Bay 12 Games Forum

One thing that I always try to mention in threads about UI is the reason Toady delays it.

Major updates relating to whatever aspect of the game is associated with the UI will require changing the UI. This means that, by the end of the game, a bit of UI implemented in the beginning will either have been tinkered with umpteen times or completely replaced at least ones. Neither endless tinkering nor periodic complete replacements are ideal, so (AFAIK) Toady intends to get the game mostly done, then worry about the interface once it won't need to be changed again.

It's not entirely illegal. You can shout the charges as he's being shoved through the dock.

Well, a couple problems...
1. This leaves the relevant authorities' knowing we're not breaking the law for a dangerously late point in time.
2. We can't back it up with the warrant. This means the Count would be entirely justified in chasing us, as long as he didn't give orders to kill us on sight.

I'm interested in the logistics. The intent can be whatever you guys want it to be, just so long as the moment we grab him, he's in a vulnerable place near the docks arranged by a ruse from the Rat, and we do it aggressively without asking the Count's permission. That's subterfuge.

1. Why would we need the Duke's permission? We have the Duke's.
2. How are we going to get him in such a position? If we can arrest him suchlike, excellent, but if not it's workable. We have force and the authority and justification to use it.

I'm not particularly worried about cavalry reaching us on a boat.

Which means that, regardless of if we use your plan or mine, the cavalry are a non-issue.

And if he follows us on boat, his forces are stated to be mostly heavy men-at-arms, whereas we're mostly archers. On boats, that's a situation I'm willing to risk.

Yes, because of course there's not a single archer, let alone enough to risk wounding the men, and there's no way we can avoid it anyways.
Sarcasm, in case you can't tell.

We have our winners! I'll post everything that's relevant to them, then the rest of you guys at the bottom.

...

Gretchen W. Gardener (GreatWyrmGold)

Holy carp!

Name: Gretchen W. Gardener (hey, it's a nice acronym!)
Age: 15
Appearance: Gretchen has large, red eyes which draw most peoples' attention. Her dark black hair would be thick and wavy if she didn't cut it so short; it's maybe a centimeter, tops, possibly half that. She is pretty thin, especially at the waist. Gretchen wears blacks and blues, often both colors at once, as well as several bracelets (not all at once, but usually not only one or two at once either).
Family: Includes Mother, Father, Elder Brother (deceased), Younger Sister, Maternal Grandmother
Interests: Science Fiction, Entomology, Thrills, Literature
Personality: Secretive and tricky. Typically more likely to hide her strengths than show them off. Obfusticates clumsiness when not around anything important. Despite this, pretty kind. Generally speaks her mind when not lying.
Bio: Gretchen was born to a fairly well-off family. She always had too much free time, a lot of which was spent with her older brother. Dan wasn't a good influence. While Gretchen never got into the kind of trouble her brother did, she does enjoy causing mischief. Despite this, Gretchen is a kind girl when people or certain kinds of animals get involved, and she always tries to stop her mischief before people actually get hurt; these are due to the more gentle influence of her father, a Christian who tries to raise his children to be moral and disciplined, which was more successful with each child. In contrast, her mother was often at work or something, and when at home her standards were high; this, in turn, lead Gretchen to work hard at her studies.
At school, Gretchen mostly stuck to her own group of friends, including a few other girls who enjoyed her general sense of humor. Gretchen was typically the one who kept the group on the less dark side; the others were either more shy or more apathetic. Aside from this group, she hung out with some sort-of nerds; while she didn't initially like them much more than anyone else, she wasn't as good a student as she thought her mom would want her to be, and so studied with them. It was here that she picked up her enjoyment of science fiction and certain select sciences.
Not quite a year before the Contract, Daniel enlisted in the army*; this was an emotional time for Gretchen, due to her close relationship with her brother.
Yeah, this will probably need to be expanded more.

Description of the Situation of the Contract: The strange creature which granted her wish
Wish: After considering "I wish you would not grant this wish," "I wish I didn't have to be a magical girl," "I wish for omnipotence," and "I wish I could go to Hogwarts," Gretchen decided to think about it before actually making the wish. She got home and noticed her mother home early. It turns out, Daniel had been killed. Gretchen was glad she hadn't wasted her wish on any petty thing like messing around with the Powers-That-Be or Hogwarts, and promptly wished Daniel was alive again.
Life since: Well, evidently that wasn't as easy as it sounded...Gretchen was grief-stricken and wouldn't listen, so eventually the wish was granted as far as the creature could. Which wasn't far. Needless to say, this traumatized Gretchen, her family, and her brother's unit all the more. Understandably, Gretchen felt a bit...displeased about this situation. Specifically, she felt cheated...she wanted her brother back, but got nothing. Gretchen also doesn't understand the importance of her work. Hence, she's been doing everything she can to fulfill the letter of her agreement while violating the spirit, to get some petty vengeance. I suppose I'd need to know a bit about what my "partner" is writing up before I get into more detail.
Trust: Well, Diane may be a bit...off, but she's friendly. Gretchen feels a bit protective of Diane, in part because of her frankly terrible life so far, in part because of her slightly lesser magical power, and perhaps in part because something about her reminds Gretchen of Jane. Again, more on this when I see how Diane trusts Gretchen.

Magical Weapon: A blue hand crossbow. It has a blue crystal resembling Gretchen's soul gem at the base of the grip. It has a spidery design of black lines running across the main part and the bow part is jointed like arthropod legs. The bolts are simple wooden ones, made from sticks by Gretchen when no one's looking. When fired, the bolts can turn into a wide variety of things, from fire to centipedes.
Magical Outfit: When Gretchen is on magical girl business, she wears a navy blue...shirt, I guess?...and a matching skirt. Under this is a pair of baby blue leggings, over which are some black shoes. Enveloping this whole ensemble is a hooded cloak as black as her hair, which grows almost long enough to reach the floor during transformations. (Not that it shrinks afterwards; she carries some good hair-cutting clippers in her normal clothes.) She wears several large, elaborate bracelets on the outside of her sleeves, most with stones the same size, shape, and color of her Soul Gem (a dark sapphire), but her actual Soul Gem is on the back inside of her hood.


Boring but Easy Rules Stuff:
SP 36/36
Str 4
Dex 5
Agi 6
Int 5
Wil 4
Cha 4

Defined Spell:

Summon Swarm--Summons a good number of arthropods of a specified type or types to a nearby location.

-----

I hope scapheap gets in soon; I just noticed Clair's interest in insects. I think that the two of them would get along pretty well...
Anyways. An hour earlier than guessed, give or take several minutes. Critiques and lore help?

EDIT: And I hope Harry's girl is a lot more cheerful and not-crappy than mine after the wish.
LATER EDIT: Well...a little.

It space, that's almost absurdly close.

1. I disagree with the high chance of success with our subterfuge. We don't have anyone trained with that. Closest we have it the Rat, who seems more of an informant than a kidnapper, and who doesn't seem too loyal to us anyways.

2. Why are you so sure the merchant would flee, successfully? It's not like the Count would want to try too hard in defying the Duke's will--it would be suspicious.

3. The Duke may not want a war, but if the Count starts one...

4. The King may not have much personal army, but can't he draw from the armies of lesser nobles to perform national goals like keeping the peace?

((Next relevant question: Was the battle at night or in the day from the Ninth Continent/wherever Nelkathar was?)

Where in the sky was the battle?

Blending probably results in:

Dwarf 1: Full-time Miner
Dwarf 2: Full-time Miner
Dwarf 3: Woodworker
Dwarf 4: Smith, Mechanic, Part-time Miner
Dwarf 5: Part-time Miner, Soldier, Teacher
Dwarf 6: Part-time Miner, Soldier, Teacher
Dwarf 7: ?? (probably broker/bookkeeper/manager/etc)

Food, including seeds and alcohol
Logs, at least 10 but likely closer to 20
Copper and tin ores
Picks, Anvil
Breeding pairs of various critters, including geese, cats, and dogs

Anything else, or should we strike the earth?