Revolution (RWBY Planeswalker Blake)

jason1stlegion · Mar 2, 2021

Czlyydwr Llrngwl said:
Yeah, not really feeling the confrontation options, even before factoring in Blake's personality and skills as a sneaky ninja type. With evening coming on, she's probably best served by finding a place to stay, and if that means getting a temp job waiting tables at a busy inn, well, that just means she's inconveniently in the public eye for a possible kidnapper to try any shenanigans. I'd say to proceed on that basis, I guess. Leading him out of town for a bushwhack seems jarringly out of character, but I'm mostly familiar with RWBY from other fanfic, so that may be a product of fandom whitewashing or later-timeline character development.

The issue is, we don't want to confront him and just "ask why he's following us". We know too little about this world to convince him to talk or reasonably expect that he will, and we can't risk being caught in a mind influencing effect from that crossbow.

On the other hand, trying to lose him in a city we aren't familiar with (and he is) is a recipe for disaster and getting trapped & outnumbered in an alleyway. Bad idea.

Either we lose him by going outside the range he's willing to follow us, or we attack him when he doesn't expect it, in an area with trees we can hide behind, jump on, etc, for stealth, evasion, & trickery. Basically the best possible battleground for a sneaky ninja type.

And as for character (though I think Blake's pragmatic enough that good tactics can overcome the desire to stick to a style), I feel like Blake tends to do as much evasion and running/running-around as necessary for her goals, and no more.
This can easily be interpreted as "necessary for her goals".

So I'd say this is the best option:
[] See if your stalker follows if you walk out of town, and attack away from witnesses if he does persist.
-[] If he's still in a state suitable for answering questions, then ask why he was following you.
-[] Avoid using Aura for physical enhancements. It'll make your task much more difficult, but at least it'll keep those abilities in reserve.

As for afterwards...

We'll need a job at a reputable inn for a safe place to stay, and potential witnesses if something happens. And leaving just feels like a waste. So...
[] Stay in town. Leaving so soon would mean sleeping on the ground, and thus an even more unfavorable personal status for any future conflicts.
-[] Pursue a temporary job at some of the busier inns. It likely won't be pleasant, but it would at least get you room and board for the night.

Also, when does voting open again?

Alivaril · Mar 2, 2021

King Arthur said:
Would "confront him in a busy place surrounded by witnesses so he's hopefully less willing to straight up assault us" be the default here, or would we need to write that in?

That's the default, yeah.

Woodlark14 said:
while a clone acts relieved or out of breath

Clones last for fractions of a second (see character sheet), and cannot yet perform any actions of their own.

jason1stlegion said:
Also, when does voting open again?

6:13 PM EST; posting + 2 hours. The time the chapter was posted is listed under threadmarks or at the top of the post itself.

King Arthur · Mar 2, 2021

jason1stlegion said:
The issue is, we don't want to confront him and just "ask why he's following us". We know too little about this world to convince him to talk or reasonably expect that he will, and we can't risk being caught in a mind influencing effect from that crossbow.

On the other hand, it is a crossbow which implies he needs to use it as a crossbow for it's effect to work. That's not a certainty by any means, but if he could make an enchanted item to knock someone out without it looking like he was attacking them I'm sure he would have it be something other then a physical weapon.

He's also displayed a certain level of unwillingness to attack us while we are in public. He's probably also trying to gather information on us first, but if he does intend to abduct us I'd be that he doesn't want to be publicly seen attacking someone for no reason.

A confrontation in a public space surrounded by civilians should keep us safe. Should is a strong word I'd admit, but even if I'm wrong taking a crossbow off his back and pointing it at us isn't instant, I'd wager we'd have plenty of time to respond. We'd probably have to leave before the day is out, but at least this would provide us with witnesses that we didn't start the trouble here.

I'd wager that this is safe enough. It doesn't guarantee that he'll be honest or won't try to trick us into a trap, but if the other option is flee the town I'd wager we could probably talk to him without a fight starting. Probably.

Alivaril said:
That's the default, yeah.

Sweet, thanks.

curiosity · Mar 2, 2021

The knowledge bleedover is strong with this update, and Blake seems to have adapted quickly to the presence of her new abilities.

Trying to lose the guy in his town seems like relying on luck, especially while concealing Aura use. May as well just ask what his problem is. Or leave.

If we end up leaving, there's the question whether we should come back in the morning or go to Belonde, which doesn't have a resident Guild. Or Maroca, which is just anarchy. And the local economy seems to suffer from all the crap going on, which makes me think that we should be moving away from Croce, which seems to be to the east from here and past Maroca. Meaning we would have turned east upon reaching the road. @Alivaril, is this the way we went? North, then east?

Alivaril · Mar 2, 2021

curiosity said:
Croce, which seems to be to the east from here and past Maroca. Meaning we would have turned east upon reaching the road. @Alivaril, is this the way we went? North, then east?

Correct. The Guild enthusiasts you were referred to are to the west (but you did sorta-mention that).

curiosity · Mar 2, 2021

jason1stlegion said:
The issue is, we don't want to confront him and just "ask why he's following us". We know too little about this world to convince him to talk or reasonably expect that he will, and we can't risk being caught in a mind influencing effect from that crossbow.

The crossbow spell may just be ice, although not something worth checking the hard way.

jason1stlegion said:
As for afterwards...

We'll need a job at a reputable inn for a safe place to stay, and potential witnesses if something happens. And leaving just feels like a waste. So...
[] Stay in town. Leaving so soon would mean sleeping on the ground, and thus an even more unfavorable personal status for any future conflicts.
-[] Pursue a temporary job at some of the busier inns. It likely won't be pleasant, but it would at least get you room and board for the night.

And what if he stands guard at the entrance until he's sure that we are not coming back?

Rgal · Mar 2, 2021

curiosity said:
The crosbow spell may just be ice, although not something worth checking the hard way.

Occam's razor says it's not, and newly-Dark guild is involved with kidnapping of lady Amadea and, perhaps, others as well.

Alivaril · Mar 2, 2021

...Oh, for future reference: I usually don't announce when voting unlocks; once the time listed on a moratorium has elapsed, it's fair game. But yeah, voting is unlocked.

Sapient_Ham · Mar 2, 2021

Alivaril said:
The blond-haired man a few years her senior didn't feel like a Wizard to her rudimentary mana sense. The Burning Briars membership mark on the back of his right hand neatly underlined the unreliability of that particular warning. At least she could still detect the Resonance Lacrima around his neck, the separate Black and Blue auras somewhere near his waist, and the Blue against his back. He slowed to a stop and pretended to inspect the outdoor advertisement or description for a shop that Blake was sure had already closed, revealing that the Blue on his back was actually a full-fledged crossbow.

Wasn't Blue associated with mental and emotional effects, including forced sleep…? The impression wasn't one that she had any grounding for, but it felt right. Sound was a possibility, too, and she'd already been warned that she might be more vulnerable than normal to such magics.

Based on Blake's impressions, there's a worrying chance the weapon this guy's carrying is a tranquilizing crossbow. Black/Blue was once associated with a paralyzing spell in Ignition, so it's plausible the unidentified items at his waist are the darts the crossbow uses as ammo.

I don't think active confrontation is wise, especially if it involves ambushing him outside of town without any witnesses around. If Blake's forced to Planeswalk away, we're going to have severe trouble finding this region again without any land bonds to follow from Eternity. Even in the best case scenario, where the tail is scared off without any violence, she'll still have made an enemy of the local dark guild.

[] Lose your tail.

If Blake's willing to use her aura abilities, losing this guy should be easy. Ducking into an alleyway to break line of sight and then jumping onto a roof will probably work.

BlackCoat13 · Mar 2, 2021

Nobody else has posed a vote yet, I feel like I'm screwing up somehow, but the vote lock was only 2 hours and the post was released at 1:13PM and it's 3:31Pm now, sooo.

[X] Head further into the alley and hop up onto a building when / if line of sight can be broken. If he follows in, cross over the roof to the other side and hop down. If he persists in following, lead him somewhere away from people and ambush him from an unlikely spot. Interrogate by pretending to be scarier than you are with Black Mana.

Assume the worst. The Crossbow is enchanted with some sort of aim assist either too subtle or beyond our sensing level to spot and a mental effect that can probably take us down in one good shot, so we cannot let him have the time to aim it unless we're willing to use Blake's Semblance yet. Unless we go for 'let him take us in the hopes that they'll stash us with the hostage daughter so we can bust her out' then we're probably going to be coming to blows with this guild anyways.

King Arthur · Mar 2, 2021

[X] Confront your tail and demand that he stop stalking you. You doubt he'll take the hint, but it's worth a try.

owrtho · Mar 2, 2021

Sapient_Ham said:
Right. Blake's ears attracted a lot of attention, made it more difficult to gather information because of how wary normal people are of her, and immediately marked her as a rival wizard to the local dark guild.

It's almost certainly less the ears and more that she has fancy and detailed clothes as well as a pings for magic sense. She basically looks like some well off upper class person and/or a mage, and it was explicitly noted that that everyone who met those descriptors was also given similar wide berth. She also ran into town at about 4 times the speed of a normal person without breaking a sweat, though that only really matters to folk who saw her come in, as she likely did not keep that pace once in town.

Sapient_Ham said:
Said dark guild is now using mob intimidation tactics to encourage her to leave, and to be frank it's working. Potential abduction and mind-affecting magics are pretty good incentives to skip town.

The guild is probably paying attention to her as a person who seems to be a new mage in town that stopped to check out their headquarters. Wearing her bow would just mean they are unsure if she's a mage or a wealthy individual, but still likely decide to follow her.

Ultimately though, the poor luck is most likely a result of our rolls, which were generally bad enough I doubt it would have made a difference if we covered our ears or not.

owrtho

Alivaril · Mar 2, 2021

owrtho said:
The guild is probably paying attention to her as a person who seems to be a new mage in town that stopped to check out their headquarters.

Aside: She was very careful to not stop and to give the Guildhall a wide berth. She seems to have drawn aggro anyway.

EDIT:

owrtho said:
Ultimately though, the poor luck is most likely a result of our rolls, which were generally bad enough I doubt it would have made a difference if we covered our ears or not.

Outcomes are affected by your own status+environment, and I try to ensure that roll-based outcomes actually reflect the fact that (for example) a 10 or lower will come up approximately every 10 rolls on an unmodified d100.

EDIT 2: As an example, consider bike helmets: losing your balance could be considered unlucky, but the consequences could be much worse if you aren't wearing a helmet or if you go toppling into traffic.

EDIT 3: Wearing a dark cloak in the day is eccentric. Wearing it at night is suspicious AF.

(What I'm trying to get at here is that your circumstances do make a difference when it comes to the potential results on my dice tables, unlike some parodied sources.)

Sapient_Ham · Mar 2, 2021

owrtho said:
It's almost certainly less the ears and more that she has fancy and detailed clothes as well as a pings for magic sense.

Her ears identify her as a Take Over user to the local populace. Unusual clothes + animal traits = obvious wizard.

I'd be very surprised if anyone in this town had a sophisticated enough magic sense to identify Blake from a distance, when she wasn't using any magic.

owrtho · Mar 2, 2021

Alivaril said:
Aside: She was very careful to not stop and to give the Guildhall a wide berth. She seems to have drawn aggro anyway.

She got close enough to check it out is what I mean, even if only from a distance, as opposed to say staying entirely out of sight.

Alivaril said:
(What I'm trying to get at here is that your circumstances do make a difference.)

I don't disagree. I'm just noting that looking at our rolls for this update, I doubt the difference in DC would have been significant enough to make a difference when comparing the hypothetical wearing of a bow to us choosing not to. At least with regards to being avoided or finding jobs.

Sapient_Ham said:
Her ears identify her as Take Over user to the local populace. Unusual clothes + animal traits = obvious wizard.

Her clothes make her look well off, which was enough to be avoided in the town from what she saw. From there the idea she's a wizard isn't a large jump, though the ears do admittedly make it easier.

Sapient_Ham said:
I'd be very surprised if anyone in this town had a sophisticated enough magic sense to identify Blake from a distance, when she wasn't using any magic.

The guild might have a wizard with that ability, though it's not exceptionally likely given her lack of magic items.

owrtho

feauxen · Mar 2, 2021

[X] Lose your tail

[X] Stay in town. Leaving so soon would mean sleeping on the ground, and thus an even more unfavorable personal status for any future conflicts.
-[X] Pursue a temporary job at some of the busier inns. It likely won't be pleasant, but it would at least get you room and board for the night.

At this point, I don't so much want to stick around (I want me my Fairy Tail damnit) as I think staying in town is the best choice for the night. Unless the wizards cause problems, but at that point there's enough to worry about that there might even be another choice anyway.

jason1stlegion · Mar 2, 2021

curiosity said:
And what if he stands guard at the entrance until he's sure that we are not coming back?

Then either it's crowded enough there, in which case it reduces to the "confront him" option...

or there's another entrance we can find (including just jumping the walls in the night, if possible)...

or we lure him out and fight in the forest (which, as previously noted, has a terrain advantage)...

or we try to sneak by and anticipate his attack so we can easily evade it (I would recommend just attacking, but they might have truth spells and bring us to court for an unprovoked assault).

That's 3/4 of the cases being better or the same as direct confrontation. And of course, this is in the case that he guards the entrance at all instead of just leaving or following us out.

On the other hand, if we try to lose him within the city we either succeed, in which case

.
or he attacks us, in which case we have an ordinary reflex check (not buffed by our anticipating it, since we're focusing on getting away and so can't anticipate when he'll attack), which is worse.

Grigori · Mar 2, 2021

[X] Lose your tail

[X] Stay in town. Leaving so soon would mean sleeping on the ground, and thus an even more unfavorable personal status for any future conflicts.
-[X] Pursue a temporary job at some of the busier inns. It likely won't be pleasant, but it would at least get you room and board for the night.

jason1stlegion · Mar 2, 2021

Grigori said:
[ ] Lose your tail

I don't think Blake would like losing her tail.

Does she even have one? I haven't seen either of the relevant canons.

EDIT: Forgot to vote:
[X] See if your stalker follows if you walk out of town, and attack away from witnesses if he does persist.
-[X] If he's still in a state suitable for answering questions, then ask why he was following you.
-[X] Avoid using Aura for physical enhancements. It'll make your task much more difficult, but at least it'll keep those abilities in reserve.

[X] Stay in town. Leaving so soon would mean sleeping on the ground, and thus an even more unfavorable personal status for any future conflicts.
-[X] Pursue a temporary job at some of the busier inns. It likely won't be pleasant, but it would at least get you room and board for the night.

Zap Rowsdower · Mar 2, 2021

[X] Lose your tail

[X] Stay in town. Leaving so soon would mean sleeping on the ground, and thus an even more unfavorable personal status for any future conflicts.
-[X] Pursue a temporary job at some of the busier inns. It likely won't be pleasant, but it would at least get you room and board for the night.

Sapient_Ham · Mar 2, 2021

[X] Lose your tail.

[X] Leave town entirely. You'll take uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and tasteless dry food over potential hostility; an argument for self-defense would require you to wait until they actually attack.
-[X] Inquire about the kidnapped young noblewoman before you leave. If you're going to skip town, you might as well do something productive with that time.
-[X] Make a beeline for the Guild enthusiast group that you were referred to. Remaining unaffiliated really is proving problematic.

No strong preference for immediately skipping town versus staying overnight, but since the local Dark Guild started harassing Blake within hours of her arrival, I think I'd rather just leave. She has enough supplies to last a few days, and quick job offers will probably be easier to find outside the shadow of Burning Briars' influence.

If Blake discovers any leads concerning the kidnapping, she can return with the implied backing of a Guild and properly investigate them.

So try turning around and following the road once you get some essentials at Pava; that'll bring you to Belonde after a few days. They're not big enough to have a Guild of their own, although you can always find some teenage Guild enthusiasts who'd love to give you a rundown of ones nearby.

The more easily traversable terrain made little difference to Blake's overall speed; the decreased difficulty was cancelled out by the increase in living obstacles. The roads weren't crowded by any means, but Blake still regularly passed other travelers. It did provide a better reference for how long other people took, though. A rough estimate pegged her travel speed at about four or five times that of a normal person, or about six times that of the heavy produce-filled carts she often passed.

Given her travel speed compared to normal travelers, reaching Belonde should only take about a day.

Sigil · Mar 2, 2021

Of course the local dark guild is curious when a strange Mage comes to town, I don't think it's too late to talk this out and even if things go south, we may learn something.
[X] Confront your tail and demand that he stop stalking you. You doubt he'll take the hint, but it's worth a try.

curiosity · Mar 2, 2021

[x] Lose your tail.

If we are going to leave anyway, this is probably fine. And safer than leaving openly, if successful.

[x] Leave town entirely. You'll take uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and tasteless dry food over potential hostility; an argument for self-defense would require you to wait until they actually attack.
-[x] Make a beeline for the Guild enthusiast group that you were referred to. Remaining unaffiliated really is proving problematic.

Heading west. Don't really care about the kidnapped noble quest. We are not bound to involve ourselves in every little plot line.

jason1stlegion said:
or we try to sneak by and anticipate his attack so we can easily evade it (I would recommend just attacking, but they might have truth spells and bring us to court for an unprovoked assault).

The thought of a Dark Guild trying to appeal to law is laughable.

Nixeu · Mar 2, 2021

jason1stlegion said:
I don't think Blake would like losing her tail.

Does she even have one? I haven't seen either of the relevant canons.

As I recall, Faunus only get one animal trait. Blake has kitty ears, so no tail. But I keep having that exact same reaction to the phrasing despite that. Probably other cat girls bleeding over in my mental images.

What A Day · Mar 2, 2021

Yeah, I don't think risking confrontation with someone who belongs to a dark guild is worth it. Especially when he's armed with something that can take us out and has been tailing us silently rather than ask us anything.

[X] Lose your tail.

[X] Leave town entirely. You'll take uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and tasteless dry food over potential hostility; an argument for self-defense would require you to wait until they actually attack.
-[X] Make a beeline for the Guild enthusiast group that you were referred to. Remaining unaffiliated really is proving problematic.

We don't have any money with us, and inns have no reason to higher a wizard. Keep in mind unaffiliated wizards are practically on the same level as dark guild wizards here; we are untrusted by default.

owrtho said:
Her clothes make her look well off, which was enough to be avoided in the town from what she saw. From there the idea she's a wizard isn't a large jump, though the ears do admittedly make it easier.

Tbf unusual clothes can also belong to nobles, merchants or just someone with weird luck in clothes.

Ears are very obviously a wizard trait and prove it all alone. If we do skip town I really think we should wear the ribbon for at least one day, just so we can actually get something from talking with citizens.

This may not matter much if we go straight to talk with guild enthusiasts though.

Revolution (RWBY Planeswalker Blake)

On a magically-deficient journey of self-discovery

The Once and Future King

On a magically-deficient journey of self-discovery

On a magically-deficient journey of self-discovery

The Once and Future King

On a magically-deficient journey of self-discovery

I know everything and nothing. I'm very confused.

Ex-cultist vagrant

Lord of Madness, Harbinger of Llamas