Here we are! I'm alarmed by the disappearing librarians so I think it's worth risking being a little illegal, as a treat.
[x] Plan: explore the bell (19/19d)
-[x] Survey the region (6d)
-[x] Investigate the library (Illegal Action) (5d)
-[x] Explore the settlement
—[x] x 2 (6d)
-[x] Establish diplomatic relations
--[x] Animist Temple (2d)
Edit: Looking over it again, I notice that you've put down two sections of "Explore the settlement", which is unfortunately not something that you can do @Eater. I can just take one out and leave a few days at the end of the cycle or you can make a new plan if you'd like.
[x] Plan: eater's explore the bell but without the double exploration (13/19d)
-[x] Survey the region (6d)
-[x] Investigate the library (Illegal Action) (5d)
-[x] Explore the settlement
-[x] Establish diplomatic relations
--[x] Animist Temple (2d)
[x] Plan: eater's explore the bell but without the double exploration (13/19d)
-[x] Survey the region (6d)
-[x] Investigate the library (Illegal Action) (5d)
-[x] Explore the settlement
-[x] Establish diplomatic relations
--[x] Animist Temple (2d)
Your first order of business in the new cycle, as is becoming typical of you, was to go take a hike. Specifically, the type of hike that gets you paid. Also as usual, you gave yourself a lot of extra time to make it nice and leisurely, compensating for the unusually long clear periods you've been having. Working until it starts raining and then relaxing until it stops sounds nice in theory, but the ratios don't always work out in the real world.
The outside of the dome was interesting. Not all of the city is entirely covered by it – rain basins are obvious, but they also had some of the heavier and more durable components of industry like forges that both would be impractical to put in an enclosed space and can survive the rain. Already, you could see workers scurrying around and preparing for the cycle.
As you got further away from the city though, the landscape became more and more bare stone. It was a distinctly different type of mapping than you were used to; instead of marking out muddy claypits and ruins in danger of collapse, you needed to signal hidden fissures in the rock that could easily catch a foot or wheel and repaint the road markings. Still nothing too difficult, but the novelty was interesting.
Also, you got to test out your new pole. The conclusion was that surprisingly many topographical challenges can be solved with poking.
(Gained 2 aums of water. You now have 2 aums.)
-[X] Explore the settlement (3d)
Roll: 5/6, failure
After a very lovely walk around the outside of the dome, you decided to try your luck on the inside. However, for all that the first few levels of Thunder-Bell are designed with foreign visitors in mind, they apparently did not extend that courtesy to the higher residences. Instead of the planned fun and easy exploration, you got to experience an arduous process of crawling through unlit corridors designed for people half your size.
After once again cursing that you were born as one of the largest types of people in the world, alongside a great deal of more general cursing, you eventually gave up and decided to stick to the areas of the city tall enough for you to stand up in.
Now that you've put a good deal of emotional and also temporal distance between yourself and the philosophical lamentations about being eternally damned, the original problem doesn't really seem that bad anymore. The gods don't have time to smite you over something trivial like going into the temple of a different religion. They're probably busy doing … whatever it is the gods do these days.
Huh, what do the gods do these days? They already made the entire world and everyone on it, what's left? Maintenance? No, no, you're here to learn about other religions. You can learn about your own whenever. Focus, Empathy.
The interior of the temple is appropriately imposing, all towering columns and vaulted ceilings. Said ceiling is decorated with a sky motif, mostly dark space with scattered points of light near the entrance, stretching all the way to an enormous mural of the sun at the far end over the altar. A priest of some sort stands near it, or at least you assume that they're a priest given the general lack of other people.
As you approach, they stop doing whatever it was that they were doing (Prayer, probably?) and turn towards you. "I'm afraid you've missed this cycle's service, friend, but if you have any theological questions, I would be happy to discuss them with you." Their elytra are decorated with painted symbols that you can't recognize, but since you're already doing so well at making assumptions, you'll go ahead and say that it's probably a religious marking.
Okay, you have a script for this. Introduce yourself. "Hi, I'm Empathy!" Give a relevant personal link. "I'm a pilgrim from the Azentu, and I was hoping to learn some more about your temple." The last step was called 'Manage Expectations' in the book you read, but you're still not sure why. You just think of it as the step where you ask for something. "Would you mind going through a water ritual with me?" Nailed it. Absolutely flawless.
The priest smiles(?) at you (You're not exactly well-versed in animal facial expressions yet.) and gestures towards a modest door in the side wall of the chancel. "Of course. I am always glad to guide others to the truth. Come, let us speak more privately for a moment."
You can now engage in diplomacy with the Animist Temple.
-[X] Investigate the library (Illegal Action) (5d)
Roll: 3/8, failure
For all the planning that went into it, the actual process of getting inside the Thunder-Bell library isn't too difficult. If you hadn't talked to that clerk last cycle, you wouldn't even know it was closed. You're a little surprised at the lack of foot traffic in such a large city, but apparently the general tendency of people to not bother looking things up in a library unless they have to still holds here.
Slipping the front door open, you sneak inside. But not in a suspicious way. You're just … respecting the sanctity of the quiet workspace. Yes, positive mindset. You're not doing anything wrong by being here, and there's absolutely no reason to call it in any way criminal.
The interior of the layout is familiar enough despite the bigger floorspace that you have no difficulties making your way to the office near the back of the building, after only a few minute's worth of browsing the shelves. Apparently, animal scribes have much better handwriting than human ones. You slowly push the door open …
… and walk straight into a group of people gathered around the exact hiding spot you were just going to check. At the sound of the door opening, several of them turn to look at you. Damn it, how are you going to explain this?
You could just sidestep the issue entirely by claiming diplomatic immunity, making something up about your pilgrimage. However, that would shift the consequences over to your relationship with the Azentu, burning some of your goodwill.
Alternatively, just straight out lying that you had no idea what was going on would probably also work, so long as you don't let anyone know that you have a connection to the librarians' mysterious disappearances.
But if you really want to get out of this with a clean conscience, the best route is probably telling the truth. You think you have some information about what's going on; Nothr only left after getting their branches on that Tenju artifact you found. That could be a big enough lead that the investigators would be willing to let your trespassing slide.
Regardless of what you choose, you'll need to come up with something quickly. Fumbling for an answer will definitely make you look guilty.
[ ] Deflect (Your relationship with the Azentu will decrease, and you should probably meet with a representative to explain yourself as soon as possible.)
[ ] Lie (You will not face any negative consequences for getting caught, but if your deception is discovered in the future, the results could be much worse than they are now.)
[ ] Confess (You will share the secret 'Heart of the Cards' with the investigators. It will get you out of trouble, but they're unlikely to reward you for it given the circumstances.)
Hey folks, sorry for the delay with this one. Took me a little longer to write everything out, and I also put some time into another project that I've been working on. Hopefully, we can get back on schedule.
I also had a small question for you all. How is the level of mechanical crunch? I have plans for other quests eventually and I want to know whether or not having maps and planning movement routes is something people want to see more of.
Well, I'm sure a crunchier quest could work! I feel this fits the story and vibe (of a relatively young person exploring the world) quite well, but a different story would definitely warrant different, and quite possibly crunchier, mechanics.
Looks like we're coming up on a tied vote here. I haven't really figured out how to deal with that yet, so if anyone has been waiting in the wings, now is your time.
Odd, it didn't count Eater's vote. In any case, lying was the winning result. Update will be posted hopefully by tomorrow, but we'll see how long it takes to storyboard and edit.
Driven by the instinctual fear of not wanting to get arrested, your mouth breaks the chain of command and says the first thing it can come up with. "Oh, uh, is the library … not open?"
The suspicious stares of the room full of detectives (What do they call them here? Police?) partially turn towards incredulous ones, which you choose to take as evidence that your excuse isn't immediately being discredited.
"Because I can just … leave, if you're, uh, busy." Yes, it's working! The more definitely-intentional awkward pauses you put into your speech, the more they'll underestimate you. You just need to keep it up. "It's not really … urgent."
The tense silence drags on for several seconds before one of the detectives sighs heavily and relaxes into a much less threatening posture. "Ah, just some kid. I knew we should have had someone watch the entrance."
"A visible perimeter would have caused an unnecessary panic!" Another retorts, apparently continuing an old disagreement. Then, the dam lets loose, with the entire room bursting into an overlapping chorus of what security measures should or shouldn't have been taken to guard against intruders such as yourself.
You consider making an escape before they can refocus on you, but you don't manage to convince yourself that running away from the people investigating a crime (?) won't actually make you look guilty before the chaos subsides and a clear victor emerges; A very distinguished looking ant that is probably their leader.
"Enough! We've already discussed this to death. What's done is done, and now we'll deal with the consequences." Then, they turn towards you, the rest of the room following their gaze. "I'm sorry you've gotten caught up in this, citizen. However, I will still need to ask what exactly you're doing here."
They think you live here? Wait, no, you can work with that. "Oh, I'm actually from the Azentu. I'm a pilgrim, and I was just doing some, uh, research." In your defense, that is all true, in the most roundabout and deceptive way possible. Surely, a perfect legal tactic.
"Ah, a traveler? Well, I'm sorry to ask that you keep your distance from libraries until the current situation can be resolved. Many that were only loosely related to the Librarians have also gone missing. It's possible that you only avoided the same fate by chance." It's not hard to put a realistic depiction of dismay on your face at that.
"Missing? I thought that this place was just closed," you lie. While getting arrested doesn't seem very likely anymore, a new source of potentially-rational panic has helpfully replaced it. If there was any reason at all to look into your background, it would be easy to find out that you're friends with Nothr and then they'll be suspicious of why you're not missing.
With the casual attitude of someone unaware of your internal experience, the ant sighs. "I cannot explain fully – operational security, I'm sure you understand – but be assured that our utmost efforts are focused on solving this mystery."
You do your best to not give any indication that you'd much prefer they weren't. "Well, I suppose I should get going then. I'll … keep an eye out."
They nod at that, gesturing towards one of the other investigators; a wasp. "Indeed. Fair-Point here will escort you to the exit. Stay safe, traveler."
(You have lied to detectives from Thunder-Bell that you had no knowledge of the Librarian's disappearance, nor any strong connection to them. Neither would be difficult to disprove, should you later be investigated.)
Unfortunately for your routine-loving brain, the section of only slightly cramped living space under the Azentu embassy set aside for pilgrims does not provide the relative isolation it was looking for to process everything. Instead of being strangely empty, you encounter a familiar face. "Nature?"
Inexhaustible Nature, looking uncharacteristically and somewhat misleadingly tired, is sitting against one of the worn-smooth stone walls, pack by his side. He waves slightly. "Hey, Empathy."
"When did you get here? I thought that you were in Enbegi?" Nature had always been one of those weird people who actually liked the sun and wanted to get closer to it.
He sighs quietly. (A lot of people seem to be doing that these days.) "I was. Everyone there started acting really weird a few cycles ago. Something about the sun moving? It still looks the same to me." He trails off, slumping down again slightly. "Everything was getting shut down, so I ended up taking a boat here. Probably should have walked."
Ah, good, he's okay. You've read about something called seasickness, that's probably what's going on. "Shut down?" You sit down next to him.
"I think so. I had been planning to go to the library there to try and find a map of the historical sites, but they were closed. Does that happen a lot? You're the expert on books."
You briefly hesitate, but just as quickly reassure yourself. Nature won't sell you out. "I actually just got back from…"
Over the sound of your conversation, you can faintly hear the rain begin to fall.
The meteorologists predict that the next rain cycle will come in 13 days and that it will last for 11 days before stopping. You are currently in Thunder-Bell.
-[ ] Explore the settlement (Scaling)
The upper habitation sections are off limits until you manage to reverse the process of aging to get smaller again, but maybe there's something you haven't noticed on the more accessible ground floor. Encounter something useful. (3 days, DC 9)
-[ ] Search for an expedition site (Dangerous)
While in Azentu lands, you could go just about anywhere under the aegis of your pilgrimage, the Sky-Deed government doesn't officially recognize all of the finer aspects of 'foreign cultural rituals' and will get mad at you if you start poking anything sensitive. Of course, that's only a problem if you can't think of another good excuse. Find an expedition site in a current or adjacent region. (3 days, DC 7)
-[ ] Spend time with Nature (Fleeting)
It's for, uh, research. You're getting valuable first-hand information about places that you might want to go in the future. Definitely no other reason. (4 days, DC 1)
-[ ] Discuss theology
Last cycle, you got invited to go learn more about Animist beliefs at their temple. In addition to being very interesting, it would also probably make them like you more, if you care about that. (1 day, DC 3)
-[ ] Look through the markets (Repeatable)
Thunder-Bell is the largest industrial site in the world. If someone's thought of it, they almost certainly make it here. See what's for sale this cycle. (1 day, DC 1)
-[ ] Sell some of your possessions (Repeatable)
Maybe you have something they want, but you kind of doubt it. There's already a lot of stuff here.
--[ ] Empty water flask (2)
--[ ] Collapsible pole
--[ ] Monument Valley trade goods (2)
--[ ] Tenju kinetic sculpture Write in number of items if multiple available. Cannot sell non-empty water flasks or your last water flask. (1 day per item sold, DC 0)
-[ ] Stash something in the wilderness (Repeatable)
You wouldn't really call Thunder-Bell 'the wilderness', but it's the spirit of the thing.
--[ ] Water flask with two aums
--[ ] Empty water flask (2)
--[ ] Collapsible pole
--[ ] Monument Valley trade goods (2)
--[ ] Tenju kinetic sculpture
--[ ] Black ring
--[ ] Tiny spring Write in number of items if multiple available. Items stored in the wilderness have a chance to be lost each rain cycle. Cannot store your last water flask. (2 days per item stored, DC 1)
-[ ] Store something in the bank. (Repeatable) Not enough water
According to the fancy brochure full of fancy economy words, banks are the safest place to keep your physical possessions. However, they are asking for quite a bit of water as an 'initial account fee'. (Up-front cost of 5 aums and 1 day; only applies the first time this action is taken.)
--[ ] Water flask with 2 aums
--[ ] Empty water flask (2)
--[ ] Collapsible pole
--[ ] Monument Valley trade goods (2)
--[ ] Tenju kinetic sculpture
--[ ] Black ring
--[ ] Tiny spring Write in number of items if multiple available. Items stored in the bank will remain safe indefinitely. Cannot store your last water flask. (No time cost to store items.)
-[ ] Engage in diplomacy (Repeatable)
Dialogue is the foundation of society, and you're proud to take part in it.
--[ ] Bright-Fleck, on behalf of the Animist Temple (1 day, DC 0)
-[ ] Establish diplomatic relations (Repeatable)
You're back in civilization once more, with lots and lots of people that definitely need to hear about how great you are.
--[ ] Azentu Embassy
They were apparently quite busy last time you went over, but you've been assured that someone will be able to meet with you sometime this cycle. (2 days, DC 0)
--[ ] Senatorial Council
While ostensibly a republic, the Council is often very focused on ensuring the health of the economy, occasionally at the expense of the population. If you want to get their attention, you'll need to stand out somehow. (2 days, DC 8)
-[ ] Survey the region (Repeatable)
While Thunder-Bell is much more urban than anywhere you've been before, there are still areas on the outskirts where you could do a little mapwork.
--[ ] Write in number of days to devote to this expedition (Length 10, difficulty 2. Reward: 2 aums of water. Progress does not carry over between cycles.)
-[ ] Consolidate water (Repeatable)
Something about the weight distribution is a bit off. (Write in the new organization of your water between your flasks. You currently have 2 aums of water and 3 flasks.)
--[ ] Write in (No time cost.)
-[ ] Travel somewhere else (Repeatable)
It's time to move on.
--[ ] Write in where to travel and the route taken (Ends the current turn, but not the current cycle.)
Continuing with my trend of overpromising and underdelivering, here's the update, several days after I said it would be done. In my defense, the fire alarm kept going off in the middle of the night and ruining the illusion that I have a sleep schedule. I also spent far too much time thinking about quest mechanics, which is probably why more complexity keeps sneaking its way in here.
On that topic, our informational sheet now includes a whole set of action modifiers. In addition to (Illegal) – renamed to (Dangerous), in order to cover more conceptual ground – we also have ways to describe how much the action can be performed. The list may be expanded in the future if another big use-case comes up, but for now, it is as follows:
(Repeatable): This action can be performed every cycle, with no upper limit
(Scaling): This action can be performed multiple times, but it will become more difficult or less useful as it is repeated
(Fleeting): This action can only be taken the cycle it is offered, after which it will disappear
(Dangerous): This action is risky somehow, whether because of local law enforcement or the natural environment, and failing at it will have consequences beyond simply wasted time
If an action has no modifiers, it's only available once, but it will stay available indefinitely. As before, each action can only be selected once per turn. The goal for this system is mostly just to be more clear about what's already going on rather than adding too many new things, but we do have (Fleeting) actions now, which I think will help shake up the 'spend half the cycle on surveying' meta by giving different things to do each turn.
Also added is the Promises (name pending) section, which keeps track of everything that you've said that people will remember and hold you to. Only two things in it for now, but I'm sure we can get that up higher without too much effort.
As usual, if you feel like anything is unclear or poorly worded, just let me know and I'll try to clarify it. I appreciate you all bearing with me as I refine the mechanics to better suit the story that I'd like to tell. Also as usual, I hope that you're all doing alright and that you enjoy the update.
[X] Plan: Get out before they realize we lied
-[X] Spend time with Nature (Fleeting) [4 days]
-[X] Travel to Triangle-Port via Wind-Key, Shrine of Dust and The Hole [6 days]
[x] Plan: Totally Normal Pilgrim (8/13 D)
-[x] Discuss theology (1 D)
-[x] Engage in diplomacy (Repeatable) (1 D)
-[x] Spend time with Nature (Fleeting) (4 D)
-[x] Travel somewhere else (Repeatable)
--[x] Wind-Key (4-5) (2 D)
So here's what I came up with. The idea is to do some general investigation about wind-key, mostly by talking with the priests and such. Spend some time with Nature as well just because that seems like the thing to do and then after all that we could to wind-key. When we get there, we can maybe look around and see if we're being followed and then head south to check on the librarians.
[X] Plan: Get out before they realize we lied
-[X] Spend time with Nature (Fleeting) [4 days]
-[X] Travel to Triangle-Port via Wind-Key, Shrine of Dust and The Hole [6 days]
