Navigating the Astral Sea: A NeoGAF Play-by-Post Pathfinder Game

DeadPhoenix said:
((Are you making a will save versus dispel magic? because there is none... if i beat the caster level of the target spell, it is just gone. you can of course just cast the spell again of course.))
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((No, that was for wandering star motes again. You get a save once per turn for it and once you make one, it's off you.))
 
Fleshbane's destruction and Menek's subsequent shouting has drawn quite a crowd. Ratbreath is perched on an eave looking down. The alchemist lady is standing in the foyer. Almost all of the other archon's have also gathered.

Jefred startled by Ciel's sudden appearance seems even more shocked by Menek slinging a spell. He quietly instructs all the archons to record and transmit the events to the central authority.

Menek, so angry that he doesn't even flinch at Fleshbane's flicking casts a Flight Hex to rise up and stare Fleshbane in the face at even level.

Do you think me a child to be baited by your taunts? he says quietly. Leave. Both of you. Anything you wish to say can be said in front of the Raven Queen. Jefred. please let her know that I am filing a formal complaint. Have the archons here escort these two away from our home.

Menek turns around. Mako, could you stay for a bit after these... two.. have gone? I am in need of advice.

Having said this Menek pushes past Jefred and goes inside shutting the door behind him.

((If Ciel, can't shake the dazing then an archon will carefully pick him up and gently carry him out and drop him at the shattered door.))

From far away Zeilos watches silently.
 
Code: 
[url=http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=86032]Will Save: 1D20 + 9 = [8]+9 = 17
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((About how many more saves would he get before the time where they're outside?))
 
Fleshbane effortlessly follows Menek into the air, once more resuming his campaign of harassment. "I am under no obligation to follow a verbal command from you," he says, jabbing his finger square in the center of Menek's chest to emphasize his point. "I will remain until my experiment has concluded."
 
((Seriously Mike if this continues I don't see how Menek could reasonably be expected to be on the same team as Fleshbane.))

Menek ignores Fleshbane. Any attack or hostile motion towards anyone or anything that is under my protection shall be considered an attack on my person. This includes pushing them out of the way. Mako if you will come inside please?

Menek walks inside. Jefred motions the Archons to surround Fleshbane with one of them hovering over the Xenocide Unit. The only open path is towards the shattered exit.

((Ciel the Archons are pretty fast I think. Two rounds let's say))
 
Azih said:
((Seriously Mike if this continues I don't see how Menek could reasonably be expected to be on the same team as Fleshbane.))

Menek ignores Fleshbane. Any attack or hostile motion towards anyone or anything that is under my protection shall be considered an attack on my person. This includes pushing them out of the way. Mako if you will come inside please?

Menek walks inside. Jefred motions the Archons to surround Fleshbane with one of them hovering over the Xenocide Unit. The only open path is towards the shattered exit.

((Ciel the Archons are pretty fast I think. Two rounds let's say))
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Mako follows Menek on foot, "If you were wondering before, I think now you've got a pretty good idea of why I have taken a sudden interest in the rules of the Accords..."
 
((2 more it is then))
Code: 
[url=http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=86033]Will Save: 1D20 + 9 = [15]+9 = 24
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((Finally! I was starting to wonder if I'd get a single good roll today. :p))

Ciel is carried a short distance away from the manse when he regains his faculties and the star motes depart. Fleshbane appears to still be causing a diversion. Excellent, the main mission is still on.

Once the archons have inadvertently created some distance between Ciel and the others, he drops a smoke bomb in their midst, obscuring all of the archons from the others' sight. He vanishes before he hits the ground. The others surely expect him to make his way back towards the manse and will plan accordingly, which works just fine for him.

With his path likely clear, Ciel makes his way into the empty, white space in Menek's quarters.
 
Azih said:
((Seriously Mike if this continues I don't see how Menek could reasonably be expected to be on the same team as Fleshbane.))
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((It's almost as though having another character poke your character in the head repeatedly is really annoying!
Trollface_emoticon.png


Seriously though, I was honestly expecting Lunarian to intercede before I got to the redline if it came to that, but we can roll with this. Nothing but love to everyone, I don't intend to be an asshole : ) ))

"I will not always be bound by the Accords," Fleshbane taunts as Menek turns tail and retreats. "What will you hide behind then, I wonder?"

With a thundercrack and a flash of baleful orange light, Fleshbane vanishes instantly from amidst the circle of archons.

---

The anteroom outside of Fleshbane's primary chamber was not part of the construct's initial designs for his domain. Relatively small and tastefully adorned, this was Cu's addition to the archon's instructions for the construction of this play, the elemental thinking that it was prudent that there should be some area within which the master could receive guests without subjecting them to the lethal condition that reigned deeper within. Yes, Fleshbane had given explicit instructions to make his abode as inhospitable as possible, but Cu had privately viewed this as an oversight. Surely the members of SAED would have reason to call on one another, yes? It was best to be prepared. Master Fleshbane never seemed to use the door anyway, always tearing the fabric of reality asunder to move himself about as he so desired.

Sadly, the only member who had come calling had been that... Unpleasant man that Fleshbane had sent Cu to visit not to long before hand. A bottle of some deadly virus seemed the most inappropriate gift that Cu could imagine, but Ciel had seemed to reciprocate it well enough. Cu just chalked it up to some people simply being beyond his ability to understand fully. Frequently alone, Cu finds ways to keep himself occupied.

Ozzang'ac arrives to find Cu and Fe seated at a table, a fine tea set furnished on the table between them. Au stands against the far wall, her unblinking eyes staring at the doors leading to the poison gas-choked chambers that Fleshbane calls home.

"Like this?" Fe says, attempting to grasp the delicate tea cup between his massive, irregularly shaped fingers.

"Yes, just so!" Cu beams. "Would you like some cream?"

"I do not know," Fe rumbles. "Do I?"

"This variety is customarily served with it, yes," Cu says as he begins to pour the cream into Fe's cup. The cup abruptly shatters within Fe's grip, showering his hand with fluid.

"That's going to rust," he sighs like a mountain wind.

"It's quite all right," Cu says waving over a pair of archons to clean up the mess. Tea isn't for--

It is then that he notices that Ozzang'ac has joined them. "Oh!" he exclaims, an expression of surprise washing over his metallic face. "Master Ozzang'ac, what an unexpected surprise! I don't suppose you would like some tea?"
 
Knowledge (Planes): 1D20+15 = [2]+15 = 17


As Ozzang'ac arrives in Fleshbane's living quarters the being of water, currently compressed to a more modest size, is soon flabbergasted to discover a homely setting host to what seem like friendly occupants. Furthermore, the structure of the people in the room do not go unnoticed, seemingly made of different colored hard surfaces that are unfamiliar to him.

Once one of the two at the table are quick to offer Ozzang'ac a 'tea', the elemental answers with an apologetic tone, "I am afraid I do not know what a 'tea' is. We have not met, I assume Fleshbane had spoken of me prior to our meeting?"
 
"Tea is a hot drink made by infusing the dried, crushed leaves of the tea plant in boiling... Er... water..." Cu stammers. "Probably not an appropriate welcome for one such as yourself."

"Forgive our familiarity with you," Fe adds. "Fleshbane is not a particularly demanding master. He does not frequently speak to us beyond issuing the random trivial task, which leaves us much time to fill on our own. As his resident scholar, I have spent my numerous spare moments reading up in the other occupants of the observatory. As nature abhors a vacuum, I cannot much abide gaps in my knowledge. Nothing is worse than the unknown."

"What can we do for you, Ozzang'ac?" Au says, speaking at last.
 
The description of the tea leaves Ozzang'ac wary, remembering what was done to prepare the dishes in the kitchen on the Phoenix Maelstrom, "I erhm... see. I am not sure what I could do with the tea.. is it a potion of some sort?"

After it is explained the circumstances of their knowing about him, the water elemental doesn't seem bothered by it, "Understandable. I haven't much use for my own abode as of lately either. I know not what my servants have been up to since my absence. Since I am already known, may I be introduced to you three? There is something I recognize yet is unfamiliar to me."

When asked about what they may do with him, he answers, "I was planning on asking Fleshbane something, but it is not of much importance. I am simply spending my idle time off duty. Did he tell you where he was headed?"
 
((Looks like I picked a bad night to be MIA :P What's done is done, though.

Fleshbane and Ciel completely failed at what they were trying to do, apart from antagonizing Menek. Ciel didn't have a chance to find anything useful.

Mako and Menek's research was put on hold soon after it began because they came back to deal with the intrusion, so they wouldn't have any answers to their questions yet))

Soon after Ciel and Fleshbane are gone from Menek's section of the Observatory, the Raven Queen appears before Mako and Menek. "I'm aware of what has happened here," she says without preamble. "You handled yourselves well, and showed admirable restraint. Fortunately, there is an easy fix to this problem. Ciel may have escaped expulsion from SAED, but he seems to have forgotten that I am still the master of this facility. Your living area will not be violated again." So saying, she disappears.

((Until further notice, Fleshbane and Ciel are not physically allowed to enter anyone else's living quarters - not even each other's. They're only allowed in the common areas and in their own respective living spaces. Teleportation into other members' spaces will be blocked, and attempt at physical entry will be met with an impenetrable barrier.

They are not being informed of this development in-character, so it's possible that they wouldn't even know until they try to enter someone's space. This will also apply to other characters' cabins when on the airship))
 
Ciel is making a break for it, pushing into the white. His path is clear, things seem to be working out. He's finally turned the table on Menek.

Suddenly, he is outside the investigator's quarters. No matter, the door is splintered. He tries to walk back in when an invisible wall stops him. How odd, perhaps the Raven Queen has chosen to step in? That is annoying, but he is not any worse off than before trying this; it's not like he's concerned about Menek and Mako thinking less of him than they already did.

He goes to let Fleshbane know of this development when he finds that he can't enter his quarters either. Now this is a peculiar development. He's pretty sure now that this is a form of punishment from the Raven Queen. So be it, he can work with this.

Ciel returns to his quarters to plan his next moves. He heads to the meeting room in his quarters, not wanting to conduct what will surely be a hostile discussion in one of his less hospitable spaces.

"A minute of your time, Raven Queen?"
 
Mako briefly considers demanding the Raven Queen return so they can talk further, but decides against it for now. First, she'll wait for whatever Menek wanted to talk about.
 
"Thank you for the timely response. Am I correct in assuming the barrier keeping me out of other quarters is your doing? I did not reach out to complain about that. It is reasonable that you would alter the rules as unagreeable situations arise; I have no issue with such a thing. I would just like confirmation. But I called you for a more serious matter," Ciel says, taking a moment to insure he speaks with the proper gravity.

"I would like to press charges against Menek."
 
"The charges are assault and battery on a fellow SAED member through use of magic. I believe Menek sent you a recording of the incident that occurred earlier. The recording is admittedly irrelevant given your omniscience, but it does serve as proof for those of us who aren't. In it, you will clearly see him using offensive magic on me. There have been many disputes over the Accords from several of us since our service began, but the one thing made abundantly clear by both you and the patrons is that we are not to use force against each other."

"At the time the incident happened, I was not doing anything illegal within the accords to my knowledge. Your policy reasons for now keeping me out of the others' quarters are perfectly reasonable, but at the time, my actions could only be deemed rude and disrespectful. As far as I know, perceiving a fellow SAED member as rude and disrespectful does not give us authority to attack each other. Furthermore, Menek was not in an altered mental state due to charming magic or other methods of mind control, so he can not plea that as justification. For that reason, I contend that Menek willfully and maliciously assaulted and battered me with magic, and should face the appropriate penalties under the Accords."
 
"Request denied," says the Raven Queen. "Menek had no way of knowing who was intruding in his abode because you were invisible. He felt threatened by an unknown intruder in his own personal space, and reacted accordingly. If you study the Accords, you'll find that I am solely responsible for the rules governing conduct among members of SAED. The other gods only care if you interfere in the affairs of other domains. Not even Asmodeus will help you here."
 
"Fair enough," replies Ciel, sounding not even a little surprised at her answer. "In that case, would you mind letting me have a copy of the Accords so I can do just that?"
 
A bulging tome appears on the table in the center table of Ciel's room. Its bindings are brand new; its pages number in the thousands. The words within are in the Common language; reading it is possible but difficult, even for Ciel's above-average intellect.

"Here. Normally I'd direct you to the library, but the victim of your incursion is currently studying this very topic, and I think it best to keep the two of you separated for the moment. Besides, this may actually be a worthwhile pursuit for you, so I heartily endorse it." Her tone lightens considerably here, and she seems mildly encouraged by the request.

((Ciel hasn't exactly established himself as the scholarly or studious sort, so it's going to be more difficult for him to make sense of the document than it will be for Menek, especially since Menek is getting help from Mako. For Ciel by himself, three full days of study would be required in order to get answers to any given question))
 
Cu gestures to iron elemental, still seated at the tea table that looks comically small before his hulking size. "As Fe, has already mentioned, he is our resident scholar," he says before moving his hands toward his chest to indicate himself. "I am Cu, his adviser on etiquette and hospitality--not to speak ill of the master, but I trust if you've had any dealings with him, you would recognize that as one of his deficiencies. And our taciturn member over by the door way is Au, our battle master in residence.

"As for the master himself, I'm afraid he's not here right now. I believe he and Master Ciel were going to see Master Menek? It's good to see the master coming out of his metallic shell and interacting with others, isn't it? There may be hope to extract some civility from him yet if I have anything to--"

"He's back," Au interrupts, shoving off the wall to stand straight on the stiletto points that serve as he feet.

Cu's expression changes to one of mild confusion, and odd sight as the shift is accomplished by the metal substance of his body flowing into a new configuration rather than the act of muscle movement. "He didn't use the door? Again? Why do we even have a door?"

"I don't think his visit went well," Au said, waving her hand over the featureless slab of a door that acts as the entry to the deadly heart of Fleshbane's domain. With the grinding of stone on stone, the towering doors part, revealing the swirling green chlorine mists beyond, the scratching of infinite microscopic shards of glass scouring every solid surface within. In the middle distance of the massive chamber, a dark shadow is barely visible, the hulking form of Fleshbane contemplating his alien thoughts.

Au looks back before crossing the magical threshold that prevents the deadly atmosphere from spilling out into the rest of the Observatory, looking at Ozzang'ac with the featureless golden orbs of her eyes. "Are you coming?"
 
Ozzang'ac carefully approaches the portal to a strange domain, the news of Fleshbane's arrival giving alarm that prevents any continuation of formalities with the new beings, "I may have no choice, given what I have learned. If it is safe for me to come, then I will."
 
Au gives a strangely fluidic shrug of her shoulders as she leads the way. "So long as you don't need to breath, you should be fine."

((Ozzang'ac is about to become swimming pool water...))
 
Au leads the way across the chamber, the doors heaving shut of their own accord once she and Ozzang'ac put them behind then. Only a short distance out from the entrance, it becomes obscured by the deadly mist. The entire perimeter of the room is hidden from view, giving the impression that the bleak hellscape may stretch on forever.

Eventually the dark shadow at the center resolves into the spiked and plated construct, his joints pulsing slowly with his internal energy. "Ozzang'ac," he acknowledges as the elementals approach. "I had not expected you to pay me a visit. I cannot imagine you have experienced an epiphany about the veracity of my views on our fleshling cohorts, but neither can I conceive a motivation for you to seek me out. Satisfy my curiosity, what brings you here?"
 
Firmly, the elemental hovers within the gaseous chamber which somehow gives a cleansing feeling, and says, "I now wish to inquire as to your visit to Menek, but first I will ask a more philosophical query.. Fleshbane, have you ever imagined what it would be like to desire more than simply killing? To have a different purpose? Perhaps even find someone to protect?"
 
"How unfortunate.." he responds almost expectantly, "I know what it is like to be a servant tasked with war and killing, but only because I was forced to as a summon. I consider myself fortunate that I get to be a servant for a finer purpose as were in my last days. I can't say for certain I understand how your mind works.. we may be similar in that we are beings not of flesh, but we seem to be nothing alike in spirit."

Finally, he asks, "May I ask about your visit with Menek?"
 
"My servitude did not begin until Zerome unilaterally claimed me as his own, a claim I vigorously dispute and am currently exploring means by which it may be voided," Fleshbane replies. "We are indeed not as alike as I would have hoped, but given the differences in our origins, it would seem an inevitability that you would align yourself with biological entities. Your mistakes are your own to make, but I will warn you that your inorganic nature will not stay my hand if you take action against me. Already, I am finding that the restrictions placed upon me are more... Fluid than expected. You succeeded in preventing my assault on Baphomet, but will such a gambit work twice? Food for thought.

"My visit with Menek was in regards to an experiment I was running. The results were inconclusive, but I accumulated much ancillary data of value."
 
Nezumi said:
This one appeared to relatively simple though, so when the figure had finished, Viss answered with relative certainty, "I think the answer you are looking for is 'Rain'."
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The cloaked and hooded figure stands awaiting an answer with arms folded across his chest. Clearly expecting a longer time for the stranger to consider, when she speaks her answer abruptly he is taken aback. The shimmering green text that made up the riddle instantly fades from the air before them. Stumbling in surprise, the figure's hood slides off the back of his head.

rT0LZxu.jpg


The wild youth unclasps his cloak and shrugs his shoulders, allowing his brown cloak to flutter gently to his feet onto a bed of grass. The green shimmering text appears once more next to his head, each sentence replaced by another in rapid succession as he tilts his head from one side to the other, his pale eyes unblinking.

'I learn riddle words from Eckhart. He must need practicing more. You are the one who visits first. Skoggat, coat looks soft, pretty eyes. What is you called? Do you know better riddle words? I am called Scraw.

While they exchange words, Scraw will lead Viss down the dirt path from the door which leads toward the base of a large hill. After a short walk they reach the entrance of what appears to be a mine going into the depths of the hill.

'Yes, yes. Rain is good, clean and fresh. In here, we must go to see the Lady. This is what you hunt for, yes?'
 
Ozzang'ac is even more wary now about what Fleshbane might mean. However, he decides it would simply be better to ask Menek about it later. Concluding the conversation, Ozzang'ac says, "I know for certain I will not allow our greatest threat to be ourselves."

He finally turns and allows Au to lead him out of the chamber and back into the observatory.
 
((Fair enough Mike, I know what's happening is Fleshbane being Fleshbane and Ciel being Ciel but PVP is a draining experience for me so I'm struggling a bit on a way to proceed which isn't Menek refusing to work with people who invaded his home and threatened him [I know Fleshbane didn't technically threaten anyone but still]. Let's try RPing this out))

The momentary disturbance with the smoke bombs ends with Menek's archons reporting that Ciel is stuck outside the entrance to Menek's area and unable to enter.

Menek sighs. Mako. Considering that even this unforgiveable attack on me wasn't enough to remove the Xenocide Unit and the assassin from SAED what would? How can I work with those two? How can anyone form an effective team with people like that?
 
Azih
I don't want to tell you how to play your character, but if you're struggling with this then one way to handle this is to consult with Arozora. This is one of the failsafes I built into the campaign; the characters' loyalty to their gods is meant to be the glue that keeps the team together, despite the extreme differences between them. Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help, in addition to this
 
Azih said:
((Fair enough Mike, I know what's happening is Fleshbane being Fleshbane and Ciel being Ciel but PVP is a draining experience for me so I'm struggling a bit on a way to proceed which isn't Menek refusing to work with people who invaded his home and threatened him [I know Fleshbane didn't technically threaten anyone but still]. Let's try RPing this out))

The momentary disturbance with the smoke bombs ends with Menek's archons reporting that Ciel is stuck outside the entrance to Menek's area and unable to enter.

Menek sighs. Mako. Considering that even this unforgiveable attack on me wasn't enough to remove the Xenocide Unit and the assassin from SAED what would? How can I work with those two? How can anyone form an effective team with people like that?
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((Struggling would be putting it lightly for me...))

"An effective team? I would ask you the same thing. We aren't even on a team with those two, they just happen to be around when we are trying to do our job, despite those two being clearly more then willing to work against us, if such an idea even so much as fancy's them. At best, we are baby sitting them, at worst we have to protect ourselves and apparently our families, from them." Mako says as she rubs her temple. "They either need a change in attitude or the Raven Queen needs to put a stop to their bullshit shit once and for all somehow. I fear being unable to enter our rooms, just means they will find a new way to harass us. Worse yet, any attempts to respond without strictly following the rules, which for some strange reason, I suspect won't protect us nearly as well as them, will either be useless at best or just make things worse."

She then lets out a large sigh, "Quite frankly, if nothing is changed, this team is doomed for failure, as we quickly go from trying to do our missions, to playing mind games with each other until people just start quiting. Which is sounding like a very good idea right now."
 
Azih/Lunarian
I have an idea for kind of sort of maybe lessening the tension between Menek and Ciel a little if they manage to end up in the same room. Right now Ciel's on a warpath against everyone who "wronged" him in the Ivory Labyrinth, and while I think them getting along is out of the picture, maybe him suggesting that they were chosen in such a way as to prevent any one god's goals from getting met on missions could help with the forced to work together situation?
 
((FWIW, I'm actively trying to redirect Fleshbane's unpleasantness more towards struggling for freedom against a god he never worshipped forcibly enslaving him and promising to essentially eat him rather than just wanting to kill everyone around him for funsies.))
 
At least you get to go to a heaven Menek says I don't know what Arozora will do with me if I don't fulfill my penance and show that I'm truly changed. I would pray for guidance but... I've already bothered Arozora with a minor matter already. And what would Aroz or Zora say? They never said that being a part of SAED would be easy after all. They would just expect me to deal with the situation. I just wish the problems we had to grapple with were external threats rather than internal skullduggery, home invasions, and threats towards the souls of my loved ones. The Balor was less of a threat to me than those two are.

Menek sighs again Well let's finish our investigation on the Accord and see what we find. I thank you for letting me vent Mako.

((Done RP for now. Other people can proceed with other things. If somebody wants to initiate with something with Menek then that is fine. Just going to play it by ear for a bit))
 
((Ok, I just accidentally deleted a massive post so I'm sparknoting the first half. Ciel is trying out Fleshbane's gift in the dungeon and creating a space to safely view it from. Brick tries to attack him again and just ends up tumbling down the stairs. Ciel has the archons carry Brick away and treat his wounds. Thinking about the possibility of someone besides his dungeon victims getting infected, he has the archons go make an antidote.

Ciel then asks Asmodeus if there are any lesser gods he would like to see killed should Fleshbane's scheme with Ciel come to fruition.

Ciel calls Arlen to aid him with the Accords research, but it will mostly be Arlen for at least a day or two as Ciel is about to leave the tower. Here is the list of things he wants to look into by priority:

1. How do the gods observe and listen to the SAED members? Is there a way to overcome this temporarily, i.e. would getting an audience with one god block out the others?

2. What is the official definition of domain, and what's the threshold for altering a domain's status quo?

3. Is there anything in the Accords that forbids the killing of another SAED member's still living relatives? If so, is there a loophole, i.e. paying someone to do it, paying someone to pay yet another person to do it, etc.?

4. What circumstances, if any, authorize lethal force against a fellow SAED member?

5. Is Ciel and Fleshbane's campaign to kill a god permissible? If so, are any lesser gods off limits?

Lastly, Ciel will instruct Arlen to inform anyone that looks for Ciel that he's gone for the time being and will return shortly.

Ok, I'm caught back up now.))

Ciel departs for the nearest hub plane, his mind filled with a nagging uncertainty. The combination of Fleshbane's desire to free himself from a hostile god and Asmodeus's statement that Ciel's soul is contractually bound for eternity has the assassin wondering what fate awaits him when the 10 years are up. Is he doomed to eternal torment regardless of how effective his service is? He'll have to read over his own contract later to determine this. The one good thing about contracts in the Nine Hells is that copies are made readily available to those who are bound by them. There is a copy in his quarters already. For now, he intends to work through this insecurity the best way he knows how, by contracting more souls to the Nine Hells.

Ciel seeks out particularly desperate looking people, and soon finds one, a middle-aged woman who can barely afford to feed her family and is on the verge of getting kicked out of her home by a loan shark. Ciel reassures her that she can keep her home and never be bothered by the loan shark again, if she just signs this contract she'll have to answer to upon her next death. She's a little wary, but signs fairly quickly.

Finding the loan shark is a simple matter, as he has several victims in this part of the city. He's an imposing figure, extorting a crippled man as a crowd watches, too afraid to jump in; probably because most of them owe him gold as well. There are too many people for a clean shot, someone would see him go invisible. It is then that he notices an unattended carriage, which makes him recall assassination #86,432. He is able to sweep in and grab the baby with no one noticing, ducking back into an alley. This is just the distraction he needs. With a running start, Ciel punts the baby across the crowd, and sure enough, everyone's eyes lock on the poor infant as it arcs through the air. Sure, Ciel could have just ducked into the alley, vanished, and lined up the shot from there, but this is just so much more fun.

As a mass of eyes follow the baby, Ciel quickly studies the loan shark, notching an arrow. Around the time the baby is landing, his arrow flies at a slight upward angle, striking just beneath the back of the former loan shark's skull and lodging into his brain. The crowd panics, and beggars descend to loot the wealthy man's body. Ciel spontaneously disguises himself as one of the beggars and gets to his body as the others do. He is able to find a key and some indication of where the loan shark lived. This allows him to find the late extortionist's house and loot a fair sum of gold- enough to pay off the contract client's debts.

Ciel returns to her with a heavy bag of gold in tow and drops it at her feet. "You won't be bothered by that loan shark any more, and this should be sufficient revenue to buy your shack outright." The woman drops to her knees and thanks Ciel profusely. "No need to thank me, ma'am. Just doing what I promised I would."

Ciel repeats similar deeds throughout the town until he has amassed about ten contracts. At this point, he travels to an isolated space and invokes the presence of a contract devil. A tall, thin man with rusty red skin and glasses appears. "Yes, erm, if you just sign under line 666 here on page 3, line 832 on page 5, and initial the designated spaces on pages 12-45, I believe we will be about done- oh! It seems I'm not in my office anymore. Are you looking to make a deal, good sir? I may not look it, but I specialize in contracts of power, fame and wealth. If you are looking for something else, I can get you in contact with another specialist.

"There is no need for that, I merely wish to have some contracts filed. As a fellow servant of Asmodeus, I wanted to spend some free time doing my part to keep the gears of the Nine Hells turning. That should be a rather trivial manner."

Surprised, the contract devil takes the contracts and skims through them. "Really? Yes, yes I'm authorized to do that. Let's see, good, good... these are terrible, have you done this before?"

Blushing slightly, Ciel says "I've done my reading and seen many contracts, but at the end of the day I was still doing this pro se." "It shows," remarks the contract devil, managing to sound indignant while still coming off as the least intimidating thing to ever crawl out of the great pits of fire. "For starters, these forms show no knowledge of Hellish Procedure. You're trying to file mundane soul contracts straight to Asmodeus. Here, these contracts to dispose of antagonizing parties would be under the jurisdiction of the seventh library district, this contract for saving a dying relative would be in the jurisdiction of the fifth library district, and..." the contract devil pulls out a pen and dashes through the incorrect parts with lightning speed, lecturing Ciel on jurisdiction, proper binding language, and omitted clauses. "There, I believe this is all fixed now, I'll leave you copies so you can self-correct should you wish to do this again. These should be good for filing now, I'll get on that." With that, the contracts burst into flames and vanish. Moments later, the contract devil does the same.

Ciel is satisfied with his work and ready to return to the observatory. Redirecting souls is illegal, but standard contracting for soul location upon death is surely fine, otherwise Asmodeus would have never signed the accords. There are probably issues with doing too many at once if he had to guess, but ten or twenty here and there is nothing but a showing of loyalty.

On his return to the tower, Ciel jumps back into research on the Accords, seeing what Arlen has gathered and working with him to research as efficiently as possible from there.

((Holy shit, I just saw how long this was after posting. It was going to be double this before the delete :O ))
 
Okay, Time Out.

kyLqOtm.jpg


When multiple players aren't having fun, that means it's time to stop and reevaluate the campaign - what's happening in it, and whether it's even worth continuing.

I take full blame for the problems, because they result from the way the game was set up. I designed it to allow for, and even encourage, antagonism between party members, and it's proving more difficult than I expected to properly mediate it. Probably my biggest mistake was in encouraging Ciel to go against the rest of the party on the first mission.

My attempts to smooth things over in-game aren't proving effective, so let's take a break and figure out what to do about it.

I will be honest and say that I'm not sure how to proceed. There are a few options I've thought of, but this isn't an exhaustive list and I'm open to suggestions.

*We could have a gentleman's agreement that characters are not going to commit assault or battery against each other or plot against each other, and that friction between them will strictly be limited to arguments about how to approach a common problem while on a mission. This would require that, once a consensus is reached, everyone's character abides by it without question. This has the advantage that everyone gets to continue playing their characters, but the disadvantage that it will inevitably lead to someone being forced to act out of character, which can be unfun for players if it goes too far.

*One or more players could switch to a different character. The advantages and disadvantages here are pretty obvious, but one drawback to this that might not be initially apparent is that it could only be a temporary solution to the larger problem, and that the problem might still come up in a different way.

*One or more players could leave the game. I really, really dislike this option, but if someone is just not having fun then they shouldn't be pressured to stay if they don't want to.

*We could go nuclear and just decide that the campaign is fundamentally flawed and shut it down. This is my least favorite option because I feel like we've all created a pretty sweet mythology and lots of interesting and deep characters (and I haven't even gotten to the point where I introduce the real plot of the story), but depending on how people feel about it, maybe it's worth considering?

Please give me your thoughts about this. The main goal in these threads is for everyone to have fun, and that's my primary concern at all times while running them, so I hope we can get this resolved.
 
((Spoony was right. Gotta make rocks fall, so everyone dies. It's the only way.))

((I feel guilty I haven't had a lot of time for the campaign lately. Please don't go nuclear, I think we can get through this with some discussion. My thoughts are that I appreciate team evil and really like their more nuanced acts of atrocity and plotting dark betrayals. But (and I could be wrong here Cuz they aren't my characters) I feel like the assault and battery level of skullduggery on other members is kind of lame and beneath both Ciel and Fleshbane. They're both far too intelligent for outright pvp within the home plane. But by that same token I feel Ciel's frustration at having the party turn on him so quick during the Baphomet event, I honestly don't think I handled that well from Sybil's point of view.

Bottom line is I think inter-party conflict should be relegated to how to approach problems, with pvp and other shenanigans being on an opt-in basis. For example if someone wanted to fight, both parties would have to opt in for pvp, and would suffer accord consequences. Which should be real consequences so that subterfuge and cunning is encouraged rather than brute force. I'd love to have a battle with Ciel or Fleshbane with Sybil, especially considering she would feel both characters need to punished for their transgression. That being said let me say right now I am totally open to Sybil's domain be infiltratable and open to attack but be aware I will make it far less fair than Menek was since it IS her domain. I welcome the conflict.

This alliance is tenuous I'm not sure how the council can be reconciled with such serious rifts, but that's part of the fun. The people not having fun (I'm assuming here) is due to being put into circumstances they don't want their characters to be in because they do not know how they could reasonable continue to roleplay them legitimately without being 100% hostile.))
 
((Right now, it seems to me like Ciel's causing 99% of the friction. I'm fine with the Raven Queen stepping in and implementing a blanket ban on all antagonistic actions between fellow party members. Ciel will be furious and hem and haw, but that will be strictly IC. I can keep the field antics to strictly argumentative, and preclude stuff like trying to talk things into fighting us in the future.

I also sent you a PM relevant to one of the other points on that list.

EDIT: Yeah, Ciel's a bit too smart for some of the stuff he's done, but he's also extremely petty, which has lead to taking risks out of pure spite (hence having the Chutzpah to try and push charges against Menek after trying to infiltrate his quarters). I like the opt-in idea. Also, despite the post before the time out, I'm pretty much abandoning the notion of trying to have people's families assassinated))
 
((I will say this right now in regards to Ciel and Fleshbane, and hopefully this is something that can be communicated and elaborated on in character at some point:

As much as Sybil detests almost everything they are about, I envision her attempting to recognize their place in the Astral Sea as the primal chaos to her aspired order. She has no doubt that she would attempt to imprison or slay Ciel if their paths crossed outside the council, but she would not want Fleshbane to be cannibalized by his god. If it were up to her, both would survive as themselves until Ragnarok, where they might be properly combatted and bested.

Rules are rules though and if in character she cannot be convinced they will suffer appropriately for openly breaking the Accord, that is somewhat difficult to roleplay without having her break the accords herself.))
 
((Sorry for the double post but I also just realized the one big piece of conflict may be the chaotic nature of their evil. IIRC at the start, it was preferred for all characters to be lawful or supremely dedicated to their god. So with lawful evil you at least have an order thus needing to follow the word of the Accord if not the spirit. But given that both Ciel and Fleshbane have conflict of interest in following there gods and that they both seem chaotic as opposed to lawful evil, perhaps that is an inherent point of conflict?))
 
((Yeah, that could be part of it. Ciel has been trying to completely serve Asmodeus so far, but his chaotic nature means "follow the letter of the law if not its spirit" becomes "find any little technicality or loophole and proceed to drive a train through it until it gets closed." That's probably contributed to a lot of the issues going on.))
 
((I want to make it clear that I think everyone has done a great job of playing their characters. Everyone has been brought to life and it's really wonderful to behold. I personally don't have any problem with anything that any character has done. Any issues associated with a character's personality are solely my responsibility, because I okayed each character, and everyone is faithfully playing the character they sent to me.

Jackben, I think your ideas are good ones and they have a lot of merit. Maybe you should jump in line to DM the game after Mike M and Axel (I think that was the order?) :)

Still, I'd like to hear what others have to say.

And Axel, I did receive your PM and think it's an interesting idea. Keep me updated on your decision as to whether to go through with it))
 
Jackben said:
((Sorry for the double post but I also just realized the one big piece of conflict may be the chaotic nature of their evil. IIRC at the start, it was preferred for all characters to be lawful or supremely dedicated to their god. So with lawful evil you at least have an order thus needing to follow the word of the Accord if not the spirit. But given that both Ciel and Fleshbane have conflict of interest in following there gods and that they both seem chaotic as opposed to lawful evil, perhaps that is an inherent point of conflict?))
Click to expand...

((This is kind of a big part of it for me. Originally we were told that are character had to be lawful and, most importantly, had to be willing to work together. Now, bending the alignment thing is fine with me, TL has never been a big fan of it(personally, i'd stick to lawful good only paladins and having to be one step of an alignment from your god, but that's something you'd only have to worry about if i am gming... also i'm a no evil pc guy.), but I think the whole 'working together' rule has kind of been ignored and is barely being followed to the letter and the spirit of the rule is being ignored almost completely.

The problem i have with pvp(and i don't just mean combat), is that it means, 90% of the time, only one player(or one side) can win, which means another player just lost and depending on the player, that can just kind of ruin their fun. In a 'normal' game, having a disagreement with the party can suck, and may even mean you don't get to 'do the cool thing' you wanted to do, but that's usually made up for by the fact that as long as things work out, you still won and there is always a chance you will get to do another thing later down the line with the help of the party. Right now in this game, pretty much everything Ciel and Fleshbane have planed I fell like Mako would(or is currently attempting to) stop if she could. They have basically made themselves out to be the villains of this campaign and that is something I'd rather be left to the gm.

Alright, I feel like I've started rambling, so I'm gonna stop here, hopefully this makes as much sense as it did in my head.))
 
<I think I had a rule last game that never came into play "if your character decides to attack another character, be prepared to give up control of your character to the DM" as a deterrent for this sort of situation.

This is an untested rule of course, but I think it's great I didn't have to test its effectiveness. >_>
 
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