Journey to the Centre of Arcanum - CYOA

[ironyuri]

AC
1

I don't like this ambush and rival expedition. In the interests of self preservation, best to have everyone in the know. Never know when someone might notice something that would save our behind. Also, it seems like Mr Langfield has better breeding than the rest of this rabble, so his company might not be as annoying.

Better breeding, perhaps. But he has chosen a ... hands on profession. Dreadful.

 

[Erebus]

A D 1

I don't think we have anything to gain by hiding the existence of the other expedition. And while getting rid of Maug is a goal worthy of our hero, sowing mistrust inside the team isn't a great idea.

I don't think talking to Maug is going to improve his opinion of us (in fact, it might well do the opposite), but it would be a good idea to know a bit more about him.

 

[Esquilax]

You know that guy who can see through your bullshit immediately when you're trying to present a false front to other people? Maug is that guy. AD1 is a bad combination for precisely that reason; Maug will immediately sense that we are full of shit and we will have revealed our intention to sabotage the expedition that way. It will tip our hand and reveal our true intentions.

My advice is to shut the fuck up and avoid him entirely. In this expedition, we'll need to do two things: (1) acquire a trophy for our bet, and (2) take Maug out of the picture. Since Elias is a dirty coward, we probably need Maug around so that he achieves goal (1) for us. He is useful to us at the moment, and I'd rather not discard him just yet. Based on that, we need to bide our time a bit.

Oh, and we definitely need friends here. I believe that Langfield is a very good bet:

They roughed up poor Langfield until he gave you up, I’m afraid. He’s in a most dreadful state. Once they heard shots from the first class carriage, the ringleader and one of his fellows rushed out to investigate. Maug swooped in, took the ones they left behind quietly, you see! As luck would have it, he got to the carriage door with his rifle just in time, spotted the half-ogre chap leering over you and fired a round into him!”

He feels bad for ratting on one of his bros and a brave soldier to boot, so I think that we should use that guilt to our advantage. Ensure that he makes it up to us. As the technician, his abilities are going to be crucial for the expedition, so if we get him on our side, we can really start putting together some schemes to sabotage the expedition. Brockenlid is in charge of the expedition, and plus he loves Maug, so I don't think we can gain much traction with him

CD2/4 (Do nothing): Talk to Langfield and use the robbery as leverage to put him under our thumb. As the technician, he is the best bet for putting together a plan for sabotage. Then, talk to Maug without any scheming so that we can get a better idea of his personality and possibly ease his suspicions of us. Once his guard is down, we can start planning to take him out.

 

[Tigranes]

Esquilax has explained it better than I did, but yes, CD2/4 is clearly the best bet here. We can wait until we have some better dirt, or at least have more respect and allies within the group, before we start playing high-stake games. Right now, for instance, if it were our word against Maug we wouldn't win. After all, Brockenlid barely batted an eye with our imprudent flailing at the orc already.

 

[Arpad]

CD2/4
Esqulax'es plan sounds good.

 

[Erebus]

You know that guy who can see through your bullshit immediately when you're trying to present a false front to other people? Maug is that guy.

I also suspect he's not going to be easy to fool. But we need to have a clear idea of how he's going to act toward us. We don't want to wait until a dangerous situation presents itself to find out that, despite what Brockenlid said, Maug intends to do whatever he feels best with no regards for our orders.


On a different subject and while it's not one of the options available to us, I do hope that our hero will have enough sense to check that his neat little pistol is still working properly.

 

[ironyuri]

Haha, now we're scheming.


I don't think I've given Kleinmann adequate motivation, at least not explicitly, to sabotage the expedition. Though I think, because he's meant to be a coward at heart he'd rather see it through to a quick end (end being the operative word) and return the sole survivor, while bringing back a plausible trophy of some kind. I'll try to further develop the character in these intermission/prologue scenes, so that we have more clear ideas of who he is when the real adventure begins.

At the moment he's most definitely leaning towards the braggart/ruthless coward type character, and I'm enjoying writing him in that direction. But then, I've always adored villains. Richard III is perfect inspiration:

Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III):
I’ll make my heaven to dream upon the crown;
And, whiles I live, to account this world but hell,
Until my mis-shap’d trunk that bears this head
Be round impaled with a glorious crown. 175
And yet I know not how to get the crown,
For many lives stand between me and home:
And I, like one lost in a thorny wood,
That rents the thorns and is rent with the thorns,
Seeking a way and straying from the way; 180
Not knowing how to find the open air,
But toiling desperately to find it out,
Torment myself to catch the English crown:
And from that torment I will free myself,
Or hew my way out with a bloody axe. 185
Why, I can smile, and murder while I smile,
And cry, ‘Content,’ to that which grieves my heart,
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
And frame my face to all occasions.
I’ll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall; 190
I’ll slay more gazers than the basilisk;
I’ll play the orator as well as Nestor,
Deceive more slily than Ulysses could,
And, like a Sinon, take another Troy.
I can add colours to the chameleon, 195
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murd’rous Machiavel to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut! were it further off, I’ll pluck it down.

For the above monologue

AND



1m38 If you're interested.

 

[ironyuri]

I've always admired the kind of man who can orchestrate the murder of his brother, the poisoning of his cousin and woo his own niece (At her husband's funeral) eventhough he killed her husband in the first place (and she knows it).

 

[Esquilax]

I also suspect he's not going to be easy to fool. But we need to have a clear idea of how he's going to act toward us. We don't want to wait until a dangerous situation presents itself to find out that, despite what Brockenlid said, Maug intends to do whatever he feels best with no regards for our orders.

Yes, he's not going to be easy to fool, which is exactly why I'm advocating talking to him without any ulterior motives at the moment. If we bring up the conveyancer situation with him right now while he's very distrusting of us, it will be read as an obvious attempt at manipulation, which he'll notice immediately. However, if we bide our time right now, we can learn more about his personality and ensure that he begins to trust us more, since we wisely decided not to give away our intentions so early in the game.

Staying quiet for now will ensure that Elias has a lot more room to maneuver in the future.

 

[Stygian Lurker]

CD 2/4

 

[Kz3r0]

BC 1

 

[Computer Gamer Refugee]

You know that guy who can see through your bullshit immediately when you're trying to present a false front to other people? Maug is that guy. AD1 is a bad combination for precisely that reason; Maug will immediately sense that we are full of shit and we will have revealed our intention to sabotage the expedition that way. It will tip our hand and reveal our true intentions.

My advice is to shut the fuck up and avoid him entirely. In this expedition, we'll need to do two things: (1) acquire a trophy for our bet, and (2) take Maug out of the picture. Since Elias is a dirty coward, we probably need Maug around so that he achieves goal (1) for us. He is useful to us at the moment, and I'd rather not discard him just yet. Based on that, we need to bide our time a bit.

Oh, and we definitely need friends here. I believe that Langfield is a very good bet:

They roughed up poor Langfield until he gave you up, I’m afraid. He’s in a most dreadful state. Once they heard shots from the first class carriage, the ringleader and one of his fellows rushed out to investigate. Maug swooped in, took the ones they left behind quietly, you see! As luck would have it, he got to the carriage door with his rifle just in time, spotted the half-ogre chap leering over you and fired a round into him!”

He feels bad for ratting on one of his bros and a brave soldier to boot, so I think that we should use that guilt to our advantage. Ensure that he makes it up to us. As the technician, his abilities are going to be crucial for the expedition, so if we get him on our side, we can really start putting together some schemes to sabotage the expedition. Brockenlid is in charge of the expedition, and plus he loves Maug, so I don't think we can gain much traction with him

CD2/4 (Do nothing): Talk to Langfield and use the robbery as leverage to put him under our thumb. As the technician, he is the best bet for putting together a plan for sabotage. Then, talk to Maug without any scheming so that we can get a better idea of his personality and possibly ease his suspicions of us. Once his guard is down, we can start planning to take him out.

Add my vote to this.

CD/3

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Since we have the time, be sure to send a testimonial to the gun manufacturer highlighting how we used his pistol in a heroic fashion (e.g. facing off two orcs bent on killing women and children and then disabling an ogre that had the gall to come after that. No sense in not writing the history in our favor..

 

[grotsnik]

AD1.

 

[Bloodshifter]

AB 1 4

 

[tuluse]

AC
1

I don't like this ambush and rival expedition. In the interests of self preservation, best to have everyone in the know. Never know when someone might notice something that would save our behind. Also, it seems like Mr Langfield has better breeding than the rest of this rabble, so his company might not be as annoying.

Better breeding, perhaps. But he has chosen a ... hands on profession. Dreadful.

Yes, a mottley crew indeed. Still one must persevere.

 

[dumdum]

AD 1

 

[Major_Blackhart]

AD1

Edit: Maug may be beneath our superior breeding, but he obviously has his purposes.
Getting in good with a soldiery type might make him wish to risk his neck to save ours.
You never know, his bravery and cunning might actually rub off as well. Can never have enough of that, can we now, gents?

I do say though, informing the group proper that we are in a race against time, particularly another group, might make things interesting from our more devious point of view. Sabotaging another group could be useful to us. In addition, they may have some things in their possession that are of great import, and could aid our own expedition. Informing Maug, himself a half orc not above such a low act, of the situation, showing him the letter, could in fact be a great benefit.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

What is it about mine presence that simply kills these threads?

 

[Tigranes]

This better not die, or I will HUNT YOU DOWN.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Quick question, is the gnome's handgun a recoil operated, blow back, or blow forward weapon?
If recoil, is it long or short?

 

[ironyuri]

Haha, sorry bros. My health has improved and I've been trying to get things back together this week after a solid 2 and a half weeks without leaving the house.

I'll be preparing an update this weekend, which should be a solid 2,000-3,000 words, wherein we should hopefully, arrive on the island.

Major_Blackhart

Short recoil, I modelled it on the Mauser C96 in the end, just because I rather like the design and look. I also figured that late 19th Century (First Boer War era) armaments would be a fairly solid technological advancement for the world, considering Maxim had already invented airplanes and semi/automatic rifles.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Give the good Orc Lieutenant then a rifle based on a browning design.
During the turn of the century, there were two kinds of guns, those that were designed by John Browning, and those that weren't.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

UPDATE Ironyuri

 

[ironyuri]

Alright, having counted up the votes, the tally is as follows:

A: 12; B: 7; C: 10; D: 12 (A & D win)

1: 11; 2 (+4):7; 3: 2 (#1 wins the second option)

I'm writing the update at the moment, it should be up before I go to bed, or shortly after I wake up in the morning (I might post it in two parts just to keep everyone happy).

Major_Blackhart I watched that Browning documentary at work today, it was very interesting and quite useful / informative vis a vis the actual operation of automatic and semi-automatic rifles (I didn't really know much about the actual operation of short vs long recoil). Thanks for posting it.

Edit: Update is half written, will post tomorrow. Please excuse the delay.

 

[Tigranes]

Not only did C lose despite being the obvious option, now we're going to be the blabbermouth of the expedition.