Now. I think we're probably able to have Zhou and Orchid reach the immaculate shrine and contact our other party member. And watch the Lookshyan and the disguised Solar try desperately to avoid any Immaculate Monks for different reasons...
Heh. Orchid's going to drop a WCWT to Maren from outside the shrine, unless something intervenes - give her a chance to slip out and meet them down the street, if that would be more convenient for her cover identity. Well, that's the excuse, anyway - Orchid doesn't really want to go inside at all, as she has no idea what anti-Anathema measures they might have in place.
(Of course, she should probably be more worried about the Bronze Faction Sidereal with a mind-reading hearthstone I need to put some more dots in Integrity.)
I can skip ahead to that anytime, but also happy to continue this conversation with Zhou for a bit - whatever works.
__________________ PCs:
Spoiler
Word:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
I must not argue on the Internet.
Internet argument is the mind-killer.
It is the little death that brings total aggravation.
I will face my annoyance.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
When it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path.
Where the irritation has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
That little explanation was, I confess, mostly cribbed from the Scavenger Lands book. But it does make it very easy to see why the Realm and Lookshy don't typically get along...
Zhou, for his part, tries to walk the Path where he can. He just doesn't think of himself as religious, as such.
__________________
"Not trusting me might be the smartest decision you made since getting off of your horse."
So, I'm fine for a scene change. Either WCWT or in-person works.
You also have an appointment with Chimes, if you recall. He'll tell you all about Sidereals.
I certainly do recall, although it didn't seem urgent enough that she should head off to talk to him directly (after all, "there's nothing interesting left to learn here" at the battle scene was an outright lie ) I might also ask Zhou to wait outside for me during that interview, I'm a little scared of Chimes
Sorry I delayed the scene change again on my last post - just Orchid is veeeery interested in the answers to these questions, she's wanted a chance to talk to Zhou about this, and Maugan posts so rapidly that chatter with Zhou doesn't seem likely to slow things down very much
__________________ PCs:
Spoiler
Word:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
I must not argue on the Internet.
Internet argument is the mind-killer.
It is the little death that brings total aggravation.
I will face my annoyance.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
When it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path.
Where the irritation has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
I will note here that while Zhou is theoretically OK with the concept of a Solar rocking up and applying for citizenship, he's saying this with no real honest expectation of it actually happening. And naturally, no knowledge that he's actually talking to a Solar.
__________________
"Not trusting me might be the smartest decision you made since getting off of your horse."
I will note here that while Zhou is theoretically OK with the concept of a Solar rocking up and applying for citizenship, he's saying this with no real honest expectation of it actually happening. And naturally, no knowledge that he's actually talking to a Solar.
Yuuuup. Writing it now.
Actually, quick question: is "my dear" a term of address Zhou uses frequently? Or at all?
Also, rolling some dice for my own benefit (figuring out levels of clumsiness, mostly): (5d10)[6][2][3][2][10](23)
__________________ PCs:
Spoiler
Word:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
I must not argue on the Internet.
Internet argument is the mind-killer.
It is the little death that brings total aggravation.
I will face my annoyance.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
When it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path.
Where the irritation has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Incidentally, I'm amused to spot the forming Intimacy Orchid has for Chimes - 'Magnificent Bastard'.
And having spotted the also forming intimacy of Friendship for Zhou, and realizing that Zhou is probably also matching it, I'm totaling the scenes where they've been interacting so far:
- The party
- The roof garden
- The street conversation, mostly with Child
- This not-quite-philosophical debate en route to the Shrine.
I think the debate and the party could count for scenes establishing an intimacy of friendship between the two. Which as Zhou has conviction 2, would mean he's considering her a friend and thus explaining the use of 'my dear' as a term of address.
(Which is, I confess, my slightly ham fisted way of retroactively making sense of an accidental word choice. Whoops. )
__________________
"Not trusting me might be the smartest decision you made since getting off of your horse."
I might re-characterize that developing Intimacy as Trust, but yeah, same idea. Unfortunately Orchid has Conviction 5, so not quiiiite yet for her even if every scene counted. It would be fine if the word choice was just something ordinary for Zhou, I just didn't want to miss it if it was unusual for him.
Zhou has certainly given Eris plenty of things to think about. As well as lining up "figure out what's going on with Lookshy" directly with her Motivation
And Zhou's sparred with Orchid, I think he's probably deduced that she has Dexterity 5 and is not usually anywhere near that clumsy. I don't think it needs 4 sux on Perception+Socialize to realize that something in that last exchange threw her off-balance, in more than one sense.
__________________ PCs:
Spoiler
Word:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
I must not argue on the Internet.
Internet argument is the mind-killer.
It is the little death that brings total aggravation.
I will face my annoyance.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
When it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path.
Where the irritation has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
It was the timing of the sudden surprised tumble that works as a trigger for that one. Right after he speaks of Solars and Lunars being theoretically welcome in Lookshy, which she brought up. From there, the rest of Zhou's thought processes are laid out in the IC.
So. Let's see where this ends up.
Also, checking the first post, I note that the assumption is that every other page indicates a new 'session' for xp purposes. Are we using the '4xp per session' baseline given in the main rule book here? Just so I don't get confused too much as we go on.
__________________
"Not trusting me might be the smartest decision you made since getting off of your horse."
Kharal Zhou, Fire Aspect of Lookshy:
Last edited by Maugan Ra : 11-06-2012 at 10:24 PM.
Right outside the Immaculate shrine, I note! Way to be non-threatening, Zhou
__________________ PCs:
Spoiler
Word:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
I must not argue on the Internet.
Internet argument is the mind-killer.
It is the little death that brings total aggravation.
I will face my annoyance.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
When it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path.
Where the irritation has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Every other page ended up far too haphazard to declare it a session. Right now, I'm declaring sessions based on gut feeling. It's not the best solution, but I don't have much in the way of alternatives.
I suspect we're going to give Isa an ear-full if/when she walks outside and uses her Gem of Surface Thoughts on the people trying to talk to her, too Sigh. (I can imagine Zhou having she's-a-Solar-she's-a-Solar-she's-a-Solar running on a mental loop, while Orchid has he-knows-I'm-a-Solar-he-knows-I'm-a-Solar-please-say-he-was-telling-the-truth-about-his-attitudes-toward-the-Cleansing-or-I-am-dead running on the same loop )
And yes, I thought Zhou's thought process was fine Maugan, Eris gave him plenty of clues. She's normally better at hiding things than that, but... a fairly large part of her mind wanted to tell him, it was just being overridden by long-standing self-preservation instincts. And she was also fishing for reactions with a lot of those statements (and the results she got were sufficiently beyond her expectations that she was going to tell him anyway - just not, y'know, on the street in front of the Immaculate shrine)
__________________ PCs:
Spoiler
Word:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
I must not argue on the Internet.
Internet argument is the mind-killer.
It is the little death that brings total aggravation.
I will face my annoyance.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
When it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path.
Where the irritation has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
I was vaguely hoping she could come out with Underling Invisibility Practice active and overhear them discussing it, but it looks like they're going to save that conversation til later. (Thereby saving Isa from giving them the moniker of Worst Secret Agents Ever and concluding that they've been sent by Emerald Stormwrack. )
Anyway, post incoming.
__________________
Avatar by Kasanip; see her sketchbook here!
Zhou would make a terrible secret agent. Unless the James Bond approach is acceptable, his role is mostly reduced to causing a magnificent distraction.
He's far too impulsive for anything usefully subtle. cref His decision to ask about Orchid the moment he worked it out, regardless of the surroundings
__________________
"Not trusting me might be the smartest decision you made since getting off of your horse."
The last time Emerald Stormwrack was sent on a mission to infiltrate high society in [censored], he adopted the disguise of an up-and-coming socialite, the better to mingle with the party.
He then drank the bar. All of it. He managed to [censored] too, but he ended up nearly causing a civil war in the Hundred Kingdoms, and caused a two week backlog through his efforts.
Orchid will be very happy to have Zhou as a distraction once the distraction is not blowing her cover in front of the Cleansing headquarters Note to self, sharing sensitive information with Fire Aspects is a very dangerous game
... Chimes is going to laugh at her really hard. And Zhou, Skandi and Emerald Stormwrack should throw a party at some point.
__________________ PCs:
Spoiler
Word:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
I must not argue on the Internet.
Internet argument is the mind-killer.
It is the little death that brings total aggravation.
I will face my annoyance.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
When it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path.
Where the irritation has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Damn straight. Have you seen some of the Fire Aspect charms? They get a Socialise charm specifically to make the booze at the party better. Amusingly, they also get a charm to help them out when someone inevitably slips up and starts a fight in the middle of the party.
__________________
"Not trusting me might be the smartest decision you made since getting off of your horse."
Just pointing out, Child doesn't exactly look young. A worn 40's, most likely.
__________________
He fears his fate too much, and his reward is small, who will not put it to the touch, to win or lose it all.
-James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
Satomi by Elagune
Yeah, Ifni caught it - 'young fellow' was the closet Zhou could come to subtlety in identifying who we were here on behalf of.
Isa probably gets a secondary impression that Zhou is feeling in strong need of a drink, since he's apparently encountered at least three different types of Celestial exalts inside of about three hours (would be four, but the Infernal stayed rather quiet).
__________________
"Not trusting me might be the smartest decision you made since getting off of your horse."
I ship you/Anyone./Infernal Gardevoir from outside the playground, by Recaiden//ExtendedSig
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thanqol
It's not normal, of course, and what's actually happening in Comet Kicker's brain is that she's using regular murder as therapy for worse murder. There's a breakdown in the works and all it needs is one good, hard kick.
I'm torn between giggling at Zhou's thoughts and wanting to give him a hug. Poor Zhou. Note to self, bring some brandy or equivalent fortifying beverage if/when we go off for the Talk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maugan Ra
Isa probably gets a secondary impression that Zhou is feeling in strong need of a drink, since he's apparently encountered at least three different types of Celestial exalts inside of about three hours (would be four, but the Infernal stayed rather quiet).
Welcome to Nexus, I guess
Orchid was trying to lead up to the revelation gently, Zhou just jumped a few steps ahead of her (Also, sooooo glad she suggested WCWT, or apparently Narrative Causality would have required Zhou to put the pieces together inside the Cleansing headquarters )
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
Together, they are... the SUBTLETY SQUAD!
This should be an official title
__________________ PCs:
Spoiler
Word:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
I must not argue on the Internet.
Internet argument is the mind-killer.
It is the little death that brings total aggravation.
I will face my annoyance.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
When it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path.
Where the irritation has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Right, I think that's the group as it presently stands regrouped and together again. Now to see how things develop from here, and how bad Zhou's headache gets.
(He'll probably be OK with Orchid, honestly, once he's gotten over the shock. A drink would probably help there.)
__________________
"Not trusting me might be the smartest decision you made since getting off of your horse."
Right, I think that's the group as it presently stands regrouped and together again. Now to see how things develop from here, and how bad Zhou's headache gets.
(He'll probably be OK with Orchid, honestly, once he's gotten over the shock. A drink would probably help there.)
I really want to have that discussion (and so does Orchid), just IC I can't see any way to justify Orchid explaining things on the street, or in front of people she doesn't know and has no particular reason to trust. I'm figuring maybe after this conversation Orchid can excuse herself to go to her appointment with Chimes, and ask Zhou if he'll come along, but we'll see how things go.
OOC, I like Zhou's reaction - it's making Orchid feel really guilty, which is interesting
Also, Snark, I'm assuming Isa's still monitoring Orchid's thoughts, but with one sux I think you only get bits and pieces - I'm happy to leave it to you to decide what you snag, but I'll probably suggest some things in the post I'm currently writing, with Eris' reaction to the JET read. One other note, when she was describing what she did in Nexus, that wasn't purely small-talk: the use of "starry-eyed" and the mentions of talking to the right people were purposeful.
__________________ PCs:
Spoiler
Word:
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Snark
I must not argue on the Internet.
Internet argument is the mind-killer.
It is the little death that brings total aggravation.
I will face my annoyance.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
When it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path.
Where the irritation has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
RSS Feeds: 
Re: The Return of the Scarlet Empress OOC
I need to put some more dots in Integrity.) 
)
by Recaiden//
