Grimoire of the Rift (IC)

[ReaderAt2046]

Do I find anything to explain Aisha said she's going to House Kenshin territoy when there's no House Kenshin on the map? Cause that's really confusing me.

[Morithias]

Do I find anything to explain Aisha said she's going to House Kenshin territoy when there's no House Kenshin on the map? Cause that's really confusing me.

CRAP! I forgot I labelled it Uesugi!

Okay, my mistake, my mistake, she's going to the Uesugi family.

(Which makes a lot more sense of the mix-up if you know who Uesugi Kenshin was).

The Uesugi family, is know for their fighters. Unlike the Takeda who use cavalry, the Hojo who use magic, or the Oda who use Iron Wall defence. The Uesugi focus on mastery of their art of swordplay, and consist of Duelists, Swashbucklers, and other types of fighters who focus on grace over brute force. Their leader Uesugi Kenshin is said to be the most powerful warrior on the planet, possibly rivalled only by Aisha. It's possible Aisha is looking to train under her to control her violent nature.

The Princess wants it made into a new Province, New Ruler new everything. The man I was talking to earlier was Baron Danil Drome. He is leading the expedition and has asked me to come along. I would have full control of the treasury and trade in and out of the province. I want you to come with me.

"But...but...that's suicide!" She yells. "Takuga is so deadly that you can't build there! There's a literal portal to the abyss there! We're way too inexperienced!" She starts to tear up. "Why are you lying to me?! Why can't you tell me the truth!?"

[Tantaburs]

"But...but...that's suicide!" She yells. "Takuga is so deadly that you can't build there! There's a literal portal to the abyss there! We're way too inexperienced!" She starts to tear up. "Why are you lying to me?! Why can't you tell me the truth!?"

Mana calm down.

John walks over and attempts to comfort Mana

I know this is sudden and is hard to believe but I can assure you that it is really happening. We will be plenty safe with the forces the princess is sure to send. Danil, the others and I are meeting again tomorrow. Come with me and see for yourself.

John wipes the tears from Mana's eyes.

Listen, I promise I won't let anyone hurt you.

[Morithias]

Mana turns away from you. "Alright. I'll help you...I'll do what I can." She tries to smile, but it's clear she's extremely worried.

[ReaderAt2046]

Snooze time for Danil and me! We'll both see you tomorrow morning!

[Morithias]

Snooze time for Danil and me! We'll both see you tomorrow morning!

You sleep until the morning without trouble.

[Zman]

Zachary heads back towards his quarters in the barracks, sending a quick message through the link, If anyone can figure out my squire's name, it would be greatly appreciated.

Upon returning to his quarters Zachary will spend time pooring through his times and magical txts, trying to unravel their mysteries.

[ReaderAt2046]

The next morning, Danil rises fairly early, and after the morning prayers and some breakfast, he sets off to the castle. Upon arriving, he explains

"I need to report to the Princess regarding a task she gave me. Could you please let her know I am here?"

[Lexin]

Lucas

He wakes up quite early, around 7am, thanks to help of his Loiosh-alarm-clock and prepares for the day. He wears some of his better clothes, taking into account that he would be spending quite a lot of time with some knights and nobles from now on... T-shirt and jeans wouldn't make it...

After a while he is ready and starts doing what he had planned for today...
... one: talk to my 'father'...
He tries to find Guildmaster Laguna, using Loiosh GPS.

[Tantaburs]

Mana turns away from you. "Alright. I'll help you...I'll do what I can." She tries to smile, but it's clear she's extremely worried.

It'll be fine Mana. This is a great opportunity for us. Complete Autonomy. Just get some sleep we will talk about it more in the morning.

[Morithias]

~Reader~

You are ushered inside, and the Princess takes a look at you.

"Where are the rest of them? Or are you going alone?" She asks in a disappointed voice. "What is your progress so far?"

~Lexin~

You find your father working on an advanced psionic object.

"Yes what do you need?"

~Tanatburs~

Mana leaves and goes to sleep. You rest for the night. Oddly enough she doesn't wake you the next morning.

[Zman]

Zachary wakes up early and continues his studies after his wash. It difficult for him to figure out what he needs to do.

I'll just wait patiently for my squire to come and tell me I'm late for something... seems reasonable...

[ReaderAt2046]

Danil bows, "I have found the rest of the group, milady. Sir Zachary Smith, as you may have guessed, will probably do excellently for the knight, John of the merchant's guild is willing to try opening trade routes to these regions, Lucas of the Psionics Guild can be our scholar, and I have found a mage named Tabitha Wright and a scholar named Patricia who are willing to go as well. I understood your instructions to be to report back myself, if you would like to meet the whole group I can bring them back this afternoon."

[Morithias]

Danil bows, "I have found the rest of the group, milady. Sir Zachary Smith, as you may have guessed, will probably do excellently for the knight, John of the merchant's guild is willing to try opening trade routes to these regions, Lucas of the Psionics Guild can be our scholar, and I have found a mage named Tabitha Wright and a scholar named Patricia who are willing to go as well. I understood your instructions to be to report back myself, if you would like to meet the whole group I can bring them back this afternoon."

The princess's eyebrow raises. "And do you ACTUALLY have ALL of their approval? Or are you just assuming that they will come due to being your friends?" She smiles and it sends chills down your spine, like she knows something.

(Courtier class ability "Gossip", Rokugan Campaign setting)

"Go gather them. We will meet for discussion and tea this afternoon."

~Zman~

Your squire does not show up for a fair while, making you question what's going on. Eventually you hear the other knights suiting up, and leaving, leaving you to question if your squire slept in or what.

[Lexin]

Lucas

'...act normal... act normal...'

He gets closer, looking as if he had problems with choosing the right words. After a moment he finally says.
"Good morning father."
He starts with polite nod.
"I was given an offer...
Princes is organizing a campaign to harness the lands of Takuga and she is looking for suitable people for the job...
Yesterday, Baron Danil Drome, person responsible for choosing the crew suitable for campaign approached me with proposition.
I would be holding an important position there... and quite possibly would represent the guild.
I think I will take the offer, but being still inexperienced... and alone I would like to ask you to help me in gathering adequate experience and knowledge, as well as pointing to people in our guild who would be willing to accompany me in this task."
He says as if he thought about it for a really long time and is now waiting for an answer.

[Morithias]

"Takuga is death country. You do realize that?" You father looks up at you.

"The Princess will not just send you there. You're likely going to be doing training and work for the next little while anyway. She's probably growing desperate. Takuga has tried to be colonized many times before. Everytime it has failed. The land is almost impossible to farm, making food tough. The demons attack...and it's just not a nice place to live."

He sighs.

"But this is royal business, so I will help you in anyway I can. The Princess may not be our ruler yet, but she is still the heir. No defying her."

[Lexin]

Lucas

"...The death country... yes, I realize that.
Wouldn't it be nice, if your son was one of these who make it safe?" He asks with a slight smile.

He then nods, having thought about other things, his father mentioned.

"It is a challenge. It would be a shame not to take this chance though...
I know there would be a training provided by princess and yet, even though her people could teach me how to survive there, maybe even how to lead others or fight... they would not teach me how to work a guild. ... and if I am to create a branch there, I would need this knowledge.
...And this is where I need your help. As for people who would go there, I hope you could help me with this as you know your guildsman much better than me.
As for me, learning about the guild... I suppose there is a way that would work well and quickly.
First part, in next few weeks I am going to try every type of job, which falls into Psions Guild responsibility. This way, I would learn how much can I expect from guildmembers, later doing these tasks, so I don't give them impossible jobs.
The second part would come next... and I would need your personal guidance then... I don't think there is anyone more suited to teach me how to lead than you..."

[ReaderAt2046]

Nope. From what you can tell, the main divine faith is that of the "Tree of Life" the "Divine Dragon" and "The Golem of the grounds." The three gods of the land, sky, and underground respectively. There is also a minor god called "The water whale" who is the god of the sea, but due to the lack of sea trade, is not worshipped as often.

The 5th god, the hydra that made up the base of the country, as I have stated, was killed in order to stop the sacrifice of beings filled with negative energy to it, (Also to stop the earthquakes).

I can work on that later. Right now I have more...immediate priorities.

Danil again begins working through his books, but this time with a focus on learning as much as he can about House Drome. Their family tree, their properties, their resources, their specialties, anything and everything that he should already know. He has a couple of hours before the rest of the group arrives for lunch, so he should have plenty of time to at least get some basic data.

[Zman]

After preparing his spells this morning and hearing the commotion Zachary quickly dons his Mithril, gathers his beloved sword, and walks out to explore...

[Morithias]

~Lucas~

"There is a big difference between running a government and running a guild. A guild is just a bunch of people with the same primary skills working together to provide better service and lower prices."

He looks at you.

"Takuga is very different, you will have to personally oversee everything, and there will be no room for entertainment or non-combat things. At least not at first. You'll be spending all your time enchanting armour, and magical items. If you want to run a guild you need experience. Leadership isn't something you can just be taught."

~Reader~

As far as you can tell you are a low-ranking noble family. Your tree is very basic, father and mother (whose names are different from your real world parents) both deceased. Primary resources were spellcasting sales. Now living on leftover money and bank interest. You're basically a noble in blood only. You have no current power, you're just living on leftover money, rather than anything that would actually make you one of the upper class.

~Zman~

You exit the room and most of the knights say hi, they seem to be cold to you. Apparently abandoning the fight was looked down upon. Your squire is nowhere to be seen.

[Zman]

Zachary simply ignores the Knights and doesn't avert their gaze.

He walks, letting his feat carry them where they will...

[Lexin]

Lucas

"One of the reasons why I came here. What should I do to be prepared?" He asks simply.

[Morithias]

Zachary simply ignores the Knights and doesn't avert their gaze.

He walks, letting his feat carry them where they will...

You enter the streets. Any place in particular you want to go? Any plans for the day? (give me something to work with!)

~Lucas~

"Practice. That's all I can really say, practice the paperwork, practice your skills, the main thing a guildmaster has to do besides overlook paperwork is being able to judge the quality and skill of others. You can't do that when you're inexperienced."

[Lexin]

Lucas

He nods simply and says "That's why I want to gain experience. If I try the jobs of the guildsman, I would be better prepared to judging their jobs in the future."

[Zman]

Zachary simply walks, trying to familiarize himself with the city.

Spoiler

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Don't know what to do, was hoping you'd throw me a bone!

[Morithias]

Lucas

He nods simply and says "That's why I want to gain experience. If I try the jobs of the guildsman, I would be better prepared to judging their jobs in the future."

"The jobs of the guildsmen, are what psionic users do. Make items, sell spells, and so on. We only assign jobs when there's a big project that's too large for one person to do, or something major comes up."

Suddenly a man walks in. "Sir...Nova Ryu of the Tokugawa family is here. She wishes to speak to you about the communication array."

"The dragon princess...I will deal with this."

~Zman~

You wander the streets and eventually find your in front of the royal university, perhaps now would be a good time to check in on your scholars?

[Lexin]

Lucas

He waits, so he doesn't interrupt in anything.
"Is there anything I can help with?"

[Zman]

The Royal University....

Zachary enters the Royal University, wondering if he had ever been there before.

[Morithias]

Lucas

He waits, so he doesn't interrupt in anything.
"Is there anything I can help with?"

"Go work on something. Practice your skills. I have to talk to Nova." He puts down what he was working on and leaves the room to converse with the Dragon Princess."

Apparently he wants you to take iniative for yourself.

The Royal University....

Zachary enters the Royal University, wondering if he had ever been there before.

You take note of all the scholar here. Unlike the wizard's school, the royal university places a heavier focus on non-adventuring skills. You won't run into a combat ready opponent here, however it's library is massive, and it's an excellent place to do research. It appears to also be more formal. While the wizard's school has no formal uniform, you note that most of the people here are wearing the same scholar's uniforms.

[Lexin]

Lucas

He nods and leaves.

'Okay then...
Two: Crafting to get money...'

He spends next four hours finishing the cloak he started crafting yesterday, after which he brings it to Guild's shop.

Spoiler

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+100 gp, unless there are some unforeseen problems.

In this time Danil probably would reach him, so they can all meet the princess. He prepares for the meeting, crafting some more, or selling spells if there is a lot of time till the meeting.

Spoiler

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Plans till around 12 pm , if there is at least few hours till the meeting he would take care of his responsibilities as a guild member, sell spells and craft in this time...
It is difficult to make more specific plans when you don't know how much time you have...