Burning Locusts: Session 13

Background Events

We spent a bit of time resolving some of the background events that are circling in Scintillante. These events feed into how the world moves and responds to the actions of Frederico, Antonius, and Ansidora.

Lady Sofia’s article’s published of the Scintillante cityscape painting. The writing is ambitious, and the superficial layer is quite good, but the second layer is a bit murky. There’s a prediction about times not being as well as they were, our unpreparedness.

Stavros and Vadam Samaal attempt a jail break. First they successfully Scavenge up some tools; smuggling in a shovel. And from there they make an excavation attempt to escape. It’s an Obstacle (Ob 📖) 3. They get 11 successes. They escape and are on the run.

Unther Lehman has the results of his research. To establish the loophole in the The Scintillante Cicada Company Contract. Success in his Rule of Law.

There is a limitation to the the Scintillante Cicada Company Contract; there are referenced documents specifying dimensions/perimeter/height/and depth. There is an option to do a new survey of the city.

The first loophole is that there’s some time difference in calendar changes; we have five more weeks than we thought. Now expiring on February 21st.

The second loophole is if they are not hired by someone to enter the city, then they won’t descend on it. If someone were to hire the Cicada Company from Scintillante, the company would have to follow proper city channels. There could be a way to metaphysically extend this contract.

And Finally the Painting of Tumol

Antonius spends a bit of time studying dwarf paintings, learning about their style. He succeeds with Painting-wise, but not enough to help his upcoming endeavor.

With Tumol and Ginna seated, Antonius begins to paint. His intention is to capture the unifying essence of Dwarf and Human, in hopes that he can begin to form a stronger bond between Hartheld and Scintillante.

The failure consequences are that he paints them in an unflattering light, and those seeing the painting will be inclined to perpetuate any societal differences.

Antonius works patiently and carefully, spending some Persona and succeeds on his test. Most importantly, the painting is acceptable to Ansidora.

Antonius and Ansidora Go at It

The city of Hartheld is abuzz with news of the jailbreak; not for the escapees but the grandeur of the excavated tunnel. The craft and ingenuity alone have folks beginning to prepare lectures and tours of this work of wonder. With 8 successes over the obstacle this is a work of genius.

After talking with Unther Lehman, Antonius wants to direct Ansidora away from her single-minded vendetta against Vadam.

We enter into a Duel of Wits.

The statements of purpose are:

• Antonius: I want you to let the courts and dwarven justice handle this so that we can focus on uniting Scintillante and Hartheld for the coming locust swarm.
• Ansidora: My century of history with Vadam is not something I can easily ignore, your help with the courts will resolve my issues and keep me on your track without costing us nearly the time that you imagine it to be.

Both of the characters started with a huge Body of Argument—15 and 17 respectively, thanks to many 6s.

In the first volley, Antonius attempts to Incite Ansidora; “You care more about your stuff than your son.” This fails.

And in the second volley Ansidora reciprocates with a Incite; “You’re short life means you see so little of what I do for my TumTum.” This also fails.

From there, we sling mud and vent as we move through a heated 5 exchanges. During the volleys, Frederico added a few bits of support for Ansidora’s cause.

Finally, after tempers subside, Ansidora knocks Antonius’s Body of Argument to 0 while she herself has a remaining score of 2. It’s time for a major compromise.

Antonius agrees to help Ansidora, but asks for some leeway to continue helping rally the city. In return, Ansidora agrees to set aside her vendetta against Vadam. With a non-binding focus on Tumtum and that lovely Ginna.

Reflections

This was a great Duel of Wits. Both players chose to exercise numerous skills, weaving through a myriad of tests. The fact that we both scripted early Incite actions was a delicious bit of role-playing.

It also set the tone. Frederico had originally thought of siding with Antonius but after that opening volley, he considered otherwise.

For those curious, both Ansidora and Antonius have B6 Will exponents. And Antonius is now 0 for 2 in his Duel of Wits against Ansidora.