I'll offer him the appropriate greeting - salute, handshake, or what-have-you, seeing as I'm a commander myself - and then, "Thank you, sir. You're a bit far from our current office, it's true, but we're glad to lend the hand. I hope you don't mind my calling my team for a bit of a shake-down?" Wouldn't want to step on any toes if he feels I overstepped my jurisdiction.
Harry's Game
(1350 posts) (7 voices)-
"Oh, no, no, we're glad for the help. I was just surprised. Please, you've done a great job, do what you have to to finish up. Do you want some help packing, or anything?"
--M. J. Young
Fri Apr 16 2010 6:50 pm # -
Tarah is scraping the remaining dirt from the wagon, but she starts directing people to gather the buckets and shovels and other implements to the point on the street where she emptied the other gear.
I'm afraid the guy you are describing is rather nondescript--dark hair, dark eyes, looks like so many other watchmen. He narrows it down to any one of six who might have been here, and says he'll try to find out who it was. "But," he says, "my people aren't trained to enter burning buildings; we've always taught them to stay outside and safe, and fight the fire from the outside. I'm not sure what the captain will want to do about it."
--M. J. Young
Sun Apr 18 2010 10:14 pm # -
johnosevens
Member"I'm sure he'll find the right balance. Thank you," I'll shake hands and head off.
First person I need to talk to is Tarah. Give her a pat on the back. "Good work today. I know it's my day off, but do you need any more help?"
If she does, I'll help load shovels or whatever she wants.
If she doesn't, or when there are no more shovels to schlep, then it's time to go back to Arabella and resume our day on the town.
Mon Apr 19 2010 4:36 pm # -
"No, we've got it. Go take care of your wife, before she thinks you've run off with the fire department."
Arabella smiles as you approach. "So, this is what you do all day?" she teases. "We might need to buy more soap to get the smell of smoke out of your hair and clothes. Now, shall we get back to our groceries?"
--M. J. Young
Tue Apr 20 2010 7:54 am # -
johnosevens
Member"Yeah, I know, all work and no play..." And let Tara get back to her work.
I'll scoop Arabella up and give her a nice big hug, grinning all the while as I make her smell like smoke right along with me. "Looks like we'll need twice as much now. We'd better get started." And then, back to shopping.
Tue Apr 20 2010 1:42 pm # -
The rest of the shopping trip goes adequately well. A few times shopkeepers sniff the air, and one asks, "do you smell smoke?"
What else is on the agenda for your day off?
--M. J. Young
Tue Apr 20 2010 7:26 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberThe shipping office bank.
The grocery market.
The fish market.
The butcher.
And somewhere where we can buy some soap.Then I was going to take Arabella home and cook lunch, but seeing as how we now both smell like smoke, I'll suggest a hot bath first. So, a hot bath for two, then cooking. Unless there is anything else she had in mind?
Thu Apr 22 2010 1:16 pm # -
People frequently smell of smoke, considering that in order to get a hot bath you'll have to heat water over the fire in the kitchen. It's also rather a luxury to get more than one real bath a year because of the work involved in hauling and heating enough water to fill a tub. Usually people do something more on the order of what we today call a sponge bath, washing with a bucket of hot water and a wash rag. But you're the master of the house, and if you want to heat the water for a bath, your wife is not going to argue (unless of course you expect her to do all that work).
The tub is a bit cramped for two, but not impossibly so. It's a wooden half-cask that's kept in a closet when not in use; it's usually used in the kitchen, which has a stone floor and drains around the edges making it easier to clean the floor.
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 22 2010 8:21 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberI'll do the work to heat the water - after all, working with fire is sort of what I do. And if it's not impossibly cramped... it seems like a delightfully intimate thing to do, so, yes, I'll suggest that.
I think I'm also going to consider the idea of a genuine copper tub.
Mon Apr 26 2010 12:45 am # -
"Bathing together? Why, Mister Sevenwind, you come up with the most outrageously wonderful ideas." She does blush a bit when she says that, but she also hops in the tub with you, and you are impressed with just how beautiful she is with or without clothing--but I am going to fast-forward past the bath to the moment when you are both robed and she, somewhat disheveled, is headed to the kitchen to put something together from the groceries for a light supper.
--M. J. Young
Tue Apr 27 2010 1:34 am # -
"You did, didn't you? Well, then, if you're going to do that, I'm going to go--fix my hair and such."
She leaves you in the kitchen.
My recollection is that the way your schedule works your down time is always 40 hours. In a sense you have two days off, except that you start again one shift earlier. Backtracking, you returned to work on rotation day 3 on day shift, worked days 4 and 5, left work 4:00 on day 5 and had all of Day 6 to yourself, on which you wound up helping a nearby watch area fight a fire, and you go back at Midnight tonight to start your Day 7 shift. You've probably shorted yourself a bit on sleep, but since the fire was on day shift any cleanup that was unfinished would have been picked up on evening shift by Captain Peter and his crew, whom you will be relieving.
--M. J. Young
Tue Apr 27 2010 8:58 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberI'll make dinner out of some of the provisions we picked up today. Probably some form of stovetop fare, as I don't have a day to stew anything, nor the time to bake. Maybe some fresh fish. I make a mean salmon, especially with access to a cast-iron skillet. Just have to find me a fish that seems rather like salmon. I'd imagine I would be familiar with this world's fish after two years at sea, but who knows? Maybe what looks like a salmon cooks like an octopus, in which case I would be in a fix. But provided I can find a similar tasty fish, dinner is on.
If I seem short on sleep, I'll go into work an hour early and use the holy ground in my office to drop a Remove Fatigue.
Fri Apr 30 2010 1:46 pm # -
I would expect that after two years at sea you would at least be able to match the look of a saltwater fish to its flavor, even not having worked in medical at all.
You arrive at work early; Captain Peter asks if you know you're early and whether you're here to relieve him.
--M. J. Young
Sun May 2 2010 11:14 pm # -
I note that you have two remove fatigue spells, one personal and one group. However, the personal one specifies that you are lying supine in bed within the holy ground, and I do not recall there being a bed in your office; the group one is probably what you intended, and interestingly it requires one emerald for each person covered apart from the caster, so it doesn't require one when you're the only person covered. I presume you're using that one.
You restore yourself to a fully rested state, and relieve the captain of command so he can go get some sleep.
The gear from the fire has been cleaned but is not all repacked, so your team will have to finish that task. You also used the sand, so you'll have to refill the sacks to replace the wagon supply.
Otherwise, it looks like it will be a quiet night.
--M. J. Young
Sat May 8 2010 1:14 am # -
johnosevens
MemberActually I do have a cot in my office, mostly for this exact purpose, and I meant the other one, but the result is the same either way.
I'll get the team going. I don't terribly mind shoveling sand myself, but I'm going to do some paperwork first. Mostly just writing down things I want to discuss with Captain Peter next time he and I actually get to sit down and discuss things.
1: Funding. How are we doing on money? Have we been able to secure any money from the city on our own or do I still have to go beg the General to keep our doors open every now and then?
2: Pumps. I like Brandy's idea for equipping one of our horse-drawn wagons with a pump to draw water directly out of the harbor and pressurize it into a hose. Since we work near the docks often enough anyway, it seems a worthy investment. I want to talk with someone down on the harbor about it - the guys who build bilge pumps for ships ought to be able to build this, too.
3: I want to see what his impression of our operation so far is, and if he has any input or updates or anything he wants to see done differently.
Mon May 10 2010 1:51 am # -
A glance at the schedule reminds that you see the captain frequently--you relieved him at midnight when you started your shift, and will do so again tonight (day 8) and the next two nights (9 and 10). Then on day 11 he relieves you at eight in the morning, and you're off from then until four o'clock on the afternoon of day 13, when you relieve him, first of three days in a row that you relieve him at that time, and then he's off again on day 16 but relieves you at midnight on day 17--it appears that every shift you work, either you relieve him or he relieves you, except for day 4, which he does not work at all and you work day shift between Matt and Tarah.
So any day you want to talk to him while he's working, you either come in a bit early or go home a bit late.
--M. J. Young
Tue May 11 2010 6:17 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI think my best option would be to come in an hour early again tomorrow night, and meet with him then. Probably least disruptive to Arabella. (The least disruptive to her overall would be to stay an hour late on Day 17, seeing as she'll be asleep by the time I get home and won't care if that's midnight or 1 AM, but I'd rather not let things like performance evaluations and water pumps wait another nine days if I don't have to.) So I'll leave him a note for when he comes in tomorrow, and see him before he leaves.
Tue May 11 2010 4:24 pm # -
There's still a bit of facilities and equipment money left, but not a lot; all firemen are on the payroll as watchmen, so the salaries are covered. Fortunately, sand and water are free.
The problem with pumps seems to be that they all use pipes--whether hollowed wood like the bilge pumps or clay or metal like those in the wells, long sealed pipes are an essential requirement.
With two fires successfully extinguished, and one of those outside the test area, he thinks the concept is proving itself. In any case, the captain of the local watch of the second fire is very impressed and suggesting that more fire companies be created.
--M. J. Young
Wed May 12 2010 1:56 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI think more fire companies are a good idea, but a bit premature considering facilities and equipment are expensive and the concept is still proving itself, rather than proven itself. I think it might be a better idea, for now, to have a trained fire squad as a function of each department instead.
SO, that said, I will suggest to the Captain that we invite each department to send a handful of people at a time to us for specialized training. They can benefit from our experiences, and we can go to the off site to set up a controlled burn for them to put out as practice. I can give them some lecture on the proper management of accelerants, how to prevent blowback and flashover, how to handle smoke, and so forth. Offer them a crash course, as it were, so that each department that wants one can at least have a handful of people who know what they're doing, until we can secure enough funding to really establish widespread operations. I'd like to give the whole program at least a year to work the kinks out before I go back to the General with talk of expansion in my jaws.
Pumps don't necessarily have to use pipes, though. After all, the fire hoses back home are made of layers of fabric. I'm sure my father-in-law could duplicate something like that - a dense, pressure-resistant, relatively waterproof inner layer (tar-saturated wool or sailcloth, perhaps?), punctured with pinholes every so often, to release water a little at a time into a water-absorbent outer layer (I'm thinking some more wool or linen) in order to protect the hose itself from burning. This would be woven in tubular form so as not to present any seams for pressure to break through.
With the good Captain's approval, I'll write up a proposal for just such a thing and send it on to Jacob. Something to pique his curiosity a bit.Wed May 12 2010 10:16 pm # -
The captain is intrigued by the notion of waterproof/fireproof hoses, and approves the exploration of such a product. He agrees that additional fire companies are premature, but is uncertain whether the notion of training members of local watches is practical. For one thing, that's a step back toward having the local watch handle fires instead of having the special unit do so.
--M. J. Young
Thu May 13 2010 2:26 am # -
johnosevens
MemberThen when our meeting is done, I'll write up a proposal for such a material and send it by courier to Jacob, along with a formal request for an estimate.
I agree - upon further examination that does seem to be a backward step. What would he suggest, seeing as we need more coverage but can't afford to expand just yet?
Fri May 14 2010 2:23 pm # -
The Captain thinks it good that the service is in demand and proving itself. He can tell the General that expansion has to be slow and measured if it's to work well, but that the two fires already managed are proof of the concept. The next logical step is to open a few more stations, promoting some of our people to head them, replacing them here with new recruits, and getting those new people trained; but we want to make sure the people we're sending are fully trained before we have them training others, and that will take a few months, in all probability.
The other question is whether it would be better to build outward from the center point, or scatter coverage all around the city. The latter has the advantage that fire companies could respond to fires beyond their official coverage area, as we did yesterday (which is now for you the day before), but that's also a disadvantage, as the more effectively the city is covered the less urgency there is to expand the coverage, and we might wind up with coverage areas for each unit larger than they can manage and little hope of getting more units on line.
--M. J. Young
Sun May 16 2010 6:37 am # -
johnosevens
MemberI fully agree with his assessment that expansion has to be slow. I'll put forth the idea of training our current shift heads to function as station heads. I would ask each of them to pick someone they trust to succeed them as a shift supervisor, and occasionally - perhaps one shift a week - let them shadow us, and their successors shadow them, instead of their normal duties, to give them a feel for what the next higher level looks like. That would give us, what, two more station heads (Matt and Tarah) ready to go in a relatively short time? I think going from one to three is a good first expansion. Maybe set Matt up near somewhere residential, like in a poorer district where fire is more immediately a matter of lives, and Tarah somewhere more industrial where her adaptable thinking will come in handy. I also want to put an official commendation in Tarah's file - the hoses and pumps were her idea.
As for how to do it, I think it's a matter of building them as needed and then studying their effects. Areas that are harder to cover - farther away, inaccessibly complex streets, and so forth - would get the next round of expansions, followed by wealthier areas where property damage is an immediate concern once the areas of human life interest are covered. So, in theory I lean more toward the 'scatter them around' approach rather than the 'march from the center' approach. There might be areas relatively nearby who don't actually need us but would wind up getting expansions long before areas that need us much more that way.
Mon May 17 2010 8:09 pm # -
"John, you're not thinking that clearly. You're the obvious candidate for captain of a new unit--you came from being a junior officer already to being Commander here. Matt and Tarah are definitely in the wings for these positions, but I think we're going to have to focus on an accelerated advancement in the ranks as it is.
"Probably what we're looking at is opening a second unit probably nearer one of the extreme ends of town--I agree, getting help to the largest area works best if we scatter our units. One of us, probably I, will stay here and the other, you, will take the new unit, along with a promotion to captain. Matt and Tarah will have to be promoted to Commander, one of them under you, the other under me, and each of us will take half the current squad and fill in the rest with new recruits, some drawn as these were from the existing watch units in the area, some from elsewhere. We'll each pick a couple new shift supervisors from the people we have, and build up the new people until we're ready to split again. Matt and Tarah become captains of the two new units, the shift supers become commanders, and we move more people into shift supervisor positions.
"I think perhaps six months is a good guess for when we make the next step--long enough that your promotion, although meteoric, will not be unacceptable under the circumstances. We should think about whether you take Matt or Tarah--you've worked with both, but more closely with Matt since Tarah is always shift leader when she's working. We'll have to talk about who goes with whom, whether it should be mostly based on those with whom we've more often worked or better to mix them more. But we've got some time to consider that."
--M. J. Young
Mon May 17 2010 11:02 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberDamn it. I don't want to be shifted off to some off-site! With my luck I'll wind up being the one working the slums. But I can't exactly tell him I want to hold out for this command. It would be easy to say that to the General, but how do you tell a man you won't take a promotion until you can take his job? Damn it.
Well, better to be all gung-ho now and bicker over things like that later. Too damn much work to do to devolve into in-fighting.
Wait a second... he did just say he was going to make me Captain. "Thank you, sir. I hope to continue to serve well."
"Alright... Six months isn't quite as much time as I'd like for developing all of these people - myself included - that far. Beyond the fact that we need to set some very specific goals for ourselves, my initial thought is, this:
"I've worked with Matt more often, but he's... he's a follower, not a progressive. If I'm going to be starting a new office, reinventing this place from the ground up again, I'll need Tarah and her way of thinking. Like you said, she's been a shift supervisor pretty much constantly, which means that a promotion to first officer of a new unit is more appropriate for her, as it puts her within striking distance of a command of her own as soon as she's ready.
"You're continuing this place and building on what we've already established, and I think Matt would be good for you that way - he follows orders and has enough of a way with people to make a good first officer. Plus, after the split, he can get in some more shift supervisor experience and you can build him up here for as long as you feel he needs to be ready for command."If we're looking to open two new offices in six months, we should look at a map now and decide where we want to put them. Six months isn't a lot of time to raise two offices worth of building and equipment funding, and we have to make sure the General will approve additional payroll. Either way, we need to do some serious fundraising, and we need to start now if we want to be able to buy and repurpose two buildings in six months."
If I have a city map handy, I roll it out and give it a good long look-over. This would be a good time for him to interrupt my rambling if he has a new train of thought.
Otherwise I'll go right back into it.
"I would say the best places for our new units are here," indicating a corner about a block away from a small plaza in poorer quarter, "Average streets for that area means we won't over-build our equipment, and our people can get used to working in close quarters with the population. We'll need people with extensive riot- and looter-control for that outpost. And... here," indicating a building on a main street in the factory district, about two blocks from the river, "where we can use the old-fashioned bilge pipes to provide the building itself with water and silt for the wagons, and get our people out to the factories as quickly as possible. This is also a very major street to put an office on, so the team that goes there can get some good public exposure now that this program is starting to warrant it. We'll need officers with public relations skills for that office."
The one in the factory district is also relatively nearby to Jacob's manufacturing holdings, so Arabella can have her entire family within practically a stone's throw if I'm assigned there, but I'm not making a point of mentioning that.
Tue May 18 2010 1:50 pm # -
One new office in six months. The concept is that you will be promoted to captain, and you and Captain Peter will be heads of the two fire stations; Matt and Tarah will each be promoted to commander to work as seconds in command of the two offices. Then maybe eight or nine months later (I'm figuring you've been in the fire business two or three months already at this point) you split again, making Matt and Tarah captains so there are four offices, and appointing new commanders from the shift supervisors and new shift supervisors from the experienced watchmen.
Given that, which location would you pick for one new office?
--M. J. Young
Wed May 19 2010 3:16 am # -
You had this conversation at midnight on day 8 as you were arriving for work (actually, an hour before, as you were relieving the captain). At midnight on Day 11 you relieve Matt, according to the schedule.
Just before eight in the morning, Captain Peter arrives to relieve you. You're chatting; you aren't due back until the evening shift of day 13, at four o'clock, and you expect that Arabella has already made plans that will begin with breakfast and fill the day and a good part of the night.
But as you are chatting, someone rushes into the station. You are aware that there was the sound a moment ago of a horse galloping, and it stopped right outside.
"There's," the breathless man starts, then tries again, "There's a fire. Center City. Near headquarters."
Center city is almost five miles away from here.
--M. J. Young
Wed May 19 2010 10:55 pm # -
johnosevens
Member"Center city... Great gods..."
If we've done whatever our transfer-of-duty dance is, I'll stay on and let Captain Peter run things. If I'm still in charge, I'll take charge and start giving orders. Send out the whistles for the rest of the Fire Watch. Get everyone on this. Meanwhile, everyone here is not going off-shift, they're getting their asses in gear. I want every wagon mobilized now, dammit, five miles is going to take too sodding long as it is. Meanwhile, I ask that messenger to take time to catch his breath, then please take word to the families of each of the people I just kept for overtime, my own wife included, to let them know that we're all working late tonight. He can tell his Captain I kept him for the fire effort, and meanwhile not work himself to death when I can clearly tell the poor sap must have sprinted the better part of five miles to get here.
Thu May 20 2010 12:53 am # -
It is just before formal shift change.
The captain seemed to be uncertain about whether to respond to a fire so far out of the area, but he immediately rallies when you take the initiative. He addresses his incoming shift, telling them you're in charge and there is a fire in center city, and the team will be responding.
Whistles start blowing immediately. The wagons are packed and ready, and someone is hitching up the horses to get them moving.
"Where?" someone shouts.
"Near headquarters," Peter replies. "That's what we know at this point; I suspect when we get closer we'll know more.
"What kind of fire?"
"We don't know that yet, either. Take everything."
Then to you, "Do we leave someone here to direct stragglers to the fire, or have you a better plan for that?"
--M. J. Young
Thu May 20 2010 9:29 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberIdeally I would leave him behind. He's getting off-shift anyway which means he'll be tired. He's also ranking officer, so he would be the ideal rally point here but might cause confusion there.
"We're sending up the whistles. That should get everyone here. Ideally... ... I'd like you to stay. You're the best one for people to rally to here. They know your rank and they know you're incoming shift leader, so they'll be looking for you. And if a ranking officer shows up on-scene at a department that's not used to how we do things, it might cause confusion with them looking at you and our people looking at me. Would you be willing to wait here and join us with the stragglers?"
Fri May 21 2010 1:47 pm # -
"Giving me the easy job, hey? Or are you looking to impress the brass?" His smile tells you that he's teasing you on this point. "You're going to need all the help you can get, I expect, so I'll send people as they arrive, and in half an hour I'll follow myself. Don't worry; I know how not to interfere with a command structure."
The wagons are out the door, the night crew and part of your team going with them.
--M. J. Young
Fri May 21 2010 10:10 pm # -
johnosevens
Member"Every little bit helps," I tease back, buffing my nails on my coat as though looking all haughty, but still grinning. "I'll look forward to having you. Thank you, sir."
Then I am out the door with the crew, jogging along until I can hop onto a wagon myself.
Mon May 24 2010 8:37 pm # -
What with metal tools, sacks of sand, barrels of water, empty buckets, ladders, and everything else, there really isn't room on the wagons for people, so it's a jog to the site. You're in good shape, but you and most of your crew are a bit winded on arrival.
You catch your breath while surveying the scene. A large four-story office building seems to be at the center of the conflagration, and the fire has spread to the buildings on either side and behind, but not yet to the buildings diagonally adjacent. The local watch is attempting to throw water on it the old-fashioned way, pumping it from a well across the street and carrying individual buckets to the fire. Your people are catching their breath, trying to do so without the smoke making their situation worse.
--M. J. Young
Tue May 25 2010 10:35 pm # -
johnosevens
MemberI don't have time for a Remove Fatigue... or do I? Nothing says I need to sacrifice components right in front of me. Maybe this will work...
While the others catch their breaths, I pray under my breath. The words matter but not the sound. I figure it'll be two minutes before anyone interrupts me, so I pray for two minutes. One eye closed for Odin, a gold piece in my left hand for Loki, which rest on my sword for Thor, right hand over my heart for Tyr. I pray to give my people vigilance, fill their lungs with pure air, and let them work like men possessed to save those who count on us. To that end, I will set the magic to consume gold from my storage at the Bank sufficient to pay for room at a common inn for the full... dozen or so of my men who arrive with me, myself included. This is intended only as a Remove Fatigue spell - despite the bit about pure air it does not twin-link a Remove Impurities spell.
Whether that works or not, two minutes is all I need to catch my breath and start projecting like the actor I am:
"Get those men in line!"
"Bucket brigades, focus on the outlying buildings! Let's keep this on a leash!"
"Ladder wagon, get those buckets higher!"
"Men on-scene, take your rest." I'll try to split the people already fighting the fire between crowd control and getting buckets onto the buildings not yet afire, so that they will not become afire and make our jobs worse.Once I get everyone scurrying, I'll cast my eyes up at the building and activate my Telescopic Vision psionic power; I want to make sure there's nobody still in that inferno.
And once again I'll start tapping with the butt of my axe to set a working rhythm. It works at sea, why not here?
Wed May 26 2010 9:51 pm # -
Looking over your spell description, I'm not certain whether you intend it to be a new variant modeled on the existing skills or whether the familiar description means you're performing one of the existing skills (in which case I should be able to match it to the version I have and use its numbers).
I'm a bit uncertain about the part in which you "sacrifice" an amount of gold that you have on deposit. Banks don't really work that way (except maybe Gringotts)--there isn't a vault here that contains Harry's gold. Instead there are account books that are updated by courier so that all the offices of the bank know how much you have on deposit, and you can withdraw gold from any one of them from the common pool.
Thus if you are "sacrificing" your gold, you must be remotely altering the books to indicate a transaction; but if you are sacrificing "actual" gold, there's no particular way to know that it's yours.
So I'm curious as to how you would address this bit. (I would roll for whether the banks in this world are like Grigotts, but since we know that you can withdraw money here that was deposited in Sardic, we know that they're not.)
--M. J. Young
Thu May 27 2010 5:59 am # -
johnosevens
MemberAh but that would be addressing means rather than outcome, and I am not an arcane caster. The gods know which way works best within the bias curve of this world, and which they consider a more acceptable sacrifice - maybe some actual gold goes missing, and a clerk makes a bank error to my detriment that never gets discovered?
(Hypothetically speaking, if I were an arcane caster, I would sacrifice actual gold, and let the clerks catch up with it later. If I had to address means rather than outcome.)
Thu May 27 2010 1:25 pm # -
Hypothetically speaking, if you were to sacrifice someone else's gold I'm not sure I would give it the same value if it's not in your possession. That is, if you broke into the king's treasury and used a handful of what was his gold for your spell, I'd count it as you having stolen it and used it; but if you were in Nottingham and you decided to cast your spell and include the sacrifice of a bit of gold from the King's treasury in London, I'd be hard-pressed to allow that.
Now, if you happen to have the requisite amount of gold in a wallet at home, I could permit you to sacrifice that gold; but if you're going to sacrifice "your" gold that is in the bank, it's going to have to incorporate the spells necessary to cause the gold to be debited from your account to make it yours, and I'm not certain you can do that in this world.
In other words, the specific pieces of gold that you sacrifice do not need to be in your immediate presence, but they do need to be within your possession and sphere of control.
Otherwise, you're right, I have no specific problem with you sacrificing objects you own which are not in your immediate presence, if they are to be destroyed in the casting. (I would not agree that you can incorporate material objects in the casting which are not in your presence and are not being destroyed. My rationale here is that if you are destroying a material object and not doing anything else specifically with it including not destroying it in a specific fashion (e.g., burning the incense), it doesn't matter how far from the object you are as long as it is within your sphere of control--you could destroy gems in a safe deposit box downtown, if it's your safe deposit box and all that matters is that the gods take possession of the gems, but if the objects are to be used in a manner that does not involve their sacrifice, even if they are simply to be present for the casting, then they must be where you could touch them if you chose.
I'm not certain whether you have more gold diktar at home, but I suspect you withdrew some at some point for household expenses and probably did not spend it all, if you want to try that course.
--M. J. Young
Thu May 27 2010 10:30 pm # -
Second post.
It occurs to me that you could include the promise of sacrifice as a component, which does not really give you a materials bonus but should give you some kind of bonus (which I would have to think about for a while and work out how that would work). It would also oblige you to make the sacrifice, and might inhibit your spellcasting abilities until you have done so.
--M. J. Young
Thu May 27 2010 10:32 pm # -
While that's not an unreasonable solution, I am somewhat inclined to think that the penalty ought to increase with time--if you pay your debt in an hour it should be less of a burden than if you pay your debt in a week. I think, though, that the best penalty will be a per spell penalty--easier to count the number of times you call upon the gods than the length of time that passes.
I've got another problem with the stated material component. You define it as
gold from my storage at the Bank sufficient to pay for room at a common inn for the full... dozen or so
We've resolved the part about it being from the bank by replacing it with a promise to destroy the gold later. The problem is that the quantity is non-specific, and in a way that will cause it to fluctuate. That is, I could guess that the price of a private room at an inn for a night is something between ten and twenty five gold diktar; I could be specific about it, but it comes to the fact that gold is not that valuable in this world but rooms are rather cheap. But were you to come to this world, a room is probably fifty to sixty dollars a night and a two-ounce gold coin would be worth near a thousand dollars, so one coin would be sufficient to pay for all the rooms for a dozen people and then some. In another world, gold could be absolutely worthless such that you don't have enough diktar to pay for a single room.My solution is to fix the amount of gold you are spending per person; but my decision is inherently arbitrary, and your character needs to be able to know how much gold to sacrifice.
There is the separate question of how you will sacrifice it. I'm inclined to say it ought to be thrown in the harbor or otherwise discarded in a fashion that prevents its recovery (the fire is a bad choice because the gold will remain in the ashes). I don't worry about that when you're allowing material components to be consumed in the casting, because I don't like to hassle with the distinction between a candle you burn or a leaf you eat or a rock you crush or don't crush but simply expect to have disintegrate in the process. But the ability to destroy the coins later suggests that you would have to cast another spell to destroy them, and I'm not certain such a spell is possible in this world (or more precisely, I'm not thinking right now of how you might be able to do that).
I would say you could sacrifice it by giving it to a religious leader or order, but there aren't any in this world. I'm open to other suggestions.
--M. J. Young
Sat May 29 2010 5:56 am #
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