Kanna Dipolous, the manic archmage of Chelska, who has headed up the Economic Ministry and planned development of the nation for over a decade, has been forced into retirement. Well enough. She was getting tired of the job anyway. Instead, she departs for new lands and new challenges, such as spreading the message of Communism to new nations. The distant land of Halve, with its mysterious caste system, has recently rebelled against the imperialist fist of Glitterdawn Vale. They can surely use all the help they can get, and perhaps such a troubled nation will prove fertile ground for new doctrine...
Bearing the Torch of the People (Central Planning Fantasy Edition sequel/sidequest)
- Thread starter Rockeye
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An Old Friend
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
Kanna Dipolous, the manic archmage of Chelska, who has headed up the Economic Ministry and planned development of the nation for over a decade, has been forced into retirement. Well enough. She was getting tired of the job anyway. Instead, she departs for new lands and new challenges, such as spreading the message of Communism to new nations. The distant land of Halve, with its mysterious caste system, has recently rebelled against the imperialist fist of Glitterdawn Vale. They can surely use all the help they can get, and perhaps such a troubled nation will prove fertile ground for new doctrine...
Sequel to Central Planning, Fantasy Edition Fantasy
The home of a former Head of the Economic Ministry, Ignotius Hornzollar, is perhaps surprisingly humble. It is a single-story wooden cabin in the village of Chemis-Vau. His childhood home, and one of the relatively few saved from the "reorganization" by dint of its reliance mostly on herds and timber, in the steep foothills of the Upper Lakes fading into the mountain ridges. This is a quiet place. Once every day or two, a car or bus shows up with mail or bureaucrats, or a truck trundles away carrying bundles of wool or a few logs or animals. Usually, the most exciting thing going on is the old Bull's latest hobby project. The lawn is littered with wrought metal in dozens of shapes and sizes, ranging from rooster-decorated wind vanes to homemade wheelchairs to a working trebuchet.
People mostly put up with his antics. Most of all his wife. The old Bull deserves to have his fun in retirement, relaxing and tooling around. At seventy-six years old, he's surprisingly hale, still working in a fully magic-fired hand forge in his shed.
"Thank you for the biscuits, Mrs. Hornzollar!" Kanna nods her head rapidly, her manic energy not retreating even for this.
"It's no trouble. I like baking like he likes pounding metal." She pokes her husband in the ribs. "I stayed well clear of all of that like a good wife, and I've never been gladder for it. I can just see to my own domain, and all would be well. Such a headache. I have no idea how you didn't explode from worry, Igo!"
"Ah, I did explode some days! But you always were an island of peace from all that, Mary."
Ignotius Hornzollar leans over and kisses his wife on the forehead, making her giggle.
"I can't say I understand the appeal," Kanna hedges, "It never made much sense to me, the Chelskan tradition of marriage… But I'm glad you enjoyed it none the less. You two seem very happy together still."
"We are," Mary nods firmly. "But enough about us! What brings you here again, hmm? Aren't you doing Igo's job now?"
"Ah. Not anymore, you see. It's the most infuriating thing. Are you aware of the latest enterprise reforms?"
Ignotius waves his hands. "Spare us the details. What, something greedy and stupid, I guess?"
"Quite. So I put a stop to it. First within the legislative chambers, but that went nowhere. So I went public with it. That got a lot of people very mad, and it seems… That our friend and comrade Mr. Velkon, though he has punished the idiots dearly, would still prefer a minister who does not go public with such concerns."
"...Ah. I see." Ignotius Hornzollar sets down his cherry-syrup-glazed biscuit and looks seriously at Kanna. "Do I need to hide you?"
"What, no! No no no." Kanna's curly hair bounces as she shakes her head rapidly. "There was an outcry, and… Well, it would be worse if I were actively punished. As it is, publicly, I resigned. I've been offered a research post instead. It's all very… Light touch. My career in bureaucracy is dead, of course, but it was a fucking headache anyway. If you'll pardon the language."
"I hear worse every day," Mary assures her with a roll of her eyes.
"Fucking right," agrees Ignotius. "Who's replacing you? That train girl?"
"Miss Staver is taking the overall minister position, yes. I'm sure she'll do well enough. She has plenty of advisors if nothing else." Kanna claps her hands to refocus. "Anyway! I'm not taking the research post. I'm just going to… Leave."
"Oh? Where to?"
"I wasn't sure at first. There are other nations that need my help. There's a whole lot of world to see. The Goblin lands? Beseren, or Halve? Mathylko? Grenoble? Those enigmatic Lizardmen? Other lands yet unseen, even…"
"Oh, don't keep us in suspense," Ignotius protests. "Just spit it out already."
"Very well. Halve. They may appear to be monarchists from what we know, but what we know is very little, and they certainly are actually fighting against the imperialists… Perhaps it'll be fertile ground for the good news of communism, the power inherent in the working class. And if not, it'll be a glorious adventure."
The couple sigh. "You're going to get yourself killed, Kanna… You're a fucking genius when it comes to magic, you could get a lot more done in a lab than on a battlefield, I think. Weren't you dodging assassinations for a while? Will those Interior spooks even let you leave?"
"Yes, I was. And yes, I might… And they didn't want to, but I've managed to call in enough old favors to make it happen. I have permission to leave, I simply might not be able to ever return. I'll miss this place. The place that we both have helped build, and turn from a muddy pit into something that can bloody the Old Vale's nose!"
"Everyone tells me your fleet killer was very impressive."
Kanna grins and twists side to side for a bit, reliving the warm fuzzy sensation, the gut-churning mix of urgent fear and courage and raw magic. Then she sighs.
"Mm. Yes. But I can't bear letting that stop me. It might be dangerous, but this is what I want to do. I just… Wanted to come say goodbye to one of my oldest friends and my old boss, before I did go haring off into a battlefield."
"How are you even going to get there?" Ignotius wonders, muttering. "Glitterdawn rules the waves, according to the news."
Kanna giggles. "Oh, they aren't calling me an archmage for nothing, old friend. If I put my mind to it, I can do it. I've decided on something, though."
Choose your method of transit. How exactly are you going to get to a distant island nation, currently under blockade?
[]"I'll just teleport! If I make it a four-hour ritual, the cost becomes only very slightly ludicrous."
Teleport directly. Fast, safe, and direct. Can't bring any bulky items with you, and you might land somewhere slightly unexpected. Costs a lot of mana to perform (you'll spend some of your remaining resources to acquire it), but actions to prepare more efficient teleports might reduce this. Leave in at most eight weeks. Cannot bring (Bulky) supplies.
[]"I've got a ticket as a turbine expert on the next convoy to Grenoble, and then I'll travel the rest of the way myself."
A ticket on a well-protected cargo convoy across the ocean, to Grenoble. See some of the Old World on the way, like a summer road trip. You'll need some foreign currency (bought for R). The convoy leaves in exactly six weeks, barring unforeseen circumstances. (Bulky) supplies may make transit harder. The last leg might be trouble.
[]"There's a great many custom vessels in our western neighbors that can make passage safely, and I've signed on to one of them."
Commission a Goblin vessel to make the passage. You can arrange to pay in material goods (~3-5 R?), or with a promise to work as a skilled wizard along the way. Leave in six to eight weeks. Goblins are notoriously anarchistic, and the captain has told you to expect some side-tracks, not a direct course. (Bulky) supplies may cause extra fees.
[]"I've bought an airship- One of the Nesting Dolls, and I'll be kitting it out personally. So I'll just fly there."
Outfit a personal airship to make the journey. This ship will become a useful asset in Halve, but there's only so much leeway you have before your 'opportunity' to leave expires. Leave in at most ten weeks. (Costs 4 R, expect to spend more fitting it out) Up to two sets of (Bulky) supplies are not a problem. You'll have to blockade-run.
Each prep turn represents one week. You will have three actions per prep turn, many of which will cost some of your Resources. Your R represents a mixture of hard cash, "expired" supplies, favors from government enterprises, work buddies, and political allies who still view you fondly, and all remaining personal possessions.
You start with 20 R. Use them well.
First turn, plan vote both actions and travel type:
[X] Locked in: Travel Arrangements. All the details and fuss and negotiations for your departure need to be arranged as soon as possible. Sooner started, sooner finished. For teleport: Designs the basic ritual (Magic). For the convoy or goblin passage, organizes tickets and introductions (Organize). For the airship, take possession of it and fly it to a rented location for outfitting (Optimize). (Difficulty 4)
[] Learn Spoken Halvean: While the presence of a Chelskan embassy ensures that there are at least a few of the Halvean people who speak Chelskan, most will not. It would be much better to be able to actually speak the language instead of relying on notoriously finicky and unreliable telepathic or translation magic. (Speechify) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 5)
[] Learn Hanji: The writing system of Halve is a character based system rather than a phonetic alphabet, leading to some predicted difficulties in becoming fluent, but at least some of the most common words can be learned. Immersion will make learning an inevitability, but getting a head start certainly does not hurt. (Organize) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 6)
[] Target Practice: You are not a soldier, and likely never could be. For all that you have dodged multiple assassination attempts, it was as much luck and paranoia as personal skill. Getting some actual foundation in magical combat from a warmage would only be prudent before heading to a warzone. (Precaution, Magic) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 5)
[] Prepare Combat Gear: Your usual, everyday magical equipment simply won't be enough. Going to a warzone with JUST your boots of flight, three protective amulets, hat of winds, emergency adrenaline ring, four wands, emergency grenade crystals, and bag of glitterdust? You'd be practically naked! You need to make more gear. (2R) (Precaution, Magic) (Difficulty 7)
[] Read War Reports: Getting a detailed picture of what the current material situation with Glitterdawn is like would be a boon if you end up actually fighting them. Which you almost certainly will. Getting access to these sorts of reports when you're no longer a minister requires some favors called in, though. (1R) (Precaution) (Difficulty 4)
[] Acquire Weapons: If you want to help equip freedom fighters in Halve, you'll certainly need war material to give them. Actually getting permission for anything more than small arms might be difficult, of course. And they'll be heavy and bulky. But no war can be fought without weapons. (2-8R if successful?) (Bulky) (Speechify) (Difficulty 7)
[] Magic Supplies: All the bits and sundries of a well equipped wizard. Slide rules, crystal balls, mana crystals, spell circle stencils, compasses, field analyzers, wands and amulets and gold wire and so much more. You already have some of this, but there's not really such a thing as 'enough supplies'. (1R) (Organize, Magic) (Difficulty 6)
[] Industrial Plans: You have a great resource for how to build up from nothing at all on tap- Your old friend Hornzollar, and all the reports from that first era. Brushing up on the challenges and solutions of early Chelskan industrialization could help you pull Halve out of its current colonial state, too. (Optimize) (Difficulty 6)
[] Machine Tools: Some of the older series of steam equipment are still available from failing co-ops. From what you've read, the industrial situation in Halve is far from ideal. Bringing in some of the machines they're least likely to be able to build locally could help the situation greatly. (1-3R?) (Bulky) (Organize) (Benefits from Industrial Plans being done) (Difficulty 5)
[] Brush up on Theory: You will admit that you've never been the keenest political operator. For all your fervent belief in the ultimate good of Communism, the political systems to actually achieve it are something of a weakness of yours. Brushing up on that would be wise. (Speechify) (Difficulty 5)
[] Acquire Precious Metals and Hard Currency: Not exactly a very difficult task, it just requires filling out a lot of paperwork and pushing things through the bureaucracy. You'll only get so much at a time, but small amounts of silver, gold, osmium, and foreign banknotes (especially Grenoble ones) could make things easier. (2-6R?) (Organize) (Difficulty 3)
[] Consulting Work: You're famous enough as an immensely skilled wizard that you can probably earn some favors and money with a few short gigs here and there. It's an inherently short-term thing and getting rich quick is difficult on purpose, but if needs must... (Gain 1 R per success) (Magic) (Difficulty 7)
Please let me know if you have any questions, and refrain from voting for the first few hours to allow discussion and planning.
VOTE MORATORIUM 24 HOURS, how about
Sequel to Central Planning, Fantasy Edition Fantasy
The home of a former Head of the Economic Ministry, Ignotius Hornzollar, is perhaps surprisingly humble. It is a single-story wooden cabin in the village of Chemis-Vau. His childhood home, and one of the relatively few saved from the "reorganization" by dint of its reliance mostly on herds and timber, in the steep foothills of the Upper Lakes fading into the mountain ridges. This is a quiet place. Once every day or two, a car or bus shows up with mail or bureaucrats, or a truck trundles away carrying bundles of wool or a few logs or animals. Usually, the most exciting thing going on is the old Bull's latest hobby project. The lawn is littered with wrought metal in dozens of shapes and sizes, ranging from rooster-decorated wind vanes to homemade wheelchairs to a working trebuchet.
People mostly put up with his antics. Most of all his wife. The old Bull deserves to have his fun in retirement, relaxing and tooling around. At seventy-six years old, he's surprisingly hale, still working in a fully magic-fired hand forge in his shed.
"Thank you for the biscuits, Mrs. Hornzollar!" Kanna nods her head rapidly, her manic energy not retreating even for this.
"It's no trouble. I like baking like he likes pounding metal." She pokes her husband in the ribs. "I stayed well clear of all of that like a good wife, and I've never been gladder for it. I can just see to my own domain, and all would be well. Such a headache. I have no idea how you didn't explode from worry, Igo!"
"Ah, I did explode some days! But you always were an island of peace from all that, Mary."
Ignotius Hornzollar leans over and kisses his wife on the forehead, making her giggle.
"I can't say I understand the appeal," Kanna hedges, "It never made much sense to me, the Chelskan tradition of marriage… But I'm glad you enjoyed it none the less. You two seem very happy together still."
"We are," Mary nods firmly. "But enough about us! What brings you here again, hmm? Aren't you doing Igo's job now?"
"Ah. Not anymore, you see. It's the most infuriating thing. Are you aware of the latest enterprise reforms?"
Ignotius waves his hands. "Spare us the details. What, something greedy and stupid, I guess?"
"Quite. So I put a stop to it. First within the legislative chambers, but that went nowhere. So I went public with it. That got a lot of people very mad, and it seems… That our friend and comrade Mr. Velkon, though he has punished the idiots dearly, would still prefer a minister who does not go public with such concerns."
"...Ah. I see." Ignotius Hornzollar sets down his cherry-syrup-glazed biscuit and looks seriously at Kanna. "Do I need to hide you?"
"What, no! No no no." Kanna's curly hair bounces as she shakes her head rapidly. "There was an outcry, and… Well, it would be worse if I were actively punished. As it is, publicly, I resigned. I've been offered a research post instead. It's all very… Light touch. My career in bureaucracy is dead, of course, but it was a fucking headache anyway. If you'll pardon the language."
"I hear worse every day," Mary assures her with a roll of her eyes.
"Fucking right," agrees Ignotius. "Who's replacing you? That train girl?"
"Miss Staver is taking the overall minister position, yes. I'm sure she'll do well enough. She has plenty of advisors if nothing else." Kanna claps her hands to refocus. "Anyway! I'm not taking the research post. I'm just going to… Leave."
"Oh? Where to?"
"I wasn't sure at first. There are other nations that need my help. There's a whole lot of world to see. The Goblin lands? Beseren, or Halve? Mathylko? Grenoble? Those enigmatic Lizardmen? Other lands yet unseen, even…"
"Oh, don't keep us in suspense," Ignotius protests. "Just spit it out already."
"Very well. Halve. They may appear to be monarchists from what we know, but what we know is very little, and they certainly are actually fighting against the imperialists… Perhaps it'll be fertile ground for the good news of communism, the power inherent in the working class. And if not, it'll be a glorious adventure."
The couple sigh. "You're going to get yourself killed, Kanna… You're a fucking genius when it comes to magic, you could get a lot more done in a lab than on a battlefield, I think. Weren't you dodging assassinations for a while? Will those Interior spooks even let you leave?"
"Yes, I was. And yes, I might… And they didn't want to, but I've managed to call in enough old favors to make it happen. I have permission to leave, I simply might not be able to ever return. I'll miss this place. The place that we both have helped build, and turn from a muddy pit into something that can bloody the Old Vale's nose!"
"Everyone tells me your fleet killer was very impressive."
Kanna grins and twists side to side for a bit, reliving the warm fuzzy sensation, the gut-churning mix of urgent fear and courage and raw magic. Then she sighs.
"Mm. Yes. But I can't bear letting that stop me. It might be dangerous, but this is what I want to do. I just… Wanted to come say goodbye to one of my oldest friends and my old boss, before I did go haring off into a battlefield."
"How are you even going to get there?" Ignotius wonders, muttering. "Glitterdawn rules the waves, according to the news."
Kanna giggles. "Oh, they aren't calling me an archmage for nothing, old friend. If I put my mind to it, I can do it. I've decided on something, though."
Choose your method of transit. How exactly are you going to get to a distant island nation, currently under blockade?
[]"I'll just teleport! If I make it a four-hour ritual, the cost becomes only very slightly ludicrous."
Teleport directly. Fast, safe, and direct. Can't bring any bulky items with you, and you might land somewhere slightly unexpected. Costs a lot of mana to perform (you'll spend some of your remaining resources to acquire it), but actions to prepare more efficient teleports might reduce this. Leave in at most eight weeks. Cannot bring (Bulky) supplies.
[]"I've got a ticket as a turbine expert on the next convoy to Grenoble, and then I'll travel the rest of the way myself."
A ticket on a well-protected cargo convoy across the ocean, to Grenoble. See some of the Old World on the way, like a summer road trip. You'll need some foreign currency (bought for R). The convoy leaves in exactly six weeks, barring unforeseen circumstances. (Bulky) supplies may make transit harder. The last leg might be trouble.
[]"There's a great many custom vessels in our western neighbors that can make passage safely, and I've signed on to one of them."
Commission a Goblin vessel to make the passage. You can arrange to pay in material goods (~3-5 R?), or with a promise to work as a skilled wizard along the way. Leave in six to eight weeks. Goblins are notoriously anarchistic, and the captain has told you to expect some side-tracks, not a direct course. (Bulky) supplies may cause extra fees.
[]"I've bought an airship- One of the Nesting Dolls, and I'll be kitting it out personally. So I'll just fly there."
Outfit a personal airship to make the journey. This ship will become a useful asset in Halve, but there's only so much leeway you have before your 'opportunity' to leave expires. Leave in at most ten weeks. (Costs 4 R, expect to spend more fitting it out) Up to two sets of (Bulky) supplies are not a problem. You'll have to blockade-run.
Each prep turn represents one week. You will have three actions per prep turn, many of which will cost some of your Resources. Your R represents a mixture of hard cash, "expired" supplies, favors from government enterprises, work buddies, and political allies who still view you fondly, and all remaining personal possessions.
You start with 20 R. Use them well.
First turn, plan vote both actions and travel type:
[X] Locked in: Travel Arrangements. All the details and fuss and negotiations for your departure need to be arranged as soon as possible. Sooner started, sooner finished. For teleport: Designs the basic ritual (Magic). For the convoy or goblin passage, organizes tickets and introductions (Organize). For the airship, take possession of it and fly it to a rented location for outfitting (Optimize). (Difficulty 4)
[] Learn Spoken Halvean: While the presence of a Chelskan embassy ensures that there are at least a few of the Halvean people who speak Chelskan, most will not. It would be much better to be able to actually speak the language instead of relying on notoriously finicky and unreliable telepathic or translation magic. (Speechify) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 5)
[] Learn Hanji: The writing system of Halve is a character based system rather than a phonetic alphabet, leading to some predicted difficulties in becoming fluent, but at least some of the most common words can be learned. Immersion will make learning an inevitability, but getting a head start certainly does not hurt. (Organize) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 6)
[] Target Practice: You are not a soldier, and likely never could be. For all that you have dodged multiple assassination attempts, it was as much luck and paranoia as personal skill. Getting some actual foundation in magical combat from a warmage would only be prudent before heading to a warzone. (Precaution, Magic) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 5)
[] Prepare Combat Gear: Your usual, everyday magical equipment simply won't be enough. Going to a warzone with JUST your boots of flight, three protective amulets, hat of winds, emergency adrenaline ring, four wands, emergency grenade crystals, and bag of glitterdust? You'd be practically naked! You need to make more gear. (2R) (Precaution, Magic) (Difficulty 7)
[] Read War Reports: Getting a detailed picture of what the current material situation with Glitterdawn is like would be a boon if you end up actually fighting them. Which you almost certainly will. Getting access to these sorts of reports when you're no longer a minister requires some favors called in, though. (1R) (Precaution) (Difficulty 4)
[] Acquire Weapons: If you want to help equip freedom fighters in Halve, you'll certainly need war material to give them. Actually getting permission for anything more than small arms might be difficult, of course. And they'll be heavy and bulky. But no war can be fought without weapons. (2-8R if successful?) (Bulky) (Speechify) (Difficulty 7)
[] Magic Supplies: All the bits and sundries of a well equipped wizard. Slide rules, crystal balls, mana crystals, spell circle stencils, compasses, field analyzers, wands and amulets and gold wire and so much more. You already have some of this, but there's not really such a thing as 'enough supplies'. (1R) (Organize, Magic) (Difficulty 6)
[] Industrial Plans: You have a great resource for how to build up from nothing at all on tap- Your old friend Hornzollar, and all the reports from that first era. Brushing up on the challenges and solutions of early Chelskan industrialization could help you pull Halve out of its current colonial state, too. (Optimize) (Difficulty 6)
[] Machine Tools: Some of the older series of steam equipment are still available from failing co-ops. From what you've read, the industrial situation in Halve is far from ideal. Bringing in some of the machines they're least likely to be able to build locally could help the situation greatly. (1-3R?) (Bulky) (Organize) (Benefits from Industrial Plans being done) (Difficulty 5)
[] Brush up on Theory: You will admit that you've never been the keenest political operator. For all your fervent belief in the ultimate good of Communism, the political systems to actually achieve it are something of a weakness of yours. Brushing up on that would be wise. (Speechify) (Difficulty 5)
[] Acquire Precious Metals and Hard Currency: Not exactly a very difficult task, it just requires filling out a lot of paperwork and pushing things through the bureaucracy. You'll only get so much at a time, but small amounts of silver, gold, osmium, and foreign banknotes (especially Grenoble ones) could make things easier. (2-6R?) (Organize) (Difficulty 3)
[] Consulting Work: You're famous enough as an immensely skilled wizard that you can probably earn some favors and money with a few short gigs here and there. It's an inherently short-term thing and getting rich quick is difficult on purpose, but if needs must... (Gain 1 R per success) (Magic) (Difficulty 7)
Please let me know if you have any questions, and refrain from voting for the first few hours to allow discussion and planning.
VOTE MORATORIUM 24 HOURS, how about
Last edited:
Mechanics
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
Mechanics
Kanna has five stats.
Organize: 3
Optimize: 4
Precaution: 2
Speechify: 3
Magic: 5
When attempting an action, she uses the most relevant stat. If you attempt an action that doesn't fit any of the stats at a stretch, you will roll 1d10. If you attempt an action that is especially suited to a synergistic approach (such as 'Optimize Magic' for making an airship more efficient), she adds two stats together and rolls the total.
After rolling, any die above a certain threshold counts as a success. The threshold depends on the difficulty.
3: Routine (I.E. cleaning cantrips)
5: Simple (I.E. construction via telekinesis)
7: Complicated (I.E. hand-build a mana motor)
9: Fiendish (I.E. complicated magic shields)
10: Cutting Edge (I.E. teleportation, portals, etc)
As far as chances of success at difficulties 3/5/7/9/10 go, the chance for at least 1 success are as follows:
At 2 dice (weak) that's 96/84/64/36/19%
At 3 dice (average) that's 99/94/78/49/27%
At 4 dice (strong) that's ~100/97/87/59/34%
At 5 dice (excellent) that's ~100/99/92/67/41%
Extra successes make the result more dramatic, but two successes is not necessarily exactly twice as good as one.
Rolling 10s adds extra dice- One for each 10 rolled. Since 10 is the hardest difficulty, these also automatically count as 1 success.
Rolling 1s subtracts one success for every TWO 1s rolled. If the final result has a negative number of successes, it's a critical failure with dramatic negative results
EXAMPLES:
Kanna wants to sort through some paperwork and figure out how much supplies an army has available. This action seems pretty applicable to Organize, which is scored at 3.
Scenario 1:
This particular portion of the army has a dedicated and well-organized logistical corps that keeps the paperwork in good order. Difficulty: 4. Not quite routine, but still easy.
She rolls: 8, 2, 4. Two successes! She gains an excellent picture of the supply situation and even thinks of ways to extend it a little bit, perhaps new routes to get supplies faster or ways to reduce wastage.
Scenario 2:
The reports were made by unmotivated conscripts so the papers are confusing, but at least she's familiar with the jargon. Difficulty: 6. Tricky, but far from impossible.
She rolls: 10, 9, 1, and an extra die: Another 1. What rotten luck! The extra die rolled a 1 and took us from two successes down to one. Still, one success means that she does manage to understand the current supply status.
Scenario 3:
The paperwork is a mess, and worse, she's not great at the language yet. This makes it very difficult to get things done. Difficulty: 8. Ugh, what a mess…
She rolls: 5, 6, 7. No successes. But not a terrible failure either. The result is simply that she makes little progress on understanding thanks to language issues.
Scenario 4:
Kanna wants to make her favorite shield spell even more efficient. It's already very, very good, so making any further improvements is quite difficult. This is cutting edge stuff! Difficulty is 10. However, her Optimize plus her Magic is 9 dice! With that many rolls, surely it'll work well?
2, 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 5, 6, 8
Alas! No successes. Even with her prodigal skill at optimizing magic, this task was simply too difficult to always succeed at. If she'd rolled two ones, though… Perhaps she would have failed to notice a fatal flaw in the new design until it was too late.
Kanna has five stats.
Organize: 3
Optimize: 4
Precaution: 2
Speechify: 3
Magic: 5
When attempting an action, she uses the most relevant stat. If you attempt an action that doesn't fit any of the stats at a stretch, you will roll 1d10. If you attempt an action that is especially suited to a synergistic approach (such as 'Optimize Magic' for making an airship more efficient), she adds two stats together and rolls the total.
After rolling, any die above a certain threshold counts as a success. The threshold depends on the difficulty.
3: Routine (I.E. cleaning cantrips)
5: Simple (I.E. construction via telekinesis)
7: Complicated (I.E. hand-build a mana motor)
9: Fiendish (I.E. complicated magic shields)
10: Cutting Edge (I.E. teleportation, portals, etc)
As far as chances of success at difficulties 3/5/7/9/10 go, the chance for at least 1 success are as follows:
At 2 dice (weak) that's 96/84/64/36/19%
At 3 dice (average) that's 99/94/78/49/27%
At 4 dice (strong) that's ~100/97/87/59/34%
At 5 dice (excellent) that's ~100/99/92/67/41%
Extra successes make the result more dramatic, but two successes is not necessarily exactly twice as good as one.
Rolling 10s adds extra dice- One for each 10 rolled. Since 10 is the hardest difficulty, these also automatically count as 1 success.
Rolling 1s subtracts one success for every TWO 1s rolled. If the final result has a negative number of successes, it's a critical failure with dramatic negative results
EXAMPLES:
Kanna wants to sort through some paperwork and figure out how much supplies an army has available. This action seems pretty applicable to Organize, which is scored at 3.
Scenario 1:
This particular portion of the army has a dedicated and well-organized logistical corps that keeps the paperwork in good order. Difficulty: 4. Not quite routine, but still easy.
She rolls: 8, 2, 4. Two successes! She gains an excellent picture of the supply situation and even thinks of ways to extend it a little bit, perhaps new routes to get supplies faster or ways to reduce wastage.
Scenario 2:
The reports were made by unmotivated conscripts so the papers are confusing, but at least she's familiar with the jargon. Difficulty: 6. Tricky, but far from impossible.
She rolls: 10, 9, 1, and an extra die: Another 1. What rotten luck! The extra die rolled a 1 and took us from two successes down to one. Still, one success means that she does manage to understand the current supply status.
Scenario 3:
The paperwork is a mess, and worse, she's not great at the language yet. This makes it very difficult to get things done. Difficulty: 8. Ugh, what a mess…
She rolls: 5, 6, 7. No successes. But not a terrible failure either. The result is simply that she makes little progress on understanding thanks to language issues.
Scenario 4:
Kanna wants to make her favorite shield spell even more efficient. It's already very, very good, so making any further improvements is quite difficult. This is cutting edge stuff! Difficulty is 10. However, her Optimize plus her Magic is 9 dice! With that many rolls, surely it'll work well?
2, 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 5, 6, 8
Alas! No successes. Even with her prodigal skill at optimizing magic, this task was simply too difficult to always succeed at. If she'd rolled two ones, though… Perhaps she would have failed to notice a fatal flaw in the new design until it was too late.
Last edited:
Scale Rocks Builders No.51
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
"I can't go so soon..." Kanna mutters in an unusual display of hesitance.
"Of course you can, you stubborn elf! You mad wizard! You're the single most forceful individual I have ever met, and that's saying something."
"Aye, I can. But I don't want to."
Hornzollar sighs deeply. "You're going to say it out loud, aren't you?"
"I am." With a firm nod, she continues. "This might be the last time we see each other. After all, I'm going to somewhere that's at war. To fight in said war. And you're..."
"Old. I'm old, Kanna, it's not hard to say."
"Perhaps I can do something about that. There are therapies, I hear. Magic solves many things..."
Ignotius looks like he's swallowed a lemon. His wife Mary frowns and answers, "Now, that sounds expensive, doesn't it? We're both due to join the spirits sooner or later, and messing with that..."
"Bah!" Ignotius says suddenly. "Dear? I love this world- And I love you- Too much to stop without trying this sort of-"
Mary's lips go to a thin line. "I didn't marry a vampire."
"Perhaps... I should speak of other things," Kanna suggests. "My apologies, Mrs. Hornzollar. I feel like I don't actually know you very well, for all that Ignotius spoke of you often."
"That's alright, Kanna. You don't know me, and that's the truth. Not everybody knows everyone else- We're all in a great web, being lesser and greater parts of each others' lives. It is what it is."
What a puzzling attitude. But sensible enough, from a certain point of view, perhaps. There's just no point worrying over some things. "I see? Well... If you insist."
Ignotius sighs. "Aye. Besides, my back still hurts from that time Signore Damned Chainwielder himself melted an entire block of Harkon- You remember that battle?"
"Ah... That was close to the end, wasn't it? When they knew they were beaten but were too fucking stubborn to admit it."
"Yeah. All over but the dying, then."
"I think I was researching, then. Trying to work out the basis of the shields, and find something that would slip through..."
Ignotius snorts. "My point was, I don't fucking regret it. They were murdering people for mana. Literally take you to the top of the bloody pyramid and cut you apart. No fucking wonder we took the thing apart stone by stone, after."
"And then we had long years to build up. I half lived out of the first spellframe plant, you know? The old Branchweavers- Damn! What a fine machine those were! They were just too difficult to use for almost anyone until I codified it down to extremely specific things. I think I even built a practice rig... Wonder where it ended up."
"Museum, maybe. Lots of things from that era got shoved into museums when they were no longer useful."
"When we'd moved past them. The first locomotives..."
"Mm, yes. They called it the 'steam explosion school of engineering' for a while. But we didn't have anything better, the alternative was horse-drawn buggies. Good times, good times."
...They chat for a while longer. Past the sunset, for Kanna can't quite bring herself to just leave. And when she does, she tries her best not to make it a solemn thing. Instead, she promises to be back in a year or ten.
Perhaps she could look into human life extension therapies, too. There must be papers on it, at least. How hard could it be?
[X] Locked in: Travel Arrangements. (Optimize) (Difficulty 4) - 4 dice - 2 successes
But all that fades away when she makes the trip down to Skyreach, home of much of the airship industry.
She uses a personal-scale spell hooked onto a wand to fly the distance between Hornzollar's little village and the city of Kannit, following the rail line and then the river. The trip is made on a Nesting Doll, much like the one waiting for her... Such ships are not actually build identically, on a production line, since ships are a fairly complicated business. The only parts that are completely standardized are the lifting-body spellframes, the magical devices that cast a shadow over the ship and greatly reduce its weight, and the powerplants. Once, they had older multiple-expansion engines, inefficient but workable. Now, each one is equipped with a small coal-powered turbine to generate mana, to run the propellers with propulsive force, and to bleed off heat to keep the chill of the sky away.
This one isn't hers. She can pick out the maker's marks that designate it as a rare Dusktown Air Yard build. They only make two or three every half-year, if she recalls correctly. But attempting to get any more involved in the vessel's operations than that would draw unnecessary ire. The captain, a man with a bushy beard, a slow eye, and a very big hat, does not seem like the talkative sort. In fact, he says no more than twenty-two words the entire time, all of them to other ships or local flight directors, courtesy of the comm-ball in the bridge. There is an itch and urge to poke around and familiarize herself with the ship, one of many of the class, once the S-series but quickly redubbed 'nesting dolls'...
For now, however, she's a passenger like any other. For twenty-four hours more, as far as the inestimable Mr. Nicodemus Yeltsin is concerned, she is essentially cargo that inconveniently requires things like 'bathrooms' and 'food'. She is permitted aboard because his manifest says so, and for no other reason. The scandal, her magical ability, the fact that she is female... None of it matters to this scruffy old boot, and his two off-shift friends follow the captain's lead, creating a comfortably quiet atmosphere. Just the hum of the turbine and the whistle of the wind, plus soft ticking from the controls. It's oddly endearing, but does not lend itself well to conversation. So... She takes a nap in the moderately soft cot in one of the cabins, and spends the rest of the time in correspondence with her pocket crystal ball, arranging things. Might as well get used to sleeping aboard now, ne?
"Yha, sure boss." The woman on the other end of the connection yawns deeply. "Nobody will say a word. We know enough to be on your side, the while thing's such a shitshow anyway. You can use bay six. Pretty well kitted- Overhead cranes, machine shop, onsite bunks and all."
"I very much appreciate you and your team's approval, miss Zeether! Though I'm not your boss anymore, you know?"
"Staver's alright, but she's not you," Zeether replies, unapologetically. "More the sort to toe the line instead of poking out eyes from the money-grubbers."
"Mmh. We need to be ever vigilant against the forces of reaction and corruption. But are you sure it's alright to take over one of the old variable-field bays?"
"It sure is. You know more than I do that the safework field units represent the next generation of the tech- We've moved beyond the need for huge isolated warehouses for mana field isolation, especially since they're not good enough for Rozokin-grade work either. It's just infrastructure going spare right now. Better it be used than not, especially since you'll be gone by the time the new field generators arrive in three months."
"I certainly will be. And I'll do my best to leave the facilities in the same shape I received them. It wouldn't do to burden your team unnecessarily!"
"I mean, go ahead, Miss Dipolous! If this is the only way I can support you... Well, it ain't marching in the street, but I'll stamp requisitions all day."
"Your aid will surely contribute to the liberation abroad. I'll arrive in two days. I'm just about to take possession now."
"Mhm. See you soon then, boss. Bye for now."
Kanna smiles as the comm link drops. Then she tidies herself up and makes her way through the Skyreach mustering yards. One of the largest transportation nexuses in all of Sarlonne, where three rail lines, river barge traffic, and large numbers of airships all meet... The city of Skyreach was mostly untouched in Sarlonne's liberation. Even though it was used as an airbase by the Vale, their air power was completely dominant for most of the war, precluding any sort of raid... And the Glitterdawn Vale imperialists decided to cut their losses and give up the colony before the ground war truly reached it, either. So the sculpted wooden towers are intact, each one practically a miniature village with businesses, homes, and industries on different levels, and many of them with moorings for airships on the roofs.
It's pretty. But it's not the Chelskan way. Off to the side, in wide riverside clearings, a steel and concrete forest much busier than the old city bustles: The cargo yards. Each one of those towers likely took decades to raise and fill out, where modern steel and concrete techniques could raise one of similar height in three to five months. Less, if magic is used aggressively to accelerate the construction process. They really are an art, being lost and overshadowed by the titan hand of industry... But art can be pursued later, when material comfort and a common-owned system is established the world over.
"Bah! Enough internal monologuing! Let's go see the ship."
"Let me just say again, it's so great to meet you! You're an inspiration, you really are."
"And once again, thank you! But it's other people who must take responsibility for themselves. The common good cannot rest on one pair of shoulders, however mighty!"
Her escort, a young dark-haired elf- Probably only thirty, thirty five, barely even a real adult- Who introduced herself as Marie Mapleseed, pats the wooden hull affectionately before taking hold of the latch on the heavy steel door and raising it with a healthy thunk. The door swings open and down, revealing a narrow stairway used to allow crew and passengers aboard.
"And here we have her! Scale Rocks Builders number 51. Turned out in Whitewater not eight days ago and flown down to Lily Lake and then here, as a shakedown cruise."
"Up we go, let's have an inspection." There is a clomp clomp clomp as the pair head into the vessel.
Marie follows behind as they ascend into the core hallway. "All systems nominal, speed achieved: Sixty-two knots. I hope this vessel will serve you well on your adventures, miss Dipolous! It's truly inspiring to be in the presence of such a figure, you know."
Kanna grins back. "Ah, a fan? I couldn't tell with all the praise so far. I've done nothing that someone else couldn't have, were they in my position, you know!"
Marie blushes, but nods. "Yes, I'm a fan! You're the only one who actually stood up for us, the common elf here, even a little bit. And you're brilliant- You downscaled the safework fields! You put floramana into production!"
"Oh, much of that was done with the help of others," Kanna demurs, smiling.
"And your work on the PMDs was amazing- I actually customized some of the cartridges-" She taps the box by her side.
Kanna rounds on her with a gasp of delight. "Really! I was told that nobody uses that feature and it was a waste of effort! What spells did you add?"
"Um! S-So I saw that there's really only room for two main circles and about three hundred characters, so anything really amazing would have to cut down lots of bits at every step. Short spells are a lot harder than efficient spells, after all."
"Indeed! When a frame is doing the casting, length of the subject spell adds a linear cost to each casting- Entirely different constraints to free casting, or ritual casting, where utter specificity is needed even at the cost of length and difficulty."
"Yes, exactly! So I eventually settled on a two-part spell that manipulates electrical charge in open air- I was hoping for a cheap lightning attack but uhhhh, you know, the most common lightbulb designs simply create light directly using ytle, but lightning makes light, right? So I thought, this thing I read about called electrical charges can possibly make light, if you do it right, watch!"
She draws the wand from the case at her side and points it down the hall. Depressing the trigger, a bright red glow shines out from a line of space directly in front of the wand. As she twirls it around, it looks like a blade made of baneful red light.
"Isn't this amazing? It doesn't do anything, but it looks really fantastical, doesn't it?"
Kanna is grinning and watching the display. "Amazing indeed! Oh, we have got to look at that together later. Have you submitted it as an invention? What's the actual mana drain? Does- Hrhh. That's brilliant, miss Marie, but we can look at all that later. Can't forget where we are."
With that reminder, Marie releases the trigger and shuffles from side to side, embarrassed. "Gods and stars. Kanna Dipolous said my spell is brilliant! Eeeeeee!" She pats her face repeatedly. "Okay! Right. Right. Tour, then? I'm sure you've seen other Nesting Dolls but they're all a bit different. So we should take a good long look at yours."
"They are. It's good to review things carefully."
Marie bows, muttering something and giggling, and then the inspection proceeds. The ship, currently only named 'Scale Rocks Builders no.51', is 98 feet long, 34 feet wide, and 30 feet high at its greatest dimensions. A sleek shape almost like two ocean-boats placed with their tops together, barring the heavy steel landing struts, she has three decks. For reasons that it would take a four-year degree to fully understand, it is vastly easier for magic to edit the gravity affecting an airship, rather than negate it completely or directly modify the mass of a vessel. When over 90% of your weight can be removed for a low ongoing mana cost, some low-pressure air tanks are enough to generate the buoyancy required to do the rest of the lifting. So the top deck is not much but a machinery area and a large space to hold huge, thin-walled steel tanks, plus the pumps to service them and the distributed spellframes that apply a careful veil of weight-reduction across the hull, with redundant overlap and two separate mana supplies.
The main deck runs along the bottom of the ship, with the engine room at the back containing a large coal-burning turbine as well as chunky mana-siphoning units along the driveshaft, and a considerable space for coal bunkerage and an automatic feeding system. The entire room is clad in steel and there is an emergency sprinkler system, to prevent stray sparks from causing wildfires. In front of that is the cargo bay, a large open space with two rolling doors taking up essentially half of the ship's broadsides. Under the metal floor runs the thick steel keel and various conduits and pipes. There is an overhead gantry and a basic grab-and-lift spellframe for moving heavy cargo. The front of the ship is split into two separate decks, containing a bridge with a helm seat and an optional navigator/captain station, four small cabins, a modest galley with freezer and pantry, restrooms and a tiny shower, as well as plumbing facilities and a small waste-separation unit to recycle as much water as possible. Water tanks as ballast, ancillary storage, a few parachute sets, mana storage, fire extinguishers, and supplementary coal bunkers are distributed all around, wherever free space is available (though preferring areas lower in the ship).
"Quite a fine piece of engineering, these beauties are. Not something that can be stamped together in a factory, but to produce so many so quickly... The shipbuilders of the Sarlonne have proved themselves equal to the challenges of a modern world."
"I'm glad to hear that! Well... If everything is in order... I can sign her over to you. Fully coaled and watered, as we just checked."
Kanna quirks an eyebrow. "What troubles you, miss Mapleseed?"
"Ah! It's just, I don't mean to impose, but I heard you're travelling to help liberate the animal-elves of Halve. It's just... I was hoping I could... Go with you? Sorry, I know, it's selfish of me to ask. I'm sure you have limited space aboard, and, and need soldiers or experts to fill out a roster, not just a shipbuilder apprentice who doesn't have any impressive qualifications or anything forget I said anything-"
"Marie. Maple." Kanna claps her on the shoulder. "Please calm down. A shipbuilder would be quite fine to bring actually, lest I suffer breakdowns. Let me think about this for a minute... You're aware that it's going to be dangerous, yes?"
"Y-Yes, miss Dipolous. The Old Vale is cruel, I know that. The bewilder fog took my grandfather, after all." She scowls. "I think people should be free of them."
"Kanna. Please, call me Kanna." Her stare is intense, curly blonde hair surrounding eyes that seem to bore into Marie. "Do not feel obligated. Every person must serve the common good, but not everyone serves the same way. Even I have doubts if my course is for the best... But I cannot bear anything else, at this point."
"...I know. I know, not everyone can be a war hero, or a great scientist... Some people, all they can do is work hard. From each according to their means."
"And to each according to their needs," Kanna finishes the common saying. "Regardless. Are you trying to follow me? Live up to my example? I would ask that you do anything but that! I am not you- And you are not me. My path is not yours. Your red light spell is fascinating, and could lead to any number of brilliant advancements."
"It's too difficult to manufacture," Marie mutters, looking to the side. "Codified into a dedicated spellframe, it doesn't produce enough light, efficiently enough, to be worth the manufacturing costs."
"But academically, it could lead to entirely new lines of research. Who knows what is buried in the mysteries of lightning? You could spend your life uncovering them, instead of following me, instead of building ships. For... Is it revenge?"
"...I just. I just want to feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. Building Dolls forever would be... Such a useless life. Please, take me with you. I know it's dangerous. I know I'm probably not the best. But I want to leave Sarlonne. I want... I don't know. Something."
Kanna sighs deeply, and thinks.
Allow Marie Mapleseed to join your quest?
[] Yes, she's a brilliant mind and very experienced with airship work. Such an assistant would be very valuable.
[] No, she's far too young. And a bit... Hero-worshippy. It would be bad to drag her into danger unprepared.
What will you name your new vessel? Every ship needs a name, after all.
[] Comet
[] Liberator
[] Beacon
[] Morningstar
[] Write-In
Two hours moratorium.
The third person voice is feeling odd to write. I think a second person voice might work better, since this is a close and character focused quest instead of the previous broad overview one.
What do you think of second person perspective as a possible POV for this thread?
Observe:
"Of course you can, you stubborn elf! You mad wizard! You're the single most forceful individual I have ever met, and that's saying something."
"Aye, I can. But I don't want to."
Hornzollar sighs deeply. "You're going to say it out loud, aren't you?"
"I am." With a firm nod, she continues. "This might be the last time we see each other. After all, I'm going to somewhere that's at war. To fight in said war. And you're..."
"Old. I'm old, Kanna, it's not hard to say."
"Perhaps I can do something about that. There are therapies, I hear. Magic solves many things..."
Ignotius looks like he's swallowed a lemon. His wife Mary frowns and answers, "Now, that sounds expensive, doesn't it? We're both due to join the spirits sooner or later, and messing with that..."
"Bah!" Ignotius says suddenly. "Dear? I love this world- And I love you- Too much to stop without trying this sort of-"
Mary's lips go to a thin line. "I didn't marry a vampire."
"Perhaps... I should speak of other things," Kanna suggests. "My apologies, Mrs. Hornzollar. I feel like I don't actually know you very well, for all that Ignotius spoke of you often."
"That's alright, Kanna. You don't know me, and that's the truth. Not everybody knows everyone else- We're all in a great web, being lesser and greater parts of each others' lives. It is what it is."
What a puzzling attitude. But sensible enough, from a certain point of view, perhaps. There's just no point worrying over some things. "I see? Well... If you insist."
Ignotius sighs. "Aye. Besides, my back still hurts from that time Signore Damned Chainwielder himself melted an entire block of Harkon- You remember that battle?"
"Ah... That was close to the end, wasn't it? When they knew they were beaten but were too fucking stubborn to admit it."
"Yeah. All over but the dying, then."
"I think I was researching, then. Trying to work out the basis of the shields, and find something that would slip through..."
Ignotius snorts. "My point was, I don't fucking regret it. They were murdering people for mana. Literally take you to the top of the bloody pyramid and cut you apart. No fucking wonder we took the thing apart stone by stone, after."
"And then we had long years to build up. I half lived out of the first spellframe plant, you know? The old Branchweavers- Damn! What a fine machine those were! They were just too difficult to use for almost anyone until I codified it down to extremely specific things. I think I even built a practice rig... Wonder where it ended up."
"Museum, maybe. Lots of things from that era got shoved into museums when they were no longer useful."
"When we'd moved past them. The first locomotives..."
"Mm, yes. They called it the 'steam explosion school of engineering' for a while. But we didn't have anything better, the alternative was horse-drawn buggies. Good times, good times."
...They chat for a while longer. Past the sunset, for Kanna can't quite bring herself to just leave. And when she does, she tries her best not to make it a solemn thing. Instead, she promises to be back in a year or ten.
Perhaps she could look into human life extension therapies, too. There must be papers on it, at least. How hard could it be?
[X] Locked in: Travel Arrangements. (Optimize) (Difficulty 4) - 4 dice - 2 successes
But all that fades away when she makes the trip down to Skyreach, home of much of the airship industry.
She uses a personal-scale spell hooked onto a wand to fly the distance between Hornzollar's little village and the city of Kannit, following the rail line and then the river. The trip is made on a Nesting Doll, much like the one waiting for her... Such ships are not actually build identically, on a production line, since ships are a fairly complicated business. The only parts that are completely standardized are the lifting-body spellframes, the magical devices that cast a shadow over the ship and greatly reduce its weight, and the powerplants. Once, they had older multiple-expansion engines, inefficient but workable. Now, each one is equipped with a small coal-powered turbine to generate mana, to run the propellers with propulsive force, and to bleed off heat to keep the chill of the sky away.
This one isn't hers. She can pick out the maker's marks that designate it as a rare Dusktown Air Yard build. They only make two or three every half-year, if she recalls correctly. But attempting to get any more involved in the vessel's operations than that would draw unnecessary ire. The captain, a man with a bushy beard, a slow eye, and a very big hat, does not seem like the talkative sort. In fact, he says no more than twenty-two words the entire time, all of them to other ships or local flight directors, courtesy of the comm-ball in the bridge. There is an itch and urge to poke around and familiarize herself with the ship, one of many of the class, once the S-series but quickly redubbed 'nesting dolls'...
For now, however, she's a passenger like any other. For twenty-four hours more, as far as the inestimable Mr. Nicodemus Yeltsin is concerned, she is essentially cargo that inconveniently requires things like 'bathrooms' and 'food'. She is permitted aboard because his manifest says so, and for no other reason. The scandal, her magical ability, the fact that she is female... None of it matters to this scruffy old boot, and his two off-shift friends follow the captain's lead, creating a comfortably quiet atmosphere. Just the hum of the turbine and the whistle of the wind, plus soft ticking from the controls. It's oddly endearing, but does not lend itself well to conversation. So... She takes a nap in the moderately soft cot in one of the cabins, and spends the rest of the time in correspondence with her pocket crystal ball, arranging things. Might as well get used to sleeping aboard now, ne?
"Yha, sure boss." The woman on the other end of the connection yawns deeply. "Nobody will say a word. We know enough to be on your side, the while thing's such a shitshow anyway. You can use bay six. Pretty well kitted- Overhead cranes, machine shop, onsite bunks and all."
"I very much appreciate you and your team's approval, miss Zeether! Though I'm not your boss anymore, you know?"
"Staver's alright, but she's not you," Zeether replies, unapologetically. "More the sort to toe the line instead of poking out eyes from the money-grubbers."
"Mmh. We need to be ever vigilant against the forces of reaction and corruption. But are you sure it's alright to take over one of the old variable-field bays?"
"It sure is. You know more than I do that the safework field units represent the next generation of the tech- We've moved beyond the need for huge isolated warehouses for mana field isolation, especially since they're not good enough for Rozokin-grade work either. It's just infrastructure going spare right now. Better it be used than not, especially since you'll be gone by the time the new field generators arrive in three months."
"I certainly will be. And I'll do my best to leave the facilities in the same shape I received them. It wouldn't do to burden your team unnecessarily!"
"I mean, go ahead, Miss Dipolous! If this is the only way I can support you... Well, it ain't marching in the street, but I'll stamp requisitions all day."
"Your aid will surely contribute to the liberation abroad. I'll arrive in two days. I'm just about to take possession now."
"Mhm. See you soon then, boss. Bye for now."
Kanna smiles as the comm link drops. Then she tidies herself up and makes her way through the Skyreach mustering yards. One of the largest transportation nexuses in all of Sarlonne, where three rail lines, river barge traffic, and large numbers of airships all meet... The city of Skyreach was mostly untouched in Sarlonne's liberation. Even though it was used as an airbase by the Vale, their air power was completely dominant for most of the war, precluding any sort of raid... And the Glitterdawn Vale imperialists decided to cut their losses and give up the colony before the ground war truly reached it, either. So the sculpted wooden towers are intact, each one practically a miniature village with businesses, homes, and industries on different levels, and many of them with moorings for airships on the roofs.
It's pretty. But it's not the Chelskan way. Off to the side, in wide riverside clearings, a steel and concrete forest much busier than the old city bustles: The cargo yards. Each one of those towers likely took decades to raise and fill out, where modern steel and concrete techniques could raise one of similar height in three to five months. Less, if magic is used aggressively to accelerate the construction process. They really are an art, being lost and overshadowed by the titan hand of industry... But art can be pursued later, when material comfort and a common-owned system is established the world over.
"Bah! Enough internal monologuing! Let's go see the ship."
"Let me just say again, it's so great to meet you! You're an inspiration, you really are."
"And once again, thank you! But it's other people who must take responsibility for themselves. The common good cannot rest on one pair of shoulders, however mighty!"
Her escort, a young dark-haired elf- Probably only thirty, thirty five, barely even a real adult- Who introduced herself as Marie Mapleseed, pats the wooden hull affectionately before taking hold of the latch on the heavy steel door and raising it with a healthy thunk. The door swings open and down, revealing a narrow stairway used to allow crew and passengers aboard.
"And here we have her! Scale Rocks Builders number 51. Turned out in Whitewater not eight days ago and flown down to Lily Lake and then here, as a shakedown cruise."
"Up we go, let's have an inspection." There is a clomp clomp clomp as the pair head into the vessel.
Marie follows behind as they ascend into the core hallway. "All systems nominal, speed achieved: Sixty-two knots. I hope this vessel will serve you well on your adventures, miss Dipolous! It's truly inspiring to be in the presence of such a figure, you know."
Kanna grins back. "Ah, a fan? I couldn't tell with all the praise so far. I've done nothing that someone else couldn't have, were they in my position, you know!"
Marie blushes, but nods. "Yes, I'm a fan! You're the only one who actually stood up for us, the common elf here, even a little bit. And you're brilliant- You downscaled the safework fields! You put floramana into production!"
"Oh, much of that was done with the help of others," Kanna demurs, smiling.
"And your work on the PMDs was amazing- I actually customized some of the cartridges-" She taps the box by her side.
Kanna rounds on her with a gasp of delight. "Really! I was told that nobody uses that feature and it was a waste of effort! What spells did you add?"
"Um! S-So I saw that there's really only room for two main circles and about three hundred characters, so anything really amazing would have to cut down lots of bits at every step. Short spells are a lot harder than efficient spells, after all."
"Indeed! When a frame is doing the casting, length of the subject spell adds a linear cost to each casting- Entirely different constraints to free casting, or ritual casting, where utter specificity is needed even at the cost of length and difficulty."
"Yes, exactly! So I eventually settled on a two-part spell that manipulates electrical charge in open air- I was hoping for a cheap lightning attack but uhhhh, you know, the most common lightbulb designs simply create light directly using ytle, but lightning makes light, right? So I thought, this thing I read about called electrical charges can possibly make light, if you do it right, watch!"
She draws the wand from the case at her side and points it down the hall. Depressing the trigger, a bright red glow shines out from a line of space directly in front of the wand. As she twirls it around, it looks like a blade made of baneful red light.
"Isn't this amazing? It doesn't do anything, but it looks really fantastical, doesn't it?"
Kanna is grinning and watching the display. "Amazing indeed! Oh, we have got to look at that together later. Have you submitted it as an invention? What's the actual mana drain? Does- Hrhh. That's brilliant, miss Marie, but we can look at all that later. Can't forget where we are."
With that reminder, Marie releases the trigger and shuffles from side to side, embarrassed. "Gods and stars. Kanna Dipolous said my spell is brilliant! Eeeeeee!" She pats her face repeatedly. "Okay! Right. Right. Tour, then? I'm sure you've seen other Nesting Dolls but they're all a bit different. So we should take a good long look at yours."
"They are. It's good to review things carefully."
Marie bows, muttering something and giggling, and then the inspection proceeds. The ship, currently only named 'Scale Rocks Builders no.51', is 98 feet long, 34 feet wide, and 30 feet high at its greatest dimensions. A sleek shape almost like two ocean-boats placed with their tops together, barring the heavy steel landing struts, she has three decks. For reasons that it would take a four-year degree to fully understand, it is vastly easier for magic to edit the gravity affecting an airship, rather than negate it completely or directly modify the mass of a vessel. When over 90% of your weight can be removed for a low ongoing mana cost, some low-pressure air tanks are enough to generate the buoyancy required to do the rest of the lifting. So the top deck is not much but a machinery area and a large space to hold huge, thin-walled steel tanks, plus the pumps to service them and the distributed spellframes that apply a careful veil of weight-reduction across the hull, with redundant overlap and two separate mana supplies.
The main deck runs along the bottom of the ship, with the engine room at the back containing a large coal-burning turbine as well as chunky mana-siphoning units along the driveshaft, and a considerable space for coal bunkerage and an automatic feeding system. The entire room is clad in steel and there is an emergency sprinkler system, to prevent stray sparks from causing wildfires. In front of that is the cargo bay, a large open space with two rolling doors taking up essentially half of the ship's broadsides. Under the metal floor runs the thick steel keel and various conduits and pipes. There is an overhead gantry and a basic grab-and-lift spellframe for moving heavy cargo. The front of the ship is split into two separate decks, containing a bridge with a helm seat and an optional navigator/captain station, four small cabins, a modest galley with freezer and pantry, restrooms and a tiny shower, as well as plumbing facilities and a small waste-separation unit to recycle as much water as possible. Water tanks as ballast, ancillary storage, a few parachute sets, mana storage, fire extinguishers, and supplementary coal bunkers are distributed all around, wherever free space is available (though preferring areas lower in the ship).
"Quite a fine piece of engineering, these beauties are. Not something that can be stamped together in a factory, but to produce so many so quickly... The shipbuilders of the Sarlonne have proved themselves equal to the challenges of a modern world."
"I'm glad to hear that! Well... If everything is in order... I can sign her over to you. Fully coaled and watered, as we just checked."
Kanna quirks an eyebrow. "What troubles you, miss Mapleseed?"
"Ah! It's just, I don't mean to impose, but I heard you're travelling to help liberate the animal-elves of Halve. It's just... I was hoping I could... Go with you? Sorry, I know, it's selfish of me to ask. I'm sure you have limited space aboard, and, and need soldiers or experts to fill out a roster, not just a shipbuilder apprentice who doesn't have any impressive qualifications or anything forget I said anything-"
"Marie. Maple." Kanna claps her on the shoulder. "Please calm down. A shipbuilder would be quite fine to bring actually, lest I suffer breakdowns. Let me think about this for a minute... You're aware that it's going to be dangerous, yes?"
"Y-Yes, miss Dipolous. The Old Vale is cruel, I know that. The bewilder fog took my grandfather, after all." She scowls. "I think people should be free of them."
"Kanna. Please, call me Kanna." Her stare is intense, curly blonde hair surrounding eyes that seem to bore into Marie. "Do not feel obligated. Every person must serve the common good, but not everyone serves the same way. Even I have doubts if my course is for the best... But I cannot bear anything else, at this point."
"...I know. I know, not everyone can be a war hero, or a great scientist... Some people, all they can do is work hard. From each according to their means."
"And to each according to their needs," Kanna finishes the common saying. "Regardless. Are you trying to follow me? Live up to my example? I would ask that you do anything but that! I am not you- And you are not me. My path is not yours. Your red light spell is fascinating, and could lead to any number of brilliant advancements."
"It's too difficult to manufacture," Marie mutters, looking to the side. "Codified into a dedicated spellframe, it doesn't produce enough light, efficiently enough, to be worth the manufacturing costs."
"But academically, it could lead to entirely new lines of research. Who knows what is buried in the mysteries of lightning? You could spend your life uncovering them, instead of following me, instead of building ships. For... Is it revenge?"
"...I just. I just want to feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. Building Dolls forever would be... Such a useless life. Please, take me with you. I know it's dangerous. I know I'm probably not the best. But I want to leave Sarlonne. I want... I don't know. Something."
Kanna sighs deeply, and thinks.
Allow Marie Mapleseed to join your quest?
[] Yes, she's a brilliant mind and very experienced with airship work. Such an assistant would be very valuable.
[] No, she's far too young. And a bit... Hero-worshippy. It would be bad to drag her into danger unprepared.
What will you name your new vessel? Every ship needs a name, after all.
[] Comet
[] Liberator
[] Beacon
[] Morningstar
[] Write-In
Two hours moratorium.
The third person voice is feeling odd to write. I think a second person voice might work better, since this is a close and character focused quest instead of the previous broad overview one.
What do you think of second person perspective as a possible POV for this thread?
Observe:
"And here we have her! Scale Rocks Builders number 51. Turned out in Whitewater not eight days ago and flown down to Lily Lake and then here, as a shakedown cruise."
You nod approvingly, stepping into the doorway. "Up we go, let's have an inspection." There is a clomp clomp clomp as the pair head into the vessel.
Marie follows behind you as you ascend into the ship's core hallway. "All systems nominal, speed achieved: Sixty-two knots. I hope this vessel will serve you well on your adventures, miss Dipolous! It's truly inspiring to be in the presence of such a figure, you know."
Aww. You can't help but grin back. "Ah, a fan? I've done nothing that someone else couldn't have, were they in my position, you know!"
Marie blushes, but nods. "Yes, I'm a fan. You're the only one who actually stood up for the little guy. And you're brilliant- You downscaled the safework fields. Your work on the PMDs was amazing- I actually customized some of the cartridges, in fact!" She taps the box by her side.
At that, you round on her with a gasp of delight. "Really! I was told that nobody uses that feature and it was a waste of effort! What spells did you add?"
You nod approvingly, stepping into the doorway. "Up we go, let's have an inspection." There is a clomp clomp clomp as the pair head into the vessel.
Marie follows behind you as you ascend into the ship's core hallway. "All systems nominal, speed achieved: Sixty-two knots. I hope this vessel will serve you well on your adventures, miss Dipolous! It's truly inspiring to be in the presence of such a figure, you know."
Aww. You can't help but grin back. "Ah, a fan? I've done nothing that someone else couldn't have, were they in my position, you know!"
Marie blushes, but nods. "Yes, I'm a fan. You're the only one who actually stood up for the little guy. And you're brilliant- You downscaled the safework fields. Your work on the PMDs was amazing- I actually customized some of the cartridges, in fact!" She taps the box by her side.
At that, you round on her with a gasp of delight. "Really! I was told that nobody uses that feature and it was a waste of effort! What spells did you add?"
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Omake Rewards
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
Omake rewards will generally be bonus dice, applied to the action that the omake writer chooses.
I'll also give free omake rewards for discussion, suggestions, memes, healthy debate, etc, tallied up and applied at QM discretion. I'm not gonna promise a specific ratio or anything, but discussion makes me happy and will generate bonii.
ONE omake is currently banked, copied from the previous quest. If 10ebbor10 doesn't specify otherwise, I'll apply it to the first action that would have failed without it.
ONE omake is currently banked due to ongoing discussion and participation. It will be applied at QM discretion.
I'll also give free omake rewards for discussion, suggestions, memes, healthy debate, etc, tallied up and applied at QM discretion. I'm not gonna promise a specific ratio or anything, but discussion makes me happy and will generate bonii.
ONE omake is currently banked, copied from the previous quest. If 10ebbor10 doesn't specify otherwise, I'll apply it to the first action that would have failed without it.
ONE omake is currently banked due to ongoing discussion and participation. It will be applied at QM discretion.
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Character Sheets
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
Kanna Dipolous, Archmage, Former Minister of the Economy, has five stats.
Organize: 3
Optimize: 4
Precaution: 2
Speechify: 3
Magic: 5
Marie Mapleseed, Shipbuilder's Apprentice, has THREE stats that you know about but can likely learn or reveal more.
Airship: 2
Organize: 2
Magic: 2
Organize: 3
Optimize: 4
Precaution: 2
Speechify: 3
Magic: 5
Marie Mapleseed, Shipbuilder's Apprentice, has THREE stats that you know about but can likely learn or reveal more.
Airship: 2
Organize: 2
Magic: 2
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Week 2
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
[x] Learn Spoken Halvean: While the presence of a Chelskan embassy ensures that there are at least a few of the Halvean people who speak Chelskan, most will not. It would be much better to be able to actually speak the language instead of relying on notoriously finicky and unreliable telepathic or translation magic. (Speechify) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 5) (2 Successes)
[x] Learn Hanji: The writing system of Halve is a character based system rather than a phonetic alphabet, leading to some predicted difficulties in becoming fluent, but at least some of the most common words can be learned. Immersion will make learning an inevitability, but getting a head start certainly does not hurt. (Organize) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 6) (2 Successes)
The greatest difficulty in learning the new language is getting a good body of reference material. Mr. Garms, Kanna's newly acquired friend, unfortunately did not have a wealth of books and dictionaries on him when he somehow found his way to Chelska.
"I had five apples. But on the way home, I ate one. Now I have four." Mr. Garms coughs. "Is such baby-talk not demeaning?"
"No. Learn big fast, this."
"You sound like a child and so do I..." He shakes his head.
"In Halvean!"
"You sound like a child."
"I talk like a child."
"You will talk like a farmer."
"Farmer?"
"Someone who is in the plant caste. Plants... Make food." He gestures towards the kitchen.
"Talk like a farmer? Not talk? I talk like a farmer. You do not want to go home?"
The wolf-man winces at her pronunciation. "It's 'go' not 'go', miss Dipolous. Er... I want to go home. I don't want to die."
"Ah. 'Die', what is?"
He makes a gesture, baring his neck and drawing one pointed fingernail along it.
"I don't want to die," Kanna agrees. "I won't die. I go to Halve, all safe."
"Eh... No offense, miss Dipolous, but let's drop out of immersion for the moment. I won't be joining you on your trip, and I don't think you can convince me. I am a coward. I thank the stars above every day that I have made it this far- I will teach you, but I am NEVER willingly going out to sea, ever again. It was the longest, most miserable weeks of my life. I thought I was going to die of thirst, stranded on driftwood..."
Kanna taps her fingers rapidly. "Very well, I understand, Mr. Garms. I won't push it. Now. Repeat all that in your native tongue, please? And write it too..."
Mr. Garms sighs. "Yes, miss Dipolous."
Solid foundation gained! There is only so much that can be learned in a few days of intensive study, but you have a decent start and passive slow progress towards learning the language will continue.
"Fifty-one? Her name is just fifty-one?"
"No," Kanna replies. "It's 'The fifty-first'. Very different."
The ship's name was something that needed careful consideration. But anything that's prone to over-analysis and ultimately inconsequential is a trap for minds such as Kanna's- Something to obsess over in idle moments, and a way to ruin concentration on more important matters. So... Instead, she simply latched on to the first idle whim.
Something about the fact that the vessels are about as close to mass-produced as you can get while still being somewhat unique struck her as poignant. So, no renaming will be necessary- She's Scale Rocks Builders No.51, with emphasis on the '51'. She's already painted it in bold white letters, port and starboard, fore and aft.
"...I suppose it's better than another bird name," Marie grouses. "What is it about birds that makes EVERYONE name their airships after them?"
"Airships Fly. Birds fly. It seems obvious to me."
"Uuuuugh. Well, whatever. Here we are. This is a nice workshop, we can get started on customizing her right away!"
"Do you think we'll have the best Nesting Doll in the world when we're done?" Kanna asks with a smirk.
"I don't think so. I know so."
You have 16 R. Use them well.
Maximum of NINE turns remaining, though the longer you linger the more the war develops without you.
Kanna Dipolous, Archmage, Former Minister of the Economy, has FIVE stats and THREE actions.
Organize: 3
Optimize: 4
Precaution: 2
Speechify: 3
Magic: 5
Marie Mapleseed, Shipbuilder's Apprentice, has THREE stats that you know about but can likely learn or reveal more. She has ONE action that you, the players, control. She will choose her own activities for the remaining time.
Airship: 2
Organize: 2
Magic: 2
Second turn, plan vote:
[] Intensive Study Spoken Halvean: Kanna is beginning to learn the language, and currently sounds like a child who has not yet mastered grammar. Speeding this up could help make a good impression. (Speechify) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 7)
[] Intensive Study Hanji: There are quite a lot of characters to memorize and practice. Slow, plodding work at assembling pages of notes is ongoing passively, but it could be sped up. (Organize) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 7)
[] Target Practice: You are not a soldier, and likely never could be. For all that you have dodged multiple assassination attempts, it was as much luck and paranoia as personal skill. Getting some actual foundation in magical combat from a warmage would only be prudent before heading to a warzone. (Precaution, Magic) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 5)
[] Prepare Combat Gear: Your usual, everyday magical equipment simply won't be enough. Going to a warzone with JUST your boots of flight, three protective amulets, hat of winds, emergency adrenaline ring, four wands, emergency grenade crystals, and bag of glitterdust? You'd be practically naked! You need to make more gear. (2R) (Precaution, Magic) (Difficulty 7)
[] Read War Reports: Getting a detailed picture of what the current material situation with Glitterdawn is like would be a boon if you end up actually fighting them. Which you almost certainly will. Getting access to these sorts of reports when you're no longer a minister requires some favors called in, though. (1R) (Precaution) (Difficulty 4)
[] Acquire Weapons: If you want to help equip freedom fighters in Halve, you'll certainly need war material to give them. Actually getting permission for anything more than small arms might be difficult, of course. And they'll be heavy and bulky. But no war can be fought without weapons. (2-8R if successful?) (Bulky, may even take up 2 cargo slots) (Speechify) (Difficulty 6)
[] Magic Supplies: All the bits and sundries of a well equipped wizard. Slide rules, crystal balls, mana crystals, spell circle stencils, compasses, field analyzers, wands and amulets and gold wire and so much more. You already have some of this, but there's not really such a thing as 'enough supplies'. (1R) (Organize, Magic) (Difficulty 6)
[] Industrial Plans: You have a great resource for how to build up from nothing at all on tap- Your old friend Hornzollar, and all the reports from that first era. Brushing up on the challenges and solutions of early Chelskan industrialization could help you pull Halve out of its current colonial state, too. (Optimize) (Difficulty 6)
[] Machine Tools: Some of the older series of steam equipment are still available from failing co-ops. From what you've read, the industrial situation in Halve is far from ideal. Bringing in some of the machines they're least likely to be able to build locally could help the situation greatly. (1-3R?) (Bulky, may even take up 2 cargo slots) (Organize) (Benefits from Industrial Plans being done) (Difficulty 5)
[] Acquire Seeds and Cuttings: The humble potato, the recently developed meat-tree, and everything in between- Revolutions in agriculture require seeds to start with, after all. This covers the seeds themselves, as well as preservation equipment, relevant manuals and supplies from floramana to fertilizer, and everything you need to start a small farm. (1 R) (Bulky) (Organize) (Difficulty 4)
[] Medical Studies: You know that anti-aging therapies are a thing, but you've never actually taken the time to look into them personally. What's the state of the art? Can you improve on it by leaning on your deep connection to magical theory? It might be a bit hubristic to assume a 'yes'. (Difficulty ???)
[] Brush up on Theory: You will admit that you've never been the keenest political operator. For all your fervent belief in the ultimate good of Communism, the political systems to actually achieve it are something of a weakness of yours. Brushing up on that would be wise. (Speechify) (Difficulty 5)
[] Acquire Precious Metals and Hard Currency: Not exactly a very difficult task, it just requires filling out a lot of paperwork and pushing things through the bureaucracy. You'll only get so much at a time, but small amounts of silver, gold, osmium, and foreign banknotes (especially Grenoble ones) could make things easier. (2-6R?) (Organize) (Difficulty 3)
[] Consulting Work: You're famous enough as an immensely skilled wizard that you can probably earn some favors and money with a few short gigs here and there. It's an inherently short-term thing and getting rich quick is difficult on purpose, but if needs must... (Gain 1 R per success) (Magic) (Difficulty 7)
[] Recruitment Drive: Two crew members is not really sufficient to operate a Nesting Doll type airship, except perhaps if an autopilot is successfully built. Recruiting additional personnel to crew the ship, help prepare for the journey, operate weapons, or more, could only be prudent. (Speechify)
-[] Appeal to patriotism and adventure: Difficulty 8, 0R
-[] Offer pay for service: Difficulty 6, 3R
-[] Offer generous pay: Difficulty 4, 8R
AIRSHIP actions: All of the below actions are considered to have the Airship tag. If you have both Kanna and Marie work on the same action, add their dice totals together.
Currently, you have cargo space for four BULKY items as cargo. You can take three upgrades without impacting storage space. Past that, every further upgrade consumes a storage slot.
[] Weapon Mounts: Preparing dedicated emplacements for weapons to be mounted is a necessary prerequisite for having an actually armed airship. You can prepare the mounts even without working examples of what you want to put there, but it's better to know what's going to be mounted first- Be it Skal autocannons, rockets, or something of your own make. (Precaution, Airship) (Difficulty 6) (Best paired with purchasing or building weapons)
[] Enchant Ship Weapons (Magical): There are a huge variety of destructive magical effects you could build into proper weapons for the 51st, ranging from simple lightning or fire to more exotic effects like disintegration, cold attack, acid, or worse. The more exotic the weapon, the less likely a foe has shields that will stop it. (2 R, only consume 1 R on failure) (Does not consume an upgrade slot if you mount it as a ship weapon) (Precaution, Magic, Airship)
-[] Basic: Kinetics, explosives, lasers. Difficulty 6
-[] Advanced: Fire, lightning, cold, acid. Difficulty 8
-[] Exotic: Disintegration, spatial distortion, biological attack, ???. Difficulty 10
[] Lifter Efficiency (Design): The range of the 51st is approximately 600 miles in the air, which is enough to get to the Windy Islands but not sufficient to cross the ocean after that. Optimizing the lifting spellframes for lower mana use would go far towards extending this range, and allow very heavy upgrades like steel armor or external cargo carriage to be considered. (Optimize, Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 8) (DESIGNING the upgrade only, not installing it yet)
[] Turbine Efficiency (Design): Every day the efficiency and build quality of Chelskan turbines increases. By learning what the cutting edge of combustion to power conversion is and installing it aboard ship, we should be able to increase the speed and fuel efficiency of the 51st somewhat. (Optimize, Airship) (Difficulty 7) (DESIGNING the upgrade only, not installing it yet)
[] Backup Engine (Diesel): Installing a whole additional engine in case the first one breaks down is naturally a fairly difficult proposition, but it would serve as a useful backup should the turbine require maintenance or break down- Or be damaged in combat. A large diesel motor and fuel tanks are easy enough to acquire, hopefully. (1 R?) (Precaution, Airship) (Difficulty 4-6?)
[] Long-Term Living: The cabins and facilities currently on board can only be described as 'spartan'. Aside from a few loner types who are content to live out of a suitcase and inside a steel can, it will be difficult to maintain long term comfort aboard without various upgrades. Better rooms, better kitchen equipment, and more. (1 R) (Organize, Airship) (Difficulty 5)
[] Lightening and Space-Saving: There is only so much space on board the 51st, and with the number of modifications and additions you want to add, you don't want to eat into the already cramped onboard spaces too much. Replacing the usual shortcuts with better build quality items will go a long way to saving some weight and space. (2 R) (Gain additional upgrade slot, possibly gain additional cargo slot) (Optimize, Airship) (Difficulty 7)
[] Shield Emplacement: A basic magical shield device is perhaps the most important upgrade you can make. The 51st is a transport ship, not a combat vessel, and anything to provide an ounce of proper survivability is badly needed. It will be powered off onboard mana stores easily enough. (1 R) (High Priority) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 6)
[] Autopilot: Designing a magical computing system to assist with most basic station keeping and maneuvering tasks is plausible, though it will likely require extensive customization and refinement to become practical. Still, allowing the ship to operate semi-autonomously could be very useful. (2 R) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 9)
Please let me know if you have any questions, and refrain from voting for the first few hours to allow discussion and planning. Plans should specify who is undertaking which actions.
VOTE MORATORIUM 24 HOURS
[x] Learn Hanji: The writing system of Halve is a character based system rather than a phonetic alphabet, leading to some predicted difficulties in becoming fluent, but at least some of the most common words can be learned. Immersion will make learning an inevitability, but getting a head start certainly does not hurt. (Organize) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 6) (2 Successes)
The greatest difficulty in learning the new language is getting a good body of reference material. Mr. Garms, Kanna's newly acquired friend, unfortunately did not have a wealth of books and dictionaries on him when he somehow found his way to Chelska.
"I had five apples. But on the way home, I ate one. Now I have four." Mr. Garms coughs. "Is such baby-talk not demeaning?"
"No. Learn big fast, this."
"You sound like a child and so do I..." He shakes his head.
"In Halvean!"
"You sound like a child."
"I talk like a child."
"You will talk like a farmer."
"Farmer?"
"Someone who is in the plant caste. Plants... Make food." He gestures towards the kitchen.
"Talk like a farmer? Not talk? I talk like a farmer. You do not want to go home?"
The wolf-man winces at her pronunciation. "It's 'go' not 'go', miss Dipolous. Er... I want to go home. I don't want to die."
"Ah. 'Die', what is?"
He makes a gesture, baring his neck and drawing one pointed fingernail along it.
"I don't want to die," Kanna agrees. "I won't die. I go to Halve, all safe."
"Eh... No offense, miss Dipolous, but let's drop out of immersion for the moment. I won't be joining you on your trip, and I don't think you can convince me. I am a coward. I thank the stars above every day that I have made it this far- I will teach you, but I am NEVER willingly going out to sea, ever again. It was the longest, most miserable weeks of my life. I thought I was going to die of thirst, stranded on driftwood..."
Kanna taps her fingers rapidly. "Very well, I understand, Mr. Garms. I won't push it. Now. Repeat all that in your native tongue, please? And write it too..."
Mr. Garms sighs. "Yes, miss Dipolous."
Solid foundation gained! There is only so much that can be learned in a few days of intensive study, but you have a decent start and passive slow progress towards learning the language will continue.
"Fifty-one? Her name is just fifty-one?"
"No," Kanna replies. "It's 'The fifty-first'. Very different."
The ship's name was something that needed careful consideration. But anything that's prone to over-analysis and ultimately inconsequential is a trap for minds such as Kanna's- Something to obsess over in idle moments, and a way to ruin concentration on more important matters. So... Instead, she simply latched on to the first idle whim.
Something about the fact that the vessels are about as close to mass-produced as you can get while still being somewhat unique struck her as poignant. So, no renaming will be necessary- She's Scale Rocks Builders No.51, with emphasis on the '51'. She's already painted it in bold white letters, port and starboard, fore and aft.
"...I suppose it's better than another bird name," Marie grouses. "What is it about birds that makes EVERYONE name their airships after them?"
"Airships Fly. Birds fly. It seems obvious to me."
"Uuuuugh. Well, whatever. Here we are. This is a nice workshop, we can get started on customizing her right away!"
"Do you think we'll have the best Nesting Doll in the world when we're done?" Kanna asks with a smirk.
"I don't think so. I know so."
You have 16 R. Use them well.
Maximum of NINE turns remaining, though the longer you linger the more the war develops without you.
Kanna Dipolous, Archmage, Former Minister of the Economy, has FIVE stats and THREE actions.
Organize: 3
Optimize: 4
Precaution: 2
Speechify: 3
Magic: 5
Marie Mapleseed, Shipbuilder's Apprentice, has THREE stats that you know about but can likely learn or reveal more. She has ONE action that you, the players, control. She will choose her own activities for the remaining time.
Airship: 2
Organize: 2
Magic: 2
Second turn, plan vote:
[] Intensive Study Spoken Halvean: Kanna is beginning to learn the language, and currently sounds like a child who has not yet mastered grammar. Speeding this up could help make a good impression. (Speechify) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 7)
[] Intensive Study Hanji: There are quite a lot of characters to memorize and practice. Slow, plodding work at assembling pages of notes is ongoing passively, but it could be sped up. (Organize) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 7)
[] Target Practice: You are not a soldier, and likely never could be. For all that you have dodged multiple assassination attempts, it was as much luck and paranoia as personal skill. Getting some actual foundation in magical combat from a warmage would only be prudent before heading to a warzone. (Precaution, Magic) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 5)
[] Prepare Combat Gear: Your usual, everyday magical equipment simply won't be enough. Going to a warzone with JUST your boots of flight, three protective amulets, hat of winds, emergency adrenaline ring, four wands, emergency grenade crystals, and bag of glitterdust? You'd be practically naked! You need to make more gear. (2R) (Precaution, Magic) (Difficulty 7)
[] Read War Reports: Getting a detailed picture of what the current material situation with Glitterdawn is like would be a boon if you end up actually fighting them. Which you almost certainly will. Getting access to these sorts of reports when you're no longer a minister requires some favors called in, though. (1R) (Precaution) (Difficulty 4)
[] Acquire Weapons: If you want to help equip freedom fighters in Halve, you'll certainly need war material to give them. Actually getting permission for anything more than small arms might be difficult, of course. And they'll be heavy and bulky. But no war can be fought without weapons. (2-8R if successful?) (Bulky, may even take up 2 cargo slots) (Speechify) (Difficulty 6)
[] Magic Supplies: All the bits and sundries of a well equipped wizard. Slide rules, crystal balls, mana crystals, spell circle stencils, compasses, field analyzers, wands and amulets and gold wire and so much more. You already have some of this, but there's not really such a thing as 'enough supplies'. (1R) (Organize, Magic) (Difficulty 6)
[] Industrial Plans: You have a great resource for how to build up from nothing at all on tap- Your old friend Hornzollar, and all the reports from that first era. Brushing up on the challenges and solutions of early Chelskan industrialization could help you pull Halve out of its current colonial state, too. (Optimize) (Difficulty 6)
[] Machine Tools: Some of the older series of steam equipment are still available from failing co-ops. From what you've read, the industrial situation in Halve is far from ideal. Bringing in some of the machines they're least likely to be able to build locally could help the situation greatly. (1-3R?) (Bulky, may even take up 2 cargo slots) (Organize) (Benefits from Industrial Plans being done) (Difficulty 5)
[] Acquire Seeds and Cuttings: The humble potato, the recently developed meat-tree, and everything in between- Revolutions in agriculture require seeds to start with, after all. This covers the seeds themselves, as well as preservation equipment, relevant manuals and supplies from floramana to fertilizer, and everything you need to start a small farm. (1 R) (Bulky) (Organize) (Difficulty 4)
[] Medical Studies: You know that anti-aging therapies are a thing, but you've never actually taken the time to look into them personally. What's the state of the art? Can you improve on it by leaning on your deep connection to magical theory? It might be a bit hubristic to assume a 'yes'. (Difficulty ???)
[] Brush up on Theory: You will admit that you've never been the keenest political operator. For all your fervent belief in the ultimate good of Communism, the political systems to actually achieve it are something of a weakness of yours. Brushing up on that would be wise. (Speechify) (Difficulty 5)
[] Acquire Precious Metals and Hard Currency: Not exactly a very difficult task, it just requires filling out a lot of paperwork and pushing things through the bureaucracy. You'll only get so much at a time, but small amounts of silver, gold, osmium, and foreign banknotes (especially Grenoble ones) could make things easier. (2-6R?) (Organize) (Difficulty 3)
[] Consulting Work: You're famous enough as an immensely skilled wizard that you can probably earn some favors and money with a few short gigs here and there. It's an inherently short-term thing and getting rich quick is difficult on purpose, but if needs must... (Gain 1 R per success) (Magic) (Difficulty 7)
[] Recruitment Drive: Two crew members is not really sufficient to operate a Nesting Doll type airship, except perhaps if an autopilot is successfully built. Recruiting additional personnel to crew the ship, help prepare for the journey, operate weapons, or more, could only be prudent. (Speechify)
-[] Appeal to patriotism and adventure: Difficulty 8, 0R
-[] Offer pay for service: Difficulty 6, 3R
-[] Offer generous pay: Difficulty 4, 8R
AIRSHIP actions: All of the below actions are considered to have the Airship tag. If you have both Kanna and Marie work on the same action, add their dice totals together.
Currently, you have cargo space for four BULKY items as cargo. You can take three upgrades without impacting storage space. Past that, every further upgrade consumes a storage slot.
[] Weapon Mounts: Preparing dedicated emplacements for weapons to be mounted is a necessary prerequisite for having an actually armed airship. You can prepare the mounts even without working examples of what you want to put there, but it's better to know what's going to be mounted first- Be it Skal autocannons, rockets, or something of your own make. (Precaution, Airship) (Difficulty 6) (Best paired with purchasing or building weapons)
[] Enchant Ship Weapons (Magical): There are a huge variety of destructive magical effects you could build into proper weapons for the 51st, ranging from simple lightning or fire to more exotic effects like disintegration, cold attack, acid, or worse. The more exotic the weapon, the less likely a foe has shields that will stop it. (2 R, only consume 1 R on failure) (Does not consume an upgrade slot if you mount it as a ship weapon) (Precaution, Magic, Airship)
-[] Basic: Kinetics, explosives, lasers. Difficulty 6
-[] Advanced: Fire, lightning, cold, acid. Difficulty 8
-[] Exotic: Disintegration, spatial distortion, biological attack, ???. Difficulty 10
[] Lifter Efficiency (Design): The range of the 51st is approximately 600 miles in the air, which is enough to get to the Windy Islands but not sufficient to cross the ocean after that. Optimizing the lifting spellframes for lower mana use would go far towards extending this range, and allow very heavy upgrades like steel armor or external cargo carriage to be considered. (Optimize, Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 8) (DESIGNING the upgrade only, not installing it yet)
[] Turbine Efficiency (Design): Every day the efficiency and build quality of Chelskan turbines increases. By learning what the cutting edge of combustion to power conversion is and installing it aboard ship, we should be able to increase the speed and fuel efficiency of the 51st somewhat. (Optimize, Airship) (Difficulty 7) (DESIGNING the upgrade only, not installing it yet)
[] Backup Engine (Diesel): Installing a whole additional engine in case the first one breaks down is naturally a fairly difficult proposition, but it would serve as a useful backup should the turbine require maintenance or break down- Or be damaged in combat. A large diesel motor and fuel tanks are easy enough to acquire, hopefully. (1 R?) (Precaution, Airship) (Difficulty 4-6?)
[] Long-Term Living: The cabins and facilities currently on board can only be described as 'spartan'. Aside from a few loner types who are content to live out of a suitcase and inside a steel can, it will be difficult to maintain long term comfort aboard without various upgrades. Better rooms, better kitchen equipment, and more. (1 R) (Organize, Airship) (Difficulty 5)
[] Lightening and Space-Saving: There is only so much space on board the 51st, and with the number of modifications and additions you want to add, you don't want to eat into the already cramped onboard spaces too much. Replacing the usual shortcuts with better build quality items will go a long way to saving some weight and space. (2 R) (Gain additional upgrade slot, possibly gain additional cargo slot) (Optimize, Airship) (Difficulty 7)
[] Shield Emplacement: A basic magical shield device is perhaps the most important upgrade you can make. The 51st is a transport ship, not a combat vessel, and anything to provide an ounce of proper survivability is badly needed. It will be powered off onboard mana stores easily enough. (1 R) (High Priority) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 6)
[] Autopilot: Designing a magical computing system to assist with most basic station keeping and maneuvering tasks is plausible, though it will likely require extensive customization and refinement to become practical. Still, allowing the ship to operate semi-autonomously could be very useful. (2 R) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 9)
Please let me know if you have any questions, and refrain from voting for the first few hours to allow discussion and planning. Plans should specify who is undertaking which actions.
VOTE MORATORIUM 24 HOURS
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On timing
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
So you're aware, in universe, "Dawn" (Halve's princess-coordinated uprising against their oppressors) happened six months ago- One full turn in the old quest, on the summer solstice of 1648. It's currently winter, two weeks BEFORE new year. (The last month of a six-month term is mostly reserved in planning/coordinating the next term, so she was booted out before the official end of the year.)
Taking all ten weeks adds another two and a half months. Six? One and a half. You have little idea what the Vale can do with eight and a half months versus seven and a half, but they probably spent at least one month reeling and another month and a half, maybe, shaking loose forces and getting into position to do something about it. So call it three and a half months, now, since the revolt had to start facing serious counter-attacks instead of just the boys casually doing warcrimes out of anger and fear. A campaign that lasts five months (leave at six weeks) might look very different by the sixth month (leave at ten weeks).
Also, consider voting open now.
Taking all ten weeks adds another two and a half months. Six? One and a half. You have little idea what the Vale can do with eight and a half months versus seven and a half, but they probably spent at least one month reeling and another month and a half, maybe, shaking loose forces and getting into position to do something about it. So call it three and a half months, now, since the revolt had to start facing serious counter-attacks instead of just the boys casually doing warcrimes out of anger and fear. A campaign that lasts five months (leave at six weeks) might look very different by the sixth month (leave at ten weeks).
Also, consider voting open now.
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On airship weapons
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
At any rate, if you manage a difficulty 10 exotic weapon, lone fighters and other small ships will be scared of getting close enough to be "Power word: Scrunch"-ed by a dedicated spellframe/weapon for "Scrunch", this on top of potentially Kanna laughing her ass off and dumping the whole ship's battery into a single shot spell to ruin someone's day.
A Difficulty 10 weapon would likely be threatening even to cruisers, actually. Especially at first when no enemy shield operators know they need to defend against "Power word: Scrunch".
Basically: Skal autocannons or a D6 weapon if you want to drive off enemy fighters, annoy corvettes. D8 weapon if you want to drive off corvettes and swarms of fighters. D10 weapon if you want to pose a credible threat to a Real Warship (TM). Just be aware that the super-disproportionate punch of D8 and D10 weapons has a limit of "until the enemy figures out and implements a magical countermeasure to whateverthefuck".
(The fact that exotic magical attacks are defendable-against in theory if you know to expect them is part of why Chelskan fleet and army doctrine goes for More Dakka, No More Than That, with an option for "haha no magic for you" on a strategic scale- Who wants their expensive Rust Monster wunderwaffe to become useless once the enemy defends against it? At most, at that point, it becomes an extra burden on their preparations and attention, not the I Win button such projects are hoped to be.)
A Difficulty 10 weapon would likely be threatening even to cruisers, actually. Especially at first when no enemy shield operators know they need to defend against "Power word: Scrunch".
Basically: Skal autocannons or a D6 weapon if you want to drive off enemy fighters, annoy corvettes. D8 weapon if you want to drive off corvettes and swarms of fighters. D10 weapon if you want to pose a credible threat to a Real Warship (TM). Just be aware that the super-disproportionate punch of D8 and D10 weapons has a limit of "until the enemy figures out and implements a magical countermeasure to whateverthefuck".
(The fact that exotic magical attacks are defendable-against in theory if you know to expect them is part of why Chelskan fleet and army doctrine goes for More Dakka, No More Than That, with an option for "haha no magic for you" on a strategic scale- Who wants their expensive Rust Monster wunderwaffe to become useless once the enemy defends against it? At most, at that point, it becomes an extra burden on their preparations and attention, not the I Win button such projects are hoped to be.)
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Week 3
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
The week passes in a blur of papers, books, and crystal ball calls. Kanna is hardly aware of it until everything is over.
Brush up on Theory Speechify D5 (3 dice) - 2 success
First, the matter of communist theory. It seems that quite a lot of ink has been spilled on the topic- The Velkonists most of all, defending their faith in the old leader's vision and plan. They call for strong central control, the better to keep reactionary forces that would re-impose capitalism and classism at bay. But there are a huge number of theories and debates, on the matter of vanguards, on markets, on just how far private property ought to be allowed to extend, on how to treat compromisers and wreckers and a dozen other topics. All important, all interesting, but none quite what she needs.
So Kanna returned to the beginning. To Velkon's first writings, and the shattering war. What worked, back then? What didn't? What inspired people into kindness for their fellow sapient, to throw off the chains of the oppressors? Some colleagues at the various Colleges are happy to help out and discuss the topic, even if she can only spare an hour here and there. The more difficult part will be translating it for Halvean cultural context. The end result is an annotated collection of early speeches and, essentially, a manual for planting the seed...
(Kanna is now passingly familiar with Communist theory, and has a basic manifesto that is not adjusted for culture to work with as propaganda and politics.)
Recruitment Drive --Appeal to patriotism and adventure: Difficulty 8, 0R Speechify D8 (3 dice) - 2 success
"Fought in the mountains versus the Goblins... Fought in the blood mire... Fought against orc raiders... Curious blank spot during the Liberation of Sarlonne..."
Kanna glares lightly at 'Sarge', who insists on using the nickname over anything else.
"You're a spook. I'm an iconoclast on the outs. But you're not coming in here with orders and vague threats, and instead are politely asking. So... Why?"
The man in front of her has a distinct soldier's bearing, more than a spy's. The three others accompanying him are similar- Twitchy, slouching, watchful, wary.
He grimaces and looks around, trying to escape Kanna's intense gaze. "Ma'am, let's just say... Our patron in the service has reason to hide us for now. Their boss might not be especially happy about the exact manner in which we completed our last mission. They also have some interests in getting more reliable information from Halve. We're not spying on you. We're putting our asses out and seeing who shoots at them, and also making sure the side we don't like has a fucking lot of trouble tying things down. Also, to be frank, trying to keep you from blowing yourself up."
She steeples her fingers and glares some more. "I see..."
[]Accept: Gain Sarge's Crew, four soldiers by the names of Sarge, Eyes, Brick, and Pyro. 'Acquire weapons' action turns into an auto-success.
[]Decline: You'll hire some of the more generic deckhands and helpers who have applied to the call to arms, with fewer suspicious loyalties.
Lifter Efficiency (Design) Optimize Magic D8 (9 dice) - 3 success (Kanna is not called an archmage for nothing...)
Most of Kanna's thoughts are on the enchantment schematics slowly taking place in her head, and then on dozens of blackboards and sheets of scratch paper. The thing about airship lifters is that they reduce gravity. That's it. Simple, easy to construct, easy to optimize, fairly reliable, and good enough for most purposes.
But instead of simply reducing it... Why not point it somewhere else? The fundamental principle seems to work, as exemplified in a used fire extinguisher tank that punched a two foot deep hole in the flight range during testing- Suddenly accelerating downward under three gravities makes one hell of a dodge - hold on, this is the exact way that Glitterdawn Dragofly fighters work, isn't it? The fast swoops accompanied by abrupt changes in direction. It is! Hah, anything they can do, Kanna certainly can! But making it practical is another matter...
Just need to find the most restrictive conditions where it will work... Doesn't need to apply to the entire hull... What if she adds this chain there... Wait, no, hmm...
After that, most of a day dissolves into a haze of theory-crafting and prototyping. The end result... A box the size of the standard airship gravity reducer, that at a simple command from a control loop, can instead point gravity in arbitrary directions for a few moments. Theoretically, amazing for dodging. They'll need dozens, though...
Marie: Long-Term Living Marie Organize Airship D5 (4 dice) - 2 success
There is not much to say as far as Marie's work goes- The 51st is simply not that large of a ship, in the end, but by making use of some of the overlooked spaces and packing supplies of food and the like in new ways, she's managed to extend the four spartan cabins into six minimally acceptable ones, along with creating a proper bath, onboard water recycler, and a few odd nooks for reading or relaxing. The rest of Marie's time seems to be occupied joining in Kanna's lessons on Halvean, for the most part.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and refrain from voting for the first few hours to allow discussion and planning. Plans should specify who is undertaking which actions.
VOTE MORATORIUM 24 HOURS
Brush up on Theory Speechify D5 (3 dice) - 2 success
First, the matter of communist theory. It seems that quite a lot of ink has been spilled on the topic- The Velkonists most of all, defending their faith in the old leader's vision and plan. They call for strong central control, the better to keep reactionary forces that would re-impose capitalism and classism at bay. But there are a huge number of theories and debates, on the matter of vanguards, on markets, on just how far private property ought to be allowed to extend, on how to treat compromisers and wreckers and a dozen other topics. All important, all interesting, but none quite what she needs.
So Kanna returned to the beginning. To Velkon's first writings, and the shattering war. What worked, back then? What didn't? What inspired people into kindness for their fellow sapient, to throw off the chains of the oppressors? Some colleagues at the various Colleges are happy to help out and discuss the topic, even if she can only spare an hour here and there. The more difficult part will be translating it for Halvean cultural context. The end result is an annotated collection of early speeches and, essentially, a manual for planting the seed...
(Kanna is now passingly familiar with Communist theory, and has a basic manifesto that is not adjusted for culture to work with as propaganda and politics.)
Recruitment Drive --Appeal to patriotism and adventure: Difficulty 8, 0R Speechify D8 (3 dice) - 2 success
"Fought in the mountains versus the Goblins... Fought in the blood mire... Fought against orc raiders... Curious blank spot during the Liberation of Sarlonne..."
Kanna glares lightly at 'Sarge', who insists on using the nickname over anything else.
"You're a spook. I'm an iconoclast on the outs. But you're not coming in here with orders and vague threats, and instead are politely asking. So... Why?"
The man in front of her has a distinct soldier's bearing, more than a spy's. The three others accompanying him are similar- Twitchy, slouching, watchful, wary.
He grimaces and looks around, trying to escape Kanna's intense gaze. "Ma'am, let's just say... Our patron in the service has reason to hide us for now. Their boss might not be especially happy about the exact manner in which we completed our last mission. They also have some interests in getting more reliable information from Halve. We're not spying on you. We're putting our asses out and seeing who shoots at them, and also making sure the side we don't like has a fucking lot of trouble tying things down. Also, to be frank, trying to keep you from blowing yourself up."
She steeples her fingers and glares some more. "I see..."
[]Accept: Gain Sarge's Crew, four soldiers by the names of Sarge, Eyes, Brick, and Pyro. 'Acquire weapons' action turns into an auto-success.
[]Decline: You'll hire some of the more generic deckhands and helpers who have applied to the call to arms, with fewer suspicious loyalties.
Lifter Efficiency (Design) Optimize Magic D8 (9 dice) - 3 success (Kanna is not called an archmage for nothing...)
Most of Kanna's thoughts are on the enchantment schematics slowly taking place in her head, and then on dozens of blackboards and sheets of scratch paper. The thing about airship lifters is that they reduce gravity. That's it. Simple, easy to construct, easy to optimize, fairly reliable, and good enough for most purposes.
But instead of simply reducing it... Why not point it somewhere else? The fundamental principle seems to work, as exemplified in a used fire extinguisher tank that punched a two foot deep hole in the flight range during testing- Suddenly accelerating downward under three gravities makes one hell of a dodge - hold on, this is the exact way that Glitterdawn Dragofly fighters work, isn't it? The fast swoops accompanied by abrupt changes in direction. It is! Hah, anything they can do, Kanna certainly can! But making it practical is another matter...
Just need to find the most restrictive conditions where it will work... Doesn't need to apply to the entire hull... What if she adds this chain there... Wait, no, hmm...
After that, most of a day dissolves into a haze of theory-crafting and prototyping. The end result... A box the size of the standard airship gravity reducer, that at a simple command from a control loop, can instead point gravity in arbitrary directions for a few moments. Theoretically, amazing for dodging. They'll need dozens, though...
Marie: Long-Term Living Marie Organize Airship D5 (4 dice) - 2 success
There is not much to say as far as Marie's work goes- The 51st is simply not that large of a ship, in the end, but by making use of some of the overlooked spaces and packing supplies of food and the like in new ways, she's managed to extend the four spartan cabins into six minimally acceptable ones, along with creating a proper bath, onboard water recycler, and a few odd nooks for reading or relaxing. The rest of Marie's time seems to be occupied joining in Kanna's lessons on Halvean, for the most part.
You have 15 R. Use them well.
Maximum of EIGHT turns remaining, though the longer you linger the more the war develops without you.
Kanna Dipolous, Archmage, Former Minister of the Economy, has FIVE stats and THREE actions.
Organize: 3
Optimize: 4
Precaution: 2
Speechify: 3
Magic: 5
Marie Mapleseed, Shipbuilder's Apprentice, has THREE stats that you know about but can likely learn or reveal more. She has ONE action that you, the players, control. She will choose her own activities for the remaining time.
Airship: 2
Organize: 2
Magic: 2
Third turn, plan vote:
[] Intensive Study Spoken Halvean: Kanna is beginning to learn the language, and currently sounds like a child who has not yet mastered grammar. Speeding this up could help make a good impression. (Speechify) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 7)
[] Intensive Study Hanji: There are quite a lot of characters to memorize and practice. Slow, plodding work at assembling pages of notes is ongoing passively, but it could be sped up. (Organize) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 7)
[] Adjust Manifesto for Halvean Culture: Many of the speeches and political theories rely heavily on the unique Chelskan experience and culture, ranging from local idioms and the custom of men defending women and children, to the experience of the Shattering war and hatred of necromancy. Making sure it is properly adjusted for new context can only help the revolution. (Speechify) (Difficulty ?7?)
[] Target Practice: You are not a soldier, and likely never could be. For all that you have dodged multiple assassination attempts, it was as much luck and paranoia as personal skill. Getting some actual foundation in magical combat from a warmage would only be prudent before heading to a warzone. (Precaution, Magic) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 5)
[] Prepare Combat Gear: Your usual, everyday magical equipment simply won't be enough. Going to a warzone with JUST your boots of flight, three protective amulets, hat of winds, emergency adrenaline ring, four wands, emergency grenade crystals, and bag of glitterdust? You'd be practically naked! You need to make more gear. (2R) (Precaution, Magic) (Difficulty 7)
[] Read War Reports: Getting a detailed picture of what the current material situation with Glitterdawn is like would be a boon if you end up actually fighting them. Which you almost certainly will. Getting access to these sorts of reports when you're no longer a minister requires some favors called in, though. (1R) (Precaution) (Difficulty 4)
[] Acquire Weapons: If you want to help equip freedom fighters in Halve, you'll certainly need war material to give them. Actually getting permission for anything more than small arms might be difficult, of course. And they'll be heavy and bulky. But no war can be fought without weapons. (2-8R if successful?) (Bulky, may even take up 2 cargo slots) (Speechify) (Difficulty 6)
[] Magic Supplies: All the bits and sundries of a well equipped wizard. Slide rules, crystal balls, mana crystals, spell circle stencils, compasses, field analyzers, wands and amulets and gold wire and so much more. You already have some of this, but there's not really such a thing as 'enough supplies'. (1R) (Organize, Magic) (Difficulty 6)
[] Industrial Plans: You have a great resource for how to build up from nothing at all on tap- Your old friend Hornzollar, and all the reports from that first era. Brushing up on the challenges and solutions of early Chelskan industrialization could help you pull Halve out of its current colonial state, too. (Optimize) (Difficulty 6)
[] Machine Tools: Some of the older series of steam equipment are still available from failing co-ops. From what you've read, the industrial situation in Halve is far from ideal. Bringing in some of the machines they're least likely to be able to build locally could help the situation greatly. (1-3R?) (Bulky, may even take up 2 cargo slots) (Organize) (Benefits from Industrial Plans being done) (Difficulty 5)
[] Acquire Seeds and Cuttings: The humble potato, the recently developed meat-tree, and everything in between- Revolutions in agriculture require seeds to start with, after all. This covers the seeds themselves, as well as preservation equipment, relevant manuals and supplies from floramana to fertilizer, and everything you need to start a small farm. (1 R) (Bulky) (Organize) (Difficulty 4)
[] Medical Studies: You know that anti-aging therapies are a thing, but you've never actually taken the time to look into them personally. What's the state of the art? Can you improve on it by leaning on your deep connection to magical theory? It might be a bit hubristic to assume a 'yes'. (Difficulty ???)
[] Acquire Precious Metals and Hard Currency: Not exactly a very difficult task, it just requires filling out a lot of paperwork and pushing things through the bureaucracy. You'll only get so much at a time, but small amounts of silver, gold, osmium, and foreign banknotes (especially Grenoble ones) could make things easier. (2-6R?) (Organize) (Difficulty 3)
[] Consulting Work: You're famous enough as an immensely skilled wizard that you can probably earn some favors and money with a few short gigs here and there. It's an inherently short-term thing and getting rich quick is difficult on purpose, but if needs must... (Gain 1 R per success) (Magic) (Difficulty 7)
AIRSHIP actions: All of the below actions are considered to have the Airship tag. If you have both Kanna and Marie work on the same action, add their dice totals together.
Current upgrades: Improved Living Quarters
Currently, you have cargo space for four BULKY items as cargo. You can take two upgrades without impacting storage space. Past that, every further upgrade consumes a storage slot.
[] Weapon Mounts: Preparing dedicated emplacements for weapons to be mounted is a necessary prerequisite for having an actually armed airship. You can prepare the mounts even without working examples of what you want to put there, but it's better to know what's going to be mounted first- Be it Skal autocannons, rockets, or something of your own make. (Precaution, Airship) (Difficulty 6) (Best paired with purchasing or building weapons)
[] Enchant Ship Weapons (Magical): There are a huge variety of destructive magical effects you could build into proper weapons for the 51st, ranging from simple lightning or fire to more exotic effects like disintegration, cold attack, acid, or worse. The more exotic the weapon, the less likely a foe has shields that will stop it. (2 R, only consume 1 R on failure) (Does not consume an upgrade slot if you mount it as a ship weapon) (Precaution, Magic, Airship)
-[] Basic: Kinetics, explosives, lasers. Difficulty 6
-[] Advanced: Fire, lightning, cold, acid. Difficulty 8
-[] Exotic: Disintegration, spatial distortion, biological attack, ???. Difficulty 10
[] Lifter Efficiency (Build): Not only has Kanna produced a more mana-efficient lifter unit, but it also has an added feature that allows momentary redirection of gravity- It's much better for sudden dodges than careful maneuvering, though. The next step is to build dozens of them and install them all throughout the ship. (4R, save R on multi-success) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 7)
[] Turbine Efficiency (Design): Every day the efficiency and build quality of Chelskan turbines increases. By learning what the cutting edge of combustion to power conversion is and installing it aboard ship, we should be able to increase the speed and fuel efficiency of the 51st somewhat. (Optimize, Airship) (Difficulty 7) (DESIGNING the upgrade only, not installing it yet)
[] Backup Engine (Diesel): Installing a whole additional engine in case the first one breaks down is naturally a fairly difficult proposition, but it would serve as a useful backup should the turbine require maintenance or break down- Or be damaged in combat. A large diesel motor and fuel tanks are easy enough to acquire, hopefully. (1 R?) (Precaution, Airship) (Difficulty 4-6?)
[] Lightening and Space-Saving: There is only so much space on board the 51st, and with the number of modifications and additions you want to add, you don't want to eat into the already cramped onboard spaces too much. Replacing the usual shortcuts with better build quality items will go a long way to saving some weight and space. (2 R) (Gain additional upgrade slot, possibly gain additional cargo slot) (Optimize, Airship) (Difficulty 7)
[] Shield Emplacement: A basic magical shield device is perhaps the most important upgrade you can make. The 51st is a transport ship, not a combat vessel, and anything to provide an ounce of proper survivability is badly needed. It will be powered off onboard mana stores easily enough. (1 R) (High Priority) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 6)
[] Autopilot: Designing a magical computing system to assist with most basic station keeping and maneuvering tasks is plausible, though it will likely require extensive customization and refinement to become practical. Still, allowing the ship to operate semi-autonomously could be very useful. (2 R) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 9)
[] Lengthen the ship: It's not actually all that radical a course of action. These things are built simple and tough. The maneuver would essentially be cutting the front off and installing a large new section between the cargo bay and fore areas. More low-pressure tanks, more lifter units, more storage, more everything. You can get it done quick with copious use of magic. (5 R on start) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 5) (Requires 4 successes total) (Gain two more storage space and one more upgrade slot)
Maximum of EIGHT turns remaining, though the longer you linger the more the war develops without you.
Kanna Dipolous, Archmage, Former Minister of the Economy, has FIVE stats and THREE actions.
Organize: 3
Optimize: 4
Precaution: 2
Speechify: 3
Magic: 5
Marie Mapleseed, Shipbuilder's Apprentice, has THREE stats that you know about but can likely learn or reveal more. She has ONE action that you, the players, control. She will choose her own activities for the remaining time.
Airship: 2
Organize: 2
Magic: 2
Third turn, plan vote:
[] Intensive Study Spoken Halvean: Kanna is beginning to learn the language, and currently sounds like a child who has not yet mastered grammar. Speeding this up could help make a good impression. (Speechify) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 7)
[] Intensive Study Hanji: There are quite a lot of characters to memorize and practice. Slow, plodding work at assembling pages of notes is ongoing passively, but it could be sped up. (Organize) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 7)
[] Adjust Manifesto for Halvean Culture: Many of the speeches and political theories rely heavily on the unique Chelskan experience and culture, ranging from local idioms and the custom of men defending women and children, to the experience of the Shattering war and hatred of necromancy. Making sure it is properly adjusted for new context can only help the revolution. (Speechify) (Difficulty ?7?)
[] Target Practice: You are not a soldier, and likely never could be. For all that you have dodged multiple assassination attempts, it was as much luck and paranoia as personal skill. Getting some actual foundation in magical combat from a warmage would only be prudent before heading to a warzone. (Precaution, Magic) (Repeatable) (Difficulty 5)
[] Prepare Combat Gear: Your usual, everyday magical equipment simply won't be enough. Going to a warzone with JUST your boots of flight, three protective amulets, hat of winds, emergency adrenaline ring, four wands, emergency grenade crystals, and bag of glitterdust? You'd be practically naked! You need to make more gear. (2R) (Precaution, Magic) (Difficulty 7)
[] Read War Reports: Getting a detailed picture of what the current material situation with Glitterdawn is like would be a boon if you end up actually fighting them. Which you almost certainly will. Getting access to these sorts of reports when you're no longer a minister requires some favors called in, though. (1R) (Precaution) (Difficulty 4)
[] Acquire Weapons: If you want to help equip freedom fighters in Halve, you'll certainly need war material to give them. Actually getting permission for anything more than small arms might be difficult, of course. And they'll be heavy and bulky. But no war can be fought without weapons. (2-8R if successful?) (Bulky, may even take up 2 cargo slots) (Speechify) (Difficulty 6)
[] Magic Supplies: All the bits and sundries of a well equipped wizard. Slide rules, crystal balls, mana crystals, spell circle stencils, compasses, field analyzers, wands and amulets and gold wire and so much more. You already have some of this, but there's not really such a thing as 'enough supplies'. (1R) (Organize, Magic) (Difficulty 6)
[] Industrial Plans: You have a great resource for how to build up from nothing at all on tap- Your old friend Hornzollar, and all the reports from that first era. Brushing up on the challenges and solutions of early Chelskan industrialization could help you pull Halve out of its current colonial state, too. (Optimize) (Difficulty 6)
[] Machine Tools: Some of the older series of steam equipment are still available from failing co-ops. From what you've read, the industrial situation in Halve is far from ideal. Bringing in some of the machines they're least likely to be able to build locally could help the situation greatly. (1-3R?) (Bulky, may even take up 2 cargo slots) (Organize) (Benefits from Industrial Plans being done) (Difficulty 5)
[] Acquire Seeds and Cuttings: The humble potato, the recently developed meat-tree, and everything in between- Revolutions in agriculture require seeds to start with, after all. This covers the seeds themselves, as well as preservation equipment, relevant manuals and supplies from floramana to fertilizer, and everything you need to start a small farm. (1 R) (Bulky) (Organize) (Difficulty 4)
[] Medical Studies: You know that anti-aging therapies are a thing, but you've never actually taken the time to look into them personally. What's the state of the art? Can you improve on it by leaning on your deep connection to magical theory? It might be a bit hubristic to assume a 'yes'. (Difficulty ???)
[] Acquire Precious Metals and Hard Currency: Not exactly a very difficult task, it just requires filling out a lot of paperwork and pushing things through the bureaucracy. You'll only get so much at a time, but small amounts of silver, gold, osmium, and foreign banknotes (especially Grenoble ones) could make things easier. (2-6R?) (Organize) (Difficulty 3)
[] Consulting Work: You're famous enough as an immensely skilled wizard that you can probably earn some favors and money with a few short gigs here and there. It's an inherently short-term thing and getting rich quick is difficult on purpose, but if needs must... (Gain 1 R per success) (Magic) (Difficulty 7)
AIRSHIP actions: All of the below actions are considered to have the Airship tag. If you have both Kanna and Marie work on the same action, add their dice totals together.
Current upgrades: Improved Living Quarters
Currently, you have cargo space for four BULKY items as cargo. You can take two upgrades without impacting storage space. Past that, every further upgrade consumes a storage slot.
[] Weapon Mounts: Preparing dedicated emplacements for weapons to be mounted is a necessary prerequisite for having an actually armed airship. You can prepare the mounts even without working examples of what you want to put there, but it's better to know what's going to be mounted first- Be it Skal autocannons, rockets, or something of your own make. (Precaution, Airship) (Difficulty 6) (Best paired with purchasing or building weapons)
[] Enchant Ship Weapons (Magical): There are a huge variety of destructive magical effects you could build into proper weapons for the 51st, ranging from simple lightning or fire to more exotic effects like disintegration, cold attack, acid, or worse. The more exotic the weapon, the less likely a foe has shields that will stop it. (2 R, only consume 1 R on failure) (Does not consume an upgrade slot if you mount it as a ship weapon) (Precaution, Magic, Airship)
-[] Basic: Kinetics, explosives, lasers. Difficulty 6
-[] Advanced: Fire, lightning, cold, acid. Difficulty 8
-[] Exotic: Disintegration, spatial distortion, biological attack, ???. Difficulty 10
[] Lifter Efficiency (Build): Not only has Kanna produced a more mana-efficient lifter unit, but it also has an added feature that allows momentary redirection of gravity- It's much better for sudden dodges than careful maneuvering, though. The next step is to build dozens of them and install them all throughout the ship. (4R, save R on multi-success) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 7)
[] Turbine Efficiency (Design): Every day the efficiency and build quality of Chelskan turbines increases. By learning what the cutting edge of combustion to power conversion is and installing it aboard ship, we should be able to increase the speed and fuel efficiency of the 51st somewhat. (Optimize, Airship) (Difficulty 7) (DESIGNING the upgrade only, not installing it yet)
[] Backup Engine (Diesel): Installing a whole additional engine in case the first one breaks down is naturally a fairly difficult proposition, but it would serve as a useful backup should the turbine require maintenance or break down- Or be damaged in combat. A large diesel motor and fuel tanks are easy enough to acquire, hopefully. (1 R?) (Precaution, Airship) (Difficulty 4-6?)
[] Lightening and Space-Saving: There is only so much space on board the 51st, and with the number of modifications and additions you want to add, you don't want to eat into the already cramped onboard spaces too much. Replacing the usual shortcuts with better build quality items will go a long way to saving some weight and space. (2 R) (Gain additional upgrade slot, possibly gain additional cargo slot) (Optimize, Airship) (Difficulty 7)
[] Shield Emplacement: A basic magical shield device is perhaps the most important upgrade you can make. The 51st is a transport ship, not a combat vessel, and anything to provide an ounce of proper survivability is badly needed. It will be powered off onboard mana stores easily enough. (1 R) (High Priority) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 6)
[] Autopilot: Designing a magical computing system to assist with most basic station keeping and maneuvering tasks is plausible, though it will likely require extensive customization and refinement to become practical. Still, allowing the ship to operate semi-autonomously could be very useful. (2 R) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 9)
[] Lengthen the ship: It's not actually all that radical a course of action. These things are built simple and tough. The maneuver would essentially be cutting the front off and installing a large new section between the cargo bay and fore areas. More low-pressure tanks, more lifter units, more storage, more everything. You can get it done quick with copious use of magic. (5 R on start) (Magic, Airship) (Difficulty 5) (Requires 4 successes total) (Gain two more storage space and one more upgrade slot)
Please let me know if you have any questions, and refrain from voting for the first few hours to allow discussion and planning. Plans should specify who is undertaking which actions.
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