|
 The Ministry of Reality =Minutes of the first meeting of the comitee to clean up Sarnath= There is a room. It looks for all intents and purposes to be a desaturated office that you might find anywhere in the world. Right down to the selection of shadowy faced business men discussing matters of intrigue to other similarly sinister looking individuals. And within this room, the fate of nations was decided over otherworldly tea and biscuits, this was the Ministry at work. One said "Just this city? We have not discovered more?" "The issue we are facing, is that this world is under some potent and very attentive protections from above, and below. Even if the 'Gods' have removed themselves from interfering with the creatures below our presence will not be welcome." "Yes" said one, taking from a plate of biscuits. "But we have a plan already it is being put into place do we not? Have we located the 'item'?" "It's presence has been felt here, but that is just it, a presence may mean it is within the walls of Waethai, or it could be within the whole of the island" "Then our presence will merely have to be, wide-spread. Inform the Black-Hats that they are to suit up and begin, prelimimary operations. And in Waethai dark presence began to take hold. - Lower Waethai, Marketplace The Undercity beneath the cliffs was normally a centre of hustle and bustle, an important point between multiple trade routes have made the smoking haphazard streets an important part of the lives of many, many people. But today a man was getting a lot of attention. "Why should we suffer for this arrogance!, they sit in their high towers in their finery and Lord it over the rest of us! They turn their back on the Gods and wallow in self-important decadence and decay! Why sit and beg these creatures for anything when all they deserve nothing but the waste they have created for themselves." The preacher was; wild, rabid, and often a common sight in the marketplace often attracting a crowd just out of general boredom. But today something was different, people were paying attention, a few more men in similar situations all across 'Lower Sarnath' were speaking similarly charged bile to the masses and they were, agreeing with it. Because inside every man present there was a voice and it whispered "Why are you here? To beg these elves for small glimmers of knowledge, and in return they treat you as children at best and a tool at worse. You do not have to stand for this, you shouldn't stand for this. - Upper Waethai, Hall of Splendour "It's diagraceful, we have allowed them here on sufferance given them our permission to build their homes beneath our towers and now they assume that we have been exploiting them." Ferinald Gwenforlyn, a scholar of some note looked over his balconey towards the teeming masses below with a look of utter distaste. "Have you heard? A heirodule and her novices had stones throwed at her in the street! And we should tolerate these people here? In this most high city of Sarnath? The Sage needs to take action!" There were more little groups like this around Waethai trotting out similar statements, and slowly but surely this news was getting back to Elanquar and the human civilizations back home. Little bumps on the road to what was, if not an amicable relationship, then at the least a stable one. People were taking notice, people were contributing to the growing issue in their own way. And no one ever noticed what now seemed to be lurking in the midst, whispering into their minds, edging on dark thoughts and darker actions, tricking the unknowing and the unaware into thinking their thoughts were their own and serting the stages for something terrible to happen. The Malignancy had taken hold. --- The Ministry's Horror action is to Subtly Create an Advantage against the Sarnath Antarchy, by inflicting The Malignancy upon it and stirring the elves and human pilgrims against each other. A corruption of Bubbling Racial Tension in other words. For this I'll use the Subtle +3 approach, my free invoke of The Malignancy (+2), spend 1 abberance to use Servitors: The Black-Hats (+2) and make use of the Poison Goes Where Poison's Welcome gift for +2 since I am Subtly pitting two groups against each other for +9 in total. This action is difficulty +4 due to targeting a whole faction. 4dF+9 = I think this is a success with I am informed that due to using them to do the action, I can't claim +2 invoking bonus on the Servitors, but I will still succeed the action with style. TheNabster fucked around with this message at 12:47 on Apr 16, 2016 |
#
¿
Apr 3, 2016 10:37
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 14:58 |
|
|
Trollhawke posted:Finally, the Arch Traitor prepared a series of unmarked letters, letting them dissolve into the smoke into any odd or unnatural realms. While they could not follow, they could lead to answers, or dialogue. Within each letter is written a single word... Theantero posted:I'm calling to all Horrors! Say hello! *Beep* Thank you for contacting the Ministry of Reality customer support line, your link to the higher powers. If you would like to schedule or reschdule an audit for your reality, press 1. If you would like to report the unwanted presence of life in your plane, press 2. If you are intending to expand your reality, or you are seeking permission to create a new plane of existence, press 3. If you would like to appeal for the extension of your existence, press 4. If you wish to lodge a query, or if you are not satisfied with the service you have recieved, press 5. To listen to these options again, press the star key. TheNabster fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Apr 3, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Apr 3, 2016 14:38
|
|
|
The Ministry of Reality There isn't anyone I can move so I'll go straight to the action phase =Minutes of the second meeting of the comitee to clean up Sarnath= The office was busy, it had been at least two or maybe three weeks since the initial actions were taken against the people or Sarnath and now the Ministry had been moving to long term activities. In general there are three things that Black-Hats are assigned to do in any long term infiltration; report, sabotage and 'talent scout'. In the Ministry a 'candidate' was a very special (and in a certain point of view, very unlucky) individual who has the right qualities that the Ministry looks for in a mortal agent. In that either they are so incredibly venal and greedy that they would sell their own mother for a sack of gold, a person who is so suspectable to outside influences that the Ministry could just slip right in or is a person in possession of a secret that would be the end of that person's career, or in certain cases their life of anyone were to find out. And the Black-Hats know how to dig. And in the process of digging had turned up quite a few likely 'candidates', the Antarchy was fertile ground for the kind of self serving, double dealing, backstabbing bastards that are the corner stone of any decaying court, and it was full of people who were for want of a better word trapped in a gilded cage with knives in the dark. Or words like knives in the day, and it was going to be a very bad day for Vorn Abbylan because he was chosen to be the first recruit. - Upper Waethai, Living Quarters Vorn was an ambitious and quiet worker in a comfortable position in a mostly stable society. This would have suited Vorn fine except he was beginning to realize that the problem with a society of immortals is that you cannot wait until someone dies of natural causes before you get their position and this had chafed with Vorn for quite a while as it seemed that after he became the keeper of the archives, that was it this was going to be his lot until the quiet eventually claimed him. He entered his room, he washed his face in a basin and turned. There were three men in his room, they were wearing unusual monochromatic clothing, and no faces whatsoever. Words like 'Guards!' Or 'What is this!?' Or even a scream of terror martialed in his mouth and got stuck in the door. "Vorn Soldax Abbylan, age 300, currently holding the position of archivist in Waethai and advisor to the Sage. Today is your lucky day.' Droned the one on the middle in tones of a funeral bell. He couldn't muster the wits to speak. "For we have found you before the agents of The Sage had discovered your, unfortunate treachery." His compatriot undid a briefcase and very carefully laid some letters out on the table. His letters. Given in secret to trusted couriers how did- "An assassination plot, with the growing unrest in Waethai as an excuse to unseat the current ruling power player. How droll and how lucky that human dissidents had gotten to your men before you would try to carry it out. It would have ended in your banishment at best." "And" the being was staring at Vorn with the eyes it did not have and all the words had just vanished under that faceless nothing. "The worst might just catch up with you, if you will not, follow orders." And the night took him. --- The Ministry through it's earlier invoked Black-Hat servitors will Subtly Recruit an Agent in Waethai by the name of Vorn. Difficulty +1, no aspects invoked. 4dF+3 = 3 A plain common garden success pre:Vorn, an Archivist A minor Sarnathqar noble. Origin: Treacherous Advisor +3 Subtle +2 Uncanny Boost: A wealth of knowledge. Agent Vorn Abbylan It was late night in the archives of Waethai and Vorn was busy at work. No one paid him any mind, he was the archivist after all this place and it's knowledge were his responsibility, and the fact that two assisstants had come was no mystery the recent troubles in the lower quarters had ensured that a lot of Sarnathqar were carrying weapons on their person, or traveling in groups. They hadn't been so bold as to try anything in this most serene of cities but you know how humans are, it may only be a matter of time. A closer inspection however reveals an elf in quiet anxiety. Simply put Vorn was unsure what exactly he was looking for or why he was looking for it, only that his 'assisstants' would be helping him find it. Some kind of damnable artifact that his new employers were very interested in and right now he wasn't in a position to argue, and felt no pressing need to either. As he burned the tallow and slowly made his way through the older records with his 'helpers' fetching and carrying, something began to take shape. --- Agent Vorn investigates the location of the First Life's first artifact hidden in Sarnath by going through the archives in Waethai. An Overcome action in other words. He uses a Subtle +3 approach, and expends his A wealth of knowledge boost for an additional +2, for +5 in total against Difficulty +3 4dF+5 = 4 A success! And I am really glad I used that boost out of the gate. TheNabster fucked around with this message at 12:50 on Apr 16, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Apr 7, 2016 18:48
|
|
|
Agent Vorn - The Profane Archives Vorn had stopped hammering on the door hours ago, now, he was merely slumped against the empty dias waiting to die. And so this is what it came to, played for a fool by shapeshifters, and then by The Sage. They would find his bones done here and no one would even know he was gone. In the end, his efforts mattered- The phone rang. Vorn was quite surprised by this somewhat surprised because he had up until that point not noticed the phone in front of him, but most likely because it was something he had never seen before in his life. He stood there, dumbly staring at the artifact as it rang in the silence. And then with shaking hands he picked up the part that seemed detachable "Agent Vorn, Report." The sudden voice startled him out of his despair. "We have heard everything, you have done well, remain here unti-" Agent Vorn snapped "Remain? Remain? You mean you are leaving me to die down here!?" "Negative Agent Vorn, we are leaving you down here to live." It seemed the device was two way, but that wouldn't stop Agent Vorn. "What!? You want me to-" "Want, has nothing to do with it Agent, you will remain here. You will remain in the place you wanted to enter, and you will record what is within these halls." "Ghods drat you! Why should I listen to you! It's your fault I am trapped here in the first place!" He was about to slam the device down, looked up at a movement in the air, and gazed into the face of infinity. These weren't the faceless black suited men that appeared in his room, this was something else. A grey suit, a grey hat, and an infinite void that made his eyes hurt just looking into it. He fell back on his haunches "Because the world is going to end Agent Vorn." The words were spoken with the emotion of a rock, and the tone of a teacher. And they clanged in Vorn's ears like a church bell. "What will now be told to you will not leave this room" The being said, stating the apparently obvious. "Sarnath will burn, this whole world will burn. In the coming weeks, Waethai will be unsafe. The coming months, the whole Antarchy will be dangerous. And in the coming years, the fires of doomsday will be stoked by the forces that have now claimed this world as their own. This world will drown in it's own blood, and we will bear witness to this." The being looked at Vorn and in that microcosm of an instant, thoughts of telling people about this burned away under the sightless stare of a being that he knew in his bones had seen things beyond his comprehension. It was a look that said 'You are nothing, you are not an animal, or even an insect, you are dust. But dust you may be, you have for this fleeting moment within the span of the cosmos, and on top of all the things we have seen and seen to be done, our undivided attention.' And disobeying something like that would be certain and instantaneous death. Vorn crawled to his knees as the being placed a basket in front of him. "In here, you will be 7 sealed doors away from what will come next. Learn everything and these mortal things will sustain you. Await further instructions, we will be watching." And with that in a moment that made his head ache, the man and the phone disappeared leaving the basket and the silence. He opened the basket, it contained a bottle; a blank book, and a selection of sandwiches. He sat in the darkness, staring into space and bit into one of the otherworldly sandwiches. It was ham and cheese. He ate it. TheNabster fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Apr 20, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2016 21:17
|
|
|
The Ministry of Reality The one person who can actually move is trapped in the =Minutes of the third meeting of the comitee to clean up Sarnath= The Phone was put down, and the meeting was resumed. The boardroom was even more full then usual, Black-hats lined the walls and Grey-suits took the seats and more files were being brought in and taken away even as one of them began to speak "We have confirmed our initial suspicions about the 'High Elves' on the island Gentlemen, it seems that there is indeed a considerable divide between the 'elder' races, and the 'mortal' races. And other such things aside from that" "And we have learned that the mortals rely on the High Elves for a lot of historical information, that has been ultimately doctored. How curious what is it that they intend to hide?" "Is this relevant gentlemen? We intended to destroy this island and it's inhabitants, does this aid in this task?" There was, an immediate quiet. "That plan we feel may benefit from some, rethinking" There was a low grade muttering amongst the listeners, the speaker raised a hand. "Yes, we understand the needful nature of our work but gentlemen, do you not realize what we have found here?" "This island, this secluded island, home of a race that for the most part has fallen into decadent wastefulness, is the repository of everything we may possibly need to know about this world and the creatures are on it. Not only that but with the careful omission of inconvenient information they have an indirect way of controlling the nations from the outside. We know nothing of this world, they do." The speaker looked, it had their attention now, good it continued the train of thought. "Therefore if we were take control, and allow this 'Antarchy' to continue in it's dynamtic stagnation with a few prods in the right direction, we will be in a very strong position going forward indeed." "But the 'Church of Life' suspects something surly? Their agent is within our lands already she may pry into a business, and then-" "We will deal with the Heirodule, in due time." the speaker said, pulled up an ethereal sleeve and checking a very complicated looking watch "In fact, we have put that plan into motion" He did some mumbled calculations under his lips and looked up to the assembled audience. If he had a mouth, it would be grinning. "About one week ago." - High Waethai, the previous week What was the Ammon Grove? Even at the very end, no one ever really knew the answer to this question. Were they a cult created for a nefarious purpose? Where they a lodge of gentlemen subverted by the Ministry to dark errands? Or were they just an upstart group of firebrands that found out at the very last moment why you don't play with fire. Where it started however was in fear, and in envy, it started with the the young mortal 'born' Sarnathqar's desire for control in a world where the people at the very, very top of the hierarchy had gotten there thousands of years ago and had no pressing desire to leave it. A stagnant future and an empty prospect of power. And so there was cults, and there were secret societies and there were little secrets between bored elves in an unchanging world mere distractions from the pull of the encroaching Quiet, and in this fertile soil the seeds of the Ammon Grove were planted. Before the Grove spread it's roots far and wide, other groups made within the sheltered isles of the Antarchy were just play acting. Oh maybe a few demons may have been consorted with and perhaps a few illicit deals were made from the ivory towers of High Waethai that had ramifications on the people below, but nothing would have compared to what happened over those hectic few days, where several small groups one day found that they had caught the attention of something truly and unmistakably malefic, and then discovered that they had all come under 'new management' and would now be part of a bright new future where they would remain alive in the coming storm if they towed the line and didn't complain, things were going to change. Alone these small groups were fairly insignificant plotters and 'me too!'-ists that would never have gotten anywhere, they would have faded out like every group before. But when brought together through the machinations of the Ministry, and put into the hands of competant leaders, it became an organization that would shake the foundations of the Antarchy.  And they also had a very spiffy sense of fashion. --- The Ministry with its Horror action, will Subtly Create a Cult in Waethai with it's servitors, through the careful maneuvering of several smaller secret societies into one very large one. +3 Approach, and the difficulty is +2 4dF+3 = 3 A success! pre:The Ammon Grove Origin: A Discrete Club for Gentlemen* +3 Subtle, +2 Leery, +2 Uncanny Boost: Pooled Resources *Ladies are also allowed TheNabster fucked around with this message at 12:50 on Apr 16, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Apr 15, 2016 23:25
|
|
|
The Ammon Grove - Lower Waethai, The Fiddler's Hat It has been nearly a month since Engl had traveled from the shelter of the Temple of Life, and during which her attempts to calm the situation in Waethai have not gone very well at all. And not gone very well, was the mild way of putting it she had no idea why but it was getting worse and already she had a growing number of detractors amongst the more vocally anti-elf members of the human communities living under the shadow of Waethai. She absentmindedly stirred the simple porridge that had been prepared for her by the landlady as she thought about this, collaberator they had shouted if they were feeling polite, knifefucker if they weren't. If it wasn't for the fact that returning a failure would have been worse then not returning at all, she would have given up a long time ago. She would persist in her task, but she was being worn down by effort there was only so much she could do and she couldn't even do that. There was a knock at the door. "Message for ya' miss." It was the barmaid, she was nice and very polite from having a women of the cloth under the same roof, especially one with such fine clothing, Engl opened the door. "Yes Miss Claudia?" The maid had in her hand a letter done in very good vellum, edged with gold and addressed to her. "Got a message for ya, a man from big city delivered it! It's got fancy gold edgin' and everythin' miss, it must be important!" Engl paused, she had made some requests for assistance from some of the nobles in Upper Waethai for some support in dealing with the issues down here but so far all she had gotten was silence, she took the letter and thanks the maid, closing the door behind her. The letter was, well a letter it looked like an invitation to something, and the seal on the envelope was not one she recognized it looked for all the world like a simple chevron over a single small dot, incredibly minimalist compared to the elaborate and ornamented seals used by other Sarnathqar households. She teased open the letter and read it. pre:To Heirodule Engl, Lady Sabal Quarra cordially invites you to a small soiree, being held within her manor, being held tonight. We have heard of the unfortunate situation within Lower Waethai and wish to assist you in this manner RSVP - Upper Waethai, Later that day. It had been quite a long while since Engl had been within a city of the elves, and although Waethai wasn't quite the radiant multifaceted jewel that was Perfaet Elanqar it was still a very magnificent city to behold and the house of the Lady Quarra was whilst not quite as beautiful as the Shrine of Bekwae, was still very pleasent to behold. And during the party she had noticed that a few people in unusual garb had made polite conversation with her about small matters until she had later found herself in a quiet drawing room away from the party itself, with the Lady Quarra. She may have been enjoying herself tonight, but she remembered why she was invited here. "I was told that, you would help me with this issue in the Lower Waethai, your ladyship." The Lady Quarra nodded, she was a dusky lady in a voluminous grey and looked like one of the older generations of the 'young' high elves. She genteelly sipped the glass in her hand and regarded the Hierodule kindly. "Yes, a regretable business and one that we would like to see come to a peaceful conclusion, but regrettably our hands are tied." The Heirodule looked disappointed, even behind the mask. Lady Quarra raised a finger, "But, what if I will to tell you why something like this happened in the first place?" Engl scratched her chin. Why? She never considered the question why, the Church asked her to bring peace to the troubled city of Waethai in the name of Bekwae and so she had made that journey and made that effort. Why never came into it, the noble lady continued. "Because it's rather odd, isn't it? For years the human pilgrims and the Sarnathqar lords and ladies had been living alongside one another peacefully for years, and after all that time now is the time for anti-elf sentiment." "Do you consider it strange Hierodule, that very suddenly the mood in the country has been inflamed? Humour me for a moment, what if I were to tell you that some of these incidents had, shall we say, a 3rd party?" Engl shifted in her seat. "I don't follow my lady are you implying that this incident had a cause beyond, bubbling human mistrust of elves?" "I am implying, that this messy business was caused by someone else" The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. "A conspiracy? You are telling me this incident, this entire problem was caused by someone else, who?" "We do not know this Hierodule, we have some vague ideas and notions but these things to not lead to an answer, merely further questions, questions that we are not in a position to answer currently for our presence outside of Waethai will attract, comment. We have been attempting to gain an audience with the The Sage, but he will not listen to us, he does not listen to many people at all if it comes to that, the past few hundred or so years have been very hard to him. But we think that he might just listen to you, this is why we requested your presence. If you could talk to The Sage and convince him that this is a problem that needs seeing to, then we will do everything we can to assist in uncovering the truth." "And, this is all you would ask me to do?" "Would you mind? We think he has a soft spot for the Church of Life, and so your words will not fall on deaf ears like ours would have." Engl considered this. --- The Ammon Grove will attempt to Uncannily Subvert Hierodule Engl, using the Uncanny +2 approach and the free invoke on Ghods Can't Help You Now for +2 to the roll, against Difficulty: +4. 4dF+4 = 3 A failure, but, I will spend one aberrance to invoke The Ministry's A Moment of Your Time aspect, considering the mostly secret one to one method of this subversion, and the fact that the Ammon Grove cultist is leveraging what she wants to add +2 to the roll, turning it into a success. --- "Okay" She said, after a very long pause. "I will do it what exactly would you need me to do?" "We'll help you with that my dear, we only ask that you be ready when we need you to be. And don't worry, we'll be behind you on this, trust us."
|
|
#
¿
Apr 18, 2016 21:13
|
|
|
Agent Engl Lower Waethai, The Fiddler's Hat Ever since last night, Engl had felt at a little bit of a lose end in the evenings. Before that night where she was pulled into the service of the mysterious Lady Quarra she would spend these quiet hours in the night in contemplative prayer in preparation for the morning, but tonight she couldn't really get the peace of mind for that activity. There was just, something she felt she needed to do. On the table in front of her was a bowl of clear water, in which she was adding a few combinations of herbs and tea leaves. A simple scrying ritual, that is all, that is all she was doing, and the person she was attempting to see was probably scryed on so much he was possibly used to it. It was used by the church on occasion to observe nature in far off lands from the comfort of the temple, and, well a Sarnathqar is kind of like nature and he is only in the above city, so it was perfectly fine, nothing wrong there. In fact, in the grand scheme of things what she was doing was probably a fairly innocuous action. It wouldn't hurt anyone surely. It was fine. It was fine. She had a knife in hand, the ritual required one last thing before it would become 'ready' and with the teeniest prick on her little finger she let a single drop of blood enter the mixture and looked deep into the swirling bowl. She gazed. She gasped. The bowl hit the floor. --- Agent Engl attempts to Weirdly Gather Rumours (Overcome) on The Sage through the use of a simple scrying ritual to catch a glimpse of him. The approach is Weird +2 and the Difficulty is unknown 4dF+2 = 3 Is this a success? Is it a failure? I have no idea. TheNabster fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Apr 19, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Apr 19, 2016 21:54
|
|
|
Theantero posted:
There was a knocking on the door. This was odd, one because this was the middle of the desert far away from any civilization whatsoever, and two because there was in fact a door in the desert, one that didn't seem to be supported by anything, or even attached to anything it was just there. The Door Opened, it was occupied by a completely blank-faced man in a black suit, and a hideously garish tie that hurt the eyes to look at. "'Scuse me sir pardon me sir I'm part of an organization collecting charitable donations sir to help the poor orphans in Sarnath, and we wondered if we could have a moment of your time sir?" It was completely non-plussed about talking to a big toothy hole in the desert. "Actually I tell a lie sir, I'm part of a right bastard of an organization, and the bloody skinflints won't buy me another tie sir, but they got growing elf problems and you got elf solutions sir and I am authorized to trade one fact about the presence of extra-terrestrial life interfering with the proper running of this world and the various devices of great eldritch power they had left behind because of it, in return for your secrets about elves and other races of a similar kidney, sir." It produced a clipboard. "If you are interested just sign here sir..." He looked at the lack of, anything but teeth and hunger. "Or just dribble some ichor on the dotted line if you don't mind sir." I offer one secret of The First Life in return for the secret of Changelings TheNabster fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Apr 26, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2016 17:57
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 14:58 |
|
|
Theantero posted:
"Ahh, lovely, thank you sir." He very carefully scraped most of the excess phlegm off, secreted the clipboard on to his person with a wet squelch, went back through the door he came through and closed it. After a few seconds, he picked up the door and ran like buggery out of the desert. Yami Fenrir posted:
Some period of time later a door sank to the deepest darkest pit in the ocean, before resting on the bottom of the sea and up-righting itself. It opened. Honest Chuck went 'BBLGBBLBGBLGBLBLG' Until he put on a scuba mask, and resumed his Black-Hat trained salesman spiel. He had a book in his hand, it was getting rather wet and the horrible, horrible tie that seemed to be a hole directly into a dimension made entire out of brightly coloured tweed, shone in the murky depths. "Excuse me sir, pardon me sir, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and saviors the First Life?" Regardless of any answer Chuck continued. "Well actually they are quasi-dimensional beings of untold millions of years old and powers beyond mortal ken who once populated a dark world that didn't see much light and and are presently interfering in this world through a manner we aren't entirely sure of how. It's a bugger." "I have this list here, it says 'Membranes' do you know about 'Membranes sir? Only I am authorized to trade First Life secrets for 'Membranes' and my clipboard is getting very wet down here. It's bloody cold too." I'll trade the secret of The First Life, for Membranes in Reality
|
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2016 18:28
|
|
