There is no need from my side to discuss anything here. What ex-PC might or could have found out about their abilities or items is not my concern.

Yeah, I'm just standing by and watching all this unfold. The pattern tendril was interesting. It was also interesting that the Lord didn't react to Charlie claiming to be a princess of Amber. Maybe when we're having wine at the inn, I'll ask about that

This may seem like an obvious/silly question, but... do you want us to be more involved? I mean, I'd kind of gotten the sense that you already had a pretty clear idea of how things are supposed to go.

You can influence the direction of travel to a degree, you could have chosen to not engage the Shades men, where in the outcome would have been different.
There are some things that your compatriots will do because that's how they're built as characters, thus Natalie, being a paramedic will provide such aid where it's applicable, but you can influence them not to do certain things (to a degree). The Shades men shooting at Choki was just a bad idea all round.

As I said above, there is a 'bigger' picture and what may appear as just an infill could go in all sorts of directions depending on what the PCs may or may not do in future.

There are some 'key' things that need to happen, most of which are tied to the characters progressing, i.e. the fact that you need to learn to do certain things inevitably leads to certain scenarios unfolding, however the long term out come of a number of these are not fixed, they're just seeds, potential future plot hooks, as if most of you need any more.

What are the rest of us doing?

What do you want to be doing?
Cathal has twice left it open for the other PCs to do things, Sarah has done some things, the second of which she is currently engaged in.
In the absence of any other actions I made the executive decision that Charlie would do something, which primarily revolves around finding out exactly what is going on, since I and therefore she, had expected that Cathal would find out what was on the other side of the tunnel and report back, before moving on.

I have no problem with the fact that he chose not to and go find out things himself, as that action is perfectly valid, it just means that things have to unfold in a different way.

Part of that now requires Cathal's input, in response to Kasamir's warning, which will likely occur when he comes online later today (it being early am Thursday as I write this), before things unfold further, including an actual report of what lies ahead by Kasamir (literally your eyes-in-the-sky).
Charlie needed Kasamir, as he's the best placed to give her the overview she needs, and Kenneth being almost the most combat orientated of the characters, as the most logical escort. She's also somewhat aware of what his 'rifle' brings to the party. Given she hadn't any more idea of what was ahead than any of the rest of you, she wasn't going to take more than the minimum people she needed to to find out.

If Rhiannon really wants to tag along then in reality Charlie can't stop her, in the same way she can't stop Lord Kylestenson, who has his own motivations in regard to what is happening.

Okay, I'm confused. So this is the Shade's secret lair, right? But the Shade is dead, so now his lair might be empty except for Meredith and some guards. What would Rhiannon do? I don't know. She's not a fighter, but she is good at acrobatic parkour kinds of things. I don't know if that would be helpful. At the same time, she'd be fine with not going at all if there were enough people already going.

I just want to know if I should be posting or waiting until this is resolved.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Thu 14 Mar.

You don't always have to do things yourselves, sometimes it's sufficient to prompt other people to do things.
I had thought I'd left enough of a gap, given I was out until late this evening, for you to post something, even if it was along the lines of Rhiannon wondering if anything had happened to Cathal as he hadn't re-appeared given he'd said he was just going to checkout the tunnel. The result would have been roughly the same, except it would have been player triggered.

Without detracting from anything that Cathal is doing, there is an element of me meta-gaming here.
Yes this is the Shade's secret lair, but you have no idea of what that actually means in actuality. Those inside would logically be expecting the Shade to return, not anyone else to show up.

If somebody unknown and unexpected shows up they are going to react in a particular fashion, which is the logical thing for them to do. Having them do so adds complications I can do without.
Given the 'time-lapse' hole I had the scope to do something to potentially avert that scenario. Whether that happens or not depends on what Cathal actually does.

Whether being good at 'acrobatic parkour kinds of things' being useful or not, relies on actually knowing what you're facing.
Rhiannon making an 'I don't have a clue what's going on' post and being indecisive about whether she can do anything useful or not is as valid a post as any at the current point in the scenario.

I assume the rest of us are still waiting outside, so can someone PM me when this side adventure is done.

In reply to Rhiannon Erica Kerrigan (msg # 385):

No most people are in the hall, the horses have all been unsaddled and stabled where possible, a messenger has been dispatched to Lord Kylestenson's camp, and the gates have been shut and barred. It's now about 6:30 in the evening and getting dark. Nobody's going anywhere till the morning.
And there's still 'whats behind the very magic door' to resolve.

A general reminder ...

There are qualifying events at which point CP is awarded and can be spent.
Not everyone has made relevant updates, and in particular the one relating to completing 'Mind Walk the Summoned sign'.

Will post tomorrow, feel a bit sick, side-effect of some pills.

Hope you feel better soon...

I'm trying to find the last block of CPs awarded from god know how many months ago, but I can't find them. Any help?

link to a message in this game msg#13

In regards to this



I didn't forget about the thermal blanket. You said I was underdressed, that the sleeping bags weren't really made for this kind of weather, that I was freezing, and that the headache was worse than when I was around Cordelia. Charlie instructed Sarah to take four pills, yet Rhiannon was left with only two. It would have been none if Cathal hadn't noticed the shortage. It looked like more Charlie spitefulness, but Rhiannon didn't hear Charlie instruct Sarah to take four. If there was twelve, we could all have taken three. I had no idea of the standard dose, but assumed based on the instructions Sarah got, Rhiannon was left with too little. If I was going to ride or walk, the coverage of the sleeping back and thermal blanket would be a bit compromised as they would have to allow for the movement of my legs.

I have no idea what you mean by tinfoil hat.

Anyway, my description was based on all that. If I was in better shape, then maybe next time tell me that.

I'm at a loss for input, quite frankly.

By your own description of what you were wearing when you left Carnelian, you were not dressed for 'arctic' conditions, neither are a number of others, but none of them fell unconscious into the snow.
When you woke up you were freezing. Yes the sleeping bags are not designed for these conditions, they're nominally rated to be comfortable down to about 8C. The Thermal blanket makes a big difference. They don't work instantly, but they do work over time.
As I said you cannot ride at all in a sleeping bag. They are not designed to do so. You would have had to wear as best you could the thermal blanket under your clothes. If you keep the core of the body warm, you don't get hypothermia.
As to the pills, given the way both Rhiannon and Cathal have behaved towards Charlie, why would you expect her to behave differently? She didn't have to give her personal supplies to anyone.

I'm not complaining that she was in bad shape. I don't mind at all. It makes for better drama. I was explaining why I described her the way I did. You're the one that said that she wasn't as bad off as I had written. That's all. From the way the situation was described, she's not having a good time.

So if I have it wrong, please explain how she feels. How bad is the headache, and how cold is she. It will determine how much help she's going to be.

By the time you reach the village her headache will have gone.
Her hands, arms, lower legs and feet are going to be cold riding. Her feet are going to be cold, unless she's doing something strenuous, as her boots are not that sturdy..

As a side comment.. this is an early medieval era village, it's the dwelling closest to the 'barn', this is the only two story dwelling, it's the only one with a chimney, it's also the largest, ergo this is the headsman's house...

GM Hint time.....

This is an early medieval village. Metal is a precious comodity. Every household would have had some for of axe or heavy machette like tool for cutting wood.
Wood would not be cut like it is today, they would cut coppice, timber upto about 6" in the round, and they wouldn't clear cut like you found on the approach to the village.. the distance of clear cutting should also tell you something.
Everybody would know where and how to get water, as local stream or river, or in this case a well. The well would be communal in most cases, and would either have a roped wooden bucket or maybe a windlass if you're really lucky.. You need to go look.. and yes I could get and NPC to do it.
Recepticals for carrying water varied, if you had the skills then you could make a wooden bucket, but without modern templates it's not a simple thing to do, and binding the staves with anything other than split hazel or similar would be rare. More common recepticals would be leather buckets (possibly tar coated, but more commonly just oiled with the skin 'inside out'. Fired clay pots, typically unglazed, would also be common, how long they retianed water for depended on the clay they were made from.

Going anywhere further than, at most half a days walk (6 to 8 miles), in good gonditions would be a big deal!
Going anywhere in the sort of conditions you're experiencing would be almost unheard of, at least for the normal populus.
Rhiannon was correct in her comments in relation to animals, hay, and straw.. that should also tell you something.
There is also something else that should be in the barn if they kept animals there which isn't there (I can't remember if there was a comment from Charlie about this or not).

As I've said before, I don't generally write things for 'no reason', there are clues in almost all I write when I'm writing descriptions, maybe exploring the village further might yield so further answers.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:16, Tue 09 Apr.

So I'm not going to stop Sarah doing what she wishes to do but I do advise against it.

From a 'survival' perspective yes you can go without food for a couple of days without any significant detrimanetal affects, but that very much depends on climate. The more extreme the climate the faster lack of food has an impact, the same is true of water.
Being significantly active puts you up in the 10 to 15 thousand calorie per day requirement, add in the climate and you're looking at 15 to 20 thousand, and you've already had 2 days where you're getting at most 6,000, and where Sarah, Edward, Cathal, and Charlie have all been buring calories around the 20,000 per day mark.

Currently I haven't made any decisions as to what the villagers would do. A lot would depend on Sarah's arguments.

The Trump brings another problem.

Charlie does have a set of trumps but she doesn't have any spares, ergo if she gave sarah a trump that would remove it from her collection, although she can create a sketch from one of the ones she has in a few hours but that would only be good for a couple of uses.

There is also the problem that Sarah cannot be in two places at once, and nominally the only 3 viable locations, Elysium, Carnelian(castle), and the Mansion, all have 'protocols' in place at the arrival points. People have experience this already for Elysium and Carnelian. None of you know what the mechanism is for the Mansion.
If Sarah is opening a portal, and she, like everyone else, pretty much can only hold it open for 30 seconds, then she can't be on the otherside to warn the guards, and if she steps through then she can't get back.
The additional problems, are two fold, one specially affect the Mansion and the other specifically for Elysium.
The first problem is Technology Shock, and affects the Mansion as a destination more that the other two, although Carnelian Caslte is not far behind.The shadow you're in is circa late 12th century, although without the 'Christian' influence. So going to the 21st (22nd influence) is going to be a huge shock.
The second problem, which is specific to Elysium, are all the 'demons' walking about (and I'm ignoring that big black curtain of the Abyss). Cathal sort of knows what happens when somebody not used to seeing one is suddenly confronted by one...

For the Mansion, everyone except Sarah currently has a Mansion Trump.

There is also the additional problem that nobody has a trump of Sarah, and there are no trumps of anybody else either so she would be completely incommunicado. The only way of getting to her, assuming she was out of "Ghostwheel's" shadow would be to use the Pattern.

I will leave you all to reflect on exactly what you want to do. It's your decision at the end of the day.

[OOC: Things will happen to rescue people from the Shadow, but setting up the operation to do so is not a trivial task, and takes time. It ends up with somewhere approaching 1000 people from memory, all of which have to be moved, housed, fed, and 're-educated' and 'aclimatised' to their new situation. Natsuki being a surviror of the Japanese Tsunami that devasteted Fukishama will go out of her way to ensure something is done if nobody else does. Rescuing that many and supporting them is a major operation and requires that both the Shadow is 'unlocked', which is one of the reasons Ghostwheel needs Cordelia, and having at least half a dozen 'spare' people who can Shadow Walk competantly.]

Quite frankly, it really does not feel like it is.

The GM summerized the situation and possible consequences.

In reply to Cathal O'Donoghue (msg # 400):

I am very aware, thank you.