Chay and the Charn
This isn't a log file. It started out as a LEG job ("Chay and the Charn") and has gotten unmanageably long. So I'm creating this file to keep a more legible archive of this arc. Feel free to add stuff or move it or whatever.
TIMELINE
- (???) Adventurers sink a Charneth boat (Silver_and_Sith, Silver_and_Sith_pt_2) and Chay is accused of it.
- (7/7) The newly formed Slavers Inquisition runs a sting operation on the Explorer's Guild. (You_Must_Pay_The_Rent).
- (7/8 - 7/22) The Inquisition runs a stakeout on Chay's hideout, confirms that the Explorer's Guild has been infiltrated by Charn, and identifies some Charneth agents.
- (7/23) The Inquisition investigates the Charneth agents' base (PRP:_Investigating_Charneth_Investigators)
- (8/8) The Charneth agents' base is shut down.
- (8/11) Daed hatches a plan to present himself as a customer to slavers (Buyer_Beware)
- (8/11) Razen hatches a plan to present himself as a slave (Seller_Beware)
(Some additional narrative from Yelrona's perspective is here.)
OPEN ITEMS
- Razen's plan hinges on us being able to track him when he's taken.
- One way to do that might be to [Curse] Razen with a Findability curse or the like that makes him really easy to find, even if people try to hide him.
The original LEG in its entirety (as of 8/29, but note that the LEG entries from July 8-17 are missing):
=========================| View Job 20 |=========================
Bucket: LEG Due On: OVERDUE! Title: Yelrona: Chay and the Charn Assigned To: Flailide
Opened On: Sun Jul 01 05:59:54 2018 Status: Yellow Opened By: Yelrona, Constantin, Alba, Amaya, Murder, Morgan, Vaalyun, Razen, Daechir, Tawyse, and Korra
Yelrona added on Sun Jul 01 05:59:54 2018: (submitting as LEGwork at Banshee's request) So Murder and Yelrona agreed to look into the sinking of the Charnese boat that Chay has been accused of, and I chatted with Chay's player a bit, so this is kicking off a discussion about a followup RP flow towards getting Charn off his back.
One option Chay suggested is that we could discover that the Charnese faction specifically pursuing/persecuting Chay is a small one (or one with a lot of enemies, or something) and set something in motion to get them out of power, which sounds like fun.
I gather that the sinking ship itself was part of an earlier plot, which I know nothing about. We could build on that, if someone can summarize it, or we could ignore it completely.
One possibility is we could kick something off with a Charnish assassin or three coming after Chay, and other PCs helping protect him, and finding a letter or token or something on their bodies that points them to a particular Charnish Domain? Maybe one whose Domina is on the outs with one of the more powerful Charnish figures... ?
Yelrona added on Sun Jul 01 06:19:30 2018: If it's relevant, the initial discussion between Murder/Banshee/Rona is in Logs:Crying_over_sunk_ships and Rona meets Chay in Logs:Knock-knock_jokes. (If this goes anywhere I'll probably submit a POP about it at some point, which others can too, I think?)
Bolide added on Sun Jul 01 06:27:09 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Banshee, Chay, and Murder:
OKAY! So the reason I was saying to submit it as a legwork is because this was actually a very important event!
This event is what triggered the brewing war (that I haven't had a chance to build up through and into). Lemme find the log....
http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/Silver_and_Sith http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/Silver_and_Sith_pt_2
Bolide added on Sun Jul 01 06:30:55 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Banshee, Chay, and Murder:
Now, the reason that this is important, it's not a small faction after Chay. See, he was part of a group that sunk a ship that became the "rallying cry" for another group to launch an attack against Mictlan. That attack was foiled by two groups of adventurers, but the damage was already done and that just added fuel to the fire. All of this is relatively common knowlegde and easy to get ahold of.
Now, if you want to look into the ship that Chay helped sink, the people in charge of it, or the people who investigated the sinking, you totally can. :D That would be a legwork or, possibly, a PRP!
Chay added on Sun Jul 01 06:33:48 2018: The assignment was given through the Guild of Explorers. Given that, it's possible there's a leak in that august body. They may could ask the Guild to send around some Charn-related files, and see if the word gets out. Chay has /no idea/ who to approach, though.
Murder added on Sun Jul 01 06:35:07 2018: Murder is probably quite unknown to Charn currently, so she could be the nosy one asking people about the ship. And the Guild for Charn-related files.
Yelrona added on Sun Jul 01 07:39:59 2018: Oh, OK. So, ignore my initial mail/post then... I was just trying to get an RP/POP thread going with some interested players.
With respect to the plot/legwork... well, OK. If Murder is taking point on asking about the ship and testing the Guild for leaks, Rona will back Murder's play there (aid another on relevant rolls where she can).
Also, when Rona learns of the political significance of the ship sinking, she will become _far_ more interested in who is investigating it... especially if they are sending agents to attack Chay and the Mictlan. So she wants to find out who investigated the sinking, what their political connections were, what the results of their investigation were, that sort of thing. She will share whatever she finds out with Chay and Murder.
She doesn't have especially relevant skills here, admittedly. But for what it's worth: Knowledge/Local, Knowledge/Religion (insofar as Charn is a theocracy), Knowledge/Military Theory (insofar as different factions might be threatening each other militarily), Perception/Sense Motive/Intimidate/Diplomacy (always good for getting information out of people and telling when they're lying...) class abilities Detect Alignment, Discern Lies (ditto).
Bolide added on Sun Jul 01 19:03:22 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Chay, and Murder:
WOO! Okay, this is /awesome/!
Murder, Chay, Yelrona: In relation to your searching for a leak in the Guild of Explorers, I would like you to run a scene. Get together and RP out the plan of going to the Guild of Explorers and leaking files or however you'd like to do it to draw out the person who might be passing information to Charn! It needs to be at least two of you. After you've run the scene, toss the log up and put the link to it here.
- NOTE:** Remember to put in an RPP request for it too! Just because it's something for the legwork, doesn't mean you can't get RPP for it too!
Yelrona: In relation to your desire to get information on the ship sinking, such as who is investigating it, /that/ will take a trip to Charn! Let me think about if I want to run that as a PRP or just some RP, stay tuned to this Charn-Channel, but not necessarily at this Charn-Time!
Yelrona added on Mon Jul 02 20:36:38 2018: Totally up for RPing the Explorers thing. Murder/Chay, if you're into it, tag me whenever I'm around.
Here's Rona's mostly-IC initial thoughts on how to do that:
"So... it seems more likely that someone simply identified Chay... maybe by scent, or magic, or voice, or just by being really observant. But sure, we can investigate. This sort of scam is like fishing, it has a hook and some bait. The hook in this case is whatever makes our targets reveal themselves. Easiest hook might be a message that Chay is hiding out in some unguarded location, which we keep under observation... if the Charnese send agents to that location to kill him, we know there's a leak. The bait makes the hook attractive. In this case, it's basically a plausible story for why we're letting the Guild know where you are. Like, maybe our story is that Murder is trying to recruit some bodyguards for you, but has no money, so is looking for volunteers. She puts the word out through the Guild, but doesn't mention any names in the announcement, but lets the Guild management know, in confidence, that it's you, and where you'll be. Which would also create some urgency... you'll have guards soon, so they should attack now. How does that sound? I can find some unused basement space in the Warehouse district we can use, hire some local kids to keep an eye on it, if we want to go that route."
Yelrona added on Mon Jul 02 20:39:29 2018: Unrelatedly... would anyone object if I roped some other PCs into this? Rona has been luring Constantin into her shadowy underworld plots elsewhere, I'd like to invite him into this one. Maybe Vaalyun as well. But Shay might not be into more strangers getting involved.
Yelrona added on Mon Jul 02 22:52:57 2018: In the same spirit, Morgan just explained that she can now cast Clairvoyance, which would help with the whole "keep an eye on it" thing. (Mostly I'm just trying to involve players, but I'm easy either way.)
Murder added on Tue Jul 03 01:07:53 2018: Adding more players is very appropriate. :)
NinjaBolide added on Tue Jul 03 02:49:14 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Chay, and Murder:
Adding new players is perfectly fine by me! Mind you, the more you add, the more crazy the plot, the more PRPs I run and that means possibly restricting who gets to go on which PRP!
- D OH THE CHOICES!
Include more people and run the risk of some people missing out on some plots? Keep it small but take longer to get answers?! WHAT WILL THE ADVENTURERS CHOOSE NEXT?!
Yelrona added on Tue Jul 03 05:13:36 2018: chay?
Yelrona added on Sun Jul 08 05:47:14 2018: Okay!
We ran the legwork scene: http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/You_Must_Pay_The_Rent.
Also Chay is cool with inviting more folks, so I'm adding more people to this queue as Rona reaches out to folks.
Yelrona added on Sun Jul 08 07:53:37 2018: Aaaaand, we have now added Aya to the Charneth Inquisition (hi Aya!)
Yelrona added on Sun Jul 08 14:37:30 2018: Plus also at this point the Charneth slaver-related storyline and the Veyshan slaver-related storyline involve so many of the same people I'm not even going to try and keep them separate anymore. (Yay! people!) Maybe the two are related and there's a multinational thing going on, maybe Rona was confused about Veyshan and it was really Charn all along, maybe they're just two separate slaver rings and the investigations of them have merged. Regardless.... hi Korra! Welcome to the Slavers (formerly the Charneth) Inquisition! See http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/Yelrona#Investigating_the_Veyshanti_Slave_Trade for background on the Veyshan storyline, for those interested.
(And just to avoid confusion: I am talking about the Slavers Inquisition because it amuses me, but there's no Organization here or anything, it's just us. Although speaking of Organizations, Rona does have some NPC contacts among the Liberators back in the Mythwood who might be relevant (http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/Yelrona#Kalniss.2C_Mul.27niessa_and_Liberators), as might any Liberator PCs or established NPCs.)
NinjaBolide added on Sun Jul 08 22:39:40 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Constantin, Aya, Murder, Morgan, Vaalyun, and Korra:
It's hard to say whether the bluff stuck or not, but the fact that you came in and brandished Chay couldn't hurt, right?
Okay, so, assuming that your bluff went off without a hitch. I need you to select at least 3 of you to be watching the place where Chay is supposedly stashed. Now, this is where it could get tricky!
The trip to Charn, by boat, could take up to a week! If the information has to be carried there and back, it would take at least 2 weeks! But if there are other agents already in the area looking for Chay, it could be faster. All of this, of course, works on the assumption that there /is/ someone listening. So- here's your questions:
1) Who is going to watch Chay's place? 2) How long are you going to watch it for? 3) How are you going to hide from being spotted watching this place?
Aya added on Sun Jul 08 22:54:55 2018: As I think my invitation was specifically for this role: 1) I can take all or part of an evening watch 2) Days or weeks, as necessary 3) An elevated, dark perch is preferred (I don't know the specific geography of the location), but any ------------------- Constantin added on Tue Jul 17 09:35:01 2018: Okay, the Hat of Disguise is only.
Yelrona added on Tue Jul 17 22:47:16 2018: A second RP log in Sage Orum's Plaza of surveilling the building: http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/Tasty_Fruit_Filling
Yelrona added on Wed Jul 18 05:12:38 2018: Aya has volunteered to run a scene involving breaking in to the mysterious building! (Murder, Rona) have expressed interest so far, anyone else interested?
Constantin added on Wed Jul 18 08:15:03 2018: I'd be interested, but only take Connie if you're expecting trouble. He's not inherently stealthy...
Yelrona added on Wed Jul 18 23:47:36 2018: My guess is we won't be sneaking much in the Stealth-rolls sense. We'll either be breaking in while the place is empty, or we'll be raiding it. That said -- Morgan (or anyone), can your clairvoyance provide us with a peek inside?
Alba added on Thu Jul 19 00:20:27 2018: I've a few tricks for getting a look inside, yus. Prying Eyes might be the best bet, but they'll add more time to the recon since they need to report back before I get the information. Any particular places you'd want to scout out specifically?
Morgan added on Thu Jul 19 00:28:15 2018: I would need a glance inside it so I know of the area.
Yelrona added on Fri Jul 20 00:11:09 2018: Welcome our latest recruit: Amaya!
Amaya added on Fri Jul 20 00:23:24 2018: The dashing swashbuckler Amaya is interested in joining in taking down those villains. They are giving sailors and pirates a bad name by trafficking slaves! She isn't super stealthy, but can help in sword play or smooth talking as needed.
Yelrona added on Fri Jul 20 04:51:41 2018: Aya just created a +event for a PRP exploring the building... folks should sign up if they can!
Yelrona added on Fri Jul 20 05:51:18 2018: Also, if anyone's interested, Morgan and Rona did some planning for how Morgan could use Clairvoyance/Clairaudience to get some information about the Charneth agents: http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/Eavesdropping. If you want to coordinate with Morgan about that, go forth!
Constantin added on Fri Jul 20 06:14:13 2018: Have fun on the PRP - I can't make it by about 6 hours, but if its still going by then, Connie will be backup. :)
Yelrona added on Mon Jul 23 06:16:32 2018: So, the PRP happened... thanks Aya! We spotted a Mul who seems significant, and found an altar to Thul. Log: www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/PRP:_Investigating_Charneth_Investigators I think Vaalyun was looking into the altar... check with him about that.
Rona will hire a sketch artist to draw a rendering of the tall Mul'niessa fop based on her description. She will NOT show this to anyone until she's checked with a few of the Sith-Makar PCs, who know a lot more than they're telling. :-)
Yelrona added on Fri Jul 27 15:34:36 2018: Rona will go ahead and start looking into the Mul'niessa. Starting at the Llyranesi embassy, showing the sketch around and asking if anybody recognizes this guy. She figures there's a small finite chance that Charn has infiltrated the embassy as well, so this might make her a target... she's keeping an eye open, accordingly.
Constantin added on Sat Jul 28 08:54:07 2018: Once Connie stops glowing in the dark (thanks, beetle!), he'll offer to shadow Yelrona at a safe distance using City Aspect 3 and the Hat of Disguise -- in public places only, of course. Just in case Charn tries something.
Yelrona added on Tue Jul 31 02:34:59 2018: Rona's fine with being shadowed. Most of the time. :-)
Bolide added on Wed Aug 08 01:58:27 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Constantin, Alba, Amaya, Murder, Morgan, Vaalyun, Razen, Daechir, and Korra:
OKAY!
Let's talk about that event yeah?! :D
First, great ingenuity. I loved the legwork you guys did leading up to it. But it's a bit of a mixed bag of results. While you did find that one Mul, that Mul has since been seen boarding a ship back toward Charn. The sad truth is that - while you found what was almost undoubtedly an enemy agent - they also realized that he had been discovered and sent him back. Burn one spy and another will take his place.
Three weeks now and sine that last break in attempt. What you have watched though is that particular Import/Export business go - well - out of business. The people laid off and soon after the place was shut down. It wasn't a total loss, after all, you've managed to oust a group of Charn Spies and one in particular was burned (especially with the sketch going around). But you're not closer to your goal of clearing Chay's name and getting Charn off his back.
Bolide added on Wed Aug 08 11:12:42 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Constantin, Alba, Amaya, Murder, Morgan, Vaalyun, Razen, Daechir, and Korra:
Oh, and to add to this - because I have been a bit quiet - I have 2 notes.
1) At the end of all this, with all you've done, you will get a reward. 2) Your best option at this junction might be to either: Pursue the leak in a different way Explore different ways to get to your goal Find where the Charn spies moved Any other option you come up with. :3
Razen added on Wed Aug 08 21:04:08 2018: Razen would like to persue the leak through the adventer's guild. As a new member he feels like he might be able to draw out whoever the spy is. (They might be looking for someone to help them especially now and he feels like he might make a good target especially with some training from Yelrona on how to appear as a good target for them to approach) However I'm not particularly certain how to go about this on-grid.
Bolide added on Wed Aug 08 21:08:05 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Constantin, Alba, Amaya, Murder, Morgan, Vaalyun, Razen, Daechir, and Korra:
Well, Razen, we would go through these steps! 1) Lay down a plan for how you'll draw them out. 2) Post in here and get the others to assist. 3) I'll assign rolls, RP, or a PrP to handle it.
It's a good question Razen, and I'm glad you asked. :D
Yelrona added on Thu Aug 09 00:08:29 2018: > "especially with some training from Yelrona on how to appear as a good target for them to approach" Rona is happy to help. Feel free to grab me whenever I'm ongrid to RP about this.
In game-mechanics terms, if staff will let me Aid Another on your bluff roll, or however we're doing this, I'm happy to do that as well.
Bolide added on Thu Aug 09 01:58:35 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Constantin, Alba, Amaya, Murder, Morgan, Vaalyun, Razen, Daechir, and Korra:
Okay - so - of /course/ you can assist! Even ebtter that you have been working with him already on this. Because of that, I'll make it a scaling assist. (We'll get to that in a sec).
The only thing I need to know is - like - how you're approaching this to use him as bait? Dressing him up as someone? Making him say things he shouldnt? Have him bumble around like he doesn't know what he's doing? I just need to know so I can work up an appropriate DC.
P.S. I love this! Seriously, I cannot tell you all enough how happy I am with your ingenuity and work on this. You are doing - amazing -.
Yelrona added on Sat Aug 11 01:40:17 2018: OK! So, Daed and Yelrona have worked out a plan and set it into motion... cf http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/Buyer_Beware.
Short form: Daed is pretending to sympathize with slavers, in the hopes of convincing the local slavers to contact him. Rona is cooperating by yelling at him about it very loudly in public.
Yelrona added on Sat Aug 11 03:18:14 2018: Also, Razen and Rona have worked out a plan to plant Razen as a slave, in the hopes of tracking him afterwards and finding out where the kidnapped slaves are being taken, who is involved in their kidnapping, etc.
There's two pieces to this.
1) Get Razen picked up. To this end, Razen is going to start sleeping rough in the warehouse district, in the hopes of encouraging the slavers who are operating there to pick him up as a slave. Rona is helping by spreading rumors about how Razen keeps breaking into warehouses to sleep, doesn't have any friends, is really strong but also docile and easily controlled... that sort of thing.
2) Track him once he gets picked up. We need help on this one. Razen will leave trailsign if he can, and Rona will try to track it, but that won't help if he's knocked out and loaded on a caravan, or a boat, etc. Magical tracking/scrying of some sort using Razen as a focus would be really helpful, though they might have some sort of magical cloaking. (Then again they might not, if they are snatching people with no friends and no attachments... they might be relying on nobody looking.) Ideally we would plant some sort of dingus on Razen that he can use once he gets to where he's going, that will tell us where he is. Has anybody got something like that?
Log: http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/Seller_Beware
Daechir added on Sat Aug 11 03:31:05 2018: Added a rumor (#14) for this job!
Constantin added on Sun Aug 12 06:39:35 2018: As before, Connie can provide City Aspect 3 + Hat of Disguise security, in the form of various Very Anonymous bystanders, as the more subtle shenanigans are enacted.
Daechir added on Fri Aug 17 22:59:58 2018: So we've got Razen set up (sort of) to be bait for someone kidnapping people to use as slaves, and we've ruined Daechir's reputation to make him look attractive to approch to those looking to sell slaves. I did come up with an idea for how Razen could communicate with Yelrona - A telepathic bond. It only works for ten minutes though unless we permanancy it :"D But we might be able to find someone to do that? It's my best idea at the moment for something that wouldn't be affected by a non-detection spell.
Bolide added on Fri Aug 17 23:09:28 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Constantin, Alba, Amaya, Murder, Morgan, Vaalyun, Razen, Daechir, and Korra:
OKAY! Razen, I want you to do a scene with Halana on where she was being taken by the slavers and what not. If she has any questions, she can give me a poke!
Daed and Yelrona, Oooooooo. Oooooo, this is gonna be fun, okay. Lemme work up a scene. :D I'm gonna need Dead and at least one other person in the level 2-5 range to pose as slaver sympathizers.
Daechir added on Fri Aug 17 23:23:17 2018: I already did an rp with Halana and Razen where she described her rescue and enslavement and stuff like that! http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/It7s_a_Journey We did another one after that as well when she was still in the hospital. The tough thing will be finding someone in that level range? We've got Aya who would be great because she's already thought to be a sympathizer, but she's not anywhere near that level. Would it be possible to do it as an open-level rp?
Bolide added on Fri Aug 17 23:27:08 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Constantin, Alba, Amaya, Murder, Morgan, Vaalyun, Razen, Daechir, and Korra:
WOH! LOOK AT YOU GO! :D
Lemme contragulate the go-getter in you. :D
Bolide added on Fri Aug 17 23:29:16 2018: Mail sent to Yelrona, Constantin, Alba, Amaya, Murder, Morgan, Vaalyun, Razen, Daechir, and Korra:
As far as levels and people in that range... I would say that there are /more/ than enough people in that level range in this job. :3
Yelrona added on Fri Aug 17 23:32:26 2018: If nobody else steps up, I can get Erakirak involved... he'd enjoy pretending to buy a human slave. But I'd rather not get my alts involved.
Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?
Daechir added on Sat Aug 25 04:40:19 2018: Did an rp with Tawyse she joins up to be Daed's second for meeting up with the slavers! http://www.tenebraemush.net/index.php/Join_Me
Yelrona added on Sat Aug 25 04:43:04 2018: Feel free to 'read her in to the Inquisition' (that is, add her to the job)