Rumguzzle

He is, right outasiee the cell, but go ahead and gice me a roll as Tobey will be right there more or less and human nature being what it is will probably look to see whats going on.

Herman and Tobey. I see Herman already rolled (and failed) so no need to reroll.

OOC Let's have a Sanity roll from the both of you who entered.

Thant's a shame to hear. Hope that it turns out to be treatable and manageable.

I'm still in if we give it a go

Passing by Chief Williams - who was too busy holding his head in the pail to notice - Edward did his best to ignore the sound and smell of vomit. The holding cell he entered was small, intended for the occasional drunk back when alcohol was still available around campus. Besides the cot, which was occupied for the moment, there was a small wood bench attached to the far end of the cell, opposite the door. The professor made his way around the cot so as to get a look at the prisoner, concerned something was wrong based on the chief of campus security’s reaction. He was brought up short as he found what he had been seeking. If fate was kind, it may have softened the sight by hiding it in shadows, making Edward question if he was seeing what he thought he was. There was no such grace for the professor this day. The skin of the man on the cot was ash grey and split apart in lines, like the cracks that formed as mud dried out. That was overlooked though as Edward’s attention was fixated on the gaping hole where a cheek had once been, an empty void in the man’s face which was made only that much more gruesome by the dark eye sockets that were now just as empty. “By god, that can’t be…” Chief Williams said, his face lifted from the pail before it dipped back down, and he retched again.

Was out for a bit and catching up. Seems that all has gone quiet. Has this come to an end or just a slow patch?

OOC Go ahead and have Edward make a Sanity roll for me.

After Tobey's statement Chief Williams took everyone else's, his rough stroke notes filling several pages official looking forms. He paid little attention to the chatter among those waiting and less to the animals that intruded in the security office. "I'll add these to the statements I've taken from the others" he said as he tapped the stack of forms against the desk to force them to neatly align. "I'll have to chase down Mathers and get his later but doubt that will add much to what you've all shared already." As if just realizing he had a crowd of people waiting to be released, he caught sight of the still sleeping man in the holding cell, then looked up at the clock and the late morning hour. "Darn it all," he mumbled to himself just loud enough to be heard. "Forgot about him." Hitching up his pants, he stood up from behind the desk and walked towards the back wall nearest the cell. He took down a key ring dangling from a wood peg set just far enough away from the cell to be wise and then walked to the locked cell door. "Give me one minute all, then you can be on your way," he said to the crowd as he turned the key and stepped in the cell. "Wake up, slept in long enough. It's time to..." Whatever he had been about to say died on his lips, lips that had turns as ghostly white as the rest of his face. For seconds he stared at the cot, his own body as stiff and unmoving as the prone figure lying there. Chief Williams then unraveled in a burst of frantic energy, fleeing the cell only to grab a wastebin. The sound of retching echoed out of the pail as he buried his face deep inside. OOC Sorry for the delay, was out of town for a bit.

I'm travelling this week so may not reply with much feedback right away

I will be a little out of touch next week so would ask eveyone please try to get a post up this weekend to keep momentum going for next week.

Sitting down with Christa Linda first, Chief Williams pulls out a small rectangular pad of paper and a pen from his desk drawer. Stubs fill most of the pad but there is still a thin line of full sheets at the bottom. Setting it down on the mess of papers and notebooks the covered the top of the desk he began to write. “Sorry for the mess, been a crazy couple of days. here by myself with break and all.” With a quick flick of his wrist, he signed his name on the slip of paper he had been filling out. Setting his pen down, he set one hand on the pad as he carefully tore the page free, adding one more stub to the pad. “Here you go miss and I am sure you understand. With that out of the way, I’d like to get your statement.” The slip of paper he handed Christa Linda was a fine in the amount of $6.50 for “failure to obtain appropriate permits” and “lack of proper restraint on animals.” It had the university seal in one corner and the administration building hours with the statement “Cash payments preferred” in the opposite corner. As Miss Linda began sharing her account of what transpired, one of her dogs that had sat facing the drunk tank began whining, a low whimper of sound that stopped as the animal lay down, his head on the floor and looking into the cell and the man sleeping there. This caught the attention of Alexander St. Cloud, raising his curiosity a bit. It took a few moments for him to take note of it but once he saw it, he was sure it seemed off. One of the sleeping man’s arms hung over the edge of his cot, not unusual at all by itself but there seemed to be a bit of dark dust gathered where his fingers and the cement floor met. It reminded the professor of a little anthill. Not able to single out the whining of one animal over the noise of them all, Herman Loggins didn’t note anything unusual about the cell. Instead, he was occupying his time reading through some campus newspapers that had accumulated on the counter. A photo in an article from a month back caught his attention. It was from the night after the Robson Mail Center fire, the photo from the next morning showing blackened roof edges and burnt timbers. Skimming the accompanying article he was surprised the see the name Glenn Mathers. Reading on, the lawyer learned that Glenn was one of several student workers at Robson and had been the one to raise the alarm that night. He had fallen asleep at the library and was heading back to his dorm late at night when he caught sight of the flames. The fact that they were able to put the fire out before the whole thing was lost was attributed to his early warning. Apparently, the lad had something of a heroic streak! Chief Williams took down the last of Christa Linda's statement and waved Tobey over to get his statement. OOC Sorry for the delay in posting.

OOC Everyone give me a Spot Hidden roll

No problem

I made "Heart of Empire" the focal point of map on assumption that havjng it be accessible during gameplay would matter. If that isnt the case I could easily move that to off map and make this whole region on the outskirts of the Empire. I'f also ask that eveyone give me 2 place names for the other nations. Don't put much thought into them beyone a name as just going to add them randomly to remove the XXX placeholders.

On the topic of landmass distances and scale of map, see below. Distance (as the crow flies) from the capitol city of Farhaven to the capitol city of: Iemanec Athiri – 2,192 miles Respita – 1,975 miles Edekta Alam – 1.700 miles Allard – 960 miles Katraen – 1,165 Some other points of reference: Tallihah to the word ‘Pith’ – 456 miles Mangthenodir to Ghuelte – 1,150 miles Volcano to Volcano – 750 miles Isles of Loss to Ahmet Botoy – 2,550 miles

Easier for me to address it this way. Hope landmass shape works for all. I'll detail from here.

We can do whatever the group feels is best and as Primeval stated, the map should serve the story, not restrain it. I think everyone is going to have to step back a little on the specific details that we all have on our realm in order to be collaborative and make this work. I can live with no sea access to the south or we can close the passage in the SW to make that a landmass and swap locations between Allard and Iemane. I can also shrink the scale of the map and the empire and give more 'dead space' not in their control. I set it at the scale it is for easy of visibility more that anything. what were your initial thoughts on Empire and what existed outside of it. Does a starting map that is mostly the reach of the empire work, leaving out the non-empire world until we develop and encounter? Or a map that shows the Empire as part of the broader world with defined non-controlled areas more defined.

You woke up to another fine spring day that didn’t quite match the emotions of the day. It was still hard to believe that yesterday really did happen. It would have been easy to stay in bed and not face the world today, but you were expected at the campus security office. Chief Williams had said 8:00 sharp and here it was, 8:05 and no Chief. Standing around the stone steps that led to the square, single floor building’s single entry everyone made small talk as they waited. It was a nice walk through the blooming campus grounds being so empty due to the seasonal break. Even the Robson Mail center looked like it was embracing the spirit of spring renewal with bare wood beams rising from the parts of the building that had survived the fire. Whatever small talk may have been going on between the small gathering was cut short when Chief Williams turned to buildings corner. A bit out of breath and still working at buttoning up his shirt he slowed down on seeing the crowd. “Sorry about that, folks,” he said while making a final adjustment to his collar. “They had me out all night and I overslept. Roadways still blocked and police figure it will take all day to change that. Big wreck, four cars and a truck load of chickens. Most of the crates busted and chickens running around everywhere. I spent half the night running after some of them dang birds.” Fumbling his keys a moment at the door he opened it and ushered everyone inside. A wide desk stretched across the entire front of the room, a flapper to allow passage through on its far-right side. A pair of desks formed an ‘L’ in the center of the room, each with a worn wooden chair but one littered with papers and the other clean save for a folded stack of clothes in its top. On the left wall of the room was a utility closet door, several straight back chairs pushed against the wall and a small table with a coffee pot, several mugs and various cans of coffee, boxes of cookies and bags of sugar. The right wall of the room had a tall cabinet next to a row of pegs with raincoats, winter coats and that stretched from floor to ceiling. The entire back wall of the office was a line of iron bars that made up two holding cells. Most often used as drunk tanks in prior days they were usually empty now a days. Today though, one had an occupant. Someone was sleeping on a cot in the right-side cell. Their back was to the front of the office and except for a shock of brown hair, were covered by a grey wool blanket. “Ok, come on it. Let me put some coffee on and I’ll take your statements. One of you take a seat and we'll get started,” he said pointing to the chairs and desks as he lifted the flapper and walked into the room “The rest of you, grab one of those chairs along the wall or just wait here.”

Maybe I am missing the question so let me give the example of what I prefer and you can fit it into the bucket it belongs in. So from hakootoko's example of an Elvish Wizards unit facing off against Panzer IIIs it is resolved purely by military value - I agree AND I think that there should be some things gained or accomplished in game that can add to that unit's base value. The other approach could be a table of events that may impact a conflict, rolled against each time a conflict occurs. Could be a good percentage of no impacts but some will. This keeps it simple and gives some randomness that may affect the outcome.

If I extend thend east off the map I am cutting off sea access for Farhaven to sail south and west which is a main part of their fleet trade goals. I can basically move the canal into that area which means it will not be an endless grassland but cut in half by the sea. As far as moubtains, lookibg for more extending east between thr two points mentioned of just move the eastern range that exists over to that spot?

any thoughts on where your settlements should be placed?

I've used a variety of tools for mapping over the years from pen and paper to photoshop to campaign cartographer and a lot in between. This one is Wonderdraft. I find it really good for landmass maps like this one. I took a shot at adding volcano and towns with names.

As soon as Chief Williams left with the strange, aggressive man the mood of the room went from one of chaos to one of awkwardness. The screams and shouts had faded and all that was heard to break the quiet were the soft sobs of Widow Gellman. The first to leave was the girl who had been petrified by Christa Linda’s dogs. Her eyes had darkened, becoming redder than they had been at the start of the ceremony. Whether due to allergies, crying or something else didn’t matter much as she almost ran out of the chapel. Not long after her departure Glenn Mathers left, hands in pockets and head down. The last to leave was the small group that had clustered around Millie. They were speaking softly to her sobs and gently led her out of the chapel. They would be taking her home across campus wherever hopefully she would be able to get some rest. Agatha Dillard would be spending the night as well, so she wouldn’t be alone. That left the rest of the guests…and the remains of Professor Gellman who was back in the casket, the lid fully closed. Chief Williams was going to make a call to the coroner once he got to his office. With the wake ending so abruptly the casket needed to be picked up and taken to the cemetery for burial, an event that would likely be postponed a day or two now. Strangers for the most part, they had this unusual day to connect over. “It is quite unfortunate to be making introductions under these circumstances. I am Edward St. Clair and find myself in the unenviable position of arriving to replace the man we came to honor.” Having confirmed the suspicions of his identity, the man who had been hired to take over on Professor Gellman’s retirement folded the blue silk tie he had volunteered earlier and tucked it into his jacket pocket. “I will take my leave but will say this. I am sure that Mrs. Gellman would thank you for what you did if she were not so distraught. On her behalf, thank you for trying to retain Antonius’ dignity.” As he left, talk turned to more questions about what had happened and what the man was looking for. The idea of checking Professor Gellman’s office was kicked around, a good idea to some and others uncertain of the appropriateness of such an act. Questions asked about the man understanding Latin hung unanswered in the air. They were all required at the Campus Security office in the morning so it was decided they would all take their rest after such a draining afternoon and speak again tomorrow. OOC I will be closing this post thread and creating a new one to start the next day of the story. I will post that tomorrow, leaving this open until I do.

Revision 3. Added mountains to peninsula. Closed mountains up near XXC. If want a volcano here to support hot springs I can add that, even if not currently active. Moved Allard Added extensions in SE but kept/implied a channel so there is a sea route from west to east is south to support trade. Kept one end off map so can make the SE closed off to water routes if we dont want that. Once we get majority agreement on placements and major geography shape, I'll add in rivers, forests, etc.