Discussion for a Kingdom of ashes

[Laurel]

hmmmm... where to start.... and sorry but this will be a long one

1) So far as I know we are still missing at least three for leadership vote … so definitely no oaths yet.

2) Justice needs to go talk to Father George if she has not- as I said before he knows about your parents… who became pirates… who may still be out there…. Pirates are another group of outcasts… may be helpful

3) L'Aurel and Archon are having fun hunting at night anyways, so team sneak is ready - and apparently already found something I would assume naturally they would start to form a natural ability to use signs or such- hey, sneaking up on Greylocke is not as easy as it looks J -1 skill point for knowledge (how archonus hunts)- Good to share the info. But only with the seven of us so far… at one of the breakfasts (see * if you have no idea) As for the going back into Oceanis, L’Aurel would ask Archonus on one of their trips about it, before agreeing to anything.
4) As to scouting parties, seems like the best time for Farathier and Arfin to see what their militia is like and how the groups work. Scouting for land, people, and resources.

5) Working on the woodshadow banner stuff. L'aurel would keep to that angle -and only 10 GP for a local to do it I'm cheap like that... hey, wait...

6) L'Aurel would swear friendship to all, but the leadership one only to Jaine.

7) As Liz may have noticed, L'Aurel will accept ideas and wisdom from all, but she is wearing the burden of these people heavily on herself and on herself alone. The group goals are still her’s as I put in my first long essay, but all these people are now her responsibility for the time being as well- she will have to weight heavily any sacrifices she makes for the group/adventure goal and those of the people.

8) Gerti/Xath great ideas with the people stuff-- wages will be set for laborers and a bonus for those taking on the militia training. 24 hour crèche sounds a little much, and I would like to not force anyone to work there. I would assume there are lots of women and men who ran the households… well, no households to run so to run the crèche they go. I want people to work and work hard, but I do not want to run them into the ground, as they are used to urban life. As for the children messengers, they get wages but much shorter shifts, and none late at night -older people can do that. Also. if this makes sense set times for lunch and dinner served from the palace. Try to get a pattern going a sense of somethign they can count on. Parents will have to sign their children up for the messenger service though, as I am not going to round them up. How is the schooling? Mostly learn a trade or learn from priests?

9) As for resources, that will all be part of a letter she send outs to the cities around- also will discuss at a breakfast meeting (see *) if Arfin would write also to dwarven holds around for help there. –Maybe while/if Archonus and L’Aurel go to Oceanis we could ask for their aid… JUST KIDDING!

10) L'Aurel also looks over her shoulder a lot... dragon people... hate....

11) If we are scrying, I would also ask the Amastatian temple- it does not sit well with L'Aurel and there is some reason it is there pointed the way it is..... oh, wait it's facing Mordred’s Isle….the Isle of Mourning DUH!!!! Let’s hope no one else gets it before we get to it!!!!

12) The banner for the Phoenix looks cool, but I would recommend it being as simple as possible (maybe just the foreground phoenix). Something people can easily see and know, instead of being caught up in background stuff.... just my two cents there.

13) For Mr.Miagi’s people before we bring them here –I would suggest by normal means or clerics with portal- having them scout if possible to see about the other two portals on their side of the continent (the one where we found them and one by the sea) or we scry these though I think they will be hidden from us.

14) For Xath- Saintsblade at the priest's secret rest- most likely the Apecto. I will send you want I got from the mages and see if you can do any better or fit pieces in I am not getting. Also see if you want/could talk to other mages, priests and see what they know... Though this may tip our hand to snake people if they are out there…

15) Before we start bringing or planning to bring any rebel or people with death sentences on their head (Jaine, Joshua, Bluemages or anyone else) to Hyrwl Justice, Randall and I need to finish our chat. Also, complete agreement with Gerti/Xath on the use of portals- very dangerous, and to use an NPC character we are trying to set up as queen… serious backfire!!! One of the goals that is kind of implicit is to keep her alive.

16) For the entertainment aspect, I was hoping Xath could at least partially fill that spot. She could tell our stories past, and present. She could even just pass these on to aspiring bards here for them to sing about at night. But as stated by Xath yes it definitely needs to happen, L’Aurel however, has a horrible voice and no sense of rhyme.

17) I will not turn away any of the refugees, and I think it a good idea for the scouting parties to also find those wayward people –word should be going to some of the other cities telling people they can come here. This is for refugees of Oceanis remember that…

18) I know food will become a problem soon, so L’Aurel will have to see what is included in her Barony, but will not let the forest be slashed and burned- sorry! When we meet for what is below then L’Aurel can say more on what word/letters she has/is going to send out.

19) If Justice really wants to go to the zoo she could fly to Sylvanis get Jaine who we hope is still there or her contact is actually good- and bring Jaine and Joshua back while just giving orders for the others to flee here--- by the way this is not an actual request as I am sure you will notice… J

*) WILL YOU ALL SHOW UP FOR BREAKFAST WITH THE BARONESS THE MORNING AFTER THE FUNERAL OF EDRISS??? I have asked most of you through e-mail to make it fit with the story and be in character, but not all sorry, and have heard back from no one –since I wrote them just a few hours ago J There we can decide on oaths and L’Aurel has news that she wants to share with only the seven of you! Though she does not tell you that part…. Then we can also more talk then jumping and missing some facts in some posts- a more linear conversation if you would.

These meetings would become everyday if the baroness can arrange it, and for a short period we will enter together, talk, and leave as a unified group. A council! That the people see as head! They would serve to talk about what is happening and go over what still needs to be done. This would give us the time to all this as a group and not in factions, so everyone knows everything! So let me know if you attend the first one… send an e-mail or post—I will send the final stuff to Kennon or better just CC him on everything…. Hmmm… too much e-mail…
Okay I think that is enough for now.. too much to digest, and I know I left stuff out. Oh Boy!

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Justice's Parents?

To the best of everybody's knowledge, my parents are just adventurers. The last Justice knew her mother was sailing West with Tain.

She was a very brave explorer... but, aside from that-- little is actually known. They didn't visit me very often, to say the very least... and don't exactly keep in touch.

Justice talks to Fr. Dorn quite often-- she feels very close to him. It was he that told her of her heritage...
And, from all the stories that he has told, I've never once been told my parents are pirates... or really had that referenced.

Where did you come up with that, Kat?

 

[Archon]

The Breakfast Club of Impact +2

count an unmasked Archon in. it's about time the seven of us sat down and had a talk. i say we post the breakfast here and we can mail out copies of it to those who cannot post here.
"We only met for one breakfast, but it changed our lives forever." - The Breakfast Club(ish)

mik aka "Quotey McMisquotes"

 

[Laurel]

what happened to the bean idea?

To the best of everybody's knowledge, my parents are just adventurers. The last Justice knew her mother was sailing West with Tain.

She was a very brave explorer... but, aside from that-- little is actually known. They didn't visit me very often, to say the very least... and don't exactly keep in touch.

Justice talks to Fr. Dorn quite often-- she feels very close to him. It was he that told her of her heritage...
And, from all the stories that he has told, I've never once been told my parents are pirates... or really had that referenced.

Where did you come up with that, Kat?

Father Dorn mentioned Katie sailing west, and trouble Joshua had gotten into. Then trouble Dorn and Joshua got into and sentenced to exile. Jaine and Joshua also long ago spoke of Justice's mom, Katie, having ships that she would be using for thier purpose. So your mom may be technically under the crown, but she was going to help or Joshua was going to get her to help with the rebels, so even if not pirates -my bad on bad word choice- but she would know saliors who are not satisfied.... but if you have already talked father dorn and can not get anything out of him- L'Aurel will not push it -it is your family, and Joshua should know more anyways.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Ditto on the breakfast..

But-- couple of things..

(1) If there are reservations about making Justice the "leader" please-- let me know ASAP. I posted several days ago-- and, having heard no complaints, I went forward with what I saw as the best plan of action for the group...
I took into consideration the ideas and opinions of Archon and The Universe when doing this-- they both agreed.. I trust their opinions-- so, I went forward.
I've still heard no actual complaints but, I get the idea that not everyone is with me.
In reality-- I feel the group should operate like this:
Archon, Justice, and Kaereth are the core strategy force. The "leader" that all of us have been talking about--and Kennon has begged us to chose--takes into consideration every opinion of the core force and makes a solid decision. L'Aurel is the group's legitimacy, at least until Jaine gets back.
Arfin is the Dwarf-- he deals with the dwarves.
Xath provides the strong and persuasive voice and the biting social commentary whenever needed.
Tim's character, whose name I can't spell, at current, is doing an excellent job training warriors and will add much to the Army of the Phoenix.

It seemed to me when selecting a "leader" that there were, realistically, 3 choices-- Xath, Justice, and Archon. These three have the training, experience, and skills to fulfill the position most effectively. (a point agreed upon by the DM)
I know that Archon does not want to play that part. Xath openly stated that she did not want that position.
So, please-- if you do not want Justice to be the "leader"-- tell me. I will take no offense-- that's what I requested that you all post or email me about it a few days ago.

(2) Someone somewhere mentioned swearing an oath of Justice-- that was never my intention-- nor was it ever part of her plan as a leader.
The only oath to be sword right now is the Oath of Alliance between the PCs.
When we have Jaine back here-- Justice, at least, will be swearing Fealty to her as the rightful Queen.

However, I do feel it is completely necessary for the group to swear at Oath of Alliance to EACHOTHER. As I said before-- prong 1 of Justice's plan is: Swear the oath or walk.

There's my two cents for the moment...

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Father Dorn mentioned Katie sailing west, and trouble Joshua had gotten into. Then trouble Dorn and Joshua got into and sentenced to exile. Jaine and Joshua also long ago spoke of Justice's mom, Katie, having ships that she would be using for thier purpose. So your mom may be technically under the crown, but she was going to help or Joshua was going to get her to help with the rebels, so even if not pirates -my bad on bad word choice- but she would know saliors who are not satisfied.... but if you have already talked father dorn and can not get anything out of him- L'Aurel will not push it -it is your family, and Joshua should know more anyways.

Justice will be spending lots of time chatting with him-- hopefully I'll get something out of him soon... in fact, we're going to spend some quality time with the practice swords in the near future-- I'm sure he'll kick my butt but at least he'll be lucid for a little bit.

 

[Archon]

Leaders...

Justice is the best qualified to lead. high Charisma, Leadership feat, she attended a military academy and she's a paladin. all of these things tend to point towards leadership. so i back her up completely. she has all of are intrests in mind and she has a close connection to the Universe ( ).
Xath would be a great leader save for the fact that the hard choices of leadership should never be forced on someone with such high Virtue. Being a leader is really about the hard choices and being able to make them.
Archon in his the true fashion of a martyr would want nothing more then to bare the burden of those hard "moral dilema" choices. but he doesn't speak up. he doesn't say anything. if asked to he'd lead, but never would it cross his mind that you'd all trust him enough to.
so once more we come back to Justice, the best choice and the one i back. but should making a leadership decision ever conflict with her Code she knows she has us to fall back on.
mik aka "miky"

 

[The_Universe]

On Leadership

Before I get into any of the in-game stuff, and HOO BOY is there a lot of it, I wanted to touch on some out-of-game considerations on who you choose for a leader.

making all your decisions in-character is all well and good, but at some point, you have to take certain realities into account. The most important of those realities is out-of-game time.

Whoever you choose to be the leader has to be "in" the game enough to work on it at times other than when we play. Perhaps it shouldn't be this way, but your chosen course of action and story that is developing take a little more maintenence than can be provided on a single saturday. Plans need to be made during the off-days, so that we don't hear complaints about how we're not rolling enough dice.

What that means is that the leader has to be someone who is willing to put in the extra time. Experience would tell me that there are only a few of you who can do that.

Despite all the in-game reasons for any of you to step up and take the reins, some of you CAN'T, because you're unable or unwilling to put in the time. That's no big deal--just a reality.

Looking over the boards really says it all. You're picking a PLAYER to lead, as well as a character, and that leaves only the following realistic options: Liz, Gertie, Kat, or Mik. Jeremiah has some posts here, as well, but far fewer than the others. However, Jeremiah, as well as Tim and Greg have far too much going on in real life to devote the same kind of time and effort that you guys do. In fact, I'm willing to bet that only the four of you msg board junkies will actually read this post. That being true, we begin to see the ranks of potential leaders thin out.

My second criteria is my inbox--Kat has the lock on DnD related e-mails there, but the other three are hot on her heals as of late. Tim, Greg, and Jeremiah are nearly *But not completely* silent once more. (This is not to say that Tim, Greg, and Jeremiah aren't great players--you've all shined brightly at one time or another. They're just players with more to do in real life. We need to respect that, and at the same time reward the players that go the extra mile)

Lastly, MSN Messenger. Kat and Mik fall way behind here, and Gertie and Liz are neck-and-neck. Liz has her beat in total messages, but a good share of those are not DnD. Take out all the I Love you's, etc., and we're at a pretty accurate count.

Even so, Mik and Gertie SPECIFICALLY do not want to lead. Liz was a tad uncomfortable with it, but is willing to do so. Mik chose her character, and managed to convince her to do it. They seem to have Gertie along for the ride. That leaves Kat. Kat is a little scattered, and is our newest nerd. Yet, she is definitely "in" the game enough to make it a possibility.

That really leaves just Liz and Kat.

Now we can go to the in-game reasons. It all comes down to stats. L'Aurel's INT and CHA are both low. Makes strategy hard. WIS is high, but not outstanding. Nonetheless, she is a semi-legitimate baroness.

Justice has amazing CHA, good WIS, and a fair INT--far better rounded for actual leadership. But she is NOT a baroness. In the best of all worlds, L'Aurel provides legitimacy to the outside while Justice leads the in-group discussions. I dunno if that can happen or not, but it's all out on the table. I hope that that helps.

 

[Xath]

The Stuff and What Have You

I'm on for breakfast cause In the morning, I'm makin' waffles!

By the way, everyone should look at http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2075

Um, that's about it. I still support Justice for leader. And I'm okies with the whole oath.

Ok, I'm done.

- Gertie aka. "wishes she could have cool name things like Mik"

 

[The_Universe]

Answering the Longest Post EVER

A great deal of this has nothing to do with me. I'll encoruage you all to attend the "breakfast." Now, I move on to sorting through the flood!

So far as I know we are still missing at least three for leadership vote … so definitely no oaths yet.

To be fair to Mik and Liz, nobody voted. It was more like three abstentions. Kat has sorta voted with me...but not in the public forum, where it was requested.

4) As to scouting parties, seems like the best time for Farathier and Arfin to see what their militia is like and how the groups work. Scouting for land, people, and resources.

Agreed. That is a good idea. After the first "breakfast" L'Aurel and Justice should put out the order.

5) Working on the woodshadow banner stuff. L'aurel would keep to that angle -and only 10 GP for a local to do it I'm cheap like that... hey, wait...

If this gets done, this should definitely magicked. The symbolism is supercool...think LoTR army of elves, with L'Aurel at their head....*shudders in anticipation* awesome.

6) L'Aurel would swear friendship to all, but the leadership one only to Jaine.

Right on. It would appear that this was the plan all along. The question remains if everyone else will swear the oath. So we're clear, the universe thinks it is completely apropriate to assume that you should all trust each other enough to swear an oath. Repeat--this demand is NOT out of line. My messageboard regulars seem ready to accept that. I am very glad.

11) If we are scrying, I would also ask the Amastatian temple- it does not sit well with L'Aurel and there is some reason it is there pointed the way it is..... oh, wait it's facing Mordred’s Isle….the Isle of Mourning DUH!!!! Let’s hope no one else gets it before we get to it!!!!

Miracle of Miracles! You figured it out! Don't you love foreshadowing? Also, as a side note, it was the statue, not the temple of the Amastacia that faced Mordred's Isle.

13) For Mr.Miagi’s people before we bring them here –I would suggest by normal means or clerics with portal- having them scout if possible to see about the other two portals on their side of the continent (the one where we found them and one by the sea) or we scry these though I think they will be hidden from us.

Nobody really knows how to use the portals for their original intentions. The Serpentblood appear to be able to use them in that manner, however. The Mages CAN use them to amplify their own teleportation magics. Who's in charge of this? You'll want to send a PC with any scouting parties. Whoever it is, e-mail me tomorrow, and I'll fill you in.

15) Before we start bringing or planning to bring any rebel or people with death sentences on their head (Jaine, Joshua, Bluemages or anyone else) to Hyrwl Justice, Randall and I need to finish our chat.

What do you still want to know? I thought I answered all of your questions? Post or e-mail!

16) For the entertainment aspect, I was hoping Xath could at least partially fill that spot. She could tell our stories past, and present. She could even just pass these on to aspiring bards here for them to sing about at night. But as stated by Xath yes it definitely needs to happen, L’Aurel however, has a horrible voice and no sense of rhyme.

Bonus XP for actually writing and telling a story from the past. You and Kat should have enough information to fill a small book. Maybe even a large book. I encourage you to put your stamp on it. Post it/e-mail it if you can get it done, and it will be worth bonus XP.

17) I will not turn away any of the refugees, and I think it a good idea for the scouting parties to also find those wayward people –word should be going to some of the other cities telling people they can come here. This is for refugees of Oceanis remember that…

Good idea. Decide on a method at the breakfast, and then do it.

18) I know food will become a problem soon, so L’Aurel will have to see what is included in her Barony, but will not let the forest be slashed and burned- sorry! When we meet for what is below then L’Aurel can say more on what word/letters she has/is going to send out.

You all need to figure out what to do about surrounding settlements. Some will have food to sell, but it will be to sell, not to give. You might be able to attract artisans, as well...but I need to know where and how you're trying to get them. As always, I am happy to answer questions on detail.

General notes: figure out how to get Jaine, and then get her here. Very important. High priority.

breakfasts are a great idea--What are you thinking? Message board? e-mail? In Person? Let me know.

Also, when do you and Mik want to go the zoo?

Tomorrow, I will post the further results of some of the scrying. I have your requests above.

Great job all of you working constructively on this, gang. Those of you who have put some work and thought in this'll be rewarded in sweet Experience Points.