Homebrew system thread II, part 2

[Simon_Jester]

Larric makes a strained face, mutters "why couldn't he have done the decent thing..." and strides rather a long way off. Doesn't say anything to Alfred, just seems to be trying to... vacate the area.

His shoulders are slumped and he doesn't want to watch this- if someone called him hypocritical about it later, he'd probably agree.

[Fiji_Fury]

Dale gives deBerrey a dark glance.

"My only objection is that death is a gift to this treacherous snake. More creative punishment would be preferred, but he has more than earned contempt and an end to his selfish life. May the Shepard of the Night guide his soul to a place of pain and suffering for all that he has wrought in this land. Damned be the oathbreaker. Damned be the deserter. Damned be the slayer of innocents."

Dale goes back to helping Dirt with that sword wound.

[Panzersharkcat]

Since nobody seems to object, he says, "Dale, his sword." He props up de Berrey's body as he waits to be handed de Berrey's sword.

(OOC: Giving anybody one final chance to object.)

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Sorry for the absence- been quite busy over the weekend.

Catching up in order, pilum? Depends on the people using them, I've never really seen the point of javelins myself, especially heavy ones like the Pilum- carrying them around is a pain in the backside, for the limited number of uses you get out of them. Could be done though.

The situation when it comes to summary executions is interestingly confused, half way from one position to another- the Black Towers hardly recognised the concept, the reaction to that period of power being the only law was scrupulous to a very high degree- overly so, as you got the period of overmighty nobles who could hardly be restained by the law, and the pendulum swung back the other way towards decisiveness with the reforms of some century and a half ago. Now it's swinging back again.

The actual letter of the law is still fairly harsh, formally speaking, but tempered by use and custom for the most part- remembering that there is usually no such thing as a closed court, reputations resound, and decisions taken in the heat of the moment do have to be answered for.

As an appointed officer of the law, Andrea knows her business and will probably have to answer for this anyway, but his crimes are provable- this was one, in fact; if he had sumbitted to arrest, which he didn't, (seeing the party there and expecting it to come to a fight anyway), he might have got away with it- but armed resistance? To the law? You would have to be in poor standing indeed for that not to go in your favour.

Most of the castle troops called out to do this would gladly tear de Berrey to pieces; they're wondering what Alfred's waiting for. They may start doing unpleasant things to the deserters' wounded if not taken in hand, actually.

(Probably a good idea for Larric not to wander off too far until he's absolutely sure that the driven off survivors of de Berrey's lot have actually retreated a good distance away.)

de Berrey's sword is quite shiny, in fact- half way between a longsword and a court- dress sword, long thin diamond- section blade, very well tempered and probably quite expensive. Not like he's offering much reistance- gurgles a bit and dies.


And after that?

[Kaelan]

Dirt holds out a hand to secure the sword in his pack to take back.
"Have bill to pay and no drum for music"

[Fiji_Fury]

"deBerrey's men who survived but are not captured (wounded or otherwise). What should we do with them? I would counsel greater tollerance for their crimes both as this land needs men to defend it and because they had loyalty. Unfortunately it was loyalty to twisted scum, but they have not brought terrible dishonour upon themselves by their actions. They have some guilt though, so what will be done with them?"

[Simon_Jester]

OOC:

Bear in mind that those same men seem to be running away. What we want to do with them may become irrelevant, except those too wounded to escape.

IC:

Larric removed himself to a distance that is 'long' on the scale of conversation and seeing what's going on if you're not actively taking an interest, say 50-100 yards.

[Panzersharkcat]

He hands Dirt the sword, then. He thought of keeping it but the skill he could be using improve other areas would be wasted, sort of, by putting points into swordsmanship. "We haul them to Qulan. They are deserters who rebuffed my offer for them to reclaim their honor. If you have better ideas, speak."

[Fiji_Fury]

"None at this point."

Dale will go and attend to any of the friendly wounded. He's not a skilled hand at healing but will offer what he has. Anyone critically injured will be skipped. Dale lacks sufficient skill to do anything but screw them up worse (half-healed and badly at that means a more capable healer may not be able to save them from serious long-term effects). Minor injuries he could heal pretty confidently, but those aren't drawing attention. Anyone who is hurt but with a little healing could help the others back to the castle will be the priority.

[Simon_Jester]

Larric is more or less done with magic (and, if I remember his mana pool rightly, pretty well spent in any case; I imagine casters running at 10-25% of their mana do feel a bit drained). He mentally demotes himself to labor- assisting in rigging stretchers or travoises for the wounded comes to mind.

He needs time to think all this over; it's a bit lame, but these events would definitely give the character a lot to think about.

[Simon_Jester]

OOC:

OK.

I presume that the first aid help he can provide is done, and done with- I don't see anything keeping us at the site of the battle. Do the rest of us? We're going to have to bring a lot of people back in stretchers, including Dame Andrea... aha.

IC:

Larric is helping to lash together a couple of long straight branches when he stops and realizes, then scurries over to Sir Alfred, who by now is done beheading Captain de Berrey.

"We should send someone back, and quick- we'll need more doctors than those of us here. I wonder if Randolf is in town?"

[Panzersharkcat]

Nope. He was going to call to move back.

"I'm not certain." He turns to some of the survivors. "Rush back to Qulan and get doctors. Seek out Randolf Altman in particular, if he is available."

(OOC: Hurray. The search function worked.)

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

If there was any sign that the player wanted to bring the character back to life, he would be. As it is, there should be somebody.

Patching up and transporting the injured is a longish job, and the first back are greeted by the handful left on watch with "..what in the hells happened?"

After some explaining, messages are sent- after the event, the fallout. Andrea did a not entirely wise thing that was still probably the best available option at the time- grabbed everyone she could get to follow her regardless of what faction they owed allegiance to.

Granted that they did a very poor job of backing each other up, but think how much worse it could have been if you had to face all the renegades on your own, or with less strength. Anyway, she may not have done much to make friends with that; there is some considerable shouting. Many annoyed and disgruntled people.

the factions take care, to a degree, of their own- the degree being that it's not necessarily very good care. Most of them want to ahve words with Alfred in varying degrees of prvacy and with debatable degrees of friendship. There are going to be arguments about this.

One thing the guard to tell you is that you nearly had magical support- although on which side is highly debatable. The court sorceress and a krylanyan detachment led by the inevitable steel- bikini'd paladin managed to turn up at the gate at more or less the same time, and came close to their own private duel. Apparently it was hate at first sight; an armed standoff ensued, neiher willing to turn their back on the other, until the sounds of fighting died away. Everybody's expecting more trouble there, too.

Where from there?

[Fiji_Fury]

Dale takes in the local political wrangling and frowns deeply. It looks... terrible is the right word. This community is broken. Even with the Baron back, it seems that little has happened to heal any of the old wounds (which Dale looks upon with new eyes; he's never been here before... he thinks).

[Panzersharkcat]

He rubs his temples with his right hand in frustration and annoyance. "Politics." Sighing, he tells anybody beside the party or Andrea trying to have words that he'll speak when they're back in Qulan.

[Simon_Jester]

Ah, but how will you keep the appointments calendar straight?

IC:

Larric might get quizzed a bit in his own right; he fell out of the sky too, and there are enough people who know him as a wizard to ask him what was going on with that. He'll attempt to direct any specific queries about the... air-craft toward Lisanna. If cornered, he'll describe it as "It's sort of like a cross between a flying-boat and a fast chariot. Don't know how much of it we'll be seeing; the one who built it's on the run from some of Calvern's orcs."

If anyone factional corners him, his precise reactions will depend on which faction. Is anyone looking for him as the survivors of the battle come trooping in through the gates, and if so, who?

---

Some thoughts:

OOC MK I:

A note from a playtesting standpoint, we are theoretically doing that right, on the subject of mana pools.

It is very sensible system, deep pools with a moderate recharge rate. The only catch is that it kind of requires conscious DM pacing- the wizard can keep going for days of action, but sooner or later will need multiple days of rest to recharge his batteries. I'm becoming a bit conscious of this regarding Larric, as his mana level seems to be 'stuck' on the low side of what's available.

If we'd been a bit less lucky in combat this might be offset by healing times for the melee fighters, of course.

OOC MK II:

Talk about thankless tasks... animals in RPGs! So hard to keep track of...

Just a thought: Larric started out with a mule. Most of the mule's load (books and alchemical equipment saved from the loss of his shop in Peredburh) were stored with Maker Wright. The mule itself stayed with the party on the run up to the ancient fortress, probably with much of the former contents of Larric's backpack now in the mule's pack. We know this to be true, because said mule was used by Aburon to move refugees. Also because said mule also nearly kicked Larric off a cliff, and not even a mule can kick someone from several miles away.

Now, correct me if I am mistaken, but the rest of the mule's biography either runs like "and then we parted ways," or...

We took the mule up the mountain, but NOT into the Black Towers site. The dangerous chemicals were too plentiful to put in the mule's back- the "door full of poison" problem was brought about by the whole mass of the stuff being just plain too heavy to put on the mule, hundreds of pounds of it, so the only way to have it be remotely secure was to have people constantly monitoring the load and handling it on the door. The mule (and Alfred's horse, formerly Bryan's)* inside the fortress by all appearances) may have been carrying some more of our stuff while we did this; I for one would not want to handle my own travel pack while also carrying a heavy load of ordinary goods.

In that case the mule is still at Lillehammer, Sir Alfred's hometown. Because no WAY did we take him up on a plane. Aaaand a significant fraction of Larric's alchemical equipment is there- not the bulky glassware that he hasn't even been trying to adventure with, but probably a number of substances he'd use normally.

How inconvenient. Will think more about that later.
__________________

*Not sure what we did with Old Paint Bucket; Verone is MIA presumed dead but we'd given him Old Paint Bucket to ride on the way up, and when we left Larric for one would not feel very happy about leaving no means of transportation for Verone to return, if he might still be down there.

[Simon_Jester]

Hm. Panzer, Fiji, I think we need more active actions.

If Larric's not getting actively intercepted by any of the factions, he's going to move to the lakeside and Maker Wright's boatyard, there to check up on the goods he'd left stored. And hopefully pick up some news from a well-adjusted person who... has an axe to grind I'm sure, but one Larric knows he can live with.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

It's market time- TORM is coming- which means long days and late nights of skilled manual labour at which I am at best semi- skilled, in an envorinment dustier than a dust elemental's spare dust repository, full of dubious industrial chemicals, and the regular occurrence of burns, puncture wounds and cuts on various sharp pieces of tooling, to say nothing of the occasional flying hammer hazard.

I may not be very coherent over the next few days. (or now, for that matter.)

Anyway, the animals; I had been assuming that they were actually left behind at the village you stopped at after the cavern, the one the elvish incident happened outside; taking them up the mountain didn't seem that good an idea at the time and there were a lot of people in need of help, who could have done with some animal power. They should be in Qulan, under Maker Wright's care, if the people who had the use of them are at all honest.

Which in that state, they may well have been. Let them be warm and well fed and they may recover the energy for unreliability, petulance and backstabbing, but there and then you should be all right. Give me a moment to think about what that news is.

[Fiji_Fury]

Dale is wary of the political turmoil. The jockey for position nonesense is just that to him: nonsense.

"This makes me uncomfortable Larric. The people are in turmoil and those who should be settling such matters appear to be either inept or directly contributing to the discord. The priests here may be attendng to these needs... but I cannot see clear evidence of it. I should speak with the temples here, starting with the castle/keep. Where shall we meet when our business is done?"

[Simon_Jester]

Dale is wary of the political turmoil. The jockey for position nonesense is just that to him: nonsense.

"This makes me uncomfortable Larric. The people are in turmoil and those who should be settling such matters appear to be either inept or directly contributing to the discord. The priests here may be attendng to these needs... but I cannot see clear evidence of it. I should speak with the temples here, starting with the castle/keep. Where shall we meet when our business is done?"

"You could come with me- Maker Wright's a priest." Larric is aligned most closely with the church of Ikhran, god of craftsmanship and arguably cities, so there's a respectful tone in his voice. "I've much the same idea you have, save only that I can do that and take care of business in the same trip. Shall we go down to the lake?" Larric smiles and claps Dale on the unwounded shoulder.

[Panzersharkcat]

He's mostly suppressing the urge to not punch anyone right now. He'll go see to it that Andrea gets treated, though, if they aren't already rushing to do that.

[Fiji_Fury]

"Certainly Larric. I would appreciate meeting Maker Wright. Please, lead on. There are many questions I would hope he can answer."

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Finally the mad panic is over and mental breathing is possible again. Did a couple of new things and got a couple of new scars, none of them all that major. At least I am no longer a peculiar shade of grey. (Well, ish.)

Where were we? Oh, right-

Heading for the dockside, some random news and rumours along the way; the return of so many believed dead has resulted in a wave of- it would have been nice if it had been joy and relief, but while there have been a few joyous homecomings and a handful of tearful reunions, most of what has happened has involved angry shouting, duels and challenges issued, fallings out, widows discovering they aren't widows any more; chaos and confusion.

Some order has been getting back into the place, but the most appropriate term would be "social cascade failure"- when things have gone badly wrong enough that any one other thing happening throws more strain on the ties that haven't broken yet, making them more likely to snap and throw further strain- and so on. There are a few optimists, and some people calm and organised, but there are ugly things not far under the surface at all. Peace is badly needed, to let some of the wounds heal.

In that state, people aren't very good at giving each other peace, are they? The jockeying foir position is more or less a race for the seats on the lifeboat, metaphorically.

Speaking of which, there are several boats and rafts more than there were last time Larric was at the boatyard/temple, and it is busy and full of the sound of saws and hammers. Maker Wright is to be found somewhere in the middle of a small barge, looking at a keelson (the foundation, more or less, of the mast) with a worried expression.

'Ah, right, hello. You look quite...different.' He decides to say to Larric, politely. 'Strained. And, ah, shadewarden Dale, isn't it?'


Andrea is carted off to the temple of Chelet to be put back together, and Alfred finds himself nose to nose with the Constable, who is very red in the face and has quite a lot of armed men with him. 'What kind of fiasco have you led my men into?' he shouts.

[Panzersharkcat]

"One that could have been worse, for what little consolation that is. I will not deny fault for attempting to give treacherous fiend fair chance at redeeming honor and for failing to catch him before he arrive so close to city walls. Have you any more words before I have to deal with others who shall be pounding upon my door?"

(OOC: I've been watching too much Spartacus.)

[Simon_Jester]

OOC:

Uh-oh. No wonder the Constable's pissed off. And has a lot of armed men.

IC:

Larric nods at 'strained,' notes that Maker Wright appears to know who Dale is to an extent that Dale himself might not. Realizing that Dale may himself be confused and need a moment to think, Larric speaks first.

"I met some awfully ugly people today. I'll say this, though- if there isn't a future in... air-craft," he says with some very healthy respect, "the world's madder than I'd ever believe. How's the boat-building?"