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FVLMINATA; an Alternate History roleplaying game
Topic Started: Jul 24 2008, 12:11 AM (2,760 Views)
SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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My thoughts exactly. Mithras it is.
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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Makkabee
Count
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Hermann and his companions put away a few more rounds of beer and ale, then head out. At the street of weavers they split up -- Hermann and one companion head into the German part of town, while the other two head into the Roman district.
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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Well there's a riveting update.
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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Custer
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Resident Kamikaze Warrior
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CVSTER DEMANDS MORE.
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Makkabee
Count
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SladeJack
Aug 24 2008, 02:07 AM
Well there's a riveting update.

Well it gets more interesting if you actually interact with the characters I create. Get into conversations with them, ask questions, that sort of thing. I can drop hints, but the players have to follow up on those hints for them to do anything for the game.

You can also ask questions directly to me, and if it's information your character would have access to I'll create someone (a clerk in city hall, an informant, a talkative fellow at a dinner party, whatever's appropriate) to answer it for you.
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Custer
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Resident Kamikaze Warrior
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ITT a RPG exists where the players forget to RP.
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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So, LHB (I forget his character's name) and Hermann--Learn anything useful while you were off bar-hopping?

All the German characters, at least those being played, are Romanized. Can we get a character on the . . . what would we call it, nationalist? . . . side with whom we can interact?
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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Mak, how much leeway do I have in governing the city? I have a few ideas for compromises to propose to the quasi-nationalists but I'm not going to do so if there's a chance the authorities on the provincial level will overrule me.
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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Makkabee
Count
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You've got a fair bit of leeway -- Germania Maior is a very rebellious province and the Imperial Government would be thrilled if someone found a way to reconcile the Germans to Roman rule, so long as it didn't threaten imperial security or revenue. To find out just how far that leeway stretches you can arrange a meeting with the Proconsul or one of his representatitves to present your proposal.

Hermann is pretty clearly on the German side of things. He speaks Latin and even reads it a little, and he'll answer to the Romanized version of his name that the Imperials prefer, but he's a leader among the German laborers and one of their spokesmen to the government, not a truly Romanized German like Germanicus (LHB's character).

LHB's found out that Hermann thinks the Roman authorities aren't listening to him, and that he's concerned about blasphemy. What else he finds out will depend on whether he follows Hermann or the two Germans who headed into the Roman part of town after everyone left the biergarten. You can't interact with Hermann until the rest of LHB's evening is resolved. However if you've got an idea for moving things forward you can meet with other leaders in the German or Roman community so we can keep simultaneous action going.
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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I meet with the proconsul and lay out several compromises I've come up with to deal with this "blasphemy" question.

Two deal with the fact that of all the Olympians the Germans identify the most with Diana. One idea is simply to rededicate Venus's temple to Diana. However I don't want to do this because Venus is a very important member of the Roman pantheon, her cult is (I assume) powerful and I can't deny Romans living in Hamburg the opportunity to worship her. Another, better, idea is to build two small temples instead of one, one for Venus and one for Diana.

Also I might do like we've done in other provinces where the natives are polytheistic and run a Roman and local deity together. The German pantheon is much more compatible with the Olympians for such things than the Egyptian or British pantheons are. However, if the Germans are scandalized by Venus, I fear that combining her with their own beloved Freya might touch off a riot. I will ask Germans loyal to Rome to put out some feelers to gague the public's receptiveness to such a move. I also ask the proconsul if this is okay--writing important new theological doctrines seems like it should be beyond my scope.

Meanwhile I would remind Hermann that I invited him to meet with me and present his grievances and he was reluctant to do so. My door will remain open to him or any other spokesman the Germans care to designate who's interested in finding peaceful resolutions to cross-cultural frictions.

But I cannot allow this sort of disruption to the life of the city. In two days' time, if we're still at an impasse with the stevedores, I will dispatch soldiers to guarantee the sailors' safety as they unload the marble into a warehouse which will also be placed under guard. The cost of the sailors' extra labor, as well as the costs related to sending out guards, will be paid by a special tax levied on the stevedores and their community.
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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Makkabee
Count
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C. Flavinius Iucundus, the Proconsul's chief of staff, arrives on a river boat within a few days of Sladeus sending out his message. The stevodores unload his baggage without any fuss. He arrives at the prefectural residence and presents an amphora of Falernian wine which some of the household slaves maneuver down into the cellar. "From the family farm," he says with a self-depreciating flutter of well-manicured fingers.

He listens to Sladeus's proposals and says that the proconsul wouldn't have any objection to any of them. The only snag might be the idea for the joint temple-- the authorities will have to find a German priest to give his blessing for that along with a Roman one. The Roman priestly colleges will of course approve -- "we're a practical lot, after all," he says -- but who knows what strange taboos these Germans have about that sort of thing. "Still, if they can be convinced we're fine with it."

"You have full latitude to do anything on this matter," he concludes, "except abandoning the construction project. Our Gods will recieve their due reverence."

----

Now that Sladeus has close to carte blanche, what does he do next? There have been several suggestions so far, so let's settle on one, or at least settle on which approach we'll try first. Arrange a meeting with a German priest about a joint temple? Make the offer to switch from Venus to Diana? Offer to build two smaller temples instead? Meet with Hermann and issue his ultimatum? Something else entirely?
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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My top choice is to find a priest of Freya willing to go along with the combined-goddess approach. I visit a temple of Freya, make a sacrifice and a show of due reverence to the German goddess, and ask to meet with the priests. Rather than flat-out ask them right away about a combination I try to gague their receptiveness by asking them a bit about the similarities and diffrences between the two goddesses of love and fertility.

Without issuing a specific ultimatum, I also let it be known to the stevedores that while I appreciate the fact that they have not gone to a general strike, my patience is wearing thin with the impasse with this barge.
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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Makkabee
Count
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The priestess of Freya accepts your offering, but asks "how is it that you can offer up the spices of distant lands to delight our gods with your right hand and chop down our sacred oak groves with your left? We can never agree to the construction of a temple on the desecrated ruins of our sacred groves, even if you place the names of our gods beside yours."
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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Now we're getting somewhere!

I must speak with Hart's character to learn something about the history of the site. Meanwhile I ask the city planners to set about looking for alternate sites. I tell the stevedores that the plans to build on the site of the grove have been suspended while alternate sites are considered, but advise them that the cargo must be unloaded. Their choices are to do it themselves or pay a tax to have the sailors do it under guard.
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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Can the gods play a direct role in this game?
When you wipe your ass, make sure you wipe it really well.
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