Togo's Planar Adventure set partly in Sigil (OOC)

[Toliudar]

And I look forward to administering the lashing.

As Ifni said, Obrysii, do what's going to make you happy. We're here if you change your mind.

[Ifni]

Toliudar, that was an awesome simile, I am flattered on Umbriel's behalf Thanks for successfully picking up on the hint, I was afraid I'd made it too cryptic. I'm not sure Godot has realized exactly why Umbriel was glancing at the mirror, but she got close enough: Umbriel will thank her for the timely change of topic, and explain her concern, after they're no longer talking to Astoria. Right at the moment she's very happy to let Godot carry the conversation.

(And I look forward to watching the lashing and perhaps interjecting dry comments occasionally If Umbriel was younger and less confident in her own ability to resist corruption, she'd probably be quite concerned by how easy she's finding it to work with Godot )

[Toliudar]

*Bats eyelashes.*

Corruption? But I'm the sweet won't-kill-anyone artsy. You're the death-worshipping hardcore arcanist.

And Godot (indeed, Toliudar) isn't EXACTLY sure what Umbriel is getting at, but is looking forward to finding out later.

[Ifni]

Originally Posted by Toliudar

*Bats eyelashes.*

Corruption? But I'm the sweet won't-kill-anyone artsy. You're the death-worshipping hardcore arcanist.

Mutter mutter Chaos mutter I'm pretty sure Umbriel was explicitly warned about charismatic bard diplomancers, in her younger days, and that's even setting aside the fact that Godot's a chaos gnome But as I said, she trusts her own judgement, and the people she works for wouldn't have sent her to Sigil on her own if they didn't think she could deal sensibly with a little temptation.

And Godot (indeed, Toliudar) isn't EXACTLY sure what Umbriel is getting at, but is looking forward to finding out later.

I, and thus Umbriel, have a crackpot theory involving the Athars, the Astral Plane, and the Tomb of Korolis (possibly also the Monkey's Spiral), with a connection to the Iron Tower. She was going to begin laying out some of the evidence, but then remembered that our communication link is currently running through the Astral, it was set up by Nephira whose interests are not the same as Kalinor's (we don't know what they are, but she doesn't want Kalinor to get the mirror), and we have no idea what the security around the Astral node is like.

... which suddenly made her rather more worried about the security of this whole conversation so far.

[Obrysii]

Originally Posted by Toliudar

As Ifni said, Obrysii, do what's going to make you happy. We're here if you change your mind.

I just don't have the time to keep up with all the material.

I don't know any of the names, any of the locations, any of the myths. I feel like I can't do anything more than skim the details because I have so much on my mind right now ...

It isn't really fair to constantly say, "Uhhhh ... tl;dr...."

And it isn't the proper way to play a dragon with his mental scores to be constantly clueless.

[Togo]

Ok, it sounds like your mind is made up. Good luck Obrysii, and let us know if anything changes.


As for the rest of you, we've had four characters posting that they're happy for the conversation to end, but I can't really post anything new until I know where you're going?

[Obrysii]

Originally Posted by Togo

Ok, it sounds like your mind is made up. Good luck Obrysii, and let us know if anything changes.

I would like to continue, if people don't mind having a player and character utterly clueless as to the plot, characters, major powers, and etc of the setting...

[Ifni]

Originally Posted by Togo

Ok, it sounds like your mind is made up. Good luck Obrysii, and let us know if anything changes.


As for the rest of you, we've had four characters posting that they're happy for the conversation to end, but I can't really post anything new until I know where you're going?

Umbriel is waiting for them to close the communications link, she'd like Kalinor to give us the address for the shrine of Cyric, and then she'd probably go looking for Nephira and Uzark - she mentioned to Kalinor that she wanted to talk to them, and do her own divinations.

Being Umbriel, she'd prefer to get as much information as is available on the shrine of Cyric before going there, but she doesn't see any need to keep Astoria on the line for that (and will also be happier about security once we're no longer routing the conversation through an unspecified spot on the Astral).

@Obrysii: I don't think anyone minds at all, except possibly you - don't stress about it

[Togo]

Originally Posted by Obrysii

I would like to continue, if people don't mind having a player and character utterly clueless as to the plot, characters, major powers, and etc of the setting...

I'm happy to have you around.

[Togo]

Originally Posted by Ifni

Umbriel is waiting for them to close the communications link, she'd like Kalinor to give us the address for the shrine of Cyric, and then she'd probably go looking for Nephira and Uzark - she mentioned to Kalinor that she wanted to talk to them, and do her own divinations.

Being Umbriel, she'd prefer to get as much information as is available on the shrine of Cyric before going there, but she doesn't see any need to keep Astoria on the line for that (and will also be happier about security once we're no longer routing the conversation through an unspecified spot on the Astral).

Sure, but unless you can communicate any of that to them, why would they close the link?

[Ifni]

Originally Posted by Togo

Sure, but unless you can communicate any of that to them, why would they close the link?

I thought my last post should've implied that (paraphrasing - "I still want to talk a bit to you, Kalinor, and other people here in Sigil, but we don't need to do that right now. Duchess Astoria, was nice to meet you, and good luck"), given that they were planning to shut down the link before we walked in, but if they're not taking the hint, Umbriel will be more explicit.

I'll wait for a bit to see if Obrysii has the time to respond to Kalinor's offer of the building, though.

[Ifni]

Just a note, I'm hopping on a plane to Australia tomorrow (after watching the totally-not-a-discovery-yet of the Higgs boson in six hours, whee!), and so may not be able to post for a couple of days, depending on airport Internet.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Originally Posted by Ifni

Just a note, I'm hopping on a plane to Australia tomorrow (after watching the totally-not-a-discovery-yet of the Higgs boson in six hours, whee!), and so may not be able to post for a couple of days, depending on airport Internet.

Ohh, that means you're nearby, huh? *Waves*

[Ifni]

Originally Posted by Autopsibiofeeder

Ohh, that means you're nearby, huh? *Waves*

Nah, wasn't watching it in person, my institution set up a live stream (I'm a particle physicist). I'm on the east coast of the US, except for the significant fraction of the time that I'm traveling

(ATLAS Higgs bump is pretty! CMS bump is not quite so pretty, and also not at quite the same energy... mhmmm, I'll guess we'll see as we get more data.)

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Originally Posted by Ifni

Nah, wasn't watching it in person, my institution set up a live stream (I'm a particle physicist). I'm on the east coast of the US, except for the significant fraction of the time that I'm traveling

(ATLAS Higgs bump is pretty! CMS bump is not quite so pretty, and also not at quite the same energy... mhmmm, I'll guess we'll see as we get more data.)

Aww...well, I waved anyway. As a physicist you know that some waves travel far, it may have reached across the Atlantic...maybe even at a speed faster than that of light, who knows these days?

[Togo]

Cespenar

Spoiler

Can I have a listen check?

[Cespenar]

Originally Posted by Togo

Cespenar

Spoiler

Can I have a listen check?

Spoiler

Can I take 10, since I'm not really in a threatened position? If so, 30. If not:

(1d20+20)[34]

[Obrysii]

Togo, would Xiulcoatl's blindsense reveal anything about the woman? If her outfit / looks are merely an illusion or glamour, his blindsense wouldn't even pick them up even if his eyes do - likely enough to force a disbelief save.

[Ifni]

Heh, I fly to Australia and suddenly everyone wants to talk to Umbriel

Will post the Crackpot Theory of Everything later - the next few weeks are the only time I have with my family each year, posting is likely to be slowish.

[Togo]

Ifni asked me about the geography of the Sea of Stars. I have thus provided some more detail. I don't think this information is particularly necessary, so feel free to ignore it, but it's there if people are interested.

Geography of the Sea of Stars

Spoiler

The Sea of Stars is a large tongue of water running very roughly north south, and surrouded on the north, east and west sides by land.

The Eastern side is the most heavily populated. To the Southeast is a rockey penisula at the entrance to the Sea of Stars, on which is the Cityport of Black Iron, otherwise known as the City of Bars. This is the largest and most cosmopolitan city on the Sea of Stars, and is ruled over by an elven(?) necromancer, by the name of Perhellion.


Further up the Eastern coast is the country of Chaldecott. Technically the largest, and most prosperous country on the Sea of Stars, Chaldecotte is rich but weak nation, beset by internal divisions, a child king, and in effect is governed by powerful interests.

These include:

The Merchant's Guild. They control much of the internal trade and travel up and down Chaldecotte's extensive network of rivers, as well exernal trade, mainly up and down the coast.

The Elementalist's Guild. They control the practice of magic, and by extension, the weather on the Sea of Stars.

The Army. Reduced to a force of scouts, rangers and engineers, the army has largely been replaced by the much cheaper practice of raising militia in times of need, and the hiring of mercenaries. They survive largely as a political force by clinging to an ancient right to settle land boundaries, being the only ones allowed to ignore private land boundaries and enclosures at will, and by their continued role in defending the desolate eastern mountains against hobgoblin incursion.

The Court: There's a lot of money going through Chaldecott, and they control its flow and apportionment.


In the Northeast there is Durandun, a hilly country that stretches along the coast from Chaldecotte to the Great Northern Forest. Along the coast the country is a hive of activity, involved in trade and manufacture, mainly in pottery, timber and chemicals (tanning, tar, pitch, and etching). Further inland the hilly country rapidly gets primitive and tribal. Inland people are reknowed for their skills in breeding livestock, metalworking, and distillation.


To the North is the Great Northern Forest. Touching the coast at the forest's narrowest point, it stretches north like a funnel getting wider and wider as it goes. Formerly the home of the elves, this territory is now under the protection of the druids.


To the NorthWest and West are territories usually marked as'Here be Demons' This barren and volcanic territory supports a surprisingly large number of tribal nomads, and a great many demons. It extends far to the West, taking in the large area of ruins known as the Monkey's Spiral.


Along the coast to the southwest the land becomes more fertile, and a few independent cities cling stubbornly to the coast. These cities are self-governing, but the area as a whole is dominated by the institution that gives them protection, the crusading Knights of Khodan-Ra, a deity of heroism and lightning. This paladanic order keeps the cities organised militarily, provides magical and military might, and trains and equips a seemingly inexhaustible supply of raw recruits, eager to fight evil firsthand. By ancient treaty (and inclination) the Knights take no part in running the cities themselves, which have become havens for strange relgions and cults, non-humans of dubious background, traders in illegal goods, and other nere-do-wells.


In the middle of the Sea of Stars, near the northern end, are the islands of the Elementalists, the Order of Magic that governs most of the region. They originally banned all but elemental-based magic, but more recently arcane arts such as diviniation and astrology have been tolerated (Arts of the Light), a recognition of the fact that various powerful people were sheltering them in any case, so as to make use of their skills. Arcane magics that noone much likes, such as mind-control, necromancy, illusion and demonology, remain banned (Arts of the Dark), relegating their practioners to working in secret, often in conjunction with criminals.

Derk

Spoiler

It's hard to be entirely sure, but you do remember rumours of a race called the Nerra. Silvery reflective humanoids, they dwell in a plane called the Plane of Mirrors. Some of the wilder stories claim that mirrors don't actually reflect people at all - they simply look into the plane of mirrors, and your reflection is actually a Nerra, looking back at you.

There's also the usual flotsam about them plotting to take over the earth/city/your bedroom, and sending creepy reflecting assasins through the mirror frame to kill you. Alternatively there are stories of them kidnapping people and dragging them through mirrors back to their own realm, and putting a duplicate in their place. Then there are tales of deadly warriors with blades of mirror glass. Other stories break down the race into sub-types, but that kind of thing is often speculation, or an attempt to reconcile conflicting tales.

A good many scholars have claimed that these tales are so wild that there are obviously no such creatures, or no such plane, or both. You're inclined to think otherwise though, assuming you are actually looking one.

[Toliudar]

Lovely stuff, Togo. To clarify: are the PC's from the same world as that which the geography stuff is describing?

[Togo]

Noone is from the area of the Sea of Stars, that I know of. I offered at the start of the game, and noone took me up on it (apart from Saffron?). People are welcome for their homelands to be on a different part of the same world, or a different world, at their option. I believe that Xiulcoatl comes from a different world, and Umbriel comes from a cabal (illuman settlement) that isn't on a terrestrial world at all.

[Toliudar]

Ah, perfect. I think I'll split the difference, then. I grew up on a magical travelling circus, so perhaps one that has VISITED this world, but is not based there. Sound okay?

[Togo]

Fine by me.

[Ifni]

Just a note, I am around, just posting may be a bit slow. Umbriel is, as indicated in my last IC post, waiting for Derk to enlighten her re Neph She's happy to let Godot lead the discussion with Uzark in the meantime.

[Togo]

My computer just blew up. Or rather it has a corrupted registry, and thus won't run an operating system

As a result I may be a little slower in my posts until I can get it fixed.

[Ifni]

Originally Posted by Togo

My computer just blew up. Or rather it has a corrupted registry, and thus won't run an operating system

As a result I may be a little slower in my posts until I can get it fixed.

Ouch Best of luck with the repairs.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Just wanted to make clear that I was assuming that Derk was standing in a place where nobody would hear him. I understand there's potentially a lot of reasons why Rhion is staying silent, but just wanted to point out that Derk is not that stupid :)

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Just a little note to all my pbp-groups: I will fly to the Netherlands on 24.12 and will return 02.01. I will be bringing a laptop, but my posting will be irregular at best.

[Togo]

Obrysii

Spoiler

Togo, would Xiulcoatl's blindsense reveal anything about the woman? If her outfit / looks are merely an illusion or glamour, his blindsense wouldn't even pick them up even if his eyes do - likely enough to force a disbelief save.

Depends. For simple visual-only illusions you'd be able to pick up some differences. However sophisticated illusions that include tactile senses would still fool blindsense.

The other problem is that blindsense doesn't give you much detail - you can pick creatures locations, but not what they look like. If she was a halfling disguised as a bull, you could tell the difference, but an orc disguised as a human probably wouldn't look different enough for you to notice the difference.