New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Page 4 of 50 FirstFirst 123456789101112131429 ... LastLast
Results 91 to 120 of 1482
  1. - Top - End - #91
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Stormwind's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2010

    Default Lia Naida

    Lia retrieves the prophecy scroll and takes another peek at it ...

  2. - Top - End - #92
    Titan in the Playground
     
    MikelaC1's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Find them all, divide the haul
    The Sword that has not been broken must be fixed and joined to us
    The diamond necklaces must be ours
    The woman who is not a woman must be found and convinced to join us
    The lightning sword likes us, the fire must too
    and several lines later
    The home must be visited and a shrine built
    Last edited by MikelaC1; 2011-11-21 at 02:04 PM.
    #GoreMutualarejerks

  3. - Top - End - #93
    Titan in the Playground
     
    BlueWizardGirl

    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Dot stares up at Sword for a moment.

    "I don't suppose that there's any chance that this Sword is the sword of the prophesy. I'm not sure how he'll feel about being, ah, fixed."
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  4. - Top - End - #94
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Ann Arbor, MI

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    K: bardic: (d20+15)[18]

    "Fixed? Fixed, not mended?" Melinda repeats. "Now that is some sick humor, Dot. But the Prophet has written what she wrote, and she -was- from around here. Fixing stallions with poor temperaments does fix them sometimes, and only the winners need to breed, anyway. Ironic when it works, though. And I would think, just like with people, that it's usually the other way around. Stallions with too -much- temperament benefit from fixing. Not too little."
    Last edited by Kalirren; 2011-11-21 at 05:33 PM.

  5. - Top - End - #95
    Titan in the Playground
     
    BlueWizardGirl

    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Dot nods at Kalirren's excellent counterpoint.

    "Fair enough. Well, he's a special holy being, right? Perhaps he simply needs not just a good reason to run, but a *holy* cause to pursue. Chasing down kidnappers, smiting the wicked, something similar."

    Horses were definitely not Dot's forte. She shrugged and looked up at the others.
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  6. - Top - End - #96
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    SamuraiGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    California
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Replying to Lildorrinene's prior comment, Tallesin coyly tosses back, "Ah, but how quickly one should get out of the trouble depends entirely on what kind of trouble we're talking about, wouldn't you agree? Some things are meant to be savored."

    Regaining his composure, Tallesin continues, "A good Sabrinian like Peridot, I must add my own thoughts on the matter of wands. With a grand race upcoming, why not first employ our existing monies to beget more funds? Wealth, like rabbits, has a way of reproducing, in the right hands of course. With a crew as cunning as ours, we could probably earn enough to cover a good portion of the wand's cost directly from our gains, whether through bets or less... polite means. My addendum aside, however, I will gladly contribute 3000g to the common fund, but I shall follow my own advice first and see whether my gold can make some new 'friends' while the race is in town."

    Turning to the matter of Darya's horse, he concludes, "Aye, I agree with Melinda. We serve goddesses of love: I hardly see why they would desire a male horse's... *ahem* relevancy diminished. Before I bet on Sword, however, I want to make sure it's a worthwhile risk. Perhaps Peridot's suggestion is indeed correct, but perhaps we can find a clinical specialist. Or may we simply ask the horse what troubles it?"

  7. - Top - End - #97
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Stormwind's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2010

    Default Lia Naida

    Speaking to Darya, Lia states, "I've worked with animals before and I'll give you this, that he's not an ordinary animal. If I read him right, Sword is intelligent enough, but seems simply too apathetic to use that intelligence even in simple conversation or discourse."

    Lia pauses, "I think he needs something to awaken him from his apathetic state, but I'm not certain what. Perhaps Darya could try using the gems to help establish an empathic bond with him or something of the sort?"

  8. - Top - End - #98
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Partysan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Germany
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    "As much as I appreciate the wordplay, I would not have Sword mutilated in this way even if it might give him a reason to care.
    Usually, I would be able to establish such a bond over time anyway, considering he has been divinely linked to me. It might just be that he won't bother communicating. Still, the necklace might be worth a try. Any idea how to make it fit a horse? For all we know, Sword has potential he is not willing to access, but as long as we don't know why, we can hardly "fix" that."
    "Ceterum censeo mediomundum esse delendum."
    Quote Originally Posted by Claudius Maximus View Post
    A balor is literally made of evil - for all we know it's composed of malecules and cruelectrons.
    I will leave this world like I entered it - screaming and bathed in blood.

    Martial Avatartist by the amazing yldenfrei

  9. - Top - End - #99
    Titan in the Playground
     
    MikelaC1's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    The necklaces are nowhere near long enough to fit around Sword's neck, they would strangle him if they were to be clasped...and they are made in such a way that they cannot be lengthened, without destroying their intrinsic nature. You suppose that you could wrap one around its leg, but that would undoubtably look silly, and you're not sure if it would function anyway.
    #GoreMutualarejerks

  10. - Top - End - #100
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Ann Arbor, MI

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Melinda regarded Lia quizzically. "You -know- he's intelligent? Smarter than your average horse, then, smart enough to sulk? Well, I wonder how he responds to music then." A strange proposition it was indeed to uplift a horse's spirit with song. But the effects of music were so visceral upon people that she wouldn't be surprised if they worked on animals as well.

    Stroking Sword's mane and patting a rhythm softly on his side, she begins to sing a traveling song, one of the pilgrim's songs she learned on the steppes of northeastern Enicom. Its driving beat is deeply evocative of the rhythm of a horse's hooves bounding across endless grasslands, and rapid, yodeling transitions between whistles and the laser-like quality of a woman's voice in mid-range gives the whole piece rather joyous feel, a texture that could carry for miles across the open space.

    break enchantment, inspire hope, inspire courage?

  11. - Top - End - #101
    Colossus in the Playground
     
    lostsole31's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    St. Louis
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    'Laelle' and her bodyguard 'Lukasz' have since wandered off on their own, having become bored of the horse (non-)sense.
    20MAR2024: Completed reading Paizo's Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Worldwound (2013, Jacobs, Keith, et. al.).
    28JAN2024: Completed reading TPK Games' The Deductionist (2013, Everhart). This source is authorized for playtest.
    Spoiler: Player Status
    Show
    bcool999: On hiatus through 01APR2024.

  12. - Top - End - #102
    Titan in the Playground
     
    MikelaC1's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Sword doesnt seem to respond to Melinda's song, the tapping on its side brings no response, and it just continues to sulk (if thats indeed what he is doing)
    #GoreMutualarejerks

  13. - Top - End - #103
    Titan in the Playground
     
    BlueWizardGirl

    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Dot shrugs.

    "I still think he just needs the right challenge. Maybe...a race."

    She purses her lips for a moment, then glances over at Tasha. The big 'amazonian' woman steps up to Sword, staring into his eye for a moment. She sends to him telepathically.

    "Would you like that, big guy? To stretch your legs in a race?"
    Last edited by Toliudar; 2011-11-23 at 11:28 AM.
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  14. - Top - End - #104
    Titan in the Playground
     
    MikelaC1's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    For just the briefest of moments (or was it just wishful thinking?), there is a flicker of interest in Sword's eye...but then he returns to his flaccid gaze.
    #GoreMutualarejerks

  15. - Top - End - #105
    Titan in the Playground
     
    BlueWizardGirl

    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Tasha turns back to Dot and shrugs. A moment seems to pass between them. Dot turns to Darya with an apologetic grimace.

    "Tasha thinks that there's someone home, but the lights aren't on, if you know what I mean."
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  16. - Top - End - #106
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Partysan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Germany
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    "That's about the same feeling as I had riding him. He doesn't disobey me, but he won't do any more than the bare minimum neccessary. As far as I'm concerned he just isn't interested.
    And I was planning to take him to the race, his apathy just had me rethinking that. No need to embarrass ourselves in public. After all, he won't bother to tell us whether he wants to run that race or not.
    Still, he is the one Tishtina chose for me, so I know he must be an exceptional one. I guess there is no use in waiting and testing."


    Darya stems the arms into her sides and turns to Sword.
    "Now, since you won't talk, I'll have to decide on my own. And I decided we're going to the race track. I know you can win, I also think you can have some fun running there. You're free to just trot down and embarrass us both, but it's on you then, you're not getting rid of me that way, my friend.", she says with a wink.

    "If anyone's going to bet on us, you're welcome. I'm going to place my faith in Sword and that he'll run for me when it matters."
    Last edited by Partysan; 2011-11-24 at 10:17 AM.
    "Ceterum censeo mediomundum esse delendum."
    Quote Originally Posted by Claudius Maximus View Post
    A balor is literally made of evil - for all we know it's composed of malecules and cruelectrons.
    I will leave this world like I entered it - screaming and bathed in blood.

    Martial Avatartist by the amazing yldenfrei

  17. - Top - End - #107
    Titan in the Playground
     
    BlueWizardGirl

    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Dot smiles. Attagirl. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

    Excellent. There seem to be relatively reputable gambling parlours at the corners of Oak and Hobble Streets, at the end of the Lane of Dreams, and on several locations along Market Street. I'll wait for several hours after Darya and Sword have entered, and make a series of smaller bets - no need to spook anyone. No offense to either Darya or big red here, but given Sword's current reputation, I'd suggest that the odds will be such that we'd stand to make a decent return.

    "And if she loses, well, I'm sure that the goddesses have other plans for the money."
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  18. - Top - End - #108
    Titan in the Playground
     
    MikelaC1's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Darya and Sword (plus anyone who wishes to accompany her) head off to the track to register for the Belmont Stakes. As she enters the office, there are plenty of japes from the yahoos that are hanging around...

    hey, you planning to get off and push...

    maybe she should carry the horse, instead of the other way around...

    youre going to enter that nag?, he hasnt even been broken...

    The track officials are just as dubious, but are willing to enter Sword anyway. All that is required is the 100 gold piece entry fee, and things proceed just as planned.
    #GoreMutualarejerks

  19. - Top - End - #109
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Ann Arbor, MI

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    "Good call, Darya," Melinda reflects. "Let's enter him in the main race officially. Then you take some practice runs in front of everyone, and when the bookies hear of it they'll have a good laugh. We'll bet on him anyway, lock in our price. That way we'll have bet on him when the odds against him were still astronomically high."

    "Then we'll fix him, or try. After we do, if we think he'll win, we'll hold. If we think we only really stand a good chance of coming in second, so will the bookies. The odds against him will fall, and we'll just resell our above-market odds for a tidy profit. That way we'll still make a good deal of money even if Darya doesn't win the actual race."

    Edit: Ninja'ed. Transferred to telepathy. Totally not saying that out loud in front of the bookies.
    Last edited by Kalirren; 2011-11-24 at 10:27 AM.

  20. - Top - End - #110
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Partysan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Germany
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    I don't think there's any fixing we can do. either he wants to win or he doesn't. I'm just going to trust him, if you don't want to just keep your money. But the practice runs are a fine idea, I'll get to that. Take some of my money too and bet on us. If I'm going to do this, I'm doing it all the way.
    "Ceterum censeo mediomundum esse delendum."
    Quote Originally Posted by Claudius Maximus View Post
    A balor is literally made of evil - for all we know it's composed of malecules and cruelectrons.
    I will leave this world like I entered it - screaming and bathed in blood.

    Martial Avatartist by the amazing yldenfrei

  21. - Top - End - #111
    Titan in the Playground
     
    MikelaC1's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    After getting the registration out of the way, Darya gets her racing silks and takes Sword out on to the track. After a couple of warm up laps, she attempts to get him up to a full gallop. For once, she is moderately successful, Sword hits a gallop faster than he has before for the amazon. Its still nowhere near what Sham or the others can do; at one point Sham, who is out on the track with them blows past them and they look like they are standing still.
    The oddsmakers are taking notes while the whole thing is going on, and shortly thereafter at the betting houses, the odds go up on Sword and Darya, she gets posted at 125 to 1.
    #GoreMutualarejerks

  22. - Top - End - #112
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Partysan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Germany
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Astonished, but also excited Darya read the results. Will you look at these crazy odds? That's bet a house and buy a town! If they don't run us out of the city when Sword decides to win the race, that is.
    "Ceterum censeo mediomundum esse delendum."
    Quote Originally Posted by Claudius Maximus View Post
    A balor is literally made of evil - for all we know it's composed of malecules and cruelectrons.
    I will leave this world like I entered it - screaming and bathed in blood.

    Martial Avatartist by the amazing yldenfrei

  23. - Top - End - #113
    Titan in the Playground
     
    BlueWizardGirl

    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Dot's whirling eyes go decidedly golden when the odds are posted.

    "Our patronesses smile upon us. Darya, that idea for the practice laps was brilliant. I'm off to place a large number of smaller bets under different names, in different places. No point in spooking the bookies. There's also a significant element to the race about who the fastest local horse might be - I'll also be placing some bets there. If others wish to, shall we say, invest but not get their hands dirty, now's the time to hand the money off to me."

    After recording any money that she gets from the others, Dot and company are once again off on a multi-identity betting spree.
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  24. - Top - End - #114
    Titan in the Playground
     
    MikelaC1's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Once the practice laps are finished, Darya is able to take Sword back to the paddocks, where the horses who are entered into the race must spend the night. A quick rubdown of the horse, and then a full bucket of oats and such, getting it all takes Darya until about 7PM or so.
    She is just about ready to leave, when she hears a voice in her head.

    @Darya
    Spoiler
    Show
    stay with me, tonight


    Sword appears to be quietly munching away, enjoying his meal of oats.
    #GoreMutualarejerks

  25. - Top - End - #115
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Telasi's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Taleira Ulharvyth

    Tali gives Dot an approving look and digs 1000 gp out of her bag and hands it over. I'm in. Way too good of a potential return to not go for it.
    Snickett avatar by me.

    I draw custom OotSatars. I'm wearing one now, and you can check out samples in my Gallery.

  26. - Top - End - #116
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Ann Arbor, MI

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Melinda just hands Dot a checkbook. "Vow of itinerancy, you know, Dot. Good for places, but it also means you can't just sit on the same cash ever, either." She kisses it goodbye, like a daughter, before handing it off. "You know the plan. Take good care of it. And no matter what happens to it, it's not mine anymore. It stays with the Fellowship."

    Spoiler
    Show
    The checkbook contains records of a 2500 pp deposit in a large bank in Erandol, which I'm going to finagle her into having visited back when she visited Dalcar's because I didn't know that Daystor had advanced banks at the time. Yes, for those of you who have been with us since the beginning of the game, it's the same 2500 pp she was willing to give to the statue in the first room of the Cups, but for the fact that it couldn't give her a receipt for its charity.

  27. - Top - End - #117
    Colossus in the Playground
     
    lostsole31's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    St. Louis
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Lildorrinene ... who has been separate from the group (with Lok) this whole time, sees the debacle on the field. She ignores Dot's tele-cast about money. A lady of her station is expected to bet large. At the elite leaderboards she says mockingly for those around her, "Here .... a 3000 gp bet for the galloping cow down there they call 'Sword'. Perhaps this mercy bet will go to the burial costs of the rider when she commits suicide for shame at bringing such a beast to so august an event."
    20MAR2024: Completed reading Paizo's Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Worldwound (2013, Jacobs, Keith, et. al.).
    28JAN2024: Completed reading TPK Games' The Deductionist (2013, Everhart). This source is authorized for playtest.
    Spoiler: Player Status
    Show
    bcool999: On hiatus through 01APR2024.

  28. - Top - End - #118
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    SamuraiGirl

    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    California
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Tallesin replies to Dot, "Milady Peridot, your idea is a capital notion! Might the company of a brother in the faith trouble you much? I would like very much to become more acquainted with you. And rest assured," he concludes with a grin, "I can don a persona as fast as I do the latest fashions."

    To Darya, he adds, "I will make a calculated risk, milady, and bet 1000 gold on Sword. I hadn't thought to wager while the horse was still weak- a masterful idea, that is. I have faith you'll find a way to bolster him in the meantime, but in that same faith, I'll pray the Goddesses guide you all the same." [Said while discussing the newly posted odds, obviously before Darya leaves for the paddocks.]

  29. - Top - End - #119
    Titan in the Playground
     
    BlueWizardGirl

    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Dot takes out a notepad to start to keep track of the contributions.

    "That's...a thousand from Taleira, and, my goodness, twenty five thousand for Melinda. And yes, Master Tallesin, you'd be most welcome to join me.

    Arriving at the first of the betting destinations, Dot receives a quick refresher in the realities of paramutuel betting, and quickly gives a mental update to her colleagues.

    "A short correction. Although the odds for Darya and sword are currently 125 to 1, that will not be finalized until all bets are in, and the amounts are calibrated based on the actual amounts wagered. So, just as in magical experiments it is impossible to observe a transmutation without affecting its outcome, so our participation in wagering on the race will ultimately change the odds. Still a worthwhile endeavour, I'd say. I just wanted to modulate your expectations, so to speak."

    Seeing no further point in disguising herself with multiple bets, if Tallesin is willing, Dot will lay down the entire stash at once. A bit flushed with excitement at the scale of the wager, she turns to Tallesin.

    "I do believe that a wager of that size deserves a bottle of champagne, don't you?"

    Spoiler
    Show
    So, with Taleira's 1,000, Tallesin's 1,000, Melinda's 25,000 and Dot's 55,000, that's a tidy 82,000. Incorporating Lil's 3,000, that's 85,000 now bet on Sword.
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  30. - Top - End - #120
    Bugbear in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Ann Arbor, MI

    Default Re: Three Goddesses - IC (Thread #2)

    Melinda does a little mental arithmetic and whistles. "You know, that's a big aggregate pool, Dot. We're trying to profit off of knowing this horse is better than it looks. If we bet it all on Sword to win this early, it'll just elevate Sword's odds for everyone to see, and that'll give away our advantage over other gamblers, who will just follow suit and bet on the dark horse without looking. I think we should wait to place our large bet until most of the people with enough money to sway this extensively have already placed their bets on the more solid candidates, and we know more about how Darya is doing."

    "That said, I think I'm off to make some money," Melinda says. "After last night, I've had enough celebration for a week. We should have the champagne at Varstok if we win."

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •