Award the Tether: Guinness Book HQ

[Rocket Man]

For more than 55 years, the Guiness Book of World Records has become legendary for recording the fastest, biggest, farthest, and so on. It seems likely to me that its world headquarters in London would have become a Tether of some kind. But whose Tether would it be?

I am accepting any and all suggestions. Some of the thoughts that came out of a discussion with ladyarcana on the subject:

Kobal: The sheer strangeness of many of the records and the "hilarity" caused after some would-be entrants realize that Guinness no longer recognizes their category.

Litheroy: It revealed information that would have formerly been obscure. (The original book was created because of an argument about the fastest game bird in Europe.)

Yves: Similar to his library Tethers, it's something that expands the sum total of human knowledge.

Michael: It commemorates the best, the ones who have competed their way to the top.

Nybbas: It inspires people to try the silliest stunts to grab a shaky 15 minutes of fame ... and fills a slow news day.

Haagenti: Many (though not all) of the records attempted have to do with consumption.

Janus: Many (though not all) of the records involve being the fastest or going the farthest, or else are strange activities that result in people breaking out of a normal routine.

Dominic: This allows a clear judgment as to who has excelled, even in the most trivial of activities.

Asmodeus: It encourages people to turn their lives into a game, devoting inordinate amounts of energy to winning a useless competition.

Valefor: It's a long-shot case, but the Guinness Book is one of the most frequently stolen publications from American libraries ...

[ISNorden]

Given the sheer number of Superiors with personal interests in the Guinness HQ and in world-record achievements, making it a Wild Tether sounds like the most logical solution to the problem. Liber Castellorum treated one American landmark--I think it was the Washington Monument--as a Wild Tether for very similar reasons. Of course, some Game Masters may rule that all those conflicting interpretations keep the Guinness headquarters from becoming a Tether to any domain at all! :-)

Edited to add: For GMs that use the "wild Tether" decision, even a Superior who isn't listed could get a temporary connection to Guinness....if a world record has just been publicly verified in some suitable category. Novalis might get some of the Essence, for instance, when some botanist discovers the oldest viable seeds taking root in some obscure locale. Jean, on the other hand, might get Essence from Guinness when some mathematical record is established.

[Rocket Man]

So either not stabilized or not a Tether? I could see that, certainly. And the idea of it establishing brief mini-Tethers is rather amusing.

That said, I'm thinking about setting it up as a Tether for a future face-to-face campaign of mine. If the HQ was a Tether and had to be just one Superior, who would you pick?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

That said, I'm thinking about setting it up as a Tether for a future face-to-face campaign of mine. If the HQ was a Tether and had to be just one Superior, who would you pick?

Kobal, as the Guinness Book is generally rather absurd, absent any other factors. On the other hand the strategic situation in London might make me give it to Litheroy. Is London a demonic, angelic, or contested city in your game? Would having it as divine or infernal tether make a difference to the balance of power?

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

Janus: Many (though not all) of the records involve being the fastest or going the farthest, or else are strange activities that result in people breaking out of a normal routine.

On the flip side, they encourage people to do the same thing as other people. ("They square-danced for 57 hours? Well, we'll square-dance for 59 hours!" Meanwhile, nobody's even thinking of doing the Funky Chicken...)

[Acolyte]

The spurious nature of the Records makes this decidedly not Dominican, in my opinion. It really doesn't seem to fit. Likewise for The Game, since devoting yourself to an absurd game is more Kobal.

Broadly, my money's on Kobal or Yves, with preference for Dark Humor. What's more interesting is to have a Tether swap in its history--it USED to be a useful font of knowledge (Destiny), but concerted effort by an army of gremlins of Dark Humor inundated the place with silly records and undermined its legitimacy, causing a perspective shift to Dark Humor. Tackling the Tether and rechristening it to himself was a major coup for Kobal, because previous Fate attacks on the Tether had failed, and Kobal oh-so-pointedly did not mention to absolutely anyone that the operation showed he still had what it took to oppose Yves, and absolutely everyone understood him when he did not mention it.

[DBloch2012]

What?

Originally Posted by ISNorden

Given the sheer number of Superiors with personal interests in the Guinness HQ and in world-record achievements

What makes human world-record achievements so important to Celestials? I do not understand why Michael, Archangel of War, would even care about the world's largest soft cheese: weighing 180 kg (396.8 lb), made by Edelweiss Kaesewerk in Kempten, Germany, and displayed at a public opening of their factory on 26 October 2002.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by DBloch2012

What makes human world-record achievements so important to Celestials?

Nothing. But they're important to humans, and that's what turns a place into a Tether.

This is discussed in detail in Liber Castellorum, the Book of Tethers, so I'll just give the highlights... Celestials have no control over the creation of Tethers, except that they can prevent Tethers from forming if they do the wrong thing (which usually involve spending Essence) at the wrong place and time. Occasionally, a natural phenomenon will create one, but it's usually human activity that aspects a place sufficiently to turn it into a Tether. (How much activity it takes to create a Tether is... ineffable.) Thus, the intelligent Celestial will keep its eyes open for activity that might create a Tether, and either quietly support the activity if the Tether would be to the benefit of that Celestial or the Celestial's Superior, or disrupt it if the Tether would be to the benefit of the enemy.

[DBloch2012]

A part of me died reading that. So much for my idea on Tethers. :(

[robkelk]

It's your game. If the book conflicts with your game, toss the book.