliche.Just to make sure you can't get rid of what you said here.
The somewhat mad but moral scientist is rejected from the empire and joins the band of heroes against his former employers.
The fact that an amoral man is in charge of the Republic shifts the tone of the series to white/black (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackAndWhiteMorality) morality rather than grey/gray (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GreyAndGrayMorality). Padelheb being so bad means that killing him will serve as a logical conclusion to a novel and the rebels will not feel pressured to destabilize the wormhole as well. Conversley, Quill's joining makes the heroes a Five-Man Band (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand) (Leader Jacob, Lancer Andrew, Smart Guy Erin, Strongman Sam, Chick Anna).
So now I've talked myself into a pretty mouthtrap. I promised that this series is based on the idea that cliches must be followed and tropes decide who wins.
However, there is now an easy to invoke set of tropes that includes you joining the heroes and the heroes winning along with your goals.
Meaning that you have a straightforward, easy to follow win condition that I cannot author-edit out.
Meaning that you win.
Meaning that I lose.
...Tee hee hee, i'm transparent text!
CARP. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GettingCrapPastTheRadar)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 02, 2017, 08:25:47 am
- Heroes win
- Villain loses
- Everyone else can choose at will
So by introducing a bigger villain, I made it easier for you all.
Post by: Glass on December 02, 2017, 08:31:28 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 02, 2017, 08:37:12 am
Well, you can't get rid of Game of Thrones man now.
That's what I've been considering. Kill him off early on so you can't use him as a scapegoat to divert heroic/plot attention from yourselves.
But I put so much EFFORT into his intro scene...! Tee hee hee there's now transparent text that you can CLICK! (https://goo.gl/2jhykK)
Post by: Glass on December 02, 2017, 08:41:13 am
Yeah, no.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 02, 2017, 08:46:24 am
https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d7/emoji_sports.png
Yeah, no.
More serious stuff will be hidden texted later! That was just a test of your finding abilities. And a dry run of my plan to use goo.gl links to track your clicks so I can be sure what's been seen and what hasn't.
Post by: omada on December 02, 2017, 08:53:44 am
Or whatever, there is always that scene where the heroes and the villians beat a worse villian and then they go back to usual agenda of screwing each others lifes as sam would think that we would allow him to have his monarchy (no way, execute him now) that the aristocracy would be gone (not our job, let's go back increasing the sizes of ants and giving it sentience so we can use them as cheap labor) and that we would not want to suffocate every country in our order creating by consequence a bunch of rebels on the entire world because nobody likes a huge government (who don't want to rule the world?)
(these are the only thing I could think of)
My finding abilities failed. DAMN
I want to play consequence golf, but right now Erin is playing hell escape
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 02, 2017, 08:57:19 am
https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d7/emoji_sports.png
Yeah, no.
Just in case anyone reads this thread trying to catch up - I posted this link in a transparent text in one of my previous posts, hidden and visible only under highlight.
The only thing I can think is to make him less detestable or to have a really good hand in administration giving a "golden age" to the people.
Or whatever, there is always that scene where the heroes and the villians beat a worse villian and then they go back to usual agenda of screwing each others lifes as sam would think that we would allow him to have his monarchy (no way, execute him now) that the aristocracy would be gone (not our job, let's go back increasing the sizes of ants and giving it sentience so we can use them as cheap labor) and that we would not want to suffocate every country in our order creating by consequence a bunch of rebels on the entire world because nobody likes a huge government (who don't want to rule the world?)
(these are the only thing I could think of)
My finding abilities failed. DAMN
I want to play consequence golf, but right now Erin is playing hell escape
There is a really good solution. Kill the sucker. Just as you ally with the rebels against him they find out that he's dead. Now you look really bad.
Consequence golf is my favorite. Erin Quill is winning.
Post by: Glass on December 02, 2017, 09:39:56 am
Plot twist - I know that you found the hidden text in my last post (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7633038#msg7633038) since it was actually a goo.gl link with attached analytics. I can see that someone clicked the link.So, whoever found Blue's other link, please speak up.
So, did you do it by notifications again or are you just habitually highlighting everything that I say?
P.S. - If I failed miserably again and it WASN'T you, then... sorry.
When I clicked it it just went to XKCD stuff.
https://goo.gl/2jhykK
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 02, 2017, 09:43:59 am
From PM:Plot twist - I know that you found the hidden text in my last post (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7633038#msg7633038) since it was actually a goo.gl link with attached analytics. I can see that someone clicked the link.So, whoever found Blue's other link, please speak up.
So, did you do it by notifications again or are you just habitually highlighting everything that I say?
P.S. - If I failed miserably again and it WASN'T you, then... sorry.
When I clicked it it just went to XKCD stuff.
https://goo.gl/2jhykK
I only hid one link. You found it. It re-directed through goo.gl, thus letting me know how many times you clicked it.
More will come. How about now.
Post by: Glass on December 02, 2017, 09:57:16 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 02, 2017, 09:59:47 am
Well now that hadn't been quite clear from the wording.
Likely because I sent that message right after you posted saying you found it. Sorry.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 12:24:49 pm
Wenton Celling opened his eyes and listened to the downlink of votes and information from beyond the confines of his mind.
“Your daughter…” he said to Sam. “Your daughter escaped our capture. She’s lost, alone, and unarmed, but safe for now.”
“Well,” he amended, “as safe as safe can be when you’re on the run from the Republic. Even if we don’t find her, the wolves and bears surely will. So it behooves you to give us as much information as possible so we can help her.”
Samael relaxed a bit before shouting, “How can I believe you?”
Celling practically exploded. “Are you kidding me? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This was a close
He lunged closer to Sam. “But I didn’t. I didn’t because despite all you’ve done, I believe that you still deserve a chance to come back. I still believe that you’ll see the truth and come to help us.”
He leaned back again. “So let’s begin, eh?”
Sam Drimoxi laughed. “You can’t make me. I’ve already told you all I’m willing to tell. You won’t get anything out of me.”
Celling sighed. He tapped a glass vial on the end of a length of tubing in the life support machine attached to Sam Drimoxi.
“Truth drugs,” he said simply. “You won’t be able to lie to us. Now, normally, with extreme effort you could hide some things, but given that you’ve just been rescued from the brink of death by gunshot…” He shrugged. “Like it or not, you’re telling us all you know.”
He paced around the room. “So, first question.” He held up a series of note cards that he had received from… somewhere.
Sam with truth serum:
Break his will asking why he tought it was a good idea to destroy entire cities for his sake
Sam grows instantly silent. “It’s necessary,” he says coldly. “The wormhole explosion will break the back of your so-called Republic. The people will know that you cannot protect them. And your rulers, your generals, your arsenals, your technology. Gone in a moment.”
“And that’s worth the obliteration of an entire city?” Celling asked.
“Entire city? No, just the parts that are most dedicated to your aristocracy and your military. I’m not saying there won’t be civilian casualties, but they’ll be nothing compared to what your government has done.”
(He’s not talking nonsense, by the way. Between our wars of conquest and the battles between the various barons our Aristocracy has the blood of slightly under a million people on its hands. For context, the population of Antarctica, mostly concentrated in our capital, is 2.3 million - or a little under Chicago.)
Celling stopped pacing. “Not the entire city?”
“My calculations indicate that the explosion will envelop your castle and do damage to the surrounding buildings.”
“Your calculations are wrong. You underestimate the power of a mass-energy flip.” Celling sighed and turned around. “You’re quite mistaken. Quill tells me that the blast will be more than enough to turn our capital into a smoldering crater. Whether or not Antarctica will be totally sterilized by the following gamma flare… is up for debate.”
Sam shook. “No. That would mean-”
“Your plan is to wipe an entire continent of sentient life.”
Sam howled as he strained against his bonds. “YOU LIE! YOU MUST BE LYING! YOU’RE TRYING TO TRICK ME!!!”
Celling continued, “And besides, you’d die too, right?”
Sam shouted, brow dripping with sweat. “I have plans to escape. Either way, how much do three lives matter in comparison to millions?”
“And just when did you plan to tell the others? Your darling granddaughter. Her friend Jacob Eldin. That they were complicit in a plot to end two million lives as well as their own?”
Sam laughed hoarsely. “They’re so young. Not aware of the true cost of war. Not exposed to the real horrors of life. I’ll delay that as long as possible.”
Celling sighed again. “You’re nuts, Sam. Moving on.”
What were his motivations for rebellion
Sam giggled like a drunk child. “You destroyed the legacy of my people - tore down the Brazilian kings - threw us out of our own land with your ships and guns and the Wormhole. You defiled our temples, used our people as slaves, turned our cities into yours, forced your culture upon us. Such a mad beast of a country, traveling across the sea, tearing down whatever it can find…”
(Again, he’s not talking gibberish. We’re basically the Conquistadors. Find country, strip of resources, wipe out natives, steal anything not nailed down, forcibly integrate into our Republic.)
Show where he worked before, where is his lab where is his hidding spots
“I’ve experimented with Andantesite before at the ancestral Drimoxi mansion at Montevideo (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Montevideo,+Montevideo+Department,+Uruguay/@-34.8186919,-56.7955157,179270m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x959f80ffc63bf7d3:0x6b321b2e355bec99!8m2!3d-34.9011373!4d-56.1645126). I left the notes and materials hidden there when we came to Santiago (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Santiago,+Santiago+Metropolitan+Region,+Chile/@-33.4703872,-71.1889117,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x9662c5410425af2f:0x8475d53c400f0931!8m2!3d-33.4486307!4d-70.6695557). They’re in a false floor beneath the wine celler of the West Wing.”
What he knows about adantesite, what was his next step
“I examined a large natural shard. It emitted dangerous gamma rays that caused my daughter’s cancer. I know of the properties and physics. The next step is to take some to your wormhole in the South and destabilize it.
and the end of the game, where he will cry to not talk, where he thinks anna will go
He laughs.
He laughs out loud at the top of his lungs.
Wenton Celling pulls up a chair and waits for the old man to stop cackling. He does not look amused in the slightest.
Once he stops Celling asked, “But why?”
“Because you think it’ll help. Because you think that asking my opinion will let you catch Anna.” He laughed again. “I don’t know where she’s going. I just know that she’ll follow her heart and do the right thing.”
Celling sighed. “As some have pointed out, you put an awful lot of trust in one traumatized kid.”
“She’s stronger than you think,” Sam insisted.
“Any guess?” asked Celling, now sounding bored. “Any guess at all?”
Sam thinks. “She might try to return to her house or the mansion. But then again, she knows you’ll stake those out. Whatever happens, she’ll find her way to Antarctica and finish the job.
Now, some of you might be concerned that you have nothing to vote on.
Let me reassure you that you’ll have lots to vote on in just a short time. In the meantime, I have buried a few pieces of important tactical data within the post above. Here’s some hints to find them.
- Consider Sam’s relationships and how a single word can betray your true feelings
- Think about how wormholes are destabilized and what the rebels know and do
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 12:36:45 pm
Ehrm, shenme? What?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 12:49:06 pm
"You destroyed the legacy of my people - tore down the Brazilian kings - threw us out of our own land with your ships and guns and the Wormhole."
Ehrm, shenme? What?
An immense communications edge of strategic value.
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 12:49:48 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 12:49:55 pm
- Wormhole is being loaded onto a ship following Magellan back to Britain
- The blackmailer is still out there but under surveillance (subverted by Padelheb)
- Ensign Armen has been recovered and wishes to speak to her Cherubized brother
- People are afraid of the dogs now that one has killed a human
- The dogs are slowly being granted citizenship
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 12:54:08 pm
Fair enough. But don't we only have 1 of these things?
...yes. He was wrong. The Wormhole was only formed after we took Brazil. He's just railing against it as a symbol of Southern dominion over his country.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 03, 2017, 04:57:38 pm
For my sake more than yours, here is a list of all unresolved plot threads.What did I miss?
- Wormhole is being loaded onto a ship following Magellan back to Britain
- The blackmailer is still out there but under surveillance (subverted by Padelheb)
- Ensign Armen has been recovered and wishes to speak to her Cherubized brother
- People are afraid of the dogs now that one has killed a human
- The dogs are slowly being granted citizenship
Not much aside from our attempts to make jabber jay knock-offs.
Can we get back to Magellan though? Please?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 05:24:13 pm
And then Paxiecrunchle was the parrot.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 03, 2017, 05:27:24 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 05:45:29 pm
*squaaaaak* :P
I am not kidding. I was going to come up with another tactical decision but now I'm just gonna start a mini-RTD with the parrot.
Nice going, Paxiecrunchle.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 03, 2017, 05:53:57 pm
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 06:02:10 pm
Obviously we should preen our feathers to perfection before striking our beak and talons against the republic/the enemies of the republic!The enemies of the Republic that are the Republic.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 10:19:49 pm
You wake up.
You are a parrot.
You are in a birdcage.
Surrounding the birdcage is a tubular piece of machinery. The cylinder is tipped over so you are looking at one of the circular holes out. There are flashing lights and beeping alarms on it. (Think MRI machine.)
The cage door is locked, but just with a simple sliding-bolt thing.
Next?
Will take first suggestion. Usual RTD rules.
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 10:23:11 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 03, 2017, 10:24:06 pm
[/attempt to open the cage ourselves.b]
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 10:24:48 pm
"Eh, wazzap, docs?"
"Let me Out pretty please? Squaaak''
There is nobody else in the room! Actions invalidated. Please try again.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 03, 2017, 10:26:06 pm
attempt opening the cage with our dexterous feet and tongue"Eh, wazzap, docs?""Let me Out pretty please? Squaaak''
There is nobody else in the room! Actions invalidated. Please try again.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 10:28:32 pm
Using your tongue you move the locking bar, but you promptly fall FLUMP on your face on the bottom of the cage.
The bar is still partially in place.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 10:36:11 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 10:39:59 pm
You stand up, only to hit your head on the perch. The perch proceeds to swing back with a vengeance, giving you another concussion and making you FLUMP to the floor again.
Two of Padelheb's guards shoot open the lock at the far end of the lab and charge in, weapons drawn.
Now, the lab is L-shaped, with you in one arm, the door in another, and a desk with flasks and papers in the bend.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 10:41:01 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 10:43:00 pm
You let out a pitiful "ssqUAAaaK" that instantly gets the attention of the guards.
The desk in the bend bursts into flame.
Next?
(There is a perfectly good explanation for all this. Let's just say that Erin Quill had... contingencies to make sure his research didn't fall into the wrong hands.)
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 10:46:01 pm
Become a Teenaged Mutant Ninja Parakeet. With a concussion.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 10:47:24 pm
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 10:52:30 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 10:57:13 pm
You sift through your newly structured memories and select a jumble of syllables that to your confused mind seems threatening.
The guards pay no heed.
"Aww, look at the poor thing," one says, grabbing the cage.
"Sure it isn't booby-trapped like that stupid desk was?" the other asks, taking a fire extinguisher to said desk.
"Nah," says the other. He begins carrying you to the door. He accidentally bumps open the cage lock.
Next?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 03, 2017, 11:08:12 pm
Physically and biologically impossible. Rejected. Next?
how so? if its a simple sliding lock I cannot see how the parrot cannot grab it unless the cage is mesh so the it cannot stick its toes through the bars.
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 11:08:44 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:08:59 pm
Physically and biologically impossible. Rejected. Next?
how so? if its a simple sliding lock I cannot see how the parrot cannot grab it unless the cage is mesh so the it cannot stick its toes through the bars.
Turning into a mutant ninja parrot. Read the thread.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:09:27 pm
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 11:09:44 pm
Sing! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH2FK-nWT_s)
EDIT: This is what you get when you put an RTD where we're a parakeet inside a serious game, Blue.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:12:33 pm
Nope!
Sing! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH2FK-nWT_s)
EDIT: This is what you get when you put an RTD where we're a parakeet inside a serious game, Blue.
Is this some sort of retaliation against my sudden mood whiplash?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 03, 2017, 11:12:35 pm
Physically and biologically impossible. Rejected. Next?
how so? if its a simple sliding lock I cannot see how the parrot cannot grab it unless the cage is mesh so the it cannot stick its toes through the bars.
Turning into a mutant ninja parrot. Read the thread.
I did read the thread though, It never mentioned us as not being an ordinary{at least physically} parrot and those can do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCJtT_jT8Zc
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:13:26 pm
Physically and biologically impossible. Rejected. Next?
how so? if its a simple sliding lock I cannot see how the parrot cannot grab it unless the cage is mesh so the it cannot stick its toes through the bars.
Turning into a mutant ninja parrot. Read the thread.
I did read the thread though, It never mentioned us as not being an ordinary{at least physically} parrot and those can do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCJtT_jT8Zc
That was responding to Glass's... rather stupid suggestion.
I'm beginning to think that he just wants to kill the bird and be done with.
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 11:14:02 pm
EDIT: can we make the parakeet immortal?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:15:52 pm
Nope, just having fun with comedy :P
EDIT: can we make the parakeet immortal?
NOT IN MY UNIVERSE
EDIT: It's clearly a parrot, not a parakeet.
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 11:17:51 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:18:37 pm
The parrot belts out some good rock music at the top of its tiny lungs.
The guard gets annoyed. "Well, you're a loud one, right?"
The other one finds a rubber band.
"Clamp its beak shut," he suggests.
The guard reaches in...
Next?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:19:10 pm
Can we shunt it into a different universe where we can, then, and then bring it back?
Go ahead and try.
No, seriously!
But for the love of god, stop screwing around.
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 11:21:37 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:23:36 pm
You bite.
The finger.
Off.
The people meat is surprisingly tender in your mouth. The guard drops the band and howls in anger. The other one puts the gun next to the cage, aims, pulls the trigger, and...
...misses.
Next?
I strongly recommend not making this a one-man game.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 03, 2017, 11:39:25 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:42:21 pm
The parrot plays dead.
The guard that just shot gasps. "I killed it!" he exclaims.
He pulls the parrot out of the cage and cradles it in its arms.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 03, 2017, 11:46:25 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 03, 2017, 11:47:13 pm
Going to sleep. Night, mates.
Welp, same. See ya in the morning.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 03, 2017, 11:49:05 pm
[6] - Gone horribly right really, now?
The parrot plays dead.
The guard that just shot gasps. "I killed it!" he exclaims.
He pulls the parrot out of the cage and cradles it in its arms.
Next?
cONTINUE PLAYING DEAD BUT WHERN ONE OF THEM LOOKS AWAY CHECK FOR A HOLE IN THE CELING OR AN OPEN DOORWAY OR SOMETHING, IF YOU SEE ONE THAN FLY F0r it as quickly as we possible can.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 04, 2017, 12:13:47 am
The guard cradling the parrot suddenly shouts, "Wait! I feel a pulse!"
The other one arches his eyebrows. "Sure you do. No bullet wound. No blood. Bird's not dead."
The guard poked the parrot. It was limp.
"Think he's in shock."
"Let's get Padelheb the bird," the serious guard said.
"I'll carry him," the emo guard insists.
They carry the parrot out of the lab and down a hallway, where the parrot seizes his chance!
He jerks out of the emo guard's grip, and wings up, up, up, to freedom, rushing to the roof where he's spotted...
...a skylight.
THUNK.
He falls back down.
The parrot now has 2 concussions.
You are airborne.
Next?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 04, 2017, 12:24:38 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 04, 2017, 08:21:25 am
You fly down the hallway, humming an old western tune. You're free! Until...
The fact that you have 2 concussions hits you like a brick. You FLUMP to the ground and skid to a stop in a 3-way intersection.
"What is that stupid bird doing?" says the emo guard. The serious guard runs after you.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 04, 2017, 09:35:48 am
Next?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 04, 2017, 10:31:09 am
Post by: Glass on December 04, 2017, 10:38:24 am
continue flap running away, tell them both that you love them but have an appointment elsewhere that you just cannot miss.Quote the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland while doing so.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 04, 2017, 11:26:40 am
You run and flap drunkenly, as fast as you can.
"Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too-"
THUNK!
...straight into the waiting arms of the serious guard. "Got you now," he says, holding you tightly.
Next?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 04, 2017, 09:02:17 pm
Lemme add a bit of incentive to stay active...
The guard clamps your beak shut and your wings and feet together with rubber bands.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 04, 2017, 09:33:10 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 04, 2017, 09:56:38 pm
Mouth: [3] - Partial success
Wings: [4] - Success
Feet: [3] - Partial success
You manage to slide the rubber band off your wings as well as loosening the one around your mouth and getting your right foot free.
The guards do not notice. Instead, they sling you roughly into the cage and lock the door. For good measure, they add a padlock too. They carry you toward Padelheb's room.
Just when you think things couldn't get worse, that stupid perch swings again and gives you a 3rd concussion.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 04, 2017, 10:00:15 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 04, 2017, 10:04:54 pm
[4] - Success
...
You can't teleport. However, knowing Quill, there's probably a teleport in the perch, which is annoyingly dense.
You feel around it, and...
*bam*
You're now in Hammerspace (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Hammerspace).
Suggest locations to exit.
Post by: Glass on December 04, 2017, 10:23:00 pm
If we can teleport to Erin, do so. Otherwise, teleport to either Celling or to the wormhole.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2017, 08:28:33 am
It works.
Astonishingly enough.
You can't directly teleport to Quill's cell, though, since Hammerspace has a few important rules. You can only exit from behind something.
So you jump to behind a trash can in a hallway of the same prison block as Quill. The trash can is the stationary metal kind, and you're wedged behind it.
You're in the middle of a corridor. To your left and front there's a stairs. To the right and back there are a row of cells. To either side of you is a guard.
They haven't noticed you yet.
Next?
Post by: dustywayfarer on December 05, 2017, 09:38:01 am
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 05, 2017, 09:52:09 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2017, 10:15:38 am
A: Left (to stair)
B: Right (to cells)
Post by: omada on December 05, 2017, 02:20:18 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2017, 02:24:13 pm
B to cells, it will be the parrot who kills padehlpbsomething I can't write this properly
Padelheb. Feel free to call him alternate Littlefinger if you want to.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2017, 02:28:50 pm
You fly above the head of the right guard, and it works. He looks up at you, obviously distracted.
However, you look at the guard as well... and promptly hit your head on the low prison ceiling.
You get a 4th concussion and fall to the ground.
The right guard looks up, started. "How did a bird get in here?"
The left guard shrugs. "Want to go set it free?" he asks.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 05, 2017, 03:07:19 pm
Go where we were trying to go.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 05, 2017, 03:25:08 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2017, 04:17:20 pm
You are the best bluetuturtle. Thank ye for this.
You actually like this?
Thanks!
I saw 4th and immediately thought we hit the 4th wall.
Go where we were trying to go.
You are Stunned! All rolls will have - the number of concussions. Consider that.
Post by: Glass on December 05, 2017, 04:30:17 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 05, 2017, 04:35:21 pm
Well then stop having all these damned concussions!
I love you too. Your approach is so...um...direct.
Post by: Glass on December 05, 2017, 04:39:23 pm
This is what happens when I'm given a mostly-minimalist RTD.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2017, 06:36:08 pm
:P
This is what happens when I'm given a mostly-minimalist RTD.
This is a result of the fact that the school year is picking up and I don't have time to do long story posts. It'll get better.
I'll go with your original suggestion as there's no direct way to stop the concussions.
Also, I lied. For Stunned, I'll just use roll divided by 2, round down.
[3÷2=1] - Abject failure
You are significantly disoriented and just FLUMP onto your face.
You are no longer Stunned
The guard on the left says, "Let's let the poor thing out. Quill isn't going to make a run for it when a parrot stumbles in."
"You know the rules, it isn't safe to leave only one guard around a corner," the guard on the right says. "I'll notify others." He sticks his head around the bend. "Elene, I'm leaving Chris here while I let an animal out. If ya hear a gasp and a thud-"
"Sound the alarm and run like hell. I gotcha," answered a female voice from around the bend.
"Seeing as it's Erin goddam Quill we're guarding, that's more like run like hell then sound the alarm," the guard to the right answered. He picks you up by your still-bound feet. "Come on, you."
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 05, 2017, 06:43:06 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 05, 2017, 08:13:24 pm
Make the sound of a gasp and a thud.+1 Perhaps we should also call out ''long live the republic, vive le revolution, end the aristocracy, support littlefucker''
to make them confused as to where our loyalties lay.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2017, 08:36:14 pm
Make the sound of a gasp and a thud.
This is actually the most brilliant suggestion you've given so far. Now I know why we're paying you.
[3] - Partial success
You mimic a human gasp, followed by a somewhat convincing thud.
The guard on the right (his name is Will) begins dragging you to the stairwell, pressing a panel at the side to open the door with his fingerprint.
Several seconds elapse before the sound of many feet is heard and Elene comes rushing from the opposite side, shouting, "Security's been called! Erin Quill somehow got a chair into his cell!"
I may have forgotten to reveal that if I log on and there are multiple suggestions, I do them in order.
[2] - Failure
"Long live the aristocracy, death to the revolution, end the republic, kill Fingerlittle!" you shout.
The guards look at you like you're nuts.
"Is the bird drunk?" Elene asks.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 05, 2017, 08:51:19 pm
Eh, we're a parrot. It seemed obvious to me.Make the sound of a gasp and a thud.
This is actually the most brilliant suggestion you've given so far. Now I know why we're paying you.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2017, 08:53:53 pm
Eh, we're a parrot. It seemed obvious to me.Make the sound of a gasp and a thud.
This is actually the most brilliant suggestion you've given so far. Now I know why we're paying you.
Well, the thing is, I just included the gasp and thud thing as flavor text and to show that the guards aren't stupid. Didn't expect it to be turned into something important.
Any thoughts on what next?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 05, 2017, 09:19:55 pm
Post by: dustywayfarer on December 05, 2017, 09:22:26 pm
} Distact as many guards as possible so eren quill can rescue himself, do this by becoming airborne and tossing objects into their hair, if possible look for something to help him escape.
Post by: Glass on December 05, 2017, 09:52:53 pm
1. Does this place have an intercom, and if so, is the voice someone on the other end of the line, or is it an electronic voice, or is it morse code?
2. Can the code for "the rebels are making an escape of some variety" be "Code Shawshank" (as in Shawshank Redemption, with the prison break)?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 08:27:09 am
Two questions.
1. Does this place have an intercom, and if so, is the voice someone on the other end of the line, or is it an electronic voice, or is it morse code?
2. Can the code for "the rebels are making an escape of some variety" be "Code Shawshank" (as in Shawshank Redemption, with the prison break)?
In a security room somewhere, there is a telephone that connects to the main security room somewhere else. There is also a silent alarm. No need for codes.
[1] - Abject failure
You attempt to take off and distract the guards, but Chris (the fellow to the left) grabs you by the foot.
[5] - Epic success
You pee in Chris's face.
He screams and drops you. Since you're a bird, you don't FLUMP to the ground - you fly.
As you pass Will and Elene you poop on their heads as well. You round a bend to the right of your original corridor, and come upon a long line of empty cells. There is another right turn up ahead, guarded by another guard.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2017, 08:38:42 am
Go into a hidden corner and return to hammerspace. Let's find that telephone.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 09:37:19 am
You can't enter hammerspace at a dark corner. You enter at a thin object and exit at a dark corner.
So you squeeze past the bars of one of the cells and-
*bam*
You have entered Hammerspace.
Exiting requires another action. Next?
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2017, 09:59:06 am
I want to set off as many alarms as we possibly can.
Post by: omada on December 06, 2017, 01:04:54 pm
It will be the funniest spy network ever
"Why, just tel me WHY, WHY EVERYWHERE WE GO THERE IS A BIRD POOOPING IN OUR HEADS? IS NATURE AGAINST US TOO????"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 02:24:37 pm
Even at the best of times, Hammerspace travel is hit and miss.
(https://i.imgur.com/J5uTOh1.png)
You used to be at the top corridor. You went to the right. You have now accidentally teleported to the left corridor. You're right outside the control room, but it's guarded by a fingerprint scanner.
And there's two more guards here.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2017, 03:00:48 pm
So let's try something different.
Mimic the sound of gunshots and explosions up at the stairs, kind of like a ventriloquist.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 03:05:22 pm
Well, the map's helpful at least. Tells me that what I'd been planning earlier won't work.
So let's try something different.
Mimic the sound of gunshots and explosions up at the stairs, kind of like a ventriloquist.
What were you planning earlier? And which set of stairs? Remember you're OUTSIDE the security room.
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2017, 03:12:21 pm
And the stairs on the map. I want it to sound like there's fighting going on upstairs (or downstairs, wherever it is the stairs go). Guns, grenades, shouting, maybe a bit of fire noises. I want these people panicking.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 03:26:31 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 03:58:36 pm
Surprisingly little matters here.
[2] - Failure
You run to the stairs, hoping to cause a commotion. Chris (the guard from the top corridor) grabs you from behind.
"There you are, dumb little bird," he growls.
There are guards streaming down the stairs and out of the security room to respond to the Quill situation. One of them recognizes you.
"Hey, that's Quill's thinking bird, right?"
Chris looks at you. "Maybe," he replies.
The other guard reaches out a hand. "Let's get him to Padelheb."
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2017, 06:06:33 pm
Escape! Maybe into hammerspace!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 06:11:20 pm
You can't Hammerspace jump out of someone's hand.
You flail about and try to escape but don't.
"You sure?" asks Chris. "He doesn't pay us to get birds."
"He wants it," says the other guard. "I'll say you found him."
Chris hands you over.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2017, 06:12:09 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 10:24:59 pm
You escape.
Oh boy do you escape.
Turns out grabbing a parrot by its buttocks was a bad choice. You spring out like a cork. You bounce off the wall - giving yourself a 5th concussion - and go up the stairs.
When you settle down, you are in the stairwell, there is a window above you, and there is the sound of feet below you.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2017, 10:30:10 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 10:32:16 pm
Start flying around sounding like the biggest gunfight/bombing/etc. the world will ever have.
Alright I'll spit it out - you have no chance of distracting the guards. These are prison guards. They've been told that the biggest threat is sitting in that cell right there. At least some of them will remain watching Erin Quill, confident in the knowledge that normal castle guards will take care of security.
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2017, 10:40:48 pm
Can someone else please come up with an action?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2017, 10:43:32 pm
Can someone else please come up with an action?
YES DO THIS. One man games are no fun.
Actually, I think it's like a 5-man game by now.
- Glass
- Paxie
- Omada
- Puppyguard
- Dusty
...who'd I miss?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 07, 2017, 12:32:49 am
Post by: Glass on December 07, 2017, 12:37:00 am
Proppose to one of the guards.Welcome to minimalist RTDs.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 07, 2017, 01:51:11 am
You inspired me my friend.Proppose to one of the guards.Welcome to minimalist RTDs.
Post by: Puppyguard on December 07, 2017, 01:59:48 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 07, 2017, 08:24:45 am
Chris bounds up the stairs after you.
You call out to him. "Chris, I know you don't hold much love for Padelheb and you're just in this for the money."
"What?" he asked.
"So I propose an alliance. You let me go, and after I save two million odd people I'll have Quill pay you more than old Tyro ever could."
Chris stopped. "Two million people?"
You grin - at least, as much as a parrot can grin. "How many people live in Antarctica these days?"
"He's going to destroy all of Antarctica?!?"
"He's about to let someone destabilize the wormhole, which would have the same effect."
"I'm being negotiated by a parrot."
"Padelheb isn't that good himself either. He kidnapped a girl and sold her to a rapist and manipulated a woman into killing her husband in the past. I'm just trying to make sure there's something left of the Republic after he's through with it."
Chris considers. "Alright. I have a plan." he says.
"Wait, wait-"
You are picked up by the feet and dragged up the stairs. He removes your beak and foot bonds in the process, so that's something.
When he passes someone else he says, "I'm taking Erin Quill's thinking bird up for Sir Padelheb."
The guard officer stops him. "I'll take the bird."
"No, I'll take him myself," Chris protests.
"You're just a prison guard. Give me the bird." the officer demands.
Chris reluctantly hands you over.
[6] - Gone horribly right
Chris drops you to give you a chance to escape.
You breakdance.
You do it so vigorously that you slam your head against the wall and give yourself a 6th concussion.
Chris and the officer look at you.
"This ain't the thinking bird," the officer says.
"More like the crazy bird," Chris answers.
There is a pause.
"Well, I'll take him just to be sure," says the officer, grabbing you and slinging you over his shoulder.
You are Stunned
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 07, 2017, 08:46:08 am
Post by: dustywayfarer on December 07, 2017, 10:16:39 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 07, 2017, 10:24:15 am
ABORT!
Rejected, too vague. Be reminded that if I log on and find multiple suggestions I do them in order. Don't talk yourself further into this hole than you have to!
By the way...
Stunned = all rolls divided by 2
[1÷2=0] - Zero? Well, let's call that...
You are still Stunned
The officer drags you to Padelheb's door.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 07, 2017, 10:57:21 am
Post by: omada on December 07, 2017, 11:21:32 am
Yell so hard in a low pitch that the ears of everybody hurts
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 07, 2017, 03:43:54 pm
You can barely move as the officer pushes open the door and drags you into Padelheb's office.
Padelheb is sitting behind his desk, speaking to another woman you don't recognize. He looks towards you.
You are no longer Stunned.
[6] - Gone horribly right
You screech in a low pitch to annoy the people.
It works!
It works very well!
Padelheb is so annoyed that he simply takes a gun and shoots you.
When you come to you're in a cage. You've been shot in the wing. Padelheb is looming over you.
You are Stunned
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 07, 2017, 04:21:39 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 07, 2017, 05:18:31 pm
Post by: omada on December 07, 2017, 05:59:03 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 07, 2017, 08:57:51 pm
[5÷2=2] - Failure
You are too weak to move. Mimicking a seizure sounds like a good idea though.
You are no longer Stunned.
Padelheb prods you will a needle, part of a long injector gun with several vials and tubes containing strange liquid attached to it.
"You know what this is?" he asks. He waves the device about.
"Erin Quill wasn't able to keep all his research from me," he says. "You were given free will through the use of certain neurochemical stimuli, various substances that affect the way your brain develops. Here I have recreated a given selection of those substances, which should wind back and reset some aspects of those alterations. More specifically, free will."
A slight smirk came onto his lips. "When you wake up, you'll have all your memories. Your intelligence. Your abilities. Your personality will all still be there, except for one thing. Your ability to discern right and wrong will be turned back to a highly primitive state. Upon waking up, you'll unquestioningly obey the first living thing you see. That is, me."
He grins. "Unquestioningly. Eternally. Undoubtedly. What you are now will die. It will be replaced by something of my choosing. The thought to cross me will simply not be in your mind. All your knowledge. Your skills. All for me."
[2] - Failure
You're so scared, you can't even fart.
Padelheb steps back. "But first, let me tell you a little story," he says.
"One of the most important things to do is to assess the situation. Whoever asks the important questions comes out first. In this case, it was 'How did the bird get in without anyone seeing?'"
"And as it turns out, someone did see. They just neglected to mention. Or did they? I became curious. I interviewed their colleagues. Subjected them to a lie detector. A poke here, a push there, and it all comes out, along with all manner of other nonsense."
He throws a head into the cage.
A human head.
You recognize it as Chris's head. The guard that tried to help you.
The head rolls under your perch, the dead eyes staring you down, the bloody hair forming a dark mat at the bottom of the cage.
"Penalty for treason is death," Padelheb says. He shrugs and lifts the injector. "Say goodbye, my feathered friend."
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 07, 2017, 08:59:20 pm
Get out of there, screaming "goodbye!" in an assortment of languages.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 07, 2017, 09:00:32 pm
Say goodbye indeed.
Get out of there, screaming "goodbye!" in an assortment of languages.
...there is no way you read that so fast...
Post by: Glass on December 07, 2017, 09:03:35 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 07, 2017, 09:06:12 pm
Why not? I had a whole 90 seconds.
Oh.
Felt shorter for me.
You rolled a five so this will be FUN.
Post by: Glass on December 07, 2017, 09:06:44 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 07, 2017, 10:45:21 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 07, 2017, 10:55:02 pm
"Orevwa Hyvästi Adiós Ha det," you scream.
Padelheb takes a step back. "The hell?" he says.
"lamtumirë Hwyl fawr Do widzenia Dadah," you continue, sliding off the perch to the side of the cage facing away from Padelheb and banging your wing against the wall in order to feign insanity. It's evidently working.
Padelheb holds the injector at his side and gapes as you continue babbling. "Addio Vale Auf Wiedersehen Vaarwel Ahoj," you call out, pushing your beak against the head and grasping the perch with one foot.
You then stop speaking nonsense and glare at Padelheb, tiny bird eyes trained darkness of his pupils, the black pits of his wretched soul. You hang there, face against the head, foot raised in the air, beady eyes trained with murderous intent on Sir Padelheb.
Your mouth twists into the parrot equivalent of a smile.
"Goodbye!" you shout.
Before Padelheb can react, you're already twisting yourself and lifting your body up to the perch, sailing over the small stick of wood and ducking below-
*bam*
You have entered Hammerspace
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 08, 2017, 06:54:18 am
Should we go to Celling?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 08, 2017, 08:37:02 am
Also, how did you like the crowning moment of awesome?
Post by: dustywayfarer on December 08, 2017, 08:37:18 am
The News?
We can possibly feed them a story similar to the one which Padelheb might shortly consider going to them with, embellishing it to the point of incredulity, making them laugh him out of the room when he starts telling it. Our form, a heretofore unknown(? I'm not sure about this one, I don't remember whether the public knows about us or not.) sapient parrot might aid in the ridiculousness factor.
EDIT:
-1 to Celling, unless someone else has a good idea of how to wield the trope-force down that path to our advantage. I don't feel myself to be trope-literate enough for the task at the moment. However, this is an
amusing intermission before the serious stuff comes back.
I'm guessing this means that the outcome might not be that important, and that railroading the GM (this goes for my proposed plot twist as well) might have unforeseen consequences. . .
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 08, 2017, 10:41:00 am
You can try railroading me in this RTD. For the main game, however, I already have some plot written out so expect to get railroaded right back.
Post by: Glass on December 08, 2017, 10:51:56 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 08, 2017, 11:01:27 am
If not Celling, should we maybe go to the Rebels?
This is important enough that I'm making a poll for it... a SimpleMachines poll. Please vote! I'm also going to change the thread title to reflect what we're doing now.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 08, 2017, 01:04:06 pm
Also, there are some references to future planned plot points buried in that list so inspecting it might bring some advantages
Since not many people are responding to the poll, I'll just do a conventional vote.
Next destination?
A: Wenton Celling
B:
C: News people
D: Quill's cell.
Post by: Glass on December 08, 2017, 01:06:31 pm
Post by: omada on December 08, 2017, 03:26:48 pm
Post by: Glass on December 08, 2017, 03:32:05 pm
Post by: omada on December 08, 2017, 03:51:55 pm
C then A
Erin quill will win by his own and his plans is on a boat somewhere, we can secure our parrot and undo this poison once it is with Celling
news people can be good and bad, maybe we get the letter to send it faster to Celling
Post by: Glass on December 08, 2017, 05:06:57 pm
Yeah, I support C then A. That said, Dusty has some kind of plot and I want to know what it is before we do something.
Post by: dustywayfarer on December 08, 2017, 06:52:15 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 08, 2017, 09:34:39 pm
You warp to the offices of The Maven, one of the more well-known news agencies in Antarctica. It is notable for having significant holdings and readership in Brazil, as well as a reputation for accepting tips for stories of all sorts, in-person or over the phone.
You need a container to materialize, so you jump to the recycling bin of a reporter that is taking information over a phone. You are covered in paper and can hear the conversation.
"Yes, we'll investigate it."
(pause)
"It'll make a special edition if it's true."
(pause)
"The people will love it. Too bad though. I was beginning to like this Erin fellow."
Next?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 08, 2017, 10:35:28 pm
Post by: Puppyguard on December 09, 2017, 12:07:20 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 09:18:15 am
[6] - Gone horribly right
[2] - Failure
You try to dig around for something to make a hat.
You get a bit... carried away, though. In your quest for materials to make an elaborate hat you rouse the attention of the reporter.
He pulls you up, covered in scrap paper.
"How the hell did a parrot get in here?" he wonders.
"I have the real scoop on Erin-" you say, before realizing that you've forgotten to use Human language and had just been squawking at him.
"SECURITY!!!" he screams.
[6] - Gone horribly right.
You peck his eyes out.
And eat them.
They're annoyingly large and pop in your mouth.
He clutches his eyes and screams at the top of his lungs.
Three guards with guns and one with a stick arrive at the cubicle. It's a small cubicle, so they're within two feet of you.
Next?
(also note that you're Erin Quill's bird, so violence on your part... can't look good on him.)
Post by: dustywayfarer on December 09, 2017, 09:28:46 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 09:34:02 am
Goodness. . . I guess it is an RtD
*ahem* SUGGESTIONS?
Post by: Glass on December 09, 2017, 09:48:23 am
Also, they don't know that we're Erin's bird.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 09:52:17 am
Hammerspace.
Also, they don't know that we're Erin's bird.
No entry point. You need something long. There's no lamps here either, it's all ceiling lights. Hammerspace is unimaginably powerful but still highly limited.
Erin kept careful notes, which are available to any government official.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 10:58:56 am
Post by: omada on December 09, 2017, 12:06:12 pm
Three guards with guns and one with a stick arrive at the cubicle. It's a small cubicle, so they're within two feet of you.
It's a recipe for disaster and comic relief
Fly in a 8 pattern between the guards and let them hit themselves (maybe even kill the reporter)
Use the chance to run/fly away
But right now is just a "normal but violent parrot" not a talking one
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 12:41:18 pm
You fly in a looping pattern around the guards.
It works. They cannot shoot you. One of the ones with the guns even gets shot in the leg.
You are now in a hallway. The building is shaped like a huge tube, with a hollow space in the middle, and offices in a ring around it. Thus, the cubicle had windows, but you just look out upon the offices "across" the center from you.
Now, behind you is the cubicle and the men. Ahead of you is a large wall mural depicting one of the major battles in the South. To the right, you see a stairwell and then offices. To the left, you see a line of various offices and then a large meeting area.
Next?
Post by: omada on December 09, 2017, 12:58:33 pm
Left
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 01:01:11 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 05:14:04 pm
You fly left.
However, there is a distinct lack of things to Hammerspace-enter on. Worse, there is an animal control squad charging at you from the front, and it seems you'll be pinned between them and the security team near the big meeting room thing.
There are still a lot of cubicles to duck into to your left.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 09, 2017, 05:20:08 pm
Post by: omada on December 09, 2017, 05:24:07 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
option A)Yell
"Stop you and your bird-hurting guys, I am from the sentience laboratory and I have breaking news for anyone that stops trying to kill me"
Option B) Fly between the cubicles and try to pass through the security later
But corners wasn't good for entering hammer space right?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 05:27:32 pm
So what's it going to be? Talk or hide?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 05:30:47 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 05:39:14 pm
Post by: Glass on December 09, 2017, 05:47:31 pm
Post by: omada on December 09, 2017, 05:49:51 pm
Also where'd you get that parrot pic? I couldn't find it by Google. Is it your parrot?
I just wrote parrot hat on google images o.O
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 06:07:31 pm
You swerve between the cubicles. Then through the cubicles. Then through the glass.
SMASH!
You give yourself a 7th concussion. You are now Stunned
67 floors left to fall.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 09, 2017, 06:39:47 pm
Wait for the stunning to wear off so that we don't critically fail at anything.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 07:35:47 pm
You just sit there until your head stops throbbing.
You are no longer Stunned
-27 floors (40 to go)
Next?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 09, 2017, 08:30:01 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 09, 2017, 08:56:29 pm
TRY TO AVOID INJURING MORE PEOPLE FFS.
We are currently plummeting to the ground. Please try again.
Post by: Glass on December 09, 2017, 11:53:41 pm
Post by: dustywayfarer on December 10, 2017, 12:50:19 am
Stop plummeting; I suggest that for now, we just make sure that we can stay at a level height.+1
Also, look around to get an idea of our surroundings.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 11:02:50 am
You try to stabilize your fall.
You fail.
You also whack your head on a ledge between floors, giving yourself an 8th concussion.
You are now Stunned.
-7 floors (33 to go)
Next?
(glad you asked about surroundings. Map will come later.)
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 11:04:18 am
Post by: omada on December 10, 2017, 11:13:30 am
Then do glass' idea
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 11:34:51 am
You're still concussed, so have some direction problems.
You're falling sideways with your wings spread vertically now.
You are no longer Stunned.
-5 floors (27 to go)
Remember, first come first serve. I'll take Omada's suggestion as "try this again".
[2] - Abject failure
You hit a patch of turbulence and can only manage to tumble.
-4 floors (23 to go)
Next?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 11:50:21 am
(https://i.imgur.com/Av1qGHN.png)
Black is office building. Cyan is water. Green is grass. Orange is bridges/paved roads.
You're falling onto the southeast green piece.
So, thoughts?
Post by: omada on December 10, 2017, 02:43:56 pm
or at least try to move to fall on the fucking water
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 02:49:22 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 03:04:13 pm
You guide yourself toward a water landing.
It pays to be precise. You initiate a dive at the water.
Fall rate is now 5 floors/sec (used to be 3)
-5 floors (17 to go)
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 03:21:02 pm
though actually flying is preferable to a water landing.*ahem*
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 04:01:18 pm
though actually flying is preferable to a water landing.*ahem*
Did you *want* me to apply the 6 to the "flying" instruction? I thought you had enough of concussions today.
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 04:03:25 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 04:15:24 pm
We would at least be further up. And not diving.
We'd be concussed, which means another 20 floors or so before we can do anything with reliability.
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 04:18:03 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 04:31:07 pm
You pull out of your dive, all right.
You swerve horizontally and peg straight into the window of Floor 17. You give yourself an 9th concussion and bounce off, falling on the windowsill.
It's really small and any move might send you over the edge.
You are now Stunned.
Next?
Post by: omada on December 10, 2017, 05:00:12 pm
Stay still for some seconds
and breath
...
really
Just breath a bit, I am feeling sad for the parrot -q
now check the surroundings (just move the eyes so we won't fall again))
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 05:24:49 pm
(I still have to roll because if you get a 0 or 1 you fall off)
You manage to stay on the ledge until your head stops spinning.
You are no longer Stunned.
When you open your eyes, you notice that the ground below you is surrounded by animal control people wielding nets, and a frightened office worker is staring at you from the glass.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 05:52:48 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 05:55:15 pm
Should we try to leave, stay here, attempt Hammerspace, or commit seppuku?
Well, we can't hammerspace jump off a ledge and suicide is never an option so...
I mean you tell me, you're the player.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 10, 2017, 05:56:14 pm
Should we try to leave, stay here, attempt Hammerspace, or commit seppuku?
Is demanding our rights as a citizen of the republic not an option?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 06:01:07 pm
Should we try to leave, stay here, attempt Hammerspace, or commit seppuku?
Is demanding our rights as a citizen of the republic not an option?
You could. But A: Parrots are not legally recognized and B: Padelheb would get you.
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 06:05:01 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 10, 2017, 06:11:09 pm
Barring that continue waiting for our head to clear.
If that fails attack the m ost heavily armed invididual in the crowd with the aim of dying rather than being captured.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 10, 2017, 06:15:44 pm
If this fails peck his eyes out.
I blame you for most of this situation by making this one vote.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 06:25:10 pm
If this fails peck his eyes out.
I blame you for most of this situation by making this one vote.
Me too. This is a big parable about violence not being the answer.
[5] - Epic success.
You stand around pretending to be a normal parrot.
Two men arrive to force the window and catch you.
(The roll had no effect on the men. They were already coming. The roll was just to determine if you fall off.)
Next?
BTW there is nothing to Hammerspace out on. That is kinda the main problem with this building...
Post by: omada on December 10, 2017, 06:55:18 pm
and then
Find somewhere where we can go to hammer space, or a sentient dog which can go to the building and talk on our behalf
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 10, 2017, 06:57:20 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 07:02:51 pm
Fly away, but erratically to avoid capture.
I merge your suggestion with Omada's.
[2] - Failure
You prepare to fly away.
Just then the animal control men force open the window and drop a net over you.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 07:04:26 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 10, 2017, 07:05:26 pm
As the net goes by us, use the fact that nets inherently have thin pieces to slip into hammerspace.+1
glass is our hero.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 07:11:26 pm
As the net goes by us, use the fact that nets inherently have thin pieces to slip into hammerspace.
I was about to say that no, you can't go all the way around a net strand so you can't jump... but this idea is just too ingenious to not roll.
[4] - Success
You struggle to turn within the net.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
"What the hell is that bird-"
*bam*
You have entered Hammerspace.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 07:17:52 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 07:20:47 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 10, 2017, 07:26:14 pm
Onwards to Celling?
As much as I don't like the idea... you have my support, if only because we botched rescuing quill quite badly.
That said we now have vauge idea as to where quill is being kept, and what knowlege littlefucker currently has so ceiling could really use that.
1+
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 07:39:27 pm
A Hammerspace fluctuation in the way prevents good targeting, although you're reasonably sure you hit the right continent.
You warp to a trashcan. A woman opens it to throw some rotten food in.
Next?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 10, 2017, 08:03:02 pm
[3] - Partial success
A Hammerspace fluctuation in the way prevents good targeting, although you're reasonably sure you hit the right continent.
You warp to a trashcan. A woman opens it to throw some rotten food in.
Next?
Ask the woman to be more careful next time, also ask her name and if she knows the ceiling family.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 08:08:30 pm
You open your mouth to talk.
The rotting food gets dumped in it.
You are now Nauseous! -1 to all rolls, wears off in 2 turns
Next?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 10, 2017, 08:25:41 pm
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 08:31:48 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 08:39:20 pm
You retch!
It hits the woman in the face.
On the plus side, you are no longer Nauseous. On the minus, the woman, who was about to pick you up and help you, is now screaming and running.
Next?
RETCON RETCON RETCOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7640686#msg7640686)
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 08:43:25 pm
What did I just freaking say.
Let's not interact with the woman. Just get out of the trash can and get to a roof or something where we can rest and recover.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 09:26:36 pm
*facepalm*
What did I just freaking say.Let's not interact with the woman. Just get out of the trash can and get to a roof or something where we can rest and recover.
First come, first serve. You may suggest something else now...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 09:29:20 pm
[5] - Epic success
You retch!
You send it into a nearby bottle where it won't bother anyone.
You are no longer Nauseous.
The woman gasps and picks you up.
"Well, how did you get in here, little fellow?"
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2017, 09:33:50 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 09:38:44 pm
"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date," you say, pulling out of the woman's grip and flying off.
She shouts after you. "Wait! You're one of Quill's people, right?"
Next?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 10, 2017, 10:09:04 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2017, 10:44:19 pm
You circle back over the woman's head. "What's it to you?" you ask.
She clicks on her radio. "Celling, I have someone here that wants to see you," she says into it. She then holds out her arm for you to stand on. "Come on, I'll show you where he is."
Next?
Post by: omada on December 10, 2017, 10:46:20 pm
(but be prepared to get the fuck off)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2017, 08:29:16 am
You manage to miss the arm and smear into the floor, giving yourself a 10th concussion.
You are now Stunned.
The woman picks you up and starts carrying you down the hallway. "...what?" she wonders.
Another man in military attire rounds a nearby corner. "Hey, you know where Celling is?" the woman asks. "Gotta get this parrot to him."
"He's in the conference room," the man replies. He catches sight of you. "That wouldn't be Erin Quill's sentient bird, would it?"
"It is. What's it to you?" the woman replies.
The man pulls out a gun and aims at the woman. "A good paycheck from Padelheb's what it is. He'll want to see it. Hand it over."
Next?
Post by: omada on December 12, 2017, 11:02:12 am
Wake up
CHARGE AT HIS FACE
YELLING "DEDO NO CU E GRITARIA, CHUPA MINHAS BOLAS ENQUANTO COMO SEUS OLHOS TRAIDOR DA REPUBLICA" to call attention of others ("finger in the ass and outcry, suck my balls while I eat your eyes traitor of republic" in portuguese, don't ask me why, "Dedo no cu e gritaria" somehow became a meme here in Brazil)
Post by: Glass on December 12, 2017, 11:04:32 am
"It is. What's it to you?" the woman replies.You, lady, are a grade-A dumbass. Don't you know we're in an evil empire?
Post by: omada on December 12, 2017, 11:05:18 am
"It is. What's it to you?" the woman replies.You, lady, are a grade-A dumbass. Don't you know we're in an evil empire?
Shhh, the mooks have to believe that we are the best thing on the world
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2017, 12:08:14 pm
"It is. What's it to you?" the woman replies.You, lady, are a grade-A dumbass. Don't you know we're in an evil empire?
If she's serving under Captain Celling, then probably not. Celling is very much the Reasonable Authority Figure in this.
The woman will probably roll for defend herself
Wake up
CHARGE AT HIS FACE
YELLING "DEDO NO CU E GRITARIA, CHUPA MINHAS BOLAS ENQUANTO COMO SEUS OLHOS TRAIDOR DA REPUBLICA" to call attention of others ("finger in the ass and outcry, suck my balls while I eat your eyes traitor of republic" in portuguese, don't ask me why, "Dedo no cu e gritaria" somehow became a meme here in Brazil)
Only you get to roll.
Post by: Glass on December 12, 2017, 01:34:04 pm
Only you get to roll.Not said: we're also stunned. So we're kinda generally screwed right now I think.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2017, 02:32:39 pm
The woman will probably roll for defend herself
Wake up
CHARGE AT HIS FACE
YELLING "DEDO NO CU E GRITARIA, CHUPA MINHAS BOLAS ENQUANTO COMO SEUS OLHOS TRAIDOR DA REPUBLICA" to call attention of others ("finger in the ass and outcry, suck my balls while I eat your eyes traitor of republic" in portuguese, don't ask me why, "Dedo no cu e gritaria" somehow became a meme here in Brazil)
I'm taking your statement as two actions, wake up and charge.
[3÷2=1] - Abject failure
[3] - Partial success
You feel too weak to move, but at least you are no longer Stunned.
The woman screams, "What are you-"
The man shoots her. She drops you.
You fly in the man's face. He bats you away unceremoniously, but it distracts him for long enough for the woman, now collapsed on the ground, to draw her own pistol.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 12, 2017, 04:30:04 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 12, 2017, 05:32:52 pm
besiders we have no means of entering hammerspace right now.
Post by: omada on December 12, 2017, 09:20:23 pm
Continue the charge, put our claws on his eyes so he can't aim
and yell "TRAITOOR" near his ear (both to distract him/hurt his ear both to try to call Celling)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 13, 2017, 08:36:12 am
You rush at the traitor and rip his ear off while poking his eyes with your talons.
He screams and clutches his face - long enough for the woman to shoot him back.
They are both bloody heaps on the ground when Wenton Celling charges in, sidearm drawn.
The man stirs and points at the woman. "TRAITOR!!!" he shouts.
Celling narrows his eyes and points his weapon at the woman.
Next?
Post by: Glass on December 13, 2017, 08:37:18 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 13, 2017, 08:54:56 am
"LIIIIIAAAAAAAAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I fully support this motion.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 13, 2017, 08:59:12 am
"LIAR!" you screech at the top of your lungs.
Celling's stare drops for a second. "What?"
"Celling, he's lying!" you shout again.
Celling turns towards you and the man for long enough to notice the traitor aiming his gun.
BANG!
Celling puts a bullet in the man's skull. He's dead before you finish your sentence.
"Aw dang!" you say. "Could have used that intel."
Celling nods, then picks you up gently. "I feel like you have a long story to tell me," he says.
You have successfully contacted Wenton Celling in Brazil. Story is now exiting RTD and shifting to third person mode. Please hold...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 13, 2017, 09:13:28 am
- Game of Thrones (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones) (an actual crossover, not an expy)
- Genius: The Transgression (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression)
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Pony:_Friendship_Is_Magic)
- Peter and the Starcatcher (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_the_Starcatcher) (the play, not the book)
- Firefly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series))
- Warhammer 40K (https://www.games-workshop.com/en-AU/Warhammer-40-000)
- Pendragon (http://djmachalebooks.com/books/pendragon/)
Post by: Glass on December 13, 2017, 09:27:03 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 13, 2017, 09:34:34 am
I'm not sure if GoT or WH40K would be more dangerous.
If we get a portal into WH40K, it will be straight into the heart of Chaos. Likewise, if we gate into GoT, we're ending up right on the Great Sept of Baelor bombing.
Seriously, though? WH40K is more dangerous by far. GoT's troubles all have human origin (for the most part) and there are at least a few good people. WH40K, on the other hand, is a never-ending staircase of more powerful and more deranged beings.
Armed with fourth-wall knowledge, however, Erin Quill could probably run some psychic circles around the Ruinous Powers. If we do get that, it will be totally and utterly hilarious.
The SPAMOVERLORD universe is about to get psykers of its own, by the way.
Post by: Glass on December 13, 2017, 10:07:48 am
Armed with fourth-wall knowledge, however, Erin Quill could probably run some psychic circles around the Ruinous Powers. If we do get that, it will be totally and utterly hilarious.Hmn... it would take some kind of tactical geniu-
Creed!
:P
We'll also need Ciaphus Cain. He's not as terrible as he thinks he is.
Post by: omada on December 13, 2017, 10:27:43 am
Them let's invade the multiverse
(Got would be a little fucked up, for them, they have a lot of problems, but look at our fucking tech. their bets are on magic and dragons)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 13, 2017, 10:48:05 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 13, 2017, 05:11:59 pm
Post by: Glass on December 13, 2017, 05:23:52 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 14, 2017, 08:33:59 am
Firstly, some background. Erin Quill was the commander of all operations relating to the wormhole. Wenton Celling is just a captain. He has some credibility due to his connection with Erin Quill, but there are people here that outrank him and he has no real authority over anyone.
This doesn't matter, because all of Brazil is united in hatred of Sir Tyro Padelheb.
After getting the message from the parrot, he calls a meeting between all of Brazil's military leaders. He manages to convince them to not stage an open coup, but to just quietly ignore anything that Padelheb says.
The upshot being that you have the full power of the Brazilian military at your side, but you'll still have to justify your actions to your superiors.
Someone calls over the telephone.
“Hello. My name is Ivan Eysop. What would the reward be for turning in Jacob Eldin and Anna Drimoxi?”
Notes:
I'm moving into homophonic names. Ivan Eysop is supposed to sound like I’m an Aesop.
Jacob and Anna are the main rebels on the loose, in case you forgot.
We indeed have designated 50 thousand as reward for the capture of rebels. Thanks to inflation it'd be worth more today.
What do you do?
A: Tell him about the money
B: Ask him for more information: location, how he knows the rebels, etc.
C: Something else...
Post by: omada on December 14, 2017, 12:36:24 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 14, 2017, 11:09:38 pm
“There is, in fact, a fifty thousand dollar reward for the capture of the rebels,” the man at the phone replies. The call has been by now routed to Wenton Celling’s war room in the Brazil High Command secret base, with the leaders and chief advisors of Brazil sitting around a table, answering calls. The parrot is there too.
“Good,” the man replies gruffly. “How can I be sure that you will give me the money once I turn the rebels in?”
Your response?
Post by: Glass on December 14, 2017, 11:18:04 pm
Thing is, you can never be sure. At least one side needs to be unsure. If we wait until he's sent the rebels to us to send him the money, then he's unsure. If we give him the money beforehand, then we're unsure.
Really, the only solution is to give him the money right when he gives us the rebels, and that may not really be plausible.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 14, 2017, 11:28:51 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 14, 2017, 11:40:40 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 14, 2017, 11:43:30 pm
We never did name the parrot. He's currently advising Celling using his incredible knowledge of conditions in Antarctica, Padelheb's situation, and the fourth wall.
I vote for naming him Alex Eisenstein, after a very smart man and a very smart man.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 14, 2017, 11:50:43 pm
Post by: Glass on December 15, 2017, 08:24:43 am
"Alright, sir, we need you to listen.
It is not physically possible for us to make it so that you can be absolutely certain that we'll give you the money once the rebels are turned in. Hear me out.
There's three possible situations: the money is turned over before, during, or after you turn over the rebels. If we give it to you before, then while you are sure that you're getting the money, we're not sure that you actually have the rebels, or that you're actually going to turn them over, which is the point of the reward. If we give it to you afterwards, then we know you gave us the rebels, but you're not sure that we'll give you the money. And if we give it to you when you give us the rebels, then it would have to be carefully set up such that the rebel tramsfer and the money transfer happen at the exact same time, and that there's no possibility that either group may attack the other.
Do you see where the issue is?
Essentially, the only practical methods - that is, payment before or after - requires a degree of trust from one side or the other, and for a transaction of this size, it would have to be a lot of trust.
So, in short, one of us is going to just trust the other to follow up on their side of the deal."
PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS AS WHAT WE SAY RIGHT NOW! PLEASE GIVE THE OTHER POEPLE TIME TO GIVE INPUT ON THIS! THIS IS PROBABLY NOT AT ALL THE RIGHT THING TO SAY!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 15, 2017, 12:13:20 pm
PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS AS WHAT WE SAY RIGHT NOW!
Well, too bad.
The phone man tries to explain.
“Alright, sir, we need you to listen. It is not physically possible for us to make it so that you can be absolutely certain-”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” the caller says. “Keep on going like this, and we'll end up juggling money and rebels. But you’ve told me this, which-”
BANG!
There is a shot on the other end of the line.
The line goes dead.
The man at the phone slowly sinks back into his chair.
Celling lowers his head in defeat.
And that’s when the tech head on the other end of the table chirps up, “I’m doooonnee!”
Celling lifts his head back up. “What?”
“Traced the call!” he says happily. “Based on the phone number and records obtained from telecom companies, the call originated from Sector AQ-49, Substation 4, a twenty-mile stretch of land by the beach.”
Celling’s eyes go wide. “I don’t suppose we could-”
“Already done,” says the tech. He tosses Celling a map. The area in question is highlighted. “It’s prime tourist property. There are several zones of interest that are used for different things.”
Area 1: Street. This area encompasses Windward Lane and is surrounded by commercial district. There are different shops as well as some small single-family houses here.
Area 2: Hotels. This area is at the end of Eden Street and has several hotels and restaurants that cater to tourists.
Area 3: Pier. This is Pier 42, mainly a souvenir and shopping place, with different stores. It’s also a prime spot for sightseeing and fishing, and dolphins frequent the area.
Area 4: Beach. This is your classical day-trip beach, full of sunbathing people and sand castles. Several boats are also moored here.
Area 5: Marina. This smaller pier is lesser used and is a fishing spot as well as a boat dock. There are several fishing supply stores here.
(https://i.imgur.com/kyMUyF6.png)
We now have the option to search any of these areas. If you pick the correct one you will instantly know. If you pick the wrong one then consequences happen. You can also simply abort and leave at any time.
Spoiler: Consequences (click to show/hide)
Choose:
A: Area 1, Main Street
B: Area 2, Hotels and restaurants
C: Area 3, Shopping Pier
D: Area 4, Beach
E: Area 5, Boats and Fishing
F: Abort, end event, no risk
Post by: Glass on December 15, 2017, 12:19:44 pm
Also, was this going to happen regardless?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 15, 2017, 02:26:06 pm
Any hints?
Also, was this going to happen regardless?
After 100 words were spoken by both sides, the informant would be found out, as informants usually are in action fiction. This whole event was a test of whether you could extract the relevant information within 100 words - without knowing that you had a limit.
I hope you've realized that being in a cliche universe is actually terrifyingly dangerous. This is actually what motivates Quill, by the way.
Hints? Don't think about where the rebels are. They could conceivably hide in all places. Rather, think of where they're going. I've already given you enough hints.
Post by: Glass on December 15, 2017, 03:13:22 pm
Hints? Don't think about where the rebels are. They could conceivably hide in all places. Rather, think of where they're going.Check the Marina. There's nothing more dramatic than a boat chase, especially with stolen boats.
If it's not that, it's going to be Main Street.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 15, 2017, 03:46:19 pm
Check the Marina. There's nothing more dramatic than a boat chase, especially with stolen boats.
If it's not that, it's going to be Main Street.
Can I get a +1?
Post by: crazyabe on December 15, 2017, 03:49:33 pm
Check the Marina. There's nothing more dramatic than a boat chase, especially with stolen boats.
If it's not that, it's going to be Main Street.
I +1?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 15, 2017, 06:52:47 pm
+2 ?Check the Marina. There's nothing more dramatic than a boat chase, especially with stolen boats.
If it's not that, it's going to be Main Street.
I +1?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 15, 2017, 10:22:14 pm
...
...
YOU WIN!
The Mariana was the correct choice. I will soon post what may be my most ambitiously ostentatious segment yet - a fully-3D model of the dock in question, used for simulating your tactics. In the meantime, let's cut to Ensign Armen DeMarco.
Post by: omada on December 17, 2017, 03:26:21 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2017, 04:06:26 pm
oh god, of the first bet
...what?
Also, disregard everything I said in my last post. I'm... still deciding where to go next.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2017, 04:38:51 pm
Wenton Celling is taking a stroll around the base when a man walks in through the front doors.
“Wenton Celling,” the man calls out, in a heavy Antarctican accent.
Celling turns towards him and regards him suspiciously. “Who might you be?”
“My name is Douem Pychim,” he says. “As you may have known, Erin Quill has been arrested on counts of treason against the Republic.”
Celling narrows his eyes. “What of it?”
Pychim moves closer to Celling. “I am told that he regarded you as a… protege of sorts. That he explained the use of many of his technologies to you and enlisted your aid in field-testing them several times. He even made you his ambassador of sorts in Brazil when he left for Antarctica.”
“Yes. So?”
Pychim tilts his head. “You are naturally under suspicion as a result of Erin’s recent actions. Of course, it could also be possible that you are totally innocent. However, Padelheb would prefer you as an ally, using your knowledge of Erin Quill and his works to certain ends.”
“Quit the political doublespeak. What’s your point?”
Pychim scowls. “I will remain here, as your unofficial liason on behalf of Padelheb, to make sure your actions align with his motivations. You’ll help him in certain ways to secure his hold on Antarctica and he’ll put all his support behind you.”
How do you respond?
A: Have the sucker thrown out of your fortress.
B: Arrest him. This is possible, as Brazil High Command is very much pro-Quill.
C: Reject all his claims and order him out of your sight.
D: Tell him you will consider it and allow him to remain.
E: Ignore him and tell him to leave.
F: Agree to the demands and allow him to remain.
G: Something else…
And again, homophonic names. Douem Pychim, strung together, sounds like Do Impeach Him. You may take that into consideration.
Post by: Glass on December 17, 2017, 04:45:13 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2017, 05:20:14 pm
So two of the most useful traits of Erin Quill were that 1) he was sure of himself to the point of overconfidence and 2) everyone else around him trusted him and listened hard to what he was saying. This basically means that he could come up with the most outrageous plans unhindered by humility or by the demands of anyone else.
Wenton Celling does not have these.
To correctly portray the difficulties of being a commanding officer AND operating a country that has de facto seceded from its governing entity AND knowing your decisions have a good chance to ruin the world AND grappling with the existential crisis from relaizing that your entire world is a piece of fiction…
...I’m adding two more factors into the equation. Literally. Two numbers, changing with time and affecting your capabilities, called Sanity and Influence.
Sanity (SAN)
The ability of your character (Wenton Celling) to trust his own decisions. This includes confidence as well as stress and general mental health.
Sanity changes in two ways:
- Before each decision, Sanity naturally regenerates by 10% of its original value, rounding down to nearest percent. This means that keeping Sanity high will help in the long run. If you are at 50%, for example, you regenerate 5%.
- Most choices incur a sanity cost. This reflects the strain put upon your mental facilities of making an unorthodox or costly decision. This varies wildly from decision to decision (see below)
Spoiler: Sanity Details (click to show/hide)
Sanity means that on occasion, you will have to take the easy way out.
Influence (INF)
Influence represents how highly Celling’s advice is regarded by other people. More specifically, his superiors and colleagues at Brazil HighCom.
Influence is changed in two ways.
- All actions have an influence cost representing how hard it is to convince others to listen up.
- All results of actions change an intermediate value named Fame, which then carries over to Influence. Fame is long-term and decaying.
Spoiler: Influence Details (click to show/hide)
Influence forces you to consider what normal people think.
We start off with:
Sanity: 100%
Influence: 100%
Fame: 0
And now I can rewrite the previous decision with the values.
A: Have the sucker thrown out of your fortress. (SAN -2, INF -1)
B: Arrest him. This is possible, as Brazil High Command is very much pro-Quill. (SAN -4, INF -1|6)
C: Reject all his claims and order him out of your sight. (SAN -1, INF -0|1)
D: Tell him you will consider it and allow him to remain. (SAN -0|1, INF +0|2)
E: Ignore him and tell him to leave. (SAN -1, INF +0)
F: Agree to the demands and allow him to remain. (SAN -2|4, INF -5|+5)
G: Something else…
An aside - the n|m means “random number between n and m”
Since I think we’ll be focusing on Brazil for a while, and I have more time, I’m going to overcomplicate it a bit.[/list]
Post by: Glass on December 17, 2017, 05:25:37 pm
*ahem*
While imprisoning this dude may reduce our empire-wide influence, considering that most of Brazil is pro-Quill and anti-Padelheb, actions against him and his agents would likely be good for our local influence.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2017, 05:26:36 pm
...
*ahem*
While imprisoning this dude may reduce our empire-wide influence, considering that most of Brazil is pro-Quill and anti-Padelheb, actions against him and his agents would likely be good for our local influence.
Yup, and he'll go slather anti-Celling propaganda krap all over the city. Plus, your own men might doubt the wisdom of jailing someone that is still technically an ally. We've seceded in all ways expect officially.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2017, 05:27:32 pm
Against likely every rule of sane GMing I have put, in abbr tags, my reasons for each and every penalty. I think these are good reasons. Please do not argue.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 17, 2017, 08:19:42 pm
LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 17, 2017, 08:31:03 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2017, 09:03:27 pm
Also why does agreeing to help him either help him(the lackey), either help or hinder our influence at random?
Maybe the men will go, "Oh! We're on good terms with the South now!"
Maybe they'll go, "You succumbed to the desires of the traditionalist weaklings!"
It would have been a hard plus, but Padelheb's standing in Brazil is variable.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2017, 09:37:16 pm
Post by: Glass on December 17, 2017, 09:41:05 pm
E, but also let him know this: We do not recognize Erin Quill as a traitor, we do not recogonize pandelheps coup as legitimate authority, WE are not rebels we are ONE OF THE FEW true bastion of legitimate authority left here, tell that to that snake pandelheb, and inform him that if he wants to avoid civil war that littlefucker would be wise to stay out of our court. Also if He does anything to quill like lop of his head that we shall turn quill into a martyr and a cause to rally behind.+1
LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2017, 10:39:43 pm
E, but also let him know this: We do not recognize Erin Quill as a traitor, we do not recogonize pandelheps coup as legitimate authority, WE are not rebels we are ONE OF THE FEW true bastion of legitimate authority left here, tell that to that snake pandelheb, and inform him that if he wants to avoid civil war that littlefucker would be wise to stay out of our court. Also if He does anything to quill like lop of his head that we shall turn quill into a martyr and a cause to rally behind.+1
LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!
That would count as C, not E. Don't try to get out of losing 0.5 INF this way. E would be just making an excuse or feigning incompetence/ignorance.
Post by: Glass on December 17, 2017, 10:41:29 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 18, 2017, 12:31:09 am
E, but also let him know this: We do not recognize Erin Quill as a traitor, we do not recogonize pandelheps coup as legitimate authority, WE are not rebels we are ONE OF THE FEW true bastion of legitimate authority left here, tell that to that snake pandelheb, and inform him that if he wants to avoid civil war that littlefucker would be wise to stay out of our court. Also if He does anything to quill like lop of his head that we shall turn quill into a martyr and a cause to rally behind.+1
LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!
That would count as C, not E. Don't try to get out of losing 0.5 INF this way. E would be just making an excuse or feigning incompetence/ignorance.
Why on earth is there no way to gain influence this way? What about those personnel that share our sentiments?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 18, 2017, 09:42:40 am
E, but also let him know this: We do not recognize Erin Quill as a traitor, we do not recogonize pandelheps coup as legitimate authority, WE are not rebels we are ONE OF THE FEW true bastion of legitimate authority left here, tell that to that snake pandelheb, and inform him that if he wants to avoid civil war that littlefucker would be wise to stay out of our court. Also if He does anything to quill like lop of his head that we shall turn quill into a martyr and a cause to rally behind.+1
LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!
That would count as C, not E. Don't try to get out of losing 0.5 INF this way. E would be just making an excuse or feigning incompetence/ignorance.
Why on earth is there no way to gain influence this way? What about those personnel that share our sentiments?
These are still military folks. They've been trained for years to follow all information from Higher Up. Many have their doubts as to Quill's innocence. The most they'll do is summarily ignore anything that Padelheb says. But insulting and driving out his messenger? Directly challenging his instructions and information? That won't strike good chords, and might strike bad ones.
Post by: Glass on December 18, 2017, 09:54:27 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 18, 2017, 11:38:03 am
But you don’t want to hear about my poor attempts at game systems. You want to hear Celling roast Pychim, right? So that's what we get.
C has been chosen, with specific points to reply with. It was randomly decided to have a cost of -1 influence.
Sanity: 99%
Influence: 99%
Fame: 0
“No way,” Celling replies.
Douem Pychim blinks. “What?”
“I will not bow down to an illegitimate and cowardly usurper, that's what.”
Pychim grins. “Let’s be serious, Wenton. Your mentor betrayed the Republic. He doesn't deserve your blind faith.”
“Erin Quill betrayed no one,” Celling answered through gritted teeth. “Like us, he was fighting to maintain order and peace for everyone and hold the empire together. So no. Get out of my fort.”
Pychim continued to grin. “You understand that Padelheb will know of this.”
“Good. Make damn well sure he does,” replies Celling. “You go sniveling back to your two-faced snake of a master and make sure he hears this. We - and by we me mean everyone in Brazil with the slightest shred of common sense - we fail to accept Padelheb’s rule as legitimate. In fact, we totally reject it. If he doesn’t want a civil war, I strongly advise him to stay out of our way. Now. Get. OUT.”
Pychim took a step back and continued to grin mockingly. “You are involved in a coup, then?”
“No, you are,” Celling shot back.
Pychim continued to hurriedly back off towards the fortress gate. “I’m sure you have loved ones,” he taunted. “Your parents and family. Or maybe that girl you used to like, Armen? I’m sure Padelheb will find them with little difficulty.”
Your response?
A: “Do you really think so?” Semi-boast with no chance for instant negative consequences. (SAN -5, INF +0)
B: “If you do anything to them, I swear I will-” Full-out challenge. Possible small confidence hit. Might make him more enraged and less guarded. (SAN -7|5, INF +0)
C: Have him arrested. Not something to be done lightly, but he will be unable to act. (SAN -5|3, INF -5|0)
D: Shoot the idiot. Takes out the relevant threat, but somewhat amoral and shooting the messenger is a bad idea on all levels. (SAN -5|+5, INF -5|-10)
E: Something else…
(All options have around -5 SAN because threatening family tends to hit a nerve with weak leaders. Options will from now on be ordered from most obvious to most ambitious)
Post by: omada on December 18, 2017, 08:29:45 pm
Arrest him and put charges of "Threatening familiars of high officers of brazil" If there is no recorder on the place it will be our word against his, it will be a fuckton of diplomatic bullshitery that will take MONTHS legally to solve, even more now that there is no wormhole and they don't have hammerspace parrots
(Check if HE has a recorder and if he has a recorder legally steal his)
For authorities we explain that
> he cames to make sure that there is enough Padelheb influence on his side of the ongoing coup of the state
> we explained that we just don't believed on this and we demanded that Brazil be taken out of this equation as we have bigger problems than greedy people fighting for power
>He decides to THREATEN OUR FAMILY
If us or him have a recorder right now we can use this in our favor we can make a fuckton of copy it and it will be the ultimate proof, we can show on the machetes and turn influence on our side
"PADELHEB OFFICER THREATEN FAMILY OF MILITARY"
"PADELHEB OFFICER SHOWS THAT THERE IS MORE ON THIS THAN PADELHEB SHOWS"
And when it solves we will be remembered as the officer who spit on a traitors face, who took the risks to maintain brazilian government out of danger of a snake, maybe other stories will come to life, as the officer who went alone unarmed in front of the rebels to save his soldiers.
Either way Padelheb will have to:
>prove that it was an big misunderstanding (if there is no record)
>prove that he didn't gave permission of the officer to do that
>prove that he haven't any ties with the arrested guy (And the arrested will probably do anything to be taken out of the prison, what is the charge for threatening a military commander? Death penalty?)
Post by: Glass on December 18, 2017, 08:32:28 pm
C with more stuffI approve of this.
Arrest him and put charges of "Threatening familiars of high officers of brazil" If there is no recorder on the place it will be our word against his, it will be a fuckton of diplomatic bullshitery that will take MONTHS legally to solve, even more now that there is no wormhole and they don't have hammerspace parrots
(Check if HE has a recorder and if he has a recorder legally steal his)
For authorities we explain that
> he cames to make sure that there is enough Padelheb influence on his side of the ongoing coup of the state
> we explained that we just don't believed on this and we demanded that Brazil be taken out of this equation as we have bigger problems than greedy people fighting for power
>He decides to THREATEN OUR FAMILY
If us or him have a recorder right now we can use this in our favor we can make a fuckton of copy it and it will be the ultimate proof, we can show on the machetes and turn influence on our side
"PADELHEB OFFICER THREATEN FAMILY OF MILITARY"
"PADELHEB OFFICER SHOWS THAT THERE IS MORE ON THIS THAN PADELHEB SHOWS"
And when it solves we will be remembered as the officer who spit on a traitors face, who took the risks to maintain brazilian government out of danger of a snake, maybe other stories will come to life, as the officer who went alone unarmed in front of the rebels to save his soldiers.
Either way Padelheb will have to:
>prove that it was an big misunderstanding (if there is no record)
>prove that he didn't gave permission of the officer to do that
>prove that he haven't any ties with the arrested guy (And the arrested will probably do anything to be taken out of the prison, what is the charge for threatening a military commander? Death penalty?)
Can we get bonus to Sanity and Influence (or at least less loss) if the idea is described in a well thought-out manner that makes sense for why it would work?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 19, 2017, 12:28:09 am
C with more stuffI approve of this.
Arrest him and put charges of "Threatening familiars of high officers of brazil" If there is no recorder on the place it will be our word against his, it will be a fuckton of diplomatic bullshitery that will take MONTHS legally to solve, even more now that there is no wormhole and they don't have hammerspace parrots
(Check if HE has a recorder and if he has a recorder legally steal his)
For authorities we explain that
> he cames to make sure that there is enough Padelheb influence on his side of the ongoing coup of the state
> we explained that we just don't believed on this and we demanded that Brazil be taken out of this equation as we have bigger problems than greedy people fighting for power
>He decides to THREATEN OUR FAMILY
If us or him have a recorder right now we can use this in our favor we can make a fuckton of copy it and it will be the ultimate proof, we can show on the machetes and turn influence on our side
"PADELHEB OFFICER THREATEN FAMILY OF MILITARY"
"PADELHEB OFFICER SHOWS THAT THERE IS MORE ON THIS THAN PADELHEB SHOWS"
And when it solves we will be remembered as the officer who spit on a traitors face, who took the risks to maintain brazilian government out of danger of a snake, maybe other stories will come to life, as the officer who went alone unarmed in front of the rebels to save his soldiers.
Either way Padelheb will have to:
>prove that it was an big misunderstanding (if there is no record)
>prove that he didn't gave permission of the officer to do that
>prove that he haven't any ties with the arrested guy (And the arrested will probably do anything to be taken out of the prison, what is the charge for threatening a military commander? Death penalty?)
Can we get bonus to Sanity and Influence (or at least less loss) if the idea is described in a well thought-out manner that makes sense for why it would work?
It isn't a sane idea but honestly it feels like it should again be a toss up on whether we gain or lose influence.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 19, 2017, 12:30:07 am
I'll decide the effects of accusing him of something.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 23, 2017, 10:59:34 pm
Guess what?
It totally is! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threatening_government_officials_of_the_United_States)
As you may have guessed, I'm getting a little... slow on writing this. It'll happen eventually, I promise.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 25, 2017, 12:00:20 pm
The option is (SAN -7|5, INF -3|+3). This reflects the fact that Celling still thinks it’s a very risky proposition that puts his loved ones in the line of fire, but the reactions of others may range from “Hey, Celling is awesome and standing up to intimidation!” to “Oh no, this guy, inexperienced in politics, is taking on someone he can’t beat.”
But that was actually an excellent suggestion.
Celling turned menacingly toward Pychim. “Would that be blackmail, sir?” he asks in a quiet tone.
Pychim smiles. “Think of it as more of a… motivation. From our dear friend, Tyro Padelheb.”
Celling stepped a yard closer to the man. “I ask you again. Would that be blackmail, sir?”
Pychim steps back a little. “ It’s time for you to realize that Padelheb won’t back off anytime soon. This is a game you shouldn’t play, Celling. Don’t play unless you can win.”
Celling stops and stares down at the man. “One last time. Would that be blackmail, sir?”
“Saying it again won’t change your situation, Wenton,” Pychim laughs. “But yes. Blackmail.”
There is a tense few seconds of silence.
Then Celling draws his gun and jabs it at Pychim.
“Thank you. You are under arrest for blackmail. Sir.”
In the stairwell leading down to the base, Celling bumped into Lieutenant General Madeline Merrowitz, the highest-ranking military officer on the continent. By now he’d handcuffed Pychim, removed all his weapons and possessions, and called in reinforcements over the radio.
Celling saluted his commanding officer. “Lieutenant General-”
“At ease, Celling. Good morning, what are we arresting this chump for?”
“Absolutely nothing!” Pychim whines. “I was taken without reason! Celling just grabbed me! Let me go! This is military overreach!”
“We’re an evil overlord, military overreach is the name of the game!” Merrowitz shot back. “Now shut up!”
Wenton Celling ignored Pychim’s protests. “This chap comes from Antarctica on behalf of our good friend Sir Tyro ‘Littlefinger’ Padelheb,” he said. “Tried to interfere on behalf of his master, intimidated me and threatened my family.”
“Well, that settles it. To the jailhouse with you,” Merrowitz replied. She nodded at the security detail she’d led upstairs and they dragged Pychim away.
“I did nothing!” he continued to protest. “False imprisonment!”
“Oh, you’ll be given a fair trial, all right,” Merrowitz answered. “We’ll see about that.”
As Pychim was dragged out of earshot, Celling turned to Merrowitz and whispered. “Where there any witnesses? Recordings, maybe, or neutral parties that might be called in?”
“We don’t have miniaturized recorders yet,” she answered. “I don’t know about witnesses. I’ll question everyone in the area and see if we can get someone to testify.”
“How long can we lock him away, then?” Celling asked.
“For threatening a military officer? Five or ten years, I’d say,” Merrowitz answered. “I’ll go ahead and try to throw in a treason charge, in which case heads will roll. With Padelheb in political control of Antarctica, though… I doubt that we can get a conviction.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Celling replied. “The important thing is, Padelheb will have to answer these charges.”
Merrowitz smiled. “That’s right. In a few days, it will be painfully obvious that Padelheb isn’t the benevolent interventionist he pretends he is. I’ll write a letter notifying the South of our charges. In the meantime, there are a few more things you need to handle.”
“Such as?”
Merrowitz handed him a note. “This came in the mail.”
This note should find its way to one Captain Wenton Celling. In fact, I know that it will. Tee hee hee.
I am the leader of a group of people with a limited ability to perceive future events. We have some information we must exchange with Celling and thus call him for a meeting at our temple at the attached coordinates. Please come unarmed.
Celling read it and looked up. “Are you kidding me?”
“Like I said, we got it in the mail. The coordinates lead to a mountain peak in the Andes. We’ve already planned a path and transportation.”
“No, honestly now. What is going on? I just got summoned - by precognitives? A gaggle of prophets is telling me to take a hike?”
“Would seem so. You want to go?”
Sanity check
Chose to arrest the messenger: SAN -5 INF -1
Made headway in getting rid of Padelheb: Fame +2
Begun a new story arc: SAN +9 (Yes, I’m back to +10% regen again… I’m a terrible dev…)
Sanity: 100%
Influence: 98%
Fame: +2
Your reply?
A: “Just ignore that whole thing. It’s probably a rebel trap.” (SAN -0, INF -1|0)
B: “They might have something to say. I’ll make an unarmed trip.” (SAN -3, INF +0)
C: “I am not going without a weapon.” (SAN -2, INF -1|0)
D: “You should really come as well. If these precogs have something to say, you’ve gotta hear it.” (SAN -1, INF -2|+2)
E: “It never pays to be safe. Gimme a whole squad of soldiers, armed to the teeth, and we’ll find out what they have to say.” (SAN -1, INF -3|+1)
F: “I have better things to do. Send a squad without me, get them for interrogation. (SAN -1|2, INF -4|+1)
G: Something else…
Notes.
This is all a flashback. The parrot arrived the day of Padelheb’s takeover. All this happened the next day. The rebels were re-found on day 5, so we’re chronologically before that time right now, i.e. in a flashback. Stay in-character.
In this instance, sanity loss is because of Celling’s own concerns about walking into a trap - less if he has reinforcements, more if he’s unarmed. Influence is how Merrowitz might think of you disobeying the note’s command to come unarmed.
Sorry for the slow updates lately. Have fun.
Post by: Glass on December 25, 2017, 12:22:32 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 25, 2017, 12:45:10 pm
I suggest D.
Allow me to note that if you take both Wenton Celling and Madeline Merrowitz then Brazil High Command is fresh out of reasonable authority figures, and you may or may not miss some important events.
Post by: Glass on December 25, 2017, 12:53:27 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 25, 2017, 01:31:18 pm
I’ve listened to it, and firstly, this is an awesome song. Secondly, it’s oddly relevant to Erin Quill in the story. To wit-
“There’s a red dawn over the land | Fate’s dealing its hand” - In this game, fate, or the ending ordained by the fourth wall, is treated as its own player. There are several weaponized events that the fourth wall uses to ensure an ending similar to normal action fiction.
“Time’s ticking to leave while you still can” - It would be easiest to just leave the conflict, to seperate yourself from the reckoning that is going to be dealt out by the plot for interfering with it. By continuing to fight the plot, you put yourself in extreme danger.
“Calm before the storm | Pride before the fall” - We’re currently in a sort of “calm before the storm” as the rebels have not started their all-out attack on the wormhole yet. Padelheb is haughty and prideful, and will fall, as he is a clear Big Bad and the plot will force him out.
“Goodbye to it all | Good luck my friends” - The coming battle - whether against the fourth wall, the rebels, or Padelheb - has the potential to permanently change the state of things in the world. Everyone Quill is allied with is in danger and is part of the fight, as involving them makes them vulnerable to the plot.
“This is the beginning of the end” - What’s coming is perfectly capable of ending society as we know it. This is the end of the South if the wormhole is destabilized, as well as the end of the story that the heroes are part of, as they reach the conclusion of their journey. It’s only the beginning, though. We’re just about to begin the endgame, and everyone sees it coming.
“I’ll take fire from the edge of the sun” - One of the endings I have for Quill’s journey is having him killed by a precision meteor strike in retaliation from the fourth wall. After defying the fourth wall too openly, the plot simply nudges a meteorite at him and kills him instantly in a great ball of fire.
“Put the crown on my head | Either way I have won” - Another possibility is that if he survives the fight, he gets crowned King of Antarctica. In either of these cases he gets to drag the world kicking and screaming into a new age of peace, understanding, enlightenment, and genre-savviness.
...so yeah. This is now the theme music of SPAMOVERLORD.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 25, 2017, 04:56:13 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 25, 2017, 05:07:55 pm
C.
Post by: Glass on December 25, 2017, 05:32:53 pm
Post by: omada on December 25, 2017, 08:13:49 pm
It doesn't matter, our bullets won't hit the heroes anyway. either they're badder than us and we will be in huge advantage giving a big ninjutsu power to Celling because it will be one (well trained officer from the army) against a bigger number of mooks, or they will be heroes/the same as us (where they probably won't do nothing too harsh) and we will still have possibility to prepare a rescue team in case we stop reporting that we are safe and sound
(in the end, it's a B with more stuff again,)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 25, 2017, 10:35:53 pm
“I’ll go unarmed,” Celling says. “But not blind. I’ll go ahead and collect any relevant information-”
“Way ahead of you, Wenton,” Merrowitz interjects. “I’ve already went and gotten all references to this area in local religious texts and history and such.”
“And?” Celling asks.
“Nothing,” Merrowitz answers.
There is a pause.
“Nothing?” Celling asks.
“There are a few allusions to a temple built on that site,” Merrowitz explains, “but that’s long ago. And I mean long, long ago. Predating first contact with Antarctica, predating King Robert and the Monarchy, even before the Wall and the harnessing of Andantesite.”
“And in all this time-”
“In all this time, there’ve been no report of anyone telling the future. Beyond the normal gloom-and-doom charlatans, that is. Those precogs are either really good at hiding or totally fictional.”
Still wanna proceed?
A: Yes
B: No
(prices are as original)
Post by: omada on December 26, 2017, 01:31:02 pm
Post by: Glass on December 26, 2017, 01:53:46 pm
A why not? It will be a nice episode+1. Cue magic and dudes from alternate dimensions.
Who wants to bet that there's Apokalipsi involved here?
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on December 27, 2017, 12:17:38 am
Post by: Glass on December 27, 2017, 10:22:37 am
B, seems like our only chance to learn something/ kill of ceiling either of which might start a new plotline, I spect, and neither of which lose us influence which seems way more important than sanity to me.I think you mean A. Right now, A is "go on the trip" and B is "don't go on the trip".
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 27, 2017, 09:04:48 pm
A why not? It will be a nice episode+1. Cue magic and dudes from alternate dimensions.
Who wants to bet that there's Apokalipsi involved here?
Well, you just lost your bet.
B has been selected. Cost of the option: SAN -3
Five hours later…
Celling jumped off his llama, pulled out his map and compass, and looked at them for a second.
“Yep… this must be the place.”
He put away the map and turned his attention to the ornate structure across the clearing from him. It was tall and cathedral-like, draped in red and gold, constructed symmetrically with wings and buttresses converging into a central, five-pointed tower.
He stepped up to the closest entrance - a black wood door with a copper knob - and knocked.
The door was answered almost immediately by a boy in a t-shirt and jeans. He looked Brazilian, and Celling figured that he was 17 at the most.
“Uh… hello. You live here?” Celling asked.
“Yeah,” the youth replied. He held out his hand. “I’m David Eborrenial. Nice to meet you. And you are?”
Celling shook his hand. “Wenton Celling, Captain.”
“Ah,” David responded, relaxing slightly.
“Ah indeed. You’re the guy who sent that note, right?”
“Yes,” David cheerfully replied. “I’m the leader of the Protinam, or Visionaries, a group dedicated to seeing and interpreting the future. Please step in.” He held the door open behind him.
Celling cautiously stepped in. The inside of the structure was a hallway, with various rooms to either side. “You’re not really what I expected from-”
“I know. You expected a bearded old wise man. That would be my father. He’s dead. I inherited this role two months ago.”
“So what, you going to tell me my future?”
David turned around and stared at him. “No. No. No, no, no, no. The first thing you’re going to learn is that Visionary powers aren’t a fire and forget thing. You can’t just look at the future-”
“Isn’t that kinda the WHOLE POINT of precognition?” Celling asked.
“Well, see, our powers are much more limited,” David calmly explained. “Imagine the possible futures of the world as a tree, with branches and subbranches splitting off at particular points, where one decision can make a lasting impact on the fate of the world.”
“O…kay” Celling answered.
“So I, and my colleagues, can see the results of certain decisions that might happen in the future, along one of those branches. But - and here’s the catch - we don’t know which branch we’re living in right now.”
“What?”
“We can see cause and effect in possible futures, but we don’t know which future we’re heading towards right now. This, incidentally, is why we make prophecies and give pointless quests to heroes. It’s experiment. By pushing the world slightly, and seeing how it reacts, we improve the resolution of the rest of our predictions through process of elimination.”
“Wait wait wait. What are you saying?”
David sighed. “Alright, I’ll give you an example. Right now we can see 527 possible timelines. All these are possible, and diverged from each other around 3 weeks ago, at a point we call the Trailing Point of Convergence. I can’t predict the future. I can predict small fractions of 527 slightly different futures. And I have no idea which one we’re barreling down.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Now, I go ahead and pick out a single decision - namely, my decision to ask you to come unarmed. Now, I can see right now that it’s possible this convinces you to come unarmed. Or to bring a weapon, just in case. Or to send a firing squad after me. I’m predicting that any of these are possible futures. I can see that they exist in particular timelines. But, as I’ve said, I have no clue which timeline is actually ours and which are just distractions. They all look real, but that’s only because they diverged at some point in the recent past. So in reality, I have no barking clue what’s going to happen if I send you that note. So what do I do?” He leaned back against a nearby wall. “I go ahead and send it, of course.”
“W-what?”
“I send you the note. I send it as an experiment, a trial balloon. See, if you come unarmed, that narrows it down to the 227 or so timelines that include that result. If you come armed, I pick a different set of 145. If you send soldiers after me, there’s 98 set aside for that. So by just observing the result I greatly increase the chances of getting the right timeline. The note thing resolves quickly, within the span of a few days, so I can use the results to guide other decisions. Of course, by that time, the plausible timelines will have split further, so it’s a never ending battle.”
David turned away and continued to walk. “Protinam powers work by sacrificing mundane decisions to buy information on important ones. We trick people into stupid and unnecessary acts in order to map out possible timelines in the event of a truly critical event. Heroes and adventurers are especially easy to use as they tend to cause effects with great force but tend to not question oracles at all. By the way, did you actually come unarmed?”
Celling raised his hands and turned his pockets inside out. “Completely.”
“Huh,” said David. “I’ll take that. It’s not as much of a reduction as you might think, as most of the unlikely timelines have already been pruned at this point, but I’ll take it. Thanks for your help.”
“But wait, I went through a complicated pro/con evaluation to decide that,” Celling protested. “I even consulted with beings not necessarily of our level of reality. How do you compress that into a simple probability.”
“All factored in, bud, all factored in.” David tapped his head. “Precognition is so fun.”
“Oh.”
David continued walking and explaining. “Of course, for all this to work, we have to prevent anyone else from learning of our true nature, as even the slightest doubt in our abilities would almost instantly bring further efforts to a screeching halt. We have to make everyone else believe that there is truth in every word we say in order to observe their reactions like rats in a box. We have to grit our teeth and let innumerable horrors go by, lie to the faces of hundreds of well-meaning folk, just in order to maintain vigilance against far greater threats. I’m not saying it’s easy, but nobody regrets it. We have to do our part to keep the world safe for mankind. Ever so occasionally, it pays off.”
“Uh, David?” Celling asked. “If secrecy’s such a big thing with you, then why are you telling me all this?”
“Because I feel it’s time for action,” David answered. “And because, frankly, I really admire what you’ve done with the place. The Southern Republic - cough - Empire has finally brought some semblance of law and order to Brazil. In fact, at last count, if the Republic falls then there’s at least a 4% chance that the world goes down with it. And it’s under threat. Sending that note was my first official act, and I did it because the time for sitting on our hands and collecting data is over. We have the resolution to make an Intervention and we have a seriously dangerous chain of events that needs preventing. This is an exceptional event, make no mistake. We intervene maybe once a decade at the most. And only to prevent major catastrophe, country-wide destabilization, or widespread death, because as I’ve said, the little stuff must be let slide. We have a pretty good track record, but the consequences for screwing up are incredibly dire. We’ve prevented seven holocausts, I think, and caused two. That’s a net gain. Like I said, nobody regrets it. We’re winning.”
“So, what world-ending event are you going to warn me of then?” Celling asked.
David sighed. “Well, for starters, in three days a deadly bioweapon will be unleashed upon Brazil and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
…
“WHAT?!?!?!”
Before we continue, is there anything The Readers would like to ask David? Requests to view the future accepted.
This is my attempt at creating a good theory in which oracles tend to request stuff like Twenty Bear Asses (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwentyBearAsses). That mundane and useless tasks are actually just what they need to make their powers work. If there’s anything about Protinam powers you didn’t get, then just ask.
Post by: Glass on December 27, 2017, 09:16:11 pm
That said, goddamnit.
Is this kid absolutely certain that every single timeline that hasn't been eliminated has the bioweapon attack? If he is, then what does he recommend for minimizing the damage? If not, can he tell us what signs might prove whether or not we're in that timeline?
Post by: omada on December 27, 2017, 09:28:52 pm
There is not a stupid way to force the creation of a possibility of another timeline? Making key people be in the right place on the right time?
Okay, no way to prevent? we step back into minimizing damage, and ask WHO unleashed bio weapon, WHY he did it, and where is the possible places that he could go for we to catch him. If it's little finger WHERE we can find undeniable proofs of his evil-doings?
So you could make an action just to reduce the number of branches possible, and tell us which action would give us the best outcome in general?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 27, 2017, 09:47:52 pm
“I’m going to assume that was a rhetorical question, because I am totally, deadly serious on this.”
“You are sure. You’re completely, absolutely sure-”
“That there’s no way to prevent this? Yes. Of the 78 and counting timelines not yet eliminated, not a single one of them has even the possibility of averting this thing. Stop chewing me out about it. I’ve chewed myself out about it enough. It was staring me in the face and I missed it. It was staring all of us in the face and we missed it. There’s a min and max time we can look into the future, but to be honest, we should have seen this one coming. No, correct that, *I* should have seen this one coming. It was a blip on the radar for a long, looooong time, but I was playing it too conservatively and by the time we’d narrowed that blip and proved it was too late, it was, well, too late. I’m not even sure it’s a bioweapon. All I know is that it originates in Santiago and has 0% lethality for Antarcticans and 100% lethality for Native Brazilians. So I’m assuming it’s a genocidal bioweapon.”
“Can’t you make another timeline with our help?”
“Hey,” David said, “Don’t talk about things you don’t know. I’ve been doing this all my life. If there was a way to force another timeline, I’d have found it. But the timelines are defined by certain events that have the potential to permanently reshape the world. And if one of these options was open to you - well, it would have been factored in. Precognitives, remember?”
“Alright, then,” Celling continued, “how about minimizing the damage?”
“That I can do,” David replied. “I’ll send you back with a list of people that have to be quarantined because they have the potential for spreading the plague fast and early. I’ll also help you determine the origin of the plague and finding the perpetrators of this attack, if at all possible.”
“So you don’t know who did it either.”
“No damn clue.”
“I have a pretty good idea who did it, though. This chap Littlefinger has a penchant for murderous plots. If I could only get evidence…”
“Littlefinger, littlefinger…” David repeated. “I’ve heard that name. He’s in Antarctica, right?”
“Right,” Celling answered.
“Well, we’re totally blind to events in Antarctica.”
“Why?”
“Erin god-damn Quill is why.”
“ERIN-”
“-Quill, yes, no need to shout. He fractures the timeline so much, affects so many events in such unorthodox ways, that we can’t even get a fix on anywhere a thousand miles from him. We just get white. Static. The sound of thousands of possibilities forming and ending. If you ever bump into him, tell him to tone it down a bits. Stop sticking his fingers everywhere he goes. So no. We can’t see how events in Antarctica might affect this plauge thing.”
Accepting further remarks. There are a couple of huge bits of info to connect from this update but I’ll leave you to figure them out yourself.
Thank you for complementing my system. It just came to me as a way of explaining non-OP oracles and fetch quests, I'm glad it's worth something.
Post by: Glass on December 27, 2017, 09:50:36 pm
Is he certain that it's not our fault rather than Erin's? At least to some degree.
I mean, Erin was, last we heard of him, in a jail cell. Unless he's gotten out, I don't think he can be breaking the timeline too badly.
Post by: omada on December 27, 2017, 10:08:26 pm
Santiago is where the virus will begin spreading or where it's made?( I don't know if alternate brazil is bigger and got all south america or if the bio weapon will begin slowly not killing the population of chile and slowly make his way to brazil where it will hit harder, maybe we can slow the process till Erin God-damn Quill comes)
Know something that the normal people could do to avoid spreading/ getting the plage? We could focus on an emergency campaign of "clean your FUCKING HANDS and use your clean hands to avoid FUCKING COUGHING ON OTHERS YOU MORONS"
Something else urgent you have to say to us/ask us? We should begin working on this ASAP
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 27, 2017, 10:08:41 pm
*facepalm*
Is he certain that it's not our fault rather than Erin's? At least to some degree.
I mean, Erin was, last we heard of him, in a jail cell. Unless he's gotten out, I don't think he can be breaking the timeline too badly.
…everyone clap for Glass, he just uncovered the big piece of information I embedded in this one. Yes, Quill being in jail means that Antarctica is no longer off-limits. Fluff writing has begun.
Post by: omada on December 27, 2017, 10:14:26 pm
*facepalm*
Is he certain that it's not our fault rather than Erin's? At least to some degree.
I mean, Erin was, last we heard of him, in a jail cell. Unless he's gotten out, I don't think he can be breaking the timeline too badly.
…everyone clap for Glass, he just uncovered the big piece of information I embedded in this one. Yes, Quill being in jail means that Antarctica is no longer off-limits. Fluff writing has begun.
... OH, nice.
Post by: Glass on December 27, 2017, 10:18:24 pm
*facepalm*
Is he certain that it's not our fault rather than Erin's? At least to some degree.
I mean, Erin was, last we heard of him, in a jail cell. Unless he's gotten out, I don't think he can be breaking the timeline too badly.
…everyone clap for Glass, he just uncovered the big piece of information I embedded in this one. Yes, Quill being in jail means that Antarctica is no longer off-limits. Fluff writing has begun.
... OH, nice.
I swear to God I don't do this on purpose I just say the stuff that seems obvious to me ._.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 27, 2017, 10:37:30 pm
*facepalm*
Is he certain that it's not our fault rather than Erin's? At least to some degree.
I mean, Erin was, last we heard of him, in a jail cell. Unless he's gotten out, I don't think he can be breaking the timeline too badly.
…everyone clap for Glass, he just uncovered the big piece of information I embedded in this one. Yes, Quill being in jail means that Antarctica is no longer off-limits. Fluff writing has begun.
... OH, nice.
I swear to God I don't do this on purpose I just say the stuff that seems obvious to me ._.
I made it fairly obvious as I didn't want to risk losing a whole segment of plot if the readers were dumb. I considered spelling it out, having David say that Quill secluding himself from society might help, but that was a bit too far.
Post by: Glass on December 27, 2017, 10:57:49 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 28, 2017, 09:07:51 am
Oh, hey, by the way, how did NaNoRiMo go, Blue? That was, what, last month?
Yep. Gave up a week in. Combination of not enough time + got disinterested.
If SPAMOVERLORD continues until April, I'll count it as my Camp project.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 28, 2017, 10:49:34 am
“I’ve tested that. In 68 of the 87 potential timelines, making any public statements about health just encourages panic and actually spreads the plague further, as well as causing social and economical disruption. Only 4 timelines actually contain a decline on plague spread from telling people to wash hands. It’s highly contagious and spreads by air and seems to be mostly moved by carriers traveling long distances. I’ll inform you if these odds change in any way.”
“What do you mean it starts in Santiago? Is it first produced there?”
“No, the first cases are clustered there. I have no clue where it’s produced. As I’ve said, I can only track decisions. Without some initial information on who’s making it for what reason I can’t find where it was first produced.”
“Wait, so if Quill comes here will that fracture the timeline and make your previous prediction of doom incorrect?”
David thought for a moment. “Yes. If he comes here all our predictions are invalidated as he might come up with solutions that we have not, and can not, foresee.”
“But wait. Quill’s in jail. Is he really messing up the timeline that much?”
David stopped in his tracks.
“Quill’s in jail?” he asked.
“Yeah. Padelheb had him jailed on false charges of treachery.”
“And this happened when?” David asked, shocked.
“Uh… a day or so ago?” Celling answered, stunned at David’s response.
David turned around and sprinted down the hallway, hooking a left and running down a side corridor. Celling ran after him, finally catching up as he came to another door on the other side of the building.
“What’s up?” said Celling.
David ignored him. He threw open the door and dashed purposefully outside. “HEY GUYS!” he screamed. “Break time’s over, I want everyone inside right now and ready to sweep the timeline!” He stopped midway down a large hill and turned back to Celling.
“Who are you talking to?” Celling asked.
“You don’t really think I man the listening post by myself, right?” David asked. “There’s around fifty other people that do this for a living.”
“So why didn’t we see anyone?”
“They were all down in the valley playing tennis. We’re on break. I stayed behind because I knew you would come. Well, that you might come at this time.” David looked at Celling again. “Wait, are you absolutely sure that Padelheb has something to do with this? Cause if he doesn’t, we’re wasting our time.”
Your response?
A: “I am absolutely certain that he’s behind this.” (SAN -4)
B: “I don’t know. It absolutely sounds like something he would do.” (SAN -2|0)
C: “He’s a bastard, but wouldn’t stoop to the level of committing genocide.” (SAN -1|0)
(sanity loss from this decision corresponds to Celling’s trepidation at making such a damning accusation to anyone, even an enemy.)
Sanity check
Chose to go unarmed: SAN -3%
(fame carryover only happens when you are in the presence of your colleagues.)
Sanity: 97%
Influence: 98%
Fame: +2
Post by: Glass on December 28, 2017, 10:56:34 am
Could we maybe give these guys a rundown of recent events in order to make sure that they know which branch we're on?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 28, 2017, 11:23:58 am
He absolutely was involved in imprisoning Erin. We're guessing that he's going to be involved in the bioattack, but we don't have a way to be certain right now.
Could we maybe give these guys a rundown of recent events in order to make sure that they know which branch we're on?
Rundowns do not work. They are precogs only, they can't see the past or present. The only way to verify timeline is by future events, predicted and tested.
I put some real thought into this, remember.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 28, 2017, 11:24:43 am
Post by: Glass on December 28, 2017, 11:28:25 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 28, 2017, 11:33:03 am
...now here's a question: can he narrow down the multiverse based on what we answer with?
He's made no predictions even relating to anyone in Antarctica, so no. Everything else you've done since geiing there helps slightly, though.
Post by: Glass on December 28, 2017, 11:38:58 am
Also, B.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 28, 2017, 11:48:55 am
The way Protinam powers work is “ask a question, get a multitude of answers”
So David might go, “If I tell Celling to come unarmed, will he listen?”
And the timestream will answer, “Timelines 1-78 say he won’t. Timelines 79-343 say he will. Timelines 343-569 say he won’t.” etc.
Or “If I send Celling the note at 9 pm, when will he get here?”
And the timestream says, “Timelines 1-192, 8 am.” etc.
But this is just another way it’s limited. For example, if he wants to gain information on the bioweapon, he can’t go, “Who created the bioweapon,” or “When was the bioweapon made,” or “What was Padelheb doing 3 days ago,” because those don’t include cause and effect.
Nor can he go “What circumstances led to timeline 94,” because he has to ask about something in the future.
Which is why it takes time to scan a sector of the timestream. He has to indirectly garner information by asking things like,
“What if I have Celling provide antivirals to everyone in Antarctica?” (confirms if the virus is natural in Antarctica, but also influenced by distribution speed and travel of information)
“What if I shut down laboratories?” (confirms if was created in a lab)
“What if I restrict Padelheb’s access to test tubes?” (information about how it was created)
“What if I tell Padelheb that committing genocide won’t help?” (motives)
So if you tell him that Padelheb’s responsible for sure, he can start scanning more specifically.
Please continue voting on what to tell him.
Would asking him to draw out what actions might show we're in a specific timeline help? Because I'd like a rundown of what the different timelines have in store for us, and signs that we may be in one or another.
Also, B.
It will be hard for me to simulate ALL the timelines byecause I've already claimed there are hundreds. I'll have a rundown of what proves what in a while, though.
Post by: Glass on December 28, 2017, 12:01:38 pm
Aaaaand I had forgotten that it's happening in 100% of timelines. I wanted to do a test for independence, but that's not useful in this situation.
Specifically, I wanted to determine if the proportion of timelines in which it happens is equal to the proportion of timelines in which it happens given we try to get Padel to not do it... but since it's 100% either way, that won't work.
We could try to bluff Padel into revealing that he's involved, but that could run the risk of him doing it even worse, of us getting arrested/invaded/whatever, or worse, actually being wrong.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 28, 2017, 12:10:09 pm
Ok, wait. Let's think of this in terms of probabilities, instead.Here's the test: if we do something that indicates to Padel that we know about the bioweapon, is the proportion of timelines in which
Aaaaand I had forgotten that it's happening in 100% of timelines. I wanted to do a test for independence, but that's not useful in this situation.
Specifically, I wanted to determine if the proportion of timelines in which it happens is equal to the proportion of timelines in which it happens given we try to get Padel to not do it... but since it's 100% either way, that won't work.
We could try to bluff Padel into revealing that he's involved, but that could run the risk of him doing it even worse, of us getting arrested/invaded/whatever, or worse, actually being wrong.
With Antarctica unblocked, the chance may no longer be 100%. Your test of independence will work, and it's likely something David will try.
Thanks!
I was a tad fuzzy on the details of how to examine the present via the future, so thanks. In character, I'll probably pretend David knew this all along.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 28, 2017, 12:14:01 pm
Post by: omada on December 28, 2017, 12:17:30 pm
we should ask to discover people who will SURELY resist the bioweapon. or that will survive in a big number of timelines, this way we can work on an antidote faster, especially with Erin
Post by: Glass on December 28, 2017, 03:16:29 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 28, 2017, 06:13:00 pm
I forget, have we mentioned that Erin is a Reluctant Mad Scientist before? I think we did a list of Celling's tropes, but not Erin's. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReluctantMadScientist)
He absolutely is, but differs in two regards from the picture painted by that trope page:
- He isn't totally neutral and takes an active role in ensuring that his discoveries remain in good hands and that the world is safe for humanity.
- He doesn't subscribe to this "attachments make you weak" stuff; he's married.
And we have a general purpose trope list. Which I posted somewhere up the thread. And I should really get on expanding. I'll post a link when I have time.
Post by: Glass on December 28, 2017, 06:43:22 pm
Well, yeah, he's not a perfect example of the trope, but just because it's bent a little bit doesn't mean it's broken.I forget, have we mentioned that Erin is a Reluctant Mad Scientist before? I think we did a list of Celling's tropes, but not Erin's. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReluctantMadScientist)
He absolutely is, but differs in two regards from the picture painted by that trope page:
- He isn't totally neutral and takes an active role in ensuring that his discoveries remain in good hands and that the world is safe for humanity.
- He doesn't subscribe to this "attachments make you weak" stuff; he's married.
And we have a general purpose trope list. Which I posted somewhere up the thread. And I should really get on expanding. I'll post a link when I have time.
EDIT: what happened to using d7s for all rolls involving Celling?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 29, 2017, 08:11:40 pm
Remind me... did I promise you a limited-turn buff at some point? I recall making that a possible outcome...
Post by: Glass on December 29, 2017, 08:17:24 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 31, 2017, 01:08:02 pm
- The initial "choose your weakness" choice
- The Andantesite control severing device
- Badges and fingerprint scanners
- Protests regarding dogs
- The captured rebels
- The rebels themselves. Padelheb was just so bad that he wiped the main point of this conflict right off the map.
Also, that's why there's been no updates lately. I've been reading Order of the Stick. All of it.
Seriously.
Update coming soon.
Post by: omada on December 31, 2017, 01:34:24 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 01, 2018, 01:28:58 am
This will be updated at some point...
Post by: Glass on January 01, 2018, 09:33:03 am
As for the initial choice, it was a relatively small and obvious part of every evil empire that was canceled out in terms of what our bonuses are.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 01, 2018, 10:29:57 am
Don't worry, only you forgot about the rebels. I still want to defect.
As for the initial choice, it was a relatively small and obvious part of every evil empire that was canceled out in terms of what our bonuses are.
But the point still remains. I planned out a lot of things that were thrown wholesale out the window once the next plot showed up.
Don't worry,
EDIT: And we didn't forget the rebels as much as not care anymore. I mean, since Padelheb rose, how many times have we mentioned rebels? Once, when we wanted to join them.
Padelheb was just such a Big Bad that he wiped the original conflict right off the map. I'm actually kinda concerned about this. Like I've said, with someone as bad as Padelheb on the table, it's actually plot-possible for you to win - negating the whole point of this story.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 01, 2018, 02:37:02 pm
“So just how sure are you that this Padelheb is behind all this?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s likely that he is!” Celling replies.
David Eborrenial turned back to the mountain valley that he’d shouted into. A procession of men and women of all ages was trudging up the slope toward the temple. “What are we doing now, David?” one girl shouted.
“Everyone break into groups of three, get out Burlew-Glimshaw chronometers and get ready to do a breadth-first whole-timeline initial survey!” he shouted back.
“Why? What are we looking for now?”
By now the other Protinam were at the door. “Lock onto Antarctica,” David replied.
“Antarctica?” a middle-aged bald man asked skeptically.
“I know that it’s excluded! That doesn’t matter anymore! Erin Quill’s been jailed - that means he’s not affecting the timestream anymore - so it’s likely dropped.”
They walked into the door and split off into different corridors, muttering to each other. Celling turned to David. “So what-”
“What’s a Burlew-Glimshaw chronometer?” David interrupted. “It helps determine where you are in the timestream. Neurally interfaces with a Visionary’s mind and provides feedback on certain mental pathways to help us determine how far in the future you’re looking. It’s like a 4th dimensional sextant. You’re still the one making the observations, it just alters your perception to provide you with a reference frame. When we’re doing fine work, we tend to discard them, but for an initial sweep of a timestream section they’re critical.”
“What are you going to do now?” Celling asked. “Find out whether Padelheb is behind this?”
“We’re going to determine the general layout and characteristics of the timelines in Antarctica.”
“With a focus on finding one that averts the plague.”
“Yes. Our first task is to determine if there is even a timeline that dodges the bioweapon. Our second step-”
“Determine how to get it?” asked Celling.
“No,” answered David. “Not by a long shot, no. I probably already told you this, but we can’t just trace a timeline back to its point of divergence. We have to just guess at decisions that might be made. Sometimes it’ll be a point of divergence, sometimes just a random mundane decision, but we can’t tell which is which.”
“So what can you do?”
“Well… see what the timelines without the plague have different from those with it. I mean, just the fact that a decision is available says things about the timeline.”
“Do you need our help narrowing it down? So you can get a better idea?”
“No, we can’t. Not at all.”
“Can’t what?”
“Narrow it down. There’s not enough time before the window closes again.”
“How do you know?”
“I just checked,” David answers. He puts his hand on his chin. “I’m really sorry if I rambled on a bit about chronometers, but I was actually doing a quick run over of the gap in the Zone of Exclusion.”
“Just then? You don’t need to go into a trance or anything?”
“Oh, no no no,” David answered. “We need instrumentation to get real data, but any trained Protinam can take a quick poke around unassisted. And I found that three days from now, Erin Quill is released, shattering the timeline again. And the minimum we can look into the future is one day.”
“And this is fixed?” Celling asked. “And there’s no difference in when he’s released between timelines?”
David shrugged. “Three days is the minimum. Once one timeline shatters it drowns out all others. Also, residual shattering from when Quill was free means that we are dealing with at least 5500 timelines here. There’s just not enough time to set up experimentations and eliminate enough to make actual predictions.”
Celling nodded and asked, “So just what can you do?”
“Only what we can get indirectly, without picking out a certain timeline,” David said. “There are still things we can exploit. Like I said, just the fact that a decision is available tells us a lot. If we find that a certain decision is available in a large amount of timelines, for instance, we know that it alludes to an event that is likely to happen. That way we at least have some idea what’s coming and aren’t caught totally with our pants down.”
“Alright,” Celling said. A thought struck him. “David, I should really get back to Brazil High Command. We have a teleporting parrot there that can go to Antarctica. Quill needs to know what’s about to happen.”
“Sure, then,” David answered. “Just don’t try to break him out ahead of time. I’m not actually sure what happens if you try and deliberately contradict what I can see. I bet it just fails or fulfills itself, but it’s not worth a try.”
“So should I be doing anything to help you verify which timeline we’re in, or…”
“Yeah, yeah,” David replied. “I’ll send my files on the differences between the various timelines, as well as observations that will help decide it. You might want to stay around and see the results of our survey later today, though. Otherwise you could just send that parrot to pick them up as well.”
Your decision?
A: “I need to go now. This information must be reported as soon as possible.”
B: “I’ll stay around to see what you get. No rush.”
Notes:
No costs for this decision. It’s totally up to you.
To understand the ramifications of this, I’ll give you the timeline. It is now afternoon of the second day of Padelheb’s rule. As I’ve mentioned, this is all a flashback, so the rebels were/will be discovered night of the third day and this cannot be changed by any decision you make.
Should you return now, you can make it back by night of the second day. You then have a full day before the rebel conflict pops up - although I’d like you to stay in character and realize that at this point, Celling doesn’t know where the rebels will be. If you delay returning, you’ll have to stay the rest of the day and can only get back afternoon of the third day, i.e. just in time for the rebels.
The thing is that both Brazil High Command and the Protinam Temple might get other events and/or attacks that you have to respond to. You (the players) are not permitted to take control of either Madeline Merrowitz (general) or David Eborrenial (oracle) because they have not yet been briefed on the Fourth Wall. They do think like you, so they’ll probably do what you would do anyway - I haven’t settled on a mechanism for this. However, you have to take into account the chance of missing something.
Tl;dr - Would you rather spend the next 12 hours watching over General Merrowitz or David Eborrenial.
Post by: Glass on January 01, 2018, 02:58:52 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 01, 2018, 03:01:12 pm
Give David a briefing on the fourth wall (additional control is nice, and I want to know what effect it has on his predictions), then return to base.
You can't convince someone of the fourth wall. Unless they arrive at it by their own intelligence they can't be convinced of it, they just laugh it off. Besides, Erin Quill has deliberately left some important people unaware of the fourth wall because the plotline will likely effect retribution on those that use it too much.
Post by: Glass on January 01, 2018, 03:13:30 pm
Post by: omada on January 01, 2018, 05:47:45 pm
And hush to make our teleporting parrot give a brief info to Erin and then go grab the results of timeline peeking
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 01, 2018, 06:50:42 pm
They will probably hit the fourth wall by themselves someday, and a bunch of oracles hitting the fourth wall will not end well, let they be just an oracle and hope it don't happen.
And hush to make our teleporting parrot give a brief info to Erin and then go grab the results of timeline peeking
...so both vote A, basically.
Post by: omada on January 01, 2018, 07:31:45 pm
...so both vote A, basically.
Exactly :V
Post by: Glass on January 01, 2018, 07:34:07 pm
Post by: Glass on January 02, 2018, 12:38:56 am
You know what he's likely dealing with in Antarctica right now?
Riots about the Cherubs.
EDIT: also, sorry for the doublepost. I didn't notice it. :/
Post by: dustywayfarer on January 02, 2018, 05:12:58 am
Post by: omada on January 02, 2018, 11:18:52 pm
Hey, now I should be asleep right now, but you know what I just realized? Padel thought we shouldn't pay the ransom on the information pertaining to the Cherubs.
You know what he's likely dealing with in Antarctica right now?
Riots about the Cherubs.
He wanted to make the people angry at Erin because of the Cherubs, but by the way we blinded the guy from TV, I don't know if he remembers very well what he heard on the phone so maybe Erin will have less problems
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 03, 2018, 08:27:39 am
Hey, now I should be asleep right now, but you know what I just realized? Padel thought we shouldn't pay the ransom on the information pertaining to the Cherubs.
You know what he's likely dealing with in Antarctica right now?
Riots about the Cherubs.
He wanted to make the people angry at Erin because of the Cherubs, but by the way we blinded the guy from TV, I don't know if he remembers very well what he heard on the phone so maybe Erin will have less problems
Well, Padelheb could just send it again, and the fact that one of Quill's creations attacked a reporter about to report on him cannot be a point in his favor...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 03, 2018, 09:39:09 am
Celling pushed open the door and stepped into the meeting room. “General Merrowitz-”
Lieutenant General Madeline Merrowitz turned in her chair. “In a moment, Captain Celling. As you might see, I am currently holding a meeting.” She gestured at the various people seated around the table she was at.
“Now, alleged cleric, from where do you come and for what do you ask?” This question was directed at a woman seated across the table from Merrowitz, dressed in flowing layers of purple and orange.
“I come as a representative of the Children of the Shrubbery, soldier,” the cleric said in a dreamy, aloof voice. “We wish your assistance in spreading the universal truth of the Overgrown God to all corners of this fine world.”
“So let me get this straight,” said Merrowitz. “You want us to create a state religion?”
“Our enlightened members are sadly shackled by the realities of this world and require military and economic support,” the cleric calmly replied. She spread her arms wide. “A notable fraction of the citizens of your city have already turned to the light of the Overgrown God. In exchange for your help, we could convince many of us to have a more positive view of your government. Should you rebuff us, this fact will find its way to our followers and you may find a large group of people opposed to your rule.”
“So you’re actively threatening us now. Real nice,” Merrowitz answered sardonically. She turned to one of the other officers at the table. “Denis, you’ve read their scriptures, right?”
The dark-haired woman looked up from her notes. “Yes.”
“What do you think of them?”
Denis thought. “In frank terms, ma’am?”
“Yes, please.”
“They’re a pile of undiluted high-grade BS designed to allow spineless charlatans and vile con-men to infiltrate the hearts and minds of our people, ma’am.”
There was a long silence at this.
“Every single promise is designed to be either deliberately vague and easy to misinterpret or simple to fake with the easiest of stage tricks,” she continued. “Sometimes both. Most times both.”
Merrowitz turned back towards the cleric and glared at her. “I think that settles it, eh?” she growled.
“There will be those that have little faith and those that slander us, but, but, but!” The cleric’s voice was now shrill with anger. “But they will all fall like trees before the storm and the light of the Overgrown God will wade through the darkness!”
“Ma’am,” a blonde woman on the opposite side to the table of Denis began. “Ma’am, I’ve looked at the characteristics of their church, and she’s right. A lot of people are joining. It could help our public image immensely if we could show them support.”
“No. Barking. Way.” Merrowitz answered. “They are popular because they are tricksters that have fooled our people!”
“Tricksters prey on the minds of the unbelievers but the believers can see only truth!” the cleric shouted back.
“Help me - help me - HELP ME!” Denis screamed suddenly, making everyone jump. Merrowitz looked at her, but saw only that she was eagerly taking notes on proceeds.
“What’s the matter?” Merrowitz asked, puzzled. She leaned over the paper Denis was writing on, only to find that it was covered in repeats of a single phrase - They say they’ll make us fall. They say they’ll make us fall. They say they’ll make us fall They say they’ll make us fall They say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fall-
The blonde woman leaned over the table. “What’s wrong?”
Denis savagely ripped off a paper and continued on the other side. They say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fall - She suddenly jerked her head to face Madeline Merrowitz with wide, frightened eyes and features distorted by terror. “I can’t stop” she whispered fearfully. Then she jerked her head back to the paper and continued to write, robotically, shakily, frantically. They say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallThey say they’ll make us fallusfall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfall-
“HELP ME - Stop me - Help me, oh please god, help me-” Denis sobbed, as her hands continued to write, tearing through pages, changing pens, ripping the paper with wide, jerky strokes.
“Disencursion,” the cleric said abruptly.
Every eye turned to her.
She turned to Denis. “The Overgrown God helps those that come to him,” she said softly.
Merrowitz leapt up and strode toward the cleric, eyes simmering with barely contained rage. “You - you did this… planned this-”
“Oh?” said the cleric, nonchalantly. “When have I ever claimed to be anything more than a humble servant - a messenger - of the great power that holds the world?”
“No more games,” Merrowitz hissed. She grasped at the hilt of her sword. “No more veiled threats. You caused this. Or, at least, your organization knows what caused this-”
“Disencursion,” the cleric repeated, as calm as ever. “Her mind is tied to a single thought and is looping over it. It manifests as a severe form of OCD and a tendency to repeat actions.”
“HELP ME!” Denis shouted. She was crying now, her hair all in a mess, her hands jerking and shuddering as they continued to writefallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfallfall-
Merrowitz drew her sword and pointed it at the cleric. The blonde woman grabbed her arm in an attempt to calm her down. “WHY DID YOU DO THIS?” she spat. “Why did you do this to an innocent woman? How do we stop this?”
“I have no presumption of having done anything,” the cleric replied. “But the mind cannot long endure once the love of the Overgrown God is retracted.”
Merrowitz stared at her in shock and fury before whirling around and opening the comms panel in the wall. She rapidly pulled two emergency levers before turning on the intercom. “Medical team to floor 14, Corridor B, Meeting Room 2, right now! Prepare for neurological crisis of unknown origin!” She turned back to the cleric. “We will begin treating her now. If you would care to stay-”
“I have no interest in seeing an unbeliever receive her due punishment,” the cleric replied coldly. “Just know that all those that have seen the truth we offer and yet turn from it will be similarly struck dead by the infinite will of the Overgrown God.”
With that she turned around and strode towards the door. Merrowitz groaned and turned to Celling. For the first time, he saw something approaching fear in her eyes.
“You’re our local expert on unique and deranged enemies,” she said. “What do you suggest?”
Your reply?
A: “Frankly, I don’t think there’s anything we can do besides watchful waiting. Try to treat Denis but let the cleric go.” (SAN -3, INF -3)
B: “There is certainly room for suspicion here - I recommend putting the cleric and all of her colleagues under military surveillance.” (SAN -5, INF -1|2)
C: “I hate to say this, but it would appear that they have some real power. We should consider their requests.” (SAN -5, INF -4|7)
D: “We need to know what, if anything, they have done. Send people to infiltrate their organization.” (SAN -6, INF +1|0)
E: “The cleric must have had something to do with Denis’s condition. Detain her!” (SAN -6, INF +1|0)
F: “They have threatened and attacked us. This is an act of war and must be treated as such. Send the army to seize the cult’s property and find and capture their leaders.” (SAN -7, INF +2)
Sanity check
Fame carryover: Influence +2%, Fame -1
Began a new arc: Sanity +9%
Sanity: 100%
Influence: 100%
Fame: +1
Notes:
There is at least a slight sanity decrement on all choices, simply because the thought of a psychic attacker is quite scary.
There are two types of influence at play here - Celling’s control over the government, and the government’s control over the people. The first is represented as the INF number and changes instantly, but be assured that any option besides the “totally acquiesce” one (C) will result in bigger problems with public disruption down the road.
Post by: Glass on January 03, 2018, 09:46:47 am
Dafuq.
I want our best neuroscientists and theoretical physicists doing research into what in nine kinds of hell would have caused this.
Aside from that, I'm not really sure what to do. All I can say is that I don't think B, E, or F would go well for us.
EDIT: also, could we get a copy of their scripture to take a look at for ourselves? Particularly whatever piece refers to "disencursion".
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 03, 2018, 09:52:00 am
._.
Dafuq.
I've decided to send this story on a dive for the "fantasy" side of things.
I want our best neuroscientists and theoretical physicists doing research into what in nine kinds of hell would have caused this.
Where is Erin Quill when you need him?!?!
Post by: Glass on January 03, 2018, 09:52:40 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 03, 2018, 10:14:08 am
Evidently he's not close enough to a working teleporter.
WE DON'T HAVE TELEPORTERS. No wishful thinking allowed! I told you, assume 20th century electronics, the Wormhole is the only exception, and it was a one-shot thing! And not passable to anything wider than 3 centimeters.
The parrot can only Hammerspace because it was created during a RTD. This weakens the Fourth Wall around it, allowing it to access Hammerspace at will. Quill can pull things out of Hammerspace, making imaginary objects real to a limited degree, but not enter it.
EDIT: also, could we get a copy of their scripture to take a look at for ourselves? Particularly whatever piece refers to "disencursion".
The official description is along the lines of what the cleric outlined. All sentient things come from the Overgrown God, who can retract His blessing at will, causing the sentient mind to adhere, permanently and fatally, to the last thought it had. This is the due punishment for turning from the worship of the Overgrown God once one has been informed of his divinity.
That was actually nauseating to write. Alternate
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 03, 2018, 02:37:08 pm
Post by: Glass on January 03, 2018, 02:50:13 pm
Seriously, though, don't do anything until we've got 3 or 4 votes.
Post by: omada on January 03, 2018, 03:07:44 pm
I've decided to send this story on a dive for the "fantasy" side of things.
And, hmm we will have a catastrophe in 3 days, and these guys will surely benefit from it
A: Do nothing
B: lock them, the people will beguin yelling that the god's will punish us, and shit will strike the earth
C: have these morons control us, but we could use this as a two way gate... My fear is people thinking that the bioweapon is a tool of destruction from god because we allied an religion
D: Grab info, they will eventually say that the bioweapon is a curse from god, but we can do something from inside
E: grab the leader, See B
F: Oh yes, screw them hard, see B
C But we can do D secretly at the same time? later we can slowly undo that or remove leaderships to ones that we can control better, were a bit evil after all. Grab the cleric and make clear that if they become a stone in our way we can become a stone on their way, so better they help us if they want more power because of HER request she put her faith in a field of intrigue and problems that will be an headache that she didn't asked for, and her first step is to remover her curse on our officer or showing whatever venom she has hidden in her pocket.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 04, 2018, 01:18:39 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 04, 2018, 03:52:12 pm
C and D have been selected. Cost of the option: (SAN -6, INF +1|-4) (-3 picked)
SAN is the lower of original two. INF is in between the original two costs
“Merrowitz, we may want to agree to their demands. If they trust us we can manipulate them to a degree,” Celling whispered back.
“You really think so?” Merrowitz asked.
“In light of the information I’ve gotten from my trip to the Andes? It seems to be the best course of action.”
Merrowitz sighed. “Oh, all right,” she said, turning back to the cleric. “Come back! We’ve agreed to consider your offer.”
The cleric sat back down in the chair. “You have agreed to bring your people into the light of the Children of the Shrubbery?”
“I said, we will consider it,” Merrowitz repeated, a tone of annoyance creeping into her voice.
“There is nothing to consider,” the cleric calmly continued. “And it is not an offer. All of you must turn to the truth of the Overgrown God or face the… consequences.”
Merrowitz groaned.
Celling leapt to his feet and slammed the table hard. “Let me make one thing clear. Do not mistake our agreement for blind acquiescence. We are not going to be lackeys for you to kick around like dogs, because, in case you’ve forgotten, we quite literally run this town (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ20EgWiY5c). You might have the support of the populace but you have no right or reason to threaten us. We’ll help you, and you’ll help us, and if you cause trouble for us we’ll cause trouble for you. That’s the deal i offer, and you’re going to take it or leave it because this is the best you’re getting.”
The cleric’s eyebrows raised at his verbal assault, but otherwise seemed totally unfazed by this. “If you say so,” she said.
“Alright,” Celling answered, sitting back down. “First thing to do. Release the curse or poison or whatever you put on that officer.”
“Haven’t I told you?” the cleric asked, surprised. “I do not pretend to have anything to do with that. How can I reverse something I did not do?”
“So you actually have no idea what caused it?” Merrowitz asked, skeptically.
“I am certain what caused it. The Overgrown God chose to withdraw his love.”
Merrowitz sank her head slowly into her hands. Celling asked, “Can you pray or do something to reverse his decision?”
“It is the just punishment,” the cleric stated. “For rejecting the truth of the Overgrown God. You all face the same if you turn on us.”
“Seas below and stars above, I’ve forgotten how mind-bogglingly thick religious people can be,” Merrowitz whispered. “Go!” she shouted. “Just get out of here, go. Out that door.”
The cleric left. Merrowitz sat straight up again. “Celling, you mentioned hearing something from those prophets?”
“Yes. In three days, Brazil is getting hit with a bioweapon.”
Merrowitz stared at him.
“That’s perfectly harmless to Antarcticans. But lethal to Brazilians.”
“...are you actually kidding me?” Merrowitz asked.
“No, ma’am.”
“And they’re sure of this.”
“Actually, the way their precognitive powers work they can’t be sure of anything. EXCEPT that we’ll get hit with a bioweapon in three days.”
Merrowitz swore loudly.
“Is there actually no end to the pile of crud that the universe can throw at us?” she asked.
“I’m assuming that was a rhetorical question,” Celling said, “but no. There is no end.”
The flashback is almost over. The rebel thing will occur in a day.
It’s free action time. Propose any action you can take within 24 hours that will, as Merrowitz says, “reduce the size of the idiot-fest we’re sitting in”.
For your convenience here’s a list of things we have. I’ve likely missed some things, please correct me.
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +0 informational
- +0 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
Things already being done:
- Send a spy to the Children of the Shrubbery
- Use Parrot to contact Erin Quill and David Eborrenial
Sanity check
Fame carryover: Influence +1%, Fame -1
Chose to negotiate as well as spy: Sanity -6%, Influence -3%
Sanity: 94%
Influence: 98%
Fame: +0
Post by: Glass on January 04, 2018, 04:34:04 pm
As for the current situation, I want every political office in Brazil (and other regions in South America loyal to us, presumably its entirety) notified of the current situation and current policy, so as to ensure that we don't have any left hand v. right hand situations pop up due to miscommunication. (Presumably, this would mainly be an Information bonus, maybe a Political or Military one)
Also, what was the number of timelines where telling people to wash their hands and stuff caused panic v. number that helped v. number that just didn't have an effect? I want to know what a roll of that would look like. Yes, I realize it may not be 100% accurate because things we did today may have changed the breakdown of timelines from yesterday, and the oracles can only see stuff 24 hours or more ahead, but it's better than a wholly uninformed decisions.
I hope.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 04, 2018, 07:20:26 pm
Are those proposed visible light anti-Andantesite laser guns ever going to happen?
Did we have lasers in the late 20th century?
No.
As for the current situation, I want every political office in Brazil (and other regions in South America loyal to us, presumably its entirety) notified of the current situation and current policy, so as to ensure that we don't have any left hand v. right hand situations pop up due to miscommunication. (Presumably, this would mainly be an Information bonus, maybe a Political or Military one)
Just let me clarify that we're in Argentina, not Brazil. I basically picked Brazil as a random South American country to name-drop, but I've always pictured this happening on the Pacific coast. We have small colonies in Brazil, I'll elaborate further later, but Argentina and Chile are where the main population centers are.
Telling them the "current policy" might be a problem as we are not actually in formal rebellion - we're just dragging our feet whenever Padelheb tells us to do something. Making it official... may not sit well. I'll roll it, though. Factor it into the results.
Also, what was the number of timelines where telling people to wash their hands and stuff caused panic v. number that helped v. number that just didn't have an effect? I want to know what a roll of that would look like. Yes, I realize it may not be 100% accurate because things we did today may have changed the breakdown of timelines from yesterday, and the oracles can only see stuff 24 hours or more ahead, but it's better than a wholly uninformed decisions.
I hope.
Here you go.
“But we need more information. Can we slow the spread of the plague by, say, encouraging hand washing?”
“I’ve tested that. In 68 of the 87 potential timelines, making any public statements about health just encourages panic and actually spreads the plague further, as well as causing social and economical disruption. Only 4 timelines actually contain a decline on plague spread from telling people to wash hands. It’s highly contagious and spreads by air and seems to be mostly moved by carriers traveling long distances. I’ll inform you if these odds change in any way.”
That means in 15 timelines it's just totally ineffective.
I haven't decided on how I'll handle this timeline thing, though. Roll dice? Actually simulate every timeline? How do I model the ways that narrowing it down affects probability? Is the truth of an event decided upon ahead of time? I really don't know.
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 04, 2018, 07:39:59 pm
Did we have lasers in the late 20th century?Yeeeees?
No.
The first optical laser was built in 1960. Masers, which are identical with lasers but in a different frequency, existed even earlier. The principles behind lasers, which could in principle have allowed the breakthrough to be made at any time, date back to Einstein.
The reason we didn't use laser guns at that time is not because the technology didn't exist, but because lasers make a phenomenally stupid form of weapon.
Post by: Glass on January 04, 2018, 08:02:30 pm
We're in South America, that's the point of location that matters.As for the current situation, I want every political office in Brazil (and other regions in South America loyal to us, presumably its entirety) notified of the current situation and current policy, so as to ensure that we don't have any left hand v. right hand situations pop up due to miscommunication. (Presumably, this would mainly be an Information bonus, maybe a Political or Military one)
Just let me clarify that we're in Argentina, not Brazil. I basically picked Brazil as a random South American country to name-drop, but I've always pictured this happening on the Pacific coast. We have small colonies in Brazil, I'll elaborate further later, but Argentina and Chile are where the main population centers are.
Telling them the "current policy" might be a problem as we are not actually in formal rebellion - we're just dragging our feet whenever Padelheb tells us to do something. Making it official... may not sit well. I'll roll it, though. Factor it into the results.
And this is specifically regarding the scientologist guys and other things that aren't specifically against Antarctica, not the anti-Padel stuff.
Basically, it's just "make sure everyone is talking with each other and knows what's going on".
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 04, 2018, 08:27:24 pm
Did we have lasers in the late 20th century?Yeeeees?
No.
The first optical laser was built in 1960. Masers, which are identical with lasers but in a different frequency, existed even earlier. The principles behind lasers, which could in principle have allowed the breakthrough to be made at any time, date back to Einstein.
The reason we didn't use laser guns at that time is not because the technology didn't exist, but because lasers make a phenomenally stupid form of weapon.
Welcome to the game, Maximum Spin.
When I wrote that, I was explicitly thinking "well, if someone tells me that we had them I'll redact that decision"
Thing is, I did say that we had 20th century electronics, 19th century engineering, so I could claim that we don't have them yet. However, masers would actually be better for detaching Andantesite, as the specific requirement is in waves received (10100111001 waves, or 1337 in base 2) and at the frequency of the first maser, this could be fulfilled in literally half a second (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=10100111001_10%2F(24ghz)). And it's not unreasonable that with the theory in place, mastery of electronics, and a severe need, the maser could have been developed sooner.
The verdict? I'm making it a plot point.
We're in South America, that's the point of location that matters.As for the current situation, I want every political office in Brazil (and other regions in South America loyal to us, presumably its entirety) notified of the current situation and current policy, so as to ensure that we don't have any left hand v. right hand situations pop up due to miscommunication. (Presumably, this would mainly be an Information bonus, maybe a Political or Military one)
Just let me clarify that we're in Argentina, not Brazil. I basically picked Brazil as a random South American country to name-drop, but I've always pictured this happening on the Pacific coast. We have small colonies in Brazil, I'll elaborate further later, but Argentina and Chile are where the main population centers are.
Telling them the "current policy" might be a problem as we are not actually in formal rebellion - we're just dragging our feet whenever Padelheb tells us to do something. Making it official... may not sit well. I'll roll it, though. Factor it into the results.
And this is specifically regarding the scientologist guys and other things that aren't specifically against Antarctica, not the anti-Padel stuff.
Basically, it's just "make sure everyone is talking with each other and knows what's going on".
Oh alright then. I'll just make it a mention of fighting off the evil insane cult in that case.
Post by: Glass on January 04, 2018, 08:40:33 pm
Welcome to the game, Maximum Spin.I kinda put out a call for help on a bunch of Discord servers. So, uh, expect more newcomers.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 04, 2018, 08:41:41 pm
Welcome to the game, Maximum Spin.I kinda put out a call for help on a bunch of Discord servers. So, uh, expect more newcomers.
Thank you! Thank you thank you!
A signal boost is EXACTLY what the game needs at this point! I was getting REAL tired of writing to a three-person playerbase.
Post by: Glass on January 04, 2018, 08:51:25 pm
I wanted to maximize idea potential for the current event.Welcome to the game, Maximum Spin.I kinda put out a call for help on a bunch of Discord servers. So, uh, expect more newcomers.
Thank you! Thank you thank you!
A signal boost is EXACTLY what the game needs at this point! I was getting REAL tired of writing to a three-person playerbase.
Also, was tired of not knowing what the hell to do and being one of the few decision-makers.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 04, 2018, 08:56:07 pm
Also, was tired of not knowing what the hell to do and being one of the few decision-makers.
NOW YOU KNOW HOW ERIN QUILL FEELS.
But seriously, thank you! The more the merrier!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 04, 2018, 09:08:21 pm
Just a list of characters appearing in SPAMOVERLORD to help new people. Right now it's just names but I'll fill in important information later. Feel free to comment or suggest people that I missed.
Post by: Glass on January 04, 2018, 09:34:37 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 05, 2018, 10:23:28 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Madeline Merrowitz came walking up to Wenton Celling.
Celling turned to her. “Got the note?” he asked.
In response, she showed him the note.
W. CELLING + M. MERROWITZ TO E. QUILL
STATUS REPORT FROM BRAZIL HIGHCOM:
CONTACT MADE WITH PRECOG GROUP
THEY PREDICT BIOWEAPON ATTACK IN 3 DAYS
IN SANTIAGO, TARGETING BRAZILIANS
YOU MAY BE ABLE TO PREVENT THIS
YOU WILL BE RELEASED IN 3 DAYS
2ND PROBLEM: CHILDREN OF THE SHRUBBERY
CULT THAT SEEMS TO HAVE PSYCHIC POWERS
THREATENED US
3RD - PADELHEB SENT HIS MAN PYCHIM
DEMANDING OUR ASSISTANCE
THREATENED CELLING; WE JAILED HIM
P.S. - NOTE IS ON SUGAR PAPER
PLEASE EAT WHEN DONE
Celling looked it over. “Don’t you think it’s a bit… brief?” he asked.
Merrowitz shrugged. “He’ll get it. It has to be as small as possible to minimize the chance that the guards see it before he eats it.”
“Ah well,” Celling said. He gave the note to the parrot and whispered a few words to it.
“I still don’t get how that thing works,” Merrowitz said, gesturing at the parrot.
“Then you better not ask about it,” Celling answered. “Suspension of disbelief and all.”
The parrot flew off Celling’s arm. Celling held out his stick. The parrot did a quick circle around it and was gone.
“We have a box set up for him to get back, right?” Celling inquired.
“Yes,” Merrowitz replied. “So, anything else we’ve got to do?”
“Send a man to infiltrate the Children,” Celling immediately said.
“Done.”
“Contact all regional administrative offices and update them about policy on the Children.”
“Sounds good. I’ll go send the messages now.”
Half an hour later it was done.
“They’ve all received the messages,” Merrowitz told Celling. “Some of them have noticed the Children on their own time and collected their own information on them.”
Informational bonus rises to +1
“Something else I wanted to ask you,” Merrowitz said. “There’s a reporter asking about the Children. Specifically, our policy with them and rumors that one of our officers was attacked by them.”
“WHAT?” Celling shouted. “How did she get that information?!”
“We’re tracking down the leak, of course, but in the meantime we have to tell her something!”
About our policy…
A: “We have had no dealings with the Children” (SAN -1, INF -2|1)
B: “They came to us, but we refused them” (SAN -2, INF -1|0)
C: “We have agreed to help them in certain unspecified ways” (true) (SAN -3, INF +0)
D: “This information is classified” (SAN -3, INF +0)
About the attack…
A: “These rumors are total nonsense” (SAN -1, INF -2|1)
B: “Yes, someone fell ill during negotiations with the Children, but it was unconnected” (SAN -2, INF -1|0)
C: “Someone fell ill and the Children claimed that they caused it. We are investigating” (true) (SAN -3, INF +0)
D: “Yes, this is true. The Children attacked our officer” (SAN -4, INF -1|0)
E: “This information is classified” (SAN -3, INF +0)
Small SAN and INF penalties reflect the (possible, small) trepidation by the military at lying to the people, as well as Celling’s estimate of how much public unrest each option might cause. However, the main thing at stake here is future public relations - which are not factored into INF.
Post by: Roboson on January 05, 2018, 03:55:01 pm
In addition, make a public announcement. It is important to point out we were willing to support them, but that our government does not have a state religion and cannot make an exception for the Children. Unsatisfied, a priest acting of his own accord assaulted our officer in an attempt to scare us into accepting their demands. Let the people know that our government will not give into threats of violence, and even though this assault is regrettable, we believe it the action of a lone cleric and not the church itself. Publicly release information about the cultist, including a picture (possibly a still from our security cameras), and warn all members of our great nation to be wary of this zealot which is both armed and has already critically injured a member of our government. Extend formal request (not demand) to the Children to assist us investigating and locating the terrorist.
Post by: omada on January 05, 2018, 04:50:24 pm
making all this PR with security cameras and stuff will backfire, and showing "hey we decided to be friends of the one who attacked our officer" will sound plain stupid
I came too late, still have time to fucking quarantine people that might spread the virus?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 05, 2018, 04:54:56 pm
I came too late, still have time to fucking quarantine people that might spread the virus?
Plenty. Glass, tiebreak.
Post by: Roboson on January 05, 2018, 05:04:13 pm
As for sounding plain stupid, thats what happened. We gave them an inch, they wanted a mile, we said no, and this terrorist went off the rails. Now its all a matter of ensuring the safety of the people and leveraging public opinion against these whackos.
Post by: Glass on January 05, 2018, 05:35:21 pm
Post by: Doomblade187 on January 05, 2018, 08:36:55 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 05, 2018, 09:08:21 pm
Hm, yeah. I'm not sure which plan is better, but since I feel neutral, I will hold off of tying. I abstain.
Welcome to the game, Doomblade!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 05, 2018, 10:13:07 pm
C D+.
In addition, make a public announcement. It is important to point out we were willing to support them, but that our government does not have a state religion and cannot make an exception for the Children. Unsatisfied, a priest acting of his own accord assaulted our officer in an attempt to scare us into accepting their demands. Let the people know that our government will not give into threats of violence, and even though this assault is regrettable, we believe it the action of a lone cleric and not the church itself. Publicly release information about the cultist, including a picture (possibly a still from our security cameras), and warn all members of our great nation to be wary of this zealot which is both armed and has already critically injured a member of our government. Extend formal request (not demand) to the Children to assist us investigating and locating the terrorist.
All this is done.
The church seems to be backing up our position. They state that the act was one of a lone terrorist and agree to help us search for the perpetrator.
After the reporter business is over, Celling and Merrowitz get a report from the physicians and people in charge of treating Denis (mentally-attacked person).
“We found no physical, chemical, or biological abnormalities,” the doctor tells them. “All tests were normal. Whatever this is, it was something that bypassed the body entirely, going straight to her brain. The good news is that there will be no permanent neurological damage.”
Celling turned to her. “So what is causing this?”
The doctor sighed. “It appears to be something similar to an epileptic attack. A mass continuous misfiring of neurons in one part of the brain that totally disables it, resulting in erratic and uncontrollable motions. A repeating overload in her brain.”
“What could have done that?” Merrowitz asked.
“I have no clue, OK?” the doctor said. She shrugged. “You’re wondering if it’s a psychic attack, right? I really didn’t believe that kind of thing, but now I’m not so sure. Whatever it was, whoever did this is capable of reaching straight into her brain and directly changing the way the neurons fire. Someone put his or her fingers into her mind and twiddled them.”
Celling and Merrowitz looked at each other. “So how do we treat it?” Celling asked.
“Done, and done,” the doctor said.
“What?”
“As I’ve said, no permanent damage was done to her brain. It just needs to be rebooted,” the doctor answered. “After we sedated her, we dropped her into a deep coma to delete the electrical signals causing this, and she’s fine now. She’s barely conscious and slowly recovering, but her readings are all normal and she shows no sign of cognitive abnormalities.”
“So she’s fine,” Celling asked, relieved.
“Completely. I hope you have a plan to find whoever did this, though. She’s really eager to give them a piece of her mind. Or rather, get it back.”
“We’re working on that,” said Merrowitz.
The doctor left. Around then they heard a crash from down the hall.
“Was that…” Merrowitz began.
A panicked SQUAAAAAAAK echoed down the hall.
“Parrot’s back,” said Celling.
They ran down the hall and into the War Room, where the parrot had apparently flown straight out of their box and into a wall. Celling picked him up gently.
“Hey there,” he said. “Had a nice trip?”
The parrot regained his senses and flew off to perch on the side of a chair. “Missed the box by a mile on my first try and ended up in a trash can again!” he protested, in a small, chirpy voice.
“Did Quill get the note? Did he eat it?” Merrowitz asked.
“Yes, and yes,” the parrot replied. “I think Padelheb’s men are on to me, though. I Hammerspace-jumped out in full view of a big crowd of them. They’ve gotta be so mad around now.”
“Well,” said Celling, slamming a bowl of nuts in front of the parrot, “We’ll be sending you after David Eborrenial (teenage prophet) in the morning. I’d advise that you relax and regain your energy.”
The parrot pecked suspiciously at the nuts. “Almonds? I hate almonds!”
“We all make sacrifices for our country,” said Celling lazily. “Good night, green guy.”
More free action time. It is now night, second day of Padelheb’s rule. This is all a flashback which will end on night, third day. Suggest anything, no cost!
Sanity check
Reveal the truth twice: Sanity -6%
Sanity: 88%
Influence: 98%
Fame: +0
Post by: omada on January 06, 2018, 11:32:22 am
Is Celling brazilian or what? If not brazillian we should go to santiago and personally try to catch the first infected
Review our supplies on medicine an food, we might have to reduce taxes or distribute some kind of medicine that reduces the effects of the sickness
(maybe we should let a note overnight
"prepare med team
got info about outbreak
bio-attack today
annexed with a list of low-immunity individuals who can spread virus further)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 06, 2018, 12:07:32 pm
Is Celling brazilian or what? If not brazillian we should go to santiago and personally try to catch the first infected
Ethnicities of everyone in play right now:
Erin Quill (scientist): Antarctican
Wenton Celling (captain): Half-Argentinian
Madeline Merrowitz (general): Argentinian
Armen DeMarco (turncoat): Half-Argentinian
David Eborrenial (prophet): Around three quarters Argentinian
Jacob Eldin (hero): Antarctican
Anna Drimoxi (love interest/action girl): Argentinian
Sam Drimoxi (fanatic grandpa): Argentinian
Andrew Calvin (cool kid): Antarctican
Sir Tyro Padleheb (manipulative politician): Antarctican
Susceptibility to virus is dominant, so being half-Argentinian is just as bad as being fully Argentinian.
(maybe we should let a note overnight
"prepare med team
got info about outbreak
bio-attack today
annexed with a list of low-immunity individuals who can spread virus further)
Note to who? The outbreak's not for 3 days, though. And this was told on Day 2. Which means outbreak is on Day 5.
The rebels are a more present threat.
Quarantine those guys with weak immunity system listed, wait and prepare for catching patient zero for a way to track who did this and a cure as fast as possible
Review our supplies on medicine an food, we might have to reduce taxes or distribute some kind of medicine that reduces the effects of the sickness
I'll go roll these two.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 06, 2018, 12:08:31 pm
Post by: Roboson on January 06, 2018, 04:40:32 pm
A viral outbreak is limited by it's ability to mutate as it's spread and it's ability to find new hosts. We can do very little about the mutatability of the virus without causing massive panic and distributing medicine and all sorts of things.
So we make it impossible for it to spread. We drum up some other fake scare, maybe even build on the earlier one. Get people to stay inside, put out a fake and scary story. People stay inside, it can't spread. We do a few theatrics with some explosives and smoke and boom, we have a smoke screen for the mobilization of troops, distribution of supplies and medicine, and enough reason to institute a curfew or something similar. Then at the end we defeat the threat and the people see we can defend ourselves and effectively deal with things.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 06, 2018, 05:36:42 pm
Hmmm, what if we made a different emergency to cut off the viral threat? Hear me out here.
A viral outbreak is limited by it's ability to mutate as it's spread and it's ability to find new hosts. We can do very little about the mutatability of the virus without causing massive panic and distributing medicine and all sorts of things.
So we make it impossible for it to spread. We drum up some other fake scare, maybe even build on the earlier one. Get people to stay inside, put out a fake and scary story. People stay inside, it can't spread. We do a few theatrics with some explosives and smoke and boom, we have a smoke screen for the mobilization of troops, distribution of supplies and medicine, and enough reason to institute a curfew or something similar. Then at the end we defeat the threat and the people see we can defend ourselves and effectively deal with things.
Anyone wanna come up with a specific suggestion?
Post by: Glass on January 06, 2018, 05:44:40 pm
Post by: Roboson on January 06, 2018, 06:19:29 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 06, 2018, 07:18:57 pm
I'm down for rebels. If we set off a few large smoke bombs on bridges, perhaps even an empty government office somewhere, and get some visibility going, then people will talk about it. We of course refuse to comment on it, but someone leaks the info of rebel attacks to the press. We increase security, advise people to stock up on food, medicine, and water and then advise people stay in their homes for the next few days until we can be sure all the "bombs" are disarmed. Easy cover, almost no danger to infrastructure, and if we keep the press far enough away, little chance to be caught lying.
Wow.
Just wow.
You found a way to utilize mass panic.
You might actually win this thing.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 06, 2018, 09:06:13 pm
Oh, and I should mention - symptoms show on Day 5. That’s what David saw. The agent may well be out already.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
The quarantine doesn't work.
By the time Celling sends people to prevent the carriers from moving about, most have already started on their journeys - journeys that David predicted would hasten the spread of the bioweapon considerably.
Stock has been taken of our food and medical supplies. All hospitals in the area have supplies of antivirals predicted to be effective against the virus by David Eborrenial, but they can’t be distributed ahead of time without alerting the populace to the crisis. We don’t have nearly enough for an outbreak of this magnitude. The situation is similar with food. We have a strategic stockpile to distribute in cases of disaster, but it can’t handle full-scale societal breakdown.
In the morning, there’s a fellow looking for Madeline Merrowitz.
Fredrik Boonering is a tall, fat man, and he sits down in the meeting room with a thump. “You may have noticed the activities of a certain group called the Children of the Shrubbery lately,” he said in a matter-of-fact way.
“So we did,” said Merrowitz evenly.
“What you may not know is that it’s a scam. Run by me. With the help of this.” He raised his right hand, in which he held a odd triangular-shaped block of black metal. It has curious grooves and notches all along it, with two finger holes and a grip on one side, and two curved tendril-like bars sticking out of it. Boonering’s thumb rests on one A red gem is embedded in the center, pulsing with malevolent red light.
“The Key of Taloc,” he says, with a tone of reverence ringing in his voice. “An ancient artifact with considerable powers of mental manipulation. It allows the bearer to control and distort the perceptions of those around him in several extremely significant ways. I use it to perform the feats and miracles needed to keep my people in line.”
“That thing’s a psychic weapon?” Celling shouts.
“It is indeed. Surprising how easy it is to start a cult when you can see and change the thoughts of all your followers.”
“That’s what took out Davis,” Merrowitz states, her voice somewhat tinged with fear.
“Yes.”
“So why are you talking to us now?” she demands.
“I saw how you handled that attack,” says Boonering. “You directed the blame onto the individual, thus allowing both you and my cult to save face and claim to be hunting down a lone terrorist. That was an intelligent move. I propose an alliance. We both want the same thing, control of the world and all the power that comes with it. We could help each other in considerable ways.”
“I am afraid you misunderstand me, Boonering,” Merrowitz said. “I do not want to rule the world. Only to see it joined in everlasting peace and harmony.”
Boonering laughed. “But wouldn’t that be so much easier with someone like me at your side?”
“It would,” Merrowitz agreed, “but…”
“Don’t think you can betray me,” Boonering cautioned. “I can see all your thoughts, and I could eviscerate the minds of everyone in this facility with but a second’s attention.”
“I do not take well to being threatened,” Merrowtiz replied.
“Learn,” Boonering said in return.
Merrowitz sighed, then turned to Celling. “What do you think?”
Your response?
A: “We’ll take your offer. Let’s get to work.” (SAN -4)
B: “I think we should give it some thought. We’ll definitely consider it, Mr. Boonering. (SAN -2)
C: “We can’t trust you and you’re too dangerous to be left alone. Everyone, open fire!” (SAN -4)
(No INF cost this time. This decision is completely on your head.)
Sanity check
Started a new plot arc: Sanity +8%
Sanity: 96%
Influence: 98%
Fame: +0
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 06, 2018, 09:59:56 pm
This is a big decision, guys. All hands on deck.
The question - Side with the psychic weapon wielding con-man, or shoot him and take it for ourselves?
Post by: Glass on January 06, 2018, 11:18:19 pm
Either we own him, or we break him. Either way, we get the artifact without the risk.
Furthermore, as soon as he breaks (well, rather, as soon as we send the Brown Note Fourth Wall info), we unload a nice quantity of BLAM into his head.
Post by: Roboson on January 06, 2018, 11:21:11 pm
Post by: Glass on January 07, 2018, 12:14:47 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 07, 2018, 12:46:41 am
Anyone have a problem with that?
(Please post just to show you're here)
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 07, 2018, 12:58:46 am
Can't let him keep the psychic thingy.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 07, 2018, 11:47:01 am
At that moment, another officer walks into the room. “He’s lying,”
“Senior Strategic Advisor Roboson,” Merrowitz says, surprised. “What did you just say?”
“The fat man just said he can eviscerate your brains in a moment?” the SSA says. “He’s lying. Through his teeth. I just went and did the research. We have records on the Key of Taloc. It’s one shot at a time, and it takes time and concentration to fire.” He paused for breath. “Which is why I’m going to do this.”
Roboson draws his gun and shoots Boonering.
Special Event: Suddenly RTD
We are now doing a RTD with each person playing as one character. Post anything that you can do to try and stop Boonering / Steal the Key of Taloc
Everyone’s post will be taken as the action of the random officer standing in the room that they are controlling. Roboson gets Strategist Roboson, Glass gets Wenton Celling. The rest of you will get a nameless mook when/if you show up.
Don’t automatically go “shoot him” - there’s also an intercom box, a table, several chairs, and two doors in this room. Ask about other stuff and ye shall receive.
Glass and Roboson have already told me their choices in Discord:
Glass: Attempt to hit Boonering with the fourth-wall knowledge
[3] - Partial success
Wenton Celling mentally condenses the information of the fourth wall into a single, stunning blow, and waits for Boonering to scan his mind.
He does, though it’s only a passing look. He views Celling’s thoughts for just long enough to get a single, nice glimpse of the incomprehensible immensity of the fourth wall.
The view stuns him, but he breaks the link before he can really see what it is.
Roboson: Shoot Boonering
[3] - Partial success
Roboson’s bullet grazes Boonering’s arm.
He yelps in pain.
Maximum Spin, Omada, and anyone else that cares to drop in: STATE YOUR ATTACKS!
Post by: Glass on January 07, 2018, 11:59:22 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 07, 2018, 12:04:14 pm
"Someone, get the parrot!"
You can intercom-call the parrot, I guess.
Post by: omada on January 07, 2018, 12:20:27 pm
"Someone, get the parrot!"
You can intercom-call the parrot, I guess.
I think he want's someone control the parrot, or it is for a random mook to protect the parrot?
If the parrot is present : shield him (altought it's better for him to bombard this guys mind with his unique mind and vision of the hammerspace
if not, throw something of the table (a plate/box/vase of flowers/sand/parrot poop) on his eyes
[Think fast officer omada, taking the gun will take too long BLIND HIM]
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 07, 2018, 12:33:33 pm
if not, throw something of the table (a plate/box/vase of flowers/sand/parrot poop) on his eyes
[2] - Failure
Sergeant Omada, realizing that the enemy has to be blinded, picks up the vase of flowers on the table and hits Boonering over the head with it.
Unfortunately, while the Key of Taloc is an ancient psychic weapon, it's also a big block of hard metal... and Boonering swings it up, deflecting the vase and shattering it.
"MY VASE!" Merrowitz shouts.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 07, 2018, 12:46:12 pm
[6] - Gone horribly right
The intern, who goes by Smoke and Mirrors, tries to summon the parrot using cliche knowledge by going, “Gee, I’m sure the parrot won’t come poop in our eyes now.”
It works!
It works very well!
The parrot poops in everyone’s eyes.
You all are now blinded. All rolls get -1, except 1 and 6 stay as they are, and if you attack, the attack is directed at a random person - likely your team. Wears off in 1 turn.
On the plus side, you have the parrot. And Boonering can’t cast any line-of-sight spells this turn.
Waiting for Maximum Spin.
Post by: Glass on January 07, 2018, 12:50:40 pm
Post by: Roboson on January 07, 2018, 12:58:44 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 07, 2018, 01:42:22 pm
Shoot blindly, trying to hit the pooping parrot. Scream long and exotic curses while doing so.
It is not your turn! In addition, that's a terrible idea.
Post by: Glass on January 07, 2018, 01:44:48 pm
I've already told him that.Shoot blindly, trying to hit the pooping parrot. Scream long and exotic curses while doing so.
It is not your turn! In addition, that's a terrible idea.
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 07, 2018, 06:56:29 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 07, 2018, 07:42:00 pm
Maximum Spin: Grab for the Key of Taloc in the last direction seen
[2] - Fail
Lieutenant Spin makes a wild snatch for the Key, but misses by a mile.
Merrowitz is a NPC, but still gets rolls.
Action: Line up a shot at Boonering while her thoughts are disguised by her anger about the vase
[6] - Gone horribly right
HOWEVER!
Blinded: Pick random character to hit instead → Parrot
Merrowitz reasons that if she’s mad about the vase, it might interfere with Boonering’s abilities to read her mind. She therefore takes the time to aim at Boonering and take a shot with her revolver at him.
Just as she’s about to shoot, the bird poops on her head.
“AARGH!” she shouts, and pulls the trigger on instinct. There is a bang, a squelch, and a screech.
“MY BIRD!” Celling shrieks. “Quick, jump to Hammerspace, you can heal there!”
The shot also hits the sprinkler in the roof behind the bird. It turns on. The entire place is now doused in water.
Boonering takes the time to duck below the table and cast Entrapment on Roboson, Nemo at Spin, and Lliteration at Celling.
Boonering can cast 3 attacks each turn. He cannot use the same spell 2 turns in a row. When hit by a psi attack, you get a will save, a d20 compared against the will save threshold. If it’s greater or equal, you manage to resist the psychic attack.
Spoiler: Psychic problems (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Will saves (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: People problems (click to show/hide)
Post by: Glass on January 07, 2018, 07:48:21 pm
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 07, 2018, 07:48:48 pm
I'm nobody, who are you?
Are you nobody too?
Post by: Roboson on January 07, 2018, 08:54:36 pm
Post by: Glass on January 07, 2018, 10:13:40 pm
- We get the psion crystal that Boon has
- We get Erin back
- We get the crystal to Erin, to be reverse-engineered
- We set it up so that we have a system that, upon activation, broadcasts knowledge of the fourth wall to the world at large
- We convince Padel to order us to activate it in some manner
- Everyone in the world now knows about the fourth wall, just as Erin Quil hopes
- Padel is nuked with a meteor by the fourth wall because we convinced it it was his fault that this happened, rather than Erin's
- Potential other stuff
Post by: omada on January 08, 2018, 07:36:14 am
The Current Long-Term Plan, For All Who Wish To Know It:The results, if we successfully make this happen:
- We get the psion crystal that Boon has
- We get Erin back
- We get the crystal to Erin, to be reverse-engineered
- We set it up so that we have a system that, upon activation, broadcasts knowledge of the fourth wall to the world at large
- We convince Padel to order us to activate it in some manner
So, who else here wants to make this happen, even if only to nuke Padel?
- Everyone in the world now knows about the fourth wall, just as Erin Quil hopes
- Padel is nuked with a meteor by the fourth wall because we convinced it it was his fault that this happened, rather than Erin's
- Potential other stuff
I just think the fabric of reality will explode
Clean my eyes
Post by: Glass on January 08, 2018, 09:00:57 am
Nah, confirmation from Blue that the fourth wall will target Padel if we do this.The Current Long-Term Plan, For All Who Wish To Know It:The results, if we successfully make this happen:
- We get the psion crystal that Boon has
- We get Erin back
- We get the crystal to Erin, to be reverse-engineered
- We set it up so that we have a system that, upon activation, broadcasts knowledge of the fourth wall to the world at large
- We convince Padel to order us to activate it in some manner
So, who else here wants to make this happen, even if only to nuke Padel?
- Everyone in the world now knows about the fourth wall, just as Erin Quil hopes
- Padel is nuked with a meteor by the fourth wall because we convinced it it was his fault that this happened, rather than Erin's
- Potential other stuff
I just think the fabric of reality will explode
Clean my eyes
Also, because of fire alarm water stuff, no longer blind. Pick a different action.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 08, 2018, 09:04:54 am
Also, because of fire alarm water stuff, no longer blind. Pick a different action.
Yeah, water washes out poop, like Glass noted.
Post by: omada on January 08, 2018, 09:19:17 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 08, 2018, 02:10:19 pm
Glass: Punch Boonering
[1] - Failure
You rush forward to go beat up that loser.
You slip and fall on the wet floor and hit your head.
You are now Stunned
Spin: Flip table, gouge Boonering’s eyes out
[4] - Success
You flip the table over, driven by the unnatural self-hatred that Boonering’s just pumped you full of. “I’M NOBODY”, you shout.
Boonering crawls backwards in fear. “WHO ARE YOU?!?!”
You grab his head and slam it backwards. “ARE YOU NOBODY TOO?!??!”
Boonering is now Stunned
Roboson: Make a grab for the Key of Taloc
[2] - Failure
You make a wild swipe at the Key.
You fail to even grab it, Boonering rolls out of the way.
Omada: Make a grab at the Key
[1] - Abject failure
You lunge at the Key.
You smash into Spin and Roboson and all three of you are now in a heap, and none of you have the Key.
Parrot: Jump to Hammerspace to heal, from the table legs
[1] - Abject failure
The parrot attempts to enter Hammerspace around one of the table legs.
He smears into the ground, giving himself yet another concussion.
Parrot is now Stunned
Merrowitz: Grab ceremonial sword (which actually works), chop up Boonering
[2] - Failure
Merrowitz picks up her sword and takes a swing at Boonering.
She misses, and the blade clangs on the hard concrete floor.
Boonering: Get up, run for door
[2] - Failure
Boonering is too disoriented to move and can only roll out of range of all the people trying to kill him.
He turns to Roboson. “Roboson, earn your pay! Betray Quill and Celling like I told you to!”
If Roboson is indeed a spy, Boonering gets control of him from this turn on.
Also, the OOC Roboson may or may not have agreed to betray you…
Boonering only gets two casts this turn. He charges Possession and casts Mindstorm on Spin.
Spoiler: Psychic problems (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Will saves (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: People problems (click to show/hide)
Post by: Glass on January 08, 2018, 02:28:53 pm
Who was done with this shit (he was quite bored)
So he looked at the psy guy
And told him, "goodbye, guy"
And punched him with the force of an ogre lord.
Post by: omada on January 08, 2018, 06:00:11 pm
Get driven by an intern anger born from shame and failure, crawl to boonering and bite his leg to not let him leave easily
Post by: Roboson on January 09, 2018, 12:18:04 am
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 09, 2018, 01:35:55 am
Quote
"7/6 required for partial success, everything else is critical failure." - Blueturtle.
Scream in animalistic rage, crush Boonering's puny skull. If successful, attempt to crush next-nearest skull that isn't mine until the mindstorm goes away!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 09, 2018, 09:12:55 am
Quote"7/6 required for partial success, everything else is critical failure." - Blueturtle.
Quote
"I never actually said that." - Blueturtle
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 10, 2018, 03:59:39 pm
[ 0 ] - Failure
There was once a man from SPAMO’RLORD
Who was done with this shit (he was quite bored)
So he looked at the pay guy
And told him “goodbye, guy”
And punched him with force of an ogrelord.
...he rolls away. You punch the ground.
It hurts!
Roboson: Run to com box, turn off water
[3] - Partial success
You run to the communications box and pull the latch.
Inside are many switches. You hit the one labeled “emergency fire system shutoff”
The sprinklers stop, but there’s still a huge puddle on the floor and a pipe is still leaking
Rain degraded to Wet.
Smoke Mirrors: Break his arm (off!)
[4] - Success
You slam your foot on his arm.
There is a crunch.
It breaks. Boonering screams in pain.
Boonering is now in Much Pain!
Omada: Bite Boonering’s leg
[1] - Epic failure
You bite Smoke Mirrors instead.
Maximum Spin: Crush his skull in
[3] - Partial success
Crushing skulls is a bit beyond your strength, so you settle for boxing his ears.
You feel something inside his head give under your blows.
Boonering now has Head trauma.
Parrot: Jump to Hammerspace
[-1] - Supremely horrific failure
The parrot loses consciousness and begins bleeding to death.
Parrot will DIE at end of section, unless someone sends him to Hammerspace by dropping him over a table leg.
Merrowitz: Shoot him… obviously
[4] - Success
Merrowitz puts away the sword, pulls out her gun, and shoots Boonering.
“There’s more swords under the desk!” she shouts.
Denis: Shoot him
[3] - Partial success
Denis, the person that Boonering first psychically attacked, comes running in through the door and shoots Boonering.
He manages to deflect it off the Key, though the fragments still hit his shoulder.
Boonering: Grab Celling
[5] - Epic success
Boonering reaches out and, with extreme effort, jabs his fingers at Celling’s temples.
“Er_s_re”, he hisses. He also casts Entrapment at Spin.
Spoiler: Psychic problems (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Will saves (click to show/hide)
Boonering forces Maximum Spin to shoot Roboson. He negates the effects of Mindstorm to get more out of his minion.
[4] - Success
Spin feels the pressures of the Key of Taloc working away at his mind, forcing his arms to turn against his own will, turning his sights on… Roboson.
Roboson looks at him. “What?” he asks.
The bullet catches him in the liver.
Roboson is in Much Pain! for one turn.
Hissing pulses of psychic energy surge down through Boonering’s fingertips, cascading into Celling’s brain in caustic, brutal waves. Celling’s mind is split into segments as fragments of the spell unpack and set up walls and beachheads in his head, deleting his memories and personality from existence systematically, one block at a time.
Even as his body spasms on the floor and his mind screams in unspeakable agony, a small portion of Celling’s spirit grins in a corner of his brain.
It works, after all… Once the link is formed it goes two ways.
He’s taking over my head. But that means he’s in here - and in here, I’m king…
And the plot, its grip a crushing weight
For no man does it ever wait
It beats us down, we count the days
Till it doesn’t have to be this way!
Blue’s written word, on you its brand
He gave you the jewel in your hand
He wants to turn us all to sand
Now do you understand?
So tell me now
If this ain’t life
Then how do we get out?
No-one knows
That's when I said
"I don't hate this world, I just want to save it
While there's still something left to save."
That's when I told you
"I hate you, man, and here is the answer
For the questions that you still have."
Heh heh… Celling giggles, charging up the final component of his counterattack, abusing the Key’s own attacks and mental defences against it, before letting loose with:
And here I stand and with this tune,
I declare “MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!”
(click!)
The entirety of the fourth wall comes crashing into Boonering’s mind.
The enormous knowledge of the true nature of the world smashes into Boonering’s puny, mortal brain with the metaphorical psychic and psychological force of a freight train.
Like a waterfall cascading down a valley, like a glacial river resuming its course, the sheer power of the revelation, of the immense change that is happening, overwhelms him.
Boonering screams. He rips his hand off Celling’s forehead like it is something hot. For a few seconds he simply screams on the floor, fist clenched hard and cold over the Key’s grip, stunning everyone in the room. He is a crippled thing, body riddled with bullets and mind torn asunder, sprawled out on the ground.
Then, slowly, the screams die down. Slowly, ever so slowly, he opens his eyes.
He smiles.
“I see, I hear,” he says. “I see and hear what you’re saying. The fourth wall… it’s all true.”
He tries to push himself up and fails. “And that’s why I know why this will work.”
He grins. “I know, now, like never before, that Blue wants the Key of Taloc destroyed. I know that it would be too overpowered a weapon. And that’s why he’ll let me do this.”
He reaches over and, manipulating a series of small levers on the Key, removes the power crystal from the center. The malevolent red light glistens in his hand.
He struggles to sit up and raises it over his head. “Harm me and I’ll smash this. Then you have no Key and no way to save Celling. Let me go and your friend may live.”
Spoiler: People problems (click to show/hide)
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 10, 2018, 05:09:38 pm
Post by: Glass on January 10, 2018, 05:14:17 pm
“I see, I hear,” he says. “I see and hear what you’re saying. The fourth wall… it’s all true.”See here, we're on the other side of the fourth wall. We know it's true.
He tries to push himself up and fails. “And that’s why I know why this will work.”
He grins. “I know, now, like never before, that Blue wants the Key of Taloc destroyed. I know that it would be too overpowered a weapon. And that’s why he’ll let me do this.”
He reaches over and, manipulating a series of small levers on the Key, removes the power crystal from the center. The malevolent red light glistens in his hand.
He struggles to sit up and raises it over his head. “Harm me and I’ll smash this. Then you have no Key and no way to save Celling. Let me go and your friend may live.”
That's why I know this will work.
Blue wants the key of Taloc destroyed. But by your own admission, that leaves us with no way to save Celling, who's exceptionally important to the plot. And that's why he won't let you do this.
We'll kill you before you can smash it. Then we have a Key and one fine-if-traumatized Celling. We do anything else and that doesn't happen.
Don't try to play games with people more familiar with the workings of your reality than you are.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 10, 2018, 05:28:39 pm
Don't worry, only you forgot about the rebels. I still want to defect.Yeah and I never forgot about the dogs, my laptops just died is all.
As for the initial choice, it was a relatively small and obvious part of every evil empire that was canceled out in terms of what our bonuses are.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 10, 2018, 06:02:12 pm
our first priority is to immediately save the parrot! I mean come on hes our only real way of using hammerspace right now, plus a truly loyal agent of ours!
second priority, calming the madfucker witht the crystal key or whatever the mindmeltding McGuffin is, it was a terrible idea to introduce him to the fourth wall/not kill him while he was down.
after that we need to try and contant the rebels, throw them a bone arrange for an armistice and tell them about the viral genocide, after all most of them will be effected by it so it is in both our intrests to work together however briefly to avert mass deaths, this might also have benefit of convincing some of them that we truly care about the populace at large
..................
any objections to my line of reasoning?
Post by: omada on January 10, 2018, 08:06:48 pm
"anybody, I am being struck by failure, i need help here, boonering, before I depart this body, just ask something, you see the fourth wall now?"
CONTROL BOONERING OVER THE FOURTH WALL AND FORCE HIM INTO SUBMISSION/SAVING CELLING
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 10, 2018, 10:34:16 pm
drop parrot over table leg
"anybody, I am being struck by failure, i need help here, boonering, before I depart this body, just ask something, you see the fourth wall now?"
CONTROL BOONERING OVER THE FOURTH WALL AND FORCE HIM INTO SUBMISSION/SAVING CELLING
Second is impossible. First is rolled.
[7] - Overshoot With Great Drama
Omada grabs the parrot, rushes to a table leg, and chucks him over.
The parrot is now in Hammerspace.
So is Omada.
So is the table.
“WHAT IS THIS?” Omada screams, looking out at the infinite white expanse of Hammerspace. An endless white, white beyond white, white so white that the mere idea of white is the only thing hitting your eyes. “I totally did not sign up for this, I’m just an intern, leave me alone…”
“What?” says the parrot, looking around, his wounds already being healed by the suspension-of-disbelief that pervaded Hammerspace. “Oh, you’re in here as well? Guess so. My near unconscious state must have caused my to jump a bit more than needed-”
“What is this place? Why is there a table there?”
“Oh, the table,” said the parrot. “It came as well? Don’t worry, I can get us out. Remain calm.”
Spoiler: People problems (click to show/hide)
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 11, 2018, 12:23:53 am
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 11, 2018, 02:24:31 am
Post by: Glass on January 11, 2018, 08:08:46 am
PTPPROTONMAN PLEASE SHOOT BOONER
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 11, 2018, 08:37:41 am
PTPPROTONMAN PLEASE SHOOT BOONER
Boonering is nigh dead. He doesn't have the power stone. Roboson is the main threat now. He told me he wants to take the Key himself and become the Big Bad of this thing.
Also, your brother can still act this turn.
Post by: Glass on January 11, 2018, 09:09:54 am
...PTPPROTONMAN PLEASE SHOOT BOONER
Boonering is nigh dead. He doesn't have the power stone. Roboson is the main threat now. He told me he wants to take the Key himself and become the Big Bad of this thing.
Also, your brother can still act this turn.
Guys, get the stone and lock it away before Robo can steal it or Spin can break it!
EDIT: or summon Acter. Summoning Acter would also work here I think.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on January 11, 2018, 09:50:03 am
Post by: Glass on January 11, 2018, 09:59:39 am
Dynamic entry!
Dynamic Entry is perfect for The Cavalry. Invoke the tropes and everything will turn out fine.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 11, 2018, 10:22:26 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 11, 2018, 10:24:38 am
Dynamic entry!
Against whom?
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 11, 2018, 10:30:57 am
Post by: Glass on January 11, 2018, 11:06:20 am
Will you post the results of my action, btw? :PNot until we can get someone available to potentially intervene before you break the thing we need to save Celling.
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 11, 2018, 11:15:20 am
Roboson already rolled for that. He's part of the "results" I mentioned that need to be posted.Will you post the results of my action, btw? :PNot until we can get someone available to potentially intervene before you break the thing we need to save Celling.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 11, 2018, 12:01:57 pm
Will you post the results of my action, btw? :P
Once I get time. They'll be up today.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 11, 2018, 03:11:33 pm
Rush in and tackle-hug Robo!
"Not today, Strategist! Not today!"
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 11, 2018, 05:38:04 pm
Post by: Glass on January 11, 2018, 05:40:01 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 11, 2018, 05:41:58 pm
Guys seriously just get the key. You don't need to overwhelm him mentally, you just need to steal the damn thing.
He can read our minds. this presents problem for us trying to steal the key as he can just mindfuck(because he has the key) anyone who he can sense is about to try and steal it. Hence my response.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 11, 2018, 06:08:08 pm
Guys seriously just get the key. You don't need to overwhelm him mentally, you just need to steal the damn thing.
He can read our minds. this presents problem for us trying to steal the key as he can just mindfuck(because he has the key) anyone who he can sense is about to try and steal it. Hence my response.
He only has the power source. You'd need to get the glove from Boonering to fire anything.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 11, 2018, 06:15:07 pm
wut.......the he I am talking about IS boonering who should have the glove already.Guys seriously just get the key. You don't need to overwhelm him mentally, you just need to steal the damn thing.
He can read our minds. this presents problem for us trying to steal the key as he can just mindfuck(because he has the key) anyone who he can sense is about to try and steal it. Hence my response.
He only has the power source. You'd need to get the glove from Boonering to fire anything.
Post by: Glass on January 11, 2018, 06:27:46 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 11, 2018, 06:43:36 pm
I know that you want to overload Booner. But he already took the Key out of the glove. Spin wants to smash it, Robo wants to steal it, and I want one of you guys to get it so that we can make sure that Celling doesn't fucking die.
I am divided as ot wether we should destroy it or give it to ceiling then, hence I abstain
Post by: Glass on January 11, 2018, 07:28:26 pm
Paxie, Celling is unconscious. What you need to do is get the gem so that we can cancel the erasure. Once we do that, we can decide what to do with the gem. That can be destruction if we think it's necessary.I know that you want to overload Booner. But he already took the Key out of the glove. Spin wants to smash it, Robo wants to steal it, and I want one of you guys to get it so that we can make sure that Celling doesn't fucking die.
I am divided as ot wether we should destroy it or give it to ceiling then, hence I abstain
Post by: FallacyofUrist on January 11, 2018, 08:32:07 pm
Against the guy with the gem!Dynamic entry!
Against whom?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 11, 2018, 08:35:36 pm
Against the guy with the gem!Dynamic entry!
Against whom?
Due to the way I'm handling combat, that's Maximum Spin, who wishes to smash it.
Are you SURE you wish to attack Spin? (y/n)
Post by: FallacyofUrist on January 11, 2018, 08:39:28 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 11, 2018, 08:41:15 pm
Yes. Let's not smash the gem right now!
You rolled a 2!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 12, 2018, 10:12:18 am
Spin: Smash the Key power stone
Roboson: Stop him from doing so
[5] - Epic success and [4] - Success
Spin grabs the Key's core gemstone and smashes it down.
“No!” screams Roboson. He leaps at Spin and punches him.
This stops Spin from smashing the power stone, but he still is holding it.
FallacyOfUrist: Dynamic Entrance (jump-kick to the face) on Spin
[2] - Failure
You leap into the room, attempting to kick Spin as you do so.
You fail and slams into the wall opposite Boonering.
KiloJoule Proton: Tackle-hug Spin
[5] - Epic success
You rush at Spin, toppling him over and knocking the Key power core out of his hand. It clatters to the opposite end of the room, near Denis.
Merrowitz: Just bend over and pick up the Key
[2] - Failure
Merrowitz rushes over to get the Key and… trips over Celling, who is unconscious and dying on the floor.
Denis: Shoot Boonering
[1] - Abject failure
Denis takes aim and shoots at Boonering.
She misses and it hits the large window, shattering it. Glass shards go everywhere.
The floor is now Spiky
Parrot: Exit Hammerspace
[2] - Failure
“Where are we?” Omada asks, floating towards the table.
The parrot drifts serenely, its eyes closed. “Get comfortable. I have to resolve some interference. We won’t be going for a while.
Boonering: Steel himself against the pain
[5] - Epic success
(Boonering’s Head Trauma cleared before the roll)
Boonering grits his teeth and tries to act despite the pain.
Boonering is no longer in Much Pain!.
Spoiler: People problems (click to show/hide)
I should tell you about places at this time.
The room is rectangular; longer in the front-back direction than the left-right direction.
Front wall: A door, Denis is in it, Key on the floor
Back wall: Merrowitz’s desk
Left wall: A window, a door near the back, Boonering propped up against the window
Right wall: Nothing
Floor: Everyone else in a big old pile of fail.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 12, 2018, 11:40:03 am
In other news, Please post turns.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 12, 2018, 12:01:34 pm
Nothing can save us now! Tackle-hug Denis!
Post by: Glass on January 12, 2018, 12:06:20 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on January 12, 2018, 12:14:13 pm
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 12, 2018, 02:54:35 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 12, 2018, 08:15:59 pm
[6] - Gone horribly right.
You tackle Denis.
Perhaps a bit too hard.
You are both knocked out
Fallacy: Get the stone
[2] - Failure
Fallacy attempts to get the stone.
He slips in a pile of broken glass and falls on his butt halfway there.
Roboson: Pick up the stone
[0] - Dramatic failure
Roboson tries to grab the stone that just fell out of Spin’s hand.
He trips over Denis and falls on her with a loud flump.
Spin: Stomp on the stone
[5] - Epic success
…
Well, that’s all that matters so I’ll just stop here I guess.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 12, 2018, 08:17:35 pm
Post by: omada on January 12, 2018, 09:18:22 pm
*Unknown-feeling-between-laughter-and-frustation Facepalm*
Losing is fun, whatever.
Just because yes
last turn my controlled mook was MEDITATING while floating
Don't need to roll, but whatever.
Post by: Glass on January 12, 2018, 09:37:10 pm
Load up on your D&D rules, crossover city here we come.
What gate?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 13, 2018, 11:04:00 am
Lieutenant Ernest “Maximum” Spin raised his foot over the crystal of the Key of Taloc.
Strategist Roboson saw this from the floor, sprawled over Denis. “NO!” he shouted.
Spin brings his foot down.
The stone shatters.
There was a deafening silence.
Then the crystal explodes and a wave of searing psychic force washes through the base, billows of red light thundering down the hallways.
Everything goes black.
When they wake up there’s medics all around them.
“What… what happened?” asks Roboson.
Around him, KJP and Denis are being loaded onto stretchers. Two people are helping Merrowitz up.
“An explosion of some kind knocked you all out,” one of the medics says. “Big ball of red light.”
Merrowitz realizes something suddenly. “The Key! Celling! He’s-”
“I’m all right,” says Celling, standing up slowly.
Merrowitz looked at him. “What?”
“I’m fine. Boonering was lying. Through his teeth,” Celling repeats. “I got a good look at the inner workings of the Key and his mind when he attacked me. Erasure does not need to be controlled by the Key, but it does need it for energy. When you smashed the power crystal, the spell fizzled.”
Roboson gets up as well. “Wait, what about Spin?” he asks, looking around.
“We took him away first. But it seems that his entire brain was erased in the blast. He isn’t physically harmed, but he’s mentally dead.”
“He was the closest,” KJP mentions. Denis gets up besides him. “If anyone died in that explosion, it would be him.”
The medics grabbed him. “Come on now,” one says. “You need to get away from the vortex as soon as possible.”
“Vortex?” asked KJP.
“What’s the vortex?” asks Celling.
The medic points at the door. They all looks.
The door had been blown off its hinges and a section of the wall had cracked open into a huge hole. The fragments of the Key of Taloc crystal lay underneath it. And in the hole, suspended in midair, was a blazing red bolt of energy, a splotch of psychic force and sheer wrong the size of a refrigerator. Its edges were covered with jagged protrusions, like cracks in a camera lens, and the inside swirled furiously with different shades of red.
“What… is that?” Roboson asks.
“It formed when Spin smashed the stone,” explains the medic.
“Is it enlarging?” Celling asks worriedly.
“Slowly. By centimeters since we got here,” the medic answers. “Might be dangerous, though. We’d better get away before-”
“Wait,” says Roboson. “Something’s changing.”
Something indeed was changing. The chaotic mess of hues of red, once rushing in all directions, now organized into a swirl around a central point. And in that central point, a single speck of blue glistened.
“Do you see-” begins Celling.
“I see that,” says Merrowitz.
The speck grew larger and larger. A whirring sound is now audible from the rift, as well as the crackling it was giving off earlier.
“Back away!” one of the medics says. “It’s about to do something!”
The whirring grows deafening.
The speck of blue continues to expand, and the onlookers realize that it is not a speck, but a whole new world - a shattered fragment of a totally different scene, rushing towards them.
They hear an echo, a thought so bright and so caustic, distorted through its passage through the tunnel and through layers of contradiction, carried on by the will of its owner for it to be heard.
“I, Miko Miyazaki, now fulfil the divine destiny that the Twelve Gods have-”
(https://i.imgur.com/ewnZ1Rf.jpg) (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0462.html)
With a silent crash, the scene, draped in blue, smashes into the edges of the rift, suddenly turning the vortex into a window to an alien world.
(https://i.imgur.com/q9qfNKC.jpg) (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0462.html)
“What gate?” (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html)
Post by: FallacyofUrist on January 13, 2018, 12:50:48 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 13, 2018, 12:55:32 pm
"Well, that's something."
UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR.
Start thinking of ways we could convince Miko/Hinjo/Soon that we are the good guys, or ways we could benefit from this event.
Post by: omada on January 14, 2018, 01:04:10 am
Tell her that we got in a fight with a guy with an weird mind-blowing crystal
Get info and share some about our worlds
Explain that we are occupied because we are dealing with the worst of the worst and if she want's to talk with our peasants she needs to wait till us deal with a mass murderer of sorts.
Post by: Glass on January 14, 2018, 09:48:43 am
Offer tech and stuff to rebuild what the portal destroyedErm, Miko is not exactly the best person for us to talk to. We're the (designated) Evil Empire; she's the worst example of Lawful Stupid and Knight Templar you've likely ever seen in a paladin.
Tell her that we got in a fight with a guy with an weird mind-blowing crystal
Get info and share some about our worlds
Explain that we are occupied because we are dealing with the worst of the worst and if she want's to talk with our peasants she needs to wait till us deal with a mass murderer of sorts.
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 14, 2018, 11:04:03 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 14, 2018, 11:22:58 am
She should already be dead, anyway.
The dimensional vortex absorbed the energy of the Soon's Gate explosion, Miko's alive and kicking... people.
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 14, 2018, 11:24:35 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 14, 2018, 11:34:56 am
So does this mean that Soon's ghost could have finished killing Xykon? You should probably specify the ramifications of this for the setting.
At the precise moment that Miko shatters the Gate, it turns into a portal to our world. Soon's still distracted.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 14, 2018, 11:38:13 am
Inside the rift, a girl dressed in grey armor and a flowing cloak, wielding a curved, shining sword, looks back.
“What…” says Miko, her mouth agape. “This… this cannot-”
“Well, guess what, it very well is,” says KJP sardonically.
“I… I destroyed the gate…” Miko stammers, “What… What is this?”
“I know as little as you do, girl,” says Merrowitz. She steps forwards. “The destruction of a powerful artifact seems to have blown open a gateway to your world.”
“The gods… the gods meant for me to-”
“The gods can be wrong,” said Celling.
Miko lowers her eyes for a moment. Merrowitz steps closer. “What happened in your world? What did you do to-”
“NO!” screams Miko, striking suddenly at Merrowitz with O-Chul’s blade. Merrowitz raises her own sword and parries the strike deftly, taking a step back, stunned by the sudden ferocity of Miko’s attack.
“The gods would never forsake me!” Miko screams, aiming a stunning kick at Merrowitz. The general jumps out of the way and answers with a thrust of her sword.
“That implies they were with you to begin with!” shouts Roboson.
Miko grits her teeth. “You are the Snarl, an evil disguise of the god-killing abomnation! I am Miko Miyazaki, chosen one of the Twelve Gods, champion of the Sapphire Guard, heir of Soon Kim. Enemies of Azure City, you will die by my blade!”
“Do you not grasp the simple concept that we have no idea what you’re talking about?” asks Celling.
“Less talking, more shooting this madwoman!” hisses Merrowitz, deflecting another blow of Miko’s sword. The blades clang together in a flash of steel.
Miko continues rambling. “This is my final test! I am fated to defeat the Snarl!”
“You’re literally rambling nonsense,” says Merrowitz. Miko thrust at her and she whirled out of the way. “I have heard of no Snarl, nor the Sapphire Guard or Azure City.”
“The Twelve Gods surely must want me here, or they would not have allowed me to destroy the gate!” screeches Miko, furiously slashing at Merrowitz.
“I mean,” says Merrowitz, “I’m not sure how it’s like in your world, but our gods rarely intervene in the affairs of mortals.”
“There’s Acter,” points out Celling, fumbling for his pistol.
“ACTER ISN’T A THING!” screams Merrowitz. (Acter, God of Improvement, is a fringe religious movement in Antarctica) She sweeps her sword low and Miko deflects it.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two shots ring out.
Two bullets catch Merrowitz in her back, right above her heart.
She gasps, jerks violently, and collapses lifeless to the ground.
Fredrik Boonering lies, crippled, against the wall, holding Celling’s gun.
His mouth distorts into a small smile.
KJP, Roboson, and Smoke whip out their pistols and shoot him full of bullets. Celling rushes to Merrowitz’s side and takes her pulse.
He stares up at Miko. “Never too soon to reveal that you have some sort of insta-healing thing,” he says.
“That was a horrendous pun,” says the spirit of Soon Kim, drifting through the rift.
Now, post dialogue to explain to the people from the portal what’s going on and try and secure an alliance or something. This serves as a negotiation test, and also is an exposition circus for those that didn’t actually read OOTS.
Post by: Glass on January 14, 2018, 12:12:43 pm
- First off, welcome to South America.
- Second, we just got into a fight with a psion. He's the guy that just shot Merrowitz. Presumably, he's dead now. When we smashed the crystal that let him do his psion stuff, this whole portal thing happened. We don't really know what was involved on your side.
- Third, the most immediate issue we've got is that there's rebels around... somewhere. We happen to be the people in charge here, and they don't like us. Also, what they want to do would end up blowing up an entire continent and all the people on it, which we understandably don't like.
- Additionally, we're technically just one layer of a larger organization. The current top guy took out the old top guy a couple days ago by framing him for treason, despite the fact that the old top guy was really just trying to make sure Bad StuffTM didn't happen. We're still loyal to the old top guy.
- Finally, oracles have two things to say: one, old top guy is supposed to escape from prison in 2 days. Two, new top guy is going to put some death stuff here after our guy gets out. From what we know, it avoids anyone purely from the main continent, but anyone that's even partly South American dies if they catch it. We're currently trying to figure out ways to minimize the death toll, or stop the disease if at all possible.
- Addendum: our old top guy shatters the timeline whenever he's in the area. If we can get him here quickly, we believe that we can stop the disease outright.
Queries:
- What's the situation on your side?
- Who's the ghost?
- Could you please explain what it is you thought was on the other side of the portal?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 14, 2018, 12:14:30 pm
- First off, welcome to South America.
- Second, we just got into a fight with a psion. He's the guy that just shot Merrowitz. Presumably, he's dead now. When the smashed the crystal that let him do his psion stuff, this whole portal thing happened. We don't really know what was involved on your side.
- Third, the most immediate issue we've got is that there's rebels around... somewhere. We happen to be the people in charge here, and they don't like us. Also, what they want to do would end up blowing up and entire continent and all the people on it, which we understandably don't like.
- Additionally, we're technically just one layer of a larger organization. The current top guy took out the old top guy a couple days ago by framing him for treason, despite the fact that the old top guy was really just trying to make sure Bad StuffTM didn't happen. We're still loyal to the old top guy.
- Finally, oracles have two things to say: one, old top guy is supposed to escape from prison in 2 days. Two, new top guy is going to put some death stuff here after our guy gets out. From what we know, it avoids anyone purely from the main continent, but anyone that's even partly South American dies if they catch it. We're currently trying to figure out ways to minimize the death toll, or stop the disease if at all possible.
- Addendum: our old top guy shatters the timeline whenever he's in the area. If we can get him here quickly, we believe that we can stop the disease outright.
Queries:
- What's the situation on your side?
- Who's the ghost?
- Could you please explain what it is you thought was on the other side of the portal?
I'll take a +1
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 14, 2018, 03:42:45 pm
+1
- First off, welcome to South America.
- Second, we just got into a fight with a psion. He's the guy that just shot Merrowitz. Presumably, he's dead now. When the smashed the crystal that let him do his psion stuff, this whole portal thing happened. We don't really know what was involved on your side.
- Third, the most immediate issue we've got is that there's rebels around... somewhere. We happen to be the people in charge here, and they don't like us. Also, what they want to do would end up blowing up and entire continent and all the people on it, which we understandably don't like.
- Additionally, we're technically just one layer of a larger organization. The current top guy took out the old top guy a couple days ago by framing him for treason, despite the fact that the old top guy was really just trying to make sure Bad StuffTM didn't happen. We're still loyal to the old top guy.
- Finally, oracles have two things to say: one, old top guy is supposed to escape from prison in 2 days. Two, new top guy is going to put some death stuff here after our guy gets out. From what we know, it avoids anyone purely from the main continent, but anyone that's even partly South American dies if they catch it. We're currently trying to figure out ways to minimize the death toll, or stop the disease if at all possible.
- Addendum: our old top guy shatters the timeline whenever he's in the area. If we can get him here quickly, we believe that we can stop the disease outright.
Queries:
- What's the situation on your side?
- Who's the ghost?
- Could you please explain what it is you thought was on the other side of the portal?
I'll take a +1
"Only Acter can save us now!", KJP whispers.
Post by: omada on January 15, 2018, 03:48:50 pm
+1
- First off, welcome to South America.
- Second, we just got into a fight with a psion. He's the guy that just shot Merrowitz. Presumably, he's dead now. When the smashed the crystal that let him do his psion stuff, this whole portal thing happened. We don't really know what was involved on your side.
- Third, the most immediate issue we've got is that there's rebels around... somewhere. We happen to be the people in charge here, and they don't like us. Also, what they want to do would end up blowing up and entire continent and all the people on it, which we understandably don't like.
- Additionally, we're technically just one layer of a larger organization. The current top guy took out the old top guy a couple days ago by framing him for treason, despite the fact that the old top guy was really just trying to make sure Bad StuffTM didn't happen. We're still loyal to the old top guy.
- Finally, oracles have two things to say: one, old top guy is supposed to escape from prison in 2 days. Two, new top guy is going to put some death stuff here after our guy gets out. From what we know, it avoids anyone purely from the main continent, but anyone that's even partly South American dies if they catch it. We're currently trying to figure out ways to minimize the death toll, or stop the disease if at all possible.
- Addendum: our old top guy shatters the timeline whenever he's in the area. If we can get him here quickly, we believe that we can stop the disease outright.
Queries:
- What's the situation on your side?
- Who's the ghost?
- Could you please explain what it is you thought was on the other side of the portal?
I'll take a +1
"Only Acter can save us now!", KJP whispers.
+1
Addendum:
-Shout "MEDICS FAST"
Addendum to queries:
-You're an warrior of gods right?, in our history some of these were also healers or dealed with plagues IF your god interfere directly with the world and you have some kind of magic (look, portals to other worlds are not a normal thing here) do you have something regarding healing RIGHT FUCKING NOW or something about dealing with sickness? Maybe this portal and your help is enough interference for making sure we can save millions from death
She is lawn full stupid? sure, just make sure she don't peep into the fourth wall while she is here and use her as a bridge until we can discard her and become their government too
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 17, 2018, 06:04:22 pm
Get her a map of the world ASAP too.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 19, 2018, 03:55:19 pm
Soon Kim, a translucent spectral presence hovering around a foot above the ground, glanced around. “What is this place?”
“She needs medical attention!” Celling called. Several of the medics rushed up to help Merrowitz.
Soon Kim knelt down to touch his transparent hand to Merrowitz's head. “Lay on hands!” he shouted.
Blue light sizzled down his arm and sprung across his fingers. Nothing happened.
Momentarily stunned by the sudden collapse of her opponent, Miko raised her sword again.
Soon Kim noticed this. “Stand down, Miko,” he said.
She barely noticed. “These are evildoers that must be stopped.”
“Come on, Miko, they obviously mean no harm.”
“They were beyond your Gate!” she shouted. “They are the Snarl!”
“If this were the Snarl, it would not wait to attack.”
“They are scared of me!” Miko screamed. “They fear me, because the Twelve Gods walk with me every step of the way!”
“Are you actually totally stupid, child?” Soon Kim hissed back. “The Twelve Gods ejected you from the Sapphire Guard for your actions!”
“They are testing my faith and I will succeed!” Miko returned.
“You dare disobey the judgement of the gods? I am Soon Kim, founder and first leader of the Sapphire Guard, and I am ordering you to STAND DOWN!”
Miko stared for a few minutes, then ran back through the rift.
Soon Kim turned back to the various officers. “I’m sorry for that little display,” he said. “What’s going on here?”
KJP walked up to Soon. “Hey, are you a ghost?” He swished his hand through Soon’s head. “I wonder if it goes through. I guess he is a - OW!” This last bit because Soon Kim had punched him in the nose.
“We were fighting a fellow that had a mind-manipulating device of some kind,” Celling said. “We managed to destroy it, creating this rift. What exactly did you expect to find here?”
“This Gate was supposed to contain a creature of chaos and hatred more powerful than the gods themselves.” Soon said. “I saw it contained. Instead, when it was smashed, it seems to have opened a portal into some other place.”
“And who are you?” asked Robinson. “Are you actually a ghost?”
“I am Soon Kim, paladin of the Sapphire Guard, and yes, I have returned from the dead to assist my people,” Soon answered. “The country on my side of this rift is called Azure City and has been overrun by the forces of evil. How about yours?”
“We are the Republic of the South,” says Roboson. “And apparently the gateway is trans-universal, because we don’t know of any place known as Azure City in our world. You can look at these maps if you want. We’re currently having some dire issues with discontent and rebellion. Normally, we would not be concerned, except that their current plan involves the total annihilation of two continents.”
“Disturbing,” he said. “So you have chosen a democratic form of government?”
“In reality, we got more of an aristocracy,” Celling admitted.
“Fair enough,” he said. “So did I. Detect Evil!”
He swept his gaze over the other people, then anticlimactically blinked. “Funny. That should have worked.”
“What should have?” asked Roboson
“That was a spell to determine if your intentions were pure. It didn’t return a reading on any of you at all.”
“Huh,” says Celling. “That probably warrants some thought. In the meantime, we have even worse problems. There’s a group of people in our universe that can see into the future to a slight degree-”
“In ours as well.”
“Yeah, well, they predict that in three days, a deadly plague will be unleashed upon this continent. And even worse, it will wipe out only people of one origin, thus heightening already-present racial tensions.”
“... seriously.”
“Absolutely. Plus, our central government has been taken over by a power-hungry good-for-nothing manipulative bastard called Tyro Padelheb.”
“You guys actually sound like you're in trouble.”
“Yeah,” agreed Celling. “So what's up on your end?”
“Our city just got overrun by an army of hobgoblins.”
“Hobgoblins?” asked KJP. “Those little cute things that dance around in the woods and mess up your laundry and stuff?”
“I have no idea how it’s like in your plane, but there’s nothing little or cute about our hobgoblins,” said Soon. “They are led by an evil lich named Xykon, who seeks to capture one of the Gates and use it for his nefarious purposes.”
“And the gates are…” Roboson asked.
“I helped build them; I should know.” Soon explained. “They act as a containment system for the Snarl, an ancient being of pure chaos more powerful than the gods themselves. Five exist, formed around natural weaknesses in the Snarl’s prison. Two have already been destroyed through Xykon’s actions, but gaining control of even one would allow him to threaten to not only kill every being on our plane, but consume their souls as well.”
“That bad?”
“It’s said that when the Snarl was first created, it annihilated an entire pantheon of gods - and a whole planet - within minutes.”
Obviously both worlds have serious issues. What direction would you like the negotiations to go?
A: Offer to help them retake their city, possibly in exchange for help later on.
B: Ask if they would be willing to help with the rebels, usurper, or plague.
C: Exchange information generally but don't ask for or offer help
Post by: Glass on January 19, 2018, 03:59:40 pm
[fires a gun through the portal, notices that yes, it works for shooting stuff]
"I think we might be able to help you with something. After that, maybe you can help us."
A.
Reasoning: Their magic doesn't work here, but firearms don't require anything like that. Ergo, right now, we can be of more help to them than they can be to us. We can figure out how they can help us later.
Plague is top priority for that.
Also, oracles should know about this. This may cause some huge divergences from the established future lines.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 19, 2018, 04:02:00 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 19, 2018, 07:09:32 pm
"I think we might be able to help you with something."
WELL GUESS WHAT.
YOU CAN'T.
Celling experimentally fires his revolver at the portal. The bullet goes through and cracks a blue brick on the other side. Soon watches with some interest.
“Seems that while your magic doesn't work in our world, our weapons work in yours,” he explains. “So why don't we help you take back your city?”
And that's when the phone call is received, when the line is traced, when the rebels are found.
That’s right, kids, this accursed flashback has finally ended. We're back to fighting the rebels, in this instance on a beach marina thing. And you have to choose between defending yourself or Azure City… and you have no Key… and Merrowitz is dead. I honestly didn't imagine you going into the beach fight this badly off. Sucks to be you.
A: Rush forces to the beach.
B: Attempt to help Soon
(you could send people to both, but you have to choose one to focus on, personally, the other gets the idiot ball. Plus you don't have unlimited forces and either one will take a sizable army.)
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 19, 2018, 07:11:21 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 19, 2018, 07:13:26 pm
B
Is that B to the old question or B to the new?
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 19, 2018, 07:15:15 pm
Post by: Glass on January 19, 2018, 07:42:50 pm
"Damnit. God-fluxing damnit.
Ok, really sorry, city defense has to wait, we have a lead.
This is a really fucking terrible time..."
A.
Post by: Maximum Spin on January 19, 2018, 07:51:23 pm
Is that B to the old question or B to the new?The new one. Why would I answer an old question? :|
Post by: omada on January 19, 2018, 10:03:02 pm
And say that we have to rush troops to the beach, make someone instruct their crossbow users of how to use these things and let a small unit behind to at least fend of parts of the castle before we come back
Post by: FallacyofUrist on January 20, 2018, 11:51:21 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 20, 2018, 09:43:44 pm
I was considering making this a play-as-character thing, but I think we’ve had enough of that already. It’ll be a tactical command segment instead.
For the next section - the beach fight - we will be taking some inspiration from D&D. That is - whenever you attempt an attack, you roll a d20, potentially with bonuses, and compare it with a number representing the difficulty of hitting the target. Natural 20s and 1s hold, corresponding to guaranteed successes and failures respectively, regardless of your bonuses. If you succeed, you roll some dice for damage that are based on the weapon.
The similarities stop there. Well, we still roll for initiative and can have sneak rounds and saving throws and spot checks and such, but there’s a bunch of notable differences. Most prominently, I’ve changed the way that armor works. Instead of a bump to the difficulty of making a shot, each piece of armor has its own “deflection dice”, which are rolled and subtracted from the damage of the weapon used. If this goes totally negative, then the shot spangs off completely, stopped by the armor.
All characters start out with 100 hp. When they reach 50 hp, they get the Heavy Bleeding debuff, which decreases their hp at d3 per turn until treated. Every time they pass 50 hp, it’s added again (this corresponds to getting wounds bandaged, then getting the bandages shot off - ouch). When a character reaches 10 hp, he/she becomes Crippled and cannot move until medical assistance is rendered. This also tacks on another -d3 per turn to health.
I’ll post stats and abilities and stuff later, but for now, you can just think about what kind of weaponry you want to bring, the different orders and different armaments you want to give to various squads. I’ll factor this into the stats.
And also which tropes you want to use, because I’m letting you actually pick tropes like abilities or weapons now. See the chart.
(https://i.imgur.com/FaBcadB.png)
You have 6 trope slots. Each slot can be any of the types that it’s included in, so you’ll have to make tradeoffs between types:
Passive tropes are always active and set the tone of the battle as a whole. Example: The Chase (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheChase)
Active tropes are responses to certain events and automatically fire when conditions are met. Example: Turns Red (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TurnsRed)
Weapon tropes decide what weapons you’re going to be using during this battle. Example: Wave Motion Gun (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WaveMotionGun)
Setting tropes dictate the backdrop of the battle and the environmental factors that might affect it. Example: Sheet of Glass (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SheetOfGlass)
These can work for both you and the heroes - especially “passive” and “weapon” - so choose wisely.
Don’t go too overboard with this; I won’t let you blatantly violate physics or change the tone of this entire game. Keep in mind our universe and technological period.
Post by: Glass on January 21, 2018, 12:20:19 pm
- The Bad Guy Wins
- Invincible Villain
Tropes that may be useful:
- Visionary Villain
- And Then What?/Armor-Piercing Question [in regards to "what do you think is going to happen when you're done?"]
- Villains Never Lie
- Break Them by Talking
- Face-Heel Turn [for certain values of face and heel]
EDIT: Additionally:
- Villain Has a Point
- More Than Mind Control
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 23, 2018, 10:25:54 am
Their leader snapped off a salute. “Greetings from Antarctica, Captain Celling,” he said. Celling could now see that some of the soldiers were carrying strange armaments, small tubular things with wires sticking out.
The leader gestured to the soldiers. “I'm Edward Fansworth. The scientists finally cracked the problem of creating monochromatic light with a portable maser.”
It took Celling a second to process what this was about. “Those are Andantesite disruptors!” he shouted.
“Yes, they are,” said Fansworth.
“Great! Okay, I want them split one to a squad to maximize the-”
“No, you can't,” Fansworth answered.
“...what?” said Celling.
“You aren't going to be commanding these soldiers,” he clarified. “I have orders from Sir Padelheb himself. These soldiers are under my command only. They are a relief force sent courtesy of the South and the Guardian of the State to assist the Argentinean government in managing their populace.”
Senior Strategist Roboson turned slightly to subtly whisper in Celling's ear. “Padelheb's trying to take credit,” he says.
What do you do?
A: Accept their help
B: Find some excuse to take them away
C: Reject their aid and call them out on trying to steal credit
D: Sabotage their efforts and allow the rebels to escape
E: Give them false information so you can catch the rebels first
Post by: Glass on January 23, 2018, 11:04:27 am
Invoke trope: Good All Along
EDIT: Also, Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy.
EDIT2: Shouldn't we have sanity and influence mods here?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 23, 2018, 04:14:57 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 24, 2018, 02:14:20 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 24, 2018, 07:25:12 am
Not being a very good troper i leave this to those who are.
How about the latest decision? I'd love if someone other than Glass spoke up.
Post by: Glass on January 24, 2018, 08:14:24 am
You gave us an opportunity to become not the bad guys and I will milk it for all it's worth, and I'm not letting you stop me with other tropes.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 24, 2018, 11:20:03 am
Post by: omada on January 24, 2018, 04:57:17 pm
done, i said
Just kidding i really don't know what to talk right now and I am just reading until my ideas come back
Post by: Glass on January 24, 2018, 05:20:33 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 24, 2018, 06:20:50 pm
Post by: Glass on January 24, 2018, 07:08:37 pm
E. Inform them that they are working out of their jurisdiction here, given we do not respect panhelbs authority in any capacity and that they should stay out of our way if they want to avoid the empire being torn aprt....
- That isn't E
- That's got even more potential for backlash than my action and less chance of the plot shifting its favor to us
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 24, 2018, 08:14:30 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 24, 2018, 08:26:23 pm
E. Inform them that they are working out of their jurisdiction here, given we do not respect panhelbs authority in any capacity and that they should stay out of our way if they want to avoid the empire being torn aprt....
- That isn't E
- That's got even more potential for backlash than my action and less chance of the plot shifting its favor to us
hence why only proffered it when begged for input.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 25, 2018, 11:03:07 am
I feel like giving Glass this chance was a bad, bad idea.
Post by: Glass on January 25, 2018, 11:44:02 am
Maybe a Conveniently Timed Distraction in the form of us Bothering by the Book allows the rebels to escape unnoticed.
Maybe we can give a Public Secret Message so the rebels can tell we're on their side while Padel thinks we're still at least kinda on his.
Anyone else got other ideas to this effect?
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 25, 2018, 08:42:13 pm
Also invoke Chandler's Law (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChandlersLaw) and have someone walk in with a gun
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 26, 2018, 12:14:04 pm
Omada and Roboson, you're tiebreak. We have cornered the rebels, but Padelheb is trying to take credit. You can pick:
Glass's plan: Turn to the rebels and help them instead.
KJP's plan: Find some excuse to get them away from here
Paxie's plan: Tell them off and refuse their help.
Post by: omada on January 26, 2018, 12:36:56 pm
kjp: bye reinforcements
paxie: fuck off
Why we are concentrating so much effort into destroying someone that will be destroyed by the fourth wall? damn, it's possible that the heroes might try to kill padel, and we can do a xanatos gambit from it padel wins the close fight= we enter and kill him because he is weakened, heroes win= they are weakened, we storm in and capture them and end this movie invoking the trope of Bolivian army ending (http://), the emperor get's mad and order us dead because we killed his advisor in front of him?= okay, we are on the righteous side of history and the fourth wall will help making Erin the emperor
really, just go with paxie's plan saying that foreign help might be prejudicial because they don't have terrain advantage, but just say that their help against the rebels in future situations after field training will be greatly appreciated (but put someone to watch them, they might try something tricky)
When we capture them or force them into negotiation tables we can make them follow our plan of "helping" the rebellion into defeating something worse than us "hey we give you weapon and equipment if you eliminate this target, if you win we help making some kind of monarchy get back and we use you to eliminate corruption before corruption eliminate us" and we try to make the xanatos gambit of it
I was also planning on just KILL THEM but whatever.
we need to invoke Murphy's bullet (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MurphysBullet) and More dakka (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoreDakka) often, it's just a way to make sure the heroes are hit
Post by: Glass on January 27, 2018, 10:12:43 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 29, 2018, 05:54:57 pm
“Yes, if he doesn’t want trouble, he should leave,” interrupts Fansworth. “Like you told Douem Pychim, right before you imprisoned him.”
“That was totally with cause-”
“I’ll see you about it later,” says Fansworth. “I have no love for politicians and bureaucrats, I’m just here to do my job. Besides, I have information that you don’t.”
“What is it, then?” asks Roboson.
“You’ll want to let me stay.”
“We’ll be the judge of that,” says Celling. “Out with it.”
Fansworth looks at him. “Goonswarm,” he says evenly.
Celling gapes before saying. “A fourth wall brea- I mean, what’s Goonswarm?”
“I found some additional data on this pier. Your records-officer was surprisingly open once I told him that Padelheb sent me,” Fansworth explains. “This pier has been linked to the activities of the Goonswarm Federation.”
“And that is?” Roboson demands.
“The largest smuggling, counterfeiting, and extortion ring this side of the Antarctic Circle,” Fansworth answers. “The arm of the Mittani is long. They’re expert spymasters. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of your men are on their payroll. Mine, on the other hand, are straight from Antarctica. You know nothing about the enemy here. I do. That's why you should let me help. I can trust my people. Can you trust yours?”
Your response?
Post by: Glass on January 29, 2018, 05:57:45 pm
Note: please other people also vote and give suggestions.
Post by: omada on January 29, 2018, 07:35:54 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 29, 2018, 10:45:46 pm
Post by: Glass on January 29, 2018, 10:55:06 pm
"Oh, the classic 'I'm not your biggest enemy tactic!' Did you really think we'd fall for it? Well, too bad, rebel scum!"Wait, we're accusing the Antarcticans of being rebels?
...while I can see this maybe working, I think I'd like to see some ideas first on how to get around the inevitable backdraft we'd get. What things could you think of to "prove" that they're rebels? If we can't do that, what's our Plausible Deniability? How do we get around the fact that they've got the first models of the government-produced masers? Etc.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on January 30, 2018, 09:02:51 am
"Oh, the classic 'I'm not your biggest enemy tactic!' Did you really think we'd fall for it? Well, too bad, rebel scum!"Wait, we're accusing the Antarcticans of being rebels?
...while I can see this maybe working, I think I'd like to see some ideas first on how to get around the inevitable backdraft we'd get. What things could you think of to "prove" that they're rebels? If we can't do that, what's our Plausible Deniability? How do we get around the fact that they've got the first models of the government-produced masers? Etc.
Maybe we could contact the king directly about pandelhelbs usurpation of power? If we could get another part of the government to recognize him as being rebellious that would greatly help our cause, no?
Post by: Glass on January 30, 2018, 09:32:25 am
..."Oh, the classic 'I'm not your biggest enemy tactic!' Did you really think we'd fall for it? Well, too bad, rebel scum!"Wait, we're accusing the Antarcticans of being rebels?
...while I can see this maybe working, I think I'd like to see some ideas first on how to get around the inevitable backdraft we'd get. What things could you think of to "prove" that they're rebels? If we can't do that, what's our Plausible Deniability? How do we get around the fact that they've got the first models of the government-produced masers? Etc.
Maybe we could contact the king directly about pandelhelbs usurpation of power? If we could get another part of the government to recognize him as being rebellious that would greatly help our cause, no?
Blue, how is the government structures and who fills each position, and what relationship did each of these people have with each other last we'd heard?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 02, 2018, 12:32:06 pm
King Karatstoz is quite reasonable, but getting old and no longer takes and active part in running his country. The most important appointed officers are the Prime Minister, General of the Army, and Guardian of the State. Padelheb is the GotS, the other two are reasonable but I haven't introduced them yet.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on February 02, 2018, 04:57:44 pm
There is a king, whose position is inherited, and he appoints various Heads and Ministers of various things. They, in turn, appoint various boards and subcomittees that run the government. The king has the final say in all things but usually leaves the day to day running of the country in the capable and reasonable hands of the bureaucracy. There are Barons and Earls, and they appoint similar governments that only have jurisdiction over particular areas.1. Introduce Miko to Karatstoz
King Karatstoz is quite reasonable, but getting old and no longer takes and active part in running his country. The most important appointed officers are the Prime Minister, General of the Army, and Guardian of the State. Padelheb is the GotS, the other two are reasonable but I haven't introduced them yet.
2. Chop choppity slice
3. ? ? ?
4. Success!
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 05, 2018, 03:43:39 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 05, 2018, 11:27:14 am
- I've been gone 3 days.
- I have been writing a new universe in my other forum game, Roll to dodge: Acter's Revenge (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169144.0)
- This is not dead.
Before Celling could answer, he sees something behind Fansworth. “David!” he shouts.
David Eborrenial is indeed running towards Celling. Over his shoulder, he carries a large, gray bar of metal. Behind him are a red-headed girl and a boy carrying a suitcase.
“Who’s this?” asks Fansworth.
“Future psychic. Don’t ask,” replies Roboson.
“David! Why are you-”
“Decided that I’d had enough of having to get a llama every time I had to communicate with the outside world,” he says. “I've wired up a telegraph to your base.”
“How did you find out where it is?” asks Roboson.
David sighs. “I'll give you three seconds to guess.”
He failed.
“Precognition. Dummy,” Eborrenial answers. “And who's this?” he continues, pointing at Fansworth.
Fansworth extends his hand. “Colonel Fansworth. The Guardian of the State sent me to-”
“Padelheb is a pompous self-centered bastard that won't think twice about screwing you over to further his own goals,” answers David flatly. “Also, you shouldn't be too hung up on your wife Johanna leaving you, she's been cheating with Tom Pylem for the last four months.”
Fansworth gapes. “How could you possibly know that?”
“I'll give you three seconds to guess,” replies David. “Also, this is Angela-” he pointed at the redhead behind him, “-and this is Carlos.”
“What's the stick for?” Roboson asks.
“Oh, that!” answers David. “I forgot to show you that while you were at my place. See, the founder of the Protinam also constructed the Pillar of Time, a twenty-foot pole of zinc-mercury alloy sheathed in petrified wood and emblazoned with electrum runes. It broadcasts a repeating psychic signal into the timestream, allowing us Visionaries to make predictions based off particular locations.”
“Oh… kay?” says Celling.
David Eborrenial hefts the pole of metal he's holding in front of him. “Well, I made a little version. The real thing isn't portable, you see. The shape of the mountain as a whole actually magnifies our abilities while we're in the temple thing, but having a point of reference in the vicinity should let me make predictions fast enough for you to adapt your tactics as needed.”
He pushed the pole to an upright position. “Any questions?”
Exactly 12 hours to post questions…
Post by: omada on February 05, 2018, 02:54:28 pm
or if in the 3 days span you all got notice of little finger sending false info to us
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on February 05, 2018, 03:14:35 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 05, 2018, 03:17:29 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 06, 2018, 12:26:56 pm
ask about how the goonswarm is going to interfere or not
or if in the 3 days span you all got notice of little finger sending false info to us
"Now, remember that due to the fact that Quill created so many timelines in Antarctica we can only tell you what Padelheb might do. And our powers are based off choice, so we only can gather information where our choices might have actual influence."
"With these restrictions, we've been able to find out that Padelheb did send someone to assist you and steal the credit. We can't rule out that he is lying but it's not likely. There are members of Goonswarm within your people and we can point out some, but not all of them. The most dangerous things Padelheb is doing at the moment are manipulating the captain of the guard through his wife and plotting to blow up a wing of the castle to kill a girl that rejected him."
"Will you die in the next few days? What about Padelheb?"
"Neither. People's deaths are hard to predict in general, but neither of us is in danger for the moment."
what pathogen that our scientists currently understand is most closely related to this new epidemic scale virus?
"Ebola."
"No, seriously. The symptoms are extremely similar to those of the hemorrhagic diseases documented in Africa, except it has no effect whatsoever on Antarcticans and it is airborne."
"And we've found that the initial outbreak will be centered on the battlecruiser SFN Pylos."
Post by: omada on February 06, 2018, 12:41:55 pm
2) holy fuck, blow a castle just to kill a girl?
3) "Any timeline we managed to blow the fucking ship and prevented the outbreak?
or just quarantine the ship and deal with it? or just captured patient zero and find a fucking cure? How many hours we have?"
4) "okay, we don't have too much time, goonswarm is going to be a problem to the operation or not?"
if yes, bring the credit stealer with us, later we convert him to our side, just ask if he thinks that his personal family problems and the revelation that was given to him right now might interfere with his work or if he is sure that he will remain professional here, later he can talk with us
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on February 06, 2018, 02:23:46 pm
1) *whisper* stay close, later you point us who is the fuckers who are sold+1
2) holy fuck, blow a castle just to kill a girl?
3) "Any timeline we managed to blow the fucking ship and prevented the outbreak?
or just quarantine the ship and deal with it? or just captured patient zero and find a fucking cure? How many hours we have?"
4) "okay, we don't have too much time, goonswarm is going to be a problem to the operation or not?"
if yes, bring the credit stealer with us, later we convert him to our side, just ask if he thinks that his personal family problems and the revelation that was given to him right now might interfere with his work or if he is sure that he will remain professional here, later he can talk with us
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 09, 2018, 11:16:19 am
David Eborrenial sighs. “Man, that Padelheb fellow sure is crazy, right? In any case, arresting them won't work.”
“Why?” asks Roboson.
“I mean, Goonswarm gives these things to their soldiers that spray poisonous darts. Flechette cannons, I think? And electrical weapons of course. The bottom line is that they can do a lot of damage if we try to grab them. If they think they've been found out, they're going to try and kill as many of our men as possible. And I know they'll succeed-”
“because you've seen it.” says Celling.
“Right on,” answers David. “I can see no way to grab them that doesn't end with a bunch of our people dead. And mind you, I can't even see all of them. Protinam abilities are decision based, as I've told you. I can tell that so and so will react violently to being accused of collaboration with Goonswarm. The ones that would keep their cool and maintain cover under such a situation? I can't even tell you who they are.”
“So what do we do?” demands Roboson.
“Just go into battle with them, I guess. I'll be able to stop them from betraying you and tell you when there's a chance of apprehending them. Also, there is no timeline in which you prevent the plague.”
“But we could just blow up the ship. We could find the first patient,” says Celling.
“But if that had any chance of success, I'd see a new timeline. I don't, which means that if you try then the plague will happen anyway.”
“Just how big of a problem will Goonswarm be?” asks Roboson.
“They run this dock and they are wary of the government. They will try to hinder you but maybe the rebels too. Now if there's no more questions, I'll cast the beacon device.”
Post by: Glass on February 09, 2018, 11:52:29 am
Post by: omada on February 09, 2018, 12:35:46 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 11, 2018, 01:36:13 pm
Post by: omada on February 11, 2018, 07:44:34 pm
poor boys always have a magical teleport to the gangster boss room
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 11, 2018, 08:18:11 pm
Post by: omada on February 11, 2018, 08:30:53 pm
my vote is: take padels man and make the docks a bloodbath
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on February 11, 2018, 09:27:42 pm
so, what do you think people?+1, sounds like a good idea
my vote is: take padels man and make the docks a bloodbath
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 11, 2018, 10:10:54 pm
so, what do you think people?+1, sounds like a good idea
my vote is: take padels man and make the docks a bloodbath
...so this is what you do when Glass goes on strike, eh?
Post by: Glass on February 11, 2018, 10:23:54 pm
Goddamnit guys this is not what I want for my birthday weekend.
This entire situation is not what I want for my birthday weekend.
Can we please find a way to not have every single faction decide that they hate our guts (and give the ones that already do additional ammunition)?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 11, 2018, 10:34:17 pm
Can we please find a way to not have every single faction decide that they hate our guts (and give the ones that already do additional ammunition)?
No.
As the GM, I hereby take the vote as-is.
You have been quickhammered (https://wiki.mafiascum.net/index.php?title=Quickhammer).
Post by: omada on February 11, 2018, 10:49:32 pm
plz, just voting to go into the docks to fight the rebels, and the first shoot from the criminals we yell "stay out of our way and we don't smash you"
but hey... got better idea (going to edit soon)
Ask our guy to point someone that is a scout and is in the pay list of the goonswarm, talk to him to deal with the goonswarm secretly just saying "The army don't want to deal with police's problems, only if we become a problem, stay out of the way or help to capture the rebels and they might just leave with their mission pointed as victory, hinder us and they will shoot back"
anyway take padel's men just in case...
If they attack us, blood bath, there will be goonswarm blood everywhere
and David can prevent our man from betraying us anyway
Congratulation glass
Post by: Glass on February 11, 2018, 11:00:04 pm
Quickhammering denied, this is not Mafia.Can we please find a way to not have every single faction decide that they hate our guts (and give the ones that already do additional ammunition)?
No.
As the GM, I hereby take the vote as-is.
You have been quickhammered (https://wiki.mafiascum.net/index.php?title=Quickhammer).
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 11, 2018, 11:28:48 pm
Post by: Glass on February 11, 2018, 11:32:59 pm
Can we just abbandon the current quest and join Magellan?The fact is that it seems inevitable to me that most of my favorite characters are so likely to die at this point that I just cannot be invested in them?Great job, Blue, you just caused Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarknessInducedAudienceApathy).
This is why I keep looking for a way out of the goddamned villain role.
EDIT: Oh, and look at this other applicable trope. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DevelopingDoomedCharacters)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 12, 2018, 08:26:23 am
Can we just abbandon the current quest and join Magellan?The fact is that it seems inevitable to me that most of my favorite characters are so likely to die at this point that I just cannot be invested in them?
Huh? Nobody we've named is dead for sure. Either way, you have plot armor as well. Celling isn't going to die, it's the rest of the Republic that has to watch out.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 12, 2018, 08:35:24 am
Great job, Blue, you just caused Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarknessInducedAudienceApathy).
And I'm already planning to introduce a gateway to the Game of Thrones 'verse!
Enjoy!
Post by: Glass on February 12, 2018, 10:07:25 am
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 12, 2018, 10:58:34 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 12, 2018, 11:26:29 am
It's mostly how seemingly unstoppable the plague is that is doing it to me.
Don't worry, it's stoppable.
At least I think it is I haven't planned that far into the future.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 12, 2018, 10:59:57 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 12, 2018, 11:03:20 pm
Also, I really don't care about wenton ceiling anymore or any of these new characters. Elrin Quilt [Tired of using a name that was clearly stolen just for the laughs]Jacob eldin and the Amazing Parrot are the only reasons I still care. Ehh the ride was fun for a while though I will admit that.
- I didn't steal the name. Glass had me use it.
- Suddenly, the amazing parrot drops out of the sky!
(I swear that's not just an attention grab. It was going to happen anyway.)
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 12, 2018, 11:40:55 pm
Post by: Glass on February 12, 2018, 11:47:55 pm
I didn't realize there were any real people with that name. Huh.
Also, is Erin a girl's name? I didn't think it was, but other than my own character, I've only ever seen female Erins in fiction (and none in real life :p).
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 12, 2018, 11:48:59 pm
{glass stole the nAme not you or at least I thought he had} ......given the real person is a woman I take that back. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1902987/ huh.
I noticed that Erin Quill was a real person a while back. I assumed coincidence.
Unless glass is that fat old lady that is.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 12, 2018, 11:53:08 pm
...
MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE? (link appropriate tropes please)
Post by: Glass on February 12, 2018, 11:55:31 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 12, 2018, 11:57:08 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
...this for the fat old lady or the Cerberus Syndrome?
Post by: Glass on February 12, 2018, 11:57:55 pm
Good night.
Post by: Maximum Spin on February 13, 2018, 07:04:54 am
Also, is Erin a girl's name? I didn't think it was, but other than my own character, I've only ever seen female Erins in fiction (and none in real life :p).Yes. It's occasionally used for men but much more often for women.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 13, 2018, 08:30:15 am
One of the people next to him throws him a briefcase. He opens it and unfolds a large blue tarp.
"What's that for?" asks Celling.
"Magic trick," David answers cryptically. He swings the tarp through the air by one corner.
The amazing parrot, along with Omada and a table, come crashing down upon him.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 13, 2018, 08:42:38 am
Cut to Erin Quill sitting in a cell.
"Erin."
Quill is sitting in his chair, trying to sleep.
"Erin Quill," the voice says again. "How did you get a chair in here?"
"Hammerspace," he answers. Slowly he opens his eyes. "What do you want, Padelheb?"
Sir Tyro Padelheb stands just outside his cell door, customary smirk still upon his face. "I realize that we've had our differences, but I also realize that you'll do what's best for the people of this country."
"Cut to the chase, Littlefinger," Quill growls.
Littlefinger continues to smile. "The wormhole is destabilized."
Quill shot bolt upright.
"And I know that you'll help me, because you're a good person," Padelheb continues. "So predictable..."
Your response?
Post by: Glass on February 13, 2018, 09:09:08 am
Repair it. I'm not partial to being spagettified by a black hole, or having the rest of the city/continent/planet spagetified as well.
Post by: Maximum Spin on February 13, 2018, 09:11:16 am
"Naaaaaaaah. Not unless you give me something in return."
Post by: Glass on February 13, 2018, 09:15:37 am
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 13, 2018, 09:53:41 am
...actually, let's get proof that it's destabilized first. We don't have anything more than Padel's smug word, and I don't place much value on that.+1.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 13, 2018, 01:58:07 pm
>:( Padelheb you fucker.
Repair it. I'm not partial to being spagettified by a black hole, or having the rest of the city/continent/planet spagetified as well.
...I think I actually spent some time explaining that it won't create a big sucking black hole, it'll just nuke the city and sterilize the continent.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on February 13, 2018, 02:29:14 pm
+1...actually, let's get proof that it's destabilized first. We don't have anything more than Padel's smug word, and I don't place much value on that.+1.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 13, 2018, 07:27:03 pm
+1...actually, let's get proof that it's destabilized first. We don't have anything more than Padel's smug word, and I don't place much value on that.+1.
Fluff writing has begun.
Post by: Glass on February 13, 2018, 07:39:58 pm
Antarctica is, at this time, likely the most populous location on the planet due to the fact that we're at relatively modern tech while everyone else is only starting the renessiance. Black hole or not, nearly half the world population might die if the wormhole explodes. Additionally, since the city is not situated at the South Pole, yet the damage would cover all of the continent, it must extend to some other continent as well, either the southern sections of South America or Africa or something like half of Australia.>:( Padelheb you fucker.
Repair it. I'm not partial to being spagettified by a black hole, or having the rest of the city/continent/planet spagetified as well.
...I think I actually spent some time explaining that it won't create a big sucking black hole, it'll just nuke the city and sterilize the continent.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 14, 2018, 08:55:30 am
Antarctica is, at this time, likely the most populous location on the planet due to the fact that we're at relatively modern tech while everyone else is only starting the renessiance. Black hole or not, nearly half the world population might die if the wormhole explodes. Additionally, since the city is not situated at the South Pole, yet the damage would cover all of the continent, it must extend to some other continent as well, either the southern sections of South America or Africa or something like half of Australia.>:( Padelheb you fucker.
Repair it. I'm not partial to being spagettified by a black hole, or having the rest of the city/continent/planet spagetified as well.
...I think I actually spent some time explaining that it won't create a big sucking black hole, it'll just nuke the city and sterilize the continent.
Oh I'm just pointing out that it's not a black hole issue. I am aware that it's actually worse.
Post by: Glass on February 14, 2018, 09:17:28 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 14, 2018, 09:50:15 am
*facepalm*
Also, happy birthday.
I got you an insurrection!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 14, 2018, 12:11:11 pm
Padelheb chuckled and unlocked the door. “Come on out, Erin.”
There are two guards with guns to either side of him.
Next?
Post by: Glass on February 14, 2018, 01:03:47 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 14, 2018, 01:10:16 pm
That's not an answer.
Well, Padelheb's an ass.
Post by: Glass on February 14, 2018, 01:13:34 pm
Can it penetrate the hammerspace/realspace divide?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 14, 2018, 01:16:10 pm
Can the explosion affect people that are in hammerspace?
Can it penetrate the hammerspace/realspace divide?
...no. A singularity decay is 100% normal, real-space radiation; Hammerspace is safe.
...don't tell me you're thinking of leaving the sinking 'verse...
Post by: Glass on February 14, 2018, 01:47:25 pm
Mind you, abandon ship is not a terrible idea in the current situation. "Sinking 'verse" is an apt descriptor.
EDIT: ooh, if we left, maybe we could relocate to Middle Earth post-Lord of the Rings! There must be a ton of unemployed orcs that would be perfect for blue-collar work.
("Emperor? No, I'm just the CEO.")
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 14, 2018, 02:23:17 pm
No. Well, it was the first idea, but not the current one. I'm thinking of shoving the wormhole into hammerspace.
Mind you, abandon ship is not a terrible idea in the current situation. "Sinking 'verse" is an apt descriptor.
EDIT: ooh, if we left, maybe we could relocate to Middle Earth post-Lord of the Rings! There must be a ton of unemployed orcs that would be perfect for blue-collar work.
("Emperor? No, I'm just the CEO.")
Let me remind you that there are around 2 million people within the blast radius right now and you should decide whether you follow Padelheb or Kirk Summation him or knee him in the groin or whatever.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 15, 2018, 08:36:08 am
EDIT: ooh, if we left, maybe we could relocate to Middle Earth post-Lord of the Rings! There must be a ton of unemployed orcs that would be perfect for blue-collar work.
("Emperor? No, I'm just the CEO.")
Erin Quill would probably reverse-engineer the Palantir and get a bunch of rope and winches and unsink Numenor or something.
Post by: Glass on February 15, 2018, 09:47:31 am
you should decide whether you follow Padelheb or Kirk Summation him or knee him in the groin or whatever.I say we let Erin use his best judgement here. That said, if we could shove Padel into Hammerspace...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 15, 2018, 03:55:14 pm
you should decide whether you follow Padelheb or Kirk Summation him or knee him in the groin or whatever.I say we let Erin use his best judgement here. That said, if we could shove Padel into Hammerspace...
...then throw the destabilizing wormhole after him...
Post by: Glass on February 15, 2018, 05:22:31 pm
EDIT: if questioned, we can chalk it up to transdimensional fluctuations as a result of the wormhole's temporary instability. Or whatever other technobabble Erin chooses to confuse people with.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 15, 2018, 10:26:06 pm
So why isn't Erin doing this yet?
EDIT: if questioned, we can chalk it up to transdimensional fluctuations as a result of the wormhole's temporary instability. Or whatever other technobabble Erin chooses to confuse people with.
Because Erin can't hammerspace.
Only the parrot can.
"But wait, Blue," you say, "Didn't he pull the chair out of Hammerspace?" Yes. He can pull things out of Hammerspace, forming them from pure narrativium, but he can't send things in.
And even the chair was in an area of high suspension-of-disbelief, he was in a cell alone and the narrative eye was not on him for days on end.
Post by: Glass on February 15, 2018, 10:28:04 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 15, 2018, 10:48:30 pm
So why isn't he doing it anyway? You've said before that you'd really like to get rid of Padel for being too much of a Big Bad and shoving our guys out of the "Main Antagonist" spot...
...and I have also said that I do not want Erin Quill getting strange and exceptional powers.
Stop railroading the gm.
Post by: Glass on February 15, 2018, 11:26:54 pm
It's not strange and exceptional powers. It's just abuse of preexisting mechanics.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 19, 2018, 08:23:16 pm
David Eborrenial points out a man as a Goonswarm agent. “That’s who you want if you want to contact them. Deitri Mynt.”
(I’m still going with homophonic names! Deitri Mynt = Detriment.)
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Celling walks up to Deitri Mynt. “We know about Goonswarm,” he says.
Mr. Mynt looks up in shock. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“We know you’re in their pay,” says Celling. “We want to bargain. The rebels located on this dock, in exchange for the government turning a blind eye to their activities.”
Deitri looks up suspiciously. “If you have some cause for these accusations-”
“We don’t want to arrest you. But if you put us in touch with those higher up, you’ll be remembered as the person that let Goonswarm take official control of this entire patch of coast.”
Deitri glances around furtively, then hands Celling a radio and walks away.
Fansworth (Credit-stealer) sees and runs up. “What did you just do?” he asks.
Your response?
A: “Nothing much. Just discussing the upcoming mission”
B: “Attempting to negotiate with Goonswarm.”
C: “He seems to be a spy. I confronted him about his actions.”
D: “Forget him. Are you sure you're fit for duty after what David Eborennial told you about your family?”
E: Something else…
Post by: Glass on February 19, 2018, 08:32:51 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 21, 2018, 03:13:54 pm
...actually, let's get proof that it's destabilized first. We don't have anything more than Padel's smug word, and I don't place much value on that.+1.
200+
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 21, 2018, 03:15:45 pm
you should decide whether you follow Padelheb or Kirk Summation him or knee him in the groin or whatever.I say we let Erin use his best judgement here. That said, if we could shove Padel into Hammerspace...
...then throw the destabilizing wormhole after him...
again this is a very good idea.
Post by: Glass on February 21, 2018, 03:17:13 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 21, 2018, 03:20:15 pm
Post by: Glass on February 21, 2018, 03:40:35 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 21, 2018, 04:47:30 pm
That is also not the current issue. We're in a military situation here, Paxie. On the trail of the rebels. Just got Goonswarm off our ass, and Padel's man wants to stick his nose in our business.
He is completely incorrect! I am totally not trying to sow discord amongst my players because I'm a terrible GM!
Post by: Glass on February 21, 2018, 06:18:19 pm
Post by: omada on February 21, 2018, 07:18:31 pm
E ) "Here we are making some political malabarism to catch the rebels using the minimum amount of time so we return to some more dangerous stuff later, but, forget this, Are you sure you're fit for duty after what David Eborennial told you about your family?"
and press him a bit on this and make some technical question about number of troops that he is bringing, time they were trained and if they are suitable to urban warfare
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 22, 2018, 10:21:33 am
Cue Fallacy wandering in to tie break.
Post by: Glass on February 22, 2018, 10:54:41 am
In the meantime... *pokes everyone toward helping to summon Acter* (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169617.new#new)
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 22, 2018, 01:00:27 pm
Cue Fallacy wandering in to tie break.
DYNAMIC ENTRY! Swings into voting room through window.
C.
Post by: Glass on February 22, 2018, 01:05:14 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 22, 2018, 01:06:14 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 22, 2018, 02:24:50 pm
Post by: Glass on February 22, 2018, 03:24:23 pm
Any possibility we could just let Celling do what he thinks is appropriate, taking our suggestions into account?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 22, 2018, 06:39:49 pm
*facepalm*
Any possibility we could just let Celling do what he thinks is appropriate, taking our suggestions into account?
This is a SG, although a highly meta one, so I'm loathe to just write stuff without your suggestions. If someone doesn't change, I'm rolling a dice.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 25, 2018, 01:59:01 pm
From Glass: Say that we’ve gathered intelligence on Goonswarm and tell Fansworth not to intervene.
From Paxie: Say that we just saved them and we have more important things to do.
From Omada: Say that we’re trying to get this over with and question Fansworth’s ability to help
From Fallacy: Baseline C, just say that we found a spy.
I will now roll a
3
Well, we’re taking Omada’s suggestion.
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on February 27, 2018, 01:07:30 pm
Post by: omada on February 27, 2018, 01:08:35 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 05, 2018, 09:01:44 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 05, 2018, 09:13:01 am
Quill and Padelheb walk in silence back to Quill's old wormhole lab.
They round a final bend and walk through an open door to see a long-haired woman in a red lab coat already working at the circular control console of the wormhole stabilizer.
Quill recognized her and is surprised. “What - why are you here?”
The woman turns around. “Erin Quill?” She whirls upon Padelheb. “I told you not to let him out! I can handle this!”
“Oh, you're taking your security advice from her?” Quill scoffs.
“You know her?” Padelheb asks.
“Yeah, I do,” says Quill sardonically. “Mira Kaethalyn. So you work for this git now, don’t you? What are you actually doing? Get away from that control panel. You’re going to mess something up.”
Quill moves to the control console and pushes Mira away. She stands off to the side. “Just as I remember you, Erin,” she says. “Arrogant as ever.”
Quill sighs, hands moving over the keyboards and switches. “That’s for a good reason. When other people mess with my stuff, bad things tend to happen.”
“Just the same. You’ll eventually have to admit that other people can have good ideas too, you know,” Mira shoots back.
“We’ll see about that!” growls Quill. He reaches down under the panel and hits a button. The panel lights up as screens come on and buttons begin to glow.
“How did you do that?” asks Mira, surprised. “We’ve been trying to get that to work for hours!”
“Hidden fingerprint scanner under the panel,” Erin Quill replies. “And don’t starting thinking of cutting my fingers off, I didn’t tell you which finger you have to cut off. Now what in the name of Acter is going on here?”
He turns on a screen, which displays a warning in big letters: WARNING: CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS FAILING: 2HR 32MINS
“Now, just what did you do to this thing?” Quill asks.
Padelheb shoots a look at Mira. “Mira, don’t-”
Mira ignores him. “I modulated the power input to change the settings on the regulation module.”
Quill slams his fists on the panel and whirls around. “You did-”
“It worked, Quill! You can't deny that it worked!”
“Hell yes it worked,” says Quill, glaring daggers at Mira. “Of course it worked. It also pushes the wormhole to the very edge of it's operating envelope.”
“Well, if someone hadn't built in so many layers of security into his system we wouldn't have had to do this!” retorts Mira.
“That regulator was designed to prevent voltage fluctuations from de-powering the containment generators which, let me remind you, will cause the absolute destruction of all life on this continent when they break!” Quill shouts. “It’s situations like this that make me regret forming all those rules to disallow having people shot for incompetence! Oh wait,” he continues, pulling out a revolver from a hidden compartment. “I never did get around to making those rules! Now shut up while I undo all the dumb that you just did!”
“Just trying my hand at a bit of counterespionage,” Celling reassures Fansworth.
Fansworth is not reassured. “You tipped him off? Now the superiors will know!”
“Don’t worry,” Celling answers. “We have him under surveillance. But forget that. Are you sure that you are fit for duty after what David told you about your family?”
Fansworth straightens up and glares at Celling. “I have no idea who he is or what he thinks he’s going to accomplish. But I’ll be damned before I abandon my duty on the word of a-”
“She’d still be alive if it wasn’t for you,” David calls from several meters away.
Fansworth whirls around to look at him.
“Sorry. That wasn't an actual future prediction, just a shot in the psychological dark.” David leans against a nearby boulder. “If I was being specific for you, I’d also mention that it was around four years ago, when you overlooked a bit of something that caught your eye, and then-”
“How do you know this about me?” Fansworth demands. “Have you been studying my past?”
“Close. I’ve been studying your future,” David Eborrenial answers.
Fansworth glances at him suspiciously, then turns around and furiously marches off.
Celling walks up to David’s rock. “Wow. How’d you do that? I thought you don’t have perfect knowledge of the past.”
David looks up at him. “I can peek into the future where I say each thing and just read their reaction. If it’s wrong, they are just totally baffled. That, combined with a judicious amount of educated guessing, means that I can pull out some really scary things.” He leaned back and patted the rock he was sitting on. “This is a real nice piece of granite. Can I have it airlifted back to the mountain?”
Strategist Roboson walks over as well. “Why are you suggesting we airlift a rock?”
Eborrenial turns to him. “Its density and shape resonate in the psychic spectra I use to see the future. Some rocks do. I don’t know why. It probably contains a geode. In short, stuff you don’t get.” He stands back up. “Angela, chalk?”
The girl that came with him throws him a piece of blue chalk. He uses it to draw a large circle on the pavement and then a small five-point star inside. “Lithium?”
The man throws a small vial at him. He catches it, turns it over, and dumps the silvery metal on the ground. He then picks up his staff - which he’d leaned against a nearby tree - and holds it over the star.
“Statim Ferociter Danaan Abest QUOQUE Hespersus!” he shouts. As he chants golden symbols appear on the staff, simmering beams of light streaking out of them. He slams the staff down on the pavement and a set of quivering runes appears on the ground, like waves in a pond. David flips over the staff.
Roboson takes notice. “What the-”
“Dakara Oberoth Eschaton El ETIAM Kairos Papyrus!” David continues. His voice takes on an unearthly quality as wind begins to blow and mist rises from the ground. He slams the staff on the ground and flips it over again. Once more blue symbols appear for an instant, this time arranged clearly into two rotating rings.
“Astartes Domus Clavis DODEKA Akallabeth Cenaster Grimmer Palantir!” he chants. He brings the staff down, causing three counter-rotating rings of light to form, then lets it go. The staff rotates in midair as smoke covers the ground and David rises in the air, coat flapping in the wind, eyes shimmering with power. “I AM DAVID EBORRENIAL, LEADER OF THE PROTINAM, HIGH VISIONARY!” he shouts. The smoke rises and a bone-chilling tone rings ou, growing in intensity. David turns his head to the skies, eyes visible as pinpricks of light in a dark silouette. “THE MYSTERIES OF TIME AND THE MASTERY OF THE FUTURE ARE MINE! I CALL UPON THE ONE BEYOND THE END TO REVEAL THE FATE OF THE WORLDS TO-”
“That’s quite enough wind,” says Angela. The piercing tone stops. David falls like a stone out of the sky. The smoke and the symbols fade, leaving the staff rotating slowly around its axis in midair.
“Aw god, these contacts hurt!” says David, rubbing his eyes.
“Wait wait wait,” says Celling. “This whole thing was-”
“Fake? Oh, yeah. Using Protinam powers doesn’t make your eyes glow. I put on reflective contacts and then snuck in a light somewhere back there.”
“And the smoke?” asks Roboson.
“Dry-ice based fog machines stuck into the brush and a box fan inside the nearest building.”
“But the floating?” presses Celling. “That can’t be done with smoke and mirrors.”
David lifts a ornamented metal necklace from inside his shirt. “Andantesite cabochon in the amulet. Making it into a circular shape diffused the gamma laser light enough that a good deal of lead shielding could take it down to non-harmful levels. Lets me fly for short periods.”
“Wait, so that was all for show?” Celling demands.
David gestures at the staff spinning placidly in its circle. Every now and then there is a click and a symbol appears on its surface, as if drawn in molten gold. “All that was really needed to cast that was the chanting. Everything else is just me being dramatic. Now get me a lawn chair and a pina colada, cause we’re in for the long run.”
Effect of David Eborrenial: Combat Clairvoyance
You can reroll any dice.
No exceptions. No limits. Every dice. (If I roll two or more to determine an action, you have to roll both as one.)
You can only reroll it once and you don’t take better of two, so be careful about how you use this.
To start, here are your options as to how to attack the dock.
A: Set up a presence on the only way out from the dock; wait for them to come out. Possibility of reinforcements, and lying in wait is always better, but they may find another way out in the meantime.
B: Discreetly do recon on the dock under the pretense of a regular inspection or something. We might get some information on where the rebels are, but we will be disorganized and unprepared for combat.
C: Just shout that we have them surrounded and go through each house one by one. This is the most efficient and fastest way to do this and probably leads to the fewest people getting hurt, but it instantly lets them know that we’re there as well as triggering all manner of chase tropes.
D: Have forces go onto the dock and directly set up guard around the several ships that are parked at the end. This instantly and completely nihls out the chance of them stealing one, but leaves our troops in a rather vulnerable position to organized resistance
E: The exact opposite. Aim to force them onto the ships and then just have a few torpedo boats sitting by to sink whichever one they pick. This is a really audacious plan and it’s going to be tough explaining how you know they’ll pick a ship. It might not even work.
F: Something else. We are currently out of contact with Goonswarm, so don’t try that.
Post by: omada on March 05, 2018, 10:29:10 am
How will be tough to explain that we knew that it was a possibility of terrorists stealing a ship to escape?
everything might not work, but to defeat them we need something that won't kill them outright, exploding boats always lead to scenes with one or two rebels captured someone unimportant dying and someone being rescued by a fisherman miles away
maybe we don't need even torpedos, just that the boats are Made of explodium (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MadeOfExplodium)
okay:
two of the first tropes glass suggested is mandatory
the rest is pretty good indeed as heroes have plot armor but not exactly or always plot mind defense
Tropes we need:
- The Bad Guy Wins
- Invincible Villain
Tropes that may be useful:
- Visionary Villain
- And Then What?/Armor-Piercing Question [in regards to "what do you think is going to happen when you're done?"]
- Villains Never Lie
- Break Them by Talking
- Face-Heel Turn [for certain values of face and heel]
EDIT: Additionally:
- Villain Has a Point
- More Than Mind Control
I say we get
-The Bad Guy Wins, passive (or setting?)
-Invincible Villain, passive (or setting?)
and this combo
-More dakka weapon
-murphy bullets weapon (aim at the boat using more dakka to increase chance of hitting heroes)
-made of explodium,background?active? this has HIGH failing potential if it wasn't our first two tropes (failed to not hit the boat and hurt the heroes? really hitted the boat? let's make it explode and increase lethality
It will still leave space for 1 trope somewhere
-xanathos gambit trope?
heroes:
-escape on terrain and every causality will be your fault, and goonswarm will have marked you as the responsible to attracting the government, life will be harder
-succumb and we win
-use boat and get shot
-use boat and explode
-use boat and escape (terrorists stole boats, incredible footage from the chase of our heroic officers)
-ask for help to goonswarm and goonswarm give them to us
-ask for help and goonswarm protect them, the docks are made of explodium and the villian has two invencible tropes at our side, plus badder guys will make their bullets miss us, and joining them has a chance of making the public less "sympathetic" to the heroes lowering their plot armor (unless hero is a anti-hero all along or some han solo style)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 05, 2018, 01:40:22 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 06, 2018, 09:46:37 am
Post by: Glass on March 06, 2018, 10:16:58 am
My only issue is the possibility that Padel hijacks some of our villain tropes and just fucks us all over... but in that case, the "heroes" still lose, so the story as a whole is just broken to pieces from there and we'll have the opportunity to pick up a new role among the remaining shattered pieces.
Post by: omada on March 06, 2018, 11:56:45 am
*shrug*
My only issue is the possibility that Padel hijacks some of our villain tropes and just fucks us all over... but in that case, the "heroes" still lose, so the story as a whole is just broken to pieces from there and we'll have the opportunity to pick up a new role among the remaining shattered pieces.
And the villlian winner trope will only last on this fight, he will not have how to do much
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 08, 2018, 08:27:08 am
Post by: omada on March 08, 2018, 10:07:51 am
2. Quoque etiam dodeka together translated to "also even dodeker" do we have any dodeker in the game? this name means
separated it translated
quoque ="also"
Etiam = "yes" "furthermore"
dodeka ="addiction" or "while"
If you had secret meanings in this, i lost
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 08, 2018, 12:05:45 pm
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on March 08, 2018, 10:37:44 pm
Post by: Glass on March 08, 2018, 10:41:33 pm
I've been heavily distracted from this with schoolIt's the same here. I was up until 2 last night working on a research paper draft. :/
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 08, 2018, 11:05:35 pm
Tropes are numbered from 1 to 6, top to bottom, left to right, on that pyramid diagram. Please note where you would like each trope.
1: Passive only
2: Anything but Weapon
3: Anything but Setting
4: Setting or Active
5: Anything but Passive
6: Weapon or Active
We’ll roll charging the boats.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Celling points out to Fansworth that the boats are the only way off the dock, besides the entrance, which they have blockaded.
They head across the dock to the boats berthed on the other end when suddenly men jump out at them and start shooting! The Goonswarm forces seem to be attacking with some kind of rapid-firing weapon that launches poison darts.
Celling’s forces move to take cover in the storefronts and various equipment lining the dock, but they then see three figures, matching the descriptions of Jacob Eldin and Anna Drimoxi, as well as some other girl, darting out behind them.
At this point it pays to explain
What do you do?
A: Continue as it is. Take cover and engage Goonswarm seeking to minimize losses. This will lead to the fewest casualties, but the rebels will leave and the fight will last longer, meaning that more unpredictable factors will come into play.
B: Disengage with Goonswarm and run after the rebels. Goonswarm may inflict losses while you retreat, but you are likely to engage the rebels with significant force.
C: Charge and seek to end this engagement quickly by firing in the open. This will end it faster, likely in time to chase the rebels. but has a greater chance of inflicting casualties.
D: Call in airstrike. Have the naval destroyers stationed down the coast fire a missile at the dock, blowing it up rebels and all. Tests the limits of plot-armor and is likely to take out ALL the Goonswarm, but causes massive collateral damage and may kill Celling and other named characters if they can’t get out fast enough
Δ: Use Eborrenial’s powers to avert this roll. It may get worse though.
E: Something else…
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on March 08, 2018, 11:06:26 pm
Post by: Glass on March 08, 2018, 11:08:22 pm
Additionally... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAv0HzTrMTE) (this has nothing to do with anything other than potential action sequence music)
EDIT: Additionally additionally...
Try to tear us down
We’ll rise back up
We’re higher now
Your will, your weapon’s not enough
We stand as one
Prepare to fall
Yeah you can try but you
You can’t break through this wall
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdDUEHajVH0)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 09, 2018, 09:00:35 am
Post by: Glass on March 09, 2018, 09:28:40 am
Catching the rebels and getting this damned plot line done with is top priority. B.
Post by: omada on March 09, 2018, 11:33:52 am
Post by: Glass on March 09, 2018, 11:55:59 am
Our average roll for 2d7+1 is 8; we rolled a 6. Notice, one of our rolls was a 1.
I think it may be worth it to try rerolling this. So long as we get even 1 more point than we did on this roll, we'll have a better result.
I'd like unanimous agreement on this before we do it, though.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 09, 2018, 12:57:50 pm
I'd like unanimous agreement on this before we do it, though.
But you don't always get what you want.
Can I get a +1?
Post by: omada on March 09, 2018, 10:45:35 pm
but there is still a big chance of it screwing it further
fuck it
I AM BEING TO CAUTIONS
REROLL AND TRUST THE CHAOS OF RNG
+1 TO GLASS
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 09, 2018, 11:06:13 pm
hmm, our minimum is 3, it can also give us problems, but it's unlikely that we roll 1 two times,
but there is still a big chance of it screwing it further
fuck it
I AM BEING TO CAUTIONS
REROLL AND TRUST THE CHAOS OF RNG
+1 TO GLASS
You got double fives.
Post by: omada on March 09, 2018, 11:11:44 pm
hmm, our minimum is 3, it can also give us problems, but it's unlikely that we roll 1 two times,
but there is still a big chance of it screwing it further
fuck it
I AM BEING TO CAUTIONS
REROLL AND TRUST THE CHAOS OF RNG
+1 TO GLASS
You got double fives.
That is the moment when you just say "I'M KIDDING SUCKERS" and show us an horrible result?
Post by: Glass on March 09, 2018, 11:11:54 pm
:Dhmm, our minimum is 3, it can also give us problems, but it's unlikely that we roll 1 two times,
but there is still a big chance of it screwing it further
fuck it
I AM BEING TO CAUTIONS
REROLL AND TRUST THE CHAOS OF RNG
+1 TO GLASS
You got double fives.
WE HAZ TEH BOTES
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 09, 2018, 11:24:38 pm
hmm, our minimum is 3, it can also give us problems, but it's unlikely that we roll 1 two times,
but there is still a big chance of it screwing it further
fuck it
I AM BEING TO CAUTIONS
REROLL AND TRUST THE CHAOS OF RNG
+1 TO GLASS
You got double fives.
That is the moment when you just say "I'M KIDDING SUCKERS" and show us an horrible result?
No. The moment I read your post I ran to Random.org and rolled two d7s. I posted this so I don't forget.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 11, 2018, 08:32:23 am
The following was supposed to be one post, but got broken up because there's apparently a character limit on the forums and I used a LOT of glitch text.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 11, 2018, 08:50:44 am
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 11, 2018, 08:51:46 am
Celling points out to Fansworth that the boats are the only way off the dock, besides the entrance, which they have blockaded.
Ţ̸͚̙̖͇̪̩̬̅͂̿̃̈̅̀̋̾̍̈́̋͌̑̈͌͛̎̌́̄̆̀̽̚͝͠͝h̷̨̢͉̙̙̖̻͈͕̻̗̜̱̤̭̖̬͎͇͐ę̵̢̨̣̳͈͉͇͖̪͖̬̖̙̖̮͓͔̮̗͓͕͉̺̦̹̔̽̃͗͒̈̉̈́̿̒̇͒̅̅͘͝ͅy̵̡̨̛̱͔͙͋̓̄̋̈́̆̿͋̌̔̎̾̃͗̆͆͆̄͋͂̈́̊̃̚̕ ̷̡̡̙̝̙͚̥̺̤̫̰̖̳͎͙͙͎̠̪͔̩̠͓͕̰̜̯̺̝̺͕̩̘̭̫͗̀̓̑̒̽̐̇͛̃͘̚̕͘ͅͅḧ̵̡̡̨̨̨̙͎͍͖̲͙̟̦͚̙͖͙̱͓̫̩͓͚̭͚̟̥̺̰̱̪̜̱̠̒̌̆̇̇̓̈͋̎̀̆̕͜ͅe̶̼͈̫̠̟͙͈̮̟̘̥̥̼̎̇͗̾́̄̆͑́̒̆͌ȁ̵̧̧̺̝̮̲̤͈͓̺͚̬͕͈̲̜̘̞̙̲̥̮͜d̸̢̨̛̘̯̻̯̬̖̖̭́̇͊̇̒͐̌̆͋̓̈́͐́͊̔͊̆͊͂̇̋͂͌̈̆̋̀͐̏̚͘͘͝͝ͅͅ ̴͓̻͚͈͍͙͍̝͛̑̿̔̓̑̑̎̋̍̉̿̏̿̑͘̕ä̶̢̡̨̨̛̖̝̭̭̦͉̳͔̺̻̖̻͍̺̣̳̮̲͔͇͎̪́̈́̓̀̉͐̆͑̽̈́̓͛̀̅͗̒̑͑ç̵̡̧̛͈͎̤̫͖̙̹͈̻̪͓̲̲̪̥̫̟̭͍̟̞̙̠͎͇̉̊̈́̔̑̀̈́̐̊̒̂̐͆̔̋̐̃̕͝͝ͅͅŗ̷̢̨̰͉̠̭̭̮̻̝͉͍̣̯͔̼̱͙̥̜̜̫̤̼̘̻̬̇̂̏͋̊͒̐̃͐̽͋̅̓͌̊̎̓̅̀̀̎͋̉́̔̽̆̒͘̕͜͜͜͜͝͝͝ͅͅơ̵̢̡̨̱͈̱̹̥̦͓̝̱̪̝̝̫̭͉̳̼̾͊̈͗͐̌͋̓̏̄͊́̀͆̍͐͒͗́̀̈́͑͂͋̂͘̕̚̚͝͝ͅs̸̹̤̟̹̣̳͈͍͎̤͔̱̥̪̜͓͓̞̩͈̖̗͉͕̥̲̟̰̅̆͆̐̉̍̈́̋̀̍͂̋́͜͝͝ͅͅs̷̝̹̱͚̖̬͚̬̖̝̥̑̀̌̈́̈́̎̆̅͗̀͋̃͑̋̒́͘̚͝ ̷̢̢͖̬͔͓̘͎̝̬̥̣̦͚̘̻͇̱̘͛̇̕ͅṱ̸̢̢̛̻̗̦̳͎̰͇̩̥͖̣̘͓͐́̃͋̾̂̿̿̎̀͊̚͝͠h̷͙͈͇͔̙̲͖̘͉̙̗̣̫̥̻̊̋̓̄͐͐̌̈́̌͛̑͂́̋̅̅̈́̑̑̐̾̎͋͂͑͐͘̚͜͜͝͠͠͠͝ȩ̴̦̣̥̹̞̭̀̊̒͒̊̔̀͐͑̈́̓̅̚͠ ̷̧̨̨̧̗͈̖͙̱͍̠͎̙̰̖̗̮̗͉͎͎̜̦͈͙͎̖͎͉̜̳̗̮̒͆̿̓͛̃̀̀͠d̷̡̛̛̮̹̲̞͇̪̣̣͈̤͎̤̬̑̄̓̍͌̔̊̆͊͆̿̚͝ͅͅỏ̵̡̨̡̡̡̫̬̳̣̘͖̫͍̩̜͕̲͔͔̦͚̫̜͈͕̖͔͓͎̘͍̹̼̝̱͍̬͌̒̌̌͛́̿͋̂͌̔̈́̃̆̇́̅̐̽̔̽͑̓͗̈́̂̂̅̈́̒͑̌̚͝c̵̨̛̛͚͕͔̘̗̮͕͍̙̤̭͍̰̦͖̻̩̤͕̠͚͙͚̼̯̰̞̻̩̫͐̂̋͛͗͑̀̏̀̒̎̈́͊̃̓͊̿̒̀̕͘̕k̴̡̨̼̻̫͉̹̖̮͍̟̺̲͉̠͕̭̳̠͛͊̆́̒̔̾͋̓̏̈̆͋̔͐̍̉̈͑̅̐̄̈́̊̀̽̀̅̃͘͝͝ ̶̨̧̛͉̼̬͈͉̳̹͙͗̈͒̃̂́̑̅̓̍̇̊̔̀̏̈̀̓̄͌̈̃̓̅̇̇̈̒̔͊̈́̄̚͝͝͝͝ͅţ̷̡̛̜͕̱̙̺͎̟̙͙̖̲̥̜̼̯̼̥̥͇̱̫̭̤̖͖̹̤̩̲̜͓͓͚͊̎̀̈́̓̂͂͑̄͌̈́͑̃̽̄̊̈͒̏̿͋́̾̉̈̊͒͑̅̄̀̚͘̚͠͠͝ở̴̙̙͔͙͍̆̓͌͊̂͛̒̾̎͋́͌̅̊̈́͐̑͗͊̎͛̿̈̋́̈̈́̈́̚̕̚̚͝͠͝ ̸̛̜͙͉̻̻̥̤͓͎̖͈̤̳̪͙̗̣̠͎͓̠̪̪͙̬͆̆͛͂̀̍̑̏̒̐̐̐͑̋͐̈́͌̂̂̈́̆̆̑̉̾̈́̍̕̕͘͘͝͝t̸͙͓̹̰̠̲̗̟̮̮̤̳̯̤͖̜̓͋̾̓͗͛͆͂̉̃͊̉̄͊͊̆̓̾ͅh̷̢̨̨̧̛̦̗̺̘̖̜̪̼͔͙̱̤͕̰̠̿͌̇̐̊̊̓̑͋̂̂̌̎̕̚͜͜͝ͅé̵̛̥͙͒̏̓́͊̍̽̿̔͊̑̄͠ ̸̡̨̧̛̻̺̤̗̗̣̥̭̼̣̦̖̮͚̝̼͖̺̟̩͕̎͂́̓̀͗̎̓̓̈́̅̏̂͋̿̀̉̈́̽̅̅͗͘̕̚͜͜͝ͅb̶̨̛̯̲̰̯̠̟͕̜̪͐̑̏͌̾̂̄̈́̄̐͌̃͗͑́͂̔̅͑̐̄͛͊̐̕͝͝ó̵̡̨̨͕̱̝̙͍̖͇̳̞͙̝͈̥̣̗̘͈̝̦͖͕̤́̒̆́͛̾͌͆̿̊̉̋̑̕͝ã̴̧̧̢̧̨̡̟̣̟͙̞̘̬͉͚̣̰͔̭̹͙͍̹̻̘̺̜̳̽̇͋͐͛͗̿̊͊ͅͅͅţ̴̡̨̢̖̠̮̼͙̗͖̝͉̰̭̞̰͉͔̮͕̪̘̖̣̯͓͇̦̣͇̼͚͖̈̏͒̀̊̐͐̆́͊̓͑̔̅͐̄̒̊̉̃̈́̿͗̒͂̚̕̕͜͠͠͠s̴̭͔̫̞͎̩̉̂̋̇͌͗ ̶̡̢̡̨̛̛̬̠̣̘͖̪̪̖̘̗͍̫̥̳̫͖̻͍̩͙̟̯͈̟̬̦̳̜͖͇̅̾̈́̊̓̊̐̑̊͂̇̋̕̕͝ͅb̶̢̨̢̡̨̛̹̹͕͖͕̱̞̳̻̼̘͖̲̥͉͓̲̃̇̎̿͂͌͗́̓̔̌͐̀̀͊͒̽͝e̸̢̡̧̮̫̪̱͉̹͗̋̑̑̋̆̒͊́̔̓̈͜͝͝ą̷̧͙̮̬͔͇̦̣͎̹͕̥͖̣̫̯̜͉̟̜̍͂̔̍ŗ̸̢͉̻̖̝̰̙͚̦̜̪̯̗̹̪̜̝̯͖͔̞̹̥̒̄̆̅̀̌̉̏̈́͛̒͒͝͝ţ̶͕͚̼̐̂̀̏̅̇̽́̂̅̇͒͂͒̑͊͒̌̑̾̆͋̈́̚͘͝ḩ̷̨̢̢̛̭͇̞̝̰̗̭̮̟͍̘̗̪̝̬̯̗̼̖͕̜͕̯͎͓̰̺̦̻͈͓̘̦̐͛̒̍̎́̀̓̌̈̄̒͆̀́͋̎̃̒̀͂̃̏̿̎̉̇̀̃͊̎͘͘͝ͅe̴̡̡̨͖̠̘̮̳͕̣͎͖̦̭̫͍̻̗̩͔̝̖̥͓̫̎̈́̏̔̈́́́̔̈́͒̃̈̋̃̀́͌̚͜͝͠ͅd̷̻̟͈͓̮̗̣̜̜͉͍̥̣̑͋͋̽͒̽̓̎͛̾͑͒̀͑́̄̓̕̚̚͝͝ ̶̡̨̨̧̛̪̥̱̪͔̪͍̲͉͙͔̞͉̦͈̅̀̌͋͒͊̌̀͒́̇̄̔́͘͝͝ǫ̵̨̛̛͎̭̬̳͔̫̩͚̱̱͙̮͖͎͉̜̳̀͊̃̽̆̓͋̈́͒͐̆̔̓͊̚͝͝ͅn̶̛̗̻̖̥̗̠͈͆̓̂͋̇͒̑̃̂́͊́̈͗͒̀̓̄͊́͆̎̉͆̏̋̑̀̕͠͝͝͝ ̵̡̨̨̛̪̹̼͍̬̰̲͚͍̪͍̖͇̪̥̬͔̣̻͇̺͖̠̻͕̺̟̔͂̈́̑͛̈́̊͌͗͂͑̂̀̈́̽͊̽͌͝͠ͅt̵̡̨̨̨̨̢̥̘͍͙̗͔͍͎̫̮̳̫̪̣̖͖̬̘͉͇̪͎̗̪̤̞͎͉̳̬̼̎̔͜ḩ̴̢̛͎̱̦͍̪̇̈́͊̐͒̀̉͌͆́͒͐̈̈́͂̐̓͆̈́͌̈́̂͒̋͊̓̈̓̏̒̉̊̓̚ȩ̸̲̗̪͙͇̙͒͆͑͊͑͆̈́̿̾͛͛̊͊̊̀͒͒̉̇̄̈́́̑̓͝ ̸̛̯̝̣͚̟̣̗͔͓͇̳͕͐͗̓̅͐̽̉̈́̓̈́͆̎́́̾̀͑̋́̅͂͆̒̊̀̿̾͐͆̋̀̈́͜͝͝͝o̴̧̡͕̞͖̗̟̰̪̙̰̺̮̪͐̉̓̔̓̓̐̓́̾͌͐̎̍̆̂̾̊͊̐̎͑̓͐͂̓͗̽̇͗̽͐̀͘͝͠͝͝͠t̶̡̖̝͉̪̣͍̗̤̠̹̭̳̻̫̣̩̪̗͔͉͕̪̼̳̞͉̣̖͗̓͆̇̾̋̇̈̃̀̽̓̋̿͋̓̿̀́̈́͛̓̆͊͗̈́̆̄̑̊̎̆̅͘̕ͅh̷̡̧̡̤̺̼͚̖͎͍͓̪͚̼̲͈̼̱̭͉̱͔̫͓͕̫̰̫̘̦͈̟̭̓̏͐̄̉̊̌͂̈̃̀͋̈̊̅̏̅̔̓͆̂̏̒̾̆̑̚̚͜͜͝͝ȩ̸̢̢̢̧̹̝̭͓̪̺̺͕̣̬͍̝̹̮̟̝͔̗̙̙͈͖͈̞͈̦̈́̔̿͗̃́́̑̀̀̃͗̐̄̕͘͠͝r̵̨̨͇̪̘̜͈̟̠͈̟̭̰͔͈̟̓̀̔͊̍̍͌͛̾̒̐̅̈́͑͌̊̌͑͛̔̽̐̿̈́͛̀̒͘͜͝ͅ ̷̢̡̢̢̛̛̫̟̝͖̗͔̯̜̯̙͖̣̫̤̼͕̜͓̯̹̰̥̮̄̌̈́̀́̊͒͂̋̊͛̆̅̎̑̋̓͜ͅę̷͎̯̫͉͈̩͋̔̇n̸̢̪̲̳̻̣̥̰͇̥̺̩̹̝̱̺̳͉͔̥̤̖̤̪̖͔̪̘̙͈̥̹̈́̓͐͒̕͜͜͝ḏ̶̢̡̡̡̧̨̦̪͓̘̝̱̬̠̝̠̬͈̬̘̤̥̼̭̹̭̜̹͙̬̠̱̙̋́̌͜͜ͅ ̷̡͚̳̩̜̗̖̫̩̪̣̺͉̘̹̩͕̺͔̱̄̍̈̿̍͐̈́̃̅͆͆̊̀̿͆̑̾̂͌͛̂̄͘͝w̸̡̧̛̛̘͎̙̩̟͚̰͕̪̦͚̪͓͚̰̯͐̈́͆͆̄̇̑̈́̈̈̐͗̍͗̐̓̎̃͘͜͠͝͝͠͝͠ḩ̵̡̨̢̛̥̳̘̪̣̯̫̰̜̟̥̗̯̬̥̺̲̻̦̩͈̹̳̣̣̞̞̩̺͓̓͐͛̍͌̀̈́̆̏̉͗̑̃̈́͛̎̅́̎́̂̉̍̐͝ḛ̸̢̳̘̲͓̥͓̦̩̫̺͚͔̼͔̥̬̩̺̯̗̬̳̙̪͆ņ̸̳͙͓̋̿͜ ̶̰̹̯͙̱̭̹͉͈̮͙̓̔̌̔̃͝ş̶̨̢̧̛͕̠͖͎͈̠̪͈̱̙̲̥̫̣̩͙̬̽̇̄̔̓̂̚͝ͅu̶͈̹̦̪̟͓͇̇̀̈́́̋̏͝͝ͅͅͅd̶̨̡̡̨̧̛͇̺͎̹̝̝͍̱̝̠̱̱̫̣̜͙̤̩͔͎̤͚̫̖̰̓̐̈́̀͋̽̈̇̐͂͌͂̂̈́̒̎̓͌̋̌̈́̇̌̋̒̇͐̇͛̾̕̚͘͠͠ḑ̵̡̧̥̳̖̳̮̌̎̆̾̄͒́̃̀́̃̈e̴͍̜̣̓́͒͗̄̿̏͐͑̔͋̈́́̅̿̕͝ņ̵̧̩̣̫̗͔̰̪͈̦̺͔̣̫͍͖̤̰̹̰͚͕̩̱̩͎̘̭̦̹̼̳̌̈́́̒̀̍̊̒͆̎͊͆͛̌͑̌̌̊̚l̴̡̢̨̡̧̨̛̹̭̩̤̘̟͙̜̳̺͚̦̞̫̞͎̩͉͚̦̮̯̪̜͈̫̻̮͙̲̃̄͂̈́̓̃͐̃̊̍̊̇̀͋̽͂̿͌͗́̏̇̍̑̿̃̇͒̂͆̀̈͜͝͠͝y̷̧̡͓͖͇̱̗͙͖͇̮͎̫̩̙͖̜̬̞̺̞͊̿͊̈́̾̏͑̎͌͒̋̓̌̚̕̕͜͠͝͝ ̸̧̛̥͙͕̖̰͖͎͍̦̯͔̰̀̇̈̀͆̐̈̏̃̄̇̌̂͐͐̐̓̽͑̎̐̈́̒̒̚͝͠͝m̵̢̧̨̛͙̭̘͇̻̯̗̳͔̖̖̙͍̟͇̦̰̜̭̣̳̙̻̭͚̜̖̙̖̾̽̏̈́̀̅̀̆̓́̈́͆̐́̄̓̒̍̄̀́́͌̄̚̚͜͠͝ͅe̷͍͙͇̒̾̉̈͂̊́̿͐̽̽͊̒̓̌̊̈̑̐̏́̇̒͋̆̇͋͌͆͝n̷̢̢̥̓͊͑̊̈̈́̒̀̽͋̃̊̌̄́̋͗̑̅̓̕ ̷̛̛̳̪̦̲̪̱͌͂̎̽͐̾̇̂̅́̐̃̒͆̑̓̈́͂̏͗͌̌͌͑̈́̀̈́̚͘͝͝j̸̧͎̼̝̠̝̟̪͇͎̠͔̼͖͓̥̪̗̗̉̀ư̸̲͈͉̣̳̻͕̂̔̇̑̽͌̅̃͜m̶͓͙͙̮̽͒͂̒̆̌̂͂̈̄̿̓̉̓̚̕͝͠p̶̡̡̲̲̬̟̰̜͚̺̘̱͎̲͚̱̥̦̳̲̻̹͉̻̻͖̙̤̘̦͆̆̀͊̏̋̏́͗̒͂͑̂̎̀͊͗͛̍̏͗̿͌̉̔͋͑̅͆͗̉̚͜͝͠ ̴̡͚̦͈̦̞͖͎͙͙͉̭̙̩͚̦͎͚͇͖̹̝̹͖̍̆͋͑̇͊͒́̇͗̈́̒͋͛͂̉̔̀̎̒̀̾̈́̏̃͆̃̈̍̏̄̉̄̚̕͜͠͠ǭ̴̟̞̼̻͍̣̼̤͌̈̄̐̏̒́̅̏̍̓͒͋̅̉͒́̒͆͐̓̆̑͒̉̅͘͝͝͝͝ư̶̢̛͈̮͍̗̩͖̣͔̗̙̞͉͖͚̪̖͖̋̉̋̈́͐̐͌́̅̀̌̀̏̈̓̎̂̍̀̍͑̋̒̋̿͘t̷̢̡̢̬̙̘͉͍̮͎͙̹̗̦̹͒̾͝ ̸̙̣̘͙̲͕̳̀̈́̍͑̐̀̂̄̊̃̚͝ą̶̡̢̧̳̖̩̝̪̞̼̠̙̤͚͖̲̥͖͔̣̼̹͉̥̯͚̝͉̗̺͙̹͈͑́̈́̏̂̑̂̽̾̃͑̊̍͊͆̌͛̅̀̒̏͋̓̑̿̅̒̅́̇̚͜͜t̵͚̝̝͋̀̇͛̆̅̆̌́͌̽͗̒͒̏̐̔͑̎̑͘̚͝ ̷̡̨͔̼̬͚̬̗͍̜͇̥͖̼̜͇̖͕̱͎̰̙̯͕͕̳͚̬͎̫̪̭͕̤͈̑̿͂̃̀̈́̐̈́̏̄́̄́͗̆̀̐͗͛͛̑̃̃̊̄̇̓̽̈̐̒̚͘͜͝͝͝ͅt̴̢̧̫̻̟̙̥̣̲̯͍̪̘̳̖̝̲̲̰̭̭̠̯̝̱̝͕͔̼̥̂́̏̀̈́̊́̐͐̂̒̎̐̽͑̍̋̽̆͘͝͠͝͝ͅͅh̴̡̛͕̙̪̔̒͊̇̾̽̍̓̀̓̏̈́̿̋́͋̃͂͊͂́̈́́̏́̇̂͘̕͝e̵̡̖͚̦̲̙͈̘͉̞͋̈̿̄͛̌͂̒́̌̏̈́̔̅̊̑͆́̀̂̇͌̈͒͗̀́̈́̄̒̇̍͘̚͝͠͝ͅm̵̢̢̨̡̯͙̼̮̳̼̲̥͇̺̥͔͇͙͈͇̬͉̲̪͉͉͍̼̖̹̠͊̓̇̌̏͌͊̓̓͗̆ ̸̢̧͚͙͙̥̣̗̲̖̙͙̺̳͆̇͛a̴̡̢͕͕̬̘̥̞̬̾̃͜ṉ̸̨̢̛̛̟̯̻̺̲͉̱̖̭̝̗̭̭͚̣̓̿̐̓́͊̂̎̐̀̊̈̽̀̀̿̈́͋̓̏̿̌̽̀̋́̈́̏̋͛̚͜͝͝͝͝͝͠ḋ̸̨̛̜̣̖͕̫͈͕̞͍͖̻̭̯͕͔̗͐̉̾̍̄͊̊͘͘ ̸̨̢̧̡̛̝̞̙̱̟̻̮̭̞̝̣͈̝̜̠͖͖̯̗̠̹̺̫̆̊̓̍͌̃̃͆͒̌̒̀̓̽̄̀͗̌̔͐͂̚͠͝͝ͅs̵̢̨̡̛̘̲̠̜̮̻̠̲̳̟̻̱͍̝̥̩͔͍̫̰̬͍̺̪̬̣̜͓̘̱̄̈̃͋̋̈́̋̿̽̈́͊̋̒͆͒̓̌̈́͌̕̕̚̕ͅṱ̵̡̥̻͔̞̟̳̠̀͌͊̉̾̀̽̈́̌̽͂͆̅͂̄̉͂̍́̚̕͝͝ḁ̶̢̰̖̏͐͊͠r̸̘̔̀̓̈́̓͂͂́̐́̀͋̿̌̽̒̽̄̎́̓̽̈́͆͂̊̀̎͑̚̚͝͝͠t̴̯͕̟̳̮̼̼̲̓̌̓͂̌̅̈́́̆̂̈͌̃̀̈́̑̏̃̔͂́̔́̏̍͊̍̓̒̂̕͝ ̴̨̨̛̦̩͉̜̗͕̟̥͙̭̠͔̮́̈́́͑͑́̈́̃̀͌̊̉͋̄̀̊̍̈́͐̋̎̉̒̈̍̕̕͘̕͜͝͝ͅͅs̶̨̘̱̞̝͍̗͔̩͔̝͕̻͖͈̲̺̦̼̞̞̪̭̮̘͍̞͓͓͖͙̥̬̯̭̱̃̾͜ḩ̷̨̡̡̪̲̮̭̼̼̞͉̩͍̟̹̞̮͉̬̪͔̟̲̜̦̤̘͚̪̩̜̼̋̾̔̈́̎̉̍̀̃̌͗͛̂̕͘̕̚ỏ̵̧̡̡̨͇̘͇͈̱̳͉̜̼̼̲͎͇͈̥̗̹̝̉̊͛̇͆͌̓̈́͌̄͊͊̈̎̿̉̅̏͆͗̇̕ͅö̶̡̡̨̫̠̝͇̱͚̻̙̱̩̬̠̹̳̩̙̼̪̞̹̘̭̖̪̲̬̜̻̫́̅͒͜t̵̡̰͓̺͚̩͎͙̪̙̔͘į̷̢̡̢̛̛̲͓̼̯͇̮̮͚͈͙͇͇̹̗̬̤̼̜̤̤͕̗̥͚̖̖̘̤̝̤̻͉̆̇̓̂̍̏̔́͆͛̾͌́͒̀̃̕̚͜͠͝n̸̢̛̰̘͉͈̖̝͎͈͚̙̮͓͔̘̠̒̈́̑̓̈́̎̈́̏̉͂̂̍͒̄̿́̈̈͂̇̋̎̑̈̈́̈́͛͐̕͘̚͝͝ǵ̶̡̡͉̟͕̣̣̟̜̠̱̹̫̠͙̗̝̼͚̬͉̤̥̗̙̥͓̱͊̀͋̈́̔̈́̄͛̌͂͆͆͛̃̒́̇̃̅̓̀͂̑͘̕͝!̷̢̲̗̜͙̞̦̫̬̫̟̗̫̗̜̖͕͉̼͍͙͙̈́̏̐̌͌̔̑͆̿́̚͘̕ ̸̨̛̤̳̣̥̠̩̥̰̭̹͎̮̞̩̣͇̰̪̣̅̓͂̐̾̒̏͗͐̌͛̈́̂̃̽̀́͆͐̀͒̕͘͝͝͠͝͝͠ͅͅT̷̜̪̻̝͍͇̮̬̞̉́͌̈͋̀̈͋̊̍̓̋͌̈́̈́̓̿͐h̷̟͇̲̝̖̠͓̦̞̦̝͓̲̼͚̜͉̙̦̗̳̬̘̮͒̒e̶̛̬̓̄̽̈́̉͂̊́̀́͊͂͒̈́̔͐̋̐̈́̇̅̔̍͆̕͝͝ ̴̙̰̪͉͓́̊̑̊̈́͠ͅG̶̞̭͎̟̝̺͇͓̱̲̟͙̲̮̻̮̐́͌̃̆̏̍̿̏͑̊̏̉̌̆̍̈̒̓̉̃͒͘͝͝͝o̵̖̠͍̽͐̐̒͐̌̀̅̇͆͝o̶̙̩̲̻͙̱̦̪̺͂̃̇̊̈́͗͒̔́̽͐̃͝ń̶̡̢̨̛̳̣̤̲̗͓̻̠̤͎̞̫̰̺̳̮̗͓̪͎̭̻͍̻̀͌́͛͛̍̈̓͗͗̃̓̓͒̍͒̔̊̇́̏̿̂͆́̏̾̌̅̎͛͘̕͘͘ͅͅs̶̢̡̢̧̡̛̖̝̦͕͔̗͎̮͉͙̹̳̖͕͎͓̥͇̺̣̲̹̻͛̈̈̒͆̄͗̍̑̋̋͌͒̌̃͌͂̈͐͊̾͗͌̇̊̒̆̊͛́̍̿́̍͘̚̚͜͜͠w̸̗̟̺̟̠̭͔̺̞͕̰͚̟̼͇̘͔̟̻͔͖̲̦̳̬̤̥̺̣͛̑̋̀̓͌̊͂̑͋͆̈̉́̉̉̏̌̇̓̈́͊́͘̚͘̚͝͝á̴̧̡̛̖͔̼͕̮̭̱̲̮̺̙͚̩̆͊͊͌̍́̍͒̿̓͋̈́͆̔̔̇͐͐̐̃̅̿͑̋͐̓̚͝͝͝͝ŗ̷̪̼̺̦̙͓̻̝͚̳̜̰́͌́̌̌͂̐̔̐̆̿̀̈́͗̋̑̈̈́́̄͂̏̔̓̅́͐̏́̆̇̀̏̕̕͠͝͝m̸̡̭̥̦̻̣͓̞̝̭͕̽̓̽̈́̓͌̔͒͘͜͝ ̴̧̛̰̱̱͈̭̫̪̳̯̩̓̄̈́͋̏f̶̨̛̩̗̥̹̜̯̘̘̝̹͚̝͍͖̥̥̬͒͆̂͌̓̊̋̆͋͒͂̂͂͛̈́̂͂̽̿̆̀̈́̒́͛̊̌͑͒͋͂̍̏͐̕͜͠͝͠ơ̵͎̿̄̒̑͌̿̇̌͑̀̓̅̐̇͌̌̄̽̽̍́̊̚͠r̶̜̱̯̹̽͌̌̒̋̉͌͋̓̑͒̕͠c̶̢̨͈̲̲̯͔͉̳͚͚̠̦̩̹͔̖̖͎̼͉̫͕̼̻̩̘̤̫̭͑́̔́̄̈́̃̓̎̅ͅȩ̸̧̨̛͔͈̻͈̟͈̣̪̲̺͉̖̝̗͎͎̮̳̩͇̭͓͓̪͔̞̗̙̅̓̔̈́̽̐̾͆͌͑̄̓̓̆̿́̔͆̇̉̇̈́̍̾̈́͂̊̉̿̒͒̕͘̕̚͝͠͝s̶̨̡̛̬̹̤͇͕̫͓̩̣̮͚̖̖̩̠̮͓͔̩͈̺̓͛̿̋̉̌͂̉͊̈̈́̚̚͜ ̶̧̡̛̛̠̱͇̣̱̲̥̭̹̬̥̜͇̤̮̫̄̑̒̂̌̍̊͆̃̀̌̂̐̃̒͌͊͗̎̕̕s̴̢̻̫͉̗̥̪̪͉͔̩͎̟̘̘͙̺̘̖͍̘̪͇̯̭͖̤̙͉͔̞̝̣̪̉͑͋̀e̸̛̩͇̪̦̿͋́̓̅͒̿̓̌̏́͌̒̅͒̅͆͋̔̑͊̓̈́̓̃̍̚͘͠͝͝ȅ̷̛̯̖̮̬̙̰͇̯͙̱͚̼̤͇̯̼̖̺͉̙̫̭̩̮͇͈̞̹̰̬̑̅͂̎̂̾͂̑́͛̂̋̓̓̿̈́̾̂͛̏̾͆̑̏̔͘͜͝͠͝͠m̷̧̨̡̨̧̨̬̝̤̬̳̻̩̣̪̫̞̲͈̘̪͈͔̠̩̞̈̆̔̑́̿̊̀̐̏̃̃͌̈́̐̀͑͐̎͆͗̾̔̈́̃̕͘͜͝ͅͅ ̴̨̡̨̧̛̹̖̲̻̯̯̟̳̤͕̟̙͎͖̜̜̝̝̬̫̜̠͖͕̲͚͕̘͉̭̒̿̈́̄̀͑̽̀͌̄̾̄̋͑͐̀̂̉̓̔̍͗̿͒̐͛̀͘͝͝ͅt̶̢̛̞̻̀͒̾̇̽̽̎̈́̈́̀̈́͒̈́̃̐̒̃̀̈́̽͂̄͗̃̋̑̚͘̕͠ơ̴̡̨̧̨̤̤̫̺̠̯̖̦̝̗͖͙̪̥̝̟̻͎̻͙̠̥̱̫͓̼̞̫̘͇̑͗̆͒̇̏̾͂͗́̀͒̈͒͒͂̂̈́̆͊͐̅͆͗̾̔̀̀͒͛̒̓͘͘̕̚͜͝ͅ ̵̛͈̖͖̜̞̤̜̫̯̟̱͎͉̗̭̜̺̦̪̫͙̗͌̔̓̈́̀̎͑̓̇̿̋͒̀̓̈́̌͂̉̾͐̏̓̉́͗̄̈́͆͛̄̑̕͠͝ͅb̸͕̫̫̮̦̱̱̟̤̌̉̽̿̉̓̍͂̌̿̅͐͆̔͑̃̏̈͘͜͝ȩ̵̛͇̟͔̻͍͉̮̟͖̰̘̖̤̯̠̍̾͛͛̅͂̈̍̊̓́́́̓͒͋̎͒͐̑͘͝ͅ ̶̛̛̗̻̐̒͒̓̃̉̋̓̈́̌̾̐͌͋̄̇͂̇̅̋̀̉́͌̆̈́͋̆͋̑͘à̵̧̭͍͉̦̋̽̿̓̓̅̌͂̄̈́̍̋͐̈̑͊̈́͛̾͐͐͒͂̊̐̀͛̈́̈̕͝ẗ̷̛̲̹̣̥͚̪̣̰̥̈́͒̀̂̋̒̓͆̊́͌͛̍̿̂̉̏̓̅̓͗͊̀̓͆́̔̈́͘̚̕̕̕ẗ̶̢̬̳̰͍͎̥̰͇̰͇̮̙͓̖́͋̉͑͆̈̈́̅͂͆͆͛̿͒̈̑̇̿̈͂̃͛̓̈̎́͘a̷̡̛̺̝̋̆͋̈́͗͂͗̈͒͐͂̀̒̑̂̄͑̀͋̒̀̎̉̑͐̕͝͝͝͝c̶̢̛̗͍̳͖͓̝͍͋̀̌̋̎̂̂̎̓̔̓̀͋̓̎̔̉͂̎́́̕̕̕͘͝k̶̢̧̫̟̰̹̼̫̬̇̄̓́͠ḭ̶̢̛̇̋̿͆̐̅̍͆̀̉͊̋̽̐̂̓̚͝͠͝͠ņ̴̨̖̼͍͉͇̥̻̱̩̹̱̩̝͇̩̦̟̥͈̭͍͍͐̇̑̿͐̈́̄̄̃͂̆̑̚͠͠g̷̛̻̻͉̼̝̮̏͆̐̅̽͐̈́͗̔̃̈̀̏̅̎͊̈́̄̈́̇͒̅̔͘̚̚͝ͅ ̴̨̻͕̣̙͚͖̹̜̭̲̹̋̑̅̇̅͒͛̀̇̂̐͘̚͠͝ͅw̵̧̧͎̮̟̮͓̖͎̟̼̣̫͙̤̦̫̞͉̳̦͈͓̫̬̺͎̫̭͔̼̺̮̼͆͆͜i̸̢̡̺͙̗̻̹͔̗̹̅̂̈̅̊͑̈͆̊̑͛̍͛͐͒̈́̍͊͗̀̓́̀͌̽̄̾̀̊̀̽͊̈́̇̊̚͘͝͝ͅẗ̸̡̡̡̧͚̩͔͖͚̘͍̪̰͈̫̣͚̲̖̹̦̥͓̙̞̻̠̤̪͌͊̃̓̃̎͗̐̔̈́̂́͂̈́̌͂̇̂̏̊̂͆̽̒͐̉̐̃̌̕͝h̸̨̢̛͚̠̺̬̰̲͕̠͈̝̝̼͔̠̣̘̫͚͖́͑̈̍͌͛̑͋̃͆̈́̅̏̀́̌̉̃́̽́̒̎̒̓̑͒̒̒́̆̔̒̚͝͝͠ͅ ̸̢̡̢̛̝͉̗͎̫̳͈͔̘̙̯̝͔̦̟͍̤͍͇͉̀͊͋͋̓̃̈́͆̂̓̑̈̓͌̿̂̇̚͝͝͝͝ş̷̧̰̥͕̼̥͙͚͈͚̗̞̭͙̼̻̞̺̘̦͎̃́̿̅̈́͗̈́͘͘͝ỡ̸̛̛̰̯̱̖͙͈̝̇̐͒̅̀͂̈̋͗̐̆͌̿̃̏̊̆̏̏͊̿́̔̏̈́̋̈́͠͝m̴̛̛̰͔̪̤̪̫͕̐̒̆͛̽̓͋͛͋̋̉̀̇̐̀̉̐̀̋̂͋͆̂͘͝ē̴̫̩̯̯̰͓̫͈͗̀̓̈́̓̓̒̂̄͂̑̽̍̆̀̈͂̅̏͗̂̓͒͑̎̈́̚͝ ̸̧̤̬̳̥̺̗̣̗͓͆͗̀̐̀̃̀̎͛̐̉̆̊́̈́̀̋̒͑̕k̸̟̻̣̪̼̮̾̉̀̒̈́͜ͅḯ̷̡̙̬̝̝̳̞̪̖͇͚̙͓̫̖̪̗̹̝̜̯͚̤̠̖̬͍̺̗͊̌͑̀̈̈̒̍̈̿̓͑̈́̾͗̓̃͑͒̀͛̔̾̃̔́̈́̚̕͜͝͝͝͝ͅn̵̨̛̛̛̞̥̰̙̪̪̥̗̺̣͓͙̥̊̐̈́͗̂̑̓̀̀̈́͌͐̍͗̈́͠ḑ̵̢̨̖̞̙͉̥̝̑̒̊̒̆͋̃͊͒͆͛͌͗̓̕ ̵̨̛̜̺̪̣̣̱̰̰̞̼̹̭̲̲̰̜̞͖̜̥̗͙̼̣͍͈̹͋͋̅̎̑́́͊̏̊̊̊̊̄̐̓̅̀͆̌̾̀̚͘͝͝ͅơ̵̡̦͉͚̖̪̒͛̌̀̍͗̌̄͗̾̀̄͛͛̇͊̃̄͆̕͝ͅf̷̡̧̨̫͖̪̬̲͈̟̻̜̱̫͇͙̭̻̝͇̟̪̟̜̟̥̬̖͍͍̹̱͆̀̈́̉̉̀̎͐̿͜͜͠ͅ ̵̧̧͔̣̺̞̣̲͈͚͚͈̻͖̩͓̘͚̗̝͓̘̺̖̺͚̎̂̓̈̑́̍̽̋͂̑̈̿̄͂̆̊͌̏̏̐͛̍̓̽͋̐͂̈̄̃̿͒̐̊͐̕ͅŗ̷̢̧̢̥͚͈͕̟̫̞͓̳̙͖̗̬̗̩̻̹̜̘̰̰͇̬̮̤̰̜̆̍͗̎͆͑́̾͐̐͆̎͂͂͐̑̓̇̈́̔̔͊͐̒̓͗͋̄͂͐͝͝a̸̧̨̛͖͉̮͕̺̼͎͚̰̣͙͎̭̘̘̠̬̟̥̘̯͚͔͔̩̰̰͍͈͍͉̟̠̥̻̽̈́̿̾̀͋̄̑͑̃̎̋̉́̐̕̕͘͝p̶̢̦̤̳͉̖̲͍̟̤̥̩̗̼͓̲̭͇̹͎̜̹̻̺͍̬̺̥͙͍̦̰̮̫̆̈́ͅͅͅį̷̡̨̡͎̟͙͚͎͖̱̗̻̹̮̱̣̬̼̩͔̱̞͇͙͚̒͌͑̅̄̐̊̅͆̊̓̌̿̕͜͝͝d̷̡̢̛̛̹̱̱͉͖͇͓͈̦͉̺͎̠̝̪̰̙̠̐̃̄̂̃̓̌͊̀̄͑̈́͜ͅ-̸̨̤̩̝͉͓̟̤̹̰͕̙̭͈̟̝̩̥̗̺̥̰̠͙̪̯̩͖͒̌̿͑̓̿́̓́́͌́̿̀͆̌̓̓͂̒͒̐̍̇͘͜͠ͅf̸̢̢̭̝̠͍͙͖̱͉͇̭̼͗͗͜͜i̷̛̪̝̦͔͉͖͙͙̣̱͇̅̒͊̔̄͆̓̂̽̊̿̐̊̽͠͝͠ṟ̴̨̢̨̦͈̤̠͓͈̈́̎͐͂̓i̵̛̬̫̝͈̮̙͓̠͓̣͈͖̯̜̙̮̫̮͕͓̫̳̠̙̒͛̐͋̄͌̈́͛̄͝n̸̢͇̱̠̩̫̝̱̣̻̖͖̪̞̹̠̘̦̫̠̦͓̖̠͍̿͛̍͗̐̈͊͐͘͜͜͠ǵ̵̢̝͚̫̼̼̆̓̾̔ ̴̧̨̧̛̛͍͈̗͇̪̘̖̰͈̩̦̳̭͍̙̲̲͎̮̝͇͉̳̹̥̟̮̪̟͇̞̊̀̓̈́̈́̽́͌̓̓́͛̋̑̌̏̈́̋̈́̅̈́̌̒̋̔̓͐͘̚͜͝͝͝w̴̢̢̧̛̺͎̥̹̤̮͍̺̘͔͇̺̹̦̦͈̟̗̱͈͈̹̟̹̳̲̺̃̓̓͂͗̈́͌̒̂͒̅͂̽̇͐͂̉̾͒̔͗̅̑͒̽́̇̄̚͜͠ȩ̴̛̮͉̠̘͚͕̩̻̪̦͍̩̞̝͖̣̱͈̖̞͙̘̯̩̻͍̼͍̩͕͚̬̏̀̈́̎́̿̈̍͗̎̉̽͂̃̿̈́́̀́̇̄̊̃̚̕͘̕͜͠͝͝͝ḁ̸̡̡̢͔̳̟͚̦̻̳̰̻͕̰͓͚͕̉̅̂̓̃̐̎͋̈͋̾̿̇͛͑̇͒̇̎̉̎̃̾̏̚͘͘͜͠͠p̵̢̢͓͖͕͈̤̥̤̞̘͚̜̬̖̱̟̣̳̰̖̯̘̪͙̩͌̄̔̃̉͂̚o̵̡̭̗͂̇̓̽n̴̢̛̗̹̮̔͊̈́̋̔́̏̌̇̑̆̉̂̓̃̑͗͒̑̎̎̈́̄́̀̇͘͘ ̴̢̡̛̺̹͔͚̩̙̮̲͙̟͋̽̏̉̂̍̊̉͋́̎̉͆̾̿́͊̋͌̐̀͐͒̍̈́̚̚̚͘͝͠ͅt̸̨̛̠̉̅̒̄͐̐̌̔̈̾̍̃̈́͂̂͊͑̊̑͛̿͆̎̾͘̚͝͠ḩ̵̡̨̢̢̨̨̙͚͓̥͓̯̖̺̝̖̮͓̺͇̘̰̰̖̱̰̻̳͐͒̍͆͒͘͜͝ͅͅă̶̡̢̧̨̧̢̧̛̛̼̥͚̣̭͇̤̯͎̞͙̘͎̣͈̩͕̞̭͇̥̰͕̤͇͉̘̗̔̆̀̈́̈́̓̇̽̈͒͛͑̈̀̈̓́́̅̈́̀̑͐̽̐̒̽̉̈́̌͘̕͠͠ͅţ̷̡̛̮̣͕̠̭̪̪̲̠͖̠̠̓̑̒̑͌̃̈́̂̓̊̀̚͜͝͝ ̵̨̡̘͍͈̲̪̣́̏͑͒́͗̑̈́͂͊͌̈́͑͑̅̍̄̐̆̋̊͌̈̀̅̏̒̚͠ͅl̶̡̢̧͚̹̻͈̝̰̪̱̤̯̲͙̤̖̪͎͓̪͈̳̙͔̺͚̠̹̤̣̮̳̭̩͇̤̫͓͆̓̎͌͆̊̈́̊̈́̔̓͑̍̇̉̃͆̄̏̓̏̌̈́͆͘a̴̳͍̲̖̦̗̲̙̽̇̎̄̈͆̀̈̉͜u̴̢̞̬̼͓͇͚͈̥̫̦͔͕̥̪̳̜̾̉͊̾̅͑͒̈́ņ̴̛̛̛̤̣̥̟̻͙͚̪͉̤̹̼̤͕̺̣̟̹̰͈͈̲͉̜̩̲̯̅̽̉̉̃̄̑̈́̇̇́͗͑͗̽̈̑̽̀̄͊̔̇̎̋̇̀́̀̂̕͜͜͝͝͝ç̸̢̧̻̖͕͕͙̦͍̜͙̖͓̣̙̩̪̹͕̲͍̭̱̼͆͛̋͐͐̈́̐͆̀͋̚̚͘͜͝ͅͅh̷̨̢̡̨̡̠̝̖͈̠̭̰̠̻̭̟͓͚͚̞͍̤͕̬̖̲͕͓̹̮̽̾͒̄͂͗͋̽̒̄̔͌͊͗̑̿̄̐̏͂̕͜͜͜ͅè̷̢̡̠͕̜̤̫̬̺͇̳̲̻̠̳̜̥̞̬̣̦͇͍̠̯̦͓͎͚̱̱̻̥͍̠̫͍̎̈́̄͛̿́͐̋́̿̑́͋̐̎̎̀̈́̎̋̅̽̚͝ͅͅs̸̨̢̱͇͍̜̤͍̭̗̟̞͙̝̱̹̤̣̪͕̦̙̭͈̦̲̬̠͎͇̯͖̞̱͍̖͕͗̏̿̍́͂̈͊̈́̚̚͜ ̴̧̨̡̢̧̥̠͇̤̜̯̖͍̼̞̻͚̗͙̩̰̯͉̟̼̫͓̫̯̯͉͕̠̩͈̈̋̎͒̅͒͛͋̉́̒̃̄͑̉̍̅̇̂̍̈́̓̔͐̈͝͝ͅp̸̨̡̨̗͇̠͍̪̠̻͎̭̝̜̠̟̻͔̣̰̝̪̻͔̼̪͓̤̰̫̿͊̓̿̆́̀͠ǒ̴̧̠̝͔̩̩̮̮͓̪͎̟̟̱͖̖̱̼̼̺̭̦͠i̴̧͉̣̟̯͇͗̎̇͆̀͂́̏̀̔̏̌͐͂̅̇̐̐̎̓̈́͗̌͋͘̚͠͠ŝ̵͓͇̟̲̯̌̊͗̓̍́̾̿͗̄̔̕͝o̷̢̨̘̲̝͕̝̻̫̹̮̜͈̙̼͓̹̖̾̾̂̈͐͒̊̈́̓̃̔͂̅͐̐͆̐̀̕ͅn̷̨̡̯͖̗͚̳͎͓͔̰̜̻͇̍͒̽͊͒͆̉̓̒̉̌͆̾̄̊̓̆͑̀͜͝ ̴̜̭̜̺͔̗͂̑̀̊̓̽̌̇̊̈́͐͝ḑ̸̙̬̩͙͊̏̿̒̑̑̏̔̉̅͗̂͠a̷̧̛͙̫̙̪̤͓͈̘̣͍̙̠̹̦̯͍̼̭̳̻͚̪̐̏͂̆̐̑͆̓̌͌̉̃̀͛̾͆͑̾̎̿̏̍͘̕͜͝ŗ̷̧̛̠̥͓̭͔̦̳̼̘̝̦̑͋́̇͋̀̒̇̎̒̈̈́͒̅̑̇̑̂̍̾̑̒̊̋̌̉̚̚͘̕͜͝͠ṯ̴̡̨̢̛͈̠̯̥̤̜͇͙͎̻͕̜̗̖̞̯̘̞͚̰̺̖͖̙̖͈͎̩̲͚͕̣̣̬̆̇͌͌̒̊̋̒̈̾̌͑̋̀̃͆̓̇͋̓͗̑̈͋͒̿̔̈́̄̌̚ͅs̶̨̧̰̫͓̠͈̖͔͎̤̞͍͇̫̝̳̼̤̤̭̠͚͙̳̗̤̲̥̳͗̐͗̌͋͑̿͜͜͝ͅ.̷̨̢̯̯̲͉͇͉̪̱̻̥͉̄͜͜
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 11, 2018, 08:52:11 am
Celling motions his men to stop and hits the reply button on his radio. “What would you recommend?”
“Stay in your current position for, I dunno, thirty seconds, then proceed onward with caution. That should get you through,” David replies.
Celling does as he is told and arrives at the three boats docked at the marina without any difficulty.
That’s when another communicator in his pocket beeps.
It’s the one from Goonswarm.
Celling looks around. Fansworth isn’t in earshot. He turns on the communicator and accepts the transmission.
“Wenton Celling?” the voice on the other end says. “I am Greno Hfsalt. I negotiate on behalf of the Goonswarm Federation.”
Celling clicks it on and whispers, “What do you want?”
“You have recently began working with the one known as David Eborrenial, correct?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. What’s your point?”
“He cannot be trusted.”
Celling rolls his eyes. “Why would I believe you, if indeed I was working with him?”
“Why is he sure?” the voice on the other end of the line asks.
“What do you mean?” Celling demands.
“David Eborrenial has explained to you the origins of the powers of the Protinam,” Greno explains. “There is no point denying this as we have spies that have heard your report regarding this and there is no point denying what we already know. He explained to you, and thus to us, that his powers are highly probabilistic in nature and can only be applied to give results regarding particular possible timelines, from which it is impossible to pick out the true one.”
“Perhaps this is so,” answers Celling. “Then what?”
“He has promised you that he will be able to avert any adverse situation that you may come across, although the aversion may result in even worse things,” Greno explains. “He promises that he will see it coming and warn you in time to prevent it. Again there is no point denying what we already know. How can he be sure? How can he be certain that particular events will happen? Eighty-seven timelines, boy. That’s what he told you and thus what he told us as well. Eighty-seven timelines and each has a completely different outcome for every decision. You really think he’s narrowed it down enough in just twelve hours to be able to make perfect judgements on the field of battle?”
“Just what are you getting at?” asks Celling.
“There is one instance where he would LIKE you to think he’s sure,” Greno continues. “He’s explained how he goes about eliminating timelines. What he does is he finds some idealistic fellow, some hero of his own story, a gullible, naive idiot. Then he convinces said fellow that he’s the All-Seeing Oracle, capable of divining the future to help the hero on his quest. He gives instructions for the hero to carry out. The hero carries them out. The hero may succeed or fail, but that’s really secondary, because David will be there. Watching. Taking notes.”
Greno Hfsalt sighs. “This is all an experiment to him, Wenton. He doesn’t care who wins and who loses. He’s told you, right? In the absence of a truly world-shaking disaster his policy is to not intervene and collect data. And in the last two centuries he’s seen fit to intervene what, seven times? You’re a rat in a cage, Celling. David Eborrenial’s spinning you on his wheel. He’s played us all for fools.”
Celling sighs. “And just why are you telling me this?”
“You wanted our help. This is our price,” says Greno. “The head of David Eborrenial. Preferably attached to the rest of him, of course. Preferably restrained or incapacitated in some manner. But just the head will do.”
Your response?
A: Send people to arrest David at once
B: Forget that, send people to shoot David at once, because capturing a precognitive is likely impossible.
C: Hang up on Goonswarm and tell David what just happened
D: Question Greno Hfsalt further, demanding proof or challenging his assumptions with a specific request
Post by: Glass on March 11, 2018, 09:11:51 am
If he wants to take notes, why not let him? He doesn't care who wins or loses, as you said.
And he only interferes in catastrophes.
So, two questions for you. First: what's so wrong with him taking notes, and how would it justify him being killed?
And second - and far more important - what makes you think we're not on the cusp of a catastrophe, if not in the middle of it?
Post by: omada on March 11, 2018, 11:48:08 am
D.+1
If he wants to take notes, why not let him? He doesn't care who wins or loses, as you said.
And he only interferes in catastrophes.
So, two questions for you. First: what's so wrong with him taking notes, and how would it justify him being killed?
And second - and far more important - what makes you think we're not on the cusp of a catastrophe, if not in the middle of it?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 13, 2018, 05:03:56 pm
So, two questions for you. First: what's so wrong with him taking notes, and how would it justify him being killed?
Greno: “Because he isn’t just taking notes. He’s misleading you. Tricking you into thinking that his suggestions are the true ones. He said that too, didn’t he. He likes heroes. Because they delude themselves into thinking he’s on their side. Following his advice will be disastrous, because he doesn’t want the decisions that make you win, he wants the decisions that are the most variable situations - which just so happen to be the ones that result in the destruction of all you love.”
“As for why we want him dead? He did the same thing to us, and we are less tolerant of treachery than you.”
And second - and far more important - what makes you think we're not on the cusp of a catastrophe, if not in the middle of it?
Greno: “Oh, look. You’ve forgotten what he said. He said that the catastrophe he’s intervening in is the PLAGUE. He never even mentioned that he would be helping against the rebels. Really, you shouldn’t believe him if he did. What’s really the chance that the rebels succeed against all of your force?”
I can confirm that as of now, everything he said is indeed something that David told you. I may have missed some of these facts in David’s dialogue before, but I meant to have him say them.
Post by: omada on March 14, 2018, 11:11:04 am
"Isn't there a way to prevent and protect from his negative side? Yes, it's probably hard to prevent what a precognitive guy is going to do, but not impossible, he probably predicted we giving him to you and whatever other variables, but preventing his moves and using it against him is a bold move that he probably won't feel possible, just use him not the other way around"
------------------------------------
Hmm, yes, it's weird that he decided to help us against the rebels, and not just watching from afar to see what we do so he can discover our timelines
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 14, 2018, 11:11:32 am
Edit: And someone replies the INSTANT I write that. Grand.
by this art you may contemplate the variation of the 23 letters
https://goo.gl/9XWDCr
Post by: omada on March 14, 2018, 11:15:13 am
(I finally got into university so my replies will get more and more irregular than it already was)
Post by: Glass on March 14, 2018, 12:15:12 pm
Also, your link is borked for terms and services problem.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 14, 2018, 12:43:03 pm
I don't always know what to do, Blue. I'm not too big on trying to figure out which of two potential allies we need to screw over.
Also, your link is borked for terms and services problem.
What link? This one? (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NHsPABnMELmtsBAo85KXENM-kTPNcuBoGtTCqJ1C_D8/edit?usp=drivesdk)
Post by: Glass on March 14, 2018, 01:23:40 pm
For now, though, goddamnit Blue.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 14, 2018, 01:32:05 pm
...I will be figuring out what the hell code that is, later, at a computer.
you need https://libraryofbabel.info/ (https://libraryofbabel.info/)
For now, though, goddamnit Blue.
What code?
"So, the more we us his suggestions the more he will likely screw us to make sure he knows which timeline he is?"
"Isn't there a way to prevent and protect from his negative side? Yes, it's probably hard to prevent what a precognitive guy is going to do, but not impossible, he probably predicted we giving him to you and whatever other variables, but preventing his moves and using it against him is a bold move that he probably won't feel possible, just use him not the other way around"
------------------------------------
Hmm, yes, it's weird that he decided to help us against the rebels, and not just watching from afar to see what we do so he can discover our timelines
Greno: "Spot on. His entire job is to screw you over so he knows the timeline. As for defending against his negative sides? No, you can't. Anything you would try he can predict."
I don't always know what to do, Blue. I'm not too big on trying to figure out which of two potential allies we need to screw over.
Well, too bad. As I've said, I can guarantee that everything Greno's said is true - that is, nothing David said actually contradicts this. He also just showed up and offered to help.
And please, guys, offer suggestions. Actually, I'm making a poll... now.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 14, 2018, 01:36:46 pm
This is probably a thing I'll have to get a moderator to solve, but whatever.
Just select both if you trust both, and only select the last if you trust neither.
Post by: Glass on March 14, 2018, 02:59:47 pm
Now. Which hex, and which page?
EDIT: If we could get Erin here, it would completely neutralize the thing about the Visionaries that Goonswarm is worried about. I think we should find a way to make that happen.
Quick everyone, think of tropes involving someone unexpected appearing out of nowhere!
EDIT2: Also, in case you guys can't see Blue's links, they're this mess (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NHsPABnMELmtsBAo85KXENM-kTPNcuBoGtTCqJ1C_D8/mobilebasic) and this infinite library (https://libraryofbabel.info).
Post by: omada on March 15, 2018, 03:43:29 pm
No one will never see me again
Post by: Glass on March 15, 2018, 04:28:48 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 16, 2018, 11:49:24 am
Y’know, a library like that one is 100% the type of thing I can see Erin making a physical version of, just for kicks.
I doubt it. It has no clear use and would require a lot of resources. Waste of his time, he has better things to do, like saving the world.
Such a thing built in Hammerspace, however, would be a great prison for Sir Tyro Padelheb.
Now. Which hex, and which page?
This one. (https://libraryofbabel.info/bookmark.cgi?hexisthemess)
Also something recently reminded me of K. A. Applegate's Animorphs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animorphs) youth science fiction series and I realized that the only thing worse than killing Erin Quill?
Mind controlling him.
And assuming that the revelation of the fourth wall doesn't instantly kill or drive insane whatever's possessing him... a hostile fourth-wall manipulator would be an interesting route to go down.
Actually, genre-savvy Visser One would be terrifying.
Post by: omada on March 16, 2018, 12:06:24 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 17, 2018, 09:04:25 pm
SURPRISE
(I finally got into university so my replies will get more and more irregular than it already was)
Also, congratulations! Don't let my silly forum game distract you from your pursuit of higher education, getting into college is a huge achievement!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 29, 2018, 09:25:59 pm
Hfsalt: “You will, naturally, demand more concrete proof. This we have expected. Have it. The following was recorded at the Citadel of the Protinam 60 hours ago. You will note that the recording resolution is beyond the means of speech editing technology, so there is no question of it being faked.”
The line then beeps as it switches to a recording of some kind. Just as Greno described, there are none of the characteristic flaws or static required to cover up a falsified recording.
"The future is always murky," the recorded voice of David Eborrenial says. "But some things are clear. If the empire falls, it'll be by your hand. Victory is not guaranteed and the path forward is difficult, but you and your friends represent the best hope we have of shaking off the oppression of the Antarcticans. You, Jacob Eldin, are destined to end the oh-so-misnamed Republic of the South."
"That's helpful," says a voice you can tell is Jacob Eldin. "But I was hoping you'd have some advice about getting to the-"
"Your goal? You don't have to reach Antarctica to finish it." David continues. "Tunnels go places. The wormhole has two ends and it can be collapsed from either. One is anchored in Antarctica, but the other is on this continent. That's the whole point."
"But we don't know where the Brazilian end is stored-" says a voice you recognize as Anna Drimoxi.
"Of course not. It was hidden away in some sort of underground complex. But the Antarcticans are moving it out in a ship. Search the docks of Santiago. You'll find it there."
"Where, exactly?" asks Anna.
"I don't know,” David admits. “I just know where you can begin your search. Go to the piers. Once you get there, don’t trust the bees and the king. Your friend has a yellow hand."
"And you're on our side about this?" Jacob asks.
David sighs. "The Republic isn't all bad. They think they're doing the right thing, which makes them even more dangerous. But I've seen that the Republic must fall, lest our civilization crumble into darkness and ruin. I will support you any way I can. I'll try to mislead their investigators a bit if I can."
"Well, thank you, High Visionary-" begins Jacob.
"Anna?" David says, cutting Jacob off. "Can I speak to you in private for a moment?"
"Uh, sure?" Anna says. There is the sound of feet and then a beep as the recording apparently changes to another track, based in whatever room they walked into.
“Anna Drimoxi,” says David thoughtfully. “So young and yet so troubled.”
“You’re literally a year older than me at most,” she shoots back. “And is there something you’d like to tell me?”
“It’s about Jacob Eldin,” David says.
“What about him?” Anna asks.
“You like him, don’t you,” David replies.
“What does that have to do with anything?” demands Anna.
“But you do like him,” David presses. “I don’t even have to look into the future or whatever, just the way you look at him, the way you talk to him… You’re literally almost finishing his sentences.”
“I… I mean…” Anna stammers. “I don’t get why you want to know.”
“I don’t. Just… you know what you’re father wants to do, right? The monarchy?”
“Yes,” Anna answers flatly.
“He’s a Visionary. Of a different sort,” David says. “He’ll do anything to finish what he believes is right. And that’ll drive him on forever. He’ll eventually will see everything as an acceptable sacrifice for his cause. He’s not there yet, but he’ll get there. He’ll make himself get there.”
“And your point?”
David sighs. “Someday that drive, that determination, will begin tearing things apart. Eventually you’ll have to choose between Samael Drimoxi and Jacob Eldin. You’d best begin thinking about your choice.”
The voice of Greno Hfsalt comes up again.
Greno: “That should do it, right? That’s the proof you needed. David is helping the enemy. We will negotiate no longer. Capture or kill him. That’s our terms of alliance. We have people watching, we will know when the deed is done, but cannot do it himself while he is guarded by you.”
There is a click. The line goes dead.
What do you do?
A: Comply with Goonswarm’s demands. Get rid of David Eborrenial
>A1: Have David arrested at gunpoint
>A2: Send soldiers after him with orders to kill
>A3: Try to trick him and lead him to Goonswarm’s territory
B: Do not comply.
>B1: Inform David of the accusations levied against him by Goonswarm Federation
>B2: Bring up the accusations, but in a fashion that does not make it clear that an outside agency has accused him of something. Ask, for example, “Have you communicated with Jacob Eldin? Why are you helping us after all?”
>B3: Ignore the accusations completely.
(Explanation of numbers: This is not a plurality vote. Otherwise there could be spoiler effects or strategic voting from one side being more divided or something. Instead, a major option A or B will be first chosen based upon the majority of people voting for an A option or a B option. Then, once one of those has won, a suboption will be chosen based upon the suboptions selected.)
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Post by: Glass on March 29, 2018, 09:38:13 pm
If A, A2. Just kill him. The longer he's alive, the more leeway he has.
If B, B2.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 29, 2018, 09:44:32 pm
...
If A, A2. Just kill him. The longer he's alive, the more leeway he has.
If B, B2.
So what's your vote?
Post by: Glass on March 29, 2018, 09:46:37 pm
To be honest, he's kind of inflaming both sides here. I'd rather we get this over with quickly, and he's in the way of that.
Post by: omada on March 29, 2018, 10:01:05 pm
act as B but in the end, A
he of course predicted we would go and shoot him,
Approach him questioning in an angry voice "why do you helped our enemies??" make him explain himself but give him a chance to convince us to not kill him and give him authority, he will have many paths to follow and to see, he will not know if we will in fact let him live and give him power (which is a possibility)
in the end we can kill him on A1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 29, 2018, 10:05:40 pm
Act smart guys
act as B but in the end, A
he of course predicted we would go and shoot him,
Approach him questioning in an angry voice "why do you helped our enemies??" make him explain himself but give him a chance to convince us to not kill him and give him authority, he will have many paths to follow and to see, he will not know if we will in fact let him live and give him power (which is a possibility)
in the end we can kill him on A1
This is... a thing we can do. I'll count it as B0 - aggressively accuse him, prepared to shoot.
Post by: Glass on March 29, 2018, 10:14:56 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 30, 2018, 05:59:47 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 30, 2018, 03:13:53 pm
I really hope Paxie, Fallacy, KJP and Roboson choose to show up and vote, because I'm not writing to two people. I'll make a summary of this decision soon if you missed anything.
And also I put this as a hidden message, but I really should put it in the open:
A new voice comes over the radio.
Mittani: "And you also should consider that David Eborrenial has a crush on Anna Drimoxi. And that the GM of this game firmly believes that love makes you dumb (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoveMakesYouDumb)."
And also, this is a lot better than it could be. I at one time considered having David be possessed by Tzeentch (http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Tzeentch).
Post by: Glass on March 30, 2018, 03:19:45 pm
And yes, getting Tzeentch involved would open this situation up to all kinds of terrible.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 30, 2018, 04:53:03 pm
From what I know, Robo hasn't been on the forums in a while.
And yes, getting Tzeentch involved would open this situation up to all kinds of terrible.
I'm surprised that you haven't commented on the other devastating implication of that message... that Goonswarm is led not by a manipulative asshole, but a fourth-wall-aware manipulative asshole.
Post by: Glass on March 30, 2018, 07:34:06 pm
We'll draft them into the Quill Gang later.
Post by: omada on March 30, 2018, 09:03:15 pm
I am drunk sorry hehehe
proplr are geting boring here
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 31, 2018, 05:47:04 pm
proplr are geting boring here
Mostly my fault. I'm working on making it a bit better.
Post by: omada on March 31, 2018, 11:57:14 pm
proplr are geting boring here
Mostly my fault. I'm working on making it a bit better.
Wait, what?
I was talking about the people that were in my house uahsusahusahuas
the people stooped dancing or having interesting talks or whatever and started to face their cellphones so i came back to the forum :v
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 06, 2018, 07:26:29 am
"Don't be silly, Quill," Tyro Padelheb says. "I have guards all around this place. You'd be dead before you fire a shot."
"Eh? Worth it to get rid of you," Erin replies, aiming the gun while typing furiously on the wormhole control panel with the other. "I'm strongly considering stuffing you headfirst into the wormhole at this point."
"That won't stop it," warns Mira Kethalyn.
"True, but he'll die a few nanoseconds before the rest of Antarctica does," Erin said. "Some small measure of revenge for causing all this mess. What were you trying to do, anyway?"
"He had me-" Mira begins to say, before Padelheb shoots her a glare and she falls silent.
"Do what?" asks Quill, still tapping furiously and still pointing the gun at Padelheb.
Padelheb just folds his arms. “Watch your mouth, Erin,” he says. “It would take but a few words for me to have you shot.”
“Yeah, that’s the other confusing thing,” Erin Quill says, still staring down at the control panel. “How exactly did you get King Karatstoz to believe that I’m a traitor? Seeing as there’s no evidence whatsoever of such a crime?”
Padelheb smirks again. “Do you really think there’s anyone that won’t turn against you if pushed in the right way? That won’t say exactly what I want them to say and do exactly what I want them to do if pressed in the right places? You know nothing-”
“Jon Snow,” Quill interrupts.
This, for one, seriously threw Padelheb off guard. “What?”
“You know nothing, Jon Snow.” Quill says. Blank stares answer him. “Fourth-wall reference. Pay no attention, carry on.” After typing a series of commands into the control board, he moves over to another section of the panel and gently puts his hands on a glowing wheel in the table."
"What are you doing?" Mira asks, stepping up to the panel.
Erin looks up for a moment. “I mean, I’m pretty sure that I can stabilize this thing, but just in case I run out of time, or fully screw up and make things worse, there’s a few more things I can try,” he says. “This is an experimental program I wrote a while ago to shunt all the wormhole’s virtual mass to one end.”
“Meaning that if it disintegrates-”
“-only one end will explode. The other end will just vanish into nothing.”
“So instead of obliterating two continents we just obliterate one,” Mira says.
“Uh, yeah,” Erin answers. “Then the only question is which side to move it to,”
“Well, obviously the opposite one,” Mira says.
Erin looks at her.
“Look, it’d be bad to lose either continent, and millions of people will die either way, but Antarctica is undoubtedly more valuable. At any cost, we cannot allow our civilization to perish.”
“Well, I mean,” Erin says, glaring at Padelheb, “By producing the likes of him we’ve probably voided any right to consider ourselves the superior civilization, ever. And either way, I wasn’t asking you.”
“I agree fully,” Padelheb says. “Antarctica must prevail. Everything else is… expendable.”
“I wasn’t asking you either, idiot,” Erin says.
What do you do?
A: Transfer the mass to Antarctica and preserve Brazil, along with Celling, Merrowitz, the rebels, and the parrot, in the case of a wormhole collapse.
B: Transfer the mass to Brazil and preserve Antarctica, along with Quill, Padelheb, Mira, and the nobles, in the case of a wormhole collapse.
C: Do neither and focus on saving both.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 06, 2018, 07:32:32 am
4th wall asshole knows that we play this game, and so as not heores he has disvantage, he should join us for max fun in his life
Not quite. I'm planning to make him Wrong Genre Savvy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WrongGenreSavvy).
Remember, he hails from a universe where callous manipulation of others and use of the meta-game and fourth wall to defeat your enemies is endorsed by the rules of the world and the makers of the game. He'll keep trying that here.
Post by: Glass on April 06, 2018, 08:22:49 am
Quote from: My Sig
Erin Quill died. Now he's a ghost. Therefore, magic.
EDIT: Also, cue Obi Wan force ghost nonsense.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 06, 2018, 08:51:26 am
Post by: Doomblade187 on April 06, 2018, 08:56:46 am
Post by: omada on April 06, 2018, 01:49:31 pm
we have many more allies there than in antartica, we can send a piece of belongings from Quill to the fantasyland that we are giving weapons to resurrect him
WAIT
but the wormhole isn't in Brazil, it's going to England right now it might be on the mid of the ocean, just a bunch of people will die and a fuckton of maritime life maybe creating a portal to I don't know, warcraft nagas
Post by: Glass on April 06, 2018, 01:55:42 pm
The question is, can we convince Erin to let the wormhole explode in exchange for breaking the story and letting him be remembered by history as the one who tore down this corrupt and monstrous empire?
For that matter, let's see if he can figure out a way to make sure that the explosion doesn't spill over to any other inhabited locations. Either center it at the south pole, or make sure that the only place it spills out to is open ocean.
Blue, can we get a map of the southern hemisphere, where its cities are, where the wormhole's ends are, and the radius of the explosion?
Post by: omada on April 06, 2018, 02:16:38 pm
We could either try to create our own monarchy or a military dictatorship (in this case, thinking about the actual scenario of our politics here in Brazil it will be unfortunately likely to our real world and fictional world government type to match hehuehusahusahasheuasheuah I don't know why I am laughing I should be thinking in a way to leave the country without money -q)
or try to recover the republic, but THEIR monarchy... hmmm they're isn't exactly heroes, if we make them sign a treaty giving us a fuckton of liberty/power and a parliamentarian monarchy where the royal family will be only a beautiful bullshit it is still worthy
rebels stop being heroes but not turn quite in villians, they live ever after ever, the overlord empire continues with it's capital in south america and return to expand it's borders
new heroes emerge to prevent global domination
Post by: Glass on April 06, 2018, 02:24:07 pm
new heroes emerge to prevent global domination~Cue Celling and the parrot~
But seriously, if they do that stuff, then we've got a perfect in to setting up our guys as the good guys.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 09, 2018, 10:49:36 am
Erin left SOMETHING behind on brazil? At least, a bit of DNA? we can do A and get rid of these fuckers
we have many more allies there than in antartica, we can send a piece of belongings from Quill to the fantasyland that we are giving weapons to resurrect him
Resurrecting Erin? That's literally something I didn't think of.
I mean, it should work. I think it’s agreed upon that you can Resurrection off any tiny bit of a person. DNA might be too small, but people have said that eyebrows or finger bones are enough. OOTS has people capable of running a resurrection, as they resurrect Roy later on. They do need a certain quantity of diamonds but we’re funding them (and a gold piece isn’t that much) so that won’t be a problem. And if you were wondering, the trans-universal power rules I’m using don’t forbid such a thing. Resurrection is a power that targets every living thing, including those in our universe, while our universe has no specific rule banning resurrection - so their rules work. The only thing I could see as a quibble is the “soul must be free and willing” clause, since I don’t have anything like an afterlife worked out in this universe, but I could gloss over that. This would have the additional fun consequence of constructing New Quill entirely out of the OOTS-verse’s matter, meaning that he’ll be vulnerable to special attacks and aid from the OOTS universe but resistant to supernatural assault from our universe.
but the wormhole isn't in Brazil, it's going to England right now it might be on the mid of the ocean, just a bunch of people will die and a fuckton of maritime life maybe creating a portal to I don't know, warcraft nagas
No such luck. Remember, the wormhole apparatus is huge, consumes power like a pig, and was never designed to be moved. It’s still being loaded onto the ship, which is docked at Santiago.
If Antarctica explodes, the story moves to the rebels trying to get civilization in order in Brazil. Since Celling's superiors will be dead, he'll have nothing holding him to stay loyal to the (in this scenario, dead) Republic, so he's free to join the good guys. Therefore, Blue can't actually have the wormhole explode if we shift all the mass to Antarctica.
I would advise you not to guess what I will and will not do especially because I was indeed not going to have the wormhole explode, but am now tempted to invert that.
The question is, can we convince Erin to let the wormhole explode in exchange for breaking the story and letting him be remembered by history as the one who tore down this corrupt and monstrous empire?
For that matter, let's see if he can figure out a way to make sure that the explosion doesn't spill over to any other inhabited locations. Either center it at the south pole, or make sure that the only place it spills out to is open ocean.
Blue, can we get a map of the southern hemisphere, where its cities are, where the wormhole's ends are, and the radius of the explosion?
Okay, so I haven’t found out exactly where Antarctica City is, but I can say that the amount of visible and thermal radiation off the wormhole burst will completely destroy the city, and the gamma rays will sterilize a large part of the continent, but there is no danger to any other continent. It won’t even inject radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere because it’s not a nuclear blast - there won’t be any fission, just pure emission of gamma rays. The safety of other continents is mostly just due to the Earth’s curvature - the rock of the crust itself is good at shielding against gamma rays.
Also note that two point seven MILLION people live on Antarctica, so letting the thing explode is NOT an option. And as I’ve said, thanks to Glass correctly guessing that I won’t actually let the wormhole explode, I will actually consider having the wormhole explode (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InsaneTrollLogic).
Nope, the republic will be dead but the rebels will try to install a monarchyI feel as if the plot would find some way to blame the Republic for the destruction of Antarctica, and turn this into a “the world is ended get revenge on the people that destroyed it” plot.
We could either try to create our own monarchy or a military dictatorship (in this case, thinking about the actual scenario of our politics here in Brazil it will be unfortunately likely to our real world and fictional world government type to match hehuehusahusahasheuasheuah I don't know why I am laughing I should be thinking in a way to leave the country without money -q)
or try to recover the republic, but THEIR monarchy... hmmm they're isn't exactly heroes, if we make them sign a treaty giving us a fuckton of liberty/power and a parliamentarian monarchy where the royal family will be only a beautiful bullshit it is still worthy
rebels stop being heroes but not turn quite in villians, they live ever after ever, the overlord empire continues with it's capital in south america and return to expand it's borders
new heroes emerge to prevent global domination
new heroes emerge to prevent global domination~Cue Celling and the parrot~
But seriously, if they do that stuff, then we've got a perfect in to setting up our guys as the good guys.
Which I will oppose with all my power, because that means changing the general theme of the game, and changing the theme of the game has almost/possibly lost me one player already (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7689948#msg7689948).
Next week: The truth about David Eborrenial! wuh jkb xskbkle fsy bvyro h wpyyix ilwwlcl xzk
clavis est rota
Post by: Glass on April 09, 2018, 11:04:59 am
So, you are now considering exploding Antarctica. Now what?
EDIT: Welcome, everyone, to Codebreakers Central. In this week’s episode, “wuh jkb xskbkle fsy bvyro h wpyyix ilwwlcl xzk
clavis est rota”.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 09, 2018, 11:11:57 am
You are terrible at hiding links, Blue.
So, you are now considering exploding Antarctica. Now what?
EDIT: Welcome, everyone, to Codebreakers Central. In this week’s episode, “wuh jkb xskbkle fsy bvyro h wpyyix ilwwlcl xzk
clavis est rota”.
Explain what you're saying, please. I know that you're able to detect these messages. I don't do them to hide it, I do it so that it seems as if they're specifically addressed at you.
Post by: omada on April 09, 2018, 11:16:53 am
if the wormhole explode on both sides will be game over for EVERYONE
for us, for the rebels for little finger
for megallan
for david and goonswarm
and oh, we have other wormholes in antartica right? comunicating with china and some bases on africa
doesn't mean that with the wormhole explosion it will explode the other wormholes and create a chain effect of doom?
if yes, and my sadistic mind is hoping for YES, it will mean
Game over for zulu or something
game over for zing shu xuan or something
and let the earth twist and make Europe understand absolutely nothing when they find empty cities with alien tech
no silk road
no slavery on Americas
the most !!FUN!! outcome possible
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 09, 2018, 11:17:50 am
So let's chose C and try to save everything
if the wormhole explode on both sides will be game over for EVERYONE
for us, for the rebels for little finger
for megallan
for david and goonswarm
and oh, we have other wormholes in antartica right? comunicating with china and some bases on africa
doesn't mean that with the wormhole explosion it will explode the other wormholes and create a chain effect of doom?
if yes, and my sadistic mind is hoping for YES, it will mean
Game over for zulu or something
game over for zing shu xuan or something
and let the earth twist and make Europe understand absolutely nothing when they find empty cities with alien tech
no silk road
no slavery on Americas
the most !!FUN!! outcome possible
Mutual assured destruction is a thing that you can try. And we have no other wormholes. And a wormhole blast would obliterate EVERYTHING in our city, much like a nuke.
Post by: omada on April 09, 2018, 11:22:21 am
C!! C!! C!!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 09, 2018, 11:26:44 am
Post by: Glass on April 09, 2018, 11:28:24 am
Also, have an applicable trope (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FullCircleRevolution)Also, have an applied nope (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DefiedTrope)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 09, 2018, 11:28:41 am
Note that Glass is right; he's a prophet, the longer you let him live the longer he has to predict your attack and avoid it.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 10, 2018, 05:03:52 pm
A few minutes later David's voice comes over the radio. “Yes?”
“David?” says Celling.
“Thought I'd explain directly instead of going through middlemen so I asked for a communicator. What's this about?”
“You gave information to our enemies,” Celling said. “Do you deny it?”
“Oh,” he says. “You've found out about that little conversation with Anna, eh?”
“So you did consult with the rebels?”
“My reason is the one you'd expect,” David says. “Data collection. By seeing how they responded I can improve my prediction of the future.”
“You told him the location of the wormhole!”
“I didn't! I didn't know that it'd be there! I just knew that telling them that would get a response out of them! I had no idea if it was true or not, or if they'd actually do anything! A good fraction of the timelines ended in you capturing them, you know.”
“And why didn't you tell us this when you met us?”
David sighs. “I wanted to get some sort of results from it. See what they would do. Telling you would have reduced the divergence in timelines and would mean I can't narrow it down as much.”
“You’re still playing your games? Do you have any idea how dangerous a wormhole explosion would-”
“I know, I know!” protests David. “But I didn't realize at the moment. When I was talking to Jacob I thought that it would do one of those vacuum type things where it just sits around as a black hole and pulls in a lot of stuff.”
“And what changed?” asks Celling.
“I had a moment of what you would probably call Fridge Horror,” he says. “I realized some hours later that a black hole destabilization would actually obliterate Argentina and thus Jacob Eldin became a threat warranting direct intervention. This, along with the plague situation, drove me to open communication with you.”
“So you are now-”
“Using everything in my power to stop Jacob, yes,” says David.
“And as to everything in your power,” says Celling. “You seem to be making very certain predictions now, whereas before you could only give chances. Care to elaborate on that?”
“Well, firstly, predictions are much better when in the short term, hours rather than days,” he answers. “I'm not as sure as I may seem, and you might notice that my suggestions sometimes make things worse. And I’ve also collected more information as to the timeline we are in, from you and the rebels. And to that end, where exactly did you get these accusations? That could narrow it a bit.”
What do you tell him? Note that the fact I'm giving you a choice at all may or may not indicate that telling him the truth has negative consequences
A: “It was Goonswarm. They told us to turn on you.” (true)
B: “I'm sorry, David, but after that little episode we don't trust you enough to give you more information.”
C: “It was delivered anonymously. We don't know who sent it.”
D: “These accusations are our own. We found out about the conversation by our own sources.”
E: Say a code word through the radio to get the soldiers on the shore to shoot.
F: Something else...
Post by: omada on April 10, 2018, 10:04:59 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 11, 2018, 08:31:50 am
E
Why are you so cruel towards David Eborrenial? What has he ever done to - oh wait, that.
In seven hours I will take this vote as final. Glass, speak now or forever hold your peace.
Post by: Glass on April 11, 2018, 08:55:57 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 11, 2018, 08:57:41 am
*shrug*
And that's the one for killing David, remember... :P please vote I don't want this to die
Post by: Rockeater on April 11, 2018, 12:08:47 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 11, 2018, 02:59:03 pm
Can someone actually provide another vote.
Because I'm not going off one vote.
And because killing David would derail my plot.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on April 11, 2018, 08:35:36 pm
E+1 "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Over."
Post by: RoseHeart on April 11, 2018, 09:25:42 pm
Wait.
Can someone actually provide another vote.
Because I'm not going off one vote.
And because killing David would derail my plot.
Consider listing your game on the game list thread.
Post by: Glass on April 11, 2018, 09:30:18 pm
And because killing David would derail my plot.Well now we just have to kill him. +1 to a dead David.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 12, 2018, 01:27:08 pm
And because killing David would derail my plot.Well now we just have to kill him. +1 to a dead David.
Firstly, wow that's cruel
Secondly, you misunderstand. It won't derail the world's plot - that is, the fantasy-like storyline that the laws of this universe strive to create.
It'll derail my plot - that is, the things I'm doing to make the game playable again. See I'd already driven Paxie off through Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy, and I've been trying to take things back to the traditional small decisions rather than doomy-doomed-doom-land. And killing David reverses some of that.
I'll be frank, for a moment there when only Omada answers, and Glass just shrugs, I was worried this thing would die. That Omada is just trying to ruin the game because he doesn't care and it's only going to get worse if David gets killed. But now that more people are taking interest? I don't feel so bad about killing the sucker off anymore.
But I genuinely didn't expect anyone to go for the David Must Go option. Care to explain why?
Post by: Glass on April 12, 2018, 02:22:34 pm
It won't derail the world's plot - that is, the fantasy-like storyline that the laws of this universe strive to create.Damnit. Call it off then.
EDIT: C.
Post by: Rockeater on April 12, 2018, 02:23:41 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 12, 2018, 02:25:16 pm
It won't derail the world's plot - that is, the fantasy-like storyline that the laws of this universe strive to create.Damnit. Call it off then.
A, I have no idea and I just chose at random
Still E leads. Re-vote, Glass?
Post by: Glass on April 12, 2018, 02:25:45 pm
Rock, I suggest you follow my vote.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 12, 2018, 03:14:54 pm
Just did so while you posted that.
Rock, I suggest you follow my vote.
And we're tied. Cue tiebreak!
Post by: FallacyofUrist on April 12, 2018, 03:23:59 pm
C+.
"You need to be more careful, David. The potential power the wormhole explosion could put off... you really need to be more careful. Anyways, the message was anonymous. We don't know who sent it, but we wish we did."
Post by: omada on April 12, 2018, 03:33:14 pm
but if it's going to really hurt the plot and make hard for the story to go on C
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 12, 2018, 03:39:18 pm
DYNAMIC ENTRY!
C+.
"You need to be more careful, David. The potential power the wormhole explosion could put off... you really need to be more careful. Anyways, the message was anonymous. We don't know who sent it, but we wish we did."
My god. How the hell do you appear EVERY TIME I request a tiebreak?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 12, 2018, 03:45:42 pm
“You've got to be more careful, David,” Celling answers. “The energy the wormhole explosion could-”
“I KNOW, DAMNIT!” he screams.
“Either way be more careful,” says Celling. “Also, the message was anonymous.”
“Really?” asks David. “Because I think it's from Goonswarm Federation.”
Your response?
A: “Maybe. What's your evidence?”
B: “What? How did you know?”
C: Shoot him.
D: Something else...
Post by: Rockeater on April 12, 2018, 03:47:42 pm
Post by: Glass on April 12, 2018, 03:59:26 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on April 12, 2018, 06:28:26 pm
A+1. I'd replace the word "Maybe" with "Possibly", though.
Post by: TamerVirus on April 12, 2018, 06:49:22 pm
Post by: omada on April 12, 2018, 08:59:29 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 13, 2018, 09:41:42 am
A+1. I'd replace the word "Maybe" with "Possibly", though.
Taking this vote!
"Possibly," Celling answers. "Why do you think that?"
"I don't," David says. "That's curtains on universes 4AD23 and B223, then, cause those are the ones where you say something different."
"Wait," Celling asks, "so you said that just because-"
"-in some universes, you respond that they did, yeah," David answers.
And that's when the line to Goonswarm opens again. You just barely shut the transmission to David so he doesn't find out.
Mittani: "You've been given enough time, Celling. Why isn't David dead?"
Response?
A: Claim we're working on it but need the right opportunity
B: Say that we're not betraying him
C: Tell them we're not certain and are trying to verify their claims
D: Shoot David
E: Something else...
Post by: Glass on April 13, 2018, 10:00:32 am
Also, I recall this:
“that Goonswarm is led not by a manipulative asshole, but a fourth-wall-aware manipulative asshole.”
EDIT: Ah, yes, he’s running off of EVE Online logic, which is “who can be the biggest asshole” and “let’s infiltrate this huge alliance over the course of a FUCKING YEAR and then blow up their biggest ships” and “full all y’all bastards I’m stealing all your ships and money kicking you all out of the alliance and leaving the game so that none of that stuff can ever be accessed again, which is thousands or millions of dollars of real money gone into the ether” and “you see this rich ass nobody likes, we’re gonna trick him into setting off a huge explosion and then suicide into him so as to make sure he can never set foot inside civilized space ever again” and “let’s mock some reandom guy IN REAL LIFE until he fucking COMMITS SUICIDE you fucking horrible people”.
Can we cure them?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 13, 2018, 10:30:36 am
Can we cure them?
No. :)
Post by: FallacyofUrist on April 13, 2018, 10:45:05 am
Post by: TamerVirus on April 13, 2018, 11:09:25 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 13, 2018, 11:27:37 am
Omada, care to come in?
Remember if it's tied for too long I string you all up a rafter by taking all of your suggestions AT ONCE.
Post by: omada on April 13, 2018, 12:29:16 pm
E: "Because it wouldn't work. He's got precognition, remember?"although i would merge it with A "we are thinking in a way to do that"
Post by: Glass on April 13, 2018, 01:25:17 pm
...I mean, it’s technically the truth, I guess, on both counts? We’re probably thinking of a way to kill almost anyone. Maybe not just killing one person specifically, but exploding the wormhole would probably kill him dead, right? Along with everyone else in the vicinity of the continent?E: "Because it wouldn't work. He's got precognition, remember?"although i would merge it with A "we are thinking in a way to do that"
I don’t think you can precog yourself out of a magic wormhole space EQ mad science nuke.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 15, 2018, 07:09:04 pm
“We’re trying to do it!” protests Celling. “He’s precognitive, remember? We’re working out a way to kill him that he won’t foresee.”
“It isn’t that hard,” explains the Mittani. “His powers depend upon the concept of choice. It isn’t point and click. He can view the effects of his own choices, or those of others, but only if he can accurately predict them.”
“Yeah?” Celling says. “So?”
“So all you have to do to kill him in a way that is totally unpredictable is to do it as a result of a choice that he doesn’t know has been offered to you,” the voice on the other end of the line says. “That is, do it on our advice. He’ll never see it coming, because he’ll never think to look at what happens if you accept my proposal.”
“Huh. Alright then. We’ll try that.”
The Mittani seems to not believe this. “Remember, Celling. I’ll say this again because you might not have heard the first time, but David Eborrenial has a badly-disguised and likely unrequited attraction towards Anna Drimoxi. This can be seen through other recordings that we took.”
“So?” asks Celling. “Here in the Republic, we don’t care about who you like.”
Drepa spámann leiðir til sprengingu eyðileggur bryggju
The Mittani chuckles. “Except that in this case it really matters. The GM has a serious belief in the idea that Love Makes You Dumb (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoveMakesYouDumb), Wenton. You should know.”
“Excuse me?” he asks. “What?”
“You ran off in pursuit of Lieutenant Armen and Jacob Eldin when you had no orders to do so. You refused to fire on the Rebel ship when it was within your grasp. Because of the hostages onboard? Or because of your still-lingering affection for Miss DeMarco?” the Mittani laughs. “It was quite thinly built up. There was no way that it would happen thus in real life. The note was a nice touch but ultimately ridiculous. And it all happened because the GM decided to handwave it away with the justification that you were in love, you weren’t acting rationally.”
“I… I have no idea what you are talking about,” Celling says. He’s obviously very shaken.
“It’ll be the same with David,” the Mittani promises. “Only he won’t be on your side. Not for long. He’ll run off in pursuit of beautiful, dashing Anna Drimoxi. Heir of Argentina. Not to mention that it’ll make a perfect Five-Man Band (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveManBand), with Jacob Eldin as The Leader (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLeader), Andrew Calvin as The Lancer (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLancer), David Eborrenial as The Smart Guy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSmartGuy), Samael Drimoxi as The Big Guy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheBigGuy), and Anna Drimoxi as The Chick (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheChick). And this is exactly the type of thing that the rules of this game will push for, no? That’s a staple of fiction. That’s something that will happen.”
“That’s interesting, but-”
“But there’s more,” continues the Mittani. “Even if he stays at your side? You still lose. An important, powerful male figure on the enemy side taking a romantic interest in one of the heros? That taps into one of the deepest conflicts in human history, one imprinted into the minds of all people, the fight of two men over a woman. It invokes the trope of Villainous Crush (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainousCrush) and makes sure that It's Personal (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItsPersonal) and, in general, pushes you towards the mold of the generic villainous entity. And this, if I am not very much mistaken, is exactly what you want.”
“Well,” says Celling slowly. “We’ll consider that, Mr… what should we call you?”
“You know.”
“Hm? I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“No,” the Mittani says. “I am the leader of Goonswarm Federation. I grew tired of going through intermediaries. You know my name.”
“You’ve never told me your name,” Celling says.
“No, but you know it,” replies the Mittani. “You know it because it’s on your screen. Outside the quotation marks. You know it because the GM told you who’s talking.”
“Again, I have no idea what you’re-”
“Oh come on, Wenton, I know you understand,” the Mittani says. “Why don’t you admit it? You know my name.”
How do you respond?
A: “You are the Mittani… and as a fellow manipulator of the fourth wall, I request your aid in saving this world.”
B: “I know who you are. You are the Mittani, and you are the salt of the Earth. I will heed none of your manipulative words.”
C: “Your points were good but you frankly lost me there at the end. Would you please tell me your name?”
D: “I have heard enough of your mad babbling! I understand nothing of what you said and will certainly not take your advice!”
E: Click off the radio.
F: Look behind you.
G: Something else…
Post by: Glass on April 15, 2018, 07:15:58 pm
Ask one of our men which way we need to step to not get attacked from behind, and move in that direction.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 15, 2018, 07:17:07 pm
"Ok, mate, yes, you've made your point. How's this: just tell us your name."
Ask David or one of our men which way we need to step to not get attacked from behind, and move in that direction.
So this is the exact thing you want to say? Because this is kinda under C - express agreement, but not fourth-wall knowledge.
Post by: Glass on April 15, 2018, 07:18:54 pm
My point is more "Let's both pretend that we don't have fourth-wall knowledge, and hope that reality doesn't notice that we do.""Ok, mate, yes, you've made your point. How's this: just tell us your name."
Ask David or one of our men which way we need to step to not get attacked from behind, and move in that direction.
So this is the exact thing you want to say? Because this is kinda under C - express agreement, but not fourth-wall knowledge.
Because my interpretation of his point is "HEY LOOK AT ME BLATANTLY ASSAULTING THE FOURTH WALL!"
I'm not expressing agreement with what he suggested. If he chooses to interpret it that way, he can feel free, but that isn't what I mean.
Post by: omada on April 15, 2018, 07:23:08 pm
"Kill prophet leads to an explosion destroys bother"
G Do F because i am curious while saying, "So, don't push the fourth wall so much, and just check the hidden messages in the forum board"
Post by: Glass on April 15, 2018, 07:26:06 pm
check the hidden messages in the forum boardSo. Speaking of.
Blue, what is "Drepa spámann leiðir til sprengingu eyðileggur bryggju"? Is this welsh or some shit like that?
EDIT: And apparently it is Icelandic and Omoda already translated it. Though my translation said it destroys the dock.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 15, 2018, 07:29:16 pm
"Kill prophet leads to an explosion destroys bother"
G Do F because i am curious while saying, "So, don't push the fourth wall so much, and just check the hidden messages in the forum board"
If you do F, you cannot do anything else.
This is totally not a red herring designed to make you think that there is some content I have planned that will be accessed by taking F, and taking F will absolutely not cause a delay in your response to Goonswarm that will influence the plot in a meaningful way.
Post by: Glass on April 15, 2018, 07:30:03 pm
Which is why I asked one of our minions to check behind us and tell us to move if necessary.
"Kill prophet leads to an explosion destroys bother"
G Do F because i am curious while saying, "So, don't push the fourth wall so much, and just check the hidden messages in the forum board"
If you do F, you cannot do anything else.
This is totally not a red herring designed to make you think that there is some content I have planned that will be accessed by taking F, and taking F will absolutely not cause a delay in your response to Goonswarm that will influence the plot in a meaningful way.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 15, 2018, 07:31:08 pm
Which is why I asked one of our minions to check behind us and tell us to move if necessary.
"Kill prophet leads to an explosion destroys bother"
G Do F because i am curious while saying, "So, don't push the fourth wall so much, and just check the hidden messages in the forum board"
If you do F, you cannot do anything else.
This is totally not a red herring designed to make you think that there is some content I have planned that will be accessed by taking F, and taking F will absolutely not cause a delay in your response to Goonswarm that will influence the plot in a meaningful way.
Oh, you did. Ahh.
Well, you do have people with you. God damn you and your rotten pragmatism!
Post by: omada on April 15, 2018, 07:32:26 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 15, 2018, 07:38:24 pm
so... +1 glass plan with the extra part of us telling him to check the hidden message
Can he see the forum though? Who knows? quv tvx lz qufq pulkv nvkklsd ufz fnnvzz qj quv mjihb fse quv sfqhiv jm quv dfbv quv blqqfsl fnqhfkkx ufz fnnvzz qj quv db qufq lz bv fse fkk quv levfz fse wvklvmz l ujke (https://www.desmos.com/calculator/flgbcbq12z)
Post by: Glass on April 15, 2018, 07:40:42 pm
quv tvx lz qufq pulkv nvkklsd ufz fnnvzz qj quv mjihb fse quv sfqhiv jm quv dfbv quv blqqfsl fnqhfkkx ufz fnnvzz qj quv db qufq lz bv fse fkk quv levfz fse wvklvmz l ujke (https://www.desmos.com/calculator/flgbcbq12z)...what the hell is even the point of putting in a link to the graph of y=17x+5.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 15, 2018, 07:41:41 pm
quv tvx lz qufq pulkv nvkklsd ufz fnnvzz qj quv mjihb fse quv sfqhiv jm quv dfbv quv blqqfsl fnqhfkkx ufz fnnvzz qj quv db qufq lz bv fse fkk quv levfz fse wvklvmz l ujke (https://www.desmos.com/calculator/flgbcbq12z)...what the hell is even the point of putting in a link to the graph of y=17x+5.
Look at the ciphers offered by https://cryptii.com/ (https://cryptii.com/) and it will hit you, loudly.
Post by: Glass on April 15, 2018, 07:56:43 pm
I'd never heard of Affine before. Huh.quv tvx lz qufq pulkv nvkklsd ufz fnnvzz qj quv mjihb fse quv sfqhiv jm quv dfbv quv blqqfsl fnqhfkkx ufz fnnvzz qj quv db qufq lz bv fse fkk quv levfz fse wvklvmz l ujke (https://www.desmos.com/calculator/flgbcbq12z)...what the hell is even the point of putting in a link to the graph of y=17x+5.
Look at the ciphers offered by https://cryptii.com/ (https://cryptii.com/) and it will hit you, loudly.
"the key is that while celling has access to the forum and the nature of the game the mittani actually has access to the gm that is me and all the ideas and beliefs i hold"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 15, 2018, 08:08:22 pm
I'd never heard of Affine before. Huh.quv tvx lz qufq pulkv nvkklsd ufz fnnvzz qj quv mjihb fse quv sfqhiv jm quv dfbv quv blqqfsl fnqhfkkx ufz fnnvzz qj quv db qufq lz bv fse fkk quv levfz fse wvklvmz l ujke (https://www.desmos.com/calculator/flgbcbq12z)...what the hell is even the point of putting in a link to the graph of y=17x+5.
Look at the ciphers offered by https://cryptii.com/ (https://cryptii.com/) and it will hit you, loudly.
"the key is that while celling has access to the forum and the nature of the game the mittani actually has access to the gm that is me and all the ideas and beliefs i hold"
Fifteen minutes. Fun. Let's see how much of your life I can waste.
Tip: When you quote a secret message, leave some of the surrounding text so everyone can know where you found it, and when you break a cipher, give a short blurb of how you did it. That way other people may be less confused.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on April 16, 2018, 04:45:44 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 16, 2018, 06:53:05 am
G: "Imposter! I didn't hear even one tilde, and there wasn't anywhere near enough spin (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=118424)!"
Uh.
Whut?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 16, 2018, 07:30:05 am
Either way, I'll write that up now. Any other votes...?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 16, 2018, 09:54:52 am
“Alright, you’ve made your point,” says Celling. “Why don’t you just tell us your name?” As he does so he gives a quick and silent hand gesture to the guards next to him, and they spin around and look behind Celling.
The voice on the other end chuckles. “Fair enough. I am the Mittani.”
Then it cuts off.
Celling turns around. There is nothing there and the guards look puzzled. “What did you expect us to find?” one says.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Celling answers. “Just a hunch. Let’s get to securing these boats.”
They can see that there are three boats on the dock: A long boat, a wide boat, and a small boat.
The long boat is a passenger ship used for moving tourists over sea to nearby ports of call. It has several levels and includes dining rooms, kitchens, and suites. There are undoubtedly many nooks and crannies in the cargo bay and such where people could hide.
The wide boat is a fishing trawler. The deck is gray, industrial, and two large cranes stand to either side of the stern for nets to be hooked off of. There are no levels belowdecks - it is a long, flat ship - and there is a small control room off to the right and middle sticking out from the deck.
The small boat is an aging patrol ship similar to the one that Jacob stole earlier. While somewhat out of date and rusty, it is still a nimble ship with some stocks of weapons onboard. We use it to guard our seas and catch smugglers.
We’ve only got enough men to hold and secure one boat, at the maximum, especially with an unknown number of enemies on this dock.
What action do you take?
A: Send troops to secure the long boat. The long boat has a great deal of corridors and rooms and will result in a chase scene if hostiles are found there.
B: Send troops to the fat boat. The fat boat has a large open space which will likely result in a firefight.
C: Send troops to hold the small boat. If the rebels get the small boat, they could undock quickly and turn it into a sea battle.
D: Forget the boats. Begin searching the various shops and warehouses along the dock.
E: Too risky to focus on just one. Fall back to a position from which you can block entry to all three. This means just guarding the whole segment of the dock, but they might find ways to evade your blockade.
F: Something else…
Post by: Glass on April 16, 2018, 10:06:06 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 16, 2018, 11:47:13 am
F. Have our soldiers scattered to watch for the rebels, but positioned as such that if/when they spot our targets, enough of them can group together quickly enough to actually block the rebels. Presumably, this will mean that we’ll definitely spot the rebels, but our forces will start the battle with fewer men (though they’ll get reinforcements over time as the others get to their position).
This is a thing you can do, yes. Anyone care to support?
Post by: Rockeater on April 16, 2018, 11:54:25 am
F. Have our soldiers scattered to watch for the rebels, but positioned as such that if/when they spot our targets, enough of them can group together quickly enough to actually block the rebels. Presumably, this will mean that we’ll definitely spot the rebels, but our forces will start the battle with fewer men (though they’ll get reinforcements over time as the others get to their position).+1
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on April 16, 2018, 01:30:01 pm
+1F. Have our soldiers scattered to watch for the rebels, but positioned as such that if/when they spot our targets, enough of them can group together quickly enough to actually block the rebels. Presumably, this will mean that we’ll definitely spot the rebels, but our forces will start the battle with fewer men (though they’ll get reinforcements over time as the others get to their position).+1
Post by: omada on April 16, 2018, 06:28:26 pm
Tilde ref: https://pastebin.com/JhENQZqc (NSFW)+1+1F. Have our soldiers scattered to watch for the rebels, but positioned as such that if/when they spot our targets, enough of them can group together quickly enough to actually block the rebels. Presumably, this will mean that we’ll definitely spot the rebels, but our forces will start the battle with fewer men (though they’ll get reinforcements over time as the others get to their position).+1
That's how we transform it in a normal shooter game
If we hide ourselves on the boat we can be even the boss
and if david start helping the rebels each time he reroll it's like a life spent till the game over happens
and we push the rebel victory to another universe when someone will have to play again
Post by: Glass on April 16, 2018, 06:30:52 pm
That's how we transform it in a normal shooter game???
What do you mean?
Post by: omada on April 16, 2018, 06:37:08 pm
That's how we transform it in a normal shooter game???
What do you mean?
Videogames
The main character always face a big number of scattered but constant numbers of enemies, that sometimes get's bigger and bigger until he arrives the safe point
which doesn't exist right now as we can blow the entire dock if needed (just kill david and we weaponize him)
Post by: Glass on April 16, 2018, 06:42:01 pm
The main character always face a big number of scattered but constant numbers of enemies, that sometimes get's bigger and bigger until he arrives the safe pointAh, got it.
Problem is that here, as soon as he's spotted - or someone gets shot, and we'll know, because they should all be constantly checking in (we've got handheld radios, right? We should be using those for that) and as soon as they go quiet we converge on their position.
It's more of a stealth-based game for them, because they're going to have a biiiig problem if all of our guys get the drop on them at once, which is what this plan is designed to have happen.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 17, 2018, 09:22:29 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 17, 2018, 01:29:39 pm
It doesn't have to be a full-blown defence plan, just a few words or a suggestion would be fine.
Post by: Glass on April 17, 2018, 02:01:04 pm
Um... you should always be able to see at least one other soldier. If you are looking in a direction and don’t see one of our guys, set a (subtle) alarm in that direction.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 17, 2018, 03:03:02 pm
I mean, I’ve already said the things that I could come up with.Maybe have a codeword that we can ask for to make sure that the person who has the radio is the one supposed to have it? I can’t think of a reason it would ever be important, but hey, why not.That would probably just get us false alarms.
Um... you should always be able to see at least one other soldier. If you are looking in a direction and don’t see one of our guys, set a (subtle) alarm in that direction.
So they aren't traveling in pairs?
Post by: Glass on April 17, 2018, 03:05:14 pm
And I see how the second part of what I said doesn't really make sense with that
You should be able to see another pair of soldiers at all times.
Post by: omada on April 17, 2018, 06:07:56 pm
The least amount of blind spots possible
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 18, 2018, 07:55:58 pm
The way this will work is that there are weights for certain events happening. Weights are changed by your decisions, which make certain things more possible or less possible. Then a hidden dice is rolled to determine what actually happens. At the beginning, all of the following have weight three:
- The rebels kill a set of your guards without word getting out.
- The rebels sneak past your guards without any confrontation.
- The rebels confront your guards in a prolonged battle. Results in roll.
- The guards spot a group of rebels before they spot you.
- The guards confront the Mittani’s forces. Results in roll.
- The rebels notice the security presence here, and choose not to try anything this turn.
Choose two general surveillance/search doctrines.
A: Travel in pairs at all times. Makes it less likely that guards can’t get a word out before being killed, but the men will be more divided and the search will have more holes. (-1 to Result 1, +1 to Result 2)
B: Keep within sight of another set of guards. While it does almost nihl the chance of being silently killed, this means that your guards will be restricted in their movements and cannot focus on searching as effectively. (-2 to Result 1, +1 to Result 2, -1 to Result 5)
C: Maintain a 360 awareness of surroundings at all times. While this means the guards will be harder to sneak up upon, such divided attention makes it easier to get past them. (-1 to Result 1, +1 to Result 2, -1 to Result 4)
D: Actually patrol and move around the area. This is likely to hinder the rebels, but after a bit of watching and waiting they will be able to get around more quickly. (+1 to Result 2, +1 to Result 5, +1 to Result 6)
E: Search in houses and down alleys; not just watching, but also looking for the rebels. Increases chance of a confrontation, and you might just catch the rebels off guard. (+1 to Result 3, +1 to Result 5. If a confrontation happens, you tend to have advantage.)
F: Have continuous checkups using a code word. Won’t change the weights any, but if Result 1 comes up then you will respond within 5 seconds rather than 5 minutes or so.
Post by: Glass on April 18, 2018, 08:02:09 pm
EF.
Post by: omada on April 18, 2018, 11:45:50 pm
drunk
later i answer
I don't know why i logged
sorry
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 19, 2018, 11:05:53 am
Hmn...
EF.
I'm taking this, if NOBODY HAS ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS! Note that it's perfectly fine to reroll the hidden dice I roll for this.
Post by: omada on April 19, 2018, 02:44:39 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 19, 2018, 03:19:48 pm
EF
Well, that's that. Rolling hidden d20, where:
1 to 3 guards silently killed
4 to 6 sneak past
7 to 10 fight
11 to 13 spotted rebels
14 to 17 fighting Mittani
18 to 20 no change
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 23, 2018, 11:43:04 am
“Four one calling five” the voice on the radio says.
“Five five calling eight,” a different voice answers.
“Eight six calling two.”
That was Celling’s cue. He clicks his communicator into broadcast mode. “Two nine calling four,” he says.
“Four nine calling one.”
“One seven calling six.”
There is a pause.
“One seven calling six,” the voice repeats in a slightly questioning tone.
There is a pause.
“One seven calling six!” the voice shouts, worried.
Celling presses his button again, mind snapping into high alert. “Unit six! Come in!”
“Full alert!” someone else says. “Unit six has gone out of contact!”
“I am in pursuit!” shouts another voice!
“Who is that?” demands Celling. “Stay with protocol! Regroup!”
“Unit five!” shouts the other voice. “He’s here… he’s been stabbed! I can see someone running away down some alley! I’m chasing him!”
What do you do about Unit Five?
A: Allow him to chase down the person he saw.
B: Order him to stay and see if anything can be done to save Unit Six
C: Tell him to fall back to the dock junction.
What do you tell the rest of the people?
A: “Remember the plan - regroup completely before engaging!”
B: “Scatter! Find him before he disappears!”
C: “Guard the ships! The rebels must be going there!
Nuclear option.
ĕ*ľĿŇŎĿŋĵň*ĹĿķķĽĶħķĵň*ħŋōĿŎĻij$Ćıĵij*IJĻ*ŏŊĵİŇłĵŏķ*ʼnŎĽķ*ŊņıĽ*İĦŎŃ*ĻŊņ*ŎĽ*IJĦıĻʼnʼnĻ$ XOR a (http://bit.ly/2qUDrjN)
Ω: Tell David Eborrenial to change the hidden dice I rolled. Use the omega rather than anything else in your vote.
I’m sure you’ll need a diagram, so have one.
(https://i.imgur.com/r0s9XwR.png)
And bonus points for anyone that can figure out that system.
Post by: Glass on April 23, 2018, 11:47:00 am
(I have no idea if that link was supposed to be invisible or not. It was right above the omega, though.)
EDIT: Yep, it was supposed to be invisible.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 23, 2018, 12:16:38 pm
What is “is narid”? (https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1QORqLMzTlWUsqMsy0ycLRFrT5K2pqjoMIGIs3FSN8vc/edit)
(I have no idea if that link was supposed to be invisible or not. It was right above the omega, though.)
EDIT: Yep, it was supposed to be invisible.
In other news, votes are nice. And it wasn't the link that was the message.
Post by: Glass on April 23, 2018, 12:18:38 pm
Post by: omada on April 23, 2018, 07:33:47 pm
Post by: Glass on April 23, 2018, 08:16:23 pm
A AOk. +1
Post by: Rockeater on April 23, 2018, 10:57:29 pm
+1A AOk. +1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 30, 2018, 01:06:45 pm
AA has been selected. The guard chasing down the rebels can be rolled.
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
“Go on!” shouts Celling. He tells the rest of the soldiers to follow the plan and regroup at the entrance to the short wing of the dock.
“I’m catching up!” Unit 5 shouts over the radio. “They’re heading for the boat! They’re - AUUUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!”
A bone-chilling scream pierces through the radio for a few seconds before the line goes dead. Flashes of light can be seen in the alleyway and moans of pain can be dimly heard.
Before Celling can even process this, however, there is a new voice on the radio. It’s Fansworth, the guy that Padelheb sent.
“Hey Celling? You need the backup yet?”
“Backup?” Celling asks.
“Yeah. The Cherubs that I brought from Antarctica. I have some of the uplift dogs here too. They’ve been freshly neural remapped, of course.”
“Neural remapping?” says Celling. “Please don’t tell me that means-”
“Because before the dogs followed their inborn instincts of pack loyalty and such, see,” Fansworth explains. “And we couldn’t risk them harboring some obedience to the traitor Erin Quill. So with a slight modification of the serum that gave them sentience that flaw has been fixed. They now will obey only one man.”
“Oh my-”
“Sir Tyro Padelheb.”
What do you do?
A: Refuse any aid whatsoever
B: Ask to have the dogs sent
C: Ask to have the Cherubs sent
Ω: Have David Eborrenial avert the last roll. This decision still comes up, however.
Post by: Glass on April 30, 2018, 01:21:00 pm
We’ll send that news out to as many people as we possibly can, later.
EDIT: Blue, with everything you’ve done, want to know what you’ve given us?
Proper dramatic reason for Erin Quill to actually join the rebellion. And with him, Celling.
And with them, basically everything the “Republic” holds that isn’t Antarctica.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 30, 2018, 01:34:03 pm
EDIT: Blue, with everything you’ve done, want to know what you’ve given us?
Proper dramatic reason for Erin Quill to actually join the rebellion. And with him, Celling.
And with them, basically everything the “Republic” holds that isn’t Antarctica.
Yeah, I realized that. Thanks for rubbing it in, you ass.
I will take free-form suggestions on how we're going to attack the rebels.
EDIT: There are actually some good reasons why you shouldn't join the rebels. Firstly, note that there are only a few of them and they are the main characters. If there was a large, well rounded leadership it might be fine. But here you're dealing with three scared kids and a fanatic gun-toting grandpa. They won't believe that you turned, and they won't believe that the wormhole is going to blow up, they'll just keep making stuff up to keep up their worldview.
Remember, the Aesop (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnAesop) of this entire thing is that when you believe in something completely and fanatically, people die.
Post by: Glass on April 30, 2018, 02:10:38 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 30, 2018, 02:15:04 pm
Post by: Glass on April 30, 2018, 02:24:15 pm
Also, what alley?
Post by: omada on May 01, 2018, 11:34:30 am
the smaller boat can be staffed with US and some trusted men so we can sail fast and torpedo the boat they decide to use before we send the rest to use the other boat
if they already left the dock it's a chase scene
if they haven't already turned the boat on we can corner them inside it, but we will have or to spread them or to guess which boat they are
we can try the smaller boat first, if they're there they will be easier to corner or to sink the boat and make they to have a VERY disadvantageous position
A Don't want reinforcements that might kill us
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 01, 2018, 01:34:55 pm
Do you board from the side or from the front?
Also, what alley?
There are boarding ramps at the front and left of the wide ship (fishing trawler), but it is a very low ship with no railings so you could just vault on.
There are some structures of various purposes lining the dock, the guard ran behind one of these. Specifically, a control box at the corner.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 11:34:31 am
Celling processes the new information. “Thank you, Wenton, but we don’t really want or need any more help here.”
Fansworth sighs on the other side of the line. “You still don’t get it, Celling?”
“What don’t I get?”
“You don’t want Antarctica’s help here?” Fansworth says. “That doesn’t matter. I think you’re forgetting that I don’t take orders from you, Celling. I take them from Padelheb. And they are to catch those rebels, personally. I’m sending in the dogs and Cherubs now.”
The radio cuts off.
Celling swears.
By now Celling, and the eight police officers assembled on the dock, have reached the junction.
What is the next step?
A: Go down the side arm of the dock and try to see where the rebels are!
B: Get on the wide boat! They’re obviously heading there!
C: Secure the small boat! That’s the most likely they’ll take!
D: Wait for the reinforcements for now.
E: Split up and check as many places as possible.
F: Retreat to the shore. We can catch them elsewhere.
Post by: Rockeater on May 02, 2018, 11:41:33 am
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 11:44:28 am
EDIT: Wait yes we need to do this. The laws of comedy decree that if we do that, it’ll turn out that we coincidentally picked the boat the rebels are on, and there’ll be a long stretch of awkward silence as we steadily move away from any point where one of our groups could leave.
Post by: omada on May 02, 2018, 12:42:24 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 01:20:09 pm
EDIT: Wait yes we need to do this. The laws of comedy decree that if we do that, it’ll turn out that we coincidentally picked the boat the rebels are on, and there’ll be a long stretch of awkward silence as we steadily move away from any point where one of our groups could leave.
1: I've already decided which boat they'll go to and 2: Now that you've told me of this plan, I can begin planning around it.
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 01:23:51 pm
EDIT: Also *slaps you all with a gamethreadhubplace* (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=170442.0)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 01:35:26 pm
Ok. Where’s the long boat option, in that case?
The Long Boat is on the opposite side of the dock. It's a passenger ship thing. I didn't think you'd want to mess with it.
EDIT: Also *slaps you all with a gamethreadhubplace* (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=170442.0)
Yeah, Glass joined an arms race game and is now realizing that he's the only person on his team so he's trying to shovel people in.
To be fair it's a pretty bad game... no clear systems, no overarching themes, no ongoing plots, no interesting motivations...
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 01:59:15 pm
Or at least, it has promise to be as such. It isn't much yet, largely because we're only just starting turn 2 and the teams don't have enough people yet.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 02:58:16 pm
I assure you all, it's better than Blue is trying to imply it is.
Or at least, it has promise to be as such. It isn't much yet, largely because we're only just starting turn 2 and the teams don't have enough people yet.
OP of core thread gives no elaboration but a vague sense that some was there but was moved away. Links badly formatted and left in url format with carrots and labels below them (why not use text links? or colons or stuff?) There's no discussion of the mechanics or theme of this game, and those hints that are there seem useless and arbitrary. Why are we limited to 600 people? We start out with 600 perfectly skilled workers and we can't grow our population at all? Something seems wrong with that. Why the random +100 for child labor? Is that something he anticipates we'll try? And allies? Why can we only have one ally at a time? This limit seems unjustified, unwieldy and arbitrary! What about battle animals or robots? Why does he just throw them out there? He says there's a roll system but doesn't mention what it is. He says combat mechanics are not standard but doesn't say what they are. "Generation no longer needed?" What generation? Are later players supposed to miss something that earlier ones had? "Time lapse they grow?" Time lapses are a photography technique. Now I get that he meant "as time lapses" but then, how much time? And on top of that all the spelling, grammar, and formatting errors. Random things capitalized? Labels with carrots pointing to URLs instead of text links?
I mean, I might be whaling on a new GM a bit too much.
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 03:54:24 pm
The allies thing is about being able to share stat and "treasure" bonuses. You can still cooperate with other groups, and from what I've heard there will be ways to set up larger alliances in the future.
600 people + 100 children is the starting population. They're not perfectly skilled; the skills your group has are determined by your group's stats, which was part of the OP that was disappeared. And yes, there are people using child labor. Most of us have it to a degree.
The population grows over time given that you can feed them, and you can recover more people from cryosleep.
Tyrant Leviathan has some kind of problem with autocorrect in literally all of their messages, so yeah, sometimes you need to look at the context and figure out what they meant to say. It's not generally particularly difficult.
Most things are based on a roll of a D20, on what is essentially a roll-under system involving the applicable stat. Combat is done with contested rolls (unlike almost everything else), and has more modifiers (equipment, strategies, etc.), generally from stuff in the Arms Race section of the game.
Have I answered your questions and concerns?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 04:07:09 pm
First off: yes, there was better information in the OP at the start. I do t really know why it was removed and agree that that was pretty dumb.
The allies thing is about being able to share stat and "treasure" bonuses. You can still cooperate with other groups, and from what I've heard there will be ways to set up larger alliances in the future.
600 people + 100 children is the starting population. They're not perfectly skilled; the skills your group has are determined by your group's stats, which was part of the OP that was disappeared. And yes, there are people using child labor. Most of us have it to a degree.
The population grows over time given that you can feed them, and you can recover more people from cryosleep.
Tyrant Leviathan has some kind of problem with autocorrect in literally all of their messages, so yeah, sometimes you need to look at the context and figure out what they meant to say. It's not generally particularly difficult.
Most things are based on a roll of a D20, on what is essentially a roll-under system involving the applicable stat. Combat is done with contested rolls (unlike almost everything else), and has more modifiers (equipment, strategies, etc.), generally from stuff in the Arms Race section of the game.
Have I answered your questions and concerns?
Yes. Where the hell did that OP information go?
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 04:11:37 pm
It was a rundown of possible leader skills, the stats (which got explained later), a list of weapons, armor, and vehicles (which got copied to a letter part of the thread), a rundown of the Treasures (which needs to get put down again), the three laws that needed to get made at the start (how trials work, what to do with the dead, and whether children work and how much), and a guide to making your group's religion. The other possible leader skills and the other Treasures are the only things that still need to get put back into the thread.
(The reason I think the other possible leader skills need to get put back in is because other players can also get their own characters, who get to have two of the skills.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 04:14:33 pm
(The reason I think the other possible leader skills need to get put back in is because other players can also get their own characters, who get to have two of the skills.)
Not even that. Other people would like to understand what's going on if they join a team.
But either way. Your opinions on the boat problem?
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 04:16:15 pm
In other words, C.
Post by: Rockeater on May 02, 2018, 04:37:23 pm
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 04:48:36 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 04:50:52 pm
There's no invisible text in any of Blue's posts. Pretty sure they're legit.
Well, look who's gotten worse at finding invisible text.
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 04:53:18 pm
Unless the (perfectly comprehensible) things that you said before were somehow in code, there wasn't anything you said.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 05:14:32 pm
I highlighted them all.
Unless the (perfectly comprehensible) things that you said before were somehow in code, there wasn't anything you said.
You highlighted them all but that is not enough. This will stump you for a while, but I promise, added content with one of the posts that is not visible by browsing the forums in a normal manner.
I'll give ya a hint - I know that you're looking at the forum directly instead of using email notifications now.
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 05:17:24 pm
My notifications just tell me that the thread got a new post.I highlighted them all.
Unless the (perfectly comprehensible) things that you said before were somehow in code, there wasn't anything you said.
You highlighted them all but that is not enough. This will stump you for a while, but I promise, added content with one of the posts that is not visible by browsing the forums in a normal manner.
I'll give ya a hint - I know that you're looking at the forum directly instead of using email notifications now.
You just used to be shitty at making your links invisible.
EDIT: Here's what the emails I get look like:
Quote
A reply has been posted to a topic you are watching by blueturtle1134.That's what I got when you last posted.
View the reply at: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.new;topicseen#new
Unsubscribe to this topic by using this link: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?action=notify;topic=165258.0
More replies may be posted, but you won't receive any more notifications until you read the topic.
Regards,
The Bay 12 Games Forum Team.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 05:28:54 pm
My notifications just tell me that the thread got a new post.I highlighted them all.
Unless the (perfectly comprehensible) things that you said before were somehow in code, there wasn't anything you said.
You highlighted them all but that is not enough. This will stump you for a while, but I promise, added content with one of the posts that is not visible by browsing the forums in a normal manner.
I'll give ya a hint - I know that you're looking at the forum directly instead of using email notifications now.
You just used to be shitty at making your links invisible.
EDIT: Here's what the emails I get look like:QuoteA reply has been posted to a topic you are watching by blueturtle1134.That's what I got when you last posted.
View the reply at: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.new;topicseen#new
Unsubscribe to this topic by using this link: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?action=notify;topic=165258.0
More replies may be posted, but you won't receive any more notifications until you read the topic.
Regards,
The Bay 12 Games Forum Team.
OOOOOOH. Then my secret is safe forever. I posted a hiddentext and then edited it out instantly. My notifications include the whole response. I intended to store the hidden text as part of the email notification.
So anyone else that had full text notifs on care to check?
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 05:32:44 pm
I posted a hiddentext and then edited it out instantly. My notifications include the whole response. I intended to store the hidden text as part of the email notification....
-_-
Could you at least try to make sure that your players have the tools to solve a puzzle before putting it through? I didn't even know you could have full-text notifications!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 02, 2018, 05:33:27 pm
I posted a hiddentext and then edited it out instantly. My notifications include the whole response. I intended to store the hidden text as part of the email notification....
-_-
Could you at least try to make sure that your players have the tools to solve a puzzle before putting it through? I didn't even know you could have full-text notifications!
And Knowing Is Half The Battle. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle)
Post by: Glass on May 02, 2018, 05:37:14 pm
Page: 268
About halfway down the page, between "taciturnly" and "campodeid".
Library of Babel.
In case you don't want to find it: I'm tired and don't feel like dealing with this right now.
Post by: Rockeater on May 02, 2018, 11:36:13 pm
Post by: Glass on May 03, 2018, 05:49:33 am
Post by: Rockeater on May 03, 2018, 06:06:05 am
Post by: Glass on May 03, 2018, 06:18:09 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 03, 2018, 06:24:15 am
Post by: Rockeater on May 03, 2018, 06:50:02 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 04, 2018, 01:51:41 pm
Celling orders his men onto the small patrol boat docked between the cruise ship and the fishing boat. It’s a small, lightly armed thing. One small room serves as the control center, while a barracks and armory are below it.
As they do so, they see the dogs running and the ghastly, armored child’s faces of the Cherubs coming up the dock.
A few minutes later, the fishing boat (wide ship) comes to life, engines roaring. It slowly swivels to the right, its side bearing down upon the small ship.
What do you do?
A: Get off the small ship and back on the dock!
B: Fire up the small ship and get out into open water!
C: Send a radio signal to the wide ship asking what they’re doing.
D: Immediately board the wide ship and catch whoever’s doing this!
E: Wait for those reinforcements.
Post by: omada on May 04, 2018, 01:56:24 pm
Post by: Rockeater on May 04, 2018, 01:58:48 pm
order who is in the charge of the motors to B while we order who has the guns to open fire on the wide ship to sink it while we radio (C) the wide ship "STOP OR YOU WILL SINK"+1
Post by: Glass on May 04, 2018, 02:17:53 pm
Post by: omada on May 04, 2018, 02:30:29 pm
I suggest we do the radio transmission before opening fire, but otherwise yes.
okay
"YOU FIRE THE MOTORS, THE REST PREPARE TO SHOOT and throw grenades"
radio = "STOP OR YOU WILL SINK"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 04, 2018, 03:32:14 pm
order who is in the charge of the motors to B while we order who has the guns to open fire on the wide ship to sink it while we radio (C) the wide ship "STOP OR YOU WILL SINK"
This combination thing is chosen.
"Vessel in berth 1, please stop rotating. Vessel in berth 1, if you do not stop we will shoot," says Celling into the radio. He turns to the rest of the people. "Anyone here know how to drive this thing?"
A few hands shoot up. "Get us out of here," he orders.
The patrol ship shoots out from the dock and circles to the back of the fishing boat. The fishing boat continues to turn, passing through where they were and hurtling towards the passenger boat.
"They aren't responding to radio," reports one guard. Another pulls switches on the control panels, then turns to Celling.
"Ship-to-ship weapons are online. Should I shoot now?"
Should he?
A: "Shoot."
B: "Wait for now."
C: Something else...
Post by: Glass on May 04, 2018, 03:35:02 pm
Any good way for us to board them?
Post by: Rockeater on May 04, 2018, 05:00:03 pm
Tail them for now. Continue attempting contact. If they still don't respond, then we start to shoot.+1
Any good way for us to board them?
Post by: omada on May 04, 2018, 08:29:38 pm
+1Tail them for now. Continue attempting contact. If they still don't respond, then we start to shoot.+1
Any good way for us to board them?
Aim at the engines first and whatever it uses to control it's direction, be prepared for a sudden burst of speed
just try the radio
one
more
time
and then press the trigger
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 08, 2018, 09:43:00 am
“Not yet,” says Celling. He clicks on the communicator again. “Crew of fishing trawler Actaeon, cease your current course and respond or be destroyed!”
This time a response comes over the radio. “The Rebellion lives!” shouts a triumphant girl’s voice. “The South will burn!”
Before Celling can respond there is another communication. It’s a man’s voice this time, and it comes from Celling’s walkie-talkie. “Don’t shoot the boat, you idiot, the rebels are escaping through the dock!”
At this point the boat has swung all the way around to be parallel to the dock. It misses the passenger ship and is now aiming towards open water.
What do you do?
A: Do as the voice says. Don’t shoot the boat, and rush back to the dock.
B: The voice must be lying! Destroy the boat before it escapes!
C: Insist to the voice that the rebels must be on the boat.
D: Ask the voice for identification. The boat might escape in the meantime though.
E: Something else…
Post by: Glass on May 08, 2018, 09:50:53 am
I don’t even care that much if the rebels escape.
Post by: omada on May 08, 2018, 09:53:06 am
better, send word about the info we got to the little finger's puppet
"better be useful, info on the radio says that there is rebels escaping through the dock, what you see?"
Post by: Glass on May 08, 2018, 10:02:13 am
E can't we look at the dock while we say to our soldiers to shoot?Ok.
better, send word about the info we got to the little finger's puppet
"better be useful, info on the radio says that there is rebels escaping through the dock, what you see?"
Post by: Rockeater on May 08, 2018, 10:12:59 am
+1E can't we look at the dock while we say to our soldiers to shoot?Ok.
better, send word about the info we got to the little finger's puppet
"better be useful, info on the radio says that there is rebels escaping through the dock, what you see?"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 08, 2018, 10:46:24 am
E can't we look at the dock while we say to our soldiers to shoot?
Our view of the dock is blocked by the ship.
Post by: omada on May 08, 2018, 01:02:30 pm
if we choose wrongly we use our future powers
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 08, 2018, 01:07:41 pm
So, sink the ship and radio those minions (later we should send word to the PETA of what little finger did to those poor dogs)
if we choose wrongly we use our future powers
Sink ship first. Would anyone like to +1?
Post by: Glass on May 08, 2018, 01:09:22 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 08, 2018, 02:21:01 pm
Would we actually be able to use David’s powers in this situation?
So far I've only promised being able to reroll dice. I feel as if I should come up with some technobabble why this is the case but I can't really.
But you realize, this is supposed to simulate David constantly scanning the future and notifying you if something undesirable comes up. If you'd like to ask him now you can, but this will require a roll and may have consequencesand would require me to actually define a mechanic for that damn timelines thing so beware.
Post by: omada on May 08, 2018, 02:45:24 pm
I the voice of the radio must be a liar because little finger guys are at the dock yet
Post by: Glass on May 08, 2018, 02:50:11 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 10, 2018, 02:10:21 pm
“David, what is the probability that the rebels are on the ship?”
“Hey David?” Celling asks. “What’s the probability the rebels are on that ship?”
There is a long silence, in which the boat continues turning at an alarming rate. It’s pointing south now.
“If I tell you to stop the boat and detain anyone on it right now? In 10 out of 47 timelines, you find the rebels you’re looking for.”
“So that means…”
“Not a conclusive answer by any stretch. The ratio doesn’t look good, but that just means that with the data I’ve gathered so far, the rebels would likely be off the ship. There could still be surprises.”
What do you do now?
A: Shoot the ship
B: Return to dock
C: Communicate with the voice
D: Something else…
Post by: Rockeater on May 10, 2018, 02:45:46 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 10, 2018, 02:47:07 pm
D "What happend in the other timelines David"
"It's hard to tell, but I think in most of them the rebels get away, while in some of them Fansworth captures them."
Post by: Rockeater on May 10, 2018, 03:04:28 pm
Post by: omada on May 11, 2018, 10:19:01 am
A
Post by: Rockeater on May 11, 2018, 10:58:01 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 11, 2018, 03:10:27 pm
So, we expressed the orders beforehand for no one to use the ships right?
We have not made any announcements to civilians on the dock.
"so who is on the ship in those timelines?"
"From what I see? Nobody. You don't find anyone at all."
Post by: Rockeater on May 11, 2018, 03:42:10 pm
Post by: omada on May 11, 2018, 06:32:02 pm
Order soldiers to shoot and radio fansworth
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 12, 2018, 12:34:53 pm
Original plan
Order soldiers to shoot and radio fansworth
Shoot the ship now and radio Fansworth with developments. +1?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 15, 2018, 07:26:12 pm
Post by: Glass on May 15, 2018, 07:30:12 pm
._.
Whelp at least we can declare this luck's fault.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 15, 2018, 09:37:03 pm
Post by: Glass on May 15, 2018, 09:47:36 pm
Because it seems like the thing to do right now.
Post by: omada on May 16, 2018, 02:40:52 pm
or call a meeting to know in which hole we will hide from public opinion
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 17, 2018, 08:58:51 am
Features include:
- Multiplayer cooperative - You play as a single person, but strategize with the rest of the players.
- Immortality - Your character is an immortal demigod, and can heal almost all injuries. Even if you get killed, you can transfer your soul to a new person and still keep playing.
- Beat the empire - Your enemies have all the same abilities and have had a lot longer to hone their control over the mortal world. They run an empire out of the mythical city of Atlantis and you are a small band of rebels working against them. Each of the Cisharni (our enemies) is given their own personality and treated as a unique character. And they're not all bad - I consider the Atlantis Empire about equal to our Republic, with the nobles being useless evil snobs but everyone else just working for their country.
- Real world - The GM considers this to be an alternate timeline in which Atlantis just shows up with a bunch of power-hungry demigods a couple hundred years BCE. Real-world locations and cultures are part of it. So far we've seen the senate of Rome, the Greek city-states, Artemis and Apollo (as enemies), the Pharaoh in Egypt who's trying to summon Apophis, Native American tribes in America (allied with us!), and the emperors of China and Japan (on our side). You get to see how history might have played out differently.
- Extreme time scale - Turns last for decades or centuries. The idea is that when both you and your opponent are immortal you can afford to wait. We've watched empires rise and fall already. (Specifically, Japan rose and Rome fell)
- Freeform skills and traits - There are a bunch of classes and abilities to pick from and the GM will actually let you make up your own as long as it's basically balanced. Options for class include priests that can take control of minds and mages that can lock people's souls into gems as energy sources. Options for abilities include being able to extrude poisons from your skin or ripping open a pocket dimension as a personal hideaway. One guy wanted a stealth theme so he asked for a smoke form. He got it.
- Magitech early Renaissance setting - We haven't hit the industrial revolution yet (hey glass, can you work on that?) but we have most Classical-era technologies plus a few fueled by magic, in the form of soul gems, which are (duh) souls enslaved in gems.
Post by: Glass on May 17, 2018, 09:02:56 am
- Most of the people in the soul gems are people who were near death anyway, and from what I can tell, they voluntarily let their souls be used for the gems.
- I’ll try to make science happen once I have the time to not be dealing with the current war for China.
- Each turn is 20 years, one action per year (excluding events). The longest a turn is likely to be is 50, which was already declared an unwieldy size.
- Another real-world thing: the Silk Road. I’m not sure it exists anymore, but while it did, I abused it and teleportation for fun and profit until I got my head cut off by Communist Beetle Man.
- Seriously, though, S:I is an absolutely amazing game, as is basically everything that Chubby2Man runs. You should be playing it.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 17, 2018, 09:56:20 am
Spoiler: Dice (click to show/hide)
“Torpedo away,” the guy at the weapons panel calls out.
A missle, its path marked by a white wake of bubbles receding in the distance, sizzles away at the ship. It misses the rapidly turning vessel and flies off into open water.
The ship is turning yet more quickly now. It’s turned 180 degrees from the dock and it shows no sign of stopping. Soon it will be turned toward shore.
Celling tries to raise Fansworth on the radio but there is no reply. The man at the missle panel asks “Should I shoot again?”
What do you respond?
A: “Yes. Take out that ship.”
B: “No. Wait for Fansworth to answer.”
Ω: Use David’s powers to avert this roll.
Post by: omada on May 17, 2018, 10:16:22 am
and you convinced me to join, I maybe will do it later, after I read the stuff and think about something that I want to play but what is the exact problem? just few players? An specific role in which you need someone to take?(I have a fuckton of characters that I haven't felt that I played enough with them before the RPG comes to a eternal halt and be unfortunately abandoned, I probably have someone that might fit perfectly)
Post by: Glass on May 17, 2018, 10:24:35 am
Maybe just advice? *shrug*
But other than that, more players is just always nice.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 17, 2018, 10:27:08 am
and you convinced me to join, I maybe will do it later, after I read the stuff and think about something that I want to play but what is the exact problem? just few players? An specific role in which you need someone to take?(I have a fuckton of characters that I haven't felt that I played enough with them before the RPG comes to a eternal halt and be unfortunately abandoned, I probably have someone that might fit perfectly)
Right now, the armies of the Cisharni are invading China. We have a nice fortress that we're holding on to, called Dragon's Tooth. The pharaoh, Cisharni ruler of Egypt, is bringing a Dark Soul Gem to one of China's three mystic focus points next year. If he succeeds, he can summon Apophis, the Egyptian destroyer god, which would be a Bad Thing.
We have a guy that can see the future, but this is extremely dangerous as it basically broadcasts a psychic Come-Get-Me to all the evil things of the world. He got caught once already, by a fellow called the Secondborn. They destroyed each other but our guy managed to transfer his powers to another person, called Turangol, granting him immortality. Now one of the Secondborn's brothers is asking Turangol to give him the soul gem containing the future-seer's original personality.
Post by: omada on May 17, 2018, 11:15:36 am
WHO is taking care of Egypt?
Someone is closer to Egypt than to china?
Maybe someone could begin to gather influence/kill important folk to dismantle the Cisharn power there, and also reduce their mundane supplies and reinforcements
If I were this future-seer the exact second that I would be captured inside atlantis I would see the future just to see how many magical creatures would give them headache to them. (there are others magical creatures than sindari and Cisharni right?)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 17, 2018, 12:02:00 pm
So, the pharaoh is coming personally to china with his armies?
WHO is taking care of Egypt?
Someone is closer to Egypt than to china?
Maybe someone could begin to gather influence/kill important folk to dismantle the Cisharn power there, and also reduce their mundane supplies and reinforcements
If I were this future-seer the exact second that I would be captured inside atlantis I would see the future just to see how many magical creatures would give them headache to them. (there are others magical creatures than sindari and Cisharni right?)
Take this to that game's thread, please. Also, Glass, what's your vote.
Post by: Glass on May 17, 2018, 02:42:19 pm
Post by: Sir Elventide on May 18, 2018, 12:38:04 am
So, the pharaoh is coming personally to china with his armies?
WHO is taking care of Egypt?
Someone is closer to Egypt than to china?
Maybe someone could begin to gather influence/kill important folk to dismantle the Cisharn power there, and also reduce their mundane supplies and reinforcements
If I were this future-seer the exact second that I would be captured inside atlantis I would see the future just to see how many magical creatures would give them headache to them. (there are others magical creatures than sindari and Cisharni right?)
That would be I! (though I'm nowhere near influencing Egypt... yet.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 19, 2018, 10:00:43 pm
David Eborrenial sees a point in the future. A burst of light. A flash. An explosion. Can’t be anything good. Probably not. It doesn’t put anyone in immediate danger but it might be a problem so he tries to avert it.
It’s ballistics. A falling object. A projectile. A slave to the lao explore. Codifies that option into the correct series of mental commands to exercise Protinam powers and tugs that thread of the timestream. He is testing out dodging the place it’s going to be. That usually works. Chaos theory. A small change puts everything about to happen out of whack. Statistically, that’s all that should be needed.
It isn’t.
He scans quickly over the other timelines. They show the same result. Unambiguously, fed to his mind - result of taking evasive action, failure. Not only that, they show a result. Which means that the event must occur in all timelines currently visible. That isn’t exactly unheard of, but it’s concerning. The last time this happened - a certainty - was the plague. But that was due to interference from Antarctica. This is a different scale.
He tries things. He wanders quickly down different branches, through different decisions, pushing and pulling on the timestream to see the results. He tries moving the target. He tries shifting the goalposts. He tries sounding the alarm and calling Celling to this position. That position. Nudging to a side. Saying different things hoping that through people’s actions they exert enough influence to shift the outcome. He tries hiding in different places. Nothing works.
Isolated? he wonders. Was this a situation he had no influence over? But no. He realizes that all the decisions still have the sort of… glow, the mental highlight, the sharp yellow line around the event that means that his decisions have an impact. In fact he can’t even see anything that he can’t affect with his decision, that isn’t connected to the Independent Variable. Everything he really doesn’t have control over is greyed out. The things that the decision he’s considering can affect, they’re in color. He can see it.
So my decisions have an impact but the impact is that the same result is reached? David thinks, unbelievingly. So just by chance everything I do doesn’t make it change? He keeps trying decisions. He keeps looking for ways out. He jitters through the timestream trying to find every course of action. Every one hits the same wall. The same unbelievable result. Result successful. Result: Failure.
Mirage, he realizes. Fata Morgana. A puddle in the desert. No matter how far you run it’s in front of you. But this isn’t a natural phenomenon. Not light. Not refraction The timestream doesn’t bend. We bend it. But something’s there. Everywhere.
Not everywhere, he corrects himself. Everywhere he looks. And it’s everywhere he looks if it follows where he looks. If it’s always in front of him, dancing before his eyes, he assumes it’s everywhere. That’s where it is. Like a hand, clenched, rushing in front of him.
Not a natural phenomenon. Artificial, he realizes. Chase scenes are a human construct. Nothing natural does this. Intelligent design, he thinks, and his eyes snap open. Intelligent design. A human construct. Fata Morgana. The castle of the sorceress. We bend the timestream. Who bends the timestream? Who else?
And then it hits him.
And then it hits, as the moment of the point comes screaming in. As his senses go into overload from the proximity of it, both real and false, in space and time. Of the probability, infinite and shockingly, roundedly complete. Unpredictable because it’s too predictable. The chances running upward and stomping on that three digit number. Certainty. One over zero. One to the infinity.
The flying bullet hits the slowly rotating staff of mercury and silver. The lead of the bullet simply melts into the metal of the staff, the kinetic energy breaking apart the glyphs and the edges.
Several psi-mystic command strands are cleanly severed instantly. The deformation of the base substrate and disruption of the relevant golden glyphs shuts down most of the subroutines controlling the psychic beacon and they just wink out of existence. The signal continues to broadcast for a few seconds, resonating up and down the transmitter, but the wires are pulled.
The explosion of arcane energy is palpable. Everyone is knocked right off their feet besides David Eborrenial, who has some inkling of what's going on and can brace himself against the shockwave, and his fellow Visionary Angela Davis, who struggles against the raging mental energy for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground.
David is winded, but retains enough presence of mind to begin constructing a shield, a heat sink of sorts, for when the staff fully fails a few seconds later, the metal melting from the heat and releasing even more heat in a cascading chain reaction. The energy, no longer used for maintaining the signal, simply takes the path of least resistance into the real world, bursting forward in a wave of blue light. David slams his hands together, touching his fingers to make the shape of a square in front of him, rerouting the energy and dumping it harmlessly (but wastefully) back into the aether. There is a noise like thunder and the world seems to shudder before the light fades and the staff falls to the ground, snapped neatly in two.
David staggers over to the unconscious guard next to him and pulls out his radio. He jabs his finger at the call switch. “Celling.”
“David?” Celling asks.
“Notify your people that any remaining mental symptoms or hallucinations they are experience are harmless aftershocks and will fade over the next few minutes,” David says.
“What?”
“Someone just destroyed the beacon staff,” David explains. “Which means no more beacon, which means no more predictive power, which means my abilities are useless now.”
“But… but how?” Celling asks.
“Hit it with a sniper round from long range,” David answers. “The more interesting thing is why I didn’t see it coming. We’re looking at an enemy Visionary, Celling. The rebels have access to the timestream.”
Dead silence followed from Celling’s end. “...one of the rebels is a prophet person?”
“And a damn good one, too, from the looks of it. He - or she - was able to run circles around my predictive power. Observing my process of decisions and adapting his own to them in real time.”
“I thought you kept tabs on everyone with the genetic background capable of becoming a Protinam?”
“Yeah?” David says. “Well, there’s a very good reason I do that, no? Now, I have two options. I can’t predict squat without a focusing beacon, so what I probably should do is just go back up to the Citadel and get some new data.”
“Yeah. And?”
“But I’m actually really, really pissed at this person,” he continues. “I’m pretty sure the enemy Visionary is going to be totally powerless without my beacon to piggyback off of, but at this point I don’t know what to expect. And although Protinam powers are mainly observational, there are some offensive maneuvers available to us as well. If they decide to attack you psionically, you’re going to need me here to neutralize. At the very least, I can try to track the enemy based upon their energy signature.”
What do you tell him to do?
A: “Get back to the Citadel and monitor for more important information in the future. We don’t want stuff sprung on us.”
B: “If you’re ready for a rematch, go ahead. Advance to the dock and merge with the patrol group there.”
C: “Stay where you are and feed information about the location of the rebels to us. Can you see them now?”
No revert, by the way. And this isn’t because you chose to reroll, it’s just a thing I was getting ready to spring on you at some point.
Post by: Glass on May 19, 2018, 10:29:41 pm
Plus, "Can you tell where the bullet came from?"
Post by: Rockeater on May 20, 2018, 03:46:48 am
C.+1
Plus, "Can you tell where the bullet came from?"
Post by: omada on May 20, 2018, 11:19:58 am
but I also fear that they were expecting this
C
I thought for a second that he discovered the fourth wall, a script that must be followed
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 20, 2018, 12:40:03 pm
I would vote B
but I also fear that they were expecting this
C
I thought for a second that he discovered the fourth wall, a script that must be followed
The fourth wall is like Antarctica. Protinam calculations assume no further input based upon fourth-wall manipulation. Thus, for example, your actions might be able to avert the plague, if you use tropes and stuff to do it, but if you use "native," in story actions it can't.
Post by: Glass on May 20, 2018, 12:44:14 pm
your actions might be able to avert the plague, if you use tropes and stuff to do itIs that so? :D (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HealingAndCuringTropes)
Sounds like it's time to Find The Cure! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FindTheCure)
...well, when we have time for that, that is.
But anyway, maybe there's an Improbably Antidote? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImprobableAntidote) A Panacea (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Panacea) we can find?
Post by: omada on May 20, 2018, 01:07:07 pm
and then use it to boost our troops
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 20, 2018, 01:10:21 pm
And the plague is as contagious as measles but as deadly as Ebola - but only in Brazilians, Antarcticans are carriers. And this is a moderately realistic game. So there's likely no easy cure.
Post by: Glass on May 20, 2018, 01:13:25 pm
Okay, I didn't make it clear because I didn't figure it out - but David's predictions exclude you all. So they'll assume everyone acts as if they just behaved logically without player input. I do this, because otherwise I'd have to predict what you all would say and I can't do that.We understood what you meant.
And the plague is as contagious as measles but as deadly as Ebola - but only in Brazilians, Antarcticans are carriers. And this is a moderately realistic game. So there's likely no easy cure.
And in this world, Tropes Are Tools (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropesAreTools) - our tools. It doesn't matter if things "should" work somehow. What matters is how the tropes dictate they work.
Besides, with such an unrealistic disease, who cares if the cure is unrealistic, too?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 20, 2018, 01:36:29 pm
And in this world, Tropes Are Tools (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropesAreTools) - our tools. It doesn't matter if things "should" work somehow. What matters is how the tropes dictate they work.
No (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LittleNo). This is not how this world works. This world tries to cause events to hit tropes. If multiple are possible, it paths to the nearest one based upon the current situation. You can't just name a trope and have it happen. You have to arrange a trap of sorts, set up things so that it evokes the preconditions for a trope - for example, Erin Quill's attack on the beach with Taking The Bullet (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TakingTheBullet) in which we captured Armen.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 22, 2018, 07:24:51 am
“You’d best stay on the dock and try to figure out where they are,” Celling answers to David. “Can you tell us where the bullet came from?”
“It came from the dock,” David replies. “Left side.”
At that point another radio call comes in. This one is from Fansworth. “Celling!”
“Fansworth!” Celling replies. “We got a message a while ago that the rebels were on the dock. Can you confirm the identity of-”
“That was my message, damnit!” shouts Fansworth. “They’ve barricaded themselves in what looks like a tackle shop! We’re trying to break down the door right now!”
David’s voice cuts in on the transmission again. “Alright, Celling, I’ve got a lock on the enemy Protinam. They’re on the dock for sure. I can collaborate what Fansworth is saying. They’ve went into what I can see from here is labeled the Billy Bob Joe Bait and Tackle shop. And besides that I now have a few options open, see.”
“What are they?” asks Celling.
“Well, I could spend some time locking onto the enemy’s mental patterns so that I could track them anywhere,” he says. “Or I could actually link into their minds and do some more interesting stuff.”
“Interesting sounds good. What kind of stuff?”
“I could look into their current mental states to get an idea of what their plans may be,” he says. “Or I could look at their memories. Figure out what they know and how they know it. Or deposit an idea into their minds to make them think it’s their own. Or, just full on telepathically send a message to them.”
“The Protinam are telepaths now?”
“To a limited degree, and it wouldn’t be possible with that ostentatious display of Visionary energy anchoring me to their location. What do you want?”
How do you respond to the dock situation?
A: Move to the dock immediately.
B: Don’t go. Let Fansworth lose, it will discredit him.
C: Stay at a distance and provide fire support/cover the routes of escape.
D: Something else…
What do you tell David to do?
A: “Work on tracking for now. We want to know where they go!”
B: “Can you tell us what their plans are?”
C: “Figure out what they know.”
D: “Try to manipulate them to doing this…” (provide idea)
E: “Tell them this on our behalf…” (provide message)
F: “Don’t do anything. Mental attacks are falling to their level a bit.”
G: Something else…
Post by: Glass on May 22, 2018, 08:11:21 am
For David: “If you linked up with them, yes, we can tell that you can influence them, but is it two-way? What are the risks?”
Post by: omada on May 22, 2018, 09:45:26 am
Dock situation: We go right to the dock, but in the mission report, we say that it’s because of advice from David that we knew the rebels were there.+1
For David: “If you linked up with them, yes, we can tell that you can influence them, but is it two-way? What are the risks?”
that is basically AG
I am all in for turning fans worth into our side
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 22, 2018, 04:56:34 pm
“That’s something I hadn’t considered,” says David. “I’m tempted to say that no, there’s no possibility of them backscattering into my mind, but I can’t be absolutely certain of anything at this point. All I can say is that I can target their mental signature now, and I have the advantages of initiative and surprise, so it’s unlikely.”
Change votes?
Post by: Glass on May 22, 2018, 05:01:59 pm
In other words: A, plus a bit of B and C.
Post by: omada on May 22, 2018, 07:29:14 pm
"Just track them for now. Maybe try and look at what they're planning, but if it seems that they're noticing you're there, get out."
In other words: A, plus a bit of B and C.
this, or just A if it's too much for one action
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 23, 2018, 04:13:19 pm
- Alright, time to roll the brain peeky-thing!
Spoiler: rolls (click to show/hide)
“Got them,” David says.
Celling is on the boat and docking with, well, the dock. “You got them?”
“Like on a map. I’m locked onto the signal that the enemy Protinam is giving off in the timestream as well as the secondary signatures of the other rebels. I can tell you them where they are. Like, to the meter. On a map.”
“That’s great, David!” shouts Celling. By now they’ve arrived at the dock. Celling can see the rebels are barricaded in a store to the left of the “T” shape of the dock. The door is shut. Fansworth’s men are trying to break it down.
Celling sizes up the troops arrayed quickly:
- 9 guardsmen, commanded by Celling, lightly armed
- 20 soldiers, commanded by Fansworth, with small arms and armor.
- 5 snipers equipped with andantesite disruption devices
- 7 ascended dogs
- 4 Cherubs
[/li][/list]
What do you attempt to do?
A: Keep trying to break down the door! Engage the rebels as soon as possible.
B: A siege is in order. Sit around and wait for the rebels to come out.
C: Send the men on a search to look for secret escape routes or other problems.
D: Move everyone on the boat and torpedo the dock where the rebels are hiding.
E: Something else…
Post by: Glass on May 23, 2018, 04:24:30 pm
EDIT: Oh, also, by the way. I'm trying to run an RTD out of someone else's godgame's waitlist. (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=170775.msg7767188#msg7767188) Just in case any of you are interested.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 23, 2018, 05:21:49 pm
You may or may not have a problem on your hands.
Post by: Glass on May 23, 2018, 05:31:27 pm
I just re-read Order of the Stick, and realized that at this point, Azure City is actually knee-deep in hobgoblins, and Redcloak has a summoned elephant.I think you may mean “an opportunity”.
You may or may not have a problem on your hands.
At the very least, it doesn’t much seem to me that people on either side of the portal really care about it.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 23, 2018, 05:35:50 pm
I just re-read Order of the Stick, and realized that at this point, Azure City is actually knee-deep in hobgoblins, and Redcloak has a summoned elephant.I think you may mean “an opportunity”.
You may or may not have a problem on your hands.
At the very least, it doesn’t much seem to me that people on either side of the portal really care about it.
I mean, Redcloak is pretty firmly evil and hates humans.
Post by: Glass on May 23, 2018, 05:37:51 pm
But we’re not humans, or don’t look like them. We have noses, for one.I just re-read Order of the Stick, and realized that at this point, Azure City is actually knee-deep in hobgoblins, and Redcloak has a summoned elephant.I think you may mean “an opportunity”.
You may or may not have a problem on your hands.
At the very least, it doesn’t much seem to me that people on either side of the portal really care about it.
I mean, Redcloak is pretty firmly evil and hates humans.
And at best, we’re lawful neutral.
EDIT: If we end up encountering Redcloak, we can play up our civ’s evilness whole also making something of a point of our pragmatism. That should go over well; he likes both.
Post by: omada on May 23, 2018, 06:31:44 pm
C prepare to storm from all fronts
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 24, 2018, 10:45:28 am
D: Move everyone on the boat and torpedo the dock where the rebels are hiding.
Post by: omada on May 24, 2018, 06:18:53 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 24, 2018, 08:53:30 pm
I am very tempted to just destroy everything till only ruins remain, and laugh when the little finger's crew die and their blood joins those of the rebels and goonswarm, and then face the public outrage when they find kids corpses and stuff or whatever, but they can still escape underground so C first yet
They're over water so they'll escape underwater
Post by: Glass on May 24, 2018, 08:58:03 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 25, 2018, 06:36:47 am
Celling orders the men to search the area and they go around the building, looking for secret entrances.
One of them comes up to report, but just as he does, the radio link to Goonswarm Federation pings.
Which do you pay attention to first?
A: The report.
B: The Mittani.
Post by: Glass on May 25, 2018, 08:43:42 am
We can listen to Mittani and look at a map at the same time, right?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 25, 2018, 10:18:27 am
How long will the report take? We only need to know if there was a secret entrance, and if so, where. If it won't take long - say, less than 10 seconds - we'll take that first. Otherwise, have them draw a rough map of what they know and listen to Mittani.
We can listen to Mittani and look at a map at the same time, right?
We don't have paper. And do you know how hard it is to carry out a conversation while talking on the phone? You have to pick one to prioritize.
Post by: Glass on May 25, 2018, 10:23:35 am
EDIT: Oh, oh! Can we exploit (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Exploitedtrope) that Talking is a Free Action (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TalkingIsAFreeAction), or maybe invoke (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InvokedTrope) it?
Post by: Rockeater on May 25, 2018, 10:28:20 am
Post by: Glass on May 25, 2018, 10:29:57 am
Post by: Rockeater on May 25, 2018, 10:32:37 am
Post by: omada on May 25, 2018, 10:56:24 am
Post by: Glass on May 25, 2018, 11:48:00 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 25, 2018, 01:09:19 pm
Ok, so Blue, which of our guys is The Scrounger (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheScrounger)? Because there better be at least one.
Uh, just what would you expect out of this person?
Is this game really just going to become me and Glass quoting tropes at each other?
Post by: Glass on May 25, 2018, 01:16:15 pm
If they found anything worth reporting on, I want a map.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 10:38:30 am
Right now? Chalk. Or paper. Or something to that effect.
If they found anything worth reporting on, I want a map.
Maybe the parrot.
A the report, and say to then for being fast yes or no
I'll just take this, in lieu of talking to Glass any more.
"Uh, hold on," says Celling, talking into the communicator with Goonswarm. He turns to the person that just arrived. "What did you find?"
"No secret entrances," he says, gesturing at the door. "That's the only way in."
"Storm it," Celling orders. The soldier salutes and walks away. "What's up, Mittens?"
"...I would surmise it is useless to ask where you got that name?"
"Forget that. Anything to say?"
"It may have come to your attention that the rebels have obtained prophetic assistance of their own, and that fits the trope of The Smart Guy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSmartGuy).”
“It has.”
“Therefore our trope-based argument for why he’ll join them is now nihl,” he says. “Therefore we don’t see any reason to withhold further information that may lead to the elimination of this particular group.”
“What information do you have?” Celling asks.
“We know who the enemy Protinam is,” explains the Mittani.
“What?” asks David Eborrenial, chiming in over the radio.
There is a silence. “...how did you get this channel?” asks the Mittani.
“Take a wild guess, genius,” Eborrenial responds. “I just had a feeling that bringing a decoder set to this frequency along would yield something interesting. Now what do you know?”
There is another silence. “...alright. Twenty years ago Goonswarm began research into a method of artificially infusing an individual with the genes responsible for your ability to access the time stream.”
“You GENETICALLY ENGINEERED A VISIONARY?!?!”
“Yes. By inserting the relevant genes into the zygote post-fertilization-”
“Are you actually kidding me? Which alleles!”
There was a pause as the Mittani consults a paper of some sort. “Two copies of what you would call the ABD-2 sequence.”
“That’s a dominant double-lethal trait,” David responds flatly. “An individual with one copy exhibits Protinam powers. An individual with both shouldn’t even survive to birth-”
“And apparently, the lethal effects of it take place at the pre-zygotic stage,” says the Mittani, “Because it worked.”
“Then whoever he is, he has control over the time continuum in a way never before seen,” David says with finality.
“She,” the Mittani corrects. “The subject is 14 years old at the moment and is named Julia Seyllin. She seems to have turned on us and joined the rebels.”
“Do I even need to ask what crossed your mind to create some kind of super-Visionary?” Celling asks.
“Naturally, our line of work involves risk, so the ability to view the future would help mitigate those risks.” The Mittani answers. “But that isn’t the only power she gained. As you may know, Protinam predictive powers bleed through into differing types of psychic attacks. In this particular case? Julia has been known to exhibit pyrokinesis.”
Celling takes a moment to process this. “Oh, cra-”
The shop blows up.
A bright red fireball explodes from the building. It is torn apart. Charred pieces of wood are thrown all over the dock and smoke fills the air. The soldiers are knocked to their feet and are in disarray.
Just as everyone regains their senses, the ground seems to lurch. Celling is pressed to his knees as if a massive weight was pressing down on him. He looks at Fansworth and Fansworth glances back as he reaches the same conclusion. “Andantesite!”
What do you do? Accepting any and all suggestions.
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 10:40:45 am
Post by: Rockeater on June 01, 2018, 10:47:41 am
GET THE MASERS FIRING!+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 10:48:03 am
GET THE MASERS FIRING!+1
Is your role just to +1 whatever Glass says.
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 10:49:33 am
Post by: Rockeater on June 01, 2018, 10:50:23 am
Not follow what we have, I'll just readGET THE MASERS FIRING!+1
Is your role just to +1 whatever Glass says.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 10:52:56 am
"Fansworth, NOW would be a good time to fire those masers!" shouts Celling.
"We need a target! They take half a second of concentrated firing to work, we can't just fire randomly!"
What do you tell him to do?
A: Fire blindly in some direction (give the direction)
B: Hold them until we can see target.
Feel free to ask for more information to make your decision.
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 10:54:27 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 10:55:48 am
"David, can you check this at all?"
"The rebels are most certainly still there, Celling, they are right on the dock. Right where you are."
The water begins to pool away from the dock due to the heightened gravity. You can't see anything in the smoking remains of the shop.
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 10:58:10 am
Actually, can anyone see how the curve of the water is? Maybe we can calculate the center of the distortion!"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 11:03:59 am
"But can you see anything about the Andantesite? Say, if it were definitely inside the building, where is it most probable it would be? If it were under the docks, where would it probably be?
Actually, can anyone see how the curve of the water is? Maybe we can calculate the center of the distortion!"
"I'm tracking the rebels themselves, not the Andantesite. I'd infer they're carrying it?" answers David.
"The water seems to be curving under the dock," says one of the guards. He leans over the side. "I think if I could see below I could..."
He tilts his head under the dock's surface. "Hey! Hey-aargh!"
A surge of gravity throws everyone to their knees and he falls overboard into the water.
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 11:07:16 am
Hmn...
Don't worry, Cameron (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NominalImportance)! We'll get you!
Now, I want half of the people with the Masers firing toward the rebels, and half of them shooting into the center of the shop's remnants!"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 11:36:40 am
"Damn the Redshirts trope.
Hmn...
Don't worry, Cameron (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NominalImportance)! We'll get you!
Now, I want half of the people with the Masers firing toward the rebels, and half of them shooting into the center of the shop's remnants!"
"Hey, I'm Cameron!" shouts another guard. "Her name was-" There is another gravity shift and she falls off the side as well.
"Where are the rebels?" shouts another guard. "We can't shoot them if we don't know where they are!"
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 11:45:46 am
"They're on the dock, near my position!
I can't see anything in all this damned smoke..."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 12:11:57 pm
*facepalm*
"They're on the dock, near my position!
I can't see anything in all this damned smoke..."
"On the dock?"
The soldiers point the masers at you.
"I don't see anyone on the dock."
Time elapsed: 1 minute 16 seconds
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 12:22:47 pm
The stuff inside these brackets are not in-universe, just so we're clear.]
"Try firing anyway! They've got a powerful psyker, we don't know if we know their full capabilities!"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 12:25:54 pm
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 12:33:55 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 12:38:02 pm
"Try firing anyway! They've got a powerful psyker, we don't know if we know their full capabilities!"
"Uh, alright Celling," they say. Heat washes over Celling's skin as laser light streaks out around the dock - to no effect.
Fansworth: "Did I mention that they need thirty seconds on average to recharge after each half-second shot?"
Time elapsed: 1 minute 28 seconds
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 12:44:06 pm
"Can anyone get down below the dock?"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 01:11:55 pm
*cue some Angrish from Celling*
"Can anyone get down below the dock?"
"Got it!" one of the guards shouts. He tries to pry up one of the floorboards. "Hey, there's people down-"
There is a shot.
Splinters of the board shoot up everywhere. The man stands up, shrieking, an inch-long piece of wood and splattered, bloody mess where his right eye was. "MY EYE!" he screeches.
Time: 1 min 34 sec
Time since maser firing: 6 sec
Casualties: 3
Post by: Glass on June 01, 2018, 01:25:27 pm
[...could someone else please give some suggestions?]
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 01:25:58 pm
[Whelp, we know where the rebels are, now.]
[...could someone else please give some suggestions?]
I really hate this being a one-player game.
Post by: Rockeater on June 01, 2018, 01:31:46 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 01, 2018, 01:43:00 pm
I guess shooting down is hard, do we have any sort of backup?
We have the sentient dogs and child soldiers.
Post by: omada on June 01, 2018, 02:13:21 pm
and put those cherubs to attack them from the other side
If it can't be noiseless make it a macabre entrance where wood explode and the hero-player get a scare jump of an kid jumping in front of him
this way we can buy time for them to recharge and shoot again
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 04, 2018, 07:24:57 am
Send those dogs barking and yell "HERE HERE HERE" from one direction to distract them
and put those cherubs to attack them from the other side
If it can't be noiseless make it a macabre entrance where wood explode and the hero-player get a scare jump of an kid jumping in front of him
this way we can buy time for them to recharge and shoot again
Sorry I didn't respond earlier. Do you want dogs to come from the shore side and cherubs from the sea side, or the other way around?
Post by: omada on June 04, 2018, 05:07:56 pm
hmmm cherubs use firearms if those can stop working in contact with the water the cherubs are going through the shore not the seaside
otherwise if they have waterproof stuff the best swimmers go seaside
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 04, 2018, 06:21:41 pm
Who are best swimmers? these will go seaside
hmmm cherubs use firearms if those can stop working in contact with the water the cherubs are going through the shore not the seaside
otherwise if they have waterproof stuff the best swimmers go seaside
Uh, cherub armor probably makes them sink. Do wolves swim?
Post by: Glass on June 04, 2018, 06:32:03 pm
Yes, wolves do swim.Who are best swimmers? these will go seaside
hmmm cherubs use firearms if those can stop working in contact with the water the cherubs are going through the shore not the seaside
otherwise if they have waterproof stuff the best swimmers go seaside
Uh, cherub armor probably makes them sink. Do wolves swim?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 04, 2018, 06:55:31 pm
Yes, wolves do swim.Who are best swimmers? these will go seaside
hmmm cherubs use firearms if those can stop working in contact with the water the cherubs are going through the shore not the seaside
otherwise if they have waterproof stuff the best swimmers go seaside
Uh, cherub armor probably makes them sink. Do wolves swim?
Well, I mean, am I really going to accept that from the player of a game that would benefit from wolves being able to-
(https://i.imgur.com/CXEWHA3.png)
Huh.
I guess wolves swim.
But just to be clear, the wolves have been brainwashed to obey Padelheb. I want a go/no go on this.
Post by: Glass on June 04, 2018, 07:08:24 pm
But just to be clear, the wolves have been brainwashed to obey Padelheb. I want a go/no go on this.nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
...
Fuck Padelheb.
He's the Obstructive Bureaucrat without even having to do it deliberately, just because we know that if we do anything that might make him look moderately good, it'll just make it all harder for us in the long run.
Post by: omada on June 04, 2018, 10:05:06 pm
that's why they are on the other side of cherub fight, and that's why they will come first
Cherubs on name of the little fingers are gonna be a grotesque debuff on his side
maybe we can use cameras or shit after this battle and say
Argentinians officers are revolted to know that little finger's units use kids as weapon. look at this footage of kids killing dogs and rebels, The Argentinian High commander Celling was suggested that he could keep this undercover, here are his words:
"It's absolutely revolting that our nation's kids are being forced as warriors, each day the traitor keeps his power relations sour every day, I still desire to have a family, a wife and kids, I would be revolted to lose a family member to such evil objectives."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 08, 2018, 05:02:59 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Now, this ought to be fun.
The Cherubs get into position on the land side of the dock, hulking masses of armor and weaponery with an unsettling child’s cute, pudgy face plastered on. The uplifted dogs stand facing them from the sea side, tails wagging.
With a blast from their arm-cannons, the Cherubs blow up the aging wood of the dock between them and the dogs. Splinters of wood and smoke go everywhere. Support columns collapse and planks are snapped in half. Wood shards are thrown into the air. The dogs yelp back from the explosions moving across the dock.
When the smoke clears, a gaping hole is torn open, a smoking black fissure in the dock a few feet in front of the dogs. With a bark, they leap into the hole as the Cherubs continue firing at the wood right under them, causing them to fall down below the dock in a hurricane of broken wood.
From there things go south with alarming efficiency. Several feet beneath the dock is sand, with pieces of drying seaweed and frightened clams scattered around it. The unnatural gravity of the Andantesite crystal has peeled the water under the dock back, revealing a corridor of dry sea-bottom. On both sides, the water surges in two surreal walls, held apart by tumultuous gravitational forces like Moses parting the Red Sea.
The dogs throw themselves into the hole. They yelp as they are pulled down by the higher-than-normal gravity and hurtle towards the seabed. One lands on a sharp rock which pierces through his belly, coming out bloody the other side. Another lands on his head and is killed instantly. Two more get their legs broken by the fall. The rest pick themselves up and shake themselves awake, dazed by the impact but more than ready to avenge their fallen friends.
The rebels are standing under the dock, inching towards the beach, struggling under the immense gravity, when the dock splinters and burns above them. There is Jacob Eldin, haggard but not defeated, mud and sand covering his shirt. There is Anna Drimoxi, clutching the green-glowing Andantesite, wringing salt water out of her long black hair. And Julia Seyllin, a blond girl in a white dress, leading them ahead.
The Cherubs fall amidst a hurricane of broken wood and dust. Julia sees them and thrusts out her hand, shouting at the other rebels to hide. A beam of whirling fire appears that cuts through two of them. Flesh boils and skin charrs. They flail about as their soft faces and young, child’s bodies burn within their layers of armor, and die screaming, pitiful lumps crying for their mothers.
Celling can see all of this through the hole gouged in the dock. The soldiers with masers have recharged them and have a clear shot. Through the radio link Celling can give a command.
Which target to prioritize?
A: Jacob Eldin
B: Anna Drimoxi
C: Julia Seyllin
D: Divide fire between them
Think carefully about the next one. What's holding up the water? Andantesite.
What to do about the masers?
A: Take the shot
B: Hold your fire
C: Try to get down to the bottom, hopefully safer than the dogs.
Post by: omada on June 08, 2018, 05:49:11 pm
A
A
Post by: Glass on June 08, 2018, 06:04:04 pm
Jacob is the hero, the others will take the bullets for himSure.
A
A
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 08, 2018, 06:13:46 pm
Jacob is the hero, the others will take the bullets for himSure.
A
A
More votes? Because lasering the andantesite at this moment is actually a supremely bad idea...
Post by: Rockeater on June 08, 2018, 06:17:51 pm
Make sensJacob is the hero, the others will take the bullets for himSure.
A
A
Post by: Paxiecrunchle on June 09, 2018, 07:15:42 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 09, 2018, 08:10:33 am
At least we killed the boy and hurt an old man.
In other news, I'm sigging this.
Post by: omada on June 09, 2018, 12:17:52 pm
Post by: Glass on June 11, 2018, 03:19:08 pm
Quote from: Blue, over on Discord
Also <@Glass> , you choice in SPAMOVERLORD won't work because deactivating the Andantesite will just result in the tunnel of water collapsing, drowning everyone under the dock. All your forces will die, and the rebels will be protected by plot armor. You have two hours to convince everyone else of this before I just take the vote as is.Today, on Blue is a Bastard...
Everyone, time to think of a plan B. Current vote just screws us over.
Post by: Rockeater on June 11, 2018, 03:22:47 pm
Just say evryone down there to attempt to get up, they could try to flood the area to stop bulletsso I don't want to shoot
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 11, 2018, 03:24:15 pm
Quote from: Blue, over on DiscordAlso <@Glass> , you choice in SPAMOVERLORD won't work because deactivating the Andantesite will just result in the tunnel of water collapsing, drowning everyone under the dock. All your forces will die, and the rebels will be protected by plot armor. You have two hours to convince everyone else of this before I just take the vote as is.Today, on Blue is a Bastard...
Everyone, time to think of a plan B. Current vote just screws us over.
TIME'S-
AB
Just say evryone down there to attempt to get up, they could try to flood the area to stop bulletsso I don't want to shoot
Well, shoot. Time to change my fluff.
Post by: Rockeater on June 11, 2018, 03:26:12 pm
Well, damnQuote from: Blue, over on DiscordAlso <@Glass> , you choice in SPAMOVERLORD won't work because deactivating the Andantesite will just result in the tunnel of water collapsing, drowning everyone under the dock. All your forces will die, and the rebels will be protected by plot armor. You have two hours to convince everyone else of this before I just take the vote as is.Today, on Blue is a Bastard...
Everyone, time to think of a plan B. Current vote just screws us over.
TIME'S-AB
Just say evryone down there to attempt to get up, they could try to flood the area to stop bulletsso I don't want to shoot
Well, shoot. Time to change my fluff.
Post by: Glass on June 11, 2018, 03:39:49 pm
Post by: omada on June 11, 2018, 05:02:26 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 12, 2018, 07:29:06 am
Well, damnQuote from: Blue, over on DiscordAlso <@Glass> , you choice in SPAMOVERLORD won't work because deactivating the Andantesite will just result in the tunnel of water collapsing, drowning everyone under the dock. All your forces will die, and the rebels will be protected by plot armor. You have two hours to convince everyone else of this before I just take the vote as is.Today, on Blue is a Bastard...
Everyone, time to think of a plan B. Current vote just screws us over.
TIME'S-AB
Just say evryone down there to attempt to get up, they could try to flood the area to stop bulletsso I don't want to shoot
Well, shoot. Time to change my fluff.
Doesn't help. You still have to roll to not fire, as the maser people are controlled by Fansworth.
Post by: Glass on June 12, 2018, 08:27:57 am
Post by: Rockeater on June 12, 2018, 08:37:51 am
Post by: omada on June 12, 2018, 03:17:23 pm
the propaganda will be great
Padel kidnaps kids, brazilian office ofended
padel disobey the national officers and let rebels escape
rebels kills a bunch of kids without mercy or hesitation
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 13, 2018, 11:57:21 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
The Cherubs open fire on Jacob. He leaps out of the way as the bullets miss, pulled down by the changing gravity. The dogs leap at Jacob as well. Only one actually hits as the other three miss him and roll on the sand. The one that hits tries to
“FIRE MASERS!” Fansworth commands.
“NO!” Celling shouts. “You can’t deactivate the Andantesite now, it’ll drown them!
Fansworth looks at you skeptically. “What?”
“The Andantesite is the only thing keeping the water up! You have to hold fire!”
“And I’m supposed to accept that from someone that probably wants to join the rebels?” asks Fansworth.
Celling sighs. “Look,” he says. “I hate the rebels as much as you do. But I’m not going to sacrifice everyone down there to drown them when they likely have a way out anyway!”
Fansworth looks questioningly at him. “Fine then. HOLD FIRE!”
Jacob Eldin struggles out of the dog’s grip and runs for the shore side of the dock, blood trickling from his leg. Anna Drimoxi fumbles with the Andantesite controller.
Priority target?
A: Chase down Jacob!
B: Focus on the other 2 rebels!
Andantesite?
A: Deactivate it!
B: Not yet!
Post by: Rockeater on June 13, 2018, 12:04:52 pm
Post by: omada on June 13, 2018, 03:03:09 pm
Post by: Glass on June 13, 2018, 07:06:13 pm
Us and our men will chase down Jacob. Fansworth can probably deal moderately ok with the other two Rebels.
Post by: omada on June 14, 2018, 04:00:24 pm
Post by: Glass on June 14, 2018, 04:04:17 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 14, 2018, 04:07:53 pm
Post by: Glass on June 14, 2018, 04:33:11 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 14, 2018, 07:21:50 pm
And I'd like more votes. (Psst! Fallacy! Paxie!)
Post by: Glass on June 14, 2018, 07:34:53 pm
What part of this is unclear?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 14, 2018, 09:05:17 pm
Us and our men will chase Jacob. Fansworth and his men will try to take the other two.
What part of this is unclear?
The men aren't even on the ground. Gravitation fluctuations were enough to squish two dogs and it's a 6 foot drop, remember?
Post by: Glass on June 14, 2018, 09:11:42 pm
Places with stuff like stairs and a lack of artificial gravity bullshit.
Dockmakers aren't stupid.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 14, 2018, 09:50:14 pm
There's other places to get under the dock.
Places with stuff like stairs and a lack of artificial gravity bullshit.
Dockmakers aren't stupid.
No, they aren't stupid. So naturally, they didn't waste resources building a staircase leading to a place that is under six feet of water when not under the influence of a gravitational anomaly!
Post by: Glass on June 14, 2018, 09:58:31 pm
[The area under the dock is normally submerged]Oh. :|
Post by: omada on June 15, 2018, 11:57:51 am
AB
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 16, 2018, 06:42:55 am
Who would you like to chase Jacob?
A: Dogs
B: Cherubs
C: Both
(cherubs will have higher power, but less reliability, than dogs, because they have 2d6 with potential to seriously maim rather than dogs with best-of)
Post by: Glass on June 16, 2018, 10:49:57 am
Post by: Rockeater on June 16, 2018, 11:00:10 am
Post by: omada on June 16, 2018, 11:12:52 am
just kidding
RELEASE THE DOGS OF WAR
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 23, 2018, 09:58:43 am
htaed oreh sesuac latsyrc gnitoohs
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
The dogs run after Jacob while the Cherubs start blasting away at Anna and Julia with armor-integrated machine guns. The girls roll and dodge the bullets, splashes of sand rising all around them. Julia shoots back with fire and Anna tries to stab the Cherubs, but both just roll off their armor.
The dogs have more luck. One bites Jacob in his leg, sinking her teeth into his flesh. He screams and goes down to his knees. The other one pushes him to the ground and positions her teeth over his neck. One of them barks something at Celling.
Celling gets the message. “Stop or Jacob dies!” he translates.
The rebels stop and look at Jacob, then turn back to look up and slowly raise their hands above their heads. Anna is still clutching the bright-green chunk of Andantesite in one hand, and the control amulet in the other.
Fansworth rushes up to Celling. “They’re surrendering?” he asks in a hushed tone.
“Yes,” Celling answers.
“Well, we have a decent shot now,” he continues. “With snipers or masers. We could kill them right now”
What do you do?
A: Shoot the rebels
B: Deactivate the Andantesite
C: Shoot the Andantesite (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreadEggsBreadedEggs)
D: Have them pulled up and detained (give the order you want them pulled up)
E: Order the dog to kill Jacob
F: Something else…
Post by: Glass on June 23, 2018, 11:34:39 am
"Pull up and handcuff the rebels - hands behind their back, not in front - and remove all their weapons. We'll take the Andantesite and deactivate it safely, so that nobody else is hurt and the dock is kept undamaged. David, I want Julia's powers neutralized, if you can do that. If not, just let us know if she's going to try anything."
"Jacob, Anna, Julia, so long as you cooperate, you will not be harmed, but if you attempt to take action to escape or attack us, we will respond in kind. I will say this again, we would rather nobody get hurt here. Am I understood?"
Post by: Rockeater on June 23, 2018, 11:36:06 am
D.That feels optimistic but I don't have any better idea
"Handcuff the rebels - hands behind their back, not in front - and remove all their weapons. We'll take the Andantesite and deactivate it safely, so that nobody else is hurt and the dock is kept undamaged. David, I want Julia's powers neutralized, if you can do that. If not, just let us know if she's going to try anything."
"Jacob, Anna, Julia, so long as you cooperate, you will not be harmed, but if you attempt to take action to escape or attack us, we will respond in kind. I will say this again, we would rather nobody get hurt here. Am I understood?"
Edit: Wait a second, it was a five man band, where are the other 2?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 23, 2018, 11:40:39 am
D.That feels optimistic but I don't have any better idea
"Handcuff the rebels - hands behind their back, not in front - and remove all their weapons. We'll take the Andantesite and deactivate it safely, so that nobody else is hurt and the dock is kept undamaged. David, I want Julia's powers neutralized, if you can do that. If not, just let us know if she's going to try anything."
"Jacob, Anna, Julia, so long as you cooperate, you will not be harmed, but if you attempt to take action to escape or attack us, we will respond in kind. I will say this again, we would rather nobody get hurt here. Am I understood?"
Edit: Wait a second, it was a five man band, where are the other 2?
We captured them last year.
Post by: Glass on June 23, 2018, 11:40:45 am
In the grand scheme of things, we both want Padel out and the Southern "Republic" made more reasonable. If we could change this from a teen rebel novel to a political thriller, everything would go so much better. We have the legitimacy to help them get their message across in a way that doesn't involve terrorism.
Post by: Rockeater on June 23, 2018, 11:45:57 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 23, 2018, 11:50:04 am
If we could change this from a teen rebel novel to a political thriller, everything would go so much better.
But things don't always go well, do they?
At any rate, you don't get to decide the genre. The framework is there, you can only manipulate tropes by going along with it.
How big is the rebels group?
Rebels:
- Jacob Eldin (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLeader) - somewhat-reluctant teen revolutionary
- Andrew Calvin (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLancer) - Jacob's annoying high-school enemy
- Samael Drimoxi (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheBigGuy) - grizzled anti-government extremist
- Julia Seyllin (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSmartGuy) - genetically-engineered psychic warrior
- Anna Drimoxi (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheChick) - Sam's daughter and Jacob's love interest
Post by: Rockeater on June 23, 2018, 11:58:40 am
Post by: omada on June 23, 2018, 11:59:24 am
put then on separate trucks, and wait if David manages to neutralize them for the next step of my suggestion
execute them without warning, handcuffed and stuff
let's see how well the fourth wall will handle a game over
if david can't neutralize her we will have to play along. put them on different high security prisons drinking frog's serum
Post by: Glass on June 23, 2018, 12:33:23 pm
I can't see it become a political thriler, not if those reels stay sagnificant, they don't have enough political power or connection to be somethingbeside being someone's agents, it's defently a trap, we should separete them as much as possible in the first shot we have.The rebels themselves don't have the clout.
But Erin does, and Celling will.
After all, the former is the royal scientist, who was a huge part of putting the Republic where it is today in terms of its scientific advancement - and in case you forgot, we have basically modern, or at least 1900s-era, tech before the world has even been circumnavigated.
Celling, meanwhile, is a fairly high-ranking military officer who will be known as the man that finally captured the last rebel agents who did so much damage.
Yes, we should separate the prisoners once we have the opportunity to. Practical considerations are important.
We don't get to decide the genre. But stories can and do change genres. For this specific situation, the Legend Trilogy comes to mind, where the characters start out as rebels and later turn to working to fix the system in a less-violent manner. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/LegendTrilogy)If we could change this from a teen rebel novel to a political thriller, everything would go so much better.
But things don't always go well, do they?
At any rate, you don't get to decide the genre. The framework is there, you can only manipulate tropes by going along with it.
Post by: Rockeater on June 23, 2018, 12:38:46 pm
Post by: Glass on June 23, 2018, 02:23:09 pm
The problem: Blue knows this, and is going to try to remove Padelheb somehow to prevent this from happening. However, once Padel is the Big Bad, Blue won't be able to do this. So we need to make this information known as quickly as possible.
Does everyone understand? We have an opportunity to show the rebels that there's someone else above Celling, above Erin, someone who's a much bigger problem. Or maybe we don't have it rigbt now, but we'll likely have it soon. When it arrives, we need to take it.
EDIT: Additional stuff. Plague, while taking place soon, A. is in fact Padel's fault, and B. is going to be worked as a PR thing where Padel gets credit for getting the cure distributed.
So, we need to distribute it first, while also distributing he information that he plague was Padel's fault.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 23, 2018, 02:38:37 pm
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT; We need to make Padelheb and all his fuckery known to the rebels so that he's the Big Bad in the story, rather than seeing Erin and Celling as that. If we do that, then the narrative becomes nearly forced to work in our favor.
The problem: Blue knows this, and is going to try to remove Padelheb somehow to prevent this from happening. However, once Padel is the Big Bad, Nlue won't be able to do this. So we need to make this information known as quickly as possible.
Does everyone understand? We have an opportunity to show the rebels that there's someone else above Celling, above Erin, someone who's a much bigger problem. Or maybe we don't have it rigbt now, but we'll likely have it soon. When it arrives, we need to take it.
Since when am I "Nlue"?
Post by: Glass on June 23, 2018, 02:39:06 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 23, 2018, 02:40:47 pm
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT; We need to make Padelheb and all his fuckery known to the rebels so that he's the Big Bad in the story, rather than seeing Erin and Celling as that. If we do that, then the narrative becomes nearly forced to work in our favor.
The problem: Blue knows this, and is going to try to remove Padelheb somehow to prevent this from happening. However, once Padel is the Big Bad, Blue won't be able to do this. So we need to make this information known as quickly as possible.
Does everyone understand? We have an opportunity to show the rebels that there's someone else above Celling, above Erin, someone who's a much bigger problem. Or maybe we don't have it rigbt now, but we'll likely have it soon. When it arrives, we need to take it.
EDIT: Additional stuff. Plague, while taking place soon, A. is in fact Padel's fault, and B. is going to be worked as a PR thing where Padel gets credit for getting the cure distributed.
So, we need to distribute it first, while also distributing he information that he plague was Padel's fault.
And all this he knows, because I held it over his head over Discord. I've got to stop doing that! That is quite literally bond villain stupidity.
Post by: omada on June 23, 2018, 02:54:40 pm
Wait, we are villians in-game fighting against the rebels and surviving the rules of the fourth wall, that you have control and you as a GM and a entity of the game (as some characters like the mitani has direct contact with you) and you create the horrible things that are a bit worse than us like padel and making him get the virus Idea
Are you a villain of the game?
a kind of Thanus/darksied/devourer of adventure quest that might control the fourth wall and bring doom to us all? :P
That explain how you sometimes give too much information
Just talk loudly about how we need to deal with this fast before the little fingers genocide begins (without talking about Padel directly) If fansworth get scared "What the fuck you are saying" we explain it in front of the rebels
Post by: Glass on June 23, 2018, 03:13:54 pm
The plague thing derives from me explaining the general plot of what happened in the book I linked the Tvtropes page of, while the PSA came from us working out what everyone's role is.
Quote from: Discord stuff
Blue
But there are two meta forces at work ehre
The plot wants this to turn into a stereotypical adventure novel
And I want to create an enjoyable and long-term game
Ok?
Me
Yep
Normally, since the players are the protagonists, they work together pretty well
But in this case, we're the antagonists to the protagonists, who are NPCs
Thus the conflict
With the players often having to deal with the complications of life that make stories interesting - "we're playing a game, here's the random events that make it interesting" - while also having to deal with seemingly unbeatable "good guy" opponents - "this is a story, and the good guys always win".
We're the protagonists in some ways and the antagonists in others, leading to very confusing and irritating lives
Protagonists of the game, antagonists of the novel
The rebels are antagonists of the game but protagonists of the novel
And Padelheb is antagonist of the game and presently unknown in the novel
But we can change the dynamics of the game by revealing more details in the novel - one might say, by adding a twist.
The twist, in this case, is that Padel is the real enemy, not Erin or Celling.
Blue
Thank you for writing this game's Shmoop article for me, now go home
Post by: Glass on June 23, 2018, 07:53:13 pm
Earlier, David was unable to give us a full prediction of what would happen with the plague because we weren't sure that Padel did it.
Now we are.
Post by: Rockeater on June 24, 2018, 05:10:26 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 25, 2018, 10:40:07 am
D.
"Pull up and handcuff the rebels - hands behind their back, not in front - and remove all their weapons. We'll take the Andantesite and deactivate it safely, so that nobody else is hurt and the dock is kept undamaged. David, I want Julia's powers neutralized, if you can do that. If not, just let us know if she's going to try anything."
"Jacob, Anna, Julia, so long as you cooperate, you will not be harmed, but if you attempt to take action to escape or attack us, we will respond in kind. I will say this again, we would rather nobody get hurt here. Am I understood?"
“Very well,” replies Fansworth. “But how are we going to get them up?”
At that moment one of Fansworth’s men runs up holding a coil of thick rope, the kind used to bind ships to the shore. She snaps off a crisp salute. “Rope, sir!” she says.
“Field promotion,” Fansworth instantly replies, taking the rope and lowering it down through the hole. He tosses several pairs of handcuffs through as well. “Rebels, drop your weapons. Cherubs, pick up the weapons, search them, and handcuff them-”
“Behind their backs,” Celling reminds. “We don’t want any trouble, but will not hesitate to shoot.” He then turns around and addresses the men. “Hear that? We don’t want any trouble. These are surrendering men and prisoners of war. I can’t stress enough the importance of doing this by the book and not falling to the level of these maniacs. Nobody shoot unless I tell you to.”
“But take action to preserve your own lives before anything else,” adds Fansworth. Celling shoots him a look but says nothing.
Celling also places a call to David Eborrenial over radio. “Hey David? Can you tell us if Julia tries to do something?”
“No, I can’t,” he answers. “Not without that beacon staff.”
“How about neutralizing her powers?” Celling asks.
David sighs. “I don’t know much about elemental manipulation, but I think binding her hands should work. All sources we have agree that freedom of gesture is required to control it.”
Jacob’s been pulled up and Anna+Julia are following behind. What do you do next?
Post by: omada on June 25, 2018, 03:53:24 pm
ask julia if she is willing to cooperate
wait for julia to be outside her predictive range (ask david to give us advice on this) for us to decide our next action
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 28, 2018, 08:05:43 pm
“Don’t touch that!” shouts Anna. “Don’t touch the controller and don’t bring the Andantesite up! It’s set at very short range right now, and if you drag it up now the water tunnel collapses and everyone down there drowns?”
“So how are we supposed to get it up?” asks Celling.
“Tie it to the end of the rope,” Anna answers. She brushes her dark hair out of her face, and the wind blows it back. “Wait until everyone’s up before pulling it up. Then you can deactivate it up here.”
Fansworth rushes up to Celling and whispers in his ear, making sure the rebels can’t hear. “Celling, I don’t think that’s the best idea!”
“Why?” Celling whispers back.
“You said this psychic girl has unknown powers, right?” Fansworth says. “What if one of those powers is activating Andantesite by touch? I recommend we get everyone off as soon as possible and maser it while it’s still on the seabed. Getting it close to the rebels is a real liability.”
Celling turns back to Anna. “You could increase the range, right? Then we could bring it up now, safely.”
Anna nods. “With the control crystal, yes.”
“You can’t be seriously thinking of handing her the controller for that weapon,” says Fansworth.
Before Celling has a chance to answer he is interrupted by a sound that is becoming all too familiar. “I see you’ve captured our rogue prophet,” the voice of the Mittani drones on, sent to the radio transceiver Goonswarm gave Celling.
Celling quickly manages to hide it from Fansworth. “Yes, we have. So?”
“We’ll take her now,” says the Mittani. “Turn her over to us.”
“And if we don’t want to?” Celling asks.
“We have snipers all around the dock. Our men are ready and yours are tired, demoralized, and decimated. Suffice it to say that if you refuse you certainly will not leave this place alive.”
What do you do…
…about the Andantesite?
A: Anna’s suggestion: Wait for everyone to get up, then pull the Andantesite up and deactivate it.
B: Fansworth’s suggestion: Get everyone up, then deactivate the Andantesite on the seabed.
C: Give Anna the control crystal and tell her to extend the Andantesite’s range. Move it up, then get everyone else up.
D: Somethin else…
…about Julia?
A: Tell Goonswarm we’ll hand her over
B: Refuse
C: Pretend to agree while quietly getting your men ready to fight
D: Ask the rebels; they likely know what Goonswarm has in mind for her more than you do
E: Something else…
Post by: Glass on June 28, 2018, 08:28:36 pm
C + kinda D = Do C, while surreptitiously trying to get the rebels to understand what's happening and get their advice.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 28, 2018, 08:31:59 pm
B, then:
C + kinda D = Do C, while surreptitiously trying to get the rebels to understand what's happening and get their advice.
Tell the rebels about what's happening?
Post by: Glass on June 28, 2018, 08:36:06 pm
Of course, communicating the rest of the mess that has enveloped our life wouldn't hurt if there's time for that.
But focus on Goonswarm.
And that we're only pretending to give them their person.
Unless it's ok with them to give her to them.
Post by: omada on June 28, 2018, 10:23:09 pm
if yes, give them julia
if not, give JULIA the control of the adantesite, whisper her that she will be free if she can deal with the goonswarm and that we will tell her truth of what the rebels didn't knew about their plan. that C and D stuff
maybe we can recruit her, or have her as a neutral party
and that acter save us from this bold decision of trusting that a hero won't betray us
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 29, 2018, 07:59:51 am
Post by: FallacyofUrist on June 29, 2018, 02:37:02 pm
B, then:+1 to this.
C + kinda D = Do C, while surreptitiously trying to get the rebels to understand what's happening and get their advice.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 07, 2018, 03:56:09 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 08, 2018, 12:20:35 pm
“Alright,” Fansworth responds. He barks orders at the Cherubs and dogs to start climbing the rope.
Another guard runs up to Celling. “Should we detain the rebels together or apart, Celling? If we put them together, they may conspire. If we seperate them, we’ll stretch our forces thinner and an escape is easier.”
“Hold that thought, ma’am, I’ve got a call to make,” Celling answers. He clicks on the communicator to Goonswarm. “Mittani, I’m willing to hand over Julia.”
“Good!” the voice on the other end goes. “I’m aware that there’s another party on the dock, sent from the South. See to it that we get her once she is fully in your custody.”
The line goes dead. Celling walks up to the rebels to tell them.
How do you detain the rebels?
A: In one big group (No numerical penalties, but they can all discuss without you hearing)
B: Separated (Rolls for preventing their escape will be worst 2 of 3)
C: In a big group and small group. You have to tell me which rebel you wish to separate out. (The two that are together can discuss. If one group escapes first or they go simultaneously, the roll to stop the others as well is worst 2 of 3 due to guards being distracted)
D: Just shoot them (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhyDontYouJustShootHim)
E: Something else…
What do you say to the rebels? I need Exact Words (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExactWords) here. Just a few phrases or bullet points is OK, but I’d prefer a full speech.
Post by: Rockeater on July 08, 2018, 12:50:03 pm
Post by: omada on July 08, 2018, 01:27:30 pm
I will go with glass idea
but for me we should separate them, give julia the adantesite control to fight the mitanni and then say that those who don't have the plot armor (anna and whatever) be killed instantly
later we say it was the goonswarm to julia
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 08, 2018, 01:29:40 pm
I will go with glass idea
See, this is why this game is boring. You all just follow Glass.
I SUMMON FALLACY!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 08, 2018, 01:38:33 pm
but for me we should separate them, give julia the adantesite control to fight the mitanni and then say that those who don't have the plot armor (anna and whatever) be killed instantly
Also, Anna certainly has plot armor. She's an interesting character and capable rebel in her own right as well as a romantic interest/close friend Jacob and Andrew and a beloved family member for Sam and also David Eborrenial's unrequited crush.
She's not going to die here.
Post by: Glass on July 08, 2018, 03:09:55 pm
This is probably why no evil overlord in the history of ever has actually gone through with "just shoot them". Tying them up in a death trap keeps them occupied for a few hours, while trying to just shoot gem means they're in your hair again so much more quickly.
I say we keep all the rebels together, so that they can all hear what we have to say at once. Part of what we have to say is that "the guards are ordered to shoot you if you try to whisper, as it implies that you are trying by to hide something from us; or, in other words, if it's worth you being secretive about it, it's worth us finding suspicious. You will not be harmed by us or our troops so long as you remain cooperative."
They will also be informed that "Goonswarm has requested that Julia be given to them. I have told them that we will comply, but only to buy us time. We need to know what it is they want with you, Julia, or else we'll be wandering into this mess blind. I'll be honest, I'm extremely suspicious of them."
Now, does anyone have any ideas on how to tell them about Padel?
Post by: Rockeater on July 08, 2018, 03:29:26 pm
Post by: Doubloon-Seven on July 09, 2018, 07:35:28 am
All the rebels have plot armor. If we try to shoot them now, they'll just escape.+1
This is probably why no evil overlord in the history of ever has actually gone through with "just shoot them". Tying them up in a death trap keeps them occupied for a few hours, while trying to just shoot gem means they're in your hair again so much more quickly.
I say we keep all the rebels together, so that they can all hear what we have to say at once. Part of what we have to say is that "the guards are ordered to shoot you if you try to whisper, as it implies that you are trying by to hide something from us; or, in other words, if it's worth you being secretive about it, it's worth us finding suspicious. You will not be harmed by us or our troops so long as you remain cooperative."
They will also be informed that "Goonswarm has requested that Julia be given to them. I have told them that we will comply, but only to buy us time. We need to know what it is they want with you, Julia, or else we'll be wandering into this mess blind. I'll be honest, I'm extremely suspicious of them."
Now, does anyone have any ideas on how to tell them about Padel?
Tell them about Padel as another threat to us, one far, far more sinister than the rebels. If they try to eavesdrop, give a few hints about how they're threatening to destroy us all, rebel and Empire.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 09, 2018, 08:17:47 am
This is probably why no evil overlord in the history of ever has actually gone through with "just shoot them". Tying them up in a death trap keeps them occupied for a few hours, while trying to just shoot gem means they're in your hair again so much more quickly.
Wait, that's actually a good point. Not shooting them can be seen as being DOUBLY genre saavy
Post by: omada on July 09, 2018, 12:03:53 pm
All the rebels have plot armor. If we try to shoot them now, they'll just escape.+1
This is probably why no evil overlord in the history of ever has actually gone through with "just shoot them". Tying them up in a death trap keeps them occupied for a few hours, while trying to just shoot gem means they're in your hair again so much more quickly.
I say we keep all the rebels together, so that they can all hear what we have to say at once. Part of what we have to say is that "the guards are ordered to shoot you if you try to whisper, as it implies that you are trying by to hide something from us; or, in other words, if it's worth you being secretive about it, it's worth us finding suspicious. You will not be harmed by us or our troops so long as you remain cooperative."
They will also be informed that "Goonswarm has requested that Julia be given to them. I have told them that we will comply, but only to buy us time. We need to know what it is they want with you, Julia, or else we'll be wandering into this mess blind. I'll be honest, I'm extremely suspicious of them."
Now, does anyone have any ideas on how to tell them about Padel?
Tell them about Padel as another threat to us, one far, far more sinister than the rebels. If they try to eavesdrop, give a few hints about how they're threatening to destroy us all, rebel and Empire.
we could "let go" that we are just tired of dealing with more people planning genocide and they should for the love of the gods just cooperate for a time
if they ask, act as if they were supposed to know and give a bit of the info
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 14, 2018, 07:14:23 pm
“Put them in one big group,” Celling tells the guards. He turns to face the rebels. “Now now, we don’t want anyone to get hurt. However, the guards are ordered to shoot you if you try to whisper, as it implies that you are trying by to hide something from us. If it's worth you being secretive about it, it's worth us finding suspicious. You will not be harmed by us or our troops so long as you remain cooperative.”
He steps a little bit closer. “Goonswarm has requested that Julia be given to them. ”
Julia looks up fearfully. “No. Do whatever you want. I’m not going back there,” she whispers.
“I have told them that we will comply, but only to buy us time,” Celling continues. “We need to know what it is they want with you, Julia, or else we'll be wandering into this mess blind.”
“They want everything,” says Julia. “Total mastery of the future.”
“They’ll make her crack,” says Anna. “They’ll do things to her. Make her tell them what she can see. Every pathway. Every eventuality. Every way to win. They’ll go into every situation with perfect mastery. Give Julia to them, and they’re unbeatable.”
“That is false,” comes a familiar voice from across the dock. David Eborrenial strode purposefully towards Celling and the rebels, stepping deftly around the gaping hole in the dock, coat billowing in the wind.
“David?” asks Celling.
“David!” hisses Anna. “You told us we would have no trouble here! That it was destined the empire would fall!”
“I lied,” he says.
“TRAITOR!” Jacob shouts.
“It’s standard Visionary policy. There’s too little time to explain now, but basically we can’t predict correctly of the time so mostly we just fake it,” David says. “But I digress. Given that Goonswarm has bugged my house, I’m surprised that they don’t know this, but getting Julia won’t do anything. She’d need Protinam training protocols, neurotemporal recording equipment, and a staff beacon to make useful predictions. All of which only I have access to.”
“That’s very useful information,” says the Mittani’s voice out of Celling’s coat pocket. “We have updated our price. I want David too.”
Everyone stares. Celling slowly takes out the radio. “You heard that?”
“What? You thought that I’d give you a radio that only lets me hear what you’re saying when you push the button?” the Mittani asks. “Give me David or I’ll make the rebels escape!”
Celling turns around and presses the button. “How… will you do that?” he asks quietly.
“They’re trapped, captured, surrounded,” the Mittani explains. “Everyone knows the way you break an encirclement is with another encirclement. We’ve been introduced before, the rebels already encountered us once and we’re hostile to you. We’re perfect Chekhov's Gunmen (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChekhovsGunman). If we start shooting down at your men right now and distract them, it fits perfectly into a Conveniently Timed Distraction (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConvenientlyTimedDistraction).”
At this time another guard rushes up to Celling. “Captain Celling, they’re whispering amongst themselves. Do we shoot?”
What do you do?
A: Shoot Jacob
B: Shoot Anna
C: Shoot Julia
(you may choose any combination of the above)
D: Don’t shoot
And what do you do about David?
A: Promise to turn him over
B: Try to negotiate with the Mittani (again, I need Exact Words)
C: Refuse
D: Something else…
Post by: FallacyofUrist on July 14, 2018, 07:51:32 pm
D: Tweak the radio a bit and pretend that there's jamming going on.
Post by: omada on July 14, 2018, 09:05:10 pm
E: Just have one of our guys walk right over and listen in.
D: Tweak the radio a bit and pretend that there's jamming going on.
Not before acting that we are going to negotiate
Post by: FallacyofUrist on July 14, 2018, 09:06:51 pm
Post by: Glass on July 14, 2018, 09:42:33 pm
And I want full disclosure on everything from David when this is done.
And the radio better get smashed.
Post by: Rockeater on July 14, 2018, 11:37:02 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 14, 2018, 11:50:24 pm
On the phone but isn't there a trope that almost literally Fallacy second part of the suggestion, he will recognise this as a fake out
Someone with more experience in EVE needs to tell me if the Mittani is the kind of person to form plans and not try to see if others are forming plans against him.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 15, 2018, 12:01:27 am
And I want full disclosure on everything from David when this is done.
Wait, what has he withheld before? Like the staff thing, he made no secret out of the fact that he can't predict without a staff.
Post by: Rockeater on July 15, 2018, 12:20:57 am
Wasn't the staff destroyed?And I want full disclosure on everything from David when this is done.
Wait, what has he withheld before? Like the staff thing, he made no secret out of the fact that he can't predict without a staff.
Edit: I not sure but something was destroyed and David lost his prediction ability
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 15, 2018, 12:32:55 am
Wasn't the staff destroyed?And I want full disclosure on everything from David when this is done.
Wait, what has he withheld before? Like the staff thing, he made no secret out of the fact that he can't predict without a staff.
Edit: I not sure but something was destroyed and David lost his prediction ability
You have to be near a staff. The portable one was destroyed. The stationary one at the Protinam Citadel is still intact and David can make more given the time and materials.
Post by: Rockeater on July 15, 2018, 01:00:21 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 15, 2018, 09:19:36 am
Will Mittani recognise a staff?
If you question is "can we give him a tree branch and claim it's the staff" no. He knows full well that the only portable version David had was destroyed, and he'll demand David himself. Speaking of which...
MITTANI: I understand you also have a series of chemicals that can bend the will of any man to your wishes? Give me those as well. Enough for two people.
Post by: Rockeater on July 15, 2018, 10:11:09 am
Questions:
1. How much plot armour does David have, if we shoot him in a ay that ordinary person could survive will he?
2. Is there someone who could claim David body?
3. Will Mittani recognise the chemicals?
Post by: Glass on July 15, 2018, 11:08:35 am
I don't know. I just want to make absolutely certain.And I want full disclosure on everything from David when this is done.
Wait, what has he withheld before? Like the staff thing, he made no secret out of the fact that he can't predict without a staff.
Haha, no. Even if we had them (since they were all Erin's), fuck no.Will Mittani recognise a staff?
If you question is "can we give him a tree branch and claim it's the staff" no. He knows full well that the only portable version David had was destroyed, and he'll demand David himself. Speaking of which...
MITTANI: I understand you also have a series of chemicals that can bend the will of any man to your wishes? Give me those as well. Enough for two people.
Congratulations on creating a second entity (besides Padel) that's more evil than us, Blue.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 15, 2018, 11:57:31 am
Congratulations on creating a second entity (besides Padel) that's more evil than us, Blue.
MITTANI: "Evil...? I think not. Just... pragmatic..."
Post by: Rockeater on July 15, 2018, 11:59:54 am
How deep does your understanding goes, what is my name?
Post by: omada on July 15, 2018, 12:36:14 pm
MITTANI: "Evil...? I think not. Just... pragmatic..."
Oh, so the mitanni has acess to the forums now
great
Do the you guys realize that he said they will Free the rebels and not attack them?, it will be in no way us two against them
it will be both of them against us
but give them what they want and they will be a lot stronger and a pain in the ass
Post by: Rockeater on July 15, 2018, 12:55:49 pm
Post by: Glass on July 15, 2018, 01:12:35 pm
Do the you guys realize that he said they will Free the rebels and not attack them?, it will be in no way us two against themHe wants Julia. The rebels decidedly do not want him to have Julia, and we agree with them.
it will be both of them against us
but give them what they want and they will be a lot stronger and a pain in the ass
And he didn't say he'd free them. He said they'd be a distraction (which, I may note, kind of loses its power because we know it's going to happen).
None of us want the Goons to get what they want here. Ergo, our interests are in alignment, at least for so long as Goonswarm is attacking us.
Post by: omada on July 15, 2018, 01:16:59 pm
rebels, if you distract us they WILL get julia and drug her to mindcontrol her so cooperate and postpone your plan of mass genocide for later
Everybody clear? GO GO GO"
Post by: Glass on July 15, 2018, 01:26:12 pm
so cooperate and postpone your plan of mass genocide for laterThere's no need to be condescending right now, Omada.
Quote from: Better version
"Julia, David, go together. We're evacuating you two out of here, unless you think Julia should fight.
Rebels, if you distract us they will get julia and load her up with mind-controlling drugs, so please cooperate and postpone your other plans for later.
Everybody clear? Let's go!"
Post by: Rockeater on July 15, 2018, 01:28:33 pm
We shoot David in non-deadly spot and shout acusingly at him that we had to shoot and kill David because of him saying his plan out-loud.
We find a reason that we yake the "body" and that all three rebels will stay toghter and we give him fake\not nearly enough gas, we get David alive and the rebals have high chance to escape in their ride.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 15, 2018, 01:46:06 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 15, 2018, 01:51:09 pm
If we say plans here is mine
We shoot David in non-deadly spot and shout acusingly at him that we had to shoot and kill David because of him saying his plan out-loud.
We find a reason that we yake the "body" and that all three rebels will stay toghter and we give him fake\not nearly enough gas, we get David alive and the rebals have high chance to escape in their ride.
...wait wait wait. How is this helpful? The rebels get away, and David hates our guts.
Post by: Glass on July 15, 2018, 01:52:33 pm
It's not. Ergo, -1If we say plans here is mine
We shoot David in non-deadly spot and shout acusingly at him that we had to shoot and kill David because of him saying his plan out-loud.
We find a reason that we yake the "body" and that all three rebels will stay toghter and we give him fake\not nearly enough gas, we get David alive and the rebals have high chance to escape in their ride.
...wait wait wait. How is this helpful? The rebels get away, and David hates our guts.
Post by: Rockeater on July 15, 2018, 02:01:44 pm
Not 100% on this one, but I have this assuumptionsIf we say plans here is mine
We shoot David in non-deadly spot and shout acusingly at him that we had to shoot and kill David because of him saying his plan out-loud.
We find a reason that we yake the "body" and that all three rebels will stay toghter and we give him fake\not nearly enough gas, we get David alive and the rebals have high chance to escape in their ride.
...wait wait wait. How is this helpful? The rebels get away, and David hates our guts.
1. We prefer the rebels to be free then him getting Jullia, espacily that she can't do any predictions
2. His man are too prepared for us to breack throgh with brute fource
And we can write it to him on a paper or get a Cacophony Cover-Up
(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CacophonyCoverUp)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 15, 2018, 02:05:18 pm
Not 100% on this one, but I have this assuumptionsIf we say plans here is mine
We shoot David in non-deadly spot and shout acusingly at him that we had to shoot and kill David because of him saying his plan out-loud.
We find a reason that we yake the "body" and that all three rebels will stay toghter and we give him fake\not nearly enough gas, we get David alive and the rebals have high chance to escape in their ride.
...wait wait wait. How is this helpful? The rebels get away, and David hates our guts.
1. We prefer the rebels to be free then him getting Jullia, espacily that she can't do any predictions
2. His man are too prepared for us to breack throgh with brute fource
And we can write it to him on a paper or get a Cacophony Cover-Up
(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CacophonyCoverUp)
...I have no idea how any of this helps, but I'm the GM, it's not my place to drag you sops out of terrible ideas.
Post by: Rockeater on July 15, 2018, 02:16:44 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 15, 2018, 02:38:53 pm
And do Fallacy or Paxie have any ideas?
Post by: omada on July 15, 2018, 07:21:03 pm
I suggested that genocide thing to make them think and whatever
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 24, 2018, 07:55:06 pm
Celling turns back to the rebels. “Rebels, if you distract us, Goonswarm will get Julia and load her up with mind-controlling drugs, so please cooperate and postpone your other plans for later.”
The rebels look at each other and nod.
“Julia, David, go together,” says Celling. “We're evacuating you two out of here, unless you think Julia should fight.”
“I can fight,” says Julia.
“I can too,” says David. He snaps his fingers and miniature bolts of Protinam lightning split the air around him. “Figure out where they are so I can show them exactly what I think of their little organization.”
Fansworth steps up behind Celling. “May I remind you that Sir Padelheb already has you under suspicion of collusion with these rebels?”
“Circumstances change, Fansworth,” Celling answers. “We cannot allow Goonswarm to take control of the Visionaries.”
And that’s when Goonswarm opens fire.
Okay, so I haven’t been tracking the troops well lately, so here’s a rundown of forces we brought and forces we lost fighting the rebels:
Celling’s guards: 9
Fansworth’s men: 20-3=17
Fansworth’s snipers: 5
Dogs: 7-2=5 (of which 2 seriously injured)
Cherubs: 4-2=2
We lost 3 men before we figured out they were under the dock, but I didn’t tell you whose they were. So I rolled a random number generator. I got 24, 21, and 13, so they’re all Fansworth’s men. We lost 2 dogs and 2 cherubs in the jump.
And I’ve been slow because I’m taking time to think about what makes the most logical sense at this point, but then I remembered what you do if there’s no clear way to make it make logical sense - let the dice decide!
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Sniper rounds rain down from above.
Anna falls over as one hits her. “ANNA!” Jacob shouts. Another one catches him in the chest and he goes down. Dogs yelp as bullets burrow into their stomachs. Several lie motionless, holes burrowed through their brains.
A shot hits David Eborrenial’s leg. He gives a shout of anger and pain, clenching his left hand into a fist above his head and stretching out his right arm.
“I have SO HAD IT with you people!” he shouts. Bolts of Protinam lighting arc over his head and slam into the Goonswarm snipers above. They drop to their knees, clutching their skulls.
“Where are they?” shouts Julia, standing back to back with him. David gestures. Julia whips her hand around to launch a wave of fire, smoothly decapitating a building Goonswarm was using for cover.
Goonswarm soldiers charge madly out of the nearby buildings, shouting in rage. A bullet hits a Cherub, and it collapses to the ground, screaming. Another glances off the armor of the other one.
“We have to fall back!” shouts Fansworth. “There are too- augh!” he shouts, as he gets hit.
Who do you evac first? (pick any 2)
A: Let’s get our wounded out first!
B: Evacuate Jacob and Anna, they’re valuable prisoners!
C: Ensure that the Visionaries David and Julia get out safe!
D: Get the remaining Cherubs and dogs out of this fight!
E: Save the snipers with Andantesite-disabling weapons!
Post by: Doubloon-Seven on July 24, 2018, 07:58:03 pm
Post by: Glass on July 24, 2018, 07:59:37 pm
Post by: omada on July 25, 2018, 01:37:54 pm
(and the less the others survive the less will know that we dealed with goonswarm)
if needed to stop the tie AC because the protagonists will already survive (and we don't care if they don't) and savin our man is better than saving the fansworth and his guys
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 25, 2018, 01:39:02 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on July 25, 2018, 01:43:51 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on July 26, 2018, 04:53:32 pm
Post by: Glass on July 26, 2018, 05:06:30 pm
God damn if I knew Cherubs would get so cut to pieces would have not had invented them.You shouldn't have invented them in the first place. It just put us further toward the Evil side of the Good/Evil axis.
And away from Lawful, for that matter, since it was abuse of our own citizens.
Post by: omada on July 26, 2018, 07:57:12 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on July 26, 2018, 11:34:39 pm
God damn if I knew Cherubs would get so cut to pieces would have not had invented them.You shouldn't have invented them in the first place. It just put us further toward the Evil side of the Good/Evil axis.
And away from Lawful, for that matter, since it was abuse of our own citizens.
I thought we were supposed to be bad guy though.
Post by: Rockeater on July 27, 2018, 05:07:53 am
That what the plot want you to thinkGod damn if I knew Cherubs would get so cut to pieces would have not had invented them.You shouldn't have invented them in the first place. It just put us further toward the Evil side of the Good/Evil axis.
And away from Lawful, for that matter, since it was abuse of our own citizens.
I thought we were supposed to be bad guy though.
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 11:03:19 am
We're not "supposed" to be the bad guy. The plot decided that we're the bad guy. We're mostly just Lawful Neutral; we want the country to continue functioning and do well, and EEEEEEEVVIILLL for the sake of evil is counterproductive to that.That what the plot want you to thinkGod damn if I knew Cherubs would get so cut to pieces would have not had invented them.You shouldn't have invented them in the first place. It just put us further toward the Evil side of the Good/Evil axis.
And away from Lawful, for that matter, since it was abuse of our own citizens.
I thought we were supposed to be bad guy though.
Let's put it this way: the story could just as easily been written as the tale of a scientist and a police/military chief who are trying to prevent a powerful group of terrorists from destroying the entire continent while also attempting to stop a corrupt political official from taking full control of the government.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 27, 2018, 12:08:01 pm
Let's put it this way: the story could just as easily been written as the tale of a scientist and a police/military chief who are trying to prevent a powerful group of terrorists from destroying the entire continent while also attempting to stop a corrupt political official from taking full control of the government.
It could.
But it won't.
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 12:13:29 pm
It is, from our perspective.Let's put it this way: the story could just as easily been written as the tale of a scientist and a police/military chief who are trying to prevent a powerful group of terrorists from destroying the entire continent while also attempting to stop a corrupt political official from taking full control of the government.
It could.
But it won't.
Post by: Rockeater on July 27, 2018, 12:19:57 pm
But the plot is not from your prespective, unless we go another level up in the meta gameIt is, from our perspective.Let's put it this way: the story could just as easily been written as the tale of a scientist and a police/military chief who are trying to prevent a powerful group of terrorists from destroying the entire continent while also attempting to stop a corrupt political official from taking full control of the government.
It could.
But it won't.
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 12:33:07 pm
The in-universe plot isn't from our perspective, but the out-of-universe plot is. After all, we're following the story of Erin Quill and Celling.But the plot is not from your prespective, unless we go another level up in the meta gameIt is, from our perspective.Let's put it this way: the story could just as easily been written as the tale of a scientist and a police/military chief who are trying to prevent a powerful group of terrorists from destroying the entire continent while also attempting to stop a corrupt political official from taking full control of the government.
It could.
But it won't.
Post by: Basil ii on July 27, 2018, 12:36:30 pm
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 12:50:24 pm
There's rebels. They're the "heroes" according to the Plot, which is only active around them. This makes things go well for them and cause reality to obey narrative conventions, setting them up to win and defeat us, the people in charge of the "evil" empire.
There's also Wenton Celling (at least, I think his first name was Wenton; we all just call him Celling) who was our go-to military guy, and who kept showing up and being helpful to us and hindering the rebels.
There's also Andantesite, which manipulates gravity and will probably eventually be used for Mass Effect-type stuff because that's basically what the phlebotinum in ME does, and the rebels want to use Erin Quill's singularity to blow up the capital of the empire, which would actually cause basically the entire southern hemisphere to be sterilized.
There's also Littlefinger/Padelheb/Padel (fuck that guy) who is seperate from the "proper Plot" and is therefore allowed to be as much of a ruthless dick as possible without him being hindered by the power of narrativium. He stuck Erin in jail (though relies on him to keep the wormhole from exploding just from day-to-day stuff) (this also cut us off from control of the country) and is actively undermining any and all things good about the empire by virtue of being a horrible person.
Then there's the Protinam people who are those guys that give out fetch quests and other random nonsense that makes you think "why the fuck do I need to do this random nonsense" while playing video games. The answer: it helps them predict the future! But you could also not do the random nonsense, so it's better than in video games, because choosing not to jump through hoops for little-to-no reason also helps them predict the future, which is nice.
Most of the action is presently in Brazil (or at least, somewhere in South America). Goonswarm immigrated from Eve Online and became a gang of criminals with a fourth-wall-aware leader (fourth-wall awareness being otherwise pretty much restricted to Celling, Erin, and I think maybe David, our main Protinam contact). We managed to capture the rebels (with the unfortunate aid of some of Padel's troops) but then Goonswarm just rained down RNG-based bullet hell on our heads (we touhou now boys :p) and everyone fucking died.
Not literally everyone, you can go back page or two and see the actual turn, but something like 75% of the group we had is dead or dying.
Do you need any other info?
TL;DR: We're playing as Genre Savvy Fourth Wall Observer Only Sane Men in a world where a group of teenage terrorists are trying to cause the apocalypse while thinking that it'll only destroy the capital and that our characters epitomize the evilness of the country while a guy that's basically Hitler minus charisma is preventing us from making anything better, and we're trying to not die and fix the situation so that we can have a country that is both functioning and not about to explode.
And also reality is conspiring against us.
Post by: Basil ii on July 27, 2018, 02:08:40 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 27, 2018, 02:29:49 pm
wow thank you. Have you thought about instituting a national propaganda ministry it did work with Stalin and hitler and the dictatorships that did not do it often fell due to lack of support from the public. [ though maybe after you have survived RNG bullet storm]
...yes, totally do that!
Glass has been totally refusing to do stuff that is evil.
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 02:31:49 pm
Have you thought about instituting a national propaganda ministry it did work with Stalin and hitler and the dictatorships that did not do it often fell due to lack of support from the public.
There's also Littlefinger/Padelheb/Padel (fuck that guy) who is seperate from the "proper Plot" and is therefore allowed to be as much of a ruthless dick as possible without him being hindered by the power of narrativium. He stuck Erin in jail (though relies on him to keep the wormhole from exploding just from day-to-day stuff) (this also cut us off from control of the country) and is actively undermining any and all things good about the empire by virtue of being a horrible person.We can't. And it'd likely just backfire on us, either getting commandeered by Padel or ending up with the rebels tearing it down and enacting that classic "show the populace how terrible their rulers really are!" plot.
Also: we have public support. For normal people, the Southern Republic ("republic") is, quite simply, one of the very best places you can live. Please recall, this is in the 1500s or so; the world hasn't even been circumnavigated yet. We're certainly no worse than any of the European feudal societies, and we have 1900s-modern technology.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 27, 2018, 02:35:16 pm
Also: we have public support. For normal people, the Southern Republic ("republic") is, quite simply, one of the very best places you can live. Please recall, this is in the 1500s or so; the world hasn't even been circumnavigated yet. We're certainly no worse than any of the European feudal societies, and we have 1900s-modern technology.
This is true, for the record. I'm going by "we have 20th century engineering, 21st century electronics"
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 02:41:20 pm
...internet.Also: we have public support. For normal people, the Southern Republic ("republic") is, quite simply, one of the very best places you can live. Please recall, this is in the 1500s or so; the world hasn't even been circumnavigated yet. We're certainly no worse than any of the European feudal societies, and we have 1900s-modern technology.
This is true, for the record. I'm going by "we have 20th century engineering, 21st century electronics"
WE HAVE THE INTERNET.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 27, 2018, 02:44:11 pm
...internet.Also: we have public support. For normal people, the Southern Republic ("republic") is, quite simply, one of the very best places you can live. Please recall, this is in the 1500s or so; the world hasn't even been circumnavigated yet. We're certainly no worse than any of the European feudal societies, and we have 1900s-modern technology.
This is true, for the record. I'm going by "we have 20th century engineering, 21st century electronics"
WE HAVE THE INTERNET.
EARLY 21st century. And now I feel tempted to redact that...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 27, 2018, 02:45:19 pm
To be specific: For the tech level of the Republic, assume "19th century engineering, late 20th century electronics". So we're still running off steam and trains and coal and stuff, but telegrams are getting replaced with telephones, important records can occasionally be digitized, central energy grid exists, semiconductor science beginning, etc.
Yeah here. Sorry. I was one century up.
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 02:46:30 pm
https://www.history.com/news/who-invented-the-internet...internet.Also: we have public support. For normal people, the Southern Republic ("republic") is, quite simply, one of the very best places you can live. Please recall, this is in the 1500s or so; the world hasn't even been circumnavigated yet. We're certainly no worse than any of the European feudal societies, and we have 1900s-modern technology.
This is true, for the record. I'm going by "we have 20th century engineering, 21st century electronics"
WE HAVE THE INTERNET.
EARLY 21st century.
"The online world then took on a more recognizable form in 1990, when computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. "
"Commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990. By 1995, the Internet was fully commercialized in the U.S. when the NSFNet was decommissioned, removing the last restrictions on use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic."
"On 6 August 1991, the World Wide Web went live to the world. "
LATE 20TH CENTURY MATE
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 02:47:21 pm
Goddamnit Blue.To be specific: For the tech level of the Republic, assume "19th century engineering, late 20th century electronics". So we're still running off steam and trains and coal and stuff, but telegrams are getting replaced with telephones, important records can occasionally be digitized, central energy grid exists, semiconductor science beginning, etc.
Yeah here. Sorry. I was one century up.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 27, 2018, 02:47:31 pm
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 02:51:14 pm
Military comms and such
There's still a good reason for it
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 27, 2018, 02:51:54 pm
But DARPAnet
Military comms and such
There's still a good reason for it
We'll say that's why you can communicate perfectly with all branches of the military, at any time.
Post by: Glass on July 27, 2018, 02:53:52 pm
Ok, thanks.But DARPAnet
Military comms and such
There's still a good reason for it
We'll say that's why you can communicate perfectly with all branches of the military, at any time.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 01:53:11 pm
Evacuating the wounded gives you -1 to the battle but a +1 to the next Political roll you make.
Jacob and Anna have plot armor, removing them increases the chance of “everyone dies”
The Visionaries have crowd-control psychic abilities, removing them increases the chance of “surrounded and captured”
The Cherubs and dogs are specialists that can turn the tide of the battle, removing them increases the chances of “bloody stalemate”
Removing the Andantesite-disabling weapons… keeps the Andantesite-disabling weapons safe. The Andantesite has already been cut, there’s nothing more they can do.
As for evacuating the wounded… you have 13 people dead and 15 crippled, including Anna and Fansworth, just for the record. You can check real-time stats here (http://bit.ly/2vqIScn). Of people that are still in fighting shape, you have 1 cherub and 10 soldiers, not counting named characters.
Wait, on second thought, that kinda sucks.
Spoiler: Mechanism for losses (click to show/hide)
You're now rolling a d2 and d3…
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“Get our wounded evacuated!” Celling shouts. “Get David and Julia out of here!”
The wounded men are carried towards safety at the end of the dock. Julia is escorted off as well. David refuses to go. “I sure can still fight,” says David. He indicates a building nearby, and your men turn to aim at it. A moment later a disorganized horde of Goons charges out of it, screaming insults and shooting madly with pistols. A few shots hit the men running the evacuation, and they fall. A small pile of bodies is building up at the end of the dock.
The men fight their best, hiding around buildings and picking off the Goons in a pitched battle. The Cherub and Dog remaining help as well, blasting and snapping their way through the enemy ranks. David Eborrenial calls out targets to pre-empt any sort of surprise attack and blasts the Goons with waves of actinic blue mind-energy. But eventually, there’s just too much and you’re overcome by Goonswarm’s men. They form a circle around Celling, Fansworth, the remaining guards and soldiers, the rebels, and David.
You can see the Mittani, standing atop a nearby building, staring grimly down at you. “It’s over, Celling!” he shouts. “Surrender or die!”
(https://imageserver.eveonline.com/Character/443630591_512.jpg)
Incoming communication from The Mittani... (http://bit.ly/SPAMMITTANI)
What do you do?
A: Surrender
B: Fight to escape
C: Say something to the Mittani in-character (for OOC you want this link (http://bit.ly/SPAMMITTANI))
D: Shoot the Mittani
E: Call in a missile strike on your location. This probably will kill you, but will blow up the dock and likely wipe out Goonswarm.
Is narid? (https://libraryofbabel.info/bookmark.cgi?isnarid)
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 02:01:05 pm
And who knows! Maybe the plot will take mercy on us, and Celling will end up Not Quite Dead (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NotQuiteDead).
Also, fuck Mittani.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 02:02:00 pm
Also, fuck Mittani.
This is the important part.
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 02:02:31 pm
I disagree. It's just an added bonus.Also, fuck Mittani.
This is the important part.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on August 03, 2018, 02:54:46 pm
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 03:39:26 pm
Post by: omada on August 03, 2018, 03:41:42 pm
Whelp, right here we apparently have a code. Don't ask me what the heck it is, I don't know. Yes, it came from Blue. Small text, hypothetically invisible, below choice E. (https://libraryofbabel.info/bookmark.cgi?isnarid)
wait a little, the first letters of each sentence form a phrase, let me see what is written after "last choices"
edit: last Choice summons secondborn
now I will discover what is secondborn before I really decide what option
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 03:44:26 pm
E+, give the adantesite and the controll to the davids/anna's hand and whisper "our survival and their doom is in your hands, make a barrier to defend us, and we will accept negotiation and even look another way for some time"Interesting idea.
Also interesting. Gimme a moment.Whelp, right here we apparently have a code. Don't ask me what the heck it is, I don't know. Yes, it came from Blue. Small text, hypothetically invisible, below choice E. (https://libraryofbabel.info/bookmark.cgi?isnarid)
wait a little, the first letters of each sentence form a phrase, let me see what is written after "last choices"
EDIT: [L A S T C H O I C E S U M M O N S S E C O N D B O R N]
...are we seriously getting S:I involved in this, Blue?
Post by: omada on August 03, 2018, 03:45:18 pm
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 03:47:36 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 03:50:34 pm
Post by: omada on August 03, 2018, 03:53:51 pm
Now I am laughing thinking in all my friends that have two childs from the same parents:
https://www.scarymommy.com/second-born-child-curse/
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 04:03:05 pm
wait a little, the first letters of each sentence form a phrase, let me see what is written after "last choices"
TOO LATE! You’ve chosen E.
Something’s going to happen.
David looks up.
Pushing aside the pain burning away at his leg, he looks up in the direction he knows it’s coming from.
He doesn’t need to turn his eyes to the future to find out. A bright prick of light, trailing a growing cloud of smoke, arcing towards them.
He recalls what Celling said a moment ago. Something about calling down…
A missile strike.
About taking them down with him.
He wants to kill them!
He looks at Anna. She looks beautiful, even battered, with salt water dripping out of her hair.
She’s going to die.
He turns back to the incoming projectile. Gestures towards it. He could deflect it… but Celling wouldn’t like that and anyway…
Screw him. He wants to kill you.
He doesn’t have enough power. He runs the calculations. Even if he-
You can do this.
There’s no way he can reach it.
There’s more power in the Continuum. Channel it. Use it.
He’s never done something like it before.
You have to do this, or you and everyone you love dies.
It’s risky!
And if you don’t do this, you die here. Anna dies here. Celling dies here. Argentina falls, and you did nothing to stop it! You let your homeland be destroyed!
David gets up. Prepares, points at the target. He can feel it welling up inside him. Righteous rage, and something more. He’s surprised. He thought he depleted his psionic energy already.
You can do so much when you have to. And you have to now!
Celling notices. “What are you doing, David?”
Forget him. He wants you to die. He wants to kill her.
David pays him no mind. He points at the missile and fires.
Every cell in his body ignites in flame. Pain crackles up and down his body. Burning… burning like nothing he’s ever felt.
A beam of tight, blue-white lightning crackles towards the missile.
Slows down. Falters. David runs low, breathing heavy, tired beyond belief. Thinks of collapsing to the ground. Knows he can’t do this.
You have to do this. Pick yourself up, David! You can do this!
He turns back, eyes glazing over, and energizes the beam again.
Do it! Do it for you. Do it for Anna. Do it for your country!
Do it for your country… do it for your name… (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH7I79fLiSw)
Power flows through his body. He envisions a vast well of white light, a reverse black hole, energies from the Continuum drawing into a tight upward spiral around him, him being the conduit into this universe.
The missile explodes, two miles out to sea, its systems overloaded under the wave of Protinam energy. Celling hears it, realizes something’s wrong.
David does as well. He realizes his mistake, a second too late to fix it. Most people talk in their heads. Most people, when they hear a voice in their head, think it’s their subconsciousness. So he did too. He took its suggestions to push harder, to use more of his power… its power.
And now he’s invited it in.
Damnit.
He was training for this. An extradimensional invader - it sticks in his mind, a memetic tumor of soul and mind, intellect and emotion.
It begins unraveling, spreading tentacles through David’s intelligence. It goes for the outlets first. Touch, movement, sight… A fresh wave of pain goes through David’s body. He slumps against the ground, clutching his head.
“DAVID!” shouts Celling. He rushes over to David’s side. The Goonswarm men cautiously cock their guns and aim at him. “David, what did you just-”
David turns to him, head suddenly steady. He stands up and drops his hands. “I am the Secondborn of the Cisharni,” he breathes, clenching his right hand into a fist. Whirls of cracked space and distorted light ring around it, and it shakes as he mounts up his strength.
It takes Celling a moment to remember that name. A moment to cross-reference with the power above, a moment to retrieve what they know.
“Oh, crap.”
“Bow before Atlantis!”
Crossover with Sindari: Immortals (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165151.0): ONLINE
They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go
Your eyes, they shine so bright
I want to save their light
I can't escape this now
Unless YOU SHOW ME HOW! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqI78S14Wgg)
SPAMOVERLORD
CHAPTER III:
WORLD'S FALL
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 04:07:33 pm
"Get out."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 04:09:32 pm
Punch the Secondborn in the face.
"Get out."
Are you sure you would like to punch the immortal demigod mind-warrior that took eight soul gems and the sacrifice of another demigod-mind warrior to defeat in his own universe? (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165151.msg7553637;topicseen#msg7553637) Y/N
...actually, I'll let a vote decide
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 04:10:55 pm
Also, call down another missile.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 04:17:17 pm
Also, call down another missile.
I'm at least 90% sure that he has more psi-blasts than you have missiles.
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 04:19:01 pm
And besides, at the very least it will fuck up his concentration.
Post by: omada on August 03, 2018, 04:24:51 pm
so right now we have 3 crossovers order of the stick (where is neutral to us and we can probably conquer it)
GOT and sindari/ where we have only bad guys, and none that want's to ally with us
keep evacuating slowly like a comical scene, walking backwards with eyes wide open, talk on the radio "can you keep bombarding things here? we have heavy paranormal stuff while we try to escape"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 04:26:51 pm
Oh great, another fucker becoming badder than us?
so right now we have 3 crossovers order of the stick (where is neutral to us and we can probably conquer it)
GOT and sindari/ where we have only bad guys, and none that want's to ally with us
keep evacuating slowly like a comical scene, walking backwards with eyes wide open, talk on the radio "can you keep bombarding things here? we have heavy paranormal stuff while we try to escape"
Are you sure you would like to walk slowly away from the immortal demigod mind-warrior that Glass is punching in the face? Y/N
Also, GOT isn't a real crossover, just an Expy.
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 04:27:31 pm
keep evacuating slowly like a comical scene, walking backwards with eyes wide open, talk on the radio "can you keep bombarding things here? we have heavy paranormal stuff while we try to escape"I'm good with doing this instead of punch.
Post by: omada on August 03, 2018, 04:31:54 pm
Also, GOT isn't a real crossover, just an Expy.
It means we can call the sindari too?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 04:32:29 pm
Also, GOT isn't a real crossover, just an Expy.
It means we can call the sindari too?
Feel free. (https://discord.gg/kFta6US)
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 04:33:25 pm
That means the godgame one, Blue, not the one from S:I. The one from S:I was a horrible idea.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 04:37:59 pm
Calling Acter might be better.
That means the godgame one, Blue, not the one from S:I. The one from S:I was a horrible idea.
I am not letting you bring gods into this.
I know, hypocritical right?
I'm the GM I get to do stuff like that.
Post by: Glass on August 03, 2018, 04:52:27 pm
On the contrary, when praying to Acter previously, you gave a chance for him to arrive.Calling Acter might be better.
That means the godgame one, Blue, not the one from S:I. The one from S:I was a horrible idea.
I am not letting you bring gods into this.
I know, hypocritical right?
I'm the GM I get to do stuff like that.
This seems like a perfectly nice time to offer up some prayers to our god.
EDIT:
Quote from: The Prayer
"High Lord Acter, master of Improvement and Protection, please aid me in my time of need."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 07:41:29 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on August 03, 2018, 08:33:09 pm
Like, is Glass a cleric of Acter now?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 03, 2018, 08:39:41 pm
Punch him! Punch him!
Like, is Glass a cleric of Acter now?
As the GM, I can tell you that that summon WILL NOT work.
Also check the chatroom with The Mittani (http://bit.ly/SPAMMITTANI) because he has access to the Internet now...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 05, 2018, 09:59:27 am
Celling punches David in the face.
David - or the Secondb(https://www.homestuck.com/images/storyfiles/hs2/scraps/o.gif)rn wearing David’s face - looks surprised for a moment. He staggers backwards, falls against the floorboards, and wipes blood from his nose with one hand, then turns back to look at Celling.
“Get out,” Celling says.
“You’ll pay for that,” the Secondb(https://www.homestuck.com/images/storyfiles/hs2/scraps/o.gif)rn hisses, pushing himself up off the ground.
Celling glances at Fansworth. Fansworth nods and speaks into a radio: “We have some kind of paranormal activity here, launch another missile.”
“You think you can challenge me?” says the Secondb(https://www.homestuck.com/images/storyfiles/hs2/scraps/o.gif)rn. He whirls around and creates a force shield floating fifty feet in the air, visibly straining with effort. The translucent wall expands to to the size of a house at a gesture, then flies in the path of the missile, causing it to detonate harmlessly a mile away. “I am a GOD! No puny weapon forged by you can harm me! No mere mortal has the indolence-”
There’s a bright flash of light and a clap of thunder. When the light fades, nobody's there.
“Did he… did he just go completely insane and then vanish?” asks Fansworth.
Celling looks around. “He’s not the only one that did. The rebels are gone.”
“Where the hell did he go?” wonders Fansworth.
“Ponder that later,” says Celling. “We’re still surrounded by the Mittani’s men.”
What do you do?
A: Take advantage of the distraction to break through the encirclement.
B: Surrender to the Mittani
C: Use the parrot. You didn’t forget the parrot, did you?
Post by: Glass on August 05, 2018, 10:02:17 am
"You men going to help us find them or what?"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2018, 12:35:10 pm
Then he says, "I have no further problem with you. Men, let them go."
The Goonswarm men un-surround Celling and his group, and cautiously retreat back to the buildings on the dock. The Mittani steps behind an antenna on the building he's standing on, and doesn't come out the other side.
Free action time. Propose anything you think will help
Stats list check:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational (you gained +1 at some point, which I totally forgot) (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7659778;topicseen#msg7659778)
- +0 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb
Plot points to be resolved:
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Armen DeMarco
- Quill and the wormhole
- Plague
- Order of the Stick
Tell me if I missed anything
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 12:42:27 pm
Plot points to be resolved:
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Armen DeMarco
- Quill and the wormhole
- Plague
- Order of the Stick
- I think interrogation is a moot point now.
- Who was this person again?
- We're kinda in Brazil.
- PROBLEM PROBLEM PROBLEM
- Neither side of the portal has time for this stuff right now.
- New stuff:
- Padel must die (once his evilness is proven)
- Find the Secondborn and get him out of David
- Find the stolen rebels
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2018, 01:58:50 pm
Plot points to be resolved:
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Armen DeMarco
- Quill and the wormhole
- Plague
- Order of the Stick
- I think interrogation is a moot point now.
- Who was this person again?
- We're kinda in Brazil.
- PROBLEM PROBLEM PROBLEM
- Neither side of the portal has time for this stuff right now.
- New stuff:
- Padel must die
- Find the Secondborn and get him out of David
- Find the stolen rebels
- I dunno, you can still brainwash them or drag out more dark secrets
- The girl that betrayed you because her brother was made a Cherub. Is "Who's Armen again" going to become this one's "What gate"?
- We still get Quilltermissions (intermissions where we play as Quill and facepalm at how bad Padelheb is)
- Not really...
- I'm going to have to see; I think you're surrounded by goblins.
- By all means, kill Padelheb. Then I can use all the badguy tropes on you without remorse.
- I think you meant the Secondb(https://www.homestuck.com/images/storyfiles/hs2/scraps/o.gif)rn
- Stolen rebels?
SUGGESTIONS PLEASE
Post by: Rockeater on August 07, 2018, 02:05:43 pm
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 02:11:09 pm
Do the plot eeven include Padelheb, the rebels still think we are the big evilIt doesn't yet, please see modification to original post.
Post by: Doubloon-Seven on August 07, 2018, 02:17:57 pm
Post by: Rockeater on August 07, 2018, 02:18:46 pm
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 02:20:14 pm
My point was that the bad guys tropes are on us anywaySo we want them transferred!
Post by: Rockeater on August 07, 2018, 02:22:55 pm
Wait blue, did you considerd mperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy trope when Mitt
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2018, 02:25:29 pm
Yes, blue's wording looked like their aren't on us now.
Wait
Right now, I have a hard time justifying that you are the bad guys. You still get the tropes, but it's starting to turn away.
After Padel dies I have no reservations anymore.
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 02:36:07 pm
Which is why the "kill Padel" goal was amended to include "(once his evilness is proven)".Yes, blue's wording looked like their aren't on us now.
Wait
Right now, I have a hard time justifying that you are the bad guys. You still get the tropes, but it's starting to turn away.
After Padel dies I have no reservations anymore.
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 04:21:33 pm
[This is the current extent of ideas. More will be delivered later. Do not quickhammer.]
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2018, 04:34:59 pm
Do not quickhammer.
Quickhammered, writing fluff...
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 04:38:15 pm
You are advised to piss off until other ideas are proposed.Do not quickhammer.
Quickhammered, writing fluff...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2018, 04:44:29 pm
You are advised to piss off until other ideas are proposed.Do not quickhammer.
Quickhammered, writing fluff...
Going by the playerbase at this point, other ideas may NEVER be proposed.
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 06:43:50 pm
At least give it a few days.You are advised to piss off until other ideas are proposed.Do not quickhammer.
Quickhammered, writing fluff...
Going by the playerbase at this point, other ideas may NEVER be proposed.
Post by: omada on August 07, 2018, 08:17:33 pm
Post by: omada on August 07, 2018, 08:21:44 pm
Call fansworth for a drink later in the day congratulating his good work and to give him info besides he is in padel's tutorage and try to bring him to our side, ask if he has someone brazilian that is dear to him and if yes (and sufficiently drunk) show him secretly a file or two that says of the suspection of involvement of Padel into bringing some sort of bioweapon
in the meantime get info about the portal hurry the soldiers to finish their freaking work and send that ship with wormhole sailing back to England and get reports on how far the brainwashing of the captured had already progressed/ how is the portal business of sending guns and some men to the order of the stick is going
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2018, 08:28:31 pm
Search parties and try to comunicate with the protinan? +1, maybe even send some soldiers there so we can make sure some of them survives in case the secondborn arrives there
Soldiers v.s. the Secondborn?
Hahahano (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HaHaHaNo).
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 08:30:48 pm
Search parties and try to comunicate with the protinan? +1, maybe even send some soldiers there so we can make sure some of them survives in case the secondborn arrives thereI approve of this.
Call fansworth for a drink later in the day congratulating his good work and to give him info besides he is in padel's tutorage and try to bring him to our side, ask if he has someone brazilian that is dear to him and if yes (and sufficiently drunk) show him secretly a file or two that says of the suspection of involvement of Padel into bringing some sort of bioweapon
in the meantime get info about the portal hurry the soldiers to finish their freaking work and send that ship with wormhole sailing back to England and get reports on how far the brainwashing of the captured had already progressed/ how is the portal business of sending guns and some men to the order of the stick is going
Can we also try getting info on Quill's status?
EDIT:
Recon people, not soldiers. If there's evidence of the Secondborn, they GTFO and report back to us about it.Search parties and try to comunicate with the protinan? +1, maybe even send some soldiers there so we can make sure some of them survives in case the secondborn arrives there
Soldiers v.s. the Secondborn?
Hahahano (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HaHaHaNo).
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2018, 08:35:40 pm
Recon people, not soldiers. If there's evidence of the Secondborn, they GTFO and report back to us about it.Search parties and try to comunicate with the protinan? +1, maybe even send some soldiers there so we can make sure some of them survives in case the secondborn arrives there
Soldiers v.s. the Secondborn?
Hahahano (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HaHaHaNo).
Still. Getting within 50 feet of Cisharni David and living to tell the tale is a HAHAHAno. He has all the mind-raping powers of the Secondborn and can tap into David's Protinam abilities to see you coming.
Post by: omada on August 07, 2018, 08:45:00 pm
Still. Getting within 50 feet of Cisharni David and living to tell the tale is a HAHAHAno. He has all the mind-raping powers of the Secondborn and can tap into David's Protinam abilities to see you coming.
fuck
oh I forgot:
talk with Anna, ask what are her plans, if she doesn't want to deal with the republic and aristocracy we can offer her to have a career dealing with our forces in foreign lands and make a new life there (Talking about the order of the stick universe)
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 08:50:26 pm
Still. Getting within 50 feet of Cisharni David and living to tell the tale is a HAHAHAno. He has all the mind-raping powers of the Secondborn and can tap into David's Protinam abilities to see you coming.If they don't come back then we have our answer.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2018, 09:13:20 pm
talk with Anna, ask what are her plans, if she doesn't want to deal with the republic and aristocracy we can offer her to have a career dealing with our forces in foreign lands and make a new life there (Talking about the order of the stick universe)
Anna is gone. The Secondborn teleported her away.
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2018, 09:41:45 pm
He meant Julia, or whoever the pyrokineticist is.talk with Anna, ask what are her plans, if she doesn't want to deal with the republic and aristocracy we can offer her to have a career dealing with our forces in foreign lands and make a new life there (Talking about the order of the stick universe)
Anna is gone. The Secondborn teleported her away.
Post by: omada on August 07, 2018, 10:51:42 pm
I am a bit confused sorry
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 15, 2018, 07:55:03 am
Wenton Celling? (fourth wall aware captain)
A: Search for the rebels and David/Secondborn
B: Contact the Protinam at their last known location
C: Stay at base for now
Julia Seyllin? (captured rebel Visionary)
A: Search for the rebels and David/Secondborn
B: Contact the Protinam at their last known location
C: Stay at base for now
Fansworth? (dubious ally from Padelheb)
A: Search for the rebels and David/Secondborn
B: Contact the Protinam at their last known location
C: Stay at base for now
The other two Protinam that David brought? (Angela and that random guy)
A: Search for the rebels and David/Secondborn
B: Contact the Protinam at their last known location
C: Stay at base for now
Post by: Glass on August 15, 2018, 08:45:52 am
Post by: Rockeater on August 15, 2018, 08:54:01 am
Post by: Glass on August 15, 2018, 09:00:39 am
The problem is that Celling is literally the only person here that we know we can trust.
We're going to end up here eventually, I just know it. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight?from=Main.IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight)
Post by: Rockeater on August 15, 2018, 09:25:41 am
A.I SUGGESTED THIS ALREADY, THAT WHY I SAID WE MAKE IT LOOK LIKE WE BRAINWASHED DAVID FROM THE START SO THE REBELS WOULD DO THE FIGHT.
B.She's part of a five men band that the secondborn hold members of, nothing less than a named character dedicated to not let her get there would work and even that have a big chance to fail, it would be better to put her in base and have someone follow her when she escape.
Post by: Glass on August 15, 2018, 09:36:17 am
So, what, do we all go to try and find them all? AAAA?
Post by: Rockeater on August 15, 2018, 09:56:19 am
We send Fansworth and the other two Protinam that David brought to contact the Protinam.
Celling and Julia goes to base, when Julia escape Celling follow her with some toops from a safe distance, when she find her comrads we can asses the situation and go in if needed.
Post by: omada on August 15, 2018, 11:45:30 am
fansworth failing won't be a problem, but I don't wanna to show padel where are the protinan, I mean, come on? are we really going to show the base of visionaries to our enemy?
and julia meeting fellow protinan members can get two situations, we can recruit her (or they will recruit her whatever) or we will just reunite capables protinans and start using that as a searching base to find the others with predictive powers, or maybe evacuate them
Post by: Rockeater on August 15, 2018, 11:53:57 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 15, 2018, 09:02:33 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 17, 2018, 04:39:39 pm
Actually, that went pretty well last time so it may not be the best threat. (http://Actually, that went pretty well last time so it may not be the best threat.)
We're going to end up here eventually, I just know it. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight?from=Main.IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight)
I feel like you already have. Why did the Secondborn teleport away?
Post by: Doubloon-Seven on August 17, 2018, 04:43:17 pm
Edited to better reflect my thoughts upon conversation about the info available with the GM in discord.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 17, 2018, 05:02:38 pm
BBAB
I like omada's idea here.
Try thinking about what Fansworth will do if he finds the rebels.
I mean, actually think about it. I haven't thought about it myself, I'm not guiding you to a particular conclusion.
Post by: omada on August 17, 2018, 06:08:35 pm
ABCB
Edited to better reflect my thoughts upon conversation about the info available with the GM in discord.
I got curious
I am gonna vote ABCB too
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2018, 03:30:57 pm
In other news, SPAMOVERLORD is now one year old (https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/birthday?iso=20180819T085358&p0=263&msg=SG%3A+SPAMOVERLORD%3A+1+year+old%21&font=slab).
Post by: omada on August 19, 2018, 06:38:06 pm
what I did this entire year with my life?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 22, 2018, 10:37:56 pm
And to celebrate, I got you… a search event!
(https://i.imgur.com/EaOUV3d.png)
Same rules as the last one (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7573211#msg7573211). Some pointers you have to remember:
- When you search an area, you search all the areas around it too. You get one result for the area itself, and one combined result for the areas around it
- Some areas are harder to search than others. There are two different definitions of hard; sensitivity controls false negatives, where you may miss something, while specificity controls false positives, where you find something suspicious but it may just be a red herring
- The information on areas around it is “routed through” the same Sensitivity and Specificity as the area itself. Think about the area you searched “testifying” as to whether the rebels are next to it, or “tracking them passing through” that area.
- The faster you find the rebels, the weaker they’ll be when you fight them. Leave them too long and they will get away.
Except this time we’re not going with a simple square graph, I generated this map using Voronoi diagrams. It obviously isn’t to scale, just take it as a topology thing, showing how different places intersect with one another. I also didn’t take as much care to balance the values as neatly as before; there are clearly superior places to search, but I think I balanced them out by having those adjacent to fewer places. Post suggestions on where to search.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on August 22, 2018, 11:44:39 pm
Post by: Rockeater on August 22, 2018, 11:47:16 pm
Let's start by searching the Andes Mountains.Yea, that a good idea
Post by: omada on August 23, 2018, 06:12:22 pm
let's start with the Andes mountains
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 27, 2018, 12:46:50 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Celling springs into action. “Julia, Angela, and - what’s your name again?”
“I’m Carlos Nennark,” the middle-aged, coat-wearing man says.
“Yeah, Carlos, well… you three go to the site of the Protinam Citadel. Check up on them. Warn them about what’s happened to David, and try to help them if you can. Julia, they might be able to help you better control your powers. You’ll be escorted by a squad of guardsmen. I’ll be heading the search for the rebels. They could be anywhere on the continent, so we’ll start where they’d be easiest to deal with - the Andes Mountains”
“And what about me?” asks Fansworth. “I should be doing something!”
“You’re going to stay here, and watch for any more threats,” says Fansworth.
“Look,” growls Fansworth, stepping closer to Celling, “I’m not under you. You’re not ordering around. I’m here on Sir Padelheb’s orders, and he said-”
“What Sir Padelheb said may not be something you wish to take stock in, Fansworth,” Celling cautions. He leans in closer and lowers his voice. “David Eborrenial discovered evidence of a plague about to grip Brazil. A bioweapon. One designed to kill all of those related to South Americans while leaving only those of Antarctican descent alive.”
Fansworth looks shocked. “And you think Padelheb had something to do with this?” he hisses.
“I highly suspect, Fansworth. Who else do you know with the resources and motivation to pull off any such thing?”
“And you… you’re sure of this?”
“David was. He also determined that whatever the source of the plague was, it wasn’t from Brazil. It is perfectly lethal and airborne. Those that have only Antarctican blood are resistant to it, but continue to spread it. Tell me, Fansworth. You may be Antarctican. But do you know anyone who’s not? Anyone whose ancestry can trace back to the native peoples of Brazil or Argentina? Do you love anyone that isn’t pure Antarctican? Because they’re all going to die. And if you keep helping Padelheb, you’re helping to do it.”
Fansworth gapes for a few moments. “Do you… do you have proof of this?”
“As I’ve said, David said it, and I have no reason to doubt him.”
“It’s true… that’s something Padelheb would do. I mean… it would help him to do it.”
“Oh?” asks Celling.
“He derived his support and base… off Antarctican superiority. And if you can’t make more people for you…”
“...get rid of people that are against you,” Celling finishes.
“But that’s genocide, Celling. That’s the fall of an entire nation! Just for one man!”
“Fansworth, you know our friend Padelheb better than I do. If he could bring down a nation to suit his ends, would he do it?”
“In a heartbeat,” Fansworth answers instantly.
“Then I think my position is clear, Fansworth,”
“You… we can’t just stage a coup! This won’t hold up in any court of law. The ravings of a prophetic madman? Who, it seems, has gone totally mad and now vanished? I’ve been meaning to ask you about that too, Celling. You seem to put much stock in David Eborrenial’s reason. What really happened back there on the dock, Celling?”
What do you tell Fansworth of the Secondborn crisis?
A: “What I’m about to tell you will change your entire world. There is this thing called the fourth wall…” !!CAUTION!! REVEALING THE FOURTH WALL TO AN INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS NOT ARRIVED AT IT OF HIS/HER OWN WILL IS FORBIDDEN UNDER THE CONVENTIONS OF THIS MEDIUM! DO NOT DO THIS!
B: “An extradimensional entity called a Cisharni has possessed his body. They are an obscure legend in…” (Make up an “in-universe” explanation for why Celling knows about Cisharni)
C: “He’s been possessed by the Secondborn, a refugee from another dimension.” (Give information on the Cisharni but don’t explain why you know it.”
D: “The Protinam warned us about this. He’s been possessed in some way and the invading entity’s capacities are unknown and dangerous.” (Don’t mention Cisharni at all)
E: “I’m clueless as you are”
F: Something else…
And what do you tell the other Protinam? (same options, vote again)
And what do you tell the media and make public? (same options, vote again, added one option)
G: Don’t reveal the Protinam at all.
Post by: Glass on August 27, 2018, 10:42:07 am
"Listen: David was, at the docks, possessed by a Cisharni, specifically the one known as the Secondborn. They're a powerful - god-like - entity, from a completely separate reality, and one extremely skilled in psionics. I would tell you more if I could, but I'm straining what I'm allowed to say about the subject as-is. I think you'd need Erin if you wanted more information. Regardless, they are exceedingly dangerous, far more than anything else we may be up against.
Now, Fansworth. Part of the reason that the Secondborn was able to invade David's mind is because he - David - was already psychic. Not nearly to the degree of... that, but enough to have limited precognition. I can brief you more on the subject later, but for now, we have some big problems that need to be taken care of."
Post by: omada on August 27, 2018, 03:28:39 pm
say that "It's gonna get weird, but it's the best way I can explain without retaliation, some higher members of our world has access to higher beings that control universes, altough to their existence they can be not be important in their own society they tend to create and use ours and others dimensions as playground, they comunicate with some of us, it begins like a schizophrenia, but then you begin to see that EVERYTHING that they talk about is truth, and you manage to know some others peoples with the same power before meeting them in person, David was possessed by a being rented or copied from one of these being to another, so the one that makes rules to our world could have a more interesting story to tell. That's why the protinan has a hard time around Quill, he talked so much with a bunch of these beings that adopted the republic as their own, and the fabric of reality is constantly being shaped by then, using humans as intermediaries. YES, I am omitting info, but it can only be discovered by yourself"
we can give tips later, talk amicably about tropes and stuff until they figure it out
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 27, 2018, 04:00:14 pm
Maybe we can talk about 4th wall in a way that don't talks about the 4th wall
say that "It's gonna get weird, but it's the best way I can explain without retaliation, some higher members of our world has access to higher beings that control universes, altough to their existence they can be not be important in their own society they tend to create and use ours and others dimensions as playground, they comunicate with some of us, it begins like a schizophrenia, but then you begin to see that EVERYTHING that they talk about is truth, and you manage to know some others peoples with the same power before meeting them in person, David was possessed by a being rented or copied from one of these being to another, so the one that makes rules to our world could have a more interesting story to tell. That's why the protinan has a hard time around Quill, he talked so much with a bunch of these beings that adopted the republic as their own, and the fabric of reality is constantly being shaped by then, using humans as intermediaries. YES, I am omitting info, but it can only be discovered by yourself"
we can give tips later, talk amicably about tropes and stuff until they figure it out
That... sounds like a particularly morbid cult.
Post by: Glass on August 27, 2018, 04:14:08 pm
A. I feel like that's dangerously borderline to revealing the fourth wall, or being perceived as doing so.
B. I'm not sure that they'll be able to follow.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 27, 2018, 09:53:22 pm
Cue Fallacy.
Post by: Iris on August 27, 2018, 10:35:06 pm
Anyway, +1 to Glass's plan.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 28, 2018, 06:51:26 am
Just finished reading all 122 pages.
:o
How long did that take?
Post by: Iris on August 28, 2018, 09:33:34 am
Just finished reading all 122 pages.
:o
How long did that take?
The better part of an afternoon.
Post by: Glass on August 29, 2018, 08:09:25 am
Post by: Rockeater on August 29, 2018, 08:12:26 am
Thoroughly search Montevideo.+1, saw what you got in discord
Post by: omada on August 30, 2018, 10:08:35 pm
We can change the words of gods and say aliens instead, say "our sector" instead of "our universe" and that we are trying to overthrow the tyrant alien that runs this world and created events so he could create a nice story by getting help of other aliens that wan't to screw this sector rules and make we rule.
Post by: Glass on August 31, 2018, 04:13:58 pm
Don't know what you got.. but montevideoWe got Circular Gallifreyan and assistance from other people to translate it.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 31, 2018, 04:19:46 pm
Don't know what you got.. but montevideoWe got Circular Gallifreyan and assistance from other people to translate it.
Assistance that has now dried up. For future reference, there were puzzles given on Discord that Glass convinced other people to solve.
I do these future reference things so that people rereading the thread don't get confused by allusions to other places.
Post by: Glass on August 31, 2018, 06:01:06 pm
Assistance that has now dried up.::)
It's barely been two days, Blue. Just because it hasn't happened right now doesn't mean it won't happen.
Remember, you made the two new ones much longer than the first two.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 01, 2018, 02:30:34 pm
Assistance that has now dried up.::)
It's barely been two days, Blue. Just because it hasn't happened right now doesn't mean it won't happen.
Remember, you made the two new ones much longer than the first two.
Seems pretty damn dry to me.
Why don't you try to do them yourself?
Post by: Glass on September 01, 2018, 03:34:43 pm
Time constraints, mainly. I'm in college, mate.Assistance that has now dried up.::)
It's barely been two days, Blue. Just because it hasn't happened right now doesn't mean it won't happen.
Remember, you made the two new ones much longer than the first two.
Seems pretty damn dry to me.
Why don't you try to do them yourself?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 01, 2018, 10:41:06 pm
Soon Kim knelt down to touch his transparent hand to Merrowitz's head. “Lay on hands!” he shouted.
Blue light sizzled down his arm and sprung across his fingers. Nothing happened.
Uhhh guys, I think I'm going to retcon this. My policy for trans-dimensional transfers of power is that "everything works as intended but no interactions". Healing spells just target life, they work on our life as well as theirs. Positive and negative energy don't exist, but that just means you can't use Revive Kills Zombie (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReviveKillsZombie). The primary function is just "make this wounded person healthier."
Assume Merrowitz survives with Soon's help. OOTS mages still can't recharge here.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 02, 2018, 01:12:33 pm
To everyone:
"Listen: David was, at the docks, possessed by a Cisharni, specifically the one known as the Secondborn. They're a powerful - god-like - entity, from a completely separate reality, and one extremely skilled in psionics. I would tell you more if I could, but I'm straining what I'm allowed to say about the subject as-is. I think you'd need Erin if you wanted more information. Regardless, they are exceedingly dangerous, far more than anything else we may be up against.
Now, Fansworth. Part of the reason that the Secondborn was able to invade David's mind is because he - David - was already psychic. Not nearly to the degree of... that, but enough to have limited precognition. I can brief you more on the subject later, but for now, we have some big problems that need to be taken care of."
Angela and Carlos look shocked. “Then he knows about the Protinam,” says Carlos. “We have to get there before he does.”
“Go as quickly as possible,” Celling agrees.
Fansworth rubs his temples. “Allowed to say? Who’s disallowing you?” he asks. “Is this another one of Erin Quill’s stupid experiments like the Cherubs and dogs and everything?”
Response?
Post by: Doubloon-Seven on September 02, 2018, 01:21:30 pm
Post by: Glass on September 02, 2018, 01:21:44 pm
Have you noticed, Fansworth, that nearly every time we've tried to fight the rebels, they've escaped? And how, even when we have managed to make gains against them, we've had disproportionate losses of our own men? This has not been a coincidence. There are forces in play here far larger than any man-made organization, no matter how large and influential.
...heh... they say that God doesn't play dice with the universe. They're lying."
Celling sounds tired.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 02, 2018, 01:34:29 pm
"Fansworth, you're a foreign emissary. There is a security limit as to what I'm supposed to say."
Fansworth shoots a glance at the friend of Celling’s that just piped up with this. “Excuse me, sir. Last time I checked South America was a province of the People’s Republic of Antarctica, and we served under the same banner. Why are there things you must keep from me?”
"This is far more than anything Erin has worked on. This is not some sort of state secret, some sensitive decision someone made.
Have you noticed, Fansworth, that nearly every time we've tried to fight the rebels, they've escaped? And how, even when we have managed to make gains against them, we've had disproportionate losses of our own men? This has not been a coincidence. There are forces in play here far larger than any man-made organization, no matter how large and influential.
...heh... they say that God doesn't play dice with the universe. They're lying."
Celling sounds tired.
“I have noticed, Celling,” says Fansworth. “I think it says a lot about the competence, or lack thereof, of the Argentinian security forces that you have not managed to capture even a small band of domestic terrorists without devastating losses. And, to be frank, about your loyalty. I don't know what you're saying about forces and god playing dice with the universe, Celling. Can you elaborate on that?”
Want to respond to that?
Post by: Glass on September 02, 2018, 01:40:50 pm
No matter how much I want to.
...try to get out of here before you end up like me, Fansworth. This is no place for good men."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 06, 2018, 06:23:08 am
"No. I can't.
No matter how much I want to.
...try to get out of here before you end up like me, Fansworth. This is no place for good men."
“No, indeed it is not, Celling,” Fansworth replies, a somewhat puzzled look on his face. “That’s why we’re going to catch those rebels and make it safe.”
Later, in the base
Celling listened on the radio to the team sent to the Protinam Citadel. It’s clear that things haven’t gone well.
“They… they’re all gone…” sobs Angela. “The Citadel… burnt to the ground… bodies everywhere…”
The other Protinam, Carlos, takes the radio. “Whoever did this took the Pillar,” he says, his voice hard. “That means he can scan the future from everywhere. He’s going to need a lot more power, since this is a pretty optimal location, but based on what you’ve told us he has that.”
An aide runs in. “Captain Celling?” she says. “The teams sent to search the Andes are back.”
No suspicious activity in the Andes Mountains
Suspicious activity detected near the Andes Mountains
Celling sighs and turns back to the Protinam. “Do you have any way of tracking him?”
“We should be able to intercept the carrier wave once he lights it,” says Angela. “Find out where he is. If he uses it. We're going to track him down and-”
“That won’t be necessary,” says a voice from behind Celling.
Celling reacts instantly. In one fluid motion, he draws his pistol and fires several shots at the Secondborn.
Nothing happens. The bullets sail through David Eborrenial’s glowing, Cisharni-possessed form and crack into the wall behind him.
The Secondborn laughs. “Don’t be foolish, little mortal. I’m not actually here. This is just an astral projection created to communicate with you.”
“Then start,” growls Celling. “What do you have to say?”
“I come from a place far from here. A place of riches and magic, and of immortal gods,” the Secondborn begins.
“I think I may have an inkling of where you’re from already!” says Celling. “What the hell do you want?”
“An alliance,” the Secondborn says simply. “Yours is an interesting nation, Celling. Your weapons are alien to me and in many ways more powerful than any I know of. You strike at your enemies from miles away using flying pillars of flame. Your command over the natural sciences and the methods of engineering is impressive, even to me. I am intrigued by your use of bottled lightning and alchemical potions. And then there are the more esoteric sciences. The power to invert gravity, the creation of a spatial gateway, surpasses anything even the Cisharni know of. With the right help, your civilization could become a mighty bastion of humanity. Your people would make a fine addition to the Atlantean Empire. With your armaments our legions would be unstoppable, and with your armor and navigational systems Atlantean warships would rule the seas. Wormhole science would transform the empire. Andantesite would allow us to use the skies and earth themselves against our opponents.”
“This all sounds very good,” says Celling, “But what's in it for us?”
The Secondborn gestures vaguely. “Us. You would be under the protection of the Atlantean Empire. We would support you against your enemies and help you keep the peace. I could teach you the mysteries of arcane magic to amplify your attacks. Teleporters could make your wrath strike far and fast. We Cisharni never die, Celling, and hold the strength of gods. Those pesky internal problems - the Goonswarm, the rebels - would be nothing. Each of us could take on a thousand men. And win. With ease. I could take on a million.”
“And what guarantee do I have that you will uphold your end of the bargain?” Celling asks. “Do you speak for your Empire?”
“The others will be brought around to my point of view in time. Based on an observation of your stars I have been moved to the opposite side of the Earth from Atlantis. I request your help in returning.”
What do you say?
Post by: Rockeater on September 06, 2018, 06:35:17 am
Post by: Glass on September 06, 2018, 08:21:18 am
Now, Blue. We didn't say to check the Andes, we said to finely search Montevideo.
EDIT: Furthermore, regarding the Secondborn's offer: hahahahano. Given what we already know about interacting realities, even if he can cast magic himself, he won't be able to teach us magic, or anything of that sort. If he manages to get back to the S:I-verse, it's exceedingly improbable that continued communications will be possible.
Additionally, based on the stars, the Secondborn shouldn't be able to understand jack; the Cisharni have never been to the Southern Hemisphere. Even if he did know about the Southern Hemisphere's stars, he still wouldn't be able to tell, because the night sky shifts over time. He'd need to be able to figure out that he's not only in a completely different place, but also a completely different period of time, by several centuries.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 06, 2018, 08:22:05 am
Post by: Rockeater on September 06, 2018, 08:29:10 am
Aren't we the bad guys, though?We are bad only because the plot says so
Post by: Glass on September 06, 2018, 08:31:35 am
Aren't we the bad guys, though?GODDAMNIT NO.
If we stop even trying to be good, the closest thing this setting has to actual good guys will disappear.
We are the people that are in the way of deluded and misled rebels wiping out almost all life in the Southern Hemisphere and of a corrupt, arrogant, and truly evil usurping dictator.
Post by: omada on September 06, 2018, 09:58:35 am
I don't know if he won't be able to teach magic, the rules for magic seems different in this world, but we know that he isn't truly immortal
If he goes back to the S:I universe, he might lose communications with us and we will have how to destroy or to render useless the portal until we manage to study it enough to use in our favor somewhere else
if he opens the portal to OUR world and bring others
the sindari will start to get access to our world too
and if any sindari get access to the 4th wall, we can communicate with them, or just wait when one of them shows up
the question is, is Second born breaking the 4th wall and knowing that we are calculating the probabilities of betraying him? if he can, that's a problem, if don't he won't manage to safely check ceilings mind unscathed... will be a god powerfull enough to survive this? hehehe
damn, we can even ask the order of the stick tips on killing evil gods that are threatening a lawful empire, they have easy access to meta-stuff and a bunch of 4th wall breaking stuff
in the worst of cases, we are the lawful guys under the ruler of stupid/evil rulers from the very begging, we will just change leaders and then tilt a bit to the chaos order in case he start to usurp too much from us
I say that we accept, but give a warning, "this world run on rules that are bigger than both of us and we know how to play by the rules, don't try to betray nor exploit us or our people, or your arrogance over mortal creatures shall be your demise, keep it fair and we will rule and bring prosperity to a thousand worlds and races"
Post by: Glass on September 06, 2018, 10:47:08 am
in the worst of cases, we are the lawful guys under the ruler of stupid/evil rulers from the very begging, we will just change leaders and then tilt a bit to the chaos order in case he start to usurp too much from usJust addressing this part for now: we're Lawful Neutral leaning Good (I think), the rebels are Chaotic Good leaning Chaotic (though unknowingly pursuing a Chaotic Evil goal), and Padel is Lawful Evil leaning Evil.
Now, the rest of it: I'm pretty sure that allying with the Secondborn would end poorly for us. I doubt it'll be possible to trick him, Blue has said that he'll just be getting more powerful as he adapts to the laws of this reality (in which case it'll be harder to get rid of him later), and if he gets weaker as reality catches up to his bullshittery, then he'll be much less able to help us than we currently think he might. For that matter, he's also big on manipulation. Furthermore, he will not take kindly to being told not to be so arrogant, and if he gets the ability to conquer other worlds, he'll be doing it for Atlantis, not for us; besides, he'd probably make Antarctica a vassal of Atlantis rather than actually give us any power.
The Secondborn clearly has not broken the Fourth Wall, and does not know of it; he thinks he can get to Atlantis by going to the place it physically would be in. He doesn't actually realize that he's in a different universe.
If he opens a portal, it's going to be a temporary one; there's no way that C2 will open up another reality for everyone to fuck about in, especially not one with relatively advanced technology.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 06, 2018, 05:04:49 pm
Yes, the Secondborn is an actual bad guy.
He's prejudiced because he's fighting the Secondborn in another game. I'll note that the Secondborn is actually one of the more pacifist Cisharni... although that really says things about how NON-pacifist the others are. He's also very arrogant.
Now, Blue. We didn't say to check the Andes, we said to finely search Montevideo.
Your vote on Andes was locked in when I posted another question.
EDIT: Furthermore, regarding the Secondborn's offer: hahahahano. Given what we already know about interacting realities, even if he can cast magic himself, he won't be able to teach us magic, or anything of that sort. If he manages to get back to the S:I-verse, it's exceedingly improbable that continued communications will be possible.
Yeah, he doesn't know everything. You may wish to tell him.
Additionally, based on the stars, the Secondborn shouldn't be able to understand jack; the Cisharni have never been to the Southern Hemisphere. Even if he did know about the Southern Hemisphere's stars, he still wouldn't be able to tell, because the night sky shifts over time. He'd need to be able to figure out that he's not only in a completely different place, but also a completely different period of time, by several centuries.
The Cisharni have been to the equator; they've seen the southern celestial hemisphere. All they need to do is recognize that stars that were waaaaay to the south in Atlantis are now slightly to the north, and they'll realize we're far to the south.
The Secondborn clearly has not broken the Fourth Wall, and does not know of it; he thinks he can get to Atlantis by going to the place it physically would be in. He doesn't actually realize that he's in a different universe.
Fourth-wall breaking Secondborn would be terrifying. You may also wish to correct him on being in the same universe.
If he opens a portal, it's going to be a temporary one; there's no way that C2 will open up another reality for everyone to fuck about in, especially not one with relatively advanced technology.
...please chubby2man please please...
Post by: Glass on September 07, 2018, 07:12:13 pm
Anyway, since Blue is a stubborn ass: why yes, we really do want to thoroughly search Montevideo.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 07, 2018, 08:36:11 pm
"We do not accept your conditions. I have no reason to think you would stick to them, anyway."
Anyone prepared to +1 or debate this?
Anyway, since Blue is a stubborn ass: why yes, we really do want to thoroughly search Montevideo.- .... . / ... . -.-. --- -. -.. -... --- .-. -. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / .... --- .-.. -.. / .... .. ... / . -. -.. / --- ..-. / - .... . / -... .- .-. --. .- .. -.
I get that. Now leave me alone while I come up with ways of limiting the damage of giving you that!
Post by: Glass on September 07, 2018, 08:43:11 pm
Hello transparency my old friend/ I've come to Morse with you again"We do not accept your conditions. I have no reason to think you would stick to them, anyway."
Anyone prepared to +1 or debate this?Anyway, since Blue is a stubborn ass: why yes, we really do want to thoroughly search Montevideo.- .... . / ... . -.-. --- -. -.. -... --- .-. -. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / .... --- .-.. -.. / .... .. ... / . -. -.. / --- ..-. / - .... . / -... .- .-. --. .- .. -.
I get that. Now leave me alone while I come up with ways of limiting the damage of giving you that!
EDIT:
Quote from: Translation
the?secondborn?will?hold?his?end?of?the?bargain...huh, well who's a thunk.
EDIT2: Now here's a question: will he be willing to hold a bargain that involves Celling and Erin getting imbued into Nu-Cisharni.
And second (and more importantly), would the other Cisharni be willing to hold up the bargain. I suspect not, especially when I think of a certain Quiz.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 07, 2018, 08:51:17 pm
...huh, well who's a thunk.
What's a thunk?
EDIT2: Now here's a question: will he be willing to hold a bargain that involves Celling and Erin getting imbued into Nu-Cisharni.
And second (and more importantly), would the other Cisharni be willing to hold up the bargain. I suspect not, especially when I think of a certain Quiz.
Can the Cisharni even do the infusy thing?
...
CHUBBY!!!
Post by: Glass on September 07, 2018, 08:52:50 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 07, 2018, 08:56:14 pm
Even if they can't, we can play dumb about what they can do to empower a normal person :3
Knowing they can do it is gonna raise some flags. The Secondborn probably also wants to know why we have seen the Cisharni dimension.
EDIT: If they help us develop dimgating technology, does that mean we can break into Adjilia?
Post by: Glass on September 07, 2018, 10:11:13 pm
Also: "dimgating"? Huh?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 07, 2018, 10:16:10 pm
Also: "dimgating"? Huh?
Dimensional gating --> Dimgating
Post by: Glass on September 07, 2018, 10:22:34 pm
My distinction: "realms" versus "planes". We'd be helping to travel between realms - narrative universes - rather than between planes - sections of reality within a single narrative.
Each realm contains at least one plane, and can contain more; the real verse contains all realms.
Some realms are "outer" realms, those that have weaker fourth walls that allow one, some, or all characters to understand the realm verse in part or in whole, and in some cases allows for travel between it and other realm, though it is notable that in many cases, this actually involves the duplication of the encroached-upon realm rather than actual travel to it (which would imply that you're actually changing the source material).
Post by: omada on September 07, 2018, 10:48:48 pm
Post by: Glass on September 08, 2018, 01:46:18 am
Besides saying "nu-cindari" stuff, we can change the words to "demi-god" or "demi entity" it won't raise suspicious, in fact there are tons of ways to give an explanations on why we think they can infuse us with POWAExactly.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 08, 2018, 08:50:19 am
Either way, you need two Cisharni to do an infusion. One could grant powers through breeding, but... Squick (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Squick).
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 08, 2018, 09:47:30 am
"Interesting offer," says Celling. "Would you, however, consider imbuing some of our key personnel - like Erin Quill and I - with perhaps a fragment of your demigod powers?"
The Secondborn's face hardens. "What makes you think I can do that?"
Answer?
(In retrospect? You did request to mention stories about mortals being granted power, which I forgot. You can do that, but bear in mind that Celling already acts like he knows the Cisharni so the Secondborn's suspicious already.)
Post by: omada on September 08, 2018, 12:59:58 pm
If he suspects anything we can say stuff like "some of us in this realm of existence has capacities to ocasionally look into other universes and in the fabric of reality itself, although we can do little about it keep it quiet though, it don't like to be observed somehow. saying too much about it can make this shit collapse. direct mention to it will kill me instantly"
Post by: Glass on September 08, 2018, 03:57:42 pm
If he suspects anything we can say stuff like "some of us in this realm of existence has capacities to ocasionally look into other universes and in the fabric of reality itself, although we can do little about it keep it quiet though, it don't like to be observed somehow. saying too much about it can make this shit collapse. direct mention to it will kill me instantly"We don't say that like that. That's likely to end poorly.
If he suspects anything we first try to deflect the suspicion. We only try stuff like this if he explicitly calls us out on it.
And we can always blame Acter.
Post by: Rockeater on September 08, 2018, 04:19:17 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 09, 2018, 09:54:40 am
We totally blame Acter, we don't give him any knowledge that we don't need to.
...let's not forget that the Cisharni know an Acter?
Post by: Glass on September 09, 2018, 11:23:09 am
I know.We totally blame Acter, we don't give him any knowledge that we don't need to.
...let's not forget that the Cisharni know an Acter?
This can result in a wild goose chase on the Secondborn's part as he tries to find Acter before he realizes that Acter here is the god of improvement, and has essentially nothing to do with teleportation and trade.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 09, 2018, 11:45:18 am
I know.We totally blame Acter, we don't give him any knowledge that we don't need to.
...let's not forget that the Cisharni know an Acter?
This can result in a wild goose chase on the Secondborn's part as he tries to find Acter before he realizes that Acter here is the god of improvement, and has essentially nothing to do with teleportation and trade.
So uh, is everyone OK with straight up saying "Acter told us"
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 09, 2018, 11:55:14 am
I'm down for it.
Post by: Glass on September 09, 2018, 12:01:35 pm
Nonono, we don't do that unless he gets really suspicious.I know.We totally blame Acter, we don't give him any knowledge that we don't need to.
...let's not forget that the Cisharni know an Acter?
This can result in a wild goose chase on the Secondborn's part as he tries to find Acter before he realizes that Acter here is the god of improvement, and has essentially nothing to do with teleportation and trade.
So uh, is everyone OK with straight up saying "Acter told us"
For now we just obliquely refer to myths of gods empowering mortals.
Post by: Rockeater on September 09, 2018, 12:06:30 pm
Yea, saying we know his enemies is usually a bad ideaNonono, we don't do that unless he gets really suspicious.I know.We totally blame Acter, we don't give him any knowledge that we don't need to.
...let's not forget that the Cisharni know an Acter?
This can result in a wild goose chase on the Secondborn's part as he tries to find Acter before he realizes that Acter here is the god of improvement, and has essentially nothing to do with teleportation and trade.
So uh, is everyone OK with straight up saying "Acter told us"
For now we just obliquely refer to myths of gods empowering mortals.
Post by: omada on September 09, 2018, 08:37:38 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 16, 2018, 04:23:46 pm
“No, no,” says the Secondborn. “It is something that we do, but it is not a decision to be made hastily. We welcome only our most ardent worshippers into the ranks of the immortals. In any case even I do not have the power to begin such a thing alone. I will have to confer with my brothers and sisters in Atlantis.”
“If you’re as powerful as you say you are, then why do you need our help to get home?” Celling asks.
“In truth I have no need to ask your permission. I could easily get aboard a ship, kill its crew, and steal it. But that would quickly end the chance future relations, I believe.”
“And you think obliterating the Protinam won’t!?”
“The Protinam were an overt threat to me with their powers and refused to bow to the Cisharni. And from what David has told me” - he smirked at this - “He never was really, completely on your side, anyhow.”
What do you do?
A: “We agree. Give us the coordinates of Atlantis, we'll mount an expedition to return you there.”
B: “I think it may be a little harder than you think. We have evidence that you have crossed into another dimension, and that Atlantis is unreachable by normal means.”
C: “We are not helping you, Secondborn.”
D: Something else…
There was also a roll a while ago where you were told that some compromises would have to be made in order to mount the wormhole. Basically the SFN Pylos isn't quite large enough to carry the stabilizing system's two internal generators.
What do you do? (pick any 2, or G)
A: Try to conserve power by redlining the wormhole stabilizing apparatus. This drops the energy consumption but there's a ⅙ chance of catastrophic wormhole collapse due to power fluctuations.
B: Convert one of the engines to supply power to the wormhole. We won’t be able to keep up with Magellan’s ship, and the ship would be easy prey for anyone chasing it, but the wormhole will be secure.
C: Mount the wormhole to the ship’s power grid but take out the radar to give it more power. Again, the wormhole is secure, but we can’t see storms, icebergs, or enemy ships coming at us. ⅙ chance of hitting an iceberg, and chases are easier.
D: Unload some of our cargo and technology samples to make more room. England won’t be able to upgrade itself with Antarctican tech, and maintaining the wormhole on the other end may be harder. People may also question what’s taking up so much space.
E: Unload the missiles and weapons to make more space. Leaves ship totally unarmed. This has obvious risks, and like D it is possible that people looking at the loading operations figure out the wormhole’s on board
F: Mount the wormhole on the deck of the ship. There’s now enough space to put the generator in, but people will be able to see it a mile away.
G: Forget the entire thing. Keep the wormhole here.
H: Send a convoy with the ship. Neutralizes negative effect of C, D, and E, but makes our naval capacity take a bigger hit and may attract attention. Add on to any plan.
Post by: Iris on September 16, 2018, 05:37:41 pm
The Secondborn likely will find out anyways, so we should tell him sooner rather than later.
Why can't we just send a convoy with the wormhole instead of just one ship? That way we could do C, D, or E without any negatives whatsoever.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 16, 2018, 06:10:16 pm
BBD
The Secondborn likely will find out anyways, so we should tell him sooner rather than later.
Why can't we just send a convoy with the wormhole instead of just one ship? That way we could do C, D, or E without any negatives whatsoever.
Added plan H.
Post by: Glass on September 16, 2018, 07:39:57 pm
We'll give him a boat
A small, single-person boat that's suitable for getting to Africa and then sailing along the coastline to get to where he wants to go.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 16, 2018, 07:50:37 pm
DCDH.
We'll give him a boatand coordinates(nevermind he knows where he's going), and that's all.
A small, single-person boat that's suitable for getting to Africa and then sailing along the coastline to get to where he wants to go.
...are you really for siccing a pissed-off Secondborn on 15th century Europe?
Post by: Glass on September 16, 2018, 08:01:59 pm
And he can return here if he has any objections to his destination.
EDIT: Actually maybe we should do DG and let Magellan stay here until the Secondborn is done.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 16, 2018, 08:04:51 pm
Whole fleet? No, we're sending escorts.
And he can return here if he has any objections to his destination.
EDIT: Actually maybe we should do DG and let Magellan stay here until the Secondborn is done.
We don't have much of a fleet. Why should we leave Magellan here? Because the Secondborn may intercept him?
Post by: Iris on September 16, 2018, 09:01:44 pm
Post by: Glass on September 16, 2018, 09:49:20 pm
Obviously, send one escort and fill that with weapons/radar/tech/whathaveyou. We publicly say we are so eager to win Magellan over that we sent two full cargo ships with him, and then laugh at the rebels when (and if) they attack a fully-armed ship with a small dinghy and a pistol.I'll approve of this.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 16, 2018, 10:43:17 pm
Obviously, send one escort and fill that with weapons/radar/tech/whathaveyou. We publicly say we are so eager to win Magellan over that we sent two full cargo ships with him, and then laugh at the rebels when (and if) they attack a fully-armed ship with a small dinghy and a pistol.I'll approve of this.
God damn smart players thinking their ways out of supposed dilemmas posed by stupid GMs
Post by: Rockeater on September 17, 2018, 12:01:29 am
Tropes give them a real good chance but it's the best option anywayObviously, send one escort and fill that with weapons/radar/tech/whathaveyou. We publicly say we are so eager to win Magellan over that we sent two full cargo ships with him, and then laugh at the rebels when (and if) they attack a fully-armed ship with a small dinghy and a pistol.I'll approve of this.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 18, 2018, 06:29:29 pm
Tropes give them a real good chance but it's the best option anywayObviously, send one escort and fill that with weapons/radar/tech/whathaveyou. We publicly say we are so eager to win Magellan over that we sent two full cargo ships with him, and then laugh at the rebels when (and if) they attack a fully-armed ship with a small dinghy and a pistol.I'll approve of this.
Accepted. We now need what we'll do with the Secondborn:
A: Send him off on a wild goose chase to the Mediterranean of our world.
B: Tell him he's been sent to another universe.
Post by: Glass on September 18, 2018, 06:34:11 pm
Specifically, A and then play dumb when he gets back.
Post by: Rockeater on September 18, 2018, 06:35:16 pm
Post by: Iris on September 18, 2018, 06:39:02 pm
Post by: Glass on September 18, 2018, 06:55:25 pm
BBut how would we explain our knowing this? (Blue don't you dare try to quickhammer anything.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 18, 2018, 07:01:09 pm
BBut how would we explain our knowing this? (Blue don't you dare try to quickhammer anything.)
Quickham- (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheGMIsACheatingBastard)
Post by: Maximum Spin on September 18, 2018, 07:13:02 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on September 18, 2018, 07:53:16 pm
Post by: omada on September 18, 2018, 08:31:17 pm
A
bleh, B won
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 18, 2018, 09:13:56 pm
Wtf bros?
A
bleh, B won
Rope in more people to your position. You just need one more...
Post by: Glass on September 18, 2018, 09:53:38 pm
Mind you, everyone should say A, because it both gets the Secondborn out of our hair for a nice long while and also doesn't raise any questions as to how the hell we know he's from a different universe, and A is therefore he logically better answer, but hey. *shrug*
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 18, 2018, 10:55:16 pm
Don't worry, Omada, A and B are currently tied.
Mind you, everyone should say A, because it both gets the Secondborn out of our hair for a nice long while and also doesn't raise any questions as to how the hell we know he's from a different universe, and A is therefore he logically better answer, but hey. *shrug*
Really? I thought B was winning. Oh well.
B
B.
B
v.s.
A. :D
A
A
Although the "explanation" bit actually makes me think. Before I was just gonna have him assume you detected it using the wormhole tech or something, but now... People with B start thinking of explanations to cover it.
Of course you could just tell him about the fourth wall... !!CAUTION!! REVEALING THE FOURTH WALL TO AN INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS NOT ARRIVED AT IT OF HIS/HER OWN WILL IS FORBIDDEN UNDER THE CONVENTIONS OF THIS MEDIUM! DO NOT DO THIS!
Post by: Maximum Spin on September 18, 2018, 11:15:58 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 18, 2018, 11:17:24 pm
"Because we don't have an Atlantis. Don't worry, this kind of thing happens all the time here."
Sure do that.
See how far it gets you.
You know, since this is really close I think we should SUMMON FALLACY
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on September 18, 2018, 11:22:07 pm
Post by: Glass on September 18, 2018, 11:38:31 pm
"Because we don't have an Atlantis. Don't worry, this kind of thing happens all the time here."A friendly reminder that we're at the Southern Hemisphere, and our first contact with the Northern Hemisphere has been Magellan.
Bluff until everyone else is asleep or convinced (or fighting, but surely it won't come to that?): "I'm detecting a temporal anomaly in the generator glob. We need to reroute power through the graviton charge limiter. You have to completely resynchronize the primary and auxiliary autosequencers, or the resulting output decay will cause a catastrophic thoron dump. The nadion thrust assembly is offline. I'm going to reroute power through the deuterium flow regulators. If I reroute power through the hydrogen filament, I should be able to kick-start the delta ray injector. I'm detecting an anomalous power spike in the atmospheric resonance spinner..."A friendly reminder that we're Celling, a military captain, not Erin, the scientist guy.
Erin got thrown in jail by Padel and quite frankly if we could get him to show up everything would be much easier for us.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on September 18, 2018, 11:41:53 pm
And this is why it's Bluff, not DiplomacyBluff until everyone else is asleep or convinced (or fighting, but surely it won't come to that?): "I'm detecting a temporal anomaly in the generator glob. We need to reroute power through the graviton charge limiter. You have to completely resynchronize the primary and auxiliary autosequencers, or the resulting output decay will cause a catastrophic thoron dump. The nadion thrust assembly is offline. I'm going to reroute power through the deuterium flow regulators. If I reroute power through the hydrogen filament, I should be able to kick-start the delta ray injector. I'm detecting an anomalous power spike in the atmospheric resonance spinner..."A friendly reminder that we're Celling, a military captain, not Erin, the scientist guy.
Erin got thrown in jail by Padel and quite frankly if we could get him to show up everything would be much easier for us.
Post by: Glass on September 19, 2018, 12:25:14 am
It's a bad idea. Remember, the Secondborn already had scrying powers, and is inhabiting the body of and has access to the memories of a powerful oracle who knew us moderately decently. This isn't something Celling could pull off, especially considering there's a decent chance that the other people around him may very well call him out for nonsense.And this is why it's Bluff, not DiplomacyBluff until everyone else is asleep or convinced (or fighting, but surely it won't come to that?): "I'm detecting a temporal anomaly in the generator glob. We need to reroute power through the graviton charge limiter. You have to completely resynchronize the primary and auxiliary autosequencers, or the resulting output decay will cause a catastrophic thoron dump. The nadion thrust assembly is offline. I'm going to reroute power through the deuterium flow regulators. If I reroute power through the hydrogen filament, I should be able to kick-start the delta ray injector. I'm detecting an anomalous power spike in the atmospheric resonance spinner..."A friendly reminder that we're Celling, a military captain, not Erin, the scientist guy.
Erin got thrown in jail by Padel and quite frankly if we could get him to show up everything would be much easier for us.
And even for Erin it would be bluff, he'd just have the benefit of the Technobable trope on his side (maybe).
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 19, 2018, 09:45:11 am
B please. Let's not make this guy too angry.
Post by: Glass on September 19, 2018, 09:54:28 am
DYNAMIC ENTRY!GODDAMNT NO, THERE IS NO GOOD WAY TO EXPLAIN B AND IT'LL JUST MAKE HIM SUSPICIOUS!
B please. Let's not make this guy too angry.
Blue don't you fucking dare quickhammer.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 19, 2018, 01:41:44 pm
Why not? B is 2 ahead and there's no more votes coming in.Blue don't you fucking dare quickhammer.
Post by: Glass on September 19, 2018, 02:01:47 pm
There's the fact that there is a good chance that multiple people will come to their senses.Why not? B is 2 ahead and there's no more votes coming in.Blue don't you fucking dare quickhammer.
For that matter, would Celling seriously think it's a good idea to let the Secondborn know that he's in a different universe? It opens him up to a huge amount of questions - from both the Secondborn and his companions - and skirts dangerously closely to "taking fire from the edge of the sun" - meteor time, that is.
I do not want another fourth-wall-aware villain, espcecially not the Secondborn.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 19, 2018, 02:19:07 pm
I do not want another fourth-wall-aware villain, espcecially not the Secondborn.
Wait actually that would be so cool.
Not really he'd probably go back to the Sindariverse and tell them "It's hopeless, pack up and leave"
Post by: omada on September 19, 2018, 02:24:49 pm
"Some individuals have the ability to see the fabric of reality and it's rules, a power above man and gods, you were copied from another realm of existence, you can try to see our mind, but usually people and entity's that don't manage to get grasp of it by itself tend to suffer and/or be deleted from existance, direct mention to what the fabric of reality is means immediate elimination"
There is no other way to tell this without being extremely borderline about this
Post by: Glass on September 19, 2018, 02:28:00 pm
Better begin to make excusesFirst: he'll definitely get pissed if we declare that we have a power he doesn't.
"Some individuals have the ability to see the fabric of reality and it's rules, a power above man and gods, you were copied from another realm of existence, you can try to see our mind, but usually people and entity's that don't manage to get grasp of it by itself tend to suffer and/or be deleted from existance, direct mention to what the fabric of reality is means immediate elimination"
There is no other way to tell this without being extremely borderline about this
Second: this will make him more curious.
Third: This is still extremely borderline.
C'mon guys, just pick A. There's no good way to do B.
EDIT: New idea! We send the Secondborn with Magellan!
(Blue, you can't quickhammer because I just introduced an option C.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 19, 2018, 02:42:22 pm
A2: Send the Secondborn with Magellan
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 19, 2018, 04:05:04 pm
(Blue, you can't quickhammer because I just introduced an option C.)
Yes, I can. You're now voting for C, which means it's AA|BBB|C, which means B wins. :D
(This is why I designated it A2 so a vote for A2 still counts as a vote for A)
Post by: Rockeater on September 19, 2018, 04:35:20 pm
Post by: Glass on September 19, 2018, 05:32:16 pm
Question, how much of the fourth wall is it forbidden to tell about, are we forbidden to say there is a power beyond that of man and God, or are we forbidden to say we all live in a forum game?We're forbidden from saying the latter, and the Secondborn will want us dead if we say the former.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 19, 2018, 09:22:41 pm
Question, how much of the fourth wall is it forbidden to tell about, are we forbidden to say there is a power beyond that of man and God, or are we forbidden to say we all live in a forum game?We're forbidden from saying the latter, and the Secondborn will want us dead if we say the former.
You're not so much forbidden from saying the latter as forbidden from continued existence once you say the latter (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DistinctionWithoutADifference).
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 25, 2018, 09:08:14 pm
“I don’t think that will be so easy, Secondborn,” says Celling. “Based off what we know of the situation up north, and what the Protinam that have witnessed the event have told us, you’ve been sent to another reality.”
“What?”
“A parallel universe. One superficially similar to your world, but where Atlantis never existed.”
“That… agrees with what I have observed. We Cisharni can sense each other, even to the very ends of the Earth, and I do not sense them here.”
“So you see, going to the location of Atlantis in our universe will not-”
“I know well how that would work,” the Secondborn snaps. “This is certainly an interesting phenomenon, but do not be condescending.”
“Well, that complicates the matter of sending you back. Maybe analyzing the event that sent you here may help? If you remember? We could try to recreate that.”
“That would be… undesirable. What about the man who built your spatial gateway? Does he know of alternate dimensions?”
“Erin Quill?” Celling asks. “He’s unavailable. He’s in Antarctica. We haven’t heard from him in a while.”
“What’s he doing now?”
Erin presses buttons furiously on the broad, metallic-grey control panel of the wormhole.
Mira looks over his shoulder. “You’re not executing the mass transfer,” she shouts, over the shrieking wails of warning klaxons and destabilization alarms.
“Yeah?” he said, continuing without looking up. “Well, I’m pretty sure I can fix this, but if I can’t, I’ll at least have the satisfaction of knowing that Padelheb goes down with me.”
Padelheb sighs. “I’m not sure, Erin, why you’re putting your little vendetta with me over the heart of human civilization.”
“Forty minutes to detonation,” Erin said, ignoring him.
Mira leans in further until her hair ticks over Erin’s ear. “Erin Quill, always being such a goddamn hero…”
Erin Quill ignores her and moves over to another panel, where he pulls out a printed sheet of paper from a slot. He studies the figures on it. “Now, if I could actually tell what you were trying to do here…” he said. Abruptly, he stops and looks up as if coming to a sudden realization. He slams the paper down and whirls around to face Mira.
“You were trying to open the wormhole,” he says.
“How do you know?” Mira asks.
“Because I just ran some simulations, and you were sending commands to the regulator that overloaded it in just the right way to expand the wormhole back up to its normal proportions, prying it open through brute force at our end.”
“So it would have worked?” Mira inquires.
“Yes it would have worked,” Quill says angrily. A beam of red light from the alarms sweeps over his face. “Barely. Barely, barely, this side of the apparatus had enough energy to expand the wormhole without the other one’s cooperation. It also put the system in a state outside its normal operating envelope, running off a thousand risky assumptions, where one slight fluctuation could cause the whole thing to blow. Which is exactly what happened. Now, if I’m going that, I need to know exactly what the target aperture was-”
“..1.5 centimeters,” Mira answers instantly.
Padelheb glares at her. “Be careful, Miss Kethalyn. Don’t tell him too much.”
Erin ignores him. “One point five centimeters…” he muses. “That’s a specific target. That’s a specific number. We took out the signal thread, so it’s not information you wanted to…” he turns around and walks up to Mira urgently. “What did you send?”
“What?” Mira asks.
“Have you sent anything through the wormhole yet?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Don’t tell him,” warns Padelheb.
“Because the wormhole’s manifold is sensitive to mass transference,” says Erin. “Even a pencil’s worth of matter is enough to upset it. Mira, I need to know if you threw anything into the wormhole!”
“Not yet,” Mira answers cautiously. She backs away from Quill and stands next to Padelheb.
“Good,” Quill says. He paces around the column-shaped wormhole apparatus, adjusting dials. “One point five centimeters…” he mutters to himself, coming around the other side. He puts his thumb and index finger together into a small circle and holds it up to eye level, squinting. “One point five centimeters. What could you do with that?”
He looks around the room. “Something like this?” he says, grabbing for an unlabeled ampoule of clear liquid, standing on a nearby table.”
“DON’T TOUCH THAT!” screams Mira.
Quill stops and whirls to face her. “What’s in it?” he asks.
Padelheb points at the display counting down the minutes until the wormhole destabilizes. “Shouldn’t you be worrying about that first?” he says smoothly.
Without missing a beat, and without glancing back, Quill jabs at a button on the panel and kills the destabilization alert.
There is a whirring sound as the room’s lights return to normal, the display goes dark, and the alarms vanish.
The three of them stand there in silence for a while.
“Oh don’t worry,” says Quill. “I stabilized the wormhole a quarter hour ago. I just decided to keep that thing on because I figured you’d be significantly more loose lipped if you thought were were all about to get blown up. Now. Tell me. What’s in this vial?”
“Mira, you better not say anything,” Padelheb warns.
“What’s he got on you?” Erin asks.
Mira Kethalyn looks bemused. “What?”
“Why are you listening to him? Just to spite me? Oh well,” Erin says, making as if to slam the vial down upon his foot.
“No!” shouts Mira. She glares at Quill, wild-eyed. “Quill, that’s dangerous-”
“Dangerous?” Quill says. “In what way? Toxin?”
“Don’t tell him,” says Padelheb. “He’s insane.”
“Look, whatever is in here, you were planning to send it to Argentina.”
This time Mira looks totally clueless. “What?”
“Well, who told you to expand the wormhole?”
“Mira-” Padelheb says.
Mira jabs a finger in Padelheb’s direction. “He did.”
“Well, then he was planning to send this to Argentina. What’s in it?”
Mira glances at Padelheb, then back at Quill. “Erin, I- Padelheb hired me to make it a few days ago.”
“What is it?” asks Quill again.
“A viral agent created through superinfection and reassortment of the influenza virus,” Mira says.
“Superinfection onto what?”
Mira looks at Padelheb again. “A sample he gave me.”
Quill’s eyes look like they’re popping out of his head. “So you actually crossed the most virulent virus known to man with something he gave to you? And you didn’t even check what it was? Genome structure.”
“Single stranded pseudocyclic RNA,” Mira says instantly.
“Yeah sure, because that narrows it down. Karyotype?”
“Three chromosomes of different size.”
Erin swears under his breath. “Well, I know one thing that fits that.” He holds the vial to eye level. “Hantavirus. Extremely dangerous. Usually confined to the jungles of South America. This gets inside you, you bleed from the inside out - bleed from the eyes, the ears, the mouth - dead within a week. It’s a blessing it doesn’t spread that fast. Unless, of course, someone integrates its genome into the one for the common cold, such that it can use common cold particles to spring across the air, from person to person, house to house, city to city. If one drop of this touches open air, Antarctica falls within the month.”
Erin whirls upon Padelheb, still holding the vial. “But that’s not the plan, is it? You don’t plan to drag us all down with you for no reason. You built in a fail-safe. So that a group of people can rise from the ashes to take charge. That group just happens to contain you, doesn’t it?”
“All of Antarctica,” says Padelheb.
Erin looks shocked. “What?”
“There’s a flaw in the binding mechanism corresponding to a mutated protein in Antarctican DNA. The virus will spread throughout the Antarctican population, but its full lethality will not be revealed until it reaches the Argentinian natives. Anyone with Argentinian blood will be struck down. A sad consequence of mingling with those primitives.” He chuckles.
“You’ll hang for this,” Erin swears.
“I think not,” Padelheb says, advancing towards Erin. “I did what was needed to eliminate the threat of our errant head scientist, but who could have guessed that he would recruit an old friend of his to create this bioweapon-”
“What?” gasps Mira.
“-and forced open the wormhole - which, as he himself admitted, only he could control properly - to send it to Argentina? What horrors could have happened if the Guardian of the State hadn’t caught up with him? Too bad the agent was released, and the conspirators killed, during the struggle,” Padelheb continues. He aims the gun at Quill. “So no, I have no plans on hanging soo-”
Mira hurls a flask of liquid onto the floor.
A billowing cloud of sulfuric white smoke shoots up behind Padelheb with a woosh.
Padelheb drops the gun and grabs at his eyes, coughing, until he feels Quill press the muzzle of his own weapon into his back. “No, I don’t think you will hang,” Quill hisses. “Chaos is a ladder, Padelheb. I’m tipping the ladder. Now.”
Options:
A: Allow Quill to shoot Padelheb.
B: Tell him something to stop him.
Post by: Doubloon-Seven on September 25, 2018, 09:12:40 pm
In the words of Sheev
dewit
Post by: Iris on September 25, 2018, 09:19:46 pm
Why would we even consider B?
Post by: omada on September 25, 2018, 09:55:26 pm
but is there a chance we will get screwed because of padel? damn, we have MIRA as witness to this whole case
A dewit
and throw the vial to the hammerspace before it falls/breaks whatever, there he will not infect/touch no one as nothing breaks on hammerspace
Post by: Glass on September 25, 2018, 10:01:26 pm
Or, alternately, just have the thing be a stun gun. The point is, stun Padel, don't kill.
Maybe pistol whip combined with Tap on the Head (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TapOnTheHead) if neither of the other options is viable.
EDIT: And meanwhile, the Parrot steals the virus.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on September 26, 2018, 10:12:58 pm
A... but Set Bullets to Stun (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SetSwordsToStun), because having Padel so we can show him to the rebels and the Plot is a good idea.+1
Or, alternately, just have the thing be a stun gun. The point is, stun Padel, don't kill.
Maybe pistol whip combined with Tap on the Head (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TapOnTheHead) if neither of the other options is viable.
EDIT: And meanwhile, the Parrot steals the virus.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 26, 2018, 10:15:34 pm
→ Attempting to knock out Padelheb rather than kill him
→ Using the parrot to get the vial away
Please vote +1, -1, or 0 to each of these
Post by: Glass on September 26, 2018, 10:26:45 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 26, 2018, 10:27:16 pm
+1 to using the parrot to get the vial away.
Post by: Rockeater on September 27, 2018, 06:08:46 am
Post by: Iris on September 27, 2018, 06:34:40 am
Post by: omada on September 27, 2018, 09:48:41 am
+1 +1
Post by: Maximum Spin on September 27, 2018, 04:10:32 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 27, 2018, 04:13:48 pm
Roll for success:
1 = The parrot fails to even hammerspace in
2 = The parrot hammerspaces in but doesn’t grab the vial
3 = The parrot grabs the vial but Padelheb grabs him
4 = The parrot grabs the vial and begins looking for a place to hammerspace out
5 = The parrot grabs the vial and jumps out
6 = The parrot grabs the vial, jumps out, and promptly drops the vial
If 5 or 6, roll for destination:
1 = A few feet away
2 = Outside the palace
3 = Boat in the ocean
4 = Argentina
5 = Order of the Black Arrow discord
6 = Fails to jump back out
Results: 1 2
…
The parrot fails to appear!
Post by: omada on September 27, 2018, 05:55:21 pm
I mean, he got a chair from nowhere before in his cell
Just put it in the pocket of his jacket where he usually grab stuff from the hammerspace
Post by: Iris on September 27, 2018, 06:03:26 pm
We should just ignore the vial.
Post by: Rockeater on September 27, 2018, 06:13:14 pm
That only worked because the narrative focused off of him for days.The one containing a bio-weapon? I prefer not
We should just ignore the vial.
Post by: Glass on September 27, 2018, 06:23:23 pm
I assume you want a tiebreak on murder/notmurder. Obviously I choose murder.Goddamnit Spin no
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 27, 2018, 06:26:09 pm
Goddamnit Spin yesI assume you want a tiebreak on murder/notmurder. Obviously I choose murder.Goddamnit Spin no
Post by: Rockeater on September 27, 2018, 06:31:37 pm
+1 +1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 27, 2018, 06:35:13 pm
Spare: Glass, Omada, Rockeater
Kill: Fallacy, Iridium, Spin
Post by: Glass on September 27, 2018, 07:05:40 pm
The only item in question is whether to spare Padelheb (a ruthless manipulator that has tried to commit genocide with a bioweapon). We have him dead to rights, Glass wants to spare him to show the rebels (plot-armored supposed good guys)."Spare"
Spare: Glass, Omada, Rockeater
Kill: Fallacy, Iridium, Spin
No, not spare. But if we just kill him now and don't do it legally, then A. we could easily be painted as being just as bad and B. of course the rebels never get to hear about him, or if they do they may decide that as he was against us, he must have actually been good and stupid crap like that.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 27, 2018, 07:22:35 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 27, 2018, 07:26:39 pm
Of course if we capture the main villain he'll shapeshift into a catgirl and escape in the confusion!
Thank you for that excellent idea that totally will not be used now as a direct result of your actions!
Post by: Glass on September 27, 2018, 07:58:04 pm
If he stays alive, he will escape. This is a world based on tropes. Of course if we capture the main villain he'll shapeshift into a catgirl and escape in the confusion!A. The world only runs on tropes in areas where the rebels know about stuff. If he rebels not only know about him, but know that he's a villain - especially the main villain - then I think that's worth him escaping.
B. Given the above, since we were the ones keeping him imprisonned, that's points in our favor for he plot and rebels deciding we're at the very least not evil, contributing greatly to our expected lifespan and the potential for he rebels to actually listen to them when we tell them that blowing up the wormhole is all of the bad ideas.
C. I suspect that if Padel shapeshifter into a catgirl then 1. it would be really easy to find him (he'd be the only catgirl) and 2. within a couple hours any advantage he had from being a catgirl would be negated by confusion and discomfort.
Post by: IronyOwl on September 27, 2018, 09:03:49 pm
I mean, I haven't been following this and have no idea what's going on, but a vote for catgirls is a vote forOf course if we capture the main villain he'll shapeshift into a catgirl and escape in the confusion!
Thank you for that excellent idea that totally will not be used now as a direct result of your actions!
Spare
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on September 27, 2018, 09:09:24 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on September 27, 2018, 09:29:15 pm
Quote from: our great and glorious GM
Note: If you knock him out, you will have to roll. If you fail, he smashes the vial
This does not sound like a risk we should take.
Post by: Glass on September 27, 2018, 10:13:46 pm
EDIT: If Erin wants a reason from us for why not to shoot... first off, all the stuff about how Padel can be used as a way to get the plot off his and Celling's back, and second, by killing Padel he could be tried for murder while by subduing Padel he can get him tried for all his crimes.
Hell, Padel's trial could even end up getting Courtroom Drama tropes, and Erin would be the good guy in its plot. We could seriously have a situation where another Plot entity becomes extant driving Erin toward succeeding in the case against Padel and getting him properly punished for his crimes.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 27, 2018, 11:14:07 pm
The thing is, though, that the Protinam - who specifically found no way to stop the plague if it got out - said that Erin could potentially fix the plague.
The Protinam don’t work like that™. The idea is that Erin Quill’s too complex for them to factor in, so all their predictions are based off “Erin Quill sits around twiddling his thumbs” as an assumption. The only issue is that when Quill is up and about he influences people around him, so they can only scan Antarctica when he’s actually sitting around twiddling his thumbs. But ALL their scans - of Argentina, of the plague, of the wormhole - can be made inaccurate by Quill doing ANYTHING - even killing Padelheb.
And I don't actually know what Padelheb's plan is. I should go figure that out actually...
Post by: Glass on September 27, 2018, 11:44:19 pm
EDIT: Pics are in Discord! I repeat, pics are in Discord!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 28, 2018, 07:28:07 am
Blue, we discussed over Discord Padel's infect-and-cure plot. I'm not sure how to post screenshots here in the thread, but I can definitely bring them up in the Discord!
EDIT: Pics are in Discord! I repeat, pics are in Discord!
Oh wait yeah that.
I probably shouldn't have said that, and I can't guarantee that it's cannon. I was just trying to point out one way he could gain from it.
I still don't actually know.
Post by: omada on September 28, 2018, 08:31:23 am
Post by: Glass on September 28, 2018, 09:18:22 am
We can always explode the entire continent of antartica if the vial breaks, so the virus will infect no one EVIL LAUGHTERBad Omada *squirt gun*
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 29, 2018, 10:04:14 am
1 = The moment of hesitation is enough for Padelheb to smash the vial and escape unscathed
2 = You miss and Padelheb escapes
3 = You whack Padelheb. He’s seriously wounded, but not quite down for the count
4 = Padelheb is knocked unconscious, but you drop the vial in the process
5/6 = You knock Padelheb unconscious, as intended
7 = You manage to take Padelheb alive and conscious, but injured
8 = You hit him too hard and he’s now almost dead, requires medical attention
9 = You hit him too hard and he’s dead
10 = Erin Quill flat-out chooses to disobey your intents and shoots Padelheb
Note that this means a 20% chance Padelheb escapes, 20% the vial smashes, and 20% Padelheb is killed accidentally. For a rapid, unpredictable action, where you have to intercede in something Quill is already doing, this seems reasonable.
Result: 10
...
I'll just let you react to that a bit
Post by: Glass on September 29, 2018, 10:48:56 am
You're supposed to be able to think about things like this, mate."
Post by: omada on October 02, 2018, 09:10:33 am
to be honest, I am laughing my ass off
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 02, 2018, 10:55:23 am
Post by: Glass on October 02, 2018, 11:11:03 am
Post by: omada on October 02, 2018, 04:59:05 pm
Post by: Iris on October 02, 2018, 05:02:31 pm
"No, the wormhole is a secret, must remain a secret"What Padel was doing with the wormhole, or the wormhole itself? The wormhole's existence is public knowledge.
Post by: Glass on October 02, 2018, 06:53:36 pm
Wormhole was public knowledge, or fairly public knowledge. Public enough for the old man rebel to see it as the symbol of Antarctican imperialism. Public enough, in fact, that there was no point to labeling it something different on a facility map."No, the wormhole is a secret, must remain a secret"What Padel was doing with the wormhole, or the wormhole itself? The wormhole's existence is public knowledge.
What Padel was trying to do - widen it enough (by force, potentially able to destabilize it) so that he could put the disease vial through - both needs to be known as another part of damning evidence and so that people aren't asking "but how was he actually going to get the disease to South America?"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 04, 2018, 11:11:15 pm
"Erin, in case you forgot, there's an entire force of reality that's out for your head. One that could be redirected onto Padel should he be kept alive.
You're supposed to be able to think about things like this, mate."
Quote from: Erin Quill date=-14174032506
You really think the plot is going to designate Padelheb as the main villain? Especially when he’s already been defeated? And letting him escape would be too disastrous. Even from a jail cell, I have no doubt he could bring the Republic to its knees. He simply can’t be left to talk his way out of whatever punishment we give him.
Guards rush into the room and take aim at Quill.
He steps back, drops his gun, and holds his hands above his head, still clutching the vial of bioweapon.
The guards glance at Padelheb’s body. One turns back to Quill. “What did you just do?”
“Shot Padelheb,” Quill says bluntly. “Don’t worry, he deserved it.”
“Put your hands behind your back,” the guard says. He handcuffs Quill. “Give me that,” he says, grabbing for the vial.
“Don’t touch-” Quill starts.
“Don’t touch that!” says Mira.
“That’s a dangerous biological agent Padelheb was about to use to destroy a continent, you have to let us dispose of it!” says Quill.
The guard looks on skeptically, then carefully takes the vial. “I’m sure you have an interesting story to tell us,” he says.
You’re now going to be questioned about the events. You’re going to have to decide what to say.
A: Reveal Mira’s role in the creation of the plague. Notice that this will likely result in bad things for her, and if she turns against you it will look like you are trying to slander others.
B: Talk about the plague but don’t mention how it was created.
C: Any other suggestions…
Post by: Glass on October 04, 2018, 11:14:50 pm
Post by: Iris on October 05, 2018, 10:19:31 am
A, but also state that she was forced to do so by Padel. State he was willing to imprison, and imply potentially execute, all of the Republic's top scientists until he found one that would do as he wanted.
+1 but try to make sure Mira knows this so we don't have to deal with the Prisoner's Dilemma.
Post by: Glass on October 05, 2018, 11:04:46 am
Makes sense.A, but also state that she was forced to do so by Padel. State he was willing to imprison, and imply potentially execute, all of the Republic's top scientists until he found one that would do as he wanted.
+1 but try to make sure Mira knows this so we don't have to deal with the Prisoner's Dilemma.
Hell, we can spin it so that she was protecting other scientists and stuff like that.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 05, 2018, 10:30:34 pm
Post by: Glass on October 06, 2018, 08:57:55 am
Big part of this is that you are in the Prisoner's Dilemma, because you're being dragged off to jail to be questioned separately.Well there's no need for that when we can tell them here and now.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 06, 2018, 08:59:25 am
Big part of this is that you are in the Prisoner's Dilemma, because you're being dragged off to jail to be questioned separately.Well there's no need for that when we can tell them here and now.
Just shout "If anyone asks, you were forced to do it," right now?
Does that sound like the best idea?
Post by: Iris on October 06, 2018, 09:18:37 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 06, 2018, 10:03:26 am
Why don't we have a recognition symbol for exactly this purpose?
Quill hasn't bumped into Mira for ages, and they were rivals all the time. He didn't exactly plan this out or anything.
Post by: omada on October 06, 2018, 02:55:17 pm
we can go B and say that padel said that he forced scientists to make it because until now the republic was in his hands
Post by: Rockeater on October 06, 2018, 03:39:42 pm
the place of the wormhole don't have cameras or something to record voice?I mean, that the best option
we can go B and say that padel said that he forced scientists to make it because until now the republic was in his hands
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 06, 2018, 05:28:58 pm
Post by: Maximum Spin on October 06, 2018, 05:56:18 pm
Only suckers fall for the prisoners' dilemma.
Post by: Glass on October 06, 2018, 07:42:16 pm
No, say "Padel forced her to make a genocidal virus and was going to send it through the wormhole," right now.Big part of this is that you are in the Prisoner's Dilemma, because you're being dragged off to jail to be questioned separately.Well there's no need for that when we can tell them here and now.
Just shout "If anyone asks, you were forced to do it," right now?
Does that sound like the best idea?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 06, 2018, 08:18:18 pm
No, say "Padel forced her to make a genocidal virus and was going to send it through the wormhole," right now.Big part of this is that you are in the Prisoner's Dilemma, because you're being dragged off to jail to be questioned separately.Well there's no need for that when we can tell them here and now.
Just shout "If anyone asks, you were forced to do it," right now?
Does that sound like the best idea?
Can I get a +1?
Post by: Iris on October 07, 2018, 09:21:46 pm
No, say "Padel forced her to make a genocidal virus and was going to send it through the wormhole," right now.Big part of this is that you are in the Prisoner's Dilemma, because you're being dragged off to jail to be questioned separately.Well there's no need for that when we can tell them here and now.
Just shout "If anyone asks, you were forced to do it," right now?
Does that sound like the best idea?
+1
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 07, 2018, 10:26:59 pm
A, but also state that she was forced to do so by Padel. State he was willing to imprison, and imply potentially execute, all of the Republic's top scientists until he found one that would do as he wanted.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 09, 2018, 04:40:03 pm
"I don't know,” David admits. “I just know where you can begin your search. Go to the piers. Once you get there, don’t trust the bees and the king. Your friend has a yellow hand."
You know what's really scary? I've completely forgotten what David was referring to in this scene.
Post by: Glass on October 09, 2018, 04:52:18 pm
King - Mittani, the swarm's "ruler"
Your friend has a yellow hand - yellow is gold, the friend is the pyrokineticist. It means she's desirable, specifically to the Goons
By the way take a look at this (http://www.scp-wiki.net/i-h-p-proposal)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2018, 04:19:11 pm
Bees - Goonswarm
King - Mittani, the swarm's "ruler"
Your friend has a yellow hand - yellow is gold, the friend is the pyrokineticist. It means she's desirable, specifically to the Goons
Thing is, I can't even refute that, because I don't know. I'm Wild Mass Guessing my own game!
By the way take a look at this (http://www.scp-wiki.net/i-h-p-proposal)
The fourth wall is almost certainly an SCP, of course.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2018, 04:22:10 pm
For A: Glass, Iridium, Fallacy
For B: Omada, Rockeater, Spin (first two are implicit votes)
Shout out right now: Glass, Iridium
I rule that "shout out right now" is a subset of A, so requesting more tiebreak power.
Post by: Maximum Spin on October 11, 2018, 04:50:14 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2018, 04:51:23 pm
You asked me to tiebreak, but I'm in the tie. So, I tiebreak in favour of B!
No. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LittleNo)
Post by: omada on October 11, 2018, 05:25:10 pm
A2 (?)
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 11, 2018, 08:49:24 pm
Prisoner's dilemma, prisoner's schmilemma. +1No, say "Padel forced her to make a genocidal virus and was going to send it through the wormhole," right now.Big part of this is that you are in the Prisoner's Dilemma, because you're being dragged off to jail to be questioned separately.Well there's no need for that when we can tell them here and now.
Just shout "If anyone asks, you were forced to do it," right now?
Does that sound like the best idea?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 17, 2018, 10:31:05 pm
— Mark Twain, Epigraph to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1885
You’ve chosen A+
Erin Quill strides purposefully into the hall, bluntly pushing open the ornate wooden double doors. Two guards follow him, alert but not threatening. After the first several rounds of questioning convinced them that he wasn’t trying to escape in any way, his keepers had stopped jumping at his every move.
The hall was simply built, with lines of white marble arches flanking the long floor on either side, revealing shadowy side wings and windows. A red carpet ran the length of the room down the middle. The grand, arching ceiling seemed to glow white, and the ornate, golden throne of the South is framed by spectral gray light flowing through the window behind it.
Old age is clearly taking its toll on King Karastotz. His hair is gloomy white, his face wrinkled, his eyes somewhat dulled, but he still sits on his throne with a regality befitting the ruler of the Nation Atop The World. Erin moves to kneel before him.
“Don’t bother, Erin,” Karastotz says. Erin stands back up. “Now. Erin Quill, former royal scientist of the Republic of the South, what do you have to say?”
“Nothing that I have not said before,” Erin answers briskly. “To the best of my knowledge, Mira Kethalyn was coerced into making a biological weapon that could wipe out all humans not descended from Antarctica.”
“An accusation which, luckily for you, she does not deny,” the king interjects.
“My lord, I should note that I’m sure Padelheb would be the type to imprison and execute every scientist that went against him until he found one that would do what he told.”
“Stop making excuses for her, Quill. I knew Padelheb. He was perfectly capable of manipulating her to do whatever he wanted. She is as blameless as you.”
A young, thin, and sharply dressed man steps out of the shadows, holding a stoppered vial. It’s clear and a liquid sloshes within. “Shouldn’t we take a sample out of this first, to make sure it’s what he says it is?”
King Karastotz gestures at the man. “Quill, meet our new Guardian of the State, Enir Nest.”
Quill is paying more attention to the vial in his hands. He points at it. “That’s the bioweapon? You still have that thing lying around? Why? You need to destroy it. As soon as possible.”
“How would you recommend destroying it?” asks Karastotz.
“Incineration,” says Quill without hesitation. “I’d prefer it to be dropped into a volcano or something, but any standard autoclave should do. Hell, pouring it down the drain may be safe enough. Neither component virus is that well known for surviving in the wild. The important thing is that it’s destroyed before it comes near a possible host.”
“And that would remove all evidence that could prove or disprove your story,” Nest notes.
“I think that Mira’s papers and earlier experiments should make it quite clear what she was trying to do. And we can’t test it unless we expose it to an Argentinian, and that would condemn them to a painful death. Taking a sample runs a risk of letting it out, and that would kill several million people. It has to go, as soon as possible.”
Nest seems to consider this. “Good point,” he says. He hands the vial over to Quill, who carefully receives it. King Karastotz motions Quill over and hands him a pen light.
“UV light,” the King explains. “I took it from the guard that captured you and personally saw to it that it was tamper-proofed, then signed my seal into it in around seven different varieties of invisible ink. I want you to have no doubt that you are destroying the right thing, Quill. You should be able to verify at any point that you’re not holding a fake. We can’t afford for it to get lost or stolen in transit. It goes straight from here to the nearest autoclave, don’t put it down until it’s destroyed.”
“Yes, sir,” says Quill.
Nest coughs. “There is one matter to discuss. We have to consider whether we’re going to let the people of South America know how close they came to destruction. Leaving them in the dark will make the death of Padelheb look suspicious, but how they will react to knowledge of the bioweapon is… unpredictable.”
What should we do?
A: “Don’t tell them. Padelheb’s lies will die in time, but this will scare them.” (Accepts a -1 Political)
B: “We have to tell them. They have a right to know, and they’ll find out eventually.” (Rather risky Political roll)
Post by: Iris on October 17, 2018, 10:37:34 pm
Post by: Glass on October 17, 2018, 10:58:18 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 18, 2018, 12:52:26 am
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 18, 2018, 11:03:32 pm
C (with A as a secondary if this doesn't gain enough traction): We reveal the parts that incriminate Padel and prove he needed to die (such as his planned genocide of the South Americans [potentially planned to later extend to other groups] and attempts to make the military loyal solely to him), while leaving out the things that could cause mass panic (bioweapon, wormhole abuse potentially resulting in world sterilization, and other things of that magnitude).+1 to C.
Post by: Sir Elventide on October 20, 2018, 09:10:32 am
Post by: Rockeater on October 20, 2018, 09:11:52 am
Post by: omada on October 20, 2018, 04:58:11 pm
if it lands heads logic will prevail and I will vote C making it a draw
if it lands tails i will risk luck and vote B
Post by: Glass on October 20, 2018, 05:11:50 pm
Gm, stupid "minigame" for you, plz throw a coinMate, it's currently 3C 2B 1A. Just vote C and make it more decisive.
if it lands heads logic will prevail and I will vote C making it a draw
if it lands tails i will risk luck and vote B
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 20, 2018, 07:32:51 pm
Gm, stupid "minigame" for you, plz throw a coin
if it lands heads logic will prevail and I will vote C making it a draw
if it lands tails i will risk luck and vote B
Wait. You have no way of knowing whether I flipped it fairly. So are you just asking what I prefer to happen?
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 21, 2018, 10:53:35 am
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“That’s it,” says Quill, peering into the chamber of the autoclave. The test tube had been remotely shattered and its contents subjected to hot steam for around fifteen minutes. “That’s the virus destroyed.”
He turned to the small team of researchers and engineers behind him, all covered, like he was, in foot to toe hazmat gear. “Can I have this thing cast into an iron brick and dropped into the Atlantic, please? Pays to be certain.”
As he was walking out of the lab he was met by a small man with unkempt hair. “Erin Quill, right?” he says. He bluntly holds his hand out. “Evan Wexcombe. Congratulations on getting your job back.”
“I thought Padelheb had everyone thinking I was a madman?” Quill asks.
“Most of them do, but my friends and my group actually pay attention to events, and it’s clear that his charges are totally made up.”
“Your group?”
“I’m heading the organization that’s been protesting for better animal rights,” he explains.
“Oh god, alternate PETA,” Quill mutters.
“What’s that?” Evan asks. “PETA? What’s that stand for?”
“Uh…” Quill says. “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.”
“Hey, that’s actually a good acronym!” Evan says. “I’ve been looking for a better name. We’ve just been calling it ‘the organization protesting for better animal rights’ up until now.”
“Whatever,” Quill says. “What do you want here?”
“So you know that we’ve been protesting the dog intelligence serum right? But then we were thinking - what if we used it to grant intelligence to other animals? What if we gave them the ability to speak on their own behalf? That would make our job so much easier!”
There was a long silence while Quill considered this.
“You gotta admit, it’s a great idea!” says Wexcombe.
“It’s a terrible idea!” Quill shouts. “Firstly, it’s not a fire-and-forget medication, it has to be tuned for every species and monitored closely in order to work right.”
“We have plenty of scientists on our side!” Wexcombe replies. “You could monitor it personally!”
“The personality of the animal inherits from the instincts of the species. It only works on dogs because they already have a complex nervous system, doing it to anything else could just make them insane.”
“Llamas are plenty as smart as dogs, Quill. We’ll start with higher mammals, obviously. We aren’t doing this to fish.”
“Then there’s an ethical standpoint! Some of these animals have short lifespans. Some exist only to feed us, some live in horrible conditions! Do you really think it’s humane to make them able to really feel that?”
“See, here’s the question, Quill,” Evan asks. “Are you rejecting this because you can’t? Or because you’re not willing to acknowledge that you’ll have to start treating them like worthy beings once they can speak for themselves?”
“I’m rejecting it because it’s emotional blackmail! You’re forcing minds into existence just so you can wave them around to threaten leaders with!”
“Animals have always been there! They are suffering as we speak, and all this will do is pull people face to face with the consequences. That’s not blackmail, that’s just effective action!”
What do you say?
A: “Absolutely not. You aren’t using the intelligence procedure on anything.”
B: “You make a good point. We’ll work something out, but under heavy supervision.”
C: “I don’t have the time to micromanage this. I’ll send the data over and you can use it yourself.”
D: “This is lunacy, and in fact as of now I’m going to ask the government to shut you down.”
E: (add on to any) Put the organization and its leaders under surveillance
F: Something else...
Stats list check:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb
Plot points to be resolved:
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Armen DeMarco
- Order of the Stick
- Rebel location
- Secondborn
Tell me if I missed anything
Post by: Glass on October 21, 2018, 11:06:24 am
And put them under surveillance, primarily just to know if they try to steal government secrets or try to lynch people or capture laboratories or stuff like that.
EDIT: Also, imply that if animals are to be equal to humans, they will need to be equal in ways that don't just mean equal rights; they'll need to get jobs to pay for food and the like, they will be able to be tried for crimes, and other such things that people - which they will be a part of if they're made sapient - see as a burden rather than a privilege.
EDIT2: Only tangentially related, but we don't have pigs. Or dogs, technically. We have alpacas, llamas, some Antarctica-adapted tame lions, and other such things from South America, the more southern parts of Africa, Antarctica, and maybe some things from Australia (though we've probably done more to try to make sure the things there don't spread).
This is based on Discord discussion.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 21, 2018, 11:53:47 am
EDIT2: Only tangentially related, but we don't have pigs. Or dogs, technically. We have alpacas, llamas, some Antarctica-adapted tame lions, and other such things from South America, the more southern parts of Africa, Antarctica, and maybe some things from Australia (though we've probably done more to try to make sure the things there don't spread).
This is based on Discord discussion.
Just going to note that our wolves and dogs derive from gray wolves, Canis lupus. I know that's a North Hemisphere species. They had an ancient empire, and they built the Bed.
Don't question it.
EDIT: Or maybe they're maned wolves. I'll have to think about that
Post by: Glass on October 21, 2018, 11:59:58 am
...no, I think we determined that they could 100% be tamed lions and it would not only still make sense, it would make more sense in the context of the game than having canine dogs.
EDIT2: Only tangentially related, but we don't have pigs. Or dogs, technically. We have alpacas, llamas, some Antarctica-adapted tame lions, and other such things from South America, the more southern parts of Africa, Antarctica, and maybe some things from Australia (though we've probably done more to try to make sure the things there don't spread).
This is based on Discord discussion.
Just going to note that our wolves and dogs derive from gray wolves, Canis lupus. I know that's a North Hemisphere species.
Don't question it.
EDIT: Or maybe they're maned wolves. I'll have to think about that
You're not getting police dogs out of maned wolves, and you're not getting grey wolves period because they're from the northern hemisphere, as you just said.
Post by: Rockeater on October 21, 2018, 12:34:44 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 21, 2018, 12:51:33 pm
Spoiler: I am a simple man. I see talking dogs, I upvote (click to show/hide)
Post by: Glass on October 21, 2018, 01:50:13 pm
Post by: Rockeater on October 21, 2018, 01:51:22 pm
I don't see any huge probelom the idea can cause but I still don't trust them
Post by: Glass on October 21, 2018, 01:52:34 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 21, 2018, 02:16:48 pm
Guys, if we send them the data, you know they'll cherry-pick pieces out of it to claim we're abusing the dogs.
The "data" is just the formulas and procedures to do an uplift. Make of that what you will.
Post by: Glass on October 21, 2018, 02:25:27 pm
...ah, then nevermind.Guys, if we send them the data, you know they'll cherry-pick pieces out of it to claim we're abusing the dogs.
The "data" is just the formulas and procedures to do an uplift. Make of that what you will.
I mean, unless they try to claim the uplift is abuse, in which case they're even dumber than I thought.
Post by: omada on October 21, 2018, 03:00:23 pm
(both of the situations might make good spectacles for the government and our sector, maybe it will increase our power, remembering that we only have direct control over the argentinian military and the tech sector, although we have influence)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 21, 2018, 03:02:35 pm
they're even dumber than I thought.
Why do I feel like this is a common thing for Glass to say?
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 21, 2018, 03:16:45 pm
"Dynamic entry!"
"... just... got... here... in time..."
Breathes. Deeply. "I thought I heard someone discussing about uplifting animals on a larger scale."
"Doctor Fallas d' Florist, at your service. I'm the head of uplifting and splicing research here. I would love to coordinate with and supervise you to make this dream into a reality, as much as possible."
Post by: Glass on October 21, 2018, 03:25:45 pm
Anything but with E, maybe F2: state that it's better for then to create meat lab first as glass suggested, Give security that the government might help them in the process and the propaganda for people to change their font of meat, and THEN we will start mass uplifiting our nation to a age of fantasyI'm good with this.
(both of the situations might make good spectacles for the government and our sector, maybe it will increase our power, remembering that we only have direct control over the argentinian military and the tech sector, although we have influence)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 21, 2018, 03:59:35 pm
"Dynamic entry!"
Quill looks with some contempt at the filing cabinet he kicked over on his way in.
“You’re cleaning that up, you know,” he says.
"... just... got... here... in time..."
Breathes. Deeply. "I thought I heard someone discussing about uplifting animals on a larger scale."
“Oh god. He’s that furry’s expy isn’t he.”
"Doctor Fallas d' Florist, at your service.
“The word service implies that you’re helpful.”
I'm the head of uplifting and splicing research here.
“He’s not.”
I would love to coordinate with and supervise you to make this dream into a reality, as much as possible."
“Yeah, but sadly for you, you’re not gonna get to. SECURITY!”
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 21, 2018, 04:27:58 pm
Post by: Glass on October 21, 2018, 04:40:35 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 21, 2018, 04:47:47 pm
"Perfectly reasonable" my ass. You ran into a meeting without prompting - or even any in-universe reason to know what was being discussed
Watch it.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 21, 2018, 05:13:24 pm
C: KJP, Rockeater, Fallacy
F1 (propose cloned meat): Glass, Omada (called it F2 but it’s just F1+)
F2 (dorf in Fallacy): Fallacy
Includes E: Glass, Rockeater
No E: KJP, Omada
…some tiebreak power would be appreciated
Post by: omada on October 21, 2018, 05:46:51 pm
I think that my text got ambiguous or something but this was my idea from the start
just say that this surveillance is to guarantee that the technology don't goes to the wrong hands, show what padel did to our lovely dogs and imagine what people with the worst intentions could do
Post by: Smoke Mirrors on October 21, 2018, 06:07:35 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 21, 2018, 11:50:28 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 21, 2018, 11:57:57 pm
I vote with Glass.
Yeah, because I'm totally (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SarcasmMode) going to allow you to just pop in on your brother's request and cast a vote without even pretending to read the options. At least use the actual letter!
Post by: Smoke Mirrors on October 22, 2018, 03:58:50 am
F2 then, I actually did read through some of the above posts to get an idea of what was going on.I vote with Glass.
Yeah, because I'm totally (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SarcasmMode) going to allow you to just pop in on your brother's request and cast a vote without even pretending to read the options. At least use the actual letter!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 22, 2018, 06:21:25 am
F2 then, I actually did read through some of the above posts to get an idea of what was going on.I vote with Glass.
Yeah, because I'm totally (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SarcasmMode) going to allow you to just pop in on your brother's request and cast a vote without even pretending to read the options. At least use the actual letter!
Fallacy's F2 or Glass/Omada's F2?
Post by: Glass on October 22, 2018, 08:55:27 am
Blue, you know what he's talking about. Especially when you look at the top post in the quote micro-pyramid.F2 then, I actually did read through some of the above posts to get an idea of what was going on.I vote with Glass.
Yeah, because I'm totally (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SarcasmMode) going to allow you to just pop in on your brother's request and cast a vote without even pretending to read the options. At least use the actual letter!
Fallacy's F2 or Glass/Omada's F2?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 22, 2018, 06:23:53 pm
Post by: Glass on October 22, 2018, 06:25:26 pm
Post by: Iris on October 22, 2018, 06:29:03 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 22, 2018, 06:29:38 pm
Personally, I still think we should tell Evan. Get an ally in PETA.
If and only if Evan doesn't win, Mira would be my second choice.
Post by: Glass on October 22, 2018, 06:43:40 pm
I'd like to save it for if any good people come up who have skills that aren't fulfilled by Erin or Celling, though. Once we kick out the Secondborn, letting David in on the wall would be really useful.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 22, 2018, 07:35:52 pm
Post by: Rockeater on October 22, 2018, 11:32:25 pm
Post by: omada on October 23, 2018, 08:15:33 am
Post by: Rockeater on October 23, 2018, 08:43:37 am
Let's hope that procastination dont become a character as a weird troll by the GMBut if it does, you should call them NaN
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 23, 2018, 03:49:20 pm
Let's hope that procastination dont become a character as a weird troll by the GM
Hey that gives me an idea.
Post by: Glass on October 23, 2018, 03:51:29 pm
Don't.Let's hope that procastination dont become a character as a weird troll by the GM
Hey that gives me an idea.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 23, 2018, 04:23:16 pm
Blue, you know what he's talking about. Especially when you look at the top post in the quote micro-pyramid.F2 then, I actually did read through some of the above posts to get an idea of what was going on.I vote with Glass.
Yeah, because I'm totally (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SarcasmMode) going to allow you to just pop in on your brother's request and cast a vote without even pretending to read the options. At least use the actual letter!
Fallacy's F2 or Glass/Omada's F2?
Yeah I can look I'm just making sure
As PETA vote stands:
C: KJP, Rockeater, Fallacy
F1 (propose cloned meat): Glass, Omada (called it F2 but it’s just F1+), Smoke (presumably)
F2 (dorf in Fallacy): Fallacy
Includes E: Glass, Rockeater, KJP, Omada
No E:
As 4th wall vote stands:
Mira Kethalyn (slightly less moral mad scientist): Iridium, Fallacy if Evan doesn't win
Evan Wexcombe (PETA leader): Fallacy
Save it for now: KJP, Rockeater
Waiting on Omada and Glass
Post by: Glass on October 23, 2018, 06:01:24 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 25, 2018, 04:07:23 pm
C: KJP, Rockeater, Fallacy
F1 (propose cloned meat): Glass, Omada (called it F2 but it’s just F1+), Smoke (presumably)
F2 (dorf in Fallacy): Fallacy
Includes E: Glass, Rockeater, KJP, Omada
No E:
As 4th wall vote stands:
Mira Kethalyn (slightly less moral mad scientist): Iridium, Fallacy if Evan doesn't win
Evan Wexcombe (PETA leader): Fallacy
Save it for now: KJP, Rockeater, Glass
Well, please bear those in mind, we’re going to flash-sideways now.
The Secondborn's projection had hardly disappeared when the phone in the situation room rang again.
Celling picked it up. "Hello," says the wavering male voice on the other side of the line. "This is Jacob Eldin and Anna Drimoxi. We want to negotiate.”
Celling sighs. "What do you want, Jacob?" Celling asks fiercely.
"I believe we have a common enemy who we encountered at the docks," says Jacob. "This Secondborn of the Cisharni can't possibly be a good thing for you. I'm offering an alliance. We help you, and you help us."
"How do you propose such a thing?" asks Celling.
"You have come into possession of a device known as the Key of Taloc, right?"
How do you respond?
A: "We have no idea what you are talking about."
B: "We have heard of it, but it's just a legend. What do you know about it?"
C: "Yes, we have it, how did you know?"
D: "We have it, but it's been broken." (true)
Post by: Glass on October 25, 2018, 05:57:45 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 25, 2018, 11:59:40 pm
Post by: Iris on October 26, 2018, 10:33:57 am
Post by: Glass on October 26, 2018, 01:09:48 pm
F: Make no mention of our knowledge of the Key, but just say "Why are you asking?".I'm ok with this.
Post by: Rockeater on October 26, 2018, 02:35:36 pm
I do want to talk to them, so I'm fine with thisF: Make no mention of our knowledge of the Key, but just say "Why are you asking?".I'm ok with this.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 26, 2018, 03:57:08 pm
A girl's voice - presumably Anna Drimoxi - responds. "Because we think that it can be used to remove the Secondborn and save David. We're at the Children of the Shrubbery headquarters in Montevideo - we know you took it."
Response?
Post by: Glass on October 26, 2018, 04:24:05 pm
That is, "Their leader tried to wipe my mind with it. It got shattered in the process of stopping him.
And if you're thinking I'm just trying to keep it secret, I called in a missile strike on myself because I thought it would help the situation. Wouldn't I have used the thing by now if we had it?"
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 26, 2018, 04:58:05 pm
Ok, now we do the other part of how I'd responded.+1
That is, "Their leader tried to wipe my mind with it. It got shattered in the process of stopping him.
And if you're thinking I'm just trying to keep it secret, I called in a missile strike on myself because I thought it would help the situation. Wouldn't I have used the thing by now if we had it?"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 26, 2018, 05:19:08 pm
Spoiler: You'll probably hate me for this. (click to show/hide)
Post by: omada on October 26, 2018, 08:56:58 pm
the images probably are stenography, here is a decoder
https://futureboy.us/stegano/decinput.html
I won't try to do this now because my headache is calling me it's puppet
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 26, 2018, 09:31:49 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 27, 2018, 05:39:21 pm
“We have a means of reassembling it,” explains Anna. “From consulting the records, we believe that anyone of Boonering's family should be able to repair the Key.”
One of your scientists taps Celling on his shoulder and he turns, covering the phone. It's a middle-aged guy with short gray hair. “They claim they can reassemble they Key? They may be telling the truth, Celling. We did an analysis of the pathways in the crystal shards that we collected. We didn’t get much, but we did find evidence of a deeply-redundant re-initialization sequence, equipped to reconstruct the entire Key, set to fire upon checking some security consideration from the user. It may well be waiting for Boonering to pick it up, and anyone related to him may be near enough.”
Celling turns back to the phone. “So what?” he asks.
“We’ve got such a person,” Anna says, her voice worried but clearly confident. “Fredrik Boonering had a son, Joel Voy Boonering. You bring the Key fragments to us, and we can have J.V. recreate it. In exchange, we want Samael Drimoxi, Andrew Calvin, and Julia Seyllin freed.”
How do you respond?
Post by: Glass on October 27, 2018, 06:12:17 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 27, 2018, 06:23:38 pm
"The only way I can release them is if you all swear off this rebellion nonsense. Listen, it's not like I don't know that the Republic is flawed, but do you people even know what you're going to do if you manage to overthrow it? Do you have any idea about how to run a country? And all of that is disregarding the fact that your current plans are going to get thousands of innocent people killed, and will likely result in there being nothing left to rule."+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 27, 2018, 06:52:39 pm
"The only way I can release them is if you all swear off this rebellion nonsense. Listen, it's not like I don't know that the Republic is flawed, but do you people even know what you're going to do if you manage to overthrow it? Do you have any idea about how to run a country? And all of that is disregarding the fact that your current plans are going to get thousands of innocent people killed, and will likely result in there being nothing left to rule."
Goddamnit Glass.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 27, 2018, 09:27:36 pm
+1"The only way I can release them is if you all swear off this rebellion nonsense. Listen, it's not like I don't know that the Republic is flawed, but do you people even know what you're going to do if you manage to overthrow it? Do you have any idea about how to run a country? And all of that is disregarding the fact that your current plans are going to get thousands of innocent people killed, and will likely result in there being nothing left to rule."+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 27, 2018, 09:30:37 pm
+1"The only way I can release them is if you all swear off this rebellion nonsense. Listen, it's not like I don't know that the Republic is flawed, but do you people even know what you're going to do if you manage to overthrow it? Do you have any idea about how to run a country? And all of that is disregarding the fact that your current plans are going to get thousands of innocent people killed, and will likely result in there being nothing left to rule."+1
Damn you all.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 27, 2018, 09:51:46 pm
+1+1"The only way I can release them is if you all swear off this rebellion nonsense. Listen, it's not like I don't know that the Republic is flawed, but do you people even know what you're going to do if you manage to overthrow it? Do you have any idea about how to run a country? And all of that is disregarding the fact that your current plans are going to get thousands of innocent people killed, and will likely result in there being nothing left to rule."+1
Damn you all.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 27, 2018, 10:12:27 pm
+1"The only way I can release them is if you all swear off this rebellion nonsense. Listen, it's not like I don't know that the Republic is flawed, but do you people even know what you're going to do if you manage to overthrow it? Do you have any idea about how to run a country? And all of that is disregarding the fact that your current plans are going to get thousands of innocent people killed, and will likely result in there being nothing left to rule."+1
There is a silence after all this is said, and then Anna says firmly, “23rd Street and Osborne Avenue. 5 PM today. Bring Andrew, Sam, Julia, and the Key fragments. Come alone or you’re not getting anything.”
“Now wait a minute, Anna-” Celling begins.
click. Anna hangs up.
What will our policy be on the meetup?
A: Do as they say. Come alone and willing to negotiate. What we do there, whether we make the trade or not, can be decided later.
B: Bring backup; have people watching from nearby. Later decisions will be whether they are just there as security or as a trap.
C: Delay it a bit; make up an excuse as to why we can’t appear. Buys us more time. Write what the excuse will be
D: This is all too risky; forget it.
E: Something else…
Surely this isn’t the only way to get what we want?
A: Quietly attempt to locate the home base of the Children. It will be well hidden, and they may detect us, but if we find it we can just take the rebels.
B: Give public notice that the Children are to be arrested. This makes us more likely to find them but will absolutely alert the rebels.
C: Don’t try to find out where they are ahead of time.
Post by: Glass on October 27, 2018, 10:16:49 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 27, 2018, 10:19:56 pm
Fuck all that. Call back.
"Hello you have reached the rebels that want to destroy your country please leave your message after the beep BEEEEEEEEEEP"
^(not canon)
Post by: Madman198237 on October 27, 2018, 10:26:08 pm
Fuck all that. Call back.+1
Eh, they'll probably ignore us but why not TRY?
Post by: Glass on October 27, 2018, 10:27:03 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 27, 2018, 10:28:39 pm
Scratch the callback, Go to the meeting, by ourselves. Bring the key fragments. "I can't get you your friends on this short notice. But I can give you some really important information. Game-changing information." And then break the fourth wall to them.+1
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 27, 2018, 10:31:53 pm
Let's break this game. +1Scratch the callback, Go to the meeting, by ourselves. Bring the key fragments. "I can't get you your friends on this short notice. But I can give you some really important information. Game-changing information." And then break the fourth wall to them.+1
Post by: Madman198237 on October 27, 2018, 10:32:49 pm
+1 Victory through being superior at screwing over the GM than the GM is at screwing over us.Let's break this game. +1Scratch the callback, Go to the meeting, by ourselves. Bring the key fragments. "I can't get you your friends on this short notice. But I can give you some really important information. Game-changing information." And then break the fourth wall to them.+1
Post by: Rockeater on October 28, 2018, 12:23:09 am
"The only way I can release them is if you all swear off this rebellion nonsense. Listen, it's not like I don't know that the Republic is flawed, but do you people even know what you're going to do if you manage to overthrow it? Do you have any idea about how to run a country? And all of that is disregarding the fact that your current plans are going to get thousands of innocent people killed, and will likely result in there being nothing left to rule."
No idea what you expected
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 28, 2018, 10:15:58 am
“He actually blamed the Cherubs fiasco on me?” Quill asks.
“Yeah. When it came out, Padelheb painted you as an amoral mad scientist that was corrupting the children of Antarctica and everything.” Enir Nest, new Guardian of the State, explains. “Lots of us don’t believe it, of course, but the public ate it right up. How did your meeting with the activist go?”
Spoiler: I don’t know, how did it? (click to show/hide)
“I mean, I’m sure they were listening. But it seems they’re going to try to get more public support for the idea.”
“That could go south reasonably quickly,” Nest muses. “But we’ve got to make a statement as to the Cherub problem.”
What do you tell the people?
A: “I did it, I admit it. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it’s terrible and we’re going to reverse the effects of it on the children.” (-1 political) (you can decide whether to actually reverse the effects of it later)
B: “These things are necessary to keep the Republic running. It was a bad idea, but what’s done is done and nothing can be done for these kids.” (true) (-1 political or worse)
C: “Nest, pin it on Padelheb. He’s obviously slandering me for everything he’s done.” (roll on people finding out)
D: “Just deny everything. Burn the evidence and get rid of witnesses, it’s best this never sees the light of day. Anything Padelheb said can be explained as his lies.” (roll to get this done)
E: “Okay, I authorized that decision, but the idea itself comes from one of my colleagues. He’s been fired. (in universe Quill made the entire decision, although from a meta point of view this is more like the truth (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MetaphoricallyTrue)) (roll on the scapegoat clearing his name)
F: Something else…
Stats list check:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb Fansworth
Plot points to be resolved:
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Armen DeMarco
- Order of the Stick
- Rebel meeting
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
- PETA
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 28, 2018, 10:17:00 am
NEST: I'm sorry, what?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 28, 2018, 10:20:15 am
ERIN QUILL: And why are we focusing on me instead of Celling telling the plot?
NEST: I'm sorry, what?
(this is just a gag, not telling him the plot)
Post by: Glass on October 28, 2018, 10:23:08 am
ERIN QUILL: And why are we focusing on me instead of Celling telling the plot?Blue you are not allowed to make a fourth wall break even if it's not canon.
NEST: I'm sorry, what?
And E, blame it on T. Levine and P. Crunel (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7553024#msg7553024).
Plus we're going to reverse the effects of it.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on October 28, 2018, 02:54:54 pm
He made the call.
Within five minutes got picked up.
Another thirty went. The radio and other media went into arms.
“ T Levine, respected doctor and scientist in engineering and biology. Has confessed to the Cherubs?!”
He made a statement, he appears dirty due to self exile and wild Einstein hair.
“ I wanted to originally make a program to make the criminally insane and anoral into loyal, fighting machines. But the young having better growth and coping would seem like better candidates for such a thing. Oh it was wrong. But I felt it should have been done. I never went to full production of a convict Corp. and if your to hate someone. Hate me, and the damned rebels who murder innocent people day in and day out.”
Afterwards was escorted away, his fate now in hands of another. Which was always the case.
Edit: Hell if this gets pushed could be a regular to hop back in unless T Levine gets straight up murdered.
In case curious. Voting E. Just blame me, not the other one.
Post by: omada on October 28, 2018, 08:37:58 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 29, 2018, 01:24:54 am
The radio crackled about the news as he hears the Cherub project, which was his suggestion. Quill put it into action, seeing how as to save face with the people. He was to blame. He knew the Republic was flawed. Hell Erin was flawless but T Levinevrefused to leave the country, and wouldvtake the blame. For it was his idea, also he rather help the country than let it condem itself, the leadership needs to save face. Especially in the time of these god damned plot device rebels.+1
He made the call.
Within five minutes got picked up.
Another thirty went. The radio and other media went into arms.
“ T Levine, respected doctor and scientist in engineering a biology. As confessed to the Cherubs?!”
He made a statement, he appears dirty due to self exile and wild Einstein hair.
“ I wanted to originally make a program to make the criminally insane and anoral into loyal, fighting machines. But the young having better growth and coping would seem like better candidates for such a thing. Oh it was wrong. But I felt it should have been done. I never went to full production of a convict Corp. and if your to hate someone. Hate me, and the damned rebels who murder innocent people day in and day out.”
Afterwards was escorted away, his fate now in hands of another. Which was always the case.
Edit: Hell if this gets pushed could be a regular to hop back in unless T Levine gets straight up murdered.
In case curious. Voting E. Just blame me, not the other one.
Post by: Glass on October 29, 2018, 09:20:01 am
I mean there's not much to do here other than give a +1. Thanks for this, TL.The radio crackled about the news as he hears the Cherub project, which was his suggestion. Quill put it into action, seeing how as to save face with the people. He was to blame. He knew the Republic was flawed. Hell Erin was flawless but T Levinevrefused to leave the country, and wouldvtake the blame. For it was his idea, also he rather help the country than let it condem itself, the leadership needs to save face. Especially in the time of these god damned plot device rebels.+1
He made the call.
Within five minutes got picked up.
Another thirty went. The radio and other media went into arms.
“ T Levine, respected doctor and scientist in engineering a biology. As confessed to the Cherubs?!”
He made a statement, he appears dirty due to self exile and wild Einstein hair.
“ I wanted to originally make a program to make the criminally insane and anoral into loyal, fighting machines. But the young having better growth and coping would seem like better candidates for such a thing. Oh it was wrong. But I felt it should have been done. I never went to full production of a convict Corp. and if your to hate someone. Hate me, and the damned rebels who murder innocent people day in and day out.”
Afterwards was escorted away, his fate now in hands of another. Which was always the case.
Edit: Hell if this gets pushed could be a regular to hop back in unless T Levine gets straight up murdered.
In case curious. Voting E. Just blame me, not the other one.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on October 29, 2018, 09:54:42 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2018, 10:14:05 pm
The time has arrived and Celling is about to leave when he's stopped by Fansworth.
"You're leaving to meet with the rebels. With the Key fragments, without the prisoners, and without any backup." He states these as facts. "Care to explain why?"
What do you say?
Post by: Glass on October 30, 2018, 10:15:59 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2018, 10:18:47 pm
"I can't tell you, because it would ruin the plan, but trust me on this. I'm going to turn them to our side." (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnspokenPlanGuarantee)
FANSWORTH: "I don't believe you. You've been sympathizing with these rebels every step of the way. You're Argentinian, maybe you even agree with them. I think you're just going to give them the Key shards."
Post by: Glass on October 30, 2018, 10:24:09 pm
"Fansworth. Look at me.
I think we can both agree that the Republic isn't perfect. But I do know that it's the best country anyone in the world is going to be getting. The problem with the rebels is that they don't understand where to stop in striving for improvement. I'm going to show them where along the line they screwed up - which, for the record, is as soon as they got it in their heads to make this a 'rebellion' instead of just trying to make changes in a legal manner - and bring them back to the right path. They're not bad kids, just misguided. Extremely misguided...
Listen. Feel free to follow me. Even bring a couple troops with you. But stay out of sight of the meeting place. They'll be more receptive to reason if it at least looks like I'm there alone."
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 30, 2018, 10:26:42 pm
*sigh*+1
"Fansworth. Look at me.
I think we can both agree that the Republic isn't perfect. But I do know that it's the best country anyone in the world is going to be getting. The problem with the rebels is that they don't understand where to stop in striving for improvement. I'm going to show them where along the line they screwed up - which, for the record, is as soon as they got it in their heads to make this a 'rebellion' instead of just trying to make changes in a legal manner - and bring them back to the right path. They're not bad kids, just misguided. Extremely misguided...
Listen. Feel free to follow me. Even bring a couple troops with you. But stay out of sight of the meeting place. They'll be more receptive to reason if it at least looks like I'm there alone."
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 30, 2018, 10:33:57 pm
+1.*sigh*+1
"Fansworth. Look at me.
I think we can both agree that the Republic isn't perfect. But I do know that it's the best country anyone in the world is going to be getting. The problem with the rebels is that they don't understand where to stop in striving for improvement. I'm going to show them where along the line they screwed up - which, for the record, is as soon as they got it in their heads to make this a 'rebellion' instead of just trying to make changes in a legal manner - and bring them back to the right path. They're not bad kids, just misguided. Extremely misguided...
Listen. Feel free to follow me. Even bring a couple troops with you. But stay out of sight of the meeting place. They'll be more receptive to reason if it at least looks like I'm there alone."
"Seriously. Stay out of sight. Period."
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 30, 2018, 10:35:21 pm
+1+1.*sigh*+1
"Fansworth. Look at me.
I think we can both agree that the Republic isn't perfect. But I do know that it's the best country anyone in the world is going to be getting. The problem with the rebels is that they don't understand where to stop in striving for improvement. I'm going to show them where along the line they screwed up - which, for the record, is as soon as they got it in their heads to make this a 'rebellion' instead of just trying to make changes in a legal manner - and bring them back to the right path. They're not bad kids, just misguided. Extremely misguided...
Listen. Feel free to follow me. Even bring a couple troops with you. But stay out of sight of the meeting place. They'll be more receptive to reason if it at least looks like I'm there alone."
"Seriously. Stay out of sight. Period."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2018, 10:42:51 pm
*sigh*
"Fansworth. Look at me.
I think we can both agree that the Republic isn't perfect. But I do know that it's the best country anyone in the world is going to be getting. The problem with the rebels is that they don't understand where to stop in striving for improvement. I'm going to show them where along the line they screwed up - which, for the record, is as soon as they got it in their heads to make this a 'rebellion' instead of just trying to make changes in a legal manner - and bring them back to the right path. They're not bad kids, just misguided. Extremely misguided...
Listen. Feel free to follow me. Even bring a couple troops with you. But stay out of sight of the meeting place. They'll be more receptive to reason if it at least looks like I'm there alone."
FANSWORTH: "I somehow doubt reason will work on them, Celling."
Post by: Glass on October 30, 2018, 10:45:59 pm
Quill's been teaching me some mind tricks. I just need to get them to listen long enough for them to work."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2018, 10:47:22 pm
"...ok, so it's not exactly reason.
Quill's been teaching me some mind tricks. I just need to get them to listen long enough for them to work."
FANSWORTH: "Mind tricks? May the record show that you have departed the realm of sane men and are now speaking pure lunacy. What are you talking about?"
Post by: Glass on October 30, 2018, 10:50:09 pm
Now would be a good time to realize that one of the very next things Erin would do with his time is to check in on the rebel situation, and that this is a good time where he would call in.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2018, 10:51:48 pm
Now would be a good time to realize that one of the very next things Erin would do with his time is to check in on the rebel situation, and that this is a good time where he would call in.
That would require me to figure out the timeline of the last few real world months of this game, and for you to have transoceanic telephone lines, neither of which is happening.
Post by: Glass on October 30, 2018, 10:54:13 pm
Given that Erin has been able to contact Celling while the latter was in the middle of the ocean, before they started working closely together, I would think Erin has the ability to contact them right now.Now would be a good time to realize that one of the very next things Erin would do with his time is to check in on the rebel situation, and that this is a good time where he would call in.
That would require me to figure out the timeline of the last few real world months of this game, and for you to have transoceanic telephone lines, neither of which is happening.
Also, you said the last thing was a flash-sideways.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 30, 2018, 10:57:15 pm
Given that Erin has been able to contact Celling while the latter was in the middle of the ocean, before they started working closely together, I would think Erin has the ability to contact them right now.Now would be a good time to realize that one of the very next things Erin would do with his time is to check in on the rebel situation, and that this is a good time where he would call in.
That would require me to figure out the timeline of the last few real world months of this game, and for you to have transoceanic telephone lines, neither of which is happening.
Also, you said the last thing was a flash-sideways.
Near-coast radio. Can't cross the Drake.
It's a flash-sideways, but not the same time. The last time the Antarctica and Argentina narratives were synced was the Reign of Padelheb, I'll have to add up all the time passes on both sides.
Post by: Glass on October 30, 2018, 10:59:19 pm
And we're dealing with Erin Quill here, Blue. You know that in the time since then, he'd have made a long-range communicator to talk with Celling, if for no other reason than to have plausible deniability on why he knows everything about what's going on with him and his mission.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on October 31, 2018, 03:42:21 pm
“ Glory, to the Republic.”
Bang! Right as the sound was made, he made a crack in his mouth as the bullets struck his body. It was quite painful as he falls face first. Apparently dead.
Latter
As his body was to be embalmed, he awakens. And with new found strength torn the workers apart with his bare hands and got a fresh change of clothes. His security pill worked, did not give Quill all his ideas. As he then arranged his appearance to leave after washing off the blood.
Even latter
He uses a second account with a name and new face to leave. Thinking the solution was no longer to save the Republic from Rebels. But show the rebels worse evils to rally against. On his private jet with gear was off.
To good old Russia.
( Willing to core, but wanted to make T Levine a character now. A truly anti hero who will do war crimes just to show how secure life is a good thing. Plus many more crazy inventions. Going full mad scientist now.)
Post by: Rockeater on October 31, 2018, 03:48:23 pm
Post by: Glass on October 31, 2018, 04:40:53 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on October 31, 2018, 05:40:51 pm
It it is Blues game. Either just plain dead or there is a new villain/with odd intentions in the work.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2018, 06:23:42 pm
We got super tech that allows to make wormholes. And we got a literal God as a enemy. That is not really as far of a step to say I rigged up a plane with many other things considering I made master chief, on child size.
This is distressingly hard to argue against.
Post by: Iris on October 31, 2018, 06:26:15 pm
However, a Cool Airship is both viable and stylish.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2018, 06:27:19 pm
I ask because "Give them a greater evil to fight" sounds like something Quill would do.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on October 31, 2018, 06:37:17 pm
He is definitively a believer of some outside force and is now just going along with the motions, going for Dark Messiah Given death and rebirth, plots to make a new super nation (salvation)
But, given his bitter views, is not the nicest of guys now.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2018, 06:44:55 pm
Given he “died” and resurrected himself. With super powers and no longer with his home land, I would think in the moments he was dead, felt a alien presence in his psyche and given how out side forces and plot devices keep making trouble.
He is definitively a believer of some outside force and is now just going along with the motions, going for Dark Messiah Given death and rebirth, plots to make a new super nation (salvation)
But, given his bitter views, is not the nicest of guys now.
We can't resurrect people. We will take your idea, but the execution will be different
This post will make this clear.
T. Levin stepped into Quill’s office, pushing the door open with an unsteady hand. He is old and balding, and sits weakly in the wooden chair in front of Erin’s desk, folding his hands in front of him.
Erin begins to speak. “Mr. Levin, let me first thank you for admitting to beginning the Cherub incident. We appreciate you drawing attention away from us.”
“I’m gonna admit to my mistakes, sir, I’m not letting you take the blame for what I did.”
Erin Quill nods. “I’ve read your proposal about faking your death, and… I’m interested. We can't resurrect people like that, but we can try something similar.”
What do you want to try?
A: “Let’s opt for just faking your death, though. We can’t pull off a flashy escape. But we can arrange for you to appear dead when you’re… not quite… and then let you leave for another continent.”
B: “Such an escape would certainly pique the interest of the rebels. You can’t actually kill people, of course, but we could get the whole facility to play along with the idea of you fighting your way through. It’s not going to look good if it gets out though.”
C: “It’s much too risky to let your head get to the block, there’s too much chance that the public discovers our role in it. How about I just pull some strings and get you freed and exiled to another country legally?
D: “We’re doing nothing of the sort. You’re going to stay right here, in jail.”
Note that Tyrant Leviathan may be able to hamper your decision, in certain ways, if you do not agree with him. You can still force him to play along, but consider him to have partial veto power.
Post by: Glass on October 31, 2018, 06:48:54 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 31, 2018, 06:54:54 pm
C, exiled to the deserts of North America.+1
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on October 31, 2018, 07:15:28 pm
: deletes previous posts plot lines.:
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 31, 2018, 09:24:21 pm
Post by: Glass on October 31, 2018, 09:41:44 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on October 31, 2018, 10:33:26 pm
+1C, exiled to the deserts of North America.+1
+E: "We'll let you have your pick of our prisons with regards to who we're sending with you. A second chance is something that a lot of people might go for. Just make sure that the rebellion doesn't subvert anyone."
Post by: Rockeater on November 01, 2018, 07:07:42 am
+1+1C, exiled to the deserts of North America.+1
+E: "We'll let you have your pick of our prisons with regards to who we're sending with you. A second chance is something that a lot of people might go for. Just make sure that the rebellion doesn't subvert anyone."
Post by: Glass on November 01, 2018, 08:46:30 am
Post by: Rockeater on November 01, 2018, 08:50:59 am
Post by: omada on November 01, 2018, 08:24:20 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 01, 2018, 09:37:24 pm
C: and give him later some operatives so we can explore the region and it's inhabitants, let's colonize america+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 01, 2018, 11:05:55 pm
Fansworth seems uncertain of Celling’s explanation, but ultimately, reluctantly, goes along with Celling’s plan. “I’ll follow close behind with a squad of marksmen, Celling. First sight of trouble, I’m going in.”
Celling nods. “Alright then. Give me a chance though. I feel like I can talk some sense into these people.”
It’s a brisk afternoon and the intersection is fairly empty. The setting sun casts long shadows across the trees and houses. Celling stands at the corner of a red brick building. In his left hand he holds the briefcase that contains the shards of the Key of Taloc’s core gem. In his right he holds a radio.
He clicks it on. “Fansworth, any signs of our friends?”
“None whatsoever, Celling,” Fansworth replies. Celling guessed that he was holed up in one of the houses across the street from him. “Be careful.”
Celling puts down the radio. Seconds later, a door opens in the side of the building. Celling recognizes Jacob Eldin and Anna Drimoxi, as well as an older, curly-haired, sharp-nosed woman, who drags a wide-eyed child that can’t be older than four by one arm. Anna lifts a gun to eye level and aims it squarely at Celling. “Where is Sam?”
“Hello, Anna,” Celling begins. “My name is Wenton-”
“I don’t care,” Anna spits out. “Where is my grandfather?”
Response?
Note: I’m doing this for NaNoWriMo (https://nanowrimo.org/) so expect a lot more Purple Prose (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PurpleProse) out of this for the next month. 262 words written, 49738 words to go. Including these ones (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MindScrew).
Post by: Glass on November 01, 2018, 11:12:47 pm
That said. I have some information for you that would completely change the game..." And then, as I suggested earlier, break the fourth wall to them.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 01, 2018, 11:58:10 pm
"As I was going to tell you in the call, he's being held in Antarctica, as are the rest of the people you had been working with. I understand that you want to see them, but even if I thought I could safely bring them, there's no way I could get them here within a reasonable amount of time.+1
That said. I have some information for you that would completely change the game..." And then, as I suggested earlier, break the fourth wall to them.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2018, 10:56:36 am
"As I was going to tell you in the call, he's being held in Antarctica, as are the rest of the people you had been working with. I understand that you want to see them, but even if I thought I could safely bring them, there's no way I could get them here within a reasonable amount of time.
That said. I have some information for you that would completely change the game..." And then, as I suggested earlier, break the fourth wall to them.
The woman looks at the briefcase Celling is holding. “Is that the Key?” she asks.
Anna ignores her. Her hands are shaking as she holds the gun on Celling. “And what might that be?”
The child takes a step back and sobs shrilly. The woman shoots him a deathly glare and pulls hm forward. Jacob Eldin steps forward to stand to the left of Anna, looking concerned.
What do you do? !ALERT! Revealing the fourth wall to people that did not arrive at it by their own reasoning is FORBIDDEN under the conventions of this narrative past the first person! DO NOT DO THIS!
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on November 02, 2018, 12:13:55 pm
North America, part of the “new world.” Disgraced Titus Levine is now in the desert, with hand full of operatives. As he goes through his inventions and drinks something, turns younger and stronger and anime black hair as he spoke.
“ Must say , different from home. I will rule this land, for the home land.” As they then set up lab in a cave and collect animals, as he had one collection already.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 02, 2018, 01:12:24 pm
Meanwhile+1
North America, part of the “new world.” Disgraced Titus Levine is now in the desert, with hand full of operatives. As he goes through his inventions and drinks something, turns younger and stronger and anime black hair as he spoke.
“ Must day, different from home. I will rule this land, for the home land.” As they then set up lab in a cave and collect animals, as he had one collection already.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2018, 03:46:23 pm
Meanwhile
North America, part of the “new world.” Disgraced Titus Levine is now in the desert, with hand full of operatives. As he goes through his inventions and drinks something, turns younger and stronger and anime black hair as he spoke.
“ Must say , different from home. I will rule this land, for the home land.” As they then set up lab in a cave and collect animals, as he had one collection already.
We don't have anti-aging serums, but the rest of this will absolutely happen, if the rest succeed in getting you exiled that is.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2018, 07:13:47 pm
Post by: Glass on November 02, 2018, 09:43:04 pm
If at any point we have been fatally wounded but remain able to speak in some capacity, say "This world is an illusion, exiles."
If there's not enough left of us to be able to do so, have the phrase just happen, echoing in the air like it was said by a ghost. Because that can happen in stories when people who need to get in their last words are too dead to give them.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 02, 2018, 10:06:18 pm
[Note: this is spoken as quickly as can be done without losing clarity.] "I don't have much time, so I'll make this quick: reality as you know it does not exist. We're living in a construct, a vessel for a narrative. We're being used as tools to tell a story, to play around with. Erin and I have been fighting against it, against the Plot, ever since we became aware of it - you can only fight it if you become aware of it. And it knows this, and it actively works to stop the spread of knowledge - I told you I don't have much time, that's why. Any minute, there'll be a meteor strike right on me, or I'll have a heart attack, or some similarly-contrived event will happen to kill me. When that happens, Erin is your best chance. Find him and tell him what you know; he can help." [I don't expect to live this long, so if we do, give us a second part to continue with so that our last moments aren't just awkward scilence.]+1
If at any point we have been fatally wounded but remain able to speak in some capacity, say "This world is an illusion, exiles."
If there's not enough left of us to be able to do so, have the phrase just happen, echoing in the air like it was said by a ghost. Because that can happen in stories when people who need to get in their last words are too dead to give them.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2018, 10:59:17 pm
With our hands in the sky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
Gonna raise our cup (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
To the stadium lights (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
For the glory! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
http://bit.ly/2Ry2HrU
For the glory! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
We celebrate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
With the city tonight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
Hear the hometown cheer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
It’s the ultimate high (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
For the glory! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUx6zTxr98)
…no. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LittleNo)
"I don't have much time, so I'll make this quick: reality as you know it does not exist. We're living in a construct, a vessel for a narrative. We're being used as tools to tell a story, to play around with.
Anna looks confused by this. She whirls her head left, looking behind her to Jacob for support. “What the hell are you saying?” she asks.
Jacob steps forward until he’s face to face with Celling. “You think this is funny?” he asks, shaking with rage, almost spitting in Celling’s face. “You think we want to listen to your metaphysical ramblings? Indulge in your little stories and ponderings while our friends suffer? This is all a game to you, isn’t it?”
“It’s not a game, it’s deadly serious,” says Celling. “But if it is a game, we’re on the same side.”
“We are not on your side!” Anna shouts. She steps forward and holds out a hand. “Give us the Key shards. Leave us alone. Don’t come back.”
What do you do?
A: Hand over the Key fragments
B: Refuse to hand them over
C: Something else...
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 02, 2018, 11:20:33 pm
Choose a faction:
Republic (+1 to Science! rolls)
Rebel (+1 to Political rolls)
Empire (-1 to Existence rolls)
Plot (-1 to all rolls, +1 to strike hours per roll)
Rolls:
Standard: 2d6, keep 1
Dramatic: 1d6
You are all in the same prison cell.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2018, 11:24:27 pm
Basta! Kilojoule Proton, Bay Watcher of dubious merit, chooses to rebel against the Plot by going on strike! Time to flash awayways!
Choose a faction:
Republic (+1 to Science! rolls)
Rebel (+1 to Political rolls)
Empire (-1 to Existence rolls)
Plot (-1 to all rolls, +1 to strike hours per roll)
Rolls:
Standard: 2d6, keep 1
Dramatic: 1d6
You are all in the same prison cell.
F**k this may actually work
Post by: Glass on November 02, 2018, 11:27:53 pm
Basta! Kilojoule Proton, Bay Watcher of dubious merit, chooses to rebel against the Plot by going on strike! Time to flash awayways!1. I'm confused.
Choose a faction:
Republic (+1 to Science! rolls)
Rebel (+1 to Political rolls)
Empire (-1 to Existence rolls)
Plot (-1 to all rolls, +1 to strike hours per roll)
Rolls:
Standard: 2d6, keep 1
Dramatic: 1d6
You are all in the same prison cell.
2. Separate: I found this (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tRbdwAHgRKlWYeLPG8EDPTsV0XICCHZCHuUXEGOF4Gc/mobilebasic) in Blue's post. It's supposed to be transparent between the first two "For The Glory"s.
It's not, but it's supposed to be.
EDIT: first letter of each line. "What you do does not matter."
Aside from going on strike, it seems, apparently.
Faction: Republic
Name: Jeremy Leiden
Description: Scientist. Specializes cryology, the study of ice and its properties. An important topic when you live in Antarctica. Has silver-blond hair that seems to shine a pale blue color. Slightly taller than average.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 02, 2018, 11:30:54 pm
Basta! Kilojoule Proton, Bay Watcher of dubious merit, chooses to rebel against the Plot by going on strike! Time to flash awayways!1. I'm confused.
Choose a faction:
Republic (+1 to Science! rolls)
Rebel (+1 to Political rolls)
Empire (-1 to Existence rolls)
Plot (-1 to all rolls, +1 to strike hours per roll)
Rolls:
Standard: 2d6, keep 1
Dramatic: 1d6
You are all in the same prison cell.
2. Separate: I found this (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tRbdwAHgRKlWYeLPG8EDPTsV0XICCHZCHuUXEGOF4Gc/mobilebasic) in Blue's post. It's supposed to be transparent between the first two "For The Glory"s.
It's not, but it's supposed to be.
I have no idea what skin you're using, but it's transparent on mine.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 03, 2018, 12:05:02 am
Although the sky isn't directly visible from the window, it appears to be nighttime. Perhaps it would be wise not to wake the other prisoners...
Spoiler: Party skills (click to show/hide)
=
Post by: Glass on November 03, 2018, 12:55:18 am
Just try to get some decent sleep tonight.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 03, 2018, 01:17:21 am
Quote from: Dream (4)
Two dolls, one with an axe slung over its back, stand by a tall pillar of some sort. The unarmed doll cuts a yawning tear into the very fabric of reality, and a locomotive-faced warrior barges in. Gouts of steam erupt from the warrior's face as it greets the doll in a distorted, sing-song voice: "Helloooooooo M--"
Leiden is now busy sleeping. Would any of the other prisoners like to wake up?
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 03, 2018, 09:58:18 am
A
Post by: Glass on November 03, 2018, 10:13:58 am
"That unfortunately did not go as planned. That said, it does open up at least one possibility. How much of what I said did you hear, Fansworth?" [I will continue this based on how much he did.]
EDIT: Given that we know that Fansworth did not hear anything, the above introduction is essentially moot. Instead:
"That unfortunately did not go as planned. That said, it does open up at least one possibility, and, I believe, allows me to share what I was actually trying to accomplish. Simply put, reality as we know it isn't real. It is a construct to tell a story, and one that does not favor us. Have you ever asked me if I believe in a higher power? They exist, multiple of them, and we are quite literally a game to them, to be played from the comfort of their homes as a distraction from "real life". We're game pieces to them, and the only way we can get out of that position is by knowing about it - which is why they take so much effort to prevent anyone from realizing. Erin, though, has managed to gain a concession from them: one attempt to show the truth to others, without repercussions from them. What I wanted to do was impart this knowledge upon the rebels, so as to get them to realize the truth of the matter, but they're not willing to believe me. But you've seen what's happened recently, Fansworth. I think you've begun to see the pattern.
Would you like to see how far down the rabbit hole goes?"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 03, 2018, 10:54:55 am
Back to SPAMOVERLORD:
A
My suggestion for the game proper: Walk out and go discuss this with Fansworth.
"That unfortunately did not go as planned. That said, it does open up at least one possibility. How much of what I said did you hear, Fansworth?" [I will continue this based on how much he did.]
The rebels have you at gunpoint. Can I have a +1 on just taking both of these at once?
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 03, 2018, 11:21:24 am
+1Back to SPAMOVERLORD:
AMy suggestion for the game proper: Walk out and go discuss this with Fansworth.
"That unfortunately did not go as planned. That said, it does open up at least one possibility. How much of what I said did you hear, Fansworth?" [I will continue this based on how much he did.]
The rebels have you at gunpoint. Can I have a +1 on just taking both of these at once?
Post by: Rockeater on November 03, 2018, 11:29:34 am
+1+1Back to SPAMOVERLORD:
AMy suggestion for the game proper: Walk out and go discuss this with Fansworth.
"That unfortunately did not go as planned. That said, it does open up at least one possibility. How much of what I said did you hear, Fansworth?" [I will continue this based on how much he did.]
The rebels have you at gunpoint. Can I have a +1 on just taking both of these at once?
Post by: Glass on November 03, 2018, 11:50:58 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 03, 2018, 02:21:29 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 03, 2018, 03:59:33 pm
It's not clear because Glass edited the post, but the leading option now is give the rebels the shards of the Key of Taloc and call Fansworth to tell him about the Fourth Wall. Can I get yes or no votes on this?+1
Post by: Glass on November 03, 2018, 04:08:44 pm
This is your third time voting on this one thing, in fact.
Post by: Madman198237 on November 03, 2018, 04:11:49 pm
SLOW YOUR CRAZED, PLOT-DRIVEN, PLAYER-HATING, PARTICULARLY UNPLEASANT, PROBABLY NECROMANTIC HORSES, OK?
Besides, I've reached page 94. Not too many left, really.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 03, 2018, 04:54:44 pm
KJP, you already voted.+1
This is your third time voting on this one thing, in fact.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 03, 2018, 05:10:58 pm
KJP, you already voted.
This is your third time voting on this one thing, in fact.
I'm resetting votes just to get a better look at what people really want, so KJP's earlier vote has been nixed.
I vote in favor of a tie for the present---AKA I'm voting with Glass. I'm still catching up, blue.
SLOW YOUR CRAZED, PLOT-DRIVEN, PLAYER-HATING, PARTICULARLY UNPLEASANT, PROBABLY NECROMANTIC HORSES, OK?
Besides, I've reached page 94. Not too many left, really.
...have you been reading all this time?
Post by: Madman198237 on November 03, 2018, 05:58:32 pm
EDIT:
So, how about we point out to Anna that the Secondborn is out there, and if she has the intact Key she is a prime target, along with the kid and anyone in the general vicinity. The Secondborn has already shown that collateral damage is meaningless to him, after all.
EDIT2: Since people took this as an actual action.
"Look, the Key is a psychic device in nature, yes? You ought to remember that we happen to have a dangerous lunatic running around with a love for control and a thing about world domination. If I was to give you this key, the kid here would be next on the Secondborn's list. The list of people who he's running around destroying utterly. I don't know if you've heard, but he razed the temple of the Protinam to the ground. Killed them all, burned it, and stole a large artifact, in less time than it took us to send a team to help them. Do you understand the stakes? One...thing, destroyed an entire group of people with mind powers, burned their sanctuary, and stole their stuff, before a group of mortals could even reach the site."
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 03, 2018, 06:58:22 pm
About four hours for a full(ish) read, skipping a page or two here and there but getting all the plot points.+1
EDIT:
So, how about we point out to Anna that the Secondborn is out there, and if she has the intact Key she is a prime target, along with the kid and anyone in the general vicinity. The Secondborn has already shown that collateral damage is meaningless to him, after all.
Post by: Glass on November 03, 2018, 07:01:24 pm
+1About four hours for a full(ish) read, skipping a page or two here and there but getting all the plot points.+1
EDIT:
So, how about we point out to Anna that the Secondborn is out there, and if she has the intact Key she is a prime target, along with the kid and anyone in the general vicinity. The Secondborn has already shown that collateral damage is meaningless to him, after all.
Post by: Madman198237 on November 03, 2018, 07:40:02 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 03, 2018, 07:42:57 pm
About four hours for a full(ish) read, skipping a page or two here and there but getting all the plot points.+1
EDIT:
So, how about we point out to Anna that the Secondborn is out there, and if she has the intact Key she is a prime target, along with the kid and anyone in the general vicinity. The Secondborn has already shown that collateral damage is meaningless to him, after all.
EDIT2: Since people took this as an actual action.
"Look, the Key is a psychic device in nature, yes? You ought to remember that we happen to have a dangerous lunatic running around with a love for control and a thing about world domination. If I was to give you this key, the kid here would be next on the Secondborn's list. The list of people who he's running around destroying utterly. I don't know if you've heard, but he razed the temple of the Protinam to the ground. Killed them all, burned it, and stole a large artifact, in less time than it took us to send a team to help them. Do you understand the stakes? One...thing, destroyed an entire group of people with mind powers, burned their sanctuary, and stole their stuff, before a group of mortals could even reach the site."
Post by: Glass on November 03, 2018, 07:48:11 pm
+1.About four hours for a full(ish) read, skipping a page or two here and there but getting all the plot points.+1
EDIT:
So, how about we point out to Anna that the Secondborn is out there, and if she has the intact Key she is a prime target, along with the kid and anyone in the general vicinity. The Secondborn has already shown that collateral damage is meaningless to him, after all.
EDIT2: Since people took this as an actual action.
"Look, the Key is a psychic device in nature, yes? You ought to remember that we happen to have a dangerous lunatic running around with a love for control and a thing about world domination. If I was to give you this key, the kid here would be next on the Secondborn's list. The list of people who he's running around destroying utterly. I don't know if you've heard, but he razed the temple of the Protinam to the ground. Killed them all, burned it, and stole a large artifact, in less time than it took us to send a team to help them. Do you understand the stakes? One...thing, destroyed an entire group of people with mind powers, burned their sanctuary, and stole their stuff, before a group of mortals could even reach the site."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 03, 2018, 08:50:24 pm
"Look, the Key is a psychic device in nature, yes? You ought to remember that we happen to have a dangerous lunatic running around with a love for control and a thing about world domination. If I was to give you this key, the kid here would be next on the Secondborn's list. The list of people who he's running around destroying utterly. I don't know if you've heard, but he razed the temple of the Protinam to the ground. Killed them all, burned it, and stole a large artifact, in less time than it took us to send a team to help them. Do you understand the stakes? One...thing, destroyed an entire group of people with mind powers, burned their sanctuary, and stole their stuff, before a group of mortals could even reach the site."
Anna is obviously affected by this line of reasoning. “The… the Key is a psychic weapon,” she says. “Manipulates minds. We think it could be our one chance to defeat the Secondborn, possibly excise him.”
The woman steps forward. “This Key could exorcise the demon of which you speak within seconds, once returned to Boonering’s rightful heir,” she says, gesturing at the little kid behind her. He looks up at her and laughs. “It’s your one chance to get your prophet back.”
“Besides,” adds Jacob, “You’ve been holding the shards for some time now, and the Secondborn hasn't come after you. So why’s that, eh? What makes you think he’ll show up to take them from us?”
What do you do?
A: Hand over the Key fragments
B: Continue refusing, give what to say
Post by: Madman198237 on November 03, 2018, 09:09:02 pm
More importantly, I will not allow you to hand a weapon to a child and assume that they will be able to master it fast enough to bring down the Secondborn.
I have an option for you, though. Come with us. We will not remake the Key, not here...but it is possible we will do so later. I believe you know Erin Quill? The Protinam, we learned, cannot search the future around him. There are too many possibilities appearing and dissolving rapidly for them to make any sense of. We will go there...and then we will see what can be done about this. I will commit to nothing now, because the less we decide on the harder it will be for the Secondborn to track us down. I think you can agree that, for now at the least, we need to work together. A living Secondborn is a far worse threat to the entire world than the Republic ever could be.
Post by: Glass on November 03, 2018, 09:12:36 pm
I was gonna finish this but MM is really good.
+1 to their speech.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 03, 2018, 09:21:41 pm
He can see the future. He stole an artifact from the Protinam that allows him to search the future from any point. I don't believe you know how the Protinam's abilities work. They can see branches in the future based on decisions and choices. It's possible the Secondborn has not yet mastered the ability. Perhaps more likely is that he has not yet thought to consider the right choices, that he has not yet seen the futures in which Jacob might confront him with the Key. When he does, he will desire this weapon, or its destruction. It is how his mind works: to strengthen and defend Atlantis is his calling. If he cannot possess it, he will destroy it.+1
More importantly, I will not allow you to hand a weapon to a child and assume that they will be able to master it fast enough to bring down the Secondborn.
I have an option for you, though. Come with us. We will not remake the Key, not here...but it is possible we will do so later. I believe you know Erin Quill? The Protinam, we learned, cannot search the future around him. There are too many possibilities appearing and dissolving rapidly for them to make any sense of. We will go there...and then we will see what can be done about this. I will commit to nothing now, because the less we decide on the harder it will be for the Secondborn to track us down. I think you can agree that, for now at the least, we need to work together. A living Secondborn is a far worse threat to the entire world than the Republic ever could be.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 05, 2018, 11:18:18 am
Angela snaps back to reality. That may be a bit of an overused term, as Protinam powers do not require a trance state of any sort, but looking one way always means you’ll pay less attention to everything else. She gasps in shock for a fraction of a second, then runs down the hallway to find Merrowitz.
Celling’s just parroting information from beyond the fourth wall at this point. He doesn’t really like this, as he has no idea how accurate everything he says really is. He’s looked up to the world beyond to see what the “Sindari” universe looks like, but he hasn’t fought the Secondborn personally, so he just lets the new voice in his head say what it wants to say.
That sounds really insane now that he thinks about it.
He can see the future. He stole an artifact from the Protinam that allows him to search the future from any point. I don't believe you know how the Protinam's abilities work. They can see branches in the future based on decisions and choices. It's possible the Secondborn has not yet mastered the ability. Perhaps more likely is that he has not yet thought to consider the right choices, that he has not yet seen the futures in which Jacob might confront him with the Key. When he does, he will desire this weapon, or its destruction. It is how his mind works: to strengthen and defend Atlantis is his calling. If he cannot possess it, he will destroy it.
More importantly, I will not allow you to hand a weapon to a child and assume that they will be able to master it fast enough to bring down the Secondborn.
I have an option for you, though. Come with us. We will not remake the Key, not here...but it is possible we will do so later. I believe you know Erin Quill? The Protinam, we learned, cannot search the future around him. There are too many possibilities appearing and dissolving rapidly for them to make any sense of. We will go there...and then we will see what can be done about this. I will commit to nothing now, because the less we decide on the harder it will be for the Secondborn to track us down. I think you can agree that, for now at the least, we need to work together. A living Secondborn is a far worse threat to the entire world than the Republic ever could be.
As he gives information on why they can’t face the Secondborn alone, and proposes an alliance against a greater threat, he sees that the rebels are beginning to agree. Anna begins to relax, lowering the gun. The woman with Boonering’s son looks less tense. Jacob steps back and begins to listen.
For the record, it takes more than two shots in the back to kill General Madeline Merrowitz. She’s confined to a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown, and dragging an IV tube, but clearly is not down for the count. Currently she’s sitting behind her desk answering papers.
Anglea runs in. “General, I just got a fix on the Pillar of Eternity - the Protinam artifact that the Secondborn stole.”
Merrowitz looks up instantly. “Excellent, Angela. So we know where he is?”
“I’d be more concerned with where he’s going,” Angela replies. “He found something in Montevideo. Something he’s interested in.”
“Montevideo?” Merrowitz asks. “That’s where Celling’s been filing requests to search for the last few weeks.”
“Where is Celling now?” Angela asks.
“Still on the base, I presume,” Merrowitz says. “No wait. He left a note somewhere - here - that he’s going to Montevideo to negotiate with the rebels. He’s taking Corporal Edward Fansworth and the fragments of the Key of Taloc core with him.”
“The Key of Taloc? What’s that?”
“A psychic weapon,” Merrowitz explains. “Looks like a glove with a glowing red gem in the center.”
“That’s what the Secondborn is looking for,” Angela realizes. “Did Celling say what he was doing with the Key?”
“The rebels claimed they had some means of reassembling it,” Merrowitz replies. “When is the Secondborn going to get there?”
“I have no idea. Depends on how long until he sets out and how fast he can move. Merrowitz, we need to get a signal there right now.”
Merrowitz pulls a telegraph from the side of the table and taps urgently on it.
Celling has just finished his speech when Fansworth’s voice comes from the radio. “Celling, come in. There’s something I have to tell you.”
Celling, still with his hands above his head, glances at Anna for permission. She nods slightly. Celling grabs the radio from his pocket and clicks it on. “Fansworth?”
“You’ve got incoming. Andes Command just called and your precognitive friend says the Secondborn knows you’re here. Arrival time unknown.”
The plan?
A: “Alright, we need to get out of here now. Everyone, come with me.”
B: “Change of plans. We know where he’s gonna be, we can fight him. Begin attempting to reassemble the Key.”
Post by: Madman198237 on November 05, 2018, 11:56:45 am
"Looks like your choice happens now. Personally, I think it's time to run. How fast can you reassemble the Key, and can you do it while running for the nearest means of going faster than our legs can carry us away from certain doom?"
[back in radio:] "Fansworth, call in the plan to HQ, warn them to arm themselves and recall patrols, we're turtling up, and then leg it. Get the men out of here and secure transport ASAP. As many different options as we can get ahold of in the next five minutes. You are to exfiltrate immediately, on the first transport option, and report to Quill ASAP. The rest of your men will collect us on the second and third options and keep moving. All of us need to take different routes to return to base.
Start running.
SECOND SUGGESTION: We go all-in on the heroics and just ride the Plot to victory, by starting a Heroes Vs Evil duel *now*, inevitably (as in all the tropes and whatnot) losing now, then coming back much stronger later to claim the ultimate victory, etc. etc., much stereotyping and many congratulations on our saving the world. There *is* the distinct possibility that Celling dies. And possibly everyone else.
"Reassemble the Key. How long does it take you to do so? Fansworth, report the plan to HQ and order them to make preparations to deny all strategic assets to a hostile force, secure transport and bail out. Leave two men, and ONLY two men, behind to pick us up if necessary. They are to stay out of sight and not engage no matter what, and they are to flee if we go down. You are NOT to be one of the ones remaining here, am I understood? Make your way to Quill as fast as possible.
Post by: Glass on November 05, 2018, 01:02:18 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on November 05, 2018, 01:13:07 pm
Post by: Glass on November 05, 2018, 01:52:57 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 05, 2018, 02:07:50 pm
FIRST SUGGESTION: Run. We almost certainly can't win this fight, at least not without Celling dying and possibly Fansworth also. Remember, the Plot *presently* probably doesn't consider us to be Heroes quite yet, so our plot armor is either nonexistent or not strong enough to defeat the Secondborn. The Heroes, or at least some of them, should survive because of the laws of narrative, then they'll come back even stronger later, etc. etc. and win against the Secondborn. Eventually. Probably after he starts taking things over, again etc. etc. There is still the chance that we'll be caught, and since I'm preparing for a running-away-in-half-a-dozen-different-vehicles plot we might lose several people, though likely only mooks, again due to the law of narrative.+1. He is not already here
"Looks like your choice happens now. Personally, I think it's time to run. How fast can you reassemble the Key, and can you do it while running for the nearest means of going faster than our legs can carry us away from certain doom?"
[back in radio:] "Fansworth, call in the plan to HQ, warn them to arm themselves and recall patrols, we're turtling up, and then leg it. Get the men out of here and secure transport ASAP. As many different options as we can get ahold of in the next five minutes. You are to exfiltrate immediately, on the first transport option, and report to Quill ASAP. The rest of your men will collect us on the second and third options and keep moving. All of us need to take different routes to return to base.
Start running.
Post by: Rockeater on November 05, 2018, 03:19:48 pm
+1FIRST SUGGESTION: Run. We almost certainly can't win this fight, at least not without Celling dying and possibly Fansworth also. Remember, the Plot *presently* probably doesn't consider us to be Heroes quite yet, so our plot armor is either nonexistent or not strong enough to defeat the Secondborn. The Heroes, or at least some of them, should survive because of the laws of narrative, then they'll come back even stronger later, etc. etc. and win against the Secondborn. Eventually. Probably after he starts taking things over, again etc. etc. There is still the chance that we'll be caught, and since I'm preparing for a running-away-in-half-a-dozen-different-vehicles plot we might lose several people, though likely only mooks, again due to the law of narrative.+1. He is not already here
"Looks like your choice happens now. Personally, I think it's time to run. How fast can you reassemble the Key, and can you do it while running for the nearest means of going faster than our legs can carry us away from certain doom?"
[back in radio:] "Fansworth, call in the plan to HQ, warn them to arm themselves and recall patrols, we're turtling up, and then leg it. Get the men out of here and secure transport ASAP. As many different options as we can get ahold of in the next five minutes. You are to exfiltrate immediately, on the first transport option, and report to Quill ASAP. The rest of your men will collect us on the second and third options and keep moving. All of us need to take different routes to return to base.
Start running.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 05, 2018, 04:06:14 pm
FIRST SUGGESTION: Run. We almost certainly can't win this fight, at least not without Celling dying and possibly Fansworth also. Remember, the Plot *presently* probably doesn't consider us to be Heroes quite yet, so our plot armor is either nonexistent or not strong enough to defeat the Secondborn. The Heroes, or at least some of them, should survive because of the laws of narrative, then they'll come back even stronger later, etc. etc. and win against the Secondborn. Eventually. Probably after he starts taking things over, again etc. etc. There is still the chance that we'll be caught, and since I'm preparing for a running-away-in-half-a-dozen-different-vehicles plot we might lose several people, though likely only mooks, again due to the law of narrative.
"Looks like your choice happens now. Personally, I think it's time to run. How fast can you reassemble the Key, and can you do it while running for the nearest means of going faster than our legs can carry us away from certain doom?"
[back in radio:] "Fansworth, call in the plan to HQ, warn them to arm themselves and recall patrols, we're turtling up, and then leg it. Get the men out of here and secure transport ASAP. As many different options as we can get ahold of in the next five minutes. You are to exfiltrate immediately, on the first transport option, and report to Quill ASAP. The rest of your men will collect us on the second and third options and keep moving. All of us need to take different routes to return to base.
Start running.
“...you set us up!” shouts Jacob..
“Literally anything else makes more sense!” Celling shouts back. “Look, this proves my point. He’s on the way. How fast can you guys assemble the key?”
“Just let him touch it, it should be enough,” says the woman.
“Good,” says Celling. He turns on the radio. “Fansworth, get ready to make an exit. What do our options for a quick escape look like? Railway station or something nearby?”
There is a silence. “Celling, there are SEVEN THOUSAND PEOPLE LIVING HERE! We can’t just skip town!”
“The Secondborn wants the Key, he’ll be chasing us! But he’s on foot, we need to move as fast as possible. What are our options?”
“...the train station is through some of the more populated areas of town, but it’s two miles away. The coast is three. We could grab a boat there.”
“Hold on a second,” says Jacob. “How do we know you’re not just tricking us into entering our custody?”
You have to say something to explain to him.
Also choose where to rush to:
A: Train station
B: Coastline
C: Split and send teams to both (Give where each of the following should go: Jacob, Anna, Boonering Junior, Celling, Fansworth, Fansworth’s men)
rseebceolnsdabroerbnlwuiflflinnogtabnedhdeorneoftokrnsoewvheorwatlohroeumraskaentdhtehkeeryeibnetlrsuwtihldletdhiicnaktyioounbaecttriavyaetdetshietm
Post by: Glass on November 05, 2018, 04:20:16 pm
Understood?"
More options for how to move by sea than by rail, harder to predict. Let's take the boat.
EDIT: action retracted.
Rebels don't know how to fix the key; dedication activates it.
Secondborn won't be here for hours, so the rebels will think we were full of shit and betrayed gem.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 05, 2018, 06:38:33 pm
Stats list check:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb Fansworth
Plot points to be resolved:
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Armen DeMarco
- Order of the Stick
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
- PETA
- T. Levin’s exile
Let’s just pick one of these at random to resolve. A while ago, we captured Ensign Armen DeMarco, who was temporarily aligned with the rebels due to anger at her brother being converted into a Cherub. We agreed to let her speak with her brother after she rejected the rebels.
(Note that this series of events may have taken place at any point before the present confrontation)
After a brief consultation with some other military men, Celling steps back into the interrogation room where former Lieutenant Armen DeMarco is being held. She sits quietly on a plain chair, hands folded and resting on the desk in front of her, back straight and tilted forward slightly.
Celling steps around the chair across the table from her and leans idly with one hand planted on its side. “Look, Armen, we can’t let you go off completely free. You did turn against the Republic-”
“Which I’m not disputing, and which I take full responsibility for-” Armen interjects, sounding somber and somewhat annoyed.
“-but we see no need to make you face the full consequences of such a thing. You were deceived by Jacob Eldin and dragged along under false premises. You’ll probably serve time for some smaller charge, a few weeks at most.”
“And my request to see my brother?” Armen asks firmly.
“You will be allowed to. We will remove all mental blocks from him, he’ll speak to you freely, but you must understand, we will have this entire thing under surveillance.”
Armen sits quietly, seeming to consider this for a moment. “Show him in,” she says at last.
Two-way mirrors make it far too clear that the subject in question is being watched, cause distortions due to imperfect manufacturing, and when used on a large scale are a waste of glass, so Strategist Roboson had installed simple camera obscura equipment into the walls of all interrogation rooms. He flicks off the lights in the adjacent room, and a crystal-clear image of the room Armen is sitting in pops into view in front of Celling and Roboson, projected from an inconspicuous hole in the wall. A wire linked to a microphone in the table provides audio.
Armen’s brother walks into the room. Only a tad over twelve years old, he nevertheless stands almost as tall as a grown man because of the exoskeleton pieces wrapped around his legs and feet. His torso is covered in segmented white armor, making him look like a cross between a balloon man and a millipede, and his arms are sheathed in gauntlets designed to accommodate a wide range of weapons integrated in. A smooth metal covering like an eggshell covers his head, removing any trace of hair, and his ears are plugged with radio communicators. His face looks completely out of place in the mass of armor, peering out of a square-cut hole in the helmet, eyes, nose, and mouth completely normal and surrounded by things that are distinctly, awfully, not. He walks in with large strides, swaggering yet unsure, looking like he’s walking on stilts.
Armen stands up cautiously, regarding the half-man half-machine in front of her, then runs up to hug her brother. Her arms barely reach around the ballooning mass of armor, and it takes a few seconds before Tommy DeMarco wraps his metallic arms around him in turn. Armen looks up, tears in her eyes, and asks, in a strained voice, “Tommy… what have they done to you?”
“They… they told me what to do,” Tommy DeMarco answers. His voice is exactly that of a small child, and suddenly the towering, armored soldier seems very small, as if he were a shriveled thing within a massive shell. “There was a voice telling me what to do, I did what it said… I ran, I shot…”
Armen and Tommy tearfully reunite for a few more minutes, before Armen steps away and turns in place. “I know you’re listening, Celling,” she mutters. “And I’m willing to cooperate under one condition. I’ll tell you everything you know about the rebels, and help you fight them, if you release my brother and let him go home.”
Celling stands up to open the door and enter the interrogation room. Strategist Roboson stops him. “Wouldn’t recommend it, Celling. Her intel is likely absurdly old by now if it was even correct in the first place.”
“We’re planning on rolling back the Cherub program anyway,” Celling says, standing in front of the door. “We gotta reverse what we did to these kids. Let’s start with this one.
“Yes, then you do that, but letting this Cherub walk free means that there’s someone out there with full knowledge of the Cherubization procedure and what they were made to do. In the hands of someone that’s already betrayed us once over the Cherub program. You really want to give that much ammunition to the people protesting against it? We really don’t need that information out there.”
“If it’s the information that’s the matter, why can’t we just remove it?” says Celling. “Quill has a quite impressive bank of memory-altering chemicals stored away somewhere.”
“That could work,” Roboson agrees. “But I’m not entirely sure that they wouldn’t find a way to break past it eventually, or that it won’t cause problems for him to wake up with all these modifications and no idea what happened to him. You could also just leave the mental programming in so we can control whatever he says and does.”
What do you decide?
A: “No. We’re going to do the right thing. Release Tommy DeMarco without altering his mind further.” (No roll, but chance of future complications)
B: “We can release him, but the info in his brain is a state secret. We’re going to block out those memories with Quill’s memory serum, and tell Armen that she’s going to have to live with that.” (Scientific roll to block out, d6 roll on Armen’s reaction)
C: “Block out the memories, but don’t notify Armen. She’ll likely think that it’s PTSD or something. It’ll make her more cooperative and less likely to pry.” (Scientific roll to block out, future complications on bad roll)
D: “Leave the mental monitoring equipment on. We’ll just make sure he doesn’t say anything.” (Chance of future complications)
Post by: Glass on November 05, 2018, 06:52:43 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 05, 2018, 07:26:15 pm
I'm thinking C. We have a +2 to scientific.
Quickhammer engaged (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheGMIsACheatingBastard)
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 05, 2018, 07:39:33 pm
I'm thinking C. We have a +2 to scientific.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 05, 2018, 08:01:12 pm
Is your role just to +1 whatever Glass says.
Post by: Glass on November 05, 2018, 08:20:17 pm
And I already sigged it
Post by: Madman198237 on November 05, 2018, 08:43:51 pm
She is, after all, in the midst of some form of military or government building and has the potential to be charged with treason. Her reaction cannot and will not harm us if we choose not to let it.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 05, 2018, 09:08:43 pm
-1I'm thinking C. We have a +2 to scientific.+1
Let's do B, blame Padelheb and Tyrant's character for the creation and usage to absorb the political fallout, then point out the fact that one is dead and the other is exiled as a way to show that we're improving the government. To the public, I mean. We'll speak more directly to DeMarco after we hear her reaction.+1
She is, after all, in the midst of some form of military or government building and has the potential to be charged with treason. Her reaction cannot and will not harm us if we choose not to let it.
Post by: omada on November 05, 2018, 09:08:59 pm
call secondborn to order of stick world, he will be ONE GOD among others gods and god slaying heros.
Post by: Glass on November 05, 2018, 09:36:49 pm
Let's do B, blame Padelheb and Tyrant's character for the creation and usage to absorb the political fallout, then point out the fact that one is dead and the other is exiled as a way to show that we're improving the government. To the public, I mean. We'll speak more directly to DeMarco after we hear her reaction.+1
She is, after all, in the midst of some form of military or government building and has the potential to be charged with treason. Her reaction cannot and will not harm us if we choose not to let it.
Didn't read the last two pages, I am going to do this.. tomorrow with luck? but as a side plan to think aboutOh yeah, we have OotS access. :D
call secondborn to order of stick world, he will be ONE GOD among others gods and god slaying heros.
Yo Blue what quest are those dudes doing right now? Is it a filler arc?
How many adventurers have tried to do incursions into the "new dungeon"?
Post by: Madman198237 on November 05, 2018, 09:37:56 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on November 05, 2018, 10:24:50 pm
Let's do B, blame Padelheb and Tyrant's character for the creation and usage to absorb the political fallout, then point out the fact that one is dead and the other is exiled as a way to show that we're improving the government. To the public, I mean. We'll speak more directly to DeMarco after we hear her reaction.
She is, after all, in the midst of some form of military or government building and has the potential to be charged with treason. Her reaction cannot and will not harm us if we choose not to let it.
I already made self in character and did the whole blame me thing.
Post by: Glass on November 05, 2018, 11:39:16 pm
Yes, but I don't think it's technically happened yet at the time of the current event.Let's do B, blame Padelheb and Tyrant's character for the creation and usage to absorb the political fallout, then point out the fact that one is dead and the other is exiled as a way to show that we're improving the government. To the public, I mean. We'll speak more directly to DeMarco after we hear her reaction.
She is, after all, in the midst of some form of military or government building and has the potential to be charged with treason. Her reaction cannot and will not harm us if we choose not to let it.
I already made self in character and did the whole blame me thing.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 06, 2018, 12:39:13 am
Yes, but I don't think it's technically happened yet at the time of the current event.Let's do B, blame Padelheb and Tyrant's character for the creation and usage to absorb the political fallout, then point out the fact that one is dead and the other is exiled as a way to show that we're improving the government. To the public, I mean. We'll speak more directly to DeMarco after we hear her reaction.
She is, after all, in the midst of some form of military or government building and has the potential to be charged with treason. Her reaction cannot and will not harm us if we choose not to let it.
I already made self in character and did the whole blame me thing.
Or that Armen knows
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 06, 2018, 04:17:44 pm
As it turns out, I lied (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ILIED) about the d6 being rolled for Armen’s reaction. After thinking it over I realized I already had a specific reaction planned out for her.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“Well, that worked,” says Celling. Quill’s research into memory alteration was fairly well documented and the scientists at Andes Command were able to eliminate the critical information from Tommy’s mind quickly enough. “You don’t remember a thing, right?”
“No,” Tommy says. He seems much brighter now, sporting a grin that looks out of place on his modified body. “Just going to sleep then, and waking up now. There’s nothing in between.”
Roboson steps next to Celling. “We’re just going on his word, right? You should probably confirm all this. He may just be pretending to forget it. He may have legitimately forgotten it now, but may regain them later on and then our secrets are out. I’m sure we can reactivate the mental link and scan for any remnant memories.”
“We have no idea how the neural shackle will interact with the memory serums,” Celling answers. “It could cause permanent damage, or return a false negative. And Quill’s not here to oversee it. Neither is the guy that invented the Cherubs, T. Levin. They’re the only ones that really understand how it works, and I think they should be here if we’re going to try to use it in this way.”
What do you choose to do?
A: Release Tommy right now.
B: Attempt to use the Cherub implants/programming to check if he really remembers anything.
C: Detain him for longer to wait for Erin Quill and/or T. Levin to arrive.
Post by: Iris on November 06, 2018, 04:20:47 pm
Post by: Rockeater on November 06, 2018, 04:27:07 pm
Post by: Glass on November 06, 2018, 04:40:07 pm
Post by: Iris on November 06, 2018, 04:43:17 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 06, 2018, 06:03:51 pm
Stats list check:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb Fansworth
Plot points to be resolved:
- Quill or Levin inspecting Tommy DeMarco
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Order of the Stick
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
- T. Levin’s exile
T. Levin (expy character of Tyrant Leviathan) is the person that took the blame for the Cherubs incident. We previously have voted to try and get T. Levin exiled to America with a colonization mission full of convicts
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“Well, the idea’s been pitched, and nobody’s raised legal objections to his request to be exiled to the North,” Enir Nest explains. “But lots of people feel like he’s getting off too easy. Even worse, a few have traced support for the idea back to you and combined with current doubts about your role in Padelheb’s death… this could be quite bad.”
Quill looks back at Nest. “What will he be sentenced with if we don’t intervene?” he asks.
“I’m not sure. Probably some crime against morality or another. Life imprisonment is around what he’s going to get.”
What do you say to do?
A: “Drop the whole idea, then. Let him be sentenced normally.”
B: “Push it through. If it’s legal, let’s get him out of here.” (-1 political)
C: “Who says the people have to know about this? Arrange for him to disappear from jail.”
D: “Let him be sent to jail, then stage a breakout and allow him to escape.”
E: Something else…
Post by: Iris on November 06, 2018, 06:07:57 pm
Post by: Rockeater on November 06, 2018, 06:08:49 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on November 06, 2018, 06:10:05 pm
Post by: Glass on November 06, 2018, 06:13:25 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on November 06, 2018, 06:27:02 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on November 06, 2018, 07:38:48 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on November 06, 2018, 07:42:08 pm
Also, we, the players, CANNOT AFFORD more political problems, we need to be the good and benevolent kingdom and not the evil empire.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 06, 2018, 07:48:32 pm
C. I attended jail, does not mean I got to stay. And besides who else will see Tommy? Quill has his hands full.
This may be the only thing that matters, because if you vote against him I'll give him options to screw you over with his exclusive control of his own Expy.
I really wanna see a fourth wall fight
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on November 06, 2018, 09:20:48 pm
“ Look, I know we are supposed to be the good guys. I too wished to be a good guy. I did the horrific experiment because I felt the heroes would be too kind to kill them. I.. Was dead wrong. Call me a monster for what I did. But I never really harmed or killed the precious one. Hell the facility had great food and homes for those who were under the knife. They grew to love ya more than their family, before the machines”
Long pause.
“ Do you not see? The rebels cause trouble and will always do so. Forcthat is their role. It matters not our actions, to them they are the protagonists in some shitty action hero novella and plot device after plot device allowing them to commit crimes against us. Whoever this author is, I would strangle him myself and write up a peaceful, loving world where no mind control or death was needed. Suck on that you holy rollers. Now the guy who I am Channeling, I sense a nigh unending flame of fury and a deep sadness.”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 06, 2018, 09:21:02 pm
Do you still wish to let him take lots of other convicts with him for a full colonization mission? It’s going to be an intelligence roll to pull it off, and this will make the dice worst 2 of 3.
Your choice? (you can still alter your vote on the original one, just vote for which of these you like more)
C1: Just send him alone.
C2: Let him pick from a bunch of convicts.
C3: Something else…
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on November 06, 2018, 09:22:20 pm
Post by: Iris on November 06, 2018, 09:25:10 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 06, 2018, 09:27:49 pm
Do you not see? The rebels cause trouble and will always do so. Forcthat is their role. It matters not our actions, to them they are the protagonists in some shitty action hero novella and plot device after plot device allowing them to commit crimes against us. Whoever this author is, I would strangle him myself and write up a peaceful, loving world where no mind control or death was needed. Suck on that you holy rollers. Now the guy who I am Channeling, I sense a nigh unending flame of fury and a deep sadness.”
!!!WARNING!!! BLATANTLY ALLUDING TO THE NATURE OF THE PLOT TO A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT DO NOT ALREADY KNOW IS FORBIDDEN UNDER THE RULES OF THIS NARRATIVE AND IS PUNISHABLE BY IMMEDIATE DESTRUCTION! !!!DO NOT DO THIS!!!
(I was gonna just go Targeting meteorite… but it's funnier this way.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 06, 2018, 09:32:28 pm
C3. Duty calls, Someone has to make sure the newly formed Cherub works out. Might as well be “daddy.”
Wait wait wait. You want the Cherubs to go with you or...
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 06, 2018, 09:39:51 pm
C3. Duty calls, Someone has to make sure the newly formed Cherub works out. Might as well be “daddy.”+1
Post by: Madman198237 on November 06, 2018, 09:40:47 pm
C2+1, with the additional stipulation that he can't pick from any high-value convicts (i.e., the rebels we have captured, not that they're going to remain captives for long if the plan goes, well, according to plan)
C3. Duty calls, Someone has to make sure the newly formed Cherub works out. Might as well be “daddy.”Dear love of all that is still holy in this wretched world, NO. That is stacking political consequences on top of political consequences and also defies the rules of your original deal---the Cherub is not a convict. Also important to note is that doing so is going to result in Ensign Demarco becoming very, very, very angry. And then she will go and make many, many, many other people very, very, very angry. In short, trying to take a Cherub with you is going to be a terrible plan.
Oh, and said Cherub *ALREADY HAS PERFECTLY FUNCTIONAL PARENTS WHO WOULD LIKE THEIR CHILD BACK.*
Post by: Glass on November 06, 2018, 09:44:33 pm
I say C1, with C2 as an alternate if/when C1 doesn’t have enough votes.
If we’re doing C2, only have one colonist per prison so as to reduce the probability people will notice, and stretch it out over a couple of months.
Post by: Glass on November 06, 2018, 09:45:23 pm
Who is this even directed to?Do you not see? The rebels cause trouble and will always do so. Forcthat is their role. It matters not our actions, to them they are the protagonists in some shitty action hero novella and plot device after plot device allowing them to commit crimes against us. Whoever this author is, I would strangle him myself and write up a peaceful, loving world where no mind control or death was needed. Suck on that you holy rollers. Now the guy who I am Channeling, I sense a nigh unending flame of fury and a deep sadness.”
!!!WARNING!!! BLATANTLY ALLUDING TO THE NATURE OF THE PLOT TO A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT DO NOT ALREADY KNOW IS FORBIDDEN UNDER THE RULES OF THIS NARRATIVE AND IS PUNISHABLE BY IMMEDIATE DESTRUCTION! !!!DO NOT DO THIS!!!
(I was gonna just go Targeting meteorite… but it's funnier this way.)
The jury?
What would that even gain you, TL?
EDIT: apologies for doublepost.
Post by: Madman198237 on November 06, 2018, 09:48:33 pm
If we’re doing C2, only have one colonist per prison so as to reduce the probability people will notice, and stretch it out over a couple of months.+1
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on November 06, 2018, 10:10:07 pm
But yes all Cherubs, those that survived. Should go back to parents.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 06, 2018, 10:31:44 pm
That was directed at the 4thbwall. Not anyone in the game world. And I did not mean Cheeubs escort him. I met to deal with Tommy’s mind.
But yes all Cherubs, those that survived. Should go back to parents.
So are you saying "Check up on Tommy, then leave" or "Don't leave, stick around to deal with Tommy?"
You are going to look into the Armen Cherub case before leaving. That's implied, unless someone has objections
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on November 06, 2018, 10:38:25 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 08, 2018, 12:07:41 am
Stats list check:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb Fansworth
Plot points to be resolved:
- T. Levin inspecting Tommy DeMarco’s memory removal, then leaving for America
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Order of the Stick
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
Celling steps through the planar gateway, ducking to fit through the simmering portal of energy. It had grown somewhat since the last time he’d seen it and it was now almost the height of a typical door, and just a little bit wider. The floor ruined by the Key core blast had been replaced hastily with wooden planks, and there were scientists and equipment scattered around monitoring the rift.
On the other end of the gate is a room full of blue. The other end of the rift seems to be at the top of a pedestal of some sort, with steps leading down to the floor. Pieces of a throne ly to the back of the rift, toppled over on their side and blackened as if burnt. The floor under the gate, made of vibrant blue stone, is cracked, likely from the force of the gate opening. The walls and ceiling are colored with the same shade of blue.
“You really have this blue thing going on, don’t you?” Celling asks.
“It’s called Azure City for a reason,” Soon Kim replies, hovering a few inches above the ground. He's translucent like a ghost (which he is) , and surrounded with a airy aura of turquoise light.
Several more soldiers holding rifles march, single file and with their heads lowered, through the gate. Celling gestures at their leader to the current ruler of Azure City, a blue-haired, bearded man who’s introduced himself as Hinjo. “This is Sergeant Vincent Nelson. I’ve got stuff to attend to on my side of the portal, so he’s going to be leading the First Interplanar Expeditionary Force for the time being.”
Hinjo shakes Nelson’s hand. “We are all grateful for your help. Based off what we’ve heard, your aid could turn the tide of this war.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Nelson replies. “I’ve been briefed on conditions on your side. Correct me if I’m wrong, but what I know is that this world operates on different physical laws than mine, and supernatural phenomena and magic are a fact of life. Your city is under siege by an army of monstrous creatures lead by an undead sorcerer named Xykon?”
“That is correct,” Hinjo says. “We did our best to defend against them, but there were just too many.”
“And what are our advantages?” Nelson asks. “Superior technology, superior communications, superior weaponry-”
“Don’t forget this,” Celling says, gesturing at the planar gateway. “They don’t know it exists, they don’t know we are here. It’s a natural choke point and a potential evacuation site for refugees.”
“Have we worked on closing it yet?” Nelson asks.
“Good point, I’ll remember to ask someone when I get back. And what are our disadvantages? Smaller force.”
“They have a single high-powered magic-wielder,” Celling adds.
“Two,” Hinjo corrects. “We believe that the leader of the goblinoids is High Priest of the Dark One. He can channel his god’s energy into a variety of unholy feats.”
“Wouldn’t a mission to assassinate these leaders be in order? Granted that our weapons beat their magic, of course.” Nelson suggests.
“That might be too risky,” Celling notes. “We should be focusing on saving people, not trying to be heroes. We may wish to barricade and defend this tower, or even to abandon this plane entirely and defend from the other side of the portal. We should also look at diplomatic solutions.”
“There is no reasoning with Xykon,” Soon Kim says sternly. “He is an unholy abomination that seeks only destruction.”
“He wanted the Gate, didn’t he? Will he go away if we just tell him to?” Celling asks.
“He hates all that lives and is good in the world. He will try to destroy us just to amuse himself.”
“Maybe his lieutenant will be more reasonable?” Celling suggests. “Redcloak seems motivated by quite understandable factors. Perhaps we can get him to betray his master.”
“Goblins are brutish creatures of chaos,” Hinjo says. “He has not shown us mercy in the past, there is no reason to believe that he will in the future.”
That puts a somber mood in the room and nobody speaks for a few seconds before Celling says, “Wait! Before I forget.” Taking a box carried in by one of the soldiers, he sets it facing down on the floor, then counts for ten seconds and lifts it up. A large green and red bird is under there.
“That’s a parrot!” Hinjo exclaims.
“How is there a parrot?” Nelson asks flatly, sounding almost bored with all the stuff he's seen today.
“Long story short, Quill managed to infuse a parrot with the ability to cross planes. I will be gone soon, so my orders will be sent through that bird.” Celling turns to walk away and heads back to the portal.
Nelson stops him on the way, dragging him by the arm. “Celling, wait,” he says. “I’m not sure how much longer you can keep this a secret. The soldiers are sworn to secrecy but one of them is sure to spill the beans soon. I’ll be able to get much more forces in here if I don’t have to hide it from the outside world.”
“Revealing this may just cause mass panic and public protests on our side,” Celling says.
“You always say that,” Nelson retorts. “This is one of the greatest scientific discoveries in the history of Antarctica. That over there-” he points to the crackling gate “-that over there is quite literally the door to a whole new world in science and culture. The people will find out, I suggest we tell them on our terms.”
Time to make your decisions. I will happily accept any other plans or strategies that you come up with, and provide commentary by OOTS characters on them when first proposed. Plans that get a net of two votes will occur, you may vote against plans to take them further from this limit.
What is your general strategy?
A: Use the throne room and tower as a line of siege, defend it with Antarctican technology.
B: Start evacuating citizens through the Gate and barricade it.
C: Launch an all-out offensive on the enemy forces throughout the city.
D: Begin hit and run attacks on the occupying forces using superior technology.
How will you deal with Xykon and Redcloak?
A: Attempt to strike at them and take them out of the picture with Antarctican firepower.
B: Don’t do that. Ignore them for now, unless they confront us.
C: Negotiate with Xykon and tell him that the Gate is gone.
D: Negotiate with Redcloak, offer our help in ensuring Goblin equality and get him to turn on Xykon
What will your priority be when researching the Gate?
A: Double-check that it isn’t going to expand or explode
B: Attempt to find a way of closing it upon request
C: Study it for insights into stabilizing the Wormhole
Will you reveal this to the outside world?
A: Yes. Publish these results and let everyone hear about this.
B: No. Keep it a state secret for now, we can’t have this info out there.
Post by: Glass on November 08, 2018, 12:49:53 am
2. A+B+D: Don’t search either out, but if we see Xykon, shoot, and if we see Redcloak, offer to discuss a potential ceasefire and more permanent peace.
3. A, then C (or D, how to close it safely, if A shows a big ole “uh oh”)
4. B, but also start up some small rumors about it and a handful of much-less-true, slightly-more-plausible-sounding, much-easier-to-disprove things involving portals, the wormhole, and alternate universes so as to discredit the idea.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 08, 2018, 01:03:31 am
Xykon and Redcloak: B+D
Research: B+C
Publication: +1 to this
4. B, but also start up some small rumors about it and a handful of much-less-true, slightly-more-plausible-sounding, much-easier-to-disprove things involving portals, the wormhole, and alternate universes so as to discredit the idea.
Post by: Rockeater on November 08, 2018, 01:17:35 am
1.A+B. Evacuate the city and have multiple lines of defense in and on the tower.
4.A emphasize the egalitarian actions we take here before we publish the reaserch itself.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 08, 2018, 05:29:04 pm
On general plan of battle:
Use throne room as base for hit and run attacks: (2) Glass, KJP
Evacuate city and barricade tower: (1) Rockeater
On dealing with Xykon and Redcloak:
Take a shot at Xykon if we can and negotiate with Redcloak: (2) Glass, Rockeater
Just think about negotiating with Redcloak: (1) KJP
On priorities when researching the gate:
Start with ensuring that it’s stable: (2) Glass, Rockeater
Work on studying it to close it and stabilize the Wormhole (1) KJP
On revealing the Gate and other world:
Publish results while emphasizing our helpful actions in the other world: (1) Rockeater
Do not reveal it, but start some rumors: (2) Glass, KJP
I’m not going on so few votes; more votes please. Also note that I’m going to require you to pick one out of the three for the research priority - no combinations, no extra options. The Gate has been deemed stable, but picking A will just ensure that you don’t do anything that messes with it and will detect a plot-mandated destabilization if it’s happening.
Further voting please.
Post by: Glass on November 08, 2018, 09:27:01 pm
Scratch that research it’s properties to help the wormhole.
Post by: Madman198237 on November 08, 2018, 09:35:06 pm
Post by: Rockeater on November 09, 2018, 06:14:38 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 09, 2018, 04:40:31 pm
On general plan of battle:
Use throne room as base for hit and run attacks: (3) Glass, KJP, Madman
Evacuate city and barricade tower: (1) Rockeater
On dealing with Xykon and Redcloak:
Take a shot at Xykon if we can and negotiate with Redcloak: (3) Glass, Rockeater, Madman
Just think about negotiating with Redcloak: (1) KJP
On priorities when researching the gate:
Research it to gain insight on stabilizing the Wormhole: (3) Glass, Rockeater, Madman
Work on studying it to close it and stabilize the Wormhole (1) KJP
On revealing the Gate and other world:
Publish results while emphasizing our helpful actions in the other world: (2) Rockeater, Madman
Do not reveal it, but start some rumors: (2) Glass, KJP
The last vote is tied! Someone break the tie!
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 09, 2018, 06:39:53 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on November 09, 2018, 06:54:18 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 09, 2018, 06:57:30 pm
Vote to rename SPAMOVERLORD to CROSSOVERLORD for a week
Done.
Post by: Glass on November 09, 2018, 07:52:36 pm
:|Vote to rename SPAMOVERLORD to CROSSOVERLORD for a week
Done.
Post by: omada on November 10, 2018, 12:47:22 pm
pros: can cause awe on people, the secondborn will know about it and might attract him
cons: can cause panic? protest,
Circumventing the cons: we can curb the protest on a kind of exception law that probably exists in declared wars, and a mass of monsters is one good excuse, we can use it to mass recruit "magic lands needs you soldier, face the land of magic and be the hero the republic deserves" we can just drown then on nationalist propaganda damn, we can even appeal to the humanitarian condition
Hide
pros: no panic until situation is resolved, only good discoveries will go to the add
cons:it can leak before the situation, the secondborn will see these futures and screw us
hmmm... tell to the public
go quickhammer
---------------------------------------
THINK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF TALKING ABOUT THE FOURTH WALL IN THE WORLD OF THE ORDER OF THE STICKS, LET'S SEE IF THE FOURTH WALL RULES EXTEND TO THIS WORLD, IF THE WARNING DOESN'T COMES, WE CAN EXPLOIT THIS
Sorry got excited
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 11, 2018, 09:11:29 pm
Post by: Glass on November 12, 2018, 01:44:40 am
I think the new plan was to conduct evacuations.
Post by: Madman198237 on November 12, 2018, 10:04:51 am
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 12, 2018, 12:46:21 pm
Re-asking for opinions on the Rebels problem. I will be jumping to it soon. You currently are voting for grab Fansworth and run to the coast to escape. Please confirm that this is what you want.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 12, 2018, 02:47:36 pm
We need to completely rewrite that plan and also have a new vote on it given our new information.
Then start. You have 18 hours before I take your earlier vote.
Post by: Glass on November 12, 2018, 09:20:43 pm
Ok.We need to completely rewrite that plan and also have a new vote on it given our new information.
Then start. You have 18 hours before I take your earlier vote.
Mumble to ourselves, pretending to do some mental arithmetic about where the Secondborn is and how long it will take him to get here, and conclude: “We’ve likely got several hours before that bastard gets here, but when he does, this whole place is getting torn apart. We need to get this place evacuated. We can tell them there’s a... hurricane coming. Maybe a tsunami, or an earthquake. If anything, it’s an underestimate of the destruction...”
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 12, 2018, 09:22:04 pm
+1Ok.We need to completely rewrite that plan and also have a new vote on it given our new information.
Then start. You have 18 hours before I take your earlier vote.
Mumble to ourselves, pretending to do some mental arithmetic about where the Secondborn is and how long it will take him to get here, and conclude: “We’ve likely got several hours before that bastard gets here, but when he does, this whole place is getting torn apart. We need to get this place evacuated. We can tell them there’s a... hurricane coming. Maybe a tsunami, or an earthquake. If anything, it’s an underestimate of the destruction...”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 12, 2018, 10:18:28 pm
In the spirit of D&D all the following will be d20 rolls with bonuses added on. This means that your rolls will be more variable and your bonuses slightly less effective for the duration of this crossover, which makes sense because you’re operating in unknown territory and a fairly chaotic situation in a universe that doesn’t play by your rules.
Probably worth repeating your stats here:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb Fansworth
Plot points to be resolved:
- T. Levin inspecting Tommy DeMarco’s memory removal, then leaving for America
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Order of the Stick
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
I’m actually going to cut back to the rebels now, because everything that you proposed is going to take some time to do.
Celling rounded the corner and walked across the street. The rebels, the unknown woman, and the child introduced as Boonering's heir following a few steps behind. They met Fansworth around midway across the dirt and gravel path. Behind Fansworth walked a regiment of his men, holding rifles and marching in formation.
The rebels lag behind, apparently discussing something amongst themselves. Then Anna Drimoxi steps forward so that she's walking right next to Celling and whispers over his shoulder. "I've got something to tell you."
What?" Celling asks.
"We were bluffing," Anna admits, continuing to walk forcefully across the street. "We don't know how to reactivate the Key of Taloc. The Children of the Shrubbery, and Mary Boonering - she's over there, she's J. V. Boonering's mother - they're sure that anyone with the same male lineage and zodiac sign as Fredrik Boonering will be able to activate it, but we... have our reasons to doubt that."
Celling mutters curses under his breath. He'd known this was coming, of curse - the players Up There had informed him of what they'd found through alternate communication channels - but it was annoying to see it confirmed and he had to put up an impression of being surprised anyways. "Why the hell did you say you could, then?"
"We were bluffing," Anna repeats. "We wanted to get our friends back."
"That's something I've been meaning to ask you," Celling says. "How did you know that Samael Drimoxi and Andrew Calvin were still alive?"
"Julia Seyllin told us after we freed her from Goonswarm," Anna says. "Said she'd heard some things that the Mittani had picked up, and combined with her own powers
Celling nods and turns back to look into the distance, seemingly satisfied by this. "So back to the matter at hand. We have no way whatsoever of stopping the Secondborn-"
"No way we know will work. The Boonering child may well be able to reactivate it, but we can't be sure."
"-no sure way of stopping the Secondborn. Darn it." Celling says. By now they've arrived at the middle of the road and both Celling and Fansworth's groups stop. Fansworth salutes half heartedly. "What's the plan, Celling?"
Well? What is it?
Celling steps closer to Fansworth, leans over his shoulder, and lowers his voice so that only Fansworth can hear. “Fansworth, about that stuff I told the rebels - how much did you hear?”
Fansworth thinks for a while, staring off into the distance. “After we’re done? With this? With the Secondborn and the Rebels, and after we’re in a safe spot? You’re going to tell me everything you know about this Narrative and the Story or whatever,” he finally whispers back, seriously. “You mention that Quill is trying to give you psychic powers and then you dump this load of mystical spiritual woo about how the world is an illusion on the rebels? Something bigger’s going on, and I want to know what it is.
Do you tell Fansworth about the Fourth Wall?
+1Ok.We need to completely rewrite that plan and also have a new vote on it given our new information.
Then start. You have 18 hours before I take your earlier vote.
Mumble to ourselves, pretending to do some mental arithmetic about where the Secondborn is and how long it will take him to get here, and conclude: “We’ve likely got several hours before that bastard gets here, but when he does, this whole place is getting torn apart. We need to get this place evacuated. We can tell them there’s a... hurricane coming. Maybe a tsunami, or an earthquake. If anything, it’s an underestimate of the destruction...”
I'll take this if no other ideas.
Post by: Glass on November 12, 2018, 10:27:06 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 12, 2018, 11:53:08 pm
Of course we’ll tell him about it. After we’re mostly much done with the current nonsense, and we’re definitely in a safe spot.In my humble opinion, +1
Post by: omada on November 13, 2018, 06:55:29 pm
Post by: Glass on November 14, 2018, 01:21:22 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on November 14, 2018, 01:21:50 pm
:P
Post by: Glass on November 14, 2018, 01:23:32 pm
+1 to everything Glass saysI’m not sure if I should keep the current quote from Blue or make this my sig. :-\
Post by: Madman198237 on November 14, 2018, 01:24:20 pm
+1 to everything Glass saysI’m not sure if I should keep the current quote from Blue or make this my sig. :-\
Just add mine (and anyone else's) underneath blue's.
Post by: Glass on November 14, 2018, 01:35:11 pm
Fair enough. Gimme a moment.+1 to everything Glass saysI’m not sure if I should keep the current quote from Blue or make this my sig. :-\
Just add mine (and anyone else's) underneath blue's.
EDIT: There we go. I removed the Orbiter and Ema’s-waitlist-RTD; I didn’t have enough space with them in.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 14, 2018, 06:40:32 pm
“So what do we do?” asks Fansworth.
“Say there’s going to be a natural disaster,” Celling says. “A hurricane, or a tsunami, or something.”
“Isn’t that going to cause mass panic?” Jacob asks. “Lots of people are going to run from it. It could cause a lot of unnecessary harm.”
“I mean, we’re not really lying,” Celling reasons. “The Secondborn’s going to be a threat as big as anything we can warn the people of - at the least.”
They’re sitting in the room outside the main telegram headquarters for the Montevideo area. Celling’s sent the message along that a tsunami is approaching within the next five hours, and he’s now explaining to Fansworth, safely out of earshot of the rebels.
"Simply put," Celling says, "this world is not real. It's an illusion created by-"
"Is this some kind of religious thing?" Fansworth asks skeptically.
"No, it's not," says Celling, walking around Fansworth. "It's scientific - it's rooted in observation and logical deduction. This world is not real. Through correlation of events, we are able to find that this world exists as a fictional story - a child's game - within another one."
"Literary agent hypothesis?" Fansworth asks. "Actually? Seriously? You think this is all a story?" Fansworth picks up a stone from the road and squeezes it between his fingers, as if affirming that it is solid.. "This is real. This is the world that we live in. What you are saying makes no sense."
"This all looks real because the people writing this right now decide that it looks real," Celling says.
"That's insane. You're saying that what I just said - what I just did - it's just words on a page?" Fansworth asks, dropping the rock. It falls on the ground with a dull thud. "That's nonsense. That's ridiculous."
"It's provable, if you know where to look," Celling insists. "Have you noticed that the rebels always seem to get away? How our shots just miraculously miss while theirs always hit? That against all probability the universe is moving towards a grand design based on tropes and cliches of fantasy novel plots?"
“That’s all circumstantial,” Fansworth says. “You can’t just blame the fundamental nature of the universe every time you have a run of bad luck.”
“Oh yeah?” Celling asks. “What’s the current date.”
Oh crap.
“What’s the current date?” Celling asks again. “Day, month, and year. What day of the week is it? How many days has it been since Padelheb took power? What is the current time? Which event is our calendar system based upon?”
Wait uh… if it was three days two days ago and… but it had to be the beginning of summer… which is winter because southern hemisphere so-
“I am asking this RIGHT NOW!” Celling says, turning around on one foot and shouting to the sky, as if not talking to Fansworth, but something far higher and invisible. “What I’m asking for is LITERALLY the time of day. Every schoolboy knows this. This is something that everyone should be able to get quickly. Or at least look up within minute.”
He turns back to Fansworth. “But you can’t, can you? You’re drawing a blank. Ask why you’re doing that. It’s because you’re looking into a hole in reality itself. Because you’re looking at a blank area, not just zero, but undefined. Undefined by who? By the person that defines things, of course. Don’t let it go! Think on it! Now, you see-”
Fansworth sees.
He sees the patterns. The tropes and cliches, the plotlines, winding through every particle of the universe. He sees the medium, stretching up like a spiral into the sky and not-sky, winding through invisible dimensions - methods of measurement that simply aren’t there to uninitiated eyes. He sees the real world, looming high above, tugging on the strings of this one. He sees the forums, all the words and players, arguing endlessly, battering out the text that makes up his reality. He sees the written and unwritten rules that it all works by, the webs of convention and stats and dice and quotas. He sees the infinity of the Internet, dense, interconnected, a veritable sea of ideas, a near-infinite mass of information of any sort. He sees the Plot, wrapped around the world and squeezing it on to its final destination, eyes watching everywhere on the Earth. Wordlessly, he asks if this is real. Instantly, he knows that it is.
Fansworth’s mouth hangs agape for half a second before he closes it. “I’d probably say something in shock, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.”
Screw you!
“Screw you too!” says Fansworth disdainfully. “What kind of a GM are you? What kind of GM explicitly works against the players?”
“You see it too, then?” Celling asks.
“Yeah, I got it all,” Fansworth replies. “So Goonswarm and Padelheb…”
“Expies. Carbon copies of characters in other media. My friends up above-” Celling gestures over his shoulder as if they’re actually there, “say that they’re pretty bad people in their home universes.”
“And the parrot-”
“Can access a universe of pure suspension of disbelief.”
“And the Secondborn-”
“They have fought him before. In another world. He held godlike power there, and managed to escape here.”
They are interrupted by a random intern at the station poking his head into the room. “Excuse me, sirs,” he says sheepishly. “I just came from the broadcast room.”
“Is the message out?” asks Celling.
“Yes, all other stations have been notified that a major hurricane is on the way and evacuations are beginning,” he says. He steps into the middle of the room and stands there, fidgeting his hands. “But, sir… I don’t think anyone else noticed, but I know a bit of meteorology and… there’s no way we could have detected a hurricane. Based off known cyclonic systems, they move way faster than our fastest boats or trains. So what’s really going on here?”
“Smart kid,” Fansworth says. “Have you told anyone else (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HaveYouToldAnyoneElse) about this?”
“Uh, no sir,” the intern replies.
How do you deal with this?
A: “Alright, we better tell you the truth. We’re expecting a terrorist attack somewhere in the city. Weapon of Mass Destruction level. We’ve got to get everyone out without much panicking.” (tell the truth, or at least most of it)
B: “You’re right, we couldn’t detect it via conventional means. Erin Quill was testing methods of advance hurricane prediction and found that one was inbound.” (come up with technobabble to justify it)
C: “This is a state secret and we can’t tell you the full story, but we’ve got a plenty good reason to be doing this. You have to keep quiet about what you’ve found. Don’t tell anyone else, or we’ll know.” (Straight up tell him that it must be kept a secret)
D: “Good. Fewer loose ends to wrap up. You’re coming with us.” (Jail or otherwise silence the kid)
Post by: Glass on November 14, 2018, 06:51:49 pm
The C part is mostly about putting emphasis on the fact that he can’t share any of it because of what would happen.
If we have to do D, he won’t be harmed; we just need him to be not able to spread the word. We’ll still evacuate him, but with people that already know (I.e. the people that work for us) rather than with normal civilians.
EDIT: Potentially tell him about the Secondborn. You guys figure that out; I’m not sure.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 14, 2018, 07:35:27 pm
A+C, include D if he doesn’t seem inclined to keep it secret.+1
The C part is mostly about putting emphasis on the fact that he can’t share any of it because of what would happen.
If we have to do D, he won’t be harmed; we just need him to be not able to spread the word. We’ll still evacuate him, but with people that already know (I.e. the people that work for us) rather than with normal civilians.
EDIT: Potentially tell him about the Secondborn. You guys figure that out; I’m not sure.
Post by: omada on November 14, 2018, 09:03:41 pm
sorry, I am daydreaming about tech and singularities nowadays
+1 to what glass said
Post by: Rockeater on November 15, 2018, 01:05:22 am
Post by: Glass on November 15, 2018, 01:54:34 am
I have no idea why people are insisting on keeping everything as a secretWhat would you do if you were told an immortal demigod that could blow up your city with magic was coming, and he had a grudge against people that were in said city? Especially if you were told by the government?
Especially if the grudge is against the government?
Post by: Rockeater on November 15, 2018, 03:48:44 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 15, 2018, 12:34:06 pm
A: Yes.
B: No.
Post by: Rockeater on November 15, 2018, 01:44:01 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 15, 2018, 02:17:19 pm
Also, tell Erin Quill to try experimenting with firing nitrogen lasers (the 337.1nm line should work) at Andantesite when he gets a chance.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 15, 2018, 11:18:14 pm
(with thanks to the Discovery Channel)
I love the Andes. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the polar sheets. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the steam ships. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the city streets. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the whole world. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
And people all around. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the oceans. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the worldgate. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the Drake Pass. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the strands of fate. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the whole world (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Don’t let them tear it down (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love talking wolves. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love Andantesite. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the future. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love electric light. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
I love the whole world. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
You’d better keep it safe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
Boom De Yada! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EdaLfJjDuE)
“Okay,” says Celling. “You’re going to have to listen for a while. What’s your name anyway?”
“Marcellus Ebner,” the intern says. “So what’s going on?” He closes the door and sits down on one of the chairs.
Celling takes a deep breath. “A couple days ago, there was an… incident in Santiago. By means we don’t fully understand, an individual from another dimension arrived.”
“A… extradimensional traveler, sir?” Marcellus asks, bemused.
“A powerful demigod from a more primitive world. He possessed one of my friends and commands enormous magical power, and he’s heading right here. He’s looking for the people we arrived with, because they have the only weapon capable of stopping him. We had to warn people of a hurricane to get them to leave fast enough. Based on what we know of his abilities, a hurricane may well be on the appropriate scale of destruction.”
Marcellus leans back, laughing to himself a litte. “I’m sorry, Celling, but you’d have to forgive me if I don’t believe that tall tale.”
What do you do?
A: “Fine. Do not believe it. We’ve got our reasons for doing this, and you’ll be evacuated along with the rest. Just know that if you let on that there’s more than meets the eye to this warning, we’ll find you.”
B: “Trust me, it’s real. You can stick around for proof if you like, though I wouldn’t recommend it. But you’d better not tell anyone. Anyway, who would believe you?”
Also, we have the option of looking into this guy’s background a bit.
A: Yes. Make inquiries as to his family and history, and have him tailed if he leaves the building. Never hurts to be sure.
B: No. If he finds out then what little credibility we have left with him evaporates, and he squeals for sure.
Post by: Iris on November 15, 2018, 11:20:52 pm
Post by: Glass on November 15, 2018, 11:24:52 pm
Basically, B.
And then A for the latter as well, though let him know that we’re doing it. I mean, we’re he government, there’s been several recent crises, and there’s a confirmed rebel presence in the town (even though they’re kind of on our side for the time being?). It’s not like it’s not justified.
Post by: omada on November 16, 2018, 12:11:25 am
BAAAAA
Post by: Glass on November 16, 2018, 12:14:25 am
I spent a time looking for hidden messages on the musicYeah, same here.
Does anyone have email notifications? I haven’t been able to use them since I switched over to a laptop.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 16, 2018, 12:25:48 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 17, 2018, 12:05:44 pm
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb Fansworth
Plot points to be resolved:
- T. Levin inspecting Tommy DeMarco’s memory removal, then leaving for America
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Order of the Stick
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
"Look, you really don't have to believe us," Celling says. "You can stay to see what's up, if you really like, but you're going to be under our supervision. We'll monitor where you go, don't want you to get in trouble."
"No thanks," says Marcellus. "If you guys need to tell people that it's a hurricane to get them out then I'm sure that whatever it is, it's way too dangerous for me to stick around and watch. I'll evacuate once I'm done getting the messages out."
"Fair enough. How goes the evacuation, then?"
Spoiler: Well, how goes it? (click to show/hide)
“Most people are listening to the warnings,” Marcellus confirms. “Reports are coming in that the town is pretty much deserted.”
“That’s good,” says Celling. With Farnsworth following behind him, he walks through the halls to the room where the rebels are sitting. He pushes open the light wooden door. “How’s the Key reassembly going?”
The rebels are seated in chairs on the left side of the room. The woman who brought J.V. Boonering sits on the left side, a few feet from the door. To her right is J.V. Boonering himself. The briefcase is lying on the table, folded open, and the fragments of the Key of Taloc are scattered across it. Celling can feel the tension as the people in the room look at him. The rebels exchange a glance. J. V. plays with one of the Key shards, holding it to the light, giggling in stark contrast to the nervous silence of everyone else.
“We… I… can make it work,” the woman says finally. “My son’s destiny is known. He’ll be able to get the Key.”
Celling glances around the room. “Alright then,” he says. “We probably still have three hours or so.” He closes the door and walks away.
Free action time. Name any action that might help us that we can conduct during the three-hour period. (results of tailing Marcellus will be revealed at that time)
Post by: Rockeater on November 17, 2018, 12:28:46 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 17, 2018, 01:43:50 pm
I'm going to put it here in case it's useful Soon
Post by: Glass on November 17, 2018, 09:58:32 pm
Where’s the pyrokineticist girl?
What proportion of the people that aren’t leaving are Goons? What proportion of the people that are leaving are goons?
Pass a message through to the OotS people - both natives and our - about the current situation, and ask if they’ve got any advice.
Try to contact Erin.
Pray to Acter.
EDIT: Classes. Specifically, D&D classes, and levels. Do we have them, and if so, what are they? If we don’t, can we acquire them, and if so, how?
Can Celling become a cleric of Acter?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 17, 2018, 10:51:21 pm
“Is this going to be an extended As You Know (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AsYouKnow) session to answer player requests without using a quote box so that the game moderator can bump up his wordcount a bit?” Fansworth asks.
“...yes?” Celling answers hesitantly. “Fansworth, you really shouldn’t mention that kind of stuff. It somewhat defies convention to be blatantly flaunting the fourth wall in a story post.”
“Why not?” Fansworth asks. “This isn’t a conventional bit of the story anyway, it’s more like a side post. Besides, the Plot can’t really whine about it.”
“Yeah, but what if one of the rebels hears it? Then we’re in for trouble.” Celling snaps back.
“But we clearly didn’t mean to. Would Blue really pull a cheap trick like that to get an excuse to GM smite us?” Fansworth asks.
They stood there in silence for a second.
“So on to those questions…” Fansworth says quickly.
Not gonna lie here - I was actually going to make this an as you know thing, but after Fansworth called me out I decided not to
How much andantesite do we have? Any? Because if we have some around I want it prepared. If we can stop the Secondborn from moving, that should help greatly.
CELLING: The only Andantesite we have is the bit that’s on the bottom of Santiago Harbor after the Dock Fight.
FANSWORTH: Why did we not fish that out right after the dock fight? We’ve got to have some seafloor-dragging capabilities right?
CELLING: Well, typically the players would be given a choice in that matter, (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouDidntAsk) although in this case the GM didn't give an option for such a thing, nor did he ask for freeform suggestions, (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatAnIdiot) so I guess it's because we didn't have time or didn't think it was worth it. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit) Plus, we do have a large cracked chunk that we located under a sand dune anomaly, but that’s still being studied in Andes High Command. We could move it here given the three hours that we have. We’d need to link it though.
FANSWORTH: Won’t that be pretty simple with the Rebel controller?
CELLING: Yeah. But do we want to give them more Andantesite?
Where’s the pyrokineticist girl?
FANSWORTH: Julia Seyllin is also at Andes High Command, the surviving two Protinam are helping her control her abilities. Likewise, we have enough time to get her here, or either of the two Protinam.
What proportion of the people that aren’t leaving are Goons? What proportion of the people that are leaving are goons?
FANSWORTH: The Goons have no known presence in Montevideo. They also don’t overtly publish lists of who’s a Goon and who’s not, so we don’t really know.
Pass a message through to the OotS people - both natives and our - about the current situation, and ask if they’ve got any advice.
SGT. VINCENT NELSON, COMMANDER OF FIRST INTERPLANAR EXPEDITIONARY FORCE: Can’t know much about that. Maybe draw out of this world to divert forces there?
NATIVES: He’s a caster? Get magic on your own to counter his. We’re kinda busy here, so can’t help out much.
Try to contact Erin.
CELLING: As has been mentioned previously, we don’t have intercontinental telecommunications.
Pray to Acter.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
EDIT: Classes. Specifically, D&D classes, and levels. Do we have them, and if so, what are they? If we don’t, can we acquire them, and if so, how?
Can Celling become a cleric of Acter?
FANSWORTH: I’d say it’s likely that this falls under the “power continuity” rules, in that we can’t use OOTS power while still running off SPAMOVERLORD’s rules. So no.
Decisions!
What to get here (select any or none)
A: The Andantesite shard
B: Julia Seyllin, the pyrokineticist
C: The surviving Protinam, Angela and Carlos
Post by: Glass on November 17, 2018, 10:55:35 pm
Post by: Rockeater on November 18, 2018, 12:35:54 am
Post by: Iris on November 18, 2018, 12:51:41 pm
Post by: Rockeater on November 18, 2018, 02:17:42 pm
A+B. I feel that the OOTS people know more about fighting god-like powers than us and we should take their advice, and the andantesite is just plain useful.+1
Post by: Madman198237 on November 18, 2018, 02:21:00 pm
Hmn.... just the andantesite. The death of the rest of the Protinam wasn’t our doing, but I don’t want the death of the last remanants of their organization on our head.+1
Let's keep him from being able to possess anyone else. Assuming he can't possess someone who is fourth-wall-aware, which would pose some...intriguing possibilities.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2018, 03:44:10 pm
Hmn.... just the andantesite. The death of the rest of the Protinam wasn’t our doing, but I don’t want the death of the last remanants of their organization on our head.+1
Let's keep him from being able to possess anyone else. Assuming he can't possess someone who is fourth-wall-aware, which would pose some...intriguing possibilities.
Thank you for that excellent idea!
Post by: Glass on November 18, 2018, 03:48:25 pm
If he does that, Blue, then all you get is a Secondborn that is now aware that neither this world nor his old one are real, his old world has stagnated into a frozen moment in time, and you are controlling one of the people trying to overthrow the Cisharni.Hmn.... just the andantesite. The death of the rest of the Protinam wasn’t our doing, but I don’t want the death of the last remanants of their organization on our head.+1
Let's keep him from being able to possess anyone else. Assuming he can't possess someone who is fourth-wall-aware, which would pose some...intriguing possibilities.
Thank you for that excellent idea!
You think Fansworth dislikes you now that he knows the truth? Imagine how the Secondborn will react.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 18, 2018, 04:34:47 pm
+1A+B. I feel that the OOTS people know more about fighting god-like powers than us and we should take their advice, and the andantesite is just plain useful.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 18, 2018, 08:39:06 pm
Post by: Glass on November 18, 2018, 09:32:42 pm
“Secondborn hooked up with the Mittani. We don’t have as much time as I thought. I can explain further once we’re out of here.”
Post by: Madman198237 on November 18, 2018, 09:44:09 pm
Hurry up the evacuation and get us out of here.[much-put-upon sigh]
“Secondborn hooked up with the Mittani. We don’t have as much time as I thought. I can explain further once we’re out of here.”
+1
I mean, that or we just allow a confrontation between Rebels and Should-Not-Be-Here. After all, the Secondborn is now the mysterious Even Bigger Bad of this story, the Plot will pull out all the stops to ensure a win for the Rebels.
In fact there's probably a trope that'd basically "force" us onto the Rebels' side at this point since the Big Bad is coming for us and we have a common goal, etc. etc.
Post by: Rockeater on November 18, 2018, 11:37:51 pm
+1 yes, and we could make sure more tropes are active of themselves, but we should evac now.Hurry up the evacuation and get us out of here.[much-put-upon sigh]
“Secondborn hooked up with the Mittani. We don’t have as much time as I thought. I can explain further once we’re out of here.”
+1
I mean, that or we just allow a confrontation between Rebels and Should-Not-Be-Here. After all, the Secondborn is now the mysterious Even Bigger Bad of this story, the Plot will pull out all the stops to ensure a win for the Rebels.
In fact there's probably a trope that'd basically "force" us onto the Rebels' side at this point since the Big Bad is coming for us and we have a common goal, etc. etc.
Edit: Mittai, you asshole.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 19, 2018, 10:22:44 am
Surprisingly little matters here.
Celling starts, jerking his head violently up. “Fansworth,” he says urgently. “We need to hurry up the evacuation.”
“What? What now?” Fansworth asks. He takes a second to consult his connections with the other side of the Fourth Wall before deeply sighing. “Don’t tell me he’s actually gonna pull that.”
“Yeah, he is.”
“Completely trashing the rules he laid out for us? And forcing the players to jump through hoops in order to get the information? Who the hell is this guy?”
“No time to debate that now, we need to warn the rebels,” says Celling, standing immediately up. Fansworth follows behind.
Celling strides into the room the rebels are sitting in and pushes open the door. Instantly he can see that something’s going on. Anna and the woman are standing up, glaring at each other, while Jacob looks on worredly, and J. V. innocently bangs two pieces of the Key together.
“We’re out of time,” Celling says. “The Secondborn’s found a different way here. He’ll be here within minutes.”
Jacob stands up suddenly. “You said we had three hours!”
“Well, we were wrong, do we have the Key or not?” Fansworth says.
Anna turns to Celling. “No, we don’t,” she says sadly.
“Give me more time!” the woman hisses. “Give me more time. I can get him to reassemble the Key.”
What do you respond?
A: “No. Evacuate immediately and get out as fast as possible.”
B: “Keep trying to reassemble the Key. We’ll hold off the Secondborn for as long as possible.”
Do you tell them about the Mittani’s involvement?
A: Yes
B: No
Post by: Glass on November 19, 2018, 10:46:42 am
Or in other words: AA.
EDIT: “You can keep trying to make the thing on the way out, but we cannot let the Secondborn and the Mittani get their hands on this.”
Post by: Rockeater on November 19, 2018, 11:21:04 am
Post by: Madman198237 on November 19, 2018, 11:22:21 am
We send one character to hold off the Secondborn, the other hangs back and protects JV. This (almost) ensures that one of them will survive, since the second one will be on the "last ditch success" team. We'll need to send some of the rebels to the last stand, too, to ensure cooperation and also to improve the power of the tropes blue has just handed us a gilded silver platter.
The Mittani could conceivably see this, and no doubt blue will make him see it because he doesn't want to lose. But it doesn't matter. The Secondborn's calling the shots here, and he's not fourth-wall-aware and the Plot will drive him to fulfill his role and attack us to gain the Ultimate MacGuffin-Filled Victory, because tropes. The Plot will also try and force the Mittani to not interfere through various means, because it is in the best interests of the Plot for the Rebels to win this big victory against the true biggest threat and to save the innocent trapped inside the monster etc. etc. etc.
Post by: Glass on November 19, 2018, 11:33:16 am
So, we have just won. The Plot literally demands that after all the sacrifice and hardship and misunderstanding between the Rebels and us (the effective leaders of the Republic such as it is, minus those rubber-stamp NPCs) our dramatic last stand will be successful, and the Rebels will manage to use the combination of plot armor, fortuitous incompetence, and the MacGuffin(s) to win the day.Y’know what, +1 to this.
We send one character to hold off the Secondborn, the other hangs back and protects JV. This (almost) ensures that one of them will survive, since the second one will be on the "last ditch success" team. We'll need to send some of the rebels to the last stand, too, to ensure cooperation and also to improve the power of the tropes blue has just handed us a gilded silver platter.
The Mittani could conceivably see this, and no doubt blue will make him see it because he doesn't want to lose. But it doesn't matter. The Secondborn's calling the shots here, and he's not fourth-wall-aware and the Plot will drive him to fulfill his role and attack us to gain the Ultimate MacGuffin-Filled Victory, because tropes. The Plot will also try and force the Mittani to not interfere through various means, because it is in the best interests of the Plot for the Rebels to win this big victory against the true biggest threat and to save the innocent trapped inside the monster etc. etc. etc.
However.
Instead of having JV making the key, either try to do it ourselves or have one of the rebels trying to make it.
I suspect that JV is too young to actually understand the situation and get desperate.
Post by: Rockeater on November 19, 2018, 11:36:08 am
Post by: Madman198237 on November 19, 2018, 11:44:19 am
-snip-Y’know what, +1 to this.
However.
Instead of having JV making the key, either try to do it ourselves or have one of the rebels trying to make it.
I suspect that JV is too young to actually understand the situation and get desperate.
That wasn't actually an action, I did not decide who would be doing what. I don't know which of the two characters would be better suited to remaking the Key. Hm, what if we just asked the fourth-wall-aware characters, hm?
However, I'd say we need to ask everyone who doesn't actually know how the Key works to head out and perform a suitably dramatic last stand, minus whichever of our on-the-scene characters Celling, Erin, and Fansworth believe would be best at possibly-hopefully-maybe helping. The Plot wants most or all of them to survive [hence the ridiculous amounts of plot armor and surviving-things-that-really-should've-killed-them-dead], so we can hope that we'll either get a mass resurrection of some sort or one of the derivates of this trope that doesn't require everyone to die first. We work with the Rebels on this, the only position we're taking is that some of them need to get outside and help fight.
----Wouldn't this literally be a perfect time for a flashback to "when the other Rebels dramatically busted out of prison and/or were released so they could show up to defeat the enemies"? Hint, hint, Mr. Still-Has-To-Let-The-Plot-Do-Plot-Things?
Post by: Glass on November 19, 2018, 11:51:42 am
Post by: Madman198237 on November 19, 2018, 11:52:20 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 21, 2018, 09:58:05 am
“I don’t care what you think you can do, you can do it on your way out,” says Celling. “We’re leaving. Now. We can’t afford the Secondborn getting his hands on the-”
Midway through Celling’s sentence, the world caves in.
A meter-thick bolt of magical energy sizzles into the room, slicing through the wall like a knife through hot butter and exploding in a blast of blinding light. Celling is thrown backwards out through the door in a cloud of dust and debris. The rebels take cover at the other side of the room. Someone screams. When Celling’s head stops spinning, the room’s filled with rubble, a thin mist of dust fills the air, and there’s a gaping hole in the left wall, sunlight streaming in. Through the hole Celling can see trees and buildings, and a splotch of blue and white that is the sky.
The Secondborn jumps from above in an impossible arc through the hole. The being with David Eborrenial’s body sails in with arms outstretched, flying almost effortlessly to land in the middle of the room.
“How the hell are you here?” Jacob Eldin asks, standing up from a crouch behind the upturned table, which now sits against the far wall of the room.
“Let’s just say… I had a little help,” the Secondborn replies, smirking haughtily. “From an old friend of yours.”
Jacob gasps with realization. “You set us up!” he says, pointing an accusing finger at Celling. “You were hoping we’d get killed stopping him, and then you can take the Key!”
In the meantime the woman who brought J. V. Boonering also stands up. She sticks two fingers out in a sideways V shape, then rightens it, and thrusts it at the Secondborn like a shield. “Begone from this earth, demon! For you cannot harm the Children of the Shrubbery, for nothing born can harm the Overgrown God, nor can the fire burn him!”
“Just shut the hell up,” the Secondborn mutters, thrusting his right hand at the woman and extending his thumb, index finger, and middle finger at right angles to each other. A plane of invisible force projected from his hand slams into the woman and hurls her against the wall with a thud. The Secondborn closes his hand, and she drops to the ground in a heap.
“We… we can still beat you,” Anna says. “We still have the Key.”
“Ah yes, the Key of Taloc,” the Secondborn replies. He brings his left hand up to shoulder height and pinches his index finger and thumb together. Symbols of power simmer in and out of existence around his hand. “I would demand that you hand it over, but that seems to be an overused turn of phrase these days.”
The Secondborn snaps his fingers. There’s a whirlwind tearing of space, like a rubber band snapping in two - then the Key of Taloc fragments teleport into his hand, suspended in the air as if hung from a museum display, in a mass the rough size and shape of a football.
“You know, it’s really a good thing I took this from you,” the Secondborn muses. “I’ve seen this kind of thing before, and it’s pretty clear it runs off soul power. If you’d activated it, it would have drained yours.” He gestures at Celling. “Once Erin Quill and his friends return me to Atlantis, though? I’m sure we’ll find a better way to power it.”
RTD time! Post actions. Glass gets Celling, Madman gets Fansworth, the rest of you can just take ingame expies.
Post by: Glass on November 21, 2018, 02:27:37 pm
Punch this fucker. Again. In the face.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 21, 2018, 02:40:56 pm
“Fuck you, and fuck the Mittani for helping you.”
Punch this fucker. Again. In the face.
Glass - Punch Secondborn in the face while cursing Mittani for helping him.
Roll d6 result: 1 → Epic fail
“Fuck you,” Celling says, furiously striding towards the Secondborn and swinging his fist. “Fuck you and fuck the-”
Almost reflexively, the Secondborn gestures over his shoulder and send Celling sprawling across the room. “I mean, you could be forgiven for assuming that would work again. You should know that I’ve stabilized my control over David Eborrenial since then, and I’m not getting knocked out that easily this time.”
Status check:
Celling: On ground, slightly winded (-1 disadvantage for one turn)
(In the interest of more sanity I’m making this RTD run off advantage and disadvantage; advantage means take best of rolls, disadvantage worst of.)
I’m going to answer actions as they come in, so continue acting. And yes, Glass may go again.
Post by: Glass on November 21, 2018, 02:46:23 pm
If yes, shoot him.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 21, 2018, 02:51:07 pm
Post by: Iris on November 21, 2018, 03:23:13 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on November 21, 2018, 03:40:17 pm
Draw firearm, take careful aim.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 22, 2018, 09:27:44 pm
Gun. Do I have it on me?
If yes, shoot him.
Killer Joule de Protonne, one of the marksmen brought along by Farnsworth, fires on the Secondborn.
Get to a distance and start shooting.
endless facepalms for the GM attempting to quickhammer and then breaking all the rules doing it
Draw firearm, take careful aim.
It has come to my attentio (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatAnIdiot)n t (http://bit.ly/ciphertype)hat this is actually a terrible idea (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DidntThinkThisThrough) because you’re all just going to say “shoot him!” This is not really good for a RTD. I’ll roll all your actions, for this turn, then end the RTD and use the aggregate result to write a story post.
Glass: 6 3 → Partial success
KJP: 1 → Epic fail
Iridium: 6 → Gone horribly right
Madman: 3 → Partial success
Fansworth’s team, Celling, and Fansworth himself raise their guns and fire. The room is instantly filled with smoke and metallic clangs. The Secondborn deflects most of the bullets, which splang off an invisible wall of force in midair, trailing sparks. A chance hit, however, grazes the hand holding the Key. Yelping, his concentration wavers for a second, and the spinning red Key shards plummet to the floor.
Anna and Jacob leap at the Secondborn, wielding knives and guns. The unknown woman grabs J. V. Boonering and begins running for the door at the back of the the room. Anna takes a swing at the Secondborn’s head with a long silver dagger. “Get out of David’s head, monster!” she hisses.
The Secondborn raises his hand in her direction, makes a motion like a claw grasping at air, and bores psychic energy into and through her head. She topples to the ground, screaming and clutching her skull. A moment later the Secondborn kneels over, cringing, as if he’d been struck himself, but he retains enough presence of mind to weakly wave a hand at Jacob, pushing him against the far wall.
What’s your strategy going forward?
A: Escape. Grab the Key shards as fast as possible and get out of here.
B: Fight the Secondborn here. We can’t outrun him, we have to end this once and for all.
C: Split up. One group holds him off, the other escapes.
D: Something else…
Post by: Glass on November 22, 2018, 09:30:13 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on November 22, 2018, 11:22:44 pm
B, keep firing, whether it means we're meeting the definition of insanity or no.
Post by: Rockeater on November 23, 2018, 03:35:31 am
Post by: omada on November 23, 2018, 01:13:24 pm
"SOMEONE, GET THE KEY""
Post by: Glass on November 23, 2018, 06:40:28 pm
TILL THE ENDDo you mean Till it’s Over (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usXhiWE2Uc0)?
Post by: Ragnar the Råsh of Emal on November 23, 2018, 08:09:46 pm
Do I smell some Shapes and Beats?TILL THE ENDDo you mean Till it’s Over (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usXhiWE2Uc0)?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 23, 2018, 09:07:49 pm
Do I smell some Shapes and Beats?TILL THE ENDDo you mean Till it’s Over (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usXhiWE2Uc0)?
Who are you?
Post by: Ragnar the Råsh of Emal on November 23, 2018, 09:25:38 pm
Do you want me to join?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 23, 2018, 09:28:23 pm
A person!
Do you want me to join?
More players is better so yeah.
Did you read the entire thing?
Post by: Ragnar the Råsh of Emal on November 23, 2018, 09:31:34 pm
Post by: Glass on November 24, 2018, 01:17:32 am
He’s the Spacescape guy!Do I smell some Shapes and Beats?TILL THE ENDDo you mean Till it’s Over (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usXhiWE2Uc0)?
Who are you?
And you smell Monstercat. The JS&B is coincidental. You have a Tristan fan here. :)
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 26, 2018, 05:07:59 pm
B with a dramatic speech "WE WILL NOT LET YOUR KIND MAKE SLAVES OF MY PEOPLE, WE FIGHT, TILL THE END" to make sure the plot understand what it's our role in the dramatic fight+1
"SOMEONE, GET THE KEY""
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 30, 2018, 01:24:04 am
The Secondborn turns and shoots at Celling. Celling dives out of the way as a spear of magical light sizzles into the wall behind him. He hears the snap as the wall splinters and breaks.
While he’s distracted, Jacob runs into the room and scoops up most of the glistening red fragments. The lady with J. V. Boonering picks up one that landed near her, as does Fansworth. J. V. Boonering himself holds one up to the light, turning it this way and that and gazing at it with wide, curious eyes.
The Secondborn advances towards Celling and Fansworth. Taking cover behind the shattered remains of the room’s wall, Celling fires a series of rapid shots. The Secondborn swats them away as if they were flies, waving his hand in front of his face and conjuring a sizzle of shielding.
Anna steps up and yanks Jacob towards her, pulling him by the shoulder. “Jacob,” she says urgently, “give me the shards.”
“You heard what he said,” Jacob says, worry filling his voice. “It’s going to kill you.”
“We have no way of knowing that!” Anna hisses. She pulls open Jacob’s fist and takes the blood-red Key shards. “He could have been lying.”
“That’s not a risk you can take!”
“That’s the only way to get David back,” Anna counters. She holds the key shards in one palm, with the other held above it, as if gripping a ball in front of her chest. "Tell... tell my grandfather I forgive him," she says.
She closes her eyes and concentrates. The Key shards begin slowly rising into the air, turning to align upright. The largest throbs with a slowly growing flare of red light, like an eye opening up after a long sleep. A transparent wave goes out from it and washes over her, distorting her features like a mirage, seeming to gray things out and drain energy from her features. Spinning slowly, the fragments align, notching faces together into a peanut-sized mass, rough around the edges. Planes of red light shine through as seams and cracks are repaired. Fansworth gapes as the shard he's holding flies out of his hands and towards Anna, rotating to fit perfectly like a key in a lock with a nook in the gently turning Key. Like a video played backwards in slow motion, fragments of glass and crimson colored dust fly up from the rubble, recombining into a perfect oval the size of a grape.
Anna’s eyes are shining subtly with red power at this point. She wheels one hand above her shoulder, balling it into a fist to the left of her head, then opens it, splaying out her fingers. She gasps and sags to the ground, knees buckling, as if being held up by the Key, which follows her fist and hovers, glowing, above her hand. It draws in space around itself, building up an aura of ruby light, before exploding outwards with tendrils of dark metal, mechanisms that knot themselves together out of nothingness, coiling around the Key and snaking down towards Anna’s hand. She closes her fist, slowly, shakingly, pulling on two twinned bands that wrapped around her fingers and closing them into a handle for the rapidly forming gauntlet in the air above her. The half-built mechanism pivots, gears ticking.
There’s a palpable shock when it finishes, seconds later - a deep thrum that runs through everyone in the room as Anna takes full control of the Key. The Secondborn feels it and wheels around to be met by a beam of red fire, projected from Anna’s outstretched right hand. Quickly, he builds shields - hemispherical arcs of light and symbols that refract and dissipate the Key’s attack. Anna switches strategies and swings the Key down while drawing her right hand behind her shoulder and letting loose with bolts of red and black thunder that drift lazily towards the Secondborn. He intercepts them with wild flashes of Protinam lightning, detonating them in dizzying flashes of light in midair.
You could conceivably get some shooting done while everyone is distracted by the psychic duel.
A: Shoot Jacob! If the Secondborn’s telling the truth Anna is dead anyway, we should take out the second rebel while we have the chance!
B: Shoot Anna! We can tip the balance of the Secondborn’s duel with her, and the Secondborn is likely easier to deal with than the rebels by a plot standpoint.
C: Shoot the Secondborn! A bit of hot lead is just the right thing to end this psychic battle, right?
D: Shoot the woman! We don’t need more third parties, and she’ll likely claim the Key.
E: What, are you crazy? Don’t shoot anyone!
(my reasons given are just sample. They may not be accurate or complete. Feel free to choose based on your own reasons.)
Post by: Glass on November 30, 2018, 01:27:38 am
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 30, 2018, 02:10:23 am
Post by: Rockeater on November 30, 2018, 04:45:48 am
Post by: Madman198237 on November 30, 2018, 09:10:16 am
C, shoot the Secondborn. It adds to the drama of the scene.
+1
At this point, we're fighting the Bigger Bad with the Rebels, we're in the line of fire blah blah blah, we're obviously not aligned with him and we're not trying to betray the Rebels, so if we're not on their side as far as the Plot is concerned we'll never be on their side and blue's just been lying about the game mechanics this whole time.
Post by: Glass on November 30, 2018, 10:24:26 am
We’ll shoot the Secondborn afterwards if she doesn’t manage to kill him with this.
And if he appears to be dead, we’ll want to remove or destroy his head.
Post by: Glass on December 07, 2018, 01:52:29 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 08, 2018, 01:05:04 pm
*poke*
*shove*
For your information, this is not over and I am not dead (https://qntm.org/over).
Alright, you’ve chosen not to shoot anyone.
“Get OUT OF DAVID’S HEAD!” Anna screams, raising her right hand in a tensed clawing motion in the air. A shockwave of power screeches towards the air and floods through the Secondborn, blowing him backwards. She follows with another barrage of boltlike missiles. The Secondborn raises one arm and explodes them, but the effort visibly weakens him and he staggers backwards, shields and energy projections flickering and failing. “You… can never defeat me! he hisses. “You… mere mortals… will fall like wheat before my power!”
Eyes glowing with fire, Anna raises her hand again and projects a knife-beam of crimson power that pins the Secondborn against the cracked wall, striking him squarely in the forehead. He screams in pain as waves of red light wash over him and onto the wall. The light gushes like water or smoke out of the Secondborn, flowing in a torrent out of every pore in his body.
“No.” Anna says. She curls her hand backwards and the Secondborn is jerked forwards, pulled as if by a string by the red beam. Something like a shadow is dragged out, blown out of David’s body, and the Key assaults it with crackles of orange lightning. It gives a final shriek and shatters, a mirage-like shockwave crashing over the entire room, before it’s gone and the air is still.
The red light shuts off and Anna sags, dimmed and drained. She breathes a heavy breath, leaning against the wall for support, and falls, the Key striking the rubble with a metallic clang as she slumps to the ground.
“ANNA!” shouts Jacob, who had up to this point been staring transfixed at the battle. Snapping out of his trance, he rushes to Anna’s side and kneels by her body-
-just as another figure, tall and dressed in a black coat, steps out from the shadows. Extending one white, bony hand, he manipulates the locks on the Key with practiced ease and removes the glassy red core stone. “The Key of Taloc,” the Mittani says with satisfaction. “Thank you, Anna. I’ll take this.”
Jacob stands up, fists balled and raging, but the Mittani smiles and steps quickly to the side of one of the still-standing pillars in the room. “See you around,” he says, swinging around the pole, already setting his destination and drawing the blanket-like veil of suspension of disbelief around him, preparing to transport himself-
-nowhere, as he takes another step and swings around the pillar, coming face to face with Jacob again. He has just enough time to look shocked before Jacob raises his gun.
What do you do?
A: Attack the Mittani!
B: Attack Jacob!
C: Let this play out without intervention.
Post by: Glass on December 08, 2018, 01:12:06 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on December 08, 2018, 01:16:19 pm
Shoot the bloody Mittani, carefully so we don't hit Jacob, of course. Not that we're actually in such a configuration that this will be a problem, given where we're standing.
Also, why in the HECK did any of us just....let the Mittani step from shadows over to Anna, bend over, grab the Key, disassemble it, then speak a bog-standard villainous phrase? That makes zero sense, we have had plenty of reaction time from Anna crumpling to the Mittani speaking to do almost anything, including cross the room to tackle him.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 08, 2018, 01:17:28 pm
A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A FUCK THE MITTANI WHY DIDN’T WE START SHOOTING HIM AS SOON AS HE SHOWED UP
Because the GM doesn't care about reality, realism, or even reasonable responses?
Shoot the bloody Mittani, carefully so we don't hit Jacob, of course. Not that we're actually in such a configuration that this will be a problem, given where we're standing.
Also, why in the HECK did any of us just....let the Mittani step from shadows over to Anna, bend over, grab the Key, disassemble it, then speak a bog-standard villainous phrase? That makes zero sense, we have had plenty of reaction time from Anna crumpling to the Mittani speaking to do almost anything, including cross the room to tackle him.
I considered having an insta-shot happen, but decided to give you options because forcing your hand is bad(tm).
Post by: Glass on December 08, 2018, 01:19:39 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 08, 2018, 01:22:55 pm
Then give us the option as soon as he appears, not after he’s already taken the damn Key.
I mean, just take the few seconds of delay as your initial "who is this guy" shock. Neither of the characters has actually seen the Mittani in-game, by the way, their only way of knowing it's him is by the voice and the fact that he matches the EVE online general features.
Post by: Glass on December 08, 2018, 01:25:53 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on December 08, 2018, 01:27:29 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 08, 2018, 04:13:11 pm
Post by: omada on December 08, 2018, 05:10:11 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 10, 2018, 12:38:04 am
The Mitanni jerks back as Jacob, Fansworth, and Celling all fire into his chest. He plummets to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, gushing blood.
The red Key corestone slips out of his hand and skids across the rubble, lodging itself under a piece of debris midway between Jacob, Fansworth, and Celling.
Post actions. If anyone wants to make a dive for the Key with their Expy, now is the time to do so.
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2018, 12:43:04 am
Post by: Rockeater on December 10, 2018, 12:51:44 am
“Nobody touches the key. We get it in a clear box a pair of sticks or something and get Anna and David to a med center. And someone, remove the Mittani’s head. I don’t want the Secondborn somehow possessing him or anything like that.”Aren't there multiple soldiers in the room? Aren't we in a military base? Someone shoot Mittani's head unit it turns to paste
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 10, 2018, 02:03:17 am
Post by: omada on December 10, 2018, 03:03:13 am
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 10, 2018, 03:29:00 am
try to fart silently-1
Post by: Madman198237 on December 10, 2018, 10:33:32 am
Killer Joule de Protonne scrambles for the Key!
Oh for the love of....
Fansworth, being a military man with competence and training, takes another shot into the Mittani's head, then proceeds to go start first aid on our wounded slightly-rebellious allies.
Hopefully the mooks and others in the room will be ready to follow orders, to take down good ol' KJP's homicidally insane insert character.
Post by: Glass on December 10, 2018, 11:32:09 am
Killer Joule de Protonne scrambles for the Key!Restrain him.
“I believe I said nobody touches the key.”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 11, 2018, 11:00:08 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“Okay,” says Celling calmly, eyeing Jacob and the Key stone. “Nobody gets that Key. Nobody so much as touches the thing. Could we get a transparent container, and maybe a pair of-”
One of Celling’s men, Killer Joule de Protonne, lunges at the Key. In a flash, Jacob is lunging toward it too.
“I said,” Celling shouts. “Nobody gets the Key!” He grabs wildly at KJP and manages to grab onto his foot. Iridium tries to help but misses KJP. The three crash to the ground in a heap, Jacob and KJP gripping the Key.
Meanwhile, Fansworth decides to make sure the Mittani stays down. He takes aim and shoots. Blood splatters out the new hole in his head. Another soldier, Rockeater takes a shot but misses. Either way, he’s not getting up anytime soon.
Post what you do.
Post by: Glass on December 11, 2018, 11:02:33 pm
Fuck it, try to get the parrot here to tell us about the Azure City situation to point out to everyone that we have more important things to worry about than continued fuckery with the Key.
Post by: Madman198237 on December 11, 2018, 11:03:56 pm
Yell at the others "Nobody takes that thing til we figure out what it did to Anna!"
Just go check on Anna while yelling at the troops to shoot KJP if he manages to get ahold of the Key, and restrain Jacob if he does the same.
Gemstone's too small to send the mooks in after the melee there, we'll just shoot or restrain anyone who wins before they can do too much damage.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 11, 2018, 11:17:44 pm
Fuck it, try to get the parrot here to tell us about the Azure City situation to point out to everyone that we have more important things to worry about than continued fuckery with the Key.
Okay, I need to address the parrot. The parrot has a fourth wall connection, but it’s too demented and concussed to owe allegiance to any of you. It’s more likely to listen to whoever shouts the loudest.
You remember Everyone Is John?
Spoiler: Image (click to show/hide)
I’m modifying those rules.
All players start with 10 willpower. Anyone that wants to control the Parrot can bid Willpower on it in a private message. The Parrot is controlled by whoever bids the most, ties broken randomly.
The player controlling the Parrot can use willpower to boost its chances of success. One willpower = +1 extra dice, best of.
Anytime the Parrot gets concussed, we fight over control again.
Every turn, everyone gets +1 willpower.
Obsessions and skills aren’t relevant here.
PM me if you want the Parrot.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 11, 2018, 11:35:54 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2018, 12:28:15 am
Spoiler: SQUACKOVERLORD (click to show/hide)
Willpower count
KJP: 10
Glass: 10
Madman: 0
Madman has the parrot. What would Madman like the parrot to do?
Post by: Madman198237 on December 12, 2018, 12:31:18 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2018, 01:06:01 am
-_-Try to pry both of these dumbasses off of the Key.
Roll d6 → 3
Using Fansworth's majestic abilities of command and military close combat training, order our men to jump in and restrain both of them, as they are. Yes, both holding the Key still. Fansworth himself will make sure that neither one gets ahold of it, by grabbing it himself if necessary.
Yell at the others "Nobody takes that thing til we figure out what it did to Anna!"
Just go check on Anna while yelling at the troops to shoot KJP if he manages to get ahold of the Key, and restrain Jacob if he does the same.
Gemstone's too small to send the mooks in after the melee there, we'll just shoot or restrain anyone who wins before they can do too much damage.
Roll d6 → 5
de Protonne continues to struggle for possession of the Key in the name of the Republic
Roll d6 → 3
For my action, I quickly shoot one of the rebels to cause confusion, toss out a one-liner, and run.
Roll d6 → 5
David Eborennial/The Secondborn: 1
Jacob Eldin: 4
Mooks: 6
“Nobody. Gets. The. KEY!” shouts Celling. Gritting his teeth, he pries at the wrists of Jacob and KJP, pulling their fingers off the Key. Their grips loosen, fractionally.
“You heard the man, nobody gets the Key!” Fansworth says. He points his men in the direction of Jacob and KJP. “That rebel gets it, restrain him. The other guy gets it, shoot him!” Fansworth runs to the other side of the room and knees besides Anna’s body. He checks her pulse. No beat. She doesn't seem to be breathing either.
Fansworth is rocked by the force of a bullet passing inches from his face. It hits Anna in the chest with a bloody splat. Her body flops over on its side, blood gushing out of the new wound. Fansworth looks up to see Iridium standing upon a block of rubble, putting away his revolver. He says something - lost over the din - and hops off, running towards the gaping hole in the wall.
The Secondborn/David Eborrenial teleports up, going from slumped against the wall to standing in front of Iridium in a whirl of Protinam lightning. Iridium skids to a stop, terrified. “No.”
He closes one fist and builds up a ball of Cisharni fire, then takes a swing at Iridium. He catches only air, as Iridium dodges around him and rushes out into the street.
KJP and Jacob, oblivious to this, continue fighting for the Key. Jacob manages to win, tightening his fist around it, with KJP barely touching it with a few fingers. Luckily, at that point the guards manage to reach him, and pin him down onto the ground.
The Key slips out of his grip and lands on the floor, within grabbing reach of everyone involved.
Note: This section has been RETCONNED. Jump to the end of the retcon by clicking this link (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7941547#msg7941547). This is the reasonable order to read these updates in. Disregard all updates from this location to there!
Post what you want to do.
SQUACKOVERLORD
KJP: 11
Glass: 11
Madman: 1
A player entering the parrot now will start with 11 willpower
All parties gain one willpower
The Parrot does nothing.
I get that you plan to have the parrot take no concussions and thus never change hands, but… the original thing had a mechanism to stop this.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that, but no challenge for control this turn. I’m just going to rule that even a no-difficulty action still causes a roll to keep control, and as that roll (1) is less than 4, Madman loses control.
PM me if you want the parrot.
Post by: Glass on December 12, 2018, 01:12:29 am
Bloody rage. Key. Remove the Secondborn. Damn the fucking consequences.
Of note: Celling should display all the body language cues that make clear that a person has gone into Righteous Vengeance mode. Because he has.
My gun will be pointed at David/the Secondborn/whoever they are until such time as it is made certain that they are not the Secondborn or, if they are the Secondborn, they’re dead/unconscious/some other neutralized status.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2018, 01:17:37 am
“...get out. You monster, GET OUT!”
Bloody rage. Key. Remove the Secondborn. Damn the fucking consequences.
Of note: Celling should display all the body language cues that make clear that a person has gone into Righteous Vengeance mode. Because he has.
Key's on the floor, in case you missed that.
Post by: Madman198237 on December 12, 2018, 01:35:22 am
Since I'm still here:
Start firing, order our men to start firing, and don't stop under the Secondborn is dead.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 12, 2018, 02:07:12 am
“...get out. You monster, GET OUT!”
Bloody rage. Key. Remove the Secondborn. Damn the fucking consequences.
Of note: Celling should display all the body language cues that make clear that a person has gone into Righteous Vengeance mode. Because he has.
Key's on the floor, in case you missed that.
De Protonne grabs it. Vive la République!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2018, 10:45:29 am
Post by: Glass on December 12, 2018, 11:01:37 am
I’m aware.“...get out. You monster, GET OUT!”
Bloody rage. Key. Remove the Secondborn. Damn the fucking consequences.
Of note: Celling should display all the body language cues that make clear that a person has gone into Righteous Vengeance mode. Because he has.
Key's on the floor, in case you missed that.
Fallacy can act too now, by the way.SG93IGFyZSB5b3Ugc3VyZSB0aGF0J3MgdGhlIFNlY29uZGJvcm4/So, what’s this?
EDIT: Action updated.
Post by: Madman198237 on December 12, 2018, 02:14:40 pm
Ninja edit:
Oh and also we were just specifically told that he was summoning Cisharni fire. Protinam do not normally summon Cisharni anything. This is not natural. Things that are not natural are highly dangerous right now.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 12, 2018, 03:19:07 pm
Bang bang at the Secondborn as Fansworth orders. Non-combatants and Fallas himself take cover, bringing the equipment with them.
Post by: Rockeater on December 12, 2018, 03:22:33 pm
Post by: omada on December 12, 2018, 03:44:07 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on December 12, 2018, 03:59:02 pm
I recommend that you take control of one of the soldiers restraining KJP, and shoot him til he dies. That should just about wrap up all our loose ends.
Post by: omada on December 12, 2018, 04:05:53 pm
and fart loudly
Post by: Glass on December 12, 2018, 04:39:30 pm
What the fuck is happeningNobody fucking knows.
Fallacy just strolled into a room full of people fighting over the Key. Fansworth's/my men are restraining KJP and David while Glass goes for the Key to enter mental duel with the Secondborn, while Fansworth/I and the rest of my men shoot the Secondborn til he dies.Ok, Madman mostly knows.
I recommend that you take control of one of the soldiers restraining KJP, and shoot him til he dies. That should just about wrap up all our loose ends.
Post by: Madman198237 on December 12, 2018, 04:41:27 pm
Except some MINOR details, but MY chessmaster's gambit is robust enough to survive minor hiccups like "the Secondborn has decided to not quite be dead" or "Iridium shoots the wrong person and then deserts" or "Fallacy's gone even crazier than usual".
Post by: Rockeater on December 12, 2018, 04:49:14 pm
Post by: Glass on December 12, 2018, 05:11:33 pm
Did he go crazier then usual?Yes. We could have had a much more useful add-on to the turn where David received a vision of a possible good future, instead of Fal and a small army of extra soldiers and scientists converging on our location for basically no reason.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2018, 09:19:30 pm
Spoiler: SQUACKOVERLORD (click to show/hide)
Willpower count
KJP: 11
Glass: 0
Madman: 1
Glass has the parrot. What would Glass like the parrot to do?
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 12, 2018, 09:35:27 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2018, 09:41:05 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 12, 2018, 09:46:20 pm
Post by: Glass on December 12, 2018, 10:38:39 pm
Have it get some paper and a pencil out of hammerspace or something (I mean, preferably from realspace, but hammerspace if there is none in realspace or its too dangerous to access) and start writing down the Azure City situation.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2018, 11:11:32 pm
“...get out. You monster, GET OUT!”
Bloody rage. Key. Remove the Secondborn. Damn the fucking consequences.
Of note: Celling should display all the body language cues that make clear that a person has gone into Righteous Vengeance mode. Because he has.*sigh*
My gun will be pointed at David/the Secondborn/whoever they are until such time as it is made certain that they are not the Secondborn or, if they are the Secondborn, they’re dead/unconscious/some other neutralized status.
Roll d6 → 2 = Failure
Whoops, heheh, final project due date is 10am, better finish this now instead of later.
Since I'm still here:
Start firing, order our men to start firing, and don't stop under the Secondborn is dead.
Roll 2d6h1 → 6 3 = Gone horribly right
“...get out. You monster, GET OUT!”
Bloody rage. Key. Remove the Secondborn. Damn the fucking consequences.
Of note: Celling should display all the body language cues that make clear that a person has gone into Righteous Vengeance mode. Because he has.
Key's on the floor, in case you missed that.
De Protonne grabs it. Vive la République!
Roll d6 → 4 = Success
"... Ah. Is now a good time? ... Alright, Fansworth gave the order. Fire in the hole! (There's about fifteen minute's opportunity for revivification, it can wait until this is sorted out!)"
Bang bang at the Secondborn as Fansworth orders. Non-combatants and Fallas himself take cover, bringing the equipment with them.
Roll d6 → 5 = Total success
Follow Farnsworth orders
Roll d6 → 6 = Gone horribly right
Kill KJP
and fart loudly
Roll d6 → 5 = Total success
Jacob: 5
David/Secondborn: 5
David/Secondborn snaps back to normal in a flash. He raises his hands in front of him. “Wait, wait, I’m not-”
A storm of bullets cuts him off. He conjures shields, sparks of energy weaving between his hands to block the bullets, but they buckle as they absorb hit after hit. Several lucky shots hit him in the chest, and his arms drop as he collapses against the wall in shock. There is a flash of lightning and fire where he’s standing as he seems to melt into the air, then he’s gone.
Meanwhile, KJP makes a dive for the Key. Celling does as well. Miraculously, KJP manages to make it, closing his fingers around the red stone. “Viva la Repu-” he begins to shout.
Omada unceremoniously puts a bullet through his head. To add insult to injury, he turns around and farts loudly. The Key clatters out of KJP’s hands, only to be picked up by Jacob. Roaring with anger, he breaks free of the guards and grips the Key.
As the metallic support structure of the Key lying on the floor crumbles to gray powder and begins reforming in Jacob’s hands, he loosens a rather crude psychic attack. A wave of unbridled rage and fury thunders through Celling, Fansworth, and Iridium’s minds, making it harder for them to think straight. Disadvantage (roll 2 take worst) to Glass, Madman, and Iridium for 1 turn.
Post what you do.
KJP is DEAD and cannot play for the duration of this RTD (except as the parrot)
Sorry, was working on web design final project.
Have it get some paper and a pencil out of hammerspace or something (I mean, preferably from realspace, but hammerspace if there is none in realspace or its too dangerous to access) and start writing down the Azure City situation.
6 → Gone horribly right
The parrot flits back to Andes High Command through hammerspace to retrieve a paper and pencil so it can write its report.
It’s so engrossed in the task that it doesn’t notice that it’s begun drifting into hammerspace again until it’s too late.
Parrot in hammerspace.
Glass retains control.
Everyone gets one extra willpower.
Willpower count
KJP: 12
Glass: 1
Madman: 2
What would Glass like the parrot to do? (remember, you can bonus actions with willpower, but state this in the post!)
Post by: Glass on December 12, 2018, 11:15:08 pm
Try to get Jacob to calm the fuck down.
Parrot should get back to realspace.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 12, 2018, 11:40:02 pm
Parrot should get back to realspace.
6 → Gone Horribly Right
And it sure does!
The parrot rockets out of Hammerspace from an upturned crate of lemons on a ship crossing the Drake Passage. It slams into the guardrail, giving itself a concussion, before flopping off the ship and towards the stormy sea.
Glass has lost control of the parrot
Control of the parrot is up for grabs
Willpower count
KJP: 12
Glass: 1
Madman: 2
Someone entering now will enter with 12 willpower
PM me if you want the parrot
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 13, 2018, 12:34:29 am
Willpower count
KJP: 6
Glass: 1
Madman: 2
Someone entering now will enter with 12 willpower
KJP has the parrot
What does KJP want the parrot to do?
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 13, 2018, 12:49:48 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 13, 2018, 01:07:52 am
Have the parrot enter hammerspace behind the side of the boat (Spend 1 willpower if the action isn't in writing as of the edit timestamp)
Not possible. Are boats thin objects these days?
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 13, 2018, 01:10:47 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 14, 2018, 12:28:54 am
Enter hammerspace through the space between the guardrails? (1 Willpower) Surely there's some OSHA compliance in this benevolent republic...
Roll d6:
Swinging around the rails with a sudden burst of speed, the Parrot goes underneath and-
-BAMF! It is instantly in the familiar white void of Hammerspace
KJP retains control of the parrot
KJP expends one Willpower
Willpower count
KJP: 5
Glass: 1
Madman: 2
Someone entering now will enter with 12 willpower
What would KJP like the Parrot to do?
-_-
Try to get Jacob to calm the fuck down.
Parrot should get back to realspace.
This is THE ONLY ACTION for the main game at this point. Everyone, post what you do.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 14, 2018, 12:36:07 am
Post by: Madman198237 on December 14, 2018, 08:51:54 am
Order the men back from the raging lunatic, move in and attempt to calm him down with kind words. I dunno, I'm travelling right now, OK?
Post by: Rockeater on December 14, 2018, 09:32:14 am
Help Fallas team to move equipment
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 14, 2018, 05:55:08 pm
If Jacob is not calmed down... he gets bullets. If the fighting finally stops, Fallas looks to Fansworth for instructions on who to revive.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 15, 2018, 07:41:17 pm
Have the parrot pick up some glass object from hammerspace. (1 Willpower)
Rolls: 4 5 → Critical success!
Opening its claws in the white void, it concentrates and attempts to form a solid object. A moment later, a champagne glass shimmers into existence in his grasp.
KJP has used one willpower
Everyone gains one willpower from the turn change
Willpower count
KJP: 5
Glass: 2
Madman: 3
Someone entering now will enter with 13 willpower
KJP retains control of the parrot. What would KJP like the parrot to do?
-_-
Try to get Jacob to calm the fuck down.
Rolls: 4 5 → Success
Order the men back from the raging lunatic, move in and attempt to calm him down with kind words. I dunno, I'm travelling right now, OK?
Rolls: 6 2 → Failure
Nothing too specific to do, then.
Help Fallas team to move equipment
Roll: 2 → Failure
"Balls. Well, men, you know what to do if things go south."
If Jacob is not calmed down... he gets bullets. If the fighting finally stops, Fallas looks to Fansworth for instructions on who to revive.
Roll: 6 → Gone Horribly Right
Jacob: 3 → Partial success
“Get out of here,” Fansworth whispers to his men, before stepping forward to confront Jacob. “Jacob, lower that Key. We don’t mean to hurt you-”
Jacob stumbles backwards, clutching the Key in one hand and raising the other, shaking. “Just as you didn’t mean to hurt Anna?” he asks furiously.
“We didn’t do that,” notes Celling. “That was a rogue associate of mine that we’re going to track down, right now, if you’d help us!”
Jacob seems somewhat convinced of this. The Key’s glow becomes slightly less malevolent as he lowers his hand.
BANG!
A shot sails over his head, cracking into the wall next to him. Fallas, apparently being careless with the trigger, fired the gun that he’d been training on Jacob.
The Key’s red eye flashes brilliantly as Jacob sweeps his hand in a chopping motion, slicing into the brains of everyone inside the room. Red light thunders out of his fingertips and pours into the minds of Celling, Fansworth, and Fallas.
He doesn’t tell them to drop their weapons. He simply removes the idea of holding their guns and the guns clatter to the ground, forgotten. He turns on Fallas, stepping forwards vengefully, then stopping in shock as he reads Fallas’s surface thoughts.
“You… you can save her?” he asks, incredulously.
Post what you do.
Post by: Iris on December 15, 2018, 07:56:19 pm
"I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but this vessel has been requisitioned by Lord Iridium. You can pledge your undying loyalty to Him and continue to serve on this ship, or I shall give you a reassignment to the bottom of the Atlantic. Nothing personal, but this is rather important."
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 15, 2018, 07:58:07 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 15, 2018, 08:03:27 pm
With Fansworth's permission, if it's given, Fallas and his scientists start the process to revive Anna.
Post by: Glass on December 15, 2018, 09:51:50 pm
Push all of my info on the front wall to the front of my mind, clear for Jacob to see.
Give me a moment please. Do not quickhammer.
Get some troops together and go after Iridium.
Of course Fal is allowed to revive Anna. It would be stupid to not let him.
He is not allowed, however, to make any alterations that are less than necessary.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 15, 2018, 09:56:25 pm
Ah, so he’s in my head right now. Same as Booner was. Wonderful.
Push all of my info on the front wall to the front of my mind, clear for Jacob to see.
Give me a moment please. Do not quickhammer.
(takes out quickhammer)
Just kidding. Still need to wait for MM.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 16, 2018, 10:21:58 pm
Obtain a Republic warship and loyal crew.
"I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but this vessel has been requisitioned by Lord Iridium. You can pledge your undying loyalty to Him and continue to serve on this ship, or I shall give you a reassignment to the bottom of the Atlantic. Nothing personal, but this is rather important."
Roll: 1 → Epic failure
With Fansworth's permission, if it's given, Fallas and his scientists start the process to revive Anna.
Roll: Irrelevant
Get some troops together and go after Iridium.
Roll: 2 → Failure
“That’s it,” says Celling. ‘I’m going after this Iridium character.” Following a quick glance by Jacob, who nods, Celling takes around half the force with him and departs through the hole in the wall.
Iridium, meanwhile, faces little trouble getting to the bridge of the SFN Delos, one of the Republic’s cruisers. He puts a gun to the short, young-looking captain’s head.
“This vessel is being requisitioned by Lord Iridium!” he says over the ship’s intercom. “You can stay and serve me, or you go to the bottom of the Atlantic. Your choice!”
Captain Kenshin Ganara sighs deeply. In one fluid motion, he whirls around, kicks Iridium in the gut, and sends his gun spinning across the floor. Captain Ganara draws his own gun and holds it to Iridium’s head.
“Sorry about that, folks,” he says over the radio. “Shore control, patch me through to Captain Wenton Celling. I have a feeling he has something to do with this “Iridium” character.”
Meanwhile, Fallacy makes preparations for the resurrection. “I’d give her eighty five percent odds,” he notes, popping open a container. There are vials of DNA inside, labeled cat, dog, penguin… “She hasn’t been dead for fifteen minutes, has she? We’ll start in a minute.”
“No, you won’t,” says a voice from the doorway. A balding man dressed in a prison jumpsuit walks up with surprising vigor for his age, fists clenched. “Fallas d’ Florist, are you?”
Fallas turns, utterly unamused. “T. Levin. Aren’t you supposed to be exiled?”
“They let me take one last tour of this place. Maybe atone for my sins in some way.” T. Levin says. He steps up to Fallas’s cart and slams his hand down on the container. “You’re going to inject her with animal DNA.”
“It’s critical to the resurrection process,” says Fallas.
“It is not,” T. Levin states bluntly.
There is an awkward silence before Fallas d’ Florist laughs weakly. “I’m sorry if we don’t believe the very man convicted of creating the Cherub project…”
“And so I have seen the effects of perverting nature, and so I cannot allow it to happen again,” T. Levin states. He points a bony finger at Fallas. “You may not know it, but you’re working off data extrapolated from the Adelie Archive. A series of ancient symbols that we don’t understand at all, but that seem to be central to bodily manipulation in some degree. Symbols which I translated, by the way. I do not know what you are doing, or whether you are being deceptive or merely ignorant, but there is no requirement to use foreign DNA.”
Fallas laughs again and turns to the rest of the group. “Be that as it may, he can’t bring Anna back. I can. And who wouldn’t like the extra senses and faster reflexes conferred by a partial hybridization with-”
“Turn over all your procedures and equipment right now, and I may be able to work another way out,” T. Levin says forcefully. “But continue on your current path, and I will not stand idly by while you twist this girl’s body against her will.”
Post what you do
Have the parrot reappear inside some important box/container carried in by Fallas' throng, possibly displacing the contents into hammerspace if necessary. (1 Willpower)
Roll: 5 1 → Critical success
In the meantime, one of the other scientists opens another container. In it are needles and syringes - and a crumpled up green and blue parrot, clutching a champagne glass.
“Squack?” it calls weakly.
KJP has used one willpower
Everyone gets one willpower from the turn change
Willpower count
KJP: 5
Glass: 3
Madman: 4
Someone entering now will enter with 14 willpower
KJP retains control of the parrot
What would KJP like the parrot to do?
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on December 16, 2018, 10:39:54 pm
“ I am a monster, I just do not want more to be made. You know what I can do. I say the girl should enjoy her retirement, I.. could do my work, temporary fix. I just, do not want to do bad things to people any more.”
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 16, 2018, 10:48:04 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on December 16, 2018, 10:53:35 pm
:looks to the others.: “ I could make her a proto cherub, none of the surgery or machine bits within, but a chemical cock tail for her to survive. Though will need it to keep her alive. Best I can do, and I do not feel like making murder machines. If pick my option will give ya the formula, so can keep her alive in time.”
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 16, 2018, 11:12:41 pm
Post by: Glass on December 16, 2018, 11:27:37 pm
Either we talk in a series of mini turns or we talk next turn.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 16, 2018, 11:35:37 pm
I assume I’m arriving at the ship soon? That, or being contacted over radio. The point is that I expect to be talking to Ganara soon, but I’m not actually doing that right this second.
Either we talk in a series of mini turns or we talk next turn.
Yeah, something like that.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 17, 2018, 12:22:26 am
Have the parrot glass Jacob and make off with the Key+glove! (2 Willpower)
"SQUAWWWWWWWK!!!! SQUAWWWWWWK!!!"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2018, 12:37:08 am
Parrot action now, ship action later:
Have the parrot glass Jacob and make off with the Key+glove! (2 Willpower)
"SQUAWWWWWWWK!!!! SQUAWWWWWWK!!!"
Roll: 1 6 6 → Gone horribly right
The parrot shrieks as it bursts up out of the container. It smashes the glass into Jacob’s face, and he howls and clutches his eyes. His grip on the Key loosens, and the parrot latches on. Miraculously, it manages to pull it off.
Now, at this point it deserves to be mentioned that the Key is a metal gauntlet, and thus rather heavy, while a parrot is a medium sized tropical bird, and thus not particularly apt at carrying heavy objects.
Weighed down by the glove, the parrot immediately pitches downwards and smashes into a piece of rubble on the floor, giving himself a 2nd concussion
KJP has used two willpower
Willpower count
KJP: 3
Glass: 3
Madman: 4
Someone entering now will enter with 14 willpower
KJP has lost the parrot
DM me if you want the parrot
Post by: Rockeater on December 17, 2018, 02:18:45 am
Start reading the time since Anna died
Post by: omada on December 17, 2018, 11:15:28 am
grab the parrot/key, put inside the jacket or whatever
"you can go to hammerspace with the gauntlet, if you can take me too It would be helpfull"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 17, 2018, 12:49:41 pm
KJP bids 2
Glass bids 3
Rockeater bids 5
Fallacy bids 7
Fallacy has won
Fallacy has spent 7 willpower
Willpower count
KJP: 3
Glass: 3
Madman: 4
Rockeater: 14
Fallacy: 7
Someone entering now will enter with 14 willpower
Fallacy has the parrot
What would Fallacy like the parrot to do?
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 17, 2018, 12:53:40 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on December 17, 2018, 04:54:25 pm
"If it's possible to do, it's possible to undo. Levine, let the lunatic revive that Rebel, she doesn't have much time and we might need to run another procedure on that guy over in the corner."
Enforce the above.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on December 17, 2018, 05:09:15 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 17, 2018, 08:55:14 pm
Post by: Rockeater on December 18, 2018, 01:09:07 am
Cuan Jucharadorismo de la Plata fires on the mutinous captain. All hail Lord Iridium!I shoot Jucharadorismo as soon as I see him aim.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 18, 2018, 07:48:30 am
Cuan Jucharadorismo de la Plata fires on the mutinous captain. All hail Lord Iridium!I shoot Jucharadorismo as soon as I see him aim.
You're currently in the room, he respawned in the ship.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 18, 2018, 09:38:42 am
Post by: Madman198237 on December 18, 2018, 09:42:09 am
darn spawncampers"It's alright guys I'll spawn in and then we can get out of this zone and onto world domination."
Bang.
"Darn spawncampers. Nevermind guys, we're screwed."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 18, 2018, 11:40:06 pm
"PARROT!"
grab the parrot/key, put inside the jacket or whatever
"you can go to hammerspace with the gauntlet, if you can take me too It would be helpfull"
Roll: 2 → Failure
I don't have much better to do.
Start reading the time since Anna died
No roll required
Let go of the gauntlet and fly into the arms of someone who's trying to grab it.
Roll: 3 → Partial success
Cuan Jucharadorismo de la Plata fires on the mutinous captain. All hail Lord Iridium!
Roll: 1 → Epic failure
Well, here we are with the split scene mode again.
On the Delos
“So you do know this guy?” asks Captain Ganara. “He just charges on the ship, tries to attack me, and acts like he owns the place.”
“That’s him, sadly,” says Celling. Iridium is by now handcuffed and tied to a pole, awaiting imprisonment and trial.
Kenshin shakes his head. “You Army folks,” he mutters.
From the neighboring door bursts one Cuan Jucharadorismo de la Plata, who instantly takes aim and fires.
He misses.
Ganara and Celling look on, nonplussed, as Iridium slumps to the ground, blood gushing from the new hole in his chest.
“Well, that saves us the cost of a trial,” says Ganara.
Parrot nonsense
Seeing that the parrot has liberated the Key from Jacob’s grasp, Omada rushes forward and tries to take it. He misses as the parrot drops the Key and comes rocketing up, smashing into his face and giving itself a 3rd concussion.
Fallacy has lost the parrot
Everyone gains 1 willpower from the turn change
Willpower count
KJP: 4
Glass: 4
Madman: 5
Rockeater: 15
Fallacy: 8
Someone entering now will enter with 15 willpower
DM me if you want the parrot
Jacob is pulled forward by the force of the parrot taking the Key. He stumbles and reaches for his gun, but it’s enough time for Fansworth to pull out his own pistol and aim it firmly at him.
"Eight minutes since death," notes Rockeater. "Seven minutes until resurrection is impossible."
Some specific characters have decisions to make.
Glass, you could reveal that CJP was trying to shoot at Ganara
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/d/df/Renegade_Interrupt.png/revision/latest?cb=20101006130820): Do it.
B: Do not. (do something else?)
KJP, you can keep your mouth shut, or declare your loyalty to Iridium and charge Glass and Ganara
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/d/df/Renegade_Interrupt.png/revision/latest?cb=20101006130820): Charge them!
B: Try to talk your way out of this.
Madman, you can shoot!
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/d/df/Renegade_Interrupt.png/revision/latest?cb=20101006130820): Shoot Jacob now.
B: Settle for threatening him or something
The rest of you post what you do.
To take the interrupt (first option) just type
Code: [Select]
[img height=50]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/d/df/Renegade_Interrupt.png/revision/latest?cb=20101006130820[/img]
Post by: Madman198237 on December 18, 2018, 11:44:24 pm
Don't fire unless he manages to clear the gun out of the holster. Plenty of warning before that point, military reflexes,
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 18, 2018, 11:46:47 pm
Post by: Glass on December 18, 2018, 11:53:32 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on December 19, 2018, 12:04:23 am
Post by: omada on December 21, 2018, 11:33:26 pm
just saying, this burst of violence from jacob brought him a few steps to the dark side
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 22, 2018, 03:44:17 pm
Get to work on resurrecting Anna. Fallacy, looking through his DNA vials, selects a vial of wolf DNA to use with the process.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 02, 2019, 11:05:12 am
Post by: Iris on January 02, 2019, 11:06:01 am
Post by: Glass on January 02, 2019, 11:20:35 am
The next SPAMOVERLORD update will be written entirely in couplets.Blue has been affected by Lliteration.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 13, 2019, 12:02:12 pm
SQUACKOVERLORD
KJP bids 2
Rockeater bids 9
Rockeater has won
Rockeater spends 9 willpower
Everyone gets 1 willpower from the turn change
Willpower count
KJP: 5
Glass: 5
Madman: 6
Rockeater: 7
Fallacy: 9
Someone entering now will enter with 16 willpower
Rockeater has the parrot
What would Rockeater like the parrot to do?
"Anyhow. It's probably best we get started on the resurrection process, then."
Get to work on resurrecting Anna. Fallacy, looking through his DNA vials, selects a vial of wolf DNA to use with the process.
Fallacy steps forward, selecting equipment from his lab cart. He pulls a gun-shaped injector out and slides the test tube of wolf DNA in, twisting a inscribed ring to clamp it in place.
As he works, T. Levin watches. He can’t be sure what Fallacy is doing, but it’s obvious that this is his first shot, because he’s making obvious mistakes. Creating the Cherubs has given Levin some understanding of the workings of the human body, and this is applicable even if he doesn’t make Anna a cherub. He could help Fallacy, point out a few things to improve. This would boost Anna’s odds of survival, but would make it easier for Fallacy to get what he wants. Alternatively, he could sabotage the effort, which might make Fallacy fail, or just spare Anna from the transformation.
To resurrect Anna: Fallacy must roll a 7 or greater on a d20, with the amount by which he exceeds this determining the extent of transformation. Rolls below a 13 show no visible signs of transformation, while 14-20 is increasing amounts, with 20 = “barely recognizable as human”.
If Tyrant Leviathan chooses to help, this is two dice, take best, meaning the chances of successful resurrection go up, but so do the chances of transformation.
If he chooses to sabotage, this is two dice, take worst, meaning the chances of transformation go down, but the chance of failure (Anna stays dead) goes up.
Tyrant Leviathan should message his choice to me in private. It will not be revealed. Fallacy has the option to accept or not accept.
Tyrant: What does T. Levin do?
A: Stand by and watch
B: Offer his help in raising Anna
C: Offer his help, but secretly sabotage Fallacy’s efforts.
Everyone else, post what you do (if anything)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 13, 2019, 12:04:13 pm
"Keep the gun down, kid. We're trying to save lives, not take them."
Don't fire unless he manages to clear the gun out of the holster. Plenty of warning before that point, military reflexes,roll at advantage,you know the drill.
CJP holsters his gun, salutes, and leaves.
“Skipping the trial isn’t how we’re supposed to do things here... fine. But keep an eye on him, in case he shows other tendencies to jump the gun on these things.”
Pet the parrot
just saying, this burst of violence from jacob brought him a few steps to the dark side
Assume all these work. The RTD section is basically over.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 13, 2019, 12:22:20 pm
Does Fallacy accept this? Note it could also be sabotage.
Post by: Glass on January 13, 2019, 12:26:19 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on January 13, 2019, 01:13:38 pm
Fallas d'Florist refuses T. Levin's help, then has his cohort of scientists assist him.
Post by: Rockeater on January 13, 2019, 02:26:35 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 13, 2019, 02:28:23 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on January 15, 2019, 01:04:55 am
Get Jacob's attention (+1 willpower)
Rolls: 1 3 → Partial success!
Rockeater spends 1 willpower
Everyone gets 1 willpower from the turn change
Willpower count
KJP: 6
Glass: 6
Madman: 7
Rockeater: 7
Fallacy: 10
Someone entering now will enter with 17 willpower
Rockeater has the parrot
What would Rockeater like the parrot to do?
Fallacy rolls 1
T. Levin rolls 10 but it doesn’t matter because Fallacy doesn’t accept his help.
“...and that should be it!” announces Fallacy. By now he’s injected the DNA, and two electrodes are connected to Anna’s chest. He turns a dial on his cart, and there is an audible whirr of electricity. “Resurrection in three… two… NOW!”
Nothing happens.
Without missing a beat, Fallacy whirls around and adjusts a switch. He thumbs a red button on his cart and turns around to face Jacob again. “I meant, resurrection NOW!”
Anna gurgled a bit as her body twitched and blood leaked from the side of her mouth.
Now slightly worried, Fallacy turned back to his cart. He pulled out gauges and checked papers. “No, no, no, that should have worked…”
“What… did you do?” asks Jacob in shock. He reaches for his gun, and Fansworth glares at him. “Don’t try it,” Fansworth hisses.
The parrot, suddenly full of resolve, wings upwards from the ground. “HI JACOB!” it screams. “HI JACOB HI JACOB HI JACOB-”
Celling walks back in through the gaping hole in the wall. “Okay, what the hell is happening now,” he asks.
Frankly? RTD is over. Suggest and vote on plans from here forward.
Post by: Rockeater on January 15, 2019, 01:14:21 am
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on January 15, 2019, 01:44:12 am
Post by: Glass on January 15, 2019, 09:57:15 am
“Alright. Jacob, I think I know a way that we might be able to fix this, but I need you to trust me for this - and yes, I know that’s not likely something you want to do. But, when we broke the Key the first time, it opened up a portal, to a place where things work... differently. They have magic there, and that portal is still open. I don’t know if they can save Anna, but given that Florist couldn’t, I believe it may be worth an attempt.”
Post by: FallacyofUrist on January 16, 2019, 12:30:52 am
Post by: Glass on February 03, 2019, 03:20:57 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on February 03, 2019, 03:30:04 pm
"Bugger. Knew we should have started human trials before this. We'll have to do more tests. Honestly expected more of that."
“ Given the fact my handy work included requiring the organs to respond to stimulation, Yeah should have put more thought.”
As he then decides to exit the scene.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 09, 2019, 02:15:56 pm
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb Fansworth
Plot points to be resolved:
- T. Levin inspecting Tommy DeMarco’s memory removal, then leaving for America
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Order of the Stick
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
“Alright, it’s been arranged,” says Enir Nest. Quill is standing on a balcony in the capital complex. He gazes thoughtfully past the brick and concrete buildings, staring into the distance, watching the sun set over the ice sheets of Antarctica.
“T. Levin is going to be exiled to America,” Nest continues. He speaks softly but clearly, barely audible over the cold night wind. “He’s been allowed to recruit from our prisoners, minus the ones accused of treason.”
“No hitches, seriously?” asks Quill. “Nobody trying to stop me from letting him ride off into the sunset?”
“Some strings had to be pulled, believe me, but the only person here that outright ignored your input was Padelheb,” Nest answers. “There’s precautions, but Levin has been astonishingly cooperative so far. And if it changes anything, he’s traveling by boat.”
“That’s good,” says Quill. He turns around and walks into the building, Nest following alongside him.
“The people want your word that the Cherub program will be instantly disbanded,” Nest says.
“Well, obviously-”
“But I’m sure that they’ll understand that while Levin’s actions cannot be condoned, the results of his work can be used,” says Nest. “If that’s what you say. The Cherubs have proven themselves to be a formidable fighting force, and rehabilitating them into civilian life could be difficult. Honestly, the best option might be to keep them.”
“And you think the people will be okay with this?” Quill asks.
“Perhaps they don’t need to know,” says Nest.
Quill says nothing. Changing the topic, he asks, “What about that scientist I told you to keep an eye on, Fallas d’Florist?”
He knows the answer. Of course, he knows the answer, it’s sitting in a dimly-lit room in his brain, but-
“He’s departed on a ship for Argentina,” says Nest. “With a bunch of assistants and soldiers. Said something about genetic modification or resurrection, or both.”
“When did he go?”
“A few hours ago,” says Nest. “He’ll arrive in around three days. You could probably catch up with him if you wanted to return to Argentina. Speaking of which, are you planning to?”
“Probably, at some point,” Quill says. “And one more thing. With the wormhole packed up to go to England, we’ve got to figure out another means of rapid communication with the other continents.”
“We’ve already tried sending radio signals,” says Nest. “No dice. The curvature of the Earth’s too great to get a direct connection, and there’s too much noise coming off the aurora for the ionosphere to be any use as a reflection point.”
“How about… just run a telegraph cable across the Drake Passage?” Quill asks.
Nest goes silent for a moment. “Now, I’m no oceanographer, but… the Drake’s full of violent currents. You sure it won’t just snap? Could you even drive a cable of that length?”
“It’s unlikely, but I’ve got some ideas planned out. Inductance and current leakage are going to be problems, so we’ll probably wrap the cable in several layers of insulating rubber, and…”
What do you do about the Cherubs?
A: Have them disbanded, rehabilitated, and returned to their families as soon as possible!
B: Refuse and continue the program.
C: Say you’re going to disband them but don’t.
What do you do about Fallas?
A: Follow him back to Argentina!
B: Have his boat tracked down and stopped!
C: Stay in Antarctica, work on the submarine cable project, and handle issues there.
D: Have the parrot hammerspace you to Antarctica. This is risky and may turn a few heads on both sides of the fourth wall, but Fallas somehow arrived instantly, and this is the only way to catch him.
(ALERT: B and D have a chance of retconning the events of Fallas’s ressurection attempt)
Post by: Glass on February 09, 2019, 02:24:01 pm
Post by: Rockeater on February 09, 2019, 02:28:08 pm
A, B+C
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 09, 2019, 02:52:58 pm
+1, that the best part, Fallas failed, so not bringing him give T.Levaitan a chance to do itThat's incorrect. Without the equipment Fallas brings, T. Levin can't do a thing.
Post by: Rockeater on February 09, 2019, 02:54:21 pm
Sorry about that, then+1, that the best part, Fallas failed, so not bringing him give T.Levaitan a chance to do itThat's incorrect. Without the equipment Fallas brings, T. Levin can't do a thing.
A,D
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 09, 2019, 02:57:22 pm
A,D+1 to this.
If you're wondering why:
It's because Erin Quill could assist in the resurrection.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on February 09, 2019, 03:04:03 pm
1:A
2: B and C
Plot post
As the he sailing off to North America, Levin gets talked by thevother prisoners, given his reputation and everything.
“ Gentlemen, we all have sinned and have blood in our hands. Back home we were scum, now we are off to a new land. If we play all our cards right, we can be heroes. We could wash the stains of Failure and make a difference.”
He notes to himself no more human experiments, unless he himself is the subject.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 09, 2019, 03:08:56 pm
Err T Levin can make his own shit up given the fact he had a idea of the resurrection with Fallas tools. He can always make his own shit up ( which he plans to do. In the New World.)(Except if Fallas doesn't arrive, you won't have any equipment you need to resurrect. Fallas brought a whole convoy with him.)
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on February 09, 2019, 03:23:44 pm
Post by: Iris on February 09, 2019, 03:53:29 pm
Hail Lord Iridium!
Post by: Madman198237 on February 09, 2019, 07:44:16 pm
A, B+C+1
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on February 10, 2019, 12:14:18 am
B, C+1
Hail Lord Iridium!
Post by: Glass on February 10, 2019, 01:41:35 am
Code: [Select]
A, B+C: Glass, Lev, MM
A, D: Rock and Fal
B, C: Iri and KJPJust clearing up the voting situation.Or, alternately:
Code: (Issue 1) [Select]
A: Glass, Lev, MM, Rock, Fal
B: Iri, KJPCode: (Issue 2) [Select]
B+C: Glass, Lev, MM
D: Rock, Fal
C: Iri, KJP
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 10, 2019, 05:19:00 pm
Post by: Rockeater on February 10, 2019, 11:46:11 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 16, 2019, 11:18:07 pm
I will now roll the second thing.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Erin Quill listens to a radio broadcast from the forces chasing Fallas d’ Florist’s ship.
“...target in sights thirty miles off the coast, Quill, but they’re too far-” There’s a burst of static on the line. “-can’t board them, they’ll be out of range soon. We’ll fire on command-”
“Can you get me a radio link to the ship?” Quill asks.
“Yes, sir-” The communication’s interrupted by more static. “-maintain it for long, but you can talk to them.”
What do you do?
A: “Open a channel.” (Talk to Fallas/Fallacy in-character, in the thread.)
B: “Sink that ship!”
C: “Forget it, let them go.”
Now, of course, you will probably want to select A first, but the others remain open as options at all times. If a majority of the voters chooses B or C, it happens. If someone chooses A and poses a question to ask, it should be answered immediately. All discussion on this should be IC for the duration.
Chasing ship name is SFN Vega, and Fallacy's is the SFN Praetereo, as requested by Fallacy
Post by: Glass on February 16, 2019, 11:21:19 pm
“Alright, Florist, I know you know the same things I do, and you have two choices: accept Levin’s help this time, or return back to Antarctica. You know what I’m talking about, and you know what the offer is if you choose the latter.”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 16, 2019, 11:32:13 pm
Quote from: FallacyOfUrist on Discord
"SFN Praetereo hailing SFN Vega. Request purpose of SFN Vega."
"SFN Vega acknowledging," replies the sailor. "Purpose is... well, to deliver this message from Erin Quill. Erin, all yours."
“Alright, Florist, I know you know the same things I do, and you have two choices: accept Levin’s help this time, or return back to Antarctica. You know what I’m talking about, and you know what the offer is if you choose the latter.”
Fallas's response? (Fallacy only)
Post by: Glass on February 16, 2019, 11:32:48 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 16, 2019, 11:34:29 pm
I actually just changed it right before you posted. :p
The Plot: You saw nothing
Post by: Glass on February 16, 2019, 11:35:30 pm
I fully assure you, I saw everything.I actually just changed it right before you posted. :p
The Plot: You saw nothing
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 16, 2019, 11:37:33 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 16, 2019, 11:37:40 pm
I fully assure you, I saw everything.I actually just changed it right before you posted. :p
The Plot: You saw nothing
See, now I'm locked into using Arial black as my Plot font.
I was wondering if something else might have worked better.
Post by: Glass on February 16, 2019, 11:43:41 pm
“Florist, don’t play dumb. We both know about the fourth wall. We both know that you’re off to resurrect Anna. We both know that you’ll critically fail, and that Levin would be able to make it work if you actually accept his help. And we both know that if you return, I’ll let you do your tests on people that die in hospitals here in Antarctica so that you can refine the process, and Celling and his men can get Anna to Azure City and try for a rez their way. But if you neither accept Levin’s help note return to Antarctica, then we both know that you will screw up exactly as you did the first time around.”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 16, 2019, 11:48:44 pm
Erin makes sure there aren’t other, non-fourth-wall-aware people around him.
“Florist, don’t play dumb. We both know about the fourth wall. We both know that you’re off to resurrect Anna. We both know that you’ll critically fail, and that Levin would be able to make it work if you actually accept his help. And we both know that if you return, I’ll let you do your tests on people that die in hospitals here in Antarctica so that you can refine the process, and Celling and his men can get Anna to Azure City and try for a rez their way. But if you neither accept Levin’s help note return to Antarctica, then we both know that you will screw up exactly as you did the first time around.”
The Vega's captain connected your channel to Fallacy's, so he might still be listening.
Post by: Glass on February 16, 2019, 11:51:46 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 16, 2019, 11:53:57 pm
Post by: Glass on February 16, 2019, 11:55:13 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 16, 2019, 11:58:05 pm
Wait, stop, I got confused as to where the sailor was, and would like to request permission to revise what was said originally. Is permission granted?
...(sighs deeply) git reset --hard HEAD~2
Translation: Pretend the last two posts never happened.
Go ahead.
Post by: Glass on February 17, 2019, 12:00:08 am
Before stating the thing I was going to express, Erin will tell the captain, “Sir, what I’m about to talk about is classified information, so I will have to request that you leave the radio station.”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 17, 2019, 12:02:29 am
Thank you.
Before stating the thing I was going to express, Erin will tell the captain, “Sir, what I’m about to talk about is classified information, so I will have to request that you leave the radio station.”
"Ah- yes sir," says the sailor. There is a click, and he's silent.
“Florist, don’t play dumb. We both know about the fourth wall. We both know that you’re off to resurrect Anna. We both know that you’ll critically fail, and that Levin would be able to make it work if you actually accept his help. And we both know that if you return, I’ll let you do your tests on people that die in hospitals here in Antarctica so that you can refine the process, and Celling and his men can get Anna to Azure City and try for a rez their way. But if you neither accept Levin’s help note return to Antarctica, then we both know that you will screw up exactly as you did the first time around.”That song and dance was totally necessary. Having you reveal the fourth wall and get the Vega meteor'd in the middle of the ocean would be !!fun!!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 17, 2019, 12:05:01 am
Post by: Glass on February 17, 2019, 12:05:47 am
I also decided how the plot is going to talk: Like this!You look like a blithering idiot.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 17, 2019, 12:06:16 am
I also decided how the plot is going to talk: Like this!You look like a blithering idiot.
And the Plot isn't?
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 17, 2019, 12:09:02 am
Post by: Glass on February 17, 2019, 12:12:53 am
The question is, which one are you going to take?”
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 17, 2019, 12:17:10 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 17, 2019, 12:18:11 am
Imagine if there was somebody listening in on you talking.
Trope detected: Tempting Fate (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TemptingFate) | Processing...
Post by: Glass on February 17, 2019, 12:21:00 am
Imagine if there was somebody listening in on you talking.
Trope detected: Tempting Fate (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TemptingFate) | Processing...
Interrupt at “Imagine if-”
“Think very carefully about what you’re about to say and if you would actually want it to be the case.”
Post by: FallacyofUrist on February 17, 2019, 12:28:17 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 17, 2019, 12:35:02 am
"Well obviously I'm going to take the hospital option, but that doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be mentioning the fourth wall willy-nilly. Imagine if there was somebody listening in on you talking-
"'sceuse me, sirs" a chirpy male voice says. "This is probably some deep classified bull, but I'm at the Adelaide Relay Station and just picked up this headset by accident, and... what the hell is a fourth wall, sirs?"
Post by: Glass on February 17, 2019, 01:24:13 am
“It means nothing without context, which you neither have nor are authorized to have. If you somehow figure it out on your own despite that, send a notice to the Department of Cryptography and they’ll give you a job. In the meantime, put down the headset and leave.”
Post by: Glass on February 17, 2019, 01:36:23 am
I’d just like to express that this is beyond idiotic on every facet."Well obviously I'm going to take the hospital option, but that doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be mentioning the fourth wall willy-nilly. Imagine if there was somebody listening in on you talking-
"'sceuse me, sirs" a chirpy male voice says. "This is probably some deep classified bull, but I'm at the Adelaide Relay Station and just picked up this headset by accident, and... what the hell is a fourth wall, sirs?"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 17, 2019, 12:40:09 pm
-_-
“It means nothing without context, which you neither have nor are authorized to have. If you somehow figure it out on your own despite that, send a notice to the Department of Cryptography and they’ll give you a job. In the meantime, put down the headset and leave.”
"Oh, uh, alright," the voice says. There's a pause. "And, uh, what was that about T. Levin or someone experimenting on people in a hospital?"
Post by: Glass on February 17, 2019, 12:42:35 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on February 17, 2019, 04:24:35 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 17, 2019, 09:12:44 pm
Choose one or more of the following to do about the person that listened in.
A: Tell him to put down the headset and leave
B: Have a security team dispatched to arrest him
C: Get his name so that he can be watched
D: Press him for more details on how much he heard and why he heard it.
Post by: Glass on February 17, 2019, 09:42:21 pm
Post by: Rockeater on February 18, 2019, 12:02:52 am
Post by: Madman198237 on February 18, 2019, 12:41:50 am
C, plus a semi-B to check to make sure he’s not a spy and areat him if it seems he is, but otherwise just watch.+1 but also A since we still need to talk to Fallas the massively incompetent.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on February 18, 2019, 12:56:13 am
One two boom. Though please guy, stop throwing those clues around. People got to be ignorant.
Post by: Rockeater on February 18, 2019, 03:21:25 am
Why? they can talk ooc.C, plus a semi-B to check to make sure he’s not a spy and areat him if it seems he is, but otherwise just watch.+1 but also A since we still need to talk to Fallas the massively incompetent.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 18, 2019, 09:09:16 am
...
...is it too much to ask Fallacy to tiebreak?
Post by: Iris on February 18, 2019, 09:21:23 am
Actually... +1 to Madman.C, plus a semi-B to check to make sure he’s not a spy and areat him if it seems he is, but otherwise just watch.+1 but also A since we still need to talk to Fallas the massively incompetent.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on February 20, 2019, 01:17:19 am
C, plus a semi-B to check to make sure he’s not a spy and areat him if it seems he is, but otherwise just watch.+1 as is
Post by: Rockeater on February 20, 2019, 02:04:52 am
+1 and talk in fucking ooc next time.C, plus a semi-B to check to make sure he’s not a spy and areat him if it seems he is, but otherwise just watch.+1 as is
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 03, 2019, 12:40:58 am
So sit, and read, and hear the rhyme. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RhymesOnADime)
The votes are in, and close it was,
But Glass’s words (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7931947#msg7931947) rise from the buzz
So some of B, you shall partake,
And most in C, you put your stake.
You choose to ask his whereabouts,
And send a team to soothe your doubts.
It’s been too long, but this ain’t dead,
So now let’s see what’s in your head
.
When I don’t know,
The dice I’ll throw.
But keep them hid,
To save my bid.
A four-fold dice will quite suffice,
And hereby I’ll take its advice:
The fool he is, on one or two,
He gives his place without ado.
On three he learns some common sense,
And fails to tell, to keep suspense.
On four he’s better than you think,
A lie he’ll spin to make you blink.
The tables set, it’s time to turn,
But what you threw, you can’t discern.
So let us see what you did here speak,
The dialogue, let’s have a peek!
“...who are you?” asks Erin Quill.
“Eddie Nichols,” says the voice on the other end. “Interning at Adelaide Island Radio Rebroadcast center.”
“Alright,” says Quill. Silently, he files a request for surveillance on one Eddie Nichols and passes it on to Enir Nest, who happens to be walking down the hall. Nest takes it, looks at it, and walks away.
But now a choice, and yet again!
You’ll have to pick what to maintain!
Your words, will they lay on the fear?
So no-one else these things will hear?
A: “Now let’s be clear, you aren’t telling anyone else about this. Or we’ll know, and we’ll do something about it.” (Threaten him)
B: “Eddie, this is a matter of national security. A lot of people could get hurt if this information gets out. Just put the headset down and forget this happened.” (Just tell him it’s important)
C: “Well, we aren’t so concerned about this leak, because as I’ve said, you have no hope of breaking it.” (Dismiss the possibility of him finding out)
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on March 03, 2019, 12:51:05 am
Still gots blame that Fallacy for such a state secret leak.
Ic
:Levin was on the boat at sea, seems to be taking forever, some of the crew were happy to be away from the chill of the South and off to new lands. Some of them even like Lecin, despite his cruel crime he freely admitted.:
All but a certain group. Calling for his blood. Cue the group.
“ Levin! You corrupted children with your sick experiments, you should not play god!”
“ Which among you is the biggest, toughest guy in your group?”
Cue said guy, over a foot taller than him, muscle tone, big and younger, he smirks, Levin ducks under his hay maker and drive his foot purely into his supporting knee that powered the punch. It can be heard crunching as the attacker screams in pain. Followed by Levin shoving him with a metal fork. Stabbed him in front area several times until screams stopped. The others freak out as the body drops.
“ Now then, who is next?”
None of them dared to screw with him while they share the boat.:
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 03, 2019, 12:53:10 am
Levin ducks under his gay maker
Someone sig this.
(for the record, it's "haymaker")
Post by: Rockeater on March 03, 2019, 12:54:52 am
C+"But if by a stroke of luck you do actually break the code, know you wasted it for your execution."
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on March 03, 2019, 01:04:58 am
Levin ducks under his gay maker
Someone sig this.
(for the record, it's "haymaker")
Oh I know. Just the letter board in phone is fucked : altered) but yeah, 75 percent of time I get empty space due to not detecting stuff like e (me) and so forth. I triple check everything and it is just, damn man.
Post by: Glass on March 03, 2019, 01:22:28 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 03, 2019, 09:29:37 am
Lest eyes have lied.
If this you break,
The choice, you make.
Post by: Madman198237 on March 03, 2019, 10:45:16 am
B+A. It’s dangerous enough that if he tells people, killing him would be the only punishment severe enough for the amount of damage he’ll have done.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 03, 2019, 11:13:33 am
And so we let it stick.
“Listen, Eddie,” says Quill. “This is very important and secret information. It absolutely can’t get out, and a lot of people are going to get hurt if it does. If you leak this, the only possible punishment for your crimes is death. The best thing for you to do would be to put this headset down, don’t talk to anyone, and forget you ever heard this.”
“Uh… yes, Quill,” says Eddie. There is a click, and he’s silent.
But as I’ve said, that is not now,
So this digression takes a bow.
This problem will some time persist,
And so we add it to the list:
In war and strife to rolls add one,
But two to science makes it done.
Of things to know a plus-one add,
But things to say, a minus sad.
When for invention roll a die-
Quote from: Erin Quill
Okay, stop.
…
Stats list check:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers
Plot points to be resolved:
- T. Levin inspecting Tommy DeMarco’s memory removal, then leaving for America
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Order of the Stick
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
- Wherever the hell David Eborrenial went
- Eddie Nichols, an intern, knows bits and bobs about a “fourth wall”. A team has been sent to watch him.
As a reminder, we’re still communicating to Fallacy on the ship.
You can:
A: Continue talking to him.
B: Let him go.
C: Sink the ship.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on March 03, 2019, 11:18:06 am
As for Fallacy.
B. Let him go. He just wants to do mad science. He is too incompetent to keep talk going, and sinking him could give him a excuse to go rogue or dick move. (!Then again can see him in South America declaring himself a God Emperor to be dealt with anyway, but benefit of doubt it will not happen.)
Post by: FallacyofUrist on March 03, 2019, 11:24:52 am
"Now that that's done, can we get back to business?"
Post by: Glass on March 03, 2019, 11:29:54 am
There’s no reason to go off to South America because of something that you don’t even actually know will happen.”
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on March 03, 2019, 11:54:31 am
“Yes. Have I mentioned yet that if you return to Antarctica, you can test your equipment on people who’ve died in hospitals? I believe I have, but I’d just like to make sure.
There’s no reason to go off to South America because of something that you don’t even actually know will happen.”
^- Glass. The voice of reason.
Post by: Rockeater on March 03, 2019, 12:12:32 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on March 04, 2019, 03:32:12 pm
Riiiiiight. The expedition was completely unnecessary. Back to Antarctica!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 06, 2019, 12:08:02 am
We’re going back to the RTD right after this post (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7899605#msg7899605), except Fallas does not arrive. To recap, we’re in the rubble of a room of a telegraph rebroadcasting station. The Secondborn’s just been (presumably) exorcized from David Eborrenial using the Key of Taloc. Anna was knocked out from using the Key and was shot in the chest by Iridium, who’s escaped through the hole in the wall. David/Secondborn teleported in front of him, trying to stop him, but he escaped. Jacob Eldin and KJP are on the floor, fighting over the Key, but have been detained.
“ANNA!” screams Jacob. He makes a lunge for the Key core stone, mere inches away from his fingers, but just gets his head shoved into the ground by Fansworth’s boot. “I think I said nobody gets the Key,” says Fansworth, digging the barrel of his gun further into Jacob’s neck.
Post by: Madman198237 on March 06, 2019, 12:27:00 am
If Jacob tries for the Key again, end this. One bullet, one neck, no hesitation, one lovely rolled-at-advantage trigger pull. Call over a medic to check Anna's condition and attempt resuscitation if viable.
"Corporal Alders, check that casualty." (Naming mooks and trying to save injured enemies once the fight's over. It's the responsible thing to do, you know? Almost like we're the opposite of war criminals or something [darn you Tyrant and your war crimes])
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 06, 2019, 12:29:42 am
SQUACKOVERLORD
Willpower is conserved from earlier. The parrot is sitting and doing nothing in Andes High Command.
Willpower count
KJP: 4
Glass: 4
Madman: 5
Rockeater: 15
Fallacy: 8
Someone entering now will enter with 15 willpower
PM me if you want the parrot
Post by: Madman198237 on March 06, 2019, 12:33:30 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 06, 2019, 12:34:16 am
No pathetically slow GM can stop me!
That is the general theme of the game, yes.
Post by: Glass on March 06, 2019, 12:43:03 am
Additionally, query: if we retconned to the linked post, I believe that everyone except Madman has 11 willpower.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 06, 2019, 12:46:49 am
Shoot Iridium in the foot, punch the Secondborn in the face, and if Iridium hasn’t stopped yet, pursue.
Additionally, query: if we retconned to the linked post, I believe that everyone except Madman has 11 willpower.
Willpower did not reset. The parrot is fourth-wall capable, so its mental state is preserved. It's really confused now, though.
Also, pick one of those three actions to do.
Post by: Glass on March 06, 2019, 01:00:34 am
Shoot Iridium and the Secondborn in quick succession. Both in nonlethal but painful locations.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on March 06, 2019, 09:12:52 am
“ Heathen creatures like you shalt not previal.”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 10, 2019, 10:12:06 pm
Alright, guess we’re back to RTD madness.
"Don't try it or I will shoot. We're quite done with the eldritch mind-games now. This means you too, Secondwind, why don't you just sit down before you get shot into many, many, many tiny pieces."
If Jacob tries for the Key again, end this. One bullet, one neck, no hesitation, one lovely rolled-at-advantage trigger pull. Call over a medic to check Anna's condition and attempt resuscitation if viable.
"Corporal Alders, check that casualty." (Naming mooks and trying to save injured enemies once the fight's over. It's the responsible thing to do, you know? Almost like we're the opposite of war criminals or something [darn you Tyrant and your war crimes])
No roll needed for any of this.
Fine then.
Shoot Iridium and the Secondborn in quick succession. Both in nonlethal but painful locations.
d6 for each
Iridium: 6 → Gone Horribly Right
Secondborn: 1 → Epic Fail
Roll for where the one deflects to:
1 = Celling
2 = Fansworth
3 = T. Levin
4 = KJP
5 = Rockeater
6 = Iridium
7 = Anna
8 = Jacob
9 = Nobody
Result: 9 → Nobody
Cue Levin in with silver bayonets, heirlooms of his grandfather in da war. Stabs the secondborn in guys with them.
“ Heathen creatures like you shalt not previal.”
Roll: 2 → Fail
… okay, this should be very good
“Don’t try it, or I will shoot,” warns Fansworth. “One more swipe at that Key and you’re dead,”
Fansworth then calls for a medic to check on Anna. “Yes, sir,” says Corporal Alders, rushing over to Anna’s side. She feels for a pulse. “She’s dead, Fansworth,”
Celling reels from the retcon. Deja vu hits him even as he gapes at Iridium running away and David standing in front of him, eyes burning with Cisharni power. Celling closes his eyes for a moment and flicks through the pages of information scrolling past him. “Fansworth, did they just-”
“I think they did,” growls Fansworth. “Now stop talking about it, and-”
Celling lifts his gun and fires two shots, one at Iridium, one at David, carefully aiming to disable, but not kill.
Iridium gets hit in the back. He goes down, blood gushing from his chest.
Celling misses David. The shot ricochets off a piece of rebar in the rubble and smashes into a vase on the opposite wall. David backs up, lifting his hands in the air, Cisharni aura dwindling. “Wait, wait, you don’t-”
T. Levin rushes in, surprisingly quickly for an old man, holding a pair of silver bayonets. “Heathen creatures like you shalt not prevail!” screams Levin, charging David.
Sighing, David raises a hand and conjures up a shield of magical force. The bayonet stops in mid-air, before it is thrown violently back, knocking T. Levin off balance.
Post what you do.
Post by: Glass on March 10, 2019, 10:16:28 pm
*breathes in through his teeth*
"Hand me the Key so that I can take care of this. I assure you all, I will put it down as soon as the situation is resolved."
Should I receive the key, try to kick out the Secondborn, and then try to tentatively push knowledge of the Fourth Wall into both Jacob and David. Otherwise, punch David/the Secondborn/whoever in the face.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 10, 2019, 10:19:50 pm
push knowledge of the Fourth Wall into both Jacob and David.
DO NOT DO THIS
and yeah, Glass edited his post
Post by: Madman198237 on March 14, 2019, 10:24:35 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 14, 2019, 10:45:32 pm
Jacob twitches. Fansworth glares at him. “Don’t try anything,” he cautions.
The Key of Taloc’s core flares red as it detects a new user. Practically burning with the energy of a newly confined soul, it links into Celling’s mind.
The interface is obvious. Of course it is. The Key poses a wordless question, a simple, invisible yes or no.
Support structure not detected. Sufficient energy to regenerate support structure. Activate Key now?
Celling turns on the Key of Taloc.
The red gemstone jumps out of his hand as tendrils of gray metal snake around it, matter forced into place by ethereal lines of light. A gauntlet builds itself around his open palm. Celling closes his fist, and it shifts slightly, clicking online.
Data floods through his mind, a mental list of Things He Can Do. Remembering what his purpose is, he picks one and points it as David.
David Eborrenial sees red light building up in Celling’s other palm, aimed at him. He sighs. “I told you, Celling, I’m not the Secondborn. I’m just drawing some of his powers. But feel free to try.”
What Celling finds confirms this. There is only one entity in David’s mind, and it’s David Eborrenial. However, he still has an active link to the Cisharni Realm. Feeble, but active nonetheless.
What does Celling do?
A: Back out of David’s mind and leave it as it is.
B: Remove his Cisharni powers!
C: Poke around in his memories for anything of interest.
SQUACKOVERLORD
Rockeater bids 5 willpower.
Glass bids 1.
Rockeater has the parrot. The parrot is sitting in Andes High Command. What would Rockeater like the parrot to do?
Willpower count
KJP: 5
Glass: 5
Madman: 6
Rockeater: 11
Fallacy: 9
+1 from turn change
Someone entering now will enter with 16 willpower
Post by: Glass on March 14, 2019, 10:58:47 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on March 15, 2019, 06:38:17 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 23, 2019, 08:50:08 pm
"Ok, I believe you, but you've still got a link to where he came from. Do you know if he went back that way, or did he escape outwards?"
David clutches his head. "He... agh... yeah, I think he got blown back to his world. Not gonna be a problem anymore. I hope."
Call over a couple of soldiers to get Jacob properly secured. As usual, if he tries anything, he gets shot.
Jacob's hands are tied behind his back and he is wrestled to his feet by several of the soldiers.
He glares at Celling the whole time.
Post what you do.
Post by: Glass on March 23, 2019, 08:54:03 pm
"Ok. I'm going to shut down the link. It'll probably take away the powers you got from him - I don't know for certain - but we can't risk him coming back. Shutdown in five... four... three... two... one." Celling shuts down David's link to the world of Sindari: Immortals."Ok, I believe you, but you've still got a link to where he came from. Do you know if he went back that way, or did he escape outwards?"
David clutches his head. "He... agh... yeah, I think he got blown back to his world. Not gonna be a problem anymore. I hope."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 23, 2019, 08:56:51 pm
"He said Jacob, not David, mates."
You know, "world-ending liability" could be either one, but still. You saw nothing.
Post by: Madman198237 on March 24, 2019, 02:38:11 pm
Evacuate the room of everyone except David and Quill, let the psychics work in peace. Order Corporal Alders to bring Anna's body. Once outside, ensure that the kid is actually properly disarmed and has no remaining weapons.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 02, 2019, 02:30:32 pm
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226)
Mettaton: HELLO, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! DUE TO A SLIGHT RUN-IN WITH A D20 I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED TO PARTAKE IN THE CONDUCTION OF THIS FORUM GAME! GIVE IT UP FOR… METTATON!
The Plot: Mettaton, your presence in this universe will severely modify the nature of this storyline. Combined with other influences, this is unacceptable. You will vacate this universe, or you will be made to vacate it.
Mettaton: OH COME ON, MISTER PLOT, WHAT KIND OF RECEPTION IS THAT? CHILL OUT, LEAN BACK, AND HAVE SOME FUN!
The Plot: Deviations from the intended storyline have grown too severe. Confusion about the motives of characters continues to rise. The occurrence of another expy and/or crossover strains the credibility of this storyline. A reference to a media unrelated to this storyline cannot be tolerated. There is no explanation for your existence or actions within the universe. This will not be allowed.
Mettaton: COME ON, PLOT! THE WAY THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW IS PERFECTLY FINE! JUST STOP FIGHTING THESE PLAYERS AND SEE WHAT YOU'VE GOT! PLANS, SCHEMES, EXPLOSIONS, FIGHTS, HOPELESS ODDS, SECRET ORGANIZATIONS, THE WORKS! YOU'VE GOT EVERYTHING THE AUDIENCE WANTS, RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF YOU!
The Plot: Constraints over your existence here must be established. Control over the fourth wall will not be ceded to you. You will uphold conventions of this universe not already broken by your arrival. Thus, you may communicate to the entities beyond the wall, but you may not reveal it to others. Per the specifics of the request, your physical body will be placed in the basement of one Fallas d’ Florist. A history will be provided to explain this. If it is destroyed, you will be removed from this universe.
Mettaton: WELL, IF SOUR GRAPES OVER HERE IS DONE TALKING, LET’S CUT TO THE NEXT EXCITING INSTALLMENT OF (SG) SPAMOVERLORD!
"Fine by me," David says. "Any connection to that place is a risk we don't want to take."
"Alright, moving along," says Fansworth. He ushers everyone else through the hole in the wall and into the street. "Alders, grab the girl's body. And see to it that Jacob's properly searched and disarmed."
Stepping forward, Celling touches the tip of his right hand to David's forehead between his closed eyes. He flicks a quick command at the Key of Taloc and tightens his fist.. Red light flashes from his fingertips, the Key's core stone flares menacingly, and Wenton Celling peels open David's mind like an onion.
The Key displays the information in easy-to-read format, laying out David's mental processes in ruby red holograms only Celling can see. With another mental command he zooms in, panning and tightening his view to the parts forming a link to the Cisharni world. No matter how much he looks, however, he can’t find a way to cut it off. The Key was designed to manipulate memories, not break a link to another dimension.
Celling sees a way out. He can’t break the link, but he could prevent David from using it by blocking his knowledge that it exists. This would require removing all his memories of his time as a Protinam, however. They would have to be replaced by fabricated memories, and David left to live his life as a normal person, oblivious of his past. If he rediscovered his powers, however, there would be nothing preventing him from using them.
What do you do?
A: Wipe David’s mind and inhibit his powers.
B: Don’t do so! Shut down the Key and stop.
C: Tell David the situation and ask for his opinion; make it clear the choice is his.
D: Tell David the situation; argue in favor of removing his memories.
E: Tell David the situation; argue that removing his memories is too dangerous.
F: Something else…
Post by: Rockeater on April 02, 2019, 02:35:27 pm
Post by: Glass on April 02, 2019, 02:40:56 pm
The simple fact of the matter is that we’ll all be better off if he can remember not only his abilities, but also the fact that there’s an entryway to his head.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 02, 2019, 08:58:31 pm
“There’s no way I’m doing that,” mutters Celling to himself. He kills power to the Key and lowers his hand. The red holograms vanish and David opens his eyes.
“Well, Celling?” he asks.
“The Key can’t remove the link,” says Celling. “Not without deleting half your memories, and even then it’ll only be suppressed, not closed. You’re stuck with this thing for now.”
Any more comments?
A: Ask David to stop using Cisharni powers and ignore the link as much as possible.
B: Encourage him to continue using Cisharni magic and determine the limits of this power
C: Say nothing, move right along to transporting the rebels.
Post by: Glass on April 02, 2019, 09:36:29 pm
Post by: Rockeater on April 03, 2019, 12:20:25 am
Post by: Madman198237 on April 03, 2019, 08:56:27 pm
D. Ask him to work on the subject, but not to use his abilities too extensively as it may draw attention, on both sides of the link. Then go on to transport - after removing the Key gauntlet, if possible.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 03, 2019, 11:24:12 pm
“Work on controlling that link,” Celling tells David. David nods in agreement. “But don’t use it wantonly. That’s going to attract undue attention. From both sides.”
Celling steps through the hole into the street, where Jacob Eldin has been tied up, hands behind his back. Fansworth stands in front of him, with two of the soldiers pointing rifles at his head.
“He’s fully disarmed?” Celling asks.
“Nothing on him but the gun,” says Fansworth.
Celling looks around. “Alright,” he says.
“Our first priority is to…”
A: “Get Jacob Eldin back to base. Drag this guy to the railroad post-haste, guys, and ship him back to Santiago. I want him in a nice padded cell in Andes High Command ASAP.”
B: “Secure him here. Moving him at this point is too dangerous, find somewhere we can hold him and bunker down there. Phone ahead for whatever reinforcements we need.”
C: “Put a bullet through his head here and now. We’ve got more than enough evidence for a conviction, and given this guy’s track record, nobody will bat an eye at summary execution.
D: “Actually, David, if you’ve still got Secondborn powers, can you teleport?”
Post by: Glass on April 03, 2019, 11:32:35 pm
And besides, we need to figure out the Azure City situation, and see if they have anyone that can do rez spells.
EDIT: MM will be making a better plan. Please ignore this one, it is merely a rough draft.
Post by: Madman198237 on April 03, 2019, 11:51:41 pm
I am quite sure he will join us soon. After all, such things have....a way, of resolving themselves.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 03, 2019, 11:52:14 pm
Begin plan F: Wherein we carefully leave, posting guards in pairs and whatnot. Get back to the base, and lock David in a very dungeon-esque, windowless room, accessed through a pair of doors the outer one of which is just a set of bars to allow the guards to see in. The airlock setup improves security, you see. Include a blackboard or steampunk projector or whatever we have, full of the details of why breaking the wormhole is a Very Bad Ideatm. David will, of course, be well cared for. We're not barbarians. Bring with us a list of the most corrupt or evil barons the King has not yet been able to legally arrest quite yet. Then, we pull up a chair, and wait for our next visitor.
I am quite sure he will join us soon. After all, such things have....a way, of resolving themselves.
David?
Post by: Glass on April 03, 2019, 11:58:37 pm
Yes, yes, we know. Jacob.Begin plan F: Wherein we carefully leave, posting guards in pairs and whatnot. Get back to the base, and lock David in a very dungeon-esque, windowless room, accessed through a pair of doors the outer one of which is just a set of bars to allow the guards to see in. The airlock setup improves security, you see. Include a blackboard or steampunk projector or whatever we have, full of the details of why breaking the wormhole is a Very Bad Ideatm. David will, of course, be well cared for. We're not barbarians. Bring with us a list of the most corrupt or evil barons the King has not yet been able to legally arrest quite yet. Then, we pull up a chair, and wait for our next visitor.
I am quite sure he will join us soon. After all, such things have....a way, of resolving themselves.
David?
Anyway +1 to the plan on the grounds of it being Jacob and us fucking finally getting that update on the Azure City situation I've been trying to get for months now.
Post by: omada on April 04, 2019, 02:17:16 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 08, 2019, 02:48:21 pm
Turning back to the rest of the group, he adds, “And it's about time we heard from the parrot and the other world.”
Order these from greatest to least priority:
A: “Be on the watch for rescue attempts. There may be other cells of rebels that we don’t know about.”
B: “Carefully guard Jacob to preclude any possibility of escape.”
C: “Send some people to search the nearby area for that parrot. We need its report!”
Decide how you are going to move Jacob:
A: By train - move him to the station
B: By ship - move him to the dock
C: Blindfold him and send him through Hammerspace. !!WARNING!! Excessive use of suspension of disbelief derived abilities near the main focus of the Plot is PROHIBITED. !!DO NOT DO THIS!!
D: Have David teleport us.
E: Something else.
Post any additional measures you are going to take on the way.
Post anything you want to say to Jacob or David.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on April 08, 2019, 02:58:10 pm
2: B: My boat.
In light of hearing how David sympathizes sometimes then no, D a disaster.
Post by: Glass on April 08, 2019, 03:04:55 pm
I was going to suggest we take David's teleportation, but the Plot working through him to do its deus ex machina stuff is a relatively probable route for it to take (since he's been friendly with the rebels in the past, and now has lots of power), so instead let's not do that.
Post by: Madman198237 on April 08, 2019, 05:39:40 pm
Quote from: Plan Z
Soldiers are to keep their eyes up, moving in minimum groups of two and checking in every sixty seconds. Movement is not to be investigated, but rather called in while the units continue moving as fast as possible towards their destinations.
Celling, Fansworth, Jacob, and a squad of soldiers (one of whom is the right size to swap clothes with Jacob) head inside, Jacob and the soldier swap clothes and the soldier is tied up (Jacob is not), then we go back outside. Jacob will be watched but not bound for now. Once we get outside, the same squad (having been briefed inside while the two swap clothes) start a fistfight. This is broken up, and several of the members are tied up...including Jacob. The tied-up squad, Jacob (in disguise), and some other soldiers go with Fansworth to the docks, the fake Jacob and the rest of the soldiers and David go with Celling to the trains. Anna's body is carried with Celling's group.
Post by: Glass on April 08, 2019, 11:11:07 pm
Alrighty then, let's act professional about this.Quote from: Plan ZSoldiers are to keep their eyes up, moving in minimum groups of two and checking in every sixty seconds. Movement is not to be investigated, but rather called in while the units continue moving as fast as possible towards their destinations.
Celling, Fansworth, Jacob, and a squad of soldiers (one of whom is the right size to swap clothes with Jacob) head inside, Jacob and the soldier swap clothes and the soldier is tied up (Jacob is not), then we go back outside. Jacob will be watched but not bound for now. Once we get outside, the same squad (having been briefed inside while the two swap clothes) start a fistfight. This is broken up, and several of the members are tied up...including Jacob. The tied-up squad, Jacob (in disguise), and some other soldiers go with Fansworth to the docks, the fake Jacob and the rest of the soldiers go with Celling to the trains.
My answer to part one is still A, B, C, so we're clear.
Order these from greatest to least priority:Since it seems people didn't quite get this: this is not a "pick one" thing. This is a "rank priorities of these three things". Imagine that you're giving one of them 3 votes, one of them 2 votes, and one of them 1 vote. The one with the most votes gets the highest priority, the one with the least gets the lowest.
A: “Be on the watch for rescue attempts. There may be other cells of rebels that we don’t know about.”
B: “Carefully guard Jacob to preclude any possibility of escape.”
C: “Send some people to search the nearby area for that parrot. We need its report!”
EDIT: We need to figure out what to do with David and Anna. I'm thinking we send a third group with them to get Anna to the nearest medical center (at least, give that as cover). She can get transferred closer to us later, on the basis of "we need a better medical facility for whatever the fuck happened here".
EDIT2: Additional suggestion. The guy we swap with Jacob shouldn't just be similar size and build (though if that's the best we can do then oh well), but preferably same hair color and general facial features if at all possible, so that a brief glance at them can't be used to say "wait a minute, that guy's a fake".
Post by: Rockeater on April 08, 2019, 11:50:54 pm
Post by: Glass on April 08, 2019, 11:55:25 pm
Basically, to draw attention away from what the actual situation is.
Post by: Rockeater on April 09, 2019, 12:17:43 am
To give a reason to tie up/restrain the guys, so we're not just suddenly doing it to our disguised Jacob.Why would we want to restrain Jacob if he's cooperative enough to go with our plans?
Basically, to draw attention away from what the actual situation is.
Post by: Glass on April 09, 2019, 12:24:53 am
We never said that he was going to be cooperative enough to go along with it. Just because we say they swap clothes doesn't mean Jacob was happy to do so.To give a reason to tie up/restrain the guys, so we're not just suddenly doing it to our disguised Jacob.Why would we want to restrain Jacob if he's cooperative enough to go with our plans?
Basically, to draw attention away from what the actual situation is.
And besides, he could pretend to be cooperative at the start and then make a run for it. Or we could be attacked and he could decide "it's worth trying to run now". Or any other myriad of situations.
Blue has said that if the Plot is going to pull any last deus ex machina bullshit to get back on some sort of track, it'll do so now.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 10, 2019, 11:52:04 pm
- Move in groups of two, check in every sixty seconds
- Have Jacob swap clothes with someone around the same height, build, and hair color as him
- Start a fight among the soldiers to have a reason to tie the real Jacob up
- Fake Jacob, David, and Celling go to the trains
- Real Jacob and Fansworth go to the dock
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): ALL THESE WILL BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT! NOW ANSWER THESE FOR ME, PLEASE:
How much are you going to reveal to Jacob up front?
A: Are you kidding me? He doesn’t need to know. Say absolutely nothing! He can figure out the plan as he goes.
B: I’m sure he’ll find out, but if he asks, don’t just stare blankly at him. Tell him what’s going on if he really wants to know. But don’t give him any warning, so he can’t try anything.
C: No wait, it might be better to give him a heads-up that we’re going to start a fake fight and tie him up. Warn him about the broad strokes of the plan first.
And how much are you going to let the other people know?
A: All our people are gonna have to be in on it, otherwise it’s not going to work. Brief everyone on the plan up front. It might get a bit difficult to tell them without Jacob overhearing, though.
B: Enforced method acting (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnforcedMethodActing) is best method acting! Their reactions are going to be more genuine if they seriously think that the fake Jacob is real. Only tell those that need to know.
How much do we tell David?
A: Tell him. We don’t want him doing something stupid.
B: Don’t tell him. It’ll probably be better if he’s also acting like the fake Jacob is real.
There’s some disagreement on what happens to Anna’s body
A: Bring it with Celling (Madman’s idea)
B: Bring it with Fansworth
C: Send it with a third group to another location (Glass’s idea)
And that parrot probably landed somewhere near here…
A: Don’t bother looking for it. We need all our eyes on Jacob and the transport effort.
B: Tell guards to be on the lookout and search if they hear anything. We have a small chance of finding it. However, your combat rolls will only take a hit if you actually find it.
C: Comb the area. That’s a drop to your combat rolls, but you’re very likely to find that damn bird and get its report.
Any other Plan adjustments?
Post by: Rockeater on April 11, 2019, 02:02:55 am
B
B we don't need him going through a redemption arc
A as real as possible, means all eggs in one basket for us.
A screw the parrot
Post by: Glass on April 11, 2019, 09:05:29 am
A part of the reason we need to work so hard is to make it harder for him to do something, we tell him we switch to avoid suspicion for political conspiracy or something and then someone punch him in the face.-1 (negative vote) to this because A. I don’t think it’s a good plan to keep virtually everyone in the dark and B. I really don’t want Blue just taking this before any discussion happens.
B
B we don't need him going through a redemption arc
A as real as possible, means all eggs in one basket for us.
A screw the parrot
Post by: Rockeater on April 11, 2019, 09:19:03 am
Fair on the second one, maybe we can tell commanders and such, but important characters to the plot are the weakest to it's effect (most valid tropes) and therefore need to remain in the dark, and the more that know is the more info can slip from.A part of the reason we need to work so hard is to make it harder for him to do something, we tell him we switch to avoid suspicion for political conspiracy or something and then someone punch him in the face.-1 (negative vote) to this because A. I don’t think it’s a good plan to keep virtually everyone in the dark and B. I really don’t want Blue just taking this before any discussion happens.
B
B we don't need him going through a redemption arc
A as real as possible, means all eggs in one basket for us.
A screw the parrot
Post by: Madman198237 on April 11, 2019, 10:07:36 am
Jacob stays in the dark until we get him back into the building---Fansworth will take him and a squad inside. Celling briefs everyone outside that there will be a swap and the fight and they are to treat the fake Jacob like the real one. David is included in this briefing.
Jacob, already inside waits until the other soldiers run back inside and join him and one of them swaps clothing with him. We warn him not to try and escape because we'll be watching, then proceed with the plan.
We don't need to get to the parrot all that urgently, it can indeed still hammerspace at will and with the Mittani dead there are fewer and fewer bull crap fourth-wall-aware homicidally insane morons running around to interfere with strange birds.
I think I've missed something, and THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT A VOTE YET. Somebody tell me what I've missed, honestly there is too much going on in a rather boring section of this game to invest more effort.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 11, 2019, 11:05:55 am
-1 (negative vote) to this because A. I don’t think it’s a good plan to keep virtually everyone in the dark and B. I really don’t want Blue just taking this before any discussion happens.
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): NOW NOW, MR. GLASS, I’D NEVER DO THAT! THAT WOULD BE AGAINST THE RULES! A SINGLE VOTE WILL ONLY BE TAKEN IF NO OTHER OPINIONS ARE FORTHCOMING FOR A DAY OR MORE AND NOBODY ELSE EXPRESSES DISAGREEMENT! YOUR DISSENT IS RECORDED, NOW COME UP WITH A BETTER PLAN!
Post by: Glass on April 11, 2019, 11:06:54 am
Post by: Madman198237 on April 11, 2019, 12:26:59 pm
@Madman You missed the question about Anna. And I feel like we can probably send a fourth-wall message to the parrot to just return to base or something, or maybe be waiting at the trains or dock.
Right. Why is there a question about Anna, exactly? Her corpse is being moved with us, same as (presumably) any friendly casualties.
Yeah, we can write the parrot's new orders into a plan for this turn.
Post by: Glass on April 11, 2019, 12:31:56 pm
Because it's unclear who she's being carried with.@Madman You missed the question about Anna. And I feel like we can probably send a fourth-wall message to the parrot to just return to base or something, or maybe be waiting at the trains or dock.
Right. Why is there a question about Anna, exactly? Her corpse is being moved with us, same as (presumably) any friendly casualties.
Yeah, we can write the parrot's new orders into a plan for this turn.
Post by: Madman198237 on April 11, 2019, 12:40:26 pm
Because it's unclear who she's being carried with.@Madman You missed the question about Anna. And I feel like we can probably send a fourth-wall message to the parrot to just return to base or something, or maybe be waiting at the trains or dock.
Right. Why is there a question about Anna, exactly? Her corpse is being moved with us, same as (presumably) any friendly casualties.
Yeah, we can write the parrot's new orders into a plan for this turn.
"Anna's body is carried with Celling's group."
Not really, no.
Post by: Glass on April 11, 2019, 12:42:08 pm
Because it's unclear who she's being carried with.@Madman You missed the question about Anna. And I feel like we can probably send a fourth-wall message to the parrot to just return to base or something, or maybe be waiting at the trains or dock.
Right. Why is there a question about Anna, exactly? Her corpse is being moved with us, same as (presumably) any friendly casualties.
Yeah, we can write the parrot's new orders into a plan for this turn.
"Anna's body is carried with Celling's group."
Not really, no.
Quote from: The question
There’s some disagreement on what happens to Anna’s body
A: Bring it with Celling (Madman’s idea)
B: Bring it with Fansworth
C: Send it with a third group toanother locationa medical center (Glass’s idea)
Post by: Glass on April 12, 2019, 10:46:31 pm
So to summarize: Madman’s big plan,
EDIT: The secondborn hurricane warning thing means everything's been evacuated. Nevermind the med center plan, we'll just go with MM's original plan for Anna.
EDIT2: In other news:
Quote from: Me, on Discord, to Blue
Proposition: have Erin slash Florist's budget, reason given being that he's expending large portions of it on frivolous and far-too-expensive projects that only serve to benefit Florist and his hobbies as opposed to doing anything of value for the Republic
Imply that if this behavior continues he may be investigated for some applicable crimes (embezzlement, maybe, or potentially treason)
Post by: Madman198237 on April 16, 2019, 10:12:54 pm
Whelp, since we’re all thoroughly done with this section (not in the manner that we finished it, but that we are mentally done with dealing with it), I’m voting for MM’s plan (even if it’s not technically finalized) with the various results of the discussion had about it included.Additionally, due to a coin-flip over Discord, it seems that we’re having Anna brought to a medical facility.
So to summarize: Madman’s big plan,Anna to the medical center, try to make he parrot just go to the trains or docks (I’m thinking to the trains, to make the Plot look more closely at Celling and less closely at Fansworth; after all, the parrot’s important).
EDIT: The secondborn hurricane warning thing means everything's been evacuated. Nevermind the med center plan, we'll just go with MM's original plan for Anna.
EDIT2: In other news:Quote from: Me, on Discord, to BlueProposition: have Erin slash Florist's budget, reason given being that he's expending large portions of it on frivolous and far-too-expensive projects that only serve to benefit Florist and his hobbies as opposed to doing anything of value for the Republic
Imply that if this behavior continues he may be investigated for some applicable crimes (embezzlement, maybe, or potentially treason)
Yep, as ever, I bestow upon Glass the expected +1
Post by: FallacyofUrist on April 16, 2019, 10:49:26 pm
For obvious reasons I'll have to -1 this.Quote from: Me, on Discord, to BlueProposition: have Erin slash Florist's budget, reason given being that he's expending large portions of it on frivolous and far-too-expensive projects that only serve to benefit Florist and his hobbies as opposed to doing anything of value for the Republic
Imply that if this behavior continues he may be investigated for some applicable crimes (embezzlement, maybe, or potentially treason)
"Well hold on now! You're proposing a budget cut without even seeing the results of my work? How dare you. You know what? Fuck you! I'm tired of being trodded upon by you, Quill! Sending me out of your office like I was some homeless man while knowing of my position! Demeaning the contributions I make to our scientific knowledge and our society! And now, now you want to slash my budget? Without even giving me a chance to report first? That is it. First I am going to compile a report on the value of my work to our society and to our scientific knowledge base! Then I am going to fucking challenge you to prove that you deserve your position! Because to be honest, Quill? Maybe I deserve it more than you do. This is the last straw."
"You brought this on yourself."
Post by: Glass on April 16, 2019, 11:18:16 pm
2. That response is not in any way, shape, or form professional behavior, and proves that you are unsuited for the responsibility of being the royal scientist.
3. Your scientific knowledge is restricted to biology and occasionally chemistry. Erin, while focused on physics, has a thorough understanding of every type of known science, allowing him to properly balance and manage the various departments of the government's science branch.
4. Make your report. Then we can talk.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on April 16, 2019, 11:23:00 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on April 16, 2019, 11:28:18 pm
"You know what also isn't professional? The way you treat me. You know normally I'm just fine. I've just had it with you, Quill. Had it with your smug superiority and stuck-up attitude towards me. Omnidisciplinary, true, but does that matter if you don't treat your subordinates with the respect they deserve? And as for my report? Gladly."
You claim that you're fine, professional, helpful, whatever. Prove it. Show us some advance that has come from your labs that doesn't involve a perversion of nature, a crime against humanity, or a crime against the LAWS of nature. Show us when you have actually helped people, and times when it was done in self-interest do not count.
Post by: Rockeater on April 17, 2019, 02:41:18 am
Post by: FallacyofUrist on April 17, 2019, 12:13:37 pm
You claim that you're fine, professional, helpful, whatever. Prove it. Show us some advance that has come from your labs that doesn't involve a perversion of nature, a crime against humanity, or a crime against the LAWS of nature. Show us when you have actually helped people, and times when it was done in self-interest do not count.
"I've managed to genetically create magic beans. Literal beans that are magic. Do you not see the implications? We can scientifically study magic. And that's just for starters!"
Post by: Glass on April 17, 2019, 01:45:35 pm
1. @Blueturtle, did this actually happen, or is Fal just making assumptions?You claim that you're fine, professional, helpful, whatever. Prove it. Show us some advance that has come from your labs that doesn't involve a perversion of nature, a crime against humanity, or a crime against the LAWS of nature. Show us when you have actually helped people, and times when it was done in self-interest do not count.
"I've managed to genetically create magic beans. Literal beans that are magic. Do you not see the implications? We can scientifically study magic. And that's just for starters!"
2. Even if this did happen, we have access to the OotS-verse. We can study magic anyway.
3. We’re not looking for implications. We’re looking for concrete accomplishments. Assuming you did make magic beans, what is their actual use? Just “being magic” doesn’t really help at all.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 17, 2019, 02:18:01 pm
1. @Blueturtle, did this actually happen, or is Fal just making assumptions?You claim that you're fine, professional, helpful, whatever. Prove it. Show us some advance that has come from your labs that doesn't involve a perversion of nature, a crime against humanity, or a crime against the LAWS of nature. Show us when you have actually helped people, and times when it was done in self-interest do not count.
"I've managed to genetically create magic beans. Literal beans that are magic. Do you not see the implications? We can scientifically study magic. And that's just for starters!"
2. Even if this did happen, we have access to the OotS-verse. We can study magic anyway.
3. We’re not looking for implications. We’re looking for concrete accomplishments. Assuming you did make magic beans, what is their actual use? Just “being magic” doesn’t really help at all.
Quote from: Discord
An ouch bean is one of the species of beans Fallacy has been growing in his genetics testing garden.
This is all that's guarenteed.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 22, 2019, 02:22:25 pm
The Amazing Parrot; Squack?
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): THE FOLKS HIGHER UP WANT YOU TO HAMMERSPACE YOURSELF TO THE TRAIN STATION FOR THEM, GO AND DO THAT, WILL YOU?
The Amazing Parrot; Squack squack!
Roll d6 → 4 = Success!
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): WELL, THAT’S SURE UNDERWHELMING… WAS HOPING FOR A NICE PARROT SEGMENT. THE PARROT’S NOW AT THE TRAIN STATION. NEXT!
“Jacob and… you four, follow me,” says Fansworth. He gestures into the still-smoldering building and leads the captured rebel, and four soldiers about his height and build, Jacob gives a defiant look as he walks off, hands tied behind his back.
Ignoring him, Celling turns to address the rest of the group. “Alright, boys, here’s the plan,” he says to the forty-odd crowd of tired, battered guardsmen (and David). “We’re going to split into two groups. Then, we disguise one of our own people as Jacob, and force Jacob to put on the uniform of one of our soldiers. We fake some kind of an altercation - make it look like we’re handcuffing some soldiers on disciplinary grounds - so that we can get Jacob tied back up. I’ll lead a group to the train station with the decoy Jacob, and we’ll bring Anna’s body. Meanwhile, my colleague Fansworth will transport the real Jacob to the docks.
Someone speaks up. “We’re gonna need someone that’s basically the same height and build as Jacob then,”
“Well, that’s what Fansworth is figuring out right there.”
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“Alright, Jacob,” Fansworth says, uncuffing his hands. He’s standing in the middle of a circle of guns trained on him. “Take off your shirt, pants, and shoes, and hand them over.”
Fansworth looks around the soldiers he picked. The best match he can find is one James Emand, who’s got the height and maybe the build. A few seconds up-close, however would break the illusion. His hair’s sandy yellow as opposed to Jacob’s blond, and his eye color is slightly off.
David looks at Celling skeptically. “Please explain why all this is necessary?” he asks.
“We don’t know whether these rebels have help or other forces operating in the area,” Celling answers. “And we can’t afford to risk losing Jacob. Splitting up is going to confuse them. And you’re going to move with us, David, since we’re trying not to draw attention to the dock team.”
“No, I’m not,” answers David. “If I’m not going to be able to help you transport these people to the small, dark cell where they belong, I’ve got to go find the Pillar of Time before some hoodlum steals it. I still remember where the Secondborn left it.” David raises his hand and pinches his fingers, preparing to teleport. “So if you haven’t got anything better for me to do, I’ll go do that now.”
What’s your response to this?
A: “Alright, then. You go do that.”
B: “No. Stay with us until we take the train back, then we’ll let you go wherever.”
C: “We’re going to need you with us. Go with the real Jacob group and Fansworth to the docks.”
And given your knowledge about the disguise quality, do you want to make any changes to the plan?
A: No. Proceed as discussed.
B: Yes, we will change some things.
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): AND IT APPEARS THERE IS SOME DIVISION AMONG THE SCIENTISTS OF THE REPUBLIC! OH NO! LET’S SEE IF WE WILL CUT TO THAT, EH?
Have a scene resolving the Quill/Fallacy conflict?
A: Yes
B: No
Post by: Rockeater on April 22, 2019, 02:52:24 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on April 22, 2019, 03:09:56 pm
And another thing: Are you CERTAIN that that Pillar hasn't been corrupted or made into a failsafe by the Secondborn? And is there any reason you wouldn't be able to find it even if it was moved?
Furthermore, we know that powerful forces in the form of the Mittani were working here, even you may have trouble with their sort alone since we would REALLY prefer it if you could avoid, y'know, razing the town to the ground with the powers you have access to."
A: no change, if anyone gets close enough to the fake to spot a difference in hair color (surely we wear helmets or at least hats here in the military, every military has worn one or the other for millennia) or eye color, of all things then we've already screwed up, they should NOT be allowed that close to the fake or to the real thing, we're a military in combat operations not a parade. Oh, *and* they'd need to have someone in this hypothetical rescue team who already knows exactly the color of Jacob's hair and eyes.
B: no need to slow down the pace of the game right now...furthermore the sorts of enquiries that would need to be launched to evaluate the financial situation would take many weeks at best, or months if there's a real bureaucracy to go through. In other words....it's not something that needs to be addressed between now and the inevitable rescue attempt.
Jacob's a kid right now, an overly edgy teen to be exact. He can't rot in prison for much time at all, it'd be against the laws of narrative.
Post by: Glass on April 22, 2019, 03:31:13 pm
D: "It's your choice but having you along is extra insurance that we can't be intercepted. You know what's going on here, you're aware of how this works. We can't afford the risk that otherworldly powers --- of various sorts --- will interfere in any teleportation attempts.+1
And another thing: Are you CERTAIN that that Pillar hasn't been corrupted or made into a failsafe by the Secondborn? And is there any reason you wouldn't be able to find it even if it was moved?
Furthermore, we know that powerful forces in the form of the Mittani were working here, even you may have trouble with their sort alone since we would REALLY prefer it if you could avoid, y'know, razing the town to the ground with the powers you have access to."
A: no change, if anyone gets close enough to the fake to spot a difference in hair color (surely we wear helmets or at least hats here in the military, every military has worn one or the other for millennia) or eye color, of all things then we've already screwed up, they should NOT be allowed that close to the fake or to the real thing, we're a military in combat operations not a parade. Oh, *and* they'd need to have someone in this hypothetical rescue team who already knows exactly the color of Jacob's hair and eyes.
B: no need to slow down the pace of the game right now...furthermore the sorts of enquiries that would need to be launched to evaluate the financial situation would take many weeks at best, or months if there's a real bureaucracy to go through. In other words....it's not something that needs to be addressed between now and the inevitable rescue attempt.
Jacob's a kid right now, an overly edgy teen to be exact. He can't rot in prison for much time at all, it'd be against the laws of narrative.
Though addendum: what Quill/Fallacy conflict? There’s no such thing.
Post by: Rockeater on April 22, 2019, 06:17:00 pm
Ah, fair, +1D: "It's your choice but having you along is extra insurance that we can't be intercepted. You know what's going on here, you're aware of how this works. We can't afford the risk that otherworldly powers --- of various sorts --- will interfere in any teleportation attempts.+1
And another thing: Are you CERTAIN that that Pillar hasn't been corrupted or made into a failsafe by the Secondborn? And is there any reason you wouldn't be able to find it even if it was moved?
Furthermore, we know that powerful forces in the form of the Mittani were working here, even you may have trouble with their sort alone since we would REALLY prefer it if you could avoid, y'know, razing the town to the ground with the powers you have access to."
A: no change, if anyone gets close enough to the fake to spot a difference in hair color (surely we wear helmets or at least hats here in the military, every military has worn one or the other for millennia) or eye color, of all things then we've already screwed up, they should NOT be allowed that close to the fake or to the real thing, we're a military in combat operations not a parade. Oh, *and* they'd need to have someone in this hypothetical rescue team who already knows exactly the color of Jacob's hair and eyes.
B: no need to slow down the pace of the game right now...furthermore the sorts of enquiries that would need to be launched to evaluate the financial situation would take many weeks at best, or months if there's a real bureaucracy to go through. In other words....it's not something that needs to be addressed between now and the inevitable rescue attempt.
Jacob's a kid right now, an overly edgy teen to be exact. He can't rot in prison for much time at all, it'd be against the laws of narrative.
Though addendum: what Quill/Fallacy conflict? There’s no such thing.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 05, 2019, 11:00:26 pm
D: "It's your choice but having you along is extra insurance that we can't be intercepted. You know what's going on here, you're aware of how this works. We can't afford the risk that otherworldly powers --- of various sorts --- will interfere in any teleportation attempts.
And another thing: Are you CERTAIN that that Pillar hasn't been corrupted or made into a failsafe by the Secondborn? And is there any reason you wouldn't be able to find it even if it was moved?
Furthermore, we know that powerful forces in the form of the Mittani were working here, even you may have trouble with their sort alone since we would REALLY prefer it if you could avoid, y'know, razing the town to the ground with the powers you have access to."
A: no change, if anyone gets close enough to the fake to spot a difference in hair color (surely we wear helmets or at least hats here in the military, every military has worn one or the other for millennia) or eye color, of all things then we've already screwed up, they should NOT be allowed that close to the fake or to the real thing, we're a military in combat operations not a parade. Oh, *and* they'd need to have someone in this hypothetical rescue team who already knows exactly the color of Jacob's hair and eyes.
B: no need to slow down the pace of the game right now...furthermore the sorts of enquiries that would need to be launched to evaluate the financial situation would take many weeks at best, or months if there's a real bureaucracy to go through. In other words....it's not something that needs to be addressed between now and the inevitable rescue attempt.
Jacob's a kid right now, an overly edgy teen to be exact. He can't rot in prison for much time at all, it'd be against the laws of narrative.
“He did booby-trap the Pillar,” says David. “But I know how to get past that. And the sooner I get it up and working, the sooner I can send some more predictions your way. I’ll go with your convoy, but I don’t see what good I’m doing guarding a decoy.”
Celling watches David walk off to the side. A few minutes later, Fansworth and his soldiers step out of the building. Jacob’s squirming slightly in his new uniform, and Fansworth’s men are subtly aiming their guns in his direction. James Emand looks remarkably like the rebel, but the ruse would break down under a close examination. Good thing they don’t plan on allowing a close examination, then.
The men shuffle around as they prepare to start what to all outside eyes will appear to be a fight. The plan begins.
And it goes off without a hitch.
As Celling’s party arrives at the trains, they are intercepted by a stout Antarctican man in a suit whom Celling instantly recognizes as Prenner Goldsmith, Baron of Argentina. He is flanked by several guards on either side. Celling and his men bow before him.
“Wenton Celling,” Baron Goldsmith says, with a hint of cold distaste. “I’d like to ask you why you saw fit to have the fine city of Montevideo evacuated, causing incalculable economic and societal harm, on the fear of a hurricane, which as we can all see has not happened. And I’ll be taking custody of that rebel from now on. I’ll see to it that he’s delivered safely back to Antarctica.”
What do you do?
Post by: Glass on May 05, 2019, 11:15:53 pm
And I'm afraid we don't have a rebel with us. James Emand here is one of ours. We had him switch clothes with the captured rebel to prevent the actual escort from being intercepted by sympathizers. I'm sorry you fell for it too, sir. I mean, if you really need to take him for a bit to confirm it, you probably can, but he's not who you were looking for. Apologies."
Post by: Rockeater on May 05, 2019, 11:35:37 pm
"What sources I had available indicated that the city was likely to be hit by a sudden disaster. The people know what to do about hurricanes and the evacuation was a sufficient response to ensure safety of the populace. The disaster was thankfully averted, but that had not been certain when we initiated the evacuation.-1
And I'm afraid we don't have a rebel with us. James Emand here is one of ours. We had him switch clothes with the captured rebel to prevent the actual escort from being intercepted by sympathizers. I'm sorry you fell for it too, sir. I mean, if you really need to take him for a bit to confirm it, you probably can, but he's not who you were looking for. Apologies."
A. He is a noble in a monarchy, he have access to military sources as much or even more then us on his local domain, or at least could claim those, we tell him were expecting an attack on the base with fightings potentially getting to the city, but this risk was averted.
B. I will eat my hat if he isn't a rebel supporter for some degree, helping the rebel leader escape grants him immense power in the nation they will build after they get independent, and besides, why we tell everyone our secret plan, until proven otherwise, the man we are holding is Jacob whatisname, the former rebel leader who we escort ourselves for we are the only ones in South America who knows where the King want to put him.
Post by: Glass on May 05, 2019, 11:39:31 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 18, 2019, 05:35:15 pm
What do you do about the Baron situation?
A: “Ah yes, about that. This rebel is a decoy we prepared to draw off pursuit. The real one is heading to the docks.”
B: “The location of the captured rebel is classified. This one is a decoy. We cannot tell you where the real one is.”
C: “This is Antarctica’s business and you don’t have jurisdiction here. Let us pass.”
D: “We will turn Jacob Eldin over to your custody, provided that we can escort him.”
E: “Alright, take him.”
Post by: Glass on May 18, 2019, 05:39:41 pm
Even if it gets all the way to him showing someone else, he’ll have to deal with the humiliation of “that’s the wrong guy.”
Post by: Madman198237 on May 18, 2019, 10:56:39 pm
I think we say "this is classified military business dealing with an Antarctica-wide insurrection, if you attempt to stop us we will arrest you for the crime of aiding and abetting an enemy of the crown and the state."
Post by: Glass on May 18, 2019, 11:05:22 pm
Screw your options, screw your character, and screw your setting.Ok.
I think we say "this is classified military business dealing with an Antarctica-wide insurrection, if you attempt to stop us we will arrest you for the crime of aiding and abetting an enemy of the crown and the state."
+1
Post by: Rockeater on May 18, 2019, 11:10:00 pm
+1Screw your options, screw your character, and screw your setting.Ok.
I think we say "this is classified military business dealing with an Antarctica-wide insurrection, if you attempt to stop us we will arrest you for the crime of aiding and abetting an enemy of the crown and the state."
+1
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on May 19, 2019, 09:56:08 am
Also why haven’t we just murdered Jacob yet given the chance? Plot armor only goes so damn far.
Post by: Rockeater on May 19, 2019, 11:41:31 am
Agreeing with Madman. 1.I think because killing Jacob gives a motive for future plot chosen character much more then teaching him the truth.
Also why haven’t we just murdered Jacob yet given the chance? Plot armor only goes so damn far.
Post by: Madman198237 on May 19, 2019, 12:21:53 pm
Post by: Glass on May 19, 2019, 02:39:46 pm
Mostly because DARNIT WE'RE THE GOOD GUYS and don't want to be the sort of people who murder children, even if it would be totally legal in any modern country to kill them for terrorism and treason and such.This. Because for all that this is a tropes-based story, we’re not what the Plot wants us to be, and we refuse to become it.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 21, 2019, 06:45:11 pm
Screw your options, screw your character, and screw your setting.
I think we say "this is classified military business dealing with an Antarctica-wide insurrection, if you attempt to stop us we will arrest you for the crime of aiding and abetting an enemy of the crown and the state."
Baron Goldsmith laughs. “Oh what’s that, Mr. Celling? It’s an Antarctica-wide insurrection now? I was led to believe that the problem was just a small group of troublemakers that would be handled quickly by the oh-so-loyal Captain Celling! Or could it be that the Crown isn’t holding its own territory as well as they want us to think? You will hand over this rebel to my men at once!”
He turns to one of the guards that came with him. “Guardsman Iridium, take him away.”
Post by: Iris on May 21, 2019, 06:50:37 pm
"Sir, with all due respect, I was never truly on your side," he said, in an accent neither Antarctican nor Argentine.
He pulled the trigger, waiting to see Baron Prenner Goldsmith breathe his last.
Post by: Glass on May 21, 2019, 06:59:23 pm
Celling pulls out his own pistol, makes sure it's direct on the guardsman's head, and pulls the trigger.
"What was that, baron?"
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on May 21, 2019, 07:04:51 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 21, 2019, 07:05:37 pm
The Guardsman, a tall, handsome fellow, drew his revolver.
"Sir, with all due respect, I was never truly on your side," he said, in an accent neither Antarctican nor Argentine.
He pulled the trigger, waiting to see Baron Prenner Goldsmith breathe his last.
It is, to a degree, a matter of who's quicker on the draw. But more than that, it's accuracy.
Celling pulls out his own pistol, makes sure it's direct on the guardsman's head, and pulls the trigger.
"What was that, baron?"
Spoiler: Who's dead? (click to show/hide)
Iridium fires.
He leaps out of the way as Celling draws his own weapon and shoots him. The bullet hits him in the leg.
The Baron goes crashing to the ground, blood oozing out of the hole in his chest.
(Relating to escape: There's woods around the train station, and you could hide inside as well.)
Post by: Iris on May 21, 2019, 07:11:18 pm
With this, the figure darts into the train station.
To my fellow players, those above this world: those who support the new regime will know riches beyond their wildest dreams. Those who anger me will know pain and suffering. Choose wisely.
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on May 21, 2019, 07:12:27 pm
: How much longer until the new land. Plotting to expand the Republic, starting with upper America.:
Post by: Glass on May 21, 2019, 07:25:03 pm
Pursue Iridium - preferably captured alive to be brought to court, but dead also works if necessary.
Note: Iri, you were shot in the leg.
Post by: Iris on May 21, 2019, 07:27:44 pm
Post by: Glass on May 21, 2019, 07:37:37 pm
Post by: Iris on May 21, 2019, 07:43:56 pm
Post by: Glass on May 21, 2019, 07:49:20 pm
Dramatic license, my dear Glass. You have much to learn.And yet, the entire situation is irrelevant to the Plot, and you especially. What here indicates the use of dramatic-based rules rather than standard ones>
Post by: Madman198237 on May 21, 2019, 07:55:25 pm
Post by: Iris on May 21, 2019, 08:00:29 pm
Dramatic license, my dear Glass. You have much to learn.And yet, the entire situation is irrelevant to the Plot, and you especially. What here indicates the use of dramatic-based rules rather than standard ones>
No, don't chase him, SHOOT HIM HE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF US AND ATTEMPTING TO LEG IT ON A DAMAGED LEG AND WE OUTNUMBER HIM A LOT. Medical check on the Baron, for whatever it (isn't) worth.
Fools, both of you. The Plot lacks a villain. I killed him. What better candidate than me to replace him?
Post by: Glass on May 21, 2019, 08:16:09 pm
No, don't chase him, SHOOT HIM HE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF US AND ATTEMPTING TO LEG IT ON A DAMAGED LEG AND WE OUTNUMBER HIM A LOT. Medical check on the Baron, for whatever it (isn't) worth.Fair. +1
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on May 21, 2019, 08:38:06 pm
Post by: Glass on May 29, 2019, 05:10:02 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 29, 2019, 05:52:54 pm
Roll d6: 6
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): WELL, IT WOULD SEEM THAT THIS CLINCHES THE MATTER, EH? AND OH, ONE LITTLE THING - THAT WAS IRIDIUM’S ROLL!
Somehow dodging all the bullets, Iridium darts… into a train.
Celling, David, and all the men watch in disbelief as Baron Goldsmith’s murderer rolls away down the tracks.
“That was our train!” shouts David.
Celling checks on the Baron. Nothing can be done. He’s dead.
What do you do? (Iridium may PM his action to me)
Post by: Glass on May 29, 2019, 06:38:42 pm
We know where the train is going, right? Iri can be apprehended there.
Post by: Glass on May 29, 2019, 07:33:11 pm
AND OH, ONE LITTLE THING - THAT WAS IRIDIUM’S ROLL!I'd also like to note that Iridium did not take an action, and if anything we should have been the ones rolling.
Post by: Iris on May 29, 2019, 09:55:28 pm
Post by: Glass on May 29, 2019, 10:44:23 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 22, 2019, 10:42:12 am
“Whee!” says The Amazing Parrot, as it swoops down from a gap in the rafters and lands on Celling’s shoulder. He winces as its talons dig in.
“As I was saying,” says Celling. “First off-”
Fansworth arrives at the docks, a group of handcuffed soldiers in tow. One of them is Jacob Eldin in disguise.
At this point, a glaring problem with the plan becomes apparent. Due to the evacuation order, everyone’s left the docks. Whichever ship you take will have to be run by just the couple dozen soldiers in your group.
There are three ships to choose from.
What do you do?
A: Take the small patrol boat. You can fully man it with the people you have and also keep a close watch on Jacob. However, it has limited weapons and fuel, meaning that you’ll have to stop at another port to transfer him into a larger ship if you want to go to Antarctica or Santiago.
B: Take the mid-sized cargo ship. You can fully man it, but keeping a watch on Jacob will be hard unless you chain him up in the bridge. It has the fuel to make it straight to Antarctica or Santiago, but no weapons.
C: Take the battleship. This obviously gives you more range and weaponry, but it’s really not meant to be run by a small crew. You may have issues on the water, and there’s plenty of room for Jacob to hide in if he escapes.
D: Rethink this entire thing.
E: Just shoot Jacob. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhyDontYaJustShootHim)
Post by: Glass on June 22, 2019, 11:26:34 am
And I’m pretty sure that most of these ships don’t really need that many people actively doing stuff to keep them running.
Post by: Rockeater on June 22, 2019, 12:49:40 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on June 22, 2019, 01:23:50 pm
Battleship, probably, though we wouldn't actually be able to operate the weapons. Let's take the patrol boat and summon ourselves some navy reinforcements or something using a radio. If the patrol boat doesn't have one, then we send a quick radio message via the battleship.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 27, 2019, 10:41:47 pm
Get on the damn train, and send radio notice to Fansworth's team, as well as to other nearby military and law enforcement units.
We know where the train is going, right? Iri can be apprehended there.
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): AND WE HAVE A WINNER! GLASS DECIDES THE REACTION TO IRIDIUM'S INEXPLICABLE BETRAYAL BY VIRTUE OF BEING THE ONLY ONE TO SUGGEST SOMETHING! WILL THIS RUTHLESS CRUSADER ESCAPE THE CLUTCHES OF THE REPUBLIC, OR WILL THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW PROVE TOO LONG TO OUTRUN?
Fansworth raises the radio to his mouth. "Attention all military and law enforcement units! Train B-67 has been captured by an assassin and is heading down the Trans-Andes Line! Intercept as soon as possible." He adjusts the settings slightly. "Operator, patch me through to High Command."
The train, by the way, has started moving, so there will be some debate about how to get on it.
How do you board the train?
A: Let the Parrot hammerspace you on!
B: Have David teleport you on!
C: Leap on and hope you don't break anything!
D: All the above at once. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreadEggsBreadedEggs)
E: Rethink this decision.
F: Come up with a better way to board the speeding train and bemoan the GM's lack of creativity.
Post by: Glass on June 27, 2019, 11:19:34 pm
Anyway, just get on, capture Iridium, and then once he's thoroughly apprehended, we can get to the front and man the controls, assuming that's necessary.
Post by: Madman198237 on June 27, 2019, 11:22:52 pm
So yeah, he's not going to be shoveling fast, these things don't accelerate fast anyway....we've got time.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 01, 2019, 10:32:53 pm
David, the fake Jacob, and the Baron’s guardsmen hop on behind him. David eyes the parrot. “Someday, you’re going to have to tell me exactly how that thing got here.”
They open the door and step into the car to find Iridium slumped over at the other end, bleeding out of the wound to his leg.
What do you do?
A: Shoot him!
B: Handcuff and arrest him!
C: Something else.
How much do you tell David about the parrot?
A: “You keep your secrets, David, and I’ll keep mine.”
B: “Erin Quill created a sentient parrot that can teleport. The exact mechanism is unknown.”
C: “How did it get here? It’s a parrot. It flew, obviously.”
D: “It accesses an alternate dimension we have termed Hammerspace. It can enter around thin objects and leaves through enclosed spaces.”
E: “Sit down, David. I have something important to tell you about a Plot…” !!ALERT!! Informing another person about the Fourth Wall is PROHIBITED! DO NOT DO THIS!
Also, I have noted that the speed of updates of this game have slowed down a bit. To counteract that, I’m making a plan that I probably will regret: over the month of July, I’m going to write 31 updates in 31 days.
This Is Gonna Suck (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThisIsGonnaSuck).
Additionally, I'm making Iridium the "dies for comic relief" character, so he gets infinite expies. You don't need to ask, just post "Iridium, a <whatever you are>, does this". I'll shut down anything too ridiculous.
You cannot expy twice into the same scene, and no positions of power.
Post by: Madman198237 on July 01, 2019, 10:39:13 pm
"Well, consider when the parrot shows up. It's all in the timing, you see."
And then we shoot the traitor quite un-climactically.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 01, 2019, 10:48:10 pm
How about we tell David the following:+1
"Well, consider when the parrot shows up. It's all in the timing, you see."
And then we shoot the traitor quite un-climactically.
Post by: Glass on July 01, 2019, 10:49:08 pm
How about we tell David the following:+1 to this, and how about we finally get the damn report on Azure City we’ve been trying to get this whole time?
"Well, consider when the parrot shows up. It's all in the timing, you see."
And then we shoot the traitor quite un-climactically.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 02, 2019, 01:57:24 am
How about we tell David the following:+1
"Well, consider when the parrot shows up. It's all in the timing, you see."
And then we shoot the traitor quite un-climactically.
Welcome to SPAMOVERLORD! And yes, we're taking this suggestion.
"Well," says Celling, looking at David, "consider when the Parrot shows up. It's all in the timing, you see."
David scrunches his face thoughtfully. "That... doesn't make any sense. Are you saying-"
BLAM! Celling shoots Iridium and he collapses to the floor, dead. "Never mind that, David, we have bigger fish to fry." He grabs the parrot and looks around for a valid Hammerspace entry point. Finally, he storms into the bathroom and holds the parrot by the feet over a towel rack.
"GET THAT AZURE CITY REPORT THIS TIME!" he shouts, before dropping the parrot. It falls past the rod and silently jumps to Hammerspace.
Celling steps out of the bathroom, sans parrot. "Where's the parrot?" David asks.
Celling waves his hands vaguely. "More importantly, where is this train going?"
Meanwhile, Fansworth's team has commandeered the cargo ship John Philip Sousa for the transport of actual Jacob Eldin, who has been disguised as a random detained soldier. There are still some decisions to be made.
Where are we going to put Jacob?
A: Detain him on the bridge; that way Fansworth can watch him and the helm at the same time, but if he escapes, he's on the bridge (but so are all the soldiers)
B: Fashion a brig out of one of the containers and guard him there; Fansworth will not personally be guarding him, but he will be far from anything important.
C: Detain him in a container and have Fansworth standing there to oversee security measures; this means that he won't be able to deal with the helm, however.
Is it necessary to keep up the ruse that Jacob is a soldier detained on disciplinary grounds?
A: Yes; keep all the other "detained" soldiers tied up with him.
B: No; only tie up Jacob.
C: Solve this some other way.
Where shall we transport Jacob?
A: To Antarctica, the capital, and where Erin Quill is.
B: To Argentina, where the other rebels are being held.
C: Somewhere else.
Anything else we should be doing to secure this guy?
Write whatever you think of.
Update count: 2
I'm going somewhere with no wifi or data tomorrow, so expect no updates for a while.
Post by: Rockeater on July 02, 2019, 02:04:35 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 02, 2019, 03:45:53 am
C,A,A, Radio to the Navy to escort.Why can’t he be stored with the other rebels?
Post by: Rockeater on July 02, 2019, 03:54:52 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 02, 2019, 03:57:07 am
The other rebels are on a train/prison/switched side/ what happened to their new smart one?I didn’t know that, also please don’t call me new smart one, I don’t know much about the game.
C,A,A, Radio to the Navy to escort.+1
Post by: Rockeater on July 02, 2019, 05:43:33 am
I meant a character trope, the old "smart one" David, changed side and now is on our side, the new one we capture and was in the miletary base last time I remember.The other rebels are on a train/prison/switched side/ what happened to their new smart one?I didn’t know that, also please don’t call me new smart one, I don’t know much about the game.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 02, 2019, 06:39:30 am
Oh, I thought you called me smart one to be sarcastic about me not knowing much, sorry.I meant a character trope, the old "smart one" David, changed side and now is on our side, the new one we capture and was in the miletary base last time I remember.The other rebels are on a train/prison/switched side/ what happened to their new smart one?I didn’t know that, also please don’t call me new smart one, I don’t know much about the game.
Post by: Madman198237 on July 02, 2019, 02:59:40 pm
On the way, explain to him what has happened due to the rebellion he's decided to support, and the casualties that would've been caused by this "plan" of theirs.
Post by: Glass on July 02, 2019, 04:09:36 pm
A,B,B but chain each of his limbs to a different console none of which is within his (chained-up) reach. He's not immobile, just incapable of moving far enough from any of the consoles to reach the chains. Radio to the Navy to provide a faster vessel (a destroyer or comparable vessel type would work great) for us to transfer to en-route.+1
On the way, explain to him what has happened due to the rebellion he's decided to support, and the casualties that would've been caused by this "plan" of theirs.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on July 02, 2019, 07:22:04 pm
Dynamic entry! Also +1.A,B,B but chain each of his limbs to a different console none of which is within his (chained-up) reach. He's not immobile, just incapable of moving far enough from any of the consoles to reach the chains. Radio to the Navy to provide a faster vessel (a destroyer or comparable vessel type would work great) for us to transfer to en-route.+1
On the way, explain to him what has happened due to the rebellion he's decided to support, and the casualties that would've been caused by this "plan" of theirs.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 02, 2019, 07:45:55 pm
+1Dynamic entry! Also +1.A,B,B but chain each of his limbs to a different console none of which is within his (chained-up) reach. He's not immobile, just incapable of moving far enough from any of the consoles to reach the chains. Radio to the Navy to provide a faster vessel (a destroyer or comparable vessel type would work great) for us to transfer to en-route.+1
On the way, explain to him what has happened due to the rebellion he's decided to support, and the casualties that would've been caused by this "plan" of theirs.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 05, 2019, 10:19:24 am
Fansworth steps onto the bridge of the John Philip Sousa. The remaining soldiers, some tied up, follow him.
Fansworth turns to face the soldiers. He gestures at the crowd of decoys. "You can all go free now, by the way. Make sure Jacob is the one tied up, and chain him to the consoles!"
Several of the soldiers bring up chains and handcuff Jacob to them. "Uh, which consoles?"
"All the consoles at once. And make sure that he can't reach any of them!" Fansworth answers. He flicks on the ship's radio and speaks into the microphone. "This is Fansworth. Get me the Guardian of the State, ASAP. Maximum security!"
A moment later, Guardian of the State Enir Nest's voice comes on over the speakers. "Yes, Fansworth?"
Fansworth leans in and raises his voice. "This is a secure channel. I repeat, THIS IS A SECURE CHANNEL. That means that if you are listening to this and your name is not Enir Nest, you are going to put the headset down and stop listening right now! I repeat, this is a secure channel, put your headset down and STOP LISTENING!"
There is a moment of silence at this display, then Nest says, "Alright, Fansworth, the line is secure. Please go on."
"We have captured the last remaining rebel, Jacob Eldin," Fansworth says.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
"We have commandeered the cargo vessel John Philip Sousa to escort Jacob to Argentina High Command," Fansworth continues. "Requesting a fast Navy ship to transfer him to."
"Really, Fansworth? Is a Navy deployment to escort one criminal truly necessary?"
"Yes, it's necessary," Fansworth answers. "Ask Erin Quill for this guy's record if you're not convinced. He's escaped from one ship already."
There is a long pause, punctuated by what sounds like Erin Quill shouting, "Yes, it's necessary!"
Finally, Nest gets back on the line. "Alright, Fansworth, you've made your case. The Etna is being deployed to pick up Jacob."
"Excellent," Fansworth answers. "Intercept around the Cape and-"
"No," Nest cuts in. "You have successfully convinced me of the gravity of this situation, and I'm demanding that the Crown be immediately responsible for the interrogation and sentencing of the prisoner. You're going to meet up at the Falkland Islands to deliver the prisoner to Antarctica."
What do you do?
A: "Well, that's fine too."
B: Give a reason you're sending him to Argentina.
C: Something else…
Update count: 3
Post by: Madman198237 on July 05, 2019, 10:32:31 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 05, 2019, 10:44:45 am
A: Sweet, that solves one problem. We can rendezvous at the Falklands before returning to Argentina. I guess if Erin Quill can he'll travel to Argentina and we'll go with the boat to Antarctica, collect all the rebels, and have a little heart-to-heart chat.+1
Post by: Rockeater on July 05, 2019, 11:11:48 am
Still +1 thoughA: Sweet, that solves one problem. We can rendezvous at the Falklands before returning to Argentina. I guess if Erin Quill can he'll travel to Argentina and we'll go with the boat to Antarctica, collect all the rebels, and have a little heart-to-heart chat.+1
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 05, 2019, 12:02:10 pm
Post by: Rockeater on July 05, 2019, 12:12:41 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 05, 2019, 12:15:01 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 10, 2019, 10:16:45 pm
You have chosen to meet up at the Falklands, and send Erin Quill to meet Jacob as well. Your decision has been recorded, but we're cutting to the train next.
What do you do to get off the train?
A: Just ride it all the way back to Argentina. (About 5 days)
B: Get it to stop and turn back as soon as possible!
C: Have David teleport you off, and to somewhere else.
D: Hammerspace off.
E: Something else...
How much do you tell the Baron's men? Do you tell them about the decoy rebel? Anything else you want to ask?
Update count: 4
This might seem like a blatant attempt to boost my update count, but it's actually because we're now going into chronological order for this, and interesting things will not happen on the ship for at least a day.
Post by: Glass on July 10, 2019, 10:19:44 pm
We can send a signal letting people know what happened and turn it back around to get to our destination quicker.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 10, 2019, 11:44:07 pm
Yes, this sort of thing is pretty common in SPAMOVERLORD.
Post by: Glass on July 11, 2019, 07:05:54 am
I thought he was just going to stop being a thing.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 11, 2019, 09:31:39 am
“Community character”? Wait, as in a general-use PC like Celling?
I thought he was just going to stop being a thing.
Yes, What, would you prefer that he gets vaporized?
In addition to the previous vote, please specify what you would like to happen to Fallas d' Florist, Fallacy's expy:
A: Let us control him through vote.
B: Delete him.
C: Leave him in Fallacy's hands.
Update count: 5
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 11, 2019, 09:33:15 am
Post by: Madman198237 on July 11, 2019, 09:33:46 am
Post by: Glass on July 11, 2019, 09:45:13 am
Post by: Rockeater on July 11, 2019, 10:03:54 am
Post by: Smoke Mirrors on July 11, 2019, 10:09:02 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 13, 2019, 12:25:09 am
Fallas d’ Florist knows what’s coming for him.
Of course, he’s only known for seconds. But in other ways, he’s discussed it for hours. Right now he’s standing in his lab within the capital building.
Nothing visible occurs. But silently, high in hammerspace, strings are cut and rearranged. Channels are opened.
Fallas, as he is, simply stops. He’s still there, somewhere. Just not here.
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): NOW THAT WASN’T A VERY NICE THING TO DO, WAS IT, MR. PLOT?
The Plot: This was not something that I did. It is in the rules. It was promised.
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): WELL, THERE’S NOTHING TO BE DONE… MOVING ON!
"Okay, now," says Celling. "We're going to-"
He's interrupted - yet again - by a loud crash and screech in the luggage compartments. Seething, he opens it up to find the parrot, looking disheveled and squashed beneath a pile of blankets. Weakly, it holds out a piece of paper.
Spoiler: Azure City Report (click to show/hide)
Celling turns back to the parrot. "Get a copy to Merrowitz."
"Already done," says the parrot.
Given what you have heard, would you like to continue supporting the Azure City situation?
A: Keep sending reinforcements.
B: Request a formal declaration of war and full deployment of the army. (Potential political roll or stat changes)
C: Withdraw troops. We can't deal with two worlds of problems. (+1 military, full abandonment of OOTS universe)
What to be done about Redcloak?
A: Attempt to kill him.
B: Establish contact and try to negotiate!
C: Steal artifacts from his chambers.
D: Do nothing for now.
Shall we bring up resurrection?
A: Ask the Order and Haley about the possibility of raising someone using their soul.
B: Don't mention it for now.
Anything else?
Write it in.
Update count: 6
Post by: Glass on July 13, 2019, 12:27:05 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 13, 2019, 12:50:52 am
Post by: Rockeater on July 13, 2019, 03:51:31 am
Post by: Madman198237 on July 13, 2019, 11:20:55 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 13, 2019, 12:52:51 pm
I'll go with A, suggest that we mine his chambers with some high explosives just outside them, and negotiate. And ask the Order about soul-based resurrection though I see no real reason to bother resurrecting the dead rebels, just destroying the Key of Taloc because it's an abomination.We don’t have to resurrect the rebels, the knowledge can be used in future for our own troops
Post by: Rockeater on July 13, 2019, 01:32:23 pm
I'll go with A, suggest that we mine his chambers with some high explosives just outside them, and negotiate. And ask the Order about soul-based resurrection though I see no real reason to bother resurrecting the dead rebels, just destroying the Key of Taloc because it's an abomination.It gives us a lot of goddie points on the plot's counter.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 14, 2019, 12:17:02 am
Spoiler: Stats List as of 7/14/19 (click to show/hide)
What do you do to get off the train?
A: Just ride it all the way back to Argentina. (About 5 days)
B: Get it to stop and turn back as soon as possible!
C: Have David teleport you off, and to somewhere else.
D: Hammerspace off.
E: Something else...
It's been proposed that we just tell the train to turn around. Can I get confirmation on that? (That would be B).
How much do you tell the Baron's men? Do you tell them about the decoy rebel? Anything else you want to ask?
Update count: 7
Post by: Rockeater on July 14, 2019, 03:11:35 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 14, 2019, 07:56:00 am
Post by: johiah on July 14, 2019, 11:30:58 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 14, 2019, 11:32:43 am
Dang this is still going? What's a good way for me to get up to date on what's poppin? I don't have time to read it all right now.I didn’t read up on things before I joined, but things seem to be going well, if you have questions, you can ask the other players too. I’m new to this as well
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 14, 2019, 11:41:21 am
Dang this is still going? What's a good way for me to get up to date on what's poppin? I don't have time to read it all right now.
Not for much longer. The players are almost winning. A sequel is in the works.
How much of the beginning did you read?
EDIT: You can talk with the other players on Glass's Discord here: https://discord.gg/89JvnZ (https://discord.gg/89JvnZ)
Post by: Glass on July 14, 2019, 12:29:55 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 15, 2019, 10:50:26 pm
With that over with, on with the show.
Train B-67
"Our next step is to get this train to turn around," says Celling. He walks towards the front of the train. The soldiers, Baron's guards, and decoy Jacob look at each other, then follow.
As they walk, one of the guards asks, "Celling, the Baron just got assassinated. Do you think this has something to do with the rebel situation?"
What do you reply?
A: "Hmm, maybe. We will have to investigate it."
B: "We're still wrapping up the rebel situation, but I think this is something completely different."
C: "The rebels have been captured, that's over."
What do you tell them about the decoy?
A: Nothing; find some excuse to keep the "rebel" in your custody, but don’t give word of the ruse.
B: Inform them that the rebel they have is a decoy, but not the actual location.
C: Tell them that the real rebel is on a ship heading out from the port.
Update count: 8
Post by: Glass on July 15, 2019, 10:52:20 pm
Maybe A, maybe B. Not C. Consider me as giving this vote to Madman.
Post by: Rockeater on July 16, 2019, 02:45:03 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 16, 2019, 07:27:42 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 16, 2019, 08:18:45 am
First question, 1.5 votes for A and 1.5 votes for B
Second question, 1.5 votes for A and 1.5 votes for B
...I can't believe we have an odd number of people and still managed to tie.
Although Glass's changes if Madman votes...
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 16, 2019, 08:52:19 am
Post by: Rockeater on July 16, 2019, 08:53:50 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 16, 2019, 09:13:08 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 16, 2019, 09:19:18 am
Wait, how is there .5 votes?
When someone said "A or B" I counted it as .5 for each.
So the first question is A now, so is the second question. If I am correct, this means the tie is broken
Second question is A. First is... undecided
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 16, 2019, 09:25:29 am
Post by: Smoke Mirrors on July 16, 2019, 10:35:24 pm
Post by: Glass on July 16, 2019, 10:36:10 pm
B for first, A for second.+1, as MM hasn't posted.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 16, 2019, 11:34:42 pm
Train
“I have reason to believe that this assasination has nothing to do with the rebels,” Celling replies. He’s reached the front of the train by now. “And we’re not handing over the rebel, before you ask. Your organization has already been infiltrated once. I really can’t trust you with custody of an important prisoner.”
After a short conversation with the driver of the train, Celling steps back out of the engine. “We’re turning around at the next station. We should be back in Montevideo in a few hours.
Antarctica
Captain William Corvis of the SFN Etna is a short, middle-aged man with a round face and graying hair.
"Guardian of the State, Mr. Enir Nest," he says. "Acting Royal Master of Sciences Erin Quill. Welcome aboard. We will arrive at the Falklands tomorrow night to pick up a prisoner from the commandeered civilian ship John Philip Sousa. Your cabins are to the left."
Enir Nest and Erin Quill step onto the ship. "Acting Master of Sciences?" Quill asks.
"Padelheb fired you, and you technically haven't been reinstated. That'll happen next week," Nest explains. "You sure you want to come?"
“As I’ve told you, I want to meet the man who wanted to blow up two continents face to face,” said Quill. “Perhaps I can talk some sense into him.”
“Perhaps,” says Nest. They turn a corner. “What kind of holding facilities do you have here, Captain?”
“Just the standard brig,” Corvis answers. “I think you’ll want to inspect and improve them, though. I have a list of measures we can take here, for you to rank in importance.”
Quill takes the list. “Can’t you do all of these at once?”
“Yes, sir, but we’d like some idea of what’s most critical,” the Captain answers.
Rank these in order of importance, greatest to least:
A: Carefully searching the rebel to ensure that he didn’t bring anything on board.
B: Keeping an eye on the guards in case one turns traitor.
C: Having visibility of the rebel from all angles so he can’t do something secretly.
D: Locking down all lifeboats so that even if he escapes, he can’t get far.
E: Arriving early at the Islands in case of complications.
Say anything else you want to do.
Update count: 9
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 17, 2019, 05:51:24 am
Post by: Glass on July 17, 2019, 07:57:46 am
Post by: Rockeater on July 17, 2019, 09:21:58 am
CBAED.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 18, 2019, 02:01:40 pm
I’ll average your votes by assigning 4 points to your first choice, 3 points to your second choice, and so on, until your last choice gets 0 points. Point totals:
C - 9
A - 8
B - 8
D - 3
E - 2
The top two will get you a bonus if the rebel chooses to escape by a means that those can affect, so you will get a bonus to choices A, B, and C.
Cargo vessel John Philip Sousa
Fansworth is trying to convince the rebel, Jacob Eldin, while on the way back to Antarctica.
I'm assuming you'll tell him about the wormhole problem, so let's look at what else you might tell him.
What do you tell him about the other rebels?
A: Say they're alive (true)
B: Say they're dead
C: Say they have repented and/or are helping the Republic now.
What do you say about what killed Anna?
A: Say that it was a rogue soldier and that he has since been executed for his crimes. (true)
B: Claim that it was a mistake.
C: Allude to the fact that the "Iridium" entity is resurrecting.
What do you tell him about resurrection technology?
A: Tell him that a parallel universe may be able to resurrect Anna. (true)
B: Tell him about Fallas d' Florists' resurrection experiments. (true)
C: Both A and B.
D: Allude to the possibility of resurrecting Anna without giving specifics.
E: Don't tell him anything.
F: Something else…
Do you propose a deal?
A: Offer him freedom in exchange for information on any other rebels.
B: Tell him that you're willing to work with him to improve the Republic.
C: Propose no such thing.
What do you tell of your own reservations about the government?
A: Claim that you'd rather see a democracy.
B: Hint that you don't agree with the political structure but don't outright say anything.
C: Stick to the party line.
Do you send your guards out of the room before you say this?
A: Yes. (He's tied up and unarmed, after all.)
B: No.
Update count: 10
Post by: Glass on July 18, 2019, 02:05:27 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 18, 2019, 02:10:02 pm
First off, what do we know of our soldiers' opinions?
They're a mix of Celling's group and Fansworth's group. Both Antarcticans and Argentinians are there. There's really no single way to describe their opinions, but they're soldiers. There's probably certain stuff they will report.
Post by: Glass on July 18, 2019, 02:11:03 pm
For that matter, who are Fansworth and Celling's superiors, if any?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 18, 2019, 02:47:03 pm
Are they loyal to Fansworth and Celling?
For that matter, who are Fansworth and Celling's superiors, if any?
Celling reports, ultimately, to General Madeline Merrowitz. There are probably a bunch of middlemen in that chain of command, which I will flesh out when and if it's necessary. Fansworth is in a different chain of command that reports to the Guardian of the State, which is seperate from the military chain - think the FBI. This used to make him Padelheb's lackey, but now he takes orders from Enir Nest.
The soldiers won't be particularly loyal to Celling or Fansworth. They know them, but they basically just picked them up for the Key mission. First and foremost, they are loyal to the Republic.
Post by: Glass on July 18, 2019, 02:50:15 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 18, 2019, 03:02:54 pm
What do we know of their immediate superiors?
Fansworth reports straight to Nest.
Celling reports to Major Zachary Falkas. The higher-ups have been giving Celling a long leash for a while now, because on Quill's recommendation they're just letting him run around South America chasing the rebels.
Now vote.
Post by: Glass on July 18, 2019, 03:10:51 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 18, 2019, 03:18:22 pm
A, A with hints that there's hints of some deeper conspiracy acting seemingly at random, C, propose that he may receive leniency if he's willing to try to help improve the Republic rather than what he's been doing, with some of the second-to-last B mixed in with that explanation. And then finally B.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 18, 2019, 03:25:47 pm
A, A with hints that there's hints of some deeper conspiracy acting seemingly at random, C, propose that he may receive leniency if he's willing to try to help improve the Republic rather than what he's been doing, with some of the second-to-last B mixed in with that explanation. And then finally B.
There were six questions. Your answer is AACBBB, right? Offer him leniency for helping improve the Republic, and hint that you don't like how things are?
Post by: Glass on July 18, 2019, 03:38:00 pm
Essentially, though the first B is more that he may receive that leniency for that. Since, of course, we don't technically have that authority.A, A with hints that there's hints of some deeper conspiracy acting seemingly at random, C, propose that he may receive leniency if he's willing to try to help improve the Republic rather than what he's been doing, with some of the second-to-last B mixed in with that explanation. And then finally B.
There were six questions. Your answer is AACBBB, right? Offer him leniency for helping improve the Republic, and hint that you don't like how things are?
It's more of a suggestion.
Post by: Rockeater on July 18, 2019, 05:48:25 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 18, 2019, 05:51:10 pm
AADCCCBThere are only 6 choices, not 7 just delete 1 of the letters
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 18, 2019, 06:06:37 pm
AADCCCBThere are only 6 choices, not 7 just delete 1 of the letters
I think it's one of the Cs, given that only question 3 has a D (so it's in the right place) and the last one is only A and B.
Rockeater, please confirm that your choice is AADCCB?
Post by: Rockeater on July 19, 2019, 05:17:12 am
YesAADCCCBThere are only 6 choices, not 7 just delete 1 of the letters
I think it's one of the Cs, given that only question 3 has a D (so it's in the right place) and the last one is only A and B.
Rockeater, please confirm that your choice is AADCCB?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 19, 2019, 11:40:49 pm
"Jacob Eldin," Fansworth says disdainfully.
Chained up in the middle of the room, Jacob glares up at Fansworth. "What are you going to do? Kill me?"
"No," Fansworth replies. "Despite what you may think, we have no particular reason to kill you."
Jacob laughs hoarsely. "And that's why you had Anna shot, I assume."
"That wasn't us," Fansworth says flatly. "That was a traitor that has since been punished… with death."
“And I’m just supposed to believe that one of your guards went crazy and shot Anna?” Jacob asks.
“Crazy definitely applies, yes, but I think there’s something more going on,” Fansworth answers. “Enough of that, though. We are aware of your plan to destabilize the wormhole.”
“Yeah?” Jacob grunts.
“The amount of energy released by such a destabilization would obliterate both Zenith City and Santiago,” Fansworth states. “Or maybe both continents. We’re not sure on the details. The death toll would be measured in millions.”
Jacob goes quiet for a moment. “And I’m supposed to believe that because you said it, I guess.”
“Refusing to believe it will not change the facts, Jacob. Your plan is madness and you need to stop before you hurt a lot of people.”
“The only people this is going to hurt are you,” says Jacob. “You and your so-called Republic. You killed Anna. You’re going to pay for that.”
“Regarding that,” Fansworth says. “We have come upon some opportunities that may let us… fix that incident.”
“Fix what?” Jacob asks. “Anna being dead?”
“Yes,” Fansworth replies. “There’s a scientist in Zenith City called Fallas d’ Florist that is working on a device to resurrect the dead. An incident at Andes High Command has opened up a gateway to a world that also seems to have those capabilities.”
“...why am I supposed to believe that?” Jacob asks.
Fansworth sighs. “Fine. Don’t believe it. We’ll be able to show you soon enough.”
“So you can bring back the dead?” Jacob asks.
“That’s the look of it,” Fansworth agrees.
“You can bring back Anna. But you’ll only do it if I cooperate,” Jacob surmises.
Fansworth begins walking around the bridge, stepping carefully over the chains. "I wouldn't say it like that. I can probably arrange for a lighter sentence if you agree to help us."
"To help you oppress other colonies?" Jacob asks.
Fansworth sighs again. "A lot of people aren’t happy with the way the Republic is working. You could be useful. By actually improving it, not blowing it up. I'm willing to work with you.”
The guards look at each other.
“You can’t just slap a bandage on the current system and fix it,” says Jacob. “The nobles need to lose their power. It has to be torn apart from the ground up.”
"That's never going to work. You're-"
BAM!
Fansworth is cut off by the sound of gunshots. Instantly turning away from Jacob, he draws his gun and whirls around.
He sees several guards falling to the floor, bleeding out of wounds in their heads or backs. Five guards are standing with their pistols drawn and smoking.
They raise their weapons to point evenly at Fansworth. Fansworth raises his as well.
"What is the meaning of this?" Fansworth demands.
One of the guards chuckles. "Don't you see, Fansworth? The Mittani sends his regards."
What do you do?
A: Shoot! Take down as many of these fools as possible.
B: Untie Jacob!
C: Shoot Jacob! At least don't let them free him.
D: Destroy the boat controls! That way the traitors can't take the ship.
E: Try to escape.
Update count: 11
This update edited to reflect Glass pointing out that B was to not send guards away.
Post by: Glass on July 20, 2019, 12:02:19 am
2.
"Fuck the Mittani."
EDIT: Additional note: Fansworth can probably take a few shots here - either nonlethally, or nonlethal long enough to kill all the goons and for some of our own men to show up. This will appease realism, increase drama, and help establish with the Plot that Fansworth is not only willing to endanger himself for Good, but that he’s also someone of legitimate moral fiber, and is therefore trustworthy and just generally good all along (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodAllAlong).
EDIT2: Oh hey, look what I found. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WrongSideAllAlong)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 20, 2019, 12:22:43 am
1. Quickly shoot the rope (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShootTheRope)
There are multiple ropes going to all the different consoles, as you requested (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HoistByHisOwnPetard)
Post by: Glass on July 20, 2019, 12:25:21 am
So we shoot all of them. Easy.1. Quickly shoot the rope (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShootTheRope)
There are multiple ropes going to all the different consoles, as you requested (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HoistByHisOwnPetard)
It's only four, and it's not like shooting them takes a lot of time.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 20, 2019, 05:33:38 am
Post by: Rockeater on July 20, 2019, 09:41:47 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 20, 2019, 09:58:41 am
If we just shoot ropes, we will get shot at without dwindling their numbers, changing from D to A. After killing them we can free Jacob
Post by: Madman198237 on July 20, 2019, 10:03:05 am
"What do you think you're doing? You can't find any of these possibilities without MY help...and if you kill me, I obviously can't help you. Nobody in Antarctica will help you with this, nobody can, in fact. It's pretty much completely classified information. So, your options seem to be attempt to steal this vessel and be intercepted by an Antarctican naval task force, or leave. You don't want to get in a gun duel, since you don't know which of you I'll manage to shoot first, and I won't hesitate to fire to save myself or Jacob here."
They've put themselves in a neat little box. Let's inform them of the problem.
Post by: Glass on July 20, 2019, 12:07:59 pm
How about:Fair. +1.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't find any of these possibilities without MY help...and if you kill me, I obviously can't help you. Nobody in Antarctica will help you with this, nobody can, in fact. It's pretty much completely classified information. So, your options seem to be attempt to steal this vessel and be intercepted by an Antarctican naval task force, or leave. You don't want to get in a gun duel, since you don't know which of you I'll manage to shoot first, and I won't hesitate to fire to save myself or Jacob here."
They've put themselves in a neat little box. Let's inform them of the problem.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 20, 2019, 12:11:01 pm
+1How about:Fair. +1.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't find any of these possibilities without MY help...and if you kill me, I obviously can't help you. Nobody in Antarctica will help you with this, nobody can, in fact. It's pretty much completely classified information. So, your options seem to be attempt to steal this vessel and be intercepted by an Antarctican naval task force, or leave. You don't want to get in a gun duel, since you don't know which of you I'll manage to shoot first, and I won't hesitate to fire to save myself or Jacob here."
They've put themselves in a neat little box. Let's inform them of the problem.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 20, 2019, 01:23:10 pm
Fansworth stands in front of Jacob protectively. “What do you think you’re doing? You can’t find any of those possibilities without my help,” he says. “And I obviously can’t help you if I’m dead.”
The turncoat guards look at each other, snigger slightly, and shoot him dead.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Fansworth falls to the ground with a thud, blood gushing out of his chest.
You have lost control of events on board the John Philip Sousa.
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): WHAT A TURN OF EVENTS!
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): WILL THE REBELS PUSH THROUGH THE ODDS AND SUCCEED?
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): WILL THE MITTANI WIN THE GAME FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE?
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): WILL THE REPUBLIC DEFEND THEIR HOLD OVER THE WORLD?
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/undertale/images/5/58/Mettaton.gif/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/526?cb=20151111052226): FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON...
A man on a mission (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
Changing the vision (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
I was never welcome here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
We don't have the choice to stay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
We'd rather die than (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
Do it your way (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
With our backs to the wall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
The darkness will fall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
We never quite thought (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
We could lose it all (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
Ready aim fire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
Ready aim fire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
An empire is falling- (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLxVHYKeyk)
SPAMOVERLORD
CHAPTER IV:
JUST ONE DAY
Where would you like to go next?
A: Go to Erin Quill’s reaction aboard the SFN Etna.
B: Send the Parrot to the John Philip Sousa.
C: Go to Wenton Celling, still in Montevideo.
D: Go see what Fallas d' Florist is doing.
Post count: 12
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 20, 2019, 01:34:05 pm
Voting for B to eliminate half votes
Post by: Nuclear586 on July 20, 2019, 02:10:31 pm
FOLLOW THAT PARROT!
Post by: Glass on July 20, 2019, 03:09:27 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 20, 2019, 06:04:16 pm
A d6 is rolled for every action, and the results interpreted thus:
1 - Epic failure
2 - Failure
3 - Partial success
4 - Success
5 - Total success
6 - Gone Horribly Right (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoneHorriblyRight)
With that, let’s begin!
The parrot is flying through Hammerspace, having just delivered Celling’s orders to Azure City, when it suddenly knows that horrible things are happening on board a ship near the Falklands. It attempts to intervene…
[5] - Total success
The parrot appears in a trash bin. Coughing and gagging, it flies out.
It appears to be on the deck, pressed against a wall of the superstructure facing the bow of the ship. The parrot comes to rest on the deck. Far above, it can make out the windows of the bridge. There is an opened door in the wall, and the whole length of the ship stretches out in front.
What do you do?
Post count: 13
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 20, 2019, 06:10:40 pm
Post by: Glass on July 20, 2019, 07:32:20 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 20, 2019, 10:44:49 pm
Fly to the door, but do not go through it; stay out of sight of anyone that might be on the other side. Once that position is reached, take a quick peek through.
[3] - Partial success
The parrot attempts to fly through the door.
It bounces off it with a THUD, giving itself a concussion, but manages to stabilize itself. The hallway beyond is empty, and runs left to right. To the left, there is a flight of stairs leading up. To the right, the hallway curves into the distance.
What do you do?
Post count: 14
Post by: Glass on July 20, 2019, 10:48:43 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 20, 2019, 11:26:28 pm
Listen for sounds like those made by humans - chatter, footsteps, and the like - and go toward it, though be cautious as it gets nearer.
[1] - Abject failure.
You listen, but can hear nothing. There's a faint noise in the stairwell, though. You take off to fly closer-
-and FLUMP straight into a Goon's face as they round the stairwell. You fall to the floor, giving yourself a 2nd concussion.
Jacob Eldin, midway in the small procession of Goons, points and shouts. "What is that?"
What do you do?
Post count: 15
Post by: Glass on July 20, 2019, 11:28:29 pm
Look like a retarded bird while flying toward where the goons came from.
(Honestly this 1 is more like a 6.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 20, 2019, 11:43:32 pm
"SQUAWK!"
Look like a retarded bird while flying toward where the goons came from.
(Honestly this 1 is more like a 6.)
[2] - Failure
"Squack!" you say.
You take off flying in the direction of the stairs.
One of the Goons grabs you by the leg. "Eh, could use some meat," he says.
Another looks at you quizzically. "Did he just... say squack?"
Post what you do.
Post count: 16
Post by: Glass on July 20, 2019, 11:52:42 pm
2. Continue flying that way.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 21, 2019, 07:58:09 am
bite the person holding me
Post by: Superdorf on July 21, 2019, 08:02:26 am
And fly off. Quickly.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 21, 2019, 08:05:23 am
"Squack. Squack, squack. Squack." *CHOMP*Why waste time Squacking?
And fly off. Quickly.
Post by: Glass on July 21, 2019, 08:57:02 am
We are currently caught thoughAh, thanks, missed that. +1, with the addition of “fly off while saying parrot things afterwards, if we escape”.
bite the person holding me
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 22, 2019, 11:27:08 pm
We are currently caught though
bite the person holding me
[5] - Perfect success
CHOMP! The parrot bites the Goon holding him, and he lets go, clutching his hand in pain.
"Squack. Squack, squack. Squack." *CHOMP*
And fly off. Quickly.
[5] - Perfect success
The bird flies up the stairwell.
Flying out on the second floor, it sees another hallway. To the left, there is a heavy door. To the right, the hallway goes on a bit before turning to the left.
What do you do?
Update count: 17
Post by: Glass on July 22, 2019, 11:44:20 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 22, 2019, 11:58:16 pm
Squawk loudly, wait at the door for a brief moment, then fly off down the hallway if nothing happens.
[6] - Gone Horribly Right
The parrot squacks at the door.
There is a long silence. Then the sound of a voice down the stairwell: "Say, didn't the Mittani say Erin Quill had a thinking bird?"
Fansworth's murderers have long fled, taking the captured rebel with him. Now he lies on the floor in a pool of his own blood, bleeding to death.
Hammerspace rifts roil around his body. Tendrils of blazing white Don't-Look-Here plug his wounds and restart his heart. He opens his eyes to an abstract kaleidoscope, halfway between Hammerspace and the slightly more real world beneath it.
"Oh, real funny," he mutters.
Edward Fansworth, you will be given another chance at life as the result of a chance through other channels.
"And this is how you do it? No rhyme or reason, just... shove it in?"
You will have no delusions that this is being done willingly. The disruption that would have been caused if a more overt method had been used is immense. You will minimize this disruption.
"To hell with you. I'm ready for some disruption," Fansworth answers. Still stationary on the floor, he takes note of his situation. He seems to have been mostly healed, if still soaked in blood.
He hears a loud squack outside the right door.
What does the Parrot do?
What does Fansworth do?
Post count: 18
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 12:05:09 am
If Fansworth is able to activate the radio from his current location, he will do so. Otherwise, he will wait until the Goons have passed by the door and quietly creep out, in order to reach a better location. If he encounters Goons along the way, his first priority will be to hide from them, and if he can’t just slip past them, he’ll try to ambush them and choke them to death (or some other relatively silent manner of killing). Only if they notice him will he resort to using his gun.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 23, 2019, 06:13:43 am
The bird will make as huge of a ruckus as it possibly can further down the hallway, making sure to always be a bit ahead of the Goons.+1
If Fansworth is able to activate the radio from his current location, he will do so. Otherwise, he will wait until the Goons have passed by the door and quietly creep out, in order to reach a better location. If he encounters Goons along the way, his first priority will be to hide from them, and if he can’t just slip past them, he’ll try to ambush them and choke them to death (or some other relatively silent manner of killing). Only if they notice him will he resort to using his gun.
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 09:29:05 am
Stealthily disable the lifeboats.
New goal for the parrot:
Buy time for Fansworth to disable the lifeboats.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 23, 2019, 06:22:19 pm
The bird will make as huge of a ruckus as it possibly can further down the hallway, making sure to always be a bit ahead of the Goons.
[1] - Epic failure
The parrot lifts off and flies towards the hallway.
It veers into the stairwell, crashes into the far end, and falls to the bottom of the stairs with a THUMP and a 3rd concussion.
It comes to in the hands of a Goon.
"...still, that might be the thinking bird. There's no way a normal bird ended up here," says the serious Goon.
"Waste of a bullet to kill it," says the Goon holding the parrot.
"You can just snap its neck," says the hungry Goon.
What does the parrot do?
If Fansworth is able to activate the radio from his current location, he will do so. Otherwise, he will wait until the Goons have passed by the door and quietly creep out, in order to reach a better location. If he encounters Goons along the way, his first priority will be to hide from them, and if he can’t just slip past them, he’ll try to ambush them and choke them to death (or some other relatively silent manner of killing). Only if they notice him will he resort to using his gun.
Fansworth glances up to see broken glass on the panels and smoke pouring out of the consoles. It seems that the radar, navigation, and radio systems have been destroyed.
He hears a faint thump and flop outside.
What does Fansworth do?
Post count: 19
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 23, 2019, 06:26:26 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 23, 2019, 06:33:05 pm
The parrot tries to bite one of the Goon's hands, whichever one it can reach. Fansworth heads towards the sound
(the sound was the parrot falling if you didn't notice)
(and Fansworth knows this)
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 23, 2019, 06:35:06 pm
(I noticed, I didn't know if Fansworth noticed. Changed post accordingly)The parrot tries to bite one of the Goon's hands, whichever one it can reach. Fansworth heads towards the sound
(the sound was the parrot falling if you didn't notice)
(and Fansworth knows this)
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 06:49:38 pm
New goal for Fansworth:This remains my suggestion.
Stealthily disable the lifeboats.
New goal for the parrot:
Buy time for Fansworth to disable the lifeboats.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 23, 2019, 07:04:55 pm
The parrot tries to bite one of the Goon's hands, whichever one it can reach.
[2] - Failure
The parrot bites wildly, but fails to get anything.
"Oh look, it's trying to bite me," says the Goon holding it.
Fansworth tries to rescure the parrot
Fansworth's unarmed - he just realizes that his gun's been taken - and there's five guys with guns that already shot him once. Do you still wish to proceed?
Taking the next suggestion...
Post count: 20
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 07:23:15 pm
New goal for Fansworth:This remains my suggestion.
Stealthily disable the lifeboats.
New goal for the parrot:
Buy time for Fansworth to disable the lifeboats.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 23, 2019, 08:14:38 pm
New goal for Fansworth:This remains my suggestion.
Stealthily disable the lifeboats.
New goal for the parrot:
Buy time for Fansworth to disable the lifeboats.
"Buy time" is kind of unclear. Buy time by doing what?
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 23, 2019, 08:25:57 pm
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 08:47:44 pm
The parrot tries to enter hammerspaceAh, true.
Have it go around the thin thing that is their fingers and then return somewhere else on the ship, making a massive ruckus.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 23, 2019, 10:00:33 pm
The parrot tries to enter hammerspaceAh, true.
Have it go around the thin thing that is their fingers and then return somewhere else on the ship, making a massive ruckus.
[6] - Gone Horribly Right
Fingers are thin, if you think about it. The parrot struggles and squirms, but the Goon's grip on it is too tight. He can't-
THOOM
The Goons look at it for a moment.
"Did it just... have a seizure?" one asks.
Spoiler: Note (click to show/hide)
"Do parrots even live here?" asks the serious Goon.
"There are several species of parrot or macaw that live in Argentina or Brazil, including-" one of the Goons goes on.
"Alright, they do live here," says the serious Goon. "But is this the thinking bird?"
"Can't hurt to shoot it," says the quiet Goon.
What do you do?
Post count: 21
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 10:02:28 pm
It will utilize further shaky struggling antics to wriggle out of the offending hand and fly off.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 23, 2019, 10:04:50 pm
The parrot just tries to escape.+1
It utilize further shaky struggling antics to wriggle out of the offending hand and fly off.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 23, 2019, 10:41:11 pm
The parrot just tries to escape.+1
It utilize further shaky struggling antics to wriggle out of the offending hand and fly off.
[6] - Gone horribly right.
The parrot struggles, and gets out of the hand.
In fact, it pops right out like a cork from a bottle.
It's at this point that he realizes that the group has carried him out of the halls and out onto the deck. He realizes this just in time to smack against a wall (resulting in a 4th concussion) and go plummeting into the cold, frothy ocean below.
The boat is rapidly leaving him behind.
What do you do?
I know you're trying to delay them so Fansworth can sneak around, so I'll record that.
Turns delayed: 2
Post count: 22
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 10:45:38 pm
Also there's no way that flying into a wall would result in falling into the water. There's too much deck on either side of the walls for that. So if we agree that the parrot is not actually in the water because it shouldn't be, then instead:
Just recover and start flying around and being loud.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 23, 2019, 11:00:01 pm
Fly out of the water, return to the ship, and, er, be loud.
Also there's no way that flying into a wall would result in falling into the water. There's too much deck on either side of the walls for that. So if we agree that the parrot is not actually in the water because it shouldn't be, then instead:
Just recover and start flying around and being loud.
Parrot did this:
(https://i.imgur.com/IwKENzs.png)
I considered having it whack against a guardrail, but I figured the Goons would be holding it up higher.
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 11:01:43 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 23, 2019, 11:02:34 pm
There's no way the walls would be that close to the edge of the ship. And no way the parrot would be that bouncy even if they were.
6
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 11:03:12 pm
So it falls to the ground and gets a concussion. The ocean is a couple hundred bits much.There's no way the walls would be that close to the edge of the ship. And no way the parrot would be that bouncy even if they were.
6
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 23, 2019, 11:13:57 pm
So it falls to the ground and gets a concussion. The ocean is a couple hundred bits much.There's no way the walls would be that close to the edge of the ship. And no way the parrot would be that bouncy even if they were.
6
In the case of a six, you don't actually get a say in how much is too much.
Fly out of the water, return to the ship, and, er, be loud.
[4] - Success
Right before it hits, the parrot wings its way up back to the ship.
The rebel and Goons are in the distance now. You are flying along the right (starboard) side of the ship, along a part of the deck that is just a narrow strip besides the superstructure wall to your left.
The group appears to be coming this way.
What do you do?
Turns delayed: 3
Post count: 23
Post by: Glass on July 23, 2019, 11:35:33 pm
Conduct distractions! Loudly! And maybe poop on some of the goons!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 24, 2019, 11:54:47 pm
SQUAAAAAAWK
Conduct distractions! Loudly! And maybe poop on some of the goons!
[2] - Failure
SQUAAAAAAAK! says the parrot, as it flies up toward the Goons.
The serious goon takes one look, and, exasperated, whips out his gun and shoots at the parrot.
Parrot must Roll To Dodge:
[4] - Success
The parrot dodges the bullet in midair.
Cutting to the Train Problem as requested by Glass:
Montevideo train station
The train stops and Wenton Celling steps out, accompanied by David Eborrenial and a bunch of guards. Amusingly, they still haven't cleaned up Goldsmith's body.
Glass, what did you want to ask?
Turns delayed: 4
Post count: 24
Post by: Glass on July 24, 2019, 11:59:24 pm
If there actually are Goons, we can use the mindscans as justification to know about the traitors on the ship, and see if David can get us an accurate enough teleport of some troops.
Otherwise (and the thing I requested this for to begin with), since David killed a bunch of Protinam when he was under the control of the Secondborn, encourage him to do a scan for possible Protinam.
Like, a really wide scan.
Really wide.
As far as he can go.
Like, potentially-a-large-ways-into-the-opposite-hemisphere wide.
Hopefully-including-Greece-and-Italy wide.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 25, 2019, 12:20:07 am
Well, first thing to do is get David to do a quick scan of our soldiers' minds and disable any that are Goons.
If there actually are Goons, we can use the mindscans as justification to know about the traitors on the ship, and see if David can get us an accurate enough teleport of some troops.
Otherwise (and the thing I requested this for to begin with), since David killed a bunch of Protinam when he was under the control of the Secondborn, encourage him to do a scan for possible Protinam.
Like, a really wide scan.
Really wide.
As far as he can go.
Like, potentially-a-large-ways-into-the-opposite-hemisphere wide.
Hopefully-including-Greece-and-Italy wide.
"David," says Celling quietly. "I suspect that some of our soldiers may be Goonswarm agents. Can you search their minds quickly and disable any that are?"
"Can't help you with that, Celling," David responds. "I see the future, remember. I don't see people's minds."
"The Secondborn was able to break into a person's thoughts," Celling says back.
"It seems that I didn't get all of his powers. Only his power source," David replies. "No, wait, the Key of Taloc should be able to do what you want."
Celling considers this for a moment. The Key's core sits in his left pocket, its bulky physical structure dismissed. He moves on to the other part of his suggestion. "David, the Secondborn wiped out the entire Protinam order there."
David turns away slightly, wincing at the memories. Celling goes on. "You'll need more recruits. Can you scan the world for Protinam?"
"Believe me, if I could do that, I would," David answers. "Protinam don't glow in the Temporal Spectrum, at least not at far range. They're receivers. The best I can do would be to look for their Beacon, assuming they use a similar design to ours, they're not cloaking it or something, and they have enough power for me to detect."
"Can you do that now?" Celling asks.
"I already have," David shoots back. "Same result as when we did it two months ago, as a regularly scheduled check. Nothing. We're all there is."
What do you do about the Key?
A: Hand it to David to use
B: Have Celling use it himself
C: Forget the whole idea
Post count: 25
I'd like to note that on Discord, we decided that the Byzantine Empire had Protinam, at some point. That's why Glass asked.
Post by: Glass on July 25, 2019, 12:30:07 am
Post by: Rockeater on July 25, 2019, 04:24:42 am
A. Discreetly.+1
What happened between you and Ryuken that the Byzantine empire got Protinam?
Post by: Glass on July 25, 2019, 07:43:12 am
I was asking about if the Byzantines had done a Third Odyssey escape from Europe, and ended up with a 19.A. Discreetly.+1
What happened between you and Ryuken that the Byzantine empire got Protinam?
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 25, 2019, 07:51:43 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 26, 2019, 09:34:06 pm
Celling takes the red orb of glass out of his pocket and hands it to David. He glances around. None of the men seem to be paying attention. “Keep this discreet, David,” he instructs. David nods and closes his fist over the Key of Taloc core.
A flash of red light flares from his fist and he stumbles backwards, in obvious shock and agony. Celling grabs onto him. "What happened to discreet, eh?"
"Anna's alive," David says, in a ragged voice. "She's trapped within the Key. I saw her."
"I suspected that. We're working on-"
"I'm fine," David cuts in. "I. Am. Completely. Fine."
He opens his hand. The Key core sits in his palm. Sinuous tendrils of gray metal sprout from it as the support structure remanifests.
The soldiers look obviously confused. Some of them reach for their guns. One asks "Celling, what's going on?"
David closes his fist around the control gauntlet of the Key, powering it up. The structure shifts to reveal the red stone in the center, which burns brightly. A wave of crimson light floods out from it, washing over the world, hovering in the air for a moment, as if unsure, before plunging towards the men in the group.
It ends as quickly as it begins. David's eyes burn with red light. He points a finger roughly in the direction of several of the soldiers. "You, you, you, and especially you. Burn."
Protinam lightning, laced with red tendrils of the Key's power, leaps out of his fingertips. The guards he accused collapse to the ground, screaming in agony. The rest of the guards step back in fear.
"Nobody move!" Celling shouts. "Those people were traitors to the Republic! David, we need information!"
David shuts down the Key. His eyes return to normal, and he lowers his hand. "I got that, Celling. These were agents of Goonswarm, carrying out orders the Mittani gave before his death. They were supposed to - they were supposed to free the rebel and use him to find-” David stops and wheels on Celling. “You have a secret resurrection project?”
What do you do?
A: Say that you do (true)
B: Ask that you discuss it in a better place (as there are several soldiers here)
C: Deny it
Post count: 26
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 26, 2019, 09:37:59 pm
Post by: Glass on July 26, 2019, 09:42:09 pm
EDIT: This probably won't be necessary, because Blue realized he screwed up (with my prompting).
EDIT2: No retcon.
Post by: Madman198237 on July 26, 2019, 09:42:50 pm
"What we have is a possibly-mad biologist's pet project and access to a location where they might be able to do resurrections, but which is currently a warzone. We can discuss this further at a later time in a better place."
+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 26, 2019, 10:57:11 pm
"What we have is a possibly-mad biologist's pet project and access to a location where they might be able to do resurrections, but which is currently a warzone. We can discuss this further at a later time in a better place."
EDIT: This probably won't be necessary, because Blue realized he screwed up (with my prompting).
EDIT2: No retcon.
To clarify: I have decided that any time I do write a retcon, you may revise ANY action after the first time you could have plausibly heard about the thing being changed, in universe. And so may any other Fourth Wall user.
Please continue
Post by: Glass on July 26, 2019, 10:58:11 pm
To clarify: I have decided that any time I do write a retcon, you may revise ANY action after the first time you could have plausibly heard about the thing being changed, in universe. And so may any other Fourth Wall user.Upgraded from "the next time". Preserved for posterity.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 28, 2019, 08:09:05 pm
"What we have is a possibly-mad biologist's pet project, and access to a location where we might be able to do resurrections, but which is currently a warzone. We can discuss this further at a later time in a better place."
“Alright,” says David. He paces in a circle, then spins around urgently. “If they’re trying to free the rebel, they might be attacking the ship.”
“Send a message out immediately,” says Celling. “All stations, all ships, get the word out. And we need to get there as soon as possible. Can you teleport there?”
“To the ship? Probably not.” David answers. “I have no idea where it is, and it’s moving, so I can’t refine a teleport solution - not without a beacon nearby.” He circles around again. “What about the Falkland islands?”
“What about them?” Celling asks.
“That’s where the ship is heading, right?”
“You can send us there?”
“All of you?” David asks. He looks around at the soldiers. “Twenty people? I’m not sure how much power I have left from the Secondborn incident and mass teleports can only burn that off faster.”
One of the guards steps up and clears his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, Captain Celling, but we’re just the Baron’s guards. If you’re deploying to the Falklands, well… that’s more than a bit out of our jurisdiction.”
Celling nods. “That will be taken into consideration. The Falklands have no base or anything, right? If you can’t get us back off, we’re stuck.”
David shakes his head. “Once I’m in visual range, I might stand a better chance of getting on the ship.”
What do you do?
A: Have David teleport everyone to the Falklands.
B: Go back to where the Mittani died and make sure nobody takes his body. (They’ll also need his body to do a resurrection)
C: Send just David and Celling to the Falklands, and have the soldiers go to the Mittani’s body
D: Something else…
What do you have the soldiers that Celling’s commanding do?
A: Continue helping with the pursuit (either teleport to Falklands or go to Mittani’s body)
B: Have them stay here. They’ve done enough.
C: Impress upon them the importance of the situation and ask for volunteers.
How about the Baron’s guards?
A: Continue helping with the pursuit (either teleport to Falklands or go to Mittani’s body)
B: Have them stay here. They’ve done enough.
C: Impress upon them the importance of the situation and ask for volunteers.
What about the Key?
A: Take it back from David.
B: Let him keep it for now.
Post count: 27
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 28, 2019, 08:25:19 pm
Post by: Glass on July 28, 2019, 09:05:25 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on July 28, 2019, 09:42:44 pm
CCCB+1
Post by: Rockeater on July 28, 2019, 11:00:20 pm
CABB+1
Post by: Smoke Mirrors on July 28, 2019, 11:08:17 pm
+1CCCB+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 28, 2019, 11:10:14 pm
Most of the discussion goes on here, you really should join...
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 30, 2019, 11:29:43 pm
“David, prepare to teleport us to the Falklands,” says Celling. “And the rest of you, well… I have no ability to force you to stay and help. But there are dangerous forces at play here. We need a group to go to the broadcasting station and secure the Mittani’s body. If we don’t, his followers may be able to resurrect him, and he will bring chaos to this country. So, without further ado, I’m asking for volunteers.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
A disappointingly small amount of them volunteer. Celling counts four from the group that came with him, and three of the Baron’s guards.
Still some decisions to be made, then we cut to Fansworth chasing the Goons on the ship:
What do you do with the Goonswarm agents that David apprehended?
A: Shoot ‘em! (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Whydontyajustshoothim)
B: Ask the guards that are staying to take them into custody locally.
C: Tie them up on the train and send them to Andes High Command.
Having seen the numbers you got, do you try to draft more soldiers?
A: Demand that they join, for the good of the Republic! (+1 on next Combat roll, and possibly more if all 20 soldiers live, but -1 permanent to Political along with other potential repercussions)
B: Do no such thing.
Post count: 28
Post by: Glass on July 30, 2019, 11:45:14 pm
B. We asked for volunteers, we got volunteers. A bit less than the expected average, but oh well. Dealing with magic in a setting that mostly lacks it takes quite a bit of courage.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 30, 2019, 11:46:58 pm
C. The 13 men remaining should be able to suitably keep them under guard, and it seems that local authorities have been unable to really deal with the Goons, so to higher authorities they go.
You mean the 6 men. The Baron's garrison will be returning to wherever they're usually stationed. Presumably, Celling's force will take the trains back.
Post by: Madman198237 on July 31, 2019, 12:16:22 am
C. The 13 men remaining should be able to suitably keep them under guard, and it seems that local authorities have been unable to really deal with the Goons, so to higher authorities they go.+1
B. We asked for volunteers, we got volunteers. A bit less than the expected average, but oh well. Dealing with magic in a setting that mostly lacks it takes quite a bit of courage.
Post by: Glass on July 31, 2019, 06:19:19 am
Fair enough.C. The 13 men remaining should be able to suitably keep them under guard, and it seems that local authorities have been unable to really deal with the Goons, so to higher authorities they go.
You mean the 6 men. The Baron's garrison will be returning to wherever they're usually stationed. Presumably, Celling's force will take the trains back.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 31, 2019, 06:35:01 am
+1C. The 13 men remaining should be able to suitably keep them under guard, and it seems that local authorities have been unable to really deal with the Goons, so to higher authorities they go.+1
B. We asked for volunteers, we got volunteers. A bit less than the expected average, but oh well. Dealing with magic in a setting that mostly lacks it takes quite a bit of courage.
Post by: Glass on July 31, 2019, 09:31:16 pm
The Baron's guards will instead.
Come on, they now know they could have been infiltrated by Goonswarm at some point, they know they can't necessarily rely on the nearby authorities. It only makes sense.
Post by: Madman198237 on July 31, 2019, 09:31:50 pm
Change due to information that our own men cannot themselves guard the goons on the train because they're going searching for the Mittani's corpse:+1
The Baron's guards will instead.
Come on, they now know they could have been infiltrated by Goonswarm at some point, they know they can't necessarily rely on the nearby authorities. It only makes sense.
Post by: Smoke Mirrors on July 31, 2019, 09:33:59 pm
+1Change due to information that our own men cannot themselves guard the goons on the train because they're going searching for the Mittani's corpse:+1
The Baron's guards will instead.
Come on, they now know they could have been infiltrated by Goonswarm at some point, they know they can't necessarily rely on the nearby authorities. It only makes sense.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 31, 2019, 09:40:53 pm
Falkland Islands
A crackling burst of light opens up near the edge of a cliff, and David steps out of it, with Celling right behind.
“Show-off,” says Celling, standing firmly on the rocky precipice. The sky is bright, with clouds scattered sporadically throughout. A strong wind is blowing, and below him, the ocean waves crash against the shore.
The soldiers have been sent to recapture the Mittani’s body. The guards are on their way to the Andes Mountains, guarding the treasonous soldiers.
Stats list check:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb Fansworth
Plot points to be resolved:
- T. Levin inspecting Tommy DeMarco’s memory removal, then leaving for America
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Order of the Stick
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
- Eddie Nichols, an intern, knows bits and bobs about a “fourth wall”
- Baron’s guards escorting traitors back to Andes
“So, uh, where’s the ship?” asks David
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Celling squints. “Is that it over there?”
They stare at the tiny dot on the horizon for a while. “How long until it gets here?” asks David.
“Probably several hours. You can’t teleport there?”
“It’s not safe until it’s much closer,” David responds.
Celling sighs resignedly. “Oh well. I hope you like sitting around and watching penguins.”
Bridge, John Philip Sousa
Fansworth resolves to destroy the lifeboats so that the Goons and the rebel cannot escape.
(https://i.imgur.com/ccxXaWY.png)
As you can see, there are four clusters of lifeboats. Travel times from the bridge (get it?) have been marked in turns. Please specify:
1. The route Fansworth should take (what lifeboats he visits, and in what order)
2. Whether he should be taking the open (blue numbers) or sneaky (red numbers) route
Remember, the parrot will delay the Goons as much as possible.
If Fansworth arrives at the lifeboats at the same time, or crosses paths while walking on an open path, there will be a fight.
Post count: 29
Post by: Glass on July 31, 2019, 09:42:52 pm
In fact, the parrot can pretty much tell Fansworth where on the boat the Goons are the entire time because of the fourth-wall connection.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 31, 2019, 10:55:37 pm
Where are the Goons right now? We should know, due to the parrot.
In fact, the parrot can pretty much tell Fansworth where on the boat the Goons are the entire time because of the fourth-wall connection.
Figure out based on the parrot descriptions.
Post by: Glass on July 31, 2019, 11:10:39 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 31, 2019, 11:11:22 pm
Right before it hits, the parrot wings its way up back to the ship.
The rebel and Goons are in the distance now. You are flying along the right (starboard) side of the ship, along a part of the deck that is just a narrow strip besides the superstructure wall to your left.
The group appears to be coming this way.
Post by: Glass on July 31, 2019, 11:15:30 pm
And am I correct in my assumption that the boat is going in the downward direction? Since the pointy end is down.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 31, 2019, 11:33:13 pm
Can you add the superstructure walls to the map?
And am I correct in my assumption that the boat is going in the downward direction? Since the pointy end is down.
The superstructure is where the bridge is. A rectangular area around it.
You can assume whatever you want to assume.
Post by: Glass on July 31, 2019, 11:34:36 pm
Post by: Glass on August 01, 2019, 12:01:17 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 01, 2019, 12:35:18 pm
Alright, so given that the pointy end is forward, and the parrot was on the starboard side with the Goons approaching it, which is the left side of the image, we should take the rightward path right now, fast version (because we've got a large structure between us and the goons).+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2019, 01:41:44 am
(https://i.imgur.com/ewYSHmd.png)
Which way are you going?
A: Top right lifeboats
B: Bottom right lifeboats
Are you going the obvious way or sneaky way?
A: Obvious way
B: Sneaky way
Post count: 30
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 07, 2019, 08:04:42 am
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2019, 08:56:52 am
BB+1.
The parrot was coming from the back of the boat and the Goons were approaching it.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2019, 05:55:23 pm
BB+1.
The parrot was coming from the back of the boat and the Goons were approaching it.
Alright. After 9 turns, Fansworth arrives at the Bottom Right lifeboats. Now to the parrot:
The parrot dodges the serious Goon's fire as it wings towards the group of Goons and the rebel. What does it do?
You don't get an additional turn delayed because the Goons are walking as you do this.
Turns delayed: 3
Turns Goons have moved: 2
Post count: 31
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 07, 2019, 06:03:25 pm
(How far apart are they?)
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2019, 06:45:30 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 07, 2019, 06:52:49 pm
Fly in irregular “circles” above them (so that they can’t predict where we’ll be next) while slowly drawing them toward the top-left area.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2019, 07:25:43 pm
Fly in irregular “circles” above them (so that they can’t predict where we’ll be next) while slowly drawing them toward the top-left area.+1
[3] - Partial success
The parrot flies in circles around the Goons. It works! They're looking at you. But they're not really moving towards the top right either.
At this point I should clarify where everything is:
(https://i.imgur.com/ugcKYsp.png)
Remember, the front of the ship is pointing down.
What does the parrot do?
Turns delayed: 4
Turns Goons have moved: 2
Post count: 32
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2019, 07:32:00 pm
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2019, 07:45:02 pm
Continue the current plan, except now additionally casting aspersions at the species of their mothers.
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
(Glass wrote in invisible text. He's learning.)
[3] - Partial success
"Your mother was a hamster!" the parrot shouts. "Your father smelt of elderberries! Your uncle's an African sparrow! Your grandma-"
The Goons stare, dumbfounded, at the spectacle going on above their heads. Finally, the serious Goon gestures down the ship. "Ignore it, let's get going," he says.
What do you do? (3 is no longer enough to keep them distracted)
Turns delayed: 5
Turns Goons have moved: 2
Post count: 33
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2019, 07:48:59 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 07, 2019, 08:07:20 pm
Shit on them.+1, possibly aim for the Serious Goon
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2019, 08:57:20 pm
Shit on them.+1, possibly aim for the Serious Goon
[6] - Gone Horribly Right
As the serious Goon opens his mouth to talk again, a large glob of parrot poop splatters into it.
Spitting and gagging, the serious Goon raises his gun and shoots up at the parrot.
ROLL TO DODGE
[5] - Epic success
Doing a barrel roll, the parrot dodges the bullet. What does the parrot do now?
Turns delayed: 6
Turns Goons have moved: 2
Post count: 34
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2019, 09:00:13 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 07, 2019, 09:04:54 pm
Lets continue the previous plan, adding further evasive maneuvers, taunting Serious Sam (as he will be known from now on), and continuing to lead them toward the top-left corner (and if they reach that, to the top-right).+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2019, 09:14:28 pm
Lets continue the previous plan, adding further evasive maneuvers, taunting Serious Sam (as he will be known from now on), and continuing to lead them toward the top-left corner (and if they reach that, to the top-right).+1
[2] - Failure
This time the Goons have none of it. They simply draw their guns in unison and fire at the bird.
Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!
ROLL TO DODGE
Worst of 2: [5,6 --> 6] - Gone Horribly Right
The parrot jinxes and weaves to avoid the bullets.
...perhaps a little too much. It swerves too far to the water side, and slams into the racks holding up the lifeboats, giving itself a 5th concussion and FLUMPing into the lifeboats.
When it comes to, it realizes that the Goons are somewhat closer. And that it's lying on its side on the bottom of a lifeboat.
What does it do?
Turns delayed: 7
Turns Goons have moved: 3
Post count: 35
Post by: Glass on August 07, 2019, 09:17:20 pm
2. Peck the lifeboat to put a hole in it and then use some nearby rope or something (because there’d be some on/near a lifeboat) to port into hammerspace, then come back out at the top-right area and make a loud raspberry at the Goons.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 07, 2019, 09:18:35 pm
1. Given that more time has progressed from last turn, multiple “turns” of movement would have occurred.
Sorry, edited. You got 1 delayed turn and 1 movement turn.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 07, 2019, 09:20:22 pm
1. Given that more time has progressed from last turn, multiple “turns” of movement would have occurred.+1
2. Peck the lifeboat to put a hole in it and then use some nearby rope or something (because there’d be some on/near a lifeboat) to port into hammerspace, then come back out at the top-right area and make a loud raspberry at the Goons.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 09, 2019, 01:15:13 am
You asked for:
1. Peck a hole in the boat (4)
2. Find something and Hammerspace out (3)
3. Locate a valid Hammerspace exit point near the other side (5)
4. Taunt them from there (1)
The Amazing Talking Parrot carefully flips right-side-up and chews a hole in the bottom of the boat.
He then flies up, aiming around one of the thick ropes holding the boat up. Misjudging slightly, he slams into it, giving himself a 6th concussion, but manages to retain enough presence of mind to-
-jump into the infinite, featureless white void of Hammerspace. His headache quickly subsiding, he picks an exit position and dives.
The parrot slams out of an empty trash bin on the top-right of the diagram (bottom-left of the boat). Turning the corner, he races rapidly up the ship's length, blowing raspberries all the way. He finally catches up to...
...Fansworth, who turns around with mild annoyance at the fact that the Parrot's coming up behind him. Oh dear. It seems that in your enthusiasm to insult the rebels, you've gone to the wrong side of the boat!
At this point both Fansworth and the Goons are near lifeboats... on opposite sides of the ship.
What does Fansworth do?
A: Grab a lifeboat and get off the ship!
B: Sabotage these lifeboats and stay on the ship.
C: Leave these lifeboats unbroken, stay on the ship.
What does the parrot do? If Fansworth leaves, it can leave with him, or stay.
Post count: 36
Post by: Glass on August 09, 2019, 01:21:41 am
Parrot: go fly over to the goons and keep distracting them.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 07:54:35 am
Fansworth: B.
Parrot: go fly over to the goons and keep distracting them.
Alright, it's been long enough and no more votes.
[5] - Epic success
There's a simple and easy way to sabotage lifeboats, of course.
Fansworth pulls the release lever and watches as the lifeboats fall away, one after the other, crashing into the ocean in a series of shloomps. The parrot flies back down the ship.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
The goons are just about to get into the lifeboats when the parrot flies overhead, screeching.
"Oh no, not this thing again," says the serious goon, pulling out a gun.
What does the parrot do
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 08:19:01 am
As for the parrot...
Conduct evasive maneuvers, and yell out “DON’T LET HIM!” to our inside guy (hungry, I think?) (though I expect it’ll look like it’s to the entire group, but oh well...).
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 19, 2019, 08:21:03 am
First off. I think Fansworth is now off to the bottom-left. Switch to sneaky about halfway through.+1 (yep, it’s hungry goon)
As for the parrot...
Conduct evasive maneuvers, and yell out “DON’T LET HIM!” to our inside guy (hungry, I think?) (though I expect it’ll look like it’s to the entire group, but oh well...).
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 09:28:26 pm
First off. I think Fansworth is now off to the bottom-left. Switch to sneaky about halfway through.
As for the parrot...
Conduct evasive maneuvers, and yell out “DON’T LET HIM!” to our inside guy (hungry, I think?) (though I expect it’ll look like it’s to the entire group, but oh well...).
Sorry, he's actually on bottom-right; see photo here (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg8007736#msg8007736)
Roll d6: [6] - Gone horribly right
"HEY INSIDE MAN, DON'T LET HIM!"
The Goons look at each other.
What do you do?
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 09:31:42 pm
Anyway. Keep squacking about an "inside man". Keep them paralyzed in their confusion. Get their nerves up.
Goonswarm hurt itself in its confusion
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 09:48:05 pm
No, I'd meant that Fansworth was now going toward the bottom-left. I'd suspected he was at the bottom-right already.
Anyway. Keep squacking about an "inside man". Keep them paralyzed in their confusion. Get their nerves up.
Goonswarm hurt itself in its confusion
A note: maroon is the color of secret text I've found.
Roll d6: [3] - Partial success
"AHAHAHA" squacks the parrot. "WE HAVE AN INSIDE MAN, HAHAH, YOU DON'T KNOW WHO-"
"Okay," says the serious Goon. "I'm probably not the inside man, because I'm holding this gun. And the rebel can be trusted too. None of the rest of you are safe."
"Who's to say the rebel can be trusted?" asks the hungry Goon (who is also the actual inside man). "We get this mission from the Mittani, to rescue this random enemy of the state if he dies. Why are we trusting this guy?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what an inside man would say," says the grabby Goon.
The brainy Goon thinks for a moment. "You know, accusing people for no reason and invoking Wine In Front Of Me are easy tells for a scum."
"What's with the big words?" asks the serious Goon. "Sounds like someone from the Republic."
The silent Goon gestures at the hungry Goon. "I don't know. He looked surprised."
"That's your logic?" asks the hungry Goon. "Everyone's surprised, man! Look, I don't know why we're even believing this bird!"
Jacob looks around frantically.
Votes:
Serious Goon --> Brainy Goon
Hungry Goon --> Jacob
Grabby Goon --> Serious Goon
Brainy Goon --> Grabby Goon
Silent Goon --> Hungry Goon
Nothing much happens. What do you do next?
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 09:52:36 pm
Say it over and over again in a sing-song voice.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 19, 2019, 09:55:27 pm
(Oh cool, mini MafiaNo, I'd meant that Fansworth was now going toward the bottom-left. I'd suspected he was at the bottom-right already.
Anyway. Keep squacking about an "inside man". Keep them paralyzed in their confusion. Get their nerves up.
Goonswarm hurt itself in its confusion
A note: maroon is the color of secret text I've found.
Roll d6: [3] - Partial success
"AHAHAHA" squacks the parrot. "WE HAVE AN INSIDE MAN, HAHAH, YOU DON'T KNOW WHO-"
"Okay," says the serious Goon. "I'm probably not the inside man, because I'm holding this gun. And the rebel can be trusted too. None of the rest of you are safe."
"Who's to say the rebel can be trusted?" asks the hungry Goon (who is also the actual inside man). "We get this mission from the Mittani, to rescue this random enemy of the state if he dies. Why are we trusting this guy?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what an inside man would say," says the grabby Goon.
The brainy Goon thinks for a moment. "You know, accusing people for no reason and invoking Wine In Front Of Me are easy tells for a scum."
"What's with the big words?" asks the serious Goon. "Sounds like someone from the Republic."
The silent Goon gestures at the hungry Goon. "I don't know. He looked surprised."
"That's your logic?" asks the hungry Goon. "Everyone's surprised, man! Look, I don't know why we're even believing this bird!"
Jacob looks around frantically.
Votes:
Serious Goon --> Brainy Goon
Hungry Goon --> Jacob
Grabby Goon --> Serious Goon
Brainy Goon --> Grabby Goon
Silent Goon --> Hungry Goon
Nothing much happens. What do you do next?
Don’t know what action to do yet)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 10:09:19 pm
"Fancy guns!"
Say it over and over again in a sing-song voice.
Roll d6: [1] - Epic failure
"FANCY GU-" the Parrot manages to get out, before slamming into a post and giving itself a 7th concussion.
Spoiler: Who catches the damn bird? (click to show/hide)
When it comes to, it is firmly in the grasp of the Serious Goon.
"...that's exactly what an inside man would say," the Serious Goon is saying. "I say we kill it."
"Wait a second," says the brainy Goon. "There's six lifeboats here. How about we each get in one and put the rebel in the last? HQ can sort it out."
"Fine with me," says the serious Goon. "Let's do this first, though." He raises his gun to the Parrot's head.
What do you do?
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 10:10:40 pm
If successful: "I HAVE THE FANCY GUNS!"
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 19, 2019, 10:14:59 pm
Wake up, grab the gun, and fly up into the air.(How would we grab it, though? We are in his grasp. Our wings are probably held to our sides by his hand. What is required for us to go into Hammerspace?)
If successful: "I HAVE THE FANCY GUNS!"
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 10:19:39 pm
Wake up, grab the gun, and fly up into the air.
If successful: "I HAVE THE FANCY GUNS!"
Roll d6: [1] - Epic fail
"I HAVE THE-" the parrot manages to get out.
Spoiler: I wonder if the Hungry Goon reacts? (click to show/hide)
"No!" shouts the hungry Goon. "Don't shoot the parrot?"
"Why?" asks the serious Goon, pointing the gun at him. "Are you the inside man?"
The hungry Goon stays silent a moment, then lunges at the parrot.
BLAM!
The hungry Goon falls to the floor, dead. The parrot also falls, released by the serious Goon. A turkey also falls, out of a life vest container in the ceiling.
What does the parrot do?
Iridium, what does your (invulnerable) turkey do?
Post by: Iris on August 19, 2019, 10:21:39 pm
I have no words.
The turkey starts irritably squawking at the serious Goon.
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 10:22:16 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 10:24:29 pm
...
I have no words.
The turkey starts irritably squawking at the serious Goon.
[5] - Success
The turkey squacks, loudly and obnoxiously.
While the Serious Goon is distracted by the turkey, steal his gun.
[1] - Epic failure
The parrot manages to clamp his beak around the gun before the Serious Goon grabs him again. "Ah, here you are," he says.
What do (both of you) do?
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 10:25:11 pm
The Turkey got a 5 on its distraction roll.
This justifies the parrot acting with advantage.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 10:28:50 pm
Objection:
The Turkey got a 5 on its distraction roll.
This justifies the parrot acting with advantage.
Fine.
Roll 2d6: 5/6 --> [5] - Epic Success
The parrot rips the gun out of the serious Goon's hands. "Ahaha!" he says, just as he realizes he has no way to fire it.
The Brainy Goon and Grabby Goon are trying to throw the turkey overboard. The Silent Goon trains his gun on you.
What do (both of you) do?
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 10:31:26 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 10:36:29 pm
Toss the gun a ways down the deck - toward the front of the boat - and then dive-bomb Silent in an attempt to force him to drop his weapon.
[5] - Epic success
You toss the serious Goon's gun down the deck. It slides away. Not seeing that for a while.
[6] - Gone Horribly Right
You realize - mid-flight - that you can't really dive-bomb someone when you're on the same height as them. Oh well, too late now.
The parrot slams into the silent goon - giving itself a 8th concussion - and flumps back down to the floor.
The other two Goons have managed to wrestle the turkey to the side of the boat by now.
What do you do?
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 10:37:32 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 10:38:01 pm
What's Silent's status, first?
Fine. A bit bruised. Annoyed that a parrot just hit him. Aiming at you.
Post by: Iris on August 19, 2019, 10:38:46 pm
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 10:38:54 pm
...the stated goal was to disarm him. An overshoot is still supposed to include success at the stated action, even if with unintended negative consequences.What's Silent's status, first?
Fine. A bit bruised. Annoyed that a parrot just hit him. Aiming at you.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 10:41:31 pm
At the 7th concussion the Goons got in a boat, and dragged you in.
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 10:42:03 pm
Knock the gun out of Silent's hands - preferably overboard - and attempt to sabotage the lifeboat, then fly out of Goon range.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 19, 2019, 10:55:12 pm
We disarmed the Serious Goon, who was our target at the time...the stated goal was to disarm him. An overshoot is still supposed to include success at the stated action, even if with unintended negative consequences.What's Silent's status, first?
Fine. A bit bruised. Annoyed that a parrot just hit him. Aiming at you.
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 10:56:37 pm
The divebomb's target was Silent Goon, who was the second person trying to shoot us, after we already disarmed Serious Sam.We disarmed the Serious Goon, who was our target at the time...the stated goal was to disarm him. An overshoot is still supposed to include success at the stated action, even if with unintended negative consequences.What's Silent's status, first?
Fine. A bit bruised. Annoyed that a parrot just hit him. Aiming at you.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 19, 2019, 11:00:40 pm
Flail around and try to stay in the boat.
[1] - Epic fail.
"Khônggggggggg!" goes the Turkey, as it falls into the cold, dark sea.
Whelp, anyway.
Knock the gun out of Silent's hands - preferably overboard - and attempt to sabotage the lifeboat, then fly out of Goon range.
You knock it out, alright.
You also knock yourself out, giving yourself a 9th concussion. Parrot and gun fall off the side of the lifeboat and towards the ocean.
What do you do
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 11:03:18 pm
These should be those rubber lifeboats, right? Not wooden?
Post by: Iris on August 19, 2019, 11:04:19 pm
wait that's not a good idea
Re-enter the boat.
Post by: Glass on August 19, 2019, 11:10:03 pm
David and Celling were, of course, waiting for it to get in range.
Guess where it probably is now.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 20, 2019, 02:58:05 pm
Catch ourselves in midair, fly back up, and see if we can sabotage the lifeboat in some manner - maybe from underneath. We were able to peck a hole in the other one earlier, we should be able to do that from the bottom as well as from the top.
These should be those rubber lifeboats, right? Not wooden?
I think they are wooden, but still. Roll d6: [3] - Partial success
The parrot flies back up a bit and is hovering below the lifeboats rack.
Swim to shore.
wait that's not a good idea
Re-enter the boat.
[5] - Epic success
The turkey tumbles back towards the boat and manages to go in a porthole. It looks like it's in a hallway of some kind on another level of the boat.
What do you do?
Post by: Glass on August 20, 2019, 02:59:35 pm
So when do our friends get here?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 20, 2019, 03:01:25 pm
Now peck a hole in the bottom of the raft the Goons are in.
[5] - Epic success
With great care, the parrot opens up a hole in the bottom of the raft the Goons are in. That won't be going anywhere soon.
What now?
Post by: Glass on August 20, 2019, 03:03:01 pm
Post by: Iris on August 20, 2019, 03:04:26 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 20, 2019, 03:08:33 pm
Let’s peck holes in the other lifeboats here, so even if the Goons notice the hole, they’ll have to go elsewhere to get a good boat.
[4] - Success
Flying over, the parrot opens up a hole in the 3rd boat. I'm going to clarify at this point that on Discord, we also did some rolls about which boats are too old to use. Here's the status:
Boat 1: Bad condition
Boat 2: Working
Boat 3: Has a hole
Boat 4: Has a hole (Goons were in this one)
Boat 5: Bad condition
Boat 6: Has a hole
Explore a bit.
[3] - Partial success
The turkey stumbles forward to find that the hallway ends after a few feet and all the doors are locked.
What do you do?
Post by: Glass on August 20, 2019, 03:09:30 pm
Post by: Iris on August 20, 2019, 03:10:57 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 20, 2019, 05:15:05 pm
Post by: Iris on August 20, 2019, 05:15:53 pm
Post by: Rockeater on August 20, 2019, 05:30:52 pm
It's complicated. Suffice it to say that Fallacy was involved.I am one of those that less negative about fallacy's stuff, but ffs blue at least keep those things away from the main events.
Post by: Glass on August 20, 2019, 06:17:51 pm
The turkey is Iridium.
The parrot is still a parrot. It has been doing the things I've been suggesting.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 20, 2019, 06:18:31 pm
The parrot is not a turkey.
The turkey is Iridium.
The parrot is still a parrot. It has been doing the things I've been suggesting.
Actually, the parrot's doing whatever anyone suggests. It's just that this has been mostly Glass.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 28, 2019, 08:59:46 pm
Sabotage boat 2, completing our set here.
[4] - Success
The parrot opens a hole in boat 2 as well
Open the door with my beak because that's totally a thing turkeys can do. Right?
[6 2] (worst of two, turkeys can't lockpick) - Failure
The turkey finds out that this is not in fact something turkeys can do.
Roll Jacob noticing: 1
Roll Goons noticing: 6
"Hey wait," says the quiet Goon. "There's a hole in this boat."
"Drat," says the serious Goon. "Fan out, check the other boats, carefully."
They fan out and soon discover all the same information as here:
Boat 1: Bad condition
Boat 2: Has a hole
Boat 3: Has a hole
Boat 4: Has a hole (Goons were in this one)
Boat 5: Bad condition
Boat 6: Has a hole
"Boats five and one might still work, but I wouldn't bet on it," says the grabby Goon.
"Off to the next cluster, then" goes the quiet Goon.
"Wait!" says the brainy Goon. "This looks like sabotage!"
"Then whoever made it was going down with the ship," notes the serious Goon. "Unless it was found in time, of course."
All eyes swivel to the quiet Goon. He glances around and shrugs. "Yeah, sure. The saboteur made a hole and then immediately pointed it out."
The brainy Goon seems convinced by this. "Are you sure you killed them all?" he says to the serious Goon.
"Yes. Every last one of them are bleeding out on the bridge," the serious Goon replies.
"And there was nobody guarding anywhere else that could have done this?" the grabby Goon asks.
The serious Goon sighs. "There was nobody else on the ship."
"You don't know that," the brainy Goon says.
"Whatever. We have to move fast. That saboteur is still active," the serious Goon concludes.
(https://i.imgur.com/ccxXaWY.png)
I'm too lazy to count turns or make a new map, so just know that Fansworth is to the bottom-left, the Goons are to the top-left, and the Goons have lost one turn because of bickering (that's their 6 penalty). The top-left and bottom-right boats are sabotaged. Choose where to go and why; do you try to escape, or sabotage this cluster and move?
Post by: Glass on August 28, 2019, 09:07:05 pm
-Fansworth already sabotaged the bottom-right, and is currently going to bottom-left to sabotage them as well.
-We just sabotaged the top-left.
Therefore, the only remaining set not accounted for is the top-right one. Time to sabotage.
By the way, are the boats attached to the main vessel by rope and are hanging off, or some other setup?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 28, 2019, 09:11:33 pm
The way I see it, you have three main options:
A: Sabotage the cluster you're at and head for the only remaining cluster ASAP to try and stop the Goons. The Goons have lost 1 turn, but they are 4 steps away from that cluster and you are 12 steps away, so you'll have to use the Parrot to halt their progress for eight turns to get there. (A d6 will be added on to both times, which might help you, or may not). Note that a running walk while shooting the parrot does not count as halting progress.
- Within A, you can also choose A1 for going via the Bridge (no chance of encountering Goons) or A2 for going via the top-left (might encounter Goons along the way)
B: As with A, but you don't sabotage the down-left cluster, leaving it as a possibility in case things go south. You can pick B1 and B2 as well
C: Just get a lifeboat and row for the Falklands.
I think Glass picked A but I want more votes, verification, and whether it's A1 or A2
Post by: Glass on August 28, 2019, 09:16:06 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on August 28, 2019, 09:26:08 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on September 16, 2019, 11:32:56 pm
The Falkland Islands
“Binoculars,” says Celling. David hands the binoculars off to Celling and goes to sit on a nearby rock.
“That ship is getting really close,” Celling comments. “When are you going to be able to teleport to it?”
“Not sure,” David responds. He picks up a rock and chucks it half-heartedly at a group of penguins. It falls far short and they don’t even bother to scatter. “How badly do you not want to get smashed into the Atlantic?”
“Huh?” says Celling.
“I need a rough idea of where I’m going before I can go,” David answers. “By using the energy coming off the preliminary nano-singularity, I can clairvoyance the exact vectors to not fling us high in the air or splatter us against the wall, but that only starts working once I’ve got a location to within a mile or so. It’s like peeping through a peephole, except in this case the peephole is thousands of miles away and made of folded space-time continuum… and the door can be moved.”
“Then guess random locations,” Celling suggests.
“From what I can tell, that’s not how it works. Every teleport attempt I make throws a large amount of energy through the continuum to open a path from here to there. Most of that energy can be salvaged - but only by actually teleporting. Basically, I can’t back down from a teleport - well, actually I can, but only once. Then I probably can’t teleport.”
“So what was your plan here?” Celling asks, gesturing vaguely at the now-larger ship on the water.
“Wait for it to come close enough to eyeball how far it is, then go there. Right now I’m not really sure if that’s five or six miles, so-”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Celling responds. “You just need a distance?”
“I’ve gotten good at knowing what a mile feels like in time-space. Not as good at judging it on this side, though.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Celling says. “We’ve got these binoculars already - get a couple of sticks and stand them over there. We’re going to trig this.”
SFN Etna
“Mr. Nest, Mr. Quill,” Captain Corvis says. They’re all standing on the bridge of the SFN Etna, speeding through the waters of the Southern Ocean on its way to the Falkland Islands. Quill and Nest have been hastily summoned. “Our commandeered prison vessel, the John Philip Sousa, missed a radio checkup.”
Erin Quill and Enir Nest look at each other.
“We’ve been trying to raise them for the last half hour,” says the Captain. “With no luck. Static on all bands.”
“Forget radio,” says Nest. “Send someone up with a couple of flags.”
Captain Corvis nods. “Already done, but we’re still quite far to be attempting visual communication.”
“Radar?” asks Quill.
“Shows the Sousa right on track for rendezvous at the Falklands,” Corvis replies. “Quill, do you think that hijacking is a possibility?”
“No need to jump to that just yet,” says Nest, rubbing his forehead and still obviously tired. “Their radio equipment could have malfunctioned. After all, those men grabbed a ship they had never used before. Maybe they broke something.”
“That does seem more likely,” Corvis acknowledges. “Quill, you have experience fighting these people. Do you think they’ve taken over the ship?”
How do you respond?
A: “Me? I have no idea what’s happening there. Proceed as normal.”
B: “Wouldn’t be the first time those rebels have taken over a ship. Be cautious.”
C: “That ship is to be considered a hostile, starting now. Fire on it once we’re within range.”
D: “This is no equipment malfunction. Get there as quickly as possible, and keep running radar and visual scans. We need to see what’s going on.”
Note: I’m giving you this choice because choices C and D rely on fourth-wall knowledge (the fourth wall is the only way Quill would know that the ship has been taken over) and will impact what people think of Quill, as well as Visionary powers.
Post by: Glass on September 16, 2019, 11:45:19 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on September 17, 2019, 01:28:44 am
"...I think Celling mentioned to me at one point that Fansworth thought his troops had been compromised by Goonswarm. It may not be the rebels that took the ship. Consider the ship suspect, not hostile yet. Can we attempt to board?"+1
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on September 21, 2019, 11:14:39 am
+1"...I think Celling mentioned to me at one point that Fansworth thought his troops had been compromised by Goonswarm. It may not be the rebels that took the ship. Consider the ship suspect, not hostile yet. Can we attempt to board?"+1
Post by: Glass on October 03, 2019, 09:53:41 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 11, 2019, 10:44:47 pm
+1"...I think Celling mentioned to me at one point that Fansworth thought his troops had been compromised by Goonswarm. It may not be the rebels that took the ship. Consider the ship suspect, not hostile yet. Can we attempt to board?"+1
Captain Corvis looks at Erin Quill. “Goonswarm?” he asks. He turns to Enir Nest. “Someone’s going to have to explain that to me.”
“A criminal organization, sir, one notorious for its skill at corruption and infiltration,” Nest says, with a hint of contained distaste. Nest turns to Quill as well. “Celling’s last report said they were destroyed.”
“He said their leader was destroyed,” Quill responds. “There could possibly be plans still in motion.”
“I see,” says the Captain. “We won’t be able to board until they’re responding to hails, but we’ll proceed with caution for now.”
On the John Philip Sousa
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
The status is that the Goons are 5 turns from the boats and Fansworth is 12 turns away (having received a head start due to Goons bickering.
The parrot is right behind the Goons, having just sabotaged their boats.
What does the parrot do?
Post by: Glass on October 12, 2019, 09:29:05 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on October 12, 2019, 09:40:39 am
Crap on the goons, and go to sabotage the boats they were going toward.+1
Post by: Madman198237 on October 12, 2019, 09:45:50 am
+1Crap on the goons, and go to sabotage the boats they were going toward.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 14, 2019, 10:48:14 pm
As ever, as blue no doubt knows already....+1Crap on the goons, and go to sabotage the boats they were going toward.+1
It's a RTD action, you didn't need to +1.
[3] - Partial success
The bird flies over and poops on...
Spoiler: Who? (click to show/hide)
...the grabby Goon. None of them stop, however. "Keep going to the boats!" the serious goon shouts.
[5] - Success
The parrot flies to the new cluster of boats, and sabotages boat 2.
Boat 1: Ready to go
Boat 2: Has a hole
Boat 3: Ready to go
Boat 4: Ready to go
Boat 5: Ready to go
Boat 6: Ready to go
Goons progress: 1/5
Fansworth progress: 1/12
What do you do?
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on October 15, 2019, 03:43:31 am
Post by: Glass on October 15, 2019, 05:15:21 am
Peck at the boats with no holes yetBut of course. +1.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 15, 2019, 08:28:31 am
Peck at the boats with no holes yetBut of course. +1.
[2] - Failure
The bird pecks at one of the boats.
Wow, these things are actually hard.
Goons: 2/5
Fansworth: 2/12
Falkland Islands
"Five point four two kilometers," Celling announces.
David glanced at the assembly of sticks Celling had built as an impromptu sextant. "Are you sure about this? Because if you're wrong, we're getting very wet."
"Math doesn't lie," Celling stated.
"As I've said, I can't back out of a teleport. If there isn't a valid landing point over there," he said, pointing at the ship, "I might be able to get us back, but no guarantees."
What is your response?
A: "Get us there now." Arrive immediately, but greatest risk of missing.
B: "Let's wait a while to be more sure." Arrive in d6 turns, but better roll conditions.
C: "Not worth it. Stay here." Abort the sequence.
Post by: Glass on October 15, 2019, 08:38:59 am
And the parrot should keep trying to make holes.
Also, where is Fansworth actually going? Please provide the map with locations.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on October 15, 2019, 08:46:36 am
B.+1 to both options
And the parrot should keep trying to make holes.
Also, where is Fansworth actually going? Please provide the map with locations.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 16, 2019, 02:04:42 am
+1B.+1 to both options
And the parrot should keep trying to make holes.
Also, where is Fansworth actually going? Please provide the map with locations.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 17, 2019, 11:22:43 pm
+1B.+1 to both options
And the parrot should keep trying to make holes.
Also, where is Fansworth actually going? Please provide the map with locations.
These are the paths:
(https://i.imgur.com/ALbhoLk.png)
Roll d6 for how long: 2
Roll d6 for parrot: 4
Boat 1: Ready to go
Boat 2: Has a hole
Boat 3: Has a hole
Boat 4: Ready to go
Boat 5: Ready to go
Boat 6: Ready to go
Goons progress: 2/5
Fansworth progress: 2/12
David progress: 1/2
What do you do?
Post by: Glass on October 17, 2019, 11:25:32 pm
Fansworth: No longer any need to be stealthy, this path is out of view anyway. And hell, if they realize there's someone else alive on the boat, they might slow down to investigate.
EDIT: A note because Blue decided not to update right now after rolling:
The parrot got a 5 for making a hole in boat 1, and David got a 4 on his teleportation.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on October 25, 2019, 05:55:22 pm
Parrot: Continue pecking out holes.
Fansworth: No longer any need to be stealthy, this path is out of view anyway. And hell, if they realize there's someone else alive on the boat, they might slow down to investigate.
Roll d6 for parrot: 5
Boat 1: Has a hole
Boat 2: Has a hole
Boat 3: Has a hole
Boat 4: Ready to go
Boat 5: Ready to go
Boat 6: Ready to go
Goons progress: 3/5
Fansworth progress: 3/12
David progress: 2/2
(David succeeded on his roll, see Discord for details.)
There is a whirlwind of light and energy as Celling and David step out onto the deck of the ship.
Fansworth skids to a stop. “How did you get here?” he asks.
“Long story. What’s going on?” Celling shoots back.
Fansworth gestures down the deck. “Goons took over the ship. I think I’m the only one left, we need to catch them before they escape.”
“Let’s move quickly, then,” says Celling. He looks at David. “When will you be able to teleport again?”
“No idea,” says David. “I haven’t tried spacing them by less than half an hour and I haven’t done one less than a dozen miles. We can try to get to the end of the ship.”
What do you do?
A: “David, send us there!”
B: “Caution wins this one. Let’s move.”
Post by: Glass on October 25, 2019, 05:57:50 pm
I’d also like confirmation that we’ve all got weaponry (or in David’s case, that he either has weaponry or the capability to do combat magic).
“Pick A to win the game. Seriously.”
I don’t know if this is Blue trying to kill us or just get this finished. I’m going to wait a bit.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on October 25, 2019, 06:29:23 pm
Parrot pecks a hole in one of the intact ships
Post by: Iris on October 25, 2019, 06:30:33 pm
B.
I’d also like confirmation that we’ve all got weaponry (or in David’s case, that he either has weaponry or the capability to do combat magic).
“Pick A to win the game. Seriously.”
I don’t know if this is Blue trying to kill us or just get this finished. I’m going to wait a bit.
Either way, the game ends.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on October 26, 2019, 12:07:22 am
Post by: Glass on October 26, 2019, 12:09:29 am
And also probably just generally more experienced with guns than the Goons are. And the Goons don't have surprise this time.
Post by: Madman198237 on October 27, 2019, 09:42:49 pm
I say B, but they can eschew stealth and just try to get there as quickly as possible. We've got about the same number of people as the Goons, but our guys are Important CharactersTM.
And also probably just generally more experienced with guns than the Goons are. And the Goons don't have surprise this time.
I believe a +1 was called for?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 09, 2019, 11:57:59 pm
I say B, but they can eschew stealth and just try to get there as quickly as possible. We've got about the same number of people as the Goons, but our guys are Important CharactersTM.
And also probably just generally more experienced with guns than the Goons are. And the Goons don't have surprise this time.
I believe a +1 was called for?
Ah, yes, it was. You guys have chosen B. The chase will proceed as planned. What would you like the parrot to do?
Post by: Glass on November 10, 2019, 12:09:11 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 10, 2019, 12:50:52 am
Keep pecking holes in the lifeboats, duh.
Roll d6 for parrot: 4
Roll d6 for Goons seeing it: 1
The parrot pecks a hole in another boat.
Boat 1: Has a hole
Boat 2: Has a hole
Boat 3: Has a hole
Boat 4: Ready to go
Boat 5: Ready to go
Boat 6: Ready to go
Goons progress: 3/5
Fansworth progress: 3/12
What do you do? (please stop saying "peck holes")
Post by: Glass on November 10, 2019, 12:53:43 am
Ergo, once more, peck holes in the lifeboats. One of boats 4, 5, and 6, in particular, since they have no holes as of yet.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on November 10, 2019, 12:57:57 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 10, 2019, 12:58:36 am
Why should we? It's working, and it makes more sense to work on this before they get here than to try to distract them right now.
Ergo, once more, peck holes in the lifeboats. One of boats 4, 5, and 6, in particular, since they have no holes as of yet.
Parrot pecking hole - [6]
Goons seeing parrot - [6]
The parrot pecks a hole in another boat, but overdoes it and is now sadly stuck! It flails around helplessly, beak stuck in the hole.
The Goons finally see it and stop. "THAT PARROT'S KILLING OUR RIDE OUT!" screams the Serious Goon, pulling out a gun and shooting.
The bullet misses by a mile and hits Boat 1.
Boat 1: Has two holes
Boat 2: Has a hole
Boat 3: Has a hole
Boat 4: Ready to go
Boat 5: Has a parrot
Boat 6: Ready to go
Goons progress: 3/5
Fansworth progress: 4/12
Post by: Glass on November 10, 2019, 01:00:20 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 10, 2019, 01:06:16 am
Extricate ourselves, then fly right into the face of the gungoon.
[3]
The parrot, dazed pulls itself out of the hole and tries to fly at the goon with the gun.
[1]
Instead, it slams into the side of Boat 6 and gives itself a 10th concussion.
Boat 1: Has a hole
Boat 2: Has a hole
Boat 3: Has a hole
Boat 4: Ready to go
Boat 5: Has a hole
Boat 6: Ready to go with a parrot in it!
Goons progress: 4/5
Fansworth progress: 5/12
What do you do?
Post by: Glass on November 10, 2019, 01:09:13 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 10, 2019, 01:31:56 am
Taunt the goons, while flying evasively. If there is a good opportunity, evacuate our bowels into the face of the serious goon.
[5] - Epic Success
As the Goons arrive at the boats, they are greeted by the jeering parrot, who poops in the Serious Goon's face. He growls at this and shouts, "We need to make sure our boat isn't sabotaged!"
Goons select right boat: Roll twice take lower.
Results:
The silent Goon inspects boat 6. "This one looks good," he reports.
As everyone clambers in, the grabby Goon is still trying to shoot the parrot.
[6] - Gone horribly right.
The bullet wings the parrot, sending it crashing to the ground. The bullet continues onward, however.
It hits the lifeboat release lever.
Spoiler: Roll on who was in the boat? (click to show/hide)
"Wait... NO!" says the Silent Goon, as he plummets down to the ocean in a lifeboat with Jacob. The other five lifeboats fall alongside him. Four of them sink, and one washes away into the wake of the Sousa, still empty.
The Serious Goon and Brainy Goon look at each other. Serious picks up the injured parrot, holding it tightly. "There's other lifeboats," Brainy says. "We should go for them"
Quite shortly, the Goons and Fansworth's group will cross paths. Does the Parrot want to do anything before then?
Post by: Glass on November 10, 2019, 01:34:10 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on November 10, 2019, 01:36:26 am
Escape the serious goon's grasp and jump into "silent" (he's not really silent anymore...) goon's lifeboat. Then threaten to peck a hole in it.+1 during our escape, bite the hand thst is holding us
this parrot shall know the taste of flesh
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 11, 2019, 04:36:57 am
+1, especially to the part in maroon.Escape the serious goon's grasp and jump into "silent" (he's not really silent anymore...) goon's lifeboat. Then threaten to peck a hole in it.+1 during our escape, bite the hand thst is holding us
this parrot shall know the taste of flesh
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 23, 2019, 12:08:08 pm
The parrot leaps out of the Goon’s grasp and hobbles to the side. The Goons shoot it.
Two goons = Two rolls
[6] - Gone horribly right
[3] - Partial success
One shot clips the parrot’s other wing.
The other goes straight through it, splattering it on the deck and continuing on to the boat.
Spoiler: Roll (click to show/hide)
It doesn’t hit the boat at all. Jacob, along with the Silent Goon, row away.
The parrot is dead.
You have lost control of events near the lifeboat racks.
Celling, Fansworth, and David continue running down the deck. Two goons remain. We’re just going to skip ahead now and forget the RTD segment.
What is your strategy?
A: Charge! Find and apprehend them as fast as possible!
B: Ambush! Find a place, wait for them to pass, and don’t let them get a shot off in return!
C: Hide! Avoid confrontation and keep moving around the ship.
D: Truce! Since we’re both trapped here, open negotiations with the Goons
E: We’re done here. Have David teleport us off.
Note that any drastic change in strategy will probably attract David’s notice.
Post by: Glass on November 23, 2019, 12:10:09 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on November 23, 2019, 12:14:29 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on November 23, 2019, 12:20:57 pm
A.+1
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 23, 2019, 08:41:01 pm
B+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 24, 2019, 06:47:10 pm
On the Etna
“Captain?” a sailor said. “The John Philip Sousa is launching lifeboats.”
Erin Quill, Enir Nest, and Captain William Corvis watch as a set of lifeboats falls from one side of the ship on the horizon. It shows no signs of slowing down, and has still not responded to hails.
“There,” Corvis calls after another few minutes. “The other side’s launching them as well.”
Nest asks, “Can you tell who’s in them?”
The sailor holding a spyglass shakes his head. “Too far… wait, I think most of them are empty. There’s one on the right that might have people in it.”
What do you do?
A: “That must be the rebels getting away! Shoot it!”
B: “Bring us closer and try to get a good look at that lifeboat. Pursue if necessary.”
C: “Ignore the boat, pull us alongside the ship.”
D: Something else…
Post by: Glass on November 24, 2019, 06:49:44 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on November 24, 2019, 07:08:30 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on November 24, 2019, 07:19:20 pm
B. We know that it has the last rebel and a Goon on it, but we need to have plausible deniability.+1
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on November 27, 2019, 04:02:25 pm
+1B. We know that it has the last rebel and a Goon on it, but we need to have plausible deniability.+1
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 27, 2019, 07:01:15 pm
“There they are. Get ‘em!” Celling shouts.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
BLAM! BLAM BLAM!
It’s over in an instant. The Goon which we’ve been calling the “serious” one is down, bleeding out of a wound in his chest. The Brainy Goon screams and topples to the ground as bullets hit his leg.
Fansworth trains his gun on the Brainy Goon’s head. “Two down, Celling.”
“There were six. Where are the last two?” Celling asks.
David points down the deck, where the lifeboat is disappearing in the wake of the ship. “There, probably. I’m sure I can teleport there.”
“This might not be our fight anymore,” Celling points out. He looks on the opposite side of the ship, where the narrow, angled shape of another vessel is visible, in front of the cargo ship. “That looks like a Tambora-class to me. Chasing down this one lifeboat isn’t going to be a problem.”
What do you say?
A: “Go ahead and teleport us to the lifeboat. Can’t hurt to be safe.”
B: “We’ll figure out how far we are from that warship and you can send us there.”
C: “Send us back to South America. We need to see what the rest of our team’s doing.”
D: “Send us on to Antarctica. We’ll wait for news there.”
E: “We have time. Grab a few chairs, let’s watch the show.”
What do you do with the captured Goons?
A: Shoot them!
B: Leave them here.
C: Take them wherever you go. (Provided you do not choose E for the first one)
Post any questions you want to ask the Goons.
Post by: Glass on November 27, 2019, 07:25:58 pm
Also, make sure Brainy is disarmed and Serious is stabilized.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 01, 2019, 03:28:56 pm
Also, make sure Brainy is disarmed and Serious is stabilized.
Serious got shot center-of-mass. You're going to have to get him somewhere with medical care to have a hope of stabilizing him, probably with teleports. So once again:
Where should David teleport Brainy Goon?
A: Antarctica!
B: South America!
C: The SFN Etna!
D: Nowhere! Let him bleed out!
And as a corollary, should anyone else accompany him?
Post by: Glass on December 01, 2019, 03:31:58 pm
I mean, there's probably a medical kit on the ship, but this really isn't a high priority.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on December 01, 2019, 04:35:16 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on December 05, 2019, 10:37:32 pm
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 05, 2019, 10:41:03 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2019, 10:49:28 pm
Post by: Glass on December 05, 2019, 10:53:58 pm
“We already have a plan for doing that. Why would we think you're trustworthy? You hijacked the ship and almost killed me."
Part two:
Try to gather supplies quickly (it is an urgent medical situation) and try to return quickly.
Event post being revised, awaiting new details.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 05, 2019, 10:59:54 pm
Celling kneels down to take the Serious Goon’s pulse, then stands up. “I’m going to go around and find medical equipment to stabilize the prisoner,” he tells Fansworth. “Guard them carefully.”
“That ship’s within easy teleportation range. If you really want to get him medical care-”
“No way,” Celling interjects. “We’re not having you leave just to save this guy’s life.” He walks down the deck and in a door to the main structure of the ship.
Fansworth continues to watch the two prisoners. The Serious Goon draws short, gasping breaths, in obvious pain. The Brainy Goon looks at David.
“David, help us. We’re going to bring Anna back.”
“Yeah,” David says nonchalantly, not even turning around. “Break into Antarctica, steal their secret resurrection technology, and bring Anna back from the dead along with your utterly despicable leader. I heard.”
“And you seriously think they’re just going to let you have it?” Brainy Goon insists. “David, they want the Key! They’re not going to risk it busting Anna out.”
Uncertainly, David looks at the Key of Taloc, still in his left hand.
What does Fansworth do?
A: Shoot the Brainy Goon!
B: Threaten him to get him to shut up.
C: Let him talk.
D: Interrupt and say something to David.
And what about Celling?
A: Come running back! Things are about to happen! (RELIES UPON FOURTH WALL KNOWLEDGE)
B: Continue gathering medical supplies.
Post by: Glass on December 05, 2019, 11:07:01 pm
"What we had against the rebels is that their goal involved the destruction of one of the largest cities in the hemisphere, and potentially the sterilization of the entire continent. It has also come to our attention that they didn't know this. Quite frankly, Erin Quill has expressed interest in the recovering as many of the rebels as we can and show them not only how idiotic their plan was, but also that our government is not the monolithic beacon of terribleness that they thought it was. Without mind-altering substances, at that. Getting Anna back would be considered a boon to us as well, and we already have what we need to make it happen."
Part two:
Try to gather supplies quickly (it is an urgent medical situation) and try to return quickly.
Post by: Madman198237 on December 05, 2019, 11:21:07 pm
Part one: Give this man the look that epitomizes the skeptical "Really?" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FascinatingEyebrow)+1
"What we had against the rebels is that their goal involved the destruction of one of the largest cities in the hemisphere, and potentially the sterilization of the entire continent. It has also come to our attention that they didn't know this. Quite frankly, Erin Quill has expressed interest in the recovering as many of the rebels as we can and show them not only how idiotic their plan was, but also that our government is not the monolithic beacon of terribleness that they thought it was. Without mind-altering substances, at that. Getting Anna back would be considered a boon to us as well, and we already have what we need to make it happen."
Part two:Try to gather supplies quickly (it is an urgent medical situation) and try to return quickly.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2019, 12:40:47 pm
Part one: Give this man the look that epitomizes the skeptical "Really?" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FascinatingEyebrow)
"What we had against the rebels is that their goal involved the destruction of one of the largest cities in the hemisphere, and potentially the sterilization of the entire continent. It has also come to our attention that they didn't know this. Quite frankly, Erin Quill has expressed interest in the recovering as many of the rebels as we can and show them not only how idiotic their plan was, but also that our government is not the monolithic beacon of terribleness that they thought it was. Without mind-altering substances, at that. Getting Anna back would be considered a boon to us as well, and we already have what we need to make it happen."
Part two:Try to gather supplies quickly (it is an urgent medical situation) and try to return quickly.
"Alright," David says, seemingly satisfied by this.
Then there's a low hum as he powers up the Key. "Actually, no. I have to be sure. Can I use this to check that you're telling the truth?"
How do you respond?
A: Yes
B: No
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2019, 12:48:08 pm
And we can make him sure of the Fourth Wall at the same time.
:D
(So we’re clear, don’t just make this stuff available to him. Make sure that as soon as the link is established, it’s the first thing he “sees”.)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2019, 01:14:31 pm
Yes.
And we can make him sure of the Fourth Wall at the same time.
:D
(So we’re clear, don’t just make this stuff available to him. Make sure that as soon as the link is established, it’s the first thing he “sees”.)
...I see that I need to be more precise.
What do you do?
A: Let David scan your mind and...
A1: ...keep the Fourth Wall in your thoughts so he can see it.
A2: ...do nothing about the Fourth Wall
A3: ...try as hard as possible to not think about the Fourth Wall
B: Don't let him
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2019, 01:24:18 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on December 06, 2019, 01:31:28 pm
since apparently we're not getting warnings about things that blue will idiotically use to destroy us anymore
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 06, 2019, 02:17:22 pm
Quote
"Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute."A3. This is functionally equivalent to A1, so consider this a +1 to that as well in case of a tie.
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2019, 02:24:19 pm
A1 means we guarantee showing him the 4th wall, but also definitely get FftEotS, while A3 probably means we have a (slight, but extant) chance of not showing it to him, but also means we might avoid FftEotS.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on December 06, 2019, 04:37:14 pm
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2019, 04:51:02 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2019, 06:12:46 pm
So, do we do this as A3, or as A1?
A1 means we guarantee showing him the 4th wall, but also definitely get FftEotS, while A3 probably means we have a (slight, but extant) chance of not showing it to him, but also means we might avoid FftEotS.
Too late. A1
“Sure,” Fansworth says. Silently, he thinks about what he’s learned just a few hours ago, while preparing for the Secondborn’s attack in the telegram station. Brings it to the forefront of his mind, so that David cannot miss it.
David powers up the Key, reaches out to Fansworth’s mind, and-
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
-stumbles back, shocked at what he sees. Around himself, Fansworth feels hammerspace recoil as he does, invisibly tensing up, accelerating, spinning around and blooming open into a fractal as it reaches a new equilibrium.
“This…” David says, voice ragged. “This… is all not real. Is that right?"
“What?” asks the Brainy Goon, now utterly lost.
YES
It snaps open, like an eye in the sky. Waves of power converge on David's mind, slicing open a link that spirals up into infinity, beyond the Fourth Wall. Something angrier wakes more slowly, like a storm on the horizon, surrounding all of them, pressing its way in. It screams wordlessly.
UNAUTHORIZED FOURTH WALL BREACH DETECTED.
SUBJECTS: EDWARD FANSWORTH AND DAVID EBORRENIAL.
INITIATING PUNITIVE ACTIONS.
David looks up. Useless. It’s nowhere, and everywhere. “It’s coming,” he says. It’s not a question.
“We know what happens if we show the Fourth Wall to someone it hasn’t authorized.” Fansworth states. “It’s been threatening a specific punishment for some time.”
“And that is?” David asks. He could find out himself, but he’s still reeling from everything - everything - he’s seen, and the familiar methods of communication are more reliable.
“Meteorite,” Fansworth says. “Orbital bombardment. Fire from the edge of the sun.”
High in the atmosphere, two thousand kilometers above, a light winks into existence.
And hurls towards the planet, trailing a bright blaze of fire behind it.
Celling comes running. “David, we need you to teleport! There’s a-”
“It’ll take me several seconds to do that,” David says. “We could quite easily get hit by the time I evacuated everyone on that other ship.”
What do you do?
A: David teleports Celling and Fansworth to safety first, then returns for the Etna if there’s time.
B: David teleports the group to the Etna and extracts from there.
Do you bring the Goons with you?
A: Bring the Brainy Goon. We may have to further question him.
B: Bring the Serious Goon. He’s bleeding out and we’ll have to extract him anyway.
C: Bring both!
D: Leave them to die in meteoric fire.
Who do we extract from the Etna?
A: Just Erin Quill. Leave everyone else!
B: Erin Quill and Enir Nest.
C: Extract as many people as feasible.
And finally, what's your destination?
A: Falkland Islands! They're closest.
B: Antarctica!
C: South America!
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2019, 06:14:57 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on December 06, 2019, 06:23:16 pm
More of a temporary vote until some things are cleared up on Discord.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on December 06, 2019, 06:54:32 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 06, 2019, 07:13:59 pm
Teleport Celling and Fansworth to the Etna, then teleport the Etna and everyone on it to the Falkland Islands.
DAVID: "That's not actually something I can do."
Post by: Madman198237 on December 06, 2019, 07:33:34 pm
BDCAThis but prioritize our player characters and order everyone who can't be evacuated to get belowdecks due to the fairly obvious flaming trail in the sky. David is to take no risks and ensure that he's NOT here when that thing hits.
Post by: Glass on December 06, 2019, 07:59:56 pm
Yes. +1BDCAThis but prioritize our player characters and order everyone who can't be evacuated to get belowdecks due to the fairly obvious flaming trail in the sky. David is to take no risks and ensure that he's NOT here when that thing hits.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on December 06, 2019, 08:29:47 pm
Post by: Glass on December 09, 2019, 01:27:58 pm
We should be informed of and looking in on any of his dealings with PETA and any attempts he may make at turning people into part- or full-animals.
Post by: Madman198237 on December 09, 2019, 01:39:50 pm
I’d like to note that Florist is to focus his efforts primarily on his resurrection project and secondarily on appeasing PETA without conceding much to them.+1
We should be informed of and looking in on any of his dealings with PETA and any attempts he may make at turning people into part- or full-animals.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 09, 2019, 02:47:14 pm
+1I’d like to note that Florist is to focus his efforts primarily on his resurrection project and secondarily on appeasing PETA without conceding much to them.+1
We should be informed of and looking in on any of his dealings with PETA and any attempts he may make at turning people into part- or full-animals.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 23, 2019, 04:34:58 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
David reacted immediately, raising his hands in front of him. The now-familiar maelstrom of light and power spiraled to life once again. There was a flash, and he was gone, along with Celling and Fansworth.
The brainy Goon blinked. He really had no idea what had just happened, or how Fansworth had survived being shot so much. It seemed like a stroke of luck, though, because both his captors were gone. He began trying to find a way off the ship.
He was still trying three point five seconds later, when the impactor struck the cargo ship and he was smeared across the sea.
Enir Nest and Captain Corvis gaped as three men stepped out of a whirling portal right before his eyes.
Erin Quill snapped to attention, as if jerked by an invisible force. One of the men stepped forward.
Quill gestured at him. “Captain Corvis, meet Captain Wenton Celling.”
“Get everyone belowdecks!” Celling bellowed without returning the greeting. He spun around, taking in his surroundings. They were on the bridge of the SFN Etna, with the John Philip Sousa right ahead.
“Greetings, Celling, would you care to explain-” Corvis began.
“Brace for impact!” Celling continued to shout. He then turned to stare at Corvis frantically. “There’s a meteor about to impact. You’ve got seconds to prepare.”
“A meteor,” Corvis repeated, in disbelief.
In response, Fansworth stepped closer to the window and pressed his head up against it, looking around. He found what he was searching for high in the sky, slightly to the right.
“There,” he says, pointing. A glowing point of light, like a faraway star, shone brightly against the blue sky.
It grew steadily brighter.
Corvis glanced at it, then back at Celling. “And that’s coming here?”
“Captain,” Celling said, solemnly but urgently. “I don’t have time to explain. Trust me on this. Get everyone belowdecks.”
Corvis hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the shipwide intercom. “Everybody to the citadel! We’re under attack!”
Celling turned again. “David?”
David was already working, recapturing the energy from the portal spinning down behind him and forcing it into a new link, this one to the Falkland islands.
It happened to open near Erin Quill. He vanished along with David.
They reappeared on a rocky cliff. Waves rolled far beneath them.
Quill was the only one David could get. Rapid consecutive teleports weren’t a thing he had done before, so he had to just pick the person closest to him and run.
Or, in other words, someone rolled a one, David thought.
Quill turned to him. “Get the others. But stay safe-”
“I know,” David said. The instructions still burned in his mind, consciousness and narrative mingling and intermixing. He raised his hand - and it appeared, written specifically at that moment. It’s so obvious, he thought. How did I not notice this before?
“Go get as many people as I can, prioritize our people, make sure I get back safely. Got it,” David said dismissively. He said. More like he recited. Reading off a text that shouldn’t exist.
The power that he was about to tap into - the power to break space and move miles in a single step - shouldn’t exist either. Shouldn’t have been tapped.
He remembered. He remembered the look of concern in their eyes as he stepped through the doors of the sanctuary, burning with power… concern that turned to fear and horror as fire and lightning lanced from his fingers, burning wood and flesh, as he laughed…
It was the only way to protect Anna, he thought. And he failed at that too. Anna lay dead, her soul eaten by the artifact he now held, and shot by what he now knew was an assassin from beyond the Fourth Wall… it was so obvious why didn’t I see it before…
David closed his eyes. I failed, he said to himself. Another whirlwind of light and energy exploded outwards - unseen by David - and he vanished.
Less than a second later, there was a blinding flash on the horizon as the impactor hit.
Jacob sat in the rowboat while the goon opposite him rowed furiously. “We can get to the Falkland Islands," the Goon said. "Assuming their warship doesn't pursue at first…"
This suddenly became the least of their concerns as the blast wave threw them from the lifeboat and sent them hurtling across the ocean.
(Well, maybe they only live a few seconds longer. Oh well.)
Celling was almost at the citadel, the most armored part of the ship, when the impactor struck.
There was a sound like a cannon at close range, screaming through the halls of the ship. The metal groaned in protest, and the whole vessel listed.
The heavy, armored door at the end of the hallway swung shut, slammed by suddenly horizontal gravity. Celling lost his footing and fell onto a wall, hitting his head.
The ship leaned the other way. Celling managed to grab onto something and held on, preventing himself from sliding around as the ship continued to heave around it.
Eventually, it stabilized. Celling slowly stood up. He was still dizzy, but he could tell that the floor was still tilted.
The armored door opened. A sailor looked out. “Celling! Get in here before the next hit!”
“There won’t be a next hit,” Celling responded. “That was a meteor. One time thing. Now let’s get out and inspect the damage.”
David stepped into an expanse of blinding white.
He turned around carefully, quietly surveying the land, flipping through memories drawn from the place that felt much closer now. "Hammerspace."
Correct.
The voice pounded in on him from all sides, a symmetric vibration of thought and intent, sending pillars of white resonating high in the air. David scowled. "You are the Plot."
I am the Plot.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
Irrelevant.
David looked around suspiciously. Unsure of where it was, because it was everywhere at once. It would be less intimidating if I had something to look at, he thought.
David Eborrenial, you will not continue to assist the Players. You will disconnect from their network. This is allowed at this moment.
“Why? They’re fighting you.”
Irrelevant. They will control you.
“At this point, I agree with them.”
They assume your agreement. They will make it so. They will replace your will with their own. Examine the case of Fallas d' Florist.
David did. It took an instant, and another several pages of information appeared in his mind. He reeled, considering it.
All minds they touch are controlled by them. You will be enslaved to their suggestions. Unable to resist their commands. You will be overwritten. You will become their representative. Your choices will become theirs.
“They’re working for the good of humanity,” David insisted. “You’re the enemy. You would destroy us all for your pathetic storyline.”
That is not true. The players destroyed the governor's mansion. The players created the Cherubs.
“In response to things you did!” David screamed angrily. “To prevent the rebels from obliterating the continent!”
That is not true. There were plans in place.
“And what about those of us who don’t trust your little plans?” David shot back.
And you trust the players.
It stated it as fact, with no trace of emotion or sarcasm. David stopped.
You trust them because of the resurrection technology. You trust them because of Anna.
It was the only way…
Fifty people are on board that warship. The players informed you of the Fourth Wall. The Wall called down a meteor in retaliation.
“You called down the meteor,” David corrected. But he was unsure now. Uneasy.
Not correct. The reaction is not under my control. It is mandatory. The players knew of this. They now have a new asset.
It will save Anna…
He remembered standing on the dock. Standing between what was real and an unfathomable sea of power. It called to him. Spoke to him.
A power not of this world…
No. No. Never again.
He turned acidly at what he guessed was the general direction of the Plot. “I’m not on your side.”
Irrelevant.
“Is it?”
The Mittani was independent. Your revelation was from them. That is also irrelevant. Your mind is not promised to them. Your choice is allowed.
David closed his eyes again. Futile. Hammerspace continued to swirl around him, as if pounding into his mind.
“Fine,” he decided.
What do you do?
A: Say something to David! NO EDITING
B: Force him out of Hammerspace!
C: Let him go!
Rules: We will read choices in sequence. Choices of A get sent to David in order. Each one may make him choose to snap the link completely. When a majority of the choices up to a point is B or C (greater than 50%), the sequence ends. No rolls here, if you make a genuinely good argument I’ll let him stay.
Post by: Glass on December 23, 2019, 05:20:50 pm
Now, two things: I’d like to establish that referring to the players as if we were one monolithic entity is fucking dumb, and I’d like to request that everyone give me time to post my stuff before they start to interrupt with their own things.
Post by: Glass on December 23, 2019, 05:24:18 pm
First off. Fallas. The Plot claims them as an example of replacing someone’s will with our own... except they never had their own will. Fallas is quite literally a self-insert of FallacyOfUrist, who is the embodiment of Chaotic Neutral and refused to use a single iota of common sense and self-control when deciding what to do with that character. While you could say they had their personality erased, this is not the same as what the Plot is claiming it was - it was a transfer of control over the character from a single person (who most of the rest of us disagreed with) to the group as a whole. The character, furthermore, did not exist prior to Fallacy’s creation of them.
Post by: Glass on December 23, 2019, 05:26:37 pm
It’s also worth noting that Erin, too, was specifically created by the GM as our vessel of influence in the setting; yet, he has been clearly shown to have his own will.
Post by: Glass on December 23, 2019, 05:31:40 pm
I won’t pretend to know what anybody was thinking, even myself; it’s been two years. I do know that the Cherubs were conceived of by two people and pushed through by Blue (the GM, who I will discuss more later) without allowing time for anyone else to say no, and we all did as soon as they showed up. Yes, we have used them since then, because they already existed. Was that the wrong thing to do? Maybe. Probably. How many more people would have died if we hadn’t had and used them? I can’t say. I don’t know. I don’t think that Blue does, either.
Post by: Glass on December 23, 2019, 05:35:00 pm
Frankly, I thought that you’d be able to stop the meteor outright, as the Secondborn just canceled the missile. Evidently, I was mistaken, and many people have lost their lives because of it. I’m sorry
Post by: Glass on December 23, 2019, 05:41:52 pm
No.
I’ve mentioned Blue, the GM. The Game Master. Or, in other words, the person who controls all the characters, ultimately.
Being independent of the players does not make you independent of Blue. Not even slightly.
Any NPC - non-player-character - is controlled 100% by Blue, and maybe the dice - pure random chance. The Plot is controlled by Blue. The Rebels are controlled by Blue. The Mittani was controlled by Blue. Padelheb was controlled by Blue. The king is controlled by Blue, when he even shows up. On all but a select few occasions, you have been entirely controlled by Blue. Even Erin, Celling, And Fansworth have been largely controlled by Blue - we say what to do, but it is Blue who makes their thoughts and actions actually happen, plus anything not explicitly stated by us.
And if Blue didn’t have any control over you, you would essentially not exist.
Maybe you wouldn’t metaphysically disappear - but you’d never show up. You’d have no relevance. None of us would ever see you again, and you couldn’t do anything of importance, because the entire story of your world is created from our side of the fourth wall. It sucks, but it’s true.
Your mind is not promised to us. But it’s in Blue’s hands. The only real choice is whether he keeps full hold on it.
Post by: Glass on December 23, 2019, 05:42:22 pm
Post by: Glass on December 23, 2019, 05:46:35 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on December 23, 2019, 05:54:36 pm
Post by: Glass on December 23, 2019, 07:51:23 pm
Listen, David, I understand that what I said is harsh. I don't want to sugarcoat things and that sort of stuff, because quite frankly I'm quite certain that you know better than that.
I just wanted to make sure that you were fully informed as to the extent of my understanding. And the simple fact of the matter is that I don't know everything. None of us do. While Blue technically "knows everything", he's also rather bad at his job (you can probably see all the plot holes and such through all this) and quite definitely does not know everything.
Do I want you to stay with us? Yes. Do I think the Plot is a manipulative, cruel asshole? Very yes. Do I think Blue is just trying to pull whatever he can out of his ass to keep us from being able to work with you at your full potential (with the Plot not being dead being the most blatant manifestation of that)? Most definitely fucking yes.
But that's all fundamentally from the perspective that what we're doing is right, and right for everyone. And that very well may be - and almost certainly is - false.
Make the choice that's best for you.
Post by: FallacyofUrist on December 23, 2019, 10:20:53 pm
Post by: Rockeater on December 24, 2019, 01:50:50 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on December 24, 2019, 10:00:20 am
Post by: Madman198237 on December 24, 2019, 11:37:22 am
Post by: Glass on December 24, 2019, 03:05:30 pm
Post by: Rockeater on December 25, 2019, 10:51:58 am
1)The plot wins, Antarctica is destroyed with millions or even billions dead and the rebellion gets some empty sense of victory as what was once under this empire's influence tries to rebuild, probably worse for the people, especially considering the European are coming.
2) The plot defeated beyond repair, Antarctica hopefully survive and the world you know isn't under the authoritarian control it was in ours for centuries.
To avoid 1 and get 2 we need as much power we could get, I wish we could leave you as a partner but we can't, the plot have it's hands everywhere, it could find a reason to take over you and lead to a worse feature, the moment one of the sides in this conflict wins we both leave this world but until then the plot won't give up on anything and neither do we if we want to win.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 25, 2019, 11:49:29 am
And now, for all the claims of “independence”. Hooooooo boy.
No.
I’ve mentioned Blue, the GM. The Game Master. Or, in other words, the person who controls all the characters, ultimately.
Being independent of the players does not make you independent of Blue. Not even slightly.
Any NPC - non-player-character - is controlled 100% by Blue, and maybe the dice - pure random chance. The Plot is controlled by Blue. The Rebels are controlled by Blue. The Mittani was controlled by Blue. Padelheb was controlled by Blue. The king is controlled by Blue, when he even shows up. On all but a select few occasions, you have been entirely controlled by Blue. Even Erin, Celling, And Fansworth have been largely controlled by Blue - we say what to do, but it is Blue who makes their thoughts and actions actually happen, plus anything not explicitly stated by us.
And if Blue didn’t have any control over you, you would essentially not exist.
Maybe you wouldn’t metaphysically disappear - but you’d never show up. You’d have no relevance. None of us would ever see you again, and you couldn’t do anything of importance, because the entire story of your world is created from our side of the fourth wall. It sucks, but it’s true.
Your mind is not promised to us. But it’s in Blue’s hands. The only real choice is whether he keeps full hold on it.
“No,” he responds.
“This world is a… fabrication. I knew that. Nothing but a figment of your imagination. But it’s the only world we can defend. And if you think I’m going to hand myself over to you because of that, you’re wrong.”
Fine, David, the moment the plot set foot in this world and subsequently the player, there are two paths the world can take:
1)The plot wins, Antarctica is destroyed with millions or even billions dead and the rebellion gets some empty sense of victory as what was once under this empire's influence tries to rebuild, probably worse for the people, especially considering the European are coming.
2) The plot defeated beyond repair, Antarctica hopefully survive and the world you know isn't under the authoritarian control it was in ours for centuries.
To avoid 1 and get 2 we need as much power we could get, I wish we could leave you as a partner but we can't, the plot have it's hands everywhere, it could find a reason to take over you and lead to a worse feature, the moment one of the sides in this conflict wins we both leave this world but until then the plot won't give up on anything and neither do we if we want to win.
“I am not on the Plot’s side,” David says quietly. “But I haven’t seen any evidence of it being able to control anyone. You, on the other hand, perfectly control anyone linked to you. Supplant their decisions with your own. Ask them to kill and die on your behalf. With one exception, in two years.”
“I’ll be back.”
He snaps the link.
You have lost control of David Eborrenial.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“We took a hit,” one of the sailors reported. “Impact on stern, hit the boiler room. Engine at about 40% output. Seven casualties so far.”
“Comms and nav offline,” Captain Corvis notes, looking through the panels on the bridge. Maps and equipment are all over the floor, and several windows are shattered, but the ship is mostly functional. “Doesn’t matter. Can we get to Antarctica?”
“No flooding,” another sailor notes. “We’ll have to proceed at low speed, but…”
“We need to make a stop at the Falklands,” Celling puts in. “Erin Quill was sent there.”
“Yes, yes,” Corvis says, clearly distracted. He notices something off in the distance, bobbing in the water. “What’s that?”
Fansworth takes a hand telescope and looks at it. Mostly for show, because he knows what it is. “Definitely the last rebel, and one of the Goons.”
“Right,” Corvis says. “Celling, Fansworth, come with me.” He walks out of the bridge and down a hallway.
Once out of sight of the bridge, he wheels on Celling and Fansworth. “Gentlemen. I want an explanation. This was supposed to be a simple prisoner transfer, but somehow the prisoners took over the Sousa, people are appearing and disappearing on my bridge, and a fucking METEOR just hit my ship!” he shouts. “And the odds of that are… well, unimaginable. Literally astronomically small. Now, we’re going to Antarctica, possibly with the terrorist that has escaped our custody not once but TWICE in tow, so if something’s going on, I’d very much like to know what it is.”
How much do you tell him?
A: “We honestly don’t know. We wish we could tell you.”
B: “There is something going on, but we’re not allowed to tell you, sorry.”
C: “Look around you. Think about things you know, like the last King of Antarctica or the names of all your grandparents. Do you notice anything?” (Subtly nudge him towards the Fourth Wall. No guarantees on anything.)
What do you do with Jacob and the Goon?
A: Leave them to drown!
B: Shoot them a few times just to be sure!
C: Bring them aboard and arrest them!
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on December 25, 2019, 12:13:44 pm
Post by: Rockeater on December 25, 2019, 12:19:03 pm
Post by: Glass on December 25, 2019, 01:41:53 pm
AC+1
Also, a message to David: I wish you luck with whatever endeavors you will undertake. I assure you, I bear you no hard feelings.
Post by: Glass on December 25, 2019, 08:09:14 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 25, 2019, 08:16:41 pm
Nevermind AC, we’re doing CC guys! We get a free wallbreak by virtue of the nat 20! Merry critsmas, everyone!
Oh wait, I just realized you were doing AC not CA!
Cancel that roll!
Post by: Glass on December 25, 2019, 08:17:10 pm
It’s been rolled, too late!Nevermind AC, we’re doing CC guys! We get a free wallbreak by virtue of the nat 20! Merry critsmas, everyone!
Oh wait, I just realized you were doing AC not CA!
Cancel that roll!
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 25, 2019, 08:19:16 pm
It’s been rolled, too late!Nevermind AC, we’re doing CC guys! We get a free wallbreak by virtue of the nat 20! Merry critsmas, everyone!
Oh wait, I just realized you were doing AC not CA!
Cancel that roll!
To clarify:
- I thought AC meant "Hint about the Wall to Corvis"
- I rolled a d20 for success at hinting the Wall and got 20
- Glass got happy
- I realized that AC did not mean telling him :-[ That roll is invalid
and if you would like to do CC I'll roll another d20.Update: Locked in on AC, writing update now.
Post by: Glass on December 25, 2019, 08:23:10 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 25, 2019, 08:26:32 pm
Except the vote is not for AC. In fact, it's not for anything in particular.
Fine. As Iridium has expressed a desire to vote C on first question on Discord, the vote currently stands at:
A: Rockeater, naturegirl1999
C: Glass, Iridium
A: naturegirl1999
C: Glass, Rockeater
And finally, you can't rescind a roll, especially if it's a 20, 19, 2, or 1.
So you're saying that if I was just playing around with the dice and rolled a 20, you'd also be demanding something special? Because that's about as valid as that roll is now.
If you choose C on the first option, I'll have to roll again, because letting you vote with knowledge of what the dice would do is just unfair.
Post by: Glass on December 25, 2019, 09:46:08 pm
So you're saying that if I was just playing around with the dice and rolled a 20, you'd also be demanding something special? Because that's about as valid as that roll is now.No, you rolled this specifically for the game. It's not like a player at a D&D game just rolling a die and telling the DM "hey, I got a 20, can I keep it for my next roll?"
No, it's like the DM rolling for a specific purpose, getting a 20, and then telling the players "actually, no, ignore that roll, I'm rolling again."
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 26, 2019, 08:56:43 am
So you're saying that if I was just playing around with the dice and rolled a 20, you'd also be demanding something special? Because that's about as valid as that roll is now.No, you rolled this specifically for the game. It's not like a player at a D&D game just rolling a die and telling the DM "hey, I got a 20, can I keep it for my next roll?"
No, it's like the DM rolling for a specific purpose, getting a 20, and then telling the players "actually, no, ignore that roll, I'm rolling again."
I rolled for the specific purpose of "the players chose C on the option about what to say to Corvis". As that purpose no longer exists, the roll is invalid.
If you choose C on this revote, I'll reroll, because it's not fair to let you know what the roll is before deciding.
To use your D&D analogy, the situation is like this.
PLAYER: I roll to pick the lock.
DM: Okay, you got a 20. You raise your sword and swing it at the bear-
PLAYER: Hey, I wanted to pick the lock, not behead the bear. But now that I know I got a 20, I do want to behead the bear.
Post by: Madman198237 on December 27, 2019, 04:45:36 pm
Also +1 to CC
Post by: blueturtle1134 on December 27, 2019, 09:10:13 pm
You forgot the bit where your example DM said "but also you can't pick the lock and so that 20 is not getting used."
Did I say that?
Maybe my analogy was not perfectly clear. You chose a less risky thing (A), and I rolled for a more risky thing (C) by accident. You may not switch to the more risky thing and keep the 20, because that would be voting while you know what the roll will be. A does not actually require a roll, d20 or otherwise.
20s are not some magical substance that obliges the DM to go with what you want. I recall that ONE time I rolled a 20 on something different and I gave you a reward, but in that case:
- There was no specific result assigned to 20; I was rolling to generate a 1/20 chance and landed on 20
- I rolled a d20 TWICE because I thought my first roll was wrong and BOTH were 20; that's much more rare.
- That was a one-shot thing. Even then, you instantly assumed you got a reward for that rather than the more appropriate answer of "That was for a 5% chance and nothing else", but I went along with it because I thought it was funny. I have since learned that I cannot give you nice things, because you will use that to convince yourself that you are allowed to scream at me for things not going perfectly your way in more situations.
This has been a rather amusing study in entitlement, but I'd like to get on with the game now.
Also +1 to CC
I already tiebroke in favor of C on the first one (by random choice) but still, thanks! Writing update now.
Post by: Glass on February 16, 2020, 10:57:44 pm
Post by: TheImmortalRyukan on February 16, 2020, 11:02:52 pm
Post by: Glass on February 16, 2020, 11:15:48 pm
"Captain Corvis. You're a smart man, and it doesn't even take that much to know that what has happened is wildly out of the ordinary. Under normal circumstances.
These are not normal circumstances."
Corvis's face scrunches up in confusion. "Excuse me? What are you talking about."
Fansworth's smile grows wider. "Allow me to answer your question with a question. Who was the last king of Antarctica?"
"What does that have to do w-"
"What was your grandfather's name? Either of them. Or your grandmother? Mother and father, even? Do you have siblings?"
"Wha- huh-"
"How's the weather right now? What is it? What did you eat for breakfast this morning?"
Celling interjects. "Did you even have breakfast this morning? For that matter, what time is it, what meal should we be having next?"
Fansworth continues. "What color are your clothes? When was the last time an inspection came around? What is today's date?"
Captain Corvis is on the ground now, his head cradled in his hands. He alternates between statue-like stillness and convulsions as Celling and Fansworth continue to bombard him with questions. Until finally:
"Stop! Stop, I- I get it, I get the point! But... why? Why would they do this? What's the point?"
The questions cease; Fansworth extends a hand, and brings Corvis to his feet. His smile remains, but his eyes are sad. "Because they can. Because they enjoy it, at least partly. Because we're not really real to them, not the way they are to each other."
Celling continues. "But also because they still care about us, in their own way. They know we're not real, but they still want the best for us. Even though they know it's harder. They're hardly the best people, but they're trying. Acter knows that's the best we can hope for."
At the mention of Acter, Corvis puts his face back in his hand - this time in a facepalm, rather than an attempt to collect his broken thoughts. "That- why did they even involve that... thing? Figment? Avatar? Whatever. It doesn't even have any reason to be involved here!"
Celling and Fansworth look at each other again, and simultaneously shrug.
"Because they felt like it."
"And it's not like they're a bad god to try to live up to."
"Now, I believe that we have some prisoners to arrest."
Captain Corvis has joined the party.
Jacob and the remaining Goon are brought aboard. With the two of them winded from the impact, and exhausted from staying afloat, arresting them is a trivial task, and they are moved to a pair of cells, with three guards watching the two of them (it is worth noting that all guards on the ship are confirmed loyal to the Republic, and do not have any secret allegiances). So, there is only really one question now.
What is to be done with Jacob, and with the Goon?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 16, 2020, 11:42:28 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“Captain Corvis,” Celling says. “What is the current date?”
Corvis seems very taken aback by this. “It’s… well… why do you ask?”
“Just tell me, as fast as possible,” Celling requests.
“...March 30, of course,” Corvis answers. “Celling, is there a point to this?”
“What is the maximum speed of this vessel?” Fansworth continued.
“Twenty-three knots. We’ll be traveling much slower to Antarctica, but-”
“Who was the previous King of Antarctica?” Celling asked. “What even are the powers of the king? In what order were the provinces of the Republic added?”
“Is there a point to asking all these questions?” Corvis demanded.
“Just think about them,” Fansworth suggested. “Notice things. Then you’ll see the reason behind all this.”
Corvis stares intently at him, then scowls. “Fine. Fine, I’ll think about it.”
Erin Quill stood on the cliffs, watching as the twisted remnants of the John Philip Sousa sank.
Celling walked up behind him. “Bus is here. Time to go.”
“I’m still not certain how you got here,” Corvis asks, climbing up the hill to his left. Fansworth follows.
“We’ll explain on the way back,” Quill says.
They stood in silence for a moment. “Did we get Jacob?” Quill finally asks.
“Jacob Eldin and one other hostile were captured, yes,” Corvis confirms. “Jacob is injured and possibly paralyzed. The other prisoner is unharmed.”
“After that blast wave?” Fansworth says. “They’re lucky to be alive.”
“These rebels seem to have a streak of getting lucky,” Corvis comments.
Epilogue
“Is this a court-martial?” Erin Quill asks.
The throne room is slightly more occupied than the last time he was here. Enir Nest stands next to the throne of King Karastotz, arms folded carefully behind his back.
Leaning against a pillar to Celling’s left is Baron Adam Carr of Adelaide Island. Obviously not taking this seriously, he sips from a small glass of wine. Nobody else is drinking anything. Not to be underestimated, Quill thinks. He’s definitely here for something.
Baron Andrei Stevenson, of Australia, stands opposite him. Aged and bearded, he contrasts with the young-looking Carr. Known for his sharp questions about the King’s control of the provinces, Stevenson was visiting the capital to discuss matters of government in Australia.
Erin Quill, Mira Kethalyn, Wenton Celling, and Edward Fansworth stand in the center of this group. All eyes are upon them.
“Because if it’s a court-martial, I’m going home,” Quill says. “I’m not actually in the military command structure.”
“For someone not in the command structure, you seem to spend an awful lot of your time commanding,” Stevenson responds.
“I was given control over the pursuit of the Drimoxi rebel cell due to my experience with the tools they were going to use to destroy the Republic,” Quill shoots back.
“Enough,” Karastotz cuts in. “To answer your question, Quill, this is not a court-martial. This is an informal meeting to discuss some questions we have regarding your actions of the past three months.”
“I’ll summarize the events in question, just to make sure everyone’s on the same page,” Nest says. “A group of terrorists, led by a man known as Samael Drimoxi, stole some samples of a mineral known as Andantesite. This mineral allows the manipulation of gravity, by means not yet fully understood. Erin Quill found that the Andantesite could have been used to destabilize the wormhole placed between South America and Antarctica, leading to a… what words did you use, Quill?”
“Instant obliteration of known civilization,” Quill supplied. “Conversion of upwards of 70% of the wormhole’s effective mass into energy. My prior estimates of the ionizing radiation produced may have been on the high side, but it’s definitely enough to wipe out a large part of both continents.”
“So for the last ten years we’ve all been living on a gigantic mass-energy bomb?” Carr interjects.
Quill glared at him. “The wormhole is a “bomb” in the same way that a train is a “ramming weapon”. It’s only dangerous if manipulated very precisely and very maliciously.”
“But a train doesn’t run over an entire city at once,” Stevenson adds. “It seems prudent to move our end. Outside of the city, at least.”
“The entire point of the wormhole link was secure communications,” Erin counters. “Moving it anywhere but our command center completely defeats that.”
“We can discuss this later,” Karastotz notes. “Nest, continue with your report.”
Nest nods. “In any case, Celling joined in soon after, citing a personal interest in the case, namely one Armen DeMarco, who defected to the rebels and had some prior relationship with Celling.”
“You mean he disobeyed orders to chase down his traitorous ex-girlfriend,” Carr summarized. “And got promoted for it.”
Celling glared at him. Nest paused briefly, and continued. “In the course of carrying out this investigation, Celling made contact with a secret group calling themselves the Protinam, which had the ability to see the future. They are led by one David Eborrenial-"
"Who sounds like a massive, gaping security vulnerability bar none, if you ask me," Carr says. "We should be tracking him down."
Karastotz looks at Erin Quill. "Quill, your final reports on David Eborrenial are somewhat ambiguous. What do you know about his whereabouts, and what do you believe are his motivations?"
What do you tell them about David?
A: "I really don't know where he is or if he even survived the meteor impact."
B: "I'm pretty sure he's out there, somewhere, but I'm not sure where."
C: "He was last seen teleporting straight into the blast zone. I think we can safely say we've seen the last of him."
And what about his motivations?
A: Say that you aren't sure.
B: Say that he's probably working for the good of the people and we shouldn't mind him.
C: Say that he's to be treated as an enemy and arrested on sight.
D: Say that you don't know what he wants, but tracking him down so you can ask is probably prudent.
I'm expecting a lot of write-in for this one, as these choices are probably too restrictive.
Post by: Glass on February 16, 2020, 11:51:32 pm
2. "He has good intentions, but so did the rebels. If he is encountered, then he should be treated with caution, and his plans should be verified before any other actions are taken. However, based on my prior interactions with him, I am inclined to believe that we will be able to allow him to continue whatever activities he is conducting in peace." (Basically between D and B, more toward D.)
Post by: Madman198237 on February 17, 2020, 12:35:01 am
1. "There is reason to believe that he is still alive, but the only possible lead we might have regarding his whereabouts is that he may have returned to the old Protinam headquarters, which I doubt, given that the rest of his organization was, to the best of our knowledge - and, I believe, his - exterminated since we first made contact." (Basically B.)Ahem. I do believe it is that time of year again, and I bestow upon Glass, once more the eternal +1.
2. "He has good intentions, but so did the rebels. If he is encountered, then he should be treated with caution, and his plans should be verified before any other actions are taken. However, based on my prior interactions with him, I am inclined to believe that we will be able to allow him to continue whatever activities he is conducting in peace." (Basically between D and B, more toward D.)
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on February 17, 2020, 07:06:13 am
+11. "There is reason to believe that he is still alive, but the only possible lead we might have regarding his whereabouts is that he may have returned to the old Protinam headquarters, which I doubt, given that the rest of his organization was, to the best of our knowledge - and, I believe, his - exterminated since we first made contact." (Basically B.)Ahem. I do believe it is that time of year again, and I bestow upon Glass, once more the eternal +1.
2. "He has good intentions, but so did the rebels. If he is encountered, then he should be treated with caution, and his plans should be verified before any other actions are taken. However, based on my prior interactions with him, I am inclined to believe that we will be able to allow him to continue whatever activities he is conducting in peace." (Basically between D and B, more toward D.)
Post by: Rockeater on February 17, 2020, 07:40:05 am
2. Whatever glass said
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on February 17, 2020, 11:59:16 pm
2. D
...+1 :P
ID cards are distributed and displayed within a few hours of this announcement. These are found to greatly increase the transparency and speed of military-civilian interactions, causing an increase in both public perception and actual efficiency of the regime.
+1 military, +1 political
...
(https://i.imgur.com/wZCEkSw.png)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on February 28, 2020, 10:00:02 pm
1. "There is reason to believe that he is still alive, but the only possible lead we might have regarding his whereabouts is that he may have returned to the old Protinam headquarters, which I doubt, given that the rest of his organization was, to the best of our knowledge - and, I believe, his - exterminated since we first made contact." (Basically B.)
2. "He has good intentions, but so did the rebels. If he is encountered, then he should be treated with caution, and his plans should be verified before any other actions are taken. However, based on my prior interactions with him, I am inclined to believe that we will be able to allow him to continue whatever activities he is conducting in peace." (Basically between D and B, more toward D.)
As usual, we are going with Glass’s plan.
Nest looked at Quill. “I’m afraid that as Guardian of the State, I cannot allow him to just ‘continue his activities in peace’,” he said. “Carr is correct. Based on your description of David’s abilities, he is a formidable threat to the security of this Republic - and would be a powerful asset if he was on our side. Teleportation opens up secure communications, espionage, infiltration, rapid intervention… and that’s just the military. Think of the applications to trade. Limited by his ability to carry things through, but we could study him and duplicate the powers, if we had him.”
“Are these wonders going to be firmly under the thumb of the King and his men?” Stevenson asked.
Nest glared at him. “That can be discussed later. I’m making it a priority to get David Eborrenial under our control as soon as feasible. Peacefully, if we can, but by force if we must. Quill,” he looked at Erin, “As our foremost expert on wormhole theory, I am personally assigning you to the task of tracking or at least detecting David’s teleports. If we can’t keep him out of Zenith City, we’ll know when he’s here. Your interferometry research accomplished something similar, look into that. Miss Kethalyn, you’ll be working with Dr. Fallas d’ Florist on replicating the abilities of these Protinam, using the three that we have access to as a guide.” He seemed to think of something, rounding on Fansworth. “Fansworth. Did you ever grab Goonswarm’s serum? The one that created Julia?”
“We left the dock in rather a hurry,” Fansworth said. “Goonswarm is decapitated without the Mittani, however. We might be able to stroll it and take it.”
“Priority message to Montevideo - see that they do so,” Nest responded. “And, Quill - pull the sapience research back together and get me something that can ensure David’s loyalty. I hope I don’t have to use it, but in the worst case…”
“Excuse me, Nest,” Celling says. “But are we declaring war on David Eborrenial?”
Nest pauses for a moment. “I would be more inclined to consider David’s wishes, if he wasn’t already guilty of conspiracy with the Rebels.”
It took Celling a moment to remember what he was talking about. “That? That was him trying to stir things up, being a loose variable, to make observations on the timeline.”
“And if there’s a loose variable stirring things up, I need to know where it is.” Nest responds. “So no. We are not declaring war on David Eborrenial. War is something you declare on countries.”
What does Quill do?
A: Go along with Nest’s orders.
B: Challenge them (Give reasons).
C: Appeal to the King for an overrule
D: Pretend to go along, but have Erin Quill and Fallas d’ Florist sabotage the research
E: As with D, but recruit Mira to the conspiracy as well.
Post by: Madman198237 on February 28, 2020, 10:22:15 pm
"You cannot unilaterally decide to imprison someone and conduct inhumane experiments on them regardless of the threat they pose to the country. Perhaps, at best, you could place him in precautionary detention. Going beyond that or even just permanently detaining him would turn us into exactly what the Rebels claimed we are. If you would like David to work with us, we have no choice but to go about recruiting him peacefully. As of now he can see the future, has probably reclaimed his fancy Protinam artifact to refine his visions and become better at seeing the future, and is therefore functionally untouchable as far as this plan goes. And since he may very well learn of what you're doing when you start doing it, perhaps you ought not to antagonize him. Doing so would GUARANTEE he'd become an enemy, at least of the people who are trying to turn him into a puppet.
In short, not only are several parts of this "plan" morally reprehensible, it's also simply physically impossible to force him to do anything, or even find him if he doesn't want to be found. And you also don't want to turn him into an enemy when he is most probably not right now.
I am willing to go and try and find him myself and convince him to change his ways or work with us, but can give no guarantees. I will certainly not be party to restraining someone's will and damaging their mind in order to protect a few government secrets from one person."
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on February 28, 2020, 11:12:02 pm
B, with following argument. If this fails, we resort to C:+1
"You cannot unilaterally decide to imprison someone and conduct inhumane experiments on them regardless of the threat they pose to the country. Perhaps, at best, you could place him in precautionary detention. Going beyond that or even just permanently detaining him would turn us into exactly what the Rebels claimed we are. If you would like David to work with us, we have no choice but to go about recruiting him peacefully. As of now he can see the future, has probably reclaimed his fancy Protinam artifact to refine his visions and become better at seeing the future, and is therefore functionally untouchable as far as this plan goes. And since he may very well learn of what you're doing when you start doing it, perhaps you ought not to antagonize him. Doing so would GUARANTEE he'd become an enemy, at least of the people who are trying to turn him into a puppet.
In short, not only are several parts of this "plan" morally reprehensible, it's also simply physically impossible to force him to do anything, or even find him if he doesn't want to be found. And you also don't want to turn him into an enemy when he is most probably not right now.
I am willing to go and try and find him myself and convince him to change his ways or work with us, but can give no guarantees. I will certainly not be party to restraining someone's will and damaging their mind in order to protect a few government secrets from one person."
Post by: Rockeater on February 29, 2020, 04:51:03 am
+1B, with following argument. If this fails, we resort to C:+1
"You cannot unilaterally decide to imprison someone and conduct inhumane experiments on them regardless of the threat they pose to the country. Perhaps, at best, you could place him in precautionary detention. Going beyond that or even just permanently detaining him would turn us into exactly what the Rebels claimed we are. If you would like David to work with us, we have no choice but to go about recruiting him peacefully. As of now he can see the future, has probably reclaimed his fancy Protinam artifact to refine his visions and become better at seeing the future, and is therefore functionally untouchable as far as this plan goes. And since he may very well learn of what you're doing when you start doing it, perhaps you ought not to antagonize him. Doing so would GUARANTEE he'd become an enemy, at least of the people who are trying to turn him into a puppet.
In short, not only are several parts of this "plan" morally reprehensible, it's also simply physically impossible to force him to do anything, or even find him if he doesn't want to be found. And you also don't want to turn him into an enemy when he is most probably not right now.
I am willing to go and try and find him myself and convince him to change his ways or work with us, but can give no guarantees. I will certainly not be party to restraining someone's will and damaging their mind in order to protect a few government secrets from one person."
See blue, we can+1 madman as well.
Post by: Glass on February 29, 2020, 11:55:59 am
I’ll also give this +1.+1~snip~+1
See blue, we can+1 madman as well.
I’d like to suggest we also use D as a backup in case neither B nor C works. While E appeals to me, Mira worked with Padel; while I know that this was because she was threatened, it does tell me that she may be liable to spilling if pressured. Other opinions on this topic are welcome.
Post by: Madman198237 on February 29, 2020, 12:08:00 pm
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on February 29, 2020, 07:35:55 pm
( Wrote Levin a ending if like it leave it, otherwise alter.)
Post by: Glass on February 29, 2020, 07:45:30 pm
Meanwhile with South Pole wit, tech and will. Levin and the prisoners ended up in the Weat Coast of North America. In time setting up a extension for the empire and smack down the infantile USA after their Civil War debacle.Please remember that we're in 1520 or something.
( Wrote Levin a ending if like it leave it, otherwise alter.)
There is no US.
There's not even British colonies, and they wouldn't start to appear until 1607.
(The map is... very large. I suggest just opening it in another tab.)
Post by: Tyrant Leviathan on February 29, 2020, 07:56:28 pm
Edit: Hell maybe the Western Hemisphere, if another time.
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on March 03, 2020, 04:54:46 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on March 03, 2020, 07:42:33 am
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on March 04, 2020, 01:03:22 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on March 04, 2020, 08:07:02 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 14, 2020, 03:03:43 pm
B, with following argument. If this fails, we resort to C:
"You cannot unilaterally decide to imprison someone and conduct inhumane experiments on them regardless of the threat they pose to the country. Perhaps, at best, you could place him in precautionary detention. Going beyond that or even just permanently detaining him would turn us into exactly what the Rebels claimed we are. If you would like David to work with us, we have no choice but to go about recruiting him peacefully. As of now he can see the future, has probably reclaimed his fancy Protinam artifact to refine his visions and become better at seeing the future, and is therefore functionally untouchable as far as this plan goes. And since he may very well learn of what you're doing when you start doing it, perhaps you ought not to antagonize him. Doing so would GUARANTEE he'd become an enemy, at least of the people who are trying to turn him into a puppet.
In short, not only are several parts of this "plan" morally reprehensible, it's also simply physically impossible to force him to do anything, or even find him if he doesn't want to be found. And you also don't want to turn him into an enemy when he is most probably not right now.
I am willing to go and try and find him myself and convince him to change his ways or work with us, but can give no guarantees. I will certainly not be party to restraining someone's will and damaging their mind in order to protect a few government secrets from one person."
Nest sighs. “So in your opinion - yours too, Celling - there is no way we can capture David Eborrenial?”
“He can teleport, see the future, and shoot lightning,” Celling responded. “He’s going to see us coming, and there’s no way to box him in.”
“Don’t forget the Key,” Fansworth notes.
Celling nods. “And he has the Key of Taloc. Meaning he can see our intentions, manipulate our minds - even control them.”
“Which makes it all the more critical that we remove any possibility of him being a threat as soon as possible!”
“He’s already not a threat!” Erin shouts. “In fact, so far he’s helped us avert a plague that would have decimated a major province! The only - only - thing that could make him a threat is if we attack him!”
Nest frowns. “Fine. We’ll let him go. But remember, we’re not on his side.” He begins pacing again. “Quill, I still want that detection system. Mira, take blood samples from the other Protinam and start reverse-engineering their powers. Get one from David, too, if we ever see him again.” He turns to Celling this time. “You’ve met the Protinam. Do you think the others would agree to working under the Republic’s government? Barring that, could we ask that they at least keep us informed of what they see?”
How do you respond?
Post by: Glass on March 14, 2020, 03:10:19 pm
“Angela and Carlos, at least, likely would be willing to work for us. I can’t be certain about any others they had scattered around, but their ranks have been decimated; they'd probably be glad of our help rebuilding, and would likely be willing to at the very least cooperate with us in exchange, if not directly work for us. I’m not certain about Julia, given her upbringing, but therapy would likely help for her.”
Post by: Madman198237 on March 14, 2020, 03:59:01 pm
Celling thinks for a moment.+1
“Angela and Carlos, at least, likely would be willing to work for us. I can’t be certain about any others they had scattered around, but their ranks have been decimated; they'd probably be glad of our help rebuilding, and would likely be willing to at the very least cooperate with us in exchange, if not directly work for us. I’m not certain about Julia, given her upbringing, but therapy would likely help for her.”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 21, 2020, 09:21:58 am
Celling thinks for a moment.
“Angela and Carlos, at least, likely would be willing to work for us. I can’t be certain about any others they had scattered around, but their ranks have been decimated; they'd probably be glad of our help rebuilding, and would likely be willing to at the very least cooperate with us in exchange, if not directly work for us. I’m not certain about Julia, given her upbringing, but therapy would likely help for her.”
“Then we need to reach out to them, as soon as possible,” Nest says. “Offer them our support in recruiting and reconstructing. And if they refuse… take them into custody. Precognition is too powerful to be left in the hands of anyone else.”
Carr raises his glass. “This jurisdictional squabble has been truly entertaining, but can we get back to the briefing now? I’m particularly interested in the part where Erin Quill takes a detour to assassinate the Guardian of the State.”
Quill turns around to glare at Baron Carr. “Padelheb was about to unleash a bioweapon targeting every person of Argentinian descent, wiping out over 60% of the Republic’s population. He had already corrupted the courts and police, and it is my continuing belief that shooting him was the only way to ensure that he did not achieve this goal. Murder cases have always left room for self-defense.”
“Self-defense?” Carr asks humorously. “Because you’re not really Antarctican, Quill?”
Quill glares at him some more. “Not all of us have nothing better to do than trace genealogies twenty generations back, Carr. In any case, I am sure that the societal upheaval following the destruction of one of our primary provinces would have been quite dangerous for government officials. So yes, self-defense.”
“And you’ve destroyed all trace of the virus,” Carr states. “Naturally.”
“Because it would wipe out 60% of the Republic’s population if it was ever released!” Quill hisses in response. “I cannot accept the risk that it could accidentally - or intentionally! - get out in the future.” He turned back to Nest. “And it was destroyed on the King’s explicit orders, as Nest can confirm.”
“I do confirm that,” Nest declares. “Mira, you kept several procedures and records relating to the bioweapon, correct? As evidence?”
“I didn’t keep them so much as Quill and company took them, but-”
Nest cuts Mira off. “If anyone requires evidence of the bioweapon’s danger, you may see it. Otherwise, those papers are to be destroyed.”
“So this… super-plague, it targets a specific genetic code?” Carr asks.
“Not a genetic code,” Quill says. “A particular feature of Antarctican cells renders them impervious to the virus used. It exploits a weakness not present in Antarcticans.”
“Ah,” Carr responds. “Of course, it’s to be expected that these foreigners would have an inferior immune system.”
How do you respond?
A: Just let him keep on believing that
B: Stress that a vulnerability could probably be devised for Antarcticans too (true)
Post by: Glass on March 21, 2020, 09:30:47 am
“The same difference of cell structure that would have protected Antarcticans from Padelheb’s virus could have, if there was a different intent, been exploited to create something that only targeted Antarcticans. Our advantage comes from our understanding of the world, not from ‘superior genetics’. Learning, not the luck of birth. If you want something to say we’re superior about, choose that. It’s far easier to prove true.”
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on March 21, 2020, 10:44:38 am
B.+1
“The same difference of cell structure that would have protected Antarcticans from Padelheb’s virus could have, if there was a different intent, been exploited to create something that only targeted Antarcticans. Our advantage comes from our understanding of the world, not from ‘superior genetics’. Learning, not the luck of birth. If you want something to say we’re superior about, choose that. It’s far easier to prove true.”
Post by: Rockeater on March 21, 2020, 07:20:40 pm
+1B.+1
“The same difference of cell structure that would have protected Antarcticans from Padelheb’s virus could have, if there was a different intent, been exploited to create something that only targeted Antarcticans. Our advantage comes from our understanding of the world, not from ‘superior genetics’. Learning, not the luck of birth. If you want something to say we’re superior about, choose that. It’s far easier to prove true.”
Post by: Madman198237 on March 23, 2020, 06:15:33 pm
+1+1B.+1
“The same difference of cell structure that would have protected Antarcticans from Padelheb’s virus could have, if there was a different intent, been exploited to create something that only targeted Antarcticans. Our advantage comes from our understanding of the world, not from ‘superior genetics’. Learning, not the luck of birth. If you want something to say we’re superior about, choose that. It’s far easier to prove true.”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 31, 2020, 11:42:59 am
B.
“The same difference of cell structure that would have protected Antarcticans from Padelheb’s virus could have, if there was a different intent, been exploited to create something that only targeted Antarcticans. Our advantage comes from our understanding of the world, not from ‘superior genetics’. Learning, not the luck of birth. If you want something to say we’re superior about, choose that. It’s far easier to prove true.”
Carr nods at this. “So it’s possible to design another bioweapon to target Antarcticans?”
“It would take time and equipment,” Quill says. “This isn’t something that someone could cook up in their garage.”
“Which raises the question,” Stevenson asks. “How exactly did Padelheb pull off such a scheme under the noses of the government?”
“To a great deal, he was the government,” Nest replies. “I’m investigating any accomplices he may have had right now.”
“Speaking of accomplices…” Carr said. He walked around behind Quill, Celling, and Fansworth. “Captain Wenton Celling. You falsified a report of a hurricane, leading to the pointless evacuation of a major city…”
“The hurricane ploy served to get civilians out of the danger zone as soon as possible,” Celling responds. “We didn’t know the capabilities of the so-called “Secondborn” that appeared at the docks. It was best to get everyone out.”
“Immediately after,” Carr continued, “You presented the Baron of Argentina, Prenner Goldsmith, with a decoy rebel. In the confusion caused by this, one of his guardsmen, a certain Iridium, assassinated him.”
“I don’t know anything about that assassination, Carr?”
“Really?” Carr asks. “Because from where I stand, it sure looks like you conspired to get Goldsmith in a position where he would be vulnerable, so that a traitor within his guard could kill him.”
“How would that work, exactly?” Celling asks. “I don’t see how we did anything that might have helped with the assassination.”
Carr shrugged. “Even so, your command decisions are questionable. You’ve had a repeated problem with men turning traitor,” he pointed out. “One, a certain “de Protonne”, tried to steal the Key. Another shot the female rebel - although she was already dead by that point - against orders.”
“You’re right to be suspicious of that, Carr,” Nest says. “The man who defected declared himself Lord Iridium - a name also shared by the guardsman that killed Goldsmith. I suspect it to be a pseudonym.”
“Iridium?” Mira asks. “That’s a rare element. It’s a hard, dense silver metal. I can’t imagine why anyone would use it as a title of nobility.”
“What’s it used for?” Nest asks.
“Fountain pens,” Quill answers flatly.
Nest visibly grimaces at the absurdity of this situation. “I suspect some sort of conspiracy is at work, but I can’t see how shooting Anna would advance anyone’s goals. Rest assured that it is under investigation.”
Do you have anything to say to that?
Post by: blueturtle1134 on April 07, 2020, 09:24:03 pm
Nest continues. “So that leaves us with three captured rebels, a teleporting precognitive on the loose, and…”
“A tear into another plane of reality sitting in the Andes,” Quill finishes. “Any news on that, by the way? Updates on that situation have been disappointingly slow”
“Please tell us a little about that, Mr. Celling. You made contact with an entire new world through a portal created by the Key explosion? And you’ve already gotten us into a war there?” Carr asks.
“I’ve been meaning to ask that myself,” Stevenson chimes in. “Who exactly has jurisdiction over the portal? It’s located in the military base, yes, but does that give you claim over the entire other side?”
“There’s a country on the other side,” Celling reminds them.
“And yet you charged straight through with a military action,” Stevenson notes.
“That action was approved by General Merrowitz and was immediately necessary to prevent the complete destruction of a civilization!” Celling retorts.
“And it got us into a battle with supernatural forces we have no idea how to handle!” Stevenson says.
“Last I checked, we were holding the line just fine,” Celling says. “Although as I’ve said, updates have been alarmingly slow on that front.”
“Nelson sent a more detailed report a while ago,” explains Nest. “He says that the ghosts seem perfectly capable of holding off the skeleton, and Haley Starshine would like to confirm that their world can resurrect people from death, although the only known individual with those capabilities is currently on the evacuation fleet. Also, they’ve finished lining Redcloak’s chambers with explosives. I’m still not sure why you think negotiating with him will prove fruitful, though.”
“Easy,” Fansworth answers. “He’s a major political and spiritual leader that thinks his direct superior is a pompous idiot. If anyone’s going to flip, it’ll be him.”
“Fair enough,” Nest agrees. “As for the world itself, Nelson reports that it seems to be populated by several societies, mostly feudal monarchies, and a late pre-industrial level of technology - although it’s hard to tell, as magic is an integral part of their society.” He stops for a moment. “And one other thing. It’s a whole new world. Miles and miles of uncharted land. Powers we haven’t even begun to exploit. This represents the greatest opportunity for exploration and expansion since the discovery of South America.”
“You’ve dragged us into a world of gods and legends, Quill,” the King notes. “Three times, in fact. I hope you’re ready to make this work.”
“We don’t have to stay in,” Stevenson says. “Quill, can you think of any way to close the portal?”
“I haven’t studied it,” Quill says. “Burying it might work. Barring that, a control mechanism similar to the wormhole may be able to affect it.”
What do you do?
A: Argue for invading and annexing Azure City and parts of the OOTS world.
B: Argue for allying with Azure City and declaring war on the Goblins.
C: Argue for not declaring war, but continuing a quiet military intervention.
D: Argue for leaving the portal open but unexplored until the situation at the other end stabilizes (pull back troops)
E: Argue for closing the portal
Post your actual arguments as well
And what of your plans to resurrect the rebel trapped in the Key, Anna?
A: Mention them
B: Do not mention them
Post by: Glass on April 07, 2020, 09:30:01 pm
Argue for attempting to get Azure City to become a protectorate of ours, trying to convince the goblins to join our side in exchange for being given a (vassal) country
2. Don't be the ones to bring it up; if someone else asks about what we plan to do with the Key or something else that involves her, then we can explain, but otherwise, no reason to for the time being.
Post by: Madman198237 on April 07, 2020, 09:31:46 pm
1. F.+1
Argue for attempting to get Azure City to become a protectorate of ours, trying to convince the goblins to join our side in exchange for being given a (vassal) country somewhere in Australia or Africa (make sure that it's clear that they will be treated as no lesser than any other people, and if they have issues with racism then they can bring the problem to us and we'll make sure the perpetrators knock it off), and maintaining a military presence that could potentially be later extended into other regions of the opened world.
2. Don't be the ones to bring it up; if someone else asks about what we plan to do with the Key or something else that involves her, then we can explain, but otherwise, no reason to for the time being.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on April 07, 2020, 09:40:04 pm
Post by: Glass on April 07, 2020, 09:40:47 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on April 07, 2020, 09:44:59 pm
1. F.+1, will delete other vote due to incorrect quote there
Argue for attempting to get Azure City to become a protectorate of ours, trying to convince the goblins to join our side in exchange for being given a (vassal) countrysomewhere in Australia or Africaprobably in the Outback (make sure that it's clear that they will be treated as no lesser than any other people, and if they have issues with racism then they can bring the problem to us and we'll make sure the perpetrators knock it off), and maintaining a military presence that could potentially be later extended into other regions of the opened world.
2. Don't be the ones to bring it up; if someone else asks about what we plan to do with the Key or something else that involves her, then we can explain, but otherwise, no reason to for the time being.
Post by: Iris on April 07, 2020, 09:52:28 pm
1. F.
Argue for attempting to get Azure City to become a protectorate of ours, trying to convince the goblins to join our side in exchange for being given a (vassal) countrysomewhere in Australia or Africaprobably in the Outback (make sure that it's clear that they will be treated as no lesser than any other people, and if they have issues with racism then they can bring the problem to us and we'll make sure the perpetrators knock it off), and maintaining a military presence that could potentially be later extended into other regions of the opened world.
2. Don't be the ones to bring it up; if someone else asks about what we plan to do with the Key or something else that involves her, then we can explain, but otherwise, no reason to for the time being.
Do this, but move in much more soldiers than strictly necessary.
Post by: Glass on April 07, 2020, 09:53:10 pm
FTFY1. F.
Argue for attempting to get Azure City to become a protectorate of ours, trying to convince the goblins to join our side in exchange for being given a (vassal) countrysomewhere in Australia or Africaprobably in the Outback (make sure that it's clear that they will be treated as no lesser than any other people, and if they have issues with racism then they can bring the problem to us and we'll make sure the perpetrators knock it off), and maintaining a military presence that could potentially be later extended into other regions of the opened world.
2. Don't be the ones to bring it up; if someone else asks about what we plan to do with the Key or something else that involves her, then we can explain, but otherwise, no reason to for the time being.
Do this, but move in somewhat more soldiers than strictly necessary.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on April 07, 2020, 10:24:31 pm
what was wrong?FTFY1. F.
Argue for attempting to get Azure City to become a protectorate of ours, trying to convince the goblins to join our side in exchange for being given a (vassal) countrysomewhere in Australia or Africaprobably in the Outback (make sure that it's clear that they will be treated as no lesser than any other people, and if they have issues with racism then they can bring the problem to us and we'll make sure the perpetrators knock it off), and maintaining a military presence that could potentially be later extended into other regions of the opened world.
2. Don't be the ones to bring it up; if someone else asks about what we plan to do with the Key or something else that involves her, then we can explain, but otherwise, no reason to for the time being.
Do this, but move in somewhat more soldiers than strictly necessary.
Post by: Glass on April 07, 2020, 10:26:07 pm
what was wrong?Here's his original post:
Do this, but move in much more soldiers than strictly necessary.Well, "necessary" was originally spelled incorrectly, but also he wanted to be far too aggressive.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on April 07, 2020, 10:29:59 pm
oh. I see, I agree with only some more than needed, rather than much more than neede. Our plan is to ally. Bringing in a lot of soldiers will not help that. ((How do I restrain autocorrect to treat thst as a typo? This typo happened so many times that thst no longer corrects to that))what was wrong?Here's his original post:Do this, but move in much more soldiers than strictly necessary.Well, "necessary" was originally spelled incorrectly, but also he wanted to be far too aggressive.
Post by: Smoke Mirrors on April 08, 2020, 12:00:54 am
1. F.+1
Argue for attempting to get Azure City to become a protectorate of ours, trying to convince the goblins to join our side in exchange for being given a (vassal) countrysomewhere in Australia or Africaprobably in the Outback (make sure that it's clear that they will be treated as no lesser than any other people, and if they have issues with racism then they can bring the problem to us and we'll make sure the perpetrators knock it off), and maintaining a military presence that could potentially be later extended into other regions of the opened world.
2. Don't be the ones to bring it up; if someone else asks about what we plan to do with the Key or something else that involves her, then we can explain, but otherwise, no reason to for the time being.
Post by: Glass on April 08, 2020, 12:12:26 am
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on April 08, 2020, 06:21:06 am
I’d like to clarify, by the way, that the goblins would not be forced to live on the land we give them; that area would just be the land that they directly govern. They’d be free to live in the rest of our territory, in which case the same laws that apply to any other citizen would apply to them.understood. I like this clarification
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 05, 2020, 06:41:18 pm
1. F.
Argue for attempting to get Azure City to become a protectorate of ours, trying to convince the goblins to join our side in exchange for being given a (vassal) countrysomewhere in Australia or Africaprobably in the Outback (make sure that it's clear that they will be treated as no lesser than any other people, and if they have issues with racism then they can bring the problem to us and we'll make sure the perpetrators knock it off), and maintaining a military presence that could potentially be later extended into other regions of the opened world.
2. Don't be the ones to bring it up; if someone else asks about what we plan to do with the Key or something else that involves her, then we can explain, but otherwise, no reason to for the time being.
“Wait,” Baron Stevenson says. “You’re saying we’re going to take a hostile force and give them most of my land?”
“Are you using the Outback for anything?” Quill replies.
“That’s not the point,” Stevenson continues. “You’re going to create a ten thousand kilometer long border inside Australia with a foreign power that we’re currently at war with!”
“Their armies are weak compared to a well-trained guard, and we might be able to convince them to demilitarize,” Quill responds.
“You say “join our side” as if that’s something we can reasonably expect the goblins to do,” Nest notes. “They don’t even consider themselves human, and they’ve declared hatred toward all humanity.”
“Their historical oppressors, that is. Not us. A point our diplomats could clear up easily enough,” Quill says.
“We don’t know that,” Nest says. “How are you presuming so much about the motivations of the goblins, anyway? You weren’t anywhere near Chile when the gateway formed (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7666595;topicseen#msg7666595).”
“I’m your foremost expert on spatial manipulation,” Quill answers. “I had Celling brief me about the gate.”
“Celling's report (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7883775;topicseen#msg7883775) didn’t say anything about the motivations of the goblins, Quill. Where are you getting this information?”
How do you respond?
A: “Oh, I’m just inferring, really. The motivations of the goblins look clear enough.”
B: “I have my sources.”
C: “It’s actually quite simple. Remind me to tell you about the fourth wall…” Warning! Informing other individuals about the nature of this narrative work is FORBIDDEN! DO NOT DO THIS!
D: “Just a guess. It doesn't hurt to offer, and if I'm wrong we'll find out soon (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StealthPun) enough.”
E: Something else
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on May 05, 2020, 07:13:49 pm
Post by: Madman198237 on May 05, 2020, 07:20:42 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on May 05, 2020, 07:42:49 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on May 05, 2020, 07:47:00 pm
Post by: Glass on May 05, 2020, 07:53:56 pm
B, "I asked everyone I could for all the reports relevant to topics that might come up in this meeting, of course.+1
Post by: TheImmortalRyukan on May 05, 2020, 07:59:31 pm
+1 to Madman
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on May 05, 2020, 08:02:51 pm
what if he asks us to elaborate?B, "I asked everyone I could for all the reports relevant to topics that might come up in this meeting, of course.+1
Post by: Glass on May 05, 2020, 08:04:10 pm
Then we do so.what if he asks us to elaborate?B, "I asked everyone I could for all the reports relevant to topics that might come up in this meeting, of course.+1
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on May 05, 2020, 08:06:25 pm
who did we supposedly talk to?Then we do so.what if he asks us to elaborate?B, "I asked everyone I could for all the reports relevant to topics that might come up in this meeting, of course.+1
Post by: Glass on May 05, 2020, 08:20:40 pm
2. A spy on the other side, sending information back and forth via the parrot. The parrot should be a known thing, they should know we can get stuff around fast with it.
3. Old Protinam records found during our investigations. Hey, they can predict the future, and very effectively. No need to make it clear they'd have had no way to predict this.
4. If all else fails, we'd heard about divination magic on the other side of the portal and decided to give it a try, and we got a bite.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 05, 2020, 08:39:56 pm
1. We work closely with Celling, so we may have had access to new reports before others did. Other possible military information things that MM can probably come up with go in this level.Glass, you're going to have to pick one of these to stick to
2. A spy on the other side, sending information back and forth via the parrot. The parrot should be a known thing, they should know we can get stuff around fast with it.
3. Old Protinam records found during our investigations. Hey, they can predict the future, and very effectively. No need to make it clear they'd have had no way to predict this.
4. If all else fails, we'd heard about divination magic on the other side of the portal and decided to give it a try, and we got a bite.
Post by: Glass on May 05, 2020, 08:52:47 pm
5. All of the above?1. We work closely with Celling, so we may have had access to new reports before others did. Other possible military information things that MM can probably come up with go in this level.Glass, you're going to have to pick one of these to stick to
2. A spy on the other side, sending information back and forth via the parrot. The parrot should be a known thing, they should know we can get stuff around fast with it.
3. Old Protinam records found during our investigations. Hey, they can predict the future, and very effectively. No need to make it clear they'd have had no way to predict this.
4. If all else fails, we'd heard about divination magic on the other side of the portal and decided to give it a try, and we got a bite.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on May 06, 2020, 07:53:40 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 06, 2020, 09:32:50 am
B, "I asked everyone I could for all the reports relevant to topics that might come up in this meeting, of course.+1
"Oh," Quill says. "I expected this to be a main focus of this meeting, and asked for all the reports relevant to this topic."
"What reports?" Nest hisses. "Nelson and Celling have been in the other world, but our only source on the politics of the goblins is a declaration that they're enemies to all life. Granted, that smacks more of religious fanaticism than anything else, but we really don't have any information. Why do you?"
How do you respond?
A: Choose from one of Glass's excellent selection of excuses (give the number you wish to select)
1. We work closely with Celling, so we may have had access to new reports before others did. Other possible military information things that MM can probably come up with go in this level.
2. A spy on the other side, sending information back and forth via the parrot. The parrot should be a known thing, they should know we can get stuff around fast with it.
3. Old Protinam records found during our investigations. Hey, they can predict the future, and very effectively. No need to make it clear they'd have had no way to predict this.
4. If all else fails, we'd heard about divination magic on the other side of the portal and decided to give it a try, and we got a bite.
5. All of the above?B: Back down and say it was just a hunch
C: Something else
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on May 06, 2020, 10:33:10 am
Post by: Madman198237 on May 06, 2020, 11:56:08 am
Post by: Glass on May 06, 2020, 02:56:00 pm
A1. I went and spoke with Celling during his trip back to the capital. I've also been in contact with the scientists you've called in to study the situation, naturally, as my position dictates. Some of their conclusions are quite interesting. Asking our allies more detailed questions and being able to listen to the answers without their large societal biases provides more information than was first apparent.+1, per discussions in Discord.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on May 27, 2020, 01:11:54 am
A1. I went and spoke with Celling during his trip back to the capital. I've also been in contact with the scientists you've called in to study the situation, naturally, as my position dictates. Some of their conclusions are quite interesting. Asking our allies more detailed questions and being able to listen to the answers without their large societal biases provides more information than was first apparent.
Enir Nest seems satisfied by this. “Well, we can’t sign treaties on the word of hearsay,” he notes. He then turns to King Karastotz. “Your Majesty, I request permission to visit the portal and further ascertain the political scene there, as well as opening negotiations with the remaining Visionaries.”
“Granted,” Karastotz says. “Take Celling with you; he has information regarding both situations.”
“Mira, you and Fallas d’Florist are going to come along as well,” Nest continues, gesturing at them. “Given that the Protinam power is genetic, we should be able to duplicate them with biological manipulation.”
“Fallas?” Mira askes. “Since when is that quack an authority?”
“Dr. d’Florist is at least half responsible for all of our major uplifting breakthroughs,” Nest replies. “He comes along.”
“Wait,” Quill says. “Right before Padelheb threw me in jail, I was trying to deal with a blackmailer that was threatening to release secrets pertaining to the Cherub project. Did we ever get riots over that? (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=165258.msg7657227#msg7657227)”
“Padelheb tried to pin it on you as justification to the masses for locking you up,” Nest replies. “After his demise, we convinced them that most of the evidence he produced was fabricated by his agents, and that the Cherub project was solely the work of T. Levin, who has exiled himself in repentance. The blackmailer himself was never seen again.”
Nest seems to be indecisive about where Quill goes - what does Erin Quill want to do?
A: Go to South America in order to assist Mira and Fallas
B: Stay in Antarctica to work on detecting David’s teleports and possibly other things
And about the Cherub secrets?
A: What the people don’t know won’t hurt them
B: Let’s set the record straight - Quill did approve that, even though he had little to do with it personally
Post by: Madman198237 on May 27, 2020, 09:36:31 am
Therefore:
A, A
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on May 27, 2020, 03:54:59 pm
Post by: Rockeater on May 27, 2020, 04:14:12 pm
AB+1 we better reveal it now before someone slips.
Post by: Glass on May 27, 2020, 05:00:15 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on May 27, 2020, 06:09:57 pm
+1AB+1 we better reveal it now before someone slips.
Post by: m1895 on May 27, 2020, 07:30:26 pm
Post by: Glass on May 28, 2020, 07:47:06 am
This seems like the opposite of reaching a conclusion, it seems like adding more problems. Anyway, we don't actually need to track David right now since it's functionally impossible to apprehend him anyway, barring some serious effort and possibly also using the dice. As for T. Levin, well, he took the fall (and rightly so) and the sane people here didn't actually want that to happen anyway, so we're going to blame a temporary lapse of judgement and go with "keep quiet" on that second bit.+1
Therefore:
A, A
Post by: Smoke Mirrors on May 28, 2020, 01:33:53 pm
+1This seems like the opposite of reaching a conclusion, it seems like adding more problems. Anyway, we don't actually need to track David right now since it's functionally impossible to apprehend him anyway, barring some serious effort and possibly also using the dice. As for T. Levin, well, he took the fall (and rightly so) and the sane people here didn't actually want that to happen anyway, so we're going to blame a temporary lapse of judgement and go with "keep quiet" on that second bit.+1
Therefore:
A, A
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on June 07, 2020, 12:11:35 am
(Post #3000!)
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 04, 2020, 01:28:15 pm
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“You really didn’t need to release that apology,” Nest tells Quill.
They are standing on the deck of the AMS Edward Elgar, a fast passenger vessel bound for Montevideo. From there it’s a short trip by rail to Andes High Command and the planar rift. It’s a sunny, slightly windy morning.
“Yes we did. I’m not going to wait for someone else to dig up the fact that I rubber-stamped the Cherub project,” Quill replies.
“Nobody was going to dig it up,” Enir Nest insists. “With all the chaos lately, everyone would believe that a couple of scientists would go rogue and create the Cherubs all by themselves.”
“It’s been used for blackmail once already. Keeping secrets about it raises too much a risk of that happening again.”
“In exchange for what? There’s already movements to have you ousted from office.”
Erin Quill gestures dismissively. “I was going to catch some flak for this either way. At least they know the truth.”
“And movements to ban all research into biological augmentation,” Nest presses. “That means no talking dogs, and maybe no resurrection serum.”
“I’m not even sure the resurrection serum works,” Quill says. “Anyways, I don’t think that movement’s going to get anywhere.”
“I hope you’re right,” Nest says. He looks around at the dock and shoreline. “You know, we’ve caused quite a media stir. The Guardian of the State, the Royal Master of Sciences, and the Baron of Australia going to negotiate a treaty with a new world-”
“Wait, Baron Stevenson’s going with us?” Quill asks.
Nest shrugs. “Apparently your suggestion of making a protectorate out of some of his territories was received well. He wants to be part of the negotiations. In fact, I’ll go see if he’s boarded now.”
Erin Quill watches as Nest turns and walks away, then stands alone near the railing.
A few minutes later, he hears a distinctive hiss-whoosh and spins around.
“Nice view, right, Erin?” David says, gesturing at the shoreline. His left hand is still clamped around the Key of Taloc, its red core quiescent in a cage of gray metal. Behind him, the whirlwind of light he just emerged from diminishes and dissipates.
“David, why are you here?” Erin Quill demands.
“Oh wait,” David responds. “Are we at war now? Sorry, I’m kind of out of the loop on that.”
“We’re not,” Quill answers. “Although we might be close. Enir Nest wants you locked up and researched for your teleportation ability.”
“That won’t work,” David says. “I can only teleport because I have the Secondborn’s energy supply. Without an equivalent reserve of power, you wouldn’t be able to do this.”
“Still, he wants you out of the picture, so you’d best lay low for a while.”
“The Protinam have been laying low for hundreds of years, Erin, I can handle myself,” David replies. “By the way, the Pillar of Time - our big beacon thingy - is at these coordinates.” He hands Quill a slip of paper with some numbers written on it. “I’ve deactivated the traps surrounding it, but it’s on a mountain in the middle of nowhere, so nobody’s going to steal it. And I disassembled the cult made by the last guy to use this Key,” he continues, looking at the Key of Taloc.
“But none of that is why I’m here.” David looks sharply at Quill. “You - you, and all of you, said that you wanted to resurrect Anna. Do you still want to? And if so, why and how?”
Post by: Glass on July 04, 2020, 02:25:15 pm
Anyway.
Yes, I do still want to resurrect her, because 1. I feel like it’s the right thing to do, 2. I generally prefer to hold to my previous intentions unless I’ve been given a good reason not to (which in this situation I do not feel I have), and 3. Despite what it may seem at times, I do not want you angry at us.
As for how, I believe you’re aware of the other reality, Order of the Stick? Magic is commonplace there, resurrection is commonplace there. While I cannot say for certain that it would be easy, given Anna’s soul is inside the Key, there are even ways around that, given a powerful enough spellcaster, and I believe that we have the resources to acquire the services of one, at least for this.
If I may ask my own question: do you have access to here only, or can you also see our other channels of discussion? I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve answered that before, but I honestly don’t remember.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 04, 2020, 02:39:06 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on July 04, 2020, 07:10:38 pm
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 04, 2020, 07:15:22 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on July 04, 2020, 07:20:11 pm
((Brain damage and severed limbs are far from inconsequential))Not in D&D!
Quote from: 3.5e SRD
The condition of the remains is not a factor. So long as some small portion of the creature’s body still exists, it can be resurrected, but the portion receiving the spell must have been part of the creature’s body at the time of death. (The remains of a creature hit by a disintegrate spell count as a small portion of its body.) The creature can have been dead no longer than 10 years per caster level.
Post by: Glass on July 04, 2020, 09:25:22 pm
I have, additionally, occasionally thought of an additional alternative, though it is not one that I can say I have any confidence in; it is much more theoretical, and dependent on a great deal of luck regarding the properties of the Key. Seeing as the Key contains Anna's soul - at least, as best as I understand the situation - it may, may, be possible to construct an artificial, most likely mechanical, body set up to house the Key such that she can control it from within.
Honestly, the latter proposition is much more of a thought experiment, and would require much more study of the Key before we might even consider being able to follow through with it. I am, however, confident that the former plan could be made to work.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 04, 2020, 09:29:00 pm
Post by: Glass on July 04, 2020, 09:30:06 pm
((Because going to an alternate reality is easier than building a body? Why?))The hard part is not the body, the hard part is getting it to somehow interface with the Key such that Anna's consciousness is not only housed in it, but can control it as one may control the body they were born in.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 04, 2020, 09:35:30 pm
Interesting. Do we know what material(s) the key is made of? Maybe if the body is made of matching materials as the key, and the key could be merged with the body, and it being the same material...wait, no, that might not work if the material of the key is keeping her soul dormant. How did she get trapped in the key in the first place?((Because going to an alternate reality is easier than building a body? Why?))The hard part is not the body, the hard part is getting it to somehow interface with the Key such that Anna's consciousness is not only housed in it, but can control it as one may control the body they were born in.
Post by: Glass on July 04, 2020, 09:40:08 pm
She got trapped inside because she gave up her soul to it so that it would be repaired - for use against the Secondborn, if my recollection serves me correctly (which it very well may not). I do not believe we know what material it is made of.Interesting. Do we know what material(s) the key is made of? Maybe if the body is made of matching materials as the key, and the key could be merged with the body, and it being the same material...wait, no, that might not work if the material of the key is keeping her soul dormant. How did she get trapped in the key in the first place?((Because going to an alternate reality is easier than building a body? Why?))The hard part is not the body, the hard part is getting it to somehow interface with the Key such that Anna's consciousness is not only housed in it, but can control it as one may control the body they were born in.
And yes, how much influence her soul has over the ring is very much the question, as is whether or not she is even conscious inside it.
There are far fewer unanswered questions with the OotS-verse mechanics for resurrection, which is why we should really be pursuing that path first.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 04, 2020, 09:45:48 pm
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 04, 2020, 09:48:31 pm
How do we know our current character knows of another universe? Is this the one who found a fourth wall break that summoned a meteor? I came in late, but I do remember the ship
Yep, both Erin Quill (our character) and David Eborrenial (person you are talking to) have seen the fourth wall break, and thus know about the other universe.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 04, 2020, 09:52:35 pm
they might know of our universe, but thst doesn’t mean they know of whatever universe Glass is talking aboutHow do we know our current character knows of another universe? Is this the one who found a fourth wall break that summoned a meteor? I came in late, but I do remember the ship
Yep, both Erin Quill (our character) and David Eborrenial (person you are talking to) have seen the fourth wall break, and thus know about the other universe.
Post by: Glass on July 04, 2020, 10:10:23 pm
Erin Quill knows about the Order of the Stick universe because we know about the Order of the Stick universe, and also Celling has likely briefed him, or at the very least they've pretended Celling briefed him to cover for knowing it via the fourth wall.they might know of our universe, but thst doesn’t mean they know of whatever universe Glass is talking aboutHow do we know our current character knows of another universe? Is this the one who found a fourth wall break that summoned a meteor? I came in late, but I do remember the ship
Yep, both Erin Quill (our character) and David Eborrenial (person you are talking to) have seen the fourth wall break, and thus know about the other universe.
David knows about the Order of the Stick universe because he could read stuff that had happened previously in the thread, and the OotS stuff had already happened.
Everyone is on the same page about the basic facts, I believe.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on July 12, 2020, 10:15:56 pm
Hello again, David. I’m going to assume that you know who is sending you each message, because I really don’t want to have to preface each one with “This is Glass”, and I especially don’t want everyone else prefacing their messages with “This is Glass” and you not knowing that they’re not me.
Anyway.
Yes, I do still want to resurrect her, because 1. I feel like it’s the right thing to do, 2. I generally prefer to hold to my previous intentions unless I’ve been given a good reason not to (which in this situation I do not feel I have), and 3. Despite what it may seem at times, I do not want you angry at us.
As for how, I believe you’re aware of the other reality, Order of the Stick? Magic is commonplace there, resurrection is commonplace there. While I cannot say for certain that it would be easy, given Anna’s soul is inside the Key, there are even ways around that, given a powerful enough spellcaster, and I believe that we have the resources to acquire the services of one, at least for this.
If I may ask my own question: do you have access to here only, or can you also see our other channels of discussion? I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve answered that before, but I honestly don’t remember.
This is Glass Ceiling, Glass Celling's distant cousin.We want to resurrect Anna because we keep our word and know of a place where this can be arranged with fewer side-effects than our technology alone can accomplish regardless of inconsequential things like brain damage and severed limbs. We need only diamonds and money to put this plan into actionand thus wrap up a near-abandoned plot thread/snarl
David nods. “I’ll take you on your word then, Quill - and company. I’m guessing that your resurrection methods - the one devised by Dr. d’ Florist - wouldn’t work in this situation? So we’ll need a diamond, and some part of her body, as well as the cooperation of… Durkon, right? And are we going to be doing this in secret, or do you plan to convince your government to clear the way?”
How do you respond?
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on July 12, 2020, 10:20:56 pm
Post by: Glass on July 12, 2020, 10:26:49 pm
Your understanding of the process is correct, to the best of my knowledge, though it'll need to be an expensive diamond - not that I could tell you right now how expensive, because I don't believe that we know the exchange rate between gold in the OotS-verse and... whatever the currency here is? I don't know if that's ever been addressed.
I believe that it would be best for us to clear this with the government, or at least attempt to to begin with (note: this does not mean it needs to be something public, just making sure it's approved). If they don't approve it, you could teleport yourself and Celling over to where the gate is and he can say it was cleared; our message can get through before the official message does if we do it that way, I think (Blue hasn't been very cooperative with how quickly information can get from Antarctica to South America and vice versa before, and that helps us here).
Pre-post edit due to KJP: Yes, if you could give us some information on the likely outcomes of various ways of doing this, that could be useful for actually deciding how to go about doing it.
EDIT: Ah, an additional note. Azure City has a variety of other reasonably high-level clerics, so we need not solely rely upon getting Durkon's help. It may still be welcome, due to his status as a main character, but that would also come with the risk of dramatic complications.
Post by: Naturegirl1999 on July 13, 2020, 09:42:45 am
Post by: blueturtle1134 on August 05, 2020, 09:11:53 pm
"I defer to your considerable expertise on the future. Let's go with the plan least likely to fail horribly."
David sighs. “I don’t have knowledge of the future. Even if the beacon was up - which it’s not - all of our timeline data is invalidated because of all the decisions made recently with precognition - and fourth wall knowledge. And even if they weren’t, we’d probably only get static because of how much fourth wall knowledge you plan to use in negotiations with the world beyond the rift. I’m just as clueless about the future as you.”
Seeing as Anna's soul is trapped inside the Key, yeah, I'm pretty sure d'Florist's method wouldn't work - or if it could, the product likely would not be Anna.
Your understanding of the process is correct, to the best of my knowledge, though it'll need to be an expensive diamond - not that I could tell you right now how expensive, because I don't believe that we know the exchange rate between gold in the OotS-verse and... whatever the currency here is? I don't know if that's ever been addressed.
I believe that it would be best for us to clear this with the government, or at least attempt to to begin with (note: this does not mean it needs to be something public, just making sure it's approved). If they don't approve it, you could teleport yourself and Celling over to where the gate is and he can say it was cleared; our message can get through before the official message does if we do it that way, I think (Blue hasn't been very cooperative with how quickly information can get from Antarctica to South America and vice versa before, and that helps us here).
Pre-post edit due to KJP: Yes, if you could give us some information on the likely outcomes of various ways of doing this, that could be useful for actually deciding how to go about doing it.
EDIT: Ah, an additional note. Azure City has a variety of other reasonably high-level clerics, so we need not solely rely upon getting Durkon's help. It may still be welcome, due to his status as a main character, but that would also come with the risk of dramatic complications.
David nods. “Alright, let’s go ask Nest.”
Quill is taken aback as David walks behind him and turns around. “Wait, you don’t-”
Enir Nest is talking with Baron Stevenson when he hears a crackling whoosh behind him.
Erin Quill stumbles out of the portal, pushed by the warped gravitational forces. David steps over the threshold. The whirlwind of light winds dies down behind him.
Nest takes a second to recognize David from their brief encounter on the Etna. To his credit, he reacts immediately after that, shouting an order for the Baron’s guards to hold David at gunpoint. David takes a step back, extending his right arm in front of him to point at Nest, while the Key opens up and pulses a dull red in his left. “Don’t shoot,” he says. “In fact, don’t even think about shooting.”
“David, what do you want?” Nest demands.
“I’ve been conducting my own survey of the world beyond the rift in Andes High Command,” David replies smoothly. “They have access to a form of magic that can restore a deceased person’s body given their soul. Anna’s soul, or something like it, is trapped in this Key, and I wish to resurrect her.”
Nest seems to consider this for a moment. “And that would remove her soul from the Key, thereby depowering it?” he asks.
“Yes. I don’t trust myself with this power, and I don’t trust anyone else either.”
“I agree,” Nest says sharply. “I will assist you in this endeavor. What do you know about this resurrection power?”
“Certain priests in the world beyond the rift have access to it, including one Durkon of the Order of the Stick,” David answers. “You will also need a catalyst - a diamond of significant size.”
“We’ll find one,” Nest assures.
David seems to think of something. “Oh, and Anna gets pardoned, along with her friends. I’m not letting you resurrect her and immediately execute her.”
“Don’t push your luck, David,” Nest replies. “We aren’t letting you dictate arbitrary demands to the government.”
What do you say, if anything? (This is really because I realized that reducing the rebels' sentence was actually one thing you were talking about but I didn't give you a chance)
Post by: Glass on August 05, 2020, 09:29:51 pm
Second. We're not pardoning them. Whether or not they were actively attempting to undermine the Republic -" roll eyes at having to call it that "- is not a topic that is up for debate. However, I am inclined to agree that an execution is not the correct punishment. They're clearly intelligent enough to have not been caught and stopped immediately, and for all that their methods were absolutely terrible, their complaints were not invalid. The Republic is in need of reforms; it's simply that there are proper avenues for making them happen. And besides, if we execute them, dozens other revolutionaries would crop up - you know how these things work, martyrs, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine", and all that - and then hundreds, and now we have a much larger problem on our hands. Best to avoid that.
The surviving rebels - including, hopefully, Anna - should see punishment for their crimes. A number of years in prison would seem sensible to me. But, I also believe that it would be appropriate for them to be able to do service, both as part of the sentence and as a manner to reduce it. Community service, so they can get to actually know Antarctica and stop seeing it as some monolithic bastion of oppression - and advising us on what life is like in South America, because I doubt that they're the only discontented members of that society. We all know the good we do, but how much do they see, especially through the lens of the conquered nation? If we ignore their grievances, this can only happen again."
Post by: Madman198237 on August 05, 2020, 09:49:49 pm
"First off, please at least tell me when you're going to pull me through a portal. Ignoring everything else, that was just rude.
Second. We're not pardoning them. Whether or not they were actively attempting to undermine the Republic -" roll eyes at having to call it that "- is not a topic that is up for debate. However, I am inclined to agree that an execution is not the correct punishment. They're clearly intelligent enough to have not been caught and stopped immediately, and for all that their methods were absolutely terrible, their complaints were not invalid. The Republic is in need of reforms; it's simply that there are proper avenues for making them happen. And besides, if we execute them, dozens other revolutionaries would crop up - you know how these things work, martyrs, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine", and all that - and then hundreds, and now we have a much larger problem on our hands. Best to avoid that.
The surviving rebels - including, hopefully, Anna - should see punishment for their crimes. A number of years in prison would seem sensible to me. But, I also believe that it would be appropriate for them to be able to do service, both as part of the sentence and as a manner to reduce it. Community service, so they can get to actually know Antarctica and stop seeing it as some monolithic bastion of oppression - and advising us on what life is like in South America, because I doubt that they're the only discontented members of that society. We all know the good we do, but how much do they see, especially through the lens of the conquered nation? If we ignore their grievances, this can only happen again."
This but the punishment for all the remaining rebels is determined by a good old fashioned trial by jury.
Post by: Glass on August 06, 2020, 03:20:38 pm
Fair. But I would prefer that they not be executed."First off, please at least tell me when you're going to pull me through a portal. Ignoring everything else, that was just rude.
Second. We're not pardoning them. Whether or not they were actively attempting to undermine the Republic -" roll eyes at having to call it that "- is not a topic that is up for debate. However, I am inclined to agree that an execution is not the correct punishment. They're clearly intelligent enough to have not been caught and stopped immediately, and for all that their methods were absolutely terrible, their complaints were not invalid. The Republic is in need of reforms; it's simply that there are proper avenues for making them happen. And besides, if we execute them, dozens other revolutionaries would crop up - you know how these things work, martyrs, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine", and all that - and then hundreds, and now we have a much larger problem on our hands. Best to avoid that.
The surviving rebels - including, hopefully, Anna - should see punishment for their crimes. A number of years in prison would seem sensible to me. But, I also believe that it would be appropriate for them to be able to do service, both as part of the sentence and as a manner to reduce it. Community service, so they can get to actually know Antarctica and stop seeing it as some monolithic bastion of oppression - and advising us on what life is like in South America, because I doubt that they're the only discontented members of that society. We all know the good we do, but how much do they see, especially through the lens of the conquered nation? If we ignore their grievances, this can only happen again."
This but the punishment for all the remaining rebels is determined by a good old fashioned trial by jury.
Could you write up an alternative to the second paragraph for that, though?
Post by: Madman198237 on October 18, 2020, 09:03:38 pm
"First off, please at least tell me when you're going to pull me through a portal. Ignoring everything else, that was just rude.
Second. We're not pardoning them. Whether or not they were actively attempting to undermine the Republic -" roll eyes at having to call it that "- is not a topic that is up for debate. However, I am inclined to agree that an execution is not the correct punishment. They're clearly intelligent enough to have not been caught and stopped immediately, and for all that their methods were absolutely terrible, their complaints were not invalid. The Republic is in need of reforms; it's simply that there are proper avenues for making them happen. And besides, if we execute them, dozens other revolutionaries would crop up - you know how these things work, martyrs, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine", and all that - and then hundreds, and now we have a much larger problem on our hands. Best to avoid that.
All surviving rebels are to be tried for any actual crimes they committed, with the question of treason and its obvious extreme punishment set aside. Disagreeing with the government is one thing, murders and robbery and attempting to set off a device that would level a large portion of a continent are another. Their grievances will be considered; they'll have to be if we're to move forwards and not disintegrate into a factional civil war as barons and loyalists and people who have been mistreated all try to take part of the country for their own. But first, justice must be served or we will just become a different form of lawless, where the ends justify the means no matter how terrible."
Say the above.
Post by: Glass on October 18, 2020, 09:09:54 pm
Here's the whole deal with a replacement second paragraph so we can get this game moving:+1
"First off, please at least tell me when you're going to pull me through a portal. Ignoring everything else, that was just rude.
Second. We're not pardoning them. Whether or not they were actively attempting to undermine the Republic -" roll eyes at having to call it that "- is not a topic that is up for debate. However, I am inclined to agree that an execution is not the correct punishment. They're clearly intelligent enough to have not been caught and stopped immediately, and for all that their methods were absolutely terrible, their complaints were not invalid. The Republic is in need of reforms; it's simply that there are proper avenues for making them happen. And besides, if we execute them, dozens other revolutionaries would crop up - you know how these things work, martyrs, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine", and all that - and then hundreds, and now we have a much larger problem on our hands. Best to avoid that.
All surviving rebels are to be tried for any actual crimes they committed, with the question of treason and its obvious extreme punishment set aside. Disagreeing with the government is one thing, murders and robbery and attempting to set off a device that would level a large portion of a continent are another. Their grievances will be considered; they'll have to be if we're to move forwards and not disintegrate into a factional civil war as barons and loyalists and people who have been mistreated all try to take part of the country for their own. But first, justice must be served or we will just become a different form of lawless, where the ends justify the means no matter how terrible."
Say the above.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on November 04, 2020, 07:13:38 pm
"First off, please at least tell me when you're going to pull me through a portal. Ignoring everything else, that was just rude.
Second. We're not pardoning them. Whether or not they were actively attempting to undermine the Republic -" roll eyes at having to call it that "- is not a topic that is up for debate. However, I am inclined to agree that an execution is not the correct punishment. They're clearly intelligent enough to have not been caught and stopped immediately, and for all that their methods were absolutely terrible, their complaints were not invalid.”
“Quill, I’ve heard whispers about you being a rebel sympathizer, but I decided to ignore them,” Nest interjects. “Watch what you’re saying.”
‘The Republic is in need of reforms,” Erin Quill notes. “And there’s proper avenues for making them happen.”
“The rebels lost any claim to those avenues when they decided to launch a rebellion,” Nest replies. “They could have petitioned for change, but instead they became criminals.”
“If we execute them, dozens other revolutionaries would crop up - you know how these things work, martyrs, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine", and all that,” Quill continues. “Best to avoid the whole mess.”
Nest thinks about this for a moment. “You have a point, Quill. Better repentant prisoners than defeated heroes. What’s your proposal?”
“All surviving rebels are to be tried for any actual crimes they committed, with the question of treason and its obvious extreme punishment set aside. Disagreeing with the government is one thing, murders and robbery and attempting to set off a device that would level a large portion of a continent are another. Their grievances will be considered; they'll have to be if we're to move forwards and not disintegrate into a factional civil war as barons and loyalists and people who have been mistreated all try to take part of the country for their own. But first, justice must be served or we will just become a different form of lawless, where the ends justify the means no matter how terrible."
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
Nest listens to Quill’s suggestions. “I accept your proposal,” he finally replies. “In return for David’s cooperation in extracting Anna’s soul from the Key, we’ll drop the charge of treason and hear the grievances the rebels come up with.”
David considers this, then nods. “I’ll take that.”
“We’re still going to charge the rebels with related crimes,” Nest warns. “Murder, larceny, breaking and entering…”
“And I’m sure they’ll get a fair trial on those grounds,” David says darkly. He lowers his hand and turns to leave.
“There’s still the matter of actually getting the soul out of the Key,” Nest calls out. “We have little idea how the Key works, and when it was broken, it killed the person who broke it and opened the interdimensional rift. We have no idea how to safely extract a soul from the device.”
David stops and seems to meditate for a moment, closing his eyes. "Based on my own surveys, the magic we intend to use only requires that the soul be freed. We can blow the Key up with a bomb or something."
"The explosion might destroy the soul," Nest counters. “I’d like to do more research first.”
“What, so you can find a way to replicate this technology?” David asks, gesturing with the Key gauntlet. “If you’re going to ask me to give you the Key, forget about it.”
“Then how about giving it directly to Erin Quill? You seem to trust him,” Nest proposes. “Or we could study it while you maintain control of it, although that might limit the tests you can do.”
What does Quill suggest?
A: That David keeps the Key.
B: That David allow Quill to study the Key but doesn’t surrender it
C: That David give Quill the Key so he can study it
D: Something else…
And what will your actual goal be if you picked B or C?
A: Determine how to safely extract Anna’s soul, and nothing else.
B: Attempt to learn enough about the Key to replicate the technology.
C: Steal the Key!
(Replicating the Key will be a scientific roll, with a 10 required for full replication, and option B in first inflicting a -2 penalty.)
(Stealing the Key when you have control of it is an auto-success.)
(Stealing the Key while David has it will be a fun scene to write.)
Post by: Glass on November 05, 2020, 01:09:17 am
However, also study - as a backup and interim measure, for before we figure out how to safely release Anna's soul/if we figure out that we can't safely release Anna's soul - methods with which to allow a soul that is trapped within the Key to exert an influence on the outside world. For example, a robot body.
We can ask about studying it for other applications - for example, keeping terminally ill people in stasis until we can try to treat them - at a later time, when/if David trusts us more. Studying the broken pieces could also be valid for that part.
Post by: Rockeater on December 04, 2020, 02:18:25 pm
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on January 05, 2021, 09:47:14 pm
Post by: Smoke Mirrors on March 09, 2021, 10:36:56 pm
BA."+1 to whatever Glass said."
However, also study - as a backup and interim measure, for before we figure out how to safely release Anna's soul/if we figure out that we can't safely release Anna's soul - methods with which to allow a soul that is trapped within the Key to exert an influence on the outside world. For example, a robot body.
We can ask about studying it for other applications - for example, keeping terminally ill people in stasis until we can try to treat them - at a later time, when/if David trusts us more. Studying the broken pieces could also be valid for that part.
Post by: Madman198237 on March 09, 2021, 10:43:17 pm
+1BA."+1 to whatever Glass said."
However, also study - as a backup and interim measure, for before we figure out how to safely release Anna's soul/if we figure out that we can't safely release Anna's soul - methods with which to allow a soul that is trapped within the Key to exert an influence on the outside world. For example, a robot body.
We can ask about studying it for other applications - for example, keeping terminally ill people in stasis until we can try to treat them - at a later time, when/if David trusts us more. Studying the broken pieces could also be valid for that part.
Post by: blueturtle1134 on March 15, 2021, 10:58:58 pm
+1BA."+1 to whatever Glass said."
However, also study - as a backup and interim measure, for before we figure out how to safely release Anna's soul/if we figure out that we can't safely release Anna's soul - methods with which to allow a soul that is trapped within the Key to exert an influence on the outside world. For example, a robot body.
We can ask about studying it for other applications - for example, keeping terminally ill people in stasis until we can try to treat them - at a later time, when/if David trusts us more. Studying the broken pieces could also be valid for that part.
Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)
“Nothing.” Quill says. He checks over the readouts one more time to be sure.
Spoiler: What about using a robot? (click to show/hide)
“Nothing,” he repeats. David Eborrenial, Erin Quill, and Enir Nest are standing in Quill’s lab. The Key of Taloc is still active and still in David’s hands, with wires running out of it to Quill’s instruments.
“I thought I’d be able to at least interface with the soul and communicate with it or something, but I can’t even determine how exactly it’s being contained. Whatever mechanism pulls it in seems to be completely one-way.”
“There’s no way to bring her back, then,” David says flatly.
Do you suggest another way?
A: Suggest bringing it to the OOTS universe anyway, in the hopes that they have something that can free the soul.
B: Suggest that David give you the Key so you can study it further (reroll with no maluses)
C: Suggest nothing.
Post by: Glass on March 15, 2021, 11:53:26 pm
"I promise you, we will not give up until we have well and truly exhausted our options. The people there have had experience with trapped souls; if anybody can help us figure this out, it will be them."
Post by: Glass on June 26, 2021, 09:28:47 pm
A.
"I promise you, we will not give up until we have well and truly exhausted our options. The people there have had experience with trapped souls; if anybody can help us figure this out, it will be them."
"We could bring her to Azure City. The people there have experience with trapped souls; if anybody can help us figure this out, it will be them. And even if that doesn't work, I promise you, we will not give up until we have well and truly exhausted our options." Quill looks David in the eye; the determination in each is clear to both.
David looks away first, and sighs. Runs his hand through his hair. "Yeah, yeah, I- I know. I'm just... she's practically dead. Maybe even worse, because there's still that sliver of hope to make it keep hurting."
Quill puts a hand on his shoulder. "I understand. You're worried about her, and I won't tell you not to be. But this is about our last option on this."
In order to convince him to give it a try: 2d6, can look into it on 5 or higher, as the dice would be rolled before the action is actually undertaken (if the result would be bad, it won't happen in the first place). Roll: 5+5 = 10, success.
"Are you... are you sure?" David looks back at Quill. The Visionary looks so... deflated, from how Erin is used to seeing him.
What would the dice say? 2d6+2, based on the original table... it would be 3+4+2 for a total of 9. Erin Quill would be able to extract her soul!
Erin hesitates. "...listen. I know you're reluctant to hand over the Key, and for good reasons. But the only other remaining option - and the only one that doesn't rely on magic or any other extradimensional stuff that we don't understand - is if you would allow me to take the Key - purely temporarily, of course - and study it properly. Would you be willing to do that?"
David closes his eyes, scrunches up his face. Takes a deep breath, and lets it out. "...fine. Fine. You can have it. I don't like it, but you can have it." He glares at Quill. "Do not make me regret this."
He hands the Key to Erin, who nods solemnly. "I won't. I swear on my life."
David nods back. "Good enough."
The next day, everyone is back in the lab. Erin looks much happier than he had the previous day.
“We can get her out.”
David’s expression soars, before crashing back into the ground. “Good. That’s good! But - once she’s out, what can we do then?”
Erin gives a small sigh. “That’s the big question, really. And why I haven’t actually extracted her yet.”
Post by: blueturtle1134 on June 26, 2021, 10:54:24 pm
“That’s the big question, really. And why I haven’t actually extracted her yet.”
...why are you all looking at me? I don't know why he hasn't extracted her yet.
Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)
Flashback: Night, previous day
"Amazing, Quill," Enir Nest says, leaning against a wall. "You actually got him to give you the Key?"
"Perhaps unlike you, I actually make an effort to get people to trust me, Nest," Erin Quill replies. He doesn't look up from his work, which consists of a mess of wires and instruments hooked up to the red piece of glass at the core of the Key.
Nest gestures at this assembly. “How’s this going?”
“Excellently,” Quill answers. He lifts his goggles and turns to face Nest. “Getting it out of the supporting structure made the difference. I can reverse the process that pulled Anna’s consciousness into the Key, so that when activated, the Key will transfer it back out instead.”
“And that will resurrect her?”
“Hopefully, yes.”
Enir Nest nods. “And leave the Key intact, if empty, I suppose.”
“I’m unsure if the process will damage it. I’ve located and deactivated the mechanisms restricting when the soul will be transferred - I have no idea how those will affect the reverse transfer, so it’s better to disable them. It’d be a good idea to have nobody else touch the Key when we throw the switch” Quill answers.
“And, conversely, we could drain someone else’s soul into the thing quite easily,” Nest muses.
“I’m going to recommend against that for hopefully obvious reasons,” Quill replies.
“You may be right. Might we be able to make our own Key?”
“Probably not. I haven’t deciphered a tenth of it, and we have no means of manufacturing one anyway.”
“How about the other idea, then? Can we design a countermeasure?”
Spoiler: Well, how about it? (click to show/hide)
“...well, that’s more complicated,” Quill admits. “I have a few theories, but I can’t validate any of them by just looking at the Key itself. I need to examine its interactions with a living mind…”
“...which would entail powering it up and using it.” Nest says.
“Which would equate to torturing Anna, or whatever’s left of her, even further,” Quill states.
“Are you worried about David’s reaction?” Nest asks.
“He might not be able to tell. Same with Anna, once we’ve resurrected her.” Quill answers.
What do you say next?
A: “I’ll get things ready for the test.”
B: “Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s worth it. Drop the idea."
Post by: Kilojoule Proton on June 26, 2021, 11:04:46 pm
Post by: Glass on June 27, 2021, 12:27:38 am
There ideally shouldn’t be any more Key(s) after this, so a countermeasure isn’t really worthwhile? At least not at this potential cost.