Letter Bee

L.A By Night (Classic World of Darkness: Vampires, Werecreatures, Mages, Demons, Hunters and more)

Priscilla Brown

Priscilla Brown wanted to hunt down the cult; she knew they were in Santa Monica. However, she just got a message from the other Lucas, Lucas Lee. This message was an official order: A Mage had just awoken in a Moderate/Secular Muslim household, and she should recruit him to the Chorus. Recognizing the need for swift action, Priscilla at once sends an E-mail to all three members of Anat Nesin's family, cordially inviting them to an 'Interfaith Families Meeting For Fighting Bigotry and Violence in the Neighborhood'. To ensure that there was a genuine Interfaith meeting, she arranged for several families, most of them connected to the Celestial Chorus by having members in that organization or otherwise serving it, to arrive as well.

How can she do this at short notice? Correspondence. Also, she swallowed her nervousness of Catholics in order to send an invitation to Father Walter via Internet as well, asking for his good offices for such an initiative.

@shada@Grec@Metronome

L.A By Night (Classic World of Darkness: Vampires, Werecreatures, Mages, Demons, Hunters and more)

I may have Lucas pitch at least a small fit. It'd be pretty OP if Hector could just irresistibly mind control people.

And not as fun

@Metronome

Do you want Priscilla to have slipped her enchanted letter opener back into his pocket some time in the timeskip?

Intrigues of Venedig - A Fantasy RP (18+)

@Rex

Sorry, swapped seth and shaun for whatever reason. I'll edit the post at some point for archiving purposes.

@Overlord Thraka@Tominas

That is fair, And I'll be honest these minions are on the side of overly optimized for combat. On top of that, while pulling out two commanders made sense for plot reasons, in terms of power scale it might not have been a good idea. My intention was to get everyone together and away from the man attempting to murder-rape them so that they could be trained and raised into the beautiful swans of bullshit op they were meant to be. It probably doesn't help that the logical conclusion of "terrorist has shot innocent man and attempted to attack me, therefore i will capture them" is also handled in a way that removes agency considering that, again, these characters are rather potent.

@Tyki

That overlaps a bit with what Kaspar is trying to do.

But, that said, glad the whole misunderstanding was resolved.

Intrigues of Venedig - A Fantasy RP (18+)

@Tyki@Claw2k11@Tominas@supertinyking@Overlord Thraka@Rex

Double-Post: I allowed Tyki to give Lady Vespid's minions World Spells, yes. I even allowed Tyki to use his superior knowledge of physics so that his World Magic spells can be optimally used. But what I did not want to see, what I will not tolerate, is the Big Bad of this entire RP being made into a joke. Nor will I allow 'Guards are not Mooks' to be distorted into 'PCs, however, are'.

PCs' choices matter, or rather, they should matter. If PCs make bad choices that might disrupt life for other players or bar themselves from deeper plot details, GMs are permitted to intervene. But only the absolute worst choices should be denied all escape. What am I trying to say? What I'm trying to say is that no matter how justifiably powerful Lady Vespid and her minions are, they cannot be allowed to turn the PCs and their own extraordinary capabiliites into mere chumps.

This is the PCs' story, as long as they keep to the general themes and directions set by the premise. Not mine or my Co-GM's. And so, for letting it come to this pass, I am sorry.

I have already made a GM Post that should return agency to the PCs.

Intrigues of Venedig - A Fantasy RP (18+)

@Tyki@Claw2k11@Tominas@supertinyking@Overlord Thraka@Rex

Summary of events that happened:

- Kaspar reveals that he is acting on behalf of the Church of Existence, then hints that The Lich and his Cult are behind the Rebellion and Iron Decree. He then tries to tell Lady Vespid off.
- Then, the Venedig Shipyard, also known as the Arsenal, is blown up, and The Lich, who is supposed to be the Main Villain and not a jobber, phases through the wall he had been embedded in, dusts himself off, then gloats.
- To add insult to injury, The Lich would then perfectly copy the spell Lady Vespid's avatar used to shoot one of Siegmund Holderlin's Mages through the wall of the building Mergoux was in, causing it to shake (as the Mage was still alive and using magic to try and get herself out) and give Mergoux an opportunity to escape.
- Then, the Lich would nullify gravity for everyone but himself, and his lesser undead spellcasters are on hand to prevent the PCs' own spellcasters from dispelling the spell.

Intrigues of Venedig - A Fantasy RP (18+)

GM Post

Kaspar, Frederick, and Heinrich stood down in unison, before the first would say, "I serve the Church of Existence as a whole; they cover for my actions. Nevertheless, I'm ready to demonstrate my willingness to cooperate." The rich merchant prince would then look at Lady Vespid's avatar, continuing, "Watch closely as Lord Siegmund Holderlin decides he doesn't need any help when confronting the ones responsible for the Reich's current state."

His tone then hardened. "Lady Vespid, or rather, Lady Vespid's avatar, can you please let the 'Shop Owner' go? Same for Lady Sauerstein and whatever prospective test subjects you've nabbed today. The reason why? Because I am trying to forge a united front to prevent the end of the world as we know it from occuring, and you are frustrating such efforts."



Then, from the far south of the city, came the sound of a major explosion, still audible from such a distance. Fire and smoke can be seen from the direction of Venedig's shipyard, where the most advanced facilities for naval construction in the world were placed. The shipyard was the pride and joy of the city, and Kaspar was visibly crestfallen as he saw the Lich phase through the wall he had been embedded in, dust himself off, and take the credit for the attack.

"And now the shipyard, also known as the Arsenale*, has been destroyed," The Lich would say as his undead compatriots encircled the open-air market anew. "This is what happens to those who believe in the Hubris of Existence, who fail to grant The Pantheon their due."

Looking at one of Siegmund Hoderlin's Mages, The Lich would continue with the words, "Power Imitation." The very next second, the unnamed Mage would be propelled to the bottom of the wall of the building Mergoux was in, by an exact copy of the spell that had been used to launch him into some masonry just some minutes ago. This would cause said building to shake, especially as Siegmund's mage was still alive and was trying to break free using World or Change Magic to produce a small, localized earthquake that would cause the floor Mergoux's captor stood on to break and collapse, allowing Mergoux, perhaps with the help of Wukong, a chance to break free. Not the best save fate can hand out, but it will have to do.

Continuing his hostile moves, The Lich then waved his hands, cancelling the law of gravity for everyone except himself and his cult; that meant that everyone would begin floating off the ground, allowing his marksmen to take pot-shots. At the same time, his lesser undead Mages would counter-dispel any attempt by Siegmund and Lady Vespid's Magic-users to nullify The Lich's magic...

* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_Arsenal

@Tyki@Claw2k11@Tominas@supertinyking@Overlord Thraka@Rex

Intrigues of Venedig - A Fantasy RP (18+)

@Overlord Thraka@Tominas:

Considering @Tyki also 'introduced the Lich to the wall' before I informed him that said Lich was the Big Bad, I think that your concerns are valid.

Tyki, I know that it's justified that Lady Vespid's minions are strong, and I don't expect you to allow them to be auto-defeated, but can you allow the PCs' own Exceptional Skills to matter?

Intrigues of Venedig - A Fantasy RP (18+)

@Tyki

What about the lich, what his purpose in all of this and why did he suddenly show up here?

@Claw2k11

Sorry for the rudeness.

@Claw2k11

As a side note, you're also not exactly interacting with the rest of the group. If you do feel that this is too fast for you then this would actually be the optimal time to pull out as you have, frankly speaking, done nothing of importance.

The lich was letter bee showing off the big bad supposedly, but it didn't really have a reason to be there so I just kinda... introduced him to the wall

@Tyki

The Lich was the Big Bad, yes, and he was trying to acquire Clarimonde to turn her into the Host for one of the Old Gods.

Intrigues of Venedig - A Fantasy RP (18+)

Ok, I know it's a bit late to say it now, but things are going on a bit too fast, so, if it isn't too much, could anyone be kind enough to tell what has happened so far to ease my confusement a bit and allow me to come up with a proper reply?

@Claw2k11

@Tyki can do it; I have IRL problems right now.

Intrigues of Venedig - A Fantasy RP (18+)

I'll wait for others to post, although fair warning, Kaspar will try and 'save' Clarimonde...