Conversation with #dkap_amber
Conversation with #dkap_amber on Tue 04 Jan 2011 11:32:38 AM EST:
(11:32:38 AM) mode (+o dkap) by ChanServ
(08:15:32 PM) Mistress_Janice: GM sign!
(08:15:41 PM) Cagliostro: woo
(08:15:48 PM) dkap: Indeed.
(08:16:22 PM) dkap: And only a little late ... *sigh* Go renumbering by Verizon.
(08:17:57 PM) Cagliostro: indeed.
(08:18:11 PM) Cagliostro: some of the irc.gamesurge.net servers are down, btw, so people may have problems getting in.
(08:18:30 PM) dkap: Auricle should be along soon enough. I believe her antibiotics are now done ..
(08:19:36 PM) Cagliostro: that's good.
(08:20:04 PM) Mistress_Janice: Let's hope. A sick Pattern is a bad thing...
(08:22:20 PM) dkap: Indeed.
(08:35:18 PM) Mistress_Janice: Should we get started? We weren't all together, right?
(08:37:16 PM) dkap: We weren't.
(08:37:16 PM) dkap: Wow, I typed that about 2 minutes ago.
(08:37:16 PM) dkap: I think I'm lagged.
(08:37:24 PM) Cagliostro: yikes about lagged.
(08:37:39 PM) dkap: Indeed.
(08:37:46 PM) dkap: There we go ... better I think.
(08:37:56 PM) dkap: Where were we?
(08:40:20 PM) Mistress_Janice: Working in the forest still, wasn't it? with Chandra?
(08:41:59 PM) dkap: Sounds about right. She has shown up, and was dealing with the thorns ... something about someone in arrears?
(08:43:19 PM) Mistress_Janice: Right, she brought in some guy I don't recall, owing her something...
(08:46:02 PM) dkap: Owing the guild for an assassination, who was ... behind in what he promised.
(08:46:24 PM) dkap: He was "real" as in Chaosioan, and the thorn still worked.
(08:47:00 PM) Cagliostro: oh yes
(08:47:07 PM) Cagliostro: and she was quite upset at what happened to him
(08:47:33 PM) Mistress_Janice: Right, there's a sort of charge on each thorn, an amount of necrosis it can cause before it's out of juice.
(08:49:00 PM) dkap: Indeed. She was more upset that his ... anima (? I don't know the name of it) did not go to the Kraken or the Serpent.
(08:49:46 PM) ***Mistress_Janice has no idea what she's talking about there.
(08:50:22 PM) Cagliostro: soul, I think most Amberites say
(08:50:39 PM) Cagliostro: Cagliostro has seen her play with souls before
(08:50:44 PM) Cagliostro: not that he knows what souls are.
(08:50:48 PM) Cagliostro: which intrigues him
(08:51:28 PM) dkap: Indeed.
(08:52:11 PM) ***Mistress_Janice got that bit, it's the Kraken/Serpent stuff she's not up on. ICly, anyway.
(08:55:14 PM) dkap: Indeed. So you have a perterbed Princess on your hands.
(08:56:02 PM) dkap: Who is most interested in the source of these ... interesting amunition.
(08:56:24 PM) Mistress_Janice: As are we, and the troops deploying it.
(08:57:19 PM) Cagliostro: but alas the people who were most familiar with it have been abducted slash ran away after it
(09:00:02 PM) dkap: Princess: So, what do we know about the insurgences.
(09:05:12 PM) Cagliostro: "Not much."
(09:05:25 PM) ***Cagliostro has already told her what we know of the army and its arrival
(09:05:34 PM) Cagliostro: and she has I think talked to rangers and was about to talk to the jagers?
(09:07:13 PM) dkap: Right.
(09:07:15 PM) dkap: Jager.
(09:08:23 PM) ***Mistress_Janice wasn't here when it happened, so keeps quiet and listens.
(09:09:41 PM) dkap: The Jager were coming over, and I believe Mistress_Janice was doing something with ... hats?
(09:11:20 PM) ***Mistress_Janice has her hat on. I think Chandra already had one on, and... now that I think about it, I could swear he'd already come over, because she'd said something about how her hat was bigger than his...
(09:12:09 PM) dkap: It could be.
(09:12:31 PM) Cagliostro: yes, I think so, about the hat and the jager
(09:13:04 PM) Mistress_Janice: Time hiccups. :D
(09:16:25 PM) dkap: Lag .... lag ... lag ...
(09:16:28 PM) dkap: Ahh ... there we go.
(09:16:49 PM) dkap: Jager is there, recounting, in his ... delightful way what happened.
(09:20:40 PM) dkap: Right, with this lag, I'm just going to sum up.
(09:21:00 PM) dkap: He was there, not torturing the bunny-rabbit, when, out of nowhere, there was movement in the woods.
(09:21:33 PM) dkap: He knew that the only movement in the woods that was authorized, was the Rangers.
(09:22:24 PM) dkap: So he went to check with the Ranger station, to find out if this movement was Ranger-approved ... that's how he got the arrow through him, because, he was having trouble explaining to them properly.
(09:22:34 PM) dkap: He's sure that ranger's arm will heal, eventually.
(09:22:42 PM) Mistress_Janice: Poor bunny rabbit...
(09:24:18 PM) dkap: But then the Rangers were understanding, and decided, apparently, to let the strangers know that they were not invited into the area.
(09:24:27 PM) dkap: There was a discussion.
(09:26:38 PM) Mistress_Janice: Where was he when he noticed movement in the woods? Can we locate an entry point, and perhaps examine it?
(09:27:20 PM) dkap: He would be happy to show you where that was.
(09:27:45 PM) Mistress_Janice: We can keep talking as we're heading that way.
(09:28:05 PM) dkap: The discussion was just getting warmed up, when the Count came by, expressed his opinion, and ... then the discussion was over.
(09:30:02 PM) Mistress_Janice: When did Zack and Auricle show up, and when did they leave?
(09:30:25 PM) dkap: The Jager mentions that they were always there, and he didn't know they left.
(09:34:12 PM) dkap: You reach the point in which he first saw them, the marching line is actually pretty clean.
(09:35:30 PM) ***Mistress_Janice looks around. "Can anyone tell *how* they got here? I suppose I'd settle for where they came from..."
(09:36:29 PM) dkap: They seemed to have been intending to be stealthy, and, actually, mostly succeeding at it.
(09:37:07 PM) dkap: But the Jager can track ... and so can the both of you, and the Princess ...
(09:37:37 PM) Cagliostro: tracking sounds like a good idea
(09:37:47 PM) dkap: Your party goes forward until you come to the way-point, which, to Mistress Janice, looks like a shadow-walk.
(09:38:17 PM) dkap: The other two of you ... shadow walks are not either of your forte.
(09:38:32 PM) Mistress_Janice: Can it be followed back? I seem to recall recent shadowwalks can be traced...
(09:38:52 PM) Mistress_Janice: Does this still qualify as recent?
(09:39:07 PM) dkap: It does, and you, Mistress_Janice, are the only one qualified to do so.
(09:39:27 PM) Mistress_Janice: Well, the only one here at present, anyway.
(09:39:45 PM) ***Mistress_Janice clears her throat. "I think I can trace this back. Who should we take along?"
(09:43:06 PM) ***Cagliostro shrugs. "Ourselves and a few Ifrit? perhaps a jager and a ranger, so that interested parties are represented?"
(09:43:47 PM) dkap: I presume the Princess is part of "Ourselves".
(09:44:07 PM) Cagliostro: indeed so.
(09:44:25 PM) dkap: Good good.
(09:44:39 PM) ***Mistress_Janice wrinkles her nose. "No more than that? They sent an army our way, with weapons we had trouble facing down." Then she looks toward Chandra. "Ohhh..."
(09:46:38 PM) dkap: Jager: Not szure me go. Might make me loose my hat.
(09:46:51 PM) Mistress_Janice: We could nail it on, if that would help?
(09:50:07 PM) dkap: Jager: Den I loose da piz dat de nail iz in.
(09:51:04 PM) Cagliostro: "It's entirely up to you; you know your duty and purpose better than we."
(09:51:15 PM) Mistress_Janice: Which would be your head. Oh, well. Perhaps you can recommend one of the other Jagers to us? After all, it's sure to be *terribly* dangerous.
(09:51:16 PM) Cagliostro: gm: can we find a ranger interested in going, or do they want to stay?
(09:52:39 PM) dkap: The ranger is happy to follow you folks, and report back. Zack's honor would not be satisfied, otherwise.
(09:53:01 PM) dkap: Jager to Mistress_Janice: Ja, dot vy I no go.
(09:53:45 PM) Cagliostro: so, the three of us, the Ifrit with us, and a ranger follow the trail through shadow
(09:53:47 PM) Mistress_Janice: GM Is it me, or does something about this Jager seem wrong? I could have sworn he'd be happier the more dangerous it was.
(09:55:11 PM) dkap: Only to a point. Auricle isn't here, and there is a chance of actual death and failure, and he, now knowing that she was here, and gone, is going to wait for her to come back.
(09:56:34 PM) Mistress_Janice: Okay, just checking. Janice will lead the others off along the trail. Take it slow, to be sure, though I'm pretty sure a trail big enough to move an army will be pretty noticeable.
(09:56:56 PM) dkap: It's actually non-trivial, but doable.
(09:57:27 PM) dkap: And you are leading the party through shadow.
(10:00:51 PM) ***Cagliostro has absolutely no sense of deja vu. I hope.
(10:02:42 PM) dkap: Umm ... no, you are too concerned about everything that is going on.
(10:02:50 PM) dkap: And you've been on Shadow Walks before.
(10:04:35 PM) dkap: There are fresh grave-sites along the way.
(10:04:53 PM) Mistress_Janice: Pry. Whose?
(10:05:14 PM) dkap: Apparently the leaders of the forces wanted to give honor to their enemies. How Muslim of them.
(10:06:02 PM) Mistress_Janice: Who *were* those enemies? Were these isolated incidents, or force-wide conflicts?
(10:06:13 PM) Cagliostro: or were they just killing everyone who saw them on the march?
(10:06:57 PM) Mistress_Janice: Do any of us recognize these dead, at least in general terms?
(10:07:11 PM) dkap: Individual graves, probably accidental encounters, they were clean (not thorn) kils.
(10:07:39 PM) dkap: None of the graves have uniformed soldiers in them.
(10:07:45 PM) ***Mistress_Janice murmurs, "Either that was *really* good weapons discipline, or they weren't issued thorns until they reached Arden."
(10:09:39 PM) dkap: Princess Chandra shrugs, "It's not hard to have a stealthy force interested in not using range weapons during their transit, until engaged."
(10:09:58 PM) dkap: And it might explain why they didn't start with the thorn-guns until the realized they were seriously under attack.
(10:10:43 PM) Cagliostro: sure. skirmishers.
(10:10:57 PM) Cagliostro: actually, skirmishers might be hard to pull off on a shadow walk.
(10:11:12 PM) dkap: Unless ... they were the ones leading the walk ...
(10:11:28 PM) dkap: Or there was a talisman, or the like that was being used.
(10:11:43 PM) Mistress_Janice: We'll keep going. Are we headed in any particular known direction?
(10:12:11 PM) dkap: Not by you, no.
(10:12:20 PM) Cagliostro: the world is pretty new, and we don't know the area.
(10:12:26 PM) dkap: Especially since most of shadow is actually new.
(10:12:32 PM) dkap: Indeed.
(10:13:27 PM) Mistress_Janice: Then record as we go.
(10:13:48 PM) dkap: Indeed.
(10:15:30 PM) dkap: The insight that there might be talismans following a specific shadow path might be an interesting one to mention, Mistress_Janice.
(10:15:58 PM) Mistress_Janice: Wasn't that Dad's idea?
(10:16:43 PM) Mistress_Janice: How could such a talisman follow a path out here, though? As you just said, Shadow's new again. *Are* there paths yet?
(10:17:55 PM) dkap: If there was one person in front, walking, say, between 10 minutes and an hour ahead, and the rest had talismans pulling them and their company along ...
(10:18:41 PM) Mistress_Janice: So a talisman to follow not so much a path, as a trailbreaker.
(10:21:29 PM) dkap: Indeed.
(10:22:15 PM) dkap: That is probably what makes the most sense out of the data you are seeing before you, so if you could get your hands on any of the talismans, you could probably figure out who it is keyed to, and be able to track them down.
(10:22:57 PM) Mistress_Janice: Seems like an awful lot of supposition to follow. But I can broach the subject as we walk. Was there any sign of such a thing on any of the dead attackers?
(10:23:21 PM) dkap: The dead attackers were gone in the boom. You have no idea.
(10:23:29 PM) current topic is: Game as usual, logs at: https://www.train-wreck.org/~dkap/Amber/logs/ ; wiki-wiki at: https://www.rebel.org/wiki/
(10:24:03 PM) Mistress_Janice: Okay. Keep walking.
(10:26:46 PM) dkap: You get back across about the 11th or 12th shadow before the path begomes to faint to follow.
(10:26:50 PM) dkap: becomes even.
(10:27:58 PM) ***Mistress_Janice blinks. "That's odd." She mentions the trail is petering out, and casts about a bit, trying to pick up some sign.
(10:29:40 PM) ***Cagliostro brings out the lens and looks around for signs of magic or other interesting things.
(10:31:24 PM) mode (+o dkap) by ChanServ
(10:32:12 PM) dkap: Actually, it's not that odd, the strength of the change dissipates over time, and it would have dissipated earlier, if it wasn't reinforced by the talismans in the first place.
(10:32:23 PM) dkap: Nothing particularly (magically) special about this particular shadow.
(10:32:52 PM) Cagliostro: hm.
(10:32:54 PM) dkap: Although there are cleaned up signs of an at least one night bivoack.
(10:33:35 PM) Mistress_Janice: Yes, but the more folk you move through shadow, the more of a trail there is. I'm surprised it gave out so (relatively) quickly.
(10:34:04 PM) dkap: And more graves here than elsewhere.
(10:34:32 PM) dkap: 11 or 12 major shadow shifts is not especially quickly.
(10:35:03 PM) Cagliostro: interesting about the more graves.
(10:35:09 PM) Cagliostro: as if it were a staging point, or they were here longer.
(10:35:29 PM) Mistress_Janice: Well, we've lost the trail, so we might as well look around here.
(10:36:50 PM) dkap: Indeed, very much like, the count.
(10:37:45 PM) dkap: Indeed, very much like, they seemed to have buried their campfires and bio-waste as well, Count.
(10:37:54 PM) dkap: (That's what that sentence should have said.)
(10:38:11 PM) Mistress_Janice: Then the fade might have been deliberate. Gather here, let the traces of getting here fade, before they head toward their destination. I wonder if it *was* Arden.
(10:39:17 PM) dkap: From the description of the Jager, it didn't sound that way, they were trying to sneak across it.
(10:39:37 PM) dkap: In fact, if they were following someone, that person might still be trailblazing, not knowing that they are no longer following ...
(10:39:42 PM) Mistress_Janice: Yah - they would have had the thorns ready to go if that were the target.
(10:40:03 PM) Mistress_Janice: I didn't pick up any feeling of a trace like that, though, did I?
(10:40:14 PM) dkap: You didn't look for one.
(10:40:31 PM) dkap: You went to the entrance point, rather than following the line of their march ...
(10:41:04 PM) ***Mistress_Janice had been looking for shadow trails. Hmmm.
(10:41:57 PM) ***Mistress_Janice sighs. "Father... I think I need to go back and look in the other direction." She explains the line of reasoning, the army following by some mechanical means someone capable of traveling... and they might have lost their trailblazer.
(10:45:01 PM) dkap: You know where here is, and you know where there is, so a gate shouldn't be hard for you, Mistress_Janice.
(10:45:54 PM) ***Mistress_Janice doesn't know if we all want to go.
(10:46:10 PM) ***Cagliostro would like to ask two of the Ifrit to stay here and scout around a bit, if they are willing.
(10:46:24 PM) Cagliostro: learn what kind of a place this is, and if there are any other armies staging here.
(10:47:27 PM) dkap: The Ifrit discuss, and would prefer a team of five of their number, were they left alone, with at least one, one of the mages.
(10:48:20 PM) ***Mistress_Janice prepares a gate.
(10:48:21 PM) ***Cagliostro makes it so
(10:48:45 PM) Cagliostro: if we need to gate more in, though, we'll do it from one shadow over
(10:49:42 PM) dkap: Easier to quicken them from your "machine" stores.
(10:49:44 PM) Mistress_Janice: Do we want to gate out from one over, then?
(10:50:48 PM) dkap: That you have on you.
(10:51:42 PM) dkap: Shall we pause for the evening here? 9 minutes left in the run.
(10:51:46 PM) Cagliostro: I thought the generators were too large to be portable, though
(10:51:56 PM) Cagliostro: pausing here is fine.
(10:52:31 PM) Mistress_Janice: Works for me.
(10:52:32 PM) dkap: The generators are, but the seed stage isn't that large for the hand-quickening ...
(10:53:11 PM) Cagliostro: hm...
(10:53:17 PM) Cagliostro: I had been trying not to create more without good reason
(10:53:22 PM) Cagliostro: and the ones from a seed aren't as real
(10:53:33 PM) Cagliostro: so we'll postpone that till enxt week
(10:53:49 PM) dkap: Indeed, until next week.
(10:54:18 PM) Mistress_Janice: Hokay. Hope Auricle's okay...
(10:54:33 PM) Cagliostro: also indeed.
(10:54:48 PM) Cagliostro left the room (quit: Quit: Leaving.).
(10:55:18 PM) Mistress_Janice left the room (quit: Quit: ChatZilla 0.9.86 [Firefox 3.6.13/20101203075014]).