Mid-Range Game 64: Shades of Crimson

[Szeth_Pancakes]

MR64: Shades of Crimson

It was night again. The Crimson Tavern lay in silence, and it was a silence of-

Well, never mind, thought the bartender as the foreigners stamped into the tavern, laughing raucously.

"Why's it so quiet in here?" yelled one of them. He wasn't actually yelling, but his voice reverberated off the walls of the tavern, returning to the bartender's ears again and again in a cacophony of unwanted noise. The bartender grumbled unhappily, and his sentiment was echoed by the tavern's three other occupants. (The foreigners didn't count, as they seemed not to truly occupy the tavern, inasmuch as a wrecking ball wouldn't be considered to occupy the house it was about to demolish.)

"Daggum forters," one of the men sitting at the bar said under his breath. He had hard eyes and a long, black beard. Though he'd been a fixture of the tavern every night for the past ten, maybe twenty years, the bartender didn't know his name. "Tavern's for quiet." The bartender nodded in assent. Forters -- folks from fortress towns, of course, just where are you from, anyway? Never mind, doesn't matter -- forters didn't appreciate the solemn, brooding air of a tavern. If you wanted to be loud, you could be loud in the solitude and decency of your own home.

The foreigners continued their clattering and clamoring, taking seats at one of the tables. Nobody had used the tables in at least a decade. A forter woman -- or, the bartender thought she was a forter. The truth was more complicated, and somewhat less believable. We'll get there -- tried to sit on one of the stools, and the legs crumbled beneath her. "Storms!" she shouted, falling to the floor and eliciting a chuckle from the bartender. She picked herself up, preserving an impressive amount of dignity, and slid over a different stool, testing her weight on it before sitting.

"Why in Damnation does the boss think the asset is here, of all places?" she said to her companions in her own language. "I swear, if this is another storming dead end..."

"Did you know that the locals literally call the forests here Damnation?" commented her colleague. "Or, whatever their word is." He paused. "Heel," he said, sounding out the unfamiliar syllable.

"Hopefully they'll put up a fight," said another woman. "I didn't just sign up to trudge around backwater planets and drink in cremhole inns."

The group nodded in agreement. Outside the tavern, the night wore on.

---

The homestead of Crimson, on the outskirts of inhabited Threnody, has protected a mysterious and powerful force for generations. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, it could cause a cataclysm of a magnitude far beyond what any of the homesteaders could imagine. When strange foreigners arrive in Threnody one day in search of the power, neither party is prepared for the bloodshed that ensues...

Welcome to MR64: Shades of Crimson! I, @Szeth_Pancakes, will be your GM. A co-GM would be nice, since my schedule for the next month or so is shaping up to be busier than I anticipated. Let me know via PM or in the thread if you're interested.

General Rules.

Spoiler

• The game is separated into 48-hour cycles.
• In every cycle, there is an execution, decided by popular vote in the thread. A tied execution will lead to one of the leading candidates being killed at random.
• PMs are open. When making a PM, add your GM, co-GM, and IM.
• The game is (partially) flipless. When someone dies and becomes a Shade, you don’t know whether they were a Protector or a Ghostblood.
• Players may take one action each cycle (and only one).
• Fighter and Assassin kills are not distinguished between in the write-up, but deaths by Shade are.

Factions.

Spoiler

• Protectors of the Dawnshard. You are a homesteader on Crimson. You win when all of the Ghostbloods are dead (in the Cognitive or Spiritual Realm) or banished.
• Ghostbloods. Your goal is to take power in Crimson – outnumber the Protectors. You know who each other are and have a doc in which to conspire. Every cycle, one of you can choose one person to kill and send that in as their action.

Roles.

Spoiler

• Fighter. You’re tough and sturdy, and not afraid to use your toughness for your own gain. Each cycle, you can target one person to injure, rendering them unable to perform an action the next cycle. (Injured people are notified of their injury.) They return to health the cycle after that. If someone is already injured when you attack them, they die.
• Assassin. You’re very good at killing people. Each cycle, you can choose one person to quietly dispatch.
• Bodyguard. You’re very good at protecting people. Each cycle, you can choose one person to protect from harm. This protection does not extend to the execution or to banishment — only to attacks from Fighters, Assassins, and the Ghostbloods.
• Homestead Leader. You’re in charge! Each even-numbered cycle, you can choose one person to Banish into the forests. 
• Survivalist. You know the forests like the back of your hand. Each odd-numbered cycle starting from C3, you can choose to rescue someone from Banishment, bringing them back to Crimson. You are immune to Banishment.

Items.

Spoiler

When a player dies, their items are all given to their killer. If they are executed, their items are distributed randomly among the people that voted for them. Living players may not transfer items to each other.

• Silver Blade. There is one blade for every four players (distributed randomly). When banished, players with a blade can survive an attack by Shades, killing one at random and sending them to the Spiritual Realm in the process. Blades are destroyed after you use them.
• Dawnshard of Time. A Protector begins with this item. Every even-numbered cycle, you are provided with a list of players in the Cognitive Realm, and can use this to bring one person in the Cognitive Realm back to life. In doing so, you take a piece of their spiritweb for yourself, gaining the ability to use their role. You still only have one action per cycle to use. The Dawnshard is not destroyed when you use it. You cannot bring a player back who has been revived earlier in the game.

Mechanics.

Spoiler

• Banishment. After a player is banished into the forest by the Homestead Leader, beginning the next cycle, they a) can’t post in the thread, PM, or submit actions, and are endangered by Shades. Each Shade in the Cognitive Realm adds a 15% chance of death each cycle for the person being banished, unless they have a Silver Blade. Banished players will have a shared doc. Every time the set of banished people changes, a new doc will be created and the old doc will be locked. When a banished player is revived by the Dawnshard, they are un-banished.
• Shades. When someone dies, they go into the Cognitive Realm and become a Shade. They are only truly removed from the game when someone kills them with silver. When that happens, their alignment and role is revealed in-thread. Shades have a doc they can communicate in. A new doc is created whenever new Shades arrive in the Cognitive Realm, Shades are killed by silver, or Shades are brought back to life.

Order of Actions.

Spoiler

1. Survivalist
2. Shade attacks
3. Banishment
4. Bodyguard
5. Fighter
6. Assassin
7. Healing from Fighter attacks

 

The game will begin at 7:30 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 12. Should be pretty chill (at least in comparison to Ash's shard game or KKC). RP-ful play is encouraged

Participants.

Spoiler

Players:

1. @Matrim's Dice
2. @Archer - Awhey (seasonal costume merchant)
3. @Ashbringer - Frederrick (definitely not a sleeper agent)
4. @TheAlpha929 - Jormmuthar (definitely not a sidekick to a sleeper agent)
5. @JNV
6. @|TJ|
7. @DeTess
8. @Devotary of Spontaneity - The Lustrous Parbem (the Surveyor and the Guide) and its translator Silven
9. @Wonko the Sane - Prof. Ashford Longfellow (an Abundance anthropologist)
10. @The Known Novel
11. @Amanuensis - Lazy Bones (old man)

Pinch Hitters:

1. @Fifth Scholar
2. @Araris Valerian

Spectators:

 

Quick Links.

Spoiler

Cycle One: A Drop of Crimson
Cycle Two: A Crimson Stain
Cycle Three: The Edge of Crimson
Cycle Four: A Pool of Crimson
Aftermath: The Fall of Crimson

 

Edited July 23 by Elandera

[Ookla the Bald]

I'll play.

Alternatively, I would be willing/would like to Co-GM, if you're fine with me not being around at Rollover, except for a very short time ~15 minutes after.

I will give preference to anyone else who wants it though.

[Szeth_Pancakes]

Just now, The Known Novel said:

I'll play.

Alternatively, I would be willing/would like to Co-GM, if you're fine with me not being around at Rollover, except for a very short time ~15 minutes after.

I will give preference to anyone else who wants it though.

Cool. I'll see if anyone else who can be around at rollover wants to do it first, but it would be super helpful to just have someone around to take actions earlier in the day, since I've got work.

[Ookla the Destined]

I hate Threnody games

In

[Ookla the Paradigm]

In as Awhey, a seasonal costume merchant 

[Ashbringer]

In as Frederrick, who is definitely not a sleeper agent for Lamentation to steal a Dawnshard.

[TheOokla929]

In as Jormmuthar, who is definitely not a sidekick to a sleeper agent for Lamentation to steal a Dawnshard.

“Jormmuthar” being pronounced,

“Your mother”

Edited July 11 by TheAlpha929

[Szeth_Pancakes]

34 minutes ago, TheAlpha929 said:

“Jormmuthar” being pronounced,

“Your mother”

._.

[Ookla the Bald]

42 minutes ago, TheAlpha929 said:

In as Jormmuthar, who is definitely not a sidekick to a sleeper agent for Lamentation to steal a Dawnshard.

“Jormmuthar” being pronounced,

“Your mother”

Let me guess, his last name is Íded (pronounced I did)?

[TheOokla929]

29 minutes ago, The Known Novel said:

Let me guess, his last name is Íded (pronounced I did)?

How on earth did you know 

[Ookla the Destined]

Sooooo what’s the minimum player count here xD

[Szeth_Pancakes]

38 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Sooooo what’s the minimum player count here xD

Yeah I was trying to think about what I wanted to do

It’s probably b/c KKC is starting up soon — I could put signups on hold until that’s winding down

I want 12+ players, but I could run it with like 9 or 10 if I had to

 

[Ookla the Destined]

But like if 9 people just joined we could probably finish the game before KKC 

Whatever, I guess I don’t care  

[Szeth_Pancakes]

@Kasimir? If you want to take a break from SE, that’s cool; this game should be pretty chill tho.

[Ookla the Destined]

Isn’t this game flipless xD wdym chill  

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

46 minutes ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

It’s probably b/c KKC is starting up soon — I could put signups on hold until that’s winding down

KKC won't start until the 25th at the earliest, so it's better to run the game now.

[JNV]

Listen the idea that at most one fourth of total player counts would flip and probably significantly less than that considering thats if bladed people get banished before they die was a little offputting but Ill join to pad your numbers a little

[Szeth_Pancakes]

3 hours ago, JNV said:

Listen the idea that at most one fourth of total player counts would flip and probably significantly less than that considering thats if bladed people get banished before they die was a little offputting but Ill join to pad your numbers a little

Thanks

I promise the distro will be fair

4 hours ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Isn’t this game flipless xD wdym chill  

Fair :/

[|TJ|]

Aight, I was holding off as I did not want to dip into this and KKC at the same time but sign me up. Think that should be 6 including JNV. 

[DeTess]

Might as well take a shot at this one as well. If the KKC game is anything like the ones I'm used to from way back when (get off my lawn, young whippersnappers) I might not actually have enough time and energy to take part in that one anyway.

Edited July 12 by DeTess

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

Signing up as the Lustrous Parbem, the Surveyor and the Guide, and its translator Silven. An agent that doesn't sleep 

Edited July 12 by Devotary of Spontaneity

[Szeth_Pancakes]

@The Known Novel u still cool to co-gm?

Edit: Also, thanks for all the last-minute signups. I appreciate it

Edited July 12 by Szeth_Pancakes

[Ookla the Bald]

34 minutes ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

@The Known Novel u still cool to co-gm?

Edit: Also, thanks for all the last-minute signups. I appreciate it

Yep.

[Ookla the Destined]

How much do you need a co-GM? Cause TKN could just play if you don’t really need one.

[Wonko the Sane]

It had clearly been a nice room, once. The. masterwork chandelier still sparkled, even beneath the built up layers of dust. The fine, old-wood furniture, had certainly stood the test of time, including the two plush armchairs that made the room's centerpiece, as well as the solid oak table between them. Across the room, a half-finished sculpture rested on a workbench. The wall behind it displayed a dizzyingly intricate diagram of stars, points, lines, and curves all crisscrossing over one another, and annotated in a tight, neat script; a trained eye would recognize it as a detailed map of the cosmere -- though it was nearly six years out of date. Set into the opposite wall, directly in front of the chairs, was a grand fireplace, now long dead. It's mantle was set with dozens of trophies, mementos, and curiosities, as well as an old Evanotype displaying two faces, one old and sullen, the other young and grinning.

The door cracked open, revealing those same faces.

Nowko Lestibournes, Leader of the Abundance, coughed fitfully at the clouds of dust stirred up as he pushed the door open and entered the old Scadrian offices. Behind him, Won LenReen shut the door and put his hands on his hips, surveying the disrepair thoughtfully.

"Well, it could have been worse," said Len. "At least all our stuff is still here."

Nowko grunted in affirmation, still coughing lightly. He made his way towards the fireplace and the chairs. His eyes swept over the collected treasures of his lifetime on the mantle, lingering on this or that as memory clouded his eyes.

Len stepped out of the room toward the kitchens, returning quickly with a feather duster. He began clearing the dust on the two chairs and the table between them. "Did you ever think we'd be coming back here, after all these years?"

Nowko dropped into the chair on the right. "Of course I did. I always intended to get the guild back to business, it's my life's work."

Satisfied with the chairs, Len set the duster aside and walked over to the letterbox beside the door. He made his way back to his chair with a thick stack of envelopes. "So... why haven't we? It's not like anything was really keeping us," he asked as he sat down and began going through six years of mail.

Nowko hesitated. "Well... you know... there was the Unmade situation, and that business with the Idrian succession, and things just kept coming up..." He trailed off uncomfortably. "Anyway, what's done is done. We're here now. Do you know how to get in contact with any of the old guild members?"

"A few," Len said, absently flipping through the stack of envelopes, "but not many. It's been difficult to keep in touch, moving as often as we have."

"Hmph. I was afraid you'd say that. Well, looks like we'll have to rebuild from the ground up. Reach out to the ones you've got, and see who else you can dig up; then, we'll have to start recruiting."

"Sure thing, sir," Len said. "I can get started as soon as I have the place back in order. I'm pretty sure Konwa is still in T'Telir, and I have some ideas on how I can find Dr. Selva; I--" He paused, rereading the envelope in his hand. He frowned, opened it, and began to read.

"You're not going to believe this, sir, but I may have found an old member already. This letter is from Professor Longfellow, and it's barely a week old." Len looked up. "He's still in deep cover on Threnody."

"What, still? God Beyond, boy, it's been six years! What in Harmony's name has he been doing?"

"Studying the local culture, apparently. You know Ashford, when he gets caught up in his research, the world could end and he wouldn't notice." Len continued reading. "He's asking for advice about a developing situation. Apparently, a number of worldhoppers turned up in his town all at once, so he decided to look into it. After some investigation, he was able to figure out that..." Len trailed off, eyes growing wide. He tore through the rest of the letter without pausing to blink.

"Well?" Nowko barked, "Spit it out, boy. What's going on out there?"

Len reached the end of the letter and looked up at his mentor in shock. "Sir... he says a contingent of Ghostbloods have arrived in Crimson aiming to secure a Dawnshard they've tracked there. Professor Longfellow is asking how you'd like him to proceed."

---------

I'll sign up as Prof. Ashford Longfellow, an Abundance* anthropologist who's been in deep cover on Threnody for over 6 years as a local brewer, just studying the local population and otherwise living a quiet life. Depending on which alignment I roll, he's been ordered to either negotiate an alliance between the Abundance and Ghostbloods by helping them recover the Dawnshard, or to keep it out of their hands at all costs.

Also, hi guys! I'm back!

 

*I know it's been a while, so quick summary: The Abundance is a joke I've taken way too far over the years; basically, it's a cosmere-wide guild of secret agents and doctors I use as the basis for most of my characters.

Edited July 12 by Wonko the Sane