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[Rautherdir]

"I still want to leave."

[Sir Knight]

Previous -- Next

Okay, there's a clear push to move on: two players vote "leave," and, of course, one's just gonna meditate until things happen.  Standing still is not an option.  So I know that Dustan (Dustan Hache) may want to mess with things, but I'll just do what I did last time: update based on some really quick actions.

Spoiler: Observation, unto the last (click to show/hide)

Result: 5, Succeed greatly!

Result: 1, Fail terribly!

Result: 2, Fail!

Result: 4, Succeed!

Dwain approaches the "mining site" to investigate more cautiously.  And remove quotation marks.  It's obviously a mining site: pick scratches and everything.

John is more interesting in looting and running, and so walks up to jab a splitter wand into the one remaining patch of magenta.  Consequently, "BOOM."  Shale and dust pour out, and the magical violence reverberates from one end of the caves to the other.

You guess the area was cleaned out pretty thoroughly as only a single usable chunk of glowstone clatters from the cloud.  But what was that?  Some more noise behind the walls?

Suspicious, Dwain listens carefully.  Hmm . . . yes, what you're hearing right now is definitely water.

Spoiler: Getting some inner peace around here (click to show/hide)

Result: 6, Fail by succeeding!

Result: 6, Fail by succeeding!

Uh, yeah

Overseer, knowing that sometimes there are obstacles to meditation, has been relaxing the best that he can.  So, fine, you feel a conflict: these things happen.  It may pass, or it may be there to teach you a lesson.  You wait to learn the truth . . .

And when the loud BOOM wakes you up, you are so glad that none of your fellow exiles were nearby to see you nod off during the attempt.

. . . Like I said, we have two votes for leaving.  Things like this require unanimity.  Are we all ready to leave?  Or does anyone (including Dustan of course) need to interrupt first?

[Starver]

Well, that running water sure sounds like a plot-point something more interesting than someone doing the equivalent of saying "Are we nearly there yet? Why aren't we there yet?" in the back seat of a car. But I also just had someone of a similar mind explode a rock-face almost in my own face. That's gotta be distracting.

Take a swig of water, pointedly, and then wander over to the cracks only so long as John doesn't actually go back to the barrows (presumably with the glowstone). If he does, I'll take the cue that the break is over and perhaps make a mental note for if/when I pass this way again, as I'm not risking being left behind.

[Dustan Hache]

ugh. Let's just go. We may find it again later.

[Sir Knight]

We may find it again later.

As you've seen, I will in fact save known maps and re-use them for things.  He he he.

[FallacyofUrist]

Overseer is ready to go. As he goes, he works on walking meditation, meditating while walking.

[Sir Knight]

Overseer is ready to go. As he goes, he works on walking meditation, meditating while walking.

. . . Now that Dwain (Starver) has given you that idea, you're never going to drop it, huh?  I'm not one to give out "free actions," especially since this thing has delivered combat bonuses before, but I guess we can label it one of the special qualities of being a religion-focused character.  Sure.  (I, uh, guess this means I should offer a "walking meditation roll" to Dwain then?)

Maybe I'll limit the bonuses to one per day, but another thing is it does demand a lot of writing if I'm to keep your experience interesting.  Ugh.  Maybe I'll allow for "Fail by succeeding" to mean smooshing your face into a wall during travel, and leave you to judge if it's worth it . . .

[Starver]

At the rate I'm (inadvertently) job-swapping, I suspect I'm also due some acquired bonuses in mine administration... 

Anyway, assuming the hounds of hell (or maybe some variety of ant-lemmings from the afterlife) aren't on my heels next time I pass here, I'm sure I'll get the chance to investigate your clues, but I'm more concerned with needing to keep with the party (and not, maybe, causing flood-related disaster to anyone¹) while we find the other stuff we're dealing with.


I lost track, but I think my offered Splitter wasn't used (John used his own, Dustan appears not to have used it) so I reclaim and repack it as soon as I get back to the wheelbarrow.  Trundle trundle trundle, if that's the order of the day!



¹ Assuming that the current, unpursued, task is not actually something we're supposed to prevent... If a subset of my "paranoid about what the GM is doing" worries in my brain are more accurate than I give them immediate credit for. 

[Sir Knight]

Ah, was I to take it that John (ziizo) and Alyssa Alpine (Rautherdir) both vote "leave" without comment?  I was waiting in particular for John (ziizo) to address the 4 kg chunk of glowstone.  (You're out of carrying capacity yourself.  You'll either want to hand it to somebody or put it in a wheelbarrow.)

[Starver]

(I'm the obvious one to lump it to the barrows, if caught in time. But I shall await being invited to.)

[ziizo]

To the wheelbarrow I actually thought I didn't had to post this turn because it was about the others deciding to go or stay.

[Sir Knight]

(Okay, that's what I was checking.  And there's no new obligation lingering over Alyssa Alpine (Rautherdir)'s head, so I believe the repeated statements of "leave" mean we're all set here.  Posting later!)

[Sir Knight]

Previous -- Next

First some babble hidden in a spoiler.

Spoiler: Talking games (click to show/hide)

So I can tell the players are thinking.  You might be interested to learn more about how the game works.

Here we go, leaving a map "early"--and the players can see this is "early" so there's no point denying it.  You've never played an RPG with me outside of this one game, so you haven't seen how I handle this sort of interruption/interference in general, but players in this thread have commented how I . . . put up with a lot.  Well, in my in-person games, I've learned to feed off the insanity of the player.

It's obvious that stuff would have happened on this map if you stayed.  By someone's measure you may have "broken" the game.  But it's fine.  While here, you gave me the inspiration I need to shape what happens next.  The players are now the instruments of your subsequent suffering.

The fact that I get to shuffle around maps is immensely liberating, and they're just going to slide into a different order.  It's like . . .

Okay, I'll keep rambling.  Previously the game points had been arrayed something like this, with each hyphenated section being close in both space and time:

A-B-C-D, E-F-G, H-I, J, K-L, and hopefully M could fit into later events

But now they'll be closer to this:

C, E-F-G, H-I-N, K-L, J-B-M, and I know for sure D can fit into later events

The only thing you lost was point A, and that's alright, because I managed to include some of it earlier anyway.  (Not that you have a clue what I mean.)  And you people just gave your team the new challenge N, so pat yourselves on the back, suckers.

I hope you found this digression to be as illuminating as it was comforting.

Oh, and at least one of you has a private message now . . .

The group is in a hurry.  Apparently?

Dwain turns away from the obviously-water-on-the-other-side-of-the-wall thing and sips at a waterskin.  Sips meaningfully.  But you'll get to empty that whole skin on the move, because it seems that others (notably John and Alyssa Alpine) are itching to leave.

John loads up the glowstone, Dwain retrieves his splitter wand, and the group abandons the area to head east.

Evening comes to an end, and it's starting to feel like something's been missed.  Oh yeah: no one's found anything new to hunt, kill, and eat yet.

Spoiler: You've already napped; surely you can keep plugging on inner peace as you go (click to show/hide)

Overseer's meditation roll: 3-1 (mysterious unexplained factors) = 2, Fail!

Spoiler: Camping overnight (click to show/hide)

Food (travel food) +1 HP
Water +1 HP
Bedding (blankets) +1 HP
Warmth (1 kg of glowstone) +1 HP

Total +4 HP

. . . But it doesn't matter since you are all uninjured!

Meals are turning repetitive.  Overseer continues to feed the group (except for Dwain, who brought his own).  You're down to enough food for six people for one day.  Or five for one day, then four of you politely die and let the survivor get some peace.

At least the glowstone fire is nice; and now you got more of it.

This whole while, Overseer tries to keep "in the zone."  A little walking meditation never hurt anyone.  But try as you might, something seems in conflict.  And you almost had it, too: this evening, you thought that two factors within you needed to resolve themselves; as you move on the next morning, you feel as though some frustrating third has jumped into your head to corrupt the natural order.

That's it, everyone's up and being all noisy, time to go.

Day 14, Morning

Spoiler: Definitely gonna need to do better on observation rolls (click to show/hide)

Result: 3, Succeed weakly!
Result: 2, Fail!
Result: 2, Fail!
Result: 2, Fail!
Result: 6, Fail by succeeding!

This new area before you has been mined, too.  Pretty thoroughly.  You can see from the tiny glinting flecks that there had been an opal cluster in the western wall.

It's quiet, at least, as you come to an intersection with even more (apparent) routes out than the last one.

Alyssa Alpine, who has known Dwain for all of 10 minutes longer than the rest of you, notices that he seems agitated.  Yeah, he's still peeved about missing out on the mystery past that last intersection.

I await initial instruction.

[Dustan Hache]

Scout the intersection. It seems quiet, so let's look what ways it leads.

[Starver]

Shadow Dustan, to be there should something happen that needs my intervention. (Going out on my own doesn't seem to work, so let's try it this way.) But be prepared to switch to shadowing anyone else who I see being even more adventurous.