CHAPTER XI: The Ghost's Inn
AKuz
Been Better
- Location
- A Rising Tide of Horrors
- Pronouns
- She/Her
CHAPTER XI: The Ghost's Inn
"Yes", Nozomi agrees, as she and Veesa slowly follow the Ghost and her companions from in the dusty old building. Nozomi looks around vaugly sheepishly, "Oh, would you mind?"
Veesa grins, "No problem" she says as she hammers a fist into a boarded up window, popping one of the planks loose and holding it open enough for Nozomi to slip out.
"Shushhhh", Nozomi says as she does so, waiting pressed up against the building for Veesa to hop out after her.
"Shush youself" Veesa says as they pick up the pace, trying not to lose the Ghost in the recently fallen night.
The two women follow the quartet as they carefully make their way north. At one point Nozomi is afraid that they will lose their quarry, but the other group stops in the shadow of a shop to let an Invector Nightwatch Patrol go by; and Nozomi and Veesa are able to catch up.
The two watch as the Ghost and her escort turn up one of the main streets towards the wall between the southern Slice's Invector and Speaker districts,
"Huh, do they want to get stopped at the checkpoint?" Veesa says as they watch from a behind convenient planter outside a rowhouse.
"I guess this was easier than I ho… oh shush" Nozomi finishes as she watches the pair of guards at the passageway approach the Ghost. There is a brief exchange and the strange woman reaches up with both hands and cups each guard's' face, and they both freeze.
Veesa bolts up, but Nozomi pulls her back down, "No watch they'll be fine." the woman and her companions walk by the guards, "I think?"
Nozomi walks quickly up, Veesa right next to her and she waves her hand in the face of one of the guards. His eyes don't track, "Uh-oh. This is bad."
Veesa looks over from where she is studying the other guard, "He still has a pulse, but… oh wait." she steps away and pulls Nozomi by the arm, "We need to go, I think they're waking up."
"But we should ask-" Nozomi sputters as Veesa pulls more insistently on her arm.
"No. I don't want to waste time telling them about our encounter with a sorcerer. They'll take too… shoot" Veesa says as they take a corner around a nice home, "Where is that creepy woman?"
Nozomi says a bad word and then, "Well she can't have gone far, maybe if I try to feel it, i can sense that sickness stone...thing, again."
Veesa sighs, "Okay, I'm worried about this making my family sick now too"
Nozomi doesn't say anything, she focuses intently on trying to feel the Song around her. Her brow furrows in frustration, "I can't feel anything, maybe if we walk around, I'll find something"
"Ok"
The two wander the streets for several long moments until Nozomi starts humming quietly to herself, and slowly her movement slows to a stop; with Veesa doubling back to her after walking ahead some.
"Hey?" the Invector waves her hand in front of Nozomi's face, "Oh, not you too" she pokes her friend, "Hey!"
Nozomi starts, "I think it's that way" she says pointing towards the middle of the speaker section, "Yes, I can feel something that way"
"You're the boss, boss" Veesa says as she follows Nozomi's directions.
"Was that, well, was that actual Singing?" Veesa asks, casting a sidelong look at the other woman.
"Well, it wasn't exactly a Song, but yeah, I picked up something this last week. I guess it just came naturally." the Chosen says, shrugging.
"Well, you should know that it sounds nice." Veesa says, "For humming anyway. I can't sing much less Sing. No matter how hard I try, it's just not my thing." she chuckles, "I'd rather carry a sword than a tune, anyway"
"I'd noticed" Nozomi says chuckling herself, "...Just over there, that big building"
"The Speaker's Rest?" Veesa says, eyes wide, "That's one of the most expensive places in the district, I wouldn't expect a creepy person to go there."
"Well, even Sorceresses like expensive things, especially them, maybe?" Nozomi eyes the brightly lit building, "I wonder how much Sorcery makes" she muses before walking up to the entrance.
"We can't just go in" Veesa exclaims.
"Why not? It's just a fancy inn?" Nozomi says confused, foot half on the steps
Veesa sputters, "Well, it's like a fancy inn, and so expensive. So expensive, I don't even know how expensive it is"
Nozomi laughs and grabs her arm as she opens the door to go in, "See it's still open. No worries"
Veesa and Nozomi are both blown away by the elegance of the Speaker's Rest. Mirrors and and paintings adorn the walls. Gilt leaf covers pretty much everything it can, and the large entrance room's rich hardwood tables and opulent chairs are worth more than anything Nozomi has appraised before in her life. There is an Invector night watchman standing near a hallway leading into the building.
Veesa gawks openly, but Nozomi pretends to take it in stride, walking across the room, face carefully neutral.
As the two enter a well dressed man behind a counter looks up from behind a counter, "How may I help you Ma'ams."
"Oh just stopping by" Nozomi says.
"Indeed, you were just stopping by during curfew" the night auditor says, eyeing the two with less suspicion and more haughty curiosity, especially their dirty and disheveled clothing from crawling around the warehouse, and hiding behind half the convenient obstructions in Serenity.
"Well, we were out for a nice walk and just happened to be caught out after the curfew. You know how it is." Nozomi says breezily. She knows this is the right place, she can feel the warp in the Song almost directly above her.
The auditor raises an eyebrow, "Of course. And you were looking for a room until morning? With..." he frowns disapprovingly over the gawking Veesa, "...your companion?"
"Who else would keep me alive in these dark times than my friend?" Nozomi decides to go for it, "Actually… I was hoping to talk with my friend who is here. She got back here just before me. You might remember her? Bodyguards? Silver and Black hair?"
"Ah, Ms. Specter. Yes, keeps to herself. I didn't know she was expecting visitors." the man says looking at Nozomi with a carefully blank expression, realising that he has probably said too much.
Nozomi pretends to look sheepish, "Well she wasn't. But…. as I said, we got caught outside after curfew by accident, so I thought I would drop by and say hi!" she hopes this works. That this man thinks that a good speaker girl like her can't be up to any trouble.
"Well…." he says, thinking, "It would be against policy to give out our valued patrons' information. But you could purchase a room for the night, and talk to her tomorrow. Is that acceptable?"
"That is…."
=================
How does Nozomi want to play this?
[ ] Just end this farce, Ghost's here, alert the authorities.
[ ] Try to talk your way up to her.
[ ] Play it slow, wait until morning. Get a room and rest and come up with a plan to deal with her.
=================
How does she want to play this?
[ ] Aggressively.
[ ] Try to cut some sort of deal.
================
Anyway, if you don't mind, I'm going to try another experiment here. Try out a system I call "Narrative Tags" which is half lifted from FATE, and it's just tagging the Characters, places, and scenes with descriptive phrases that give an idea of what way something can go.
Characters would be tagged with an aspect describing who they are as a character, an aspect describing where they come from and what their past is, an aspect describing how they prefer to do things, and final one for a weakness they have. (Additional tags can?/(could?) be added for special equipment or by spells) So Veesa would be:
VEESA:
Which would indicate that she's okay at fighting but real good at taking hits and not going down, as well has having good will power.
Nozomi would be:
NOZOMI:
Which indicates that she has a silver tongue, and a fast mind.
If Nozomi had to fight Veesa, she would get steamrolled, and if she had to outwit Veesa she would have the upper hand. But if she had to convince her of something against Veesa's better judgement, the Charm would hit the Stubbornness and it would break even (Probably whichever way I think is most "Interesting"
Right now The Ghost as demonstrated only two Narrative aspects that we can see:
THE GHOST:
Which would tend to indicate social combat and squishiness.
I'm aiming for something simple, easy to grasp, and not rolling dice against myself for like a half hour to have weird things happen.
=======================================
So yeah, wondering if you would let me run an experiment and see how it turns out?
"Yes", Nozomi agrees, as she and Veesa slowly follow the Ghost and her companions from in the dusty old building. Nozomi looks around vaugly sheepishly, "Oh, would you mind?"
Veesa grins, "No problem" she says as she hammers a fist into a boarded up window, popping one of the planks loose and holding it open enough for Nozomi to slip out.
"Shushhhh", Nozomi says as she does so, waiting pressed up against the building for Veesa to hop out after her.
"Shush youself" Veesa says as they pick up the pace, trying not to lose the Ghost in the recently fallen night.
The two women follow the quartet as they carefully make their way north. At one point Nozomi is afraid that they will lose their quarry, but the other group stops in the shadow of a shop to let an Invector Nightwatch Patrol go by; and Nozomi and Veesa are able to catch up.
The two watch as the Ghost and her escort turn up one of the main streets towards the wall between the southern Slice's Invector and Speaker districts,
"Huh, do they want to get stopped at the checkpoint?" Veesa says as they watch from a behind convenient planter outside a rowhouse.
"I guess this was easier than I ho… oh shush" Nozomi finishes as she watches the pair of guards at the passageway approach the Ghost. There is a brief exchange and the strange woman reaches up with both hands and cups each guard's' face, and they both freeze.
Veesa bolts up, but Nozomi pulls her back down, "No watch they'll be fine." the woman and her companions walk by the guards, "I think?"
Nozomi walks quickly up, Veesa right next to her and she waves her hand in the face of one of the guards. His eyes don't track, "Uh-oh. This is bad."
Veesa looks over from where she is studying the other guard, "He still has a pulse, but… oh wait." she steps away and pulls Nozomi by the arm, "We need to go, I think they're waking up."
"But we should ask-" Nozomi sputters as Veesa pulls more insistently on her arm.
"No. I don't want to waste time telling them about our encounter with a sorcerer. They'll take too… shoot" Veesa says as they take a corner around a nice home, "Where is that creepy woman?"
Nozomi says a bad word and then, "Well she can't have gone far, maybe if I try to feel it, i can sense that sickness stone...thing, again."
Veesa sighs, "Okay, I'm worried about this making my family sick now too"
Nozomi doesn't say anything, she focuses intently on trying to feel the Song around her. Her brow furrows in frustration, "I can't feel anything, maybe if we walk around, I'll find something"
"Ok"
The two wander the streets for several long moments until Nozomi starts humming quietly to herself, and slowly her movement slows to a stop; with Veesa doubling back to her after walking ahead some.
"Hey?" the Invector waves her hand in front of Nozomi's face, "Oh, not you too" she pokes her friend, "Hey!"
Nozomi starts, "I think it's that way" she says pointing towards the middle of the speaker section, "Yes, I can feel something that way"
"You're the boss, boss" Veesa says as she follows Nozomi's directions.
"Was that, well, was that actual Singing?" Veesa asks, casting a sidelong look at the other woman.
"Well, it wasn't exactly a Song, but yeah, I picked up something this last week. I guess it just came naturally." the Chosen says, shrugging.
"Well, you should know that it sounds nice." Veesa says, "For humming anyway. I can't sing much less Sing. No matter how hard I try, it's just not my thing." she chuckles, "I'd rather carry a sword than a tune, anyway"
"I'd noticed" Nozomi says chuckling herself, "...Just over there, that big building"
"The Speaker's Rest?" Veesa says, eyes wide, "That's one of the most expensive places in the district, I wouldn't expect a creepy person to go there."
"Well, even Sorceresses like expensive things, especially them, maybe?" Nozomi eyes the brightly lit building, "I wonder how much Sorcery makes" she muses before walking up to the entrance.
"We can't just go in" Veesa exclaims.
"Why not? It's just a fancy inn?" Nozomi says confused, foot half on the steps
Veesa sputters, "Well, it's like a fancy inn, and so expensive. So expensive, I don't even know how expensive it is"
Nozomi laughs and grabs her arm as she opens the door to go in, "See it's still open. No worries"
Veesa and Nozomi are both blown away by the elegance of the Speaker's Rest. Mirrors and and paintings adorn the walls. Gilt leaf covers pretty much everything it can, and the large entrance room's rich hardwood tables and opulent chairs are worth more than anything Nozomi has appraised before in her life. There is an Invector night watchman standing near a hallway leading into the building.
Veesa gawks openly, but Nozomi pretends to take it in stride, walking across the room, face carefully neutral.
As the two enter a well dressed man behind a counter looks up from behind a counter, "How may I help you Ma'ams."
"Oh just stopping by" Nozomi says.
"Indeed, you were just stopping by during curfew" the night auditor says, eyeing the two with less suspicion and more haughty curiosity, especially their dirty and disheveled clothing from crawling around the warehouse, and hiding behind half the convenient obstructions in Serenity.
"Well, we were out for a nice walk and just happened to be caught out after the curfew. You know how it is." Nozomi says breezily. She knows this is the right place, she can feel the warp in the Song almost directly above her.
The auditor raises an eyebrow, "Of course. And you were looking for a room until morning? With..." he frowns disapprovingly over the gawking Veesa, "...your companion?"
"Who else would keep me alive in these dark times than my friend?" Nozomi decides to go for it, "Actually… I was hoping to talk with my friend who is here. She got back here just before me. You might remember her? Bodyguards? Silver and Black hair?"
"Ah, Ms. Specter. Yes, keeps to herself. I didn't know she was expecting visitors." the man says looking at Nozomi with a carefully blank expression, realising that he has probably said too much.
Nozomi pretends to look sheepish, "Well she wasn't. But…. as I said, we got caught outside after curfew by accident, so I thought I would drop by and say hi!" she hopes this works. That this man thinks that a good speaker girl like her can't be up to any trouble.
"Well…." he says, thinking, "It would be against policy to give out our valued patrons' information. But you could purchase a room for the night, and talk to her tomorrow. Is that acceptable?"
"That is…."
=================
How does Nozomi want to play this?
[ ] Just end this farce, Ghost's here, alert the authorities.
[ ] Try to talk your way up to her.
[ ] Play it slow, wait until morning. Get a room and rest and come up with a plan to deal with her.
=================
How does she want to play this?
[ ] Aggressively.
[ ] Try to cut some sort of deal.
================
Anyway, if you don't mind, I'm going to try another experiment here. Try out a system I call "Narrative Tags" which is half lifted from FATE, and it's just tagging the Characters, places, and scenes with descriptive phrases that give an idea of what way something can go.
Characters would be tagged with an aspect describing who they are as a character, an aspect describing where they come from and what their past is, an aspect describing how they prefer to do things, and final one for a weakness they have. (Additional tags can?/(could?) be added for special equipment or by spells) So Veesa would be:
VEESA:
|
Who |
Bravehearted and Foolhardy Young Invector |
|
Past |
Proud Martial Tradition |
|
How |
Straightforward and Forthright |
|
Flaw |
Stubborn and Overconfident |
Nozomi would be:
NOZOMI:
|
Who |
Witty and Charming Chosen |
|
Past |
Merchant's Daughter |
|
How |
Quick Mind, and Quick Mouth |
|
Flaw |
Often Impulsive |
If Nozomi had to fight Veesa, she would get steamrolled, and if she had to outwit Veesa she would have the upper hand. But if she had to convince her of something against Veesa's better judgement, the Charm would hit the Stubbornness and it would break even (Probably whichever way I think is most "Interesting"
Right now The Ghost as demonstrated only two Narrative aspects that we can see:
THE GHOST:
|
Who |
????????????????? |
|
Past |
????????????????? |
|
How |
"Mutually Beneficial" Arrangements |
|
Flaw |
Shadows Don't Fight |
I'm aiming for something simple, easy to grasp, and not rolling dice against myself for like a half hour to have weird things happen.
=======================================
So yeah, wondering if you would let me run an experiment and see how it turns out?
Last edited:
/me feels a bit derp. Sorry