[1922] All the Rowboats

[Ashdown Crier]

Blackfriars Library doesn't look much different. In ninety-four years, there would be computers in the carrels; the heavy filing cabinets would have been moved to the basement. The marbled floors, however, are the same. The hardwood floors gleam bright and new, and the bookshelves as well. Where once there were booths and advertisements on glossy paper, there are now plush couches in true art deco style. In glass cases on the walls are historical artifacts (maps, American Indian beadwork, a flag purporting to be from the Revolutionary War, portraits) and newer paintings.

At the near end of the open mezzanine of the first floor are large tables containing fancy little amuse-bouche and wine (red and white). (This explains the small army of security outside.) There are no chairs (no camping the tables) (you'll be scared off by the help).

At the far end of the floor there is a lectern, before where the elevator would be in fifty years' time. (The spiral stairs are blocked off by heavy velvet ropes.) The speaker, a nondescript man with twin shocks of pale blonde hair in the dark auburn of his curls, clears his throat and adjusts his collar. Chairs are arrayed before him and on the elevated sides to provide everyone a good view, yet everyone seems to be milling about.

To the west cluster Asiya, Arthur, and Christopher. They are sitting; Arthur and Christopher's hands are empty, though Asiya has a delicate china plate of petit-fours. The three of them are deep in discussion, but pause to greet any who approach them.

To the east stands Alexander Shore, surrounded by Alexis and Alois. Marcus lurks nearby, looking shifty. Alexander is holding a nearly-empty glass of red wine and looking vaguely uncomfortable, in the way of someone who both wishes he could be elsewhere and thinks he's too good for where he is. Alexis fawns, and Alois makes lewd jokes.

In the center of the room, already sitting, is Sunny Shore. She is not dressed well, but is looked upon with reverence.

The mood of the crowd is: interested, but not ready to settle for the reading just yet.

Full character bios here.

 

[Ashdown Crier]

persuasion.
Making it successfully through the meta will be largely predicated on the characters' ability to find the information they need in a timely manner. Persuasion is not an easy thing in an era where the player characters don't belong, so this is much tougher than it sounds. Persuasion is based on a single d20 roll for every question you ask or favor you request. This means if you make one roll to get an NPC to give you an answer to your question, that doesn't carry over and mean they'll answer your next question. You must roll anew for every new question.

Please remember we are roleplaying. Just because you roll high doesn't mean that a character will automatically open up to you and spill all the beans; you still have to earn their trust first! Consider spending a little while buttering them up or intimidating them first: particularly successful attempts will earn persuasion roll bonuses at the discretion of the GMs.

Each NPC has a different threshold for persuasion, which is in the cast post of your main thread. The lower the number, the easier to persuade. Low-rating NPCs are unlikely to have valuable information to share, however.

Sharing information will be vital to the event. You may create your own PRP threads in the event forum for this purpose.

If you chose to purchase an upgrade to your ability to persuade in phase one, please note this at the top of your post. There are three or four people handling each thread, so this makes it easier for all of us to keep track of who's got what bonuses.

Quick Reference of Persuasion Rolls
Sunny Shore: N/A
Alexander Shore: 16
Arthur Noor: 16
Kiel: N/A
Marlene Freeman: N/A
Alexis North: 6
Alois Scholz: 4
Asiya el-Amin: 12
Christopher Ward: 14
Marchus Lacroix: 4

Please quote azuredreams to interact with:
Kiel
Alexis North
Alois Scholz
Asiya el-Amin

Please quote medigel to interact with:
Marlene Freeman
Christopher Ward
Marcus Lacroix

For any NPCs not listed above (Ezra, Melany, Vivien, etc) please quote shibrogane. Arthur Noor is played by the lovely Silverah.

 

[Ashdown Crier]

combat.
Combat will be very simple. Combatants roll 1d20 per round. The lower number takes five damage. Everyone has a pool of 25hp, which is persistent throughout this section of the meta: unless healed by another character, your hit points will not increase or decrease outside of combat. Should both combatants agree (oocly), the fight can end or be interrupted before a combatant is knocked out. Reaching zero means that your character cannot join any other fights for the rest of the meta unless healed. Some fights have the chance to end in death or incapacitation: these will be clearly labeled and clearly avoidable.

There are some exceptions to the five damage rule:

>Your character has a firearm. Firearms inflict 10 damage, but they also subtract 3 points from your roll. You must call that you're using a firearm when you make your original roll and this cannot be retracted.
>Your character is using magic. Magic inflicts 10 damage, absolute, no matter what your opponent rolls, but it takes a round for your character to focus enough to make it do. So you'd call magic (with no roll) in the first round, take 5 damage from your opponent, and in the second round (if you're still standing) your opponent takes ten damage from you. You must still roll to dodge their attack.
>Your character is healing another. Healing doesn't require a roll. You just post that you're healing and who the target is, and they regain 5 health.
>You can't perform two actions on the same round. You can't attempt to block and heal at the same time; nor can you attempt to attack and heal.


ADDENDUM:
In a 2v1 situation where one character is attempting to block for another, all characters still roll. Blocking doesn't automatically succeed. For the block to be successful, both characters (blocker and blockee) have to roll above the attacker. The attacker takes no damage in this situation.

Formula:
A = Attacker
B = Blocker
C = Defended

A outrolls B + C: A succeeds in attacking C, C takes 5 damage.
A outrolls B, but not C: B takes 5 damage, block is successful.
A outrolls C, but not B: B fails to block, but does cause damage to A. A + C take 5 damage.
A is outrolled by both B and C: No one takes damage. Block is successful.

 

[Ashdown Crier]

xxx  

[Daekie]

Alexis Tucker - 25/25

Alexis plucks at their cuffs anxiously -- they're only here because they feel they've got to be, that it's an important event that their displaced not-kin-but-kind should be at, but they don't have to like it. Being all dressed up, even if it's in masculine fashions, makes their skin itch and they just want to rip it right off --

Wait. Bad thought. That was a bad thought to have. They don't want to have that sort of thought.

Alexis clears their mind as best they can and migrates to Kiel's side, blank-faced, a dark blue ribbon threaded through their braid; they have not yet noticed the young woman with their face amongst the crowd.  

[azuredreams]

Kiel is working the edges of the crowd, dressed to impress and impeccable looking. For all that this is not his station, he wears it well and plays the part.

He isn't far off the center, refreshments are close by, and he blinks as Alexis makes an appearance at his side. His head inclines in greeting but his eyes are on the people milling about.

Daekie

what up homeslice

 

[Daekie]

Alexis does not, unfortunately, wear it well -- it is clear this is not their element, even as well as the clothes complement them. There is a permanent, low-key, haze of panic screening their eyes -- they're looking for escape routes, not scanning the crowd; it's why they don't notice the duplicates of people they know, people they've seen. (And Sunny Shore, wherever she fits into those categories. When she's not radiant with power, she's actually rather lovely.)

"Mind givin' me a primer on who's who here...?" For all their voice is soft, it is a plea: they need his help to fit in here.

azuredreams

 

[quite uneventful]

veronica villanueva - 25HP
+2 persuasion
+1 combat/agility

Veronica trailed in soon after Alexis, looking spiffy and rather content with her appearance, hair curled to the best of her abilities, outfit dressy yet sophisticated. If she was going to spend a lot of money on something, might as well do it on something worth it that she liked! She adjusted the hat on her head and swabbed off some light makeup, clutching onto her purse tightly as she looked around the room appreciatively. Alexis had already gone off to talk with Kiel, which was alright-- It left her able to talk with others around them. Vero scanned the room. Was that Sunny? She didn't seem too talkative.

Oho! Maybe she could schmooze with one of the groups. The eastern group seemed friendly, and the poor guy in the middle didn't seem too comfortable. She glanced at Alexis-- They seemed fine, she could head over, right? Striding over to the refreshments, she poured herself a glass, took a gulp, and steeled herself. Time to meet people.

She offered them a small wave, approaching the group but not quite studying the faces of those in it. "Hello all. Enjoying yourselves so far?"

azuredreams*

alexis/alois!

shibrogane*

alexander!

 

[azuredreams]

"Point me," Kiel replies, "and I'll see what I can do." His head tilts towards Sunny. "Except her, everyone knows her and she's special." Also by the glint in his eye, someone that Kiel was potentially protective of.

Daekie

"Someone is trying to enjoy themselves, I cannot say this of others," Alois speaks to Veronica, accent heavy despite his years in Ashdown, eyes cutting to her and watching the other pair he is with. He clearly had just finished telling a particularly lewd joke if the way that Alexis has her hand to her lips and there's a flush to her cheeks.

Veronica is immediately sized up by the glamorously dressed young woman that is part of the group. No greeting is given because she was lacking in proper introductions.

quite uneventful

 

[Daekie]

"Well, uh -" their head drifts towards Veronica, apparently already having found her own group, and --

Freezes. Alexis goes even paler than they already were, stuffing their hands in their pockets to stop the trembling. "Who's that group. 'Cause -- a couple ov'em look real familiar." They can only see the back of Alexis North's head from here, the slope of her shoulders (even that is too familiar, like a funhouse mirror) -- but they can see Alois, the same as they know him but with twenty years added, dressed as a gentleman out of date even now, and -
heat pressed to their skin, talons, pleading they'd get it right this time if he could only stop-
It's. It's really not okay. Alexis isn't okay. They thought seeing him again might be alright, but it's not at all.

They swallow harshly, trying to not lash out, trying to keep their magic under control -- if. If there's water, which there ought to be, they can't let that happen. They need to be calm.

azuredreams

 

[quite uneventful]

veronica villanueva - 25HP
+2 persuasion
+1 combat/agility

Turning her attention toward Alois, she sipped from her drink, the bitter sweetness rolling in her mouth as she glanced toward the others. "I think simply being here is entertaining enough! It's all so interesting." She offered the others a serene smile, even to-- Veronica's eyes widened before she blinked. Wait. What? She swallowed, seeing a similarly familiar face behind her-- Two faces. They looked exactly alike, only she looked older, somehow. Alexis was... There. She could see them, speaking to Kiel, alarmed. Veronica offered her a smile before tucking her purse under her arm and lifting a hand so as to say hello. "Veronica Villanueva, how do you do? I've come from out of town." She didn't quite know the customs, but she hoped that sufficed.

azuredreams*

alexis/alois!

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher just slid in, her clothing still kind of shoddy, if more match-y and less awful than before. Jordan had offered to buy her things but, quite honestly, she wouldn't have been able to look him in the eye afterwards. She'd gone with him, still, maybe pocketed a brooch which she then pawned. And then went shopping again. All in all, it had been kind of exhausting and she resented the use of fund towards more clothing for time travel when she had a serviceable outfit. But, in the end, she was presentable, if still dressed in men's clothing. It was easier to wear, anyway, and Preacher tended to pass well enough.

Upon entering, she looked over the guests carefully, seeing a few familiar faces and making a point to steer clear of Marlene for as long as possible. She really didn't want to have to pull out her phone again. And then, there, sitting in front of the stage, was another familiar face. Sunny. Swinging by to grab some of the appetizers about (fatass, she called herself, but still shoved another petit four onto the plate), she made her way through the sea of mostly empty chairs. Plopping down next to Sunny, she glanced up at her from under the brim of her hat.

"Funny, seein' a gal like you inna place like this. Haven't we met afore?" A pause. "Your collar's bit crooked."

shibrogane

sunny let me luv u

 

[azuredreams]

Sharp eyes watch Alexis, even as their hands shake; Kiel sees it all but says nothing. Clearly someone over with the Shore entourage has rattled this one but-

He reaches out and immediately puts a hand to Alexis's shoulder to steady them. "Breathe," he tells them, "it's just some ritzy folks and a reading. Nothing else." His head tilts towards where their gaze is. "The redhead is Alexander Shore, heir to the Shore family. He's quite talented when it comes to art, among other things."

A nod towards Alois, wearing clothing so outdated that it was back in fashion again. "The local undertaker, Alois Schulz. He never believes anything about magic," Kiel says this with a huff and then finally glances towards the back of the woman with the group. "That is Miss Alexis North, beloved daughter of her family. I didn't think she'd show but the Shore heir is here and where he is ..." Kiel's lips twitch. "So is she."

Daekie

 

[Daekie]

"Alois," Alexis murmurs, pressing into Kiel's hand like a lifeline. "'s -- same name, same face as -- someone who hurt me." It's not the time for further info, and it's info they're not at liberty to give -- they owe Alois that. He did train them well, after all. So very, very well. They swallow down that fear, that anger, and try so very hard to replace it with nothing at all.

"...'m name's Alexis. 's -- iuno. Maybe we're related." It's a weak answer, and Alexis knows it; their breaths are shallow, dry, uncomfortable. (They remember Rill under them, wearing their face, laughing that they were no better. The slant of her shoulders, nobility in days long past, the haughtiness she spoke with -- they don't like seeing it on almost-themself -- funhouse mirror, kill your double -- it all blends together. Alexis thinks, very vividly, that if their teeth remained all they would taste right now would be iron.)

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Alois scoffs at Veronica, not even deigning to roll his eyes that she would think just being here was entertaining. "Of course you would." He watches with interest as Veronica introduces herself because it was likely to be spectacular.

Green eyes glance down at the hand and stare. For quite a long time. Alexis sighs and places her hand within Veronicas very briefly. "Alexis North of the Boston Norths." Which is to say: you should know this and it's completely uncouth that you don't. "I can't say that I expected someone of your persuasion to be here." Not with the name Villanueva.

quite uneventful