I'm not sure that will satisfy Haile's Transitionalist nature. Again, Arya needs to helps out of this quandary.
I can just scrap the character. If we are going balls out brigands and not even going to try and maintain a facade of respectability, I can't play a goody-two-shoes.
No one likes to be the lone Jedi in a party full of Bounty Hunters and Scoundrels, when the latter don't even try to hide their illicit activity.
I think the size multiplier is either 7 or 8 for the ship. Page 97 of Ars Magica:TMRE. I haven't actually done the math to figure out where it is, but I think somewhere in there is reasonable for the size of the ship. Size 7 might be enough 30 paces x30 paces in size is pretty big, but I think it's assuming 10 ft ceilings, and the ship is in excess of 10 feet of height.
What, are you reading this thread backwards, or what?
I already play a Sith Lord with a Jawa acolyte. Do you REALLY wanna go there?
Seriously, it doesn't fit the character concept. She's a gryffindor, ffs. Break the rules if it's for the greater good, sure, but breaking the rules 'cuz it's fun to profit off others' misfortune? Not so much.
Who says it's not for the greater good?
I hate to see you ditch a character concept; unless you're not liking her, of course. I'd rather get rid of the pirates hook, if it came down to that, I'd been reconciling myself to that, and it gives Ysebrand an opportunity to sail about selling stuff. We could still do a grog adventure, it just wouldn't be we're pirates, it might be we are doing what I'd had Talia doing the last few years, legitimate trade and coming to the rescue of those under pirate assault.
I was doing the pirate thing as a player, because that's what I thought the troupe wanted, but it appears it will cause more trouble than it's worth, so I'm more than willing to compromise and adjust...
No, I like the character a lot, and I like the idea of being the opposite of Whitburh. Could make for some very interesting politics, having such a drastically polarized Quaesitorial makeup.
Of course, she respects her parens deeply, but they have a complicated relationship now. And he never responded to her letter. Maybe she'll go on vacation for a while to try and smooth things over with him?
Well, then the pirates have to go, IMO. I can't see this ending well for Haile if the covenant begins relying upon the income from piracy.
To be honest, I don't really see Talia as a Pirate Queen type character. She's picked up some possibly unsavory types, but then again, they're sailors – they're gonna be somewhat unsavory.
I can see, in her younger years with that floating covenant, that she may have tried her hand at piracy several years ago but just didn't have the taste for it, so since then she's been a fairly legitimate merchant/trader type (or tried to be, anyway), maybe using her abilities to rescue a ship in distress. And, perhaps, she came across a sea battle and accidentally got on the wrong side, which may have gotten her in a spot of trouble, depending.
But I can also see her Tytalan nature...egging on Halie, I guess? Provoking her to get under her skin, and by her words force Halie to more closely examine her beliefs and ideals, and thus strengthening her Traditionalist Quaesitorial ideals. Thus, growth through conflict.
Here's an idea, as far as income from Talia's (and/or the covenant's boats). Simple trading. What if they were able to get fresh meat to market, or fresh fish? Perhaps some Minor Enchanted Devices with a CrAn Lesser Enchantment to keep the meat fresh in perpetuity. Base CrAn 2 to preserve the meat from decay. R: Touch (+1), D: Sun (+2), T: Group (+2), for a Spell Level of 15. Usable twice a day(+1), Environmental Trigger: sunrise/sunset (+3), for a total Effect Level of 19. Possible S&M bonuses: Alder wood (+1, resist decay) and Elm (+2, death and decay). Eilid can do three of those a season by herself in her own lab without help. If she had +5 worth of assistance, she could make four.
And that was just what popped into the top of my head (well, except for running the numbers...that took a couple minutes). But if we have a couple of cogs, one in the loch and one in the sea, and a barge to run up the River Ness, I'm sure we could turn a profit without resorting to piracy.
That seals it. I'm moving.
I'm fine with all you said, PB. Your understanding of Talia matches how I perceive her to be, and how I thought I was playing her.
And as far as the Talia and Haile thing, yeah, that's how i've been playing her. She is, on general principle, going to be her devil's advocate, just for the fun of it. I can lay off it, too, if it's bothersome. Note, she didn't say that they were going to be going out pirating. I've been very particular about the language I use on this matter, precisely because of Haile being a Quaesitor.
No, the main concern I had was that Arya put boons and hooks in relating to pirates and piracy, and indicating some of the stories she was interested in as a player, beyond her maga. So from an overall saga perspective, she's got the most invested in this particular issue. In a strange twist, the pirate angle, is almost entirely up to her, IMO, based on it being her expressed interest earlier. So, she needs to reconcile her needs as a player with her maga. Talia is not going to dance around it, it is what it is, and Talia would even enjoy being prosecuted. She'd likely do her own defense and would just love to trounce a Quaesitor on their own battlefield, so to speak.
I was going along and instigating the pirate story, because I thought it might be interesting it was there, and I needed something to do if Talia was going to be otherwise engaged. It was there, why not use it. Now that being said, if we focus on trade we can still have stories about the crew rebelling and doing things, but not without our knowledge. Yeah, they're doing mercantile activities, but they happen to do some other stuff on the side and that gets us into trouble, "all that cargo accidentally got in our ship somehow. It was an accident, promise."
Yeah. This all sounds like a whole lot of Not Fun to me.
I think I'd rather play pretty much any character that isn't going to be singled out for antagonism constantly.
Again, I think we'd have less antagonism and you could still retain your character if we dropped the pirate thing. It is your choice. Talia can be as much a fierce friend as anything else. We could be Beloved rivals after a fashion. She can provide you the crucible for strengthening your legal arguments before they are made at Tribunal. I could see Talia doing that for kicks, based on what she knows about Whitbur.
Don't abandon the character, abandon the boons and hooks you chose, or do whichever is easiest. These are your choices, and I'm not asking you to stick to them if you don't think they will be fun. Since it is your fun, you need to decide what path is more fun. Don't take my promises of being Haile's devil's advocate the wrong way; use it as a means of refining her legal theories, because that's the spirit I'm intending it to be taken.
I'm not interested in playing this character with a PC Rival, beloved or otherwise. Don't include my characters in your character concepts without talking to me about it first, please.
I've got a Verditius glassworker who makes lab ware that can stay in the lab, safely out of Talia's sights, or perhaps a Redcap who's out and about most of the time.
Arya: I'm stupid. You're smart. I was wrong. You were right. You're the best. I'm the worst. You're very good-looking. I'm not attractive.
Nothing to see here
Move along.
Bravo, nicely done!
Mademoiselle, please take a Confidence Point for such scintillating syllabary.
Just out of curiosity, which (if any) of the magi take their meals in the Revel Hall, or elsewhere? This would be a Saturday evening, if it makes any difference.