The problem is that the gangs without leaders would still have coalesced into something that can cause chaos, and that is the real issue, not what they would do once the Braavosi have the city, but what they would do during the invasion to anyone with Braavosi connections. A wave of atrocities committed by Freedmen just when the bondsman system is abolished would be a serious long term problem that might lead to more an graver civil unrest.
These guys had the guts and morale to go out and kill people while there are dragons in the sky and soldiers in the streets, after most of their leaders were murdered and replaced with more compliant ones?
And they manage that while we have a decent presence of Inquisitors present already and after we turned several of the regular gangs to our side in earlier visits (the guy with the scar-free arm for example)?

If they can actually pull off anything impactful under these circumstances they are propably worth recruiting.
 
These guys had the guts and morale to go out and kill people while there are dragons in the sky and soldiers in the streets, after most of their leaders were murdered and replaced with more compliant ones?
And they manage that while we have a decent presence of Inquisitors present already and after we turned several of the regular gangs to our side in earlier visits (the guy with the scar-free arm for example)?

If they can actually pull off anything impactful under these circumstances they are propably worth recruiting.

Atrocities can be impactful out of all proportion to the difficulty in enacting them. One Braavosi or Braavosi-connected family killed with the clear intent to 'get back at the fatcats' could shape the narrative of events for years to come. One burned warehouse where the arsonist declares himself 'a true son of Pentos' could be enough to get the Braavosi and by extension Viserys to look crazy
 
BTW I have to say the interlude and the discussion that followed it is a relief as a breath of fresh air to me. I wrote something that flowed smoothly (I thought of the scene and only of the scene) with the intention of showing an aspect of the world and now we are having a discussion on that, on what it means tactically, strategically and morally. This ultimately is why I write, this is the sort of discussion that spurred this thread on for so long.

I still have issues with the pacing with the plotting I still look ahead and wonder if I'm going to finish but it's nice to be reminded so directly of why it's worth telling this story.

Thanks guys.
 
Atrocities can be impactful out of all proportion to the difficulty in enacting them. One Braavosi or Braavosi-connected family killed with the clear intent to 'get back at the fatcats' could shape the narrative of events for years to come. One burned warehouse where the arsonist declares himself 'a true son of Pentos' could be enough to get the Braavosi and by extension Viserys to look crazy
Not seeing it, sorry.

Why would an anti-Braavos terrorist during the invasion make things so much worse?
 
Not seeing it, sorry.

Why would an anti-Braavos terrorist during the invasion make things so much worse?

Because it's freedmen terrorists, it enforces the narrative that the the freedmen/bondsmen are 'mad dogs' who are attacking the hand that is freeing them which would spur the local Pentoshi elite to be more hostile to the people who from their perspective are not only foreign conquerors, but self-destructive conquerors
 
"We freed the slaves, and look what they did! They killed innocent children!"
Wouldn't it be more sensible to have them kill Pentoshi magisters, rather than Braavos-sympathisers?
Because it's freedmen terrorists, it enforces the narrative that the the freedmen/bondsmen are 'mad dogs' who are attacking the hand that is freeing them which would spur the local Pentoshi elite to be more hostile to the people who from their perspective are not only foreign conquerors, but self-destructive conquerors
The people most hostile to Braavos (and by extension the empire) are those we have to purge anyway, so I'm not really worried about that.
 
BTW I have to say the interlude and the discussion that followed it is a relief as a breath of fresh air to me. I wrote something that flowed smoothly (I thought of the scene and only of the scene) with the intention of showing an aspect of the world and now we are having a discussion on that, on what it means tactically, strategically and morally. This ultimately is why I write, this is the sort of discussion that spurred this thread on for so long.

I still have issues with the pacing with the plotting I still look ahead and wonder if I'm going to finish but it's nice to be reminded so directly of why it's worth telling this story.

Thanks guys.
Maybe write some more interludes like this while the main plot happens in the background for a few days/weeks?

There are a lot of possibilities; Yi-Ti expedition, City of Brass infiltration, Rhango and Bone Breaker, etc., or just completely unknowns existing in the world we've built.
 
Wouldn't it be more sensible to have them kill Pentoshi magisters, rather than Braavos-sympathisers?

The people most hostile to Braavos (and by extension the empire) are those we have to purge anyway, so I'm not really worried about that.

Magisters who might otherwise be neutral or even friendly could be turned hostile by this, more to the point the magisters are running the government, if you just purge all of them you will have chaos, going further than that 'magisters' does not just mean the heads of families, it can also mean the free Pentohi intellectuals the officers of the army and navy, the skilled craftsmen. There are a lot of people who are curently benefiting from the Bondsman system , if you purged all of them you would just have a massive disorganized ball of slaves

If you then just replaced everyone with foreigners.. well it would not take long for a revanchist movement to form.
 
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Maybe write some more interludes like this while the main plot happens in the background for a few days/weeks?

There are a lot of possibilities; Yi-Ti expedition, City of Brass infiltration, Rhango and Bone Breaker, etc., or just completely unknowns existing in the world we've built.

Tempted as I am the plot is where the core of the story is. This is ultimately Viserys' story, not a sandbox for me to write vaguely connected vignettes in.
 
On that note:

[X] Snowfire
Adhoc vote count started by Takesis on May 4, 2019 at 9:35 AM, finished with 175 posts and 12 votes.

  • [X] Plan Wages of Blood
    -[X] The Sept
    --[X] The Red Abishai is to be bottled and taken for full interrogation followed by execution. Exact method to be determined, but most likely via Yss to deny Tiamat the return of her invested power.
    --[X] As for the cultists, examine the traces of blood magic upon them with the aim of ensuring that Tiamat may not easily pick a new focus for her power here in Oldtown from among their number. Wild Arcana a Brain Spider spell to examine their minds for any further information on the cult that might be of import, then if nothing can be found, leave them to their fate at the hands of Oldtown justice. If any have done more than simply be deceived, ensure that this information is passed on to the relevant authorities so that they might be judged for those crimes as well.
    --[X] Leave Malarys and the Erinyes to guard the Sept until such time as the Watch or Lantern Bearers can be brought in to take the cultists into custody.
    -[X] The Manse
    --[X] Lormar and his apprentice are our prisoners. They will be bottled and taken for full interrogation and probably one of either execution or turning.
    --[X] Inspect the minds of the Golden Company soldiers with the same casting of Brain Spider (it lasts 1 minute/CL and can inspect the minds of up to 8 people as a standard action) and get everything you can from them before explaining in simple terms the options available to them. Make certain that they understand that any attempts to bring the worship of Tiamat into the Night's Watch shall be met with your...poor humour. They can draw their own conclusions. They can face death or the Wall.
    --[X] Make sure to retrieve the 'Darkenbeast' and dispose of it completely.
    -[X] Deep One Containment
    --[X] Bottle the Greater Intellect Devourer and have it placed within a lead-lined box before securing it within your cloak. It will be used as payment for the Merling King's aid against Tiamat.
    --[X] Explain to the Lantern Bearers that there does exists a power utterly opposed to the Deep Ones, a God of Sea who would reward the spilling of tainted blood in his honour in ways that would not be unwholesome. The Merling King can offer many boons from the sea; cleansing the foulness of Deep One power from person and place both - make note of the Bilestone present in the city - and more besides. For abominations like these creatures, turning their deaths against their master would surely be to the aid of all that stand against them.
    --[X] If the Lantern Bearers accept this premise, outline the manner in which one would sacrifice these creatures safely to the Merling King, and offer to transform the lesser monsters into harmless animal forms until the time comes. Suggest that an altar (or maybe more, once the Conclave has passed) to the Merling King could bring with it many advantages in Oldtown's war against Deep One machination.
    --[X] Finally, be sure to fire off a few Divinations to ensure that the Deep One cell didn't drop anything into the sewers during the battle.
 
I like the spell component of the Brain Spider. "A spider of any kind". I am imagining the companions looking around for a spider to cast the spell. It is a very funny image.
 
Vote closed.

A note on updates we might have a two update day today, maybe even going forward on a longer term so I can spend more time getting the updates to flow properly, to tell a story not just recount what is happening, if that makes sense
 
Vote closed.

A note on updates we might have a two update day today, maybe even going forward on a longer term so I can spend more time getting the updates to flow properly, to tell a story not just recount what is happening, if that makes sense
:(
I get the intent, but I still miss 4 updates a day.

Oh well.
Please note, that the line about "divination" should be a bit more generalised - just us checking that illithids didn't plant anything around the place, or left anything as a final "fuck you" to us.
 
Vote closed.

A note on updates we might have a two update day today, maybe even going forward on a longer term so I can spend more time getting the updates to flow properly, to tell a story not just recount what is happening, if that makes sense
I disagree with @egoo. Going from 4 updates a day to 3 updates a day was an improvement: it led to longer updates with more content, especially characterisation and worldbuilding.
2 updates a day doesn't sound like a problem.
 
This is an announcement unrelated to the quest: I've been noticing that when I'm scrolling with my phone I tend to press the funny rating by mistake.

So no, I'm not laughing at anybody's dead dog or something like that. I felt the need to point this out to prevent future forum drama.
 
Those were really short. I sometimes wrote as little as 2K words in 4 updates and they made the story fractured, to me at least.
Like I said - I get the intent.
Unfortunately for me, that's less choices to be made, less general participation with that, and less, well, updates.
Which are hype-inducing and I like getting updates.


*sigh*
Write as you please, DP.
Its not my place to complain, considering the... general mood around the thread in the past few days.
 
Like I said - I get the intent.
Unfortunately for me, that's less choices, and less general participation.

*sigh*
Write as you please, DP.
Its not my place to complain, considering the... general mood around the thread in the past few days.

Please do not feel the need too keep silent out of some notion of maintaining harmony. Concerns and critiques are always welcome here. I do get your concern and will try to make the votes more weighty to compensate for having fewer of them. No more votes for spending small sums of money for instance.
 
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While I liked the 4-5 update days, I have to agree that three 800-1k words update are better than four 500-700 ones.

And that the longer updates are usually more remarkable, too. Those 1.1-1.2k pieces.

So I wouldn't mind, say, two longer updates a day, especially in the 1.3k+ range.
 
Please do not feel the need too keep silent out of some notion of maintaining harmony. Concerns and critiques are always welcome here. I do get your concern and will try to make the votes more weighty to compensate for having more of them. No more votes for spending small sums of money for instance.
Well, excuse me to holding onto the hope that you will get back to usual amount of updates eventually :V

If nothing else, combat that lasts days would be painful.
...and Minor Actions. They can be kind of a pain to do a longer update about, can't they, DP?
I wouldn't mind having some done OOC, of course, but you yourself admitted to having few ideas when it comes to some of those.
 
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