2.4 - OOC

Also of note - I've been really bad about posting and disappearing for a week or two. When we first started I was really excited and really let my RL job slip a bit as I stayed up late typing up excessively long and over-detailed posts. :slight_smile:

Recently I sort of went in reverse, and was staying logged into work. I would check in and lurk but not post as I tried to formulate a decent response and ended up getting busy and not responding at all.

Amul suggested a "posting schedule" so I don't let work or posting overrun the other, and I think it's a very good idea. At least until work calms back down a bit, expect to see most of my posting happen on Wednesday and the weekend. And sorry I didn't let you guys know sooner.

That's just fine. I was trying to work on him, and I couldn't make a compelling character. I was having much more fun with the majordomo, who I've actually decided is NOT jewish for an extra twist.

Let's just say that we won't be going to synagogue if he's there. He may be well loved, but it would be heretical to take services from a ghost. On the other hand, the budding Kabbahlist in him is curious, but it hasn't progressed far enough along for him to adjust his personal theology. Nor would the rabbi I'm bringing along approve. There's loads of story potential to keep the ghostly rabbi around. Oh, and by the way, I saw the rabbi mentioned, but I didn't see a reference that he was a ghost, just not counted for loyalty purposes, perhaps I now understand why. My rabbi will be grogged out and fairly one dimensional, mostly backstory.

The butler is going to get a fair treatment, because the majordomo has got a nasty issue. And they'll switch roles, depending on where Ra'am is. I also read the wiki a bit better, that most of the household staff are Jewish, I'm assuming that would cover the butcher baker, gardener and cook? And if so, they know how to prepare a kosher meal and can be convinced to do so, sooner than later? Regina, Ra'ams wife has put up with a lot 'lo these 20 years. She's been promised a better life for 20 years and hasn't seen much evidence of it. If the household staff does Kosher, I'd drop them all in favor of a wainwright/cooper combo. Wine needs to be put in barrels and transported, after all.

So, to answer your question more succinctly, rabbi and custos grogged out. Majordomo is a major companion, butler is a very minor companion, and very young, consider him being apprenticed to the majordomo if you will. Then some sort of specialist, either in the household staff area or the wainwright/cooper combination. A wainwright makes a lot of sense for me, I'll be coming from Normandy tribunal. Moving 100bps is going to need a wagon or 5.

Unanimous, then. Story flaws are Rules As Written. I have updated the first post on the House Rules thread, and added some notes regarding rule/setting interactions which may surprise you (notably, the Correspondence rules).

Yeah, sorry, that probably isn't very clear. For reasons which made sense at the time we were creating those wiki pages, every Warder and Vintner was added to the Atheists and Inhumans page. Anyone with a last name of Warder is a ghost, anyone with the last name of Vintner is a Gossiping Grapevine. They are accepted elements of Cijara/Phoenix life, but probably come across as completely creepy to anyone new to the area.

This is why I like you bringing a rabbi. :smiling_imp:

Most of the manor staff are Jewish women. All the men, including the butcher, baker and cook, went to war at Las Navas de Tolosa and didn't come back. The entire covenant (including its income-generating population) are extremely short-handed, and either women or the infirm. Given your OoH Lore, you'd either not know they had a Jewish staff, or knew but didn't know they all died. Great story potential either way.

The next question is: what gender, religion and marital status are your retinue members? Mars needs women.

A wainwright and cooper workshop exists, and its current staffing is unknown. We're either out, or its being run by widows, children and senior citizens. You're bringing it up -- what would be most fun for you?

100 BPS goes surprisingly fast, in Viscaria's experience.

I need a bit of guidance on an entry thread. When do I pandemonium down upon the covenant by appearing?
Outline is that Ra'am's majordomo will come ahead of the him and the rest of his retinue and announce Ra'am's imminent arrival within a week. If something can be retconned to time Étienne's arrival to before the events currently taking place and the rest of the party to current events that would be cool. Or any other hook for me to latch onto the story a bit more easily.

If you want Ra'am's majordomo to have arrived last week, (March 7th or whenever), that's fine by me. How's this?

We'll say that Jaime Lannister was too despondent and wrapped up in his grief to see the majordomo, and the introduction got lost. After a few days of this, the majordomo returned to meet up with the caravan, and you all arrive together.

To keep matters simple, if you want to join in immediately, arrive in the A Merchant Arrives thread, shortly after Abdul arrives. We still need your backstory, though. If he's Iberian, what covenant did he come from? One from the list, or something to be added? Why is the full membership offer tempting to him?

I could go with making the butler female... If I brought the household staff I'd mentioned previously all except the butcher would be women. However, they would be background only in my mind.

Ok, let's go with something wild, a female, newly mastered wainwright, who is also a cooper, but not the best cooper, say 2 or 3. She's plainly older than the oldest child who's running the workshop, but he is only a cooper (very good, say an affinity or pussiant or both?). He expects to be named the master of the shop but then along we come. And it's a WOMAN who takes his job... Oh, and she'd be speaking Norman French, with no more than a 2 in Latin because of covenant exposure at Le Maison d'Levrier.

Yes, but books in the MA were large and then they're packed in chests for protection. And the the family expects to ride at a certail level of comfort, while the rest of the retinue , excepr the majordomo, and Ra'am pound dirt.

:LOL:

I'm an evil, evil man.

Wait, I just reread this. You need women? I thought most of the menfolk died in the battle...

D'Oh. You're right. We need men. Not women.

That was just my pants talking, is all. And the strong urge to reference an old techno song that's been in my head all day.

The ensuing discussion left me without a clear direction. So here's where I'm going, unless I hear otherwise.

Wife
Daughter #1
Daughter #2
Majordomo, male, unmarried, and a rake, French Norman Catholic
Butler, male ~15 (boy in today's terms) unmarried Jewish
Rabbi, male widdower
Butcher, male, unmarried Jewish
Baker, male, unmarried Jewish and looking
Wainwright/Cooper, female, "God doesn't build stuff."

Ah, yes, sorry. I intended him to be Goliath, his parens, but it was so clear to me I never wrote it :-/

Yeah, the harem was fun, especially given hiems personality :frowning:.
Hum... Okay, I'll change it, this could reeeeally be fun but has the potential to ostracize hiems even more. ... Ok, this is fine!!! :laughing:

Pfff... this gives me 2 more flaws than virtues... And I love all my flaws, I don't think like dropping any. I'll take cyclic magic (Fall and Winter), which is appropriate, but then, nothing speaks to me now, and don't feel like going through lists just now, so I think I'll just seat on it for now until I find an idea. Unless someone has one?

As we all do, which is great :smiley:

I like the concept a lot, but, IMO, these two sound very close, maybe they could be one and the same?
To me, this screams "social character", something we're a mostly lacking (not entirely, though: Cecilia is our master spy and intriguant, and Raoudha has some level in various skills, but nothing great): I mean someone with etiquette, charm, folk ken, profession: butler... This could be awesome, and I like how you portray it as your character's social front :smiley:
Oh, and if he's your companion, it's the same thing, but better :smiley:

No problem, and the scedule is a good idea :smiley: Good luck with everything!

Like hiems, which is very ill at ease with the Vintners: Not only are they very potential threats to his peace and tranquility, they freak him out.

Err... You know that, by RAW, you can't take Academic Abilities without a special virtue? Latin is for the learned, medievally speaking.

And what's a wainwright? I can't seem to get a translation or else :frowning:

Academic Abilities is one of the options with the Custos Social Status, and regardless of which of the Ability types you take (Martial, Arcane or Academic), you can still learn Latin. Don't know if the character has taken Custos, although it would certainly fit with what JL is saying.

Wainwright is a wagon maker.

Yup, he needs something, I didn't nescessarily mean educated. Custos would probably be the best choice, agreed.

And thanks for the wainwright! :smiley:

Just so you know, in case this isn't intentional. I don't want to bother you or else, and this isn't very important.

This sounds... strange. "d'" exists only in french when followed by a wovel. So it would probably be Etienne du Lévrier, Etienne le Levrier, although these sound noble: A common name would be Dulevrier or Lelévrier.
What did you mean, in English?

Well I've been taking virtues of educated for almost everyone. For the Hebrew Farmer (butcher) and Baker, I'd kinda like to see that requirement handwaved. They pretty much serve Jews exclusively. They know Castilian because they need to, living in or near Salamanca, that's their birth tongue. And by and large during that time period Jews were literate as a rule, although I wouldn't expec these two be able to read/write, just be able to speak Hebrew. Knowing Hebrew, in these cases doesn't make them literate.

Well, I don't speak french at all, so getting as close to my intention is good to know. He is putting on airs, using a place name as a surname to suggest that he's royal. The average person won't see through it, but nobles won't appreciate it if 1) they're from Normandy or 2) he pretends to be a noble to a noble anywhere and is eventually found out that he isn't.

So it should be du Lévrier?

I think it's going to be interesting to see what Cygna's reaction is going to be on meeting Ra'am ex Bonisagus.

I'm just happy that a wainright is showing up so that I can force claudia to make a Mobile/Unstable Lab-mobile.

"Quick! To the Lab-mobile, Apprentice Wonder!"

So these are painful...
Prospero's Treatise on the Nature of Magic (25)
Type: Summa; Total Quality: 10; Level: 5; Topic: Magic
Theory; Language: Latin; Subject: General Magic Theory;
Author: Prospero ex Bonisagus

Understanding the Limits on Vis Utilization (11)
Type: Tractatus; Total Quality: 11; Topic: Magic Theory;
Language: Latin; Subject: Magic Theory; Author: Prospero ex
Bonisagus, with commentary by Ra'am ex Bonisagus

36 bp that Ra'am can't use for himself. I hope others can use them well, shalom. :slight_smile: