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Vapourware [LP CYOA] Night of the Hummingbird

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
D.

Let's cause diplomatic incident instead of letting our masters quietly bury this.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
I know a flop avalanche when I see one and I want in.

Don't say I didn't warn you though. If nothing else, our distraction might make sure the assassin is successful. We shall see though. Perhaps a girlish scream can solve problems in some unexpected way.

Flopped to D and edited my original post.
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
Pushed forward by curiosity, Inanna moved closer. There, half-hidden by the bushes and flowers, she glimpsed blue and white. It took a while for her vision to register itself in her mind. The blue was that of the tunic of House Ramsesphilios. The white was that of a man’s face. Pale, eyes open, staring up at the stars unblinkingly.
...
There were no signs of blood anywhere except for a small patch of dark red on the front of his uniform, staining both fabric and brass buttons. His still face was calm and emotionless, like that of a statue. His lips were tightly shut. Only the eyes continued to remain open.

We already can gleam a few things about our intruder from these scant bits of evidence.

He was patient enough to have tracked Markos while the guard was all on his own, and had enough time to hide the body in the bushes where (hopefully) no one would find it. We also know that he is stealthy enough and skilled enough in combat to take a trained fighter completely by surprise and land a killing strike that left very little evidence after the fact. The expression on Markos' expression is calm, indicating that there was no struggle and that he didn't see it coming at all.

Wherever this guy is, he has moved on. treave, how far is the banquet hall from here? The update implies that it's a bit of a ways away. If he is already on the move and has intentions of perhaps assassinating the Lord and Lady, then it's questionable whether we reach them before he does. Worse yet, since we didn't talk to them to begin with, they might be somewhere else by the time we actually get to the banquet hall - they could be off to bed, for all we know.

The cook seems like a better option. Busy kitchen, lots of servants running around there on a night like this. Plus the kitchen is close, so we wouldn't lose much time.

Our brother. Well, given our meta-gaming info, he or someone he knows may even have something to do with this. From an in-character perspective, I'm not sure what Eannos would do in this situation.

Screaming and yelling is another option. But even if the killer is far away, we have no idea who else is actually around and what they can actually do for us. If he is close, I doubt that he tries to kill us - it might blow his cover, and I have a hunch that he's a bit more cautious than that.

Given the situation, I think the best course of action is A. Please consider this, bros.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Wherever this guy is, he has moved on. treave, how far is the banquet hall from here? The update implies that it's a bit of a ways away.

Hm, without giving any concrete numbers, let's just say it's three times as far, since she's unable to jump over the hedges and trees.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Final tally:

A - 3
B - 1
C - 3
D - 5

I'll close the votes in 12 hours.
 
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treave

Arcane
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Joined
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Messages
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Codex 2012
Who Watches the Fire

Inanna shouted. A cry for help, a cry for the guards, a cry that a man has been found dead. Her voice rang out clearly and it carried far.

Yet, no one came.

She paused, took in a deep breath, and shouted again.

Still, nothing.

Could they all be dead? A fearful thought crossed her mind. It was possible, yet at the same time, something that should be unlikely. Gathering her courage, Inanna let out for the third time a cry for help.

This time, her cries were answered with screams.

From the direction of the main building that housed the banquet hall, she heard screams, many screams. A red glow began to rise beyond the garden’s trees, black smoke billowing into the air. The wind had stopped.

And then, she realized she was no longer alone in the garden. In front of her, a ways down the path leading back towards the banquet hall, stood two strange figures. They wore hooded cloaks of black that fully concealed their bodies, and their faces were hidden under white masks. On those otherwise featureless masks, a circle with a dot was painted in blue.

Upon seeing her, one of the figures reached for something, but was stopped by the other. Inanna felt, quite strongly, that this was the time to flee. Every nerve in her body was crying out in alarm, and with some effort, she managed to turn herself around. Raising her skirts as best as she could, she ran.

There was a sharp bang in the air.

Inanna stumbled. Pain radiated from the small of her back. She took two more steps, then one. Then none. She sank to her knees and flopped forward. All strength in her lower limbs was lost. She reached out her hands, tried to crawl, still confused by the happenings of the night. With the last of her effort, she managed to heave herself onto the flowerbed, surrounded by the golden petals.

The pain faded away, and her mind turned hazy. She began to feel cold creeping up her neck. She could hear footsteps, vague, faint, as if coming from very, very far away, but she had no idea whose.

She heard the chirping of a bird. A high and sweet titter.

The chill wrapped around her head and squeezed.

And Inanna closed her eyes…


**END**
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Ending 1: The Coup of 3470 A.C.

With the rise of republicanism in the former vassal kingdoms of the Shinar Empire not long after the Great Civil War, historians did not find it unexpected for the winds of change to finally arrive in the heart of the Empire itself. The revolution in Ankida began on the Night of the Hummingbird, when a faction of the army seeking to overthrow the millennia-old imperial rule marched upon a banquet hosted by Lord Ramsesphilios. The records indicate that they had sought to hold hostage the Emperor and the Council of Kings, who had secretly convened there that night to conduct a dialogue on the future of the state. However, the officers were unable to keep the soldiers under a tight rein, and the orderly operation quickly ended in chaos upon meeting a semblance of resistance. Lord Ramsesphilios’s mansion was burnt, and the inhabitants slaughtered. Even the Emperor was not spared.

Without the bargaining chips that they had hoped would protect them, retaliation came swiftly. The revolutionaries and the loyalists soon began warring all over the city, and indeed the empire. At the end of the bloody revolution, however, the institution of the Shinar Empire yet remained. A minor branch of the Imperial family took advantage of the turmoil to oust the ruling branch and sat themselves upon the throne.

This, however, was nothing new in the history of the oldest nation in the world, and indeed most historians see it as merely another superficial change in rulership, a different mask of an unbroken empire that has survived from the days of wooden wheels to this age of space travel.
 
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treave

Arcane
Patron
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11,370
Codex 2012
Alrighty, let's go for round two, where you guys probably have an idea of where it's going now. Hoping this works out.

Character Selection II:


A. Lady Orlessa Ramsesphilios (52) - Spouse of Lord Ramsesphilios. Noted philanthropist, social butterfly and avid gardener. Her reach amongst the ladies of high society is said to rival that of her husband’s own amongst the Council of Nobles. Organizer of tonight’s banquet.

B. Natia Ramsesphilios (18) – Sole daughter of House Ramsesphilios. A young woman who knows her family’s influence and is not afraid to use it. Tonight’s banquet serves as her debut into high society.

C. Vitruvius Camna (23) - Scion of House Camna, a militaristic family of nobles that has seen better days. Having recently graduated summa cum laude from the Imperial Academy, he is keen to prove his worth. He has become famous as one of the advocates against the spread of republicanism in the Empire.

D. Ambassador Zhang (46) - The Higashi ambassador. Descended from a long line of Concordiat diplomats and fluent in seven languages, he has been stationed in Ankida for more than a decade. His tenure has gained him many allies amongst the Ankidans due to his gregarious nature.

E. Eannos Lumen (23) - A manservant of the Ramsesphilios family. Inanna’s brother. Was once a cadet in the Imperial Academy’s military wing, but dropped out due to personal circumstances. A brooding young man that still maintains contact with certain more radical elements of the military.

F. Wulfric Wendelltyr (25) - A young inventor from the Skane Republic. Under patronage from Lady Orlessa, he has taken up residence in Ankida. Invited by his patron to demonstrate his recent invention: a steam-powered stage play. His neuroticism and nervousness makes him a poor fit for a banquet, however.

G. Nameless (20s?) - A young man with neither clothes nor memory to his belonging. He finds himself sitting on the walls of the mansion grounds with no idea whatsoever as to how he got there.
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
Oops... Well, sure seems that I botched this one. The Jing-type guy could probably move pretty fast if he was primed for action, but in retrospect expecting him to outcompete guys who ended up being right there with guns while other business was going down was pretty optimistic.

E for me. I want to understand more of the Republican playbook for the night so that we know more of what's going to happen and where, and the guy with radical contacts in the military seems like a pretty good option in that sense.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Codex plays Cinderella, a tragedy in one Act Prologue. :lol:

F. Wulfric Wendelltyr (25) - A young inventor from the Skane Republic. Under patronage from Lady Orlessa, he has taken up residence in Ankida. Invited by his patron to demonstrate his recent invention: a steam-powered stage play. His neuroticism and nervousness makes him a poor fit for a banquet, however.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
C.

I want to know the reason why Camna and lord Ramses second son were fighting and how Jing knew about it beforehand.
 
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lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,158
Goddamit Codex, I look away for a few weeks and you kill the lady in barely 3 updates later by taking the obvious trap option.
Let's see if this can get worse.
 

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