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The Secrets' Crusade

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Ugh, I obviously have a lot of questions for the ex-tribute fleet Shiplord, but I think Amanda maybe doesn't need to risk a self-control roll at the start of what I'm hoping will be a very useful investigative session. There's a lot of good stuff here, and we do kind of need as much of it as possible. If a certain bodyguard has to vaporize a continent to evacuate the crew because one of them starts glowing, tearing apart their mind, or remodeling the museum we'll be missing out on a lot.

It's not a likely outcome, unless it's Kalilah doing the talking, which is why she won't. And obviously, it could go considerably better than that, given there's no doubt good upstanding reasons to quit being in a tribute fleet! But I've got the looming concern that Amanda is going through a lot right now. And maybe properly interacting with non-Hearthguard Shiplords to get a better feel for them and their culture would not be most aided by immediately visiting another special case to interrogate them. I maybe don't want to do it first.

I really want to talk to the youth very very badly, but maybe getting a general feel for hypothetically generic Shiplords as actual people is a more important first step. The problem with multiple good choices...

[X] Exhibitions - Go with Mary, Lea and Kalilah to see the exhibits and talk with those around them. Discover how the Shiplords feel about this Sorrow, at the very least, and those who it remembers.
 
[X] Youthful Patterns - Normally talking with the youth of a race wouldn't be much help. But there are other factors here, and knowing how the youth feel about the Sorrows could help you understand how important they really are from a very different perspective.
 
[] Past Tribute - A former officer of the Tribute Fleets, there is a great deal you'd like to ask them but also much you cannot. Even so, Iris has a point, and going with her could catch things your daughter wouldn't. Probably best if you let your daughter ask the questions, though.
Definitely want to do this one last (hopefully the officer is still there), since we still frankly just don't have the cultural context to interact with Shiplords for more than a few seconds and not give away that there's something highly unusual going on with our group.

[] Exhibitions - Go with Mary, Lea and Kalilah to see the exhibits and talk with those around them. Discover how the Shiplords feel about this Sorrow, at the very least, and those who it remembers.
This is important background information, and we definitely want to do this before the Tribute officer one.

[] Youthful Patterns - Normally talking with the youth of a race wouldn't be much help. But there are other factors here, and knowing how the youth feel about the Sorrows could help you understand how important they really are from a very different perspective.
Same here, although even before browsing the exhibitions or the lies Shiplords tell to children, I want to do this, assuming @Snowfire approves:

[O] Write-in - People Watching. You don't know what you don't know, and right now you don't even know that. Strolling through the halls, eavesdropping on the surrounding discussions, could give you a larger sampling of the mood and concerns of this crowd of "civilian" Shiplords. It's not even close to good enough to be a sampling, let alone a statistical one, but it should give you a general clue of where to look.
This might just end up being essentially the same as Exhibitions, but I kind of want to spend more time observing the Shiplords even more than the exhibits.
 
TheEyes said:
[O] Write-in - People Watching. You don't know what you don't know, and right now you don't even know that. Strolling through the halls, eavesdropping on the surrounding discussions, could give you a larger sampling of the mood and concerns of this crowd of "civilian" Shiplords. It's not even close to good enough to be a sampling, let alone a statistical one, but it should give you a general clue of where to look.
This might just end up being essentially the same as Exhibitions, but I kind of want to spend more time observing the Shiplords even more than the exhibits.
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This is, as you surmised, essentially Exhibitions under a different name.

I also think I need to make this clear: your group is splitting up here. You will be able to move Mandy about between them, but if you then go somewhere else you'll be joining into a conversation already underway. If you take Exhibitions, for example, Iris and Vega aren't going to wait for you.

This isn't saying you won't get anything from Youthful Patterns or Past Tribute, but you'll lose any opportunities that come with Amanda being involved from the start. That said, you could find different opportunities.
 
Hm. That tips the balance of my vote. I was already waffling between the two.

[x] Exhibitions
 
[X] Youthful Patterns - Normally talking with the youth of a race wouldn't be much help. But there are other factors here, and knowing how the youth feel about the Sorrows could help you understand how important they really are from a very different perspective.
 
[X] Youthful Patterns - Normally talking with the youth of a race wouldn't be much help. But there are other factors here, and knowing how the youth feel about the Sorrows could help you understand how important they really are from a very different perspective.

Likely to be the most sympathetic group to talk to. As insightful as the conversation with the ex-Tribute officer would be, I think we could do with some direct exposure to actually innocent and hopefully not-too-dysfunctional Shiplords.
 
I'll close vote tomorrow evening. Current tally is quite close.
Adhoc vote count started by Snowfire on Jan 26, 2023 at 10:55 AM, finished with 27 posts and 10 votes.
  • [X] Youthful Patterns - Normally talking with the youth of a race wouldn't be much help. But there are other factors here, and knowing how the youth feel about the Sorrows could help you understand how important they really are from a very different perspective.
    [X] Exhibitions - Go with Mary, Lea and Kalilah to see the exhibits and talk with those around them. Discover how the Shiplords feel about this Sorrow, at the very least, and those who it remembers.
Click to expand...
 
[X] Youthful Patterns - Normally talking with the youth of a race wouldn't be much help. But there are other factors here, and knowing how the youth feel about the Sorrows could help you understand how important they really are from a very different perspective.
 
[X] Youthful Patterns - Normally talking with the youth of a race wouldn't be much help. But there are other factors here, and knowing how the youth feel about the Sorrows could help you understand how important they really are from a very different perspective.
 
Vote Closed
Adhoc vote count started by Snowfire on Jan 27, 2023 at 5:29 PM, finished with 30 posts and 12 votes.
  • [X] Youthful Patterns - Normally talking with the youth of a race wouldn't be much help. But there are other factors here, and knowing how the youth feel about the Sorrows could help you understand how important they really are from a very different perspective.
    [X] Exhibitions - Go with Mary, Lea and Kalilah to see the exhibits and talk with those around them. Discover how the Shiplords feel about this Sorrow, at the very least, and those who it remembers.
Click to expand...
 
Just spent last 2 days catching up on the quest. Now I'm caught up and would like maybe another 20 updates. If they can be spared anyway. Loving it!
 
JohnDoe22 said:
Just spent last 2 days catching up on the quest. Now I'm caught up and would like maybe another 20 updates. If they can be spared anyway. Loving it!
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Update is progressing, but I've been quite distracted this month travelling to another country for a week to keep a friend company. I fly back home tomorrow, so we'll see what that does for my creative juices.

And welcome to the quest :)
 
I'm actually still reading Practice War, but if I have to necro a thread I guess it had better be this one. The wiki's been vandalized to the point of utter unusability, and it doesn't seem like it can actually be fixed without making an account, which seems... compromised.
 
I am rather looking forward to getting the perspective of the Shiplords on the tribute system and the Sorrows. They must have learned very different lessons as compared to others.
 
grimely said:
I'm actually still reading Practice War, but if I have to necro a thread I guess it had better be this one. The wiki's been vandalized to the point of utter unusability, and it doesn't seem like it can actually be fixed without making an account, which seems... compromised.
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Oh gods, I'm sorry. That appeared to happen literally this morning looking at the logs. I've rolled it back and locked the editing capacity. It's...not at all complete but it's something, at least.

On a side note: I am still working on this, but life is life and whatever is posted will be done when it's done. Trying to force myself on this is going to help no one.
 
MTB said:
Who does that? :sad:
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People who want the world to burn, or just want to spread propaganda. It varies.

There was a mass user create this morning of several hundred accounts that flooded the wiki with spam. I've contained most of it, but a full fix will need Coda's help as they're the one hosting the platform.
 
MTB said:
So basically, your first ingroup is your heart circle, your extended ingroup is humans and the outer ingroup is sapients.
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The Shiplords were trying really hard to hit that Other threshold though, and the Hivjin seem to have managed it. Plus the Ancient Gysians left the group in complete incomprehension over their omnicidal plot, but that might have just been 'Someone was that stupid?!' as much as anything else.
 
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