@Rtron Lawful evil has its perks.
Muttonhawk Member
Let Slip the Corgis of War
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- Old Guild Username: Muttonhawk, probably.
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Bio
Dear Mr Curly,
I have done little travelling lately because I have been so dreadfully weary. Can it be true as the old Ecclesiastes said; that all things lead to weariness? Surely not. Perhaps the opposite is true: that all nothings lead to weariness. I have a peculiar feeling, Curly, that I am worn out from something I haven't yet done and the more I don't do it, the more exhausted I become. How strange. Could it be something I haven't realised? Perhaps it's something I haven't said? Something I haven't finished! It must be very large and true whatever it is and a lively struggle in the doing but I look forward to it immensely. I know I need it. First, however, I must curl up in my chair and sleep deeply with the duck. Perhaps I'll dream of this thing and wake up refreshed and do it. My fond wishes to you Mr. Curly, and to all Curly Flat.
Yours sleepily,
Vasco Pyjama
xxx
P.S. Not having breakfast can make you weary. That's for sure!
Most Recent Posts
The shield wall did the best that it could against the fire and the automatons. The heat and the smoke made it unclear where they were after a few moments. As a result, one of the front line warriors screamed out in pain and fell to one knee. One of the metal bolts launched from the dwemer spheres had punched right through his calf and was held halfway through.
Fendros, who had been trying to find a gap to take aim through, spotted the culprit sphere over his comrade's head. An arrow shot out from their formation in retribution and struck the sphere in a gap between its shoulder and neck. Rhythmic metal clanking and a violent shudder from the sphere's left arm suggested that it would not be shooting another bolt any time soon.
Sabine was also restricted by the limited space in the formation. However, she was calmer and more collected than the previous battle she was in. She tried to help by making her way to the wounded soldier and helping him step back with some pain numbing magic. She could heal him from cover, though pulling out the bolt would probably be too painful to completely anaesthetise.
Gallus gave a nod and led Peiter outside of the inn that served as the clan's cover. There were no lack of trees outside that could be used as targets. They put some distance between themselves and any potential eavesdroppers coming in and out of the inn.
"Here," Gallus said as he handed Peiter four daggers to throw. They had thrown knives together before. Peiter was never especially good at it, even with his right arm, but it was always social rather than serious training.
"So, how have you been travelling, Peiter?" Gallus held a dagger by the blade in front of his face and lined it up with a nearby tree. "You sound like you're feeling better. You look better as well." Gallus tossed the knife in a spin and it embedded itself into the tree.
Fendros, who had been trying to find a gap to take aim through, spotted the culprit sphere over his comrade's head. An arrow shot out from their formation in retribution and struck the sphere in a gap between its shoulder and neck. Rhythmic metal clanking and a violent shudder from the sphere's left arm suggested that it would not be shooting another bolt any time soon.
Sabine was also restricted by the limited space in the formation. However, she was calmer and more collected than the previous battle she was in. She tried to help by making her way to the wounded soldier and helping him step back with some pain numbing magic. She could heal him from cover, though pulling out the bolt would probably be too painful to completely anaesthetise.
Gallus gave a nod and led Peiter outside of the inn that served as the clan's cover. There were no lack of trees outside that could be used as targets. They put some distance between themselves and any potential eavesdroppers coming in and out of the inn.
"Here," Gallus said as he handed Peiter four daggers to throw. They had thrown knives together before. Peiter was never especially good at it, even with his right arm, but it was always social rather than serious training.
"So, how have you been travelling, Peiter?" Gallus held a dagger by the blade in front of his face and lined it up with a nearby tree. "You sound like you're feeling better. You look better as well." Gallus tossed the knife in a spin and it embedded itself into the tree.
A post to keep people from being left hanging.
Now I can go back to scrawling for an important piece of parchment that I need for gainful employment while I leave my character arcs to wallow.
Now I can go back to scrawling for an important piece of parchment that I need for gainful employment while I leave my character arcs to wallow.
Toun's reaction as he was pulled back by Teknall went almost too far. His head snapped around and stretched out to look at him with his blue eye burning and his elbow raised up, almost as if he was going to strike the craftsman away. Instead, Toun made himself still. Both Teknall's words and Astarte's stammering made the notion that she was there to make light of the tragedy not so obvious anymore.
Toun's gaze turned back to Astarte, then to Teknall, and then to Astarte again. He silently considered whether to continue looking furious for the sake of saving face. And then Vestec showed up.
Before Toun could get a word in, the laughing god made an oratory trying to pose himself and Teknall as complicit in the recent deaths. Toun righted his posture to receive it. At first, it cut deep. It was as if Toun's recent pact meant nothing in Vestec's scorn. It made assumptions about how much he cared about his siblings versus his trust in keeping themselves alive.
As Vestec continued, however, Toun straightened his head and relaxed his eye. Less and less of the jester's spit was applying to Toun at all. He was not as easy to sway with sentiments towards mortals, and he had been nothing if not diligent protecting the creations he made use of. Vestec's words were intended to provoke them, but he wasn't realistically in a position to cause true mischief with both himself and Teknall present.
Toun looked away, not in guilt, but in thought. Funnily enough, Vestec's rant served as a demonstration of his own behaviour, forcing him to reflect. There was no point in listening. Only accepting that he should do better. There was at least one way to do that.
I never did check before I lost my temper.
Toun was calmed, somehow. He did not wait for Vestec to finish before he gracefully began to walk back to the gate unguarded, not giving anyone another look. Except for Astarte. She received a fleeting and suspicious glance. The glance was broken by a stretched step all the way to his destination.
Vestec was right about one thing, at least. Ull'Yang had indeed returned. He was hiding in a stone, for what reason Toun did not know. Nevertheless, Toun had no intention of bothering Ull'Yang if he chose not to show himself. If the sun god had returned here to grieve, he could do so however he liked.
Toun's true heading was the gate. He did not need to look through it for long before he noticed what he was looking for. Of course, Astarte's signature was not as stoic as Teknall's or his own; Toun's eye expressed a softness at its fragility.
It does not make sense, Toun thought. You might grieve, but you...Sister, you have written a verse of a goddess falling apart, not anything like you have been before. Have you felt the hollowness as well?
Ull'Yang's absence on the oath was noted. A detail put aside for later. An unexpected urge came to Toun's mind that he wanted to act upon immediately.
Toun was back by the cube before Astarte had finished standing up. His abnormal step rushed to a stop right in front of her and Toun bore his stare right into her eyes, head craned forward. He blinked, suddenly realising how unpracticed he was in what he was about to do.
"Sister, wait please." Toun's eye darted to the ground and back up. He was otherwise deathly still. "You...I saw you signed the oath. You are not...you may not behave always as I would prefer, but...you deserve credit enough to not need to suffer my outburst. You are commendable. I do not deserve to be forgiven."
Toun's eyelid was so taught with shame that he had to rotate himself a quarter turn to break eye contact. He had an answer for Vestec in any case.
The sound of an inward breath preceded Toun's venom returning. Though, this time, it was soundly directed at the god of laughing chaos. "You. I have nothing to prove to you." He narrowed his eye. "Ebb, brother."
Toun did not wait to hear a response before he strode around Vestec and started towards the gate again.
And now we have bishie Bacchus.
Wait, damn it, I forgot about staring Gallus and Peiter's scene. Just a sec.
Edit: There we go.
Edit: There we go.
The small force that came almost out of nowhere kicked out everyone's preconceptions that this mission would continue being made up of one or two opponents at a time. Janius immediately called out from the shield wall. "Incoming!"
Janius ducked his head behind his shield as one of the solid metal crossbow bolts punched into his shield. It had more force than he could have expected; the head of the bold had barely poked through the other side of his shield. These bolts could go through his steel if they were at the right angle. The duck for cover gave the other enemies enough time to start closing their distance. Janius was winding up to step forward and get one of the spiders when Sabine screamed out.
"Stay back!" Sabine's first fire bolt did not head for one of the spheres, but instead for the iridescent slick of oil across the ground. Sabine had been taught since her very first lesson with fire magic that she must always keep a look out for things that might catch fire accidentally. She was unsure if everyone had spotted the oil, but she wanted to make sure that no one was caught in it before it went up in flames. The spells of those around her could have done so before she did. As well, the automatons would be caught in the fire instead of her allies. They would be disabled outright if they were lucky.
Fendros had fired an arrow back at one of the shooting spheres. Though, by the time it impacted, he couldn't tell if it had done damaged. The wall of fire blocked his vision of it.
Back with the Riften clan, fighting wasn't on the forefront of quite so many people's minds. Uthri was getting the children to eat their lunch rather than flick it at one another, Tzirret was practising magic, and Gallus had just got back from the smith's grindstone with a number of his sheathed daggers tinkling together in a small bag.
Gallus gave waves to his packmates, but did not even hint at not heading for Peiter. He stopped his brisk walk up near where Peiter was. "Hey Peit, let's go toss knives," Gallus said. He had a smile on his face that told Peiter that there would be no success in trying to negotiate out of this.
Janius ducked his head behind his shield as one of the solid metal crossbow bolts punched into his shield. It had more force than he could have expected; the head of the bold had barely poked through the other side of his shield. These bolts could go through his steel if they were at the right angle. The duck for cover gave the other enemies enough time to start closing their distance. Janius was winding up to step forward and get one of the spiders when Sabine screamed out.
"Stay back!" Sabine's first fire bolt did not head for one of the spheres, but instead for the iridescent slick of oil across the ground. Sabine had been taught since her very first lesson with fire magic that she must always keep a look out for things that might catch fire accidentally. She was unsure if everyone had spotted the oil, but she wanted to make sure that no one was caught in it before it went up in flames. The spells of those around her could have done so before she did. As well, the automatons would be caught in the fire instead of her allies. They would be disabled outright if they were lucky.
Fendros had fired an arrow back at one of the shooting spheres. Though, by the time it impacted, he couldn't tell if it had done damaged. The wall of fire blocked his vision of it.
Back with the Riften clan, fighting wasn't on the forefront of quite so many people's minds. Uthri was getting the children to eat their lunch rather than flick it at one another, Tzirret was practising magic, and Gallus had just got back from the smith's grindstone with a number of his sheathed daggers tinkling together in a small bag.
Gallus gave waves to his packmates, but did not even hint at not heading for Peiter. He stopped his brisk walk up near where Peiter was. "Hey Peit, let's go toss knives," Gallus said. He had a smile on his face that told Peiter that there would be no success in trying to negotiate out of this.
Ooh, ooh! Can I throw my opinion in as well? *bright eyes*
I would be happy to handle might with case-by-case discretion. If anything might should be be more a case of "how much effort would have to be invested to stop this." Having that much as a limited and quantifiable resource is very useful. A little wiggle room is only fair, otherwise the quantities become too arbitrary.
(Before reading on, keep in mind that Dawnscroll is not at the point of doing what I'm about to outline, but someone joining in could be in the future without us knowing. All food for thought and nothing else.)
However, in the case of the realta, there's a limitation revealed in that system. Being so deliberately constructed for being better than most of what could be offered up, the realta present a danger that discretionary might use could become a meta-game. If someone can argue their physics knowledge alongside the limits of what might can to do say "I make the biggest club that can kill anything and no one can stop it ever no take-backsies I win," it steps out of the realms of story and into game territory. There's a conflict between players waiting to happen. Dawnscroll gave the black hole example and that's pretty much a perfect case in point.
For instance, I know Conata's person isn't in much danger from the killer club as it's probably not going to do much to her before she is able to retaliate. However, that might not be the expectation of the person who created the killer club. Then there springs forth a silly argument about expectations (disguised as nattering about mechanics when it's such a loose system already). Then somebody throws a tantrum and takes their ball home. Then the RP grinds to a halt because we're all walking on eggshells by that point. And then everyone feels disappointed.
Rather than let might become a set-in-stone thing, I would rather mitigate the issue by setting a few points of understanding to make up for it. These are just suggestions for everyone else, but they are how I treat others here:
1. Whatever makes a cool story should come first. I think we all know what that means given the quality of writing we have here.
2. People should have a say before you go messing with their stuff. So far, from what I've experienced, everyone who's interacted with my things has been considerate and asked clarification when they're uncertain. That's actually really good. When that doesn't happen, people flatten stuff that you put effort into and they do so with nothing more than a post or two; that's not fun.
3. Be prepared to have your stuff messed with. We're interacting characters, some things aren't going to go to plan. There is generally a lot of chaos with this many authors. This chaos spreads to compromise impregnable defences, unstoppable hordes, and generally anything that you're certain of. If you want things to go exactly to plan, go write something on your own. The chaos is actually one of the reasons that I love RPs the most, both play-by-post and otherwise, so it's probably the most important point here.
4. As in improv theatre, beware the word 'no' and treat it with respect. That's not to say that you should never say no, just that you should explore the possibilities before you say make a decision. Outright refusal is the quickest way to kill plot that could develop a character in ways you may not have considered.
Anyway, a rant had to come from me at some point. It may as well have actually been related to the RP. Keep in mind, I am aware that I'm not a GM, so none of what I say is da roolz az rit'n.
I would be happy to handle might with case-by-case discretion. If anything might should be be more a case of "how much effort would have to be invested to stop this." Having that much as a limited and quantifiable resource is very useful. A little wiggle room is only fair, otherwise the quantities become too arbitrary.
(Before reading on, keep in mind that Dawnscroll is not at the point of doing what I'm about to outline, but someone joining in could be in the future without us knowing. All food for thought and nothing else.)
However, in the case of the realta, there's a limitation revealed in that system. Being so deliberately constructed for being better than most of what could be offered up, the realta present a danger that discretionary might use could become a meta-game. If someone can argue their physics knowledge alongside the limits of what might can to do say "I make the biggest club that can kill anything and no one can stop it ever no take-backsies I win," it steps out of the realms of story and into game territory. There's a conflict between players waiting to happen. Dawnscroll gave the black hole example and that's pretty much a perfect case in point.
For instance, I know Conata's person isn't in much danger from the killer club as it's probably not going to do much to her before she is able to retaliate. However, that might not be the expectation of the person who created the killer club. Then there springs forth a silly argument about expectations (disguised as nattering about mechanics when it's such a loose system already). Then somebody throws a tantrum and takes their ball home. Then the RP grinds to a halt because we're all walking on eggshells by that point. And then everyone feels disappointed.
Rather than let might become a set-in-stone thing, I would rather mitigate the issue by setting a few points of understanding to make up for it. These are just suggestions for everyone else, but they are how I treat others here:
1. Whatever makes a cool story should come first. I think we all know what that means given the quality of writing we have here.
2. People should have a say before you go messing with their stuff. So far, from what I've experienced, everyone who's interacted with my things has been considerate and asked clarification when they're uncertain. That's actually really good. When that doesn't happen, people flatten stuff that you put effort into and they do so with nothing more than a post or two; that's not fun.
3. Be prepared to have your stuff messed with. We're interacting characters, some things aren't going to go to plan. There is generally a lot of chaos with this many authors. This chaos spreads to compromise impregnable defences, unstoppable hordes, and generally anything that you're certain of. If you want things to go exactly to plan, go write something on your own. The chaos is actually one of the reasons that I love RPs the most, both play-by-post and otherwise, so it's probably the most important point here.
4. As in improv theatre, beware the word 'no' and treat it with respect. That's not to say that you should never say no, just that you should explore the possibilities before you say make a decision. Outright refusal is the quickest way to kill plot that could develop a character in ways you may not have considered.
Anyway, a rant had to come from me at some point. It may as well have actually been related to the RP. Keep in mind, I am aware that I'm not a GM, so none of what I say is da roolz az rit'n.
...
As for what you can damage, I'll note that the largest Rovaick settlement is currently home to young Conata, and as such is not to be treated as simple cannon fodder.
Yeah, I was planning on having Conata be at least nearing adulthood by the time she interacts with the wider world. If Realta come to attack her home, she'll be at that stage by then to make my life easier.
Speaking of which, I still need to put together a series of vignettes of her growing up.
You guys remember, ages ago when the Bard was first created, and Vowzra said, 'there will be war'?
Well, just sayin'...
Listen 'ere, Nostradamus. Anyone could take one look at our cast and make that prediction.
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