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Occultist Quest

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Assets and Holdings
  • Informational


    • The holdings and assets of Stanley Vermis
    ​
    Very Small Fortune: What remains of the monetary gift from your friend. It's slowly growing larger once more thanks to your investments, but for now, perhaps you had best save up. Will upgrade to Small Fortune by the Fifth

    University Connections: You happen to be well acquainted with the staff of your former alma mater, and have perpetual access to its libraries and archives. Besides which, your words will no doubt have slightly more sway when dealing with fellow alumni.
    ​
    Undertakers Business: You more or less own this particular venture, and the accompanying graveyard they use to house their clients, which brings you a small amount of wealth. At present, thats all it functions to do, but you may find some use for it later.

    The associations and favors of Stanley Vermis
    ​
    Sgt. Mallow: A member of the constabulary who owes you a handful of small favors. You knew that he was modestly corrupt, not enough to cover up a major crime if prompted, but willing to ignore smaller indiscretions in return for financial recompense, or, barring that, aid in his investigations.
    ​
     
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  • Informational
    • Running a tally. I'll leave the vote open another hour or so if its close but if its not I'll start on the update now.
    Adhoc vote count started by Katarsiis on May 9, 2018 at 1:12 PM, finished with 25 posts and 21 votes.
    • [X] You were an alumni of the Brickston University for Higher Learning, and as such, had cultivated more than a few connections with its faculty and alumni and had essentially unlimited access to its library and archives.
      [X] The boon brought by money was the money itself. You weren't going to waste the small fortune on anything as extravagant as your own house or some frivolous antique, no matter how tempting. No, you would save this tidy fund and use it for a rainy day.
      [X] The association of Sergeant Mallow, a member of the constabulary whom you've assisted once or twice with trivial matters. The good Sergeant is, while not particularly bright otherwise, good at his job, and rather skilled at billiards you had to say.
      [X] The Grave of Black Flowers, scribed in early 16th century on the shores of distant Japan. The author was one Shigeaki Hinohara, a doctor obsessed with the line between life and death, who in his obsession for lore dug up corpses to vivisect, and even committed cruel human experimentation before he was found out and executed. The book is rather plain, bound in simple black leather, its pages lacking in any illustration. It seems that Mr. Hinohara was not one for diagrams.
      -[X] Liber Noctis, written over four hundred years ago by a wandering monk, on the topic of dreams and dreaming. The monk, Raul De Espinoza, sought to understand dreams and dreaming, believing that ones dreams could be used, under the right conditions and training, to communicate with other worlds, for the art of prophecy, and even to reach out to the divine itself.
      -[X] A modest amount of savings, stored up from your work. It wasn't much, but it would no doubt get you through a few dark days if it ever came to that, and would no doubt help finance some of your more frivolous projects. (May be taken with Modest Fortune)
      [X] Liber Noctis, written over four hundred years ago by a wandering monk, on the topic of dreams and dreaming. The monk, Raul De Espinoza, sought to understand dreams and dreaming, believing that ones dreams could be used, under the right conditions and training, to communicate with other worlds, for the art of prophecy, and even to reach out to the divine itself.
      -[X] The association of Sergeant Mallow, a member of the constabulary whom you've assisted once or twice with trivial matters. The good Sergeant is, while not particularly bright otherwise, good at his job, and rather skilled at billiards you had to say.
      -[X] The acquaintanceship of Monsieur Platt, a private investigator and procurement specialist. The money you had earned had gone to tracking down a rare piece of memorabilia. Afterwards you and the Monsieur struck up a conversation. You...weren't FRIENDS, exactly, but you were well enough associated with the man to prefer his services above his peers, and he was generous enough to give you a modest discount.
      [X] Plan Shoggoth Summoner
      [x] A modest amount of savings, stored up from your work. It wasn't much, but it would no doubt get you through a few dark days if it ever came to that, and would no doubt help finance some of your more frivolous projects. (May be taken with Modest Fortune)
      [X] The acquaintanceship of Monsieur Platt, a private investigator and procurement specialist. The money you had earned had gone to tracking down a rare piece of memorabilia. Afterwards you and the Monsieur struck up a conversation. You...weren't FRIENDS, exactly, but you were well enough associated with the man to prefer his services above his peers, and he was generous enough to give you a modest discount.
      [X] A small boat, located in the docks. While too small to transport large cargo, it was useful for visiting other parts of the country, and even crossing over to the continent should the need arise.
      [X] Plan: Leave Me Alone
      -[X] A small cottage, all to yourself, located on the outskirts of the city. It wasn't a particularly nice house, but neither was it particularly bad. Its main benefit was the rather extensive cellar it hosted, and the fact that you didn't have to share the building, giving you a modicum of privacy.
      -[X] A small boat, located in the docks. While too small to transport large cargo, it was useful for visiting other parts of the country, and even crossing over to the continent should the need arise.
      [X] The boon brought by money was the money itself. You weren't going to waste the small fortune on anything asextravagant as your own house or some frivolous antique, no matter how tempting. No, you would save this tidy fund and use it for a rainy day.
      [X] The association of Sergeant Mallow, a member of the constabulary whom you've assisted once or twice with trivial matters. The good Sergeant is, while not particularly bright otherwise, good at his job, and rather skilled at billiards you had to say.
      [X] You were an alumni of the Brickston University for Higher Learning, and as such, had cultivated more than a few connections with its faculty and alumni and had essentially unlimited access to its library and archives.
      [X] A small cottage, all to yourself, located on the outskirts of the city. It wasn't a particularly nice house, but neither was it particularly bad. Its main benefit was the rather extensive cellar it hosted, and the fact that you didn't have to share the building, giving you a modicum of privacy.
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    Right so, thats a complete mess of a tally, but I'm reasonably sure the following won by a decent margin:

    1. Grave
    2. Money (Big)
    3. University Connections
    4. The Sergeant
     
    [X] The Grave of Black Flowers, scribed in early 16th century on the shores of distant Japan. The author was one Shigeaki Hinohara, a doctor obsessed with the line between life and death, who in his obsession for lore dug up corpses to vivisect, and even committed cruel human experimentation before he was found out and executed. The book is rather plain, bound in simple black leather, its pages lacking in any illustration. It seems that Mr. Hinohara was not one for diagrams.

    [X] The boon brought by money was the money itself. You weren't going to waste the small fortune on anything asextravagant as your own house or some frivolous antique, no matter how tempting. No, you would save this tidy fund and use it for a rainy day.

    [X] The association of Sergeant Mallow, a member of the constabulary whom you've assisted once or twice with trivial matters. The good Sergeant is, while not particularly bright otherwise, good at his job, and rather skilled at billiards you had to say.

    [X] You were an alumni of the Brickston University for Higher Learning, and as such, had cultivated more than a few connections with its faculty and alumni and had essentially unlimited access to its library and archives.    ​
     
    Yeah, oneiromancy over necromancy. Unless we really want to go the Herbert West route.

    [X] Liber Noctis, written over four hundred years ago by a wandering monk, on the topic of dreams and dreaming. The monk, Raul De Espinoza, sought to understand dreams and dreaming, believing that ones dreams could be used, under the right conditions and training, to communicate with other worlds, for the art of prophecy, and even to reach out to the divine itself.

    [X] The acquaintanceship of Monsieur Platt, a private investigator and procurement specialist. The money you had earned had gone to tracking down a rare piece of memorabilia. Afterwards you and the Monsieur struck up a conversation. You...weren't FRIENDS, exactly, but you were well enough associated with the man to prefer his services above his peers, and he was generous enough to give you a modest discount.

    [X] You were an alumni of the Brickston University for Higher Learning, and as such, had cultivated more than a few connections with its faculty and alumni and had essentially unlimited access to its library and archives.

    [X] The association of Sergeant Mallow, a member of the constabulary whom you've assisted once or twice with trivial matters. The good Sergeant is, while not particularly bright otherwise, good at his job, and rather skilled at billiards you had to say.
     
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    The Second
  • Threadmarks
    • "Life and death are not, as some have surmised, binary states. Rather, my observations have come to the conclusion that there are degrees between. It is easier to induce half death upon the living, I have observed, using a blend of simple chemical reagents, causing the body to slow and the mind to enter a sort of hallucinatory trance. This, however, makes me curious: could it be done in reverse? Can through scientific means a dead thing be filled with with a sort of half life?"

    -Grave of Black Flowers, Page 12


    The book itself needs a fair bit of translation. Not only is it written in the language of its author, it also seems to be coded. Luckily, you were fairly adept at such things, a talent you acquired at university.

    Upon preliminary inspection, the book contained a large amount of formulae and research notes. While reading the book, you couldn't help but feel a pang of...something. Dread? Anticipation? Hunger?

    Regardless, you wanted to know more. NEEDED to know more. You would decode the book.

    (You have gained the Curiosity: Black Flowers Grave)
    Curiosities are those mysteries which demand to be studied. From occult tomes to scientific oddities, Curiosities are how you go about gaining otherworldly power as an occultist, because by pursuing a Curiosity, it is possible to turn it into an Asset or uncover a Threat.



    Money was important. This you knew, a lesson taught by your years at university as a starving student. As such, you invested the money you acquired into establishing some proper savings. A tidy fund to get you through any future troubled times.

    While your compatriots family had been incensed, they had not pressed the matter of the will, thankfully, mollified by the fact that they still inherited Augusts house and physical ownings. Plus, some strings were pulled by the Sergeant to help discourage them further. You disliked burning one of your favors, but you'd rather not have to hire a litigator to protect the sum. Especially since you'd have to pay them OUT of said sum.

    Still, even though you weren't likely to starve any time soon, you felt a sort of bittersweet melancholy about the whole affair. You and August had been estranged, and it had been years since you saw him, but he was still your oldest friend, and formerly your closest. You hadn't even known he was dying.

    Alas, what was done was done, and could not be undone.

    (You have gained the Asset: Small Fortune)
    (You have gained the Asset: University Connections)
    (You have gained the Association: Sgt Mallow)

    Assets are the tools, holdings, and other such things you acquire over your career as a budding occultist. They're used to solve practical problems. Think of them as your leverage to power. Over time, you can cultivate an asset to improve it through various actions. For example, you might consider investing your fortune in various businesses in an attempt to embiggen it. Of course, by the same token, some actions might reduce or remove your assets, such as expending your fortune on a bribe to the local authorities to overlook a certain transgression.

    Associations are who you know, and how you know them. Associations act as a sort of psuedo-Asset, in that you can use them to solve problems and further your pursuits, but with the added tangle that, frequently, your Associates will expect something in return, whether its monetary compensation, assistance with a particular task, or simply for you to spend your valuable time. Over time and through certain actions, you can even turn them into conspirators and fellow cultists. But be warned, if you anger your Associations, you might turn them against you, creating a new Threat or upgrading an existing one

    Each turn is one month in timespan. Over that month you have five actions to spend as you wish, whether its decrypting odd tomes, plying a trade in order to gather more money, or cultivating connections. For the purpose of this tutorial, I will provide two suggested actions.

    Suggested Actions:

    -Invest: Expend your money upon a number of smaller ventures. If all goes well, you can expand your funds somewhat.
    -Decode Tome: Take time to decipher the book that has come into your possession.

    What endeavors shall you embark on this month?

    [ ]
    [ ]
    [ ]
    [ ]
    [ ]
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Hmm. So in thinking about this, there are two options off the bat we can pick, but then three with having no ideas on. Perhaps one idea would be:

    [x] Invest
    [x] Decode Tome
    [x] Meet with Sgt Mallow to see if there's anything new that we can help with
    [x] Go to our friends at Brickston, and ask about any other information on Shigeaki Hinohara.
    [ ] Some fifth option

    That last option was more-so that of a filler for a lack of having no idea whatsoever to pick for a final and fifth option.
     
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    [x] Invest
    [x] Decode Tome
    [x] Meet with Sgt Mallow to see if there's anything new that we can help with
    [x] Go through the University and see if there's anything there either that can be investigated or we can help with
    [x] Perhaps work on cultivating connections to any kind of private investigators or something?
     
    jacobplm said:
    Some advice: the how is as important as the what, when making plans and forming connections.
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    Ah. Thank you for providing that info, and it's going to be something to think on.

    NemoMarx said:
    [ ] Go to our friends at Brickston, and ask about any other information on Shigeaki Hinohara.

    Tentative more specific university thing?
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    Because of what Jacob said, I think that makes a lot more sense for the university. Also does anyone have any ideas for what a potential fifth option could be to do with a specific how and what?
     
    @jacobplm Can options be doubled up on? For example could we assign twice as much time to decoding?

    Also what do you guys think about something like:

    [] Investigate the circumstances surrounding August's death. Confirm that it was sickness and not some other circumstance that led to his death.

    Because lets face it mysterious sickness could be true, but it could also be a cover up. He could have tried something from the book that killed him. Or maybe some other party wanted him dead? A bit paranoid perhaps but cultists and all that...

    And who knows maybe we'll find something useful about his work on the book in the process.
     
    FullNothingness said:
    @jacobplm Can options be doubled up on? For example could we assign twice as much time to decoding?

    Also what do you guys think about something like:

    [] Investigate the circumstances surrounding August's death. Confirm that it was sickness and not some other circumstance that led to his death.

    Because lets face it mysterious sickness could be true, but it could also be a cover up. He could have tried something from the book that killed him. Or maybe some other party wanted him dead? A bit paranoid perhaps but cultists and all that...

    And who knows maybe we'll find something useful about his work on the book in the process.
    Click to expand...
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    You actually raised a really good point there in regards to August's death and could work as a fifth point if we can't double stuff up.
     
    cool quest so far, I'll throw my hat into the ring for...
    [x] Invest
    [x] Decode Tome
    [x] Meet with Sgt Mallow to see if there's anything new that we can help with
    [x] Go through the University and see if there's anything there either that can be investigated or we can help with
    [x] Perhaps work on cultivating connections to any kind of private investigators or something?
     
    [X]Plan- Dead men tell Tales
    [X] Investigate the circumstances surrounding August's death. Confirm that it was sickness and not some other circumstance that led to his death.
    [X]Try investing in the university
    [X] invest in some provider of common household goods like food or water.
    [X]Make sure to thank the Sergeant for his help
    [X] Investigate the book, but reading only. No reason to follow in the professors footsteps when the wisdom gained from such actions is on a page before us rather than a grave.
     
    [X] Plan: Find the plot before the plot finds us?
    -[X] Invest: Expend your money upon a number of smaller ventures. If all goes well, you can expand your funds somewhat.
    --[X] Money sitting still is money losing value. So lets invest some money around town in some of the businesses any town needs. Perhaps even something like a local undertaker's business? That could be useful for days to come.
    -[X] Decode Tome
    --[X] Work on your own deciphering and translating the tome.
    -[X] Decode Tome
    --[X] Visit the university library for any references mentioned in the text or any problems you encounter in translation.
    -[X] Meet with Sgt Mallow to see if there's anything new that we can help with
    --[X] Maybe he needs some research done?
    -[X] Investigate the circumstances surrounding August's death. Confirm that it was sickness and not some other cause that led to his death.
    --[X] If you are meeting with Sgt Mallow anyways you may as well see if you can get your hands on his coroner's report. Just for your peace of mind understand, you never heard about him being sick.
    --[X] Perhaps he left a journal of his own investigations and daily life. It may be useful or contain clues if anything suspicious was indeed the cause of his demise.
    --[X] Visit his grave, paying your respects to him is the least you could do for what he has given you.

    Invest in a way that should have relatively low risk (though also presumably low monetary rewards) but may make us some useful connections for later.

    Focus heavily on decoding the tome since that is our best path to magic right now.

    Help Sgt Mallow since we have and are calling in a favor. So maintain good relations there. And it sounds like doing some research for him might be a way that we can help him.

    And investigate August's death so that we can determine if it was indeed natural causes that did him in. And who knows, we might find something useful with regards to our work on the book. And lastly maybe keeping him plot relevant will open up an option to bring him back somehow...

    jacobplm said:
    Some advice: the how is as important as the what, when making plans and forming connections.
    Click to expand...
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    Would this be how you picture a plan describing the 'how'?
     
    [X] Plan: Find the plot before the plot finds us?

    WW1 is just around the corner so it might be best to later invest in raw materials and industrial fuel. Weapons manufacturing, and anything to do with military rations. An army marches on its stomach.

    If we do turn out to be a necromancer. WW1 will supply us with an endless amount of corpses to ply our trade.

    Found a picture for our nascent lovecraft protagonist.
     
    Cawasnow said:
    WW1 is just around the corner so it might be best to later invest in raw materials and industrial fuel. Weapons manufacturing, and anything to do with military rations. An army marches on its stomach.

    If we do turn out to be a necromancer. WW1 will supply us with an endless amount of corpses to ply our trade.

    Found a picture for our nascent lovecraft protagonist.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    WW1 will indeed have a enormous economical impact certainly... But I rather doubt we have enough money to do more than have a couple of shares in big businesses like that. So it would only be for the money. Also note that WW1 is still over a year away, more than twelve turns.

    As for the corpses... Well, it will be hard to smuggle them back into Britain. Especially without a boat. But then again corpses are rarely in short supply in general unless we are talking about zombie army quantities.

    And I like the picture.
     
    [X] Plan: Find the plot before the plot finds us?

    I'll be watching this, I have a theme to keep with after all.
     
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