Bouncing ideas around with Joe. Ree, care to have Abmesh join the travelling companions?
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(21:48:38) Abmesh_Gwaelei: Yo James. Been reading you and Ree's thread. Do you think there would be room for Abmesh in there? I've been thinking a lot about the lady of the chestnut tree. Perhaps Abmesh could be a "gift" of sorts from her, transported to you guys by planting a chestnut or some such.
(21:52:32) (SemiAFK_James): It is certainly feasible. I think the hook would have to be via a gift to Piao Bai. Cai is one of those duty-focused character tropes, and isn't generally inclined to want travelling companions (which is part of the fun dynamic of having the irrepressible Piao Bai permanently imposed on her day-to-day life)
(21:53:17) Abmesh_Gwaelei: Yeah, that was what I was thinking. He could for example emerge in the waystation, in the remnants of last evening's chestnut dinner, the wife having buried the shells. If one of you gets wounded in this scrap with the Black Gate, you could return to the waystation.
(21:55:03) (SemiAFK_James): They won't be returning to the waystation: the hot springs is closer. But if he has been following them since emerging, maybe being only half a day behind them, he might catch up shortly after the encounter - or even during, depending on how fast he can travel
(21:56:31) (SemiAFK_James): There's a lot of flexibility there, narratively speaking
(21:56:39) Abmesh_Gwaelei: Well... he's a head.
(21:56:54) (SemiAFK_James): That tells me nothing =D
(21:57:15) (SemiAFK_James): Things can roll pretty fast after all =p
(21:58:01) Abmesh_Gwaelei: Is it reasonable to assume that there might be a disused catapult on top of the waystation?
(21:58:12) (SemiAFK_James): No
(21:58:29) Abmesh_Gwaelei: fireworks?
(21:58:34) (SemiAFK_James): No
(21:58:56) (SemiAFK_James): And no giant slingshots either
(21:59:02) Abmesh_Gwaelei: hrm.
(21:59:36) Abmesh_Gwaelei: Metarie set me on the idea when she used Abmesh as one of the Lady's weird court. There, in astral form, Abmesh was some sort of principle of the all-seeing, with his face looking all directions at once.
(22:00:31) Abmesh_Gwaelei: It got me thinking that it might explain the mortal Abmesh's abysmal memory, when his astral form is used to viewing everything all at once, and thus doesn't need to remember anything.
(22:00:56) (SemiAFK_James): Makes sense
(22:01:01) Abmesh_Gwaelei: There might be some kind of secret to unlock, with Piao's help.
(22:02:04) Abmesh_Gwaelei: How about... a well-trained pony? The wife could strap Abmesh on, and it would return home after having caught him up with you two?
(22:02:14) (SemiAFK_James): No
(22:02:45) Abmesh_Gwaelei: Does this waystation have anything at all, besides 4 walls and a roof?
(22:02:53) (SemiAFK_James): Nope
(22:02:58) (SemiAFK_James): Well, a garden plot
(22:03:00) (SemiAFK_James): And a well
(22:03:07) Abmesh_Gwaelei: And a cooking pot, I saw mentioned
(22:03:23) Abmesh_Gwaelei: You guys still have some chestnuts around, yes?
(22:03:25) (SemiAFK_James): And a ramshackle stable for travellers - generally empty
(22:03:31) (SemiAFK_James): Pretty sure
(22:03:45) Abmesh_Gwaelei: Perhaps some of them roll out in the excitement and embed themselves in the mud.
(22:04:08) (SemiAFK_James): Quite possibly. But I do have one request:
(22:04:18) Abmesh_Gwaelei: fire away
(22:04:23) (SemiAFK_James): This next scene is meant to be the big reveal of Piao Bai's human form
(22:04:32) Abmesh_Gwaelei: ooh, sweet
(22:04:36) (SemiAFK_James): Everything was engineered towards that story point
(22:04:39) Abmesh_Gwaelei: wouldn't want to steal that thunder, no
(22:04:45) (SemiAFK_James): Cool
(22:05:05) Abmesh_Gwaelei: Obviously, we haven't asked Ree yet either
(22:05:10) Abmesh_Gwaelei: I'm just spitballing.
(22:05:18) (SemiAFK_James):
http://www.tharshaddin.com/rp/viewtopi ... 15#p42538
(22:05:30) (SemiAFK_James): I think Ree would be pretty keen
(22:05:58) (SemiAFK_James): Generally I'm the OCD one who needs all the details in a narrative to achieve some kind of internal consistency =p
(22:06:33) Abmesh_Gwaelei: Totally understandable. Things ought to be RIGHT.
(22:07:24) (SemiAFK_James): I mean, Tian Xia was written up because I wanted to write a Tian Xian pirate - except there were no details. So my OCD kicked in - and one of my largest ever world dev projects began - just because I couldn't handwave the details aside XD
(22:08:17) (SemiAFK_James): Likewise, I wrote an entire province in Eyropa because I couldn't complete a character in satisfactory fashion until I had
(22:08:26) (SemiAFK_James): It's a curse ;_;
(22:08:56) Abmesh_Gwaelei: I'm the same way. My need for solid groundwork has led to endless hours of painstaking clipping, gluing and writing for every single prototype piece when I'm developing a boardgame idea. Really, a looseleaf sketch would work just as well.
(22:10:33) Abmesh_Gwaelei: An alternate idea: Rather than direct magic via the chestnuts, would the Lady perhaps prefer to work with serendipity? Could she coax the fates so that Abmesh was being held by the Black Gate?
(22:11:21) (SemiAFK_James): Hmm, not in this context. The chestnuts in the backpack would be the easiest way
(22:12:43) Abmesh_Gwaelei: It'll be tough to pull off without stealing the show. The appearance can't be instantaneous, but if he has to "grow" out of the mud, you guys will probably have moved on.
(22:13:08) Abmesh_Gwaelei: This could also wait until you share chestnuts with someone at the hot springs.
(22:13:22) (SemiAFK_James): Quite true. However, there is another timing which could work
(22:15:00) (SemiAFK_James): You seen, to get out of this alive, Cai is going to need to call upon the tattoo of The Emperor's Protection. But that shit has some serious backlash after -
http://www.tharshaddin.com/rp/viewtopic.php?t=3124
So once the Black Gate are killed/sent packing, Cai will be out of commission for several minutes at the least
(22:17:13) (SemiAFK_James): What I am expecting to happen is Piao Bai's reveal will distract her, she'll get wounded, call upon the tattoo, then while she is writhing in agony, Abmesh can arise from the chestnuts like the worst kind of sapling =p
(22:17:32) Abmesh_Gwaelei: lololol
(22:17:44) (SemiAFK_James): (the writhing in agony, of course, coming after the end of the action scene)
(22:17:50) Abmesh_Gwaelei: dat face
(22:18:14) Abmesh_Gwaelei: That should work. That gives you guys a couple of posts to explore the transformation.
(22:19:01) (SemiAFK_James): And gives Piao Bai the opportunity to make the (presumably binding in a special kind of way) decision to accept Abmesh as a companion
(22:19:18) (SemiAFK_James): Which will probably leave Cai with a sour face for days, hot springs or no hot springs =p
(22:19:29) Abmesh_Gwaelei: hehehe
(22:20:42) (SemiAFK_James): I think it'll be good. The Cai/Piao Bai stories have, thus far, been the 'welcome to Tian Xia' thread, designed to highlight aspects of the empire in a casual way. It'll be fun to add more Astral Plane twists into that.
(22:21:42) Abmesh_Gwaelei: indeed!
(22:21:55) (SemiAFK_James): The only caveat is that any Astral Plane/Material plane shenanigans have to be consistent with the logic that 'the Seal remains strong enough that the Tianlong dragon shifters cannot breach it and return to the Astral Plane."
(22:22:51) (SemiAFK_James): Travel from the Astral to the Material tends to be one-way
(22:23:33) Abmesh_Gwaelei: I'll use the time before my entrance to brush up on all that lore, but I'm thinking that Abmesh won't be doing any sort of astral travel in that sense. He'll remain amiably oblivious, as always.
