Check out that bitching face tattoo!

Goomchuks

I find my lack of BW this weekend saddening and disturbing.

Le sigh.

Oh gosh. Does that...could it...maybe we could...if y'all want...possibly...

Awesome!

7ish, I think.

I think it's a little vague. It covers pretty much everything. It could work if you limited its scope to theft or murder or some other unsavory act.

Instincts don't have to be short. The Roden Murderer in the brown book has the instinct "If I am spotted while stealthing, then I throw a knife at the head of he who spotted me." That's 18 words.

Posted By: AmnesiacAlways do something nasty when you have the chance, unless you think you'll get caught.

This modifies "always" too much. Maybe it could be "If nobody's looking, do something nasty."

Randy's "something nasty" would work. The action isn't specific, but the trigger is. With your original, you'd be triggering your instinct pretty much all the time. This way, it triggers under very specific circumstances - if nobody's looking - and you automatically do "something nasty."

Regarding the positioning instinct, I came across this thread when trying to come up with other instincts. After reading that, I'm going phrase it as "Always get to the Inside as quickly as possible in Fight!", with the effect being an extra positioning test at the beginning of fight, rather than just automatically starting closer. So it'll be good if I win both tests, but has the potential to fuck me over if I'm against someone faster or luckier than me. Sound good?

Gave Faris a shot...

No shield either. Oops...

Yes, yes it is.

We'll have to get back to you, we're in sac

New belief for Goomchuks:

Faris will not survive against Sholeh unless his hands have been bloodied, so I will drive him to murder.

How does "Always fall back on violence." sound for an instinct?

Wow. I was totally not ready to meet Jorm in game. Long weekend.
But here's where I figured their relationship stood before game:

I see Essdra as always being tied into the church, although her faith would have definitely came in over time. But she was also born noble and had to participate in all that song and dance, figuratively and literally. Jorm was moving up into power about the same time Essdra was being paraded through society, her parents hoping she could find a nice man to settle down with and forget about this priestess business. He was enjoying his new-found power and standing in society. She was willfully not looking for a man but found Jorm from the provinces, whom her parents would never consent to. As Essdra moved up in the church and began breaking away from her parents, she and Jorm definitely had a "thing" (to not make this a sordid romance novel). Essdra truly believed in the ways of Stomos but as lovers often do, was blind to the atrocities Jorm was a part of. Jorm was eventually called to assist Sholeh in Gradora, but he and Essdra exchanged vows of love and a promise to reunite as soon as it was possible. Which was great, up until Essdra's mission and her witnessing the evils being done by Sholeh with Jorm's help.

Upon a lot of thought, I've decided Essdra does still love Jorm, but due to what she's seen, can no longer sit idly by and pretend like it's not happening.

If anyone has a problem with this strong of a connection to Jorm, just let me know and we can back things off a little.

*sigh*
Everyone Essdra's entwined with is just going to die except you two, aren't they?

Strong connections make for gnarly fallout, so I am totally OK with 'em.

Here's a brief, expository catch-up on the religions:

Eastans have a folkloric, mythical figure represented by a giant bird of prey. The Great Falcon (or Hawk or Eagle) is a watcher, a guide and paternal figure. He isn't part of a creation myth because the Eastans don't have one. In anthro terms, he is a model -for- living, rather than an model -of- the world. In the legends, the Great Falcon can take the form of either a man or a bird. The Eastans seamlessly describe him as either without any cognitive dissonance, the Great Hawk takes whatever shape is convenient. There is no single icon that represents the Great Eagle, but ornamental feathers are common.

Thuulans follow the Red Book and worship Thuul. Thuul is a creator, a paternal figure, and a guide. The Red Book provides model of world and a model for living. Despite being a newer religion, it's very "old testament." Thuul is wrathful, vengeful and jealous. Though the followers of the Red Book would never admit to it, they secret wish (want?) the Stomans to boil in the Black Volcano for their Heresy. It's an apocalyptic religion. They pray for the return of Thuul, when he will ride down from the clouds on a winged serpent and slaughter apostates with his flaming lance. The flaming lance is their icon, often represented by a short tin rod wrapped in copper wire. They clergy wear red cloth.

The Traji latched on to the passages in the Red Book about the Eater of Worlds, the Deep Lord, the Abyssal Maw. They merged these devil images with the short chapter on Thuul's son Traj. Traj slew apostates, witches and wizards for his father. Traj was excommunicated when he slept with Thuul's wife. Not because the affair was incestuous or extramarital, but because women are property in the Red Book, it was a form of theft. The books doesn't mention what happed to Traj after his exile. So the Traji wrote what happened. They hunt apostates, heretics and wizards as Traj once did in the hope of bringing the Deep Lord back to the material world so he might punish it with descruction. Traji wear red cloth because they still consider themselves follower of the Red Book. This creates confusion between Thuulans and Traji. Their dominant icon is a polished tin octopus, a reference to the most potent form the Deep Lord will take when he returns. Traj, Deep Lord, Abyssal Maw and Eater of Worlds are all names for the same figure.

I think we've explored Stoman theology in play, so I won't cover it here.

Here's an abstract on Gork and Mork. With an important pullquote "Gork and Mork, more so than any other god ... are known to frequently intervene with the lives of Greenskins."

But, briefly still (or maybe not at all): The Dwarves have a pantheistic god they call (translated) the Forger. He made everything but IS everything as well. He made himself out of himself. It makes sense to dwarves.

The Pharoahn Elves worship themselves. The Corsair Elves "listen to the wind."

So I gots bored waiting for someone to ream out a hole today (that's not what it sounds like) and came up with a plan of action for Essdra, just for some direction. I started thinking though, about when Amnesiac asked 'Do you sacrifice animals?'. My gut reaction was no, but Randy piped in before I could with something like 'It's the bronze age in the middle east, of course they do'. So I decided I needed a good animal sacrifice ritual. I can roll next Sunday if need be to introduce the ritual as fact, or we can just accept it into the narrative. Here's what I gots in mind:

Offering of the Fatted Bull
A ritual to ask the favor of Stomos

The Church of Stomos maintains a few bulls throughout the year (or at least they pay someone to). These animals get fed grains, have pastures and stables, and all around live in the life of luxury as far as hoof stock is concerned. They are hand-reared, and gentle with humans.

The Stomans keep a separate temple, concealed from the light and basked in the protective shadows of Stomos, used only for this ritual.

The bull is washed, fed on the finest grains, decorated in flowers and garlands, then led into the sacrificing temple. The steps of the ritual are performed, ending with the priest/ess saying the mass taking a knife to the bulls throat. A sort of trough sits below the bleed bull, gathering the blood and directing it.

In the floor and around which the attending Stomans gather is etched a pattern, the sacred symbol of Stomos: A triangle containing within it a circle, representing the shelter and protection that can be found within Stomos's embrace. The blood is directed into this pattern and begins to flow through it. Now the Stomans wait.

The ritual is simple to understand, but can be devastating if it fails. If the blood fills the pattern etched in the floor of the temple before the bull falls, it is a sign that Stomos has accepted the sacrifice and bestowed his blessing upon the Stoman's endeavors (the ones performing the ritual, at least). The bull is then butchered and cooked and a feast follows, with celebration and thanks to Stomos.

However, should the bull fall while the pattern is incompletely filled, it is a sure sign that Stomos has found his followers and/or their intentions wanting and will give neither his blessing nor his protection to them should they continue their path. The meat of the bull is tainted, and must be destroyed lest it spread disease and plague.

So it is written.

Posted By: Randy

Posted By: BabeSo it is written.

And so it shall be.

Wicked awesome.

Cool. I know how that feels. I've had the dice work against me a few times. I know it's happened to Kristin in the other game. I didn't think that you were having any problems with any of us.

Randy said to plan for about 8 tomorrow.

Mouse Guard tonight. I'll bring character templates and blank toon sheets, 'case we do creation.

No worries, I was actually glad to miss game last night, I didn't get much sleep.

For Mouse Guard, I'd rather make characters than use the templates.