[IC] New Crobuzon & the World Beyond

[Forge]

Forge keeps quiet standing in the back of the group.  The word Remade kept creeping into the forefront of his thoughts while he tried to maintain his alertness to his surroundings.  Everyone spoke of other worlds but this place seemed strangely familiar to him.  "What was the process of Remaking," he wondered?  The humans he had observed earlier did not look like they felt fulfilled by their Remaking, no wonder Commander Selina looked distressed.  She was negotiating a peace for their continued existence with this ambassador and the magistrate.  As Forge stood silent, he looked around at the darkness surrounding them.  He began to loose track of where he was.  "Am I still buried underground," he thought?  The ambassador's voice of screams reminded him of countless battles from long ago. Forge felt the present slipping away from him.  "Protect the kobolds."  Those were his orders, he tried to hang on to that and keep from losing his mind again.  He looked around at the faces of his new comrades.  This was not a negotiation, it was a battle of words, and it seemed to Forge that there was more than a Remaking at stake here.

[Selina Parcellus]

Selina stares at the Ambassador as if he's grown two heads...but then again, maybe he will.

"Of courssse I'm not offering that, 'Ambasssador'!  I am essstablishing the parameters of this little game that we have all been thrussst into."  She could tell that she was losing both her patience and her self-control, as she hears the dragging of the S's in her speech.  It was a mildly horrifying thought for her, so she forces herself to calm down and listen to the Magistrate who was, at the very least, proving to be honest in his dealings so far.

"Very well then.  I would ask you to please complete what is required of you before aiding us.  You said you had one question left, and it seems to be quite precious a thing in this little game, so I will not interrupt you again.  After that is completed, if it is not required of me to invert questions about the rules, then would you kindly explain what the rules are?  From what I understand, the bargain was supposed to be information about our world in exchange for freedom and the ability to return to our world physically unaltered.  Do I have that correct?"  She asks this of the Magistrate first, not the Ambassador, being completely uninterested in listening to the foul thing until she Must.  She was also fairly unnerved by the being who kept speaking of a time, as if the Magistrate had a limited amount of time to be here.

[GM Marvel]

"You misunderstand me.  I was simply stating that I had one question owed to me by the ambassador.  Not that I needed to ask him one more question.  As for what next must be done, you and/or your friends must provide the ambassador with sufficient information about your world.  When you have completed the exchange in information, the ambassador will pardon you and your friends, including the individuals hiding out at the scientist's loft for the crimes of breaching and weakening this world's dimensional barriers and for terrorism.  This will of course save you from ReMaking which is usually the punishment for every major crime and some not so major.  But let me be clear... he has not promised to actually send you home.  If he could do this then he could simple visit your world himself to sate his curiosity.  He is also not protecting you from punishment for further crimes.  Nor will he create or have someone create a scenario where you will be charge for bogus crimes.  But you will have to find your own way home." 

[Betimi]

Betimi has an idea about the best way she can keep the home of her friends safe, she will let the Ambassador know about hers instead. Even the beings of Hell deserved to know what danger they faced.

"Realm Far the about know you do."

[GM Marvel]

After hearing Betimi's inverted question the Magistrate slowly turns to look at her/ him and whispers with annoyance, "When I was instructing Salina, my words weren't just for her.  They were for all of you.  This is wasting precious time.  Soon the protection spell will wear off and believe me you don't want to be in this room when it does."

"Now I will repeat myself one last time and I will try to make myself crystal clear.  You only have to invert a seven word sentence for requests.  Asking the ambassador if he knows about the Far Realm is not a request.  Clarifying rules is not a request.  If you were do something like ask for assistance with finding a way back home, THAT would be a request!"

"You have 10 minutes left," Vansette hisses!

[Nacesh]

Nacesh snaps in at this point as time is running out and this game sounds way deadlier than convenient. As someone fairly well versed in diplomacy and gathering information he smelled a trap.
"Can you be more precise in what qualifies as 'sufficient' information? Will he 'pardon' us for granted, or is it at his discretion whether he deems the information 'sufficient' or not?"

The spearman really wanted to go into the details of how this creature of the nine... whatever... has power of pardoning crimes of this plane of existence but it wasn't necessary at the moment. He hoped for being able to ask for such details later.

[GM Marvel]

Nacesh snaps in at this point as time is running out and this game sounds way deadlier than convenient. As someone fairly well versed in diplomacy and gathering information he smelled a trap.
"Can you be more precise in what qualifies as 'sufficient' information? Will he 'pardon' us for granted, or is it at his discretion whether he deems the information 'sufficient' or not?"

The spearman really wanted to go into the details of how this creature of the nine... whatever... has power of pardoning crimes of this plane of existence but it wasn't necessary at the moment. He hoped for being able to ask for such details later.

Sorry, it just sounded funny to me!  

[OoC: I'm not expecting an Essay about a D&D world you have little knowledge of.  But if you were to say, I tell the ambassador only about the City of Cantus, then you're not fulfilling your part of the bargain and he will wait for you to share more information.  You can start by telling him some personal background information.  A major feature of this world are the cracks in the dimensional barriers between different locations like the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, etc.  Imagine what you would say if someone asked you describe Earth to an Alien species.  The Magistrate has for some reason, taken it upon himself to offer you guidance to help you avoid being taken advantage of by the ambassador.  He will step in if he feels the ambassador is purposely prolonging the exchange of information.  You all can have your suspicions but I would like to point out that so far the Magistrate has been extremely helpful despite being the person who would have to creatively choose your ReMakings if this negotiation fails.]

The Magistrate quickly explains the above information, then says, "You are running out of time.  I can't offer you much more reassurance and advise.  I am doing everything I can to help you help yourselves.  If you are too concerned that I am trying to steer you down the wrong path to offer the ambassador information then sadly we might as well leave and begin your ReMakings."

[Betimi]

"And my question remains, I can tell him of my home.. the Far Realm. What would he like to know. I know he understood the question.

[Forge]

Forge waits for orders.  Time was running out so he began to gather his thoughts, ready to give a description of his world if required. 

"The medieval world of Eberron is a place of magic and monsters, where arcane energy infuses the landscape and greatly influences society and industry. Thanks to a mastery of the arcane arts, the great cities of the continent of Khorvaire contain skyscraping castles, elemental-powered coaches and carriages, and all manner of enchanted conveniences. Magic is industry across the face of Eberron, the innovative spark that propels society forward." Eberron Campaign Setting, pg 8   Hehehe

Ooc - I get the same sense of IT"S A TRAP Nacesh does too. What better way to learn of new worlds to conquer? But Forge is not that wise.

[Ningalu Baal'urki]

Ningalu gets more and more nervous, but after Betimi's steadying hand he realizes that running will just get him killed, so with typical kobold self-preservation instinct he starts looking around the triangle for somewhere to hide. Seeing the huge solid mass that is Forge he scoots behind the huge warforged and does his level best to keep Forge between him and the Ambassador.