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In the Wake of Monsters - an Advisor's Quest

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Seventeen said:
[X] Plan Superhero Steward
-[X] Troubles (+5 shinies)
--[X] Very Divided Loyalties (Vainglory)
--[X] Political Debt
--[X] Monetary Debt
-[X] Nice Things (7 shinies)
--[X] Levelheaded: Nothing ever seems to startle or upset you. You always have your wits about you, even under stress. Cannot be taken with Loose Lips. +1 Intrigue
--[X] Organized: Through habit or obsession, you keep everything neat, tidy, and in it's place. +1 Stewardship
--[X] Quick: You're naturally brighter than the average person. +1 to all stats, though no narrative advantages.
--[X] Supernumerate: You can crunch numbers with ease, making bookkeeping and trigonometry a snap. +1 Stewardship
--[X] Past Life Memories: You retain fragments of knowledge from your previous incarnations. +1 Learning, tiny chance of randomly boosting any roll.
--[X] Promising Meridians: If you somehow find the time required for it between your job, your clan and your projects, you might also make a decent cultivator. Mutually exclusive with Tattered Meridians.
--[X] A Silver Brush: It writes in any color, creates its own ink, and even takes dictation. So much more practical than a magic spear. +2 Stewardship, +1 Learning.
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Zaratustra said:
[X] Plan Narrative Advantage
-[X] Troubles (+5 shinies)
--[X] Very Divided Loyalties (Vainglory)
--[X] Political Debt
--[X] Monetary Debt
-[X] Nice Things (7 shinies)
--[X] Levelheaded: Nothing ever seems to startle or upset you. You always have your wits about you, even under stress. Cannot be taken with Loose Lips. +1 Intrigue
--[X] Organized: Through habit or obsession, you keep everything neat, tidy, and in it's place. +1 Stewardship
--[X] Supernumerate: You can crunch numbers with ease, making bookkeeping and trigonometry a snap. +1 Stewardship
--[X] Promising Meridians: If you somehow find the time required for it between your job, your clan and your projects, you might also make a decent cultivator. Mutually exclusive with Tattered Meridians.
--[X] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
--[X] Gossipmonger: You have a knack for keeping one ear on the buzz of gossip all around you, giving you early warnings when something isn't quite right in your immediate vicinity and a source of low-level local information. +1 Intrigue
--[X] Prophetic Dreams: From time to time you get glimpses of futures that may come to pass.
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Hmm. Not a huge fan of prophetic dreams, but otherwise a reasonable variant for me.

[X] Plan Superhero Steward
[X] Plan Narrative Advantage
 
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Prologue - The Nightmare and The Coronation
  • Threadmarks
    • Recent vote is still open, this is a pure story post.

    Walking up the hill to the coronation grounds, the elders of the Avalanche Clan smile and cheer. Further away the chops and mons of other dynasties can be seen on their pennants and clothes. Everyone gathers around the empty chair in good formation. Up the single clear path comes Wisdom Shining Void, Portlord of Silverport, walking beside Seven Snakes, Priest of the Sun.
    The Portlord looks at the throne and asks: "What is this?"
    The priest responds gravely: "This is a throne for the King of Silverport."
    The Portlord declaims: "Silverport has no king! Silverport is free!" and topples the chair.
    The rest of the coronation passes in a blur until your name is called. You join the ranks of the other councilors. Wisdom Shining Void speaks: "It pleases me to announce"
    He throws off his cap and rends his garments, his wrinkles fade into childlike smoothness, his naked skin turns from a normal yellow-brown to a garish purple-pink, his eyes widen into black orbs.
    "that we have returned." speaks the Corruption. "All shall bow before us again."
    The other councilors are also unmasking themselves of both garments and faces. You cannot move or speak. You can only watch in horror.
    "And it pleases us also to welcome a new member to our ranks." The Corruption grasps you firmly by the hand and twists your wrist cruelly, then touches your forehead with searing fire.
    Your flesh melts like wax at its touch, dripping down your face and blinding your eyes.
    "Mmmm, you'll be so beautiful once we're done with you."

    -

    "Wake up! Wake up!" The voice startles you. You blink feverishly, trying to gather your bearings, and realize that the only thing dripping into your eyes is sweat, the darkness is because it's the middle of the night, and your hands are being held by your dear wife, Avalanche Jade. "Are you awake?" she asks, and you manage a nod. "You were having a bad dream. Scratching your face and whimpering."
    "I dreamt the Abominations came back."

    After an hour of tossing and turning, you eventually get back to sleep. There are no more bad dreams, only the mundane trouble of having underslept and being woken by the morning bustle of East Avalanche Mansion as three generations of the family prepare for the big day.

    The actual coronation is a lot more detailed than any dream. Rather than an abstract dynasty surrounding you, there's your father with his crooked nose (it was that way when you returned from Tokara, and you can't remember if he had it before that), your mother munching on dried fruit (in this case mangoes, her second favorite after bananas), your wife carrying your younger son ("Can you say e-lec-tion?" "Lekkon!"), your older son complaining to you that his feet hurt (he's walked further than this before, you'll give him the piggyback ride he wants eventually), and your sister and brother and a profusion of uncles and aunts and nieces and nephews whose names you recite as a calming mantra, and further away your more distant relatives, and then all the other dynasties, and even a cluster of small gods come to gawk. And also the less resplendent parts of the assembled crowd like the street vendors trying to hawk their wares and the ushers trying to shoo away the street vendors and several red-faced members of Clan Dove surreptitiously shuffling to cover the fact that one of their children has just been loudly and messily sick. Possibly from eating street vendor food.

    Reality also comes with other surprises. Rather than Seven Snakes comes a masked, veiled and hooded figure all in white, black and grey. Hmmm. A sun-priest is customary for this rite, but you suppose there's no rule against a moon-priest. Squints and scowls break out, but no one voices an objection as the rite proceeds.

    "What is this?"

    "This is a throne for the King of Silverport."

    "Silverport has no king! Silverport is free!"

    "A free man may not be owned, but if he is wise, he will let himself be guided." says the moon-priest. "The wise elders of the city wish for you to be their guide. Do you accept this task?"

    Wisdom Shining Void draws a deep breath. "I do. May all the gods hear my vow: I will be a guide and not a king. I will illuminate the path, as the Sun illuminates. I will protect the people, as the Moon protects."

    "The Moon hears your vow, and She will tell all the other gods. And do you understand that this office is a task for a time, and not a property for your disposal?"

    "I do. When my task is done I will relinquish my office, and should I die my heir will have no claim on it."

    The rest of the coronation ceremony passes without anyone tearing off false faces. The moon-priest gives a speech on care and comfort and healing. The new Portlord gives a speech promising to restore Silverport to glory, and closes by announcing he will be holding a feast to celebrate. The crowd drifts off in the direction of the feast. You, by prior appointment, kiss Jade goodbye, tell your children to stay with her and behave, and then walk briskly in the other direction. Towards the mishmash of architectural styles that is the Portlord's palace. Towards your first meeting with the high council. No, towards your first meeting on the high council. This will take some getting used to.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Social Beast
    [X] Plan Honorable Monstrosity
    [X] Plan Twisted Insight
    [X] Plan Twisted Enlightenment

    [X] Plan Super Clerk in Debt
    [X] Plan Narrative Advantage
     
    i don`t understand why we can not just have a somewhat trouble free character?

    also pick one plan not 4 or 6 at a time!
     
    [X] Plan Great Clerk, Poor Restraint

    I'm really amused at not going for anything crazy. I do think Past Life Memories would have been really fun, but I'd have made a plan with that as the only supernatural advantage and not the pile of stuff that the second leading plan is.
     
    Voting closed. Great Clerk, Poor Restraint has won. Writing began a while ago because introducing the rest of the Council would be much the same regardless of vote.
     
    Turn 0 - New Faces
  • Threadmarks
    • [*] Plan Great Clerk, Poor Restraint
    -[*] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
    -[*] Organized: Through habit or obsession, you keep everything neat, tidy, and in it's place. +1 Stewardship
    -[*] Supernumerate: You can crunch numbers with ease, making bookkeeping and trigonometry a snap. +1 Stewardship
    -[*] Monetary Debt


    The walk to the Palace of the Portlords brings another reminder of how much the city has suffered. Construction workers dawdle on a scaffolding around a ruined mansion you're unfamiliar with. At its base, intense heat has caused the stonework to flow like mud before resolidifying, undermining the walls and leaving a large clot of semi-obsidian jutting into the street. An improvised ramp of wooden planks has been laid over the clot to ease passage.

    On your arrival, you spy a bizarre foreign woman with the most garishly attention-grabbing hat you've seen. It's a foot and a half high, topped with another two feet of peacock plume. The rest of her outfit isn't much better. She reeks of horse, and when you don't see one nearby, you wonder what in the world would have driven an alchemist so barmy as to invent horse-scented perfume.


    "What are you doing here?" you ask.

    "Enjoying the fresh air. Waiting for the big boss."

    "You mean the Portlord?"

    "Yah."

    You frown, and apply logic. This woman can't be the new steward of the city, because that's you. She's probably not the spymaster, unless this is an elaborate cover identity where she's only pretending to be completely unsubtle. (Horse-scented perfume! What is the world coming to?) The grapevine says Ascension got one of theirs picked to be the chancellor, which means this woman is either the new marshal or the sage, and of those two, you know which one you'd bet on. Then again, maybe she's an important and well-connected foreign diplomat with a priority appointment. Which, on reflection, is also unlikely, because if you had to guess at her origin you'd say the Iron Plains, whose inhabitants do not tend to be either well-connected or important people.

    "I'm guessing you've been hired to lead the soldiers then. May I ask your name?"

    "I am Princess Ebuskun full-blooded. Yes. Very unusual terms of contract, but Portlord has best pay. With his money and my people, I will reunite Iron and make Silverport new capital. And your name?"

    [] Write-in protagonist name

    "-of Clan Avalanche", you stutter, pondering the implications. If this is her own interpretation of the post, things are going to be very interesting. If the Portlord has actually ordered that, things are also going to be very interesting. And you'll apparently be responsible for somehow funding the reunification of the Iron Empire. You haven't even formally met the Portlord yet, and today is already feeling like a disaster in the making. You make some polite excuses and head indoors, both to sit down and calm your stomach, and because you imagine awaiting Wisdom Shining Void in the meeting room will make a better impression than lounging nonchalantly against a wall like Ebuskun is doing.

    One of the palace servants says you're expected, and shows you in. There's one other person waiting there already. He scrutinizes you. You scrutinize him right back.


    This one is much easier, you think: he's a very important person sitting in the Portlord's council chamber, and he doesn't look the part. His clothes are cheap and unmarked, even if his bearing is haughty.

    "You're the new spymaster, I take it?"

    "Are you angling for my job?" he asks with a grin.

    You shake your head. "Hardly. But I've met the marshal, you don't look like a scholar, and you don't look like you're Ascension either."

    "Which, if you've deduced my job from that, means you're the steward. Right? Gold Morning, pleased to make your acquaintance."

    He a seems a sight more sensible than Ebuskun. Sadly there's not much time to chit-chat before the Portlord sweeps in with his entourage and what must be the rest of the council coming from the coronation.


    He dismisses most of the servants, and settles in at the table with everyone else. "Our city is injured, our people lie slain in multitudes, our continuity of rule broken. There has been no Portlord for months, and they," he spits, "were not the sort to keep careful track of what they did. But we live, and we still have our harbors and our position, so we will recover, even if it takes us years. But for the moment, Silverport is like a man drunk, fatigued and injured: his very condition cripples his ability to understand what is wrong with him. Before anything else, you will help me to understand how bad our condition is."

    He pulls out several small scrolls and stamps each of them with his seal of office before passing them around the table and beginning to give orders, starting with the man who is obviously the chancellor by his clan insignia.

    "Ascension Ritual Blade, go and see the heads of all clans great and small, and see who will unite behind me in this time of need. Speak to them of glory, of emergency, or of duty as you judge best. Promise them whatever you think is reasonable. Threaten them if you must. I care little what you do, as long as you bring me results. Even one recalcitrant clan profiteering instead of contributing could be devastating. But above all, do not let them temporize - known enemies are better than lurking traitors."

    Ascension Ritual Blade looks up at the ceiling, considering for a moment. "That will take two or three weeks."

    "You have one." says Wisdom Shining Void flatly. "Time is our enemy. Send servants to the smaller clans." He turns to the strange foreign woman. "Ebuskun Jin, you should start by familiarizing yourself with the existing warriors and subcommanders. They will probably need some time to adjust to your presence."

    "May I have them beaten if they are disobedient?"

    "You may." The Portlord sighs, and turns to you. "Understand our situation. Measure our condition. In particular, start looking into which of our creditors and debtors are dead or gone so we can stop paying the former and replace the latter. You'll get an office here in the palace to help you. It's a small silver lining to the unfortunate demise of the previous administration - I can give out rooms and houses freely with the deaths of so many sinecureholders."

    Gold Morning gets an order to start vetting the entire intelligence apparatus on the assumption they may have been corrupted or subverted, and the sage, Wolf Three, is told to... take off her hood? Your jaw drops as she does so to reveal a literal, mundane third eye in her forehead. You'd heard cultivators sometimes grew a third eye, but that was supposed to be a glorious thing glowing with qi that could see into the spirit world. This third eye is just creepy. It blinks. Winks? This is confusing, too.

    Someone less hesitant than you asks the obvious question: "Why do you have a third eye?"

    "The Abominations did it to me. They thought it would be funny, they said, to make my face match the literal meaning of my name. And then they forced me to watch spiritual as well as physical acts of defilement of my shrine." She explains in a bitter voice, closes her third eye, and pulls the hood back down over it.

    So that eye does see into the spirit world, then.

    "Wolf Three is unfortunately one of the most knowledgeable about the Abominations - not a field in which there's much competition, I imagine." says Wisdom Shining Void. "She was traumatized through no fault of her own and I expect you will all treat her with the respect due her position and as you would expect to be treated yourself. Am I clear?"

    You mutter assent along with the rest of the table, even as you shudder a bit to be reminded both of the scourge of the past months and of your nightmare this morning. Wolf Three is told to look into whether there's any chance the Abominations might return, and if so, how they might be prevented from returning, and the meeting is dismissed. You'll meet again in one week once you have more concrete items to discuss and a better knowledge of your situation.

    A servant offers to guide you to your new quarters, and you graciously accept. They're expansive, and only a little dusty from disuse. There's a large office for you, with tall shelves and a massive desk containing many drawers, and several smaller offices for the staff you're no doubt expected to have, and attached bedrooms for everyone. It might be a little lonely, though - no, wait, this is spacious enough you could easily invite Jade, your children and the wet nurse to all come and live here.

    Settling into the nice chair, thinking about how the shelves really need their contents sorted and perhaps some helpful labels applied, and wondering whether you should search the desk drawers at once or after you've come to grips with your situation, it dawns on you that for the first time in a long while, you have no scheduled activities. No lessons to attend. No relatives to visit. Nothing that needs doing around the house. No family duties. Jade is probably still at the coronation feast, trying to stop your sons from getting a tummyache. Your old obligations have mostly ceased or been suspended indefinitely in favor of your new position, and the Portlord has given you an open-ended task where a lot of people, creditors in particular, will show up at your office and start giving you the information you need if you simply wait for them.

    The freedom is intoxicating.

    What will you do now?

    —

    Choose three:
    [] Bury yourself in work immediately.
    [] Socialize with one of your fellow councillors. (Pick a councillor, can be taken multiple times.)
    [] Celebrate with your family.
    [] Start networking with one of the Great Houses. They'll appreciate the information and access you can offer. (Pick a clan, can only be taken once.)
    [] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [] Begin abusing your office for profit as fast as you can.

    -Voting is now for the FIRST WEEK in your new job, where you get your only chance to make first impressions and set the tone for future. After this we will move to six-month turns.
    -"Do your job" is automatic in this turn, because it's currently so abstract. This is what     else to do. Burying yourself in work option is diligence above and beyond the normal.
    -Embezzlement options and whatnot will show up next turn when you have better budget information.
    -Name vote is separate from actions vote. If you really want to vote for more than three actions, you can do so, and I'll use the three that get the most in total.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.
    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.

    We need to figure out our situation and get our family settled.
     
    [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.
    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.
     
    [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.
    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.​
     
    [X][Name] Marble
    [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.
    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.

    Looks like we're going to need a staff and fast.
     
    while some part of me thinks being social with any of the new coucillors might be a good thing i agree with this plan.
    [X][Name] Marble
    not sure on the name but it`s fine
    [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.
    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.
     
    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.
    [X] Socialize with one of your fellow councilors: Gold Morning
    [X] Celebrate with your family.

    We're going to have to meet with the other councilors eventually, might as well get a jump while we still have some free time. Our spy master seems like the best option to start with, and no doubt he'll be able to help us out going into the future if we befriend him now. Hiring new clerks can always wait until we actually have work for them to be payed for.
     
    [X][Name] Marble
    [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.
    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.
     
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    [X] [Name]Bob
    ...what? The rest of the council have off-the-wall names. Why shouldn't we?

    [X] [Name]Lee
    [X] [Name]Taiyang xiao long
    The classic and a recent favourite.

    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.
    [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    Portlord seems like a hardass. Work diligently now or he will keep a close eye on us later. Still need some non-work activities though.
     
    [X][Name] Marble
    [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.
    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.
     
    [X][Name] Marble
    [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.
    [X] Bury yourself in work immediately.
     
    [X] Hire clerks. You don't have much for them to do yet, but you surely will.
    [X] Celebrate with your family.

    [X] Start networking with one of the Great Houses. They'll appreciate the information and access you can offer. (Ascension)


    Getting started on the clans is important in the long run. Ascension, being the oldest and most established, stands to open the most doors.
     
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