You know what it's for.

In the Skills section of Chargen I've included a small bonus to help round out your characters a bit more. See below and in the Chargen thread.

---

Skills Bonus
Starting skill points in CG are pretty sparse, so every skill point counts. Players are unlikely to put skill points into anything that won’t directly further their character’s survivability in a frontier setting.

This is a bit counter-intuitive for a couple of reasons. First,  frontier living required people to be jacks-of-all-trades. Generalists thrived on the frontier. And no matter their specialist profession, most people would know the basics of several essential skills—such as cooking, tailoring or husbandry. Second, while frontier living was hard, and occasionally terrifying, it was also very boring for long stretches. People needed things to amuse themselves with during dark nights and long winters—music and decorative works (beadwork, carving, embroidery) were popular pastimes.

To simulate this, players may take up to three free levels in any musical (Performance) or decorative art (Profession: Artistry) skill (all in one skill or across several). Additionally, they can take one free level in any Trade, Craft, Language, Study or Profession skill unrelated to their primary profession.  For settlers, logical choices include Craft: Carpentry, Profession: Cookery or Profession: Sewing. For aristocrats, Study and Languages. And for indigenous people, wilderness-related Professions like Fishing, Woodcrafting and Tanning.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:01, Tue 17 Aug 2021.

You're reading my mind, because I was just thinking into giving Anne a couple of points for drawing and painting. Useful for a budding ethnographer doing field sketches.

Huzzah! Could that be retroactively applied to a Skill I bought for that reason? -and is Craft: trad. clothing too broad, seeing as you have tanning and sewing set out separately there?

My reasoning was that traditional manufacture tends to see women taking charge of the process from hide through to decoration, though mechanically that would cover a lot of transferrable skills, so I could see a justification for cutting down on that.

Hi Marie! Nice to meet you :)

So I'm going to take Profession (Artistry) 2, Performance (Dancing) 1, and Study (Native Cultures). The later is as-is in the rules, but perhaps it needs narrowing down to a certain culture? Or do I take it to represent extremely generalised notions about Canadian First Nations in general, as seen from the French perspective, with bits and pieces of Huron, Iroquois, Montagnais, etc all mashed together?

(And please let me know if at some point I say something stupid, still learning!)

Given that this is probably a one-off game with limited time for skill development, I'm happy for a broad definition of skills. So Study (Native Cultures) could be used for general knowledge, and Craft (or Profession): Clothier could cover the complete process of manufacture from tanning to accoutrements.

Merci bien, et salut, Mme. de Contrecoeur!

Marie isn't super useful for ethnography herself, being slightly feral and usually to be found in the forest hissing at people, but with a little careful encouragement she might be able to put Anne in contact with her (Androscoggin, confidently Francophone) mother or (Huron) grandmother, if you'd like that as a character connection.


(and certainly and likewise, we're all learning here - whilst I do come from recently tribal ancestors with generational trauma from active linguistic and cultural repression...I'm Scottish, and we were effectively the attack dogs of the Empire. I'm trying to faithfully represent, but also portraying someone subjected to a great deal of cultural disruption who can be reasonably expected to know about as much about her intangible heritage as a very white archaeologist with a small stack of books 291 years later.)

A clarification on your Character Sheets:

Abilities that are above or below average receive modifiers. Section 1 of the CharGen thread lists the Abilities and their modifiers.

Each Skill is governed by one Ability, listed in brackets with the Skill description.

A character’s Ability modifier transfers directly over to the  Skill it governs. So the total Skill bonus is [Skill Level + Ability Modifier].

So (per the chart in Section 1 of CharGen), a character with a Might of 6 gets a -1 malus to all Skills governed by Might. A character with a Reason of 12 gets a +2 bonus to all Skills governed by Reason.

On the character sheet table this would look like this:

Any questions or unclarity on this please comment here.

Bonjour my dear sisters!

I am a simple priest of the Society of Jesus, born in Nantes, educated in Paris, and now seeking to save the souls of our Native friends, and heal all those whose bodies have need of it.

Speaking as the player, I am still revising my skills with the advice of L'hiver. I hope to post my description soon.

[Marie walks backwards into the deep shadows of the treeline, never breaking eye contact until she's just another patch of darkness and a watchful glimmer in the gloom]

Hi! It is possible to befriend Marie, I promise. Maybe start by leaving a fish on the ground a few paces away and making no sudden movements...

As for description, I think you're probably furthest along - I need to sort some whos and whens with the boss and am sincerely hoping a friend that showed interest in the game & shared backgrounds will turn up here, too.

Ah well, Saint-Pierre was a fisherman, no? And a fisher of...women as well as men, afterwards.

Fr. Joseph goes down to the river and uses the skills he acquired as a boy on the quai of Nantes to bargain for fine fresh fish, which he carefully leaves on the ground near the treeline, and stands back in silence, inwardly reciting his rosary...

As Player: I also hope your friend joins us. We could really use a few more PCs, especially with forest skills.

Thanks for getting started with introductions everybody.

By way of Prologue, I hope to begin RP shortly with with individuals or pairs doing little "slice of life" vignettes to settle into our characters and the setting. If you have any scenes that you're keen to play out let us know here (e.g. arrival in the New World; first encounters with other characters, etc). We won't take too long on these scenes; just enough time to road test our characters and buy the others time to finish chargen.

Sorry for the delay in my own introduction! I was struggling a bit for a name.

I'll be playing Pierre Sournois, a Huron warrior/scout that fought alongside French forces in a conflict against British and their indigenous allies.

I may go with this portrait, though it is apparently of Lou Diamond Phillips (a Filipino American) playing Jose Chavez y Chavez (a Spanish/Mexican-Apache man) in Young Guns. So definitely not Huron, but so is the RPOL portrait gallery.

Welcome, Pierre. I have been thinking we definitely needed a warrior/woodsman, with no disrespect to the skills of the other PCs.

I understand the difficulty of finding a suitable picture in the RPOL photo gallery. Its 17th century characters tend to look much more civilized European than New France frontier, unless they are pirates.

Salut Pierre! Nice to have some local company.

...and definitely keep submitting portraits to the gallery and intermittently bothering them about it, I've been adding Native portraits with a hope to someday run something of this kind if not Coyote and Crow on my own for months and backup from a few PC subs would be incredibly welcome. It's a fixable problem!

In reply to Marie (msg # 7):

That would be nice! I'm thinking Marie has learned some basic Huron, or Iroquois perhaps (I know, I know...) maybe from some convert, maybe from a servant? She's itching to go draw the natives in their habitat, and she's happy to bankroll an expedition or something of the sort. She'll probably start out as a bit of a hopelessly white white, but hopefully she'll start exercising some empathy as soon as it's beliveable.

While we're talking languages, is there any language we don't have covered? Anne could take that one, since she's the official team nerd. I assume Pierre speaks Huron, and Marie Algonquin?

Marie speaks Huron as her first language due to her father's ethnicity (and rules vs. realism issues on bilingualism, which I am pretending to sulk about), with a little bit of Eastern Algonquin and French...if you can get her to talk in the first place, at any rate. I don't think anyone speaks English yet? Intercepting enemy messages and all that.

Would Anne like an introduction to one of the ladies in particular, or both as they can be reached? Marie's mother might share a connection with our blackrobe, too, being a pious sort.

Oh, that's a nice planned arc. I predict a lot of cultural confusion ahead.

English! What a concept.

When you put it that way, Anne being a bookworm, she should know Latin, shouldn't she?



That would be great. Let's see...

Anne's feud is more or less halfways between Trois Rivières and Montréal, along the Saint Laurent shore. But I imagine (although let me know if this is too much, GM) that she leaves Contrecoeur to the administrators to spends as much time in Montréal as possible, frequenting whatever learned circles there are in the city. Perhaps even hosting her own salon of intellectuals? Assuming there are some in town.

Is this anywhere near your stomping grounds, Marie? Perhaps your mum was/is a maid to Anne's late mother, or to herself? She'd love a native to pester with questions all day long.


Confusion is my natural state :P

That'd certainly help if you had to read any eldritch tomes brought over that happened to be written by Renaissance European wizards Mass at any point. It would be funny if she did end up talking to an English CO in Latin, too.

Marie's mother lives in the trailing outskirts of Montréal and Marie lives...around, in a very broad area. Marie's mother isn't really maid material, not having been raised with European concepts of time and work - the French would probably consider her hopelessly lazy in such a context, and Marie would quite possibly react with dangerous hostility, not understanding wage terms and thinking the contract to be a preparation to enslavement (her father has probably been sold down to America or for a curiousity in a European exhibition by now, if he's still alive).

Joséphine might make clothing/examples for Anne, though, for sale, exhibition or personal use. She could become the last word on How Things Are Made for the entire area...if Madame would like a snazzy coat very like a chief or a dancer or someone about to be buried, well, they are all pagans, non? What is there to be precious about, if Madame will get in some extra beads and cloth in exchange?

Anne can pester her with questons whenever she's there, at least.

Also! Frère Jacques Joseph, dormez vous would you like to be Anne's confessor? Her sins are mostly of the mind.

Yes, Fr. Joseph could definitely be Anne's confessor, at least unless his Superior sends him out on a  mission. Nowadays his own sins are also mostly of the mind, though when he was a young student in Paris...
He knows some Huron in addition to fluent French and the Latin from his college days.

I've got a busy week but will be chipping away at the to do list in advance of our game. This coming weekend is the target I'm setting myself for the first RP posts.

I'm watching your struggles with the language points and agree the system doesn't accurately reflect the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual place that New France was. So I'll be making a house rule to address that shortly.

Also, if you haven't done so already, could you send me your replies to these questions from chargen?

One word or one line answers are fine. You can DM me your replies or post them here if you're brave.

• Who are you?
• Where and when were you born?
• Who is the most important person in your life?
• What drives you?
• What do you most desire?
• What is your greatest fear?
• What defines your Faith?
• What do you think about the conflict in North American between the English, French and Native nations?

Who Are You?
Joseph de la Tour
When and were were you born?
Born in the port of Nantes in the province of Brittany in the Kingdom of France, born on the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, about 35 years before the year of this game.  Edited Note: Since this is 1730, born about 1695.
Who is the most important person in your life?
The Jesuit Superior for my mission.
Also, the Bishop of Quebec.
What drives you?
Atoning for my youthful sins by bringing the Native peoples to God (and, for that matter, serving my fellow French Catholics like Anne)
What do you most desire?
Winning more souls for Holy Mother Church.
What is your greatest fear?
Failing my duty by 1) giving way to cowardice when faced with the prospect of martyrdom or 2) falling back into the sins of the flesh when faced with temptation
What defines your Faith?
Belief in a loving God who forgives my sins and strengthens me in my mission.
What do you think about the conflict in North America between the English, French and Native nations? Generally hostile to the English, though aware there are a few cases of English (usually those caught young) who have been brought up good Catholics. Very loyal to the French, very friendly to the Native people allied to the French, anxious to win over neutral Native people, and if possible even hostile ones, though fearful of the more militant ones like the Iroquois.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:43, Thu 26 Aug 2021.

Here is the brave, if sometimes unreliable, coureur des bois.

He may be a guide to the priest or the lady scholar, a firm friend to the warrior, and a (step? adopted?) kinsman of some sort to the feral girl. He has traded and lived some seasons with the Huron and probably taken a wife among them, as is the custom of the country.

I’m trying to work out why he might be free to adventure rather than diligently acquiring pelts. Is he in some disgrace? Has he somehow found himself unable to acquire trade goods? Has he been tapped by some official to provide escort to the missionary or the high-born lady? I welcome your thoughts and ideas.

[faint hiss and rapid vanishing from Marie at sudden declarations of kinship from random Frenchman]

Given the game starts in winter 1730 (I don't think that's been said yet, but I asked earlier) Huronia has pretty much fallen and we're dealing with a Seventh Seal-type abandoned farming landscape and associated famine at peak plague for smallpox*: it's quite possible you and your wife are desperately trying to find a safe-ish community where you won't starve before she drops a bairn. Marie might have good reason to befriend said wife - so long as she's an enthusiastic character reference and clearly not being beaten up she might not treat M. Bonpain with the usual high-wariness-to-outright-hostility non-clergy white males can usually expect from her. Her grandmother might be able to identify kinship ties, too.


Unrelatedly, props to Fr. Joseph for laying out his sins in public... I believe that's a sin, too. :D


*think of ten people in your town, then think of 6-8 of them dead within three weeks. There's a reason Marie has lost touch with most of her kin and avoids concentrations of humans.

As promised, a little language bonus, since everyone is struggling to make viable character concepts with the limited points given over to languages.

This text has also been added to the CharGen thread.

---

Language Bonus

To simulate the multi-lingual environment of 18th Century New France, and the fact that even the most sheltered individuals probably were exposed to more than one language or dialect, players may take, for free, up to 6 levels in any language that logically fits with their character concept. These can be indigenous languages, European languages or liturgical/scholarly languages (e.g. Latin, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew). Points can be spent all on one language, or split among several. This bonus is in addition to starting languages that come with your chosen Background Template.

Enchantée, Mssr. Bonpain. I'm sure Anne would love to hear your wilderness stories.

Thinking of importing books and corresponding with Enlightenment intellectuals on the other side of the Atlantic, I supposed Anne would already be alright with French (it's le siècle des Lumières, after all), but I'll take Latin, Greek and English just to be a massive nerd (2 points each).

What languages do we already have otherwise covered?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:37, Thu 26 Aug 2021.

Who Are You?
Anne Pecaudy de Contrecœur, Seignereusse de Contrecœur; the unlikely heiress of a large holding of land north of Montréal. Massive nerd, ethnographer avant la lettre and avid huntress. A restless soul, and a believer of Reason and the Lights.

When and were were you born?
Contrecoeur proper, 1707.

Who is the most important person in your life?

It used to be dear Father (Francois-Antoine Pécaudy de Contrecœur), until his heroic death fighting the English at the head of the Régiment de Carignan-Salières. Since then, my baby brother, François-Antoine, born 1721.

What drives you?

Getting out of the stifflingly boring atmosphere of Contrecœur - be it only mentally, by reading and corresponding with like-minded gentlemen, or physically, getting out as often as possible. The wilds lands of the north, and particularly the culture and customs of its native inhabitants, are fascinating and MUST be studied and documented, as Reason demands.

What do you most desire?
To complete and publish the comprehensive, definitive, authoritative "Treatise on the Lands and Native Peoples of Northern New France, As Observed & Faithfully Recorded by The Author, A.P. de Contrecœur"

What is your greatest fear?
Dying in childbirth, like Mother.

---

How's this?

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 27):



Do you mean personally or as a group? You will get your native language as fluent (Lvl 12), and many background templates receive one other language at level 1.

In terms of languages possessed by the group, characters have French, English, Latin, Huron/Wendat and Abenaki for a start... of course, none of that guarantees that you can communicate with each other...

As a group, I meant, with a view that we coordinate to have as much ground covered as possible, languages-wise.

Do we... not all speak French?

What are you, some kind of colonialist?

I'm sure we can work it out somehow...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G42YHaGPou0
(Abenaki-family Algonquin-speaking folk to Marie to Hurons to French)

Mme. de Contrecoeur, did you want Marie's mother to make you/museums a winter coat at all?

...and do you want your surviving brother assassinated from behind a grassy knoll before he gets old enough to claim the majority of your joint inheritance? [/dodgy humour] Incidentally, if I point out typos or anything I'm not making fun of people, I just find them funny, in case that needs said at the outset.

Character sheet updated, boss!

Who, me? No, I just happen to be a French woman owning a ton of land thousands of miles from France because... uhmmm, eeeh...

• Who are you?
Ignatius Bonpain
• Where and when were you born?
Lille, Flanders (France), about 26 years ago
• Who is the most important person in your life?
Emile Tavernier, local agent of Selliere Freres, the company that hired Ignatius to come to New France as a coureur.
Isabeau (aka White Dove), my Huron wife and our children Paul and Anne
• What drives you?
Trade and its consequence, coin!
• What do you most desire?
Freedom
• What is your greatest fear?
Sickness
• What defines your Faith?
I pray to God and try to keep his commandments and he will watch over me and bring me to Heaven.
• What do you think about the conflict in North American between the English, French and Native nations?
I want France to keep its hold over the forests and streams so that I can ply my trade. But borders in the forests--who can say where borders run?
This message was last edited by the player at 02:53, Sun 29 Aug 2021.

Very glad we now have 2 bold adventurer types to protect the rest of us.

...et vot' femme, alors?




I am not sure whether this implies that Pierre and Nat are going to adventurously try and locate Marie to protect her, or whether they're protecting you non-wood-dwelling types from Marie, but either way, sounds like a challenge!

Non, non! Emile he is the name of un homme! Emélie she is the name of une femme!

That said, given the premise of the game, heteronormative relationships are neither expected nor required.

I support Ignatius and Emile being true to their ownselves, whatever the nature of their relationship.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:56, Fri 27 Aug 2021.

Mmm, worthile suggestions. To the first one, yes, I'd love that. To the second one, sadly for once I'm not playing a bad bitch character, Anne is more interested in her cartographic/ethnographic endeavours than in accumulating wealth and political clout.

But ask me again, if/when I get married against my will.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:00, Fri 27 Aug 2021.

??? Je le sais bien, mais il a dit que le patron était plus important a son âme que sa femme...ce n'est pas très gentil, ça...

...it's true, though, many if not most Europeans with primary same-gender attraction would get het married anyway, to stay out of trouble or just make life easier with division of labour. If the wife is down with it, I support this couple (triad?)!

[thumbs up to Anne] I don't think anyone is going to force the lady with independent wealth to marry them; even if an Iroquois ran off with her in a raid he'd probably be aware that doing that to a fancy lady would get him Disapproved of by the first officer to come by. The wealthy have considerable class solidarity by nature of using it to tamp down everyone producing said wealth, after all...if you lose all your money at gambling, though, well...don't do that.

Emile is not even a friend, but he’s important because he controls Bonpain’s purse.

added my wife and children to my most important people.

For some reason this really gave me a good laugh :D

Too late, we all know about Emile and you.

In reply to Ignatius Bonpain (msg # 40):

I figured that out immediately --he was not your lover, just your boss. For some reason, our other PCs saw it differently, though none of them (so far) have suggested Fr. Joseph's ecclesiastical superiors are his lovers, whatever scandals there might be in the modern church.

Ah, no, we just assume Fr. Joseph's had it off with half of Paris instead. How the brothels and young men of the alleyways pine for our émigré...

(it was a joke, because Nat put Emile down as more important than his wife first thing.)

Pierre, do you want some gentle harassment? You've the only male PC in the group who hasn't been teased for hypothetical affairs/general sluttiness yet...
This message was last edited by the player at 08:13, Mon 30 Aug 2021.

I mean, of cours? Why else does one get sent to evangelize the frozen wastes?

The first IC threads are up. Since we'll open with individual "vignette" threads for the characters in singles and pairs it'll be more work for me and I'll be slower to post overall than I like to be. Bear with me. I'll get to each player in time and try to keep all the threads moving apace.

! I think only Mme. de Contrecoeur can see hers so far, however. Also, I think we can all appreciate posting is slower with a bear, so no worries on that front. ^_^

I would never rush a bear, no. Even Anne knows that.

Help me out with my hooks?

1. Noblesse oblige: as seigneuresse de Contrecoeur, I must always be corteous, self-possessed and noble.
2. ????
3. ????
4. No effort or expense should be spared to expand the borders of human knowledge and science.
5. Le siècle des Lumières: everything must have a logical, rational, empirical explanation.

Hooks are very hard...what does she say when turning down suitors? What's the most she'd do to keep her brother safe? Some statement that encapsulates her view of the English/their allies? Some resolution she made at an important event or turning point in her life? Something about her relationship to God and/or the Church? Something about the most important non-human thing in her life - ambitions for Contrecoeur, letting herself be hurt before risking her favourite horse, keeping her father's sword bright, kind of thing?

Or - if you don't mean to post it out here - something related to a secret of Anne's. That's always great plot fodder, that is.

Her secret attraction to a certain dashing and handsome coureur des bois (who shall be unnamed at present)?

Seriously, something about her family and their encouragement or disapproval of her studies?

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 45):

Well, frankly Fr. Joseph rather set himself up for that assumption about the putaines de Paris, though maybe not half the city...

I'm indeed open to some gentle harassment regarding Pierre's hypothetical affairs and sluttiness. I look forward to the results.

Ha! Maybe the benefits of sincere conversion include being let into the mission with all those odd people in dresses that do womanly hewing of wood and drawing of water, since they don't seem to marry anyone else. If Fr. Joseph isn't having any affairs with his superiors, sounds like there are opportunities!

Of course, if moines et religeuses are truly interchangeable, and Pierre's portrait with unbound, unroached hair is accurate, as is age and military status, Pierre might be a lesbian. Possibly one with terrifying magic powers, given the assumption of natural aptitude for shamanism in transformed and third-gender people. It's possible Pierre is secretly a devastating, sexy, Magical Girl.




The entire city? Dang. No wonder they sent him for a long jog in a cold place.


Ahoy, Nat! Really great job on your description there: it feels like I know this man already, and he's been telling me stories at the trading post every three months or so when he comes by.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:14, Tue 31 Aug 2021.

Now that you mention it, I feel like I have taken a tragic misstep in not playing a lesbian with terrifying magic powers, because that sounds awesome. I'm not sure I'd do the best at conveying that character, though I might try it in the future.

Alas, compared to being a third-gender shaman and/or terrifyingly magical lesbian, Pierre is a comparatively ordinary male. I'm working on finding a good portrait of sufficient quality to modify and submit to the gallery, but this is probably more of what I'd have in mind:

http://nativeamericannetroots....he-Huron-Indians.jpg

So far less hair than the current avatar. Maybe I can find a balder guy with some more melanin that might fit the bill in the interim.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:09, Wed 01 Sept 2021.

Hmm...maybe you could feed members of your local sports team a mix of hyper-strong Turkish coffee and Red Bull to get the sensation of diverting great spirit power to warrior relatives, or pointing at your enemies whilst swearing at them, to get the feeling of directed curses. That said, please note that I am very much being silly and the English word 'magic' is a square peg for the infinite-fractal hole of shamanic traditions, which also incorporate what we call medicine, not to mention elements of priesthood.

Ah! I believe that artist is still alive and has inscribed his name within the dread Book of Faces, if permission was to be sought. I really do encourage every non-brown-haired-white-man/young-fashion-model-white-lady submission we can get, though I've had to be careful to pick female Native submissions that read more 'historical' than 'idealised', because if I had a pound for every time I've run across people wanting to play Bikini Indians with worrying signs of a genocide fetish on this site...well, I'd have £3, but sheesh.

You can have a lot of hair if you are an old general, to tie your feathered medals in. The French might even give you more medals of the metal sort to put on a fancy coat..l must say I am very much in love with the male fashion aesthetics of contact 18th century eastern North America. Maybe not the dead animal hats, but the chaoic cascade of pattern, layers and shiny/feathered accessories. Brocades. Paint. Fancy leggings. So good.

It's really the equivalent of trying to depict a Sicilian woman by picking a lady from Estonia and putting her in a dirndl.



Thanks for the input - I'll look around for that. I found something maybe a little bit more fitting, and perhaps that will better suit the purpose until better can be located.

This one is in the Toronto Public Library. Huron/Wyandot chiefs ca. 1825, about a century after our story.

https://www.torontopubliclibra...JRR56&R=DC-JRR56

And this is the Gros-Louis family ca. 1870, a prominent family of Wyandot leaders up to the present day.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals...a8bc699628283d89.jpg

This is high fashion, of course. Day-to-day wear was more understated and, in our game era, largely rawhide-based.

Note on all the men the ceinture fléchée which was probably a meeting of indigenous weaving techniques with French yarns. Now a symbol of Métis and Quebecois identity, they were much worn by coureur des bois and indigenous men around the time of our story.

This automatically made me think of Barbarians of the Ruined Earth. At least they're not supposed to be First Nations, though.

In reply to L'hiver (msg # 58):

Yes! I am now resisting the urge to find a FN producer of those sashes. I have the soul of a hopeless fop and the daily clothing requirements of a construction worker.

Sort-of @Pierre: It's worth looking at more reputable living history re-enactors for clothing detail ideas, too. I used to do Norse, but I had a friend who was a part-time redcoat and the authenticity regulations are even tighter when there's more written down.

I don't think such people are trying to depict any actual culture or genuine human being so much as the concept of "sexy/exotic noble savage", honestly.

@Mme. de Contrecoeur: So long as it's non-race-coded and gender-equal Frazetta fantasy it's considerably less harmful, I suppose. I hope they get Mad Max gear and look after their grannies. [nod]

Hello, another heavy couple of weeks for me IRL. I will try to make one post a day, for someone, but no promises!

Understand completely! IRL has been beastly here as well.

Hi Team,

I'm overloaded IRL and will have to take next week off. I will be back posting by 21 Sept. Sorry to do this to you so early in the game.

In the meantime, to keep your interest alive and your ideas fresh, please enjoy some films from the NFB of Canada...

NFB Indigenous Cinema
https://www.nfb.ca/indigenous-cinema/

New England and New France
https://www.nfb.ca/film/new_en...ew_france_1490_1763/

Samuel de Champlain and the founding of Quebec, 1603-1635
https://www.nfb.ca/film/samuel...amplain_quebec_1603/

Dreams of a Land
https://www.nfb.ca/film/dreams_of_a_land/

The Voyagers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-RNt4wNxb4

Vignette
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFfRZJh5Jak

1745 Siege of Louisbourg (in our game's future)
https://www.nfb.ca/film/louisbourg_under_siege/

May you defeat your workload thoroughly and dry its scalp for your greater glory.

....it will probably take me at least a week to get through the links, but thank you greatly for collecting a shiny heap of 'em. Excited!

Don't worry, life is life (nah nah nah nah nah...). Thanks for the links, and see you soon!

In reply to L'hiver (msg # 63):

I look forward to seeing your posts after Sept.21. I have a string of special events coming up the next 3 weekends, if they are not cancelled (2 events this weekend just got cancelled by the Covid surge) plus medical appointments and other meetings during the weeks.

I'm back. Thank you for your patience. Posts for all coming soon.

Welcome back, chief.

Welcome back, master.

Welcome back!

I would very much like a post please M'seur...

Welcome back, winter.

(The cold never bothered me anyway.)

More posts up today. Apologies for the slow trickle of RP. Things will move faster when we're all together and I can do one post for the five of you instead of five individual posts.

My apologies for not posting for a couple of days. I was away at Lake Chataqua in upstate New York --a lot closer to the scene of our story than usual.

I may say I do not know how Mlle. Anne's private posts are going, but I took the liberty of inserting a suggestion in my private post that I hope might help bring our interests together.

I need money and/or for a ship to sink, do you think you can persuade your boss to provide a timely Atlantic storm?

One could pray for money for some good purpose, but unless the ship was being used for some evil design, it is unlikely that He would heed a prayer for its destruction.

Rats. See, this is how you lose clients to Reason.

With respect, noble lady, I do not believe even Reason can promise to sink ships, unless one can smuggle a petard aboard.

Time to ask Satan! [scoots an eggshell someone forgot to break across]

Noble lady, I pray you are jesting! And even so, it is a dangerous jest. It is said the Fallen One can hear every mention of his name.

[points up at title] Marie doesn't know very much about Satan at all, and is generally bemused by the whole idea; her player was just overwhelmed by the desire to humourously mention the relatively simple expedient of traditional Scottish witchcraft. Irish, too, by the way my housemate at university would physically dive into the rubbish bin if any eggshells were put in uncrushed, just in case a passing witch wanted to sink a ship with them.

Marie can solve any problems that can be resolved by judicious sniping, however.

OOC: I knew of the eggshell story, but I did not know the custom was still observed.

Have we lost some players? Drop us a note to let us know if you're still around--for some of you I have other players waiting on your decisions.

Ici! Encore et toujours, alors.

I am here.

I am here.

In here, just going through a busy patch.

Great! I'll continue to try to post about 1x per day, so everyone should get a minimum of one post per week. I should be able to bring us all together shortly.

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 88):

I'm delighted you are still with us.

In reply to Fr. Joseph de la Tour (msg # 90):

And I´m grateful for your patience, le bon père :)

Posted, I´m on my way to Québec. Sorry for the delay.

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 91):

Glad to have you back! And glad you're off to Quebec. Everyone else is headed for Montreal, but NVM, we'll get you there ;)

All, I'm traveling this weekend and next and probably won't post at those times.

I will post most weekdays this coming week, so everyone should have at least one post from me.

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 91):

I envy you. I have been to Montreal, but never to Quebec.

Hi all, nice posts this week.

I'll be traveling tomorrow and the next day. Offline until Sunday.

After that I hope to have a couple weeks of with a stable schedule, which should allow me to focus more on the game.

I hope you travels go well. I am glad you expect to have more time after you get back.

Apologies to all, particularly to le bon père, I've been madly busy. I'm back, and have just posted.

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 96):

Very glad you are able to continue.

We're gradually all getting closer together. I'm going to bring Anne and Joseph together with the next thread; just waiting for Fr. Jospeh to post so we can wrap up the current scene.

Yay!

[this prompts a retreat into the deepest shadows from Marie at the notion of nearby humans; any further investigation results in getting hissed at]

A thought I had: if Madame and the blackrobe are too busy to make descriptions as well as posting at present, maybe they could copy-paste it when they describe themselves to each other in narration? So they don't have to do it over again or make time specifically.

I'm certainly looking forward to the cast becoming a group IC, even if Marie's decidedly not (first one to gain her trust wins a very angry friend for life, however).

Yes, sorry, I haven't gotten around to thinking how Anne looks physically, but a picture is slowly emerging as I tease some Jesuits conduct amiable negotiations with the Societas Iesu. Will get to it, generally speaking think feisty, petite aristo.

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 99):

I am very glad to know you are still waiting in hiding. I hope you will choose to emerge shortly.

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 99):

I though Fr. Joseph had an adequate description posted under his character in the Cast list, but if you need more detail, I can try to add some.

Due to the period upper-class French fashion to pad ladies into orbs about the hips, I'm now picturing an angry version of one of those fancy pincushions. (e.g. https://images.app.goo.gl/ozeMywWCqxdXpCjD6 ) That said, she doubtless owns more clothes than the rest of us put together, so likely there's little saving on that description and the portrait approximates a face...it's useful to know what the countryside in general knows about the noble, though, and how one might spot her if not knowing her features precisely - her mode of movement, strikingly smooth skin, a laugh or scolding often heard before the lady is seen, kind of thing.

Marie's is short because living folk don't know much about Marie, but if we were playing whilst her nation still existed as a sovereign polity there'd be a lot more origin and kinship info in there.

@ Fr. Joseph - c'est tout bien & I pounced on it with interest as soon as it was written. Marie is out in the countryside picking up trouble at present, but by the looks of the dice roller she's had more luck than most...

Sharing this here for no reason but it made me cry laughing: https://strikercorbie.tumblr.c...t/669069087297716224

(for non-Francophones, the French Canadian was lying about the last thing, which will be hilarious if the guy chooses option B should he ever need to use it)

Hello all, as you've noticed I'm down in my posting rate. A very busy time that probably will not let up.

I'll continue to try for one post per week per thread, and once we're all together the pauses won't be so noticeable. À l’avance!

I understand your issue. I hope we can soon meet together so the players can largely carry on among themselves --I have seen that work in other games.

Pierre Sournois has been idle for 2 weeks. Per our Idle Policy, I'll open his character up to temporary control by one of you, in the interim while we wait for him to return. Any takers?

I'm willing to babysit the scout, but also willing to be second choice if someone else is keen.

Also, I hope I may say without intention to mock Pierre's being busy that the word choice here also gives me a mental image of Pierre just silently shifting foot to foot and doing video game idle animations whilst whoever was speaking to him looks on with baffled curiosity.

I'm back - sorry, the various holidays have got my posting schedule all thrown off. I'm a creature of routine and when mine is thrown off I can forget to get back in it. :D

Huzzah! Pierre's alive!

Vive Pierre!

Allons-y!

...mais, est que nous avons assez des sapins?

Pour Noel ou pour l'aventure?

Happy winter festivities y'all!

Happy holidays all. Posts for everyone coming in the next couple days.

Happy New Year

Happy 2022, Australians! May your On Fire season be more merciful and your coal barons die horribly.

 ...and a happy final packing-up of '21 to everyone else - if '22 turns out better than '16-'21, the man who burned the goat in Sweden deserves a monument.

Happy New year y'all!

Finally remembered to edit my description. Apologies for the wait, Marie.

It's fine, I am just nosy, mostly - unless you're hanging out with a raiding party and about to be brutally murdered by Marie for finding her when she's backed in a corner I don't think we're immediately about to meet. I see you ran out of e-acutes at cliché, though...here is a fresh one for you: é

On the theme of portraits worded and otherwise, before the 14th breezes past again, has anyone got Native portraits in the queue yet to come through, and if so of whom? I'd like to make this setting more easily playable on the site even if I die of old age or overwork before actually managing to run a game myself, but if someone (Pierre? Chief?) has put in a couple of young Algonquin men over the backlogged months, for instance, I don't want to add repeats.

Oh! -and on the theme of French, spelling and "translation", are we going to be using the English archaic familiar (thee/thou) for the French familiar, given it would be highly significant in friendship/casual insult terms? Or we could refer to all older/important/respected/plural people as y'all, though that seems rather tiresome, being likely more common...

Thank you that é, it is painful to type in my keyboard.


That is a nifty idea, altough I have been carelessly using you while addressing a few men of lofty status for a while, that´s Anne for you.

? 'You' (vous) would be correct for men of lofty status...unless they were men with whom you desired to create a sense of being great pals or that Anne was a poor helpless little girl who sees them as dear family.

[lightbulb] Oh! This confusion comes from the KJV addressing God in the familiar, right?

My friend in Tennessee was also confused by that, too, but, um. Hmm. Ah. This sounds very wrong in the context of modern English, but with the form of 'father' descended from Hebrew used for the majority of addresses in the Bible as it is known...you're supposed to be calling God 'Daddy'.

As in, you are literally addressing the Divine like a small child addressing a parent, even if you're the Pope or an Emperor; of course you use the familiar. God is not a stranger, even if He is important.

If you're interested, the closest thing to the common French of New France is Acadian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadian_French.

Essentially, Shakespearian-era French it's changed relatively little in the intervening time. Having been isolated from the rest of La Francophonie, it missed out on all the standardisation and dictionaires and academies that contemporary French has been subjected to.

That does mean I can't understand French Canadians half the time (and my aunt lives in the Languedoc, so it's not like I haven't heard strong 'Old French' accents) but not that it's not weird to use tu/thou for a noble you're not related to. Unless they're a native leader and you're being super-patronising, because of course, les sauvages, they are like children, no?

Speaking of! If anyone can understand a light and cinematic version of the dialect and hasn't seen the GM's recommended watch yet, I found a pirate French dub of Black Robe on YouTube.

I belive the full movie is also available on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/black-robe-1991

A very busy week again for me. Apologies, I will try to get posts for everyone in the coming days!

We all have our busy times. I look forward to your posts when you can do them.

I've been struggling against it given how much OOC witter I've already thrown in, but it is stronger than me: I feel compelled to remark upon how immensely pleased I am that Marie's current pickle aptly demonstrates how important it is to think about birds.

Some birds come in ones, some birds come in lots, some birds fly away beeping if they see you from a distance and some sit tight and quiver then explode screaming from underfoot in the grass. Some were imported all the way from Central America long before Columbus for their size and shiny feathers and will chase you in Autumn; some fly in impossible, insect ways and will fight you over flowers; some have all-black raiment like a priest's and were reported to teach themselves fragments of human speech to call hunters in the period, the same way they'd call wolves to prey and making carrion. Some birds hiss and bark at intruders: some sorts come with colonists and double as better meat than dog. Some birds ignore people, staying only out of swiping reach and bending their flight to avoid a hiding man. Some sing specific Spring songs with folk that go down to the lake every year to do so. Some birds tut a ticking caution until a human is too near, then whirr away crying out to local wildlife that here is a villain! Cry! Flee!

There are so many birds, and they are all very good.

edit: this is when Marie gets shot from the other side for not thinking enough about birds and their likely spacing in comparison to humans pretending to be birds... XD


Unrelatedly, I missed the portrait slot last month, but my question still remains: has anyone put anything in that I might wind up doubling if I add local folk of the First Nations? Patron? Pierre?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:01, Mon 31 Jan 2022.

Alas, I have been missing these and haven't put anything up yet.

I'm afraid we seem to have lost Anne at a critical juncture in her plot. We're at 2 weeks. Per our absence policy, would anyone like to take over her character for the moment?

Likewise, Pierre is on an extended absence. Same goes.

Still willing to babysit, though since it's been implied that Marie might wind up shooting Pierre for keeping dubious company, maybe helping out Anne would be best.

I think her player's maybe in England, mind, where they're not used to bombers buzzing about, and so might be distracted...we had an American one over on Thursday, or at least they were meant to be about and I heard a much heavier plane than the inter-islander or the RAF jets that zoom out to go eyeball the Russians whenever they come to see how close they can get to Scapa Flow. Hell of a thing.

Anyway, have we noticed that Coyote & Crow is out in general PDF release? If I wasn't in an execrable state of health/spare energy I would be doing excitement circles, for sure.

In reply to L'hiver (msg # 132):

Very sorry if we have lost Anne. She had been a major character so far, and important for interacting with Fr. Joseph.

Apologies everyone, these last couple of weeks have been extremely distressing for obvious reasons. Sorry for delaying things here.

Wonderful to have you back. I am very sorry you have had some rough times, but I hope you feel able to play with us again -- we need you badly, especially Fr. Joseph.

I will be having a total hip replacement tomorrow (March 16). I am not sure how soon I will be able to game again, but it may be several days.

Bon courage, Josep, I always knew the first père to go cyber would be a Jesuit ;) Focus on recovering, we'll be here when you're back.

Good luck father! All of our NPCs will light a votive for your good health.

Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

Having one's leg taken off and put back on again better is a very good reason to take some days in bed, I think. May it heal fast and function well.

In reply to Fr. Joseph de la Tour (msg # 137):

I am very happy to say I am back with my new hip as of Mar. 25. I am sorry this took several days longer than originally expected. I will do my best to catch up with everything I may have missed. I thank all GMs and players for their patience.

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 138):

My wife suggested that I could come back with my PC having a wooden leg, but I'm not that devoted to authenticity.

In reply to L'hiver (msg # 139):

My thanks for their devout support.

In reply to Ignatius Bonpain (msg # 140):

Thank you for your good wishes. Now I am back, I hope our characters will be able to interact in the game now.

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 141):

Thank you very much. I do feel that the rest has done me good, and I hope to be up to regular gaming again now.

Lol, is it my turn to ask if we've lost le Jon père?

Perhaps he took his boots off - I have heard that one of the few downsides of becoming a Cool Cyborg is taking a lengthy time to reboot.

Gosh, Marie, was that a Dad Joke critical roll?

I...claim Pun Dog as an animal of totemic significance.

I have read that the Jesuits, with their dedication to martyrdom, and some American peoples, notably the Iroquois, developed mutual respect because both sides believed the ability to withstand torture stoically was a proof of heroic manhood.

Salut, Joseph! It's true - in both cases, an uncomplaining martyr taking a minimum of 12 hours to die is also the only human flesh that has passed the boundary between the born and the divine, so you can turn fragments of them into communion without it being counted against you by the fundamental spiritual powers of the world. Hyperspecific cannibalism buddies!

On a less extreme note, explaining scars from self-flallegation as the scars of being adopted by the Church would also make sense, since a primary stage in POW adoption all around the game area was beating the old (hostile) life out of said person. As an aside, Marie at least has rationalised the Catholic priesthood as a third gender group, which might be an idea to add weight if our priest is trying to prove his holiness rather than die, unusual people like those of transformed gender being held to have inherent talent towards spiritual matters.

The monotheists have always been weird about meat processing.

Apologies for my absence. I'm snowed under at work. I'll be posting again on the weekend.

No pressure, My Boss

After a brief respite, I'm entering another busy period for the next 2-3 weeks. There are new scenes coming up for everyone, but because it's harder to get a ball rolling, rather than keep it rolling, I hope you'll bear with the delays as I bring the new scenes online.

Deep under the weather. Got cough, headache, body aches, sneezing and coughing, great fatigue, and fever spiking 101f. Got a COVID test this morning. Seems a good chance I got it. Will post as I can.

Deepest sympathy and best wishes for recovery.

Have a speedy recovery. Take your rest. I'm going to be down to one post per week for the next 2 weeks. I'll try to post this weekend and next weekend.

Should be back to more frequent posting after that. Thanks to all for your patience.

Thanks for letting us know, it's appreciated!

Alas for Nat, though now maybe he can roll himself in rice crispies to simulate smallpox and call it method RP? Probably better to eat the rice crispies, though, a fever needs feeding.

Take care Ignatius, and thanks for the notice oh wise winter. Hoping both of you can go back to normal very soon.

New scenes are up. Post as you feel able. I'll be offline until next weekend. After that things should get back to normal.

Sorry to be AWOL. We had a major storm in my region that knocked out services and set everyone back. The clean-up took days and I'm just now back to the computer. I'm hopeful for a routine life for the next couple weeks.

Seconding that hope there! Are you and your trees all right?

In reply to L'hiver (msg # 163):

Very glad you are recovering from the storm. We were lucky in north central WV -- the storms raged around us, especially across the Ohio River in Ohio, but we did not get hit here where I am.

All is well with me, but I can't say the same for others unfortunately. Our weather is increasingly erratic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EljkIvHAfWc ...

I should say I will be traveling July 3 through July 9. I am not sure how much internet access I will have.

In reply to Fr. Joseph de la Tour (msg # 168):


I have returned from Britain and am ready to plunge into the wilderness.

Is Britain not a wilderness of it's own? The rail system, at least...

I've been under the weather with a cold this week (RAT negative, and will remain so, Inshallah). Glad to see the team carrying on without me. I'll have GM posts up in the coming 2 or 3 days.

Post when you feel better, chief, we'll be here. I'm glad you aren't infested with covid or rats, too.

Or the Brexit brainworms. Hope you feel better soon!

I wish Fr. Joseph could cure l'hiver too, but I fear he has not found a cure for the common cold.

I expect to be away at the Pennsic War from tomorrow (Aug. 5) until at least the following Thursday. I might be able to get on during that time, but I can't count on it.

Awesome! Try not to get trodden on too much, though, we'd like you back.

Fortunately, I am so old and frail now that I do not go out and get trodden on -- I am registering people's medieval names. That involves access to my computer, so I have a few free moments for RPOL.

Hope everyone is doing well.

It's polling time: keen to hear what you think.

Both parties will finish their respective scenes this week.

With the next scene, we have the chance to get the whole party, all 4 of you, together at last.

I would love to play scenes where Marie scandalises polite society, La Tour confronts his nemesis Robichaud, Ignatius negotiates with his factor at the fur trading post, and Marie meets her mother--but these are side plots. I would be tempted to leave these encounters to narration and get on with the party roleplay. That's not to say we forget about the subplots, but they'll unfold in the background and through narrative more than RP.

On the other hand, if any of you are extremely keen to play your subplots out now we can probably manage to do so in a way that won't disrupt party play.

What do you think? What are your priorities as far as character development and the game are concerned?

Marie can hiss at people and hide under their large furniture wherever she's placed, don't worry about her. Or do worry, if you can't see her and value your kneecaps, but you know what I mean. She'll do her best not to stab any of Nat's companions and might even give them a choice of (corn-battered) fish or crushed nuts as her contribution to breakfast.

I for one had a fairly lengthy introductory thread to become aware of Marie's range of reaction and am keen to get on with the plot, and trust you to ask about relevant things. Subplots ideally cross over with main ones anyway, so: happy for Marie to be annoyed by her mother etc. "offscreen" here.

I'm not aware of any Anne subplots right now, so happy to forge ahead with the main quest.

Mademoiselle! You are to be married? Have you so quickly forgotten your noble suitor Jean Gaspard de Clermont?

Alternatively, Marie can shoot him "offscreen" for you and we never mention him again. Sub-plot solved!

I'm eager to forge ahead and have the whole group to play with. Background narrative resolution of sub plots is fine, though I am worried about Grandjean's canoe.

I am happy to say I am back. I am sorry I could only post once while I was away. My computer was at Herald's Point the entire time, and while I was there I was usually busy researching people's authentic (we hope) medieval names.

I gather the feeling of the group favors going on with the main plot, and I agree. In particular it would be good to be interacting with Marie and Ignatius who have not really been active in the main plot so far.

Not to contradict the Reverend Father, but wherever I am is the main plot. :D

If where you are is the main plot, M. Bonpain, we must all hope to join you in it soon.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:08, Fri 26 Aug 2022.

Sorry to be offline the last couple days. It's been unexpectedly busy at work.

Hi Team, I'm traveling this weekend and am experiencing intermittent internet. Carry on without me!

We'll try not to set everything on fire before you get back, chief.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to feel a bit like the poor Egyptian in Asterix the Legionary who gets drafted into the Roman army whilst looking for tourist information due to the language barrier...

I apologize for not reporting I would be away for 2 days (Sept.1-2) while attending my MA graduation. For some reason, I could not get on RPOL just before I left in order to warn you.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:40, Sun 04 Sept 2022.

Congratulations on officially mastering something!

Meanwhile, I am hugely amused that the French are not stereotyping Marie as lazy and nefariously out to corrupt the *cough* "inherently noble white men" by trading sex for alcohol, but as keen for employment and determined to sleep only with her cousin (by marriage, but still). Very glad her French is too poor and her too far away to catch any of that, but feel free to keep casting aspersions, I am massively entertained by the dramatic irony.

Incidentally, Marie's differential description of Nat that Lisette translated as 'handsome' was 'not drunk'. I am additionally amused that both Lisette and Père Joseph noticed, though. Nat's instantly-impressive hotness should be a running gag.

Lord help me.

Well, it's better than instantly observable drunkenness like Jean-Pierre.

The only point of agreement between all castes and classes of colonial New France, from natives to the clergy: Nat's hotness.

Starting on Thursday, I'm entering a 3-6 week period of heavier that usual workload. I hope you won't notice too much impact on my posting, but in case you see me drop off for several days in a row, that's why.

Got it. Be strong, mon ami.

Bon courage! :)

Thanks for the warning. Work is work and play is play, and this is play. There is a difference.

Wise words there. We'll be here, chief, no worries.

I believe we are attending the Seigneuresse Pecaudy de Contrecoeur. Please consider this a gentle throat-clearing noise. Ahem.

*blush*

Hi Team, I'm still under the pump at work, so apologies for not being more present. Thanks for your understanding.

I think this scene is starting to wrap itself up. Anne, if you could take the lead in terms of setting the marching orders and parameters for the team (e.g. "meet at the Seminaire 2 days hence ..."). I will give you all a wide latitude of narrative control here. Feel free to manipulate the scene and minor NPCs to move us towards the next act.

Aye aye!

Oui, Maitre d' le jeu

Just for interest, as I'm off work due to being attacked by a certain skeleton that hates me...as far as my feeble grasp of Imperial and numbers in general can work out, a year's pay for a period British soldier would be £12, 3s & fourpence. Acknowledging that the boss will handwave pay to just 'a lot', JP will doubtless consider himself hired alongside Nat, because otherwise that's so much there's definitely going to be a catch along the lines of '100 to 1 survival odds'.


Trying to imagine the conversation that leads to Marie staying with the group now, though...something like...

Nat: Marie, you should come along on this possibly-suicidal jaunt and definitely get parasites all winter, we need you.
Marie: ...all right.
Nat: -but you won't get paid.
Marie: ...
Nat: I think the mission is to find Father de la Tour a place to be martyred? It was never quite spelled out.
Marie: The rich foreigners want to go way out in the middle of the forest and get shot? [casually loading musket] ...so, do you feel like splitting the pay with Jean-Pierre, or...?


Hers not to reason why!
This message was last edited by the player at 22:46, Thu 22 Sept 2022.

Has the army ever paid well, though?

This is minus beer money, but...better than most low-level urban occupations at the time? That being a pretty constant selling point for the occupation of being shot at and all. Was just a comparison mark on a whim, really.

Ah, I'm curious to see where the next thread will land us. Father de la Tour, will you do the honours and roll this one up nicely? I think that's everything else sorted that's going to be.

Fair enough. I guess my working assumption is that coureurs are highly qualified (traders, paddlers, porters, languages) whereas soldiers enlists knowing probably nothing and are trained on the job. So if anything they should be in higher demand/command higher wages. But I'm not an expert on the labour market of New France. I might even be wrong.

Thanks for carrying on without me, team. I should have one more week of this excessive workload and then things should normalize again.

From the CG New France Sourcebook:

Initially, trade in New France was conducted by bartering but to encourage the development of a system compatible with France, French livres were introduced. The livre was a coin made of billon, an alloy of copper and silver. It coexisted with other forms of currency, including promissory notes and even signed playing cards.

Like all paper currency, the value of promissory notes and playing cards decreased rapidly with time. They were initially introduced in the late 17th century to counter the lack of minted coin from France. They gradually disappeared over time, but a claimant with a long-forgotten note was not unheard of. If the heirs of its issuer had enough money and could be successfully located, the note could be redeemed.

Historically, a livre was divided into 20 sols (later changed to sous) which were in turn broken down into 12 deniers each. Like the British Pound Sterling, the value of a livre was initially equivalent to one pound of silver, but this value depreciated over the centuries. The British colonies were very reluctant to accept French livres. Not only were the livres much lighter than the Pound Sterling, but France continuously adjusted the value of the livre to maintain it below that of other European currencies. As a result, French characters who trade with the merchants of the British colonies may find that a livre is worth less than a pound.

Don't worry too much about the numbers. Anne is rich enough at this moment to throw money around to fund the journey, but precarious enough to undertake this desperate measure in the first place...
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:04, Sun 25 Sept 2022.

Hi chief!

@Anne - I suppose you could say both groups attended the University of Not Dying, since it's not like apprentices were trained in some safe facility somewhere. They would be more likely to join the profession young enough for their brains to be child-stretchy, but at least as likely to die as teenage soldiers, so...depends at what point in an infantryman's career we're comparing skill sets, really. I don't think there is a 'wrong' here, however, since Anne's class is literally setting the monetary value of labour to start with.

For instance, Marie - and doubtless Lisette - is capable of many high-skilled tasks, but because she's brown and female most of her labour is treated as a form or extension of natural behaviour and not worth compensation. Marx has a handy phrase for this, but I managed to not sleep last night and woke up at noon, so my brain is like scrambled eggs right now....

Interesting how both currencies followed the same 20/12 pattern as (20 shillings per pound, 12 pennies per shilling). Perhaps because they both referral to metal weights too?

I read somewhere, and more than once, that cash money was the main lure of army service for many recruits (as opposed to the still mostly unmonetised rural economy), but that most armies were woefully behind on payments, sometimes many years in arrears. So even if nominally soldiers got an okay pay, most of the time they were utterly broke. But it might be that I'm remembering research on previous centuries, and army logistics were more advanced by the 18th.

And unlike soldiers, coureurs were involved in actually lucrative trade... But I'd bet most of their pay was in food and supplies? Considering they operated mostly outside the currency economy? But I'm just guessing here.

But, wait, Marie! Are you somehow implying colonialism is, gasp, unfair!? B-but, the mission civilisatrice!

(sarcasm, knowing nod, wink)

(Also glad your workload is returning to normal, dear GM! Hope you can take some time off to rest and recover too, stress is a byotch.)

Somewhat, but beer money etc. was brought in so that there would be a drip-feed of cash for daily purposes (that incidentally prevents your army harassing the locals). Also, the promise of pay from a centralised body > the promise of pay 'if [venture] turns out', which is attractive if you're part of the newly-swollen and urbanised landless underclass.

You could still use pelts for currency in the second half of the 19th century, so I suspect that's how a lot of decentralised transactions went, but I can look this kind of thing up tomorrow. So we feel knowledgeable, at least.

Heh. Of course, Madame, God willed you such station...some savages just don't know about God yet.

Supplies and notes of credit, today's research says, and, ah, I'd never quite realised how much the superiority of French brandy to English rum contributed to the French colonies' establishment. Oof, but killing people with high-quality consumable goods worked out to a double win there (though apparently missionaries who kept getting stabbed were not fans).

I have a wife in the hospital with sepsis and a major hurricane bearing down on me.

I'll be back as I can.

In reply to Ignatius Bonpain (msg # 214):

I do hope this serious RL situation is resolved as soon as possible as well as possible.

In reply to Ignatius Bonpain (msg # 214):

Oh gosh, I hope everything gets better soon, Ignatius.

Best wishes Igantius. Hope to see you soon.

Thanks for your excellent play while I was away, everyone.

I am back. I'll have 2 weeks of smooth sailing and then another 3 week period of intensive work (mid-Oct to early Nov). After that, my workload should be normal through to the end of the year.

I propose we wrap up this scene with one maybe two more posts each. Then on to the next scene. We can assume that Ignatius is quietly following along with the party. If he's unable to post I can sub for him where needed.

Glad to hear you get some time without your nose right on the grindstone, chief.

Really hope Nat's wife wasn't in the hospital that half blew down, and that she gets better. Been fretting since hearing in another game, but I don't think Florida has electricity at the moment: Cuba is only just getting theirs back and they're not so flooded out.

I am happy L'HIver has some time for gaming. I join in hoping that Ignatius' wife's situation amid the hurricane is not dire.

Thanks for the good wishes, y'all.

The hurricane took a fortuitous (for us) jog and our only damage was the loss of two refrigerator's worth of food when the poser was out for 30 hours.

My wife was in the hospital all through the storm but is home now and recovering.

I'll be back to regular posting soon.

Phew! So very glad for both of you :D

In reply to Ignatius Bonpain (msg # 220):

Very glad you both came through so (comparatively) well, especially your wife.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:45, Mon 03 Oct 2022.

We'll shortly jump into the next group scene (the next day: meeting your traveling companions), so if there are things you want to get done before then, questions you want to ask, etc please DM me and we'll resolve those things off screen.

You put on your wizard hat and robe... :D

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 224):

A Jesuit cassock should suffice.

Sorry for my silence, everyone. My computer is taking longer to repair than expected and in the meantime I'm back into my work-intensive weeks. I'm not going to be much use for the next couple weeks, so can I suggest we take a short hiatus until the first week of November? I'll restart at that time with a new group scene.

We'll be here, chief. Bon courage, and see you round about the 7th!

No worries, we'll be here for you when you're back! Thanks for letting us know :)

See you in November, boss.

Au revoir. I look forward to resuming when reality release you.

Hello team, I'm back.

After 7^1/2 years with my trusty old laptop I had to admit it was time buy a new one. All good things come to an end. Now I'm cussing as I try to figure out the new one.

Look for a new post in the coming days.

Good to hear from you, my boss.

New toys! Weee!

Very glad our beloved leader has returned. I changed over to a new laptop last summer and I am about to change to a new cellphone, so I sympathize with the transition issues.

[waves] If the new beast is Windows, be sure to get ShutUp10++ so that you can disable the automatic spying software (if it's Apple, you're cooked on that front, but at least you can charge it on normal cables if it was built in the EU). I am dreading the hassle when my literally taped-together laptop fnally expires.

Madame de Contrecoeur, can I presume you've accepted a beautiful 'suit/e of furs' from Marie's mother and arranged for payment to be sent for it?

Your turn, Anne.

All right, so this is a very little bit meta, but may I respectfully suggest getting Marie - who is fluent in formal Algonquin and Catholic syncrecism with First Nation beliefs - to explain what the blackrobes are doing and why, rather than trying to persuade the other priests to give her a crash course (in French) on how to be second to nun?

I say this because no matter how things go over with NWD, as things stand the next bit of the scene is likely to look something like this:

Anne: right, just give your most holy oil to Marie and tell her what to say, chop chop!
Priests: [look at Lisette] Well, if she's a woman of exceptional faith...
Anne: no, no, not her, that armed goblin slav squatting in the corner over there.
Priests: [look to knee height where indicated]
Marie: *hisses at them*

Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to be honest, but whatever hauls ass. Anne isn't very concerned about soul matters, Christian or shamanistic, so she'll go with whatever gets her freak show on the road the soonest.

Then...say a thing that does make sense? I don't think Fr. Joseph actually knows who Marie is specifically, and may assume she's someone Lisette knows rather than 'the woman' he encountered the day before, unless Nat's introduced them in the meantime.

I think Anne should maybe look at this as a social puzzle to solve - a wolf/sheep/cabbage game - rather than just saying anything without paying attention, which might tip things into violence (or force the GM to solve the puzzle for us, which isn't much fun). Then again, maybe she's never encountered consequences for ordering people around without considering external social structures before and it'd provide really neat character development...someone might die or not get the rites/rights due to them, is all.

Oh, just that. Ok then. You got me worried for a second.

Never mind, this is now the Lisette Try To Keep A Straight Face Challenge!

Sorry guys, I'm caught up in work again this week. Will get a post up in the next couple days. Should be back to more regular posting next week.

For clarity, I had addressed the chieftess but I'm not sure she's replied to me? Shall I wait, or assume she's ignoring Anne?

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 243):

Sorry, forgot I hadn't answered this. It's safe to assume Anne is being ignored, and also talked about. She's used to the latter but not the former...

Interesting reference to demonic activity in Quebec and the role of a seigneueresse:

https://www.ancientpages.com/2...rance-what-happened/

I wish I could find more details on this case.

The old chief's request suggests we might be starting to get into the "Gothic" side of
"Colonial Gothic" --exciting!

Ah, good old Claviceps purpurea...using the rib bone of a priest is a bit of genius Catholic synchronicity, though, since the locals would have been impressed with the notion of a rib standing for a human being/fragment of male entity become female* in the Abrahamic creation myth, know that bits of people (relics, scalps) can channel their power, and that a priest in turn would be a conduit of the Singular Divine rather than personal power or anything else. Smart lady.

By the way...this is more me being persnickety about mildly ambiguous grammar than anything, please don't take it as more than archaeological nerd twitching in the background, but just noting that the Father saying 'our God', means 'mine and your God' rather than "the God of us French", since other gods being reflections of the singular or wholly invalid is the whole point of monotheism. It's what makes it an amazing colonising tool, because once there is a divine Truth and Right Way Of Being, then anything else is objectively Wrong, and insistence on sticking to it justifies about anything one wants to do to the heathen.

The pre-existing concept of a Great Manitou and certain parts of the soul that might be parsed as Holy Spirit in this area makes the 'you're getting there, but we've come to tell you about Jesus' particularly effective, since it reads like an update from people in the know. Amusingly, it seems like Marie has a more developed notion of God, Heaven and Hell than Nat does, but he has no reason to particularly interrogate his inheritance, and her mother was an adult convert (genuine converts are always hardcore due to the amount of mental reconfiguration it takes to switch belief systems and weld the new one in with enough faith to cover the contradictions).


*gender transformation and ambiguity is part of the shamanic complex - and why Marie thinks "Catholic clergy" is a gender (her native languages don't have gendered pronouns and French genders everything in an opaque-to-Marie binary way, so there's no conflict there) - and female-to-male transformation has miraculous associations to Catholics. Saint Uncumber (who definitely didn't exist) isn't the only one in that tradition.

Mairi Cowan actually wrote a whole book on the case!
https://www.goodreads.com/book...sion-of-barbe-hallay

Ignatius’s theology is pretty rudimentary, garnered from word of mouth/various sermons that rarely had his full attention, and whatever his mother imparted offhandedly along with his letters and numbers. He probably never had any formal instruction from a priest or missionary.

Neat book!

@Nat: Oh, I know, I just find it funny in context that the missionaries are presenting the French/Christians as enlightened, but that group of people don't actually have to think about/be terrorised by the intricacies of the religion. Whereas the...well, bobcat sat on the floor is going to have to do some hard thinking when I get home to keep her spiritual balance.

I've lost the plot of the scene, guys. I might just sit it out and rejoin you latter.

Aw, but surely if Madame de Contrecoeur will not stoop to voicing objections to being ignored, she will now show us what it is she does when getting insufficient attention or stimulation, no?

I can't picture a lady who's willing to haul people into the countryside in the teeth of an oncoming Canadian winter at the tail end of the Little Ice Age being willing to be stood in the corner quietly like a china doll. Will she not bother a priest, or stalk off and fuss over last-minute arrangements? Religious crisis aside, Marie's there to translate if she wants to talk to the warriors.

In reply to L'hiver (msg # 247):
Thanks for the reference. I had a feeling that Cowan had done a more serious piece on the case, but I had not looked it up yet.

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 251):

Anne the character is itching to leave and impatient at all this pointless delay. Anne the player is thoroughly confused and, like I said, I'd rather pick it up again at the next scene where I (hopefully) do actually understand what's going on.

This is intended as a short scene to introduce some plot points and add the gothic element, as the good father points out. We should not tarry long here and will shortly be away.

Well, that was unexpectedly sporty.

Full marks to Fr. Joseph for playing a Jesuit to the hilt.

One thing I’m trying to do, partly through RPoL’s rather clunky language system, is simulate the vitally important roll of translators and cultural brokers, and the potential for cultural misunderstanding--such as we had here. Much of the dialogue will not be understood by all characters—simulating being in an unfamiliar culture or environment. Those that do understand are put in the delicate position of needing to interpret things for the others. The language system is not ideal for this, but it’s what we’ve got.

I will also try to put in body language clues so even if the characters don’t understand what is said they can get a sense for it by how the actors behave. But this too can be misleading, because body language can mean different things in different cultures too…

Interested to hear your thoughts on how it’s working.

Apologies for the delay between IC post and feedback, I ran out of break...I think so far the language divides are working well. I personally could have done with a note that fast/thick Anishinaabe no longer shares the Abenaki tab when it occurred, as I mistook it for a 'clicked the wrong tag' error, but that just caused some '???' PMs rather than any hitch in play.

Marie is generally annoyed and will probably bite the first person who touches her at present, but under that she is amused Nat's pulled out his most formal Huron.  The need to involve the parties who can actually translate has been fairly well proven, I think, but how to better put it in practice I'm not sure.

Perhaps Lisette could take on more of a bridging role when it comes to the class gap between the upper-class Francophones and the Francophone who can talk to the stabby cat Native who doesn't particularly care about them (or most people, but foreigners are even less likely to make an above-neutral impression) but does care about him. Lisette might encourage/suggest they talk to each other, mention things that are said to her mistress as best she can follow, that kind of thing, maybe? I don't think Lisette's particularly fond of anyone either, but Marie's taken to her as a fellow dispossessed and would heed her enough to catch mistranslations, speak up for her, etc.

In reply to L'hiver (msg # 255):

Fr. Joseph is deeply honored (in a humble way) for the "full marks." I only hope he survives the scene, preferably with his hair still on.

Yes, that's a good idea. I'll try to minimize NPCs translating for NPCs, but an NPC translating between characters is all good!

Marie's post makes a nice closing for that scene. I may end it there, and open a new scene on the weekend.

Anne is busy IRL, but I hope she will not be away too long.

En avant!

JFC I can't leave you lot alone! :O

Anne's caught up! ^_^

Bravo. I would have been sorry to lose Anne in mid-flirtation, however innocent.

Sorry to be slow on posting. I've come down with a virus and have been feeling shit. PCR says it's not COVID, RSV, or flu. Just another carefree infection taking advantage of post-COVID world travel.

I was tired and run-down even before getting sick, so I hope to take some good time off around the holidays and recharge. Since RPGs are part of the recharge plan, this should mean a steady rate of posting 2-4 times per week.

Feb-March are looking to be very busy months IRL and gameplay will slow down at that time. So, I hope to make good progress in the coming few weeks.

Glad you’re feeling better.

My daughter will be visiting 28 December to 4 January which will restrict my online time a bit.

Ach, I offer you electronic oranges and good wishes, for I have nothing better: O O O

Glad to hear this is relaxing/entertaining for you, however, and I look forward to setting out on our road trip and seeing more of contact-era Canada! I assume Marie put Fr. Joseph down where he ought to be yesterday rather than leaving him in a pub/heap of snow somewhere.

Pub, oui, heap of snow, non!

I am now convinced that these precise instructions have been given to Marie at some point, presumably when she looked set to put him down somewhere...

So, we have Anne and Joseph in one a canoe, and Marie and Ignatius in another, correct?

That’s how I see it.

I'll go with that. Nat definitely got in behind Marie, and I don't think there's much room for anyone else with Joseph, Anne and their luggages. Do we have Lisette, too? If the Fancy French contingent start paddling in circles or something from lack of bush experience we can rescue them at the next stop.

My expectation is that most of the paddling will be done by the indigenes, certainly not by Madame.

Maybe Lisette and the other missionary are in another canoe together.

I am not sure how large these canoes may be. Could Anne, Joseph, and 2 Indigene paddlers share 1 canoe?  That would seem suitable to me if the canoes were large enough.

In Blackrobe they rode 4-5 to a canoe, just Google for images.

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 274):

Thank you for the information. I have read about that film, but I have not seen it. I expect it is useful background for our story.

My pleasure. You might want to watch it, it's well made and particularly relevant for your character, of course.

As for watching it (for free), I know for sure that you can get it in French on YouTube and the chief said the Internet Archive has it in English. I think that's true of Last of the Mohicans, too, though that's obviously not based on a specific historical account and written with a strong pro-colonial lens.

If you two can find a way to squish into our canoe with those 3 armfuls of luggage each I'm not specifically objecting, but it'd put Lisette on her own rather than with either of us (though possibly the younger lads won't mind a Métis as much) and Marie will tell Madame to sit down...that standing in big skirts is making me anxious, never mind anyone in a boat with her.

Nat, I don't think we have another missionary? Fr. Belloq is here to wave and the others are still hiding under something, as far as I can tell. I might be wrong. You might also have a baked turnip pressed upon you by Marie's mother.

Ah. I thought Bellocq was going along. Pity, a sacrificial NPC is always welcome.

Ate the turnip on the way over. :)

Happy (and belatedly) New Year everyone!

Bonne Année! ^_^

(Also, chief, in the name of the Some, the Little Hairs, and the Spirit of Holy Ladies, your spellcheck does not like Latin...)
This message was last edited by the player at 01:18, Wed 04 Jan 2023.

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 280):

Too true about spellcheck not liking Latin. I have spent much time --too much typing --transcripts of medieval Latin documents on my Iphone and the results are often maddening.

I am both highly intrigued as to why such an unusual and specific activity is something you've done often, and about the results. It's rather like a modernised version of those mediaeval Chinese scribes transcribing Mongol documents with the nearest-sounding word/syllable to hand...is there truly no way to turn the machine's helpfulness off?

I think if I had much to type in that wise I would take a series of pictures and repair to the library's computers to e-mail myself out of frustration: I have no intelligent telephone (and will soon be declared an animal because of it, I'm sure) but own a cast-off iPad and re-re-correcting even one word when the thing wants it to be another irritates me to the extreme. You must have monastic levels of patience, is all I can say.

(having fellow scholars try to work out the gibberish Anglified version does sound like a good game, though.)

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 282):

Well, as for why I do it, I have spent many years researching crime in medieval England, and most of the relevant documents are in Latin -- very formulaic basic medieval Latin, fortunately, so even when the spellcheck distorts a word and I fail to catch it at the time, I can usually correct it afterwards.

Sounds like we have a GM for a potential Cthulhu Dark Ages murder mystery...

I would join that game in a heartbeat, but...why type your research untranslated into an intelligent telephone? This may be incredibly obvious to most, but I haven't quite let go of the last century yet and am keenly curious.

Also, of course, now curious as to whether you've come across any "ghost points out the perpetrator" ones or other oddness.

In reply to L'hiver (msg # 284):

Sign me up!

Oh, Father Joe... Hunts-Men IS behind you.

The priest has decided to sit backwards, I think?

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 285):

Regarding typing the original text into my phone, I am working from texts which are not only in Latin but also handwritten in medieval script, so for me the first step in understanding them is transliterating them into modern typescript. The second stage would be translating them into modern English, but I don't generally do that in writing, since once I know what the Latin looks like in modern script, I can read it.

To give you an idea, this is what one transcript looks like:
(Reference) Adam Thomson.Thomas de Ravenwyk. William Parnyng. JUST 3.164n40 AALT fronts IMG 0083 SD. No pard. Transcript rechecked
Heading: Ad huc de delib'acoe f-ca coram Rog'o de Fulthorp & Thoma de Sandeford Justic' &c' apud Karl-m die Ven'is px post f-m Sci Petr' ad vincula( Aug.1)  anno rr Rici Scdi post conq-m t'cio (1379)

Main text: Adam Thomson de Ravenwyk (Renwik) & Thomas de Ravenwyk (Renwik) de Yllesby capti p' eo qd ip-i felonice int'fecerunt Will-m P-nyng? (= Parnyng?) apud le Wodyate in for' de Ingelwode die Martis px post f-m Sci Barnebe Ap-li ( (June 11) anno rr E t'cii post conq-m Angl' quadragesimo quinto (1371) unde coram custod' pacis com - p'dci ind'cati sunt ven' p- vic' ducti & p- Justic' singulatim allocuti qualit' se veluit de felon' p'dca sibi importa acquietare dicunt qd ip-i in nullo sunt inde culpabiles Et de hoc de bono & malo pon' se sup- p'riam I-o fiat inde Jur" ---- Jur' ad hoc el-ci triati & iurati dicunt sup- sacr-m suu- qd p'dcus Thomas de RavenWyk in nullo est culpabilis de morte p'dca nec unq"m se ret"xit occ'one p'dca I-o cons' est qd idem Thomas eat inde quietus Et quo ad p'dcm Adam dic' iidem Jur' qd accidit die & anno p'dcis in p'dca foresta de Ingelwode apud le Wodyate qd p'dci Adam & Will's insimul obvianer' ib-m & ex odio antiquo quod idem Will's h-uit erga p'dcm Adam idem Will's ext"xit quendam glad'm & insultu' fecit eide Ade & ip-m ib-m cu- gladio p'dco g”vit’ (=graviter)  vuln'avit p- quod idem Adam p-cipiens mortis sue p-iculu- sibi imminere (actually spelled iminere) fugit & p'dcus Will's ip-m recent' insequ(vowel missing)tus fuit & ip-m fugavit usqu' ad quendam magnu-  quercu- & ip-m? ib-m cu- gladio p'dco semp- vuln'ando in tantu- detinuit qd nullicubi diffug'e possit nisi se defendisset p- quod idem Adam in vite sue salvaco'em ext"xit quendam cultellu- cu-quo ip-m p-cussit solo ictu in pectore unde mox obiit Jur' quis' si p'dcus Adam ex aliqua felon' aut malicia p'cogitatis int'fecit int'fecit(dup) p'dcm Will-m necne qui dicunt qd ip-e non int'fecit p'dcm Will-n ex aliqua felon- seu malicia p'cogitatis set (sed) se defendendo sicut p'dcm est Et dic' p'cise qd nisi p'dcus Adam ip-m sic se defendisset alit' mortem sua- p'priam evadere non potuisset nec ab inde unius evasisset I-o idem Adam remittit' prisone in custodia Willi de Stapulton vic' ad gr'am d-m Regis in hac p-te exspectand' catalla eius xl s unde Joh'es de Balston & Joh'es de Erngarth inde d-no Regi respondebunt

I have not personally come across any "ghost points out perpetrator" stories --the actual legal reports I use are usually pretty conventional. There were ghost stories in the middle ages, though. M.R. James, the very distinguished British ghost story writer (author of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary etc.) really was an antiquary, in fact a very important authority on (and cataloguer of) medieval manuscripts, and besides his own fiction he also translated a group of real medieval ghost stories. There are other such collections available as well.

Regarding Dark Ages Cthulhu, I have played in some RPOL Cthulhu games, but no Dark Ages ones. The concept is interesting, but I would have to familiarize myself with the rules before trying to run a game. I have now gone ahead and bought the Cthulhu Dark Ages 3rd ed. rules, but I don't know how soon I would be prepared to run a game.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:39, Fri 06 Jan 2023.

In reply to Ignatius Bonpain (msg # 287):

You are right. My apologies. Of course the "avant" is in front. I will revise my post.

Ah, all right, I can see that if one were used to the tiny device, transliteration into universal-standard letters that way would be more convenient that a big keyboarded device. Thank you very much for the example transcript, too, it's interesting and surprisingly lively for its length.

You know, on Christmas Eve I did actually show the BBC adaptation of Martin's Close to a friend, but come to think of it most "what on earth was going on here" legally-recorded ghost stories I'm aware of are also early modern. There's one in the Kirkwall archives up here about a set of haunted doors, and I do wonder if folk memory, wood fungal phosphorescence or the ghost of the old Earl were responsible for later sightings by the ditch where they eventually wound up. Mediaeval ones are far cooler, though.

Of the game, at least you know you have an interested player base if you ever want to venture it!

Of travelling backwards, perhaps confusing the locals would add to his mystique?

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 293):

Thanks for your response. I must admit I did not know of the BBC version of Martin's Close. What I always remember from that story is the song, "Madam, will you walk, will you talk with me?" I can imagine it could be very effectively performed.

I see the same series also did The Tractate Middoth, which is one of my favorite M.R. James stories, since it has a relatively happy ending. When young, I had a rule not to read M.R. James after 8 p.m. so I would not wake up screaming in the middle of the night.

I do not know the Kirkwall story, but it sounds very interesting. Is there a convenient reference to it?

I will try to go into the Cthulhu Dark Ages rules. They are set about 300 years before the period I specialize in, but I am interested in events from that period too. I am currently reading Charles Kingsley's Hereward the Wake, for example, a rousing Victorian historical novel with a certain amount of magic.

Oh, they did that well (to be seen here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLo96vKwnkQ - if anyone wonders what we're wittering about). This year's rendition, however, of Count Magnus, was entertaining but averaged on the silly side, which isn't the way to treat a James story. I seem to remember they undermined the very end of The Tractate Middoth somewhat for no good reason, too, though the rest was fun. The Beeb's  A View From A Hill is a different beast to the original, but suited to the medium being used and honestly more disquieting, though again, a bit of unfair ambiguity at the end.

Heehee...though they've never given me nighmares, reading a handful of M.R. James stories at night remains a consistent way for me to spook myself silly now same way as when I was 10 (him and Carnaki the Ghost-Finder). It's the subtlety and his particular genius for that stomach-dropping "object in background is not what you think it is" that does it, I think.


Alas, I had the story from an assistant archivist fresh out of rationalising the chaos heap of the archives, so all it'll have is a catalogue number for the set of letters and maybe for what happened to the implicated priest, but I can ask said archivist for the details and tell it to you - chief, let me know if this digression is annoying, I can make a document to link.


Please don't feel obliged to anything, the historical CoC set is just an excitable and hungry lot. Set it whenever you prefer and only if you want to. Ah? Do let us know if it's good, that sounds entertaining.

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 295):

Unfortunately, the link to Martin's Close has been blocked on copyright grounds, at least for me. I cannot imagine making Count Magnus "silly" but if it could be done, I agree it shouldn't be. A pity about the end of Tractate Middoth. I shall have to see what I can learn about the BBC View from a Hill. I find that story frightening partly because I can imagine being tempted by that kind of access to the past. Looking up the online summary of View it does seem to be very different from the original story.

I am very fond of Carnacki because it is one of the few occult detective series I know in which both answers -- occult and non-occult -- are possible solutions, and sometimes Carnacki himself has trouble deciding.

I would be glad to have the reference to the Kirkwall case --send it however you and L'Hiver agree is best.

My main difficulty with the Cthulhu Dark Ages is the 3rd edition I bought is based on 7th edition CoC, and most of my experience has been with much earlier editions. I will see how much my understanding needs to be updated.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:52, Sun 08 Jan 2023.

Incidentally, when I was young, I went on a 50-mile canoe trip through northern Michigan with the Boy Scouts. Being a totally novice canoeist, I found it quite rough. I am channeling that in Fr. Joseph's response to his journey.

Heh, I shall try and supress my jealousy of such a grand adventure, having grown up on concrete. At least he's not dropped a paddle yet. Marie will probably be achey by evening, but she doesn't generally complain of physical pain unless she's actually broken somehow, so no-one will know that.

Alas for the link not working, I'm sorry about that. Probably worth a search over there: YouTube pirates, unlike the marine kind, are often very considerate. Hahaha, as an archaeologist, what upsets me most about that story is that he only looked at one thing and then broke the device...the BBC version explores that compulsion more, and I think you'd agree as to it being a worthy variation on a theme.

I love Carnacki for his competence both with fakes and manifestations, but what "gets" me the way other stories simply don't* is when he says things like - to paraphrase in the broadest sense - 'I then locked myself in my room and huddled in the corner whimpering until daylight'. It works because of the competence, this guy just being cool and prepared for anything right until he's not and oh no. That night-black dread is contagious, brr.


I asked said archivist and was handed a link to the letters ready-made into a story, though without much more on the priest: http://orkneyarchive.blogspot....ay-winters-tale.html Sorry it took qute so long to get it to you, I've been doing solid days of data entry for Science (if all the numbers of all the micro-finds from samples from all the bits of all the floors are put together, you can see things like [hearthless concentration of charcoal flecks indicating a hanging lamp]/[someone sitting in one corner and working on one flint object] no longer physically there in the archaeological record, but that means all the numbers have to be in the computer first) and not up to more than a post a day after all that screentime.


In my opinon, 7e is very easy to get the hang of with the sole exception of combat - if you do run something here, just...ignore the new combat shennanigans. Everything opposed, some things double-opposed, bonus/penalty dice all over the place, Luck spends on Skills, which covers most attacks...I am sure I read something about being able to Push (reroll with a second failure being automatically critical/worse than the original consequence) opponents' rolls as well. Not something to touch with a bargepole in PbP.



*not being spooked as such, but dread-wise Goss and Subby from China Miéville's Kraken also terrify me on an absoloutely visceral level, which is particularly odd because taken apart in a narrative sense, all their components suggest they should be comic relief. They are not.

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 298):

On Carnacki, for me the story that is most impressive is "The Whistling Room" because it is based on the very real power of satire in medieval Irish culture --as you may know, for a bard to compose a satire on someone was legally regarded as an actual attack and subject to severe penalties.

Thank you very much for sharing the Kirkwall story -- very striking. It does have very much the atmosphere of an M. R. James story, especially if one assumes Bletchie had poisoned the laird.

Your description of the use of computers to organized archaeological finds reminds me of recently reading Kourion, on the reconstruction of an ancient Greek town devastated by an earthquake -- apparently the archaeologists working there in the 1980s were pioneering the use of the computer organizing of data such as you now do.

I do love the terrifying tragedy of unreasonable ghosts/sheer rage so transcendent it stains and seeps out of the walls for centuries later (do you like Emily Carroll? She often nails that feel). The satire thing is far older - Saint Columba got hex-mocked at, I think - I'd say most gamers would know it from the D&D spell, but it's more than possible they'd not make the connection. The Whistling Room also brings up that sense of a dense invisible or scientifically-untapped Unknown, which is breathtaking...Carnacki's regret at forcing an 'angel' to step in for him is poignant and palpable.

For me, it's The Gateway of the Monster that does it, just the sheer amount of blank malevolence and threat from a fist-sized black hole of awful that underlines the difference between the desire to kill and the desire to destroy. That said, I've always felt that the legend at the bottom of The Horse of the Invisible would make an awesome story about generational curses/trauma and gender relations...some loyal beast that failed a mistress once and cannot rest until convinced, somehow, that men in general aren't threats by default and it's possible for a descendent to fall in love and be happy if it doesn't murder her fiancé.


It's a good one, isn't it? Probably a persistent rumour, but Bletchie did have motive, though I'm not sure if he won the property outright in the end.

We use a lot of cutting edge techniques, even now: the hard sciences don't like to play with us 'cause we're "too humanities", and the humanities are all "why are you looking at nitrogen isotopes in seaweed*? Get out of our fort", but if you think of excavation as maybe 20% of what we do and 80% analysis and synthesis, anything that helps is good, and we have relatively more leeway for experimentation. In comparison to, say, medical or nuclear research, I mean.


*because they show up differently in crops depending on how you fertilise your field, and much like marine carbon messes with radiocarbon dates, marine isotopes clustered in skeletal analysis of diet can look like a high proportion of meat, affecting how we think about livestock management, social status, etc.

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 300):

I must admit I did not recall "The Gateway of the Monster" but I have now reread it and I agree it is quite effective. As you said earlier, Carnacki is quite honest about the fear he feels. Personally, I was sorry for the cat. I do recall "The Horse of the Invisible" and appreciate your idea for a legend.

While I am not an archaeologist, I have read enough archeological articles to understand your point about how important the analysis and synthesis is. I spend a lot of my time in analysis and synthesis of the documents I transcribe.

That is a horribly distressing murder, indeed: what you'd call setting the stakes high and then some.

OOC in general, I'd like to explicitly say that whilst Marie doesn't particularly appreciate Anne's efficient method of demonstrating her status as a holy idiot - 'idiot' clear by the DO NOT reactions of the Frenchmen, 'holy' since she remains remarkably unstabbed for someone grabbing a bobcat - the player does. Hopefully the freedoms accorded to such a person, lack of what could wind up as sexual harassment from culture clash and increased willingness of the locals to teach will outweigh the irritation of being considered a kind of large French partridge.

Marie's now making sure that folk know to refer to someone who actually sort-of speaks the language (Lisette) in any situations that might otherwise result in Anne getting into a fight she can't carry. She'll let go eventually.

Ref. post by Marie (see Le Depart) OOC: Should that be "expectantly"?

Hah, thanks for the clarification. Considering the reactions I normally get, I appreciate at least this time I'm 'holy' ;P

Just upping the stakes a bit.

Escalation!

Honestly, les Français would probably have stepped in just for Anne acting like Marie had started to put any pressure on that grip, but let me ask the chief a quick question...

edit: Ach, never mind, there they go.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:24, Wed 25 Jan 2023.

I'd like to note that whilst Fr. de la Tour at least might want to play along on the lines of "clearly these savages are violent and volatile (maybe don't grab them)", it should be clearly visible that there's no red grip marks below the bottom of the jaw and certainly no bruising to be seen. Anne may well be hyperventilating from the sheer shock of being physically wrangled with less deference than she's ever experienced, but Marie was explicitly not putting any pressure on that "fend off the fool" grip from the first. She knows actually choking someone's far too dangerous to casually enter into, and certainly not a warning.

tl;dr If the bobcat means to actually hurt you, you can tell by the stab wound.

Ah good to know. As for the French defending the French, hélas. Le bon père extolling the virtues of martyrdom while someone grabs you by the throat doth not like a defence strike me.

Ah, but he is defending your immortal soul!

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 308):

Fr. Joseph's first impulse was to leap to Anne's defense, but then he was overcome by doubt -- was saving her delectable body his carnal ambition, whereas he should seek first to save her immortal soul?

By all means next time save my delectable body! Didn't you notice the 'immortal' bit in 'immortal soul'?

To be fair, Anne's currently threatening the man trying to preserve her delectable body from possibly the greatest threat to its general existence as well as ours (inexpert and inappropriate use of firearms) with hanging and the destitution of his children, so...

Debatable. We're talking about the man who hadn't helped her against a perceived agressor, took away her only means of defense or deterrence, and is giving every appearance of wanting to appropiate it unlawfully. Very unconvincing.

I think Lisette needs to attend to Anne's emotional needs on that perception front and go "yes, yes, that was very scary, bobcat is very rude and mean" and so on and pretend Anne didn't incite the "aggression" until the noble has calmed enough to listen to reason and behave as a guest rather than someone used to having "I can have you executed" taken as implicit in all interactions...let's give the chief a chance to look in and catch up, eh?

More objectively, as Marie pointed out, the pistol sucks as a defense in inexpert hands (one shot, then what? Even if it goes off after being loaded near water for a day and kills a man rather than angering him or taking out a bystander to start a blood feud, buddy's friend's hatchets don't have a reload time), additionally is no deterrent in the first place to those who haven't seen one before, and may well now prove an object of desire to those that have, creating an extra reason to target the non-fighter. As for French laws and property concepts in the bush...well, Anne can try explaining them to the Objiwe, bears, shrubs and rocks, but it's a good thing Nat's a good and honourable man, since his family would get the money if none of you came back in Spring. Two slit throats and a few months' extra camping out before meeting up on the land somewhere would be far less effort.

I think your input is most valuable on this, though: how do we make Anne realise that the people she's taking as difficult are actually putting effort into keeping her alive? Or, put another way, what steps or scenes in between might make her realise that even if being semi-restrained and talked calmly to is scary, being stabbed and/or marked as a threat is a worse alternative?


On a tangent, since I have a complicated relationship with my own: warrior culture isn't like gang culture, where being scary and unpredictable to your own guys gets you cred, it's about being good at killing enemies by cultural metrics the same way one is good at killing beasts in the proper manner to kill those. This is why the Boast appears in such contexts worldwide, including both sides of the North Atlantic - telling the community you're amazing at doing the thing that ultimately keeps them safe or serves their interests, and having to step up to that.

In reply to Marie Whitespruce (msg # 314):

I recall when I was a white American teacher in Korea, I sometimes found it useful to go into what I called "crazy gaijin" mode so the students would cooperate -- but that did not always work...

Sorry to do this to you, team, especially at a dramatically heightened moment. I have computer issues again. TBH, I broke the screen on the new laptop--well and truely broke--and must send for repair. I can't fiddle with RPoL on phone screens, so I'll be offline until mid-next week as I arrange for replacement and try to re-commission a retired machine in the interim.

In reply to Fr. Joseph de la Tour (msg # 315):

Given the context here I dearly hope that didn't involve firearms, but yes, holy idiots get a lot of leeway. I was actually thinking of Freya Stark recently, and how she looted and spied her way around the Middle East as a solo traveller by just going "whoops, I am a stupid lady foreigner who's escaped my handlers" whenever she was caught somewhere she shouldn't be. Her poor guides didn't appreciate it much, but they did get paid very well.

Alas for your screen, chief. We'll be here.

Fine, I was PMing our wise GM about this, but since we're doing this here it seem, I'll do my best to phrase things softly.

Marie, I know you are doing this in good faith, but your repeatedly explaining to me the consequences or implications of my own actions is starting to come across as a little bit patronizing. I'm not explaining your own character to you or trying to influence your in-game actions, so I'd appreciate if you toned it down a notch, thank you.

As for the current impasse, I honestly don't get why we're acting like it's so wild for Anne to ask for her gun back. It's her gun. If Anne can let the whole grabbed-by-the-throat incident slide (as she is already doing, for the sake of the game), then I think Ignatius can maybe give the gun back without trying to split the party in the process. Have you ever snatched something from your boss' hand, refused to give it back, and then quit the job because she pointed out that's theft? How did that go?

In any case, I apologize for starting the whole incident, which in hindsight was very ill-advised. I own that.

Huh. You're absoloutely right, I had no idea I might be giving the impression of trying to push your character anywhere: I only believed that if the player could see the other side of the party's perspective it might be clearer that there's no ill will towards Anne as a character. I was overthinking, since I've been in situations where a player has made similar choices and then quit because "everyone hates [character] now" when that wasn't true at all, and was seeking constructive ways forward; I apologise.

If you could, please tell me as soon as you feel I'm overstepping, social boundaries are often entirely invisible to me, especially with new people. I don't mind being told, and truly don't intend to be mean.

As for wildness...if you'd just disarmed someone who'd demonstrated a willing to blow someone's brains out regardless of bystanders or diplomatic consequences for her nation - the target being someone who had no weapon out and was defending herself - would you honestly give them back the gun? Imagine this in a modern embassy office context, where Boss Anne grabbed Marie by the boob as a cultural equivalent, as a 'joke' about hyperactivity after Marie (an employee's passing relation mistaken for an Asian temp, who went for coffee anyway) told the café owners Boss was diabetic to make it easier for her to get her extra sweeteners in future. Would you truly be surprised if employees would choose to quit that establishment? Especially if threatened by the would-be shooter for intervening before an armed response unit got called. It's a difficult workplace.

Hey, you played it where you put it, I 100% respect that. It's fair to respect Nat's response, too, and I believe there's a great roleplaying and party-bonding opportunity to be had in negotiating there, which is my belief from my experience and nothing more.


edit: if you were at all concerned about Marie holding a grudge either over grabbing her hair or threatening to kill her, she's already chalked it up to "fool grouse is fool" and forgiven/forgotten. Please note she would hold a grudge/act more hostile if made aware of threats against her relatives via Nat, however. Tribe > individual, to her.
edit II: compulsive addition/clarification to office AU, in hopes it might be useful, since the modern Western association of boobs with sex is a great metaphor for period association of Native hair with soul. Also distracting myself from making what I think are reassurances, but would be talking about Anne without being asked, so.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:59, Sat 28 Jan 2023.

I do hope we can continue to play together despite this incident. I just had another game I was in collapse because 2 characters (neither of them mine) got into a dispute over how to deal with a rival party.

It's fine, Marie, like I said I know you were doing it in good faith, it's just it was gettnig a little irksome for me and I thought I'd tell you before it gnawed at me more. Thank you for taking it so well, that's very nice of you :)

And yes, I guess my comparison with a normal-ish, contemporary boss sucked, I own that xD I suppose I was looking at it from what I believe would be the more early-modern attitude to guns: just another tool, nothing inherently weird about them. But that's one big assumption on my side, and come to think of it, probably very wrong. And I don't want to go into the nuances of "a feudal lady is not a modern boss" because it's my fault in the first place, for making the bad comparison. So I'll just concede the point.

Let's wait to see what Ignatius will do. As for Anne, I'll keep her seething silently, as opposed to seething outspokenly. That's already a lot of progress in anger management for her :P

Sorry to have annoyed you, and I appreciate being told!

Yeah, the conception of human-specific killing weapons as unremarkable tools thing is a very modern U.S. Republican invention - the far Right love them some past projection. If one looks at the indigenous folks' human-killing weapons, they're highly individualised and in high-status cases may even be considered individuals themselves if they've "outlived" several owners and gone around wide trade circuits, gathering credit/reputation and spirit-stuff. Hunting weapons like Marie's long gun get the same high reverence as other hunting tools, often being personal property  (of which the natives have little, most stuff being held in common). They may be decorated like their straps and bags, the better to please game spirits. As such semi-holy, semi-symbiotic-to-owner items, they can used to kill humans, though ideally it should be in an honourable fashion, with the shot party being painted and having arranged his hair to indicate he is a combattant and scalpable if you dare/can get that far.


Hopefully Nat'll come and share some food and consider working for the Church once he's informed there was a solemn vow against random murderin' involved in re-arming the lady.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:08, Sun 29 Jan 2023.

...realised you might have been talking about colonial attitudes to killing natives, which yes, was considered a normal elite use of human-specific firearms, if not so much that the concept of the weapon would be elided to a tool.

A pistol and the related ability to murder one's perceived or accepted social inferiors (or peers in a formal manner) is a high-status thing, and period pistols are often gorgeously decorated and would be nigh-unfenceable, unless to the English. Killing locals is still a very bad idea in contexts without the entire Imperial machine to back one up, however, since Native comprehension of allegiance is tribal, and if one French is an Enemy, all of them are, and the right thing to do with Enemies is to honourably torture combatants to death and enslave/beat and adopt non-combatants...

Going to leave the above as it is for transparency, but proffering apologies for the "period locality in general" Well Actually up there in place of a colonial upper-class minority view, because yes, the upper classes have always had at least symbolic tokens of lethal violence. They're specifically weapons, because that's what drives the status, but normal. Apparently it takes two days of being laid low by health issues whilst RPoL is slow for me to forget how to human.  >_<


Thank you for putting up with me being an obnoxious nerd and know I am restraining myself from rambling about said Republican myth and tangenting on to the bread rant.

Hi Everyone,

I'm delighted that in the GM's absence you have (OOC and IC) created and, I believe, largely resolved an existential threat to the existence of this game.

You vindicate the notion that time invested up front in setting the scene and expectations pays off in the long run (you chose the game; I chose you; others were rejected; things WORK, despite inevitable bumps).

Please carry on. I've managed to recommission my old machine faster than expected, so I am back online without interruption. As mentioned earlier, Feb and March will be busy for me, so you should expect to see me online around 2x per week.

Glad your tech problems got resolved.

Glad you're back, GM. I wouldn't go as far as to say they're resolved, only posponed. But, carry on we do.

Are you sure it's a good idea to poke Anne right after walking our on her, Ignatius? What's your expected outcome?

That she will witness the document written by the priest.

It probably won’t matter if she doesn’t. Nat accepts the high probability that none of them will ever see Montreal again. He’s pretty sure that Anne will get them all massacred before long.

And yes, poking Anne a bit is deliberate. His male pride is a bit stung after being dressed down in front of everyone.

But does it make sense, though? Is it a reasonable expectation, to ask her to witness a contract with a third party right after unilaterally breaking the original contract with her?

In other words, does he fancy a second dressing down?

In reply to Anne Pecaudy de Contrecoeur (msg # 329):

Actually, I had been thinking of having Fr. Joseph ask Anne to witness the contract -- since it might be an issue between her and Ignace, I regret now that I did not. Legally, I think the witnesses should be French subjects, which in these circumstances would mean Anne and Lisette. I must admit I do not know just what witnessing rules were for 17th century French contracts; I am improvising from modern Anglo-American usage.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:14, Tue 31 Jan 2023.

In reply to Fr. Joseph de la Tour (msg # 330):

I'm not sure to what degree Lisette, being a black woman, is considered legally able to enter contractual obligations.

But you haven't actually addressed what I've said, Joseph. Anne has zero reasons to do this.

Oh, is Lisette legally a person? It was never cleared up from Marie's enquiries and could have been either way given both parents were captives; I was wondering what would happen if she'd got the gun...

['new post' error] If it's all right to say, I think the gentlemen - one semi-spitefully, one in all innocence - are expecting Anne to sign legal documents because she was just yelling about/threatening using the laws of France to the letter, even in a context (threatening to kill someone's cousin in front of them) where the legal 'thief' could not be expected to comply. In context of/with her current feelings, she has no reason to whatsoever, but to the letter of the law, she has no reason not to.

Legally, a contract was terminated due to untenable working conditions not allowing its fulfilment in the form set out, ceasing to exist: legally, the new contract has noting to do with Anne except that she's the nearest authority.

Meanwhile, Marie is keen for someone to invent the Snickers.

edit: nervous clarification, paragraphing
This message was last edited by the player at 07:23, Tue 31 Jan 2023.

Since she was threatening with legal retaliation against the party who's just breached his contract, now she has to witness another contract? Frankly I don't think that makes sense. Actually she has all the reasons in the world to want nothing to do with the party in breach of contract. She has no reasons at all to believe it's going to be any different this time, and he would also not be working for her, so she also has no reasons to care, let alone want to.

The law doesn't know that, though? The threat was never referred to a lawyer, on account of being made in the middle of nowhere. The law knows Anne is a legal authority by existing.

She can just say "no, screw you," though? You don't have to and I'm not pushing you to, but that is an option available. We can get a cool picture-signature from Next Winter Dreaming, even. Refusal does make Anne look hypocritical, but that doesn't mean anything except Nat gets a little petty satisfaction and de la Tour gets a look of gentle confusion...likely Anne won't even notice.

I would like to note OOC that the Frenchmen very much did defend Anne, but from the real threat (Anne marking the party as Enemies to the Objiwe) rather than the one she perceived (Marie's restraint being a prelude to physical harm rather than avoidance of it). I don't know where to go with that fact IC, but would like to push it across the table so it's on top of the pile for the player's use in Anne's arc, whenever/if the realisation proves useful therein.

I'm really starting to feel like I'm working with a totally different logic here and I am honestly starting to feel a bit frustrated. Is someone besides Marie interested in talking this out, or shall I just do my thing and post and consequences be damned?

Interfering only - I really hope - to be useful, but Nat's player is in a game of mine and has been busy of late, though he might be around at our lunchtime and ~3am. The good Father is mostly around at that 3am slot, too. I believe it is good to do what makes one feel least frustrated.

Personally, although we are all trying our best, I really would like some GM input - not to take sides or ban realistic squabbling, mind, just to know what's going on with the NPCs/feel less like it's some PCs in a box, which amplifies intra-party issues. Also I want to know what Marie's found out about our hosts and feel immersed in the camp, that's also a thing.

Lisette, as Anne will know, is a subject and a free citizen of New France, so her mark would make her a valid legal witness to a contract.

That said, the fight and the idea of a new contract are hopefully just devices to reach the real story goal: to showcase the characters' mettle and generate some healthy interpersonal tension.

At this juncture, the characters will each realise they have 2 choices: forward or back. The Ojibwe are going forward and taking all the canoes. Back, for the Europeans, at least, means retracing on foot through the woods to last human settlement passed, Pointe de Moulin--a journey that will take several hours and carries significant risk (river crossings, getting wet in the frigid temperatures, getting lost, wild animals, bandits...).

So, to resolve the current dilemma, I would focus the dialogue not on how the characters renegotiate the contract (i.e. their relationship with each other)--but on their individual motivations and the existential threat that each character faces if things fall apart right now. Anne loses her fortune, Ignatuis loses his dream of independence, and Fr. La Tour loses his holy purpose. Whether through inner monologue, dialogue or action the characters should recognise that they're dependent on each other for now.

I meant this lunch stop to serve a bit of character development, but you've outdone yourselves again.

To Nat, Anne has shown herself hot-tempered and high-handed in her actions, perfectly in character for a woman of quality in a primitive setting, but dangerous. Thus, he is not willing to go forward in her employ. YET he wants that money. And he does feel an obligation to Joseph and Lisette and even Anne.

The new contract with the Jesuit gives him a third way. Whether it is witnessed or not is of little consequence to him really. He expects all of them to vanish among the Ojibwe in the trackless forests. But he does get some petty joy in putting Anne on the spot.

Anne would know indeed, I didn't :P So thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure of her actual legal status.


So if it doesn't matter if she witnesses or not, why does he ask her? And if he is so sure we're all going to die, why does he care about the money? And how is this "putting Anne on the spot"? If anything, you're just giving her a fresh opportunity to give you an earful.

I mean, it's your character, none of my business I suppose. But in terms of understanding the stakes, either I'm not getting you at all, or you're just moving the goalposts: I want X, I don't care about X, but give it to me, but I didn't really want it...

Ach, I suppose a kick in the arse is sort of GM input...Marie does not like Next Winter Dreaming, by the way.

Yay, Lisette's a person! Technically more of one than Marie, to the French.

Anne, your questions are already answered: he asked her to see if she'd do it or prove herself a hypocrite (putting her on the spot). He cares about the money 'cause he has kids who'll inherit it if/when he dies, so long as the law recognises that it's his. The information is all there, none of it unreasonable.

Maybe it is well to move along? The Objiwe will go off with the priest and lady's luggage if we don't...