Welcome to Paris!

[agogemod]

IT'LL BE FINE;

still paris, not quite so gay.

The battle of Valmy has been won! Congrats, everyone. Goethe was saved, the spy was captured alive, and the artillery of the Prussians was seriously decimated by the quick thinking of several brave COST operatives. Not to mention the excellent job everyone did taking down Prussian soldiers and keeping morale high!

However, the Commander has gotten word that trouble is brewing in Paris itself. Like several of the Sans-Culottes who fought in this historic battle, COST's operatives will be splitting off from the main French army to return to Paris proper and check up on the situation there.

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS

For starters: info on Paris is here Read up.

Anyway. We're always trying to tweak the system to give you a better experience in Agoge.

As such, November is going to be lighter on big logs that everyone can jump on, and heavier on small events that people can react to, interact with, and influence.

There will be three HRHW missions this month with a total of 18 slots, and each will have an influence on the future of the game in various ways. Two of those missions will involve multiple later 'events' that characters can interact with, spacing the missions and sidequests out several months. We'll also have updates on the state of Paris that won't have IC logs associated with them, but that your characters are welcome to react to with logs or network posts as you please.

We encourage players to check our calendar regularly so they know when things are coming up. We're also tweaking the pacing of that every once and a while, so keep an eye out!

If November looks really stuffed with things to do-- keep in mind not all of those events will pertain to all players.

Likewise, we encourage players to set up their own logs and come up with their own sidequests and events. The sky's the limit, and we're happy to help with anything you guys might need or want to do.

TEST DRIVE MEME

That's right, this log will also be doubling as a TDM for the next app cycle. Characters not currently in game, but thinking about joining up, can feel free to comment in this planning post to introduce themselves and get some planning on, if they feel so moved.

WHAT'S GOING ON

Several things are happening in Paris when COST's forces arrive.

For starters, there's a riot on the streets. This is avoidable-- Paris is a big place-- but it's entirely possible to get caught up in it. Carts are being overturned, store windows are being smashed, and the average people of Paris are destroying property left and right. This is a dangerous and violent situation; friend from foe can not always be discerned, and it's entirely possible to be attacked if someone so much as suspects you're not loyal to the revolution.

You also have the opportunity to witness one of the first executions via guillotine in the French Revolution. Have... fun?

There will also be a consecration of several liberty trees, and a few speeches to attend. Most importantly, several of them are mocking the monarchy, proclaiming French liberty, and extoling the virtues of republicanism. These are in various clubs, as well as street corners and soapboxes. It's a little hard to escape them.

This has been pretty consistently whipping up a fury outside the Tuileries palace, where the king and queen of France are being held. There are guards stationed to keep the rabble out, but there's still a crowd shouting profanities at the palace and generally making a ruckus.

HIGH RISK HIGH REWARD MISSION
If you don't care about the HRHW mission and want to skip all this tl;dr, click here.

This log will also involve a High Risk High Reward mission. It will not be open to characters not currently accepted into Agoge.

The result of this mission will have major consequences for the rest of the France mission! However, though there will be other equally important HRHW missions next month (with more signup slots than this one and more time to plan), so don't sweat it if you miss out on this one.

ROYAL PAIN

This is a mission that will involve undercover work, diplomacy, blending in, and strength.

Essentially, there is reason to believe Regency operatives have planted themselves near the king and queen in the Tuileries palace. Accordingly, COST needs operatives nearby as well. Characters will offer their services as either a servant in the palace, or a palace guard in Lafayette's regiment. With the monarchy's popularity in shambles, it's having difficulty keeping people employed to serve and protect it; now is an ideal time to sneak in when their standards are low.

This mission is a setup for a future mission that will be unveiled on the 4th & 9th of November. Do not sign up if you do not want your characters to potentially be involved in that mission. The mission will not involve any high amounts of gore or violence, so content warnings shouldn't be a concern; however, we're just letting you know this one's a two-parter.

　　　⏩This mission is rated at a 19 out of 30 in undercover work, or 20 out of 30 in speechcraft, or a 18 out of 30 in strength. (If you need a refresher on how skill and difficulty ratings work, here you go.)

　　　⏩There are 5 signup slots, and signups close on the 25th (that's in 3 days). After signups close, the success or failure of the mission will be rolled, and you can plan how you're going to play that out, or play it by ear, it's all good.

　　　⏩The worst possible outcome no one succeeding in getting close to the palace. This will have consequences later, as it will mean Regency spies within the palace can act unhindered.

　　　⏩The best possible outcome is everyone is able to secure some kind of position near the palace. This will have consequences later, as it means Regency spies within the palace cannot act unhindered.

　　　⏩The success of this mission will be determined individually, as everyone's 'interview' for the position they choose to infiltrate the palace as will be separate. However, the more people in the palace by the time of the next mission, the better.

　　　⏩Because this mission's outcomes will be decided in advance via dicerolls, there's no 'due date' on the log being threaded out.

　　　⏩If everybody fails, the 'mission' on the 4th & 9th will be relegated to a spectator log.

　　　⏩Characters who succeed in getting a position in the palace will have several benefits-- access to better food and clothes, nicer sleeping areas-- and downsides-- the average people of Paris will not trust them, and are more likely to act violently toward them. Depending on how the rest of this mission goes, these undercover rolls may last the rest of the mission (ending, in IRL time, on December 1st, though the characters will be told the time of mission end is 'unknown'). Characters cannot be ICly forced into this mission; they must consciously choose to sign up for it. All of this will be explained to them before they make the decision.

　　　⏩You can choose which skills your character wishes to use for this mission. Undercover requires blending in, doing your research, and seamlessly slipping in with the natives. Speechcraft (aka lying) means your character's blending in maybe isn't seamless, but they're good enough at coming up with excellent reasons for things to have everyone fooled and suspicions mostly quashed. The strength skill is only for those wishing to wishing to sign up as a guard position; essentially, maybe you're a bit weird and you don't fit in, but you're swoll enough that nobody cares.

　　　⏩We're gonna try something called penalties and bonuses here. We'll factor them in ourselves, so give us the skill level of your character before the penalty or bonus will be factored in. Crossdressing will involve a -2 penalty to every skill level except strength. Having done the job the character is attempting before (in a longerm capacity) will involve a +3 bonus to all skill levels. Your character actually researching the position in depth, asking around for people who have done it before, and trying to get a handle on things beforehand, will result in a +2 bonus to every skill level except strength.

　　　⏩The roles available are paneterie assistant (available to either gender, but it would be beneficial if you can bake...), First Maître d'hôtel (male or crossdressing only, butler position), the Grand Chambrier to the Queen (female or crossdressing only, make up the queen's bedroom and do her laundry), Lieutenant Gendarmes (male or crossdressing only, be the king and queen's bodyguard), or guard of the front gate (male or crossdressing only, self-explanatory). Not all positions need to be filled, and multiple people can volunteer for the same position.

Signups are first-come first serve!
<b>CHARACTER</b>: Self explanatory. <b>POSITION</b>: What position is your character attempting to secure? It's up to them and what they'd choose ICly! <b>SKILL USED</b>: Undercover, speechcraft, or strength. Remember, strength is only applicable in the guard positions. <b>SKILL LEVEL</b>: 1 out of 20.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

As for everyone who isn't signing up for the HRHW mission and / or just wants to plot out what they're doing for the main mission: Feel free to jot down any ideas or interests you have in the comments and see who bites.

Remember: HRHW missions aren't the only way to influence the plot! Coming up with plots of your own, missions you want to play out, or influencing the scene in some way can have a consequence on history, for good or for ill. Let us know if you have any big ideas, but really, anything within reason goes.

Just like last time, feel free to get as creative as you like with the situation and scenarios involved! If you have any questions, please let us know!

ONE MORE THING

This is a new game with an somewhat ambitious goal and a lot of moving pieces; we're still trying to figure out how best to suit our playerbase. Please let us know in a designated thread below if you have any suggestions, or if there are any problems you've run into!

NAV NETWORK LOGS OOC PLURK DISCORD

Comments

HRHW SIGNUPS.

[agogemod]

THROWS HAND UP IN AIR

[dorzalta]

CHARACTER: Daenerys "I got 99 problems but a title ain't one" Targaryen
POSITION: Missandei Grand Chambrier to the Queen
SKILL USED: Speechcraft
SKILL LEVEL: 15

[northerndragon]

CHARACTER: Jon Snow
POSITION: Lieutenant Gendarme or other guard
SKILL USED: Strength
SKILL LEVEL: 18ish? He is not a huge guy, 5'8" tall with built-up lean musculature (there are pics), but his fighting skills are very respected in canon, he's been training since he could walk, and he's a good teacher (indicating that he has a strong understanding of how and why you'd use one move over another). LMK if you think this should be revised upwards or downwards a notch or two!

[lonelywar]

CHARACTER: Ashitaka
POSITION: Guard of the front gate
SKILL USED: Strength
SKILL LEVEL: I'd say usually Ashitaka is around a 13 strength-wise, but with the demon mark he can get superhuman strength that would probably put him around a 19 (I only say it's this high bc 1. superhuman but not Superman and 2. most of his other stats, esp social ones, are pretty low lmao). The only issue is, using that strength can be a little attention-grabbing since it's sorta obvious he's stronger than he should be for his size when he uses it (and carries the risk of summoning weird shadow tendrils if he gets too worked up). So I'd say, he'd try to play it as "normal" as possible, but if he absolutely had to display this strength, he would... but sparingly.

[horsepowered]

CHARACTER: Chiron
POSITION: Guard of the front gate
SKILL USED: Strength
SKILL LEVEL: 15

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

[agogemod]

[dorzalta]

I'm pumped for this mission! :>

Just wanted to comment on this piece from above: As such, November is going to be lighter on big logs that everyone can jump on, and heavier on small events that people can react to, interact with, and influence.

I think what nailed me hard (aside from October being a busy af month with work and life) was that I tried to engage on the first log, not fully realizing that there would be a second log coming with jucier bits. At this point, I can't remember if there was ever mention of it (and if there was, reading is fundamental, I fail, etc, etc), but having a heads up for what's in store is definitely helpful! Especially with regards to juggling the tag load.

If, at the very least, you could always combine the setup (which is what I imagine the first log where the switch from Jerusalem to France occurred) with some pieces that would move the logs further (e.g., the 2nd log which came a week later). That way, people can tag out more of the day-to-day bits, or they can jump straight into the juicy bits and pieces and not feel as scrambled?

Re: Questions? Comments? Concerns?

[alsohawkeye]

Hey, would it be possible to get a preview of what skills the future parts of this mission are likely to focus on vs. the skills that will be highlighted in the other hrhw options coming later in the month?

I'm debating whether to jump on this one or wait for a later one and it'd be helpful to get a sense of which might be the best fit. (Or worst, for max comedy.)

Achilles | Fate/Apocrypha

[chariotry]

Hello! My name is Max and I have Achiles here from the canon Fate/Apocrypha.

He's based on the real mythological hero Achilles, but you know, anime. I had him on the other tdm but midterms got in the way of me getting the app done in time, so I'll be trying again. For anyone who wishes to carry over CR to this tdm, just drop me a line here!

Other than that, I am looking to plot scenarios out because I have trouble repeating the same prompts over and over again. What I'm looking for is:

1. Rivals for glory during battle
2. People to proposition for sex so he can recharge his mana
3. People who have magic -- he'd be looking to make a master/servant contract with someone who has enough mana to sustain his material form
4. People to protect.
5. A bit of SOL, like someone trying to help Achilles dress era-appropriate.

Etc. I plan to write closed starters for anyone who'd like to thread with me!

[trample]

let's do 5, eren will get achilles to properly color his hair this time around

[dorzalta]

/raises hand

I would volunteer Dany for 3, but aside from her immunity to fire, she's not much of a mage, and she doesn't have her derguns. SO, 4? :>

[courtintrigue]

Magic user here! I don't see Morrigan going for a master/servant contract, but she can hear him out.

And he could proposition her if he feels moved to. She won't consider it if she doesn't already have some reason to respect him. idk, if you're interested in him not necessarily getting what he's looking for I can volunteer as tribute.

[ryuji]

hi hello i was summoned here to test this drive

protect this boy. or drain his zio until there's no sp left and he's stuck buying cans of soda to restore back to full. your choice. :)

[hakanai]

I can certainly offer at least a conversation about 3, Yoshitsugu here can't be 'drained' fully of his power because of how innate it is and at the most gets physically tired from using his abilities. He won't immediately turn down a useful offer either so he'll hear it out; gotta go with the flow and deal with the hand we're offered, right? ♥

Yoshitsugu is also a tease and someone like Achilles is definitely going to be a target considering that delightful mix of 1, 2 and 5.

[horsepowered]

Dead eyes you intensely

Daenerys | GOT

[dorzalta]

I kind of dropped the ball with the last mission log because Thank You Life, but would love to get some plotting going for this one! I generally babble on plurk (bubblytangerine) with game thoughts and what I'd like to do, so please feel free to add me on there if you're interested! You can also ping me on Discord if you'd like some CR with Dany and don't use plurk :>

Right now she's in a bad place mentally d/t learning about events that occur later in season 7 of the show. She's going to be distracted. She's also looking for ways to collect allies who are pissed at COST for kidnapping them. She's got a war to fight at home, tyvm!

1. I signed her up for the HRHW for the Grand Chambrier to the Queen role, so we'll see how that pans out.

2. Roommate to live in some nicer digs (more likely to be Jon or Drogo who gets to share a space with her, since they're her boys from home). Alternatively, this would be the perfect opportunity for newer CR since she wants allies and Drogo/Jon are causing Confusing Feelings.

3a. Someone to teach her how to use a long range weapon. She's going to want to start training for that.

3b. Someone to teach her how to use a knife and/or something for close range combat/skills to defend herself if she's ever cornered. (Can handwave the sparring part if that's not anyone's cuppa)

4. OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE MAD ABOUT THAT SPY. Captain, O Captain, you suck.

[hakanai]

Considering her aims Yoshitsugu will one hundred percent talk to her at some point; his main focus right now will be working out the Regency and COST both, and he had a very interesting conversation with that poor spy. The whole 'getting allies' thing will interest him too because he'll frankly call any efforts that go beyond that into a kind of rebellion right now really foolish for a myriad of reasons. 8')

[northerndragon]

I didn't stick Jon on her roommate prompt first time around because I didn't want to saddle Dany (really, mainly you, as a player) with his moon eyes and general protectiveness that early on, but he would probably go in that direction given the opportunity (or it might be funny for him and Drogo to get stuck rooming together, IDK). (Also, things would have been super awkward early on because of that info-bomb he hadn't delivered yet... he would have constantly been giving her pained looks from across the room.)

Realistically, it will upset him when something inevitably eventually happens to her, but he also probably wouldn't be as interested in her if she weren't the kind of person to get into the thick of things.

He'll keep teaching her knife fighting, of course! He could get surprisingly harsh with her? He's capable of really knocking someone around if he's not careful not to, and there are some pretty good references for him teaching people to fight in both the books and the show. He can also help her with arrows when they're in an arrowy setting. (I mean, wrt to this and his admiration of how pro-active she is, he's the guy who had a sword made as a goodbye gift for his tomboyish little sister.)

He is also REAL MAD about that spy.

Basically he's always there for whatever you want him to do with her, but I'm also trying to make sure there's room for both of them to have other CR!

[horsepowered]

I'd be happy to help out with 3A, if you'd be willing to go for it.

Yoshitsugu Ōtani | Samurai Warriors

[hakanai]

Hey all! Still back-tagging plenty of what we did last month and loving that, looking forward to watching this game grow. I'm Bell, and you can read Yoshitsugu's app here for information though I am happy to ask questions as well. A quick summary: he's intelligent, he's good at reading events and has a myriad of magical abilities but a rubbish immune system, an oddball dark sense of humour and a tendency to either unnerve others or just irritate them.

My plurk is fightingoutside.


- Fresh from a success (but a close one) in the HRHW mission in Valmy, and with plenty more information about the Regency gained from baiting Little Xici (not that she would have seen it that way, poor soul), Yoshitsugu is working hard to work out fact from fiction and the scope of the enemy they're dealing with as well as COST itself. I'll be doing a communicator post in the next few days which will cover a little of that minus most of the COST intrigue.

Expect him be really blunt with you and call you an idiot if you come out with certain things. This man is both practical about the realities of war and has a weird sense of humour, it can't be helped. ♥

- He's also recovering from a nasty bout of sickness that really set in bad after Valmy was over so if any of his newly made CR wants to check in on him, there's that. He and Takatora will unquestionably be rooming together somewhere or other and have been clever about making sure where they've stayed is as suitable as possible for someone prone to sickness.

- Not signing up for the HRHW this time, at least not the first couple. My main focus will be on information, intrigue and using Yoshitsugu's smarts and frighteningly good foresight this month, and if your character tries to dabble in this too that'd be a good crossover point. No specific plans yet as I'll be largely reacting to what is planned to begin with but I hope to spark up some plots further into November.

- And in general I am always looking for either 'pure at heart' sorts for him to tease and protect or the... not so pure for him to enjoy a bit of banter with. Or antagonise. :D Either works.

Jon Snow ✥ Game of Thrones

[northerndragon]

Since our last CR planning stuff was only a few weeks ago, and I haven't done much with any of those tentative plans yet, I definitely want to carry them forward! Most of them were general, and things I was expecting to carry out over the next few months, or wind up hitting in backtags if anyone wants to. (If you don't have me on Plurk, a big part of the reason for me not getting as much written out as I'd like outside of cast stuff is that I just started on a new daily preventative medication for chronic migraines, and I'm adjusting to its side effects.)

For new people, or just people I didn't talk to before, some things:

- Jon has zero gun experience and will be kind of wary of them until he has a bit more. Him learning will probably be a major thing going forward. Teaching him is a good CR opportunity. (I actually kept him out of the more specialized missions up to this point specifically because of his lack of familiarity with guns: I think he'd want to know them a little better first and would think that people who are more familiar with them would be more effective volunteers for things like Cannon Killers and the Goethe mission.)

- Jon is great with swords and pretty darn good with arrows, daggers, spears, shields, etc. He is a decent teacher, but maybe your character doesn't need to be taught, and just wants to spar for practice or fun? Or maybe they saw him on the battlefield? (I did not drop him into the battle log itself... yet?... but you can assume he was more violently stabby than you'd expect from such an otherwise nice-seeming dude.)

- The statistical likelihood of conversations eventually bending to the subject of ice zombies is high. Other subjects: discussing each other's worlds, alarmingly large animal friends, sympathy for various kinds of disadvantaged peasants, being a bastard, honor, king things, what makes rulers good or bad, etc. Over time, people who are in contact with him enough will probably notice his investment in Daenerys.

- He's also interested in information and trying to figure out his place in all of this, and how much it really means to him. He has Things To Deal With At Home... is this distraction and displacement worth it in the grand scheme of things? Is it helping people?

- I'm Elizabeth; my plurk is detectivefiction, but I'm only on a couple of times a day so it's best to ping me or talk to me directly if you want me to see something.

Morrigan | Dragon Age

[courtintrigue]

hello, hello!

Morrigan is not participating in this edition of hrhw fun because there's currently no way she'd volunteer to be a servant. I'd still like to get her into a few dicey situations and continue building more questionable trust with people.

It'd be great for her to have to temporarily live with someone. She's used to roughing it, but she can't exactly camp out here unless it's in an abandoned building somewhere (which I'd be up for if that pings anyone more, and it has the potential to be even more temporary if it's raided by locals) and a bed full of fleas won't be acceptable. I don't care if you have a male or female character; she won't give a damn about her bad reputation but can be convinced to do the fake marrieds or fake family thing if she has a chance to find out she doesn't like the alternative and doesn't dislike your character.

Other things I'm interested in/can offer:

- battle buddies/sparring partners: I love action threads, so if you want a handy mage to fight at your character's side or test their reflexes with some (more or less) friendly sparring I'm way beyond here for it.

- herbalism: The ingredients she'd use to make magical potions don't exist here, but otherwise Earth and Thedas have very similar plantlife. With the right ingredients she can still make a good poultice for your wound or mix something to combat insomnia, headaches, nausea, etc. It'll probably be harder to find the right ingredients for them, but poisons are an option as well. How willing she is to help your character will depend on the emergency or their dynamic.

- like-minded allies: I don't know how long it'll be before COST really wins her trust. I'm not giving her a post in the fate-of-xixi log but there's no way the yelling wouldn't have drawn her attention. She's seen some disturbing stuff and that shit's right up there despite the lack of gore, so she's not inclined to like the Regency on principle but how does she know COST can't do it too. That little thing in her collarbone could do so much more than advertised.

- moral differences: I'm always up for her butting heads with people. She's got a no-nonsense practical streak, so if your character is the type to spare someone who's already threatened their lives Morrigan's here to disagree, disapprove, and offer an I-told-you-so if she has to save your character's ass after the act of mercy.

Otherwise I'm pretty much up for anything and you can always PM me or pp gratuitousmagic if you want to hash something out!

mordred | fate/apocrypha

[bloodings]

Are the Apocs gonna eat up the Fate/ cast cap? Stay tuned.

Anyway, hi, I'm Cassie and I'm thinking about testdriving this jerk. No guarantees or anything, but I do want to play her somewhere, and every time I see this game on my timeline I'm like UGH THIS LOOKS SO COOL. So here I am.

Mordred, like the fuckboy Achilles above, is the actual Mordred from Arthurian legend, except similarly anime... and also a girl. That's kind of a sore subject for her, though, so maybe don't mention it. You can check out her info post here if you'd like to know more.

Anyway, some prompts!

⏩ People to tease her. She's very stupid, aggressive, and prone to starting fights at the drop of a hat, and may very well break her cover because someone said the wrong thing to her. Oops. So someone to help keep her in line would be welcome too.

⏩ Similarly, people to get involved in the riot. She won't start anything outright, but if anyone targets her (or even hits her accidentally), she's going to want to punch them into next week. Again, not the best for staying on the down low. She can be talked down, but... she'll probably whine about it. I'm sorry.

⏩ Sleeping buddies. Mordred is very physically strong, so she'll likely go the manual labour route to make some money. Servants don't normally need to sleep, but until she has a Master, she'll be looking to save her energy whenever possible. Speaking of...

⏩ A Master, aka someone to supply her with magical energy in exchange for being able to command her (sort of). More roguish characters who aren't sticklers for the rules would be her style, but she'd refuse to side with anyone super objectionable — even if she calls herself a murderer and says she hates humans, she won't hurt innocent people for her own gain. A Master can even force a Servant to kill themselves, so there's a lot of trust involved, and it's not something she'd rush into.

In general, her strengths are strength (heh), swordsmanship, intimidation, and, surprisingly, some administrative work; her weaknesses are a lack of life experience, an incredibly short temper and... look, just her entire attitude. People with similar interests would go well, but also complete opposites to balance her out would be cool. More scholarly types, maybe, or the kind to earnestly protect others. She has a soft spot for nice people, and an inherent distrust of mages (which should make the Master situation fun).

If there's anything else you wanna throw at me, go ahead! I'm also available on plurk at palkia for stuff.

[trample]

You know when I first read "sleeping buddies" and talk about conserving energy in the same post, knowing what I do about Fate my first thoughts were a little suspect until I realized that there's no way you would be so forward, Cassie. Anyway I'd love to see these two get pushed into having to trust each other. Eren hardly sleeps either and it doesn't do him any good, so if Mordred could return the favor he would be better off for it.

Re: mordred | fate/apocrypha

[chariotry]

We should fight to the death

Mordred will pull his bangs and he will pull her ponytail

Ps I will provide a real idea later