Birdship: A Suggestion Game

[GreyViper]

C

 

[Bibbimbop]

Good to see you over here, Cheesecake.

Counting his votes as B > E, that takes us to a 7-7 tie between C and E. The outcomes are quite different, and not in ways entirely "good" and "bad" but just different. I mean, one leads to the whole world blowing up in an explosion of bird feathers like an overstuffed pillow, but when you get philosophical, that's actually no worse than the heat death of the universe that science foresees.

(A) would have caused some minor irritation to the scribe, but cut through the bullshit.

(B) would have gotten you accused as a charlatan. You aren't yet a brother of the church, just an unlettered peasant. Some enemies made there, and not just the clerk, either!

(D) would have marked your beginning as "that guy" ... although that it not actually a bad thing. Many famous people have been "that guy" who causes outrage and controversy, to their great success for a time; and when they ride the tiger too far, eventually to their even greater downfall. They seldom know when to get off. The template for that option was the incident in Romance of the Three Kingdoms involving Mi Heng, btw.

(F) would have been the best option, and gained you a contrite companion who is of good birth, future prospects, and possessed of some independent means that he would have donated to your cause. His family, of course, would not have been amused that you absconded with one of their young scions, but that is another story.

In general, bird options cause something bad, mental disturbance, so purely in game terms, they have to lead to some usually good trade-off. Take bird options as question marks that can really lead to extremely good outcomes in many cases, occasionally to extremely bad outcomes, or to just bizarre outcomes. Are bird options consistent with realism? I would say yes and no. They really are what he thinks is happening whenever luck inexplicably throws him a lucky or unlucky outcome, or he has an intuition that he can't quite put into words; and he is you, so he is explaining events to you in his mind. When the zealot was chosen as the protagonist, this sort of mechanic was part of the advertised package up front and bird options will continue to be posed, but you can refuse every single one, and eventually have a character who returns to crystal clear sanity.

Obviously, for this round, choosing (F) is already off the table now.

That brings us back to C and E. The suspense is killing me!

 

[Nevill]

Counting his votes as B > E, that takes us to a 7-7 tie between C and E.

It's 7-6 is favor of C now. Even though their potential votes are the same, C in TOME's vote has a higher priority than E.

Tally

Nevill E
Grimgravy E
Elfberserker C>B
lightbane B
Baltika9 E
oscar C>A>!F
Kipeci F>C
asxetos F>E
archaen E>F
Esquilax C
Jick Magger C
TOME C>E>F
Greyviper C
Cheesecake B>E

B - 2 - (p. 3) - (1); Cheesecake -> E
C - 6 - (p. 7) - (7)
E - 4 - (p. 7) - (6)
F - 2 - (p. 4) - (0); Kipeci -> C, asxetos -> E

 

[Elfberserker]

When the zealot was chosen as the protagonist, this sort of mechanic was part of the advertised package up front and bird options will continue to be posed, but you can refuse every single one, and eventually have a character who returns to crystal clear sanity.

Give it some time.
In my experience most of time in beginnings of tale Codex is careful guy. I give about 2 or 3 three updates before birdy option will be popular
:mrfussy:

 

[Baltika9]

To solidify it, I'll flop to C.

 

[Bibbimbop]

❀═══════════❀═════════════❀══════════════❀════════════❀
Escheaters Never Prosper
❀═════════BACK═════❀═════════════❀═════NEXT══════════❀​

The clerk was clearly on a belligerent footing, and he is taken aback and left struggling for a brief moment to find some grounds for continued anger in your meek words, but then he capitulates with a shrug.

"Indeed, the peasantry do have their uses, such as dying in the place of their betters." He gives your scarred body a much less fearful inspection than before, and chuckles softly, "But I cannot fault your failures there, since it does seem that you tried your yeomanly best to serve in that capacity."

You bow with a calm dignity.

He smirks at finding an obliging victim for his arrogance and continues. "Come then, good man Oswald! Since you probably can't read, I will inform you that I have been instructed to present you with the selection of lands that have been escheat to the crown lately. And, with dying and rebelling being the new fall fashions fresh from Luche, that means you have quite a long reading list to sound out slowly! Let me make the choices easy for you."

The clerk shuffles the papers on his desk around in some manner that you presume is more orderly than it appears, pulling out papers, sometimes shaking his head and muttering "Wouldn't do" to himself just before putting the paper back. Eventually he arrays a selection of eight Writs of Conveyance on the table in front of you.

He seems to have taken a condescending yet genuine liking to you, and if there were a convenient footstool about, you could imagine him stepping up on it to pat your head indulgently, as he explains the holdings patiently and adds a few colourful details. He even produces a map of the Kingdom, the first that you have ever seen, and points out locations.

Map of the Kingdom

A. A large but uncultivated domain in the cold rugged northern moors, where shallow head waters spring forth in what will eventually flow down to become a great river, the broad and deep Gogansblot, along which the heartland of the Kingdom is stretched. The clerk tells you that this frontier is still a wild and uncouth land, whose sparse population knows not of salvation, but is said to know far more than is proper of their cattle.

B. A small manor in the rolling green grasslands at the base of the white peak, the Merrowmount. The tallest mountain in the Kingdom, the Merrowmount juts upward from the rich farmlands that lie east of the capital, and it overlooks passages to the Hautes, where the Duchy of Luche perches with its heresies. The clerk adds that the Royal Astrologer has set up an observatory of the heavens on the heights of the Merrowmount, from which he strives to divine the fortunes of the Kingdom. The steep and treacherous pathways up the mountain slope attracts a steady trickle of pilgrims, mystics, and other madmen.

C. A small fief upon the Hautes, near Greyheath. The land is a bit unsuitable for crops. However, a good trickle of commerce comes to the Kingdom from wealthy eastern cities like Brugh and the Otremer, even great Besant herself, through the gorges at Howe. The clerk adds helpfully that the major defeat of the King at Fortenoy will probably seal off other trade routes, depending on the target of the Duc's next campaign.

D. The Witherspur, a district within the capital city itself, once a separate town entirely and ruled by its own long pedigree of nobles; but the borough had long-since been subsumed into the sprawling mess of tenements and shanties in the city's outer slums and fallen into a suitable state of moral and physical decay. It retained its independent jurisdiction from the larger municipality through custom and tradition, but perhaps moreso because it became a notorious den for all the social ills of the urban poor. Witherspur, they called it, because it had destroyed a procession of forgotten knights who thought to bring its lawlessness to heel.

E. A rocky isle in the southern sea. It is well-known among the crews that ply the busy trade routes nearby, for hosting large flocks of migratory red-bellied birds at certain seasons of the year.

F. An outpost at the farthest explored point on the river Verderflow, deep in the tangled growth of the Greenshroud, an ancient forest that has not yet given up all its secrets to mankind. With an occasional adventurous apothecary or scholar as an exception, this is a uncharted land of lumbermen and fur trappers, who frighten each other with tales of woodland spirits, and the missing who go out in the wilds, never to return.

G. A small area of the Foleswald near a religious shrine called the Holy Rood, which attracts pilgrims who carry riches and relics to propitiate the Lord. Sometimes, the votary gifts are expensive books, beautifully illuminated, and there is a decent library on the holy grounds, not to be rivalled outside a few major cities. The clerk sniffs that this fief would be wasted on a lowly peasant such as you.

H.You grab a random writ of conveyance from the stack that he did not put out for you. "If I can choose any that I want, then I'll trust to Lady Luck and take this one!"​

Your finger hops between the choices on the desk indecisively, as you ponder the magnitude of this decision, and what steps to take next after grabbing one of these flimsy little scraps of paper. Surely, there was not a spell written on the paper that could somehow magically whisk you to your new lands, living happily ever after. How would you the prepare for this wondrous opportunity; or rather, how for what was increasingly resolving itself in your mind as an onerous and bewildering undertaking? Your mind begins spinning at all what you are expected to do.

Abruptly, the church bell above the Chancery rings quite deafeningly, bringing you back into focus as your finger taps one of the papers.

 

[Cheesecake]

Wow, love the map!

I vote for D. We will bring the light of the Lord to the lawless! I think that'd be the most interesting. If not D, then H.

And let's ask him his name too.

 

[Baltika9]

G>A>D
Falling a shrine, I can see our character wanting to bring salvation to the dark corners of Sommerset, Oxford and Wales.

 

[Kipeci]

B>G

I'd certainly like having a stream of pilgrims attracted to the general vicinity of our lands... both poor and powerful would go on pilgrimages from time to time, and if we run things correctly we can become better regarded by masses of strangers very quickly. It also goes well with our pious character.

I prefer B because it's nearer to the capital and has a higher supply of heretics that we might run into conflict with so that we may take their things and win favor. We can also spy on the neighbors with the observatory if we become bros with the Royal Astronomer.

 

[Esquilax]

It is in the dark places of the world that salvation is most needed. A procession of knights may have failed at Witherspur, but one man, blessed by the Lord Himself, shall succeed. Alternatively, a religious pilgrimage is also interesting. Our devotion shall serve as a greater gift than the trinkets of these false lords.

D > G

 

[Baltika9]

I prefer B because it's nearer to the capital and has a higher supply of heretics that we might run into conflict with so that we may take their things and win favor. We can also spy on the neighbors with the observatory if we become bros with the Royal Astronomer.

Careful, or we'll get thrown on a stake faster than the witches at Salem. Not saying that we can't go Full Commissar, but we must build up to it, otherwise people will consider us a nutter.

 

[Angelo85]

F > G

 

[Grimgravy]

E (birds!)>G>B

 

[oscar]

B

Good potential for farmland via the river to the south (is that included in our domain?) and I suspect we'll be able to get away with somewhat more here than in such an established and orthodox centre. The Royal Astrologer also sounds like our kind of man.

For reference what territories does the Duke roughly control?

 

[Nevill]

The clerk tells you that this frontier is still a wild and uncouth land, whose sparse population knows not of salvation, but is said to know far more than is proper of their cattle.

Nah, they must be holy people like us, except with goats for birds. I am sure we will find common ground easily.

I like the Merrowmount, the Witherspur, the Greenshroud and Foleswald equally. Looks like Codexian contrarianism heavily favors the latter, to show them all that we are more than we look.

Naturally, as a member of the Codex, I will take a contrarian stance and vote D>B.

 

[asxetos]

B > G.

Heretics nearby to purge AND a steady stream of lunatics that can be converted to the cause and sent out as missionaries? Sold.

 

[oscar]

Possible long-long-term goal: 'Let's Play: Codreanu'. Let the Duke and King exhaust each other while the Legion of the White Swan rise to create a higher order ascending both the decadent nobility and rootless bourgeois.



"There was suddenly a hush in the crowd. A tall, darkly handsome man dressed in the white costume of a Romanian peasant rode into the yard on a white horse. He halted close to me, and I could see nothing monstrous or evil in him. On the contrary. His childlike and sincere smile radiated over the miserable crowd, and he seemed to be with it yet mysteriously apart from it. Charisma is an inadequate word to define the strange force that emanated from this man. He was more aptly simply part of the forests, of the mountains, of the storms on the snow-covered peaks of the Carpathians, and of the lakes and rivers. And so he stood amid the crowd, silently. He had no need to speak. His silence was eloquent, it seemed to be stronger than we were, stronger than the order of the prefect who denied him speech. An old, white-haired peasant woman made the sign of the cross on her breast and whispered to us "The emissary of the Archangel Michael !". Then the sad little church bell began to toll, and the service which invariably preceded Legionary meetings began. Deep impressions created in the soul of a child die hard. In more than a quarter of a century I have never forgotten my meeting with Corneliu Zelea Codreanu"

 

[TOME]

F>A

 

[lightbane]

I say H>F>B. They sound like the most appropriate/fun choices.

 

[archaen]

E > H

 

[Bibbimbop]

B

Good potential for farmland via the river to the south (is that included in our domain?) and I suspect we'll be able to get away with somewhat more here than in such an established and orthodox centre. The Royal Astrologer also sounds like our kind of man.

For reference what territories does the Duke roughly control?

The river is a gurgling stream at that point. The local farmland is deemed productive as any outside the area around Chevering, an area which is famed as the Golden Horn perhaps more because of its wheatfields rather than because of its equally significant role in commerce.

The Duke controls a region from Bruyeres to Voyebourg from his fortress at Taillebourg. Avenwall is a chartered city that has been sitting on the sidelines. Land east of the Taille, or the narrow bridge of land between the two seas, is not in the Duchy quite exactly. Unhelpfully, those lands are a separate kingdom centred on Armentierres and usually complicit in the Duke's schemes at some level. There live a race of people who are even more unforgivably French-esque. Just breathing the air in that city will give you a teeming zoo of venereal diseases.

However, due to choices already made, the Duke is campaigning successfully and looks to expand soon. He fought the King at Fortenoy and inflicted a major defeat, and now Fortenoy is invested by a siege. The word in the street is that the Duke will strike south at Albanchester and try to make inroads into the Golden Horn region.

 

[Elfberserker]

A>D

Lets bring salvation of our god to these buggers

 

[3man75]

G > E

We shall become a leader of faithful here in this holy land where not even the Duke shall be able to just walk in and kick us out.

Failing that lets just build up our own west indies trading company at that island.

 

[Baltika9]

Gobblecock, had we chosen a character with a bigger Debt rating, would we get to pick from better lands?

 

[Bibbimbop]

Gobblecock, had we chosen a character with a bigger Debt rating, would we get to pick from better lands?

That is the Chancery Reception Hall, where people wait and are eventually received, and he's a royal clerk. There's a small hive of them humming about the chancery hall and its honeycombs of pipe rolls and other shelves of parchment. They also form a first line of interference in weeding out small-time claims. Any major issuance of a writ would require the Chancellor or Chamberlain in person.

As you noticed, all the large fiefs available to you are suspiciously not marked in the map that displays the kingdom's boundaries. The other options are rather small. The little alternating red and blue rectangles along the trim are serviceable distance markers, each being about 5 leagues or 15 miles. About the distance that one person could walk in a day. An army will move even more slowly at 2-3 leagues each day. You can walk the entire perimeter of (B) in one day.

If you had three stars of indebtness, your interaction with the royal clerk would have been limited to his calling out your name and then nodding politely as you passed by him, when the doors behind the reception hall opened and you were admitted into the Chancery proper, to talk with some one possessing more scope to reward you. Perhaps a deputy or perhaps the Chancellor himself.

If you had five stars, the King himself had seen enough of you and your trustworthiness to consider taking you in as a close associate. Only one option led there, the one where you could have just let him be imprisoned, but instead fooled the drunken escort into letting down their guard. Your background then made you a useful bridge to his needs of having a inside-man posted within Luchan circles.

So the answer is, the stars meant vastly better rewards, far better than you'll find in the clerk's stack with (H). He may or may not have kept some of the best titles from you in his own stack, but then, you might also end up the official Royal Ratcatcher of Dungheapton, Nowhereshire. It's not within his scope to give a truly impressive fief.