An Unfamiliar Familiar Forest, John Oakmaster alone in a new world

Gaming Outpost Discussions » Multiverser

An Unfamiliar Familiar Forest, John Oakmaster alone in a new world

(198 posts) (4 voices)

Started 2 years ago by Oak
Latest reply from Oak

Tags:

« Previous 1 234…7 Next »

M. J. Young
Moderator

A reasonable suggestion: the ritual, which includes ministering to the physical needs of the patient, takes fifteen minutes typically. Sometimes you take longer, but it is the same ritual. Thus sometimes you will do it in half an hour, but sometimes you will do it in five minutes (less than half the time), and as long as you are not abusing this "do it in five minutes" option but only using it thus when there are time pressures, the sit-mod will remain the same. ("Time pressures" does not include trying to heal multiple people individually instead of with the multiple patient version, unless you have to travel between them.)

It is near midday when you reach the western village. The patient here is clearly very sick, although might recover without intervention given rest and time. However, your prayers, as appreciated as they are, do not bring any evidence of immediate improvement to this patient.

On the bright side, none of the other villagers are asking you to pray for their sick loved ones.

--M. J. Young

Mon May 26 2008 12:35 am #
Oak
Member

Hmmmm... I had been thinking of flexibility in the sense that the same skill could accommodate different time periods used, and have the SM be variable depending upon the time interval. From an OOC standpoint, that is handy because it allows me to increase the probability of success if I am willing to spend more time.

However, what you counter-propose is a rather fascinating variation of that flexibility, where the SM stays the same, but the time can vary, as long as the average time is around the SM computed interval, and it isn't abused.

OOC, that gives me less control over probability, which is a drag. I can't do things to make my success a sure thing.

However, I have to admit that it does do a better job of giving a result that is a bit unpredictable (84% success, 14% or 15% no success, 1% or 2% botch, correct?), which reflects what one might expect from praying, since we don't know what His will might be. And it does capture better that the way He answers prayer isn't necessarily by requiring a certain length of praying in a time-pressure situation.

OK then. Let's go with your idea. :)

I nod to the patient, and to the person who brought me here.

"I will go apart for awhile, and pray further, and will certainly continue to lift you up in prayer. And I will look in on you once again before I depart."

"Peace be to this house."

I walk to a place slightly apart, where I can have a quiet time alone with the LORD. For I am well aware how important it is to protect that time with Him, especially when the needs of ministry press upon us. Our own might or power will not suffice... and in the midst of His ministry, Jesus consistently took time apart to pray.

And after a good quiet time, I return to look in on the patient again, and once again seek the LORD's healing hand...

Am I correct in assuming that the quiet time of preparation, like the quiet time I had prior to healing the first dozen in Robin's camp, may improve the probability of success for subsequent healing petitions? And that a quiet time of preparation would constitute a change of circumstance? :)

Mon May 26 2008 4:55 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator
It occurred to me while reading your first paragraph what seems to have occurred to you by the time you reached your last: you do have the ability to change your chance of success by spending more time on it, because you also have this skill:
You don't have a fifteen minute version of that, but you could create one--if it were identical but shortened (halved twice), that would be a +23SM insteadn of +43, less likely to work. It could also be chained, that is, done repeatedly, although my preference would be for multiple castings to increase the duration not the effect.

And yes, the successful use of any skill which alters your chance of success is inherently a change in circumstances, because it has changed your chance of success. Of course, waiting an hour might also be a change in circumstances.

You pray and worship for an hour in preparation for healing, and feel the presence of God and the empowering of the Spirit within you.

You return to the patient and repeat your prayers and anointing. This time recovery is clearly beginning and progressing rapidly. Within a few minutes the patient is sitting up, breathing better, and conversing with family.

--M. J. Young
Tue May 27 2008 6:01 am #
Oak
Member

: Thank you, dearest LORD... :

I proceed to pray aloud, giving thanks to the LORD, dedicating and blessing the patient and household, and taking my leave.

And, unless there is further need of healing within the western village, I set off for the southeastern village...

Tue May 27 2008 6:33 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You are soon on the road--or rather, pressing through the woods--toward the next town.

"So," one of your companions ventures, "Your Grace, if you don't mind me asking--well, it's just that, we don't get too many saints here in Nottinghamshire, and I wondered why you were here."

--M. J. Young

Wed May 28 2008 1:04 am #
Oak
Member

I give a good-natured grin.

"Why has the LORD brought me here? I don't know, friend. But I do know that wherever he brings me, I must serve him."

"And if I seek to follow my Lord, Jesus Christ, what did he say about why he was here?"

"He quoted from the sixty-first chapter of the prophet Isaiah:"

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

"Have you heard the word 'gospel' before, my friend? What do you think 'gospel' means?"

Thu May 29 2008 5:12 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

We have a linguistic matter to address, hopefully briefly.

It was determined early in our discussions that your linguistic abilities enable you to speak and understand English as they speak it. That is rather different in pronunciation, but fairly similar in vocabularly and syntax.

The word "gospel", however, does not exist as such; rather, it is still in the form "goodspiel", from which our abbreviated form derives. It is a common word that means "a good report" or "good news", that is, something spoken with some detail (a "spiel") which is desireable or encouraging or otherwise positive ("good").

The question is whether you are using the word "goodspiel" as the correct early form--in which case the answer would be yes, he uses that word all the time, such as in speaking of the goodspiel that his cousin's farm is producing well this year, or the goodspiel that his wife's health is improving--or whether you are using the modern word "gospel"--in which case, no, he has never heard that word.

It also is of less significance but worth asking whether you are pronouncing in in a manner which Chaucer would spell Gasspul (the closest you can get to the pronunciation fo the modern word GAHS-pl) or in a manner which you would probably spell Go-Spayl (the pronunciation of the letters you used).

In either case, you have his answer, but I'll want to know which answer that is.

--M. J. Young

Thu May 29 2008 8:49 pm #
Oak
Member

I sound it out in what I understand is the pronunciation used here, "go-spayl".

When he doesn't recognize it, I give synonyms such as "good news" and "good tidings", and (I presume) we figure it out together... :)

Having attained a common understanding of "gospel", I continue...

"So then, Jesus Christ came preaching 'goodspiel'. What do you think this 'goodspiel' was?"

Fri May 30 2008 11:51 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

"Well, I reckon that it means if you can be good enough you can go to heaven, and if you slip up you can get a priest to forgive you, if you support the church right. So so long as you haven't done anything really terrible and unforgivable, you can get a clean slate and try again whenever you've got a bit for the collection plate."

--M. J. Young

Mon Jun 2 2008 12:03 am #
Oak
Member

I take in his words thoughtfully, and with interest.

"Why do you think Jesus died?"

Thu Jun 5 2008 12:13 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

"Oh, that's easy, isn't it? The Jews killed him. Nailed him to a cross, they did."

--M. J. Young

Thu Jun 5 2008 3:10 am #
Oak
Member

"Ah, but was it just because some people decided to do him violence?"

"Or did the LORD have a purpose behind it?"

Thu Jun 5 2008 7:00 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

"Well, don't the Lord have a purpose behind everything? I don't say as we knows what it is always, but we knows that it's there."

--M. J. Young

Sat Jun 7 2008 3:44 am #
Oak
Member

I nod in agreement, smiling.

"Yes, that is true. The LORD has a purpose behind everything."

"So what do you think was the LORD's purpose for having Jesus die?"

Sat Jun 7 2008 5:47 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

"Ah, that's the myst'ry, i'n'it? Who can know the mind o' th' Lord?"

--M. J. Young

Sun Jun 8 2008 8:46 pm #
Oak
Member

"The LORD tells us of Himself and His purposes through His Word, the Holy Bible."

"And as it is written by the prophet Isaiah, in the fifty-third chapter:"

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

"So the good news is that though we deserve death for our sins and rebellion against the LORD, Jesus Christ paid the price in our place. As the apostle Paul says in the second chapter of Ephesians:"

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

"We are saved by grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ. Not of works. Not of your works, such as giving money, or doing penance. Not of the works of some earthly 'priest'. But by the grace of God alone, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone."

"And *that*... is good news indeed, is it not?"

OOC: Feel free to fast-forward, if you wish... :)

Sun Mar 1 2009 5:15 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

I would be glad to fast forward, as soon as I manage to rewind sufficiently to recall where we are. A cursory reading suggests that you were making a tour of four villages where you had been asked to pray for the sick, and that you had left the second, west of the first (which is south of the camp of the Merry Men), and were journeying toward the third, southeast of the second. The fourth is northeast of the second.

We will jump to your arrival at the third village.

By the time you reach the southeastern village, the woods are growing dark.

--M. J. Young

Mon Mar 2 2009 2:30 am #
Oak
Member

I ask my companion about the patient we are to see (background information, etc.).

Then I proceed with the visit, and proceed in attempting to heal the patient, as I did in the first two villages...

OOC: Could you please post my current character sheet somewhere, so that I can also refresh my memory on what skills I have? :)

Mon Mar 2 2009 5:51 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator
Bedridden, protracted illness, abdominal pain sometimes very severe. He has been unable to do any work for most of the past year, and his color looks bad. Eating makes him hurt more, it seems, so he's been wasting away, caught between the pain of hunger and the pain of eating.

You pray for him, and he improves immediately. He is still weak, but he says the pain is gone and he feels like he could eat something.
--M. J. Young
Tue Mar 3 2009 1:16 am #
Oak
Member

I give thanks to the LORD, and give my blessing to the household.

Then I ask the one who desires my presence in the fourth village how long it will take to travel there, and what are the circumstances and condition of the patient there...

Tue Mar 3 2009 6:44 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

It would take a couple hours to get through the woods and over the fields to the remaining village, traveling in daylight. He has no idea whether he would even ever find the place in the dark, and is not eager to attempt to find his way through the forest at night.

The woman has had a bad cough for months, and has lost weight and is very weak but doesn't eat enough. She sometimes sweats even on cold nights, and sometimes shivers.

--M. J. Young

Tue Mar 3 2009 11:41 pm #
Oak
Member

OOC: What are our options for remaining here? Has anyone offered us a roof for the night? What does my companion seem inclined to do? :)

Wed Mar 4 2009 12:04 am #
M. J. Young
Moderator

Your companion is of the opinion that lodging for the night comes easily for any Christian traveling in these parts, "at least so long as he doesn't work for the shire reeve, and more so if he's connected to Robin. And for a saint, the difficult part will be making sure we don't offend someone by accepting hospitality from someone else."

The family of the man with the abdominal pain would be happy to give up their beds for the night, although your companion insists that you would be comfortable enough in the hay barn. Other members of the village are offering food, which your companion is accepting and sharing with the family of the sick man.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 5 2009 7:15 am #
Oak
Member

Even from someone not native to the culture, my companion's inclinations seem spot on.

I wholeheartedly follow his lead, contentedly settling in the hay barn for the night, and accepting and sharing the village offered food with the family of the sick man.

As opportunity presents itself, I get to know these people a bit as well as I am able. If it is appropriate, I encourage them from the Word of the LORD, and/or share a bit of song or story, and/or listen to theirs.

And on the morrow, I assume we head out to the remaining village, where I proceed to minister as before...

Thu Mar 5 2009 6:17 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

You settle into the hay barn. At first there are people around. Your companion suggests you keep an eye on your things, though--"as some of these might thing there be value in a stolen relic, like taking your old kerchiefs to use against future disease." The two of you wind up staying up a bit later than you'd have liked, and being tired in the morning. All your things appear to be accounted for, however.

You arrive at the next village before lunch.

I note that you frequently take the hour for your prayer and worship, which bonuses your healing skills, but you did not mention having done so this time. It could be that you are skipping that (the healings do work without it, and not doing it first allows you to get the second roll by doing it subsequently and returning), or that you did it when you awoke or when you arrived at the village. How you answer that might matter to your chance of success on the healing.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 5 2009 8:23 pm #
Oak
Member

Oops, I wrote that rather ambiguously. I meant that I am proceeding in my usual manner, which indeed includes my Quiet Time, starting the day in prayer...

Actually, however, sometimes I find it effective to have my prayer time not only when in the LORD's creation, but while walking through it. Walking in a temperate forest, feeling the breeze, hearing the birds singing, seeing the sunlight filtering through the leaves... such things would facilitate prayer for me.

Would having the Quiet Time while walking en route to the new village work within the scope of our more flexible rituals, or would that be considered a new skill?

I will attempt to have a quality prayer time while walking to the next village. If I feel like it wasn't a quality prayer time (distracted, etc.), then I'll take an hour just before arriving at the new village before proceeding to visit the new patient. If I feel like it was a quality prayer time, then I'll proceed directly to the new patient.

I will proceed as before in attempting to heal the patient. If I'm not successful, I'll proceed with my previous "unsuccessful healing of patient protocol" by going off for an extended prayer time, then returning to try again.

As before, I will give the house my blessing, encourage from the Word of the LORD, get to know the folks as well as I am able, perhaps share a story or song and/or listen to theirs, etc.

And when the time is right, I'll head back to Robin's camp, unless there are others who need me... :)

Thu Mar 5 2009 9:03 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

The ritual reads, "1@1 Bonus Healing Magic M+1@4 RS/5 bonus to all magic healing skills performed in the next RSx15 minutes, requires reading aloud from a bible and singing and praying with appropriate words for 1:00:00, +43SM". I note specifically that there are no body involvement components, and therefore it can be done sitting, kneeling, standing, walking, running, swimming, hanging upside down from a rope--as long as you have the ability to read aloud from a bible, sing, and pray, you can do this. No penalty for walking through the woods, although it might slow your travel just a tad when you're doing the reading part.

You feel the Lord's presence with you. Then you face a patient who has all the marks of "consumption"--tuberculosis. You pray, annointing him with oil, but see no improvement.

You ask for a place to spend some time in prayer, and spend another hour alone in prayer and worship. Then you emerge and again pray for the sick man, who this time begins to recover and asks for something to eat.

The villagers cheer.

--M. J. Young

Sun Mar 8 2009 3:13 am #
Oak
Member

"Let us give thanks unto the LORD for his grace and mercy."

"Dearest LORD, thank you that you are Sovereign, and have the power to heal and save our bodies as well as our souls."

"Thank you that you are so loving and gracious and merciful to us, that you would choose to do so today."

"Thank you that you offer new life to us freely through faith, as the apostle Paul writes in the book of Ephesians:"

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

"Thank you that you give us your Holy Scriptures, that through them we may know you, and know your will."

"Help us all to turn from our own rebellion and sins, and our own efforts to save ourselves, and forgive us when we seek salvation in anyone or anything else, except for your grace through the sacrifice of your son, Jesus Christ."

"Help us to follow you faithfully, and you alone, and use our restored bodies and souls from your healing and saving grace to please you."

"Thank you for hearing our humble prayers. We pray in the Name and Power of Jesus Christ... Amen."

As before, I will give the village my blessing, encourage from the Word of the LORD, get to know the folks as well as I am able, perhaps share a story or song and/or listen to theirs, etc.

And when the time is right, I'll head back to Robin's camp, unless there are others who need me... :)

Mon Mar 9 2009 3:31 pm #
M. J. Young
Moderator

There are indeed others who want you to travel with them to pray for their own sick loved ones. One wants you to travel east with him to another small village tucked into the eastern edge of the forest. The other wants you to come west with him, into Nottingham itself, the capital of Nottinghamshire in which Sherwood Forest is located, and the home of the castle of the Shire Reeve of Nottingham.

Your companion from Robin's camp dare not go with you there unless serious precautions are taken. He, like all the Merry Men, is wanted there, for opposition to the Crown. It is, after all, criminal to rob from the mostly Norman rich and give to the mostly Saxon poor. It is also criminal to give aid and comfort to the enemies of the Crown.

--M. J. Young

Thu Mar 12 2009 11:07 pm #
Oak
Member

I nod quietly.

"The LORD has sent me to help those in need, and there are many bodies and many souls in need of healing. Let us go, then, to those we hear of in need, and pray for His mercy and grace."

"Let us first go east to the small village together, friend Philip. After that, we shall part ways for a time, and I shall proceed onwards to the west with our Nottingham friend."

And so I give a final exhortation and blessing, and take my leave of our current village, and proceed to the eastern village.

As before, I attempt to get to know my new companions along the way. And when we arrive I proceed as before to seek the LORD's healing upon the afflicted one (repeatedly if necessary, as before), and to exhort and bless the family and villagers, and perhaps to share a song or story as appropriate.

And afterwards, I part ways with Philip, and head with my Nottingham companion westward...

Fri Mar 13 2009 1:59 am #

RSS feed for this topic

« Previous 1 234…7 Next »

Reply »

You must log in to post.