Discussion for a Kingdom of ashes OOC II

[Archon]

*smiles*

 

[Laurel]

Kat's idea is good, but for your first foray, I'd try to keep things a little smaller in scale--use everybody's resources for one thing, and as you have a chance to learn to coordinate in a dangerous situation you can try to get more done, at once. Oceanus is going to last for more than one session--don't try to do too much too soon.

Thank you for at least acknowledging I had an idea...

 

[The_Universe]

This is the plan of attack, right?

Thank you for at least acknowledging I had an idea...

You are, of course, very welcome.

As for general focus, the idea seems to be to--at the moment--1) to steal a ship, and then either haul it inland, or hide it somewhere, or just sail it into the next closest port so it can be used as proof. After you deal with what happense there, you'll 2) retrieve Jaine. From there, you'll 3) Spy on/kill the leadership in the palace.

Is that right?

 

[The_Universe]

What would the Universe do?

So, I actually had a little bit of time to read recently and I once again picked up Anne McCaffery's Freedom's Landing series. And what do you know? It's about a group of rebels forced to rebuild their homes in a knew area after having been forced from their homes by a strang alien force. And so...they rebuild, then rebel to get their home back. How do they do this? They start off by stealing ships. Granted these are space ships but there are certain rules which apply in any situation.

1. Ships in dock are not manned by a full crew. They usually have 2 guards so that one can be on duty at all time.

2. Ship guards are not the brightest people in the world. If they were smarter, they would be on shore leave with the rest of the crew, and not stuck on board.

3. Lots + Alcohol + Ship Guard = New ship for us. You could even add a sleep inducer into the mix. Occasionially, guards from other ships go "visiting" with booze. It's a fun party time.

4. Sleeping guards don't have a say when their ship is being stolen.

Getting the ship out of the harbour, and sailing it elsewhere is another issue. Busy ports don't check ID's as carefully, but I don't know what the ship traffic is around Oceanus. But once the guards are asleep/dead, the ship is fairly easy to take.

This is a good idea, and has the potential to use everyone's talents. However, there has not (as yet) been any noticeable traffic in and out of the Harbor. So, if you go forward with an idea like this, you need a way to get out of the area without undue attention. You could try to make the boat invisible, but you don't want it to just disappear--that's just as suspicious. However, if it seemed like it exploded, or something, you'd be able to delay suspicion until they figure out that there's no wreckage, at least.

On another note, if you're going to try to steel multiple boats (not a bad idea), you'll need a place to hide them. Taking them to a known port will serve some good, but it's asking a lot if they haven't already joined your side. Is there a place to build a hidden "shadow port" in the area? That's the kind of thing you need if you're going to start guerilla warfare on the high seas....

If you can build a city in the forest, why not a port, as well?

Just some thoughts from me as if I were a player--this is not me in my role as "The Universe"

--KCB

 

[The_Universe]

Woodpile, isnt it true that you masqueraded as eels & shocked Zorak with this wrench?

I've hashed through it with Kennon all day-- and, realistically, it is not the best idea. Getting the cannons, having Xath compose and sing/perform is a much better idea. At that point, we travel with the cannon and spread the "gospel" of the phoenix.

Pushing the ship on a city:
1. Puts the draconids on our trail
2. Opens us up for questioning/skepticism
3. Could lead to the sinking of the ship, cannons, crew, and all.

I think that taking it over land is the best idea...

or, whatever, leave the ship... pull it up by the shore, unload the cannons and just drag the cannons back to Hyrwl! Screw the ship! We don't really NEED the ship for anything unless Seaborne desperately wants it...

A couple of good points here. Although you don't NEED the ship, it's big help no matter how you measure it. Morale, recruitment, equipment, capabilities--it's a shot in the arm in all of those areas.

However, as I have said before, don't get too ambitious too fast. You might want to seperate the "Theft" Op (short for operation ) from the "Triumphant entry into potentially friendly port for recruiting purposes" Op because of the simple fact that it may be out of your reach to achieve both at once.

If you choose to seperate them, you still need a place to keep the ship in the mean time--eventually, you're going to have to show it to people. The real question is, what are you going to do with it before that time?

 

[The_Universe]

As a general note....

Whenever you DO choose to try to sneak into Oceanus, the bluff thing that I think Gertie brought up earlier is awesome--messing with their heads has got to help, at least a little.

 

[AIM-54]

A couple of good points here. Although you don't NEED the ship, it's big help no matter how you measure it. Morale, recruitment, equipment, capabilities--it's a shot in the arm in all of those areas.

However, as I have said before, don't get too ambitious too fast. You might want to seperate the "Theft" Op (short for operation ) from the "Triumphant entry into potentially friendly port for recruiting purposes" Op because of the simple fact that it may be out of your reach to achieve both at once.

If you choose to seperate them, you still need a place to keep the ship in the mean time--eventually, you're going to have to show it to people. The real question is, what are you going to do with it before that time?

If we're going to break it down, we can steal the first one for cannons (useful as proof AND in defense of Hyrwl) and scuttle the ship so as not to have to worry about it until we're ready. Just a thought.

And to address Mik, I think the options have been outlined in several posts (I have tried to at least), I think the final decision is awaiting consideration by people other than just Liz, Kat and myself (maybe I'm wrong). Either way, I think we're set whichever way we go, the naval plan seems a little more developed (the debate there centering on what do we do AFTER we have the damn ship, an important consideration to be sure), but I think we're relatively set either way.

After today I think we've hashed out most of the issues regarding our current options for an initial action against the invaders. Now, we just need to choose which way to go. I will follow whichever way we go.

Finally: Mik, have you had a chance to look at my SoP offerings? Just wondering if you have any feedback, since it appears to be our project.

 

[Xath]

How did you know?

You could try to make the boat invisible, but you don't want it to just disappear--that's just as suspicious. However, if it seemed like it exploded, or something, you'd be able to delay suspicion until they figure out that there's no wreckage, at least.

How did you know? In the same series mentioned above, they pretended to make the ship explode so no one would come looking for it.

One of the spells I could take for 4th level is Hallucinatory terrain. Can that spell make normal boat terrain look like exploded/burning boat terrain? Or even better, can it make Ocean terrain look like ocean with exploded boat on it terrain?

Remember in Thanesport, when the boat exploded and sank REALLY quickly (although this never actually happened) An explosion like that could just leave random bits of debris...like if we took 2 bags of holding, filled them with debris, and then scattered them on the water. We make the ship invisible, have the hallucinatory explosion, and then we sail away to bright horizons.

Time for bed...maybe...

 

[Xath]

Posting

I'm posting this because I don't feel that I have posted enough on the boards recently. This ups me by one.

 

[The_Universe]

How did you know? In the same series mentioned above, they pretended to make the ship explode so no one would come looking for it.

One of the spells I could take for 4th level is Hallucinatory terrain. Can that spell make normal boat terrain look like exploded/burning boat terrain? Or even better, can it make Ocean terrain look like ocean with exploded boat on it terrain?

Remember in Thanesport, when the boat exploded and sank REALLY quickly (although this never actually happened) An explosion like that could just leave random bits of debris...like if we took 2 bags of holding, filled them with debris, and then scattered them on the water. We make the ship invisible, have the hallucinatory explosion, and then we sail away to bright horizons.

Time for bed...maybe...

Hallucinatory terrain can certainly make an empty bit of sea look like there is debris all over it. However, it can't replicate the explosion, or make the ship invisible. Nonetheless, at least it's something.