(IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

And for me: most of mine were very very "D&D" maps. Riask has grown in fits and spurts... this game has seen a few of them, especially Julian's stay, when I actually had to solidify the culture and politics somewhat. It's a long ways from "Sledding hill on a world where the slope goes forever" to "the walls are made of the universe" to "Mercantile City States with Marshwiggles in the backcountry" to "Does Tarbreath mean the same thing in your language as mine?"

It's nice to see how details emerge into a setting. Though it's hard to imagine that a language as divorced as Riask would have false friends (homonyms and homographs, compare with gymnasium in German/English) that are even remotely close. Maybe a future Julian who learns linguistics trivia might buy some lox and determine whether to place Riask in the Proto-Indo-European family.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Didn't Jordan end up on a world covered with clouds mining stuff with dwarves? There was an exile from Riask there.

Pretty sure that was Graham... Jordan went Egypt -> Wolf World -> Merlin-1 -> Medieval World with Reich-5 Nazis -> Brazil Busted Undersea City -> Dwarf Jungle World. Graham ended up with dwarves and working as a clerk at some point. No matter; this is all half a decade ago.

Originally Posted by ericthered

The rest of the night is fairly uneventful. People come and go from the apartment regularly, though it seems that either Slam or Royal is always here.

Well, they're just there in case something happens... Not keep me here, no.

Originally Posted by ericthered

That night, he dreams of men working on the fighter planes from his last dream. They discuss the war, the "AI instructions", and a number of technical terms. They all wear the same insignia on their shirts... a long thin diamond and the words "Kassimon Military Aviation". The dream focuses on one man in particular, with a distinctive full black beard. His name is "Paulis Tatum"

Couple questions for detail (feel free to answer, you don't know):
Did their discussion seem indicate they were winning or losing?
What was Paulis Tatum doing? Working as a mechanic? Supervising?

Originally Posted by ericthered

He also dreams of a gigantic ship suddenly appearing in the midst of space: one moment there was nothing, and then a structure the size of a skyscraper was there... and he dreamed of seven Starpus ravenously eating a meal of fish afterwards.

What did the fish look like? Or were they already being ripped to pieces before Julian saw what was happening? How much fish was there (i.e. relative volume to the starpus?) Were the fish alive or dead?

I wake up, and I start writing down what I remember. Kassimon Military Aviation: AI Instructions (To or From?). Missiles targeted their fighters: are they with the government or against? Paulis Tatum (Black Bearded Man) important? Starship arrived recently: seven Starpi on board; multiple Starpi needed to make a ship go? Starpus big eaters: perhaps starved, or FTL hungry work? Relation between the two? Kassimon to target starship?

Then I start looking things up as I get dressed.

I look up Kassimon, and see if that gets me anywhere (perhaps it's a more common name in the future?), and if not, then I search for Kassimon Military. Who are they with? If they're from out of system, surely they're pro-concordance. Are they like mercenaries, allies from a foreign government, or just the name of forces from a particular settlement? Are they known in the news, or a more behind the scenes actor (surely not to behind the scenes; dogfights aren't exactly subtle).

Then I look into starships. How big are they usually? Are starships used for different things different sizes? What's the likely purpose of this big starship here? Was it's arrival reported in the news, or are starships too mundane? I wonder...

Originally Posted by ericthered

In the morning, Slam offers to get him breakfast. "Royal thinks we can have everything set up by tomorrow, and we can break in that night. You feeling ready?"

"Really, even the fish?" I bite my lip, "I guess I'll be as ready as I'll ever be."

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

It's nice to see how details emerge into a setting. Though it's hard to imagine that a language as divorced as Riask would have false friends (homonyms and homographs, compare with gymnasium in German/English) that are even remotely close. Maybe a future Julian who learns linguistics trivia might buy some lox and determine whether to place Riask in the Proto-Indo-European family.

Maybe its not divorced... though you're the first one who took it so literally. I'm reminded of Brandon Sanderson's choice to not include earth in the cosmere (his by far most complex setting), despite it being in all of his other settings. It just has so many strange implications.

Pretty sure that was Graham... Jordan went Egypt -> Wolf World -> Merlin-1 -> Medieval World with Reich-5 Nazis -> Brazil Busted Undersea City -> Dwarf Jungle World. Graham ended up with dwarves and working as a clerk at some point. No matter; this is all half a decade ago.

Graham... I'd forgot about Graham.

Couple questions for detail (feel free to answer, you don't know):
Did their discussion seem indicate they were winning or losing?
What was Paulis Tatum doing? Working as a mechanic? Supervising?

Their discussions seemed to indicate they were fighting. The outcome is very much in doubt. They also seemed to be a little detatched from the loss of it all: they were invested, but the possibility that someone was going to die didn't enter into their emotional state, that Julian could tell.



Tatum mostly receives and analyzes reports, and asks questions.

What did the fish look like? Or were they already being ripped to pieces before Julian saw what was happening? How much fish was there (i.e. relative volume to the starpus?) Were the fish alive or dead?

The fish were already dead. They were silvery, and fairly small. If starpus where human sized (They're a little smaller, at least the ones he's seen), then each fish was about the size of a smallish hotdog. There were maybe 20 for each starpus.

I wake up, and I start writing down what I remember. Kassimon Military Aviation: AI Instructions (To or From?). Missiles targeted their fighters: are they with the government or against? Paulis Tatum (Black Bearded Man) important? Starship arrived recently: seven Starpi on board; multiple Starpi needed to make a ship go? Starpus big eaters: perhaps starved, or FTL hungry work? Relation between the two? Kassimon to target starship?

Then I start looking things up as I get dressed.

I look up Kassimon, and see if that gets me anywhere (perhaps it's a more common name in the future?), and if not, then I search for Kassimon Military. Who are they with? If they're from out of system, surely they're pro-concordance. Are they like mercenaries, allies from a foreign government, or just the name of forces from a particular settlement? Are they known in the news, or a more behind the scenes actor (surely not to behind the scenes; dogfights aren't exactly subtle).

Kassimon Military Aviation is a concordance licensed mercenary outfit from off-world. Its core is military surplus from a war fought about 40 years ago. Shortly afterwards, the concordance contacted them, and they turned a bloated military into a profitable mercenary company. "Kassimon" refers to the continent they were originally based on.

Then I look into starships. How big are they usually? Are starships used for different things different sizes? What's the likely purpose of this big starship here? Was it's arrival reported in the news, or are starships too mundane? I wonder...

That looks like a fairly typical size. the crew to move a starship is expensive: the bigger the ship, the better. This is one of the common sizes, and its relatively small. The biggest ships can be 10 times the size. Ship arrivals are not news. Not unless they're warships, and one of those has been in port since a few days after the war started.

"Really, even the fish?" I bite my lip, "I guess I'll be as ready as I'll ever be."

"Moneyface got us an aquarium."


"Good to hear! You'll do fine!"

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Maybe its not divorced... though you're the first one who took it so literally. I'm reminded of Brandon Sanderson's choice to not include earth in the cosmere (his by far most complex setting), despite it being in all of his other settings. It just has so many strange implications.

Perhaps not. But even if it isn't completely divorced, influences from other species (the Mugraggle are native, right? Their language probably has a large impact) probably gives the Riask language many characteristics alien to modern linguists.

Then again, I have a gut feeling that the Riask language is a dead or really obscure Earth language, so maybe the first guess is wrong?

Originally Posted by ericthered

Their discussions seemed to indicate they were fighting. The outcome is very much in doubt. They also seemed to be a little detatched from the loss of it all: they were invested, but the possibility that someone was going to die didn't enter into their emotional state, that Julian could tell.

Tatum mostly receives and analyzes reports, and asks questions.

Well, I guess he's in charge. Explains why I was drawn to him. Not sure what I can do about that.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Kassimon Military Aviation is a concordance licensed mercenary outfit from off-world. Its core is military surplus from a war fought about 40 years ago. Shortly afterwards, the concordance contacted them, and they turned a bloated military into a profitable mercenary company. "Kassimon" refers to the continent they were originally based on.

Guess that places them firmly in the Concordance camp. I can't imagine the Concordance is in the business of ferrying around enemy troops, or mercenaries who changed sides, for that matter.

Originally Posted by ericthered

That looks like a fairly typical size. the crew to move a starship is expensive: the bigger the ship, the better. This is one of the common sizes, and its relatively small. The biggest ships can be 10 times the size. Ship arrivals are not news. Not unless they're warships, and one of those has been in port since a few days after the war started.

Hm... And they needed nine? I guess I'll ask Slam or Royal at some point, "How many Starpi are we after? Will [that number] be enough?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Moneyface got us an aquarium."

Originally Posted by ericthered

The fish were already dead. They were silvery, and fairly small. If starpus where human sized (They're a little smaller, at least the ones he's seen), then each fish was about the size of a smallish hotdog. There were maybe 20 for each starpus.

"We'll bring some along to the Starpus, right? They might be being starved or fed irregularly..."

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Good to hear! You'll do fine!"

"I hope so..."

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Perhaps not. But even if it isn't completely divorced, influences from other species (the Mugraggle are native, right? Their language probably has a large impact) probably gives the Riask language many characteristics alien to modern linguists.

Then again, I have a gut feeling that the Riask language is a dead or really obscure Earth language, so maybe the first guess is wrong?

Well, I'm not using an official conlang for it! It is indeed based on a specific earth language, merely for my convenience.

Hm... And they needed nine? I guess I'll ask Slam or Royal at some point, "How many Starpi are we after? Will [that number] be enough?"

Slam: "I'm not sure. I don't think Royal is. Its not the sort of detail they spread around. Right now I think we're taking who will come."

"We'll bring some along to the Starpus, right? They might be being starved or fed irregularly..."

Slam: "Yeah. There was some concern about the supply. We don't want to make it obvious we suddenly have a bunch of aquatic mouths to feed."

"I hope so..."

Slam: "We'll be right there for you!"


Royal stops by in mid morning to work on ways to approach the starpus. She drills him on what possible responses might be, and how they want to respond to them:

• "But I don't know you!"
• "I don't like that kind of fish"
• "So and So says I can't come"
• "I'm loyal to the concordance"
• "Will I have to move starships?"
• "Can I bring my utterly enormous rock?"

Julian has the chance to look at some school-work. The basics are familiar, but the teaching method is very different. A very interactive computer program that occasionally drops into really dense jargon. Give me a will roll or suggest a substitute roll for acclimatizing to the method.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Well, I'm not using an official conlang for it! It is indeed based on a specific earth language, merely for my convenience.

You're using Tagalog, right? But that doesn't necessarily mean that it is Tagalog though. This could be Tagalog standing in for Linear B or some fictional language or whatever. It'd be a bit of a surprise if Riask was Tagalog and Tagalog vanished over the past thousand years.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "I'm not sure. I don't think Royal is. Its not the sort of detail they spread around. Right now I think we're taking who will come."

"I think... Yeah, let's take who will come. We'd be as bad as the concordance if strong-armed the Starpi into it."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "Yeah. There was some concern about the supply. We don't want to make it obvious we suddenly have a bunch of aquatic mouths to feed."

"Hopefully they like what we have... Could I see the aquarium?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "We'll be right there for you!"

Royal stops by in mid morning to work on ways to approach the starpus. She drills him on what possible responses might be, and how they want to respond to them:

• "But I don't know you!"

"'It's OK, I understand. I wouldn't just go with someone who gave me lunch either. If you want to stay, that's fine. But has living under the control of the Concordance really that great? Don't you want more than just being sequestered away between Starship jumps?'"

Originally Posted by ericthered

• "I don't like that kind of fish"

"We should bring a few different kinds of fish. 'What kind do you like? If you describe it to us, we can look at getting you a different kind of fish. We might not have it on hand now, but we're sparing no expense here.'"

Originally Posted by ericthered

• "So and So says I can't come"

"Well I guess the first question I'd ask is, 'Who's So and So?' If they're with the Concordance, I'd probably say something like, 'Well, why do you trust that they have your best interests in mind here? They're the ones who are collecting on your work moving Starships around. Believe me, they're collecting a lot. Do you think you're being treated fairly in exchange for everything you're giving them?' While if they're a Starpus I guess I'd ask if I can talk to them, and see what they think."

Originally Posted by ericthered

• "I'm loyal to the concordance"

"'So you know how much you're giving them by moving starships, right? You know that without you, they're nothing? Maybe they have done a lot for you in the past. In your place, I might be loyal too. But from where I'm standing, it looks like you've been horribly mislead and they're keeping you away from the truth.'"

Originally Posted by ericthered

• "Will I have to move starships?"

"'Well, no. Don't get me wrong, we'd really like it if you would, and we'd bend over backwards to motivate you to do it. But if you don't want to do it, well, we'd let you find something else to do with your time. Maybe we could rig up something so you could use a computer from your tank, and you could work there. Or maybe there's work to be done under the sea. But we really think your best opportunity is to move starships.'"

Originally Posted by ericthered

• "Can I bring my utterly enormous rock?"

"I dunno, do we have room for rocks? 'I get that you really like your rock, but, is it that important? I'm sure we could make the time to recover your rock, but that's a lot of work and we're on a really tight schedule. We were relying on you swimming up to the access point to get you outta here. Can you move the rock? If it's not irreplacable, we could get you another rock for your new tank...'"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Julian has the chance to look at some school-work. The basics are familiar, but the teaching method is very different. A very interactive computer program that occasionally drops into really dense jargon. Give me a will roll or suggest a substitute roll for acclimatizing to the method.

Will look at my sheet and roll.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

You're using Tagalog, right? But that doesn't necessarily mean that it is Tagalog though. This could be Tagalog standing in for Linear B or some fictional language or whatever. It'd be a bit of a surprise if Riask was Tagalog and Tagalog vanished over the past thousand years.

Yeah, I've gone out and said that, so I suppose it is indeed a stand-in.

"I think... Yeah, let's take who will come. We'd be as bad as the concordance if strong-armed the Starpi into it."

Slam: "You've seen how we do it. Look at yourself!"

"Hopefully they like what we have... Could I see the aquarium?"

Slam: "Let me ask Royal. You'll be living there for a while, so might be a good idea to check out your new digs."

"'It's OK, I understand. I wouldn't just go with someone who gave me lunch either. If you want to stay, that's fine. But has living under the control of the Concordance really that great? Don't you want more than just being sequestered away between Starship jumps?'"

"We should bring a few different kinds of fish. 'What kind do you like? If you describe it to us, we can look at getting you a different kind of fish. We might not have it on hand now, but we're sparing no expense here.'"

"Well I guess the first question I'd ask is, 'Who's So and So?' If they're with the Concordance, I'd probably say something like, 'Well, why do you trust that they have your best interests in mind here? They're the ones who are collecting on your work moving Starships around. Believe me, they're collecting a lot. Do you think you're being treated fairly in exchange for everything you're giving them?' While if they're a Starpus I guess I'd ask if I can talk to them, and see what they think."

"'So you know how much you're giving them by moving starships, right? You know that without you, they're nothing? Maybe they have done a lot for you in the past. In your place, I might be loyal too. But from where I'm standing, it looks like you've been horribly mislead and they're keeping you away from the truth.'"

"'Well, no. Don't get me wrong, we'd really like it if you would, and we'd bend over backwards to motivate you to do it. But if you don't want to do it, well, we'd let you find something else to do with your time. Maybe we could rig up something so you could use a computer from your tank, and you could work there. Or maybe there's work to be done under the sea. But we really think your best opportunity is to move starships.'"

"I dunno, do we have room for rocks? 'I get that you really like your rock, but, is it that important? I'm sure we could make the time to recover your rock, but that's a lot of work and we're on a really tight schedule. We were relying on you swimming up to the access point to get you outta here. Can you move the rock? If it's not irreplacable, we could get you another rock for your new tank...'"

Royal gives feedback and strategizes: "Be sure to be evaluating its intelligence. We don't know if they're barely intelligent or geniuses. On promising stuff, there is a LOT that we can promise, but it needs to be stuff we can get discretely, and not often immediately. Our escape route doesn't have much space in it, but the aquarium we have should."

"Good work. Keep at it. A lot is riding on this."

"Slam says you want to see the aquarium. Lets take you down there after lunch. Its a good idea. I'm glad to see you taking the initiative"

Will look at my sheet and roll.

I await the roll

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "You've seen how we do it. Look at yourself!"

I'm a little playful here, "Oh, so we're gunna use the screamer and scoop them out of the tanks?"

Julian needed to come up with something to say after he decided against mentioning how many Starpi the recent ship had on hand.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam: "Let me ask Royal. You'll be living there for a while, so might be a good idea to check out your new digs."

"At the aquarium? ... I guess that makes sense. Hopefully it's as comfy as here."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal gives feedback and strategizes: "Be sure to be evaluating its intelligence. We don't know if they're barely intelligent or geniuses. On promising stuff, there is a LOT that we can promise, but it needs to be stuff we can get discretely, and not often immediately. Our escape route doesn't have much space in it, but the aquarium we have should."

"So no room for enormous rocks. I'll be sure to downplay how quick we can get a hold of stuff. Surely anything can be gotten discreetly with enough time though."

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Slam says you want to see the aquarium. Lets take you down there after lunch. Its a good idea. I'm glad to see you taking the initiative"

"Well, it'd be better to see if the lighting and stuff matches what I saw earlier."

Originally Posted by ericthered

I await the roll

How clumsy of me. I considered Research and Computer Ops, but the second is sort of ill-fitting and the first is just tied, so I went with plain Will. I suppose I could have gone with a complementary roll, but I decided against that.

[150] 23-07-07 17:13:49 CEST
Will
3d6 <= 12
5 + 1 + 6 = 12 ... success

I concentrate on the computer, and try to avoid getting too distracted when it starts rambling into jargon, writing down some of the more repeated words there to look up later.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

I'm a little playful here, "Oh, so we're gunna use the screamer and scoop them out of the tanks?"

Slam Grimaces: "Only if everything <explicative language>. There are a lot of problems with doing it that way."

"At the aquarium? ... I guess that makes sense. Hopefully it's as comfy as here."

"That depends on how comfortable you find a non-descript flat decorated like every other non-descript flat."

"So no room for enormous rocks. I'll be sure to downplay how quick we can get a hold of stuff. Surely anything can be gotten discreetly with enough time though."

Royal: "Just about anything." She smiles, as though it was a compliment.

"Well, it'd be better to see if the lighting and stuff matches what I saw earlier."

Royal: "Good point. we want them to feel as welcome as possible."

How clumsy of me. I considered Research and Computer Ops, but the second is sort of ill-fitting and the first is just tied, so I went with plain Will. I suppose I could have gone with a complementary roll, but I decided against that.

Research would have been appropriate... we have our results.

I concentrate on the computer, and try to avoid getting too distracted when it starts rambling into jargon, writing down some of the more repeated words there to look up later.

Julian is able to get some work done... at least when he's left alone. Royal is much more enthusiastic about getting him prepared for the Starpus than his formal education.

Royal takes Julian to the "Aquarium". They take public transportation, switching between various conveyances. More news is blaring, once again about the war, especially about prisoners today, and what to do with them.

The "Aquarium" feels like its lower in the station than the rest of it. And it seems to be less of an aquarium and more of a public works area that's been temporarily converted. Glass installed in heavy public access tunnels, with crude welds holding it in place. getting there involved dropping through a couple of man-hole cover equivalents. They've done their best to make the big tank of water feel like an aquarium, placing lights and fake coral in there. They've also set up a small set of living quarters.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Slam Grimaces: "Only if everything <explicative language>. There are a lot of problems with doing it that way."

Hm... I didn't expect that was something they'd actually consider. I wouldn't want to have to dive for them and I'm good at swimming.

Originally Posted by ericthered

"That depends on how comfortable you find a non-descript flat decorated like every other non-descript flat."

"It must be an awfully big flat to fit an aquarium inside."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "Just about anything." She smiles, as though it was a compliment.

It begins to dawn on me that I am the thing that can't be got in enough time... I try to take it with a smile.

[151] 23-07-10 22:29:26 CEST
Bad Temper
3d6 <= 15
4 + 4 + 4 = 12 ... success

Originally Posted by ericthered

Research would have been appropriate... we have our results.

Julian is able to get some work done... at least when he's left alone. Royal is much more enthusiastic about getting him prepared for the Starpus than his formal education.

Just like the old days, though at least it's more than just getting by...

Originally Posted by ericthered

Royal: "Good point. we want them to feel as welcome as possible."

Royal takes Julian to the "Aquarium". They take public transportation, switching between various conveyances. More news is blaring, once again about the war, especially about prisoners today, and what to do with them.

The "Aquarium" feels like its lower in the station than the rest of it. And it seems to be less of an aquarium and more of a public works area that's been temporarily converted. Glass installed in heavy public access tunnels, with crude welds holding it in place. getting there involved dropping through a couple of man-hole cover equivalents. They've done their best to make the big tank of water feel like an aquarium, placing lights and fake coral in there. They've also set up a small set of living quarters.

How does the lighting and such compare to what I recall? Is the Aquarium full of water yet? Do they have the fish they plan to feed them in here? Does it look like it is leaking or could leak? I feel like I'm going to be part of some grand deception here: surely the Starpi won't be expecting anything like this...

[152] 23-07-10 22:30:58 CEST
Perception
3d6 <= 13
2 + 2 + 1 = 5 ... success

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

"It must be an awfully big flat to fit an aquarium inside."

Slam: "I mean this place. Its not exactly homey."

Just like the old days, though at least it's more than just getting by...

Working for a better class of criminal!

How does the lighting and such compare to what I recall? Is the Aquarium full of water yet? Do they have the fish they plan to feed them in here? Does it look like it is leaking or could leak? I feel like I'm going to be part of some grand deception here: surely the Starpi won't be expecting anything like this...

The Aquarium is full of water, and it doesn't seem to be leaking. The lighting is off... the direction of it is wrong, he thinks, even though the intensity is right. They've got a different tank full of fish down a different tunnel. Royal says they've got another location where they're keeping more fish and the screamers.