So, who has decided to kill Sir Ewen...

Plans, operations, and intentions

Moderator: Imarë

Who Is Your Favorite Option?

Earl of Vemion
0
No votes
Earl of Osel
0
No votes
Earl of Neph
2
40%
Earl of Balim
0
No votes
King
0
No votes
Archbishop
0
No votes
Dowager Countess of Osel
0
No votes
Relative of Fatal Bout at Tournament
0
No votes
One of the Other Suitors
1
20%
Damn, Sir Ewen should take the "How to Win Friends" Class
2
40%
 
Total votes : 5

Postby Sir Baris » Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:42 pm

Van,

Just to jump on the Thilisa tangent for a moment, I said before (and I'll say it again). Since we got to town you've been twice turned aside speaking with Thilisa, and haven't gotten a direct reply from her yet. The powers that be are working against you. Maybe, in addition to hunting down your assailant, one goal next session is getting you face to face with your paramour.

As Matt mentioned above, Thilisa invited Sir Ewen and co, and you could "lodge a complaint" with her regarding your assassin. This may be the official excuse you need to talk to her directly. And, as you were saying, she may quite like your intrigues, so it might not be so counter-productive to go to her about this. It is a risk, though.
User avatar
Sir Baris
Squire
Squire
 
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:55 pm
Location: Attleboro, MA

Postby Lord Ewen » Thu Mar 25, 2010 5:01 am

Teddy, I agree that I need to get to see her, but I'm not sure whether the powers-that-be (Declan Caldeth?) are preventing that or her. If it's her, I'd be worried that a complaint might exacerbate my situation. In other words, if she is sitting back hoping I'll take some kind of action, complaining about the accomodations might be an irritant...

Dave, the idea with the Serolan would not involve confidentiality, nor would Ewen ask for it. He would be seeking pastoral advice, not confession (if there even is such a Laranian thing), and frankly I would be hoping he does not keep things confidential - that would be the point.
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Imarë » Thu Mar 25, 2010 1:36 pm

Sorry about that. My concern would be that he would keep it to himself not that he would not.

On the Thilisa front, she has been above board on her tasks for Sir Ewen. To suddenly install a secret one seems a little off of her character.

At this point both activity and inactivity could be fraught with danger to our intrepid hedge knight. On an aside note: if Sir Ewen is a hedge knight, what does that make Sir Baris? A sub-hedge knight?

Since we are plainly hopeless in finding people (we all seem to agree on that), would it be possible to sucker in such people (since no-one ever has trouble finding us)? I guess the question would be do we think that the assailant, having failed the first time, will go to ground or try the "if at first you don't succeed" route? I suppose the best route would be to figure out how to figuratively stake out Sir Ewen like a sheep. Maybe a nice new symbol of concentric circles? Can wards be set as one directional? You know, roaches check in but the can't check out...
"Hello Sir Baris. Come and play with us. Come and play with us, Sir Baris. Forever... and ever... and ever."
User avatar
Imarë
In the Blessed Realm
 
Posts: 1347
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 8:02 am
Location: Easton, MA

Postby Lord Ewen » Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:44 pm

Wards are not directional, as far as I understand them. If you can pass in, you can pass back out.

I think one generally stakes out a proverbial goat, but I do understand some fellows prefer sheep. :wink:

Funny, seems like we've discussed the stake-out strategem before. What goes around...
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Lord Ewen » Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:25 pm

A few other thoughts:

The idea with the priest: remember a suggestion could be implanted during the process. My failure with Thilisa's suitor was spectacularly bad, and certainly not reflective of any incompetence with this ability. Ewen stands a pretty good chance of succeeding in planting suggestions, and it would be useful to line up some Suggestion Options here in the forum, so I'm not extemporizing in the session.

Also, Thilisa was fairly devious with her tasks, especially the last one, where Ewen was thrust before the king in a manner that Ewen did not anticipate, and he was basically forced by Thilisa to insult the king. On the other hand, I think the first task involved Sir Ewen upstaging Thilisa a bit by inviting her to dinner at Galopea's Feast, inviting Balim as well, and then staging the upbraiding of Arwat then and there, which I doubt was how she planned things to go. Perhaps that might explain her refusal to accept my invitation to dinner at the innn last session?
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Imarë » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:12 pm

Look at where we are. Isn't a sheep more appropriate than a goat? And as I recall, staking out the goat did not work. Maybe better luck with a different mammal...

Too bad about the wards being all or nothing. It could have made a great trap.

As to a suggestion for the priest. I don't know. We really have no idea how close he is to the family or what role he could play. If they are truly devout, it is possible they have their own priest on retainer in the castle. I don't think the priest volunteering the opinion that Sir Ewen is a fine, upstanding follower of Larani would not look suspicious. Do you have any ideas about what course the priest could help you on? Now, if you could zap the Earl himself...

I am still of the opinion that Thilisa has made the decision already. She would be a fool to just wing it at the end and she seems far from a fool. There may be other machinations behind this that we are unaware of. She seems to be keeping a polite distance from all of the suitors and not just HK Sir Ewen. She may really be trying to avoid upstaging her sister during the wedding process. She may be manipulating daddy (gee, who would like to manipulate their father to get things... oh yeah, Sir Ewen. It is just very much more dangerous in the Parkhurst family).

On the demi-hedge knight Sir Baris, would he be considered Thardan or Melderyni? He does hale from the Wizards Isle after all.

So much intrigue, so little time (and ability)...
"Hello Sir Baris. Come and play with us. Come and play with us, Sir Baris. Forever... and ever... and ever."
User avatar
Imarë
In the Blessed Realm
 
Posts: 1347
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 8:02 am
Location: Easton, MA

Postby Lord Ewen » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:41 pm

I suppose Sir Baris is a Melderyni fellow who is a Thardan knight. 8)

I guess I don't see any reason why Sir Ewen can't zap the Earl, as you so blithely put it. After all, he zapped the king. In fact, he could zap people all next session, implanting suggestions willy-nilly to his best advantage. Is that your recommendation?
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Matt » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:53 pm

Sir Ewen wrote:In fact, he could zap people all next session, implanting suggestions willy-nilly to his best advantage. Is that your recommendation?

It wouldn't be mine. :twisted:
User avatar
Matt
The GM
 
Posts: 2556
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2004 3:38 pm
Location: Weymouth, MA

Postby Imarë » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:34 pm

I guess the zapping would depend on what you wanted to accomplish. The Earl seems to be seen as a major impediment to Sir Ewen's plans of glory (or at least matrimony). I don't know if this is so or not, I am not privy to his intentions. Perhaps Thilisa is reticent to see Sir Ewen due to a fear that he might do something to her, she does know that he can get into her mind and wishes to prevent this happening before she announces what her decision is. One of our major problems is that we are operating under assumptions as to what Thilisa and her father want or think. They may be valid but perhaps are not. I just worry that going too far will queer the whole deal. I guess this brings me back to the question "what is Sir Ewen's goal in planting suggestions".

On perhaps a happier note, it should not be long before we see if Lord Morgan's machinations are successful or not. I would love to be a fly on the wall when the news hits Tashal.
"Hello Sir Baris. Come and play with us. Come and play with us, Sir Baris. Forever... and ever... and ever."
User avatar
Imarë
In the Blessed Realm
 
Posts: 1347
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 8:02 am
Location: Easton, MA

Postby Lord Ewen » Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:16 am

I know you would. :roll:
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Lord Ewen » Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:48 am

Imarë wrote:...One of our major problems is that we are operating under assumptions as to what Thilisa and her father want or think. They may be valid but perhaps are not. I just worry that going too far will queer the whole deal...


I think Dave nicely puts his finger on the crux of our planning difficulties here, although he perhaps gives us a little too much credit for "operating under assumptions", when in reality we have yet to successfully weed through and narrow down the list of assumptions. In fact, I think it's evident that we presently have insufficient information to embark on much winnowing of the possibilities, as evidenced by our dicussion thus far.

To focus on Thilisa for a moment, I think a non-exhaustive starter list of inscrutibilities already mentioned would be, and in no particular order and with some variations on themes:

- Did she invite Sir Ewen because she favors him as prospective husband, or to exert leverage on her father (or for some other reason that doesn't involve marrying him)?
- Has she made her mind up about a spouse, or not?
- Does she want to see Sir Ewen before Camissa's wedding, or not?
- Is she in the driver's seat, or is her father?
- Does she need help with this suitor-choosing thing, or does she have the situation well in hand?
- Does she have her own plan, which Sir Ewen could unwittingly mess up, or is she hoping Ewen will take some action?
- Does she dig Ewen's Deryni-Bastard-Prince mojo, or loath or fear it?
- Is she afraid of Ewen messing with her mind with his Deryni skills, or is that not a concern of hers?
- Does she have misconceptions about the Deryni which impact her view of Sir Ewen, or does she have a fairly accurate concept of such abilities?
- Does she see Ewen's illegitimate royal Thardan blood as an asset if joined to a major Kaldoric family, or as a potential threat to Kaldor?
- Has she told her father about these things, or not?
- Would she admire Ewen intriguing to undercut the other candidates, or feel that his doing so would be going too far?
- Did she rebuff Sir Ewen's invitation because she wants a meeting on her own terms, or would she welcome a complaint as Teddy suggests which would compel her by duty her to see him?
- Is she a romantic, or a hard-headed pragmatist?
- Is she pius or religiously inclined, or does she care little about such things beyond maintaining superficial observances?
- Is she inclined to a conventional choice of spouse, or more interested in following her own muse or deviating from convention?

... and so on. I'm sure I missed a bunch, so feel free to add to the list. But one can't help concluding that attempting to marry someone you don't know is liable to induce a killer headache, and sure makes planning difficult.

So how can we improve upon this? As Teddy points out, Ewen needs some face time with Thilisa to have a shot at answering any of these questions, but our attempt to invite her to the inn was snubbed. Perhaps she'll summon Sir Ewen on her own terms, but we can only wait for that.

So, should we try scrying / clairvoyance with Thilisa? Admittedly, we should have discussed this as an option last session, given that two of our characters have this ability and our major problem right now is ignorance of the above issues. But anyhow, here we are. The downside, of course, is that the tactic is a complete fishing expedition, or a needle in a haystack, in terms of successfully tuning-in when useful information is being spoken aloud, or something significant is happening. One idea that occurs to me is timing such scrying to target meal times. Meals are almost universally times when people gather with others and converse about the day, or what's on their mind, or whatnot. If you are trying to narrow down useful times to spy on someone, I would suggest during the evening meal, or shortly thereafter. And that tends to work for Kaelyn anyway, given her long spell time. Still, it feels like a long shot, but do you guys think it's worth a try, or a waste of time?

On the other hand, maybe we need to also consider avoiding tunnel vision regarding Thilisa. We'll probably never answer half of these questions about her, and could expend a tremendous amount of effort fruitlessly trying. So maybe Sir Ewen should stop worrying about Thilisa, and instead turn his attention to wooing Declan Caldeth?

I know, the immediate come-back to that suggestion is that the situation is hopeless, he has already selected four non-Ewen candidates for his eldest daughter and he probably doesn't even see Sir Ewen as his fifth, or fiftieth, choice for son-in-law. But I think the argument is favor of wooing the Earl is based on a hope that Thilsa invited Sir Ewen because she doesn't like the Earl's four choices, and that anything we can do to thaw the Earl a bit will indirectly assist Thilisa, and probably can't hurt Sir Ewen's Kaldoric prospects even if Ewen fails to win Thilisa.

I am not suggesting that I have a formula in mind for accomplishing this yet, but I would hope we could come up with some potential ideas here. The Earl is probably a little less complicated a puzzle than Thilisa, as we can probably make some fairly safe assumptions about the Earl's priorities given that his son and heir is dead and he probably is fretting about the continuity of his line and earldom above all else. Things like alliances with major families (Curo, Dariune, etc.) have certainly figured in his four choices. In fact, a short list of priorities for a son-in-law should certainly include a powerful family to ally with, land to acquire, and virility to produce a grandson and male heir for the succession. Anything else? I wonder what his thoughts are about the Caldeth family line, given that his heir will bear the surname of his future son-in-law? (Any comment from the GM regarding this general problem for a peer would be edifying!) What kind of information would Declan find reassuring, or interesting, about Sir Ewen, in hopes of making a Ewen choice less absolutely unpleasant to him?

Caldeth made an interesting comment to Valador at dinner, which we have not talked about yet. He chastised Valador that "now if not the time to discuss the cause", suggesting that he shares Valador's theories about land management. (Or that was my take on the comment - is that what others heard?) If Declan is a land management wonk, perhaps the way to his heart is through "the cause"? Or, at least, it wouldn't hurt to try? Maybe if we can convince Caldeth that Sir Ewen is an enthusiast or potential convert to his own thinking about improving yields and decreasing wasted acres and such, he'll shift his thinking on Sir Ewen a tad bit? If so, perhaps Sir Ewen should follow up with Valador, suggest he was intrigued by the man's comments at dinner, and see if some of that can trickle back to the Earl? Such trickling could also be encouraged with a Suggestion: "the Earl should know that this Sir Ewen is intrigued and interested by the Cause" (Which BTW is the kind of more subtle use of the skill which I was envisioning might be useful in some of these scenarios. My earlier post about willy-nilly suggestions was intended to convey my rejection of such a strategy, motivated in part by the major flaw in such a strategy: major unintended consequences.)

Do folks think attempting to thaw Caldeth is worth pursuing, and can we come up with any better angles on this? Of course, there is a much more radical approach to dealing with Caldeth, which we probably should discuss at length if only to ultimately reject it, and that is straight-up telling him who Sir Ewen is and trying to sell him on Sir Ewen as a son-in-law based on his royal blood. But that should probably be saved for a separate post, as this one is too long already, and I'd like to stay focused for now on the pros and cons of the ideas I've tried to present above. Any takers? :wink:
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Imarë » Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:04 am

Good questions. Scrying does seem the way to go to me. Maybe not exclusively or for long periods but it could at least give the lay of the land. Question on the ability Sir Ewen has. Do you have to know who the person is or only run into them? I refer to your evening guest.

The last comment is one of interest to me. The possibility also exists that the Earl was just quieting his guest. Just saying the words to appease the obviously intoxicated man. I am sure that the majority of greater (and lesser) nobles would love to be able to bind their workers to the land forever, labor would be of great concern to them. The problem seems to be that you would need royal permission to change Tashals charter so that staying there a year does not get you free. It seems to me that even if all of the population of Tashal were to be redistributed among the manors etc, it would really not improve the manpower situation. Many of those in the city have a specialized function that would probably be wasted on a manor and there are a great number of those just plain unfit for rural labor. To me this seems akin to talking about "the good old days" which probably never existed (or at least vastly different from what is remembered). I don't think the Earl would fancy talking about it in any event at this time, he has a few other things on his mind. A subtle suggestion that Sir Ewen is not too bad might be a good one, if we know more precisely what his feelings are (I don't think you want to try for too big a direction change or I think his mind might be better at resisting).

I think that you might do more harm than good trying to force a meeting by any means. Using the Serolan as an intermediary sounds good no matter how close he is to the family. A subtle suggestion that Sir Ewen is a fine chap would probably not be amiss either.

I will continue to digest the comments and perhaps go further.
"Hello Sir Baris. Come and play with us. Come and play with us, Sir Baris. Forever... and ever... and ever."
User avatar
Imarë
In the Blessed Realm
 
Posts: 1347
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 8:02 am
Location: Easton, MA

Postby Lord Ewen » Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:49 am

Regarding the Clairvoyance skill, it is not described as person-based, but as the ability to see events occuring at a distance or out of sight. No mention of knowing anyone, but I believe previous GM adjudication indicated that, just like for Kaelyn's scrying, I would need to have met at least one of the individuals I am proposing to see in the event. The GM could perhaps pronounce on whether attempting, in the semi-dark but at close quarters, to cut my throat provides a sufficient how-do-you-do. :twisted:

I believe, though, that attempting to see Thilisa eating her dinner would be within bounds. I don't recall, come to think of it, whether young Kaelyn is sufficiently acquainted with the lady or not?

As for the land management cause, I perhaps missed some elements of the discussion last session (there were some audio issues), or maybe post-session discussion took place, but I didn't realize that Valador's issue was primarily with Tashal attracting the farmhands away from the manor (are there enough people in Tashal for this to be a significant issue?). I know he is concerned with insufficient manpower to fully cultivate the arable land. At any rate, perhaps other schemes would interest him, such as encouraging the Peonian church to more fervently extoll the virtues of farming or having more children, or some such. As you say, though, the general idea would be to market Sir Ewen as a good egg or a useful guy, with Valador or the Serolan or other parties, both through words and deeds as well as the subtle use of suggestion, in hopes of chipping away at the Earl's prejudice against him. Generally benign ideas, I think, and not too likely to seriously backfire. Unfortunately, given the time frame, they are unlikely by themselves to be decisive or help too much, I guess. I hope we can continue to discuss how, and how far, we might move to take things further in more decisively wooing the Earl. 8)
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Matt » Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:05 pm

Couple of points:

- It is not unheard of for a marriage into a clan resulting in an "adoption" of sorts, and the man in this case taking on the surname of the more powerful family.

- Alas, I must deem that Sir Ewen and his would-be assailant were not sufficiently introduced for clairvoyance purposes. I also cannot recall Kaelyn ever being introduced to Thilisa, though it's possible.

- Lastly, I think Dave is using Tashal as an example - no such discussion took place.
User avatar
Matt
The GM
 
Posts: 2556
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2004 3:38 pm
Location: Weymouth, MA

Postby Lord Ewen » Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:56 pm

Matt wrote:- It is not unheard of for a marriage into a clan resulting in an "adoption" of sorts, and the man in this case taking on the surname of the more powerful family.

OK, so Vemion need not worry about a future grandson and heir bearing a name other than Caldeth, save perhaps in the case of Toron Curo? Should Neph's seventh son be the favored choice, I suppose that detail would be wrangled over in the negotiations betwixt the Earls? What about an Earl-level name like Dariune? And do we know how things will play out in Camissa's nuptials - will Karsin Ubael surrender his surname? I am assuming that, in the normal course of things, a Baronial family would balk at any suggestion that their family name be jettisoned, but matters might be different with an Earldom's inheritance at stake...

Matt wrote:- Alas, I must deem that Sir Ewen and his would-be assailant were not sufficiently introduced for clairvoyance purposes. I also cannot recall Kaelyn ever being introduced to Thilisa, though it's possible.

Indeed, I'm not surprised on the former point. As for the latter, I'll check the notes for evidence...

Matt wrote:- Lastly, I think Dave is using Tashal as an example - no such discussion took place

Oh, OK, thanks for the clarification, I misunderstood.
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Imarë » Sun Mar 28, 2010 3:31 pm

The whole conversation, I believe, was about a serf who could remain a year and a day in a city would loose his serf status. There are not that many cities so I extrapolated. The conversation was about serfs going anywhere but on the estate they belong to. Kind of the same yet different subjects with the good baron condemning both. Truth be told, there are not enough serfs to go around for everybody and the only way to fix it would be to steal from other nobles (who would probably do the same to you). Now the idea of "free love" needed to increase population might appeal to Neph and the husband of Lady P but hardly seems to fit the Earl of Vemion. It does not hurt to lay the groundworks for Sir Ewen, he still might take the prize.
"Hello Sir Baris. Come and play with us. Come and play with us, Sir Baris. Forever... and ever... and ever."
User avatar
Imarë
In the Blessed Realm
 
Posts: 1347
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 8:02 am
Location: Easton, MA

Postby Lord Ewen » Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:00 pm

I understand, roaming serfs being an abomination as far as I'm concerned. :twisted:

I was thinking less Halean free love and more Peonian be-fruitful-and-multiply, salt of the earth, that sort of thing. You can't steal other nobles' serfs, that's just poor form and will eventually just start people branding serfs to keep track of their people. Distasteful. But you can start a program of encouraging Peonian preaching in favor of big families, finance some new chapels in exchange for an understanding with the clerics, etc. Or you could concoct a means of incentivizing families to increase the number of labor-ready members, with the expectation that the resulting greater yields will be well worth the price of the incentives. I dunno, something like that. In the interest of The Cause, you see.

Again, not a surefire strategy for winning Thilisa, but as you say, perhaps it's laying groundwork?
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Lord Ewen » Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:31 pm

Kaelyn, incidentally, was present at Galopea's Feast the evening Victam Arwat recanted his slander of the Lady Thilisa. She sat off to the side at a table with Rahel (Session 49 notes) and was present throughout, and certainly observed Thilisa at length, although I see no indication they were introduced.

I have also looked for the reception at Caldeth House, where the Earl was so awkward, but can't find the proper session I guess. I thought I would check if Sir Ewen was accompanied by Kaelyn on that occasion. Anyone remember?
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Imarë » Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:51 pm

Yes, increased population would be the way to go. The problem is that it takes many years to increase population and during that time yields might go down because you have to feed the new crop of workers until they are old enough to help with production. It just seems to me that "the cause" is only a baron railing against a lower number of workers without really a viable alternative to change the problem. I just got the impression that the Earl was being tolerant of a subordinate and did not wish him to cause a scene. I am sure that the landholder Sir Ewen would be very interested in an increased source of labor (brings in money). His families current plan will, however, probably cut deeply into the labor market of Kaldor. It seems to me, also, that a greater share of the Earls funds are derived from the wool trade. More people and more land under cultivation means less available for the sheep to graze on etc. Without having more of an idea what his income is made up from advocating increased population might actually tick him off. As is our normal wont, we take a short situation and build off of it without really knowing what outcome will be. If we had more solid information in this area I would say go for it.
"Hello Sir Baris. Come and play with us. Come and play with us, Sir Baris. Forever... and ever... and ever."
User avatar
Imarë
In the Blessed Realm
 
Posts: 1347
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 8:02 am
Location: Easton, MA

Postby Lord Ewen » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:21 pm

Sure, that's fair enough, and I certainly agree that any enthusiasm opportunistically evinced toward Valador (is he really a baron?)regarding "the cause" is likely to have fairly negligible impact on the choice of Thilisa's mate. I guess part of my reasoning, regarding Valador as well as the Serolan, is that every little bit helps, but as a strategy it's admittedly feeble. I am also throwing whatever I can think of against the wall to see if something sticks; maybe an initially feeble idea can be built upon by someone else in this discussion into something useful. I'll keep trying.

Also, though, it seems like we need to do something next session, and not just dodge assassins and wait for Thilisa to announce her choice. We can sit at the inn and react to whatever the GM throws at us, or Sir Ewen can go talk to somebody. The Serolan idea, and the Valador idea, are excuses to do that, albeit on a very humble scale. The pretext for said discussions might be weak or unlikely to yield obvious fruit directly, but perhaps other angles or opportunities might thereby come to light which would not be evident in staying home and playing the waiting game.

I guess Dave and I just disagree about the fundamental stance to take. Dave is afraid that, with so many questions up in the air (see my post above for a partial list), any specific action on our part is liable to queer the deal, Thilisa having already made up her mind. (Correct me if I'm off here, Dave) We are better off, knowing as little as we do, restraining our urge to act. I, on the other hand, fear that inaction will result in the prize going elsewhere: faint heart never won fair lady, as it were. I have no way of proving my inclination sound, however, save for the paltry rationale that waiting makes for dull gaming and is unlikely to be rewarded. I fully admit that any plan predicated on so much uncertainty would be unlikely to survive first contact with reality.

At any rate, being aware of this particular dichotomy, I've tried to put forward fairly modest proposals unlikely to risk "queering the deal". They, of course, lead to the predictable criticism that they are unlikely to accomplish much... :lol:

The more energetic course, I guess, would involve an effort to influence the outcome more directly. We have tried to arrange a meeting with Thilisa; we could try to arrange to speak with the Earl himself and push Ewen's qualifications. Or we could intervene (talk with, deceive, distract, kill) one or more of the competing suitors. Frame one, as I previously suggested be done to me, for the murder of another. Whatever. Something.

We do agree on a few things. Try the clairvoyance, for one. But where do we go from here?
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Matt » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:30 pm

Some points about Sir Andro that seem to have gotten lost. He's not a baron, but rather a knight, albeit from an important manorial family. His family holds six manors and he is bailiff of two others.

Secondly, he is the Earl's brother-in-law, Declaen having married his sister.

The other sister, Lady Elena, is Thilisa's lady-in-waiting, but obviously also her aunt.
User avatar
Matt
The GM
 
Posts: 2556
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2004 3:38 pm
Location: Weymouth, MA

Postby Sir Baris » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:35 pm

Sir Ewen wrote:Caldeth made an interesting comment to Valador at dinner, which we have not talked about yet. He chastised Valador that "now if not the time to discuss the cause", suggesting that he shares Valador's theories about land management. (Or that was my take on the comment - is that what others heard?)


That too is what I thought. Although, according to my notes, Caldeth jumped in just after Andro (sp?) said the following:

Andro wrote: This kingdom has quite a bit of uncultivated land! The problem is labor! We don't have enough labor. We have allowed our peasants to get uppity! A peasant can escape to a city, and if he lives there a year and a day he is a free man! Is that justice? What about the lord of the manor who is counting on a certain amount of man-days per year!


Based on this, "The Cause" might not necessarily be about efficient land cultivation, but about the problem of peasants becoming too uppity, and the laws that allow their relatively free movement to the cities. Or it might be both.

Edit: Dave pretty much already said what I just did. That's what I get for posting before reading the rest of the comments. :)
Vemion delenda est.
User avatar
Sir Baris
Squire
Squire
 
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:55 pm
Location: Attleboro, MA

Postby Lord Ewen » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:55 pm

Thanks, Teddy, that nails down what Dave indicated - I must have missed that angle with my audio problems. Sir Andro's issue is clearly with delinquent serfs and the rules that enable them.

FWIW, I did compile a sort of wedding attendee list during last session to help me keep the characters straight, and would be happy to post it on Those Who Made The List for convenience and/or corrections if people like. There are a lot of barons and non-barons to keep track of. Just let me know...
User avatar
Lord Ewen
Baron
Baron
 
Posts: 1055
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:27 pm
Location: Greensboro, NC

Postby Sir Baris » Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:05 pm

So far, I think we've only decided that Imare should attend the archery contest, and anything else we could do is fraught with peril.

There still remains the problem of the assassin.

How do we react? One possibility is to focus on Thilisa and ignore the assassin for the time being. After all, we don't *need* to capture the assassin. He's already failed at killing Ewen, and we will be beefing up our defenses (buddy system, so Baris doesn't get captured again? :)) so it is unlikely he will be successful if given another chance. It would be nice to know who wants the august Sir Ewen dead, but we already know many people who want that thing. If the assassin was sent by one of them, we gain no further knowledge, and risk screwing up the wedding. If someone unknown to us sent the assassin, we are unlikely to discover them until we get better at finding missing persons.

A thought occurs- perhaps the best strategy regarding the assassin is using scrying/clairvoyance to spy upon our known enemies, in the hopes of gaining insight into who sent the assassin, and then reacting based upon that information, rather than casting about fruitlessly in other ways.

In the meantime, Sir Ewen can focus on Thilisa.

I still like the idea of using the assassination as an excuse to talk face to face with Thilisa. We know so little about her plans and intentions to properly plan what to say and pursue, but Sir Ewen always seems to be able to think quickly on his feet and work situations to his advantage. Maybe instead of wondering about all our known unknowns, Sir Ewen could talk to Thilisa and at least start filling in the gaps.
Vemion delenda est.
User avatar
Sir Baris
Squire
Squire
 
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:55 pm
Location: Attleboro, MA

Postby Sir Baris » Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:07 pm

Sir Ewen wrote:FWIW, I did compile a sort of wedding attendee list during last session to help me keep the characters straight, and would be happy to post it on Those Who Made The List for convenience and/or corrections if people like. There are a lot of barons and non-barons to keep track of. Just let me know...


That would be super helpful, for me and Matt. At the very least, (hopefully) Matt won't have to spend so much time correcting my misspellings of names. :)
Vemion delenda est.
User avatar
Sir Baris
Squire
Squire
 
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:55 pm
Location: Attleboro, MA

PreviousNext

Return to I Dare Do all that May Become ...

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

cron