Grimoire of the Rift (IC)

[Morithias]

"Calm down everyone, you're so tense..." Teru says to you all. "This is just a causal meeting for me to get to know who I'm sending to Takuga."

She pours some more cups with the grace attributed to her.

"So tell me a bit about yourselves?"

[Zman]

Zachary accepts his tea graciously, hoping no one tried to poison royalty and they'd get caught in the crossfire...

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Jumped right to being present.

[Lexin]

Lucas

He nods politely and says in calm, clear voice:
"If you are asking about each of us separately, I can tell you that I am Lucas, son of Laguna, Guildmaster of Psion's Guild. I am an Erudite and a beginning scholar.

If you are asking about whole group... there would be few common traits. I can list two, I guess, which would describe at least majority of us...
First, we are friends.
Second, we are not used to speaking casually to princesses..."

[Tantaburs]

John

My name is John I work in a shipping company. I am looking forward to an opportunity to expand into a previously unoccupied region

[Zman]

"I am Sir Zachary Smith, the disgraced Knight."

[Morithias]

"Do I really intimidate you that much?" - Teru asks.

She sips her tea and relaxes.

"Son of the guildmaster?" she turns to Lucas. "The psionic guild is one of the six major guilds that operate on a kingdom level scale. Your father must have high expectations for you."

She then turns to Tantaburs. "Ah yes...the shipping coming from Oda to Hara correct? I recall seeing those papers before I was given the title of heir. Shipping companies are so large and so expensive, they're often given heavy overlook by the royal families. Although I must say I've heard odd things through the grapevine lately..."

She turns to Zman. "Well, to be fair you were fighting one of the best fighters in the Oda family, but more in more that fight was to make a point to whoever took on Takuga. You can't just give up once you're in Death Country. If you abandon your duties, you'll likely end up dead. Of course the key is also to not stay in a hopeless position. The oda iron wall has a weakness, but few people tend to use it. They either give up, or just endlessly attack. Moderation and all that."

[ReaderAt2046]

"As you probably know, I am Baron Danil Drome, a child of a poor house seeking to become great and bring the Light to the world."

[Lexin]

Lucas

"Yes, you do."
He answers simply.

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... too many anti-royalistic texts coming to my mind...
Face of my IC version turns blank from time to time when I/he thinks something like 'I shouldn't say that.' or 'Saying that would be plain stupid...'

"As for my father's expectations... yes, I guess they are high... one thing for sure, suicide by expedition stands as big enough challenge to make him proud... if we survive that is." He says with a slight smile.
'...I hope she enjoys grim humor...' he thinks just a second later.

[Tantaburs]

John

It's not intimidation so much as... expectation. You meet a princess you expect to be expected to follow a certain, whats the word I;m looking for, Protocol.

[ReaderAt2046]

"I agree with John. It's not so much that I expect you to get angry, since you've shown you don't mind informality, it's just that treating a princess like a regular person feels kind of like calling a lion "Mr. Scruffy" and trying to serve it tuna and milk and give it a kitty-collar."

[Morithias]

"I suppose that is true. Either way. The group you have gathered seems to be made of young people with potential. An interesting choice of people to gather, but once you get out into the world will likely give a fair chance at succeeding, of course the man who struck down the Hydra was only a young boy, so there is precedent of the young accomplishing great things."

She sips her tea again.

"The first thing to do would be to go to all the lords of our kingdom and ask them for aid. I could in theory just conscript the aid, but that would cause unrest. No the best option would be for your group to go yourselves and meet with them. I will obviously give you letters of passage."

[Tantaburs]

"I suppose that is true. Either way. The group you have gathered seems to be made of young people with potential. An interesting choice of people to gather, but once you get out into the world will likely give a fair chance at succeeding, of course the man who struck down the Hydra was only a young boy, so there is precedent of the young accomplishing great things."

She sips her tea again.

"The first thing to do would be to go to all the lords of our kingdom and ask them for aid. I could in theory just conscript the aid, but that would cause unrest. No the best option would be for your group to go yourselves and meet with them. I will obviously give you letters of passage."

Before we start discussing gathering support I would like to know more about Takuga itself. I have, of course, heard the stories but I expect you have information that the general populace doesn't have access to.

[Morithias]

Before we start discussing gathering support I would like to know more about Takuga itself. I have, of course, heard the stories but I expect you have information that the general populace doesn't have access to.

She sips her tea. "Tell me...have you ever heard of Xaiver?"

Her face goes dark as if remembering a dark memory.

[Lexin]

Lucas

"Have I?" he says to Loiosh using telepathy.

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Knowledge Local (1d20+10)[21]
Knowledge History (1d20+10)[13]

[Morithias]

Lucas

"Have I?" he says to Loiosh using telepathy.

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Knowledge Local [roll0]
Knowledge History [roll1]

The psycrystal turns dark as if remembering something dark.

"Takuga, wasn't always the hellhole it is now. Sakamoto Ryouma was the leader of it. It was a place where the disabled, cursed, and otherwise socially unacceptable could find a home.

Over 1000 years ago, a demon attacked the rosewood kingdom and was eventually sealed away into 8 pieces. However when Ryouma accidentally broke open one of the seals around 500 years ago she was possessed by the demon. The demon was named Xaiver. Eventually he managed to find a way to break the seals on himself without finding the other pieces and opened a portal to the abyss, the damage to the kingdom was great, but Takuga was all but destroyed. Xaiver wasn't sealed the second time however, he was killed by a legendary warrior, who then left the kingdom."

[Lexin]

Lucas

"There isn't much I know about this Xaiver... it was the demon who changed Takuga in the hell it is now, wasn't it?" He says, now curious what would they learn next.
"He was killed though..."

[Morithias]

Lucas

"There isn't much I know about this Xaiver... it was the demon who changed Takuga in the hell it is now, wasn't it?" He says, now curious what would they learn next.
"He was killed though..."

Teru proceeds to tell you the history of Takuga.

"That is pretty much the history of it. Also Xaiver wasn't killed in the "regenerates in 99 years" type way. The warrior had a truenamer in his party, who unnamed him. Xaiver was basically erased from existence."

She sips her tea. "The main reason I want to colonize Takuga is to finally place a permanent seal on the portal to prevent any more major damage. Of course few demons bother to come through the portal anymore, Mouri is so consistence with their attacks. A demon who comes through will last 2 or 3 days top before some guy whacks him over the head with a greathammer and kills him, but the fact remains that we are spending a lot of resources on keeping the armies back. Weapons and armour capable of fighting demons aren't cheap."

She points to the wall. In a glass case you see something that looks out of place. It is a small statue that is cracked in two. A statue of a young woman. "8 statues were created by the sealing ritual, and when Xavier found his full power, all 8 were broken. My father keeps that statue there to remind the family of what our duty to the country is."

[Lexin]

Lucas

"So... to summarize.
We should meet all the lords of this kingdom, asking them for help in conquering the demons lands, which is considered by many as suicide...
Then we go there and build an army and magic defenses to keep the demons in hell as it should be...
We should then try to find a way to seal the portal...
Did I miss anything? It sounds easy enough by itself."
He says matter-of-factly...

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How many lords are there?
If I should roll any knowledge, all of these have the same bonus: Nobility/Local/Geography/History
(1d20+10)[25]

[Morithias]

Lucas

"So... to summarize.
We should meet all the lords of this kingdom, asking them for help in conquering the demons lands, which is considered by many as suicide...
Then we go there and build an army and magic defenses to keep the demons in hell as it should be...
We should then try to find a way to seal the portal...
Did I miss anything? It sounds easy enough by itself."
He says matter-of-factly...

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How many lords are there?
If I should roll any knowledge, all of these have the same bonus: Nobility/Local/Geography/History
[roll0]

There is one lord for each area. Every area except for Takuga and Oda are named after the ruling family. Takuga is a barren wasteland, and Oda is the capital.

"Nope that's pretty much it. Of course the Hojo can already seal the portal, but to KEEP it closed we need some kind of permanent structure, which isn't easy with the attacks. It's hard enough to build a stone castle there, more or less some kind of portal sealer.

Also it is not suicide, just very hard. Whenever we advance on the portal, the demons attack in force. We think they see it as entertaining. As I have stated, the Mouri family takes great pride in smashing the demons daily."

She sips her tea. "But yes, that is the general idea. I know at the very least Hojo and Mouri will help you in this. Seeing how Hojo originally sealed the portal, and Mouri is helping out already."

[Lexin]

Lucas

He shrugs, and says
"I would be happy to help... he looks at others ...and as far as I know my friends would be too.
Question remaining is: what is the plan?
Should we leave to talk with lords tomorrow, or should we wait for something?
When do you plan to start the expedition?
Do you have any forces ready, or we should expect to be able to use only what we convince the lords to provide us with?"
He tries to remember as well as possible, what is said now.

[Morithias]

"We cannot implement a plan until we know what our resources are. We will meet in Mouri once you have gathered support in order to formulate the plan."

"You can take as much time as you need to, but I would prefer you got on it as soon as possible, while everyone's spirits are still high from the festivals."

"We will start once we have the plan (typical politician)."

"I will be able to muster forces from Oda, but the other countries if you ask nicely will no doubt also give you forces, and resources. Of course you could always make the money yourselves doing assignments and work, but that would be rude for me to expect such a thing. I will muster whatever gold I can spare, but I must keep the will of the people in mind."

[Lexin]

Lucas

"Anything else, we should know?"
He asks, thinking already what to do next.

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If anyone else has any questions, ask them... I don't have any more, and could as well skip to the part when we argue plan our trips to lords etc.

[Morithias]

"Do your research on the lords, so you know what to expect. Some of the lords are even less formal than me. I can't give you names, cause talking about them behind their back would be rude, but each lord acts very different. I recommend going to the Royal University and doing some research. I'm sure the bright students there would point you towards the right things to do."

[Tantaburs]

John

I have to ask, why send us to the lords. surely you must have people they would already be familiar with. I understand you wish to ask for aid rather then order it but it is curious that you would send people you barely know to speak for you.

[Morithias]

John

I have to ask, why send us to the lords. surely you must have people they would already be familiar with. I understand you wish to ask for aid rather then order it but it is curious that you would send people you barely know to speak for you.

"Familiar yes, willing no. Believe me, if I had someone who I thought was more qualified and willing to do it I would send them. You have 16 Houses to go to, and given the way the world works, by the time you go to Takuga you will be ready."

[ReaderAt2046]

"Milady, could you give us some idea of what support you think you'll be able to provide? The more support we can honestly say we already know we'll get, the easier it should be to get some of the more recalcitrant lords to throw in support of their own. As you say, the Hojo and Mouri will probably be willing to help, but it's other houses that I think we'll most need to accomplsih this."

[Zman]

"Do I really intimidate you that much?" - Teru asks.

She sips her tea and relaxes.

"Son of the guildmaster?" she turns to Lucas. "The psionic guild is one of the six major guilds that operate on a kingdom level scale. Your father must have high expectations for you."

She then turns to Tantaburs. "Ah yes...the shipping coming from Oda to Hara correct? I recall seeing those papers before I was given the title of heir. Shipping companies are so large and so expensive, they're often given heavy overlook by the royal families. Although I must say I've heard odd things through the grapevine lately..."

She turns to Zman. "Well, to be fair you were fighting one of the best fighters in the Oda family, but more in more that fight was to make a point to whoever took on Takuga. You can't just give up once you're in Death Country. If you abandon your duties, you'll likely end up dead. Of course the key is also to not stay in a hopeless position. The oda iron wall has a weakness, but few people tend to use it. They either give up, or just endlessly attack. Moderation and all that."

Zachary looks very direct, "I did not give up. I simply walk away from what I saw as an unwinnable situation. If we were to meet again, I will approach the entire situation differently with a much greater chance of success. It is foolish to fight a battle one cannot win when you can return stronger and better equipped to defeat your opponent."

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Lol, Portal Sealer.... gotta love the descriptive name.

[Morithias]

"Milady, could you give us some idea of what support you think you'll be able to provide? The more support we can honestly say we already know we'll get, the easier it should be to get some of the more recalcitrant lords to throw in support of their own. As you say, the Hojo and Mouri will probably be willing to help, but it's other houses that I think we'll most need to accomplsih this."

"I will definitely provide you with a fair amount of building resources. Also I will likely order Aisha to go with you. She may not be able to control her violent ways, but against a demon that is not a problem. To fight the demons it is better to use small numbers of elite soldiers than mass quantities of weak soldiers, if there's one thing demon know, it's mass rush tactics."

[Tantaburs]

"I will definitely provide you with a fair amount of building resources. Also I will likely order Aisha to go with you. She may not be able to control her violent ways, but against a demon that is not a problem. To fight the demons it is better to use small numbers of elite soldiers than mass quantities of weak soldiers, if there's one thing demon know, it's mass rush tactics."

John

Where do you suggest we go first. Can you think of any lords that would be more willing to help us then others?

[Morithias]

John

Where do you suggest we go first. Can you think of any lords that would be more willing to help us then others?

"Well Hojo and Mouri are the obvious choices, but since you need to go to every area, it's probably best to go to Tokugawa, home of the dragon princess. Since it's you know, right next door. Like I said though, hit the royal university and do some book reading. Maybe try to recruit one of the scholars there so you have someone with the royal know-how on hand."