[GP] A Game of Politics

[Timothy]

[sblock]
And heads to the library (in the academy) to find out everything of relevance there is to know about Tarsur, Kalur and Stir (especially the dwarven populations), the ruling class and military information.

Gather Information:..................12 (8+4)
Hide:......................................7 (6+1)
Knowlege (History):...................7 (5+2)
Knowlege (Nobility and Royalty):..7 (5+2)

Bardic knowlege: 8 (4+2+2)

[/sblock]

OOC: FOR EVERYONE

perhaps you have allready noticed, but there are two places calles Stir, or Stirr. Stir is a nation to the northeast of Farnese, Stirr is the home away from home for House Serpens and it's located near the border of Stir, Distana and Farnese.

For Nephtys:

[sblock]
OOC: I have not fleshed out Kalur and Stir, so if you want to do that, go right ahead.

What you do know (and what's not in the campaign document) is that Stir has recently gotten another ruler. This ruler is as interested in technology as the previous one, but focusses outward a bit more. Stir has a larger population of dwarves then Farnese, because there has never been any tension between Kalur (home of the dwarves) and Stir. While people believe in Orr in Stir, they are not the sort of folk to take up arms against people who aren't. The dwarven population of Kalur is, well, the population of Kalur. In the lowlands of Kalur are some settlements where other races live too, but it's mostly dwarves, especially in the mountains. The rulers there are the dwarven Lords. There are a number of dwarven lords, each with his own mountain area. They bond together against enemies outside of Kalur (that means Farnese most of the times, but some other countries too) and rely on their own strengths for internal affairs.

As for military info. The dwarves have a strong military, as is to be expected. Stir has not got a big army, but is always experimenting with new weapons, which, recently, seemd to be a great succes, although you do not why.

Well that's it, like I said, if you want to flesh out things a bit more, I'd like that very much.[/sblock]

 

[Rhialto]

Deacon Fevre enters the chamber. He is clad in fine plate mail, his head unhelmed, and a red surcoat and carries a sword and a shield that bears as its device a snake of fire biting its own tail on a black bull, rampant, on a sun. He sits down, letting the shield rest on the table before him. Glancing at his fellows, he nods. "A pleasant day to you all. May Orr look over our undertakings."

 

[Ranger Rick]

Eimhin Quinn walks up to the man clad in fine plate mail and introduces himself. Quinn is dressed in average grade traveling clothes. They are of a practical nature, the colors are dull browns and blacks to hide the grim that can be expected on the road. No coat of arms are visible nor is there any weapony/armor either. "Hello, I am Eimhin Quinn, who might you be? How come you are dressed so militarly? Are you expecting to go into battle? If so with whom do you expect to slay?"

 

[Timothy]

OOC: Okay, it looks like everybody is ready, let's speed this game up a bit

IC: At the appointed time, everybody arrives at the gate. You see the Dean waiting with three carriages. You see him handing over a heavy bag to Alessa along with the words (Uttered rather loudly) Have fun with these 5000 Stars, Ms. Siladre and he points you all to a carriage.

First carriage: Senguith, Sarrom, Urgas
Second carriage: Liem, Alessa, Anguis
Third carriage: Julius, Eimhin.
OOC: I rolled to see who was going in which carriage. Now as I've said that I'm going to speed up the game, the next two days will be fastforwarded,

IC: With a shock, you feel the carriages being set in motion and for a short while the carriages rumble over the roads. After half an hour the rumbling stops. When you look out of your window you see that you are gliding just a bit above the road and that you are making good speed.
After almost two days argueing, reading, humming to yourself and watching out of the window, the carriages suddenly crash to the ground and slow down quickly.

In front of you, you hear a great roar. When you look out of the window, you see a huge, eight-headed dragon, with, in front of him a gnome.

Ah, hello my dear politicians.

You know, I heard you were chosen for a great honour.
The honour to represent the great *cough cough* government of Farnese. And the honour to represent your mighty *cough, cough* houses.

Maybe you will be honoured too, for I have chosen you to be my messengers. You can tell everybody that I don't like democracy.

You might even start by telling Fido overhere, although I'll doubt he'll listen.

Without saying anything else, the gnome disappears and leaves you with Fido, who is, at the moment, charging for the first carriage.

For those who have spellcraft:

[sblock]The Gnome was an illusion[/sblock]

Initiative:

Sequith - 16
Anguis - 16
Liem - 14
Hydra - 13
Alessa - 10
Julius - 10
Urgas - 9
Eimhin - 7
Sarrom - 5

Getting out of the the carriage is a move-equivalent action. At the start of the first real round, the Hydra is 30 feet away from the first carriage. Carriage 2 is 45 feet away, carriage 3 60. The road you are on is deserted, but next to the road are low scrubs.

Have fun!

OOC: Yes, I did say there was fighting involved. Ow BTW, we posted an average of 18 posts per day since we began.

 

[Rhialto]

Eimhin Quinn walks up to the man clad in fine plate mail and introduces himself. Quinn is dressed in average grade traveling clothes. They are of a practical nature, the colors are dull browns and blacks to hide the grim that can be expected on the road. No coat of arms are visible nor is there any weapony/armor either. "Hello, I am Eimhin Quinn, who might you be? How come you are dressed so militarly? Are you expecting to go into battle? If so with whom do you expect to slay?"

OOC: Umm, you met Fevre yesterday. And argued with him. At length.

IC: Deacon Fevre steps out of the carriage, and touches his hand to his necklace. "Benedictus Orr!!" he intones. A slight glow engulfs him, then rushes forth filling the party with hope. "May Orr guide and protect us in our struggles!" he declares, as he readies for the beast's attack. (Necklace of Prayer Beads--blessing on all party members in a 50 ft radius.)

 

[Ranger Rick]

Being a yellow belly politician, I will disbelieve (will save +5). Other than that I will get out of range and let the ftr minions take care of it.

 

[Timothy]

Being a yellow belly politician, I will disbelieve (will save +5). Other than that I will get out of range and let the ftr minions take care of it.

Disbelieve all you want, but you can smell the thing from where you're standign and that does not smeel like an illusion to you!

 

[Twinswords]

Well since the country and my house will not be served by my death, i will try to get to a better tactical postion to give my abilities more of a chance. (If the beast is intercepted before it hits my transport i will move out of the coach and cast mage armor. Otherwise i will run like hell.)

The following people recieve letters from me before the combat. (the speed up was too quick)

Alessa
[sblock]
Dear Allesa,

I hope you will choose for a bloodless solution, and for the good of the state. Even our mission says, no blood in the street. The dwarves will also find this a good solution and will give our houses an inside force in the bull and lion dominated north. I hope to hear your thoughts about this.

With best regards,

Sarrom
[/sblock]

Quinn
[sblock]
Quinn,

It seems that our houses have the same opinion in this case and i hope you will support me against that idiot of a priest. The dwarves are also the people and you should feel it your duty to protect them also.

Sarrom
[/sblock]

Senquith
[sblock]

Your letter intriges me, And i will respond favorbly to a temporary alliance, we should speak on a later date about the details.

Sarrom
[/sblock]

Urgas
[sblock]
Urgas

I`m going to be short about this. I do not like you. But we are here to serve our state and our houses. I think it would be in the interest of you to keep the dwarves alive and helping them to get more economic developed. Rather then killing them and keeping them subdued. The dwarves are good craftsmen and should be encouraged to become more active in economic spheres. I hope you will support this in the council.

Sarrom
[/sblock]

Liem
[sblock]
Liem

i hope you will let justice prevail and that you will protect the people from those that wish to harm them and kill them. Please vote in the council for a non voilence solution. Please give your opinion on this matter.

Sarrom
[/sblock]

 

[Nephtys]

Letters before departure:

Deacon Fevre:
[sblock]
Darling Cousin,
Your condescension, as always, brings a smile to my face.

An initial attempt at negotiation does not rule out an eventual use of force. But an initial use of force makes fruitful negotiations all the more difficult. We must weigh the costs and the benefits when faced with the concrete facts. Indeed, their actions can most likely be considered criminal and deserving of punishment and yet their claims may be valid and deserving of consideration. Time will tell, and in time we may render our judgement. Orr will judge them all in the end, whatever fate we decree.

I understand your concerns, and your righteous indignation at their offensive actions. I am not so naive that I do not understand the risks. And yet, everything we know indicates that we are dealing with a very minor incident. This is not a catalyst for a second revolution, but a provincial squabble of marginal national importance, which is exactly why we have been sent to deal with the issue. I understand your enthusiasm with the task ahead, but there is no need to involve house armies in this. You also no doubt know that the true power of House Serpens lies not in its force of arms. Tauros and Leo would benefit far more from a militarization of our mission than either of the houses we represent and, alliance or no alliance, that would harm our interests in the greater scheme of things.)

Furthermore, since our travel will be speeded with magical means House troops would only arrive at our destination, at great expense, days after we have no doubt resoved the
incident ourselves.

Have faith in your own abilities and in the grace of Orr. We have in ourself what we need to accomplish our task, and what we do not have He will provide if our cause is just. There is no need for us to place ourselves in the shadow of our houses, coming to our masters with pleas for aid before our task is even begun. That is not the way to instill confidence and gain power.

Love always,

Alessa

[/sblock]

Sarrom:

[sblock]

Dear Friend,

I believe our thoughts, like the rain and the grass, are in perfect harmony.

Alessa

[/sblock]

Thoria Eveningdew:

[sblock]
(letter written in a private code)

Dear friend,
As you are probably already aware I have the situation well under control. We are departing tomorrow for the north, unescorted (if that is of interest). Some of the members of the committe may prove a challenge, but where one strategy will not do another will have to suffice.
If you can connect me with our agents in Kalur it would be a great help. Nationalism is such an interesting phenomenon, don't you think?

Love, Alessa.

PS. Stir has produced such wondrous technology, such exciting new ways to bring peace and harmony. Perhaps the House should place a few orders, just in case. It would do us no harm to prepare for any eventuality. A monopoly on the trade would be costly to establish, but can bring us tremendous profits in the times ahead. DS.

PPS. I will always be jealous of you. DS
[/sblock]

 

[Nephtys]

For Nephtys:

ooc:
Ah, interesting... I might just do that.

--

Morning:

Alessa arrives, dressed in a simple but elegant garb and a soft lovely fragrance. Her blue eyes sparkle as she bids the others a good morning and chats briefly with one or the other. Her sometimes beligerent mood from the other evening has passed and she conducts her smalltalk with an effortless charm.

IC: At the appointed time, everybody arrives at the gate. You see the Dean waiting with three carriages. You see him handing over a heavy bag to Alessa along with the words (Uttered rather loudly) Have fun with these 5000 Stars, Ms. Siladre and he points you all to a carriage.

She inclines her head slightly and regards him with friendly humor,
"I find my enjoyment where I can, sir. But I will take care not to have too much fun for government money."

Second carriage: Liem, Alessa, Anguis
--
In front of you, you hear a great roar. When you look out of the window, you see a huge, eight-headed dragon, with, in front of him a gnome.

Ah, hello my dear politicians.

You know, I heard you were chosen for a great honour.
The honour to represent the great *cough cough* government of Farnese. And the honour to represent your mighty *cough, cough* houses.

Maybe you will be honoured too, for I have chosen you to be my messengers. You can tell everybody that I don't like democracy.

You might even start by telling Fido overhere, although I'll doubt he'll listen.

Without saying anything else, the gnome disappears and leaves you with Fido, who is, at the moment, charging for the first carriage.

For those who have spellcraft:

[sblock]The Gnome was an illusion[/sblock]

Initiative:

Sequith - 16
Anguis - 16
Liem - 14
Hydra - 13
Alessa - 10
Julius - 10
Urgas - 9
Eimhin - 7
Sarrom - 5

Getting out of the the carriage is a move-equivalent action. At the start of the first real round, the Hydra is 30 feet away from the first carriage. Carriage 2 is 45 feet away, carriage 3 60. The road you are on is deserted, but next to the road are low scrubs.

Have fun!

OOC: Yes, I did say there was fighting involved. Ow BTW, we posted an average of 18 posts per day since we began.

"Well gentlemen," Alessa turns to Liem and Anguis, gesturing contemptuously at the beast, "Shall we teach this impudent cur a lesson in manners?"

ooc: Alessa will cast Hideous Laughter on the Hydra. If she does not have a line of sight to it from the carriage she will get out first.