Long Game 18: Holly and Iron

[Kynedath]

Acaelus Starfire wasn't the most socially aware student in the university. What he was aware of was the interactions between the mundane sciences and the arcane ones. Physics and mathematics, biology, chemistry, geology, philosophy, astronomy, volcanology, deceptology, all of them at work in the world, all intertwined ad connected. It was the same with magic. Artificery, alchemy, sympathetic readings, naming, every one of them, linked to one another. It seemed that nobody but him believed that the two different ranges could be linked as well. But they could. Psychology and naming were more intertwined than anybody else realized. Physics and alchemy, biology and alchemy, etymology and sympathy, all were related.

 

His musings were interrupted by a disturbance in the library. It seemed the Reader was hiding from a stranger under a desk. After the first few incidents, he had become acclimated to the oddities of the Reader. He liked the man. The Reader was the only one who shared his avid study habits and apparent familiarity with the library. Unfortunately, the Reader seemed only to be doing it in the pursuit of knowledge. He didn't understand the brilliance of books, their ability to tell all sorts of information, to create whole worlds in front of your eyes. watching the Reader for a few more moments, Acaelus simply shook his head and started to turn back to his books. His books were comforting, they would take him where he needed to go. But something drew his attention back to the stranger.

 

He was hostile. Why was he hostile? Acaelus had never seen this man before, and yet he was so angry. Was it something to do with the alleged death that the librarians so like to talk about? Did this man blame him? Acaelus tried to turn back to his beloved books, but something about the situation made him uneasy. He couldn't focus on mythological lore from five centuries ago, being told by Illarkindam Gildibad. The ancient author was brilliant, his works nearly revered by the scholars of these days. Acaelus had read the book twice now, but his third read through had brought some interesting possibilities to his mind.But right now, he had to find out what was happening with the stranger glowering at him.

 

Then Acaelus remembered his observations of Marcos Mayweather. The boy had been down to the library a few times, and seemed to know the value of study quite well. Unfortunately, the man seemed almost afraid of the arcane arts. Pity, the man was quite intelligent. But what Acaelus remembered the most was his peculiar air of mistrust. He was seeing things in the shadows as he walked. He assumed what he should not from small conversations, always coming back to the supposed murder in the school. He never let anything be. Always looking for a way to jump at the shadows. Somehow, this man who was accusing him through looks alone was just what Marcos was looking for. A lead to a fictional situation. 

Edited February 29, 2016 by Kynedath

[Mark IV]

I hope that's RP based and not permanent?

[Kynedath]

Course not. You know my policy about day 1 lynches.

[Mark IV]

Ah! Yes. I remember that now.

[Haelbarde]

He awoke. Something was different, but he did not know what. So he got up and wandered around. Eventually he left his lodgings and found his way to the university. Then it all became clear. The Crockery's sole charge had been murdered, and by skindancers no less. Something has to be done about this! He thinks to himself. He soon found a score of his fellow students who had reached the same conclusion. Or at least, that's what rumour had. He himself had only seen around the order of a dozen himself. But it was a start, other minds with which to plan and bounce ideas around with.

 

---

Alrighty! I think that with this here my post, we're at exactly half (12) of the players having swung by to announce their presence. Hopefully the rest come by before end of cycle.

 

Again, sorry for the bad RP. But, can we borrow money? Or is that forbidden? I'm assuming it's forbidden.

You can go to the Imre and borrow money from Devi's. Wilson posted some rule clarifications on page one, and said that coin wasn't transferable between students, so Devi's is also your only option, outside of studying in a field that lets you steal.

 

GMs: Someone pointed this out, but it didn't seem to be answered: The Countdown seems to be 36 hours not 48. Intentional?

 

So, what I would normally be considering right now is role distributions. Only, we don't really have 'roles' per se. We have Social Standings, and they're public knowledge (and not really things that affect other people). But I guess we can guess at the number of eliminators. If there's usually between a sixth to a quarter of the total players as eliminators, then we'd be looking at 4-6 eliminators. I'm more inclined to think that there'd be more than less, because they don't have a straight out kill - they send people to the crockery first, and would have to target them again to kill them. Which strikes me as a really slow way of killing. The alternative is destroying the uni, but there's what 9(?) different fields, and it will take some time to Master a field, particularly seeing as everyone will be contesting for favor, and it's unlikely that you'd get elevated in a field 3 times consecutively. So I guess I'm going to work with the assumption of 5, unless anyone has a better idea?

Edited February 29, 2016 by Haelbarde

[little wilson]

So it still goes up by one jot per complaint against you, but you can only decrease it by 5 jots, whether you file one complaint or two? Do I have it correct now?

Correct.

GMs: Someone pointed this out, but it didn't seem to be answered: The Countdown seems to be 36 hours not 48. Intentional?

No. I must've forgotten to put it in as 17:30 rather than 5:30... Have no fear: there's no way I'm waking up at 5:30am to do rollover. I value my sleep far too much. I'll fix it when I'm on a computer again.

[A Joe in the Bush]

The interview had already been given, and Marcos' fees was decided. He was just reporting to the bursar for his payment. 10 talents. That was a lot. Especially considering the fact that he had to pay rent for staying at the Golden Pony. And, he had barely a larger stipend than his tution. 

You can always leave the Golden Pony.

 

Query: Can I put a contract on the blackmarket that can only be fulfilled by specific people? Like "Be Mark IV and make a post about cabbages?" 

 

EDIT: Fixing Colour

Edited February 29, 2016 by The Only Joe

[Mark IV]

Well, I would love to do that especially for 10 more talents...

[DeathClutch19]

So Day 1 is particularly boring, and i really don't have much to say but i figured i should post so everyone knows that im not inactive  

I may post a random vote later just to lower tuition hehe.

[Elithanathile]

The MoA (Mind of Akasha) was mildly disgusted at the students of this school. They called themselves a university, and were here to study, not stalk each other in libraries, or throw suspicion like mud at their fellow students in hopes of earning favor from the masters and spending less money. Didn't any of them realize that the skindancers were among them, and had already started killing? Money was worth nothing to the dead, and at this rate, many of the students would be before this was resolved. But that was why the MoA had been called, to stop this before it spread. But it was not time yet to reveal himself. He had to stay hidden for now, play his cards from the shadows, and only take action when it was necessary. That was wisdom. He murmured "Vanish," and his outline slowly faded into the shadows of the stacks, leaving no trace of his presence, but not before mentally marking Touka Kirishima. Touka couldn't run now, and as soon as it was time, MoA would make his move. But it was not time yet, and the MoA would let the so called "masters" of this school handle the inquiry themselves. They had no idea what they were getting into, but they would be useful while they survived. As the MoA left the library, still completely translucent, he calmly said "shake," and one of the bookcases in the stacks began to shift from side to side, dropping a load of books upon the three in the library. It wasn't the MoA's mission, but he took a small amount of pleasure from the action anyway.

[Mark IV]

I'm not in the library, am I?

Also, what happens if we pay extra money to Devi? Does it go to waste? Or do we get additional perks? Or P.A.F.O.?

[A Joe in the Bush]

 

I'm not in the library, am I?

Kyndeth, Pk and I are in the Library.

 

As the MoA left the library, still completely translucent, he calmly said "shake," and one of the bookcases in the stacks began to shift from side to side, dropping a load of books upon the three in the library. It wasn't the MoA's mission, but he took a small amount of pleasure from the action anyway.

 

Reader frowned as he heard several thumps on the table above him. Looking around, he didn't see anyone near his table, so what had caused the thumps?

 

He rolled out from under it, and pulled himself up to his feet. On the table were several books, apparently fallen from the shelves. How irritating. Had somebody tried to drop books on him? If they had, they would pay for--

 

Wait.  The Compendium of Neutralities found in the Wyldes! It was on the table! He nearly let out a whoop of excitement, but remembered he was in a library at the moment. He snatched the book and ran back to where he had left his other books, mouthing thanks to whatever god or Fae had found the book for him.

 

Did you forget I was under a Table BB?

[Mark IV]

Do one smaller posts like the last one count in the thread-PM participation ratio?

[Elithanathile]

Reader frowned as he heard several thumps on the table above him. Looking around, he didn't see anyone near his table, so what had caused the thumps?

 

He rolled out from under it, and pulled himself up to his feet. On the table were several books, apparently fallen from the shelves. How irritating. Had somebody tried to drop books on him? If they had, they would pay for--

 

Wait.  The Compendium of Neutralities found in the Wyldes! It was on the table! He nearly let out a whoop of excitement, but remembered he was in a library at the moment. He snatched the book and ran back to where he had left his other books, mouthing thanks to whatever god or Fae had found the book for him.

 

Did you forget I was under a Table BB?

 

The MoA felt excitement from behind him and the corner of his mouth quirked upwards almost imperceptibly. It looked like he had accidentally done something good. Well, he really didn't mind, as that one under the table didn't seem as bad as the others. The MoA did sneeze right afterwards though.

 

Nope, I remembered, which is why I phrased it so that they fell down, I never said anything about them actually hitting. I actually thought about your character being under the table, and decided to let it be, instead of doing something that would attack all three of you. Happy that I could help.

[STINK]

Hello everyone, it is I.

 

I hope you are all enjoying your accommodations? I know that I'm enjoying mine.

 

Anyways, I must go off now and do some proper work.

 

Farewell.

[little wilson]

Do one smaller posts like the last one count in the thread-PM participation ratio?

 

All game-relevant posts and PMs count toward the thread-PM participation ratio.

 

 

Also, one thing I want to note: In terms of "quality RP/thread participation" for the tuition reduction, that's referring to the size of the contribution. If you're going for either of those reductions, count on at least 3 decent-sized paragraphs (at least 3 lines each, though you can go less if you have more paragraphs) for either. A one paragraph RP will not count as "quality RP". Add a little more to it, and yes, it totally will. A great example of quality RP would be Kynedath's on the second page or, if you don't want to write that much, Wonko's or even Clanky's on the first page both also count.

[DeathClutch19]

Touka was sitting nervously, chewing her nails, the thought of skindancers at the university made her very uncomfortable and she was on edge. As she sat in the library a sudden sense of fear encompassed her whole body. Something wasn’t right. Suddenly a stack of books crashed to the ground. “What the hell is going on?!” she thought to herself. She couldn’t help but think that someone was behind this but who? There was one person she had thought of, Mind of Akasha. She had seen him around the university and there was something off about him. The way he seemed to hate all the other students, and how he seemed disgusted with the school. The only problem was that he wasn’t around at this moment. In fact the only person she could see was Reader who just crawled from underneath a table, but Reader seemed nice enough and Touka didn't give his presence a second thought.

 

Edit: Sorry guys i'm bad at RP and i'm on a time constraint because of classes so i rushed this.

Edited February 29, 2016 by DeathClutch19

[Kynedath]

  A great example of quality RP would be Kynedath's on the second page or, if you don't want to write that much, Wonko's or even Clanky's on the first page both also count.

Awww, thank Wilson.

[neodymium]

Ok I am looking over the game now and it looks brilliant!  One question I do have that I hope hasn't been asked is, how many actions do we take each cycle/turn?  

1- Choose Location

2- Vote

3- Choose what to study

I feel like I'm missing something else here too.  Thanks for clarifying.

[little wilson]

Ok I am looking over the game now and it looks brilliant!  One question I do have that I hope hasn't been asked is, how many actions do we take each cycle/turn?  

1- Choose Location

2- Vote

3- Choose what to study

I feel like I'm missing something else here too.  Thanks for clarifying.

 

Voting, actions, and impressing Masters are the only ones you take each turn. Choosing locations are on Month 2, though you can also send in an order for that Month 1 of each term.

 

Right now, the only things you can do are impress a Master.

 

Also, if you'd like to go to Imre, you need to tell us the turn before you'd like to go there, because we send all the Imre information (items for sale an their cost as well as contracts available) at the start of the turn you go to Imre.

[A Joe in the Bush]

I don't believe you have answered this?

Query: Can I put a contract on the blackmarket that can only be fulfilled by specific people? Like "Be Mark IV and make a post about cabbages?" 

[Kipper]

Kipper stalked up the steps to the University, each step making a too-loud snap on the stone. 

 

It was only once month into Term 1 of the University, and already, already, it seemed as if the odds were stacked against him. The Vintish and Aturan Noblemen, at least, he had been dealing with for his whole life. The Yllish Commoners, he had quickly learned about. Kipper didn't understand, really, why the Yllish Commoners looked down on the Cealdish, but it was enough for him that they did. What he had not expected was the brutal sense of competition and avarice amongst his own people. We're all Cealdish!!!!, he wanted to scream. But lie and backstab they all did. And Kipper was done.

 

He reached the top of the steps and set off through the corridors, still fuming. He bumped into Sev, one of the absolute worst Vintish Noblemen, but didn't stop to apologize. "What's wrong, Kipper?" he heard behind him in a mocking voice, "Step on a bug in your shoe again?" Okay, that was it.

 

Kipper turned back around and marched swiftly back to Sev. He pulled the Nobleman aside and began harshly whispering to him. "That was a real issue, okay? Until you've suffered discrimination based off of things you can't control -- which you never will -- keep your (and here he punctuated each word with rather more force than was necessary) fat, Vintish lips closed.

 

Sev, of course (the brat), didn't even have the manners to look stunned by this. He just giggled, and shoved Kipper aside. Kipper just stood there for a moment, shoulders back, breathing heavily. Then he pulled some loose paper out of his bag and started writing feverishly.

 

Two minutes later, Kipper slammed open the door to the Disciplinary Office and strode up to the desk. He slapped down two sheaves of paper, one thick, one thin. "Here are two reports," he declared. The first is a rather exhaustive description of the bug-in-shoe incident two days ago, where Haelbarde committed an offense against my personage by inserting a spider into my shoe and not telling me. This offense was totally based on class infighting, but was reprehensible either way. I have included a vast amount of expository information and descriptions, as well as eye-witness accounts. I would appreciate swift retribution and punishment.”

 

The teacher just stared.

 

“And the second is a smaller report on the microaggressions against me committed by Sev, including brief descriptions of his facial expressions, tone, and degrading, inhumanizing gestures.”

 

The teacher just stared.

 

“So can I expect a swift ruling?” Kipper prompted.

 

The teacher slid the reports off behind the desk and nodded swiftly. “Yes, yes definitely. I’ll take these straight to the Masters. Good day!”

 

Satisfied, Kipper began the walk back to Ankers.

[little wilson]

Query: Can I put a contract on the blackmarket that can only be fulfilled by specific people? Like "Be Mark IV and make a post about cabbages?" 

 

I'm....debating this. I'll get back to you on it. Need to talk to Aonar and Orlok first.

[dowanx]

Hey guys its good to be back

 

I guess I will start off by jumping in on the role distributions post Hael started.  We can't really guess what roles the eliminators have but we can make some guesses which social standings they potentially start with.  

 

Totals:  

3 Vinitish Nobleman

6 Aturan Nobleman

6 Yllish Commoner

7 Cealdish Comoner

2 Edema Ruh

 

With only 3 Vinitish Nobleman and with all of the potential to buy powerful items in Imre, I would make a guess one of those 3 is a Skindancer.  If none of them are Skindancers then it would have to be made up by having a higher percent of Aturan Nobleman as Skindancers. 

 

I don't think we should try to lynch or kill the top three, but as we get actions to help discover the Skindancers those should be high targets.  

 

As for the total number of Skindancers my guess would be like Hael's at around 5.  

 

It is not because Sabotage is weak... I actually think it is a fairly strong ability due to the fact that the Crookery basically stops a player from doing anything.  I think it is 5 because I don't see any large advantage the Skindancers would have that would require their numbers to be at 4 nor do I see any large disadvantage that would need to be offset with having 6 Skindancers.

[Mailliw73]

Wilem stormed out of the tower. These Vintish nobles thought they were all so much better than the Aturans. They forget, Vintas, not too long ago, was part of the Aturan Empire. Most people still used the Aturan language and coinage. The only thing different was their newfound snobby attitudes.

Wilem brushed past one of the Yllish commoners. He hadnt bothered to learn his name, it was something strange like Sassy Key(Sasuke). The commoner frowned at Wilem as he passed. Wilem snarled and shoved the commoner out of his way. He didn't have time for these commoner antics.

Wilem was after the man whose name no one could recall, only his stink. The Vintish man had messed up his projects and staged a prank where he knew Wilem would take the blame. No name was a right pain in the chull, just like all his fellow Vintish.

 

Edit: Do three smaller posts count together as one quality post?

Edited February 29, 2016 by Mailliw73