Remind me to standardize the skills at some point...
-snip-
Kyle focuses on training his body to fight with minimal aid from anything else. He also spends time among his officers, chatting with them and flirting with Finna. [4
+1-1-1] It takes a long, long time, but eventually she warms up to him. In the night, however, Kyle relieves his negative feelings which seem to be strangling his magical potency by getting in contact with the criminal element in the camp. It's not significant, but it's there, providing the soldiers with various illicit goods and services.
From the officers, Kyle learns of the strategy. Most of the details bore him, but he does learn some useful stuff. First, while the major contributors are the King of the Southern Isles and the Duke of Weselton, various other nobles are providing soldiers, supplies, or both. Second, the camp you are at is one of several distributed around Arendell's borders and a couple nearby ports. Soldiers will begin marching from all of these places more or less simultaneously, forcing the queen to spread her attention and forces. Her personal power, while great, can only be applied to one area; if she marches to battle, most of the forces will be able to avoid her. Arendell being a small kingdom, any given portion of the army would be able to reach the capital within a few weeks under normal circumstances, which should exist for at least one group. Third, each section has a squad of "special" soldiers--mostly witch-hunters, but a couple of elite veterans and...well...you're one. These squads are intended to deal with any surprises the queen provides, and are supposed to be mobile enough to move to wherever their skills will be most useful.
Scene: One morning, after securing a profitable supply of fogweed (a magical plant which, when burned, produces a small cloud of dense yellowish fog that numbs the minds of those who inhale it) in their safehouse, Kyle and several other such people hear people above their storehouse...and they don't sound like customers.
Incidents: [5
-1+0.2+0.4=5] Not once does your magic go out of control.
-snip-
Selina largely sticks to her roots, helping the hunters supplement their shipped bread supplies and such with fresh meat and plants. She becomes a friend with Alverus, an archer who often takes sentry and hunting duties; he teaches her some interesting tricks to do with arrows and helps keep her in touch with her friend.
These people, mostly from less populous regions of the various kingdoms, give Selina an insight on what such people think of this war. Most of them fear the Queen and Arendell, as much from their fear of magic in general as the snowfall in specific. They don't know much about magic, but they certainly understand that it's dangerous; you get the impression that for this reason alone, most people would consider this war to be a righteous one. They are also vaguely aware of various other reasons, but seem fuzzy on the details. Most understand that someone didn't get to marry someone, which made at least one of them angry, and that there are other reasons.
Scene: Selina's friend showed interest in the encampment, so she is eventually persuaded to brings her into camp.
Incidents: [6
-0.2-0.4=5] Nothing. Good.
-snip-
Logan spends time with the heavy infantry, learning polearms and such. He also spends time with his compatriots, his squadmates, and learns as much about them as they're willing to tell. He focuses his time largely on training and talking, but manages to organize a few meetings with the others. For the most part, he keeps his head down, but he keeps getting in trouble--sometimes for legitimate things (see below), sometimes for more minor things. He and the officers didn't get off to a good start...
From the elite soldiers, he learns a few things. He gets a better understanding of the military for one, and of basic tactics. More interestingly, he learns how urban folks think of the whole Arendell situation. They understand that the queen is a danger, but don't understand the really dangerous stuff like the rural folks do--they see it more in terms of abominable snowmen and freezing temperatures. They do have a stronger understanding of the other reasons behind the war--the trade cutoffs, the jilted prince, and so on. As to if it's right or not...most people here seem to think so, but you get the impression that their opinions are heavily (if unconsciously) enforced by their feelings towards the wronged nobles. As to the people themselves...they're people.
Scene: One of these meetings arranged by Logan, bringing all the others into one location to chat and learn more about each other.
Incidents: [3
-1=2] More than once, Logan's power escapes him; one time, he ends up burning a few soldiers, which leads to more flogging.
The military
sucks.
-snip-
Angel practices when she has to, but when she doesn't she hangs out at taverns, pubs, and basically anywhere that soldiers go to drink, fight, and have a good time. [3
-1=2] She gets beaten up a lot, but manages to avoid getting too maimed (well, physically--she's getting a reputation for having bark but no bite). You get to know the local medical staff pretty well.
From the assorted drunkards, you learn all sorts of rumors. You can draw on this knowledge at various times, although it might not be 100% accurate!
Scene: You're...um...Did she do anything that the other PCs could show up at somehow?
Incidents: [6
+1-1.3-0.3=5] You ever accidentally set off your magic, remarkably.
-snip-
Kext spends much of his time with three things: Fire, crossbows, and horseshoes. While the crossbows and horseshoes are pretty self-explanatory, the fires took many forms, from those he started, to those he fenced with, to those he sang around. He did all these things around common men, doing his best to avoid being near the nobles and even the higher-ranking officers. In the course, he learned a fair amount about what the soldiers think of their officers, the nobles, and this war.
The short of it is, the soldiers don't much like their officers, on average they don't much care about the nobles, and while most agree that a war should be fought against the Sorceress-Queen, they disagree on such matters as who should be fighting it and why. One thing they all agree on is that they don't want to be the ones fighting her! Aside from this basic stuff, Kext also learns that the soldiers are rather...divided on the little squad he's in. On one hand, they're not a big fan of magic (but who is?); on the other, they're glad that it means they won't have to fight the really magical stuff themselves.
Scene: Kext has managed to persuade some of his squad to play horseshoes with the soldiers, hoping this makes the soldiers distrust them less.
Incidents: [6+whatever] Yup, no incidents.
-snip-
Kuroe pretends to be a child as much as she can, which isn't much. She learns some athletic and military skills, but manages to alienate the soldiers with some ill-timed magic metal.
War is hell. This is something the soldiers relay. (She also learns bits of what the others chatting with soldiers learn, but all of them got that.)
Scene: Well, you...didn't give me much to work with.
Incidents: [2
+0.2=3] You have a couple of close calls, and manage to freak out the soldiers.
Order Rolls:
Kyle-1
Selina-3(4)
Logan-3(1)
Angel-5
Kext-2
Scene Order: Kyle, Kext, Logan, Selina, Angel
So. First, we'll have Kyle dealing with the probable fuzz. The others (except Logan, who the officers don't trust--sorry, GUNIN) would have been offered a chance to help bring some smugglers to justice. Which ones would have accepted the offer?
rag, any ideas? The other PCs don't seem the type to engage in bar fights...
scapheap: If you care to beef up your explanation of what Kuroe did, I'd probably be able to give her a Scene after Angel's.
Author
Topic: Thawed (Wrapping Up) (Read 111397 times)