Let's play a role-playing game

The Game Room
961

Sorry, I keep forgetting about this game. I trust my subscription to remind me that things are going on but it keeps falling off the page.

I am not bored, things are just going a bit slow on a participation level.

962

Sorry, work and Colonization have soaked up my time.

Gentlemen, we need a plan. Please vote for one of these:

  1. Keeping in disguise (as Chimin’s messengers), we move around, trying to gather information through conversations in inns and markets.

  2. Keeping in disguise (as Chimin’s messengers), we head for either mine or Santo’s troops. Once we have a bodyguard, we reveal ourselves.

  3. Keeping in disguise (as Chimin’s messengers), we contact a Noble we think we can trust and reveal ourselves.

  4. We reveal ourselves, overthrow the existing order and take charge!

963

I vote for 1 for about a week and then follow it with 2.

964

Sounds good.

I’ve been checking in, just not really sure what to do or what our best course of action is.

965

Those seem like some great options.

I’ve been pondering the subject of disguises. Just how far can you get without being recognized? And what further steps can you take to disguise yourselves?

There is certainly a percentage chance of being recognized by any random person. Being that you live in a world without television, photographs, or serious representational artists gives you some anonimity, of course. But you are known by those close to you, and you are celebrities of a sort.

Let’s assume that those you’ve never met have a low percentage chance of recognizing you, say 5% or less. Let’s assume that your parents, wives, siblings, children, in-laws, and closest retainers have about a 95% chance or higher. Everyone else is somewhere in-between. Those outside of high society and those outside of your village have a low chance.

Chimin made two of you right away. Lady Myrtis made Santo right away. They are relatives by marriage.

Some other ways to reduce your chances of recognition:

*Wearing helmets and cowls will hide your hair, brows, and noses.

*Bearing heraldry will mislead. When I see a cop, I tend not to look at the face and hair, I look at the uniform. But I assume that other cops tend to facially recognize other cops, right?

*Chimin could hire a master thespian to give you some basic makeup and acting lessons, from adopting foreign accents to walking with a different gait. You might have a real talent for it, or you might come off as a fool.

*The best disguise would be to get a whole new face. Some mages could do that for you, at a huge price, and the results might be temporary and/or unsatisfactory. Mages are hard to both find and trust. Finding a mage proficient in the disciplines of either Fyvria or Savoryia are your best bets.

(Huh?)

966

We don’t have much information to go on, so your instinct is as good as anything!
(Also everyone voting means I can’t be blamed when things go wrong. :slight_smile: )

967

Thanks.

I think that people who have never met us would have no chance of recognising us. No photographs, no newspapers, no TV means no clue!
Imagine recognising Genghis Khan or Shakespeare…

968

I’m, again, Pretty much of a mind with NAF on the subject of where we should go. Stop doing that, get out of my head.

tdn, I’m definitely not bored, it’s just this is a different dynamic than getting together with friends and playing something like this in person. I’m rather distractable, and I’m hitting a busy period (vacations coming up, best friend got his first house, my and his birthday, holidays now) that I can lose the thread for a day or two and come back (usually at work!). I also feel kind of like this is their story, and I’m more or less here as support for now.

969

True, true. But I think that even someone who should never have met you may once have seen you at a fair, or sold you a sword, or once lived in your jurisdiction, or even once stepped on your toe accidentally. There’s always a small chance that a complete stranger recognizes you from somewhere. But 5% might still be a little high. After all, I doubt I’m recognized by one in twenty people even in my own neighborhood, and I’m fairly outgoing.

970

Will not, it’s my best trick and I refuse to give it up! :stuck_out_tongue:

I agree, I think we take our chances with being recognized. I think lack of mass media will help us a lot, as will the fact that we are disguised as a class far below our normal social rank. People won’t be looking at us all that carefully.

971

Exactly. When you see someone in uniform, do you really look at his or her face?

But being recognized may not be all that bad a thing in some circumstances. Being recognized by Chimin and Myrtis was probably a good thing, after all.

Their 16-year-old daughter, Lysella, has been wanting to meet all of you, by the way. Apparently she is desperate for a good husband of high quality. The Lady Myrtis has so far forbidden a meeting with her.

972

So, north, south, or off-road? If you go anywhere but south, you’ll need to pack a lunch.

973

I feel confident that I can escape her wiles, being married to the goddess already. If I can speak with Lady Myrtis, maybe I can convince her to allow me a supervised counseling session with the girl.

And I say we pack a lunch and head North.

974

We have enough money for some dried meat and fish this time, yeah?

975

Myrtis can make sure that you have plenty of food for the trip north.

976

My brother is still here from Santa Fe, but at least I can play during the day today, and starting tomorrow I’ll be able to get to my books and stuff.

977

munching on some food Myrtis supplied

978

OK, I think we’ve agreed to:

  • keep in disguise* (as Chimin’s messengers) for about a week

  • move around, trying to gather information through conversations in inns and markets

  • pack a lunch and head North

  • after a week, head for either mine or Santo’s troops (once we have a bodyguard, we reveal ourselves)
    *I suggest that we stick as close to the truth as possible. Our moral position is that somebody kidnapped us / left us to die, so we are entitled to remain hidden. Nevertheless we don’t want to break any laws.
    So we can wear helmets + cowls and shave / not shave. We have been given messenger status by Baron Chimin. But we shuoldn’t claim heraldic status we’re not allowed.
    N.B. If someone says “you are the Archbishop!”, we can try any of:

  • I do look like him, don’t I?

  • Others have remarked on the resemblance!

  • You must be mistaken because the Archbishop would travel with a retinue

  • I am a messenger and so are my friends

979

That sounds like an excellent plan. When you get to the northern junction, will it be west to Gardiren or east back to Naniom Bridge?

980

Let’s not backtrack at this point. I vote we head west.