Nearly from the word 'go', your quest shows signs of trouble. No less than two of the Council, nearly half by current numbers, show interest in driving the quest off the rails. One all but declares war on the rioters by advocating for their abolishment, another thinks that maybe the Naysayers have the right idea and maybe this quest should be dedicated to helping them succeed.
Fortunately, the rest of the Council is more in alignment, and come to a loose agreement that the Quest and its player should refrain from picking a fight with the Naysayers if it can be helped. Whether or not war is inevitable, the Council refuses to allow this Quest to be responsible for it.
Even so, it's a warning sign that the Rioters need be on their guard, lest they find that the most dangerous threat to this quest come from within.
Anyway, the Council also decides as a side bit that they should lend their support to the act of exploration, because how can you really accomplish anything if you don't even know where you are?
While the Council is busy with that, the Rioters find all manner of tasks to occupy themselves with.
The first and foremost of your number plans to prepare against the vagaries to come. It's a daunting task, to be sure. To truly defend against 'vagaries', you have to be prepared for, well, everything. And to defend against everything, you have to be prepared for anything?
"How do you prepare to defend against anything?" You find yourself asking.
"How do you prepare to defend against…
anything?" The question becomes.
And soon it becomes a matter of asking if it's possible to defend against anything. It would be really easy at that point to wonder if it's impossible to defend at all, and fall into a hopeless spiral of despair as you face the question of if doom is inevitable; we all die eventually after all.
You don't quite get there, but you'll need to be careful less you stare into the abyss too hard and accidentally fall over the guard rails.
STATS Discovered!
Stats represent how good you are at a given thing by way of how big a die you roll for actions associated with it.
There are six stats – Strong, Smarts, Spunk, Showoff, Shenanigans, and Spotlight.
Stats to be further explained in subsequent update and 'Important Information'.
@harnackam gains +1 Smarts XP.
STATUS Discovered!
A Status is an effect that can either positively or negatively affect your performance ability.
Status to be further explained in subsequent update and 'Important Information'.
Harnackam is now
Shaken!
Status "Shaken" Discovered! When Shaken, you are more vulnerable to negative status effects.
Two of the Rioters conclude that to succeed, you must know thyself. Or in this case, rather, actually taking stock of your home turf. One of you decides to mostly just look around. You're left kind of in awe at what you're presented with, that new quest smell, with fertile mostly untouched land that is a ripe canvass to be painted on.
The other of your number puts some real work in. Between the two of you, you have a fairly complete picture of your immediate surroundings, and a solid picture of what waits further out, giving you some great leads to work with.
Your immediate surroundings are about as simple, quaint, and peaceful as can be. You stand upon what could arguably be called a 'hill' if you tilt your head and squint. There's a lot of really green, really soft grass. The ground seems very fertile. In the near distance to the Southeast, you can barely make out that the green gradually fades away and gives ground to what is likely a desert of some kind. Southernly the land takes a more lively turn, with growth that suggests signs of a swamp that then gives way to a dryer forest as you move northward. To the West and Northwest, leaning even into the full North – Mountains. Probably a lot of mountains. Then there's the Northeast and Easterly region, where there's possibly open plains, though there might be more forests in those direction.
The Northeast is also the direction where you spot the Naysayers hanging out in their menacing way as Naysayers are want to do.
It's hard to put a finger on it, but you're pretty sure there's some kind of quest-related movement in the distance beyond the forests of the West and Southwest. Somewhere beyond the desert – signs of smoke. Similarly, you see unnatural signs in the sky somewhere in the western mountains that could be explained by some kind of quest activity. Any other signs you thought you saw earlier, you're not seeing them for now, but you can't really say if that means something, if you're just not seeing them now, or if you only imagined them in the first place.
@SolAnon1 Smarts upgrades to 1d5!
@Jack727 gains +1 Smarts XP.
SKILLS Discovered!
Skills are static abilities which provide a targeted bonus to certain kinds of actions.
Skills to be further explained in subsequent update and 'Important Information'.
SolAnon1 has gained "Explore +1" Skill. +1 to all Exploration actions!
"Research! We must do research!"
So goes the words through the head of , recognizing that quests are won by getting better at stuff. Research is a must, but proper research requires proper facilities. Do your research in the open, on the ground, like anarchists?
No, before real and proper research begins, you need proper setting, like a lab. A Quest lab. No small task, but you're determined to see it through. Which is a good thing, because a proper Quest Lab, that could take a while, especially if you're going for a real and proper Quest Lab.
In the meantime, every journey starts with a first step, so you pick out a good little patch of turf that you think would be just perfect for a future center of questing science, whatever form it may eventually take.
PROJECTS Discovered!
Project 'Quest Lab' initiated!
Projects are major developments that require a concentrated investment of time and resources.
Projects to be further explained in subsequent update and 'Important Information'.
@_Plague Doctor_ gains +1 Smarts XP.
Meanwhile, there the Naysayers. While the Council has declared that a fight is not to be picked with them if they don't pick one first, nobody really trusts that they're not up to no good. Especially not a certain monocle'd muffin, one who always prides yourself on being prepared for anything. Why else would carry around a backpack stuffed to the bring with questing supplies you might just happen to need at any given opportunity?
You head out to spy on the Naysayers, but you are presented with a problem. Namely, how. How can you spy on them without making it look like you're picking a fight? It would be especially troubling if you were spying on them and you were caught spying on them.
Then a brilliant solution occurs – you won't 'spy' on them, not in so many words. You'll just go 'watch' them. From a distance. They'll totally know you're there, so they can't complain that you're being underhanded or anything. You'll still keep an eye on them, and they might think it's annoying or possibly an invasion of privacy, but they certainly can't complain that you're being sneaky or anything.
You can't say for sure, but you think there might be fewer of them now than there were when they were first noticed. Those who remain are in some kind of huddle, conferring with one another. They spot you not long before you get as close as you feel comfortable. They don't interact with you, much. One of their number gives you a bit of a death glare, followed by an 'Eye'm Watching You' hand gesture, but otherwise they huddle up closer together to continue conferring with one another in a matter that looks awfully menacing.
That is, until the arrival of another member of your Quest…
@rush99999 gains +1 Shenanigans XP.
What goes through your mind is a mystery. It's probably a really great mystery, but it's a mystery all the same. Taking some of the grass around you, you fashion the barest excuse for a fake beard and hat. It doesn't look great, but you know it's a fake beard and hat, and that's all the matters. You really wish you could add a farmer's outfit and some kind of glowing exclamation point to the ensamble, but for the life of you you have no idea how right now.
Oh well.
You stand there, looking silly, holding a clearly empty hand up, pretending it's holding a stick that's pretty obviously not there, hoping that by claiming you have something hard enough it'll be enough to make it true.
"Those pesky Naysayers, they scared away my chickens!" You declare, your voice thick with southern country farmer accent. "I gots me a +1 beginners stick for anyone who can get my chickens back!"
And against all odds, someone bites.
@Andorxor Shenanigans upgrades to 1d5!
Andorxor has gained "Hijinks Supervisor +1" Skill! +1 to any actions requiring other Rioters carry out your plans, so long as those plans are sufficiently silly and just the right amount of crazy to work.
Perhaps it should have been predicted that you would do the unpredictable thing by inquiring about the missing chickens.
"Are you sure you're actually a farmer? You don't look like one."
"What do you mean I don't look like a farmer? Don't you see my hat and beard?"
"That's just a bunch of grass."
"Well of course it's a bunch of grass. Soon as my chickens were driven off, my whole business fell apart. That's how quickly I've fallen on hard times."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense."
"So can you get my chickens or not?"
"You've got a +1 stick for me if I do?"
"That's what I said I got, don't I?"
"Why can't I see it?"
"Because you failed your spot check."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense."
So off you go to find some chickens. Except you don't actually know where to find chickens. So instead you decide to go to where you can find something to bring back for that stick you want.
You head on over to the Naysayers.
However, you don't have it in you to actually do anything that might be interpreted as aggressive, so you're going to have to get creative.
"Hey Naysayers." You say. "May I please take one of you with me, cover you in feathers, and claim you're a chicken so I can get a +1 Beginner's stick?"
They all look at you as if they can't even.
You look at them hopefully, trying to look friendly. One approaches you. You seem hopeful. He stands just in front of you. He looks menacing. He takes another step forward. You take a step back…
…and fall over backwards. Turns out while you were focused on the front guy, another of the Naysayers snuck around and got on the ground behind you so you'd trip backwards over him. It's a classic schoolyard prank, and they got you with it good.
The Naysayers laugh as you pick yourself up. But as you're just getting off the ground, your back turned to them, another rushes up behind you, grabs your underwear, and gives you perhaps the worst wegie you've ever had.
On the bright side, at least they don't pull it up over your head.
You get a brief boot to the butt and are sent backing with the Naysayers laughing behind you, nothing to show for it but a bruised ego and your underpants totally out of place.
@WallFlower gains +1 Shenanigans XP.
WallFlower is now
Uncomfortable -1 (
Wedgie)
Status "Uncomfortable" Discovered! When uncomfortable, you will suffer a malus to all dice rolls until the source of the discomfort is dealt with.
So ends the Round 3 Results. Information on new discoveries, updates to pages, and the start of Round 4 to come soon...