Birdship: A Suggestion Game

[Nevill]

B.

 

[Bibbimbop]

Would we have still been imprisoned for warning them had we joined their side? I need to know if I should be feeling smug or not.

If you had joined them, they would have viewed you, rightly or wrongly, as their creature to be groomed for greatness. They would have been content to tell you not to spread that valuable information "until they can verify it" and then leave you to the care of their loyal detachment of guards, who would have been yours also to command within reasonable limits, so long as you did nothing objectionable. Yet if those troops caught you spreading the same rumour to even more people, they wouldn't have bothered to lure you back to an oubliette in the Peregrine. They would have simply garroted you in an alley.

If you had only borrowed the money but warned them, then they would have still tried playing the "we want to monopolise this info to get the credit" angle and attaching guards to you, with a chance to try to ditch those. If that attempt failed or if you began waggling your tongue to more people in their earshot, the same fate as above.

If you had stared down Theverin, or acted rudely to him, or really any option other than the meekest one, he would not have even invited you to the Dauphinois estate, to start with.

How you communicated the vision was also an important consideration. I had considered writing an option to choose several less specific warnings:

Theverin relays your reticence to deal with strangers to the Chievre, who then puts the heavy bag away with a tantalising jingle. After another nasally exchange of foreign words, in which Theverin seems to talk the older man down from a mildly antagonised ill-humour, Theverin flashes you a courtly simper.

"Yes, of course, and in that case, I beg that you will stay here tonight and call upon our estate for a visit whenever the mood should strike. Let there be no barriers of misunderstanding between us. Shall we to dinner, good master?" He stands up with a gesture to the door.

You are mindful of the assistance that Theverin has extended to you, and wish to give your new friend something in return. Sparing his family from a siege might be just the thing to show gratitude.

"Your great Excellency, I ..."

Your voice comes haltingly as you struggle with ways to present the information that you got from a flock of birds. You've always been aware that most other people lack your intimate friendship with these incarnations of the divine.

"Your Excellency has been exceedingly kind to me, and I would not have your person or your interests harmed if I were positioned to prevent it. Therefore I have a warning about this city that I must share with you. It will come under great danger soon. Perhaps it will even be destroyed."

Theverin sits back down and studies you quizzically for a few seconds. "My, that sounds rather bad!" He concludes with a titter. "Still, they often say the old pile has it coming a hundred ways. What is it this time? Another flood? Another great fire? Or an earthquake? That would be something prodigious indeed. Or is it something truly deserved, like the wrath of heaven opening up on Gropecunt and the Witherspur, those malbolges of sin?"

He chuckles again at his wit and looks up at the stone-faced Chievre, who is standing in confusion. Opting not to translate your warning yet, Theverin meets your eye, while you formulate a way to explain your knowledge.

A. "I saw some suspicious horse-riders close to this territory. It may be nothing, but perhaps it would be worth checking out what's happening."
B. "Let's just say a little birdie told me so. This place is about to become very dangerous."
C. "I see things from time to time, things beyond the walls of what is, in the land of what may be. I see a shadow over this city, and I see nothing more."
D. "Two flocks of birds were arguing, and I understood their speech. One had seen the movement of a great army toward this place."
E. "Amen to that! Those hotbeds of iniquity, Gropecunt and Witherspur, shall drown in a lake of fire soon! Lord be praised!"

But in the end, I just couldn't justify this, i.e., not going straight ahead with the suggested (A) option. I love suggestions far more than putting up railroaded lists of choices for you all, but part of choice and consequence is that you might occasionally stumble even harder than I would like. I am really proud of the excellent players and their well-argued discussions so far, and I hope this doesn't discourage any of that in the future. Personally, it's entertaining to me, reading the last 2 or 3 pages, filled with "I don't trust these snakes" and then finally reach this last update.

The Dauphinois are a large house with many branches, not all of which I should disclose here. However, what you can know from previous updates is that one of them is Grand Mayor of Avenwall, and that Avenwall has maintained neutrality in the Duke's rebellion. Obviously, the major defeat of the king at Fortenoy did much to decide them in whose favour the war was turning, and they fully intend to join the winning side at a moment that highlights their importance. That would be the approach of the rebel army to lay siege. There is only one force of suspicious horse-riders close to this territory that would be important enough to warn a random house of great danger.

 

[Grimgravy]

B - I told you telling them everything was dumb! They were clearly preparing for a fight.
Plus I suggest we plot revenge. I saw no mention of bird food sent down for Beau Blanc. This will not stand!

 

[Baltika9]

I am really proud of the excellent players and their well-argued discussions so far, and I hope this doesn't discourage any of that in the future. Personally, it's entertaining to me, reading the last 2 or 3 pages, filled with "I don't trust these snakes" and then finally reach this last update.

Yeah, we tend to do that. I remember EPIC, where we thought an Egyptian minister was our greatest rival across centuries on disguise and still followed his invitation into an ambush.
Anyway, B. We're supposed to be a compassionate holy man, right?

 

[Elfberserker]

B

Well, that went unexpected direction.
Not that I mind being in prison in beginning of the story, some of greatest stories had villains snatch everything from protoganists in their beginning moments of new life and putting them into prison.
Those guys will be in my offical shitlist right now.

 

[oscar]

B. A friend will be crucial.

 

[lightbane]

Well, that's a promising start indeed. I say B. Everyone needs a lackey/disposable meatbag.

 

[Kipeci]

If you had joined them, they would have viewed you, rightly or wrongly, as their creature to be groomed for greatness. They would have been content to tell you not to spread that valuable information "until they can verify it" and then leave you to the care of their loyal detachment of guards, who would have been yours also to command within reasonable limits, so long as you did nothing objectionable. Yet if those troops caught you spreading the same rumour to even more people, they wouldn't have bothered to lure you back to an oubliette in the Peregrine. They would have simply garroted you in an alley.

So we'd have been their person and it wouldn't have been a problem, and they'd have helped us out under the mutual back-scratching principle. Instead of going with that, we insisted on our complete freedumb from anyone's favors or quid pro quo, and then we got thrown away to be forgotten at the bottom of a pit for it... that sounds about right.

Let's hope our friend here doesn't decide that he doesn't want any favors looming over his head for us getting him some food.

 

[Nevill]

So we'd have been their person bitch and it wouldn't have been a problem. [...] Instead of going with that, we insisted on our complete freedumb from anyone's favors or quid pro quo blabbing our mouth when not asked, and then we got thrown away to be forgotten at the bottom of a pit for it... that sounds about right.

FTFY.

 

[Elfberserker]

Don't warry guys!
I am sure that we have means and abilities get our guy back in the game! We at laest know france? I don't know how, but it's sure to be useful!
Perhaps it's time to switch to rebels or act as spy for the king with our somewhat passable fantasy french!

Don't give up at these unfortanate circumstances, but go boldly forward guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Esquilax]

Yeah, we tend to do that. I remember EPIC, where we thought an Egyptian minister was our greatest rival across centuries on disguise and still followed his invitation into an ambush.
Anyway, B. We're supposed to be a compassionate holy man, right?

I'm not sure about "compassionate", just yet. But definitely utterly firm in his convictions - you could have a guy who is completely incorruptible and pious in his faith who is totally down with crucifying non-believers by the thousands.

But yeah, I agree with the bandwagon. Let's share. Don't see why the fuck we'd give him everything though - if we're malnourished and starving, how the hell are we going to catch food in the first place?

B

 

[archaen]

Prosperian indeed. B

 

[Bibbimbop]

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Nearer My Lord to Thee

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Nothingness. An inky dark nothingness binds your days and your nights together into one long indeterminate continuity.

As a shepherd, you had once lived a wandering life without any walls to constrain your restless feet; and no roof above you, either, to forbid the voyage of your eyes up into the celestial abode.

Unlike the pitch-black in this filthy vault of brick, the vault of the heavens was not an empty nothingness. It was the pinnacle of all creation, where ancient heroes and villains dwelt in everlasting glory amid the stars, characters that you knew well from legends recited around your family's hearth-fire.

Marchomar, first king of men at the dawn of time; Faramond the first and most loyal of his vassals; Merovech and Clodovech, the war-like brothers and the best of all knights, who could find no equals in battle, fated to be destroyed by each other; Goyemagot, the monstrous giant who championed the first and greatest of perfidies in creation; and the undulating serpent, Gogan, who writhes about the forehead of the Deceiver like an emerald diadem. And among these immortals wove the Holy Dames themselves, pulling and shaping the fabric of existence, deciding the fates of all those below them.

Many a night as a shepherd was spent gazing at stars and absorbing the belittling vastness that hung above you, stung upon your awed face by the cold winds that sweep over the north country when the evening chill has taken hold.

But here exists no sun, no stars, no wind. Even the reassuring natural rhythms of midday warmth and evening chill are absent. This is true nothingness.

The LORD Yeherua had created everything from a nothingness quite like this. It took an unknown age in the awful stillness of this place, before you truly felt close to understanding the almighty and the terrible agony that drove His need for creation. In this nothingness, many is the world that you, too, have created. The LORD had needed His helpers, of course, in the form of the Holy Dames, and you have your helpers in the form of Monsieur de Rissette and little Beau Blanc.

"This village is surrounded by wheat fields and a creek which has been dammed up for a mill-pond. Small tendrils of smoke drift from the chimneys as the peasants prepare their morning meals."

"And the autumn wind blows through those wheat fields, Osoaud. The fields ripple and wave like the thousand golden banners of Besant as the Emperor rode down from his shining city to battle Termavagaunt."

"Aye, Thierry, and now the village men are coming out with sickles to mow the harvest; and the old women and the children follow behind them, with baskets to glean."

"And now after the harvest, the goodwives are a-home in their kitchens, already baking fresh bread in their ovens with the flour. Heavy and moist it is... and sweetened in honey and... and sprinkled with exotic cinnamon from the far-off ports of the Grand Souk. Oh, I can taste it now."

Your turn to create a piece of this bucolic vignette...

①​

A. "Freed from their labour in the fields, the boys swim in the nearby millpond, splashing playfully in the cool waters, much as I used to do whenever chance permitted."

B. "Freed from their labour in the fields, some men sit in the sunshine on small stools, playing draughts and chess and backgammon on boards laid over barrel-tops; others drink cider and deal cards in the cool shade of the tavern."

C. "And the minstrels are a-playing and a-piping for the harvest fair. I used to play, you know, and was accounted a lively hand at the harp."

D. "And the village is holding a dance for the young maidens and swains, whereat they do dance the bransle and the gaillard to an upbeat tune. I miss a good dance."

E. "And the villagers are singing a harvest home hymn, praises to the bounty that hath been given them. Their voices move in counterpoint, the high-pitched voices of children, the deep voices of men in cantus firmus, women ranging between in harmony. A beautiful motet. If the acoustics here were not so poor, I should sing it now."

F."And the troupe of mummers at the harvest fair are setting up for a morality play wherein God punishes the wicked and rewards the just. All are dressed in colorful and exotic costumes, and they have erected near the stage an awkward and most improbable device to simulate God himself. A remarkable feat of engineering and construction that always fascinated me, 'God from a Machine' they called it."

G. "And at the harvest market, the brightly-coloured tents of the travelling wool merchants are pitched, and they are busy haggling with the local shepherds over their prices. There is great confusion over the many conflicting measures and foreign coinages being used, and they will swindle a man poor at numbers!" ​

Your imagination is interrupted by painful pecking, as Beau Blanc darts out his beak at vermin on your filthy clothes. This practice has reduced your handsome outfit to a tatter of loose threads.

You were surprised when your pet dove survived your heavy fall down the chute, but then you found quite a cornucopia of insects down here to sustain him. In addition, his wing has healed and he often seems to fly away for days, until he announces his return with a soft coo or a peck on your head. You reflect that, whereas Thierry has survived only with your assiduous care and self-sacrifice, which you fear may have permanently weakened your own robustness, Beau Blanc is perhaps the only one of you three who isn't so miserable and under-fed.

Too distracted now for the divine labours of world-building, you beg leave from Thierry to resume work on that which you had previously joked to Thierry about forgetting: your magnificent escape plan.

②​

A. Prayer is the answer to all things. You pray to the Mother of Mercy, Kyrieleisa, to show you the way to freedom. You pledge never to wear fine clothes again, and to give unstintingly to the church and to the poor should you ever escape this pit.

B. Prayer is the answer to all things. You pray to Zamonais, Mistress of Battle, to show you the way to freedom. You will never miss a chance to smite greatly at the infidels and heretics should ever you escape this pit. This you swear with a fell binding oath.

C. Prayer is the answer to all things. You pray to Yseulla the Damsel to show you the way to freedom. You vow most earnestly that you shall never know the pleasures of flesh should you ever escape this pit.

D. God helps them who help themselves. There are several old barrels in the vault. You tear up the tattered clothes on your body into strips and use them as tinder to start a fire with this wood. It would be nice to see your surroundings.

E. God helps them who help themselves. You try to climb back up the chute. Practice makes perfect, does it not?

F.God helps them who help themselves. You try to loosen the mortar around the bricks of the vault with your small knife.

G. God helps them who help themselves. Try to dig under the walls of the vault. The ground beneath you is soft, but you are unsure whether it is the actual earth or just an ancient layer of detritus atop a stone floor or atop the bedrock itself.

H. Actually, you came up with a different idea altogether.​

Voting Note: Let's try something new out for sake of variation: a distributed vote. The two polls in this post will not have singular outcomes that defeat their rivals.

Details

Anything chosen will be given at least some effort. Among the hobbies and interests that were always planned to be part of your character generation, I'm giving out a total of ten increments of skill, which will be distributed according to the distribution of votes recieved.
If ten people vote and only one wants singing, singing gets one skill increment. If more or fewer than ten votes, the distribution is normalised back to ten points. However, going from untrained to dabbler in a skill is very easy, so spreading out your ten points too much will yield much less benefit.

Same with escape attempts. You get ten separate attempts and I distribute them in a manner similar to the distribution of votes. But each option needs a specific number of tries to succeed, some quicker than others, with one that won't ever work, one that needs far more tries than you can do in one interval, one that will kill you if it succeeds, and another that could succeed the first time or fail all ten times--a random 1d10 roll needing critical success due to your health.

(It would be nice if you escaped this year...)

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Latest Character Report
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Character Sheet

Current Personal Summary

Your Identity and Circumstance

Master Oswald Fordwyne
Sometime a Shepherd in His Adolescence
Now a Forgotten Prisoner in an Oubliette
Age Uncertain​

Current Vital Status

Parlous Ill of Health
Wasted and Wan of Fitness
Quite Disturbed of Mind
Possessed of One Close Friend​

Fixed Traits

Exceeding Great of Height
Somewhat Feeble of Might and Main
Most Rugged of Frame and Robusticity
Long of Gait and Sure of Foot
Wondrous Retentive of Memory and Quick of Native Wits
Possessed of a Most Unnerving Glare​

Learnt Skills

Social

Shockingly Uncouth in Etiquette
Dry and Unappealing in Charm
Unsophisticated in Body Language
Unassayed Talents in Music
Unassayed Talents in Games and Gambling​

Intellectual

Complete Illiteracy in Letters
Somewhat Expansive in Merovish Vocabulary, North Country Dialect
Intelligible in Armentish Vocabulary, Heavily-Accented
A Loose Chronology of History
A Rough Idea of Regional Geography
Unassayed Talents in Numeracy​

Athletic

Basic Combat Training
Proficient Crook-Wielder
Unassayed Talents in Dancing
Unassayed Ability at Swimming​

​

​

Possessions

Item Inventories

Known wealth of 30 copper pence

Clothes

A tattered woolen chaperon headwrap, dyed yellow, with a red plume
A tattered linen chemise, dyed red
A tattered tight-fitting cotehardie with pleated waist-lines, dyed parti-colour blue and green
A tattered woolen chausses, dyed yellow and lashed with red garters
Black leather shoon curled upward at the toes, with silver buckles
​

Equipment

A Royal Writ of Conveyance
A small knife
Ropes that you were tied in​

​

 

[Kipeci]

I would like one good with the numbers to calculate proper tithes, so let's go for G. But those tithes also ought to go to the poor so that they rise with us in populist revolt to help their similarly miserable condition, so second vote is A.

GA.

 

[oscar]

C, reminds me of the good Nero. The swimming is tempting as well to do a little for our character's health and physicality.
D

 

[Grimgravy]

B
H - Tear up our clothes and macrame a warning/distress message for Beau Blanc to carry to the world. There must have been time and wool enough to become a decorative knot expert, right?

edit : damn illiteracy.

 

[Esquilax]

"EVEN this must have a preface- that is, a literary preface," laughed Ivan, "and I am a poor hand at making one. You see, my action takes place in the sixteenth century, and at that time, as you probably learnt at school, it was customary in poetry to bring down heavenly powers on earth. Not to speak of Dante, in France, clerks, as well as the monks in the monasteries, used to give regular performances in which the Madonna, the saints, the angels, Christ, and God Himself were brought on the stage. In those days it was done in all simplicity.

- Ivan Karamazov

Gotta go with F, a medieval morality play is an interesting scene.

Regarding the second choice, be wary of these prayer options. Our character is a true believer, and while I am confident that this will grant us freedom (we are blessed by God, are we not?), this oath will be binding. We've just gotten a Lordship, and while we may be a zealot, I'm not keen on giving up on nice clothes, pussy and the ability to get along with people who slightly disagree with you just yet.

First thing to remember regarding escape; the only surefire way out is the ceiling, being that this is an oubliette.

Gobblecock, could any of the loose stones be pried out, by any chance? Maybe we can stack enough of them to reach the cage above us?

 

[Kipeci]

At least some of the escape attempts are stated as likely to cause us direct harm, and I'm pretty sure that there's some sort of tradeoff for everything and no stunningly perfect option. I'd rather work within the confines of poverty, which going by medieval times was associated with piety anyway and could if anything be a boost to our credentials among the peasant-type sorts of folks rather than being free to be a rich bastard with a shattered leg or whatever other health affliction.

 

[Grimgravy]

no stunningly perfect option

Clearly your missed my macrame distress call via option.

 

[Nevill]

I'd rather work within the confines of poverty

Why not in the confines of smiting the infidels?

I am not against a binding oath, as we have picked up a religious fellow anyway.

I am somewhat wary of casting a vote now, because I do not want to spread them too thin.

 

[oscar]

I will also consider juggling to another skill. Being a mediocre harp player or second rate singer or isn't really of much use in any imaginable scenario, we're best concentrating on a couple of skills.

If we do have to pray our way out the vow of simple living seems best.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[Kipeci]

Why not in the confines of smiting the infidels?

I am not against a binding oath, as we have picked up a religious fellow anyway.

I am somewhat wary of casting a vote now, because I do not want to spread them too thin.

That's a bit limiting for my tastes. Infidels are not in possession of the fullness of the Truth, but there are times where we may interact with a non-believer in a nonviolent way and better further the cause of the One True Faith than if we just yelled and cut off heads. I would prefer that we not heed the siren call of corrupting fortunes and instead use our gains to nurture the poor and cast-off, that they might be liberated from their mean states to achieve a greater glory.

 

[Nevill]

We have earned our title in battle. Why not make it a habit?

That said, a vow of poverty is not that bad... but we have chosen a fief that is specifically famous for all sorts of gifts. Would be a bit of a waste.

Still, it would be nice to live to see any of them in the first place.

but there are times where we may interact with a non-believer in a nonviolent way and better further the cause of the One True Faith than if we just yelled and cut off heads.

That only works if the infidels are willing to listen.

Sometimes cutting off heads is the right way to further the cause of the One True Faith. I assume the choice speaks of us taking this path, and not just about killing everything that looks funny.

 

[oscar]

I also don't want to be bound to the orthodox mainstream. Perhaps if the war proves disruptive enough there will be a chance for our own interpretation to thrive somewhere down the track.

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[Kipeci]

Our fief is famous for gifts, yes. We would maintain the convictions of the pilgrims by putting those gifts immediately in use for the benefit of the faithful, rather than consuming the wealth of the pious and growing fat on their sweat and faith... assuming we survive this, at least.

I would agree that sometimes violence is necessary. If we make that vow to 'never miss a chance' to smite heretics, that sounds rather more of a committed path than 'sometimes' needing to use violence.