All OCC discussion moving forward can go here since we're starting a new chapter of the game.

I figured the PCs would want to discuss the latest findings in light of their previous investigations and also what implications it may have on them and possible courses of action.

If you need a reminder on what they know or a brief rundown of what just happened over the last couple of days in-game, just let me know.

A brief rundown probably wouldn't hurt.
Also, just to check, as far as Zelpuz knows, the most likely explanation is that the Order captured Lasrane, maybe they had a call out at the hospitals to notify them if someone looking like that appeared. That way they would know about the meeting, right? Otherwise, i.e. without talking to Lasrane and/or scanning him, there is no way to know about it.

Yes, very much that's the logic. The only way they could logically know about the place and meeting time would have been to either capture Lasrane or somehow get the note you left on him.

And going back a while, do we know for sure that Lasrane hasn't been playing us?

I seem to remember something trying to confirm his story before.

He'd have to be quite good at faking memories. And we checked out some of his information that seems to have checked out, if I remember right.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:28, Thu 07 June 2018.

Okay.

Mike, correct me if I was wrong.

Also, I just noticed, this thread is OCC, while the others were OOC?  "Original Character Conversations"?

You down with OCC?

Funny :) Good catch!

Right, I think I may have been thinking of Rifts or something. Can't change the name of a thread so we'll just roll with OCC for this one.

Yeah, you're correct Jan in regards to Lasrane. What he showed in his memories seems to corroborate what he said. It would be very difficult to fake those memories intentionally. There's the possibility that he's had memories implanted that aren't real, but that's both highly improbable and also very difficult.

OK, so just to recap, and to make sure I interpret things correctly.
- Lasrane's story seems to be true, even if his story may be missing important parts that he decided to omit
- The most likely way that the Order knew about the meeting spot would be by having captured Lasrane
- if he was captured, the Order was likely informed somehow from the hospital or someone there (?)
- The agents that were 'waiting' were from the Order, which means that they now know more or less that Zelpuz was waiting there
- The question is, they must have known about this when Zelpuz was there earlier that day, but seemingly not who to look for, or wanted to see what Zelpuz would do. I guess he should be more careful about going back there.

Yep, that about sums it all up.

Upper right corner under private messages is 'edit thread' - you can change the title there if you want.

So if he has been captured, as being suggested, it's quite possible Lasrane is being held in a cell currently?

Assuming he's alive and assuming he's captured by the local Order of Ashes chapter that's certainly logical. If either of those assumptions don't hold true then that's much less likely.

I assume he could also be captured by someone else (who knows what people accuse him of), but the Order was involved in questioning. Many options. And yes, possibly not alive. Let's see if we can find out more. We could for example see if the strange secret meeting place where the Captain went once is still active, follow up on military information, ... and?

Also remember that technically speaking you don't know if Lasrane ever saw the note you left him saying when and where to meet. You left him unconscious on the steps of a hospital with a letter on him. So there's even a chance he knows nothing of the note and someone got it ahead of time and is investigating who wrote it.

Opaque times these are...

Argh, should have just implanted a memory in his brain ... but not sure if I can even do that. Oh well.

That would be a cool trick. Just rewrite someone's entire history of memories... very ghost in the shell, minus the wires.

Tar the goblin turned elven mind mage could do it in Palladium Fantasy. ;)

Yeah, it can be done, but you'd need some higher level psionic powers that what any of you guys possess. There's a reason why so many people persecuted the Mespah way back.

So just a quick recap of what you know and your current situation, and from there tell me what the PCs are going to strive for next:

1) Yuu's parents are under house arrest. They seem well. The exact reason of their forced isolation is unknown, but the perpetrating party is likely members of the Reforger faction within the Ossylian government. This is the more militant-minded, hawkish of the three factions. Given the Jin family history within the military it's slightly odd that they would take actions against them.

2) Ossylia is still under martial law, with curfews and blockades with ID checks in certain areas. Immigration control is heightened still following the brief period of isolation. The exact reason for all the enhanced security is unknown, but could be related to the Chlornetherium explosion the PCs are well aware of.

3) Yuu's friend and former classmate, Saya, is a Lieutenant in the Ossylian forces and is currently assigned to border protection within the capital, read Immigration control. She's volunteered to inquire after any reports of missing chlornetherium shipments, or any expected large incoming shipments, pursuant #2 above.

4) The status of Lasrane is unknown, but it is likely he is either captured by the local Chapter of the Order of Ashes, or dead. In any case the local Chapter is aware that someone was involved in Lasrane in some capacity and had been monitoring the meeting point the PCs designated when they handed him to a hospital before fleeing the capital. After an attempt to meet Lasrane the PCs spied upon Order agents who were staking out the place through a third party. It is likely the local Chapter is aware that Zelpuz had encountered or become involved with Lasrane in some capacity, making his status in the city uncertain at best and dangerous at worst.

5) Outside of Ossylia Myria went on to Arghos to report directly to the Order HQ from there. Yuu's family in Hasheli, a local governor, is fine and has largely been kept in the dark as to any political machinations in the capital; whatever is happening has been largely contained within the city is seems.

Thanks for the recap. I am kind of unsure where to go next. A few things we may consider:
- check out the hospital where we dropped of Lasrane to find out what happened.
- check out the secret meeting point from the Blood Runners (long time ago), just to see, I expect someone will show up there.
- follow up on Yuu's family
- try to find out more about the chlornetherium
- leave the city before Zelpuz gets captured and the city gets hit by astroids.

Just to get a bit ahead of things, in regards to the hospital it would be safe to assume it operates similar to what we have today. Thus you will not be able to just walk in and ask after records on some random patient. So best to have some sort of game plan on how you want to investigate the hospital.

Also for Yuu's library investigations please let me know what areas he's researching.

Yes, I was sort of thinking of trying to find their check in books of the ER or so. Not sure if they have that. Or we could pretend to be Lasrane's docs from another hospital, although I am not sure we can pull that off believably.

Can anyone forge documents?

Not Vanyra.

If you character has the skill Craft: Artistic then they could attempt to forge a document, assuming they have a legitimate document they could copy from.

Lots of crafts, not that one.

Do they keep books? Maybe we could 'borrow' one of their log books?

They certainly have records. Where they keep the records is another matter.

OK, so we could try a simple "I am looking for my brother" approach with some story about how he wrote me to meet him, then all the city stuff happened so I couldn't get in, and the last I heard was he was delivered to this hospital... Maybe worth a try. And at least we'd get a glimpse of how the hospital works and maybe where they keep the documents etc.
On the other fronts, no action items? Waiting a week to contact Yuu's father leaves some down time, could check out the hideout and any other place that we know are connected to either the shipments or from scenes that Lasrane shared in his memories?

It certainly can't hurt to check all the old places, provided there isn't an army of ninja just waiting in the shadows.

Regarding records, we could forge an id tag just by seeing what one looks like, ie: going into the hospital and asking a nurse/doctor a random question. The location of old patient records... we could just ask a passing doctor while posing. Visiting doctors wouldn't necessarily know these things, so it could be quite normal to ask.

If people are watching the bar, they may have people watching the hospital too.

Would Yuu's school magic medicine buddy know about the hospital workings?

I wouldn't be surprised if Yuu knows a person or people who work in a hospital, but that's def a gm call.

EDIT: I just checked my notes from chapter 5, I think I made up a monastery to drop Lasrane off, not a hospital, run by the Sisters of Caleb. I'd assumed Yuu suggested it because they would be discrete, and happily take the 'donation' mentioned in Yuu's dialogue.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:45, Thu 05 July 2018.

Ah, ok. Not sure why I thought it was a hospital, buy we'll just change it to monastery. Luckily it doesn't change anything yet, though it much less certain if the monastery would keep records, or what happened to Lasrane after he was found. On the plus-side you probably won't need to forge an ID to go ask.

Yuu's friend, Marcus, being a medical practitioner, would likely have been able to query a hospital's records to some extent, but that's somewhat a moot point at this time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:38, Thu 05 July 2018.

My thinking at the time was any hospital worth the H on a map would immediately query the local constabulary should an unidentified, unconscious and broken Mespah show up at its doorstep with a note stuck in his jacket. Hence, the more discretionary approach.

So... we could just walk back and make the inquiry.

Sounds good, let's try that.

Yeah, that's the idea behind the hospital. There is a pretty harsh stigma against Mespah in general, hence the existence of the Order of Ashes. Likely any busted-up Mespah would be reported to the local chapter of the Order, because who knows what that person is in to, regardless of the type of establishment it is.

It's highly unlikely anyone outside the Order would really know that though since the general populace don't deal with Mespah on a regular basis. Zelpuz is still a rookie really so he likely also wouldn't know the way things work in that regard.

Dropping Lasrane off at a non-government hospital was a more prudent idea, but ultimately they would have reported him to some authority (the Order in this case) as a John Doe, or he would have escaped on his own.

Technically the last statement is plausible, though highly unlikely. In any case the Order do know someone beat up Lasrane and dropped him off at the monastery.

So the PCs are going to hit up the place where they left Lasrane and inquire about? Just give me a breakdown of what you're looking for.

Secondly, what is Yuu going to research at the library?

Families that tend to fall into the different camps... Fundamentalist, Reforgers and Novians. A bit more of the history, anything that might link the current situation.

Also, does it seem the Shen Zue are supportive of this lock down, or would we need to investigate this?
This message was last edited by the player at 06:31, Mon 09 July 2018.

I trust you're going to spend the better part of the next week doing that research? Given the Feats that Yuu has and the fact that you will be accessing a library and media archives you can take 20 on this Knowledge check if you wish, so it'd be Yuu's INT bonus +20. Let me know if you want to go with that.

As for the Shen Zue you'd have to investigate that as it would be very new information. Seeing that they're a corporate guild of sorts they would probably not be making any public statements about the situation, but you could probably dig into indirect methods of support, such as financials and donations.

Also while Yuu is at the library I trust Zelpuz and perhaps Vanyra are going to the Sisters of Caleb at some point? While there what is it that you're after, information-wise? Just if Lasrane was there or not, how he left, etc?

Are there any other things they would like to do during the week?

I'll try to roll-up everything for the week into one long response so can move forward.

Re the Shen Zue, it would be nice to know which side they'd support... although intuitively I'd say Fundamentalists, just because change affects profits, but things are rarely so black and white. Digging into them a little might reveal motivations.

An yeah, I'm fine with taking 20.

The main thing is, to see if he was treated, if he was handed over to the Order, and at what point, how long did it take for them to show up, did they come with half an army or just one or two guys.

Vanyra can go with Zelpuz, contributing her senses for investigations and truth-determining.

So that's the gist of what you guys find out. If there other items you want to know just say so, or if there are more specifics on something you want tell me. I didn't come up with a whole bunch of names for random NPCs in all this investigation, but obviously they have them.

Ha! explains lots, gives no clues to find Lasrane.

Yes, sounds like he likely escaped. I guess the best bet is trying to check out the places we found him before.

Vanyra can start searching around for him in the city.

Yes, maybe Vanyra and Zelpuz can check out the tunnels and hideouts etc. while Yuu is in the library. Maybe best to go together.

So were you guys doing this during the week in which Yuu was researching, or during the following week?

What was the reason we needed Lasrane again?

You guys thought it might be prudent to check in with him and see what he knows.

Vanyra's happy to get out and about.

I'm going to guess they did it while Yuu was researching, since visiting the Sisters really wouldn't take very long.

If you guys want to try to dig up some info on the current situation of the Blood Runners please make Streetwise checks.

Vanyra's wasn't any good.

Are there voting records in the last few months Yuu could check out? He wants to see if there has been a shift in Novian voting habits since these 'incidents' have begun.

Surprisingly Zelpuz has no Streetwise. I assume that was an oversight in my character design, I should spend the next point on that, esp. considering that his job sort of requires some level of streetwise.

So basically, it seems like the blood runners have been more or less either gone into complete hiding, or eradicated, right?

I'm currently on vacation up in Calgary, and I'll be heading down to Montana tomorrow to the lake, so I'm going to be very intermittent with my posts.

To Brett's question, there are records of votes in the senate right up to about week before all the troubles started. It's quite a slog to get through all the motions and items put forth but the Novians and Reforgers seems to be butting heads and jockeying for an advantage around the Kingdom's trade policies on a broad scope. The Novians were pushing for fewer restrictions, more private oversight of resource extraction and trading, and enhancing trade pacts. The Reforgers were moving in an opposite direction, seeking more national control of strategic resources and using trade as a strategic advantage over foreign powers.

In response to Jan's question, and the streetwise investigation that Vanyra and Zelpuz conducted, it does certainly appear that the Bloodrunners have left or gone deep into hiding. They were unable to dig up any clues or leads as to their whereabouts.

Sounds great, hope it's nearly as hot as here, enjoy the trip.

OK, so the next thing to do is contact Yuu's dad.

I am torn between trying to show up at the Order to see what happens and better avoiding them. Zelpuz will discuss that with the gang, so if you have an opinion about that, let me know. Assuming that Lasrane escaped and never read the note (which, according to the nurse story may have happened), Zelpuz can always say he had to leave in a rush and had no time to take care of Lasrane and was hoping he would be able to find him this way later (which is all true), of course if they found him and read his mind, the missing details would get Zelpuz in trouble ... well, I can always make a new character ;)

Besides that, I am not sure what else we can do, other than show up at the meeting place with Lasrane again next time, I think we set that on a weekly basis. Might also be risky, but worth a try, at least they'd have to do more than just close the door and not let me out again.

Any other suggestions? Seems like we have a bunch of information snippets, but no big or even a medium sized picture.

I'm back in Houston now and catching up on things, so I should be able to resume monitoring this game from tomorrow.

Ok, so the week of investigation is pretty much up. What are the next steps you are wanting to take?

Just got back from two weeks in Sardinia, went from a pasty white to pale white. Seems lots of travels for all of us!

Do the factions have a leader or leaders of sorts?

Re Zelpuz... I'm kind of leaning towards showing up at the Order and see what happens. The reason being, it's such a big part of who you are and even your purpose being in the city. Knowing their attitude towards you right now is kind of critical, otherwise we're left just kind of floating with it. Unless you had another way of establishing your current status in the organisation that doesn't put you at risk... but I can't really think of anything off hand. You also have us to back you up if anything goes totally awry.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:11, Mon 20 Aug 2018.

The factions don't really have leaders per se, but there are those with greater influence than most in each faction. Rather than political parties these factions are more like a loose collection of like-minded persons.

Yes, I agree, but Zelpuz is not really working for the Order here, but he was sent there as a free agent. So he could just leave and then have to justify his actions to the 'higher Order'. At least as far as I understand it. The main danger of going back is, that he may be taken away. But may be worth a try. Any ideas for a good escape plan?
Alternatively, we could watch the Order for a few days to see what's going on there, who is going in and out, and what the Chapter Master is up to.

Correct; Zelpuz came here with Myria and neither of them are assigned to this chapter of the Order. While subordinate in rank to the Chapter Master here, they do not report directly to him. So Zelpuz's absence or presence is not really an issue for this Chapter. Myria herself had gone on to Arghos to communicate back to the Order HQ; it's not in Arghos but the appropriate communication means are there.

I want to create a new device when I have a chance, basically a listening bug.

OK, you can create it as a Nether Gadget from your utility belt. You need to make a Know: Technology check versus a DC of 12. It will function as long as you allot the points from your utility belt power to it.

Alternatively, you can make it as a invention. You need to make a Know: Technology and Craft: Electronics, both against a DC of 15. Will take you about 20 hours or so to do it if you succeed on those checks, and it'll have enough power for a day or so.

I'd like to make it a simple invention. So I'll spend some time putting it together, plus the listening device. What range will I be able to get?

To invent the device you'll need to spend about 4 hours designing it (DC 14 of Tech roll) and about 16 hours putting it together (DC 14 for Craft roll). You can take 10 on these rolls if you want.

It'll have a range of about 2km, which is pretty decent is a city like Ossylia. If you want to expand that range you can, but it'll take time and make the difficulty of the invention checks go up: 8km range will be DC 15 on both checks and take 5 hours for design and 20 for construction.

Is there a difference in time scale of 'invention' vs 'production'? For example, how many of these bugs would Yuu be able to create? Would the time scale be exactly the same for each bug, or is the production time shorter since the 'invention' time has already been costed for?

Basically I'm thinking of Yuu putting bugs in various places, and retrieving them may not be realistic or desired.

They'd only last until the end of this 'scene' or chapter, which is pretty close. If you want permanent gear that you can leave around you'll have to spend points on them, either buying them through equipment points or purchasing them as a power gadget. Cost would naturally be dependent on capabilities and the number of units.

Likely each bug would cost 1 equipment point.

Cool, I get what you mean. I'll look into making for a scene for now.

In Yuu's research for voting, did he notice certain names popping up more than others who were making policy votes? Or certain patterns of voting by certain people?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:19, Sat 08 Sept 2018.

No, nothing of note. There's 20% that seem to attend more than average and another 20% that attend less than average, which translates to more and fewer votes respectively. Motions put forward are by a whole gamut of people.

Is there anyone in the royal family he could try to contact? He must know a few people while growing up.

Certainly. How easy that will be depends on how high up in the royal family tree they are; the core royal family would be difficult to see without submitting an application and all that to the Royal House Agency. Those much further down the tree and those 'regular' nobles who are related to royal family would be much easier. There's probably a few places Yuu's acquaintances would frequent that he may know of, like certain restaurants, the Academy, salons, etc. The type of person would likely dictate the type of place they would frequent too.

Just a heads-up; I'm headed back to Japan for a week for work and so will be travelling from Friday through to the 25th. I'll try to check this as much as possible, but may be 2 or 3 days between my posts.

They're keeping you busy.

Just to preempt the conversation between Yuu and Saya, is there anything the characters are looking to do in the next few days?

The research/investigations you guys wanted to conduct are completed. You don't have any leads on Lasrane, but you suspect he may have avoided capture by the local Chapter of the Order. Unfortunately you also suspect the local Order agents are aware they Zelpuz had interacted with Lasrane and may think he is somehow involved. So Zelpuz's position is a bit precarious there. He does not answer to the local Chapter, but there are superiors here that could cause complications if they're after Zelpuz.

Politically things have been dark since the trouble started a couple weeks back; there's no public information coming out about what is/has happened recently. Given the situation Yuu's parents are in that's not entirely surprising. Yuu does know the Reforgers have an good majority in the Senate, and has identified key members of each of the factions. The news Saya has delivered to Yuu suggests the Reforgers have not been complacent in the Senate and are pushing their agenda, though they end-goal remains nebulous.

Vanyra will be scouting and paying attention to things in the city.  Patrol patterns, military activity, criminal activity avoiding the military activity, how to get in and out of the city, those sorts of things.  She will also keep her senses tuned for any leads on Lasrane or anyone else they may want to talk to or avoid (including the 'agents' from the bar that night).

Well Vanyra could do that within a given neighbourhood, but not across the whole city. Ossylia is a Kingdom of 210 million people, given or take, and the capital of Ossylia has millions of people in it. It would be like somewhat similar to Vancouver, spread out across a large harbor area ringed with mountains, but the mountains would not be as high as Vancouver.

As for ways out of the city, within a couple of days all the gates to the city are re-opened, and the harbor is back to about 66% of typical operations. A new government force, the Ossylian Royal Foreign Trade Corps, has assumed control of all foreign port areas. They are tasked with controlling immigration and importation of goods, and assist treasury officials in the collection of duties and taxes on imports. It's too early to get a sense of how they operate, but from first impressions they appear a much more militaristic organization than the previous mix of agencies controlling such areas.

Okay.  She will do what she can in the timeframe.

Can you remind me what we heard from Lasrane about who the explosives we blew up was for and who it was from?

He stole the Chlornetherium from the Shen Zue, and it was their stuff from the start. The Shen Zue are licensed traders of the stuff for the Kingdom. What they were really going to use it for you never found it, but Lasrane suggested they had nether devices that could alter people's minds slightly, pushing their decisions in certain predisposed directions; opening them up to suggestion as it were. Sort of like low-level brain washing. IF these devices were used around the right people it could then enhance the political power of certain groups, like the Novians with whom the Shen Zue are mostly aligned. Alternatively, they could use the chlornetherium to make a bunch of weapons and ordinance.

Lasrane wasn't planning on using it for anything himself, beside a bargaining chip for information from the Shen Zue. You never found out what that particular information was that he wanted, but given what he said and shared mentally it is likely something to do with the Shen Zue relations with the local chapter of the Order.

Remember chlornetherium is not an explosive; it's only exploded because you shot it with a magical fireball. Chlornetherium is used to create various nether devices, from batteries to cars, to guns. It is condensed nether energy and is not reactive to mundane influences, but when it hit with raw magic energy... BOOM.

Thanks, that cleared some stuff up. I didn't even remember some parts of this, and the others sort of misty.

OK, so I think Zelpuz will start watching the Order headquarters, see who's around, walking in an out and where the local Order Master is going (and potential other high ranking officials that he knows of).

He'll try to describe the two men and any insignia to Yuu as best as he can to see if he knows who or from what group they are.

Ah, OK, well, at least not yet an obvious involvement of the Order in local politics. But no help either. He'll keep lying low and trying to observe the Order and its higher ranking members.

What about Yuu's family? Are they still under arrest?
And we did say the meeting with Lasrane would be a recurring thing. So each week (?) that we said we would meet him, Zelpuz will observe the pub, looking for Lasrane, any other member of the Order, and the people who were there to look out for him. Maybe Vanyra or Yuu can also check out the inside, but Zelpuz will stay low.

Are there any new statues or bizarre new buildings or towers that have gone up over the past few weeks? Something that woulds stand out of the ordinary.

I'll definitely have Yuu check in on his family at some point, good call.

Yuu is going to attempt to contact the closest person up the royal family he can think, that he grew up knowing closely, who he thinks he could contact. I'm not sure who that might, that's a GM discretion thing I think, but it may give Yuu an inside insight.

He's also going to create that listening bug.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:57, Thu 11 Oct 2018.

Quick response to some of the questions posed:

1) No new buildings/towers have gone up in the last week, at least none of note.

2) You have not seen any sign of Lasrane during this time at the meeting place.

3) Yuu can create the listening bug; he'll need to make the necessary rolls as described earlier.

4) For Yuu meeting a member of the royal family please make a Diplomacy check at +2 (due to nobility status) to get the meeting setup. No TN, the number will just determine how prioritized your meeting will be.

4) 16 on the diplomacy roll

Zelpuz will ask Yuu if there are any notes of members of the Order attending any of the town council meetings (or whatever they use here).
Besides that, let's see what Yuu's parents have to say.

For the listening bugs did you want 2km range or 8km? If 2km you'll need a Knowledge: Technology and Craft: Electronics roll with a TN of 14 for both. For the 8km version, same rolls but TN is 15.

As to Zelpuz's question there has been no documented attendance of Senate sessions by members of the Order of Ashes of late. IF you want to look back through the entire history of the Senate there will likely be a couple of instances, many years previous.

Just so we know where we are temporally, it's been just over a week since the encounter at the tavern when you were looking for Lasrane and the Order members showed up. Since then you've learned:

1) The Order has been visited by two well-dressed non-Mespah carrying a probable gift of bottles of some sort.

2) The check points around the city have gone away and the military presence with it. The town guard has resumed their normal patrols.

3) The new customs and immigration agency is setting up it's domain in the docks area and garnering a mixed response from the people there.

4) Yuu's meeting with the Countess is in 3 days from now.

5) Yuu has created half a dozen listening devices (assuming he makes the rolls)

6) It does not appear that Yuu's family compound is under guard any more. But you've yet to actually enter.

So what are you guys doing now?

OK, everything is back to normal, my work here is done ... see you.

Or maybe not yet. From the images that Zelpuz saw when Lasrane shared his memories (?) that implicated the Order Master, were there any locations, faces, contacts or other details that would give Zelpuz a clue where else he could look.

Look for what, Lasrane? There are a couple of memories with landmarks or appearances that Zelpuz could probably track down with enough time, assuming they are in Ossylia.

For Lasrane and for places that he observed some perceived wrong behavior from the Order, maybe I can check those out to see if I find any evidence myself. Who was mostly involved, just the Order Master?

Yes, and in a couple of the memories another guy that bears a striking similarity to one of the persons Zelpuz saw enter the Chapter House a few days back.

Probably too late to follow that guy. Any connection to what his role is? What did he do in the memories? Any hint on how I could track him down?

You have no idea who the guy is. Lasrane's memories suggest him to be someone withing the Shen Zue organization, but Lasrane was unable to find out who exactly. As for tracking him down the only obvious was would be to just repeat what you did before and stakeout the Chapter House; he may show up again.

Then that's the plan, I suggest we'll keep contact with some walkie talkies, maybe we can get some with a bit wider range (not sure what the specs where for what we had in the pub), so we can call each other if someone needs help/support/more manpower etc.

You'd likely need an upgrade as the ones you were using were pretty short range, only 1~2km depending on the environment. Something with a 8km/5mile range would probably suit your needs most of the time.

If you guys want to use them regularly you'll need to spend equipment points on them though; it'll be 1 equipment point for the comm-links and make a Wealth Check vs a TN of 10. Your base Wealth bonus is +8 unless you took a feat to give you a bonus, or a hindrance to give you a penalty.

Umm, where did I find my equipment points again?

Your remaining equipment points are not readily visible on your character sheet; only the equipment you have and that you have two feats of Equipment which gives you 10 points.

Turns out you already have 10 points of equipment, so you'd need to give up something to get the communicator, or spend 1 character point to get 5 more equipment points.

You currently have a Multi-tool, Survival Kit and Basic Toolkit, each of which are 1ep, so you "sold" one of those you could get the communicator. Given what you guys have done in the past you could probably get rid of the basic tool kit and it would not impact you much.

Yes, I didn't even realize those things cost equipment points. Yes, seems like a good trade while we are here.

For those listening bugs:
Know: Tech  = 19
Craft: Electronics = 26 (rolled a 20!)

Did you wan the 2km range or 8km range bug? You can make either with those rolls. For the 2km since you did so well with the rolls it will take less time to design and make them. For the 8km the design time will remain standard, but your crafting time will be noticeably less due to the roll.

I was going to go for the 8km, as I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with them yet.

Ok, with the rolls you go you can design and create one in 14 hours, and each additional one will take you another 10 hours.

Is Yuu doing anything in regards to seeing if his house is still under guard?

I think Yuu would try to pull the same trick as he did last time. Wait in a nearby location and when he sees a parent, send a message. Just because it looks like the house is no longer under guard, doesn't mean it's safe yet. Hopefully it is, but Yuu just wants to be careful.

Also is the meeting with Lady Shan Ziyi something we can jump into right away, or is this a few days away?
This message was last edited by the player at 08:32, Wed 24 Oct 2018.

Depends if Yuu wanted to check on his house first or not.

Sorry, I was MIA in Canada for a few days and then had a sinus cold. Anyway, let's say Yuu went to check on his parents before the meeting with his royal cousin. It makes more sense temporally, and most likely will have an impact on what transpires in the meeting.

To that end, what is the plan for Yuu to check on his parents? Is he going solo, or with others? I know he's starting with a cautious approach like last time.

All good man, I'm hardly an example of rapid response myself.

Yuu is going to adjust his plan, wait down a road outside his house... but follow when his parents, either one or both, leave, and try to catch up with them. I'll try solo, others can catch up on what they need to, as it may be a long stake out. We can use the walkie talkies if there's a problem.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:47, Thu 01 Nov 2018.

So the question is how is Yuu going to approach his mother. Given what has happened everyone is probably on edge, so a jumping out of the bushes surprise may not be the best move in this case.

The note says: If home safe, turn right.

So Yuu is going home. What are Zelpuz and Vanyra doing, anything of note?

Where in the timeline are we? We seem to have jumped a bit. Well, I guess since Zelpuz' attempted observations didn't result in much, it doesn't matter too much.
I guess we'll drop by Yuu's place later that afternoon to check up on things. If everything is going well, the city is back to normal and nothing else seems out of the ordinary, it might be time to head back to the Order's headquarters somewhere.

Yeah, essentially we're at the tail end of that week of surveillance and investigation that Zelpuz and Vanyra did. So you would have seen those two guys enter the Chapter House a few days back. It's a couple of days before the meeting Yuu has with a member of the royal family.

Basically we'll just state everything you guys have done over the last little while has come to a close.

Brett, I figure Yuu and his father explained everything that was pertinent to the last few weeks, but is there anything in particular you want to know? You can just list it out in OCC if you want, as it was probably discussed in the exchange.

Once that is cleared up we'll jump to when Zelpuz comes over in the afternoon.

I assume Zelpuz will come with Vanyra, unless she has other plans.

No other plans, no.

I just IC'd a couple added bits. I think he'll also inquire about the explosion and if connections were found. And also why was there a new unit for border control?

And did any changes take place politically? Were there any 'winners'?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:51, Thu 22 Nov 2018.

Yuu's father doesn't know much about the explosion, certainly less than Yuu knows. While under house arrest they were pretty much closed off from outside news. Likewise he has only just learned of the new border security force. certainly the Reforgers are the obvious winners from the standpoint of internal politics; they removed a few of the more 'radical' Novian politicians from the scene and implemented some policies that would have been difficult to get through under 'normal' circumstances. It is too early to tell who the true victors are though. As he mentioned in IC Yuu's father feels that the entire situation was a too aggressive for the Novians, especially the Shen Zue given their situation; normally these business groups like to play it safe and for the long game.

For the afternoon meeting I imagine you'll just be sharing info that you've learned, and discussing what's next. Here's a breakdown of some major items that are still open:
1) The local chapter of the Order likely is aware that Zelpuz had been in contact with Lasrane and may be seeking him.

2) Lasrane has disappeared. Fleeing from the Order. His whereabouts are unknown.

3) The Order has been relatively quiet since they've returned, though they did have a pair of non-Mepsah guests that brought some sort of gift in the last week.

4) Ossylia has returned to relative normality in daily operations.

5) Whoever had their chlornetherium destroyed in the warehouse explosion has not come forward to claim it's loss or attempt to re-order more, according to the government records. This would be highly suspect if it was legally imported or obtained.

6) The Novians, a local political group of free market expansionists, which has support from the Shen Zue, has suffered some political fallout from all this. Some of its members have been arrests in collaboration with the illegal chlornetherium. You guys are not familiar with the details of these connections, but you were able to previously link the chlornetherium that Lasrane and the Blood Runners had taken to the Shen Zue.

Yes, and we still don't know when the meteor will hit the city...

Many unanswered questions, and all leads seem to be dried up. Other than continuing to look for Lasrane or watching the Order, we could try to investigate the Shen Zue more, try to find another trace of the blood runners, or figure out who could produce so much chlornetherium, although I assume the city officials have already tried to figure that out and they had more resources.

Any other ideas?

With things normalising, I'd say we hit the Freelancer board for adventures to pull us onto.
Unless we had personal reasons to chase any of these threads..? The Order thing may be interesting, but not sure how committed Zelpuz would be to digging into it. I'll go where the action is though, even if Yuu would need reluctant dragging. You guys have been dragged around enough by a pimply teenager, may be time to follow you guys for a change.

Investigating the local chapter of the Order is certainly a possibility, as you really haven't looked into the allegations and such against them. Though given recent events it may be best for Zelpuz to avoid direct contact.

The Blood Runners and another, though far more difficult option. It's highly unlikely such an organization just disbanded due to such events, but they are experts at disappearing and may have completely left Ossylia for the time being.

Chasing the chlornetherium is really part of either of the two above items, and is the one thing possibly tying them together.

The Freelancers are another option, and depending on where you go with them you gain intel on any of the above items given their extensive reach and power in the world.

Lastly, just because you go somewhere else doesn't mean you can't keep tabs on events in Ossylia. There are some advanced communication technologies in the world, not as ubiquitous as today, but there are some. Plus passage on airships means you can get places in relatively short time if you need to.

Probably a good idea to hash out where exactly you guys want to go next. I've got some ideas based on what's already occurred, but if you pull a crazy Ivan I'll need some prep time.

Zelpuz would quite like to investigate the Order some more.
Possible options:
- Yuu could try to figure out if anyone of the Order showed up in political circles recently, although it's unlikely that they are that open about it
- We could try following the chapter master around whenever he leaves the Order buildings and keep our eyes out for thepotential contact that brought gifts.

And that's really all I can come up with at the moment. Unless I forget something from the images that Zelpuz saw from Lasrane. He'd follow up on those things.

options 1: yeah, that would be strange, because the Order aren't supposed to be involved in anything like politics. If it is, then it would be hidden within layers. What would be the objective, do you think?

option 2: a good stakeout never hurt anyone.

Regarding options, just from a character point of view, Yuu has little emotional interest in the Blood Runners or the Chlornetherium stockpile. He would be okay with following an investigation into the Order, but motivated purely to support Zelpuz' interests.

His parents kind of forced him to join the Freelancers as way to get some experience under his belt, where he was more comfortable locking himself in a room and tinkering.

With the surveillance you could keep an eye on the local Order people, the chapter master in particular, and check in with the local Freelancers about jobs and operations. There are likely some local jobs that you could tackle while conducting some surveillance.

Sounds like a plan.
Are there cameras available? Taking a photo of people potentially coming and going to the Order (non-Mespah, and potential new Mespah, just to know who could be hired to look for Zelpuz) would be much easier to share, while Zelpuz may see the guys, Yuu might actually know them (or at least know someone who does).
Also, it's Mespah, not Mepsah, right?

So since Zelpuz is mostly interested in the Order and trying to figure out if what he saw makes sense, he'll continue the stakeout. Also going to the pub at the potential meeting times with Lasrane, although it seems that either he didn't get the message or that he is not capable of coming.

Other than that, he'll stay mostly hidden.

Alternative approach, go to the Order to say Hi and that he'd be leaving. If he manages to come out again, that's a good sign :)

Yuu is a designer of nether devices so he can probably make a camera if you need one.

Yes, but we live in an era where lots of technology exits, somehow, so if we can just get a nice zoom camera in the next shop, that may be easier (and faster). But I am not fully sure how advanced the technology is here, I keep picturing everything in a classical fantasy world.

It's not classical fantasy, it more like Final Fantasy style fantasy. So I would say it's like a steampunk+ style society but with advanced magic.

It's further complicated in that some places are much further advanced in certain areas than others. Most places have more 'magic' tech than they do conventional tech. Much of that can be attributed to how the Zhen Halan empire was organized, and once it disintegrated pockets of civilization become more isolated and lost access to many technologies.

Example, there are regular sea ships powered by various means, but also air ships which use nether engines to fly.

Short answer is that you're unlikely to find the equivalent of a simple digital camera in Ossylia except in a specialty shop and it will likely be comparatively expensive. So you'd need a wealth check or you could use an Equipment Point to acquire it permanently.

So sounds like you guys more or less have a plan forward; do you want to add a few lines in IC and then I'll close out this chapter and start the new one.

Can I actually use mind reading to share images as well? Then I could just show Yuu how the guys looked like already.

I actually believe you can only communicate with words/thoughts rather than sensory memories (sights, sounds, etc). There is a modifier to Telepathy you can add that gives it an illusory power, so you can actually project mental illusions to people that would be the best way to communicate full memories/sights/sounds.

By the way I'm going to give everyone 15 character points, and bump the max power level up to 8. So everyone will have a total of 120 points. Figured I'd let everyone know.

Jan, I'll send you a private message about options for Zelpuz's telepathy power; better than taking up a lot of space here.

Secondly, for everyone, what basic direction do you guys want to move in now? Basically you've been circling one tiny area of the game world for the last 6+ years (real life), so  there are a lot of options.

Basically you've been in one country in the world of Kahluyn, but as you can see from the game map there are many other places. Beyond that Kahluyn is just one world of many that are interlinked through the nether world gates; the one on Kahluyn is in Arghos.

The Freelancers have a presence everywhere, so options abound. Once we clear up some items locally do you guys want to a) do more investigative type missions, b) exploration type missions, c) combat type missions, etc?

This won't change the plot lines you guys have uncovered here, but it will give me a direction to take with the new adventure hooks.

Lastly, with the holidays coming up I'm going to running about after the 18th, so I'm not sure how much posting I'll get too. Would be nice to setup the new chapter though and get that rolling during that time. Likely the first part will be somewhat like a prologue that passes some amount of time until we get into the actual scenario. During that time you should let me know what your character was doing, which may help account for how your character spent the new character points.

I like the idea of exploring type missions, spiced with combat. The world is pretty huge, and I think it would be fun to get out a bit.

I do like exploring and investigations. The combat is fun, too, but it takes a long time via forum. Not sure if we can manage to throw in a Skype session at some point with all our travel and time zones.

Vanyra is probably starting to feel cooped up in this city.  She doesn't enjoy the complicated politics - not really her thing.  And when the local Order might be bad guys, that's a little nerve-racking too.

She, of course, would love to get out on the road (and off the road).

Skype or Discord would be nice for sure. I think I'm the furthest West of everyone here, so could possibly make it work.

Just for clarification, Myyria and Zelpuz were not sent to deal with Lasrane originally. They were just stopping through Ossylia on they travels and were asked to deal with him from the local Chapter Master. Before that they had not knowledge of Lasrane.

In any case Myyria should certainly have reached Arghos and made contact with the Order HQ by now.

I've got an idea for the next chapters if we're wanting to do some exploration. We'll wrap up Chapter 8, and then I'll construct a time-lapsed intro to the new one over the holidays.

So you can assume it'll be a few weeks between the current time in the game and when we'll actually commence the action for Chapter 9. Therefore, let me know of any particular character development stuff you're doing in that time and any point expenditures.

Yuu will just spend this time getting back into the routine of life. I can imagine Qwe returning at some soonish point as well, who he'd be happy to see (though don't expect him to admit it). He'll meet with his royalty friend as well, for a fun chat and gossip catch up. If Yuu can determine some further info into what happened, he'll try. Plus he has his other friends to catch up with.

Other than this, he'll mostly be fiddling with new gizmo and gadget ideas during quiet time.

I'm back in Houston now, so will be back to checking this regularly now.

I'll finish off the current chapter and then lead into the next with a prologue that skips over some time.

Oh, and also let me know if/how you want to advanced your character with the additional points you received. Everyone now has a total of 120 character points with a max power level of 8.

That's pretty much 30 points more than you built your character with and 23 points more than we started the actual game with.

Remember power level 8 means max attack and defense values and toughness of +8, and max ability and skill ranks of +13 (PL+5).
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:55, Thu 03 Jan 2019.

Jan and Erik have their advances pretty much sorted, so just waiting on Brett.

I'll start the prologue of the next chapter with a single post for each character and what they did in that time.

I'm not sure yet where to advance my character, so I'll just give pause for now.

Regarding the wine, is the bottle still sealed?

Yes, it is. It's an untouched bottle.Don't worry about that though, I'm still going through the prologue stuff so I'll explain more shortly. I just stopped there because it was convenient and was waiting to see if Yuu was going to advance his character at all.

Please note mid-chapter advancement will not be permitted save in certain, logical circumstances. Any major advancements, new abilities or skills will have to be taken between Chapters.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:41, Sun 13 Jan 2019.

Where is Daedalum?

Also, were we able to extract the contents of the bottle without the bottle seeming to be disturbed? It would be handy if we could swap with another of the bottles, and check its contents against this first one.

Daedalum is on a continent to the south; it's a relatively small city state that is the most technically advanced on the planet surface. You'd have to travel by air or sea to get there.

You were able to extract the contents of the bottle without disturbing it, but there is a small puncture hole on the top and it's missing 100ml of liquid. You could replace the liquid though.

Yuu would like to ask Zelpuz on their next encounter, if it's possible to insert himself back into the office, and swap this bottle with another. If so, to also plant one of his listening bugs.