Ace Of The Duck Pond an alternate history deaslpunkish game occ and start up

[MWBailey]

Health insurance is what's the issue here. EVERYBODY's suddenly decided to stop offering a certain very helpful variety of insurance in the Houston Area. Has to do with the expense of various extremely-successful and expensive healthcare programs around here. We're currently scrambling to make sure the new plan covers my current doctors - but can't check yet, because tthe doctors themselves were just informed of the change in the last week or so, and haven't been informed by the various companies yet who will belong to what - and teh info is not yet up on the website the insurance company referred us to. We didn't know that until the end of the day yesterday, however, which means we spent most of our time since Monday beating our heads against the brick wall of non-information, and I was so exhausted by that stuff and a couple of knock-down, drag-out  practice sessions for upcomiong seasonal music performances, that I had trouble thinking straight. (*sigh* and *Bleagghh*).

Not intending to horn in on Wilfred's experience with the German mystics, just figured that since they might be timetravelers, they might have shown up in Brazil wanting to pilfer or purloign gold to fund their skullduggery, and that they would have been (after the fact of the device's developnent) one group of "pirates" that Al had had run-ins with in that theater.

Meri's also going to show up again soon. Might turn out to be an ally, though it might seem otherwise at first.

[CPT_J_Percell]

Anything is possible, he has been on the run for a long time and blundered through time alot before landing on this island.

[MWBailey]

I'll be out of town this weekend starting around 10:00 tomorrow, and away from reliable internet/wireless access for the duration. I may be back by noon Sunday, but that's kind of up in the air at present.

[MWBailey]

A few game-related issues.
1. One of the things that surprises people who study World War One, The First World War, or WWI as many people like to call it, is that in that war, the Japanese Empire was actually allied to the British Empire. It took British imperial sensibilities, a few diplomatic blunders, and time for political tides to change for the Japanese government to finally side with germany and sign the pact that created the Axis Powers of World War Two. That happened in the mid to late thirties in our world, but in the world of our game, I propose that developments along those same lines occurred a bit earlier, to wit, some time before the beginning of the game, most likely two or three years before, most likely as a result of a major diplomatic fiasco between Britain and Japan. What that was may or may not come out in the course of the game; I'd prefer to avoid it simply for brevity's sake, unless it becomes integral to the plot, but what happens, happens. The relation to the game is that Merovingia, whatever else she may have become, was originally the fine;ly-cultured daughter of a diplomat in a British colonial settlement in China; thus, though her parentage is mixed Erasion, and she looks like a finely beautiful Chinese woman, she nonetheless, at the time she was thrust through the dimensions, spoke with a British accent, and was thus accepted as an ally and an expat resident of sorts of the island community in which she found herself.; there was therefor e a slight "in" for her to be adopted by the Elder.

2. As implied above, Meri is a time traveller, albeit an inadvertent one; it was not her choice to fall into the wormhole caused by a titanic electrical storm over the Caucasus that struck at the same time that she and her airship of vampiric "commandos" attacked the St. Elmo, with orders to kill Commodore Dreyfuss and his crew, and destroy his ship in order to prevent a future event from occurring. Not her choice, but it's what happened. She fell through into the universe of the Duckpond, fortuitously in the locale of the village of Shouma Youkai

3. Yes, I'm aware that my use and knowledge of japanese language, lore and placenames is execrable at best. To the best of my knowledge, none of the names I've used so far are actual names, or names used by any other author, save such forms as Youkai (admittedly borrowed from anime) and Shi onna and Koromi. I'm aware that Koromi Shi-onna means something other than "white bat"; According to what I've looked up, "Koromi' is "bat," and "Shi-onna" actually means something close to "fourth-daughter," thus fourth-daughter-bat; thus the elder is naming her formally as one of his daughters, that is, an adopted daughter... er, if I've got the language right, which is by no means certain. He is not using the Japanese term for "white bat" because I admittedly did not think I was equal to the task of stringing that all together (such term might not even exist in the abstract sense).

4. Apologies to anyone who reads this and sees my poor attempts at Japanese language and lore.

5. It's worth mentioning, in my opinion, that Japanese lore does not actually allow for the existence of vampires; similar beings, yes, but not actual vampires. that's actually a borrowed western concept that has taken root in japanese popular culture because of public fascination with it in the entertainment industry. Just saying.

6. Finally: I'm not a weeaboo. I just like vampires and ninjas, find japanese (and all nations') military history fascinating, and Merovingia's a fascinating character. Morganthe (her "sire") not so much so, save as a "progenitor" type.

[MWBailey]

I'm baaack...

[CPT_J_Percell]

5. It's worth mentioning, in my opinion, that Japanese lore does not actually allow for the existence of vampires; similar beings, yes, but not actual vampires. that's actually a borrowed western concept that has taken root in japanese popular culture because of public fascination with it in the entertainment industry. Just saying.

6. Finally: I'm not a weeaboo. I just like vampires and ninjas, find japanese (and all nations') military history fascinating, and Merovingia's a fascinating character. Morganthe (her "sire") not so much so, save as a "progenitor" type.

Dont worry to much, if I see anything too "Left Wing" I will pull you up on it!

[Stella Gaslight]

I can go along and move the story but I want to be sure everyone that wants to put a bit in gets a chance.

[MWBailey]

Al is not texan, of course. Meri is just comparing him to her previous nemesis, and thinking that since he was a texian (the idea of "americans" as a unified political entity from sea to sea, and thus encompassing both Texan and Californian speech patterns not being within her range of experience, since she is from an Earth where such a thing never completely crystrallized).

She's been told that both Jace and the Doctor should be captured for reasons her allies did not deign to inform her of. Western attitudes toward asians in the first half of the 20th century being what they largely were, they likely see her as being of inferior intelligence compared to themselves, especially considering the Order's reputedly  fanatiocal nationalism.

Meri's a vampire, and thus heals almost immediately from a single cut; numerous wounds might possibly slow down the process just a bit...

[Stella Gaslight]

The Captain's luck with bullets is actually telekinesis that she has no idea she even has.  I figured I would bring in some of the mystical esp powers that always turn up in the Indiana Jones comics. Right now she can only trigger it through confidence and the belief in her lucky charms.

[Ranger Reid]

I took a little liberty Stella.  I figure if Jace's telekinesis is redirecting bullets, someone would eventually see it or realize it.     I also figured that if Liam was using his power too often, someone would see it, so it made sense that Donna would be looking his way.

Hope it all reads okay for you.      I don't think Liam's power is any more "mystic" or off base than some of the indiana jones stuff.  glowing skulls and sacred stones after all  LOL

[Stella Gaslight]

I think that works perfectly.  I think the mystic stuff is one of the reasons I loved those movies so much as a kid.  I was raised on a steady diet of fantasy, scifi and those goofy time life books about the occult.

[Ranger Reid]

I agree.   It seemed like the story was real action, dirt and grit.  But on the periphery there were references to ancient powers, aliens and the occult.   

I think my playing someone with a power sort of crosses some lines, so I hope I don't change the tone too much.  But I loved folding the idea of gremlins in to the story since they were such a powerful superstition at that time.

[MWBailey]

Don't worry, Meri'll be back. She's been burned and dumped in the drink before...

I like this version of the RP a lot better than the old one; Meri actually gets to do stuff...

[CPT_J_Percell]

Don't worry, Meri'll be back. She's been burned and dumped in the drink before...

I like this version of the RP a lot better than the old one; Meri actually gets to do stuff...

Wilfred is a normal man and his "slaying" ability is next to non hench the whole failed stake thing.
Sorry was all I can think off.

[Ranger Reid]

Liam is sort of a twisted reimagined Van Helsing.  His upbringing by the monks was focused on  the gremlins the germans had released to torment the brits, but he has been prepared for all manner of encounters.

The bullets are composites of holy relics, holy water and powdered silver nitrate.

The holy relics used were powdered saints bones, and wooden shards from crosses used on saints. 

If she is injured with one of these, even if  it misses the heart, she will not be able to heal the wound.

[MWBailey]

Actually, she will. Meri is not from Liam's universe, so I kind of doubt that relics from Liam's universe will affect her. The silver nitrate and such, sure; those are pan-universal, so to speak. But it won't kill her outright.

[Ranger Reid]

No worries.  I wont argue the point since it is your character.   

[MWBailey]

No worries.  I wont argue the point since it is your character.   

Geez. I really am sorry, Reid, the insurance stuff has me on edge. Meri is not that dear to me, its just that this stuff was all worked out in advance (not terribly far in advance, but still). I guess I should have set it out for the rest of the group in OOC, but it was a reprise of the character from the RP that spawned this one, so I sort of thought it would be de riguerre (sp?). Thanks for your flexibility. I'll try to reciprocate it.

Looking at it objectively, I think I can understand why you might want to kill her off; she's damned close to a God-Mod and a serious threat to your character's, shall we say, "love interest."  She's nearly deathless (notice I said "nearly") and a formidable fighter, even without the relative immortality.

However...
She's already inadvertently told the Aces how to kill or at least slow her down (I also gave out a tidbit on that subject here in OOC); the fact that she THINKs she can survive is based on the fact that she always has - so far. That does not mean that she can keep doing so, however.

In explanation of what I'm talking about, consider her mental age. She was turned, as I said in her backstory, at a relatively young age, when she was a very precocious young British Intelligence operative under deep cover in a Russian Embassy (a very vicwardian bit of color there, the Russians were reputedly in the public mindset 'always up to something bad' back then), where her sire was working as a Russian operative; thus, whatever age she actually is, in her mind she's very much a young woman, perhaps even a "late teen," with all the hubris and braggadocio that that entails; "If it ain't happened yet, it ain't ever gonna happen," as I heard a former human development professor describe the stereotypical attitude. Thus, while she THINKS she can keep coming back, although it's very nearly so, "it ain't necessarily so." (apologies to Cole Porter and his descendants and devotees). Also, that much dying and coming back is bound to make her more than a little bit "off," so to speak.
------------------
*alt-azimuth (also commonly called "alt-az" or "altitude-azimuth"): basically, the kind of gun, telescope, and various other kinds of mounts that consist of hinges, gimballs or slides that move the mount in the vertical and horizontal planes, respectively; altitude (up and down) and azimuth (side to side). A typical camera-on-tripod setup is (almost always) an alt-az mount. the most common other type of camera or telescope mount is what is known as the equatorial mount. As far as I know, the equatorial mount has never been used as a gun mount, but I could be wrong about that. Whether or not the British armored cars of WWI had that kind of mount stands to reason (it being the simplest, thus the easiest to fabricate, thus the most likely choice to be made), but to be honest I don't actually know it for a fact.

[MWBailey]

Pardon the double post...

*joystick: contrary to what gamers often think, "joystick" is not a term that Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Atari or Sega or whatever computer entity invented; it in fact dates back to the final couple of years of the first world war, and (no matter what the various countries' manuals called the thing) is pilot's slang for the "piloting control lever."

(Um. it just occurred to me that gamers these days may in fact not be familiar with the term, since most games use handheld consoles or wii devices instead of joysticks. Sometimes I'm just O.L.D. ... )

[Ranger Reid]

MWB.............   understand,   I never intended to "kill her off".      I would never do that to another person's character.   


As to the effectiveness of such things...........    My theory on any Religious artifacts are that they are empowered by the faith of the people. 

(There was an awesome old Star Trek episode where they met the Greek gods and this concept was put out.  Since the gods had no followers, they had no powers, etc)

So in my opinion, since Meri is not of our universe, the relic would have all the power it should have, and she would be distant from her source of power.   In short, she's in our house and would be playing by our rules as it were.

I thought it might be interesting for you to role play having her injured and freaked out a little that the wound wouldn't heal like it should.    I offered the possibility, but you didn't seem interested in that direction.   

That doesn't mean that my character knows that though.   So he will continue to behave under the assumption that his Holy relics turned bullets will stop a vampire.

We have no conflict here.   I don't presume to tell someone how to play their character, nor do I write into the story the death of any other member's character.    that would be bad form and sort of rude.

[CPT_J_Percell]

Pardon the double post...

*joystick: contrary to what gamers often think, "joystick" is not a term that Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Atari or Sega or whatever computer entity invented; it in fact dates back to the final couple of years of the first world war, and (no matter what the various countries' manuals called the thing) is pilot's slang for the "piloting control lever."

(Um. it just occurred to me that gamers these days may in fact not be familiar with the term, since most games use handheld consoles or wii devices instead of joysticks. Sometimes I'm just O.L.D. ... )

And why in perticular a "joy" stick?
Who wouldn't grin sat behind several hundred horses with loads of guns and loads of speed!
I have a need....

[MWBailey]

MWB.............   understand,   I never intended to "kill her off".      I would never do that to another person's character.   


As to the effectiveness of such things...........    My theory on any Religious artifacts are that they are empowered by the faith of the people. 

(There was an awesome old Star Trek episode where they met the Greek gods and this concept was put out.  Since the gods had no followers, they had no powers, etc)

So in my opinion, since Meri is not of our universe, the relic would have all the power it should have, and she would be distant from her source of power.   In short, she's in our house and would be playing by our rules as it were.

I thought it might be interesting for you to role play having her injured and freaked out a little that the wound wouldn't heal like it should.    I offered the possibility, but you didn't seem interested in that direction.   

That doesn't mean that my character knows that though.   So he will continue to behave under the assumption that his Holy relics turned bullets will stop a vampire.

We have no conflict here.   I don't presume to tell someone how to play their character, nor do I write into the story the death of any other member's character.    that would be bad form and sort of rude.

Explanation accepted and understood. Also, I didn't mean to imply that killing her off was your actual intent. Sorry if that was how it came across. I did mean to say that such might be your or Liams desire (intent and desire being assumed to be separate). It's only natural for a hero (or just plain male) type to be that way, after all; Al most unabashedly is, for example, for all that he's a bit "hardboiled," if that's the right term. He's hoping that he's killed her off (mainly because of the old fringe-ish vamp lore about large bodies of water and cleansing with fire), but has seen enough "weird stuff" as he would probably say it, to realize that it probably won't work out that way. Plus there's his nagging suspicion that, as Donna and Jace have already twigged, Meri is not in fact Japanese, and is a bit of an anomaly (if he only knew!).

As far as playing the bit about her getting a bit scared, that's fine. Go ahead and shoot her with it, and we'll see. Might be interesting.


----------------
If Al has an ability or "power," it would have to be intuition or clairvoyance, or perhaps psychic feeling; more of a sudden knowing than an actual interpretable premonition of a future event, like the absolute conviction that a railway tunnel is dangerous in the very near future or present, rather than the more specific impression that there's a train that's about to thunder out of the tunnel, even though the road crossing signal in front of the tunnel is not ringing. He could "feel" that the Mercedes' outside the tower were "evil," for example, and couple that idea with the Nordic Posterboys to realize that things were about to get dangerous, but could not predict exactly whjat the enemy would do. He felt that someone or something was coming up behind him despite Meri's overwhelming ability and experience in stealth. Rather than "Seeing the future," its more like feeling the current of potential in the air. It's probably what saved him during his swordfight with her, as well. He might be good at tracking, as well, since psychic feelers in RL reputedly are good at that - going by what I've read, at any rate. I'd like to keep him slightly hardboiled, though.

[CPT_J_Percell]

you posted while I was typing so there is a big of lag there!

[MWBailey]

 An example of what a regular Grumman J2F looks like in the air (yes, several are still flying).

https://youtu.be/w9MWAAjq5c4

nd then the one form Murphy's War, a Peter O'Toole movie; the ship's mechanic/machinist character that he portrays survives teh sinking of teh troopship he is on, then finds in the last few days of of WWII a wrecked Grumman Duck from the Royal Navy, refurbishes it, teaches himself to fly it, and arms it (with a bomb made of TNT stuck in a huge glass watercask), and uses it to hunt and attempt to sink a german u-boat hiding in the estuaries of (I think) the Marshall Islands. This is his first flight in the craft.

https://youtu.be/aED7xvYbMfw

Anyway, Al is a much better pilot than O'toole's character, but it's an interesting movie anyway.

[Stella Gaslight]

Thought i should post this just to let you all know.  My boyfriend is in the icu and I am getting ready to sell stuff at one of the biggest steampunk cons in the country so my posting may be a bit odd but don't stop the game because this is an excellent mental vacation from my current stress.