Session 245

Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 35

Session Start: Thu Jan 03 20:30:51 2013

Session Ident: #Nobilis

• Now talking in #Nobilis
  
  
• Topic is 'The return of RandomNerd's Nobilis game! '
  
  
• Set by Etheric on Thu Jan 03 20:25:50
  
  

<Etheric> It's interesting to me in that it gives me a clearer idea of what arcs are like, although some of the elements, like the Sacrificial Bull, I'm not really sure connect with how I've been viewing the character.

<Etheric> Hey RN.

<lazarus> Unfortunately, my Pathfinder game has to move to Thursdays for the month of January; after today, I'm going to have to go on hiatus after this week.  I'm hoping to not have to choose between games -_-;

<Etheric> Ah, that's too bad.  It's just for January though?

<lazarus> yeah.  One of our players just got a job, and rather than having Wednesdays off, like she requested, she's working a long shift Wednesdays (something like that, anyway)

<Etheric> Jobs do that.  :P  It's too bad though.

<Random_Nerd> Ah.

<lazarus> which version do we have this week?

<BethE> Nobilis, I believe.  We had just...oh yeah, Brian wasn't there...we met Cain.  As in first-born of Adam and Eve.

<lazarus> Um.  Wow?

<BethE> They made sure that we didn't have Baalhermon with us.  Because nobody (except Entropy maybe) wants to see what happens if B vs Cain happens.

<BethE> I think we mentioned your attempt to kill Entropy with a rock.

<lazarus> :D

<Etheric> That was Cain's rock, correct?

<lazarus> I was thinking the other day that things like Alcatraz get called The Rock, and planets could be considered rocks.

<Random_Nerd> But it has to be something describable as "a" rock.

<lazarus> true.

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<lazarus> hey kwd

<Knockwood> Hi guys

<BethE> Eth - I think it was just a rock Brian had on hand.  I think that there is an Abhorrent Rock out there somewhere.

<BethE> Hi Knock

<Random_Nerd> Yeah.  Cain's Rock is out there somewhere.

<Etheric> Ah, alright.

<BethE> Would Cain's Rock be Abhorrent?

<Etheric> I think that's what the wiki says.

• Knockwood (~Knockwood@4F0B9266.4D3BC4C7.3820EA4D.IP) Quit (Client exited )
  
  

<BethE> It just makes _sense_.  I mean, if you can have an abhorrent shotgun, why not a rock?

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<Random_Nerd> It has at least satisfied the kind of conditions that would normally be required to create an abhorrent weapon.

<Knockwood> Hm, minor technical glitch. What did I miss?

<BethE> BethE: Would Cain's Rock be Abhorrent?

<BethE> Etheric: I think that's what the wiki says.

<BethE> *** Knockwood has signed off IRC (Client exited).

<BethE> BethE: It just makes _sense_.  i mean, if you can have an abhorrent shotgun, why not a rock?

<BethE> *** Knockwood has joined #Nobilis.

<Knockwood> Well, Cain is right here, ask him about his rock. :)

<BethE> I don't know if he would have _kept_ it.

<lazarus> I was afraid for a second we'd lost you a second time, kwd :p

<lazarus> and then I learned to read better.

<BethE> Plus, how many millennia was that ago?  Do you know where the drawing from April of your third grade art class is?

<Knockwood> missing Angelo

<BethE> I'm lucky to know where my keys are at times.

<BethE> And V.

<Random_Nerd> Let's wait a bit more for Angelo, and then start either way.

<Knockwood> I may have it worse, I'm in the middle of moving

<Knockwood> got half my stuff in boxes

<lazarus> I've /still/ got half my stuff in boxes ...

<BethE> Where are you heading to, Knock?

<Knockwood> just a little ways north of here

<Knockwood> still in town, just a bigger place

<BethE> That's good.  :)  Although do you have snow there already? 

<Knockwood> oh yeah. Temps in the teens, too.

<Knockwood> below-zero lows up in the mountains

<BethE> Blech.  Good luck in moving in that stuff.

<Knockwood> well, you know how it goes, toss some stuff, dislodge some stuff, hopefully not lose too much...

<Knockwood> now, why were we here again?

<lazarus> waiting for Angelo and V, is why we're here :p

<lazarus> so what was the conversation with Cain?

<Knockwood> I meant IC

<BethE> We were in a restaurant with Caine and the Aide to the Power of Orchards.  I think I also get a meeting with the Power of Orchards to ask for advice.

<Knockwood> oh yeah, we're gathering Ymera for the meeting

<BethE> We started the conversation with the Aide who, I _think_, is dating Cain.  They wanted to know if we could be trusted.

<Random_Nerd> And you told them about the Baalhermon/Jerren/photo stuff.

<BethE> I disappointed Caine because I didn't tie plants to agriculture.

<Knockwood> Isn't that automatic?

<Knockwood> actually that reminds me, who's been keeping logs/

<BethE> No, he asked me what I thought the point of plants and I didn't tie them to being useful to humans or cities.

<Knockwood> well there is the whole oxygen thing...

<lazarus> What was your answer, Beth?

<BethE> I said that every plant has a purpose, even if it's just to hold the ground down.

<BethE> Or to look pretty or etc.  But I didn't specifically state about how it connected with his history as the first farmer and the first city-builder.  He said that he was always a little confused as to how Plants came from Outside.  (And Urbanization, I would guess.)

<lazarus> That's what I'd expect from Theresa :)  Their purpose is themselves, of a sort.

<Knockwood> while we're at it maybe we can hash out a longer-term plan

<Knockwood> I still think we need to figure out what happened on Breach Day before we get too far

<Random_Nerd> What do you want to know about it that you don't already know?

<Knockwood> we barely know anything

<lazarus> Or that we won't be able to find out from the meeting?

<BethE> We know that on that day, both Warmains and Wildlords acted out of the ordinary. 

<BethE> Insert list here of Caesar, other warmain, Warmain who is now on the moon, Kudzu and HB.

<Knockwood> we don't know why or how, really

<Random_Nerd> Yeah, and that Wildlords specifically had memories of Outside, while Warmains acted much more like their Tempered identity.

<Random_Nerd> And that High Summoning became easier.

<BethE> Oh and Conrad.

<BethE> Oh, my mistake, Conrad was after Breech Day.

<lazarus> RN: Brian once had a "memory" of Outside - do you remember where that was so I can read it over again?

<BethE> We don't know if it is directly connected to the Kings, as Shirk had already entered Creation and we have no clue about the other Kings.

<Random_Nerd> Let me see if I can find it.

<Knockwood> so did Dante... something about a crown

<Random_Nerd> It was in the Ftisk episode...

<Random_Nerd> This one, right? http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Session_121

<Random_Nerd> Heh.  I forgot that some of that got put in there that early.

<Knockwood> we were probably channeling Kudzu

<Random_Nerd> And this was about a week after Breach Day.  Maybe two.

<Knockwood> We need a calendar

<lazarus> yep, that's the one I was looking for, RN

<lazarus> I totally forgot that there was more than one "world".

<Random_Nerd> So, three memories.  Creation as, from an Outside perspective, not particularly notable.  A desire to have a crown made out of the material of Creation.  "Chaos and old Night."

<Random_Nerd> The last of those is a Milton quote.

<BethE> Pretty phrase...

<BethE> Sonorous metal blowing Martial sounds:

<BethE> At which the universal Host upsent

<BethE> A shout that tore Hells Concave, and beyond

<BethE> Freighted the Reign of Chaos and old Night

<BethE> the “stuff” out of which God ordered and created the world.

<Knockwood> OK, think of what would happen if the Strategists and Warmains within Creation got continuing access to their old memories

<Random_Nerd> And it's probably a reference to some of the language in Genesis 1.

<Knockwood> We've got a guy who was there here

<BethE> They would know all of what their Excrucian knows and wants.  As well as all of the info that the various shards had gathered?

<Etheric> The part that talks about "darkness on the face of the deep, hmm?

<Etheric> Implying an existence before Creation

<Random_Nerd> Yep.

<Knockwood> Genesis 1 is considered to be a variant of how Cneph put the world together, right?

<Random_Nerd> That what was before Creation wasn't nonexistance, just... formlessness.

<lazarus> from the mythology in N3, at least, that there was one is understood.  (feels Amberish that way, sometimes)

<Random_Nerd> Both creation stories in Genesis match up to Nobilis in certain regards.

<Etheric> Oh, hmm, this comes to mind re Genesis...

<Random_Nerd> Although the details are off.  For instance, the Angels, rather than Cneph, made a lot of the early estates like animals and so on.

<Etheric> How Light is created on the first day, but the sun and the moon come later

<Random_Nerd> Really, that bit makes more sense in Nobilis.

<Random_Nerd> Different estates, naturally.

<Etheric> So "Old Night" could refer to the darkness before the first day, or it could refer to something slightly different...

<Knockwood> you're saying Nobilis makes more sense than the Bible? :D

<Etheric> The straight interpretation is to take "Chaos" and "Old Night" as synonymous, but I wonder if there's something else going on.

<Etheric> Well, it's a clue, not a data point.

<BethE> Eth - the three gods that Cneph made into the Wall?

<Random_Nerd> Bear in mind, what I'm using it to mean may not match up 100% with what Milton scholars would think.

<Etheric> Hmm, maybe?  If I recall the GWB reference, if that's what you mean, one was the Ash, one was the Wall, and one was the angels.

<BethE> How many Milton scholars listen to Nick Cave?

<Etheric> Good point!

<Random_Nerd> A fair number.

<Random_Nerd> I'd imagine.

<Etheric> Brian, resolve this!

<lazarus> :D

<Random_Nerd> For that matter, you get weird references to Blake's stuff in random media.  I've heard quotes from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell in a Dresden Files book and a Tom Waits song lately, just thrown in there.

<Etheric> I was thinking more that the existence of seven days implies there is also night even after.

<BethE> Huh.  What if the Excrucians are just Shards of a larger being?  Like the ones used to make the Wall/Ash/Heaven/Hell.

<lazarus> Dresden Files does make sense, as Butcher is an all-round geek himself

<Random_Nerd> Okay, so, that's Chaos and Old Night.

<Random_Nerd> What about the other two?

<Etheric> Although "Old Night" might specifically denote before the first day, as opposed to the Night that was created later.

<Etheric> Hmm, Dante remembered wanting a crown made in Creation, from the perspective of outside

<Random_Nerd> Night is an estate, that was created within Time.

<Random_Nerd> Child of the Sun, right?

<Etheric> Oh, that's right!

<Etheric> And now I'm remembering Ianthe's story about the moon and the sun and their curses on one another...

<Etheric> I reread the start of the GWB the other day, and it caught my eye.

<Knockwood> Hm. For that moment, were we Kudzu or just an aspect of him?

<Random_Nerd> Unclear!

<Random_Nerd> (For that matter, you've met the Power of Night.  One of Martyrs' siblings.)

<Etheric> Speaking hypothetically, if Kudzu were a bit like a 3e True God when he was Outside, that question might not have a binary answer.

<Etheric> Since they have countless intertwining identities.

<Knockwood> maybe that's why Kudzu came over here.

<BethE> Maybe the Outside-Dante/Kudzu wanted to come over to Creation in a version of High Summoning?

<Random_Nerd> Well, there's some indication of that.

<Etheric> Hmm, well, he remembered wanting a crown.

<Random_Nerd> What with the Crown thing.

<Knockwood> We could set up a souvenir stand and get rich

<Etheric> Wanting something doesn't necessitate coming inside to get it.

<lazarus> Ah, yes, that's where I got one of those ideas from.

<Random_Nerd> But bear in mind, for an adept of High Summoning in Creation, a crown made from material of Outside is a sign of rank.

<Random_Nerd> Shadows has one.  It looks photoshopped.

<Etheric> Although we can reason that that's what happened, i's also stated in the GWB that reason does not apply to the Lands Beyond.

<Etheric> Interesting!

<lazarus> IIRC, one of the Outside NPCs also mentioned a crown of creation-stuff

<Knockwood> we don't have any evidence of them doing Summons

<Random_Nerd> Oh, and one random tidbit I'll remind you of because it was mentioned once in passing like six years ago.  Warmains do not practice High Summoning.

<Knockwood> in fact, they hate the concept

<Random_Nerd> Warmains, at least.  You don't know how the others feel about it, as far as I can recall.

<Etheric> Hmm, can you explain their perspective in a bit more detail, Knock?

<Knockwood> I could, but I'd be pulling it out of my ass

<BethE> They freaked out when we mentioned that Shadows does it.

<Random_Nerd> But you have heard that it's either distasteful or forbidden to them.

<Etheric> Sorry, I guess it's an unfair question.

<Etheric> That's all we know, then.

<BethE> And then when Brian said he was interested in it, they wanted to get away from us like we were the Power of Body Odor.

<lazarus> My suspicion is that summoning pulls people around against their will.

<Etheric> Might also be a bit like the Fair Folk perspective on Creating in Exalted.  Reality is a prison that kills.

<Etheric> Say Creationites are dangerous animals, and High Summoners are carnivores?  If that makes sense.

<Etheric> It's an order more dangerous.

<Etheric> Of course, I'm speculating.

<Random_Nerd> But it definitely has something to do with it.

<Random_Nerd> Warmains, Wildlords, High Summoning.  These are the things you know of that were affected by Breach Day.

<lazarus> I also suspect a Chaosite view of Amber as well (same kind of thing - chaos vs order, which is a Theme in Nobilis and Amber both)

<BethE> (Is there an Imperator of Chaos?)

<Knockwood> (Us)

<Random_Nerd> (Not as such.)

<Etheric> Hmm, question.  Say we come to understand the import of Breach Day.  What would that mean for our goals?

<Random_Nerd> Hmm.

<Knockwood> We'd have a better idea of what we can give the Exs at the Summit

<Etheric> Hazael is Disorder, right?  If that's true in our game as well as the GWB.

<Random_Nerd> It would be significantly relevant to some of your plans involving a peaceful resolution of the War.

<Etheric> But world-beginning Chaos is something else.  Formlessness.

<Etheric> You could argue that disorder is antithetical to formlessness, since it's an uneven presence of forms.

<Random_Nerd> Yeah.  The difference between a cluttered floor, and one made of lumpy clay.

<Etheric> Sorry, I'm distracting from my own question.

<Knockwood> any of you read the Principia Discordia, BTW?

<Etheric> Maybe it's that I'm unfamiliar, but I'm not all that sure how the one leads to the other.

<Etheric> Breach Day to a settlement, that is.

<Etheric> Is it just that we'd understand the Warmain motive better?

<Etheric> And sorry, Knock, haven't read it myself.

<lazarus> Something Happened during Breach Day.  They seemed suddenly unsure as well.

<Knockwood> didn't Shirk come on Breach Day?

<Random_Nerd> He came afterwards.

<Random_Nerd> But Breach Day happened the day after a major ritual that involved him, Kudzu's corrupt Cult, and James.

<Random_Nerd> And then a month or two later, he came in person.

<Knockwood> oh, it's our fault. Of course. Why didn't you say so?

<Random_Nerd> I thought it was assumed!

<BethE> Question - what rank would you say Warmains are among the different type of Excrucians?  My guess is the lowest?

<Random_Nerd> You're the PCs!

<Random_Nerd> Rank?  In what sense?

<Random_Nerd> I'm not sure there's an answer in the sense that you mean.  Like, who's higher in rank, the Army or the Navy?

<BethE> Well, you said that a crown shows higher rank in High Summoning.  I just figured that all of the other types of Excrucians probably look down on the Warmains because they're kind of the grunts and they're the most like Creation folks (with the exception of Mimics).

<Etheric> Well, if you consider the Strategists the generals, Warmains could be frontline troops, and Mimics deep-cover spies.

<Etheric> I'm not sure what the Deceivers would be.  Maybe a different branch of spies?

<Random_Nerd> But the Warmains look down on the other sorts, too.

<BethE> Okay, so Shirk + corrupt cult + James...  With James and the cult as major ties to Kudzu.

<Etheric> But in reality, each Excrucian is a force unto themselves.

<Random_Nerd> Deceivers... you've never talked to one.  You don't know what they think.

<Etheric> They're equal to Imperators, after all.

<BethE> We would get slapped with a trout.

<Etheric> Our peace overtures so far have been only to Warmains, then?

<Knockwood> what type is Shirk?

<lazarus> N/A?

<BethE> Eth - yep.

<Etheric> I have the impression we don't know exactly what Shirk is.

<Etheric> Is that accurate?

<BethE> That sounds accurate to me. 

<Knockwood> What if the problem is that the Warmains don't know what the Strategists are doing?

<Random_Nerd> Yeah, I'd say that's accurate.

<Etheric> From the little I know of him, he seems more like a Warmain than a Strategist.

<lazarus> All we know is anyone we've asked about him says that they don't know what he is either

<Random_Nerd> Or they know, but they don't /agree/ with it.

<lazarus> He's blunter than a Warmain

<BethE> (Kind of like Ananda.)

<Etheric> I don't really have a clear idea of Deceivers, so I couldn't say either way if he's one of those.

<Random_Nerd> Most people you've talked to /think/ that he's a Strategist.  But none has had any evidence.

<Etheric> Hmm, okay.

<Random_Nerd> It's not like you've seen him using Worldbreaker's Hand, or having trouble resisting miracles.

<Random_Nerd> And if anything, his shtick is kinda Deceiver-ish.

<Etheric> Well, what do we know about the Warmains' motives based on the contacts we've had?

<Knockwood> hm. Maybe we should foment a civil war... >:>

<Etheric> The GWB talks about an instinctive draw towards gloriously leaving an empty Creation with Estates as prizes.

<Etheric> But what if that instinct is a trap?

<Etheric> Plenty of animals who exploit others' instincts, after all.

<Etheric> So, hypothetically, what if the Strategists are using the Warmains?

<Etheric> They may not know the answer either.

<Etheric> Er, but backing up a step, I am curious what Conrad and the others have had to say about the Warmain motive.

<BethE> Wouldn't be the first time the strats leave the grunts out of the planning talks.

<Etheric> Is it any clearer than the GWB makes it?

<BethE> I think I remember them saying that we (Creation) had stolen the Estates and that they wanted them back.  Or that they were owed them.

<Random_Nerd> Yeah.  There was a strong sense of them feeling /wronged/.

<Random_Nerd> Although they didn't know the details.

<Etheric> If you take the Wild and the Warmains as two threads with a common source, that makes sense.

<Random_Nerd> Just the emotion.

<Etheric> Taking what is owed is integral to the Wild...

<Etheric> And the Aaron's Serpents have it as a tenet too, now that I think of it.

<Etheric> Well, the Wild is a bit more specific

<Etheric> Giving for each taking, taking for each gift

<BethE> That you only pay back in kind?  (Trying to remember the part of the Serpent's code I didn't take...)

<Knockwood>   if that's actually a holdover from the other side

<Etheric> Take only what you have earned / Take all that you have earned

<Etheric> There are about six different points as options, and that's one I think.

<Random_Nerd> So, should we go to in-character?

<Etheric> I'm up for it.

<Etheric> This speculation is fertile, but not leading anywhere.

• BethE is now known as Theresa
  
  
• Knockwood is now known as DanteE
  
  

<Theresa> (My problem is that speculation in character doesn't do much either.  I keep feeling like I'm missing something important.)

<Random_Nerd> ________________START_____________

<DanteE> (We probably are.)

• Etheric is now known as Carrie
  
  

<Random_Nerd> Okay, so, things are getting complicated.  You're making final preparations for the meeting, and tracking down a few loose ends before it started.

<Random_Nerd> Pretty much all your time right now is precious.  So, it's kinda a shame that, right in the middle of this conversation with Cain, Dante gets a sudden spike of pain up along his left side.

<Theresa> "Wildlords, Warmains and High Summoners.  What do these three things have in common that, say, Angels or Strategists don't?"

<DanteE> "Aaah!"

<Theresa> (Because Theresa doesn't know about the pain and of course it happens now!  You always get sick when you're busy!)

<DanteE> "... Pain up my side."

• DanteE checks its nature...
  
  

<Random_Nerd> It's a Courage ache.

<Carrie> "The Code of the Wild and the Cant of the Warmains are similar in some ways."

<Random_Nerd> Your estate is under attack, right now.

<DanteE> Where and how?

<Random_Nerd> Halfway around the world.  Some kind of Excrucian attack.

<Theresa> (What stat is Summoning based around?)

<Random_Nerd> (In 3e terms, Treasure.  In 2e, it was its own stat.)

<DanteE> "Hang on, Courage is under attack."

<Random_Nerd> Cain: "Hmm?"

<Random_Nerd> (Specifically, it hurts in Afghanistan.)

<DanteE> "I'm presuming everyone here's already guessed we're Noble.

• @Carrie furrows her forehead, worried.
  
  

<Theresa> (Huh.  Well, in that situation, you have a commonality of 'stuff'.  Treasure for Summoners, Wildlords and Warmains are both about getting or giving exact payment/stuff for what they are owed/given.)

<Random_Nerd> There are random diner guests who aren't hip to the whole Nobility scene, yo.

• lazarus is now known as Brian
  
  

<DanteE> "My Estate is under attack... in Afghanistan."

<Carrie> (Actually, reviewing the Cant of the Warmains, it's a bit simpler.)

<Carrie> ('Never surrender,' 'Never abandon a comrade in arms,' 'Die for the cause before living in shame.')

<Theresa> "My apologies, Caine, Maria.  We should go investigate this attack on Dante's estate."

<DanteE> "Which means we suddenly have Other Plans."

<Random_Nerd> Maria: "Ah.  Well, needs must, I suppose."

<Carrie> "The War before yourself.  Apologies."

<Random_Nerd> M: "Should we put the plans for a meeting with my Noble and her Imperator on hold?"

<Theresa> "Yes, please.  We shall notify you once this has been taken care of and we can set up a meeting with them before the Excrucian meeting."

<DanteE> (Are our Aides here?)

<Random_Nerd> Okay.  Angelo isn't /here/, so we can't actually do this part yet.  I hadn't planned on that, earlier.  But for the sake of in-character chronology, he's suffering an estate attack right... /now/.

<Theresa> (*facepalm*)

<Carrie> (Simultaneously?)

<Random_Nerd> Maria: "Acceptable.  I will try to keep a slot open in her schedule."

<Random_Nerd> (Yep.  A couple minutes apart.  Which... doesn't happen.)

<Brian> (wait, what?!)

<Random_Nerd> And his attack is in California.

<Carrie> (Couldn't it be a coincidence?  Their Chancel is on Dionyl, right?)

<Carrie> (Or not, I might be confused.)

<Theresa> (What do you mean, doesn't happen?  Like Excrucians will coordinate their attacks so they don't happen at the same time?  I would think that they _would_ all hit at once.)

<DanteE> (Vulcan)

<Random_Nerd> (It would be rare for two attacks to start this close together /at all/.  Excrucian attacks don't happen every day, let alone every hour.  But two, separated by minutes, to two allied Nobles?  There's something going on there.)

<Carrie> (Well, it's a different Familia, and the common ground is that we're working together on the peace talks.)

<Theresa> (And it's not like people don't _know_ we're Allied...)

<Random_Nerd> (But only people in Creation really know that.)

<Carrie> (If this is really such an outlier... there's your rationale.)

<Theresa> (And we've been in front of Entropy together and were there when Ftisk used the L word in front of Entropy.)

<Random_Nerd> (To someone on the other side of the Wall, there's no connection at all to the estates, and they don't really think in terms of time, either.)

<Carrie> (How many Warmains have the two of our Familia approached jointly?)

<DanteE> (Which of Ftisk's Estates is getting hit?)

<Carrie> (I'd say there's a nonzero chance one of those is at least tangentially involved.)

<Theresa> (I think about 4?  It's Conrad's (Ftisk's Warmain bit) 's family.)

<Random_Nerd> (The Shards of one particular Warmain, who claim to represent a faction of warmains.)

<Carrie> (Ah, just the one then..  That does make it less likely.)

<Carrie> (Although one Shard could have a variant viewpoint, I guess.)

<Carrie> (Anyhow, back to IC.)

<Random_Nerd> Dante, right now it's moderately painful, but it won't be incapacitating for another day or two.

<DanteE> and Ftisk?

<Random_Nerd> About the same.

<Random_Nerd> Naturally, these things usually take a day or two to resolve.

<DanteE> "If we're both getting hit, they may be trying to split us up."

<Random_Nerd> (NEVER SPLIT UP THE PARTY!)

<Theresa> "I... think we should get out of here.  Ftisk is not the most... human-looking at best of times..."  *will Aspect a tablecloth off of a table and throw it over Ftisk*

<Carrie> Let's see...  Could a Divination of Hope answer, "What can we do first of all to mitigate this pain?"  Since Hope connotes coherence, successful endurance and progress toward goals?

<Theresa> (Carrie gets answer:  Split Up the Party.)

<Carrie> It might be a bit of a stretch, being a vague question.

<Random_Nerd> (Oh, and the next story arc, the one where you play as your various minions, will take place simultaneously with this one.)

<Random_Nerd> (Hmm.)

<Carrie> (Note to self: Retroactively acquire minions.)

<Theresa> (You have your parents.)

<Carrie> (That's true.)

<Theresa> (You could run William!)

<Random_Nerd> (That's an awfully vague question.  I think that it's problematic as a divination.)

<Carrie> (I wanted to use the excuse to come up with some interesting new minions though.)

<Random_Nerd> (That could work!)

<Carrie> (Yeah, you're right.  I'll need to know more to ask a clearer question.)

• @Theresa gets up and pulls along the floating Ftisk.  "Thank you for meeting with us, Maria.  I look forward to our next meeting.  Cain, it is an honor to meet you, sir.  Thank you.  For everything."
  
  

<Random_Nerd> (Hmm.  You could probably figure out which estate was more threatened, say.)

<Brian> (I'm falling asleep.  Crap.  Good night, and I'll see you all in a few weeks.  Fight the good fight!)

<Random_Nerd> Cain: "I will have to stop by your chancel in a few months, then.":

<DanteE> (g'night Brian)

<Random_Nerd> Cain: "Northern Africa, right?"

<Carrie> Okay, using Realm (Secondary Domain) to do a Lesser Divination of Amyra, and find the quickest path through Locus Amyra from here to Kabul.

<DanteE> "It was."

• @Brian (~Sara@MagicStar-97C0F1CA.dsl.bell.ca) Quit (Disintegrated: Leaving )
  
  

<Random_Nerd> Cain: "I can probably find a way over in a few months, then."

<Carrie> Assuming our Convenient access offers something...

<Carrie> (Ah, right, that was his territory.)

<Theresa> "Used to be.  Prestor John's former kingdom."  *smile*  "I think that our king will love to meet you."

<Random_Nerd> (Hmm.  Kabul is a pretty big city.  It'll have a connection.)

<Random_Nerd> Cain: "I was there, once.  Worked in the mines for a decade or so."

<Random_Nerd> Cain: "But I imagine it's different now."

<Carrie> Once we're clear of those two, then, I'll fill the others in on the quickest route.

<DanteE> (Was there a war there in the game's continuity?)

<Random_Nerd> (There's almost always a war in Afghanistan.)

<Random_Nerd> (It's probably one of its Estate Properties.)

<DanteE> (ah yeah)

<Random_Nerd> (But, yes.  In-continuity, there are troops from the US and various other countries there.)

<Random_Nerd> (They've been there for only five years or so, though.)

<Theresa> "It's the Middle East.  I think it's part of the genetics of the region to fight each other.  Even the single-celled organisms."

<Random_Nerd> (Okay, you have a path that will get you there in under an hour.)

<Random_Nerd> (Okay, and I'm not sure if you guys used any MPs before, so I'm saying those all go up to full as of right now.)

<Random_Nerd> (Keep track of them, please.)

<DanteE> "Hang in there, Ftisk, there's a good chance the two attacks are related."

<Random_Nerd> Maria gets her bag together, and heads out to the parking lot.  Cain puts his apron back on, and goes behind the counter.

• @Theresa will pull the floaty Ftisk out the door.  Any normals care?
  
  

<Random_Nerd> Nope.  And it's not clear why.

• DanteE checks out the place with The Sight...
  
  

<Random_Nerd> Cain: shiny, about to Noble level but in a different way.  Maria, basically human but with a bit of a glimmer, she's probably had miracles used on her recently.  The rest, baseline mundane.

<Random_Nerd> Also, it does seem that a number of the people there are deliberately avoiding looking at your table.

<Random_Nerd> Both staff and customers.

<DanteE> "They've been briefed, I'll bet."

<DanteE> "Makes sense if the Chancel's close."

• @Theresa will just go with it.  No time for dealing with DA and Ftisk is probably protesting enough as is.
  
  

<Theresa> "Or someone just made us unnoticeable in there.  After all, we had their server for quite a while and he only got yelled at once."

<Random_Nerd> As you walk Ftisk out, several people avoid eye contact.

<DanteE> (Didn't Cain quit last session?)

<Random_Nerd> (Seemed like it at the time, at least.  But he's gone back there, and nobody is acting like it's a big deal.)

<Random_Nerd> (Also, now he appears to be working as a cook, and he was a waiter earlier.)

<Theresa> (Would a Power be able to 'feel' the effect specifically of a Worldbreaker's Hand?)

<Random_Nerd> (If it was on them.)

<Theresa> (Ah, sorry, meant on their Estate.)

<Theresa> "Could we, physically, be being targeted right now?  By something?

<Random_Nerd> (Domain 0 divination is pretty non-specific.)

<Random_Nerd> (You can maybe tell a flower rite from a shock-and-awe attack, but not the details.)

<Theresa> (*nod*  thank you.)

<Random_Nerd> (And this feels more like the latter, Dante.  Sneaky/weird style, not "I, Warmain Jim, am attacking Horses by KILLING ALL THE HORSES.")

<Theresa> (Darn it, we're leaving Cain!  They wouldn't shoot at him!  If they know he's there.)

<DanteE> "This is more subtle than that, I think."

<Random_Nerd> (Err, the former.  This is a Flower Rite style.  But you got what I meant.)

<DanteE> (So, jump to Kabul?)

<Theresa> "Yeah, but we're being ignored.  With Ftisk.  Something is going on."

<Random_Nerd> So, do you stick around to investigate diner-weirdness, or go to Amyra and then to Kabul?

<DanteE> Think I'll swing by Amyra and grab that cut-everything sword

<Carrie> I'm all for moving to where the trouble is.

• @Theresa yells at the diner.  "Will you all just come out and tell us what is going on?  We dont' have _time_ for beating around bushes and _I Know Bushes_."
  
  

<Random_Nerd> How will you be using it?  Taking it as a miraculous anchor, or do you have a way around the "slices the fabric of space" thing?

<Theresa> (More of a ya'll than you all, but Theresa is Amyran, not Southern American.)

<Theresa> (If there's no response, then to Amyra.)

<DanteE> (I think Miracle Anchor, if possible)

<Random_Nerd> Diner Guest #23: "Hey, when Carl says not to look at the people at table 7, you /don't look at them/."

<Carrie> (And there you have it.)

<DanteE> "The advantage of having regulars."

<Random_Nerd> Cain, flipping sausage patties: "Don't you have work to do?"

<Theresa> "_Thank you_.  Please have a nice day."

<Theresa> (Back home!)

<Random_Nerd> (What's your Treasure stat, and how many free Bond points do you have?)

<Random_Nerd> (That, to Knock.)

<DanteE> (I think it's 2 and 2, let me check...)

<Random_Nerd> (Okay.  Claiming it, so that its power only activates when you're using it, and using it, are both miracles of Treasure 6.)

<Random_Nerd> (So, if you claim it now, and you want to use its function later, you'll need to figure out a way to get some MPs back between now and then.)

<Random_Nerd> (Using it at a lesser power level would be various smaller miracles, of course.)

<Random_Nerd> (If you're full on Bonds, you can take a new one anyway for a wound.)

<DanteE> (Hm. I think I'll hold off, then.)

<DanteE> (And it is Tr 2 and 2 points free)

<Random_Nerd> (So, straight to Kabul?)

<DanteE> (Yeah)

<Random_Nerd> Your car pulls out of an alleyway that it didn't look like it should fit into.

<Random_Nerd> Dante, now that you're here, you have a more precise feel for where the harm to Courage is.  It's distributed across a pretty wide area, but most of it as well as the highest concentration is southwest of the city, about an hour's drive.

<Theresa> (What's the feel of the city?)

<Random_Nerd> (Busy.  Somewhat tense, but not active-warzone or alien-foxes-are-eating-my-face tense.)

<Theresa> (Well..that's good for Kabul, isn't it?)

<Random_Nerd> The streets are clogged with a mixture of cars and pedestrians, as unfortunately the Amyra portals tend to take you to the areas of densest urbanization.

<Random_Nerd> (Yeah.)

• DanteE checks the place out with The Sight...
  
  

<Random_Nerd> Nobody in sight shows up as unusual, and there don't seem to be any active greater miracles.

<Theresa> (Dante is probably driving.)

<DanteE> Aspect-3 book it to the site

<Random_Nerd> Normally, it would be impossible to get out of the city in less than two hours, the way traffic is right now.  "Normally" and "Aspect 3" rarely occur together.

<Random_Nerd> In other words, half an hour later you're halfway to your target when traffic slows again for a vehicle checkpoint.

<Random_Nerd> There are two lanes, one of which appears to be for western military vehicles, and one of them for civilian cars (or, in this case, mostly trucks.)

<DanteE> (Which of us has charm?)

<Theresa> (Uh, probably me?)

<Theresa> "Drat.  Papers, papers..."  (Can I LC a set of reasonable-looking papers, if needed?)

<Random_Nerd> Oh, and one other thing.  The guys with guns who're checking each car as it goes by are calm.  Not "I've been doing this for a while" calm, not even "I've been working for twelve hours straight and am half asleep calm."  Just... not particularly stressed.

<Random_Nerd> (Hmm.  Theresa wouldn't know what those should look like, would she?)

<Theresa> (Nope!)

<DanteE> (She can get that with a quick Div-Plants, tho, right?)

<Theresa> (Eeeeh, not sure if it's close enough.  Especially if they're usually made with plastic or oil toner printers.)

<Carrie> Lesser Div of Hope.  What could we do to swiftly pass this gate?

<Carrie> That's specific enough, right?

<Random_Nerd> (Yeah, you could find what they're supposed to look like by checking nearby cars.)

<Theresa> "Those guys are calm.  Like, I'm nervous because of how calm they are."

<Carrie> (Or that.)

<Theresa> (But are we going civvy or military?  We don't really look military.)

<Random_Nerd> (Hmm.  If you just go through it in the civilian lane, it will take fifteen minutes.)

<Random_Nerd> (If Theresa tries to fake it, you could get through in five, or it could get complicated and take much longer if they call in to check the details.)

<DanteE> Any way around?

<Random_Nerd> (That's what the Div of Hope says.)

<Random_Nerd> You could go offroad and try to bypass the checkpoint, and smash through the fence.  But it would probably provoke a violent response.

<Theresa> (That would draw attention.)

<Random_Nerd> (Aspect 3, you could get through unhurt.  But it would amp up everyone in the area.)

<Carrie> under Carrie's breath: "We can get through as civilians cleanly, with simple explanations, if we wait in the lane for fifteen minutes.  Or we could try something fancy."

<DanteE> "Define Fancy"

<Random_Nerd> (And I'm sure there are seventy-three other ways you could get through, seeing that this car contains roughly about as much power level as the entire Justice League.  But the Divination of Hope only gives info on possibilities Carrie is considering specifically.)

<Carrie> "Attention-grabbing."

<Carrie> (Fair enough.)

<Theresa> (And we probably still have Kite's Batman suit in the trunk.)

<Random_Nerd> (Partly because if I tried to figure out everything that six Nobles could do, and how well each would work, my head would explode.)

<Theresa> "Remember Amyra doesn't exist out here, Dante, we can't pull diplomatic immunity."

<DanteE> "How about Theresa faking papers?"

<Carrie> (The intent isn't to gather every possibility.  I figure for most purposes, one would suffice.)

<Random_Nerd> Up ahead, the guys checking cars and holding guns on the drivers proceed with businesslike pace and demeanor.

<Carrie> (The Estate is about creating coherence, after all.)

<Random_Nerd> (Hmm.  Dante.  Do you have much Persona?)

<Carrie> (If I consider the fake-papers route specifically, anything jump out at me though?)

<DanteE> (Persona 2/2)

<Random_Nerd> (Papers that are good enough to get you through significantly faster than just going straight through would have to represent you as some important person.  If you did use such papers, they might radio in to say that that person is at the checkpoint, and when they're expected in.)

<DanteE> (I look like a recent graduate...)

<Theresa> (Yeah.  Bad idea.)

<Random_Nerd> (You could use 2 MPs, then, to give the car an Enchantment of Blades to "Go through the medium to which it's applied" and proceed faster through.)

<Carrie> "Likely to gather attention, with a chance of getting us stopped for longer."

<DanteE> (That would get us there quicker as a side effect, right?)

<Random_Nerd> (It'd help with traffic, at least.  And, I suppose, wind resistance, driving through fences and over ditches, and so on.)

<Theresa> (And I have been informed that Creation does not accept puns as reasoning for using Persona and your Estate.)

<Random_Nerd> You continue to be processed.

<DanteE> "Hang on, we're going through..."

<Random_Nerd> You're nearly halfway through at the current rate.

<DanteE> (zap)

<DanteE> "Should have done that a while ago."

<Random_Nerd> Your car now just looks like it's obviously supposed to be over there, past the checkpoint.  People get out of the way, letting you cut in line right ahead of the checkpoint itself.

<Random_Nerd> Some look a bit annoyed, but they make way.

<Random_Nerd> Bored guy at the window: "Carrying any firearms?  Fuel?  Anything contraband?"

<Theresa> (Does Ftisk count?)

<Random_Nerd> (Heh.)

<DanteE> "Nope."

<Random_Nerd> Out back, a truck pulls out of line and starts to accelerate.

<Theresa> "Oh dear..."

<Random_Nerd> One of the soldiers, looking mildly annoyed, shoots the driver.  The car comes to a stop some distance from the checkpoint.

<Carrie> Lesser Divination.  What does the driver intend to do?

<Random_Nerd> Guy At The Window: "Just move along.  Next?"

<Theresa> "Does that happen ... often?"

<Carrie> No Penetration.

<Random_Nerd> Intended to kill as many as possible of the invading forces.

<Random_Nerd> They wave you through.

<Carrie> Lesser Enchantment.  "Hope empowers" and "Hope drawns Harmony from confusion."

<DanteE> (Any bombs on the truck?)

<Theresa> (The driver's dead, Carrie..)

<Carrie> Empowering those troops to detect and thwart the explosion.

<Theresa> (Oh, were you putting it on, ah.)

<Carrie> Whoops, missed it.

<Random_Nerd> (Nope, but a lot of gasoline in the back.)

<Random_Nerd> (Bullet missed all of it, through.)

<DanteE> "Thank ya."

<Random_Nerd> (This... wasn't a very well-planned attempt, here.)

• DanteE moves on...
  
  

<Carrie> Cancel that miraculous action, then.

<Carrie> (It's a bit suspicious in that it wasn't well-planned.  Does that happen often?)

<Random_Nerd> Oh, and as you drive past the checkpoint guy, you get another twinge.  Something with him has something to do with the attack, you're almost sure.

<Random_Nerd> (You don't know.)

<Carrie> (And... it's definitely futile courage...)

<Random_Nerd> (It is, at that.)

<Carrie> (Fair enough, sorry.)

<Random_Nerd> (Seems like the guy just packed his pickup full of gas cans and drove at the soldiers, hoping it would all turn out well.)

<DanteE> (Carrie gets that twinge?)

<Random_Nerd> (No, you did.)

<Random_Nerd> (It's the estate-attack warning.)

<Random_Nerd> (Not, like, that attack that just happened.  Sorry, that was vague.)

• DanteE checks him out with The Sight...
  
  

<Theresa> "There's no ... motivation in this.  It's so routine.  I mean, no reaction at all hardly to a guy trying to blow them up?"

<DanteE> "Very odd things happening here..."

<Random_Nerd> To the sight, the dying man and the bored soldiers both have some traces of miracles, but definitely lesser ones.

<DanteE> (we can get info here or proceed to the main site.)

<Theresa> (It's your attack, Dante.)

<DanteE> (How many soldiers are here?)

<Random_Nerd> (About a dozen, in total.  Some are eating and drinking rather than being actively at work, though.)

<DanteE> "You guys feel like a fight?"

<Carrie> Let's see, if I do a Lesser Emulation of Hope, "Hope sustains by connecting," would that help me connect this oddly botched attack with something else relevant further on into the area?

<Random_Nerd> Back there by the checkpoint, an angry guy with a knife gets out of his car and charges... from about twenty yards back.  He makes it almost five strides before he gets shot.

<Random_Nerd> Hmm.  That would... make you better at sustaining things by connecting them.

<Carrie> (I really hope it's our presence that's having an impact and not that this really happens all the time.)

<Random_Nerd> Do you /want/ to strengthen the connections here?

<Random_Nerd> One of the soldiers, eating a sandwich: "Those guys just seem to be going crazy lately.  Fortunately, they all turned stupid at the same time, so, no big deal."

<Carrie> I was thinking more finding a connection as a detective does, for the sake of sustaining Dante.

<Carrie> If it's too stretched, nevermind.

<DanteE> "When did it start?"

<Theresa> *to the soldier*  "How many more attacks and how stupid?"

<Random_Nerd> "People going crazy and trying to kill us?  Oh, years back.  The stupid thing... a few weeks back, although it's gotten a lot more common these days."

<Carrie> Strengthening the connections in the most obvious way might just add strength to this oddness...

<DanteE> 'As it turns out, we're experts on unusual happenings."

<Random_Nerd> "Please do not tell me you work for Blackwater or whatever they're calling it this week."

• DanteE parks...
  
  

<DanteE> "No, no, we're with a completely different group."

<Carrie> If I went with that Enchantment and used "Hope draws harmony from confusion," that might encourage the various attackers to hold for now, I suppose.

<DanteE> to the others: "You see the miracles, right?"

<Random_Nerd> "Normally, I'd be really suspicious that this is some kind of attempt to attack us.  But... I mean, you'd probably be screaming in rage and trying to bite me.  And you aren't."

<Random_Nerd> (Yeah, that would work, Carrie.)

<Theresa> "I try not to look directly for miracles, Dante.  Not since switching my world-views around at Barakiel's place.  Made my eyes cross."

<Carrie> "One on the soldiers and one on the attackers..."

<DanteE> (Which of us could best trace the miracles?)

<Theresa> "Are you usually this... calm?"

<Carrie> I'll go for it then.  Lesser Enchantment on the local theater of battle.

<Random_Nerd> "Nah.  But the new chaplain's really been doing some good.  Helped a lot of us out."

<Random_Nerd> "I'm not even a church-going type, me, but the guy just talks sense."

<DanteE> "How new?"

<Theresa> (Wait, sense?  In the military?  :) )

<Random_Nerd> "A few weeks, I guess.  Just got transferred over here a while ago."

<DanteE> "Could we talk to him?"

<Random_Nerd> "Uh... I mean, he's at the camp.  You probably can't just drive up... who are you, again?  You're obviously not local."

<Random_Nerd> (Hmm.  What's Dante's ethnicity?)

<DanteE> (Prester John-ian. :p )

<Random_Nerd> (So, some mix of European, African, and Middle-Eastern?)

<DanteE> (Mainly white)

<Random_Nerd> "...can't place that accent, though.  Turkey?"

• angelo (~chatzilla@MagicStar-96D40FC9.cust.dsl.vodafone.it) has joined #Nobilis
  
  

<Random_Nerd> (Hey, Angelo.)

<Carrie> quietly, more to the others than to Dante, "I'm calming things down a little."

<Theresa> (Angelo!  *HUG*)

<Carrie> (Hey Angelo!  Guess what?)

<Random_Nerd> (...chicken butt?)

<angelo> (hi All! Sorry, just missed the alarm :-( )

<DanteE> "You probably haven't heard of it. That's not a knock on you, it's just obscure."

<Random_Nerd> "Ah.  Hipsteristan."

<DanteE> "Close enough."

<Carrie> (You may have already won the chance to get simultaneously Flower Rited with Dante!)

<Random_Nerd> "Well, obviously they can't formally just let you in to the camp.  But if you, hypothetically, had a bunch of weed, food, or recently-published girlie magazines, I bet I can find a way."

<angelo> (uhm... interesting! I would like to have a log once you finish)

<Theresa> "Weed.  I can supply weed."

<Random_Nerd> (The guy's assuming that Dante's one of those guys who shows up to sell things to the soldiers, here.)

<Theresa> "Also your favorite kind of fruit."

<DanteE> "Weed and fresh food are not a problem, long as you're ok with rabbit food..."

<Random_Nerd> "Cool.  Okay... can I see your map?"

<Carrie> (Opium, they can probably get cheap, but marijuana is precious... <.< )

<Random_Nerd> (Yeah, it's not really the right climate.)

<DanteE> (Do we have a map?)

<Random_Nerd> (You probably picked one up in Amyra.)

<Theresa> (Your car, Dante.   Maybe every time you take it out, you have Sam or William or some minion stock it with the appropriate map in the glove box.)

<Carrie> (It's plausible enough that we briefly stopped for one in Amyra, yeah.)

<DanteE> (That works)

<Carrie> (Or that.)

<DanteE> "Here you go... we're here, right?"

<Random_Nerd> He takes a pen and draws on it.  "We're over here.  When you show up, look for Sally.  Blond hair, tiny tits, boring face.  Tell her that you're a friend of Jim's who drove over to drop his stuff off.  She'll know what you mean.  And if you get caught, I didn't talk to you."

<DanteE> (and is it where the attack is?)

<Random_Nerd> (It's where the damage to the estate is strongest, at least.)

<Random_Nerd> (And about the center-point, too.  But it's hurting some right here, and to a lesser degree in the city.)

<DanteE> to Theresa: "I'd say these nice folks should get the _finest_ weed, ne?"

<Theresa> (He might have evangelists out in the city.)

<DanteE> (which means they won't be inclined to fight us.)

<Theresa> (They'd need to use it first.)

<Theresa> (And I doubt the guys on duty will use right then and there.)

<Random_Nerd> (Hmm.  Mind if we stop here?)

<Random_Nerd> (It's quarter to midnight local, and it's a scene transition.)

<DanteE> (Unless it's primo stuff with that just-so aroma. :) )

<DanteE> (OK.)

<Random_Nerd> ________________STOP________________

• Theresa is now known as BethE
  
  

<Random_Nerd> Okay.  Angelo, for the background, Dante's estate and Ftisk's both got pretty much simultaneously attacked.

<BethE> And that is weird.

<Random_Nerd> The current plan is to handle one, and then the other, as quickly as possible, out of some impression that it might be a plan to separate and ambush you guys.

• Carrie is now known as Etheric
  
  
• DanteE is now known as Knockwood
  
  

<angelo> wow

<angelo> good time to skip a session :-/

<Etheric> I feel like I was a lot more involved this time.

<Knockwood> so we're in Kabul handling mine... yours is in California

<angelo> and what kind of attack is the one on Dante estate?

<Knockwood> Oh, is his Data or Machinery?

<Random_Nerd> Machinery.

<Etheric> It might have been slow, but if the next couple of sessions go as well as this one did I'll be satisfied.

<Random_Nerd> Both feel like the Flower Rite kind, not the blatant military force kind.

<angelo> happy to hear that you enjoyed that session eth!

<angelo> and Verithe? mia?

<Random_Nerd> Not sure.

<BethE> Haven't seen him in over a month, now, I think.  :(

<Random_Nerd> Well, this is a flower rite that /involves/ military forces...

<Random_Nerd> But you know what I mean.

<Knockwood> Don't feel too bad, we did a lot of OOC talk

<Etheric> Yeah, it was probably more OOC than scene-playing.

<Random_Nerd> Yeah, with you and V gone, we did a half-OOC session.

<Etheric> Although that's been sort of frequently true lately.

<angelo> ook, but I would like to have a log the same :-P

<Random_Nerd> I'll send you a copy.

<Random_Nerd> Give me a minute.

<angelo> ah, Hapy new Year!

<Etheric> There was some interesting pre-session speculation about Warmains, at least.



Chancel_Amyra
Chapter 35