Well, a fair amount of pressure has just come off. A good time to relax before the pressure starts coming back.

Y'know what, Arkady will drop a fate point that it is possible to tell Zemoch gold from other sources with a simple touchstone, and that if asked the local goldsmiths will acknowledge it. Something about a blue sheen when the stone is held in direct sunlight or some such. Let Ortzel handle his own house cleaning.

When we get back I'd like to put some feelers out to establish a Hunting Lodge. A group of our own people working together with the locals to hunt in the forest and swamp for meat and forage for plants. Add on to the benefit Ortzel is offering us with this expert.

Also we need to get into Cimmura to see how the city is handling things. Figure out who is currently in charge of Lycheas. Maybe see if we can't maneuver to have a friendly agent put in place as Regent to keep Raven from coming back and assuming the role. Maybe even bribe Lycheas himself. Surely we brought some handheld video games along? Spend a few hours each night with Roger translating some simple games like Tetris. Give the kid a free handheld, spare batteries, and a portable solar charger to keep them going. We might get him on our side quite handily.

Unfortunately, for reasons which are plot-related and as-yet unknown to the characters, this turns out to be impossible. (Even worse, finding out that it is impossible - which the characters will now do, sooner or later - turns out to still cost the FATE point, since it turns out that this is a potentially significant piece of information which was once secret).



For what it's worth, Arkady's read on Lycheas is that he'll probably be pretty much controlled by the nearest person with a loud voice. Getting your own regent in place will likely work - a long as your own regent is the person standing closest to Lycheas. But Lycheas will not prevent someone else from killing (and instantly replacing) your regent.

He'll probably love Tetris, though. And keep playing it even when somebody other than your regent is calling the shots.

Not that Arkady has Vatican City specifically in mind here, oh, not at all. Well, I suppose we could control the regent by healing the queen.

Um, remind me who Lycheas is again?

Lycheas the Bastard, cousin of the Queen. Since the Queen is near death and frozen in a state of suspended animation, he's the current ruler. And by "current ruler", it's generally assumed that whoever is telling him what to do is the one in charge. Lycheas is a child with no ambitions readily apparent and is easily cowed by anyone intimidating into doing as they say.

That's been Raven, as of late.

We should probably do something about that.

Lycheas is the kind of 'king' who never gets assassinated because, quite frankly, even the assassins don't think it's worth the bother. He's little more than a seat-warmer for the throne, really.

The only mention of a goddess I can recall was when Piper was talking about who she worshiped, and I'm pretty sure she was just referring to herself. Something of a "I don't worship a god because I am a god" sort of deal.

There are some Styric cults that worship goddesses, and Piper has indicated that her religion does so, yes. I think that's been the only mention so far...

I went to check and yeah, Felix was there for that conversation. Piper also referred to the Elene god as a "he" when talking to us about him. The words "hidebound old codger" were also thrown around, though they're not as gender specific.

We might also want to talk to talk to Sir Sparhawk and Lady Sephrenia before our groups part ways. If only to confirm the general plan moving forward. I figure we can expand our own search for the Blue Rose and other possible artifacts by hopping around from nation to nation looking for clues.

Another question about aspects. I don't recall that we've done so thus far in the game, but we can also make skill rolls to declare certain aspects and if we do good on the roll the aspect is established, right? Also, what are the limits on declaring aspects in general?

1. Yes, you can.
2. The major limit is that I get a veto that I may use if necessary, which will be used if there is some reason to think that the provided Aspect is not appropriate to the situation. So, for example, if you were to abruptly attempt to give Raven an Aspect reflecting great political power in the Church, that would be vetoed because he's very shortly going to be excommunicated.

Also, your use of the skill must be of some use in placing the Aspect.

Whoever is handling Lycheas is the de facto leader of Elenia. If that handler is not Raven, that handler stands a good chance of being assassinated.

However, if Lycheas and his handler are on our land surrounded by our defenses and a gathering of Pandion Knights... well, the handler will have a harder time getting assassinated, won't they?

I'm not sure I understand the question. I'm assuming the regent would be someone we could trust, and both the regent and Lycheas would be surrounded by Pandions and Terrans we could trust. If we can't trust our own regent, it's not really an enterprise worth pursuing.