Introduction:
At the end of the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton wrote a book. A small...
At the end of the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton wrote a book. A small...
An Age of Reason (Historical Magitech Quest)
- Thread starter mouli
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Introduction and Setting Choice
mouli
Terrible QM
- Location
- United States
Introduction:
At the end of the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton wrote a book. A small one, detailing how the 'veil may be parted', and certain mathematical formulae concerning the same.
The one book was responsible for more death than any other to this day. Magic was never meant to return to a world of reason, yet mankind has decided to tame it anyways.
Now the Age of Reason has given way to the Age of Industry, and magic supplies the power for the modern state. Great furnaces belch thaumic smoke as they forge weapons for the armies of France and the Holy Roman Empire. Vast shipyard-complexes build the battleships that keep England isolated from the 'troubles' on the Continent, and that keep the Spanish trade strangled. And massive abattoirs 'blessed by Christ' in the depths of the Amazon are the dying Spanish Empire's answer to magitech bombardment.
The world has been on the brink ever since Leibniz discovered that book, and ironically it is the same mathematicians that gained power by it who have suffered the most. For now the New Mathematics is a province of the state, and those who practice it are nothing more than extensions of the will of the state. So it is from the Atlantic to the Danube, and the knowledge is spreading.
In China, the Emperor now promulgates laws from the Forbidden City that are carried by preternatural messengers to the Four Corners of the empire. In India, things claiming to be avatars of the gods battle Europeans in the hills of the Ghats. In Africa, there are odd creatures in the jungles - and no European expedition has returned since Leibniz's Discovery.
It is a time of upheaval and strife, one in which the world tears itself apart as things leak through the walls of reality. But how bad are things, and what is happening this moment?
[X]It is the dawn of the eighteenth century, and France's bid for the Spanish throne has run into an alliance of the rest of Europe. And the Grand Alliance has barely held back the French. Begin in the War of the Spanish Succession, magic is a new thing.
[X]It is the middle of the century, and colonial war has turned global. Frederick of Prussia fights France, Russia and Austria all at once, with only Perfidious Albion as aid. Magic promises a solution to the woes of northern Germany, but should it be used? Begin in the Seven Years' War, magic is being adapted to.
[X]The colonials in America have declared independence from the mother country over taxation - and the Empire has struck back. American militiamen hide in forests in the interior, striking at British columns with shamanistic magic. Imperial aerocruisers bombard American forts and burn their forests, and the Continentals laugh at England's troubles. Begin in the American Revolution, and magitech is a thing.
But that is the state of the world, and these days it is the state of one's self that matters more. Who are you, and why are you on the way to greatness?
[X]Command: You are one of the great commanders of Europe, and leader of victorious armies. Begin with military experience, and chargen slants to the army/navy. Quest focus mainly military/generalship/empire.
[X]Nobility: It is said that the age of the magnates is over, and the age of reason has begun. That is wrong, as your wealth and power can attest. Begin with intrigue focus, chargen slants to politics and intrigue. Quest focus more on politics and empire.
[X]Science: You are one of the New Industrialists, the men who forges weapons of the stuff of creation. Building such an empire has taxed you, though - established nobility dislike a parvenu. Begin more towards commerce/politics, quest focus on empire/commerce/etc.
[X]Other: You are no ordinary man, to begin treading someone else's path. You will forge your own destiny, and the establishment be damned. No set focus as yet, no chargen slant. All-rounder option, chargen is generalized.
Welcome to An Age of Reason, an alt-hist magitech quest that has mathematical magic awakening in the 1700s. Voting will be open for 24 hours, and the 'who' option will dictate the initial slant of the quest.
At the end of the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton wrote a book. A small one, detailing how the 'veil may be parted', and certain mathematical formulae concerning the same.
The one book was responsible for more death than any other to this day. Magic was never meant to return to a world of reason, yet mankind has decided to tame it anyways.
Now the Age of Reason has given way to the Age of Industry, and magic supplies the power for the modern state. Great furnaces belch thaumic smoke as they forge weapons for the armies of France and the Holy Roman Empire. Vast shipyard-complexes build the battleships that keep England isolated from the 'troubles' on the Continent, and that keep the Spanish trade strangled. And massive abattoirs 'blessed by Christ' in the depths of the Amazon are the dying Spanish Empire's answer to magitech bombardment.
The world has been on the brink ever since Leibniz discovered that book, and ironically it is the same mathematicians that gained power by it who have suffered the most. For now the New Mathematics is a province of the state, and those who practice it are nothing more than extensions of the will of the state. So it is from the Atlantic to the Danube, and the knowledge is spreading.
In China, the Emperor now promulgates laws from the Forbidden City that are carried by preternatural messengers to the Four Corners of the empire. In India, things claiming to be avatars of the gods battle Europeans in the hills of the Ghats. In Africa, there are odd creatures in the jungles - and no European expedition has returned since Leibniz's Discovery.
It is a time of upheaval and strife, one in which the world tears itself apart as things leak through the walls of reality. But how bad are things, and what is happening this moment?
[X]It is the dawn of the eighteenth century, and France's bid for the Spanish throne has run into an alliance of the rest of Europe. And the Grand Alliance has barely held back the French. Begin in the War of the Spanish Succession, magic is a new thing.
[X]It is the middle of the century, and colonial war has turned global. Frederick of Prussia fights France, Russia and Austria all at once, with only Perfidious Albion as aid. Magic promises a solution to the woes of northern Germany, but should it be used? Begin in the Seven Years' War, magic is being adapted to.
[X]The colonials in America have declared independence from the mother country over taxation - and the Empire has struck back. American militiamen hide in forests in the interior, striking at British columns with shamanistic magic. Imperial aerocruisers bombard American forts and burn their forests, and the Continentals laugh at England's troubles. Begin in the American Revolution, and magitech is a thing.
But that is the state of the world, and these days it is the state of one's self that matters more. Who are you, and why are you on the way to greatness?
[X]Command: You are one of the great commanders of Europe, and leader of victorious armies. Begin with military experience, and chargen slants to the army/navy. Quest focus mainly military/generalship/empire.
[X]Nobility: It is said that the age of the magnates is over, and the age of reason has begun. That is wrong, as your wealth and power can attest. Begin with intrigue focus, chargen slants to politics and intrigue. Quest focus more on politics and empire.
[X]Science: You are one of the New Industrialists, the men who forges weapons of the stuff of creation. Building such an empire has taxed you, though - established nobility dislike a parvenu. Begin more towards commerce/politics, quest focus on empire/commerce/etc.
[X]Other: You are no ordinary man, to begin treading someone else's path. You will forge your own destiny, and the establishment be damned. No set focus as yet, no chargen slant. All-rounder option, chargen is generalized.
Welcome to An Age of Reason, an alt-hist magitech quest that has mathematical magic awakening in the 1700s. Voting will be open for 24 hours, and the 'who' option will dictate the initial slant of the quest.
Character Creation
mouli
Terrible QM
- Location
- United States
Votes closed, have character creation. Again 24 hours.
Science and American Revolution won.
Character Creation:
You are
[X]Write-In Name
a
[X]Man
[X]Woman
on the road to greatness.
You begin in one of the most turbulent periods of the century, with the American colonists revolting against taxation from England, and Spain, France and Austria watching from the sidelines. There are rumors of French and Spanish intervention in this war, and with each month left unchecked the colonials grow in number.
But whose side do you choose in this conflict?
Pick one:
[X]Thirteen Colonies: The American colonials have revolted, and you joined them. When it was your home in Boston that was under sanction by the English, how could you not?
[X]Great Britain: The colonies' demands grew and grew, from wanting waivers on taxation to wanting Parliamentary representation. How could they be given what Englishmen have to struggle to obtain? It is an unjust rebellion you face, and you must fight to keep the Empire intact.
[X]France: More than a decade has passed since the loss to Britain in the last war. More than a decade of humiliation, of lost face and of lost chances. No more! For now, the colonies are a useful check to British power, and an excellent chance for France.
[X]Spain: The empire on which the sun never sets, the empire of His Most Catholic Majesty. On the brink of ruin and loss, the American trade threatened by the English. We have a chance to reverse the scales, and we shall take it with both hands.
Sides are not all that there is to a war, though. Are you an adventurer, to chance the battlefront? Or one of the great puppet-masters of the era, to make fortunes from the fruits of the red fields?
Pick one:
[X]Arms Dealing: The New Mathematics gave rise to industry and commerce built on it. You were one of the men who turned that science to war, and who supply arms to the kingdoms that squabble over chunks of heathen soil.
[X]General Trade: One thing that Leibniz and Newton allowed was speed. Faster ships, faster road transport. That of course meant faster smugglers and traders. When before a small trader like you would have operated near home, now the vistas of China, India and the Africa trade beckon.
[X]Research: It's a brave man that hires a mathemagician. A braver one that asks them to try new things. That's you, and your company - that specialize in retrieval of magical artifacts, making of specialist ones and tailored spellcraft. For anyone. For a price. You're not exactly legal after all.
And what of yourself? What is special about you, to place you on the road to greatness?
You have 5 points to spend on perks. Further may be got by picking disadvantages.
Perks:
[X]Genius: You saw further than most, faster than most. That alone would be enough to make you special - the rest is icing on the cake. 5 points, +5 all stats.
[X]Quick: You aren't a genius in the vein of Newton or Marlborough, but there's enough glory to trickle down to the merely smart. 2 points, +2 all stats, cannot be taken with Genius.
[X]Trained Combatant: Unlike most merchants, you've seen plenty of combat. 2 points, gain Skilled Combatant: Add half of Martial to Personal Combat.
[X]Charisma: You can convince almost anyone to do almost anything. +4 diplomacy, 2 points.
[X]Contacts: You have a network among the people that matter, 1 point per choice. Unlocks more options later, allows one free advisor choice:. Can pick one or more.
-[X]British Nobility
-[X]French Nobility
-[X]Spanish Colonial Government
-[X]American Colonials
-[X]Portuguese Colonial Government
-[X]VOC - The Dutch East India Company.
[X]Ways and Means: There are many artifacts floating aroun the world these days, made when magic was young. One point each, pick one:
-[X]The Gun: A flintlock said to have been used by Marlborough at Blenheim. Grants +1 to personal combat skill, +3 to Land Command.
-[X]The Compass: This has no real provenance, save for an inscription on the side reading for the seeker of the wealth El Dorado. The needle does not point north. Grants +2 to Stewardship.
-[X]The Crucifix: A silver cross looted from the churches of Havana. At sea it seems to grow almost too warm. Grants +3 to Naval Command, +1 to Diplomacy.
Disadvantages:
[X]Reckless: When a deal seems too good to be true it usually is. Unfortunately you haven't learned that lesson yet. +2 points, -10 to all negotiation rolls.
[X]Spendthrift: There's so much that you really want, and separating that from what you need is more than difficult. -2 Stewardship, +2 points.
[X]Foreign: You aren't from the country you reside in. That presents more than a few difficulties in this parochial age. PC is from one of the three unchosen options above, I will pick. Malus to interactions (temporary). +1 point.
[X]Debt-Ridden: Thanks to the previous management, you have little liquid cash. It's fortunate that most do not consider you to be that spendthrift. Start with half cash, +1 point.
[X]Hated: For whatever reason, there are many in the faction that really don't like you. +1 point each, pick one or more:
-[X]British Court.
-[X]French Court
-[X]Spanish Viceroys
-[X]American Colonial Governors
-[X]Church (may be Anglican or Catholic or whatever depending on your place pick).
GM Note: You will start with 500 pounds/livres/dollars in cash normally, and the debt-ridden option above is the only one that will affect that. I will count votes by plan.
Science and American Revolution won.
Character Creation:
You are
[X]Write-In Name
a
[X]Man
[X]Woman
on the road to greatness.
You begin in one of the most turbulent periods of the century, with the American colonists revolting against taxation from England, and Spain, France and Austria watching from the sidelines. There are rumors of French and Spanish intervention in this war, and with each month left unchecked the colonials grow in number.
But whose side do you choose in this conflict?
Pick one:
[X]Thirteen Colonies: The American colonials have revolted, and you joined them. When it was your home in Boston that was under sanction by the English, how could you not?
[X]Great Britain: The colonies' demands grew and grew, from wanting waivers on taxation to wanting Parliamentary representation. How could they be given what Englishmen have to struggle to obtain? It is an unjust rebellion you face, and you must fight to keep the Empire intact.
[X]France: More than a decade has passed since the loss to Britain in the last war. More than a decade of humiliation, of lost face and of lost chances. No more! For now, the colonies are a useful check to British power, and an excellent chance for France.
[X]Spain: The empire on which the sun never sets, the empire of His Most Catholic Majesty. On the brink of ruin and loss, the American trade threatened by the English. We have a chance to reverse the scales, and we shall take it with both hands.
Sides are not all that there is to a war, though. Are you an adventurer, to chance the battlefront? Or one of the great puppet-masters of the era, to make fortunes from the fruits of the red fields?
Pick one:
[X]Arms Dealing: The New Mathematics gave rise to industry and commerce built on it. You were one of the men who turned that science to war, and who supply arms to the kingdoms that squabble over chunks of heathen soil.
[X]General Trade: One thing that Leibniz and Newton allowed was speed. Faster ships, faster road transport. That of course meant faster smugglers and traders. When before a small trader like you would have operated near home, now the vistas of China, India and the Africa trade beckon.
[X]Research: It's a brave man that hires a mathemagician. A braver one that asks them to try new things. That's you, and your company - that specialize in retrieval of magical artifacts, making of specialist ones and tailored spellcraft. For anyone. For a price. You're not exactly legal after all.
And what of yourself? What is special about you, to place you on the road to greatness?
You have 5 points to spend on perks. Further may be got by picking disadvantages.
Perks:
[X]Genius: You saw further than most, faster than most. That alone would be enough to make you special - the rest is icing on the cake. 5 points, +5 all stats.
[X]Quick: You aren't a genius in the vein of Newton or Marlborough, but there's enough glory to trickle down to the merely smart. 2 points, +2 all stats, cannot be taken with Genius.
[X]Trained Combatant: Unlike most merchants, you've seen plenty of combat. 2 points, gain Skilled Combatant: Add half of Martial to Personal Combat.
[X]Charisma: You can convince almost anyone to do almost anything. +4 diplomacy, 2 points.
[X]Contacts: You have a network among the people that matter, 1 point per choice. Unlocks more options later, allows one free advisor choice:. Can pick one or more.
-[X]British Nobility
-[X]French Nobility
-[X]Spanish Colonial Government
-[X]American Colonials
-[X]Portuguese Colonial Government
-[X]VOC - The Dutch East India Company.
[X]Ways and Means: There are many artifacts floating aroun the world these days, made when magic was young. One point each, pick one:
-[X]The Gun: A flintlock said to have been used by Marlborough at Blenheim. Grants +1 to personal combat skill, +3 to Land Command.
-[X]The Compass: This has no real provenance, save for an inscription on the side reading for the seeker of the wealth El Dorado. The needle does not point north. Grants +2 to Stewardship.
-[X]The Crucifix: A silver cross looted from the churches of Havana. At sea it seems to grow almost too warm. Grants +3 to Naval Command, +1 to Diplomacy.
Disadvantages:
[X]Reckless: When a deal seems too good to be true it usually is. Unfortunately you haven't learned that lesson yet. +2 points, -10 to all negotiation rolls.
[X]Spendthrift: There's so much that you really want, and separating that from what you need is more than difficult. -2 Stewardship, +2 points.
[X]Foreign: You aren't from the country you reside in. That presents more than a few difficulties in this parochial age. PC is from one of the three unchosen options above, I will pick. Malus to interactions (temporary). +1 point.
[X]Debt-Ridden: Thanks to the previous management, you have little liquid cash. It's fortunate that most do not consider you to be that spendthrift. Start with half cash, +1 point.
[X]Hated: For whatever reason, there are many in the faction that really don't like you. +1 point each, pick one or more:
-[X]British Court.
-[X]French Court
-[X]Spanish Viceroys
-[X]American Colonial Governors
-[X]Church (may be Anglican or Catholic or whatever depending on your place pick).
GM Note: You will start with 500 pounds/livres/dollars in cash normally, and the debt-ridden option above is the only one that will affect that. I will count votes by plan.
Last edited:
Turn 1, April 1770
mouli
Terrible QM
- Location
- United States
Plan Tomb Raiding wins, have update:
Turn 1, April 1770
Boston is burning. It may sound like a nursery rhyme, yet it is a far more dire situation than that. After the protests and the rioting by the so-called Patriots, the governor ordered a crackdown. One regiment of infantry was sent into the streets to keep order, and they fired on a mob in King Street.
Several died, and after yet more rioting, the Patriots have taken to the streets once more. All for nothing - the soldiers that did the killing have been pulled back to Castle Island, and there is little accomplished by putting six of them on trial.
Arthur Graves thinks otherwise, and he makes that clear as you walk with him. "Miss Cove, we need to be better than this - let them get hanged and we make it clear that Boston is a city in revolt. Acquit them, and we show that we can forgive - and that Boston can still do business with Englishmen, Paine and Revere notwithstanding."
"You sound very sure, but what about those rumors of planned insurrection? One trial makes little difference as far as good faith with the crown goes, and acting against the rumors would be better."
"I know, but I've told anyone who asks - those rumors are false. As far as I know, there is no insurrection, and I know Paine well enough. He's too much the drunk to plan a rising, and Revere's not much better."
"Maybe. We'll have to see." You make as if to leave, and he hands you a letter as you do. Pickup done, you head back to the workshop, for there is work to be done.
Your workshop is as crowded as ever, and what equipment is present is old and battered. Your father left you little but a few autolathes, some texts and your pistol.
Screw that, you can still change the world - you just need time.
Turn 1 Actions: Agatha has one die per category:
You have 500 pounds to spend.
Martial:
Intrigue:
Stewardship:
Diplomacy:
Learning:
Voting open for 24-48 hours, I will take votes by plan.
Turn 1, April 1770
Boston is burning. It may sound like a nursery rhyme, yet it is a far more dire situation than that. After the protests and the rioting by the so-called Patriots, the governor ordered a crackdown. One regiment of infantry was sent into the streets to keep order, and they fired on a mob in King Street.
Several died, and after yet more rioting, the Patriots have taken to the streets once more. All for nothing - the soldiers that did the killing have been pulled back to Castle Island, and there is little accomplished by putting six of them on trial.
Arthur Graves thinks otherwise, and he makes that clear as you walk with him. "Miss Cove, we need to be better than this - let them get hanged and we make it clear that Boston is a city in revolt. Acquit them, and we show that we can forgive - and that Boston can still do business with Englishmen, Paine and Revere notwithstanding."
"You sound very sure, but what about those rumors of planned insurrection? One trial makes little difference as far as good faith with the crown goes, and acting against the rumors would be better."
"I know, but I've told anyone who asks - those rumors are false. As far as I know, there is no insurrection, and I know Paine well enough. He's too much the drunk to plan a rising, and Revere's not much better."
"Maybe. We'll have to see." You make as if to leave, and he hands you a letter as you do. Pickup done, you head back to the workshop, for there is work to be done.
Your workshop is as crowded as ever, and what equipment is present is old and battered. Your father left you little but a few autolathes, some texts and your pistol.
Screw that, you can still change the world - you just need time.
Turn 1 Actions: Agatha has one die per category:
You have 500 pounds to spend.
Martial:
[X]Shots Fired: Your shooting is frankly abysmal, and you need more time put towards learning to lead. As a woman things would be tough, but you have a little cash - enough to buy drinks for an officer. Costs £10, DC35/50/75 Martial roll. Reward: Improved Martial, chance of contacts.
[X]Riots and Looting: The city is in turmoil following the trials of six British soldiers - and the fact that a colonial defended them. Turmoil enough that a woman might be able to join the militia as a volunteer. Costs £25 in bribes and fees, gain trait Militiawoman: Opens up interactions with Boston Volunteers, a hotbed of Patriot sentiment.
[X]Company Men: God alone knows how many pounds of tea are being shipped into Boston, and how much money the East India Company makes from it. The smugglers of Massachusetts certainly want in on this, and you can fund them in doing so. Costs £100, DC40/70 Naval Command roll. Chance of triggering British crackdown. Reward: £250/£600 in cash from smuggled and stolen tea sales.
[X]Riots and Looting: The city is in turmoil following the trials of six British soldiers - and the fact that a colonial defended them. Turmoil enough that a woman might be able to join the militia as a volunteer. Costs £25 in bribes and fees, gain trait Militiawoman: Opens up interactions with Boston Volunteers, a hotbed of Patriot sentiment.
[X]Company Men: God alone knows how many pounds of tea are being shipped into Boston, and how much money the East India Company makes from it. The smugglers of Massachusetts certainly want in on this, and you can fund them in doing so. Costs £100, DC40/70 Naval Command roll. Chance of triggering British crackdown. Reward: £250/£600 in cash from smuggled and stolen tea sales.
Intrigue:
[X]Wine and Dine: The Governor is hosting dinners and parties in the hope of maintaining a facade of normality. The right bribes can see you in to collect dirt on the nobs here - always useful. DC40/85 Intrigue roll, costs £60 in bribes and preparation. Reward: Blackmail on influential Englishmen, influence on British policy from that.
[X]Smash and Grab: After the mob violence in the past month, the armory has been locked down by redcoated infantry. Yet the Patriots are willing to pay good gold for arms - as are the loyalist militia. DC50 Intrigue roll, costs £80 in bribes. 'Liberate' muskets from Boston Armory for the highest bidder. Reward: £250 in gold, contacts in the buyer's faction.
[X]Tracking It Down: The major in command of the garrison has misplaced a handheld aetheric explosive. There's a reward for tracking it down, and a good one at that. DC60 Intrigue roll, reward is £400. A handheld aetheric explosive is akin to a C4 charge, and can level a house. Be wary.
[X]Smash and Grab: After the mob violence in the past month, the armory has been locked down by redcoated infantry. Yet the Patriots are willing to pay good gold for arms - as are the loyalist militia. DC50 Intrigue roll, costs £80 in bribes. 'Liberate' muskets from Boston Armory for the highest bidder. Reward: £250 in gold, contacts in the buyer's faction.
[X]Tracking It Down: The major in command of the garrison has misplaced a handheld aetheric explosive. There's a reward for tracking it down, and a good one at that. DC60 Intrigue roll, reward is £400. A handheld aetheric explosive is akin to a C4 charge, and can level a house. Be wary.
Stewardship:
[X]Contracts: Loyalists: The loyalists want you to build small seekers for them - the enchantments aren't cheap or easy, but you do have the basic equipment. Seekers are small metal cuffs for pigeons that allow any pigeon to home in on the seeker's coded destination. Hence no trained birds are needed. DC60 New Mathematics roll for building seekers, reward: increased rep with loyalists, increased Learning, £300.
[X]Contracts: Patriots: The patriots want you to build small seekers for them - the enchantments aren't cheap or easy, but you do have the basic equipment. Seekers are small metal cuffs for pigeons that allow any pigeon to home in on the seeker's coded destination. Hence no trained birds are needed. DC60 New Mathematics roll for building seekers, reward: increased rep with Patriots, increased Learning, £200.
[X]Accounting and Investment: You have some cash, why not buy a share in an Indiaman bound for Canton? Or elsewhere? The profits are excellent if it comes to fruition, after all. Costs £100, pick a trade route. Reward is cash only, no skill or contacts.
-[X]Canton: The China trade is high-risk high-reward. DC60 Stewardship roll to succeed, gives £700.
-[X]The Caribbean: Little risk save that of Spanish coastguards and the poor market for exports from here. DC45 Stewardship roll to succeed, gives £250.
[X]Contracts: Patriots: The patriots want you to build small seekers for them - the enchantments aren't cheap or easy, but you do have the basic equipment. Seekers are small metal cuffs for pigeons that allow any pigeon to home in on the seeker's coded destination. Hence no trained birds are needed. DC60 New Mathematics roll for building seekers, reward: increased rep with Patriots, increased Learning, £200.
[X]Accounting and Investment: You have some cash, why not buy a share in an Indiaman bound for Canton? Or elsewhere? The profits are excellent if it comes to fruition, after all. Costs £100, pick a trade route. Reward is cash only, no skill or contacts.
-[X]Canton: The China trade is high-risk high-reward. DC60 Stewardship roll to succeed, gives £700.
-[X]The Caribbean: Little risk save that of Spanish coastguards and the poor market for exports from here. DC45 Stewardship roll to succeed, gives £250.
Diplomacy:
[X]Wine and Dine: Why not attend the governor's parties? They're perfect chances for a lady to find contacts and men to manipulate, after all. DC50/70 diplomacy roll, costs £40 in preparation. Gives contacts in the British colonial government, chance of government contracts. Cannot be taken with Intrigue:Wine and Dine.
[X]Poor Richard: Ben Franklin is in town before heading back to Europe. You could always meet the man, and ask if he would be interested in a collaboration. Franklin was always swayed by a good figure, and you have an excellent one. DC70 diplomacy roll, opens up partnership with Benjamin Franklin, giving further learning and stewardship actions.
[X]Company Men: The East India Company has a monopoly on the tea trade, and one that's enforced by the Navy - sporadically. There's resentment here, perhaps you can warn them of Patriot sentiment? DC60 diplo roll, opens up further contact with the British East India Company.
[X]Poor Richard: Ben Franklin is in town before heading back to Europe. You could always meet the man, and ask if he would be interested in a collaboration. Franklin was always swayed by a good figure, and you have an excellent one. DC70 diplomacy roll, opens up partnership with Benjamin Franklin, giving further learning and stewardship actions.
[X]Company Men: The East India Company has a monopoly on the tea trade, and one that's enforced by the Navy - sporadically. There's resentment here, perhaps you can warn them of Patriot sentiment? DC60 diplo roll, opens up further contact with the British East India Company.
Learning:
[X]Catalogues: Father left you a fair number of books, some of which may even be useful. Try to sort through the stacks and see what you can use. Roll to find loot, no bonuses. Better roll = better books for learning actions.
[X]Teaching: Some say that to learn one must teach. Why not give it a try? You're literate and can leverage that into access to more books. Teach whoever comes mathematics, and ask for aid in return. 1d100 Learning roll for improvement in Learning. DC40.
[X]Teaching: Some say that to learn one must teach. Why not give it a try? You're literate and can leverage that into access to more books. Teach whoever comes mathematics, and ask for aid in return. 1d100 Learning roll for improvement in Learning. DC40.
Voting open for 24-48 hours, I will take votes by plan.
Turn 1 Results
mouli
Terrible QM
- Location
- United States
Turn 1 Results,
April 1770
"You want to do what, miss?" Lieutenant Jeremy Higgs looks at you the same way you'd look at a smart Spaniard - a freak of nature, in other words.
All the same, you do need to be polite. "You heard me the first time, lieutenant. I want to learn to shoot. Properly."
"Madam, there are enough soldiers around to maintain order, and if you allow a few of my men to walk you home, I can ensure that." He must really think you're worth pursuing, then. Fun.
"I don't need that. You know that I live in a mainly, ah, independent area, sir. I need to be able to respond fast, and that means getting better at close-quarters."
He reluctantly agrees on that once you mention that the Patriots frequent a few taverns near your home. After all, a loyalist in that area is invaluable later.
Not to mention you look pretty damn good in this dress. Men.
The regimental armory is a fairly basic one, and you're handed a flintlock with similarly basic instructions on use. The armory sergeant gives you the same cowlike look of astonishment that Higgs did, and you give him your best glare.
It doesn't really do much.
All the same, you get a pistol and small-sword and wind up near Lieutenant Higgs, who takes £5 in gold from you. Rather mercenary, but the troops aren't exactly the Foot Guards.
Practice is tougher. You bug Higgs and any other troops you find, but very few will help you with the blade. Fortunately you manage to get Samuel Marchant, one of the local hooligans to teach you the very basics in exchange for beer money.
Again, it costs £5, but it's well worth it if you can hold off some idiot until the pistol can gut him. A wonderful equalizer, guns.
Martial +1, gained Flintlock and Smallsword: +10 to CQC combat rolls.
Egbert Middleton is a quiet clerk who works at the dockyards. He catalogs the incoming shipments bound for the governor, and ensures that very little magical contraband is smuggled in. He is solidly respectable, has a son in the navy, has a small plot of land out west. He's a model British functionary, the product of a generation of mathemagical vetting and recruitment.
Egbert Middleton is also a man who frequents the Porto Bello, a tavern that also caters to Frenchmen and foreigners. He drinks wine far beyond his means, and gets into more fights than his rather weedy physique would indicate.
In other words, you think you're found your patsy.
Stalking the man is quite tricky in the streets of Boston, lit each night by burning aether. The harsh light allows watching toughs to spot people a long way off, making your chances worse. The cobbles reflect the harsh lighting, and the hawkers eye passersby with unnerving - almost preternatural - intensity.
Walking these streets near the docks brings home how much the definition of human has changed among the poor, even with all the Church's warnings. Magical corruption and often willing modification gives things like the goggles now adorning the huckster next to you. Or the talons that grow from that tattooed sailor's fingertips. Or even the unnatural glow in the eye of the richly dressed dandy entering that tavern ahead.
...Shit. That tavern is the Porto Bello, and you may have missed your mark.
You rush into the tavern, cloak almost billowing away behind you. You rush in as quietly as you can, in the rush of men entering.
You move in ready for anything, armed and nerves singing. What you turn out not to be ready for is the Frenchman to be sitting calmly and offering you a drink.
"Mademoiselle Cove, welcome to this establishment. Perhaps some wine?"
The other drinker carefully ignore the two of you as you sit at his table. Watching him like a spooked cat.
"Relax, my friend. I intend no harm here, and your quarry is no longer available."
"He's fled?"
A short bark of laughter, and he answers. "No, mon cher, he is dead. You clearly have much to learn, and for your father's sake I will leave you here to learn them. Leave the spying to the professionals, eh?"
"Father knew you? How?"
"It is enough to say that I respected him. That is all I will say, and you had best heed my warnings, English."
"I can take that under advisement, but I'm here fir the money. Not the British."
A raised eyebrow, perfectly conveying disbelief. "This despite your father being the premier mathematician this side of the Atlantic, mademoiselle? Your father prospered under the English, how am I to believe that you do not?"
"You can take it on faith or not, I don't care." Normally you'd be better controlled, but this bastard mentioning your father pushed all the right buttons. "Right now I want one reason why I shouldn't shout for help."
Nary a flash of steel, but there's a blade at your gut. Cold and sharp. "Because you will die first, mademoiselle. Now then, wait while I leave."
The man leaves in a swirl of blue cloak and brocade, and you're left with more questions than answers.
Needless to say, your retrieval goes nowhere.
No losses, but many more questions. More options open next turn.
A seeker is a small clamp that's attached to a bird, allowing it to fly to the destination encoded in the seeker. Carrying them is easier than using cages of trained pigeons, and a good seeker often has a return function to allow another bird to home in on the original base.
Looking through your design, you find that it's not a polished seeker clamp. It won't fit the more precise requirements of the loyalists and the English garrison, but it ought to work for the so-called Patriots.
The design gets cobbled together fairly well, and you manage to scrounge up an inscriber to get the equations down on the cuff. The weak point is the mental link, for the pigeon to take in the location. It's essentially a raw information transfer, one that's always tricky to mediate.
This one proves no exception. You finish the design on time, and move to testing on birds. The cuff goes on the pigeon just fine, the cuff activates on finishing the symbolic link as well.
What you don't expect is the shower of gore and loud bang that accompanies your attempt at the information transfer.
It appears that you need to fine-tune that aspect of the cuffs. All the same, you can likely do better next time.
-£100, no profits.
+15 to next New Mathematics crafting roll.
Benjamin Franklin is an enormously influential man in both England and the Americas, his theorems and innovations powering a new generation of mathemagic. He's one of the few Englishmen to be nominated to the Academy of France, and is the colonies' voice in London more often than not.
He's also a dirty old man who you catch staring at your chest far too often. "Miss Cove, do tell me about what you've been up to. I'm sure it must be quite interesting, given what your father used to do."
"Father was one of your understudies, Mr. Franklin. You know what he did wasn't all that interesting. Beyond the explosives work for the Fleet, of course."
He chortles indulgently, "Ah, but to us men explosions are always interesting, Agatha. But what's this I hear about you going into that same business?"
"Not quite the same, after all I'm no trained mathemagician. Not with all the restraints on their abilities." You pause to sip your wine, leaning back a little. "I can say that I have some understanding of the craft, though. Given that my father was a mathemagician, I cannot have it otherwise."
Benjamin Franklin nods gravely, "I see. So you aren't in the magic business? I can help you out there, I am one of the better ones this side of England."
Tempting...but no. Not worth the risk of being caught out as an unlicensed practitioner. "Not yet in the business, Mr. Franklin. I am trying to read through Father's older notes - the primers, as it were. Should I find any aptitude for it I will let you know, rest assured."
"Better you do, young lady. Magic - or rather, the New Mathematics - is nothing to experiment blindly with. Things worse than death can occur."
That last sentence is delivered with grave expression and serious eyes. You almost want to tell him about the exploding pigeons, just to see his face.
You don't. Instead, "I know that. The books impressed that much on me by now, I simply need more time."
He nods, unconvinced. You both end up making small talk for the next hour or so, and Benjamin Franklin leaves afterwards. One of your best chances, and he's too close to British interests to instruct you in magic.
Except you get a letter and a parcel a month later, wrapped in oilskins and delivered by an English soldier. Odd.
Dear Agatha,
It occurs to me that in our brief conversation you never mentioned your father having taught you anything. If the old man was anything like me, he did.
Don't try to continue your studies on your own, especially not using your father's notes. He was a trained explosives expert, and you are not. However, you do need to acheive some degree of fluency, for it is best that Boston have a local mathemagician - especially in light of recent events.
To further that goal I have enclosed several primers in Newtonian New Mathematics, authored by myself. The trackers on the books have been disabled, and contact with your skin ought to banish the illusion I have placed on the books.
Do not contact me in England, for I am too close to the crown. Send word to Paine, Revere or better yet Hugo Meredith. They will arrange that I receive the message.
I remain a friend of your father's, and of you.
Benjamin Franklin.
The illusion is one of flowers and perfume. No wonder the soldier looked at you so intently, he thought you were one of Franklin's many mistresses.
Dammit.
Gained Franklin's Guides. Option open next turn for mathemagical study. Contact gained: Benjamin Franklin.
Schools in the colonies aren't even of the level of the rather crude ones in England, and that's painfully evident when you walk into the small Mathematical College set up in Boston. The class is mainly young glory hounds, with a leavening of graying sailors.
Surprisingly, the sailors and the youngsters prove to be a rapt audience as you lay out the basic principles of mathematics, and of Newton and Leibniz's theorems.
Teaching these is skirting legality, but the no one's likely to tell - least of all the faculty, who are shorthanded since the riots. Nonetheless, the you manage to teach them the basic Enochian Equations, and the interactions of the fundamental forces.
Within one month, you manage to instill the theory of the basic elemental equations into your pupils, although practice is something that you can't provide. Legally.
One more month, and you wind up your course, having raked in enough. Besides, the institute is hiring new faculty, and you don't want to get caught up in academia.
That last month sees your students finally grasp the interlocking nature of many of Leibniz's equations, and how they seem to set up feedback loops.
When one of your students sets up a loop for wind generation in class, you immediately copy it down. Might as well gain something, no?
Either way, while you taught you also studied. Not only because class needed preparation, but also because you had access to the institute library. Theoretical study was allowed, and no proscribed books were in there anyways.
At the end of two months, you have an improved command of Newtonian mathematics, and a better understanding of how theory evolves into practice.
Learning +2
Gained £10
April 1770
[X]Shots Fired: Your shooting is frankly abysmal, and you need more time put towards learning to lead. As a woman things would be tough, but you have a little cash - enough to buy drinks for an officer. Costs £10, DC35/50/75 Martial roll. Reward: Improved Martial, chance of contacts.
Rolled: 29+13(martial) = 42, pass
Rolled: 29+13(martial) = 42, pass
"You want to do what, miss?" Lieutenant Jeremy Higgs looks at you the same way you'd look at a smart Spaniard - a freak of nature, in other words.
All the same, you do need to be polite. "You heard me the first time, lieutenant. I want to learn to shoot. Properly."
"Madam, there are enough soldiers around to maintain order, and if you allow a few of my men to walk you home, I can ensure that." He must really think you're worth pursuing, then. Fun.
"I don't need that. You know that I live in a mainly, ah, independent area, sir. I need to be able to respond fast, and that means getting better at close-quarters."
He reluctantly agrees on that once you mention that the Patriots frequent a few taverns near your home. After all, a loyalist in that area is invaluable later.
Not to mention you look pretty damn good in this dress. Men.
The regimental armory is a fairly basic one, and you're handed a flintlock with similarly basic instructions on use. The armory sergeant gives you the same cowlike look of astonishment that Higgs did, and you give him your best glare.
It doesn't really do much.
All the same, you get a pistol and small-sword and wind up near Lieutenant Higgs, who takes £5 in gold from you. Rather mercenary, but the troops aren't exactly the Foot Guards.
Practice is tougher. You bug Higgs and any other troops you find, but very few will help you with the blade. Fortunately you manage to get Samuel Marchant, one of the local hooligans to teach you the very basics in exchange for beer money.
Again, it costs £5, but it's well worth it if you can hold off some idiot until the pistol can gut him. A wonderful equalizer, guns.
Martial +1, gained Flintlock and Smallsword: +10 to CQC combat rolls.
[X]Tracking It Down: The major in command of the garrison has misplaced a handheld aetheric explosive. There's a reward for tracking it down, and a good one at that. DC60 Intrigue roll, reward is £400. A handheld aetheric explosive is akin to a C4 charge, and can level a house. Be wary.
Rolled: 22+8 = 30, failure
Rolled: 22+8 = 30, failure
Egbert Middleton is a quiet clerk who works at the dockyards. He catalogs the incoming shipments bound for the governor, and ensures that very little magical contraband is smuggled in. He is solidly respectable, has a son in the navy, has a small plot of land out west. He's a model British functionary, the product of a generation of mathemagical vetting and recruitment.
Egbert Middleton is also a man who frequents the Porto Bello, a tavern that also caters to Frenchmen and foreigners. He drinks wine far beyond his means, and gets into more fights than his rather weedy physique would indicate.
In other words, you think you're found your patsy.
Stalking the man is quite tricky in the streets of Boston, lit each night by burning aether. The harsh light allows watching toughs to spot people a long way off, making your chances worse. The cobbles reflect the harsh lighting, and the hawkers eye passersby with unnerving - almost preternatural - intensity.
Walking these streets near the docks brings home how much the definition of human has changed among the poor, even with all the Church's warnings. Magical corruption and often willing modification gives things like the goggles now adorning the huckster next to you. Or the talons that grow from that tattooed sailor's fingertips. Or even the unnatural glow in the eye of the richly dressed dandy entering that tavern ahead.
...Shit. That tavern is the Porto Bello, and you may have missed your mark.
You rush into the tavern, cloak almost billowing away behind you. You rush in as quietly as you can, in the rush of men entering.
You move in ready for anything, armed and nerves singing. What you turn out not to be ready for is the Frenchman to be sitting calmly and offering you a drink.
"Mademoiselle Cove, welcome to this establishment. Perhaps some wine?"
The other drinker carefully ignore the two of you as you sit at his table. Watching him like a spooked cat.
"Relax, my friend. I intend no harm here, and your quarry is no longer available."
"He's fled?"
A short bark of laughter, and he answers. "No, mon cher, he is dead. You clearly have much to learn, and for your father's sake I will leave you here to learn them. Leave the spying to the professionals, eh?"
"Father knew you? How?"
"It is enough to say that I respected him. That is all I will say, and you had best heed my warnings, English."
"I can take that under advisement, but I'm here fir the money. Not the British."
A raised eyebrow, perfectly conveying disbelief. "This despite your father being the premier mathematician this side of the Atlantic, mademoiselle? Your father prospered under the English, how am I to believe that you do not?"
"You can take it on faith or not, I don't care." Normally you'd be better controlled, but this bastard mentioning your father pushed all the right buttons. "Right now I want one reason why I shouldn't shout for help."
Nary a flash of steel, but there's a blade at your gut. Cold and sharp. "Because you will die first, mademoiselle. Now then, wait while I leave."
The man leaves in a swirl of blue cloak and brocade, and you're left with more questions than answers.
Needless to say, your retrieval goes nowhere.
No losses, but many more questions. More options open next turn.
[X]Contracts: Patriots: The patriots want you to build small seekers for them - the enchantments aren't cheap or easy, but you do have the basic equipment. Seekers are small metal cuffs for pigeons that allow any pigeon to home in on the seeker's coded destination. Hence no trained birds are needed. DC60 New Mathematics roll for building seekers, reward: increased rep with Patriots, increased Learning, £200.
Rolled: 17+1.5 = 18.5, needed 60. Failure.
Rolled: 17+1.5 = 18.5, needed 60. Failure.
A seeker is a small clamp that's attached to a bird, allowing it to fly to the destination encoded in the seeker. Carrying them is easier than using cages of trained pigeons, and a good seeker often has a return function to allow another bird to home in on the original base.
Looking through your design, you find that it's not a polished seeker clamp. It won't fit the more precise requirements of the loyalists and the English garrison, but it ought to work for the so-called Patriots.
The design gets cobbled together fairly well, and you manage to scrounge up an inscriber to get the equations down on the cuff. The weak point is the mental link, for the pigeon to take in the location. It's essentially a raw information transfer, one that's always tricky to mediate.
This one proves no exception. You finish the design on time, and move to testing on birds. The cuff goes on the pigeon just fine, the cuff activates on finishing the symbolic link as well.
What you don't expect is the shower of gore and loud bang that accompanies your attempt at the information transfer.
It appears that you need to fine-tune that aspect of the cuffs. All the same, you can likely do better next time.
-£100, no profits.
+15 to next New Mathematics crafting roll.
[X]Poor Richard: Ben Franklin is in town before heading back to Europe. You could always meet the man, and ask if he would be interested in a collaboration. Franklin was always swayed by a good figure, and you have an excellent one. DC70 diplomacy roll, opens up partnership with Benjamin Franklin, giving further learning and stewardship actions.
Rolled: 85+16 = 101, artificial crit success
Rolled: 85+16 = 101, artificial crit success
Benjamin Franklin is an enormously influential man in both England and the Americas, his theorems and innovations powering a new generation of mathemagic. He's one of the few Englishmen to be nominated to the Academy of France, and is the colonies' voice in London more often than not.
He's also a dirty old man who you catch staring at your chest far too often. "Miss Cove, do tell me about what you've been up to. I'm sure it must be quite interesting, given what your father used to do."
"Father was one of your understudies, Mr. Franklin. You know what he did wasn't all that interesting. Beyond the explosives work for the Fleet, of course."
He chortles indulgently, "Ah, but to us men explosions are always interesting, Agatha. But what's this I hear about you going into that same business?"
"Not quite the same, after all I'm no trained mathemagician. Not with all the restraints on their abilities." You pause to sip your wine, leaning back a little. "I can say that I have some understanding of the craft, though. Given that my father was a mathemagician, I cannot have it otherwise."
Benjamin Franklin nods gravely, "I see. So you aren't in the magic business? I can help you out there, I am one of the better ones this side of England."
Tempting...but no. Not worth the risk of being caught out as an unlicensed practitioner. "Not yet in the business, Mr. Franklin. I am trying to read through Father's older notes - the primers, as it were. Should I find any aptitude for it I will let you know, rest assured."
"Better you do, young lady. Magic - or rather, the New Mathematics - is nothing to experiment blindly with. Things worse than death can occur."
That last sentence is delivered with grave expression and serious eyes. You almost want to tell him about the exploding pigeons, just to see his face.
You don't. Instead, "I know that. The books impressed that much on me by now, I simply need more time."
He nods, unconvinced. You both end up making small talk for the next hour or so, and Benjamin Franklin leaves afterwards. One of your best chances, and he's too close to British interests to instruct you in magic.
Except you get a letter and a parcel a month later, wrapped in oilskins and delivered by an English soldier. Odd.
Dear Agatha,
It occurs to me that in our brief conversation you never mentioned your father having taught you anything. If the old man was anything like me, he did.
Don't try to continue your studies on your own, especially not using your father's notes. He was a trained explosives expert, and you are not. However, you do need to acheive some degree of fluency, for it is best that Boston have a local mathemagician - especially in light of recent events.
To further that goal I have enclosed several primers in Newtonian New Mathematics, authored by myself. The trackers on the books have been disabled, and contact with your skin ought to banish the illusion I have placed on the books.
Do not contact me in England, for I am too close to the crown. Send word to Paine, Revere or better yet Hugo Meredith. They will arrange that I receive the message.
I remain a friend of your father's, and of you.
Benjamin Franklin.
The illusion is one of flowers and perfume. No wonder the soldier looked at you so intently, he thought you were one of Franklin's many mistresses.
Dammit.
Gained Franklin's Guides. Option open next turn for mathemagical study. Contact gained: Benjamin Franklin.
[X]Teaching: Some say that to learn one must teach. Why not give it a try? You're literate and can leverage that into access to more books. Teach whoever comes mathematics, and ask for aid in return. 1d100 Learning roll for improvement in Learning. DC40.
Rolled: 57+6 = 61, learning increase.
Rolled: 57+6 = 61, learning increase.
Schools in the colonies aren't even of the level of the rather crude ones in England, and that's painfully evident when you walk into the small Mathematical College set up in Boston. The class is mainly young glory hounds, with a leavening of graying sailors.
Surprisingly, the sailors and the youngsters prove to be a rapt audience as you lay out the basic principles of mathematics, and of Newton and Leibniz's theorems.
Teaching these is skirting legality, but the no one's likely to tell - least of all the faculty, who are shorthanded since the riots. Nonetheless, the you manage to teach them the basic Enochian Equations, and the interactions of the fundamental forces.
Within one month, you manage to instill the theory of the basic elemental equations into your pupils, although practice is something that you can't provide. Legally.
One more month, and you wind up your course, having raked in enough. Besides, the institute is hiring new faculty, and you don't want to get caught up in academia.
That last month sees your students finally grasp the interlocking nature of many of Leibniz's equations, and how they seem to set up feedback loops.
When one of your students sets up a loop for wind generation in class, you immediately copy it down. Might as well gain something, no?
Either way, while you taught you also studied. Not only because class needed preparation, but also because you had access to the institute library. Theoretical study was allowed, and no proscribed books were in there anyways.
At the end of two months, you have an improved command of Newtonian mathematics, and a better understanding of how theory evolves into practice.
Learning +2
Gained £10
Turn 2, July 1770
mouli
Terrible QM
- Location
- United States
Turn 2, July 1770
Event Roll:
Screaming is the first thing you hear, the shouting of a panicked crowd. When you move outside your home, you see a massive fire in the distance. It lights up the sky, turning the night into a dull-orange daytime.
More importantly, it's near the docks and arsenal. Which can set half of Boston ablaze.
Making your way there, you find that the troops have put together a bucket-brigade to douse the worst of the flame amidst much cursing. They're keeping the fires at bay, but as you head towards the water, you find that there's more fire, not less.
Fire shouldn't be burning at sea.
It turns out that the flames aren't normal. From what you can glean from the panicked passersby and frantic officials, someone has smuggled in contraband that has then destabilized. The ship that brought it in has been erased already, and the flames are beginning to have a green tint.
"What can you do, girl? If you can't then get the hell out of the way, we're busy here." The harbormaster's second is busy, barking orders to the longshoremen and trying to build a firebreak.
It won't work, and you tell him why. "I can work through this, and my father left me some items that can help." You wave around your father's guild ring, and are promptly directed to Jurgen Hintze, a German who hired on with the garrison.
"You do what you can, Cove. I cannot help you, though. The flames are worst just ahead, and we have no time."
You nod and move ahead, but he's already turned elsewhere, shouting for water. He was right, though. As you move towards the crude barricade, you find that it's already burning a little, the water from the buckets doing little.
Only one thing left, then. Raising the locket, you try to scribe a circle in the air before you. Focusing on that and mentally phrasing the needed heat equations, you try your utmost to quench the fire.
It works, but only just. The greenish tint fades, and the flames are soon quenched by the bucket brigade. You can't see that, because you've almost fainted from the strain of redirecting that much heat belowground.
In that mental haze, you can vaguely feel your sleeves smoldering.
The longshoremen rush over to lift you up, and you're soon surrounded by cheering dockworkers. It appears that many of them saw what you did, and even more will learn about it.
Making your limp way home with a not-quite-guard of British infantry and dockworkers, you remember that the harbormaster's second has told you to meet him soon about your reward.
A show must be made, after all.
The next morning dawns bright and cheerful, a stark contrast from the chaos and panic of last night. Dressing as well as you can, you make your way to the harbormaster's office, where the man himself awaits you.
The building is rather simple, and the office similarly bleak. Save for a crucifix on one wall, there's little decoration for a man in charge of America's second largest seaport.
"Miss Cove, good to see you. Take a seat, I believe that I owe you my thanks for last night."
"Well, I wouldn't say that, but I did what I could."
"As should we all. Nonetheless, your gifts have been turned to God's work, and you're on the path to redemption. My congratulations."
Oh, fuck. Many hardcore Puritans see mathemagic as the Devil's gift, and evidently the harbormaster is one of them.
You just have to ride this one out, there's no other option. "Mr. Desmond, I merely did my best. It isn't for me to decide what's holy and what's not."
He beams at that, and you press on before he can interject. "All the same, I think that the English may believe otherwise."
"How so?" The smile's gone, and he's watching you intently. Treading lightly, you reply. "Because my father was a licensed guildsman, but I'm not. I used his ring as a focus, but it isn't mine."
"What'll they do?"
"They'll try to take me back to Oxford or to the Institute in London. Likely put me through a crash program, mathematicians are needed these days."
"You mean they intend the devil's work, girl. I know that much, that bastard over in London and the other one in Paris. Both of 'em have grown fat off earthly sin, and the man in Spain does worse." Once Desmond is done telling you of the ungodliness of half of Europe, he proposes a solution. "I can simply say that it was a miracle. That you tried to use a device of your father's that was destroyed. You said as much to Hale, and I can back that."
Only one thing wrong, there. "But Hintze saw the ring."
"Hintze will keep his mouth shut for gold, and for the threat of Hell." Elijah Desmond is utterly serious about this, and you relax a little - no British search team will nab you now.
Like quicksilver, Desmond suddenly shifts his mood to a bright smile. "Now that the unpleasant part's out of the way, I can offer you a proper reward." You're expecting jewelry or some kind of religious item, but not what follows:
Pick one:
[X]The Preacher: There's a fiery Puritan in the backwoods who Desmond corresponds with - one who has accomplished many 'miracles'. Likely mathematics, and anyways having a priest on your side is useful.
[X]The Port: Silvio Fernandes is a filthy Catholic and a sinner, but also one of the few traders from Brazil that regularly stops off in Boston. Probably due to the bribes that only he can afford. An introduction from Desmond and Hale can open up contracts and information from the southern Americas.
[X]The Magnate: Richard Harpe owns some of the largest rum distilleries in the Carolinas, and happens to be the harbormaster's brother-in-law. A letter can be arranged, although the churchgoing harbormaster may not have the best reputation with a liquor baron.
Turn options, you have 400 pounds and one die per category:
Martial:
Intrigue:
Stewardship:
Diplomacy:
Learning:
Updates once in two days, so 48 hours to vote. You barely hit the DC70 in event mitigation, so a reward is yours.
Event Roll:
Screaming is the first thing you hear, the shouting of a panicked crowd. When you move outside your home, you see a massive fire in the distance. It lights up the sky, turning the night into a dull-orange daytime.
More importantly, it's near the docks and arsenal. Which can set half of Boston ablaze.
Making your way there, you find that the troops have put together a bucket-brigade to douse the worst of the flame amidst much cursing. They're keeping the fires at bay, but as you head towards the water, you find that there's more fire, not less.
Fire shouldn't be burning at sea.
It turns out that the flames aren't normal. From what you can glean from the panicked passersby and frantic officials, someone has smuggled in contraband that has then destabilized. The ship that brought it in has been erased already, and the flames are beginning to have a green tint.
"What can you do, girl? If you can't then get the hell out of the way, we're busy here." The harbormaster's second is busy, barking orders to the longshoremen and trying to build a firebreak.
It won't work, and you tell him why. "I can work through this, and my father left me some items that can help." You wave around your father's guild ring, and are promptly directed to Jurgen Hintze, a German who hired on with the garrison.
"You do what you can, Cove. I cannot help you, though. The flames are worst just ahead, and we have no time."
You nod and move ahead, but he's already turned elsewhere, shouting for water. He was right, though. As you move towards the crude barricade, you find that it's already burning a little, the water from the buckets doing little.
Only one thing left, then. Raising the locket, you try to scribe a circle in the air before you. Focusing on that and mentally phrasing the needed heat equations, you try your utmost to quench the fire.
It works, but only just. The greenish tint fades, and the flames are soon quenched by the bucket brigade. You can't see that, because you've almost fainted from the strain of redirecting that much heat belowground.
In that mental haze, you can vaguely feel your sleeves smoldering.
The longshoremen rush over to lift you up, and you're soon surrounded by cheering dockworkers. It appears that many of them saw what you did, and even more will learn about it.
Making your limp way home with a not-quite-guard of British infantry and dockworkers, you remember that the harbormaster's second has told you to meet him soon about your reward.
A show must be made, after all.
The next morning dawns bright and cheerful, a stark contrast from the chaos and panic of last night. Dressing as well as you can, you make your way to the harbormaster's office, where the man himself awaits you.
The building is rather simple, and the office similarly bleak. Save for a crucifix on one wall, there's little decoration for a man in charge of America's second largest seaport.
"Miss Cove, good to see you. Take a seat, I believe that I owe you my thanks for last night."
"Well, I wouldn't say that, but I did what I could."
"As should we all. Nonetheless, your gifts have been turned to God's work, and you're on the path to redemption. My congratulations."
Oh, fuck. Many hardcore Puritans see mathemagic as the Devil's gift, and evidently the harbormaster is one of them.
You just have to ride this one out, there's no other option. "Mr. Desmond, I merely did my best. It isn't for me to decide what's holy and what's not."
He beams at that, and you press on before he can interject. "All the same, I think that the English may believe otherwise."
"How so?" The smile's gone, and he's watching you intently. Treading lightly, you reply. "Because my father was a licensed guildsman, but I'm not. I used his ring as a focus, but it isn't mine."
"What'll they do?"
"They'll try to take me back to Oxford or to the Institute in London. Likely put me through a crash program, mathematicians are needed these days."
"You mean they intend the devil's work, girl. I know that much, that bastard over in London and the other one in Paris. Both of 'em have grown fat off earthly sin, and the man in Spain does worse." Once Desmond is done telling you of the ungodliness of half of Europe, he proposes a solution. "I can simply say that it was a miracle. That you tried to use a device of your father's that was destroyed. You said as much to Hale, and I can back that."
Only one thing wrong, there. "But Hintze saw the ring."
"Hintze will keep his mouth shut for gold, and for the threat of Hell." Elijah Desmond is utterly serious about this, and you relax a little - no British search team will nab you now.
Like quicksilver, Desmond suddenly shifts his mood to a bright smile. "Now that the unpleasant part's out of the way, I can offer you a proper reward." You're expecting jewelry or some kind of religious item, but not what follows:
Pick one:
[X]The Preacher: There's a fiery Puritan in the backwoods who Desmond corresponds with - one who has accomplished many 'miracles'. Likely mathematics, and anyways having a priest on your side is useful.
[X]The Port: Silvio Fernandes is a filthy Catholic and a sinner, but also one of the few traders from Brazil that regularly stops off in Boston. Probably due to the bribes that only he can afford. An introduction from Desmond and Hale can open up contracts and information from the southern Americas.
[X]The Magnate: Richard Harpe owns some of the largest rum distilleries in the Carolinas, and happens to be the harbormaster's brother-in-law. A letter can be arranged, although the churchgoing harbormaster may not have the best reputation with a liquor baron.
Turn options, you have 400 pounds and one die per category:
Martial:
[X]Armswoman: A good chunk of Boston was destroyed in the fire, and so was a good chunk of the garrison. See if you can convince the governor to sign you on as a mathematician's assistant, God knows there aren't enough. DC30/60, provides British official ties and contacts, although as a garrison member you will have obligations as well.
[X]Suzie Shooter: With an increased British presence and scrutiny following the fire, perhaps now is the time to fortify your house? Costs £35, adds Basic Defences = +5 to all home defence rolls. Roll d100 DC45 for increase in Martial, DC80 for trait.
[X]Break and Enter: You have arms, and need certain raw material for your mathematics studies. Why not use one to get the other? Of course, being caught now will wipe out any goodwill you've earned. DC40/60/90, failing the 40 gets you caught. Caught is not a Bad End, bear in mind.
[X]Suzie Shooter: With an increased British presence and scrutiny following the fire, perhaps now is the time to fortify your house? Costs £35, adds Basic Defences = +5 to all home defence rolls. Roll d100 DC45 for increase in Martial, DC80 for trait.
[X]Break and Enter: You have arms, and need certain raw material for your mathematics studies. Why not use one to get the other? Of course, being caught now will wipe out any goodwill you've earned. DC40/60/90, failing the 40 gets you caught. Caught is not a Bad End, bear in mind.
Intrigue:
[X]Letters of Marks: The taxmen use seals marked with magical patterns to mark crates covered by the new American taxes. This is supposedly to 'prevent circumventing of taxation'. Why not see if you can get a sample? DC50, opens up further Patriot options and projects.
[X]Pass Aft the Rum: One thing that any ship needs is someone to tend the propulsion crystals that create wind and wave to move the ship faster. You can sign onboard a tramp smuggler to the Caribbean or Carolinas, and try to get a feel for the way that smuggling and shipping work. DC60, yields £100 on success, increases Learning.
[X]Listening In: According to some, the Patriots meet in taverns scattered through the harbor district. See what you can find out, such knowledge is always useful. DC40/70, contacts Patriots, information about them, may raise Intrigue.
[X]Frogs: Ask around Boston about your father's associations and try to covertly ping Franklin. You need to know what that Frenchman was talking about, after all. DC55/90, increases Intrigue and gains contacts and information.
[X]Pass Aft the Rum: One thing that any ship needs is someone to tend the propulsion crystals that create wind and wave to move the ship faster. You can sign onboard a tramp smuggler to the Caribbean or Carolinas, and try to get a feel for the way that smuggling and shipping work. DC60, yields £100 on success, increases Learning.
[X]Listening In: According to some, the Patriots meet in taverns scattered through the harbor district. See what you can find out, such knowledge is always useful. DC40/70, contacts Patriots, information about them, may raise Intrigue.
[X]Frogs: Ask around Boston about your father's associations and try to covertly ping Franklin. You need to know what that Frenchman was talking about, after all. DC55/90, increases Intrigue and gains contacts and information.
Stewardship:
[X]Small Works: Try to use what skill you have to help in the rebuilding. There's little large work to do, and the yields will be small - but people may remember and approach you for aid in future. DC20/50/80, profits are £150/£400/£400+artefacts. Chance of useful contacts.
[X]Investment: Many, many merchants have lost warehouses and valuable commodities in the fire. Most of them will have difficulty rebuilding - and with £400 you can perhaps make a small profit there. Invest in voyages out of Boston, costs £300. Yields 1d20% profit, DC20 to make a profit.
[X]Hitting the Books: You aren't a financier, and for all your talent you need better, more formal training. Try to go through what few accountancy texts that Father left you, and attempt to hit up the merchants for more. £25, DC40/60/90 for Stewardship increase. Chance of trait. Chance of merchant contacts.
[X]Investment: Many, many merchants have lost warehouses and valuable commodities in the fire. Most of them will have difficulty rebuilding - and with £400 you can perhaps make a small profit there. Invest in voyages out of Boston, costs £300. Yields 1d20% profit, DC20 to make a profit.
[X]Hitting the Books: You aren't a financier, and for all your talent you need better, more formal training. Try to go through what few accountancy texts that Father left you, and attempt to hit up the merchants for more. £25, DC40/60/90 for Stewardship increase. Chance of trait. Chance of merchant contacts.
Diplomacy:
[X]Paineful: Franklin in his letter said to try to contact Hugo Meredith, Thomas Paine, or Paul Revere. Try to find them and establish a channel of communication. DC30/70, opens Patriot missions and contact with Franklin.
[X]Flag Flown High: There's another 'punitive expedition' being mounted against the French-leaning Indian tribes. See if you can sway the local garrison commandant to get you artefacts for cash. DC25/50/75, costs £100, gain Artefacts (Native American).
[X]Taxation: The populace is boiling at the new taxes, supposedly to pay for American defense. See if you can make some waves here, through speeches or simple writing. After all, a reputation is always useful. DC60, gain renown and notoriety. Choose a side:
-[X]Patriots
-[X]Loyalists
[X]Flag Flown High: There's another 'punitive expedition' being mounted against the French-leaning Indian tribes. See if you can sway the local garrison commandant to get you artefacts for cash. DC25/50/75, costs £100, gain Artefacts (Native American).
[X]Taxation: The populace is boiling at the new taxes, supposedly to pay for American defense. See if you can make some waves here, through speeches or simple writing. After all, a reputation is always useful. DC60, gain renown and notoriety. Choose a side:
-[X]Patriots
-[X]Loyalists
Learning:
[X]The Books: Franklin has sent you a series of primers for the New Mathematics. Why not read them? Locks in for 2 turns, roll d100 DC15/40/75 Learning for chance of trait and stat increase.
[X]The Sword: See if you can improve your skills at arms, given that a major fire has hit and the city is already restless - you need to defend yourself. DC40, Martial increase and chance of trait.
[X]The Pen: Franklin communicated via code - mundane codes. You know enough natural philosophy to try to decrypt them, or at least come up with something similar. DC50, Learning increase and crypto options unlocked.
[X]The Sword: See if you can improve your skills at arms, given that a major fire has hit and the city is already restless - you need to defend yourself. DC40, Martial increase and chance of trait.
[X]The Pen: Franklin communicated via code - mundane codes. You know enough natural philosophy to try to decrypt them, or at least come up with something similar. DC50, Learning increase and crypto options unlocked.
Updates once in two days, so 48 hours to vote. You barely hit the DC70 in event mitigation, so a reward is yours.