Chapter 1: The Black City

[Eric.D]

DOW

Mekertu
Statement of Purpose: I do not want these outsiders to learn about the black city. If I win, not only will I not tell them anything, but I will convince Farouk to try to convince them this is a fool's errand.

Round 1:

Point

Avoid the Topic

Incite

[VVhite-Crow]

Obfuscate B2 Falsehood Obfuscate Falsehood B2 + Fork City of Telkomel-wise 1D[_3d6s4]=(5, 3, 6)=2=2

can I open end the 6 after I saw your roll? RAW always says to roll the dice at the same time.

I'll write the speaking part as an interruption to Mekertus Point.

[Eric.D]

Mekertu is rolling unskilled Persuasion.

"The Black City is not a place for people, especially outsiders"—he eyes the rest of the group—"to go traipsing around. There are things there nobody understands, I do not know everyth—" he cuts off as Farouk interrupts.

with 4 successes, your Ob to overcome him is 2.

Correction: With Blank Stare, his Ob is increased by 1, so your Ob to overcome is 1. With a success over your Obstacle, Mekertu will be at +1 Ob for the next volley.

...Unfortunately for Farouk, Avoid the Topic and Rebuttal do not test against each other, so after you come up with what you say, we will skip straight to Volley 3, with an Incite vs. Point.

[VVhite-Crow]

Farouk smiles warmly and lays a hand on Mekertus shoulder to interrupt him. "Sadiqi, you misunderstood me. I said that I must be mad to enter the city... not stupid! The people I brought aren't common. They are specialists with skills tailored for this endeavour. The dwarf that is with us, I bet you have seen her, she is an expert with runes, even among her people. Even the elves seek her knowledge. If there is someone who is able to understand the old city, it's her. And Nutesh-" he shifts to make place for Nutesh to sit by the fire "He is able to place powerful wards and keep evil at bay like no other. And like he said: He already lead multiple expeditions to Nether and always returned successfully." shifting to rebuttal "You see? Your fear is unfounded. With you among us we have a strong alliance and can even hope to free the city out of the fiendish clutches that have stolen it from us so long ago." Farouk pause as Mekertu starts talking, avoiding his arguments all together.

[Eric.D]

"Look Farouk, we have tender green onions from the village. Urkazzar's niece brought them. A pretty young girl, she will be married soon. And I have a fine young kid we can butcher. The alghuraba* can join us, it will be good food, and it is a good night, not too cold. Join us and make merry."

He smiles, but frustration grows in his face as he recognizes that Farouk has been continuing his argument.

* Strangers, foreigners

Rebuttal and Avoid the Topic do not test against each other, so we move on to Volley 3. Farouk's Point vs. Mekertu's Incite.

[VVhite-Crow]

a meal? meh... He should have offered some good chai to get Farouks attention!

Exchange 1, Volley 3:
"That's a generous offer, sadiqi. I know the value of a good and nourishing meal out here. The more it surprises me that you offer it to the alghuraba that you see un suitable to even enter this ruined city. Don't you think they should deserve a little support from you, when you even share with them what could easily decide between life and death when the alalha decide to test us with another drought?"

Arabic:
Alalha = Gods (rather obviously)
I roll persuasion B4 + Fork Survival 1D + Fork Appraisal 1D I'm cool when you veto Appraisal. It's kind of a stretch: [_6d6s4]=(6, 4, 3, 6, 4, 3)=4=4 obliviously gonna fate that shit: [_2d6s4]=(2, 4)=1=1 to a total of 5 successes. Whoop whoop! Now gimme that insult!

[Enoch]

Suen Magir interjects. "We need not remain...'alguraba', as Farouk puts it. Travel with us, and you will learn that we do all have a unique skill-set." He meets Mekertu's eyes briefly--not long enough to mesmerize him, but long enough for him to feel the pull.

Helping with Persuasion.

[VVhite-Crow]

@Suen: Do you want to roll yourself or shall I?

[Enoch]

Persuasion: [1d6]=2
It seems Mekertu is not impressed!

[Marullus]

Nutesh's coldness takes no consideration for Mekertu's fears. The raven alights on his shoulder, its feathers smoking, as he also fixes the man with his imposing gaze. "The ways of the great wizards come with me," Nutesh says, describing some aspect of the ritual Mekertu has alluded to. "The last king, a wizard himself, began things you no longer comprehend - you apply grease but do not understand the wheel. You will come - You can only honor your people by doing so as otherwise nothing prevents the next catastrophe, draught, or harm. As he says, we deserve your aid, as no other will come that cares for your people."

I'm obviously leveraging reputation and appearance-of-power to hit my belief...
Great Wizard-wise (1D Help) [1d6]=6
(If his expended Fate point doesn't cover it, I'll spend my own... or do we have enough successes to win already?)
Great Wizard-wise (1D Help) [1d6]=5

[Eric.D]

Mekertu's eyes narrow and flash with anger at the sudden onslaught of arguments.

"Ealayk allaenatu," he spits out the ancient curse, "I am trying to honor the gods and feed our guests, and instead of graciously accepting, as a good guest must, you accost me here, in the place that I live. Do you know what you ask, Farouk? Let me tell you: the flowers in that city die, the birds disappear, the clouds darken, the buildings move, the statutes watch, the shadows listen. I do not go there to take from the dead, I go there to appease them. The alghuraba do not know better, but you should!"

He is shouting now, and his glare cuts through the air from Farouk to Seun Magir.

"Many who go in there are unique, gharib. Once, a man came from the across the western mountains, a thousand miles he walked across the desert after he had climbed into the skies. A clever man, who was guarded by men as dark as the city and almost as strong as its stone, who brought with him a bear carried by twenty boy slaves, who drank wine the color of a clear river.

"He built himself a clever machine, it pulled him, his guards, his bear, his slaves, all of them over the wall. When I visited the city a few years later, I found the skeleton of the bear. It wore a coat of bones woven together like linen from the floodplains, and around its neck was a ruff. A ruff of twenty child skulls, gharib."

His eyes sheer toward Nutesh, alight with anger that would overwhelm a single person.

"Do not speak to me of grease and wheels, who speaks to demons but bears none of the marks of the ancestors. I protect my people, I know this because it has been passed down. We have many laws, and pass down only the parts that matter, so that we can remember them all. Do you know what is in that city, gharib? Perhaps I should tell you, to protect yourself. But how can I do this, when you insist on arguing rather than accepting my hospitality?"

Mekertu has already lost, so I will not bother rolling for him, as Incite cannot reduce your Body of Argument. This is a resounding defeat for him, he can demand no concessions.

He spins around one a heel, drawing his khopesh as he does, and storms away into the dark of the night.

"Khali wali! You will all sit around the fire and eat the kid I butcher, or I will decide against hospitality and instead choose to drink blood tonight. There will be time to settle terms after I have followed the commandments of the gods above and below."

[Eric.D]

(If his expended Fate point doesn't cover it, I'll spend my own... or do we have enough successes to win already?)

As this die would normally have been in the hand that VVhite-Crow spent his Fate on, it would have been covered by that expense.

I'm cool when you veto Appraisal. It's kind of a stretch

It is, and I 100% veto it. But it doesn't change the result.

[Marullus]

Nutesh simply nods; all is good, then. The man's rage is only weakness before power. The bird quarks at the man as he leaves.

[VVhite-Crow]

In contrast to Nuteshs cold pragmatism Farouk feels an unease as his pale blue eyes rest on the darkness in which Mekertu left. Apparently things went well and he is happy with the results... but nevertheless Mekertus words still ring in Farouks ears. Was it a folly to bring these alghuraba, his comrades-in-arms, here? He considers to follow the old man but decides against it. It's probably best to let things settle for a while... especially while a khopesh is involved...
He takes a deep breath of the cold, dry air, puts on a smile and turns back to the others around the fire. "Well, the men here have all rights to be more than cautious with new faces like yours coming through. Give him some time and I bet we'll come along well."

[Enoch]

Suen mutters quietly to his companions. "It was foolish to come here, but did any of us have a choice?"

[hidetzugu]

Lilly turns to Finnithir, revisiting an old discussion:
"You see my love? They fight and argue and boast and threaten all the way into agreeing to join, just like a dwarf."
"Their kin might be closer to yours in height, but surely you can see in their behaviour that they ancestry is of dwarven blood. Can you imagine how boring this discussion would be in the halls of your citadel? Sinnithrel* painstakingly slowly explaining to you why you should not follow me while sapling grow into trees?"

No particular intent here (maybe this is how they flirt), just trying to set an expectation to how First Born/Shaped from Earth and Stone colour the fey races.

She strolls after Mekertu, makes a comical effort to slap him on the shoulder, fails and hits him somewhere in the upper arm instead:
"Good to have you on board! I always knew desert-folk were no cowards, no matter what anybody said in Terracielo! As for appeasing the city's Shaytan... "
She starts rummaging through her pack...
"I did bring some indigo dye, always useful to have something like that, and tonight is the 9th night after the new moon, if you'll help me we could paint the 9-circled ward on me and mine as elders of your elders always taught."

He mentioned "the marks of the ancestors" so I'm hoping this falls under Folklore, that he has body painting that act as charms or wards (you might want to restrict the efficacy of wards considering the campaign theme) and would help us draw the same. I guess there are 2.5 possible intents here:
1: establishing a charm or ward through folklore (significant number, date, geometry and plant) against AlShaytan
1.5: make use of the instinct for having the indigo leaves dye
aahh... -1: Don't know if he'd just help me or you'd want a roll for it (I don't have the skill anyway so I'll be recruiting help from the PCs)

OOC:
Sinnithrel: Some person in Finnithir's life that disapproves of our union, perhaps a sister

[Eric.D]

The man's rage is only weakness before power.

So damn cool. I nominate Marullus for a Beliefs Fate point for the way he's interacted with the locals. It's not quite high enough for Embodiment just yet, but you're on the way!

Likewise, I think VVhite-Crow's been pushing real hard on his Belief that he must remove the Red Diamond, and also had some awesome roleplay thus far. I would nominate for both a Beliefs Fate point and an Embodiment Persona point.

Those are the only nominations I make at this time, but I think both Enoch and hidetzugu are well on their way already. If someone else thinks they have reached the threshold, they can offer a nomination here, my vote would be nay.

Remember that you can (and should!) nominate each other. I would recommend considering nominations at the end of each scene. Whenever a nomination is made, please reply with a yay or nay on the nomination. Simple majority rewards the artha.

[Eric.D]

Suen mutters quietly to his companions. "It was foolish to come here, but did any of us have a choice?"

Nobody seems to notice, except Sabit, standing next to you. She smiles. Not a vague reminiscence of a smile from her youth, but a giddy, enthusiastic beaming.

"Foolish, brother? Did you hear what he said? There is so much power here." Her whisper is urgent, girlish, excited. She looks around, "And you didn't even have to corner him. So nobody knows what you're capable of yet! We can bide our time until we can take the Red Diamond for the church, where it belongs."

[Eric.D]

Lilly turns to Finnithir, revisiting an old discussion:
"You see my love? They fight and argue and boast and threaten all the way into agreeing to join, just like a dwarf."
"Their kin might be closer to yours in height, but surely you can see in their behaviour that they ancestry is of dwarven blood. Can you imagine how boring this discussion would be in the halls of your citadel? Sinnithrel* painstakingly slowly explaining to you why you should not follow me while sapling grow into trees?"

Finnithir's eyes light in amusement, and he leans down, intentionally accentuating the height difference, and pats Lilly on the head with a gentle, kind touch. "I can only imagine you're correct, my dear. My people would never have gotten so angry."

She strolls after Mekertu, makes a comical effort to slap him on the shoulder, fails and hits him somewhere in the upper arm instead:
"Good to have you on board! I always knew desert-folk were no cowards, no matter what anybody said in Terracielo! As for appeasing the city's Shaytan... "
She starts rummaging through her pack...
"I did bring some indigo dye, always useful to have something like that, and tonight is the 9th night after the new moon, if you'll help me we could paint the 9-circled ward on me and mine as elders of your elders always taught."

Mekertu looks down, khopesh in hand, and seems to be considering if he has reached the threshold for violence. After a long second, he breaks out into laughter. "The people outside the desert come here with enough water to live for a year and yet call us cowards."

Moving toward his tent, a squat structure of linen and animal hide, he picks up a small goat, throws it over his shoulder, and steps out into the desert, the moonlight and stars barely bright enough to see by. "These wards you speak of, tell me about them."

I am calling for that Folklore roll to establish if your wards are effective. By my count, the Ob is 3, doubled to 6. Mekertu is not familiar with your particular ward, but will help with his Religious History skill, as that covers knowledge of the creatures in the city and the desert.

I think a failure will indicate that you have a ward that you believe is effective, and of course will find out at the most inopportune time that it just isn't.

[hidetzugu]

Lilly turns to Finnithir, revisiting an old discussion:
"You see my love? They fight and argue and boast and threaten all the way into agreeing to join, just like a dwarf."
"Their kin might be closer to yours in height, but surely you can see in their behaviour that they ancestry is of dwarven blood. Can you imagine how boring this discussion would be in the halls of your citadel? Sinnithrel* painstakingly slowly explaining to you why you should not follow me while sapling grow into trees?"

Finnithir's eyes light in amusement, and he leans down, intentionally accentuating the height difference, and pats Lilly on the head with a gentle, kind touch. "I can only imagine you're correct, my dear. My people would never have gotten so angry."

She strolls after Mekertu, makes a comical effort to slap him on the shoulder, fails and hits him somewhere in the upper arm instead:
"Good to have you on board! I always knew desert-folk were no cowards, no matter what anybody said in Terracielo! As for appeasing the city's Shaytan... "
She starts rummaging through her pack...
"I did bring some indigo dye, always useful to have something like that, and tonight is the 9th night after the new moon, if you'll help me we could paint the 9-circled ward on me and mine as elders of your elders always taught."

Mekertu looks down, khopesh in hand, and seems to be considering if he has reached the threshold for violence. After a long second, he breaks out into laughter. "The people outside the desert come here with enough water to live for a year and yet call us cowards."

Moving toward his tent, a squat structure of linen and animal hide, he picks up a small goat, throws it over his shoulder, and steps out into the desert, the moonlight and stars barely bright enough to see by. "These wards you speak of, tell me about them."

I am calling for that Folklore roll to establish if your wards are effective. By my count, the Ob is 3, doubled to 6. Mekertu is not familiar with your particular ward, but will help with his Religious History skill, as that covers knowledge of the creatures in the city and the desert.

I think a failure will indicate that you have a ward that you believe is effective, and of course will find out at the most inopportune time that it just isn't.

OCC:
1) Cool, what would be the Ob for the instinct link-test to have the correct dye?
2) Since this is a "knowledge test" and I'll be rolling unskilled Perception, I'd like to pool quite a few Help dice from the other PCs, do you have a limit for number of helpers under these conditions?