Episode 28: In which we ask questions we already know the answers to
ask Strillian why he let that guy just leave.
:
"Hey, Strillian. Why did you let the orc leave just now?"
:
"What do you mean? He wasn't doing anything illegal. Why would I have stopped him?":
"That's not what I mean. He was a new recruit, right?
: "Yes. And?"
: "Why did you simply give him armor and let him go rather than put him through basic?"
: "Because I'm a loyal member of the Imperial Legion, and I follow orders. General Darius ordered me to put you through basic training, so I'm putting you through basic training. The paper that orc handed me was signed by the General, asking me to requisition armor for him. So I did."
"Did anything seem odd about that Orc to you?"
Figure out what the hell just happened.
:
"Did anything seem odd about that orc to you?":
"Yes. He had an Imperial name, lacked the usual accent...and it's a bit uncommon for orcs to know enough Mysticism to be able to cast recall. Come to think to it, that might be why the general allowed him to skip basic training. He was geared, and equipped, and obviously already a skilled adventurer with knowledge of at least armor and magic, and presumably combat as well. Putting him through basic training would have been a waste of time because he obviously already has the skills we would have taught him. Unlike you, who came to us with absolutely nothing but a silly hat and a weapon you didn't even know how to use."That is the sort of joining the legion we were hoping for and thinking about,
so what in the bloody hell was then difference?
:
"I'm not sure why you guys are surprised. When we spoke to General Darius the first time he explained EXACTLY how this would work, and he specifically addressed the question about different types of service. Remember, I made up the story about having a friend who didn't do guard duty, but instead simply showed up from time to time to get quests and then did them however he wanted? And the General described it as being a special type of detached duty? Don't you remember that conversation?
Also, several of you were speculating WEEKS AGO that 'the rules' were apparently a bit different for me vs the people we suspect might be PCs. Remember when Nalcarya said that some dunmer woman bought some low grade reagents to make potions with only negative effects, then sold them right back to her...cleaning out her till? Do you remember how Nalcarya explained how odd it was? How did you guys phrase it? 'Sounds like the Possible PC has not only been busy but has the powers given by the video game mechanics.' Yes, I think that's how you put it. In fact, didn't one of you even coin an expression to describe it? 'Reality bending gamey aura' right? Yes, I think that was it.
I remember this. Why don't any of you? You guys have been talking about this stuff for weeks."Ask Strillian if he knows who the Orc is, how long the Orc's been here and what he thinks of the Orc's name.
:
"Hey , Strillian. Do you know who that orc was or how long he's been here? Also, what do you think about his name?":
"Never seen him before. No idea how long he's been here. And like I said, he has an Imperial name and lacks the usual accent. My guess is that he was born and raised in Cyrodiil. That's not uncommon. I'm an imperial but I was born and raised in Morrowind.":
"Ok, that makes sense. But...what about his name? Isn't 'Awesomicus' kind of...unusual?":
"Not really. I have a friend in Maar Gan named Miles Gloriosus, and I once knew a guy named Biggus Dickus.":
"Really?":
"Yes. Can't say whether he lived up to his name. Was never important enough to me to ask."Ask about pushups, abdominal crunches, resistance training, weight lifting, that sort of thing.
:
"Hey, Strillian. What about pushups, abdominal crunches, resistance training, weight lifting, that sort of thing?":
"What are those? Never heard of them.":
"You know, like...picking up heavy things and putting them back down a bunch of times to get stronger."He looks at you strangely.
:
"How would that make you stronger?":
"By working out the muscles?:
"I don't think it works that way, recruit. I've never heard of it. Everyone knows that you get stronger by improving certain skills, like acrobatics and armor repair. Also most combat will help, whether it's with axe, mace or sword, or even unarmed combat."You suggest giving it a try and Strillian agrees to watch. You spend several minutes doing pushups. You don't feel any stronger. Come to think of it, you don't remember it doing anything when you tried basically the same thing with the rock back in Seyda Neen. You rather suspect if you try it again, it probably won't work next time either.
Tell him that we were once trained as an engineer/financier but got sick
of being a scrawny student who didn't do anything real.
:
"Hey, Strillian. I was once trained as an engineer/finanicier but got sick of being a scrawny student who didn't do anything real.":
"Oh? What was your background?":
"...umm, liberal arts.":
"Never heard of it. Is that some kind of fancy architectural design?":
"Not exactly.":
"Have you ever mixed concrete?":
"No.":
"Have you ever done any stone quarrying?":
"No.":
"Have you ever designed or built a bridge, or a castle, or a fort, or a siege engine, or a portcullis, or a palisade, or anything even remotely similar to any of these things?":
"...no.":
"Hmm. Not sure what kind of engineering "liberal arts" is then, but I don't think we have much use for it in the legion. Tell me about your finance background. I'm the quartermaster. I handle all inventory, tracking and requisitions. If you could be useful to me, I'd like to know.":
"...umm, well...I'm good at math.":
"What kind of math?":
"High school algebra?"He raises an eyebrow, then writes down a problem on a piece of paper. It's similar to the problem Ranis gave you a few weeks ago. You solve it without much difficulty and hand it back to him.
:
"Hmm. This is fairly complicated metamagical math. You'd probably make a good wizard if you could get some training for it."You feel like you've had this conversation before. You briefly wonder whether it's because the world just restored to a save state...or if it's because you actually have had this conversation before.
Inquire generally about the Blades. Ask how a Legionary might go about becoming a Blade.
I don't think asking around about the Blades is a good idea.
I think it is.
:
"Hey, Strillian. Legion work is great and all...but I wonder if there's any way I could be of greater service to the emperor than simply guarding roads and stuff."Strillian thinks for a moment.
:
"Hmm. Well, I'm sure there are probably higher levels of service, but I really wouldn't be the one to ask. I'm only a low grade trooper on my second year of service, myself. You're not eligible to begin drawing pay until you go on active duty, but once you do I'll actually only be two pay grades above you. I managed to get this quartermaster position mostly just because of my background as a battlemage. The Legion is somewhat merit-based. In order to be called to greater service you'd probably have to prove yourself capable of it first. If you're thinking ahead of being some kind of super special secret operative in the Emperor's personal employ...well, again I'm not claiming any great knowledge of these things, but I'm guessing the Emperor probably doesn't need many special operatives who don't even know how to swing a sword yet."As soon as you have free time, ask that orc out for dinner.
That would certainly be more interesting than what we've done so far today. But our next window of opportunity won't be for five more days, when Strillian gets his off-duty period. Do we really want to wait around for five days to ask the orc out? I guess it wouldn't be a total waste, since we're supposed to be doing combat training. But I'd like to be sure that's the plan before I just hang out here at the barracks for another week.
What do you do?
Author
Topic: Marooned in Morrowind (FINISHED) (Read 432716 times)