Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Yeah, let's go for it! I'll go find a different corner deeper in the tunnel to tuck them away under.
By my estimate, that's four trips at light encumbrance. Once I get them to the new spot, I'll check around the area some more to see if there's anything else hidden around there. Then it's off to the market to see if I can find someone who deals in poles and knives (I don't imagine anyone trades in improvised spears), and for lunch. I imagine I'll have to wait until tomorrow to go talk to merchants, but all that work's probably going to make me hungry. I wonder how much choice there will be, given today's like a festival day or something.

Maybe do some more exploring in the after lunch. Maybe could get a better look around the mines, given nobody's working. Maybe get a good look at the waterfall given that's where they dump waste rock.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

GM: plot hook!
Player: Treasure!


The vendors are different... the food is mostly the same, but the portions are all larger and they're asking for 1L 4s.


Going to the mines, Julian is turned away by a grumpy guard. "We're closed for the council day." He is not allowed inside the mine tunnel. He IS able to see where the waste tunnel goes, and finds a secondary door into it. The tunnel winds along the cliff face until it gets to the waterfall. It must go closer than the rest of the city, to the waterfall, because he feels the vibration from the thunderous water and it grows to a roar. In the spot where they dump, there is a fog of fine water droplets, and close to no visibility. The lack of a view is made up for by the intense sound and vibration... Julian sees massive metal spikes as part of the structure, and the last 50 feet have a solid iron frame.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well, I don't see any particular reason why Julian would want to seek out an invading group, or why he would trust the obviously corrupt guards to conclude he just stumbled into this and isn't involved. They'd probably flog off the weapons too. This way, the invading group has no weapons, and the money at least goes to Julian.

Nice. Will one be enough to fill me up for the day? Maybe I could buy the tastier food today.

How far is the secondary door from the mine?

It's been a long time since I had something resembling a bath... I'd like to try to bathe here. Even if I can't find soap it's something. I'll taste the water too.
I wonder what the spikes are for? People climbing over? Fish falling from above; well, below? I guess they had to build the frame out and into the waterfall.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

No, its just a 25% increase in food. You did get a free meal from Elma and Neez though.


About 50 feet away down the hall.


The water tastes good. Cool and refreshing. Its not a great way to rinse... but just scrubbing the dirt off isn't bad.


They're structural. The spikes are driven into the frame of the tunnel.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Hm. Is the 25% increase enough to make up for the smaller portions of the doughy food? Looks like I'll be down to 12s anyway.

Not salty at all; what kind of ocean isn't salty?

I see. Is the tunnel to the waterfall lit?

I suppose I could poke around the mines, but I don't imagine I'd find anything around there I haven't seen before.

Not sure what to do now; I suppose I could meander about. Are the crowds in the market doing anything interesting?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

yes.


No: a small amount of light is making its way through the mist, and through cracks in the wall opposite the cliff, where the main tunnel is.


The crowds in the market are much more masculine than normal. They mostly seem to be buying things: while it may be a "holiday", it doesn't seem to have any official customs associated with it.



The day ends, and Julian goes back to sleep.



That night, he dreams of two men talking through small mirror five inches across. Or is it a vasic stone? One of them is in the mirror, and they talk back and forth. The man in the mirror seems to be in vegetation tunnels like the ones Julian is in. That man is tall and thin, with a solem face, deep lines, and a beard clinging to the underside of his chin.


The man whose room he can see has a fine stone room with tapestries, rugs, a carved wooden desk, and vasic stone lights everywhere. This man has curly locks of hair and a thick mustache, as well as wearing a long flowing embroidered coat that almost turned into a robe.

Julian struggles to follow the conversation, but they talk a lot about Bumundo, the Hawkin, Spears, 20 stones, Tiskar, Skalindir, and surprise.



After a while, his dreams change, and he doesn't remember them. He wakes up in the morning.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Any merchants selling sticks or knives? Are they to busy to ask if they'd be willing to buy any? I don't suppose there's anyone around who looks like they work on fancy mechanisms.

I suppose Tiskar/Tiskara is another Hawkin/Lawin situation.
I wake up, and begin to write:

Another pins and needles dream last night. Two men were talking through a mirror, maybe a Vasic stone polished up to a mirror. One was tall, thin and had a goatee; he seemed to be in a vegetation tunnel. The other had curly hair and a moustache; he was living in much greater wealth than I’ve seen. They were talking faster than I’m able to keep up with, but I’m pretty sure they were talking about a surprise attack on Bumundo. The Lawin are involved somehow (as defenders?), and I think they were talking about how this would affect Tiskara and Skalindir. Maybe they’re worried about how they would respond, or maybe they have them bought off? They mentioned something about twenty stones. Maybe there are twenty stones up at the teleporter? Or maybe they’re trying to get a hold of twenty stones for some reason (special stones?). Maybe there’s an organization called twenty stones involved…

I stop writing and try to draw out a picture of the two men separately.
I feel a little surprised that I managed to draw something that looks vaguely like them. Maybe I could show these to people and ask if they know who they are.

To Do List
- Work at the mines
- Find someone interested in buying poles and/or knives
- Work on identifying the people in my dream
- Count the number of Vasic stones used in the teleporter complex (there are multiple stones used to push off enemies, right?)
- Ask around to see if "twenty stones" means anything to anyone.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

No one is selling fancy mechanisms or poles.

There are merchants who sell knives, but you don't see anyone selling poles. The knife merchant says he will buy one knife for 4L. Maybe 5L if its big or nice, but he'd need to see it.

That's just a typo! Hawkin and Lawin mean two different things now!

nice. The pictures look roughly like the men.

Now he needs to work through the todo list...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well, I guess making a pendulum will wait.

I wonder if he'd buy all 20 at once...

Right, the Lawin are the Hawkin who don't have tails and aren't small.

OK, let's see where I'm at:

To Do List
- Work at the mines
- Find someone interested in buying poles and/or knives
- Get a sack to move the knives more efficiently (?)
- Check again to see if there are any pole sellers
- Untie/cut off the knives from the poles
- Sell the knives to the knife merchant, hopefully without getting the guards involved.
- Work on identifying the people in my dream
- Count the number of Vasic stones used in the teleporter complex (there are multiple stones used to push off enemies, right?)
- Ask around to see if "twenty stones" means anything to anyone.

Well let's hit them roughly in that order. Looks like I can't afford to buy breakfast this morning, so that will have to wait until later. I'll show the picture to Ump, Brog, etc. on the way in to work. Maybe Beardo is famous? I can only imagine Thin Man would be found with effort and luck. Ump's father said invaders pretend to be miners, so I should check with the Kapatas too.

Right, so after work, I'll head over to the market for a very large meal. Got to cover a missed breakfast after all. I'll do my shopping then too; if I could buy a sack for 1L or so I'll do that. I'll check for pole sellers again, maybe they weren't there for council day? And if there are no pole sellers, how did the invaders get them to begin with? I should save time and count the the Vasic around the teleporter too.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

fortunately, he ate a little extra yesterday.

Brog: "I haven't seen them. why are you looking for them? Who are they?"
Ump, Rails, and Yip haven't seen the two either.

The Kapatas looks at the paper. "What? Why? Who? No, can't say I've seen them."

Sacks... The only gurps sack I can find is a $30 dollar sack from DF1. You can find a good sized basket for 1L though.

Asking around, the pole-sellers are usually here, but haven't been the last week. Probably part of the increased security. They'll be back "when the alert is over" with an extra-large supply.

There are 12 stones lighting the room with the big stone. And 12 platforms the same shape and size as the large stone.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well, I'll give most of the truth. They probably wouldn't believe, "I saw it in a dream", so I'll just say, "I saw them talking about a plan to attack Bumundo."
Oh well. Beardo probably isn't even in Bumundo.

"Can't or won't?"

I'll probably have to ask a lot of people before I get anywhere.

Well, let's grab a basket then. (1L 15s)

Probably won't want to buy poles after they do come back either. On the other hand, I could probably make a killing being the only seller of poles in the area. On the other, other hand, that would probably run afoul of the guards, whoever's willing to pay a crazy sum for a pole is probably not going to do anything good with them, and it would be so conspicuous that only an idiot wouldn't be able to link "the only kid selling poles" with "missing spears".

Maybe I should just dump the poles over the edge and be done with it.

That's five or seven over. So it can't be that...

Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way, maybe they aren't talking about stones around Bumundo, but stones around the top? Each community would need to have it's own stone to get here, right? So maybe 'twenty stones' is a way to refer to the communities around The Top that were founded by people from The Bottom?

Or maybe it refers to twenty soldiers. Surely they wouldn't be waiting very long once they got their whole arsenal together.

To Do List
- Work at the mines [Done for today]
- Get a sack to move the knives more efficiently (?)
- Check again to see if there are any pole sellers
- Untie/cut off the knives from the poles
- Sell the knives to the knife merchant, hopefully without getting the guards involved.
- Work on identifying the people in my dream
- Count the number of Vasic stones used in the teleporter complex (there are multiple stones used to push off enemies, right?)
- Ask around to see if "twenty stones" means anything to anyone.
- Decide what to do with all these poles

Right, with my new basket in hand, I'll head back to that spot in the tunnel and dig out all those spears. Then I'll dismantle them and toss the knives into the basket. After I take off all the knives, I'll return the poles to the spot I hid them in.

[Not sure if another camouflage roll is called for here, doing it anyway.]
Then it's back up to the market to sell off all these knives. I imagine the knife merchant wasn't expecting sixteen knives, so I probably won't get 64L, but I'll still try to negotiate around that figure.
Guess I'm not getting that much, but this is a good chunk of change.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Ump: "Really! you saw them! here? or before you came here?!"

"I can not. I have not seen them. Good work on the language, son. keep it up."

Basket!

Julian loosens the knife blades. They've been taken out of their handles and pounded into the poles, then the poles reinforced with twine. Taking the knives out of the poles is a lot of work... about an hour for 16 spears.

The knife merchant stares at the basket of handle-free knives.

"16? No Handles? I can give you 40 coin for all of them. Its what I have!"

After some arguing, Julian leaves with 44L 9s for the knives. Alternatively, he offers 40L and a knife with an actual handle... which is worth more in total. Knives are generally 8L.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"When I was wandering around yesterday, spotted them in an out of the way tunnel."
Out of curiosity, what's Julian's Riask at now? Broken? Or still at 'below broken'?
I suppose if I cut off the tops of the spears those would be too clumsy to use as a handle.
I'll accept 40L and a knife (40L 15s). I'm not actually sure what I could do with a knife; maybe cut my way through vegetation? Cut ropes? Whittle the poles into spoons or something? That could be a good way to use up all that wood... The obvious answer of what to do with a knife makes me feel a little sick. Her surprised, dead eyed expression-- best not to think of it.

To Do List
- Work at the mines [Done for today]
- Untie/cut off the knives from the poles
- Sell the knives to the knife merchant, hopefully without getting the guards involved.
- Work on identifying the people in my dream
- Ask around to see if "twenty stones" means anything to anyone.
- Decide what to do with all these poles.

I think I'll go get one of the poles and bring it back to the vegetative cave to whittle it down or something. Then I'll ask Ump & co. if "twenty stones" has some kind of special meaning.

Not sure what to roll for whittling; low-tech mentions carpentry for making wooden keys, age of sail pirates mentions artist... I'll go with artist; Julian's going for a nice looking carving, and doesn't really have anything specific in mind.
Oh well. It's just to kill time really.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Ump: "So the attack is real! you've got to go tell my Dad! Or maybe not... Rail's Step-Dad. That's probably best."


Broken. Which is better than the gesturing kid that was hired about ten days back.


Not terrible handles... but it would be a LOT of work to cut them off with nothing but their own blades.


Knife: improvised tool for almost any low-tech skill. Though Peter would get that a lot better than Julian.


"Twenty stones? That could be talking about rocks, it could be talking about vasic, or it could be talking about time."



Carpentry or artist will both work: artist is probably more relevant. I think this falls under the category of "practice".

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Why Rails's Step-Dad?"
Then I'll agree to tell Rails's Step-Dad about this. I suppose I might get pressed for details, and I'll mention that the Bearded man wasn't physically in the tunnels, but seen through... something.

I really hope I'm not getting who's in Bumundo and who's outside it backwards.

Yeah, it's probably better to save the time and effort and miss out on 24L.

Hm. About the only skills I could see Julian using a knife with on his sheet are Knife (duh), Lockpicking, and Traps. And the last two are way over in the tech department.

Is a stone like an hour or a day?

"Where would there be twenty vasic?"

Practice, destroy spear shafts, something to keep the busy besides tossing coins around, maybe an alternative to working in the mine one day...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Ump: "You heard my dad. He doesn't think the invasion is real at all! Brog's the man of the house, and Yip's dad is off on one of his trips. That leaves Rail's step dad."


Julian is by nature better with tech than Peter, who is a child of the wilderness, while Julian is rather urban.


Its the length of time a light stone lasts... about two hours. A days work in the mines is four stones. the time from getting up one morning to getting up another is 10 stones.


Rails: "I see 20 stones in the mines all the time... but that's just a basket of light stones. I don't know of anywhere in Bumundo that would have 20 stones worth talking about."


Yip: "Tiskar famously has 21 stones in its platform... but you said they are talking about Bumundo."



Nanak, Rail's stepfather, is a tall and thin man with three haphazard scars on his left cheek.



"You drew this from memory? You heard them talking about an attack? or you guessed?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"You're right, that makes sense."

So the prospective date of the attack would be the 12th or the 13th. Assuming taking away those spears doesn't cause them a problem.

"They did mention Tiskara too, but why would they get the number wrong?"

I think about the difference in sound between Twenty and Twenty-One. Maybe I'm the one who is wrong?

Does it look like he shaved recently?

"Yeah, I drew it from memory. I'll admit that it was too hard to follow exactly what they were saying, but they kept repeating some words: 'Bumundo', 'Spears', and 'Surprise'. It's not a big leap to imagine that someone who keeps talking about spears and surprise is up to no good. Unless spear themed surprise parties are common around here."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

yes.


"Maybe they're doing something with stone 20? but then why would Bumundo come up?"


No, it was clearly twenty and not twenty one.


No, but you can see the scars through and above his beard.




"Spear Themed Parties are not common." He scowls.


"Where in the tunnels did you see this? We need to be sure before we attract any attention to ourselves."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Maybe the attacker's from within Tiskara? Maybe they plan to send reinforcements through stone 20?"

This probably isn't the time to be doubting myself anyway.

Ok, so he isn't the guy I saw in my dream. That'd be awkward.

I should probably check my humor. To me this is novel and interesting. To them, I'm joking about while there's a terror attack imminent.

Um...
"I went through a lot of tunnels, I don't remember which."
I really should try to figure out where the conversation took place before continuing. So assuming this is the conclusion, I guess it's a good time to wander around looking. On the other hand I saw everything from the other end, so it'll be pretty hard to do that.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Yip: "If they can send troops through Tiskara, they don't need the ones hiding up here. Tiskara is the city they'd worry about trying to keep us"


Rails Step Dad: "I don't want to report the information without at least that. Can you figure it out? do you know the direction you went, at least?"

Yeah, your chances of recognizing where "thin man" was are pretty low.


Any stratedgy to how he looks?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Well, does it really matter to Tiskara if Skalindir's in charge or not? Someone in Tiskara, maybe they don't have the force to take Skalindir's forces head-on, but maybe if they had surprise. After they take control of Bumundo, they could say, 'We're still willing to do business with you, all you have to do is ignore all of Skalindir's complaints. And if not, then someone else gets Bumundo.'"

"I could try retracing my steps, but I can't promise anything."

I'll do a lot of wandering around to make it look like I actually tried.

Not a clue.

Me neither. The thin man seems a bit like a dead end to me.

Could the bearded man be Skalindir? How many people know what Skalindir looks like? Maybe I got the whole scene backwards. Instead of a commander talking to an invading soldier, it's a governor talking to a spy.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Step-Father: "Skalindir has a great deal of power in Tiskara, and they will defend us. If conquered, we will be run from a different city"


The stepfather is really disapointed. He wants to do something, but feels that he can't go to the authorities with this story.


Possibly... How would you go about finding out about that?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Well I was more thinking about what information someone who can't comprehend a language spoken could infer from context and such. For example, did the bearded man ever actually say 'Skalindir'? And if so, is Riask a language where people regularly refer to themselves in the third person? Was 'Skalindir' said with the same words prefixing/suffixing his name (like an honorific or a title)?

Does Skalindir have a well known face? I've shown my picture of the Bearded man to the other kids, and Rails's step father (I guess?), and if they didn't recognize him even though he's a well known guy, then that'd be a point against that theory.

I suppose I could go around showing the picture of the bearded man to lots of people. Maybe say that I saw him drop a coin purse and I want to give it back? If it is him, it might even give me an excuse to actually meet him and ask him who the thin man is.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Riask doesn't do much self referencing in the third person. Both men said Skalindir. Skalindir was referred to with his title "councilor" several times, and it was missed several times, by both speakers.



They don't have photography, and Skalindir isn't important enough to get his face but on money or have statues made of him. Someone here has probably seen him though...


That's an interesting tactic... do you want to go through with it?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Seems pretty negative based on the way they were talking.

I don't think so. Now it seems like a great way to get led down a dark alley and mugged.

I'll show the pictures around some more for the rest of the day, and wonder if destroying the spears was such a great idea while I try to fall asleep.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

When Julian shows the picture to the vendor who sells him food (The two see each other a bit), the vendor says yeah, he's seen the guy. He showed up about the same time that Julian did, and has been visiting the market to buy food. Has a bunch of friends with him.


Julian has no dreams that night.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

The thin man I presume?
I thank the vendor very much!

OK, so the next day, after work, I'll hang out in the market to try and spot the thin man.
And if he happens to be in the market I'll try to follow him back to wherever he's staying.
Wow, I thought I'd have to make multiple attempts. Of course, once skinny is accounted for that's a failure by two...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

correct



A gruff guard with a spear moves towards Julian.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I'll back away, and try to play it off (Fast-talk? Acting?).

Well hopefully I don't get thumped over this. Did I at least see where the thin man was going, or anybody he was with?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

You haven't seen the thin man yet.



The guard comes close:


"Why are you <something> around the market? Are you going to buy something, or are you just looking for <something> to steal from?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Oh, I see, this is about the observation roll.

I try to make up an excuse.
"I don't have anything better to do; I'm just loafing around. I can go if you want me to."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"You do that." The guard watches Julian to make sure he leaves.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Right, I'll wander away and try to come up with a different place to look for the thin man. Was there a living space nearby the area where I found the spears? How many different entrances/exits to the market are there? Maybe I could just hang out around the entrance and spot the thin man there.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

You can look around the living space by the spears, yes. There is only really two exits to the market place, and they are right next to each other, so watching near the entrance may possibly work.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I'll watch near the entrance. I guess I'll get pretty wet too.
So I didn't see anyone or I saw him and he saw that I saw him?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

The guard who hassled him before sees him

"Hey! I told you to get out of here! I'm going to inspect your clothes!"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Hm. I thought the guards wouldn't bother people outside the market. I could run but I'd probably just be accosted again when I go to or pass through the market.

I'll comply and empty my pockets. I suppose he might have questions about all the money, and I'll explain I sold a bunch of knives to the knife merchant. Or maybe he'll just take all the money and club me over the head.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"That's a lot of coins: where did you get them all?"


on hearing the explanation:



"The knife merchant? which one? I suppose we can ask him. And where did you get all of the knives?"


His search also reveals the paper with the tall thin man. "what's this? who is it?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I tell him which knife merchant.

"Found them in an out of the way tunnel while wandering around. There was a bunch of sticks with them."

"I dunno. He had a strange conversation about spears with a bearded guy in a tunnel."

I show him the picture of the bearded guy too.

I suppose this calls for a fast-talk roll.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Can you show me where you found the poles? We'll ask your knife merchant about your story, and then we'll go find the poles."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Sure, I can show you where the Knives and sticks were and where the sticks are now."

I suppose the knife merchant won't be throwing Julian under the bus. Well, he could but I dunno why. I suppose next thing to happen is the guard'll be looking about why the poles have holes in them like the knives fit in them. Or for that matter why they were moved.
I play dumb about the spears.
"I dunno, maybe they were together, but they looked more like knives and sticks than anything you guys carry. And why does it really matter? The bad guys don't have weapons and I have something to live on if I get hurt."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

The knife merchant confirms that Julian sold him a bunch of knives... without handles. He asks the guard if Julian stole them. The guard growls "I'm not sure."



The guard says something to a buddy, and then follows Julian, carrying a spear with him and making sure to keep the boy in front.



Julian doesn't think the guard buys his story, but he doesn't question it. "Thanks for showing me this. Tell you what, give me 4 coins and I'll leave you out of my report. Oh, and your pictures."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I think about saying something, but decide that showing him the poles would be a shorter answer.

"What, you think I'm going to run off? Then again, it's hard to follow someone from behind."

Given the last time that I refused to bribe a policeman I ended up with no money and nearly drowned, I agree to his terms.

I'm a little confused about the last part; did the guard mean to say he wanted the pictures too, or that he'd leave the pictures out of the report? Assuming the former:
"Could I make a copy first? Are you going to be looking for them?"

Assuming the latter:
"Why not mention the picture? Would it be a problem for someone? Do you know who they are?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

He declines to answer, but Julian gets the impression there is something else he's worried about.

He wants the pictures.

"Hurry up and make your copy.

Yeah, We'll be looking for him. If you see those guy again, let me know, and I'll make it worth your while. Help me carry these sticks."


He's carrying the poles back towards the stone and main market.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Maybe he thinks I might walk him into an ambush. The guards spend most of their time at the market, right? Maybe the vegetation tunnels aren't safe for them. They came in relative force when they were looking for enemy fighters

I try my best:
And end up wishing I had tracing paper. I hand over the picture. At least I know who I'm looking for; he'll probably get more use out of it than I did.

I'll ask if I can keep a pole to whittle with (if I've used up the other one already). After helping, then I'll head back, while away some time practicing drawing or whittling, and then go to sleep again.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

fair enough.

He says no, he needs all of the poles!

He has Julian drop the poles most of the way into the market, gives him 2s* for the trouble of carrying the poles, and then slowly goes into the market with nine poles.

*I think this leaves Julian at 36L 13s

Julian is headed back when he sees the thin man walking the other way in the tunnel, with two men next to him.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

My spread sheet says 39L 5s. 41L 15s (yesterday) + 5L (work) - 3L 12s (food) - 4L (bribe) + 2s (tip)

I'll forget to mention that I whittled away one of the poles.

Well, it'd look a bit suspicious if I immediately turned around to go tell, um, Mr. Guard. I'll pass by them, while trying to remember what at least one of the other two look like, then loop back to go tell the guard.

Shadowing to not be noticed turning around (?)

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

thumbs up.

Indeed. you still have chunks of it left...



The shadowing works... and it does end up being shadowing, and Julian follows behind the men. He tells the guard he found the men. The guard looks somewhat skeptical, but follows Julian, and sees the three men from behind a ways back. He shoves a clay token into Julian's hand:


"Give this to another guard and say I went up after three suspects." He sets off after the three men.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Will I need to give them a name?"

I decide to make a quick rub of the token (i.e. paper over token, draw lines on paper) so I can study the details of the token later. Should be doable while I look around for a guard.

When I find another guard I'll do as I was told, hand over the token and tell them the guard went after three suspects. Then I'll ask if there's anything else they need me for. I'm guessing not, so probably back to do more whittling.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Just give them the token!" The man shouts while he runs in the direction of the men.

Its very easy to find the guard. He takes the token and hurries after the other guard immediately, throwing Julian a small coin.

Julian heads back to his sleeping area slowly.

Interesting..

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Wow, so generous.
Well, I'm beat. I'll examine the rubbing I made and go to sleep.

OK, looping back around to this. Ignoring the discount Julian got, 1L = 1 Meal. So, assuming no income on holidays, that's 175L income, 140L for food (eating better every other day), and clear 35L per 40 day month.

Per B265, 1 meal costs 1% income for breakfast or lunch, 2% for dinner. Given that eating at the slightly less filling place needs four meals, I think it's reasonable to say 1 Meal = 1% CoL.

Going off of the Typical Monthly Pay and other information from B517, I can calculate how many extra meals each TL & Status/Wealth combination can afford. To better compare the values from the first paragraph, incomes are increased by a third (to reflect the increased income over a 40 day month). From these figures, I can calculate the relation between G$ and L based on food price and income.

As the value of $G and L are integers when basing on food, and the value calculated by income is fairly close, I assume that the difference between the two values is roughly corresponds to the probability of the TL/Status pair. Refer to the table below.

That's a lot of information. Basically, once you take out the Status -2 ones (as you said 1L > G$1), the most likely status TL pairs are TL4 Status -1 thru 1, TL3 Status -1, and TL 2 Status -1. Depending on Julian's Status, the value of 1L is somewhere between G$3 and G$12 (I'm thinking closer to G$3).

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Nice math.

1L = 4G$. The numbers are based on -1 status TL4. The economy of Bumundo is slightly off because everything has to be imported but digging up Vasic is a really solid source of cash.

********************
The token has characters on it Julian doesn't recognize, as well as some basic symbols. It looks like a seal of sorts. Of note is a wooden box attached to two cliffs that meet at the top, a "glowing" stone, and four spears in a bundle. And a striped frog.

Julian has only barely gotten to sleep when he is woken up... by the tall skinny man.

"What are you?" the man asks. He seems to be armed only with a long knife at his belt.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Figures about right with how flexible Vasic stone magic is. Wondering why someone would go all the way up to mine; untapped reserves?

Well let's see here:
-> Cliffs - The Cliffs
-> Box - The Market
-> Glowing Stone - Vasic
-> Spears - Spears? Maybe the bundle of four is for the guard?
-> Frog - ??? I don't think I've seen anything up here that like that. I remember someone mentioned something about dropping a frog through the waterfall in a barrel. Maybe the Frog represents Tiskara?

And here I wanted to make a joke about feeling like I was a sleep for a week! :)
Given every other time Julian's been woken suddenly, something terrible's happened, I think this might call for a Panic Attack roll:
I try to back off slightly. "Tired, afraid, lost. A basket pusher. I, I won't scream if you don't pull your knife."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

[QUOTE=TGLS;2448180]Figures about right with how flexible Vasic stone magic is. Wondering why someone would go all the way up to mine; untapped reserves?
[quote]
Because the floor of riask itself is water-logged and mining there requires digging through massive layers of silt and either setting up pumps or mining underwater. The ceiling has Vasic close to the surface.


"Don't make a fuss and I won't slit your throat. Come with us. If you don't know what you are, we'll find out"


The man grabs Julian and starts pulling him towards the main tunnel.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I guess how they bootstrapped up here is a long story. And probably really costly.

Us? How many people are here?
Can Julian attempt to dodge? I suppose he's still lying down? If he is/was lying down/sitting, he won't try anything, and:
"I'll go wherever you want but could I please get up first? It'd be easier than dragging me around."
I feel bad that everyone's going to be wondering where I disappeared to. And about leaving my diary behind.

If he is/was standing/kneeling/etc:
I'll try to dodge his grab:
Well I guess the distinction's irrelevant

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

pretty much.

Looking around, its three of them.

The man doesn't loosen his grip, but lets Julian get his feet... and possibly grab the diary if he's quick about it. Julian's initial dodge failed... the man doesn't seem to begrudge him that. Yet.

"You will come with us. Where are you from?" The question seems less about getting to know Julian and more serious, as though its somehow critical to the man's life.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

The three of them from the tunnel or the thin man and two others?

It's against my better judgement, but Julian wouldn't give it up easily so:
I'll try to grab it.
I tuck it under my arm. I don't want to drop it.

"Not Riask, if that's what you're worried about."
I'm getting a sinking feeling that wasn't the best thing to say.

I'm guessing the next question is, 'How did you get here?'
"I don't know anything about that."

If Julian gets an opportunity to ask a question (seems unlikely)
"How did you know to look for me? Noticed when I followed you? Guard give me up?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

correct.

Its signature gear. rest easy.


"Not Riask isn't a place. What's the name of the place you're from? Where in the Kiraskan?"



He doesn't get that chance... yet.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Um... I don't what it's called in Riask [the language, if there's a different word]."

I start listing off a few places:
"Rattan? British West Indies? The Caribbean? The Americas? Earth?"
"I don't really understand where the Kiraskan is. Far away from that I guess?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Riask is the language name as well as the place, yes. Or at least people respond to it being used that way.


The man listens to these, and demands that Julian repeats all of them three times.



That claim really gets his goat. "The Kiraskan. All of Not Riask! I suppose I've got what I'm going to get. We'll figure it out."


"You show up like a flame in the dark when traveling. Did you think people couldn't see you?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

There's a bunch of words that won't translate. Universe and the celestial objects will be said in English. Light year and numbers will be literally translated.
"Oh, like the Universe. Everything. Right."

I think for a moment.
"OK, so the Earth is about three light seconds from the sun. The sun is about four and a half light years from Alpha Centauri, twenty-six thousand from the center of the Milky Way, and two and half million from Andromeda."

I pause.

"None of that means anything to you either, does it?"

"Well I kinda wished they couldn't when I had no pants, but..."

It takes me a second to parse the first sentence. I check myself; I'm not glowing or anything, right?

"What do you mean by 'show up like flame'? Has everyone noticed I'm out of place, but they're too polite to say anything?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

So Kiraskan is something he was fairly proactive about discovering the word for... but yeah, talking about this for him will be hard.
"Doesn't matter. I will remember it. Earth. lit seeconds. lit YEEER. al-Fa Sentry, twenty six, Mel-key-wei. An-do-ma.



"When Traveling. Vasic. You look like vasic." He looks at his buddies "Is he playing dumb or is he that stupid?"


buddy: "He is living like a bum with no relatives. Palridan might know."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

And incidentally, something he happened to bumble into and not really understand.

Guess Julian never learned numbers more than twenty. And apparently the orders of magnitude.
"No, twenty-six is a number. Twice ten plus six."

"I told you, I don't know anything about that!"

"Says the guy who spent eleven days looking for someone who wasn't even hiding."

I suppose I might get smacked for that. He's probably right anyway.

I guess Palridan's the bearded fellow.

Julian will wait a little while to ask if he got hit.
"Who's Palridan?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

He got 26 thousand right.

"That's inconvenient but hardly a deal-breaker."


He does in fact get smacked.

"Someone who can answer our questions."


Julian is hauled away from the town center, into the depths of the vegetation. Three more men are there. They have three spears between all of them. Real spears, that look like they came from the guard. The grip on Julian is transferred to one of these men.



One of them is watching a large brass pocket-watch very carefully. The numbers are riask, but there are twelve of them, and three hands. Tall man asks the man with the watch how long, and the man says "two <> and thirteen <>"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I begin to wonder how being physically present would make it any easier for them to figure out what I am. I mean, I can't even answer their questions even if I wanted too. I stop as my thoughts keep drifting towards being dissected like a frog.

Maybe these guys have nothing to do with invaders after all. Surely by the time they get their hands on real spears they'd be ready for action... But they mentioned twenty stones. Then they would be ready for action about right now and I just ruined everything for them.

At least they probably wouldn't bring me all the way down here to kill me. Probably.

Unless stone is a non-standard period of time, I guess that's probably something like four minutes. I'll ask if I can lie down to sleep.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Julian lays down to sleep, and they let him. He's awakened some time later, he's not sure how long, to someone grabbing his face and drawing on it with a brush or leaf or something.. He can feel a very large "light stone" nearby. Maybe 12 inches across. and feeling a little different than an ordinary light stone.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Right, I can't feel them unless they're on.

I'm not going to get to look around (apart from glancing about) or talk until they finish drawing, so I guess I wait for whoever's drawing to finish. When they're done, I'll start looking around, starting in a direction away from the light stone, then towards the light stone.

"I take it you think you can just draw on me like a light stone and something will happen. Well believe me, I was drawn on a lot in primary school and nothing ever happened then."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

But Julian is wrong. After what feels like forever, but is probably only twenty seconds, energy starts pooling on his face. Everyone looks pleased. It feels like he has a lightstone surface on his cheek. It also looks like maybe its casting light... but he can't see it himself.

The room is much the same, except for the light coming off his cheek... and the 12 inch stone with a view of an actual room holding a man wearing fairly nice clothing and looking very smug.

Smug Man: "So he is Vasic. Good work. Do you have a way to get him down here?"

Tall Man: "Not without seizing the transport stone."

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

But I, there's no, I'm not, it can't; stop. Breathe. Focus on something else. That tingly ozone feeling is on my face. Is it warming my face or am I just feeling the air in front of me?

They've kidnapped me, but they also think I'm worth something. I can work with that. They'll be careful not to break me.

I take it he isn't bearded.

Maybe I could try playing dumb: "How are you going to do that with three spears and six people?"
I'll start writing/doodling in my diary, if only to get them used to idea, while waiting and seeing what they do next. Surely they have better things to do than stand around here and guard me.

Did Julian practice the heat pattern? Given I pluralized patterns, I'd assume yes. Is the light pattern on his cheek warming his cheek internally or just incidentally from warm air and such?

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Just the air. the "Energy" is the tingly ozone feeling.

No, this is a different guy.

"With more than three spears and six men. We might have to wait a while"


"Hey! stop that!" one of the men aims a kick at Julian.



The tall man and the man in the stone talk a bit more. The man in the stone is Paldrian*. The tall man is named Tarbreth. They discuss the timeline of a upcoming "operation".


Tarbreth: "If the spears hadn't been stolen, and we hadn't killed any guards, it'd be doable. But that's in the past. We're short on weapons, and they're on high alert. I don't think we can strike in the next 40 stones, and they'll really step up the search for us."


Paldrian: "Normally I'd say go to ground... but we've got the boy. He might make all of this worth while. "


Tarbreth: "Would he? he might be a replacement for a single 10lb stone. And it won't be worth anything unless he can be trained."


Paldrian: "I wouldn't count on that. Can you get out?"


Tarbreth: "With the boy? I don't think so. He'll stand out like a torch if we use a teleportation stone, and I don't trust him with a glider. That leaves trekking across the ceiling to Paglog."



Paldrian: "Then make the trek"


Tarbreth: "That's easier to say than to walk"



*curse me mispelling my own made up names!


yeah, he practiced the heat pattern. The light pattern isn't warming his cheek.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Hm... Maybe the heat pattern wouldn't burn me if I drew it on myself. That could take them by surprise.

"I've been writing my life down for the past... 700 days. I can't even have that much?"
I giggle a little about the tall man being named Tar Breath.

That's my fault, isn't it?

"Why'd you have to go and do that?"

Go to ground; I guess that means to go back in hiding/undercover... No place for me if they do that.

"You have access to a teleportation stone?"

I don't trust me with a glider either. I'd crash and die.

"I-I can walk. I won't cause any trouble. I'll be good."

I think Paldrian's going to win the point but I might as well start pretending I'm compliant.
Well, what's the worst that could happen?

Well at least it was caught early, like Tiskar/Tiskara.

Hey, not only is Julian right, he found out how much too!

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Tarbreth: "No writing. For all I know you're going to take everything we say, write it down, and take it to the <squiggle-squaggle> of this town."

Yep! you have quite possibly saved the place from conquest! Hope they don't figure that out.


They pointedly ignore that question.


Paldrian: "I do. you don't."


Naw, you'd just loose altitude and freeze or burn to death as you slowly decended to the bottom of the world. That's a much cooler death. or a much hotter one.


"You sure will! shut up!"



They go back and forth on walking out vs. going to ground. Tarbreth asks about having some Hawkin pick Julian up, and Paldrian makes a few snide remarks about Tarbreth not being so tough as a soldier. In the end, they decide that two men will take Julian a ways out into the vegetation of the ceiling, far enough away from Bumundo, and then some Hawkin will pick him up. They give an exact time for when they will talk to each other again, and then stop talking. They put the still operating vasic stones into bags, covering them.



Yeah...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"You might think I'm some kind of escape artist, but I'm not. Besides they can't read English."

Well, maybe Julian will feel good about it once he gets over the deaths of the two guards.

"Then why's it even an option for an exit? You can't take the stone here."

Or I do something and the slow descent becomes a very fast descent and I hit the bottom like a fly on a windscreen.

So do I have a rough idea of how far into the vegetation they'll need to go? One day, several days, etc? Do I have an idea as to when I'll be going, or is that to be determined?

I might as well ask now, "If you [Paldrian] are the boss, then who's the bearded man?"

OK, so that explains what Tarbreth and Beardo meant by twenty stones. The timing must be important for communication through Vasic stones. Ending Vasic calls with the next time the call will happen makes sense.

I guess they don't have a good way to turn off the Vasic stones. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen anyone turn off a Vasic stone. Maybe nobody can turn them off. I try to rub off the pattern on my face.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"But you can read it."

They ignore this statement.


that would take some fancy flying. And some gear to protect you from the elements, I suspect.


Maybe three days out. Maybe more. They're not sure. They're planning on food for five days.


"What beareded man? him?" he points at one of the thugs with a very scruffy beard. "He's a soldier. He's going to make sure you don't run off and bring you to me."


rubbing off the face pattern doesn't work: he's still got light coming off of his cheek.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"Yeah, cause I can't remember, 'Six guys working for Paldrian kidnapped me at knife point. One was named Tarbreth. Their hole is down here.'"

Less fancy flying and more fancy grip slipping. And nobody said I was alive when I went splat.

Should have enough time to come up something by then.

I have a distinct feeling this will not play out the way Julian wants it to...

"No, the one on the Vasic Tarbreth was talking to. Curly hair, long robes. They were talking about all kinds of things; spears, Hawkin, surprise, Skalindir, Tiskara... I thought you'd know."


Well hopefully whoever's bringing me over the top decides that using me as a light Vasic is a bad idea.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

Their heart doesn't seem to be in the slap he gets for that.


That's fair. And splatting after dying might actually matter at some point.

Tarbreth seems confused by this. "What are you talking about? We haven't..."

His face fills with fury and he lifts up Julian by his shirt and holds him close to his face: "Is this the first time you've seen me!?"

Julian feels weirdly calm. His panic attacks are not kicking in, and the threatening posture of the man seems offset by his confusion (Julian has will 12, and the intimidation roll wasn't great).

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I'll just drop the whole diary issue for now. Maybe I could get a shot at drawing on myself while they're sleeping.

Well, unless I am a piece of Vasic given flesh. Then I might just shatter to pieces.

I say the first thing that pops into my head to try and dodge the question. "You have awful breath; can you please put me back down?"

On second thought, it's relatively fine; I don't think people brush their teeth here. Probably no worse than mine.

10:1 odds he's happy with that answer.

"Well, in my defense, you didn't ask. So, yeah. I did. This isn't even the second time. I told you, you suck at your job."

Hopefully I'm right, and if I make him angry enough, he won't bother trying to talk his way out of this and attack the other five guys. Then maybe I can get out of here.

Aww...

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

He doesn't put Julian down, and when the boy tells him he sucks at his job, he throws the boy into the wall and proceeds to beat him. Take 3 damage. Tarbreth is stopped by one of the other men


"Don't hurt him too bad! we need him to walk across the ceiling!"


Tarbreth stops, but has very much lost his composure.

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

I curl up into a ball. I cry out; he'll stop when he thinks he's beaten me. When he thinks I've broken. You close yourself off, and let what needs to happen, happen, so you can get on with your life.

But he doesn't. He doesn't let up. I accidentally open my guard long enough for him to manage to open up on my stomach. I was foolish, I caused too much... I'm just a... Julian's such a troublemaker. Julian doesn't understand he's a stupid, worthless *****, only worth being a stress ball for his betters. There he is making soft noises like the dog he is.

I blink a few times, surprised no one's attacking me. I spit some blood out of my mouth, and poke at a sore point on my body. It hurts so much; I think that's a broken rib. I can't escape like that; I'm here, and I am Julian. Wishing it weren't true won't change anything. I need to stay on point.

I sit up, and try to look Tarbreth in the eye. He looks bigger, taller now, somehow. I'm afraid, but I can't stop. "Who's the bearded man? Does your boss not know who you've been telling everything?"

Re: (IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)
 

"The Bearded man IS my boss. Paldrian is merely an equal in rank, and he's not half as dangerous as I am. Don't let the clothes and the <???> fool you."


To the group: "We'll get the others, go to ground, and send someone off with this kid."