Heirs to the Final Empire: Roleplaying Thread

[Orlok Tsubodai]

Scipio Tekiel paced his office, his gaze returning frequently to the three letters on his desk.

The first troubled him greatly - the results of his identifying the bodies of those killed in the assault on his keep.

He simply could not fathom what he had done to provoke the attack from the Houses Erikell and Vinid - his House had had little interaction with Erikell since the ascension of the Great Houses - not even any contact since the very beginnings of the new society. What was more worrying, more perplexing, however, was the involvement of Vinid - a House new to the political scene, with not even an opportunity for enmity to arise.

And yet the second letter made him shake with fury - a letter from Lord Erikell, denying any responsibility for the attack, and claiming to be framed. The sheer temerity of the man, to attempt a lie, in the face of conclusive evidence...

The third letter was more hopeful, and Lord Tekiel began penning his response, accepting the offer of this new security firm to resolve the situation within the bounds of the law. It greatly irked Lord Tekiel to not exact vengeance himself, but he had seen sense, and come to recognise that two wrongs did not make a right - and that any attack by his own forces, although more justified, would still be illegal.

[phattemer]

Look, Tekiel. If you can't think of a reason why I would attack you, and I deny it, then why would you think I attacked you? It simply wasn't me. How did you ID the bodies? Clothing? Or something different?

[Orlok Tsubodai]

Lord Tekiel could barely restrain his anger - Lord Erikell continued to mock his intelligence. The suggestion that the bodies had been identified by their clothes was absurd. Given the gravity of the issue, to suggest that Lord Tekiel had not taken all due care to identify the bodies was absurd.

Indeed, the greatest precautions had been taken. It had taken work and investment, but House Tekiel had established a forensics laboratory, recruiting the foremost experts in the field, to identify the bodies themselves, so as not to be deceived by any attempts at subterfuge.

Lord Tekiel, having received this information, had come to the conclusion that two possibilities existed.

The first was simple - his investment had paid off, and his forensics laboratory had successfully, and accurately identified the bodies.

The second was not so simple.

This involved another House, taking such sufficient precautions as to deceive advanced forensic techniques. Not only this, but they would have had to do this in very little time - House Vinid had only incredibly recently established itself in Luthadel. Furthermore, they would have had the good fortune to have done so to a pair of houses who had decided that the least sensitive information they could release to the public involved a transfer of four properties from the more wealthy house to the heavily militarised house. Indeed, not only this but Lord Erikell appeared to have knowledge of the assault on Keep Tekiel before the information entered the public domain.

Lord Tekiel acknowledge that the above was possible, but given the circumstances that would have had to occurred, doubted it to be in any way plausible.

Indeed of the two possibilities, it seemed to him that one was so much more likely than the other, to the point where he was quite prepared to stake the reputation of his House on being correct.

[phattemer]

If you want to do so, go ahead. But the very implausibility of the true option makes it all the more likely that I'm not lying, since why would I bother to lie about having done it if I knew you would be convinced I had either way, and the consequences would be less severe if I confessed? My actions are simply not logical if one assumes that I had attacked you. My other actions that turn were and will remain private. However, I was attempting to abide by the "please don't just post actions like 'trying for an heir'" every turn. I wanted to cement the relationship between myself and House Vinid, however if Vinid is conclusively found to be the perpetrator, that relationship will be dissolved.

[Shallan she/her]

I didn't do it either. I have no idea how someone managed to fool the Lab, but have you considered the possibility of kandra infiltrators? I would suggest that the attacker possibly replaced one of my nobles with one earlier in the turn and used the body to fool you. I would also affirm that if Erikell is the attacker, I will be dissolving my relationship immediately. As to how they got the body in place without you noticing, wasn't, in the write-up, (although it is fluff) one person killed out of the sight of all your people? I think they may have just dumped the body without your guards seeing. How does your Forensics Laboratory work, then? Is it with DNA or personal effects? Because forensics actually sounds like clothing-type stuff to me.

[Unodus he/him]

Lord Uethorn stood alongside Lord Tekiel as the two houses proclaimed their innocence

 

"How convenient, it just so happens I know a way to resolve this matter and prove who the culprit really is. You see, I've been doing research on how many mistborn each house should have- based how closely related they are to the original 9. We know three mistborn have died- so if you're as innocent as you say, the simplest way of proving it would be to send all your mistborn to the games so we will know it wasn't your mistborn who were lost in the attack. The offending houses on the other hand, will be forced to send less mistborn since they've lost some of their original few- thus proclaiming their guilt."

Lord Uethorn then turned to address the lords spectating the accusation,

"To all those who would call my actions nonsense or trivial, heed my words now. The attack on Tekiels keep will be a historical monument in the legacy of the final empire- it is the first time that allomancy has been used for a crime instead of conquest. Among our ranks as we speak, is a criminal who would abuse our Lord Rulers divine gift- and that I will not stand for. As a house who has invested in policing Luthadel, the idea that one of our own would betray another disgusts me- and I will do everything in my power to bring the offending houses to justice. The only way we can identify the culprits is through how many mistborn they currently have in their possession, so any house who does not send every single mistborn under their control will be treated with scrutiny. It goes without saying that the punishment I will push for is public execution and the surrender of all the houses MP and Mistborn. However, if the offending houses do come clean right now- we can organize a less strict sentence. Any questions?"

[phattemer]

Uh, Lord Uethorn, there is one problem with that. I know about your plans to imprison any and all members off House Erikell that go to these Games. I would be fine with having an inspector come to my keep to count them, but I am not sending my Mistborn off to be falsely incarcerated.

[Unodus he/him]

"On my houses honor, I swear no action will be taken against you or your house unless you can't produce the amount of Mistborn I know you started with- and if I lie may the Lord Ruler strike me down where I stand. Any "plan" to imprison your house without due evidence is frankly not true. Every mistborn has to attend otherwise the operation would be rendered useless- if one of the guilty houses didn't attend, they could outsource their remaining mistborn to hide his fellows losses. Given the intense scrutiny you are under, I would highly recommend you reconsider this decision- since this is the only chance you have to prove your innocence. Anything else is obviously an effort to conceal your guilt."

Edited July 23, 2015 by Unodus

[phattemer]

If I have a guarantee from your House that no such action will be taken, then yes, I will send my mistborn. How does your equation work? I want to check it before I send my Mistborn to ensure that no numbers are accidentally changed. I'm sure no member of House Uethorn would do such a thing, but some spy, hoping to cause a conflict, could.

[Quiver he/him]

Lord Queade sat in reflection, staring at the accused houses coolly. As Lord Uethorn spoke of executions, however, a frown creased his face. His mind flashed back to the courtroom, so long ago- and yet so recent. Kliss Tormander, the Lord Ruler, and the reflection in Raynah's sword...

 

He stood, pressing his gloved hand's upon the table.

 

"Lord Uethorn is correct," he said, his voice level. "What the two of you are accused of is more than just theft and murder. That you not only turned against your fellow noble's, but you used the gift of our Lord Rashek to do so. That you broke the fellowship of our Empire with blasphemy." He turned, focusing on Erikell.. "You especially. Your family was one of the one's chosen by our Lord to receive his allomancy.

 

"Make no mistake. The decision reached on this matter will, as Lord Uethorn suggests, be of great import. But I will remind him that that decision shall be mine."

 

You know, since... law courts and all. 

[phattemer]

Ah. Lord Queade. Unfortunately, building a court does not give you authority. The decision, as all important decisions should be, will be made by The Lord Ruler or the person whom he selects.

[Shallan she/her]

I suppose with a guarantee that until The Lord Ruler deems it necessary to act against my House, no action will be taken against it, then I'll send my Mistborn as well. And Lord Uethorn, while you personally may have had no plan to abduct my Mistborn, certain other lords did and do.

[Quiver he/him]

Ah. Lord Queade. Unfortunately, building a court does not give you authority. The decision, as all important decisions should be, will be made by The Lord Ruler or the person whom he selects.

 

"If I did not have the Lord Ruler's faith, do you think he would have allowed this building to be erected? Think you that he would have come here and witness our proceedings, and leave without removing me from this position, had I not his confidence?

 

"As that may be, however, I shall admit; this is a point of great significance. If you should wish to appeal to our Lord directly to pass judgement, such is your right. But I should warn both of you; though we share the same blood, his Enforcer is less merciful than I."

[Unodus he/him]

If I have a guarantee from your House that no such action will be taken, then yes, I will send my mistborn. How does your equation work? I want to check it before I send my Mistborn to ensure that no numbers are accidentally changed. I'm sure no member of House Uethorn would do such a thing, but some spy, hoping to cause a conflict, could.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you that just yet, my apologies- you will just have to take my word for it, although if your curiosity persists you may always ask me privately. You see, if I were to show my research- the guilty houses could simply exchange appropriately so that only one house takes the fall, or find some other way to rat out of my equation. I assure you though, the answer will be obvious regardless- no tampering can undo the emphasis on the house missing mistborn if all the houses comply, in fact once you see the results I believe everyone can easily do the math themselves."

 

 

I suppose with a guarantee that until The Lord Ruler deems it necessary to act against my House, no action will be taken against it, then I'll send my Mistborn as well. And Lord Uethorn, while you personally may have had no plan to abduct my Mistborn, certain other lords did and do.

 

 

"I see no motive for abduction that couldn't have been acted out in the privacy of your own keep- when all the houses gather, no one would think of moving out of place in fear of bringing the entire empire on their head. If you have evidence that suggests your mistborn are at risk, then I am all ears- the purpose of the games is to help catch the criminals, not create them. Rest assured, if anyone were to commit such a dastardly deed- then I shall pursue them vigorously as if they were my own. I hope that is enough to assure you of your safety." 

Edited July 23, 2015 by Unodus

[Orlok Tsubodai]

So, I apologise for the lack of Roleplay in this post, but the information I am required to impart requires discussion of things my character wouldn't know about Kandra, and so must be OOC.

I can first confirm that the methods I have used to identify the bodies preclude the possibility of Kandra being used to replace Mistborn of Erikell and Vinid; a dissection of the bodies revealed no spikes in any of the bodies.

Further, Wyrm has confirmed that actions would have to be used to both kill the Kandra and replace the bodies with them, had they been used - so not only did this mysterious attacker kill and replace nobles from Houses Vinid and Erikell, they attacked my Keep, by good fortune had enough Kandra to replace the exact number of Mistborn I killed - a number revealed to me in my end of turn PM from Wyrm, but on top of this had sufficient actions remaining to kill the Kandra immitating the nobles and replace the bodies with them, without anyone in Keep Tekiel noticing...

Unfortunately, I remain unconvinced by the arguments being used in your defense.

[phattemer]

I don't know how it was done either, but it wasn't me.

[little wilson she/her]

Lady Adira Wilson had listened to the Tekiel-Vinid-Erikell drama long enough. She'd already met with Lord Tekiel and she'd talked with another Lord who'd met with Vinid and Erikell and she finally felt in a position of knowledge enough that she could act.

 

She addressed Lord Erikell first. "Your argument is riddled with logical fallacies. Our Houses are in the beginning stages of life. Anything can happen at this time that could cripple us for centuries to come. You make the mistake of claiming that something is more probable to have happened simply because it is less plausible, but that's incorrect. Perhaps at another time or another place, this idea would hold ash, but right here, right now, it means nothing. We're not established enough to create intricate gambits right now, and to claim that we are is to miss the truth. All of us are weak, and no one is strong enough for the type of complexity you are insisting must have happened.

 

"You claim that it would be illogical for you to attack Lord Tekiel, but logic doesn't factor into it. It's neither logical nor illogical to assume that you had attacked or not attacked Tekiel. The only question is that of motive, and only you know that.

 

"If you wish to keep your actions private, that's your choice, but I would like to emphasize that those actions are the only things that can redeem you. Only a guilty House has something to hide at this early stage.

 

"I find it interesting that you use the excuse of trying for an heir then. You didn't. Not that I claim to know such personal affairs as the intimacy between you and your wife, but one can simply look at your firstborn child and know that she is not the age she should be if you had tried for an heir. Anyone can see this, so your excuse is feeble in that regard.

 

"As for the dissolution of your relationship with House Vinid if they participated in an attack. The accusation is that you participated in it together. Assuming you two are still in cahoots, it's easy enough to say to each other "I won't rat you out if you don't rat me out," and stick to that until the bitter end. This statement only seems like you're trying to help out, but it is only words because you two are clearly in this together."

 

Lady Wilson turned her back on Lord Erikell, not even bothering to give him time to respond before she started in on Lady Vinid.

 

"And as for you. Your words are all an attempt to bring doubt to Tekiel's findings, seeking to discredit his words and investments to protect yourself and Lord Erikell. Your similar assurance to dissolve your relationship with Erikell should he be involved in the attack is as unhelpful as Erikell's was. You have his back and you know it. He knows it too. You believe that if you stand strong, you can make it through this. It's a noble effort, worthy of a military House, but you can't succeed. Surely you know that."

 

She looked between Lord Erikell and Lady Vinid and spoke again to both of them. "I have it on good authority that you already confessed to the attack, but then thought better of it and proclaimed your innocence. I'm not surprised you'd do so. If you admit to the attack, you know you'll have to pay restitution to Lord Tekiel, reimbursing him for the wealth and Allomancers he lost, and you don't want to do that. But if you insist on your innocence, you believe you have a chance at coming through unscathed of any type of punishment. You're only making things worse for you. Both of you." She glanced at Erikell. "As one of the Nine, you should've known better than to seek to use The Lord Ruler's gift for such purposes." Turning to Vinid, she said, "And you were brand new to Luthadel. Coming in as a strong military House, you likely thought yourself above any type of punishment since who could touch you? The Lord Ruler can. The Lord Ruler always can. He can bring the mighty to their knees, and raise those who used to be weak to become stronger than they can imagine. Your House may be new, but even a new House should respect and fear Him. He doesn't look kindly upon troublemakers, especially within his Nobles. We should be working together to make this Empire something great; not attacking each other in our Keeps simply because we believe we're stronger."

 

Lady Wilson stopped herself from continuing. What she really wanted to say was that she didn't think Lady Vinid was worthy to be a leader of a strong military force if she couldn't show even a modicum of restraint, but she knew the woman wouldn't react kindly to that. Instead, Adira bit her tongue and turned away from the two. She waved her captain, Hadwen, over, as she walked back to her carriage. "I'm putting more money into your forces," she said as she handed him a purse full of boxings. "See that further training starts immediately. I want your men ready to handle any force that comes your way." He nodded and waited until she was safely inside the carriage before waving ten of his men over to guard her on her way back to Keep Wilson, before he went the other direction to collect the necessities for the increased training. Adira sat back in the carriage as it bounced along the road. She'd need to do more, of course, to protect herself, her family, and her investments. While she didn't think Vinid would do something as foolhardy as attack House Wilson, Adira knew better than to become complacent. Her House needed her forethought right now, and by The Lord Ruler's staff, she'd deliver.

 

Who: Lady Adira Wilson, as House Lady

What: Investing in military training

Where: Keep Wilson and Luthadel

When: G2, T3, A1
Why: To increase her military's strength and ability to defend her House from threats.

 

For OOC points to Erikell and Vinid. First, Erikell's point about abiding by the request to keep from having the same actions made public. I already addressed this in part in the RP, but there are a few more things I want to say about it. One, that request was solely about Trying for an Heir, since almost everyone on G1T2 made that action public. It's an easy action to reveal, as it gives away nothing of your House. It's the only action of its kind. Two, you didn't try for an heir that turn, and I know you didn't because it was Turn 1, and everyone who tried for an heir had a child. You did not. Therefore, you did not try for an heir. Therefore, your other actions were revealing, and it's highly likely that Tekiel is correct when he says that your least incriminating action that turn was giving away four properties in exchange for protection from a highly militarized House. That makes one wonder just what you did that would require such protection.

 

And Vinid's point about the body in the writeup. That's not entirely accurate. There were two people killed away from the main Tekiel force. One was a Tekiel guardsman and the other was an attacker who was killed by his own men so he wouldn't talk, and his body was left. I believe that all of these were simply fluff, as you say. The main point to take from this is that both sides lost people. Tekiel lost some of his allomancers and the attacking force lost 3. Nowhere in that entire writeup is there even an inkling of an impression that a body was replaced with a kandra. Or that a kandra body was replaced with a normal body. Additionally, forensics is never about just clothing-type identification processes. Anybody can look at someone wearing clothing with the Vinid logo and say "That person is from House Vinid," and be deceived by an impostor. An investment into body identification is obviously going to be deeper than that. It's an investment after all. It's got to pay off somehow.

 

All of these questions about the lab's methods and the writeup are exactly what I already said in the RP: an attempt at discrediting everything Tekiel says. An attempt to get people to doubt the truth. The truth is that Vinid and Erikell attacked Tekiel and are trying to deny it. They used offensive measures against a House without provocation and should be tried and punished accordingly. We can't be fighting amongst ourselves just yet. Obviously we'll have to eventually, but on Turn 2? Really? At least give it a couple generations before you try pushing everyone into a House War.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Wilor Zerrung watched the proceedings regarding House Tekiel and his attackers with interest, but had nothing more to add to the conversation. He stood off to the side and conferred with Lord Izenry regarding their deal.

 

Who: Lord Zerrung

What: Accepting a contract with Lord Izenry for shipments of wooden bows.

Why: To modify them in his House's workshop to sell them as enhanced IronBows™ that only can be used by Lurchers and Thugs.

Where: Luthadel Courtyard

When: Action 1

 

Just a reminder that allomancy-compatible weapons are now for sale.

[phattemer]

Look, I have no idea how it was done, but I didn't do it.

[little wilson she/her]

Look, I have no idea how it was done, but I didn't do it.

 

There's an easy enough way to prove that. What were your other actions?

[phattemer]

Ok. For gen2 turn1 I

Action 1:

Bought a bakery

Action 2:

I trained up my Mistborn, which is apparently ineffective, as I spent 2 MPs and gained 2 MPs.

Action 3:

Public gave Vinid 3 farms and a slaughterhouse.

Edited July 24, 2015 by phattemer

[Quiver he/him]

Oh! Sorry to interrupt the court drama, but... my public action

 

Who?- Rolan, on behalf of his heir Tyren

What?- Building a church/temple/basic "place of worship" in Luthadel.
Where?-Luthadel
When? 2nd action
Why?- To formalise the religion of the Final Empire. Presumably it might get me some stock with Rashek. Furthermore, I imagine that there will be donations; the money collected (presumably) will be delivered to Rashek (which should raise my standing a little more), but it's probably not unreasonable for me to extract a little bit to dedicate towards the upkeep of the church.

 

We now return return to Law & Order: Luthadel

Edited July 24, 2015 by Quiver

[Shallan she/her]

After that brief message from our sponsors, Law & Order: Luthadel is back. Previously on Law & Order:

Lords Erikell and Vinid accused of attacking Keep Tekiel!

They deny it, but the evidence seems against them.

Will there be a surprise witness? Or will Erikell and Vinid do time for a crime they say they didn't commit?

Find out next time on Law & Order: Luthadel

Sponsored by Scadrian for a Better Future

[Quiver he/him]

After that brief message from our sponsors, Law & Order: Luthadel is back. Previously on Law & Order:

Lords Erikell and Vinid accused of attacking Keep Tekiel!

They deny it, but the evidence seems against them.

Will there be a surprise witness? Or will Erikell and Vinid do time for a crime they say they didn't commit?

Find out next time on Law & Order: Luthadel

Sponsored by Scadrian for a Better Future

 

I have no idea whether you guys did it or not, but it takes moxie to have the narrator absolve you. Upvoted!

[little wilson she/her]

I'd RP this, but I sent Adira back to Keep Wilson so she's not around to rebuttal this. Instead, I'll just have to do it myself.

 

So you're claiming that both your actions were innocent? Let me remind you of this:

 

My other actions that turn were and will remain private. However, I was attempting to abide by the "please don't just post actions like 'trying for an heir'" every turn. I wanted to cement the relationship between myself and House Vinid,  however if Vinid is conclusively found to be the perpetrator, that relationship will be dissolved.

Emphasis mine.

 

That bit right there was the only thing that struck me as true in that entire reply. Your other actions had something to do with Vinid. At least one of them did, anyway, possibly both. But fine, you want to play that you built a bakery and trained a Mistborn, let's look into that a little more.

 

 

Building a bakery

This makes no sense whatsoever. I personally believe you chose this because it looks like an innocent action to claim since so many people were doing it that turn and it's well-known that you're in the food industry. However, let's look at the last action and your reasons for doing that. I now turn your attention to this post. I believe you'll find an interesting meme in the spoiler tag. Something about upkeep costs being too high. So what you're claiming is that you traded four properties because upkeep was too high, but built another one? Hm. If you're trying to reduce upkeep, why'd you build another property? That reduces the reduction that you would've gained. Also, if you wanted another property, why didn't you trade less? For example:

 

Let's say you had 5 properties. 1 wheat farm, 3 animal farms, and 1 slaughterhouse. Why wouldn't you trade the 1 wheat farm and 2 animal farms and keep the slaughterhouse and an animal farm for yourself? Then you'd have a full linear industry all for yourself rather than needing to build a tier 2 building.

 

Of course, this is assuming that you didn't actually already have a bakery, which I think you did. Four tier 1 buildings (the three you traded and the farm you clearly would've had to own in order to make the bakery worthwhile) and only one tier 2 building (the slaughterhouse)? No. You had more than one. I'd bet money on it. And since you gave away far more tier 1 buildings than tier 2 buildings, if you were short on any building type, it would be the tier 1's, but you're claiming to have built a tier 2. Something doesn't add up here.

 

 

Training a Mistborn

This is a blatant lie, and I've affirmed with Wyrm of that fact by asking him what would happen if I were to train a Mistborn. I pretty much knew that there was no way it would be a 2 MP loss and a 2 MP gain. One for one with nothing else. No. That's nonsensical. Wyrm's better than that. He would make sure to give some increase somewhere for an action. The real cost is this:

 

If you don't specify what you're training your Mistborn for, it's a 2 wealth cost for a 2 MP gain, as a standard "training" mission. If you specify what you're training them for, like "combat training" or the like, it will affect those stats somewhat differently, but a combat training would also have the 2 MP gain, since he doesn't keep track of how well trained your Mistborn are. Their strength is coded by MP and AS/AP.

 

 

In Conclusion

The bakery could be true, though I doubt that it is. The training is most definitely not true, however. Which means that your second action at the very least still remains open. Which, conveniently, is also the same action that Vinid has open with you, and I believe that was the action you two attacked Tekiel with, since she publicized her first action and you publicized your last.

 

The fact that you so obviously lied about your second action makes me even more certain you two did it. You really should just fess up and pay Tekiel for his losses. At most, it would cost 15 wealth to split between your Houses and 1 Mistborn child (not one of your own children, but one of your House Mistborn) from each of your Houses to make up for his AP loss. That's a relatively minor cost for an unprovoked attack of two Houses on one. Your choice, though. Your time to make that choice is limited, however, because that offer is only on the table until rollover. You have about 24 hours to decide.

 

Also, in case anyone is curious, I speak for the Security Firm Tekiel has requested help him out with this. We're new, but our services are for hire. We deal in information, security, and much more, with a full-coverage package being that a House that employs our services has full coverage against any and all attacks, along with the option of taking advantage of all of our services. You pay us a premium every turn and if you're attacked, we'll see to it that you're reimbursed your MP/wealth loss and we'll track down the culprits and bring them to justice in as legal a way as can be managed, up to and not excluded imprisonment. Or death, depending on the crime and what TLR says. We'll have more information for you next turn.