I think I am missing something? I see the winning vote having 11 voters and the next having 5. That doesn't seem perticularly close. Even if you combine all the draw away votes it is still 6 votes.
With 25 voters, almost half being the winning vote, I don't see the issue.
I'm going to be frank despite being the guy who crafted the only non-'negotiate' vote that got multiple backers...
There was overwhelming support for 'negotiate in place.' "Act like the host" got a pretty strong majority of that support base, and most of the people who didn't support it were the ones who voted very early in the discussion, then never came back and re-evaluated as the vote began to defragment. There COULD have been a viable opposing vote against "act like the host," but it would have required a lot more organization and coordination, and probably owuld have lost.
I think I am missing something? I see the winning vote having 11 voters and the next having 5. That doesn't seem perticularly close. Even if you combine all the draw away votes it is still 6 votes.
With 25 voters, almost half being the winning vote, I don't see the issue.
I do hope you'll give us a separate "tactics vote" on what to do if the negotiations fail? One that would include decisions like multiform, powering up, trying to draw the fight away from the school as best as possible, et cetera? Obviously there may well be an opening exchange of blows before we get a chance to make tactical decisions, but it does seem fair, I'd think.
I do hope you'll give us a separate "tactics vote" on what to do if the negotiations fail? One that would include decisions like multiform, powering up, trying to draw the fight away from the school as best as possible, et cetera? Obviously there may well be an opening exchange of blows before we get a chance to make tactical decisions, but it does seem fair, I'd think.
Of course. Negotiations, given the kind of character we're running, are just as involved as combat. I plan on really showing what Kakara can do. Should that fail, we break for a vote.
Of course. Negotiations, given the kind of character we're running, are just as involved as combat. I plan on really showing what Kakara can do. Should that fail, we break for a vote.
[x] Negotiate. Convince them to hold off for long enough to talk. Dad will show up then, and his presence will allow you to dictate terms from there. You...you know you can at least delay. That said, if you fail to stop them completely you default to having to hold your ground, so if that doesn't appeal...
-[x] You are their host. Speak confident, calm, polite and with authority. They didn't want to negotiate from a vulnerable position. Now they are not. What do they want in this planet and why are they here?
Princess Kakara
Your mind races. What to do, what to do?
You swallow. Well. What else? Any kind of fight would endanger the people here, and leaving would just let the aliens have free reign. They want hostages of their own. Pushed far enough, people you valued enough to remove from danger would suit -- in sufficient numbers -- as well as you.
Stay back, you send to your friends, straightening out of your stance and powering down. Let me talk to them.
Jaron's head snaps over to you. "What-"
You shoot him a glare. Stay. Back. Let me handle this.
He seethes, and he doesn't come out of his stance, but he doesn't attack, either.
Maya looks significantly more unsure. "Karen...are you sure?"
You look away, up towards the birdsong alien. Yes.
"Coming to your senses, are you?" asks the red-skinned alien as you step forward, away from your friends. "I'll admit we'd prefer to do this without a fight." Communication [Kakara vs. All Scouts]: 187 vs. 17, 54, 95, 31, 46, 57, 62, 83, 76, 28, 45, 46. Overwhelming Success.
Your eyes narrow. There's more to that than what he's saying. These scouts -- all of them -- they're nervous. They must be.
Think, Kakara. What would you do? You're stuck on an alien planet. They got your ship. They got your friend. But you have them, too -- if you move fast, before the others show up. If they don't fight back hard enough to hurt somebody. If you haven't made an even bigger mistake than three of them in one place already says you did, and you aren't about to get jumped. If. If. If.
If I were them, what would I need to hear?
Your back straightens, all of this reflection passing through your mind in a second. You tilt your head just so, hold your arms likewise, set your feet just that far apart-
Princess Kakara Vegeta, for all that her posture would suggest, looks up at her guests with a polite smile. "I guess nobody has really welcomed you to Garenhuld yet. That would make me your host." You offer a slight bow -- more a nod than anything. Acknowledgement, not deference -- a princess does not defer to anything less than her familial elders. "I understand that you didn't want to talk when we had something over you. But that's not how it is anymore." You tilt your head, slightly, to emphasize the smile, and slowly lift into the air -- for a princess does not stand below others. "I guess we're all a little nervous now." And at that, you allow a slight edge to enter your voice -- for, after all, a princess does not tolerate threats, far less explicit ones.
But a princess is gracious, and you're trying to talk, not fight. Rising onto the leader's level, you look him in the eyes and allow the slight to fade away -- your willingness to forgive it all the more noticeable for the fact that you referred to it.
You lean on your knowledge of Vegetan customs hard, playing the role of a princess utterly secure in her domain to the hilt. Everything you do is checked around how Princess Kakara, Scion of Vegeta, would act, and if a Vegetan would notice you missing something, or fouling up your vocabulary because you weren't force-fed thesauri from the age of three, that doesn't matter. These aliens only see a little girl talking to them like a Lady in her parlor.
They all falter in their rage and aggression, confused and uncertain of how to respond to you.
"If I'm the one in charge of welcoming you, I really can't forget to ask what brings you here," you say. "Meerak tells us that we have to talk to you for that. So...what brings you here? Why come to Garenhuld? I'm sure that there's a good reason."
Silence. You see jaws drop. They trade glances. On three faces -- new arrivals from the other entrances -- you see what looks suspiciously like hope.
The birdsong alien doesn't show anything like hope. Its eyes narrow and its birdsong starts to sound like the shrieking of a hawk.
"Boss says that's none of your business," says the red-skinned alien.
"I live here," you say, crossing your arms. "I would like to know what brings my guests to visit."
The alien opens his mouth to speak, but a sharp gesture from the leader cuts him off. It lifts a device up to its face and warbles into it for a moment.
Then, the device speaks in a tinny, robotic tone. "Child, I have been fighting and scouting for longer than you have been alive -- longer than your parent has been alive, unless they are centuries old. I have learned the ways of this galaxy, and it is cruel. Your pretense at negotiations fools nobody. Your parent will arrive shortly and attack us. We are unwilling to wait. Surrender at once and come peacefully with us, or we will be forced to take drastic measures."
Your eyes narrow slightly. You stamp hard on your initial flinch reaction. "I don't lie," you say, hoping you don't flush at the blatant falsehood. Deceit [Kakara vs. Leader]: 73 vs. 58. FINALLY A SUCCESS IN THIS FUCKING SKILL.
The alien crosses its arms. "Then you are naive and a waste of our time. This conversation is over. This is your last chance."
You resist the urge to raise your guard. You stand straight and stare it right in the eyes. "I am not here to fight. You don't have to fight me today. But I have to understand what you want and what you need, or else we can't do anything."
And, at last...
...something gives.
You catch one of the humans in the squad -- of which there are four -- muttering into his scouter. The leader's head snaps over, and it responds in a sharp whistle that it refrains from translating. A blue-skinned avian on your left replies in kind, gesturing in agitation. A second human -- a woman about your mother's age -- starts muttering into her scouter as well.
There are only three of them, out of nine -- but that's three people to split your enemy's focus. They're all in the four-fifty power level range, too.
And, crucially, it's three people who occupy enough of their leader's attention to eat up crucial seconds, until you catch a flicker of movement out of the corner of your eye and hear your father's voice in your ear.
Kakara, I'm in position with several teams of warriors. We stand ready to assist. You're the one on the ground; fill me in. I thought there was a fight brewing. What did you do?
You conceal any reaction, still staring down the leader. I didn't want to fight around the humans. I tried to talk to them. It...it worked.
Details, he says, voice brisk. Are they about to surrender? Are they negotiating? They look like they're disagreeing with each other.
I convinced some of them that a fight isn't necessary. They're distracted arguing with each other.
Then we can hit them now, he says. Unless you think you can talk more of them down -- or deepen the split -- I'm giving the order to go now. But first...which one is the mage?
You blink. I...what? What are you talking about? What mage?
The Sorcerer I ordered here to ward Maya while we were dealing with the nukes has still been on-station, says Dad. He's telling me that he saw magic being used. Who is it? And how is Jaron using ki?
You gulp. I don't think any of them are mages. Jaron's the mage. His power level right now is because of a spell. I don't know what. Deceit [Kakara vs. Berra]: 93 vs. 92. ...what? How on Earth- no, I'll find out later. Maybe Dandeer's spell had some unexpected consequences...regardless. Kakara, do you think you can do more good talking to them?
You look around the circle, trying to gauge the scouts' moods. They're agitated -- the three arguing in your favor are not being dissuaded by their companions' pressure. You think you could push them out of the fight entirely, but doing that would force the others to move, because it would make it very clear that you intended for there to be a fight after all. You even think you could get a few others on-side...although given that they're whispering or speaking in strange languages, you only have body language to go on, and, with aliens, can't be sure. And while you're beginning to think it's not likely at all...if you convince enough of them...if you speak well enough...maybe if you somehow get Meerak to get here and vouch for you...and maybe, if you're lucky...you think you might be able to get them to stand down entirely.
If. If. If. Is it even possible? You really don't know.
And all of that ignores the fact that with the scouts distracted and your Clan's warriors in position, you can take the aliens down right now, before there's a risk of them hurting anybody.
You look at the leader and see it staring back at you, with what you swear is a suspicious glare. No matter what happens, you're certain that you'll never convince it of your peaceful intentions. At best, you might be able to make it conclude that surrender is the only option.
At the start of the year your choice would have been easy. Now? You've had your certainty shaken over and over again, to the point that you don't feel sure of anything.
You take a deep breath. Scratch the past. Ignore it all. There are people -- squishy, vulnerable people -- at risk, and a group of terrified, desperate, and probably more than a little evil scouts standing in front of you putting those people in harm's way. Your call, in the next few seconds, decides everybody's fate.
And just like that, your choice is clear.
You straighten your back and open your mouth.
What do you say?
[ ] Try to get the three scouts you've broken through to to stand down entirely and surrender at once. It will basically announce that a fight is about to begin, but cut the scouts' numbers very neatly. You're certain you can manage this, the way things are right now.
[ ] Try to deepen the divide among the scouts, pushing harder to convince more of them that you don't have to be enemies. You doubt that the leader will have the patience to let you convince the new doubters to stand down completely afterwards; they'll probably attack rather than let the disunity spread. The resulting fight would be fairly chaotic, with uncertain loyalties in the mix. This would be tougher -- both sides of the argument are getting entrenched -- but you know you can do it, and you wouldn't lose anything you have now by trying.
[ ] Try to negotiate a complete cease-fire. It'll mean making promises backed by your position of authority, and definitely will take some of your people scrambling to get Meerak to a radio to vouch for your sincerity and trustworthiness, but if you convince enough of the scouts that a fight isn't necessary right now, you may be able to pressure the leader into admitting that a surrender is his only choice. But you're not even sure if it's possible...
[ ] Give the order to attack immediately. You can't risk the civilians. With the ambush your father has set up and the scouts' division and distraction, this will be over in a heartbeat.
[ ] Write-in.
THIS VOTE IS NOT YET CLOSED.
When rolling Communication, you aren't always rolling to outright convince somebody. Sometimes, as all of us can attest, the other party just isn't open to negotiation. Communication isn't the, "make them think like me," button. What you do is do whatever it takes -- convincing, cajoling, bribing, persuading, reasoning, begging, and even resorting to peer pressure -- to get the other party acting in accordance with your agenda through words alone. Sometimes, even that's not an option absent specific circumstances, and you have to settle for neutralizing them as an opposing voice. For instance -- for this first roll, only three of the present scouts were immediately open to you convincing them. The others you rolled against in order to out-argue their attempts at disrupting your position.
Fortunately, you beat every single one of them. For those with the patience to dig through the update to find the Communication roll, here were the various traits coming into play as a result of the specific vote and specific phrasing you chose: Compelling Presence, Decisive, Inquisitive, Level-Headed, Oddball, Socializer. Y'all phrased this spectacularly -- albeit, I suspect, better than you realized.
Going forward, more scouts are now open to being convinced due to their trusted friends and companions arguing your side of things. It's not guaranteed, but as noted above, it's possible.
I hope you've enjoyed this update. I try to make the social moments in this quest as detailed as the fighting bits -- if I'm trying to depict a character specced for social, I can't gloss over these moments. They're every bit as involved as fighting, and I do enjoy writing them -- witness, "Point of the Compass," back in Year 2, as one of my prouder moments. Looking forward to seeing how you all move forward from here.
Kakara has managed to turn the scouts against each other! With her father now in position and several teams of saiyan warriors ready to attack, the threat is contained...but can the conflicted Scion push even further, and resolve this situation with words alone? Or will the scouts' leader push back violently, and initiate a fight in order to silence his opponent? Find out next time, as we continue the season finale of Dragon Ball AE!
TWO-HOUR MORATORIUM TO DISCUSS BEFORE VOTING OPENS
Well whatever we decide now we have basically won. We have bought enough time for everything to get into place now we just have to decide on the nature of our victory.
[] Try to negotiate a complete cease-fire. It'll mean making promises backed by your position of authority, and definitely will take some of your people scrambling to get Meerak to a radio to vouch for your sincerity and trustworthiness, but if you convince enough of the scouts that a fight isn't necessary right now, you may be able to pressure the leader into admitting that a surrender is his only choice. But you're not even sure if it's possible...
but that does not mean that it is not worth trying.
[X] Try to negotiate a complete cease-fire. It'll mean making promises backed by your position of authority, and definitely will take some of your people scrambling to get Meerak to a radio to vouch for your sincerity and trustworthiness, but if you convince enough of the scouts that a fight isn't necessary right now, you may be able to pressure the leader into admitting that a surrender is his only choice. But you're not even sure if it's possible...
but that does not mean that it is not worth trying.
I want to deepen the divide. Because I rather want to capture the scouts or at least take them out of play. It would be nice not to have an action penalty next year.
I want to deepen the divide. Because I rather want to capture the scouts or at least take them out of play. It would be nice not to have an action penalty next year.
deepen the divide ensures a fight just as much as attack now does. and that means deaths. and with the chaos of deepen the divide, it is likely that civilians will die too. and that second part makes Deepen an unacceptable choice for me.
if you want to capture them, attack now. if you want to try to resolve Reflective, we really want to take the negotiate a cease fire option.
Your eyes narrow slightly. You stamp hard on your initial flinch reaction. "I don't lie," you say, hoping you don't flush at the blatant falsehood. Deceit [Kakara vs. Leader]: 73 vs. 58. FINALLY A SUCCESS IN THIS FUCKING SKILL.
The alien crosses its arms. "Then you are naive and a waste of our time. This conversation is over. This is your last chance."
You gulp. I don't think any of them are mages. Jaron's the mage. His power level right now is because of a spell. I don't know what. Deceit [Kakara vs. Berra]: 93 vs. 92. ...what? How on Earth- no, I'll find out later. Maybe Dandeer's spell had some unexpected consequences...regardless. Kakara, do you think you can do more good talking to them?
Fortunately, you beat every single one of them. For those with the patience to dig through the update to find the Communication roll, here were the various traits coming into play as a result of the specific vote and specific phrasing you chose: Compelling Presence, Decisive, Inquisitive, Level-Headed, Oddball, Socializer. Y'all phrased this spectacularly -- albeit, I suspect, better than you realized.
You know what? We are coming to this the wrong way. We should be focusing on what gives us the best chances, Negotiation or drwing them away.
Relevant traits for negotiation: Bunch of traits
[x] Negotiate. Convince them to hold off for long enough to talk. Dad will show up then, and his presence will allow you to dictate terms from there. You...you know you can at least delay. That said, if you fail to stop them completely you default to having to hold your ground, so if that doesn't appeal...
-[x] You are their host. Speak confident, calm, polite and with authority. They didn't want to negotiate from a vulnerable position. Now they are not. What do they want in this planet and why are they here?
We want to buy time. Act confident to get them off guard. Get our noble on. Speak like a Scion instead of a child. They won't expect the sudden change, a child acting like that is off putting and the implication they don't have to fight and they are in control might help defuse this.
@PoptartProdigy is this what you were thinking about or something more specific.
deepen the divide ensures a fight just as much as attack now does. and that means deaths. and with the chaos of deepen the divide, it is likely that civilians will die too. and that second part makes Deepen an unacceptable choice for me.
if you want to capture them, attack now. if you want to try to resolve Reflective, we really want to take the negotiate a cease fire option.
I want to deepen the divide. Because I rather want to capture the scouts or at least take them out of play. It would be nice not to have an action penalty next year.
As you said, we have already won. We should try to resolve this as peacefully as possible. Even if we fail to talk them down completely, we will win the ensuing fight.
But if we so successfully talk them all the way down, it will be massive for Kakara. Both morally and reputation wise.
We picked the pacifist saiyan, let's try for peace.
[ ] Try to negotiate a complete cease-fire. It'll mean making promises backed by your position of authority, and definitely will take some of your people scrambling to get Meerak to a radio to vouch for your sincerity and trustworthiness, but if you convince enough of the scouts that a fight isn't necessary right now, you may be able to pressure the leader into admitting that a surrender is his only choice. But you're not even sure if it's possible...
(I realize the moratorium is still up)
Do we really have too much to lose by doing this? I mean, at worst, Dad comes swooping in.
what happened to keeping multiform a secret? and quite frankly, unless you want to go to ~5 million (which we dont. that is part of the reason we waited for reinforcements) the civilians are at major risk. because we cant realistically stop one of them from throwing out an AOE.
so while we may be able to mitigate the risk (if poorly and via revealing secrets we have been keeping for quite a while now), fighting will cause the civilians to be at risk of harm, and deepen the divide in particular will raise that risk due to increased chaos.
and again. we want to try to resolve Reflective. negotiating a cease-fire (or at least trying to) does that. attacking and sowing chaos does not (at least not in the way we are trying to).
what happened to keeping multiform a secret? and quite frankly, unless you want to go to ~5 million (which we dont. that is part of the reason we waited for reinforcements) the civilians are at major risk. because we cant realistically stop one of them from throwing out an AOE.
so while we may be able to mitigate the risk (if poorly and via revealing secrets we have been keeping for quite a while now), fighting will cause the civilians to be at risk of harm, and deepen the divide in particular will raise that risk due to increased chaos.
and again. we want to try to resolve Reflective. negotiating a cease-fire (or at least trying to) does that. attacking and sowing chaos does not (at least not in the way we are trying to).
