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 Post Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 1:29 am 
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Arkady blinks, then chuckles at the 'hospitality deity' comment. "Not quite, no. Lord of peoples, not innkeepers. Though when he sent his son, the Christ, to us in mortal form some two thousand years before we were born...he did once turn water into wine for a friend's wedding. Apparently it was so good that the caterer complained that only a fool puts out the good wine second. And he also fed a multitude with a couple of loaves of bread and a dried fish, and several baskets of leftovers were gathered when they were done."

"Of course, he also healed the crippled and blind, cast out a few demons, and raised the dead; but those lack the charm of his...hospitality. And we do try to be hospitable to those in need." he says with a gesture towards Piper. Then he indicates Felix, and says "As it happens, he isn't one of my flock; and it's not surprising that what any of mine or the related sects could tell isn't at his fingertips. I'm not sure what he believes, but within certain broad limits, I'm obliged to respect it. Of course, I can try to change his mind; but right now we have other matters at hand."

Tagging aspect: Terran freedom of religion

"But as he's said, 'convert or die' is beyond those limits. if this is an essential teaching of the Zemoch faith, then we will not tolerate it."

If he's got a fate point left, tagging "Defender of the Faith".

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 Post Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 3:05 am 
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Nathan takes a minute to collect his thoughts.

"Sir, I'm not a religious man in any normal sense, but I've seen evil before. I may have seen more of it and in more of it's forms then anyone else in this room. I've seen it in malicious actions, and in callous disregard. In small personal cruelties, and the impersonal carnage of war. Where I was able, I did my best to stop it, even if it cost me, and I've seen each of my friends here do the same. Belive me when I say that you need not question the morality of our people. Evil can thrive only when good people fail to act, and I assure you, Primate, that Terrans are a people of action, just as I am."

Tag Nate's [The Strong Defend The Weak] and [There's What You're Supposed To Do, And Then There's What's Right] aspects, as well as [You Can Run But You Can't Hide] to show Nate's resolve to track down those responsible for reprehensible acts.

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 Post Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 2:00 pm 
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Felix makes his case:

Felix: Rapport: +3 Roll: -1 Total: +2
Aspects: Zemoch War (free tag): +2
Superior Materials (one FATE point): +2
Total: +6
Man in Black: Resolve: +5 Roll: -2 Total: +3

This gives the Man in Black a mark at the +3 position on his stress track. He already has a mark there. Now, normally, this would mean that his stress would roll up, giving him a stress mark at the +4 position instead.

However, the Man in Black has a stunt - Aplomb - which modifies that behaviour somewhat. In a social or mental battle, his stress will roll down instead of up if possible.

Stress tracks:
Arkady: OOOOO OX
Felix: OOOXX O
Nathan: XOOOX OO

Opponents:
Man in Black: XXXOO XOO


Arkady preset his views on religious freedom - how much should be allowed and what's beyond the pale:

Arkady: Rapport: +0 Roll: +0 Total: +0
Aspects: Terran freedom of religion (free tag): +2
Total: +2
Man in Black: Resolve: +5 Roll: +2 Total: +7

(Not tagging "Defender of the Faith", because it wouldn't allow Arkady to beat the Man in Black's resolve - he can put his last FATE point to better use later)

Stress tracks:
Arkady: OOOOO OX
Felix: OOOXX O
Nathan: XOOOX OO

Opponents:
Man in Black: XXXOO XOO


Arkady: Rapport: +0 Roll: +0 Total: +0
Aspects: Terran freedom of religion (free tag): +2
Total: +2
Man in Black: Resolve: +5 Roll: +2 Total: +7

(Not tagging "Defender of the Faith", because it wouldn't allow Arkady to beat the Man in Black's resolve - he can put his last FATE point to better use later)

Stress tracks:
Arkady: OOOOO OX
Felix: OOOXX O
Nathan: XOOOX OO

Opponents:
Man in Black: XXXOO XOO


Nathan tries to talk up his resolve in tracking down and eliminating evil in all its forms:

Arkady: Rapport: +0 Roll: -1 Total: -1
Aspects: The Strong Defend The Weak (one FATE point): +2
There's What You're Supposed To Do, And Then There's What's Right (one FATE point): +2
You Can Run But You Can't Hide (one FATE point): +2
Total: +5
Man in Black: Resolve: +5 Roll: -2 Total: +3

(Note that when the Man in Black's stress track can't roll down, it rolls up as normal)

Stress tracks:
Arkady: OOOOO OX
Felix: OOOXX O
Nathan: XOOOX OO

Opponents:
Man in Black: XXXXO XOO


The Man in Black smiles slightly. "It's really not hard to be morally superior to the Zemochs," he says to Felix. "In fact, it would be a considerable accomplishment to find a moral inferior to a Zemoch priest. As a people who understand the concept of hospitality - merely understand it - you already show yourselves morally superior to their hordes. To both practice hospitality and deliberately root out evil? Why, you are clearly so far their superiors that it does not even help to make the comparison!"

He frowns, and tents his fingers. "No... I think a far more interesting comparison would be whether or not you are morally superior to, say, the Styrics." He gestures at Piper, who looks insulted at the insinuation. He glances at Nathan. "You say you hunt evil. This implies that you understand evil. You show me the superiority of your craftsmanship and materials, and talk about the strength of your weapons. And you seek control over a piece of land not a week's travel from our capital. As I'm sure you can see, there are more than theological principles at stake here; there is the practical reality of betrayal to consider. How can I be sure that you won't betray us, should it be to your advantage to do so? Or, maybe -" he gestures at Arkady - "because we do something you find intolerable?"

The Man in Black continues his attack on your religion:

Man in Black: Rapport: +3 Roll: -4 Total: -1
Aspects: Terran Craftsmanship (one FATE point): Reroll New roll: +1
Superior Materials (One FATE point): +2
Arkady's Defender of the Faith (One FATE point): +2
Total: +8
Felix: Resolve: +1 Roll: +0 Total: +1
Nathan: Resolve: +3 Roll: +1 Total: +4
Arkady: Resolve: Resolve: +3 Roll: +2 Total: +5

It's really quite effective.

Stress tracks:
Arkady: OOXOO OX
Felix: OOOXX O Minor consequence: ???
Nathan: XOOXX OO

Opponents:
Man in Black: XXXXO XOO

Since one of the Man in Black's tags was on an Aspect belonging to Arkady, Arkady gets to keep the FATE point used to tag it.

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 Post Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 2:02 am 
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Felix' Minor Consequence: Strained

The negotiations are taking their toll, and Felix is feeling the strain. Noticing this, Arkady tries to see what the Primate would want to settle for...

Arkady: Empathy: +4 Roll: +3 Total: +7
Man In Black: Rapport: +3 Roll: -3 Total: +0


After all their negotiation so far, Arkady is putting together a far better picture of the Man In Black. He is the Power Behind The Throne - the actual wearer of the crown has not paid attention to a single thing so far this meeting - but that power is not secure. The Queen, poisoned though she may have been, still lives, sustained by magic. The Man In Black wants nothing more than he wants to secure that power; any concessions that somehow strengthen that power are far, far more likely to be accepted. Any that may weaken his power, or strengthen his political enemies, are unlikely to be accepted. He will probably accept a concession that neither increases nor decreases his political power immediately; he will certainly accept a concession that allows him to place or or more of his agents (perhaps as priests) in the new Terran village; he will certainly not accept a concession that put his political enemies, the Church Knights, in a position to protect the new village from any future schemes he might concoct. Arkady is pretty sure that if you ask him for suggestion, he'll suggest (and accept) a concession that will increase his political power.

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 Post Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 2:13 pm 
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"What if we paid tithes out of our taxes directly to the Elene Church," Felix suggests, banking on what he knows all churches have wanted in the history of mankind. "Would that help to convince you of our moral rightness, if we took a portion of our income and invested it into spreading the good word and works of your god?"

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 Post Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 2:40 pm 
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There's a long, tense moment of silence as the Man in Black turns this proposal over in his head. Finally, he says "One part in ten of everything you produce."

--------------

From that point on, the eventual settlement is pretty much inevitable. There's several hours of niggling over minor details, but eventually the final contract is hammered down. An early sticking point is that the land has to be owned in the name of a nobleman; fortunately, Sir Ulath turns out to be a minor Count, and is willing to be the temporary owner of the forest and swamp on paper (while allowing the Terrans to do as they want with it) until such time as a member of the Terran race receives a suitably noble title of his own. Taxes are waived for the first three months, while the village gets on its feet (tithes are not waived, but since it's a percentage, it will be affordable). Taxes are not onerous, being equivalent to those of any other landed noble, and are paid directly to the Elene treasury. The Primate likes the idea of religious freedom and sending some priests in to try to convert the heathen Terrans, until Sir Ulath mentions some place called "Rendor" and firmly states the the decision of which priests to send to the Terrans must be decided by the Archprelate himself, or, given certain circumstances which are not further elaborated upon, a full meeting of the Patriarchs.

The Man in Black seems rather upset at the decision of who to send being kicked upstairs in the Church hierarchy, but he drops the point rather than attempt to argue it.

One point that the Primate is not willing to budge on (and Sir Ulath seems to agree with him here) is that, in the attempt of a Zemoch attack or similar emergency situation, the Terrans will be expected to field every able-bodied man to join in the war effort. It doesn't seem expected to happen anytime soon; but this appears to be a general condition of living in the Elene kingdoms at all. There is no need for the Terrans to have any part in the Elene military outside of that.

--------------

Eventually, a suitable proclamation is drawn up. The Primate drags the Regent away from his game of tic-tac-toe with Piper and firmly tells him to sign it, which he does with bad grace. This document is then given to Nathan, as proof of your ownership of a small forest and a neighbouring swamp.

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 Post Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 3:55 pm 
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"Whew," Felix gets up from his chair and stretches his arms and legs, acting for all the world like a man who just got done with heavy, routine labor. He turns his head back to the Regent and Primate. "I'm glad we came to get things settled. I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship between our peoples."

Checking outside the window, Felix sees that it is still in the afternoon.

"Will we have accommodations setup for us?" Felix asks. "When we do get around to leaving I'd prefer if it were at daybreak for maximum travel time."

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 Post Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 7:01 pm 
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Arkady would look amused when the codicil regarding the Zemochs is broached. "So if a Zemoch army shows up at our doorstep demanding that we submit to them and their god in all ways or die, we should defend ourselves instead. I think we can accommodate you on that point."

Afterwards he considers Sir Ulath for a second, then asks "Who does your Order answer to?"

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 Post Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:48 pm 
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"The Pandions would accommodate us," says Sir Ulath, before anyone else can offer accommodation. "There's really no need to put the Palace to any trouble on that account."

To Arkady, he adds "Theoretically, all Church knights answer to the people as a whole. Practically, each of the four Knightly Orders answers specifically to our individual Preceptor, who in turn answers directly to the Archprelate."

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 Post Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 10:00 pm 
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"Alright," Felix smiles. "I believe we've bothered the Crown enough with our antics. I suggest we retire to our chambers for the next while before we attend to any further business in the city."

Once they leave the meeting office, assuming there is no objection and they do, Felix has a request of Sir Ulath and makes it as private as can be managed.

"Any chance we can get a look at the throne room, or is it off limits?"

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 Post Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 1:35 am 
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"This way," says Sir Ulath.

He has to bully his way past a pair of nervous guards to lead the Terrans into the throne room (neither of whom have any particular wish to get on the wrong side of a Church Knight, though one of them does go running off to call a sergeant). The throne room is large, with torches burning on the walls; it's more ornate that the meeting room you were in, with red carpets and a large seat which is very clearly a throne and not just a chair.

Ba-bum

Seated in the throne is a young Elene girl, maybe twenty years old. The crown she's wearing is more elaborate and ornate than the one the Regent was wearing - it's clear that someone thought she should be wearing the good crown. She is seated in a regal posture, eyes closed as if asleep.

Surrounding her, her crown, her throne, and a fairly large chunk of floor is a giant, clear crystal. At first glance, it appears to be diamond. Nothing inside the crystal moves.

Ba-bum

But, presumably in case anyone should question whether or not the Queen is actually still alive, her heartbeat can be heard echoing around the room. It's slow - one beat every twenty seconds or so - but unmistakably a heartbeat.

Ba-bum

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 Post Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 1:46 am 
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Felix goes about examining the Queen and her surroundings to see if he can't pick anything up in greater detail. A clue. A suggestion. Anything that'll point him in the right direction. He makes sure he's quick about it so that there isn't any trouble. Once he's done he'll be ready to go and head back to the Church Knight's fort.

Science Roll to pick up on details.

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 Post Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 6:08 am 
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The crystal appears airtight, and yet the Queen seems alive. Any means of creating a diamond that Felix can imagine would have incinerated and carbonised the person trapped inside; and even if that succeeded the lack of such necessary elements as air, food, water would take their toll in mere hours. Cryogenic suspension stops the heartbeat entirely, and doesn't leave it echoing through the room.

Be-bum

And creating a diamond the size of half the room could not possibly have happened indoors - you'd need equipment the size of the entire palace or larger - yet the diamond is far too large to fit through the doors. According to Felix's best scientific knowledge, all of this is flat-out impossible.

What happened here is not the domain of Science. What happened here is the domain of Mysteries.

Ba-bum

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 Post Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 7:22 am 
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"That is interesting." Arkady inspects the enchanted queen and her casing, then offers a brief prayer for her recovery. Why not pester poor God; he's free to respond or not as he will.

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 Post Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 12:28 pm 
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Nate gives a low whistle.

"Now that's something you don't see every day."

He goes to examine the crystal.

"Pity we don't have a spectographic analyzer. I wonder what it's made of."

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