Quick Fix 66: Full River Red

[Kasimir]

Captain Kezin stared at the cooling body of the Svordish Ambassador and felt the beginnings of a terrible headache pounding in his temples. He’d known, of course. Coded messages exchanged the traditional way had indicated this was a potential danger. Emotions in the Rose Empire these days ran high around the Svordish. You had decades of raids to thank for that. The Svordish navy was…uncontested, for now, even if the Emperor’s loyal forces had an advantage defending their home territory. 

And you didn’t have to be a fool not to realise that something like this murder was especially possible with the Emperor of the Eighty Suns…ailing.

Certain truths had to be admitted. It was a delicate time for the Rose Empire, and Senior Arbiter Wuzhi of the Discovery Faction had made many enemies, in the time of the Faction’s prominence. Perhaps too many enemies, Kezin reflected, if the Svordish Ambassador was now dead in the middle of the faction’s private compound. 

And there was the matter every reasonable person tried very hard not to think about: the death of a Striker general branded a traitor, five years ago. Strangled at dusk, of course. You tried very hard not to think about certain things. Matters of Empire, Senior Arbiter Wuzhi had called it. Privately, because Kezin would never be so foolish as to ever give voice to the thought–well. You could acknowledge that there were certain irregularities about the death of General Yuen. You could acknowledge, too, that the General had been vital to the security of the Rose Empire, with the stirrings of rebellion among the MaiPon, and the Svordish raids slicing into the territorial integrity of the Empire.

You could remember the Battle of the Red River.

You could do all this, and still be troubled by the matter of an extremely dead Svordish Ambassador, whose death would need to be explained to the Senior Arbiter, to the factions of the Rose Empire, and to the Svordish, with whom the Empire was now at a tenuous peace.

Above his paygrade, that last two, for which Kezin cautiously gave thanks to the eighty splendid suns which, one at a time, blessed the Empire with their radiance, before fading again into the darkness below the civilised world.

 

 

Senior Arbiter Wuzhi was extremely displeased.

The death of the Svordish Ambassador was one matter entirely. He could not say he’d expected it. After all, that was entirely the point of having a guard selected from the best the Discovery Faction had to offer. The fact that the guard had failed in this aspect was extremely troubling. It pointed to certain things, certain undercurrents he’d done his best to navigate since five years ago.

You made the best decisions you could, Senior Arbiter Wuzhi reflected. There were certain affairs an upstart Striker general was not the best-placed to appreciate, and then there were the desires of the Emperor to consider. And the good of the Empire.

They had peace with the Svordish, now. And precious time to put down the stirrings of rebellion in MaiPon, time to ensure the stability of the Empire. You needed these things. Sometimes, peace had a price. The Svordish had named theirs, though it was not the sort of thing you preserved on paper at any point.

Worse than the death of the Ambassador, however, was the fact a sensitive and extremely critical letter had gone missing. Wuzhi ground his teeth together and tried not to pace in the room. He stared at the spreading pool of blood, at the knife protruding from the back of the Svordish Ambassador. Facedown in his blood. He’d turned his back to whoever it was that’d killed him. That sort of thing, it meant something, didn’t it? He’d never seen it coming. Or he’d trusted the killer. Turned his back to the knife.

Wuzhi found himself thinking about a Striker general. About five years ago. History, now. Long burned, washed away. But his ghost still haunted the Rose Empire. You never seemed to be able to let old ghosts die.

“I’ve ordered the compound locked down,” Captain Kezin said, quietly. He understood, at least, the gravity of the situation. “No one will leave until the killer is found.”

“There was a letter,” Wuzhi said, brusquely. “An extremely sensitive letter, crucial to the future of the faction…and the Empire.”

Offers of Svordish aid. A certain price exacted: concessions would be required, of course. The negotiations had only begun. It grated, accepting Svordish aid. But the Discovery Faction was struggling to maintain its prominence. The Emperor was ailing on his throne…and the vultures, the other damnable factions, were already circling, sensing weakness.

It required a careful play here, an ability to take the long view of things.

Captain Kezin didn’t blink. He’d seen the worst the Discovery Faction had to offer. That made him someone who could be relied on, as far as Wuzhi was concerned.

“Find me that letter, Captain,” Wuzhi commanded. “And find me that killer, by dawn, even if you have to execute every last soldier and servant in the compound.”

He yanked the bloody knife out of the corpse, handed it to Kezin, who took it, his hand steady. A standard-issue knife, the hilt wrapped with cord. The sort of weapon you’d expect any soldier of the Discovery Faction to carry.

Kezin swallowed. He pressed his fist to his heart in salute.

There were certain things you could expect, Wuzhi thought, watching the captain leave, if you knew a man had seen the worst of the Discovery Faction. He understood necessity. His loyalties, at least, were not to be questioned.

The killer, whoever it was, had damnable timing. And had left Wuzhi an extremely delicate mess to disentangle. He’d take it out on them, even if Kezin had to kill his way through every last person in the compound.

 

 

The company assembled in the square of the compound.

Kezin eyed them all warily.

One of them was fidgeting with a belt buckle. Nervousness? Or just wariness? He raked his gaze across the assembled ranks, searching for anyone who had a missing dagger. None of them had come wearing theirs. 

It stood to figure, Kezin thought, annoyed. It never was that simple.

Even if you have to execute every last soldier and servant in the compound, Wuzhi had ordered. Kezin had heard the coldness in the man’s voice. The last time he’d heard the frosty tone had been five years ago.

He remembered it all, even if he wasn’t supposed to.

“The Svordish Ambassador has been murdered,” Kezin announced to the soldiers gathered before him in the square, the company forming ranks as though preparing for inspection. “I’ve ordered the compound locked down.” A dicey proposition, but there were men he’d handpicked and trusted, even if in theory the entire company was meant to be handpicked and trusted with securing the high-level diplomatic meeting.

A lapse he would deal with later on.

There were gasps. Some of them didn’t appear shocked. Kezin memorised the faces, tried to decide if he’d expect a pretence of shock, or if the killer would have already known.

“The killer is also a thief. A crucial letter has been stolen. I expect we’ll find it in the belongings of the one who did the deed. This means that at least one of you is a traitor.”

Was that soldier looking down at his feet in shame?

“The Senior Arbiter has ordered that we find the killer by dawn. Lieutenant!”

His lieutenant started. Kezin took note of that, too. Normally, he would have vouched for his own lieutenant. But in times like this…

No, Kezin thought. He held no one at all above suspicion.

“I’m leaving you directly in charge of the search efforts. Every hour, I expect all of you to report in on your progress. We are ordered to find the killer even if I must execute every last soldier and servant in the compound.”

He gave all of them his most unimpressed glare.

“Get me the killer.”

 

 

QF66: Full River Red

Almost two centuries before a boy named Yazad becomes the Emperor of the Eighty Suns, the factions of the Rose Empire see what might very well become the greatest crisis of their time

Five years ago, a Striker general was strangled, at dusk. After the eighty splendid suns had set. Dusk was the time for fell deeds, for acts of empire that need not be subject to common scrutiny. The body was burned; the bones scattered, the ashes washed away downriver. There are to be no shrines, no rallying points for dissent.

Historians sometimes point to events, draw connections. A stray horse, the loss of a province. Silken strands, from the death of a much-loved general, to the present. 

A Svordish ambassador is found murdered, hours before a high-level diplomatic meeting with Senior Arbiter Wuzhi of the Discovery Faction. A sensitive letter has gone missing. The current Emperor of the Eighty Suns is ailing, and already, the factions circle like vultures.

Wuzhi has ordered the compound locked down. You have until dawn to find the murderer. Water trickles through the clock.

May the truth be brought to the light of the eighty suns.

 

 

General Rules:

Spoiler

1. This game is a standard QF, with 24 hour cycles referred to as Hours. PMs are open, but are strictly one-on-one. Please add the GM and IM to all PMs.

2. Voting is to be done via your GM PM. There is no minimum vote threshold for executions to take place. Ties will result in RNGesus deciding who gets executed. Please colour-code your execution votes as follows: Wyrmhero [red and bold]. Retract your execution votes as follows: Wyrmhero [green and bold]. Please do not edit in your votes; sending me multiple PMs in a row is acceptable under these circumstances.

3. The Yuen Loyalists know who each other are, and will have access to a faction doc to coordinate. Every Hour, they can submit a faction kill.

4. Write-ups will be minimally informative. At this point, the only thing the write-up will announce accurately are the roles and alignment of the deceased. Otherwise, the write-up should not be regarded as an accurate guide to what actually happened. I intend to take full creative liberties and will not be held responsible for any confusion, false assumptions, or damages resulting from treating the write-up like the Holy Word of Wyrm. There may be Shardblade duels.

5. There will be an inactivity filter in this game. Players who do not post for two cycles in a row, and do not communicate with the GM will be suspected of conspiracy and executed.

6. The Order of Actions is as follows:

-Forger’s Stamp
-Captain’s Signet Appeal
-Execution / Kill

All actions on the same tier of the OoA take place simultaneously.

7. This is a RP-centric game. All players must sign up for this game with a cosmetic role, or Background. They may select from the pre-generated list of Backgrounds available, or create their own, subject to GM approval. Players who do not have a Background by the start of the game will have a Background created for them.

8. Please @ me for clarificatory questions in thread, and bold them so I will pick them out. For clarificatory questions in PM and doc, please bold them. While I will do my best to get to all questions in a timely manner, my priority will be to address rule clarifications asked in the stipulated manner. (This also guarantees I won’t derp and miss them.)

 

 

Win Conditions:

Spoiler

• The Discovery Soldiers are guardsmen loyal to the Discovery Faction and to Senior Arbiter Wuzhi. They win when they execute all the infiltrating Yuen Loyalists.
   
• The Yuen Loyalists have infiltrated the compound and are conspiring to expose and execute Senior Arbiter Wuzhi for his part in the murder of General Yuen. They win when they achieve parity with the Discovery Soldiers.

 

 

Mechanics:

Spoiler

Captain’s Signet

Each Hour, the guards in the compound may privately appeal to Captain Kezin for his signet. Possession of the signet grants the player the authority to search the belongings of one player for treachery. The search is done in the same cycle the signet has been granted.

• Players may submit their signet requests to the GM within their GM PM.
   
• Each cycle, a player can gain a total of five signet points (SP). To do so, a player must make five RP posts fulfilling the condition in their Background (e.g. "Every cycle, you must comment on how the eighty suns have surely blessed the current Emperor.") Each post is one SP. To count, all relevant RP posts must be at least two hundred words.
   
• To make a signet request, specify in your GM PM how much of your existing SP you want to bid, and who you want to search if your bid succeeds. You may place a bid using SP you are earning in the current cycle. If you bid an amount of SP you do not have, your bid will be adjusted to use the maximum amount of SP you have. SP staked in a bid will be lost, regardless of the outcome.
   
• Among the players who have made a signet request, the player with the highest number of SP used in their bid will gain the signet for the cycle.
   
• In the event of a tie, RP requests to the GM will be strictly favoured over non-RP requests.
   
• Furthermore, among the RP requests, I will RNG, but outstanding RP appeals will be weighted accordingly. (E.g. An RP appeal that is twice as good as the others will get twice the chances of being selected by RNGesus.)
   
• SP cannot be transferred and are destroyed when a player dies. Each cycle, I will notify you in your GM PM of your SP balance.

 

Forger’s Stamp

The Yuen Loyalists have a commissioned stamp from a MaiPon Forger. While such a generic stamp cannot change a player’s actual loyalties, they can rewrite the apparent loyalties of the player, by causing them to appear to have a letter of conspiracy hidden in their belongings. This causes the Signet result and flip result of the targeted player to change according to the Loyalist’s choice.

The Forger’s stamp can only be used once, after which it is destroyed.

 

 

Roles:

Spoiler

Discovery Soldier: You are among the elite guards of the Discovery Faction, handpicked for resourcefulness and discretion. This meeting between Senior Arbiter Wuzhin and the Svordish Ambassador is of the highest importance to the future of the Discovery Faction, and disruption will not be tolerated.

Yuen Loyalist: You have infiltrated the high-level meeting between the Senior Arbiter and the Svordish Ambassador. Because this is Wuzhin’s private compound, you expect to be able to do two things: to find evidence of his complicity in the wrongful death of General Yuen, and to embarrass him by disrupting his secret meeting with the Svordish.

 

 

Backgrounds:

Spoiler

Card Sharp: Every soldier needs a pastime. Yours is card games. You know all the tricks, and there isn’t a soldier in the company who hasn’t lost money to you when playing. (Or favours, or secrets—you’re not picky.) Every cycle, you should reference a card trick, or another player who owes you money, favours, or secrets.

Defector: You have, for reasons of your own, defected from one of the other factions of the Rose Empire and chosen to serve in the guards employed by Senior Arbiter Wuzhi of the Discovery Faction. Every cycle, you should reference your defection, and your (dis)satisfaction with your new employers.

Duck Wrangler: You were the champion duck wrangler in the province of Ukurgi, where you grew up. You never really figured you’d go for Faction soldier, but such is the life you find yourself in now. Privately, you’ve never stopped hoping that your duck wrangling skills will come in useful someday. Maybe it’ll be today? Every cycle, you should reference your duck wrangling skills and seek to apply them to the situation.

Dzhamar Native: You grew up in the province of Dzhamar, and though you sought a respectable job as a soldier working for the Discovery Faction, you have since found that rumours and distrust follow you everywhere. The natives of Dzhamar are especially distrusted and have a reputation for Bloodsealing. Despite you claiming to know nothing of that fell art, still, the soldiers of your company distrust you. And by the eighty suns, do you wish you could shut that uppity Striker up. Every cycle, you should reference your grumpiness about the situation, or make a snide remark about the Striker.

Imperialist: You deeply believe in the divinity of the Emperor of the Eighty Suns, even though this view has passed from favour at least four centuries ago, and are proud enough to declare your views to the amusement and shock of everyone in the company. Every cycle, you should demonstrate or display your reverence for the Emperor in some way.

Farmer: Although you now serve among the soldiers of the Discovery Faction, you came from a rural background and are constantly confused by all the politicking and courtesies of the Imperial Seat, not to mention the way the Poet keeps on spouting the weirdest things. And then the Noble looks down on you… Every cycle, you should reference your rural background, and offer commonsense, direct suggestions on what to do.

Lieutenant: You are Captain Kezin’s second, and in charge of the company, although under the current circumstances, that seems to mean very little. Everyone is bickering and accusing each other of disloyalty. Even worse, Captain Kezin has openly threatened to execute you as well if the culprits aren’t found! You are doing your best to keep things together, to keep an eye on everyone (especially the Recruit), and to make sure the Imperialist and the Yuen Sympathiser shut up and stop getting people even more worked up. Every cycle, you should reference the difficulties of being second in command in some way.

Noble: You are the scion of one of the most ancient, honoured, and respectable ancestral lines in the Rose Empire, and although working for Senior Arbiter Wuzhi should be beneath you, the eighty suns have not exactly illuminated your line of late. You are absolutely disgruntled with the Farmer, and think the Poet a show-off with little class. Every cycle, you should reference your exalted heritage.

Poet: A poet and a scholar should probably not have ended up in the soldiers serving the Discovery Faction, and yet here you are. You are more educated than most of your company, able to annoy them by quoting the Banished Immortal and the Five Sages with ease. Every cycle, you should make a reference to a classical proverb, or a line from a poem. Perhaps even compose your own…

Recruit: You are new to the job, recently recruited to the position by the Discovery Faction, and you are very much in over your head. You are aware that there is a lot going on in the background, but you constantly seem to end up in trouble, and you’re pretty certain the Card Sharp owns both your kidneys and your last pair of good boots by now. At least the Veteran and the Lieutenant both seem to look out for you. Every cycle, you should make some sort of recruit blunder, or reference one of your less glorious moments.

Spy: You work for another Faction as a spy, and have carefully secured yourself a place in the personal guard of Senior Arbiter Wuzhi himself. You must act very, very carefully and seek not to blow your cover. You are wary of the Veteran and the Lieutenant, and are seeking to frame the Defector, just in case you are less than fortunate in disguising your activities. Every cycle, you should undertake some act of espionage, and seek to conceal it.

Striker: As a son (or daughter) or Mulla’dil, it was more or less a given that you would go into soldiering, and indeed, working for the Senior Arbiter of the Discovery Faction. However, it is extremely frustrating to be in the same company as one of those disconcerting, unnatural Dzhamar bloodsealers, much less an actual Defector. Every cycle, you should reference your heritage and your pride (or lack thereof) at your current job, or express your unhappiness with the Dhzamar Native or the Defector.

Veteran: As a career soldier, nothing fazes you: not guard duty at a high-level meeting, and not the ensuing mess when the Svordish Ambassador is murdered by a pack of traitors. You do try to keep an eye out for the Recruit when you can. You keep an eye on the Defector, but for other reasons. Every cycle, you should draw on your extensive experience as a veteran to comment on the mess everyone is in. 

Yuen Sympathiser: The Arbiters may write the history books, but you lived it. You served under General Yuen at the Battle of the Red River, where the rivers ran with Svordish blood for days. (They never tried again.) For this alone, you will always be loyal to the General, even if the Arbiters think all of you too stupid to tell when they lie through their teeth and brand him a traitor. Every cycle, you should make a veiled comment sympathetic to the Yuen Loyalists, or at least, a disparaging remark on the current leadership of the Rose Empire.

 

 

Quick Links

Spoiler

Hour One - Fade
Hour Two - Glory
Hour Three - Falling
Hour Four - Heritage
Aftermath - Forsworn

 

 

Havon was killed! He was the Svordish Ambassador!

Sign-ups are open now and will close on Tuesday, 23rd May 2023, at 0000hrs SGT (GMT +8). Rollovers will take place at the same time. The IM for the game is @Araris Valerian.

Please also be reminded to desist from posting in the thread until I can reserve the next post. I will always do so in order to collect both the current player list and the most recent set of rule clarifications for easy access.

Edited December 16, 2023 by Elandera

[Kasimir]

Rule Clarifications:

Spoiler

None so far.

Player List:

Spoiler

1. @The Wandering Wizard - Rambleton (Poet)
2. @TheAlpha929 - Mallard G. Wingworth IV (Duck Wrangler)
3. @Fifth Scholar - Kudyard Ripling (Imperialist Poet)
4. @The Known Novel - Gaovaris Solumnant (Scholar)
5. @Son_of_Hoid - John Bluhm (Spy)
6. @Archer - Georg Wasintown (Farmer)
7. @xinoehp512 - Krow Nelcaf (Yuen Sympathiser and Veteran)
8. @Devotary of Spontaneity - Left & Right (Spy and Defector)
9. @Szeth_Pancakes - Randen (Card Sharp and Bodyguard and Mistaken Identity)
10. @JNV - Jiang Zhangrong (Lieutenant)
11. @|TJ| - Fletcher the Fetcher (Fence)

Spectator List:

Spoiler

1. @Matrim's Dice - Lee (Spy)
2. @_Stick_ - Leky (Svordish Ambassador #2)
3. @Bingo - ???

Pinch-Hitter List:

Spoiler

1. @Ashbringer
2. @Amanuensis

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by Kasimir

[Mat]

I'll spectate.

[The Wandering Wizard]

Sign me up as the poet Rambleton please!

[The Paradoxical Phenomenon]

I am 100% Guaranteed Certified Terrible At RP™, but I'm in as Mallard G. Wingworth IV, Duck-Wrangler, (email [email protected] for services)

Edited May 16, 2023 by TheAlpha929

[Kasimir]

1 minute ago, TheAlpha929 said:

I am 100% Guaranteed Certified Terrible At RP™, but I'm in as Mallard G. Wingworth IV

Alright! Keep in mind that if you don't pick or make your own Background by the start of the game, I'll assign one to you  

[The Paradoxical Phenomenon]

3 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Alright! Keep in mind that if you don't pick or make your own Background by the start of the game, I'll assign one to you  

yeah, I realized I hadn't stated the Background I chose right as I clicked post. It's fixed now.

[---]

Capitalism disguised as a democracy

[Kasimir]

7 minutes ago, Illwei said:

Capitalism disguised as a democracy

Spoiler

 

[Fifth Scholar]

I will join as Kudyard Ripling, an Imperialist Poet. His verses are quickly composed, but very pious.

---

The eighty suns around Him swirl,

The storms and tempests fury hurl,

Yet watching ev’ry knave and churl

Is the Emperor in His tower.

 

Restraining every foreign pow’r

With countenance serene yet dour,

And ush’ring in the final hour

Is the Emperor in His hold.

 

His fury both severe and cold,

His soldiers to the battle bold,

His vast dominions from of old:

’Tis the Emperor on His throne.

 

If, chance, an emblem brightly shone

That claimed a power o’er His own

They soon found out that He alone

Is the Emperor of the world.

[The Unknown Ajah]

Could I sign up as a modified Poet, the Scholar? Same as the Poet, but referencing grand speeches and saying of great men.

Edited May 16, 2023 by The Known Novel

[Kasimir]

1 minute ago, The Known Novel said:

Could I sign up as a modified Poet, the Scholar? Same as the Poet, but referencing grand speeches and saying of great men.

I'm fine with this and will explicitly take the referencing grand speeches/saying of great men as your condition for computing your SP.

[The Unknown Ajah]

2 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

I'm fine with this and will explicitly take the referencing grand speeches/saying of great men as your condition for computing your SP.

Thank you. I'm hoping I'll actually be able to roleplay enough for this game.

[Kasimir]

3 minutes ago, The Known Novel said:

Thank you. I'm hoping I'll actually be able to roleplay enough for this game.

May want to give me a character name

Hopefully; there's a real chance most players might not hit the full five but that's alright, the whole point of going for maximum five points is to allow some differentiation. Ideally it won't often get to the point where I as the GM have to make a judgement call.

[The Unknown Ajah]

16 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

May want to give me a character name

Hopefully; there's a real chance most players might not hit the full five but that's alright, the whole point of going for maximum five points is to allow some differentiation. Ideally it won't often get to the point where I as the GM have to make a judgement call.

I'll be Gaovaris Solumnant.

There's a real chance I might not do even one post. We'll see.

[|TJ|]

If Arbiter Wuzhi was a Poet, he'd be Lil Wuzhi Vert. 

[Kasimir]

47 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

If Arbiter Wuzhi was a Poet, he'd be Lil Wuzhi Vert. 

Wha-?

[Son_of_Hoid]

This would be my first game. How do I enter?

[The Paradoxical Phenomenon]

1 hour ago, Son_of_Hoid said:

This would be my first game. How do I enter?

Just say that you want to be in, and give a name for your character. For this game you also need to pick a background, or when the game starts you will be assigned a random one.

[Son_of_Hoid]

Jon Bluhm (Spy)

[Archer]

Quote

make a snide remark about the Striker.

I'm glad there's a role based around the man who willingly chooses neon green as their doc color 

But instead I'll sign up as Georg Wasintown, a farmer

2 hours ago, Son_of_Hoid said:

This would be my first game. How do I enter?

Welcome! 

[xinoehp512]

An RP encouragement mechanic. Count me in.

[Kasimir]

3 hours ago, Archer said:

I'm glad there's a role based around the man who willingly chooses neon green as their doc color 

Indeed, one has to roast that :eyes:

2 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

An RP encouragement mechanic. Count me in.

Let me know your character name and Background choice!

3 hours ago, Son_of_Hoid said:

Jon Bluhm (Spy)

Welcome! Do remember to read the SE General Rules and Etiquette policy (linked below) to get started!

 

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

I'll sign up as Left & Right, a spy and defector who abandoned roles as "handmaidens" for Heritage Faction's Senior Arbiter to join Discovery together.

[Araris Valerian]

I will be the IM for this game.