I used to reserve that distinction for a certain Privy Counselor, steeped in high-life hypocrisy, pointless intrigues, and perfidious promises of foreign posts, but now that said face is on another-
No, scratch that. Villein is still punchable no matter what face he wears. And the only reason I tolerate his continued trade is because if the Ministry of Public Decency had a collective face, I’d punch it twice.
Come to that, what bastion of authority would you blow to Hell (or wherever) if you could?
Somerset College. They consider them a bastion of academia, but they are no more than a house of arrogance and hypocrisy. As an example, I could tell a little tail about a spider, the Provost, and a deviless if I was so inclined, but I don’t think it would be exactly prudent.
That, and I blame the Provost for my current exile form the University — but that shall be remedied in time.
But for my question, two parts: Whom do you most respect, and whom do you respect the least?
[quote=Rackenhammer]I used to reserve that distinction for a certain Privy Counselor, steeped in high-life hypocrisy, pointless intrigues, and perfidious promises of foreign posts, but now that said face is on another-
No, scratch that. Villein is still punchable no matter what face he wears. And the only reason I tolerate his continued trade is because if the Ministry of Public Decency had a collective face, I’d punch it twice.[/quote]
This is fascinating.
If only I could take the Counselor’s face and place it on another far deeper in need of pugilistic comeuppance…
Most: A young man I grew up with; for a while he was my personal gentleman and… assistant, but these days he manages my affairs in the Flit. Sea travel doesn’t agree with him. We call him the Dean, as the foremost among the "professors," the professional thieves of London.
When I was buried alive it was he who dragged me from the earth and put my shattered corpus back together enough for the Boatman to release me.
There aren’t many I trust as much, and none who seem to have it all figured out the way that he does. He has his family; he is ethical, by the standards of his world; his ambitions are modest, achievable, and all but fulfilled. He wants no more than he can have, and he has it, and he knows how to rest and enjoy it. There’s an art to that, that the great must lack to become great–but I respect it, truly.
Least: My godforsaken aunt. The last, least bonds of charity and shared history bind us together, not to mention the damnable things she knows about my childhood… I keep her safe and under my good eye, but I bear her presence as little as possible.
Next Question: The great Interpreter of Dreams has classified the major recurring dreams that plague the city; the winds that blow out of Parabola. We all know them; some of us bear their marks.
Which is most important to you? Haunts or charms you most? edited by Breckner on 11/16/2014
[quote=Breckner]Next Question: The great Interpreter of Dreams has classified the major recurring dreams that plague the city; the winds that blow out of Parabola. We all know them; some of us bear their marks.
Which is most important to you? Haunts or charms you most? edited by Breckner on 11/16/2014[/quote]
(DragonRidingSorceress smiles.) What the Thunder Said. I feel like there is more I can learn in these dreams. I want to learn what the voice -
(Seeker of Names is inscrutable as ever when they speak, quietly, over DragonRidingSorceress.) Death by Water. (They say nothing else.)
(DragonRidingSorceress looks a little uncomfortable in the silence.) So… what is your favourite party trick?
My very favorite party trick is when you take a piece of lace, a cricket bat, a spoon and – er. Hm. That one’s probably not appropriate to tell in mixed company. My second favorite party trick is this: I can tie the stem of a cherry in a knot using only my tongue.
Question: On a related topic, what is your favorite Neathy pick-up line?
[quote=Rackenhammer]"The Bazaar has a need for love stories, but I prefer acting them to writing. It takes two, though…"
Not, perhaps, the snappiest of lines, but I can attest that it worked when I used it.
On a different tack, what was your most hilarious failure, in love or other Neathy business?[/quote]
I would have to say the time I accidentally sold my soul. I had intended to grab the poker to beat the devil out of my house, but as I went to grab it I knocked over my inkpot and some spilled on the contract. Apparently, in the legal documents of hell any form of marking from the victim counts as a legal signing. One failed visit to Baseborn and Fowlingpence later, I found it again in a box. (Read: I clicked the wrong option from the sell your soul card)
My question: Someone offers you a flask of Hesperidian CIder in game, no grinding, no anything. However, you have to reset all of your character progress and stats with only the cider in your inventory, and have to get back up in a sort of prestige mode (Whether or not things are harder this way is your choice). You DO however get any Nex you have spent or earned returned to you. Would you do it and accept that goal and the cider or not, and why?
I regret most of the choices I’ve made in the Neath, particularly those involving the expenditure of Fate/Nex. I’d trade all that "progress" for a clean slate in a heartbeat.
Lorelei: “If Rubbery Men are any similar to any other men, I would say… nothing changes them. However, certain instincts in them is possible to awaken.”
Herlinda: frowns at the person who asked this clearly provoking question “Excuse me? Your phrasing implies that there is something wrong with Rubbery Men. Should I then ask ‘what can change the nature of a…’ … …well, human? …frankly, that was rather philosophical. Perhaps that could be viewed as a philosophical question from the point of view of a Rubbery Man? …still! I don’t think there is anything wrong with Rubbery Men’s nature! They are severely undervalued individuals!”
Share your best methods to exterminate intelligent rats causing trouble.
Zero: Ooh, I know! You have to poison and shoot a few hundred of them, and then beat up and befriend their boss. It’s the only way.
Soran: Well, umm… I wouldn’t go so far as to say that’s "the only way," but I can attest that that’s a pretty effective strategy, in the sense that dueling their leader is indeed the surest way to force a gang of rattus faber to leave completely. "Cut off the head" and all that; it’s the same principal as any human army.
Cairn: Or you could simply set one of those monster cats of yours on them. That should clear them out pretty quick.
Soran: That may very well be, but I prefer to keep my home mostly free from rat viscera.
Cairn: Shrugs Suit yourself. And, uh, mind if I ask the next question?
Soran: If you want. I don’t even care anymore.
Cairn: Wonderful! Now, my question is this; what’s been your most heroic moment since coming to the Neath, and what was your most villainous?
(DragonRidingSorceress goes quite still at this question.) You may not count this, but my most heroic moment happened in a Hallowmas vision. The thought of it still unsettles me, as I’ve already said. The darkness came, consuming all light and all colour, and I had to decide - who would I save?
I chose to save as many as I could. It wasn’t - I wasn’t trying to be a hero. I just knew I had to do all I could, to help anyone I could. But I’m sure it seems - (her voice turns bitter, and she almost spits the words) - dashing and heroic. (She looks down, to where her tight-clenched fists hold handfuls of her skirts, and with an effort of will, relaxes her grip. She is silent as she smooths away the creases she caused.)
(When she speaks again, her voice is quiet.) My most villainous action will be in the future, too. Even knowing what I know, I will eventually go in search of the Cave of the Nadir. May God have mercy on my soul…
(She keeps her eyes down. A soft voice speaks into your ear.) Nothing upsets her as deeply as talking of her vision, and yet she cannot seem to help herself. She is quite obsessed with it. (Perhaps you jump, perhaps you don’t. Would you admit it, if you had? Seeker of Names is standing so very close, and you’re not quite sure how he - she - it got there without you noticing. The darkness of h–its hood may be unsettling - but again, would you admit if you found it so?)
(There is an impression of amusement from within the hood, and in an an almost challenging tone it asks,) What is the most egregious lie you have told in the Neath?
I make a policy of almost never telling the truth to others, but that is trivial. The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves. “I had no choice.” “This too shall pass.” “I couldn’t help them.” “It wasn’t my fault.” “All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
… Each one I tell eats away a little more of my humanity. I do not dare wonder what will be left when I am stripped bare of my soul.
What would you do for a Klondike - I mean, a… frozen, chocolate-covered fungal delight, I suppose?
Do you mean our facsimile here in the Neath, or chocolate made from real Cacao? For the former I would not do much — the stuff gives me indigestion — but the real thing? It has been so long since I have eaten real chocolate…
I would take on a Spider-council stark naked and weaponless.
So then, what (non-living) do miss most from the surface, or (if you were born in the Neath) what of the surface do you most crave?
[quote=Henry Lamperouge]Ventriloquism. I never had the knack, but I sorely wish I did. The entertainment would last me a lifetime…
What do you think happened to the other Cities That Fell?[/quote]
They fell even further. Now nothing grows on their trees and death stalks their fields.
This one is for those who seek to play a certain card game, though feel free to answer if you do not: What is your Heart’s Desire? What tempts you to play a card game where you can lose everything?
Immortality, and the chance to grant it. Death does not come to everyone in the Neath, but preys upon the weak and unfortunate… the Children do not come back from the Boatman.
Along the lines of ambitions… what is the one great and singular accomplishment you wish to tally in the Neath (that has no relation to Ambition storylines or goats?)
The Garden can be seen through dreams. It stands to reason, then, that even closer observation is possible through Parabola. For that purpose, I wish to build an Oneiroscope, a contraption involving rostygold, glowing amber, and far too many lenses. With this, I will circumvent those pesky oaths and gaze upon Immortality directly!
I already have amassed a tenth of the necessary glassware, and might be finished as soon as 1894.
Now, to my question: Where do you hail from? Where you born here in the Neath, or in one of the Surface-Nations?