RPG Wiki - User contributions [en]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 15

2013-08-01T21:05:26Z

Joshg: /* Fireworks Tent */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|← Turn 14]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 16|Turn 16 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Fireworks Tent==

Aernoud flings open the flap of the fireworks tent. It's cramped with racks of fireworks, casks of extra gunpowder, piles of fuses, and so on, ready to be pulled out later in the evening. Tied to a rack is one of the fireworks technicians; against the back wall of the tent are Ruud and the two Boys; and in the middle of the room is a snarl of fuses leading to the aforementioned racks of fireworks -- apparently you're right in the middle of an attempt to get the entertainment started early. Ruud recoils as Aernoud enters. "Damn!" he says. "You two get the drill into the wagon -- I'll handle things here." Holding an unlit torch in one hand like a club, he rushes towards Aernoud.

''Aernoud lifts his cane and steps back into sight of the rest of the crowd. "THIEVES! THIEVES!" he yells as he prepares to defend himself. (rolling Weapons in anticipation, but not swinging first: <dice id="51" dice="2d6+1" result="6,6" total="13" /> ) (Oh, I am SO spending a Fate Point to unlock advanced successes on that one. Can I mash that in with '''Nature's Balance''' as per my character sheet?)

[I think given the roll and the advanced success we can call Nature's Balance basically color for this one]

Aernoud prepares to meet Ruud's rush. Ruud is clearly in a you've-interrupted-me-for-the-last-time-you-meddling-kids kind of mood, and comes on like a charging horse, but Aernoud is undaunted: he waits for just the right moment, swings his cane, and Ruud's torch-club goes flying. Before Ruud can recover, Aernoud sidesteps and follows up the swing with a series of painful jabs to Ruud's ribcage. Ruud is clearly winded and he tips his big head from side to side, feathers thrashing about.

Meanwhile, the crowd has been attracted by the shouts and the fight, but instead of helping they seem to think this is part of the entertainment. They form a ring around the two, crowding in with lanterns and shoving in with quizzing-glasses to try to get a better view. "Three on the little one!" a voice calls. "Three? He'll be eaten alive! Five on feather-head!"

Gathering his breath, Ruud prepares to come in more carefully this second time; if he can get a wrestling hold it may be all over for Aernoud.

''Aernoud does a double-take at this crowd - no guards rushing to stop this? What in the world is up with these people? Oh well. Aernoud faces down this stubborn bear and prepares to knock him right out. (Weapons: <dice id="54" dice="2d6+1" result="5,2" total="8" />) (Fate point boost please! Time to end this!)[Hey, wait--5,2 are Antheunis's lucky numbers! That means I get to add an Aspect to the scene (at least tangentially related to my character) that you can tag for free:]''

''As Aernoud prepares for Ruud to rush him, he notices a spreading dark patch in the earth between them--when Antheunis was causing the water to boil back at the fountain, it built up pressure in the pipes, and it seems to have sprung a leak, making the ground muddy!''

''(tagging that thing like a maniac) Aernoud slowly sidesteps over so that Ruud will end up in an especially muddy patch when he's close enough to attack.''

==Fountain==

Antheunis rocks the fountain back and forth, struggling to get it off its moorings without looking like he's doing so. Finally, it topples -- taking him with it. The splash and tumble isn't so bad, but when he rubs the water from his eyes and looks up, there's two grinning specimens of the best of East Arsebrouc looking down at him. "Well well well," says one. "Looks like half the work is done for us -- let's get this into the wagon and get out of here."

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|← Turn 14]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 16|Turn 16 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 15

2013-08-01T14:48:14Z

Joshg: /* Fireworks Tent */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|← Turn 14]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 16|Turn 16 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Fireworks Tent==

Aernoud flings open the flap of the fireworks tent. It's cramped with racks of fireworks, casks of extra gunpowder, piles of fuses, and so on, ready to be pulled out later in the evening. Tied to a rack is one of the fireworks technicians; against the back wall of the tent are Ruud and the two Boys; and in the middle of the room is a snarl of fuses leading to the aforementioned racks of fireworks -- apparently you're right in the middle of an attempt to get the entertainment started early. Ruud recoils as Aernoud enters. "Damn!" he says. "You two get the drill into the wagon -- I'll handle things here." Holding an unlit torch in one hand like a club, he rushes towards Aernoud.

''Aernoud lifts his cane and steps back into sight of the rest of the crowd. "THIEVES! THIEVES!" he yells as he prepares to defend himself. (rolling Weapons in anticipation, but not swinging first: <dice id="51" dice="2d6+1" result="6,6" total="13" /> ) (Oh, I am SO spending a Fate Point to unlock advanced successes on that one. Can I mash that in with '''Nature's Balance''' as per my character sheet?)

[I think given the roll and the advanced success we can call Nature's Balance basically color for this one]

Aernoud prepares to meet Ruud's rush. Ruud is clearly in a you've-interrupted-me-for-the-last-time-you-meddling-kids kind of mood, and comes on like a charging horse, but Aernoud is undaunted: he waits for just the right moment, swings his cane, and Ruud's torch-club goes flying. Before Ruud can recover, Aernoud sidesteps and follows up the swing with a series of painful jabs to Ruud's ribcage. Ruud is clearly winded and he tips his big head from side to side, feathers thrashing about.

Meanwhile, the crowd has been attracted by the shouts and the fight, but instead of helping they seem to think this is part of the entertainment. They form a ring around the two, crowding in with lanterns and shoving in with quizzing-glasses to try to get a better view. "Three on the little one!" a voice calls. "Three? He'll be eaten alive! Five on feather-head!"

Gathering his breath, Ruud prepares to come in more carefully this second time; if he can get a wrestling hold it may be all over for Aernoud.

''Aernoud does a double-take at this crowd - no guards rushing to stop this? What in the world is up with these people? Oh well. Aernoud faces down this stubborn bear and prepares to knock him right out. (Weapons: <dice id="54" dice="2d6+1" result="5,2" total="8" />) (Fate point boost please! Time to end this!)''

==Fountain==

Antheunis rocks the fountain back and forth, struggling to get it off its moorings without looking like he's doing so. Finally, it topples -- taking him with it. The splash and tumble isn't so bad, but when he rubs the water from his eyes and looks up, there's two grinning specimens of the best of East Arsebrouc looking down at him. "Well well well," says one. "Looks like half the work is done for us -- let's get this into the wagon and get out of here."

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|← Turn 14]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 16|Turn 16 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 15

2013-08-01T14:46:48Z

Joshg: /* Fireworks Tent */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|← Turn 14]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 16|Turn 16 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Fireworks Tent==

Aernoud flings open the flap of the fireworks tent. It's cramped with racks of fireworks, casks of extra gunpowder, piles of fuses, and so on, ready to be pulled out later in the evening. Tied to a rack is one of the fireworks technicians; against the back wall of the tent are Ruud and the two Boys; and in the middle of the room is a snarl of fuses leading to the aforementioned racks of fireworks -- apparently you're right in the middle of an attempt to get the entertainment started early. Ruud recoils as Aernoud enters. "Damn!" he says. "You two get the drill into the wagon -- I'll handle things here." Holding an unlit torch in one hand like a club, he rushes towards Aernoud.

''Aernoud lifts his cane and steps back into sight of the rest of the crowd. "THIEVES! THIEVES!" he yells as he prepares to defend himself. (rolling Weapons in anticipation, but not swinging first: <dice id="51" dice="2d6+1" result="6,6" total="13" /> ) (Oh, I am SO spending a Fate Point to unlock advanced successes on that one. Can I mash that in with '''Nature's Balance''' as per my character sheet?)

[I think given the roll and the advanced success we can call Nature's Balance basically color for this one]

Aernoud prepares to meet Ruud's rush. Ruud is clearly in a you've-interrupted-me-for-the-last-time-you-meddling-kids kind of mood, and comes on like a charging horse, but Aernoud is undaunted: he waits for just the right moment, swings his cane, and Ruud's torch-club goes flying. Before Ruud can recover, Aernoud sidesteps and follows up the swing with a series of painful jabs to Ruud's ribcage. Ruud is clearly winded and he tips his big head from side to side, feathers thrashing about.

Meanwhile, the crowd has been attracted by the shouts and the fight, but instead of helping they seem to think this is part of the entertainment. They form a ring around the two, crowding in with lanterns and shoving in with quizzing-glasses to try to get a better view. "Three on the little one!" a voice calls. "Three? He'll be eaten alive! Five on feather-head!"

Gathering his breath, Ruud prepares to come in more carefully this second time; if he can get a wrestling hold it may be all over for Aernoud.

''Aernoud does a double-take at this crowd - no guards rushing to stop this? What in the world is up with these people? Oh well. Aernoud faces down this stubborn bear and prepares to knock him right out. (Weapons: <dice id="54" dice="2d6+1" result="5,2" total="8" />)''

==Fountain==

Antheunis rocks the fountain back and forth, struggling to get it off its moorings without looking like he's doing so. Finally, it topples -- taking him with it. The splash and tumble isn't so bad, but when he rubs the water from his eyes and looks up, there's two grinning specimens of the best of East Arsebrouc looking down at him. "Well well well," says one. "Looks like half the work is done for us -- let's get this into the wagon and get out of here."

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|← Turn 14]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 16|Turn 16 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 15

2013-07-28T05:28:39Z

Joshg: /* Fireworks Tent */

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 15

2013-07-28T05:26:21Z

Joshg: /* Fireworks Tent */

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14

2013-07-27T16:27:48Z

Joshg: /* Fountain */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13|← Turn 13]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 15|Turn 15 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

[Ok, so here's the deal: I'd like very much to wrap this game up by the end of the month. I think that's doable, but it's going to mean jumping to the climax. So let's go to the ball!]

==Cutscene==

In the dark of the catacombs, Antheunis calls forth the mist, and one by one, the candles of Ruud's men wink out. Willem is alerted by the noise that something is going on, and he manages to run into Antheunis just as the two of them come into the glare of Ruud's lantern. Ruud shouts something and comes towards them, drawing a shadowy knife, but Willem summons up a distracting illusion and he and Antheunis flee past Ruud and out the catacombs, where they eventually join up with Lazer and Aernoud and compare notes about what Aernoud's been seeing at the workshop. Lazer is still intent that it's all going down at the masquerade, so you arrange for some costumes, while Boudin manages to lift a couple of invitations from a drunken young man -- they're not in your own names, but close enough.

==Masquerade Ball==

It's taken more time than you expected to arrange for the proper costumes (and Lazer was very particular about his false moustache), but this is the sort of thing everyone is fashionably late to anyway, so things haven't reached maximum party when you arrive at Lord Laurent's mansion. It's pretty impressive grounds -- gazebos, tents, ornamental ponds and streams and fountains, braziers to provide light (since it's now after sunset), waiters wandering around with delicacies, jugglers, singers, painters, sculptors, and a large fireworks display promised later on. It's starting to look like Lazer's hunch was in vain when you spot some familiar faces: Ruud in a feathered mask, playing dice with two lads from the East Arsebrouc Boys next to a low stone wall; and Griet, sitting in the driver's seat of a covered wagon, brightly painted and sitting near enough to a large corkscrew-shaped fountain to catch some spray.

==Griet==
''Lazer has been in a funk, waiting for the rest of the guys to show up, despite his fancy new doublet, and the new gadget he built in anticipation of the final showdown, which he has concealed in his upper pocket, waiting for its time. Still, not dancing with any of the girls he finds pretty, he keeps his sullen eye on Griet, not Ruud. Stalking the shadows of the masquerade, only keeping up appearances by chomping the merest of hors'd'oeurves, he dashes again outside to skulk within eyeshot of Griet. A covered wagon is too tasty to not be interested in, as depressed as he is, not dancing with any girls, not flirting with any ladies. He's used to not being used to it.''

''What's in that wagon? Where's the rest of the guys? Willem and Antheunis and Arny and Boudin and that guy who never showed up even though we all expected him? God. I'm depressed for a good reason, and a week ago I thought it was just my imagination. Ok, if I have to do this myself, I'll figure out how to do it.''

''[Lazer Stealth: <dice id="46" dice="2d6" result="5,1" total="6" /> to get into the wagon]''

Lazer is skulking over towards the wagon, trying to get into a strategic position and kicking crankily at the paving stones, when suddenly he trips. Griet is startled into glancing in his direction, and, much to Lazer's surprise, keeps looking. "Howdy, stranger," she says, after a pause. "Party not treating you right, even with that fine-looking doublet? Want to climb up here and tell me all about it?"

==Fountain==
''Aernoud finally arrives, a bit nervous. He's wearing the most formal ball-wear he's ever worn in his life, with a slightly fancy cane and Flicker right on his shoulder. Boudin assured him that nobles love showing off their exotic pets at masquerades like this, and it'll only score him points with guests, but Aernoud feels like he's walking around with an exposed secret. When he spots Griet and Ruud here, though, his nerves forget all about hiding Flicker. "That wagon's gotta contain something that Griet is up to ... and why does that fountain look so familiar?" (rolling a crazy untrained Academic roll to see if that fountain is what I think it is? <dice id="47" dice="2d6-1" result="4,3" total="6" />) (unless Willem comes in with his own Academic roll to fix that, or it's decided that I didn't need that roll just to recognize a crazy magic-boosting device we've all been learning about, I am boosting that with a Fate Point)''

''Aernoud spots Lazer moving in close to the wagon. "This might get interesting," he mutters as he moves in closer to Griet and the wagon himself. Rather than hiding, though, he just positions close enough to be prepared to spring into action.''

''Antheunis thinks, "Wait--corkscrew-shaped? That's no good..." He walks over upwind of the fountain (hence, on the other side of it from the wagon, if it's getting sprayed), and sits at the edge, leaning over to let his hand dip into the water. He closes his eyes, feeling his connection with the water deepen, 'asking' it what it's doing here, and what the purpose of the corkscrew is. [Nature: <dice id="48" dice="2d6+3" result="4,4" total="11" />]''

Antheunis feels the water, which is part of all the waters of the world, including the river of time itself, and so he swims upwards, seeing water rise up from the ground and into the clouds, then turn to mist which sinks down into the ocean, rushes back into the rivers, inland, and up into the mountains. Then he refocuses on just this water here, getting the sense of a channel only recently cut, new water come to rush over a surface long-dry and long-hidden, buried in some dusty place and unearthed now for the party, to be washed back to sparkling brightness, and no other purpose than to sparkle and charm, despite the magic that flows within the corkscrew's curves.

Aernoud, having come to part of the same conclusions in a more prosaic way, blurts out "Lady Bellaire's device!" Alarmed, he looks around to see if the words carried, but nobody seems to have heard -- but Ruud and the Boys are gone, a single feather forgotten on the ground.

''Aernoud quickly walks over and picks up the feather before it gets trampled by party-goers. "Flicker, here, see this feather? Find the owner! Go!" Flicker snatches the feather in its beak and flies up in the air, catching the attention of a number of nobles and their wives as he soars above the crowd, searching.''

It's getting dark, but Flicker eventually finds its target. Aernoud sees the tiny figure circling over .. the fireworks tent? And what could well be Ruud slipping inside.

''"Oh, this can't be good," mutters Aernoud to himself as he hurries after Flicker to the tent. "Where is everyone else? How am I going to stop them? This is crazy! They're crazy! How am I going to stop these thugs from sneaking around - from - waitaminute, THEY'RE the ones who have to hide here! I don't have to stop them, I just have to expose them!" Aernoud calls Flicker back to his shoulder as he gets to the tent entrance, flinging open the doorflap. He stands in the entrance, looking for Ruud but staying where other guests can see him.''

''Antheunis still has no idea what this device could realistically be doing here, but hey, it must be bad if the villains control it, enh? He starts to will the water to do its natural job of eroding, only on a slightly faster scale. [Let me know if I need to unlock an advanced technique for this, but, Nature: <dice id="49" dice="2d6+3" result="2,1" total="6" /> Aiee! 2,1? Oy. Fate point for a partial success!] [Also, I'm a bit confused by the logistics of the above description, a feeling I might share with Antheunis, but if not: the long-hidden place is now unearthed for the party for everyone, so it's an open place now that partygoers can get to? Or is it more a sense of 'they wanted a fountain here, so they opened an old sluice'? Also, what's the approximate scale of the fountain itself? If someone simply took an axe to it, how long would it take to disable/destroy? Is it made of wood?''

[The fountain, to give a little context here, looks somewhat like [[http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/fountain_photos/fountain_catalog.jpg this picture]], but the central spire of the fountain is this bronze corkscrewing bit mounted on a tiered stone platform, roughly as tall as a person (only higher because it's on a platform). You could theoretically destroy it but since it's metal it'd take a bit of doing -- on the other hand, bending or banging it up pretty good it doesn't seem out of the question.]

[Anyway, let me know if you want to do something else given that, but assuming you're still trying to use the water to destroy it:]

The water swirls around the base of the fountain, foaming and almost seeming to sizzle. Minutes tick by, and finally there's a creak and a crack as the corkscrew becomes partly unmoored from its base -- it tips over sideways, still attached to the base but tilted to a forty-five degree angle.

''Antheunis darts an eye at the wagon, where Lazer is talking to Griet. Frantically, he gives him the universal, "Keep her distracted while I finish this off!" hand signal, then jumps into the fountain. He pushes the fountain back upright as if trying to right it, but actually twists it as he does so, to try to continue to break it off at the base. [Athletics! <dice id="50" dice="2d6+3" result="4,1" total="8" />]''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13|← Turn 13]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 15|Turn 15 →]]

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14

2013-07-26T01:06:16Z

Joshg: Created page with "Just putting it out there that if that device is kicking around and functioning, Willem should totally do some device-boosted illusion and fool the pants off of the bad guys. ..."

Just putting it out there that if that device is kicking around and functioning, Willem should totally do some device-boosted illusion and fool the pants off of the bad guys. (Maybe not literally. Up to you.) - josh

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14

2013-07-25T17:23:43Z

Joshg: /* Fountain */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13|← Turn 13]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 15|Turn 15 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

[Ok, so here's the deal: I'd like very much to wrap this game up by the end of the month. I think that's doable, but it's going to mean jumping to the climax. So let's go to the ball!]

==Cutscene==

In the dark of the catacombs, Antheunis calls forth the mist, and one by one, the candles of Ruud's men wink out. Willem is alerted by the noise that something is going on, and he manages to run into Antheunis just as the two of them come into the glare of Ruud's lantern. Ruud shouts something and comes towards them, drawing a shadowy knife, but Willem summons up a distracting illusion and he and Antheunis flee past Ruud and out the catacombs, where they eventually join up with Lazer and Aernoud and compare notes about what Aernoud's been seeing at the workshop. Lazer is still intent that it's all going down at the masquerade, so you arrange for some costumes, while Boudin manages to lift a couple of invitations from a drunken young man -- they're not in your own names, but close enough.

==Masquerade Ball==

It's taken more time than you expected to arrange for the proper costumes (and Lazer was very particular about his false moustache), but this is the sort of thing everyone is fashionably late to anyway, so things haven't reached maximum party when you arrive at Lord Laurent's mansion. It's pretty impressive grounds -- gazebos, tents, ornamental ponds and streams and fountains, braziers to provide light (since it's now after sunset), waiters wandering around with delicacies, jugglers, singers, painters, sculptors, and a large fireworks display promised later on. It's starting to look like Lazer's hunch was in vain when you spot some familiar faces: Ruud in a feathered mask, playing dice with two lads from the East Arsebrouc Boys next to a low stone wall; and Griet, sitting in the driver's seat of a covered wagon, brightly painted and sitting near enough to a large corkscrew-shaped fountain to catch some spray.

==Griet==
''Lazer has been in a funk, waiting for the rest of the guys to show up, despite his fancy new doublet, and the new gadget he built in anticipation of the final showdown, which he has concealed in his upper pocket, waiting for its time. Still, not dancing with any of the girls he finds pretty, he keeps his sullen eye on Griet, not Ruud. Stalking the shadows of the masquerade, only keeping up appearances by chomping the merest of hors'd'oeurves, he dashes again outside to skulk within eyeshot of Griet. A covered wagon is too tasty to not be interested in, as depressed as he is, not dancing with any girls, not flirting with any ladies. He's used to not being used to it.''

''What's in that wagon? Where's the rest of the guys? Willem and Antheunis and Arny and Boudin and that guy who never showed up even though we all expected him? God. I'm depressed for a good reason, and a week ago I thought it was just my imagination. Ok, if I have to do this myself, I'll figure out how to do it.''

''[Lazer Stealth: <dice id="46" dice="2d6" result="5,1" total="6" /> to get into the wagon]''

Lazer is skulking over towards the wagon, trying to get into a strategic position and kicking crankily at the paving stones, when suddenly he trips. Griet is startled into glancing in his direction, and, much to Lazer's surprise, keeps looking. "Howdy, stranger," she says, after a pause. "Party not treating you right, even with that fine-looking doublet? Want to climb up here and tell me all about it?"

==Fountain==
''Aernoud finally arrives, a bit nervous. He's wearing the most formal ball-wear he's ever worn in his life, with a slightly fancy cane and Flicker right on his shoulder. Boudin assured him that nobles love showing off their exotic pets at masquerades like this, and it'll only score him points with guests, but Aernoud feels like he's walking around with an exposed secret. When he spots Griet and Ruud here, though, his nerves forget all about hiding Flicker. "That wagon's gotta contain something that Griet is up to ... and why does that fountain look so familiar?" (rolling a crazy untrained Academic roll to see if that fountain is what I think it is? <dice id="47" dice="2d6-1" result="4,3" total="6" />) (unless Willem comes in with his own Academic roll to fix that, or it's decided that I didn't need that roll just to recognize a crazy magic-boosting device we've all been learning about, I am boosting that with a Fate Point)''

''Aernoud spots Lazer moving in close to the wagon. "This might get interesting," he mutters as he moves in closer to Griet and the wagon himself. Rather than hiding, though, he just positions close enough to be prepared to spring into action.''

''Antheunis thinks, "Wait--corkscrew-shaped? That's no good..." He walks over upwind of the fountain (hence, on the other side of it from the wagon, if it's getting sprayed), and sits at the edge, leaning over to let his hand dip into the water. He closes his eyes, feeling his connection with the water deepen, 'asking' it what it's doing here, and what the purpose of the corkscrew is. [Nature: <dice id="48" dice="2d6+3" result="4,4" total="11" />]''

Antheunis feels the water, which is part of all the waters of the world, including the river of time itself, and so he swims upwards, seeing water rise up from the ground and into the clouds, then turn to mist which sinks down into the ocean, rushes back into the rivers, inland, and up into the mountains. Then he refocuses on just this water here, getting the sense of a channel only recently cut, new water come to rush over a surface long-dry and long-hidden, buried in some dusty place and unearthed now for the party, to be washed back to sparkling brightness, and no other purpose than to sparkle and charm, despite the magic that flows within the corkscrew's curves.

Aernoud, having come to part of the same conclusions in a more prosaic way, blurts out "Lady Bellaire's device!" Alarmed, he looks around to see if the words carried, but nobody seems to have heard -- but Ruud and the Boys are gone, a single feather forgotten on the ground.

''Aernoud quickly walks over and picks up the feather before it gets trampled by party-goers. "Flicker, here, see this feather? Find the owner! Go!" Flicker snatches the feather in its beak and flies up in the air, catching the attention of a number of nobles and their wives as he soars above the crowd, searching.''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13|← Turn 13]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 15|Turn 15 →]]

Low Estate

2013-07-24T00:01:45Z

Joshg: /* Turns */

=Overview=
This is a play-by-wiki RPG! Unlike [[Agents Of Empire]], it will be a more traditional RPG setup (each player just controls a single character, and there's no additional board-game-esque component). The system will be my [http://inky.org/blog/?p=283 FATE/Apocalypse World mashup]. Turn frequency will be based on whenever most of the players have posted; I'm assuming at first it'll be daily and then get a little more spread out, but we'll see. Dice rolling will be done using [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Dice this dice extension], which lets you write @@2d6+3 and it'll substitute <dice id="3" dice="2d6+3" result="6,2" total="11" />, and then you can view roll history at [[Special:Dice]].

=Premise=
The setting is Bresella, a large waterfront city in the faux-Renaissance. The city has grown rich from all the wonders of the age —
industry, trade, magical and scientific research, and colonies in distant lands — but of course the benefits of wealth are never distributed equally, and the citizenry spans a wide range from sinful luxury to dire poverty. Furthermore, there are hints that the political winds are shifting, and what that means for the future of the city is uncertain ... but what is always certain is that the bold can make their own fate if they are willing to take the risk.

[[Low Estate/Setting|More about the setting]]

[[Low Estate/Personalities|More about the people and places]]

=How To Join=
Write up a page with your character (I suggest [[Low Estate/Characters/Your Character Name]]) and link it below. Post on each turn. Roll dice when appropriate. No experience is required to join -- if you want pointers for anything, just ask. Assuming there is sufficient interest, I plan to start around June 1st.

=Characters=
Link yours here. Player characters should possess some connection to Sister Marianne's Home For Children Of Unknown Or Ill-Fated Parentage. If you can't think of an archetype, try one of these: alchemist, beggar, bodyguard, burglar, card sharp, city guard, cutpurse, diplomat, duelist, explorer, falconer, fortune-teller, gambler, guide, investigator, magician, mercenary, noble wastrel, philosopher, pirate, priest, sailor, scholar, soldier, spy, urchin. If you can't think of a name, try [http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/bruges/ this list maga found].
* [[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga): by-blow of the nobility, bravo, expeditor of sordid little problems
* [[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang): brutish warmage, mercenary, slight case of demonic possession
* [[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota): student magician, patroned scholar
* [[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (Lucian): slippery urchin
* [[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud | Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g): secretive nature-wanderer, stealthy, gets along better with animals
* [[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob): manic-depressive man out of time

=Turns=
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|Turn 14]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13|Turn 13]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12|Turn 12]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11|Turn 11]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 10|Turn 10]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|Turn 9]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8|Turn 8]]

==Act I==
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 1|Turn 1]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 2|Turn 2]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 3|Turn 3]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 4|Turn 4]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|Turn 5]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6|Turn 6]]
* [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|Turn 7]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14

2013-07-23T13:41:06Z

Joshg: /* Masquerade Ball */

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14

2013-07-23T13:34:55Z

Joshg: /* Masquerade Ball */

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14

2013-07-23T13:33:05Z

Joshg: /* Masquerade Ball */

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13

2013-07-16T22:01:05Z

Joshg: /* Party Prep */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12|← Turn 12]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|Turn 14 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==University Catacombs==

Antheunis paces his way through the catacombs, passing headstones marking the graves of long-forgotten academics. "Which would put the warehouse maybe fifty feet that--" he mumbles to himself. And then abruptly cuts off even his mumbling, because in the next room,
illuminated by the glow of a lantern resting on the floor, he sees three muscular figures and hears an accompanying whisper. "How many more of these measurements do we need to take, Ruud? This place gives me the creeps!" The flame of Antheunis's own candle dances a minute as he jerks to a halt.

''Antheunis blows out his candle, tucks it away, and creeps closer, trying to get a better idea of what they're measuring and why. Stealth: <dice id="42" dice="2d6+2" result="4,2" total="8" /> [OK, leaving that at a partial; in general, I am interested in following these guys out of here to wherever they're going, and am willing to sacrifice... something to do so.]''

Meanwhile, Willem has been hurrying down the tunnel to catch up, holding his light in one hand and the wand in the other. It begins to twitch slightly as soon as he's down the slope, and the closer he gets to the catacombs, the more it starts to tug in his hand. And with the vibration is an accompanying oily coldness, seeming to ooze from the haft of the wand but not, as far as he can tell, actually there. [We will, I guess, have to agree to ignore any TSD in this imagery or chalk it up to intentional creepiness]. The wand leads Willem to the heart of the catacombs, a room in which black dust has long settled on plaques holding the final words of members of the university.

Ruud and the other two continue working in low tones for some time. They have a knotted piece of string, a rod, and some paper -- given what Antheunis knows, it seems reasonable to think they are calculating distance and angles to the warehouse, and where the optimal point of entry would be from there to the catacombs. Finally they're done, and they make their way out again through the catacombs, Antheunis on their heels. Ruud seems to be following a memorized path through the mazy catacombs; occasionally he has to stop and think about which way to go next and he gives a wide berth to the center where Willem stands.

Finally the three of them are at the exit. They go up the stairs, push the gate open and head out -- and then Ruud spins around. He says something quietly to the other two and then comes up to inspect the gate. Another brief conversation and then the three of them come back into the tunnels. Antheunis is just able to duck out of sight and keep ahead of them, but now what?

''Antheunis hesitates--he could just wait it out, but then they might find the other three, still wandering deeper in the catacombs. He thinks about heading back to warn them, but by the time he got back, they might be gone... He watches as the lantern's sweeping beam briefly illuminates a curl of mist in the dank underground, and gets an idea. Crouching behind a tomb an closing his eyes, he reaches out with his newly-awakened water sensitivity and tries to '''Control the Mist'''. If it works, he might be able to get the mist to concentrate enough that their candles or maybe even the lantern will go out--at the very least, he hopes that a thicker mist will play into the henchmen's already amped-up fears about the place being haunted... [Spending a fate point to unlock Control the Mist, and rolling Nature: ] <dice id="43" dice="2d6+3" result="4,1" total="8" />''

==Griet's Workshop==
[Does Aernoud want to spend a fate point to get an advanced success on that Stealth roll?]

''Sure. New technique: '''Hunter''': unlocks advanced successes for Stealth rolls when trying to track or follow someone without being detected.''

Aernoud scrambles up some convenient boxes and onto the roof of the workshop, where he's able to get an excellent view of Griet's work without being observed. It appears she's making a few different things: a large frame, able to be disassembled for easy transport; some additional struts like what Antheunis found in the courtyard; an angled trough and paddlewheel. Antheunis also gets a "Studied Griet's Work" aspect he can tap for free later on.

Later, Willem is able to identify the frame as looking familiar -- it's a scaled-up version of the frame of Lady Bellaire's model (made of wood and not metal, though).

==Party Prep==
[It seems like Lazer wants to talk the masquerade; assuming you are intending to go, one obvious point is how to get an invitation or, barring an invitation, how to get into Lord Laurent de Koningh's mansion.]

''His new Doublet on his chest, his gadgets in his coat's multi-pockets, everything seemingly settled, finally, Lazer -- has a bad crash in mood, as is his personality. "I just thought we'd be invited, like it was a thing that was going to happen because it had to happen," he admits to a glowering crowd. "I know it's important, but I don't know how to do make it happen, ok? I'm a fraud. Blum grum. Flum. I wish I -- I wish I knew how to make it happen, but I don't. I'll just be here in the corner. Which I know you think is lame, but whatever. Lame means like I can't move my leg, metaphorically. Sheesh."'' (sheesh, they don't even know what 'lame' means'.)

''"All right, well I think this is Boudin's realm more than mine, but if no one else has a plan then I'm just going to sneak in somehow, or sneak nearby and talk to the servants or something," says Aernoud. "They always know more of what's going on than the average Lord anyway." (Stealth: <dice id="45" dice="2d6+3" result="6,5" total="14" />)'' ''(I don't have a clever technique in mind here, but if a Fate Point will make that an advanced success then I'm all for it.)

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12|← Turn 12]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|Turn 14 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13

2013-07-16T22:00:11Z

Joshg: /* Party Prep */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12|← Turn 12]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|Turn 14 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==University Catacombs==

Antheunis paces his way through the catacombs, passing headstones marking the graves of long-forgotten academics. "Which would put the warehouse maybe fifty feet that--" he mumbles to himself. And then abruptly cuts off even his mumbling, because in the next room,
illuminated by the glow of a lantern resting on the floor, he sees three muscular figures and hears an accompanying whisper. "How many more of these measurements do we need to take, Ruud? This place gives me the creeps!" The flame of Antheunis's own candle dances a minute as he jerks to a halt.

''Antheunis blows out his candle, tucks it away, and creeps closer, trying to get a better idea of what they're measuring and why. Stealth: <dice id="42" dice="2d6+2" result="4,2" total="8" /> [OK, leaving that at a partial; in general, I am interested in following these guys out of here to wherever they're going, and am willing to sacrifice... something to do so.]''

Meanwhile, Willem has been hurrying down the tunnel to catch up, holding his light in one hand and the wand in the other. It begins to twitch slightly as soon as he's down the slope, and the closer he gets to the catacombs, the more it starts to tug in his hand. And with the vibration is an accompanying oily coldness, seeming to ooze from the haft of the wand but not, as far as he can tell, actually there. [We will, I guess, have to agree to ignore any TSD in this imagery or chalk it up to intentional creepiness]. The wand leads Willem to the heart of the catacombs, a room in which black dust has long settled on plaques holding the final words of members of the university.

Ruud and the other two continue working in low tones for some time. They have a knotted piece of string, a rod, and some paper -- given what Antheunis knows, it seems reasonable to think they are calculating distance and angles to the warehouse, and where the optimal point of entry would be from there to the catacombs. Finally they're done, and they make their way out again through the catacombs, Antheunis on their heels. Ruud seems to be following a memorized path through the mazy catacombs; occasionally he has to stop and think about which way to go next and he gives a wide berth to the center where Willem stands.

Finally the three of them are at the exit. They go up the stairs, push the gate open and head out -- and then Ruud spins around. He says something quietly to the other two and then comes up to inspect the gate. Another brief conversation and then the three of them come back into the tunnels. Antheunis is just able to duck out of sight and keep ahead of them, but now what?

''Antheunis hesitates--he could just wait it out, but then they might find the other three, still wandering deeper in the catacombs. He thinks about heading back to warn them, but by the time he got back, they might be gone... He watches as the lantern's sweeping beam briefly illuminates a curl of mist in the dank underground, and gets an idea. Crouching behind a tomb an closing his eyes, he reaches out with his newly-awakened water sensitivity and tries to '''Control the Mist'''. If it works, he might be able to get the mist to concentrate enough that their candles or maybe even the lantern will go out--at the very least, he hopes that a thicker mist will play into the henchmen's already amped-up fears about the place being haunted... [Spending a fate point to unlock Control the Mist, and rolling Nature: ] <dice id="43" dice="2d6+3" result="4,1" total="8" />''

==Griet's Workshop==
[Does Aernoud want to spend a fate point to get an advanced success on that Stealth roll?]

''Sure. New technique: '''Hunter''': unlocks advanced successes for Stealth rolls when trying to track or follow someone without being detected.''

Aernoud scrambles up some convenient boxes and onto the roof of the workshop, where he's able to get an excellent view of Griet's work without being observed. It appears she's making a few different things: a large frame, able to be disassembled for easy transport; some additional struts like what Antheunis found in the courtyard; an angled trough and paddlewheel. Antheunis also gets a "Studied Griet's Work" aspect he can tap for free later on.

Later, Willem is able to identify the frame as looking familiar -- it's a scaled-up version of the frame of Lady Bellaire's model (made of wood and not metal, though).

==Party Prep==
[It seems like Lazer wants to talk the masquerade; assuming you are intending to go, one obvious point is how to get an invitation or, barring an invitation, how to get into Lord Laurent de Koningh's mansion.]

''His new Doublet on his chest, his gadgets in his coat's multi-pockets, everything seemingly settled, finally, Lazer -- has a bad crash in mood, as is his personality. "I just thought we'd be invited, like it was a thing that was going to happen because it had to happen," he admits to a glowering crowd. "I know it's important, but I don't know how to do make it happen, ok? I'm a fraud. Blum grum. Flum. I wish I -- I wish I knew how to make it happen, but I don't. I'll just be here in the corner. Which I know you think is lame, but whatever. Lame means like I can't move my leg, metaphorically. Sheesh."'' (sheesh, they don't even know what 'lame' means'.)

''"All right, well I think this is Boudin's realm more than mine, but if no one else has a plan then I'm just going to sneak in somehow, or sneak nearby and talk to the servants or something," says Aernoud. "They always know more of what's going on than the average Lord anyway." (Stealth: <dice id="45" dice="2d6+3" result="6,5" total="14" />)''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12|← Turn 12]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 14|Turn 14 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13

2013-07-08T14:49:10Z

Joshg: /* Griet's Workshop */

Low Estate/Characters/Aernoud

2013-07-08T14:48:23Z

Joshg: /* Primary aspects */

==Skills==
*'''Great:''' Nature, Stealth
*'''Good:''' Reflexes, Riding
*'''Fair:''' Fingersmithy, Weapons (staves and blunt weapons)
*'''Average:''' Brawn, Athletics

==Aspects==
===Primary aspects===
'''Strange Pet''': Aernoud has had some small pet creature on his person for most of his life - in a pocket, under his coat, or flying along behind him. He has a knack for finding and befriending unusual creatures, and in the past has trained pets to do specific tasks for him. Lately, though, he's kept his newest pet out of sight whenever possible, and no one's quite recognized what it is when they do get a glimpse. Some kind of bird? It's got wings, anyway.

Unlocked techniques:
* '''Blink bird''': His pet can teleport past closed doors, locks, etc to fetch small items.
* '''Tracker''': Aernoud's pet has been taught to track other creatures or people, following them from the air and flying back and forth from the target to Aernoud.

Possible techniques:
* Winged serpent: The pet can attack on command with a paralyzing bite, and generally slither about.
* Taming: Given a bit of time, Aernoud can tame a normally wild animal. He can also temporarily pacify one if things are more urgent.
* Guard dog: Aernoud's pet has keen, superhuman senses and will make a distinctive warning sound if something physically threatening is near.

'''Forest Wanderer''': Aernoud has grown up finding solace in nature. He is much more comfortable with trees, rocks, and animals than he is with his peers. He has spent a lifetime roaming the woods around and in the city, as well as avoiding people who wanted to take him back inside.

Unlocked techniques:
* '''Hunter''': unlocks advanced successes for Stealth rolls when trying to track or follow someone without being detected.

Possible techniques:
* Folk knowledge: While Aernoud may not know the Latin name for a local plant or animal species, he almost certainly knows the common name and any folk remedies, knowledge, or uses for them.
* "Where'd that horse go?" : When outdoors, Aernoud is able to use his stealth skill to hide other companions from sight. (This has come mostly from his dealing with animals, but once you know how to hide a horse from view, hiding a few people is easy.)
* Nature's balance : Aernoud has learned to defend himself in the wild with whatever means are available, as he did not grow up learning to use a blade. He can use poorly balanced weapons such as sticks, stumps, and other odd-shaped blunt things just as effectively as a properly crafted staff.

===Secondary aspects===
'''Animal Liberation Front''': Aernoud doesn't usually set out to steal things, but when he sees an animal being treated poorly, it tends to end up in his possession (or released to safety if possible). As such he's gotten particularly good at finding the right moment to liberate horses, dogs, etc from uncaring masters.

'''Barn chores''': Having grown up working on a farm, Aernoud gained a lot of experience on small repairs, knotwork used for securing animals, and other similar tasks.

==Background==
Aernoud van Nevel grew up outside the city, working with his father on their rented farmland and exploring the nearby woods and fields. However, when he was eight his parents both died in a fire that consumed their farmyard home - Aernoud only survived because he had snuck out late to wander the forest for the evening. With no other known living relatives, he's been raised at Sister Marianne's ever since.

Aernoud is still restless inside city walls, and keeps his spirits up only by regularly sneaking off to explore nearby woods, fields, or finding animals within the city to take care of. In his younger years, he caused the sisters no small amount of worry, as he'd disappear from under their watchful eye for days, and then weeks. He continued to return, though, as the sisters' care reminded him of his beloved parents. Now that he has reached the age of seventeen, the sisters learned to worry less as Aernoud goes on his wanderings, though they still chide him for it.

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12

2013-07-06T20:29:32Z

Joshg: /* Aernoud tracking Griet */ new section

[LowEstate]/Wed 11:41 inky says, "#belated oh, I know exactly why you guys were at the warehouse"

[LowEstate]|Wed 11:41 inky says, "I just don't know why you're at the catacombs"

== brainstorming ==

Okay, so this feels like Aernoud is floundering for something to do again, and I'm not sure where we're heading with this. I'm totally up for going to this ball thing, but here are a couple of other ideas:

Is there anything further we can learn from the Warehouse?

''We can try the wand there. --[[User:Jota|Jota]] ([[User talk:Jota|talk]]) 06:20, 5 July 2013 (PDT)''

Maybe I can go back to Griet's workshop and try to learn where Griet's new construction site is (the second one that Maldeghem asked her to start)?
(edit: I guess the Warehouse might *be* the second location? Or is it the first? Or do we even know?)
Any other ideas?

''I keep trying to re-read things that have happened, and react to what I can glean from that, but generally, nobody should do anything based on what I say, because I'm having trouble figuring out what's going on. Lazer Dennis, as a character, knows more than I do. --[[User:Jrw|Jrw]] ([[User talk:Jrw|talk]]) 13:07, 6 July 2013 (PDT)''

== Aernoud tracking Griet ==

FYI, no idea how this'll play out time-wise, but it seemed worth trying. If there's time I'll still rejoin people to go to the ball, but if it's decided that I'm off on my own and miss heading to the ball that's probably fine. - josh

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12

2013-07-06T20:27:27Z

Joshg:

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11|← Turn 11]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13|Turn 13 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==University Catacombs==

Antheunis pulls out a bit of metal and fiddles with the gate lock while the others keep watch. Minutes tick by but then finally the lock pops open -- unfortunately, Antheunis discovers to his distress that the metal bit is firmly wedged in the lock. Still, at least the thing is open, and you can proceed inwards.

The gate is set into the wall of an otherwise-undecorated mausoleum; inside, the hallway runs a short distance, past an alcove in which are candles, matches, and ceremonial robes and staves, and then turns into a long slow descent, going below the level of the mausoleum and into the earth itself. The catacombs are surely as old as the university, which in turn is as old as the city; some people say the tunnels were always there and the university scholars merely uncovered them and added a few carvings, while others claim the scholars called forth demons to carve them from the stone, in exchange for a portion of the souls of all who were buried there. In any case, the catacombs hold generations of scholars (tradition holds none can be buried elsewhere, though within the university debates have occasionally been furious about ''where'' to bury a particular academic).

The tunnels wind their way along, until you make a final turn and stand before an archway carved with twin ravens. Beyond lies the series of rooms that make up the university catacombs, the place where the scholars bury their dead.

[I should add I'm not totally sure what you guys were intending to do here; if you were planning on investigating it as a place of power, Willem has that wand and Aernoud was studying up on ley lines from Lady Bellaire's documents. Alternately, if you were just going to physically search around, I'd like to know vaguely what approach you're taking / what you're looking at -- emphasizing doing a quick scan, or reading all the headstones, or examining the stonework, or trying to map it out, or what have you.]

''Antheunis was worried that the warehouse construction would be connected to the Death nexus somehow. I don't know what skill I would roll to determine if our current location (and/or the location of the Death Nexus, assuming we find it) was close to/under the warehouse, but it does seem like, having been a 'savvy street rat', that he'd have a pretty good feeling for the city's layout, and would have a good sense of direction even when he couldn't see landmarks--he might not know how *deep* they are, but he'd be able to tell you what he was underneath. I can spend a fate point for this, as a Technique, perhaps?''

[Sure, that sounds good -- spend a fate point and then maybe a Nature roll to see how well you reconstruct things here.]

''Antheunis mutters, "Hmm, let's see, two lefts and a gradual downward slope... <dice id="40" dice="2d6+3" result="6,6" total="15" /> [Ha ha, man. Advanced Nature successes are already unlocked; I'll spend a fate point to unlock '''Innate Compass''' from Savvy Street Rat to try this in the first place.]''

''When he eventually finds a way to tactfully extricate himself from a fascinating discourse on avian harmonics, Willem tries to catch up with the others in the catacombs. Noticing that he still has the wand in his pocket, he takes it out and waves it around a bit as he navigates his way in the dimness.''

[Ok, if you want to use the wand, I expect that would be Academics.]

''[Academics: <dice id="39" dice="2d6+3" result="5,3" total="11" />]''

=== Inside Lazer Dennis ''(Turn 12)'' ===
''Lazer backs away instinctively from the twin raven sculptures, as if they had successfully warned him off. Momentarily mixed-up, Lazer says, "We're here at the way wrong time." Lazer glances repeatedly at what he calls his "Octal Chronograph," or some other pile of mashed radishes he claims tells the time. "Positive or negative time, I'm not quite sure."''

''Willem glances sideways + up-and-down at him. Antheunis adopts a patient expression. Impatiently, Lazer declares: "Still need to buy that doublet before the costumiers closes," like it's some order he's giving everybody.''

''Antheunis finally says, "I know exactly why we were at the warehouse, but why are we here in the catacombs?"''

''Willem quickly answers, "We're at the catacombs because Lazer wanted to go to the catacombs."''

''Lazer says, looking somewhat nonplussed, "I followed you guys here. And I talked about the catacombs because you guys wanted to know what I was thinking before I was ready to say it. So there, it came out funny, and now we're all in the dark about to be attacked by ghost-werewolves or animated bones or something. What I want to do is drink a flagon of wine, stand in a dark corner, and feel better about not asking the girl in the sprite costume anything at all, because I just overheard the plans of the man who has somehow disrupted all our lives right when it was starting to be fun!"''

''Antheunis chuckles, politely. Lazer fakes a laugh. Willem stares at the wall for a few moments and says, "I had thought he'd had some specific reason for it. But perhaps I was jumping to conclusions?"''

''Lazer looks at his chronometer one more time while pretending not to and says, "In the quickest event, we all need hats and moustaches. Preferably identical."''

'''"But..." they protested.'''

''"I'll explain on the way," he cliched.''

=== Back at Griet's Workshop ===

''After whatever goes on at the catacombs, Aernoud wanders back out to where Griet, the artisan woodcrafter, has her workshop. "We need to see what it is she's building," he tells the others before heading out.''

''Once there, Aernoud tries to stay in sight of the workshop but remain unnoticed or generally not worth paying attention to.'' (Stealth: <dice id="41" dice="2d6+3" result="6,3" total="12" />) ''If he sees Griet leaving the workshop he'll try tailing her to wherever her new job site is.''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11|← Turn 11]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 13|Turn 13 →]]

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12

2013-07-06T18:29:34Z

Joshg: /* brainstorming */

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12

2013-07-05T12:58:29Z

Joshg: /* brainstorming */

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12

2013-07-05T12:57:42Z

Joshg: /* brainstorming */ new section

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11

2013-06-30T22:35:40Z

Joshg: /* University */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 10|← Turn 10]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12|Turn 12 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Deductions==
"Aha," Lazer says, and then hands the paper back to Aernoud. "Let's go," he says, starting to walk out, before he realizes everyone's staring at him. "Is it still stuck in my teeth?" he says self-consciously, digging around with his toothpick.

"What did you mean by 'Aha'?" asks Willem.

"When? Oh that, just now," says Lazer. "Hmm."

He pauses for a moment, and then his eyes light up. "I see it all now! Obviously it is of utmost importance that I buy a new doublet. Quickly, to the costumier!"

"Er, what?"

Lazer comes to a halt as he is heading for the door again, and then raises his finger. "Consider: Maldeghem has started a bloody gang war. Why? Maldeghem has been attempting to seize control of the orphanage, the very same land which was owned by a magician and scientist interested in magical ley lines and developing a magical apparatus for the exploitation thereof. Why? Maldeghem is very interested in the nobility yet is seemingly completely disconnected from them. Why? Maldeghem is preparing for a massive digging operation near the university. Why? Maldeghem possesses a piece of brass inscribed with magical runes. Why? Maldeghem wants to go to the masquerade party next week. Why???" He stops here mostly because he is out of breath, but eventually manages to recover himself. "Clearly we must go to the party ourselves! And that means I need a new doublet. There's no time to waste!"

This time he makes it all the way out the door before halting for a third time and sticking his head back in the room. "Oh, and I haven't figured out what you guys should wear, but I'm sure it's only a matter of deduction from first principles."

[I am ([[Low Estate/MUDchat3|with Lazer's buy-in]]) charging him a fate point for this based on his academics roll; meanwhile, Willem can ask one question about the brass piece. ''Fate point unlocks: 'Crazy inspiration!' (logged on Lazer Dennis char page).]''

* ''What sorts of magical effects would a brass ruler with markings like these be used for?''
On inspection (or I guess on description) it's not actually a ruler, but a component of a larger piece of machinery. The runes suggest this part is used for moderation of a flow of energy.

''[Based on what we've seen so far of Lady Bellaire's work, does it look like it might be related? --Jota]''

==University==

After the enlightening discussion with Lazer, everyone heads to the University, the University catacombs, and the address Antheunis pilfered. Antheunis keeps his eye out for iron keyholes.

''The address turns out to be a warehouse, not actually on the university grounds but nearby. It appears to be abandoned, with boards over the few windows, but there's a large -- and new -- metal padlock chaining the doors shut. The chance is too good to miss, and there seems to be no one around, so Antheunis tries his key -- it works! Inside the warehouse is mostly empty with cobwebs in the rafters, but there are a few cryptic marks on the dirt floor: circles and long lines that don't seem to mean anything. A few candle stubs and lengths of string complete the tableau.''

Assuming Willem and Lazer are around, Antheunis gestures to the lines on the floor. "Can you guys make out anything from those?" he asks.

[On that assumption, an Academics roll for Willem: <dice id="35" dice="2d6+3" result="5,3" total="11" />]

While they're looking at it, he climbs up to one of the boarded-up windows in a shadowed corner of the room, and loosens one of the boards so that it still looks closed, but can be easily swung aside from the outside to permit spying and entrance. With no oil about, he applies some wax from a discarded candle to the nail so that it swings silently. After that, he rejoins the group, ready to try to sneak in to the catacombs if need be.

''Meanwhile, the University crypts are off-limits to outsiders (except during funerals) and technically also off-limits to students, but for them it's possible to get in with a good reason. Do you want to try to sneak in? Or does Willem want to ask a professor to get him access?''

Willem spots Professor Annullis walking through the quad. "Professor!" he calls out. "That was a great lecture you gave the other day, the one on reading bio-etheric echoes. I'm actually thinking of doing some related research in that area. Say, you wouldn't happen to have a key to the catacombs, would you? I'd love to bring some lab equipment down there and try taking a few sensings." He grins and adds, "And if I find anything interesting, maybe you and I might even be able to publish it together!"

[Community (Academia): <dice id="34" dice="2d6+1" result="2,1" total="4" />]

''Assuming this means that option is off the table, Antheunis looks around for possible ways to sneak into the crypts.''

''Assuming this is possible, Aernoud goes sneaking along to help. Stealth: <dice id="36" dice="2d6+3" result="4,2" total="9" />''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 10|← Turn 10]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 12|Turn 12 →]]

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11

2013-06-30T04:28:49Z

Joshg:

''Current time: Thursday, 27 Jun 2013: Turn 11''

[LowEstate]/Thu 00:44 inky says, "hmm, maybe Lazer should have a crazy inspiration"

[LowEstate]|Thu 00:44 Rob says, "I wondered about that"

[LowEstate]|Thu 00:44 Rob says, "it's somewhere on the char sheet"

[LowEstate]|Thu 00:45 Rob says, "I was almost going to write it like that but you weren't around for a consultation"

[LowEstate]|Thu 00:45 Rob says, "like he says 'I don't know what it means. But if I had to take a crazy fricking guess, how about it means blah'"

[LowEstate]|Thu 00:46 Rob says, "I could spend a fate point or something if that seems relevant"

[LowEstate]/Thu 01:58 inky says, "ok hopefully that will be funny and not useless"

''I like how this wiki format lets the GM write stuff for a player character, which in-person or real-time-MUD RPG doesn't allow. Also, how inky picked up on the mad character of Lazer Dennis, which I've been getting at, then he wrote a scene for Lazer, exactly right. And now I feel like I need to draw a pic of Laz in his Masquerade ball doublet. Just because of this turn.''

-----

Rob: would you prefer that I spend a Fate Point to convert this to a partial success, or would you rather that we just tried Stealth (probably using the same Shadowed aspect that I used on Aernoud and Antheunis before)? Or do you have something else in mind? --[[User:Jota|Jota]] ([[User talk:Jota|talk]]) 07:21, 29 June 2013 (PDT)

----

[http://inky.org/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Low_Estate/MUDchat3 search the related logs],
or [http://inky.org/wiki/index.php?title=Low_Estate/MUDchat3&action=edit edit this page].

FYI Aernoud is presumed hanging around for any or all of the above scenes, I just can't think of anything useful he'd be doing right now. - josh

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11

2013-06-30T04:28:36Z

Joshg:

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 10

2013-06-24T18:25:23Z

Joshg: /* the study */

[LowEstate]/Sun 09:08 Jota asks (of inky), "If you happen to recap: for Willem wondering if he recognized the artisan woman, should I be rolling something? Like Community or whatever?"

[LowEstate]|Sun 09:17 Jota says, "(If you don't happen to recap, feel free to disregard this message.)"

[LowEstate]/18:37 Jota says, "I see that inky did not happen to recap."

[LowEstate]|18:41 inky recaps now

[LowEstate]|18:42 inky says, "I don't think anyone in the group has any particular connection with craftspeople"

[LowEstate]|18:43 inky says, "so I am inclined to say that nobody recognizes her unless they want to spend a fate point to say that they do"

[LowEstate]|18:43 Jota nods.

[LowEstate]|18:44 Jota says, "Then I suppose we will see if josh wants to."

[LowEstate]|18:45 inky asks, "also, this thing Willem is trying to notice at the moment, do you think identifying magic cast on/near you is part of his training, and if so, how good is he at it?"

[LowEstate]|18:46 Jota says, "That is a very good question."

[LowEstate]|18:47 inky says, "if you feel like it's part of the curriculum but not a particular area of focus of his, then it seems like we should do an academics roll to see how many questions you can ask about it"

[LowEstate]|18:47 Jota says, "As for the first part of the question, I would say that whether or not it was part of his training specifically, it seems like it would be something you would pick up on naturally just being around a lot of magic happening."

[LowEstate]|18:47 inky says, "yeah"

[LowEstate]|18:48 Jota says, "So (again, for part one) it is probably not something that Willem has probably had specific training, but rather something that he theoretically should be expected to have picked up anyway."

[LowEstate]|18:48 Jota says, "But whether or not he *has* picked it up is a different question."

[LowEstate]|18:48 inky says, "hmm"

[LowEstate]|18:49 Jota says, "But given the idea of it possibly being a thing you just sort of pick up by being around it, it seems plausible that his Community (Academics) might be a plausible measure of how well he's picked it up."

[LowEstate]|18:49 inky says, "hmm, that is an interesting idea"

[LowEstate]|18:49 Jota says, "I.e., how much exposure he's had to other students doing magic, and to different faculty members' magical styles, etc."

[LowEstate]|18:49 inky says, "and in some sense magical analysis is a social interactin with the other person doing the magic and seeing what cues you pick up"

[LowEstate]|18:50 inky says, "ok, I will buy that"

[LowEstate]|18:50 Jota says, "OK. I'll roll it, then."

== the study ==

How detailed is this ruler-like thing? Could Aernoud find some paper and quickly trace the runes and markings in a minute or two? I'm picturing something with maybe a dozen or so major markings and fairly simple runes, vs. something with dozens of tiny detailed symbols or the like.
(never mind, Jota had a better idea)

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 10

2013-06-24T18:24:38Z

Joshg: /* Afterwards */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|← Turn 9]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11|Turn 11 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Inside Maldeghem's Headquarters==

Boudin continues to spin out the conversation, but even he can't keep it going forever, and Maldeghem is starting to look as though it's time for him to get back to business.

As they're talking, Willem is trying to get a handle on the sensation that's coming over him. It's clearly a magical emanation of some kind, but what? And from where? [With his roll, he can ask three specific questions about the emanation, its source, its target, etc]

* ''Where is it coming from? (i.e., the physical location)''
* ''Who is behind it? (Even if Willem can't identify a specific person, he might still be able to get an idea of what kind of person they are or what their style of magic is like)''
* ''What are they trying to do?''

==Beside the Headquarters==

There's a small cabinet in the study with him, and Aernoud rifles quickly through its drawers. Quill and ink, incense sticks, candles, multicolored chalks, a delicate clear glass sphere, and a scuffed piece of brass perhaps a foot long, inlaid with runes and marked at regular intervals like a ruler.

''Aernoud picks up the brass ruler-like thing, intrigued. But as he's about to turn away he realizes that stealing something now might tip Maldeghem off, or otherwise escalate an already dangerous situation. Thinking quickly, he grabs a piece of paper and one of the darker shades of colored chalk and makes a rubbing of the ruler. He folds up the rubbing as carefully-but-quickly as he can, tucks it into a pocket, tidies the desk back up and then heads back out the window.''

He decides what to take and exits through the window, back onto the crate outside and dropping to the ground again. Looking back towards the entrance of the headquarters, he can see the same artisan exiting and starting the walk across the courtyard.

''Aernoud whistles softly to Flicker, who comes and lands on his shoulder. "See that woman? That one?" Flicker chirps knowingly. "Track her!" Flicker flies up out of notice, circling in a lazy orbit around the woman. (Using a Fate Point to unlock '''Tracker: Aernoud's pet has been taught to track other creatures or people, following them from the air and flying back and forth from the target to Aernoud.''') Then Aernoud waits for an opportune time to rejoin Boudin and Willem in the courtyard without the transition being noticed.''

''As soon as he rejoins the group and is not likely to be overheard, Aernoud lets them know that he may be able to follow this artisan to whatever it is she's working on. He keeps an eye to the air to see where Flicker went, tags along quietly with the group until well out of sight of Maldeghem's lackeys, then whistles to signal to Flicker where he is and tries to follow it until he can get that artisan in sight again.''

==Courtyard==

Meanwhile, Antheunis performs an impressive series of acrobatic feats and ends up outside the fence again, with the note plus loot from the guard's pocket. The note turns out to be an address -- later, when he shows it to the group, Willem recognizes it as a location somewhere near the university. The thing he grabbed from the guard's pocket turns out to be a heavy iron key on a key-ring, amazingly lifted without a tell-tale clank.

==Afterwards==

Once back at the orphanage, it seems time for people to show their discoveries, give their theories, and make future plans. "Ruud stopped by again while you were out," Sister Marianne says. "He said Maldeghem was getting impatient and wanted his money or his property -- I told him I didn't have it, and he said he'd be back."

''"The University," is all that Lazer says. "I'm going there."''

''"That's not far from <the address on the note>," says Willem. "Since I was planning to head over to that part of town to investigate anyway, would you like me to show you around the University along the way?"''

''Aernoud pulls out and carefully unfolds the rubbing of the ruler-thing he made. "I found a strange brass object in Maldeghem's study, so I made a quick image of it. Willem, can you make sense of it? Is this anything useful?"''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|← Turn 9]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11|Turn 11 →]]

Low Estate/Characters/Aernoud

2013-06-24T18:21:46Z

Joshg: /* Primary aspects */

==Skills==
*'''Great:''' Nature, Stealth
*'''Good:''' Reflexes, Riding
*'''Fair:''' Fingersmithy, Weapons (staves and blunt weapons)
*'''Average:''' Brawn, Athletics

==Aspects==
===Primary aspects===
'''Strange Pet''': Aernoud has had some small pet creature on his person for most of his life - in a pocket, under his coat, or flying along behind him. He has a knack for finding and befriending unusual creatures, and in the past has trained pets to do specific tasks for him. Lately, though, he's kept his newest pet out of sight whenever possible, and no one's quite recognized what it is when they do get a glimpse. Some kind of bird? It's got wings, anyway.

Unlocked techniques:
* '''Blink bird''': His pet can teleport past closed doors, locks, etc to fetch small items.
* '''Tracker''': Aernoud's pet has been taught to track other creatures or people, following them from the air and flying back and forth from the target to Aernoud.

Possible techniques:
* Winged serpent: The pet can attack on command with a paralyzing bite, and generally slither about.
* Taming: Given a bit of time, Aernoud can tame a normally wild animal. He can also temporarily pacify one if things are more urgent.
* Guard dog: Aernoud's pet has keen, superhuman senses and will make a distinctive warning sound if something physically threatening is near.

'''Forest Wanderer''': Aernoud has grown up finding solace in nature. He is much more comfortable with trees, rocks, and animals than he is with his peers. He has spent a lifetime roaming the woods around and in the city, as well as avoiding people who wanted to take him back inside.

Possible techniques:
* Folk knowledge: While Aernoud may not know the Latin name for a local plant or animal species, he almost certainly knows the common name and any folk remedies, knowledge, or uses for them.
* "Where'd that horse go?" : When outdoors, Aernoud is able to use his stealth skill to hide other companions from sight. (This has come mostly from his dealing with animals, but once you know how to hide a horse from view, hiding a few people is easy.)
* Nature's balance : Aernoud has learned to defend himself in the wild with whatever means are available, as he did not grow up learning to use a blade. He can use poorly balanced weapons such as sticks, stumps, and other odd-shaped blunt things just as effectively as a properly crafted staff.

===Secondary aspects===
'''Animal Liberation Front''': Aernoud doesn't usually set out to steal things, but when he sees an animal being treated poorly, it tends to end up in his possession (or released to safety if possible). As such he's gotten particularly good at finding the right moment to liberate horses, dogs, etc from uncaring masters.

'''Barn chores''': Having grown up working on a farm, Aernoud gained a lot of experience on small repairs, knotwork used for securing animals, and other similar tasks.

==Background==
Aernoud van Nevel grew up outside the city, working with his father on their rented farmland and exploring the nearby woods and fields. However, when he was eight his parents both died in a fire that consumed their farmyard home - Aernoud only survived because he had snuck out late to wander the forest for the evening. With no other known living relatives, he's been raised at Sister Marianne's ever since.

Aernoud is still restless inside city walls, and keeps his spirits up only by regularly sneaking off to explore nearby woods, fields, or finding animals within the city to take care of. In his younger years, he caused the sisters no small amount of worry, as he'd disappear from under their watchful eye for days, and then weeks. He continued to return, though, as the sisters' care reminded him of his beloved parents. Now that he has reached the age of seventeen, the sisters learned to worry less as Aernoud goes on his wanderings, though they still chide him for it.

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 10

2013-06-24T18:21:05Z

Joshg: /* Beside the Headquarters */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|← Turn 9]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11|Turn 11 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Inside Maldeghem's Headquarters==

Boudin continues to spin out the conversation, but even he can't keep it going forever, and Maldeghem is starting to look as though it's time for him to get back to business.

As they're talking, Willem is trying to get a handle on the sensation that's coming over him. It's clearly a magical emanation of some kind, but what? And from where? [With his roll, he can ask three specific questions about the emanation, its source, its target, etc]

* ''Where is it coming from? (i.e., the physical location)''
* ''Who is behind it? (Even if Willem can't identify a specific person, he might still be able to get an idea of what kind of person they are or what their style of magic is like)''
* ''What are they trying to do?''

==Beside the Headquarters==

There's a small cabinet in the study with him, and Aernoud rifles quickly through its drawers. Quill and ink, incense sticks, candles, multicolored chalks, a delicate clear glass sphere, and a scuffed piece of brass perhaps a foot long, inlaid with runes and marked at regular intervals like a ruler.

''Aernoud picks up the brass ruler-like thing, intrigued. But as he's about to turn away he realizes that stealing something now might tip Maldeghem off, or otherwise escalate an already dangerous situation. Thinking quickly, he grabs a piece of paper and one of the darker shades of colored chalk and makes a rubbing of the ruler. He folds up the rubbing as carefully-but-quickly as he can, tucks it into a pocket, tidies the desk back up and then heads back out the window.''

He decides what to take and exits through the window, back onto the crate outside and dropping to the ground again. Looking back towards the entrance of the headquarters, he can see the same artisan exiting and starting the walk across the courtyard.

''Aernoud whistles softly to Flicker, who comes and lands on his shoulder. "See that woman? That one?" Flicker chirps knowingly. "Track her!" Flicker flies up out of notice, circling in a lazy orbit around the woman. (Using a Fate Point to unlock '''Tracker: Aernoud's pet has been taught to track other creatures or people, following them from the air and flying back and forth from the target to Aernoud.''') Then Aernoud waits for an opportune time to rejoin Boudin and Willem in the courtyard without the transition being noticed.''

''As soon as he rejoins the group and is not likely to be overheard, Aernoud lets them know that he may be able to follow this artisan to whatever it is she's working on. He keeps an eye to the air to see where Flicker went, tags along quietly with the group until well out of sight of Maldeghem's lackeys, then whistles to signal to Flicker where he is and tries to follow it until he can get that artisan in sight again.''

==Courtyard==

Meanwhile, Antheunis performs an impressive series of acrobatic feats and ends up outside the fence again, with the note plus loot from the guard's pocket. The note turns out to be an address -- later, when he shows it to the group, Willem recognizes it as a location somewhere near the university. The thing he grabbed from the guard's pocket turns out to be a heavy iron key on a key-ring, amazingly lifted without a tell-tale clank.

==Afterwards==

Once back at the orphanage, it seems time for people to show their discoveries, give their theories, and make future plans. "Ruud stopped by again while you were out," Sister Marianne says. "He said Maldeghem was getting impatient and wanted his money or his property -- I told him I didn't have it, and he said he'd be back."

''"The University," is all that Lazer says. "I'm going there."''

''"That's not far from <the address on the note>," says Willem. "Since I was planning to head over to that part of town to investigate anyway, would you like me to show you around the University along the way?"''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|← Turn 9]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 11|Turn 11 →]]

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 10

2013-06-24T16:41:21Z

Joshg: /* the study */ new section

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9

2013-06-22T16:10:56Z

Joshg: Created page with "Could Willem and/or Boudin check if they recognize the woman who Maldeghem talked to? Looking at the list of notable characters, seems like this could maybe be Gertruda Alinck..."

Could Willem and/or Boudin check if they recognize the woman who Maldeghem talked to? Looking at the list of notable characters, seems like this could maybe be Gertruda Alinckbroodt.

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9

2013-06-21T14:23:04Z

Joshg: /* Maldeghem's Headquarters */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8|← Turn 8]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 10|Turn 10 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Maldeghem's Headquarters==

Boudin appears to have adeptly hit on a thing Maldeghem lacks, because it takes only a few days from when the word is passed via the East Arsebrouc Boys to when the five of you are walking into the courtyard of the place Maldeghem has set up as the seat of his kingdom. Security is lax in the outer areas: there are guards along the walls, and you're looked over as you come in, but it's a fairly casual inspection. The courtyard itself is full of cutpurses, pimps, rogues, and thugs, drinking or gambling or watching a dog-fight or fighting (or multiple as one tends to lead to another). Given all that, it's not too hard for Aernoud and Antheunis to slip away, while Boudin, Lazer, and Willem continue on for the interview in the main building.

Maldeghem is not the sort of person who is a natural leader, but nevertheless he draws the attention, in the same way a snake does -- he gives the impression that if you drop your guard at any moment it is possible he would go for your throat. Furthermore, the search upon entering the throne room (a dining room with a long table down the center and stained tapestries on the walls) is much more thorough than the one outside, and the bodyguards in here less distracted. But it soon becomes apparent that what Maldeghem wants more than anything is something to do with high society, and, not being able to figure out a way to kill for it, is completely at an impasse. He hangs on Boudin's every word while Boudin spins out gossipy little tales of the seamier side of high society (no names are given, but enough hinted at to make you feel of course you could deduce if you cared). Gradually, things wind along. Maldeghem does indeed have a certain privileged access to some trade goods of various descriptions which he would be happy to provide at a discount in exchange for favors which no doubt would be of mutual benefit .. and perhaps the lady in question could provide a sample of the assistance she could provide by arranging for admission to the upcoming masquerade ball? Just as he proposes this, someone comes in. She's dressed like a skilled artisan of some kind -- belt with a small hammer and tongs, leather gloves, pouch for quill and ink.

Meanwhile, Aernoud slips along the side of the main building, up onto a crate, and in a window. <s>Unfortunately, once he drops through the window, landing heavily on the ground in a small study, he realizes the window's too high up on this side to get back through.</s> Still, he's in, and that's what matters -- he can hear the conversation in the throne room faintly, and then he hears Maldeghem say "if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I just need to have a brief discussion with this woman." Then footsteps come closer, towards the room he's in, and Aernoud ducks behind a tapestry. "Well? What is it?" Maldeghem snarls. "I'm busy!" "My apologies, sir," she says, "but I wanted to let you know the initial framework is complete, and seems to be able to hold the weight. Did you want us to disassemble again?" "Oh really! In that case, I want you to build a second one." "A second one? But I don't see how --" "You don't have to. But it appears a shortcut may be possible, and I intend to cover both eventualities." "But, the raw materials..." "I'll get you what you need. Now get on it! You have a week!" Footsteps head out again, and Aernoud is once again alone in the room<s>, with no obvious exit save the one leading back to the throne room</s>. [Amended the lack of exit, given his full success.]

''Once he hears the two leave, Aernoud looks out from behind the tapestry and surveys the room. Is there anything that might be worth investigating here before he leaves? If there is, he'll take a quick look around before going. Either way, he realizes that the outer guards are expecting a group of five people leaving, and so he doesn't plan to stay waiting in hiding for too much longer.''

''As he looks around, he thinks to himself, "Well well, this Maldeghem is up to more than just killing people. But why would a construction project be this important to him? And what is it a shortcut to?"''

While Aernoud is climbing into the building, Antheunis is exploring the back parts of the courtyard. There's a whole fenced-off section that the common rabble aren't permitted inside, and so naturally Antheunis wriggles his way under the fence. Inside are, curiously, picks, shovels, struts, and lanterns -- everything you'd need for a mining operation. Just as he finishes gathering it all in, he notices two distinct things: first, a folded note dropped on the ground on the other side of the pile of equipment; and second, the voice of one of the fence guards saying "ok, I'll take a look inside -- you watch the gate".

"My apologies, gentlemen, now where were we?" Maldeghem re-emerges from the back room (as does the artisan, who heads out into the courtyard), but he seems a trifle distracted. As Maldeghem implores Boudin to expand a little more on what happened after the courtesan mixed up the two boots, Willem's neck prickles slightly, as if he's being watched.

''Lazer spends the whole time glowering behind a vibe-field that tells everyone outside him, "F. off, go away, leave me alone," which everyone is happy to do. Inside, he turns over and over a storm of thoughts, imagining he projects, '''"Someone ask me what I'm thinking about!!!"''', but which no one is the wiser of, because all they get from him is "F. off," no matter how desperately he thinks he projects it.''

''At a slightly inopportune moment, he mumbles something only Willem hears, "Love is a mysterious box nobody knows how to open." Willem whispers, out of the side of his mouth, "Shh!" and Lazer shuts up. Immediately after that, to himself, he thinks: "I'm weird. Nobody gets me. I wish I weren't weird. I hate this. I don't get what this is about."''

''Willem begins to casually mill about the room while Boudin and Maldeghem are busy talking, seemingly aimlessly. This is not to get away from Lazer, although it may seem that way to him, but rather to try to get an idea of what the source of this sudden sense of being watched may be — something magical, perhaps? Maybe even that artisan who was just here? If he does sense a magical lead in a particular direction, he'll try to follow it.''

==The Courtyard==

''[Antheunis: I think I need a bit more detail, either about the courtyard layout or about what possible actions are available here. Obviously I would like to snatch up the note--is the idea that if I do that, I'll definitely be seen unless I do something clever? Can I hide in the courtyard itself from my last Stealth roll? Are there places to hide at all? Behind the equipment? Can I go back to the gap under the fence that I came through? Is there a building the borders the courtyard I can scale and hide on the roof? Could I just scale the fence?]''

The courtyard overall is pretty large, with various small temporary buildings and shed-like things scattered around. This is a fenced-off area in the corner -- it backs against the courtyard walls on two sides (which are fairly high on this part of the courtyard), and is fenced in on two sides. Inside the fenced-off area this equipment is piled up along with some crates and things. And yeah, right now you can dive out under the fence as the guy comes in, and presumably won't be seen, or you can run around the equipment to grab the note, but then you'll be on the other side of the equipment from the guy and the hole under the fence (which doesn't guarantee you'll be seen, it just puts you in a spot).

''[Sounds good. So:]''

''Antheunis dashes over to the note and pockets it, then tucks himself behind the equipment and crates before the guard comes over. He grabs a short hefty piece of wood from the pile, just as the guard comes over to investigate.''

''[At this point, I'm going to assume that there's nothing more in this section of the compound of interest, and that I need to get away. As such, at a moment when the guard isn't looking my way, I'm going to throw the piece of wood at a different small pile of equipment on the other side of the fenced-off area to cause a distraction--when the guard goes to investigate, I'll dash back and slip under the fence. Is the plan ;-) Rolling Athletics! <dice id="29" dice="2d6+3" result="6,6" total="15" />] [Wow, OK! And I already unlocked advanced successes for Athletics! OK, doubling down, I'm going to claim that my scheme works so well that I get the opportunity to pickpocket the guy on his way by me. Rolling Fingersmithery! This is almost certainly a bad idea. <dice id="30" dice="2d6+2" result="5,3" total="10" />] [Boom, got it. Assuming things work out as I hope they worked out, Antheunis slips out under the fence again, wondering what exactly it is he picked up.]''

== ''Inside Lazer Dennis'' (Turn 9) ==

''Lazer thinks to himself: "Okay, so the wand tracks ley lines and areas of magical power, and ley lines shift rather than being stable, so even though the orphanage is stable ground, that doesn't prove anything. Because the city has other lines of power, and there's a line of Fortune along the harbor -- and Aernoud and Antheunis explored the harbor, and found out there's a shipping connection to... what is the shipping connection? I can't remember. Nevermind, nevermind. Not important now, figure out later."''

''Lazer shifts around, furrowing his permanently-furrowed features, and continues (to obsess): "Deep area of the harbor, associated with Water, which our Naiad should explore, but I don't know him very well, so I can't ask him about that, he thinks I'm weird, I can't ask him about that. Nevermind. But what else? What else? Oh yeah, forest glen. Skip that. What else? University catacombs built on a place of Death? What? That has to be important. Something has to be significant about the University. Ley lines? Death? Ok, dunno about that, but I need to ask about that. Ask someone about that. Ask who about that, everybody thinks I'm weird, thinks I'm strange, is weirded out when I follow along. Nobody wants me along here tonight. What am I doing here, I want to be looking into the university. No, I can't go there, nobody knows me there, they'd ask me 'What are you doing here?' and throw me out. But built on Death? What is Death with a capital D? What did he mean when he told me that?"''

''Lazer suddenly blurts out, in a kind of sotto-voce that isn't quite enough sotto, "Love is a mysterious box!" and Willem shushes him. So he shushes. '''Willem thinks I'm weird. They all do. I am. I'm weird. I wish I weren't weird. What else?''' Then he thinks: "Lord Laurent? The masquerade ball?" He fidgets in his pockets, which make a loud clinking and clanking sound. "I hate wearing costumes. Costumes make me embarrassed and depressed. What could I wear as a costume." Depressed, he settles into a quiet funk, wishing someone would ask him what he's thinking about.''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8|← Turn 8]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 10|Turn 10 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8

2013-06-20T21:47:09Z

Joshg: /* Back with Sister Marianne */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|← Turn 7]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|Turn 9 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Wrapping up Act I==

[Along with everything else, if you want to do some minor character tweaks before we get back into things -- shuffling skills or changing out unused aspects or renaming a primary aspect to something more appropriate -- feel free. This would also be a good time to join in if you are spectating or drop out if you are running out of time to play.]

You all spend the next week, along with your other more relaxation-oriented projects, picking through the items salvaged from the laboratory.

Willem does some experimenting with the wand, based on a few thoughts he had during his initial examination and some of the paperwork he found, and eventually determines it's sort of a dowsing rod for ley lines and areas of magical power: it can be used to determine their location and strength, with accuracy increasing with practice. He also reads up more on Lady Bellaire's invention -- although the scale model doesn't appear to be anywhere in the lab, there is enough information (measurements, incantations, detailed notes on her attempts to build the full-sized version, and so on) there for him to theoretically build one in the future, given a couple weeks to experiment in.

Aernoud reads through his salvaged notes and gains a great deal of amount of information about ley lines and places of power in the city itself. At least under Lady Bellaire's theories, some magical places tend to drift around over time, while others are stable (she theorizes some stuff about the difference having to do with alternate dimensions in which this energy is located and it bleeding through to this one in different ways based on the different way in which the dimensions are connected). Stable places tend to be associated with this-world physical phenomena, though the order of causation is unclear. She calls out a couple examples of this around the city: a particularly deep area of the harbor that is associated with Water; a glen in the forest that is associated with Life; the university catacombs being coincidentally (?) built on a place of Death; a line of Fortune that passes through the commercial district and moves around continuously, touching some merchants one week and moving on to their neighbors the next.

Antheunis examines the geode he rescued from the lab. It's a pretty, sparkling thing on the inside, despite the plain exterior, and it would probably sell for a reasonable sum, but nothing like the kind of money the orphanage needs. Whether it has any magical properties or not is unclear -- there's nothing in Lady Bellaire's notes to say where she got it from or what it is. He also locates a secluded inlet in the harbor, for who knows what purpose.

Lazer pokes around seemingly aimlessly, as he does, and manages to discover a secret passage from the other side of the lab leading back into a spiderwebby cellar of the main orphanage building. Later on, he has a middle-of-the-night realization about What It All Means, which vanishes like smoke when he tries to put it down, but that's not to say it's wrong.

Boudin splits his time between the streets and high society, looking for connections. Gang fighting continues, and in general the rest of the city is sticking to a "wait until the dust settles" sort of approach. There's some muttering among the nobility that the Duchess should step in before it turns into rebellion, but other nobles seem content to let things burn themselves out down there as long as it doesn't touch the rest of the city. In general, the nobility are at this point less interested in the fighting than in the masquerade ball Lord Laurent de Koningh is throwing next week.

==Back with Sister Marianne==

A week or two after the first meeting, you're back in Sister Marianne's parlor, talking about what you've discovered (or at least as much as you want to share). "Gracious!" she says. "And to think that laboratory was hidden down there all this time! Well, we had better keep it closed off -- I would hate for any of the younger children to get into trouble down there."

"I do appreciate the extra guard patrols, however you managed that -- it makes me feel much safer when they stop by once a day to see how we're doing, and I'm sure Maldeghem has been forced to act more cautiously than he otherwise would. But I still don't understand what he wants from the orphanage, or how we can raise the money he's asking for. Do you think he was trying to find the laboratory? If we just gave him everything you found there, do you think he would be satisfied?"

''Aernoud frowns. "This doesn't fit. Why would a brute like Maldeghem care about a research lab, even if it does involve magical power?" He turns to Boudin. "You've got connections - is there any way you could be introduced to this man? I'm good at staying out of sight, perhaps I could follow and duck into whatever rat hole he lurks in. You could ask him some careful questions, which he probably won't answer, but then I'll stay behind in the dark and listen in on his reaction once you've left. Antheunis, perhaps you could come with me?"''

''"Oh, totally," Antheunis replies. "We need to figure out a lot more about the situation before we can figure out what we need to do. I'm with you!"''

''As they head out the door, Willem calls out. "Wait there a moment. If you'd like me to come along, I think I might be able to help out." He fumbles in his pockets for a moment, then tosses a pinch of dust on each of Aernoud and Antheunis, and then wiggles his fingers meaningfully over their heads. The two of them exchange puzzled glances — and almost don't even notice each other standing there. "There, that should make you a bit less noticeable."''

''(Spending a Fate Point to unlock the technique "Move in Shadows", then using it once on each of Aernoud and Antheunis. This gives them the '''Shadowed''' Aspect, which they can each tag once for free to improve a relevant roll by one success level.)''

''Boudin hems and haws. A direct audience with Maldeghem is going to cost him dear, one way or another. "Very well, this is what we shall do. The one thing Maldeghem cannot afford to pass up is allies. I will put it about that an unnamed lady of rank is interested in making some material investment in his success, in exchange for certain future considerations - first rights to the black market, no dealing with certain rivals, that kind of thing. Something of this gravity cannot, of course, be undertaken by mere lieutenants of the Bloody. In the event, alas, the bargaining will come down to a price slightly higher than Maldeghem is willing to pay; but I will spin it out, by thunder!" <dice id="28" dice="2d6+3" result="6,2" total="11" />

''(josh: assuming Boudin likes the plan... actually I don't know what else to say so here's my Stealth roll: <dice id="26" dice="2d6+3" result="5,1" total="9" /> ) (tagging the Shadowed aspect to improve that to a full success)''

''And for good measure, here's Antheunis's Stealth: <dice id="27" dice="2d6+3" result="3,1" total="7" />'' ''Unfortunately, that +3 was wrong, and should have been a +2. Hence, good thing he was Shadowed! [tagging that Aspect to make that actually a partial success]''

''Lazer frowns and talks while looking at his shoes. "It doesn't fit at all," he says. "I think we could give him everything we found and it wouldn't make any difference. He also doesn't expect us to raise the money -- if we somehow conjured it, he'd probably raise the price. It's not even the orphanage itself, I don't think. He's probably intending to tear it to the ground to find whatever it is he's..." Lazer falls silent, still looking down. "Maybe it is the ground, not what's built on top of it." He abruptly wanders off, wondering where else you could do some research on the land, and ley lines, and whatever the thing in the back of his head that is bugging him.''

''When he has some free time in between other activities, Willem tidies up Lady Bellaire's laboratory enough that he can use it to try to reproduce some of her research, in the hope that he might figure out how to duplicate the device she had been working on.''

==The Grotto and the Genie==

Antheunis gets Willem to teach him how to say 'Go, I release you' in whatever that ancient language was, then takes the lamp (and Willem and I guess anyone else who's interested) to the secluded beach. He carefully sets the lamp down in the sand and sun and opens it, then retreats to the water, where he sits cross-legged, submerged to his chest, facing the lamp. Hopefully, this setting will be more condusive to a reasonable discussion than the highly-charged original situation in the laboratory. He is interested in finding out, in roughly this order: whether the djinn is satisfied with his current lamp situation, and if not, what could be done about it; what the djinn can tell him about his (Antheunis's) mother, if anything (what kind of creature she must have been, if nothing else); what kinds of tasks the djinn would be able and willing to perform.

''It's a little tricky to communicate with the djinn, even with practice; when it speaks it speaks in poetry, and when Antheunis communicates with it more elementally he gets (what seems to him to be) mostly a sequence of images. On the other hand, it seems to understand you better than it can speak to you, and you manage to work out some information.

It appears that djinn are like barnacles in that they have a free-floating phase of their life and then a tethered phase, so being in the lamp is not problematic as such. On the other hand, the djinn doesn't seem to like the climate here and (you think) would really like to be somewhere warmer and drier.

This djinn seems to have some power over wind and sand, over poetry and music, over sun and shadow. Also over camels, but that probably isn't much help. You get the sense there are two ways to get it to do things: either you can bribe it with incense or wine or flowers or jewels or other things it likes, or you can command it (which would be a Resolve roll) (though you (Antheunis) can't command it, because it's one of those things you have to be a pure Child of Man to do).

Finally, in terms of Antheunis's mother, there's a brief, suggestive image of a woman standing in the water up to her waist, wearing only a damp white shift. She's cradling a baby in her arms, and as you watch, she kisses the baby, places it in a basket floating next to her, and the current takes the basket out into the water.

''Antheunis's eyes get misty at the image of his mother, and he thanks the djinn [did he get a name from any of that?] and tries to release him back into the lamp. Which might be a bit tricky, him not being a Child of Man and all. If that doesn't work, hopefully Willem was around and can do it instead.''

''When he gets back to the city, he spends a little time poking around at the various obscure shops he knows, looking for things that might interest the djinn. (He's a Savvy Street Rat, but I dunno what skill to use here, or if I need a skill at all. If it's Community, I'll just find the stuff and get someone else to haggle for me.''

[GM: I don't think this needs a roll as such, but Antheunis doesn't really have any money, does he? I mean, he's an orphan with no job. Or are you thinking Willem or somebody will pay for the stuff?]

''No, it's more that I'm looking for inexpensive things that the djinn will nonetheless like. And in general, look for *anything* the djinn will like; see if it can be found in the city. I suppose possibly this could be based on Nature, with the idea being trying to find things very valuable to the djinn that are not very valuable to the city's denizens. The perfectly-formed wildflower growing on someone's rooftop; things like that? I don't know what interesting failure would look like for that, though, so maybe I shouldn't roll. But also, yes, I could also find things for other people to buy for the guy if they wanted a task done.''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|← Turn 7]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|Turn 9 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8

2013-06-19T20:38:18Z

Joshg: /* Back with Sister Marianne */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|← Turn 7]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|Turn 9 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Wrapping up Act I==

[Along with everything else, if you want to do some minor character tweaks before we get back into things -- shuffling skills or changing out unused aspects or renaming a primary aspect to something more appropriate -- feel free. This would also be a good time to join in if you are spectating or drop out if you are running out of time to play.]

You all spend the next week, along with your other more relaxation-oriented projects, picking through the items salvaged from the laboratory.

Willem does some experimenting with the wand, based on a few thoughts he had during his initial examination and some of the paperwork he found, and eventually determines it's sort of a dowsing rod for ley lines and areas of magical power: it can be used to determine their location and strength, with accuracy increasing with practice. He also reads up more on Lady Bellaire's invention -- although the scale model doesn't appear to be anywhere in the lab, there is enough information (measurements, incantations, detailed notes on her attempts to build the full-sized version, and so on) there for him to theoretically build one in the future, given a couple weeks to experiment in.

Aernoud reads through his salvaged notes and gains a great deal of amount of information about ley lines and places of power in the city itself. At least under Lady Bellaire's theories, some magical places tend to drift around over time, while others are stable (she theorizes some stuff about the difference having to do with alternate dimensions in which this energy is located and it bleeding through to this one in different ways based on the different way in which the dimensions are connected). Stable places tend to be associated with this-world physical phenomena, though the order of causation is unclear. She calls out a couple examples of this around the city: a particularly deep area of the harbor that is associated with Water; a glen in the forest that is associated with Life; the university catacombs being coincidentally (?) built on a place of Death; a line of Fortune that passes through the commercial district and moves around continuously, touching some merchants one week and moving on to their neighbors the next.

Antheunis examines the geode he rescued from the lab. It's a pretty, sparkling thing on the inside, despite the plain exterior, and it would probably sell for a reasonable sum, but nothing like the kind of money the orphanage needs. Whether it has any magical properties or not is unclear -- there's nothing in Lady Bellaire's notes to say where she got it from or what it is. He also locates a secluded inlet in the harbor, for who knows what purpose.

Lazer pokes around seemingly aimlessly, as he does, and manages to discover a secret passage from the other side of the lab leading back into a spiderwebby cellar of the main orphanage building. Later on, he has a middle-of-the-night realization about What It All Means, which vanishes like smoke when he tries to put it down, but that's not to say it's wrong.

Boudin splits his time between the streets and high society, looking for connections. Gang fighting continues, and in general the rest of the city is sticking to a "wait until the dust settles" sort of approach. There's some muttering among the nobility that the Duchess should step in before it turns into rebellion, but other nobles seem content to let things burn themselves out down there as long as it doesn't touch the rest of the city. In general, the nobility are at this point less interested in the fighting than in the masquerade ball Lord Laurent de Koningh is throwing next week.

==Back with Sister Marianne==

A week or two after the first meeting, you're back in Sister Marianne's parlor, talking about what you've discovered (or at least as much as you want to share). "Gracious!" she says. "And to think that laboratory was hidden down there all this time! Well, we had better keep it closed off -- I would hate for any of the younger children to get into trouble down there."

"I do appreciate the extra guard patrols, however you managed that -- it makes me feel much safer when they stop by once a day to see how we're doing, and I'm sure Maldeghem has been forced to act more cautiously than he otherwise would. But I still don't understand what he wants from the orphanage, or how we can raise the money he's asking for. Do you think he was trying to find the laboratory? If we just gave him everything you found there, do you think he would be satisfied?"

''Aernoud frowns. "This doesn't fit. Why would a brute like Maldeghem care about a research lab, even if it does involve magical power?" He turns to Boudin. "You've got connections - is there any way you could be introduced to this man? I'm good at staying out of sight, perhaps I could follow and duck into whatever rat hole he lurks in. You could ask him some careful questions, which he probably won't answer, but then I'll stay behind in the dark and listen in on his reaction once you've left. Antheunis, perhaps you could come with me?"''

''"Oh, totally," Antheunis replies. "We need to figure out a lot more about the situation before we can figure out what we need to do. I'm with you!"''

''(josh: assuming Boudin likes the plan... actually I don't know what else to say so here's my Stealth roll: <dice id="26" dice="2d6+3" result="5,1" total="9" /> )''

==The Grotto and the Genie==

Antheunis gets Willem to teach him how to say 'Go, I release you' in whatever that ancient language was, then takes the lamp (and Willem and I guess anyone else who's interested) to the secluded beach. He carefully sets the lamp down in the sand and sun and opens it, then retreats to the water, where he sits cross-legged, submerged to his chest, facing the lamp. Hopefully, this setting will be more condusive to a reasonable discussion than the highly-charged original situation in the laboratory. He is interested in finding out, in roughly this order: whether the djinn is satisfied with his current lamp situation, and if not, what could be done about it; what the djinn can tell him about his (Antheunis's) mother, if anything (what kind of creature she must have been, if nothing else); what kinds of tasks the djinn would be able and willing to perform.

''It's a little tricky to communicate with the djinn, even with practice; when it speaks it speaks in poetry, and when Antheunis communicates with it more elementally he gets (what seems to him to be) mostly a sequence of images. On the other hand, it seems to understand you better than it can speak to you, and you manage to work out some information.

It appears that djinn are like barnacles in that they have a free-floating phase of their life and then a tethered phase, so being in the lamp is not problematic as such. On the other hand, the djinn doesn't seem to like the climate here and (you think) would really like to be somewhere warmer and drier.

This djinn seems to have some power over wind and sand, over poetry and music, over sun and shadow. Also over camels, but that probably isn't much help. You get the sense there are two ways to get it to do things: either you can bribe it with incense or wine or flowers or jewels or other things it likes, or you can command it (which would be a Resolve roll) (though you (Antheunis) can't command it, because it's one of those things you have to be a pure Child of Man to do).

Finally, in terms of Antheunis's mother, there's a brief, suggestive image of a woman standing in the water up to her waist, wearing only a damp white shift. She's cradling a baby in her arms, and as you watch, she kisses the baby, places it in a basket floating next to her, and the current takes the basket out into the water.

''Antheunis's eyes get misty at the image of his mother, and he thanks the djinn [did he get a name from any of that?] and tries to release him back into the lamp. Which might be a bit tricky, him not being a Child of Man and all. If that doesn't work, hopefully Willem was around and can do it instead.''

''When he gets back to the city, he spends a little time poking around at the various obscure shops he knows, looking for things that might interest the djinn. (He's a Savvy Street Rat, but I dunno what skill to use here, or if I need a skill at all. If it's Community, I'll just find the stuff and get someone else to haggle for me.''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|← Turn 7]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|Turn 9 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8

2013-06-19T20:38:02Z

Joshg: /* Back with Sister Marianne */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|← Turn 7]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|Turn 9 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Wrapping up Act I==

[Along with everything else, if you want to do some minor character tweaks before we get back into things -- shuffling skills or changing out unused aspects or renaming a primary aspect to something more appropriate -- feel free. This would also be a good time to join in if you are spectating or drop out if you are running out of time to play.]

You all spend the next week, along with your other more relaxation-oriented projects, picking through the items salvaged from the laboratory.

Willem does some experimenting with the wand, based on a few thoughts he had during his initial examination and some of the paperwork he found, and eventually determines it's sort of a dowsing rod for ley lines and areas of magical power: it can be used to determine their location and strength, with accuracy increasing with practice. He also reads up more on Lady Bellaire's invention -- although the scale model doesn't appear to be anywhere in the lab, there is enough information (measurements, incantations, detailed notes on her attempts to build the full-sized version, and so on) there for him to theoretically build one in the future, given a couple weeks to experiment in.

Aernoud reads through his salvaged notes and gains a great deal of amount of information about ley lines and places of power in the city itself. At least under Lady Bellaire's theories, some magical places tend to drift around over time, while others are stable (she theorizes some stuff about the difference having to do with alternate dimensions in which this energy is located and it bleeding through to this one in different ways based on the different way in which the dimensions are connected). Stable places tend to be associated with this-world physical phenomena, though the order of causation is unclear. She calls out a couple examples of this around the city: a particularly deep area of the harbor that is associated with Water; a glen in the forest that is associated with Life; the university catacombs being coincidentally (?) built on a place of Death; a line of Fortune that passes through the commercial district and moves around continuously, touching some merchants one week and moving on to their neighbors the next.

Antheunis examines the geode he rescued from the lab. It's a pretty, sparkling thing on the inside, despite the plain exterior, and it would probably sell for a reasonable sum, but nothing like the kind of money the orphanage needs. Whether it has any magical properties or not is unclear -- there's nothing in Lady Bellaire's notes to say where she got it from or what it is. He also locates a secluded inlet in the harbor, for who knows what purpose.

Lazer pokes around seemingly aimlessly, as he does, and manages to discover a secret passage from the other side of the lab leading back into a spiderwebby cellar of the main orphanage building. Later on, he has a middle-of-the-night realization about What It All Means, which vanishes like smoke when he tries to put it down, but that's not to say it's wrong.

Boudin splits his time between the streets and high society, looking for connections. Gang fighting continues, and in general the rest of the city is sticking to a "wait until the dust settles" sort of approach. There's some muttering among the nobility that the Duchess should step in before it turns into rebellion, but other nobles seem content to let things burn themselves out down there as long as it doesn't touch the rest of the city. In general, the nobility are at this point less interested in the fighting than in the masquerade ball Lord Laurent de Koningh is throwing next week.

==Back with Sister Marianne==

A week or two after the first meeting, you're back in Sister Marianne's parlor, talking about what you've discovered (or at least as much as you want to share). "Gracious!" she says. "And to think that laboratory was hidden down there all this time! Well, we had better keep it closed off -- I would hate for any of the younger children to get into trouble down there."

"I do appreciate the extra guard patrols, however you managed that -- it makes me feel much safer when they stop by once a day to see how we're doing, and I'm sure Maldeghem has been forced to act more cautiously than he otherwise would. But I still don't understand what he wants from the orphanage, or how we can raise the money he's asking for. Do you think he was trying to find the laboratory? If we just gave him everything you found there, do you think he would be satisfied?"

''Aernoud frowns. "This doesn't fit. Why would a brute like Maldeghem care about a research lab, even if it does involve magical power?" He turns to Boudin. "You've got connections - is there any way you could be introduced to this man? I'm good at staying out of sight, perhaps I could follow and duck into whatever rat hole he lurks in. You could ask him some careful questions, which he probably won't answer, but then I'll stay behind in the dark and listen in on his reaction once you've left. Antheunis, perhaps you could come with me?"''

''"Oh, totally," Antheunis replies. "We need to figure out a lot more about the situation before we can figure out what we need to do. I'm with you!"''

''(josh: assuming Boudin likes the plan... actually I don't know what else to say so here's my Stealth roll: @2d6+3 )''

==The Grotto and the Genie==

Antheunis gets Willem to teach him how to say 'Go, I release you' in whatever that ancient language was, then takes the lamp (and Willem and I guess anyone else who's interested) to the secluded beach. He carefully sets the lamp down in the sand and sun and opens it, then retreats to the water, where he sits cross-legged, submerged to his chest, facing the lamp. Hopefully, this setting will be more condusive to a reasonable discussion than the highly-charged original situation in the laboratory. He is interested in finding out, in roughly this order: whether the djinn is satisfied with his current lamp situation, and if not, what could be done about it; what the djinn can tell him about his (Antheunis's) mother, if anything (what kind of creature she must have been, if nothing else); what kinds of tasks the djinn would be able and willing to perform.

''It's a little tricky to communicate with the djinn, even with practice; when it speaks it speaks in poetry, and when Antheunis communicates with it more elementally he gets (what seems to him to be) mostly a sequence of images. On the other hand, it seems to understand you better than it can speak to you, and you manage to work out some information.

It appears that djinn are like barnacles in that they have a free-floating phase of their life and then a tethered phase, so being in the lamp is not problematic as such. On the other hand, the djinn doesn't seem to like the climate here and (you think) would really like to be somewhere warmer and drier.

This djinn seems to have some power over wind and sand, over poetry and music, over sun and shadow. Also over camels, but that probably isn't much help. You get the sense there are two ways to get it to do things: either you can bribe it with incense or wine or flowers or jewels or other things it likes, or you can command it (which would be a Resolve roll) (though you (Antheunis) can't command it, because it's one of those things you have to be a pure Child of Man to do).

Finally, in terms of Antheunis's mother, there's a brief, suggestive image of a woman standing in the water up to her waist, wearing only a damp white shift. She's cradling a baby in her arms, and as you watch, she kisses the baby, places it in a basket floating next to her, and the current takes the basket out into the water.

''Antheunis's eyes get misty at the image of his mother, and he thanks the djinn [did he get a name from any of that?] and tries to release him back into the lamp. Which might be a bit tricky, him not being a Child of Man and all. If that doesn't work, hopefully Willem was around and can do it instead.''

''When he gets back to the city, he spends a little time poking around at the various obscure shops he knows, looking for things that might interest the djinn. (He's a Savvy Street Rat, but I dunno what skill to use here, or if I need a skill at all. If it's Community, I'll just find the stuff and get someone else to haggle for me.''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|← Turn 7]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 9|Turn 9 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8

2013-06-19T03:26:26Z

Joshg: /* Back with Sister Marianne */

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8

2013-06-17T23:53:51Z

Joshg:

[LowEstate] josh_g says, "hrm"

[LowEstate] josh_g says, "I have a half-baked plot formulated"

[LowEstate] josh_g says, "but it sort of hinges on whether Boudin would be
able to make an introduction to Maldejerk and his people"

[LowEstate] lpsmith says (to Jota), "Yeah, we started on a variety of fronts,
and then honed in on 'what's up with the orphanage'."

[LowEstate] josh_g says, "vaguely thinking, have Boudin try to do some
half-hearted smooth talking, while Antheunis and I (and anyone else I haven't
noticed has a high Stealth) follow and find somewhere to sneak into position"

[LowEstate] josh_g says, "and then eavesdrop the hell out of them afterwards"

[LowEstate] lpsmith says, "That sounds plausible."

[LowEstate] josh_g says, "maybe Willem could come along with Boudin, in case
they need to be intimidated or tricked with some magicks"

[LowEstate] josh_g says, "Lazer could follow along just to confuse everyone"

[LowEstate] josh_g says, "(or either/both could hunt down some alternate path)"

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8

2013-06-17T23:50:26Z

Joshg: Created page with "[LowEstate] josh_g says, "hrm" [LowEstate] josh_g says, "I have a half-baked plot formulated" [LowEstate] josh_g says, "but it sort of hinges on whether Boudin would be able t..."

[LowEstate] josh_g says, "hrm"
[LowEstate] josh_g says, "I have a half-baked plot formulated"
[LowEstate] josh_g says, "but it sort of hinges on whether Boudin would be
able to make an introduction to Maldejerk and his people"
[LowEstate] lpsmith says (to Jota), "Yeah, we started on a variety of fronts,
and then honed in on 'what's up with the orphanage'."
[LowEstate] josh_g says, "vaguely thinking, have Boudin try to do some
half-hearted smooth talking, while Antheunis and I (and anyone else I haven't
noticed has a high Stealth) follow and find somewhere to sneak into position"
[LowEstate] josh_g says, "and then eavesdrop the hell out of them afterwards"
[LowEstate] lpsmith says, "That sounds plausible."
[LowEstate] josh_g says, "maybe Willem could come along with Boudin, in case
they need to be intimidated or tricked with some magicks"
[LowEstate] josh_g says, "Lazer could follow along just to confuse everyone"
[LowEstate] josh_g says, "(or either/both could hunt down some alternate path)"

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7

2013-06-14T17:47:27Z

Joshg: /* Recuperating */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6|← Turn 6]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8|Turn 8 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▣▣▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Djinn Kata==

Water pours down from the ceiling, dripping through the remnants of Willem's illusion, but all eyes are on the growing cloud of steam that surrounds Antheunis and the figure. A whistling trill comes from the djinn and it is met by a splashing roar inexplicably coming from Antheunis. Somehow, comprehension comes to Antheunis: eons of time in the open desert, and, with age, the geas and the shift to the brass lamp. The sensation of the bargain: the lamp is opened, the djinn freed, and then dismissed again to the safety of the lamp. Time passes, and the lamp changes hands -- riders carry it across the desert to the great open-air market, it goes on a ship to a foreign land, sits on a shelf, is bought and sold and bought again, and finally ends up here. A woman calls it forth, quizzes it, is unable to understand, dismisses it again. The lamp returns to the shelf, and sits there until a chance tremor sends it crashing to the ground. The djinn emerges -- but with no one there to dismiss it, it cannot go back. Time ticks by agonizingly slowly, and finally one day the door opens ...

Antheunis crumples to the ground, exhausted, but manages to gasp out a few words explaining the situation. "Go, you are dismissed!" Willem calls, and the sandy figure immediately begins to lose its shape. With a last blast of desert wind, the sand spirals backwards into a plain brass lamp sitting on the ground, and the djinn is gone.

[GM: The wand is, I think Not Useful in this situation at this point, and it's not obvious what Reflexy thing Aernoud could do with it, so here is an alternate Reflexy action for him to have taken instead]

''[Even though the wand wasn't relevant to dismissing the djinn, can Willem's roll last turn still be applied to figuring out how it works or what it does?]''

Meanwhile, water continues to pour down from the ceiling. It is only Aernoud's quick work at snatching things out of the way that keeps the majority of papers here from being ruined before Lazer can get the water turned off again.

''"Good work!" says Willem. "Those documents could be the most important thing in here."''

[GM: I think this concludes this action sequence and the lab is now free for searching. What do people want to look for/at?]

''Willem sorts through what remains of the lab, trying to separate out anything that looks relevant to Lady Bellaire's main research project.''

''Aernoud looks through the papers for any maps of the area that Lady Bellaire may have marked down sites of magical importance on.''

''With help, Antheunis managed to stumble back to his bed at the orphanage, and immediately falls asleep. 18 hours later, he wakes up, feeling surprisingly refreshed. He opens his hand, still clenched around the gem he caught, and examines it closely, wondering how much it's worth. Then he goes to find the others, and asks about the lamp.''

''[Also, he thinks back over the 'conversation' he had: was there any sense of *why* the djinn agreed to the bargain? Was there any sense of regret now? Can we even communicate about emotions?]''

==Recuperating==

Things settled, the next week or so is fairly uneventful, and people take time to rest and relax.

''[Is there any good reason not to spend the rest of our Fate Points unlocking techniques before the refresh?]''

''[[LowEstate] inky says, "yeah, I don't see why not"]''

''[Given that, Willem unlocks Quick Learner and Simulacrum.]''

[GM: Now seems like a good time to refresh fate points! Tell us how you relax -- sleeping, reading, playing chess, drinking, bar brawling, what?]

''Willem spends the next week actually attending lectures, to the slight surprise of some of his instructors. Since he theoretically only needs 6-8 hours per day to recover his energy, he spends his evenings reading the paperwork from the laboratory and storeroom more closely.''

''Aernoud spends most of the week going on walks outdoors, getting outside the city walls and returning to familiar paths out in the fields and forests. If he does discover any relevant maps in the old lab, he may try to see if any of these magical ley line things extend out of the city to any areas he's familiar with ... but he stays well away from anything resembling trouble for now.''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6|← Turn 6]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8|Turn 8 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7

2013-06-14T16:51:51Z

Joshg: /* Djinn Kata */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6|← Turn 6]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8|Turn 8 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▣▣▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Djinn Kata==

Water pours down from the ceiling, dripping through the remnants of Willem's illusion, but all eyes are on the growing cloud of steam that surrounds Antheunis and the figure. A whistling trill comes from the djinn and it is met by a splashing roar inexplicably coming from Antheunis. Somehow, comprehension comes to Antheunis: eons of time in the open desert, and, with age, the geas and the shift to the brass lamp. The sensation of the bargain: the lamp is opened, the djinn freed, and then dismissed again to the safety of the lamp. Time passes, and the lamp changes hands -- riders carry it across the desert to the great open-air market, it goes on a ship to a foreign land, sits on a shelf, is bought and sold and bought again, and finally ends up here. A woman calls it forth, quizzes it, is unable to understand, dismisses it again. The lamp returns to the shelf, and sits there until a chance tremor sends it crashing to the ground. The djinn emerges -- but with no one there to dismiss it, it cannot go back. Time ticks by agonizingly slowly, and finally one day the door opens ...

Antheunis crumples to the ground, exhausted, but manages to gasp out a few words explaining the situation. "Go, you are dismissed!" Willem calls, and the sandy figure immediately begins to lose its shape. With a last blast of desert wind, the sand spirals backwards into a plain brass lamp sitting on the ground, and the djinn is gone.

[GM: The wand is, I think Not Useful in this situation at this point, and it's not obvious what Reflexy thing Aernoud could do with it, so here is an alternate Reflexy action for him to have taken instead]

''[Even though the wand wasn't relevant to dismissing the djinn, can Willem's roll last turn still be applied to figuring out how it works or what it does?]''

Meanwhile, water continues to pour down from the ceiling. It is only Aernoud's quick work at snatching things out of the way that keeps the majority of papers here from being ruined before Lazer can get the water turned off again.

''"Good work!" says Willem. "Those documents could be the most important thing in here."''

[GM: I think this concludes this action sequence and the lab is now free for searching. What do people want to look for/at?]

''Willem sorts through what remains of the lab, trying to separate out anything that looks relevant to Lady Bellaire's main research project.''

''Aernoud looks through the papers for any maps of the area that Lady Bellaire may have marked down sites of magical importance on.''

==Recuperating==

Things settled, the next week or so is fairly uneventful, and people take time to rest and relax.

''[Is there any good reason not to spend the rest of our Fate Points unlocking techniques before the refresh?]''

[GM: Now seems like a good time to refresh fate points! Tell us how you relax -- sleeping, reading, playing chess, drinking, bar brawling, what?]

''Willem spends the next week actually attending lectures, to the slight surprise of some of his instructors. Since he theoretically only needs 6-8 hours per day to recover his energy, he spends his evenings reading the paperwork from the laboratory and storeroom more closely.''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6|← Turn 6]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 8|Turn 8 →]]

Low Estate/Characters/Aernoud

2013-06-13T18:30:01Z

Joshg: /* Primary aspects */

==Skills==
*'''Great:''' Nature, Stealth
*'''Good:''' Reflexes, Riding
*'''Fair:''' Fingersmithy, Weapons (staves and blunt weapons)
*'''Average:''' Brawn, Athletics

==Aspects==
===Primary aspects===
'''Strange Pet''': Aernoud has had some small pet creature on his person for most of his life - in a pocket, under his coat, or flying along behind him. He has a knack for finding and befriending unusual creatures, and in the past has trained pets to do specific tasks for him. Lately, though, he's kept his newest pet out of sight whenever possible, and no one's quite recognized what it is when they do get a glimpse. Some kind of bird? It's got wings, anyway.

Unlocked techniques:
* '''Blink bird''': His pet can teleport past closed doors, locks, etc to fetch small items.

Possible techniques:
* Winged serpent: The pet can attack on command with a paralyzing bite, and generally slither about.
* Taming: Given a bit of time, Aernoud can tame a normally wild animal. He can also temporarily pacify one if things are more urgent.
* Guard dog: Aernoud's pet has keen, superhuman senses and will make a distinctive warning sound if something physically threatening is near.

'''Forest Wanderer''': Aernoud has grown up finding solace in nature. He is much more comfortable with trees, rocks, and animals than he is with his peers. He has spent a lifetime roaming the woods around and in the city, as well as avoiding people who wanted to take him back inside.

Possible techniques:
* Folk knowledge: While Aernoud may not know the Latin name for a local plant or animal species, he almost certainly knows the common name and any folk remedies, knowledge, or uses for them.
* "Where'd that horse go?" : When outdoors, Aernoud is able to use his stealth skill to hide other companions from sight. (This has come mostly from his dealing with animals, but once you know how to hide a horse from view, hiding a few people is easy.)
* Nature's balance : Aernoud has learned to defend himself in the wild with whatever means are available, as he did not grow up learning to use a blade. He can use poorly balanced weapons such as sticks, stumps, and other odd-shaped blunt things just as effectively as a properly crafted staff.

===Secondary aspects===
'''Animal Liberation Front''': Aernoud doesn't usually set out to steal things, but when he sees an animal being treated poorly, it tends to end up in his possession (or released to safety if possible). As such he's gotten particularly good at finding the right moment to liberate horses, dogs, etc from uncaring masters.

'''Barn chores''': Having grown up working on a farm, Aernoud gained a lot of experience on small repairs, knotwork used for securing animals, and other similar tasks.

==Background==
Aernoud van Nevel grew up outside the city, working with his father on their rented farmland and exploring the nearby woods and fields. However, when he was eight his parents both died in a fire that consumed their farmyard home - Aernoud only survived because he had snuck out late to wander the forest for the evening. With no other known living relatives, he's been raised at Sister Marianne's ever since.

Aernoud is still restless inside city walls, and keeps his spirits up only by regularly sneaking off to explore nearby woods, fields, or finding animals within the city to take care of. In his younger years, he caused the sisters no small amount of worry, as he'd disappear from under their watchful eye for days, and then weeks. He continued to return, though, as the sisters' care reminded him of his beloved parents. Now that he has reached the age of seventeen, the sisters learned to worry less as Aernoud goes on his wanderings, though they still chide him for it.

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6

2013-06-13T18:11:55Z

Joshg: /* Underground lab and mysterious figure */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|← Turn 5]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|Turn 7 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Underground lab and mysterious figure==

Boudin's vibe is that the figure doesn't have any job or duty as such, but nevertheless it's unable to leave for some reason, so it's clearly still under some obligation or geas.

Willem steps forward and attempts to negotiate. As he summons up the sensations of the desert, the figure cocks its head to the side, as if listening. The sandstorm dies away as it waits, and then finally it speaks again: "Distant near, but near not yet distant? Bound and kept to wait and watch, endless seasons brought forth from traveled vessel then a promise, a wisp, a gibe? .. A single coin is not the sultan's price, the curved barb stings the selfsame scale!" The wind whips up higher than ever.

In the breeze, one of the gems rolls off the shelf, and Antheunis reflexively leaps forward to catch it before it hits the ground. He snatches it from the air, but the action has attracted the figure's attention, and a voice comes from the whirlwind: "Pearl, star, poisoned wine. Other songs shadowed, lend strange cast, to ask sinks below the fire."

''Willem translates the best he can, despite the looks the others give him. "That's what it ''sounds'' like he's saying, anyway."''

It's hard to tell, but Boudin thinks things are reaching a breaking-point here.

Off to the side, Aernoud whistles for his bird. It flutters and darts through the air, sometimes vanishing entirely and reappearing elsewhere. It is buffeted by the wind, but nevertheless manages to cross the room and snatch up the wand from the pile at the base of the bookshelf. Some further flutters, and the wand drops into Aernoud's hand. It's a slim bone wand, polished smooth, and featureless except for a rune on the flat end of the handle, and a spiraling line cut into the tip.

''"Willem, how do I use this?" Aernoud shouts over the wind. He holds up the wand so that Willem can see the rune on the handle. "Can you read this?"''

''Willem peers over at the wand, squinting to keep the sand out of his eyes.''

''(Rolling Academics. Do I need to also unlock a technique to analyze magical artifacts? <dice id="23" dice="2d6+3" result="6,3" total="12" />)''

''Aernoud stands ready, hoping to use this wand to help turn the tide ... or sand, or something. If the wand can be used as a weapon against the djinn, he will hold until it's certain this has turned into a fight; if it's something that can magically subdue or banish the djinn (without getting Aentheunis caught in the crossfire) he will use it. (rolling Reflexes: <dice id="25" dice="2d6+2" result="4,2" total="8" /> Yeeeeeeah, one more Fate Point to bump that out of Partial territory.)''

Meanwhile, Lazer backs out of the room and runs back along the tunnel to where he remembered seeing some pipes visible in the roof. Examining them, he thinks he's determined the appropriate valve to turn in order to, hopefully, overload the pipes in the laboratory ceiling and flood it with water.

''Antheunis hesitates, then mutters, "Enh, why not?", then says, "Willem, grab the books and tell this guy I'm doing this because I want to know more. Lazer! If you found the waterworks, turn 'em on now! And, uh, be ready to turn it off again!" Trusting his instincts, after waiting a couple seconds for Willem to translate, he watches the hallway expectantly for water, but, seeing none and realizing that something has to be done anyway, he steps forward into the whirlwind! Immediately he is buffeted by the winds and pummeled by the sand, but just before he blacks out, a burst of water from the ceiling pours into the room, restoring his equilibrium. His eyes closed and his arms akimbo, splattered with wet sand, he projects into the whirlwind, not even realizing that some sort of ancient elemental speech is coming from his mouth, '''[Creature of wind, sand, and fire: our peoples have endured conflict for ages]''' He's totally guessing about that, but hey. '''[You wish to return home, and I wish you gone from here--for that, we are in alignment. Show me your task; that which holds you here. Show me what must be done to end it.]'''.''

''[Good luck adjudicating that! That's all intent; feel free to edit if something literally can't be done. I'll spend a fate point in general to unlock something like: 'elemental communication: use Nature instead of Community to communicate with elemental entities' from Naiad blood (if that seems reasonable), and also apply my previous bonus either to that unlocking or to this Nature roll: <dice id="24" dice="2d6+3" result="6,5" total="14" />. w00t! OK, if I need to spend yet another fate point there to fix the advanced success, I will do so.]''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|← Turn 5]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|Turn 7 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6

2013-06-13T18:10:41Z

Joshg: /* Underground lab and mysterious figure */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|← Turn 5]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|Turn 7 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Underground lab and mysterious figure==

Boudin's vibe is that the figure doesn't have any job or duty as such, but nevertheless it's unable to leave for some reason, so it's clearly still under some obligation or geas.

Willem steps forward and attempts to negotiate. As he summons up the sensations of the desert, the figure cocks its head to the side, as if listening. The sandstorm dies away as it waits, and then finally it speaks again: "Distant near, but near not yet distant? Bound and kept to wait and watch, endless seasons brought forth from traveled vessel then a promise, a wisp, a gibe? .. A single coin is not the sultan's price, the curved barb stings the selfsame scale!" The wind whips up higher than ever.

In the breeze, one of the gems rolls off the shelf, and Antheunis reflexively leaps forward to catch it before it hits the ground. He snatches it from the air, but the action has attracted the figure's attention, and a voice comes from the whirlwind: "Pearl, star, poisoned wine. Other songs shadowed, lend strange cast, to ask sinks below the fire."

''Willem translates the best he can, despite the looks the others give him. "That's what it ''sounds'' like he's saying, anyway."''

It's hard to tell, but Boudin thinks things are reaching a breaking-point here.

Off to the side, Aernoud whistles for his bird. It flutters and darts through the air, sometimes vanishing entirely and reappearing elsewhere. It is buffeted by the wind, but nevertheless manages to cross the room and snatch up the wand from the pile at the base of the bookshelf. Some further flutters, and the wand drops into Aernoud's hand. It's a slim bone wand, polished smooth, and featureless except for a rune on the flat end of the handle, and a spiraling line cut into the tip.

''"Willem, how do I use this?" Aernoud shouts over the wind. He holds up the wand so that Willem can see the rune on the handle. "Can you read this?"''

''Willem peers over at the wand, squinting to keep the sand out of his eyes.''

''(Rolling Academics. Do I need to also unlock a technique to analyze magical artifacts? <dice id="23" dice="2d6+3" result="6,3" total="12" />)''

''Aernoud stands ready, hoping to use this wand to help turn the tide ... or sand, or something. If the wand can be used as a weapon against the djinn, he will hold until it's certain this has turned into a fight; if it's something that can magically subdue or banish the djinn (without getting Aentheunis caught in the crossfire) he will use it.'' (rolling Reflexes: <dice id="25" dice="2d6+2" result="4,2" total="8" /> Yeeeeeeah, one more Fate Point to bump that out of Partial territory.)''

Meanwhile, Lazer backs out of the room and runs back along the tunnel to where he remembered seeing some pipes visible in the roof. Examining them, he thinks he's determined the appropriate valve to turn in order to, hopefully, overload the pipes in the laboratory ceiling and flood it with water.

''Antheunis hesitates, then mutters, "Enh, why not?", then says, "Willem, grab the books and tell this guy I'm doing this because I want to know more. Lazer! If you found the waterworks, turn 'em on now! And, uh, be ready to turn it off again!" Trusting his instincts, after waiting a couple seconds for Willem to translate, he watches the hallway expectantly for water, but, seeing none and realizing that something has to be done anyway, he steps forward into the whirlwind! Immediately he is buffeted by the winds and pummeled by the sand, but just before he blacks out, a burst of water from the ceiling pours into the room, restoring his equilibrium. His eyes closed and his arms akimbo, splattered with wet sand, he projects into the whirlwind, not even realizing that some sort of ancient elemental speech is coming from his mouth, '''[Creature of wind, sand, and fire: our peoples have endured conflict for ages]''' He's totally guessing about that, but hey. '''[You wish to return home, and I wish you gone from here--for that, we are in alignment. Show me your task; that which holds you here. Show me what must be done to end it.]'''.''

''[Good luck adjudicating that! That's all intent; feel free to edit if something literally can't be done. I'll spend a fate point in general to unlock something like: 'elemental communication: use Nature instead of Community to communicate with elemental entities' from Naiad blood (if that seems reasonable), and also apply my previous bonus either to that unlocking or to this Nature roll: <dice id="24" dice="2d6+3" result="6,5" total="14" />. w00t! OK, if I need to spend yet another fate point there to fix the advanced success, I will do so.]''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|← Turn 5]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|Turn 7 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6

2013-06-13T18:08:10Z

Joshg: /* Underground lab and mysterious figure */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|← Turn 5]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|Turn 7 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▣▣▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Underground lab and mysterious figure==

Boudin's vibe is that the figure doesn't have any job or duty as such, but nevertheless it's unable to leave for some reason, so it's clearly still under some obligation or geas.

Willem steps forward and attempts to negotiate. As he summons up the sensations of the desert, the figure cocks its head to the side, as if listening. The sandstorm dies away as it waits, and then finally it speaks again: "Distant near, but near not yet distant? Bound and kept to wait and watch, endless seasons brought forth from traveled vessel then a promise, a wisp, a gibe? .. A single coin is not the sultan's price, the curved barb stings the selfsame scale!" The wind whips up higher than ever.

In the breeze, one of the gems rolls off the shelf, and Antheunis reflexively leaps forward to catch it before it hits the ground. He snatches it from the air, but the action has attracted the figure's attention, and a voice comes from the whirlwind: "Pearl, star, poisoned wine. Other songs shadowed, lend strange cast, to ask sinks below the fire."

''Willem translates the best he can, despite the looks the others give him. "That's what it ''sounds'' like he's saying, anyway."''

It's hard to tell, but Boudin thinks things are reaching a breaking-point here.

Off to the side, Aernoud whistles for his bird. It flutters and darts through the air, sometimes vanishing entirely and reappearing elsewhere. It is buffeted by the wind, but nevertheless manages to cross the room and snatch up the wand from the pile at the base of the bookshelf. Some further flutters, and the wand drops into Aernoud's hand. It's a slim bone wand, polished smooth, and featureless except for a rune on the flat end of the handle, and a spiraling line cut into the tip.

''"Willem, how do I use this?" Aernoud shouts over the wind. He holds up the wand so that Willem can see the rune on the handle. "Can you read this?"''

''Willem peers over at the wand, squinting to keep the sand out of his eyes.''

''(Rolling Academics. Do I need to also unlock a technique to analyze magical artifacts? <dice id="23" dice="2d6+3" result="6,3" total="12" />)''

''Aernoud stands ready, hoping to use this wand to help turn the tide ... or sand, or something. If the wand can be used as a weapon against the djinn, he will hold until it's certain this has turned into a fight; if it's something that can magically subdue or banish the djinn (without getting Aentheunis caught in the crossfire) he will use it.'' (rolling Reflexes: <dice id="25" dice="2d6+2" result="4,2" total="8" /> )

Meanwhile, Lazer backs out of the room and runs back along the tunnel to where he remembered seeing some pipes visible in the roof. Examining them, he thinks he's determined the appropriate valve to turn in order to, hopefully, overload the pipes in the laboratory ceiling and flood it with water.

''Antheunis hesitates, then mutters, "Enh, why not?", then says, "Willem, grab the books and tell this guy I'm doing this because I want to know more. Lazer! If you found the waterworks, turn 'em on now! And, uh, be ready to turn it off again!" Trusting his instincts, after waiting a couple seconds for Willem to translate, he watches the hallway expectantly for water, but, seeing none and realizing that something has to be done anyway, he steps forward into the whirlwind! Immediately he is buffeted by the winds and pummeled by the sand, but just before he blacks out, a burst of water from the ceiling pours into the room, restoring his equilibrium. His eyes closed and his arms akimbo, splattered with wet sand, he projects into the whirlwind, not even realizing that some sort of ancient elemental speech is coming from his mouth, '''[Creature of wind, sand, and fire: our peoples have endured conflict for ages]''' He's totally guessing about that, but hey. '''[You wish to return home, and I wish you gone from here--for that, we are in alignment. Show me your task; that which holds you here. Show me what must be done to end it.]'''.''

''[Good luck adjudicating that! That's all intent; feel free to edit if something literally can't be done. I'll spend a fate point in general to unlock something like: 'elemental communication: use Nature instead of Community to communicate with elemental entities' from Naiad blood (if that seems reasonable), and also apply my previous bonus either to that unlocking or to this Nature roll: <dice id="24" dice="2d6+3" result="6,5" total="14" />. w00t! OK, if I need to spend yet another fate point there to fix the advanced success, I will do so.]''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|← Turn 5]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 7|Turn 7 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6

2013-06-13T17:05:57Z

Joshg:

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5

2013-06-11T23:26:19Z

Joshg: /* More exploring the manor */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 4|← Turn 4]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6|Turn 6 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Boudin, upper city promenade==
[continuing this from [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 4|last turn]]]
''Feeling that this may at least protect against low-level harassment, Boudin accepts the offer of additional patrols near the orphanage. It's a long way short of the kind of hands-on patronage he was hoping for, but if Lord H-- feels he has a clear conscience, there's little to be done.''

==More exploring the manor==
Everyone regroups after finding the lab, and Willem condenses his research into the following answers:
* ''What was Lady Bellaire attempting to achieve with her work here?'' Her big final project here was to map out magical locations of power within the city, and build a device that would enable tapping into them.
* ''If there is something of great power or significance here, what prevented Lady Bellaire from harnessing it before her death?'' There isn't anything of value at this location itself; on the contrary, she purposely built her lab in a location that was free from disruptive magical influences that would cause interference with her work. The device exists, but only as a small model -- she was unable to get the planned larger version working. The large object in this room appears, on reflection, to the scaffolding within which the drill would be mounted, but if any other parts of it exist, they don't seem to be here.
* ''What would be the potential consequences if whatever it was fell into the wrong hands?'' She speculated that tapping into a magical nexus would enable a spell to extend to a much larger area of influence and potentially for its effects to last near-indefinitely (if the location was sufficiently powerful).
* ''What is the connection between the mysterious door and the painting with the strange symbols on the frame?'' The door is the door to her laboratory. The painting is of Lady Bellaire inside the laboratory -- it's a large room lit by candles, with a workbench, desk, and so on. She sits in a chair in the center of the room, while behind her is a bookcase on which are a collection of curiosities: a number of gemstones, a sculpture of a strange domed building, a skull, a small stone idol, a bone wand, etc. After studying it for a while, Willem eventually realizes the painting also illustrates the device in question, sitting on the desk. It looks [http://www.piclist.com/images/archimedes_screw.jpg rather like this] (though covered in runes, with silver inlay, etc).
:''[Does the mysterious object in the middle of the storeroom resemble any part of the device in the painting? --Jota]'' [GM: see update above]

''"...and so," Willem concludes, "it looks likely that it was never the Home itself that Bloody Maldeghem was after, but rather Lady Bellaire's research. And presumably the device itself, if it still exists in some form."''

With this information, people return to the lab [I say, in the interests of moving things along]. Antheunis cautiously opens the door and steps inside. There must be cunningly-concealed windows in the ceiling or something, because it's dim but not pitch black, and with your torches it is not too bad. The laboratory looks much as it did in the painting, though a few of the items are different, and it looks considerably less-maintained than it did in the painting: most things are covered in dust, the chair of the desk is knocked over, the wand and a brass lamp have fallen on the floor, some sheets of paper are scattered across the desk.

''[Is the device from the painting present in the real lab? --Jota]'' [GM: Not that you can see, but it's dark and there is a sandstorm-ish thing going on]

Antheunis takes a few more steps in and the dust crunches beneath his feet -- he looks down and realizes that it's not dust but sand, as though he's suddenly been transported to the seashore. But unlike the seashore he can sense no moisture here, not the slightest drop, and as he thinks the sand begins to whirl around despite the lack of breeze. It rises into the air and begins to take shape, suggesting a figure dressed in flowing robes that trail off into thin air before touching the ground. Words come from the figure, sibilant and whistling, but it's not any language Antheunis knows.

''Willem's lips move silently as he listens to the phantom's words.''

''"I think..." he says, but then pauses again to listen for a few seconds before continuing. "The vowels are different from what I expected — I've only ever seen it written down before now. But I think I recognize this language."''

''(Rolling Academics to understand what the figure is saying: <dice id="19" dice="2d6+3" result="6,3" total="12" />)''

''[If this is a language Willem shouldn't be expected to know, then I'll spend a Fate Point to unlock a technique for deciphering languages Willem hasn't learned yet. --Jota]''

[GM: I think you can get some understanding with just Academics, but it sounds like you would like to get more, so I'll go ahead and charge the fate point for full comprehension]

"Foreign ones, cursed by the sun, why have you brought me here? Taunted by drip and drop, strange stars dimly glimpsed, no sweet keening? Bring me down beneath the earth and I can still scorch and burn, flick and flay!" Tiny gold flames dance where the figure's eyes would be. It raises hands upwards and the sand in the room starts to whirl faster -- buffeted by the wind, the wand rolls beneath the bookshelf.

''Willem translates, of course. And adds, "I think that this place might be making him a bit, er, cranky..."''

''Willem spreads his hands apart, then lifts them up into the air. Despite being underground, the room begins to feel hot, as though the sun had been beating directly through the ceiling above, slowly baking the laboratory like an oven. A quiet wailing can be heard, as though from a distant wind blowing between sand dunes. Lights twinkle overhead from the ceiling, arranged according to WIllem's best recollections of what the desert stars should resemble.''

''(Spending another Point to unlock Environmental Evocation. Hoping to serve as a maneuver to support someone else's next action.)''

''He clears his throat and says to the figure, "We mine... we mine you nae harm!" He turns to Boudin and hisses, "What do we say to this thing?"''

''Meanwhile, Antheunis starts to edge around the lab, until the djinn (which is what he is calling it in his head) shoots him a look. Realizing that he must seem like a particularly ripe target for a fire-based creature, he stops, and puts up his hands, too. As Willem talks to the thing, he hisses, "Lazer! Do you think you could get the water turned on at the fountain? I might need it pretty quick here if things go south. And Aernoud, maybe see if you can get that wand? It might be helpful..." In the meantime, Antheunis readies the strange forces that have awakened within him, and prepares to leap into the middle of the whirlwind if the negotiations break down. To see how quick he might react: Reflexes: <dice id="20" dice="2d6+1" result="4,3" total="8" />''

''Boudin wipes his forehead, sits down, stands up. "Aside from Underground Fire Demon, I don't know that this is... really my ''metier''. But it stands to reason that it was involved with the Lady Bellaire, which is what concerns us anyway. Let's try pursuing that, shall we? Translate as well as you can.'' Community: Other: <dice id="21" dice="2d6+1" result="5,3" total="9" />

[GM: with that roll, you can ask one question about the figure's intentions, goals, feelings, motivations, desires, etc]

''Lazer nods subtly to Willem and backsteps out of the group to check underground for piping and around the fountain for some kind of crank handle to turn, wondering if he'll need some kind of spanner to do so. (rolling Science for pipe jiggery: <dice id="22" dice="2d6+1" result="5,5" total="11" />)''

''Aernoud looks to where the wand rolled under a bookshelf. He whistles to his bird, Flicker, who's been following along behind them flying and hopping about. He whispers to Flicker as it lands on his shoulder. "Hey bird, can you fetch me that bone that rolled under there? The shiny bone? Go get it!" (Spending a Fate Point to unlock 'Blink Bird' technique, if I can? Not sure if this requires a skill roll first or not, or which skill it would be. Also technically this isn't behind a locked door, but thinking that the technique would be helpful to get past the scary fire demon thing.)''

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 4|← Turn 4]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 6|Turn 6 →]]

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 4

2013-06-07T20:02:37Z

Joshg: /* Searching the manor and surrounds */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 3|← Turn 3]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|Turn 5 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Boudin, upper city promenade==

As arranged, Boudin meets Lord H— by a large elm at the edge of the park. His lordship is dressed well but not too well, and his hat is drawn down low. "It was kind of you to see me on such short notice," Boudin says.

His lordship waves a hand. "I still owe you for your tactful handling of, ah, my niece some years ago."

Boudin nods. "The child is doing quite well, although I am told he can have a shocking temper. Now, if you wouldn't mind, perhaps I could tell you a little more about what has happened; I was obliged to be discreet in my note." He passes onto Lord H— as much as seems prudent, and then waits expectantly.

"I see," the man says. "I had heard something of this, of course, but I hadn't realized the extent. Well, a word in the right ear could send some guard patrols around the orphanage for a few weeks. Is that the sort of thing you had in mind, or did you want something else? It seems to me you'll eventually either have to kill Maldeghem or negotiate with him, and to do the latter you'd need to find something he wants."

''Boudin sighs deeply. "I am not sure, my lord, that you are reading far enough ahead. I do not presume to bring this to you as ''my'' problem; I am, rather, offering my services by warning of what may become a problem for ''you''.

''"Maldeghem wants something from the orphanage; since he has many things to worry about at present, it's safe to think that he wants it very badly. That means that what he wants is a thing that will give him power; I cannot know what kind, but orphanages do not generally contain weapons caches or private armies, so the most obvious possibility is that it is a child. Blackmailing a lord is a perilous game, but Maldeghem relishes danger, and is the kind of man who, even if he fails, will thrash and stab and create a great deal of pain.

''"Thus and thus. Troubles of this kind are all part of statecraft; it is not my place to instruct you about how to conduct your business. But Bloody Maldeghem is not a nuisance, my lord, or a threat to your child, or a menace to civil peace: he may be a direct threat to you.''

(Boudin rolls Resolve to try to forcefully impress the seriousness of the situation upon Lord H— <dice id="18" dice="2d6+3" result="5,3" total="11" />

==Searching the manor and surrounds==

Sister Marianne closes her eyes in thought for a bit at Willem's queries. "When we moved in there was a great deal of debris and mess in most of the rooms, and a few rooms were boarded up entirely. We burned the rubbish in the yard and piled the things that looked like they were salvageable in a few of the rooms. Some of the books went into the orphanage library, I suppose, and we sold some things to a junk merchant." She hands Willem a set of keys. "This one here is for the door off the boy's dormitory -- the other side has what's left of what we cleared out from the rooms."

''Willem opens the door, hoping that there will be something behind it that will help explain things, but fearing that it might just be a pile of worthless knicknacks and old clothes.''

''What he finds within is... unexpected. While there are a few piles of books and papers — promising in themselves — his attention is drawn to a single large object in the center of the room. A model of some sort? But of ''what''? Or is it simply a work of art, representing nothing? Or perhaps even a magical device or focus?''

'' And there, that painting leaning against the wall: it could easily be a scene in the old gardens outside this very building, but decades younger and better maintained. It's difficult to make out the details through the dust; he'll need to clean it off. But those symbols on the frame... they seem familiar, somehow.''

''Willem is certain he's seen them, or something ''very'' much like them, someplace before. And he suspects that the model, or whatever it might abstractly represent, must be connected. If he only he can remember... but then, even if he can't, there ''is'' still that pile of journals. The answers may be right there in front of him.''

'' He will find them.''

''(Academics: <dice id="17" dice="2d6+3" result="5,5" total="13" />)''

[GM: Since that's an advanced success (again! that fate point is paying off), you get the answers to four questions of your choice. They have to be specific questions about the manor, its grounds, or Lady Bellaire, they cannot involve other people's thoughts or motivations, they can't involve the future, and you can't save them for later.]

Meanwhile, Aernoud and Lazer are wandering around outside. Lacking any magical training or ability, it at first appears to be hopeless, but Aernoud keeps finding himself drawn back to a long-dry fountain in the middle of a tiled patio. In the center of the fountain is a classical statue of a hooved piper, his gaze cast at the roof of the manor. "Why this patch of tile in the middle of the yard?" wonders Aernoud. "It just feels like it's the focal point, or deliberately shaped to .. but there'd need to be some sort of catch."

"What, like this?" asks Lazer, fiddling with a loose tile. The tile suddenly rotates and, with a scrape and a puff of dust, the fountain pivots, dropping the statue into a bow and exposing a set of stairs leading down.

''"Well, I'm game," says Lazer, rubbing the dust off his hands. "We'll need some light, I expect." He rummages together a torch from a stout stick, a bit of rag, and a flint spark, and heads down the stairs, with wary curiosity.''

(edited to change what he's doing first!)''Aernoud looks down into the stairway with a shudder. "I don't like the looks of this, Lazer, and I've already been locked up in a tight spot once too many times lately. If what's down there is important enough for Maldeghem to come after us for, it's probably something dangerous. Let's round up the others, they'll be help if there's trouble." Aernoud heads to the manor and looks for Willem, Antheunis, and whoever else of the party is around. (Once he's found the others on the manor grounds, presumably he returns back here with them to investigate what's down there.)''

Antheunis has been searching the manor's interior for a lab but with no luck. This new tunnel seems promising, however, and he heads down with a lantern. It's a narrow flight of stairs, but the tunnel widens as it goes down, and soon Antheunis stands before a door made of dark wood with inlaid brass. His hand goes to the knob but he draws back -- instinctively, Antheunis senses something beyond the door in the room on the other side, something deeply antithetical to his nature.

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 3|← Turn 3]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|Turn 5 →]]

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 4

2013-06-07T19:53:31Z

Joshg:

A few thoughts on questions Willem might find the answers to:

* What specifically made Lady Bellaire choose this exact location for her home?
* What was she intending to achieve with her work here?
* What surprised her after she came here and started work?
** (I have no specific reason to expect there was a particular surprise, but I assume if I ask it, inky will be happy to invent something)
* Where was her laboratory located?
** (While this is a logical thing for Willem wonder about, I suspect that A&A&L may have already answered this one their own)
* If there is something of great power here, what prevented Lady Bellaire from harnessing that power before her death?
* What would be the consequences if whatever made this place special fell into the wrong hands?
* Is the thing that makes this place highly desirable part of the location itself (like ley lines or feng shui), or is it some ''thing'' that might have been left here?
* What do the symbols on the picture frame mean?
* What does the "model" represent or do?

Does anyone have any thoughts on any of these, or any suggestions for other possible questions?

--[[User:Jota|Jota]] ([[User talk:Jota|talk]]) 10:04, 6 June 2013 (PDT)

I'd vote for answers on if there's something of great power here, the consequences of it falling into the wrong hands, what she intended to achieve and maybe what the symbols mean or something like that. --[[User:Joshg|Joshg]] ([[User talk:Joshg|talk]]) 12:53, 7 June 2013 (PDT)

== FYI ==

(Josh) I'm out of town over the weekend, so won't be updating until Monday probably. Feel free to make something reasonable up for me if I end up missing a turn.

Don't be surprised if you come home to find yourself back in a crate... --[[User:Jota|Jota]] ([[User talk:Jota|talk]]) 16:50, 6 June 2013 (PDT)

Low Estate/Turns/Turn 4

2013-06-06T23:43:22Z

Joshg: /* Searching the manor and surrounds */

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 3|← Turn 3]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|Turn 5 →]]
__NOTOC__
<blockquote style="border: 1px solid black">
<ul style="list-style: none; margin-left: 5px">
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Aernoud| Aernoud van Nevel]] (josh_g)''': forest wanderer — FATE ▣▣▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Antheunis | Antheunis Opgieten]] (lpsmith)''': slippery urchin — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Boudin_Verdonk | Boudin Verdonk]] (maga)''': bravo and expeditor — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Mattius_Rothmann | Mattius Rothmann]] (Fang)''': brutish warmage — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Willem_de_Vos | Willem de Vos]] (Jota)''': student magician — FATE ▣▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
<li>'''[[Low_Estate/Characters/Lazer_Dennis | Lazer Dennis]] (Rob)''': manic-depressive man out of time — FATE ▢▢▢▢▢ • Stress ▢▢▢▢ • Consequences unused (2), unused (4), unused (6)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

==Boudin, upper city promenade==

As arranged, Boudin meets Lord H— by a large elm at the edge of the park. His lordship is dressed well but not too well, and his hat is drawn down low. "It was kind of you to see me on such short notice," Boudin says.

His lordship waves a hand. "I still owe you for your tactful handling of, ah, my niece some years ago."

Boudin nods. "The child is doing quite well, although I am told he can have a shocking temper. Now, if you wouldn't mind, perhaps I could tell you a little more about what has happened; I was obliged to be discreet in my note." He passes onto Lord H— as much as seems prudent, and then waits expectantly.

"I see," the man says. "I had heard something of this, of course, but I hadn't realized the extent. Well, a word in the right ear could send some guard patrols around the orphanage for a few weeks. Is that the sort of thing you had in mind, or did you want something else? It seems to me you'll eventually either have to kill Maldeghem or negotiate with him, and to do the latter you'd need to find something he wants."

==Searching the manor and surrounds==

Sister Marianne closes her eyes in thought for a bit at Willem's queries. "When we moved in there was a great deal of debris and mess in most of the rooms, and a few rooms were boarded up entirely. We burned the rubbish in the yard and piled the things that looked like they were salvageable in a few of the rooms. Some of the books went into the orphanage library, I suppose, and we sold some things to a junk merchant." She hands Willem a set of keys. "This one here is for the door off the boy's dormitory -- the other side has what's left of what we cleared out from the rooms."

''Willem opens the door, hoping that there will be something behind it that will help explain things, but fearing that it might just be a pile of worthless knicknacks and old clothes.''

''What he finds within is... unexpected. While there are a few piles of books and papers — promising in themselves — his attention is drawn to a single large object in the center of the room. A model of some sort? But of ''what''? Or is it simply a work of art, representing nothing? Or perhaps even a magical device or focus?''

'' And there, that painting leaning against the wall: it could easily be a scene in the old gardens outside this very building, but decades younger and better maintained. It's difficult to make out the details through the dust; he'll need to clean it off. But those symbols on the frame... they seem familiar, somehow.''

''Willem is certain he's seen them, or something ''very'' much like them, someplace before. And he suspects that the model, or whatever it might abstractly represent, must be connected. If he only he can remember... but then, even if he can't, there ''is'' still that pile of journals. The answers may be right there in front of him.''

'' He will find them.''

''(Academics: <dice id="17" dice="2d6+3" result="5,5" total="13" />)''

[GM: Since that's an advanced success (again! that fate point is paying off), you get the answers to four questions of your choice. They have to be specific questions about the manor, its grounds, or Lady Bellaire, they cannot involve other people's thoughts or motivations, they can't involve the future, and you can't save them for later.]

Meanwhile, Aernoud and Lazer are wandering around outside. Lacking any magical training or ability, it at first appears to be hopeless, but Aernoud keeps finding himself drawn back to a long-dry fountain in the middle of a tiled patio. In the center of the fountain is a classical statue of a hooved piper, his gaze cast at the roof of the manor. "Why this patch of tile in the middle of the yard?" wonders Aernoud. "It just feels like it's the focal point, or deliberately shaped to .. but there'd need to be some sort of catch."

"What, like this?" asks Lazer, fiddling with a loose tile. The tile suddenly rotates and, with a scrape and a puff of dust, the fountain pivots, dropping the statue into a bow and exposing a set of stairs leading down.

''"Well, I'm game," says Lazer, rubbing the dust off his hands. "We'll need some light, I expect." He rummages together a torch from a stout stick, a bit of rag, and a flint spark, and heads down the stairs, with wary curiosity.''

''Aernoud follows, helping Lazer find a torch. As they poke around the trees on the grounds he also finds a good walking stick that might double as a weapon in a pinch. Keeping quiet and listening for any signs of life below, he heads down the stairs with Lazer.''

Antheunis has been searching the manor's interior for a lab but with no luck. This new tunnel seems promising, however, and he heads down with a lantern. It's a narrow flight of stairs, but the tunnel widens as it goes down, and soon Antheunis stands before a door made of dark wood with inlaid brass. His hand goes to the knob but he draws back -- instinctively, Antheunis senses something beyond the door in the room on the other side, something deeply antithetical to his nature.

[[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 3|← Turn 3]] • [[Low Estate/Turns/Turn 5|Turn 5 →]]

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 4

2013-06-06T23:37:56Z

Joshg: /* FYI */

A few thoughts on questions Willem might find the answers to:

* What specifically made Lady Bellaire choose this exact location for her home?
* What was she intending to achieve with her work here?
* What surprised her after she came here and started work?
** (I have no specific reason to expect there was a particular surprise, but I assume if I ask it, inky will be happy to invent something)
* Where was her laboratory located?
** (While this is a logical thing for Willem wonder about, I suspect that A&A&L may have already answered this one their own)
* If there is something of great power here, what prevented Lady Bellaire from harnessing that power before her death?
* What would be the consequences if whatever made this place special fell into the wrong hands?
* Is the thing that makes this place highly desirable part of the location itself (like ley lines or feng shui), or is it some ''thing'' that might have been left here?
* What do the symbols on the picture frame mean?
* What does the "model" represent or do?

Does anyone have any thoughts on any of these, or any suggestions for other possible questions?

--[[User:Jota|Jota]] ([[User talk:Jota|talk]]) 10:04, 6 June 2013 (PDT)

== FYI ==

(Josh) I'm out of town over the weekend, so won't be updating until Monday probably. Feel free to make something reasonable up for me if I end up missing a turn.

Talk:Low Estate/Turns/Turn 4

2013-06-06T23:37:37Z

Joshg: /* FYI */

A few thoughts on questions Willem might find the answers to:

* What specifically made Lady Bellaire choose this exact location for her home?
* What was she intending to achieve with her work here?
* What surprised her after she came here and started work?
** (I have no specific reason to expect there was a particular surprise, but I assume if I ask it, inky will be happy to invent something)
* Where was her laboratory located?
** (While this is a logical thing for Willem wonder about, I suspect that A&A&L may have already answered this one their own)
* If there is something of great power here, what prevented Lady Bellaire from harnessing that power before her death?
* What would be the consequences if whatever made this place special fell into the wrong hands?
* Is the thing that makes this place highly desirable part of the location itself (like ley lines or feng shui), or is it some ''thing'' that might have been left here?
* What do the symbols on the picture frame mean?
* What does the "model" represent or do?

Does anyone have any thoughts on any of these, or any suggestions for other possible questions?

--[[User:Jota|Jota]] ([[User talk:Jota|talk]]) 10:04, 6 June 2013 (PDT)

== FYI ==

I'm out of town over the weekend, so won't be updating until Monday probably. Feel free to make something reasonable up for me if I end up missing a turn.
- josh