I'm purposely not just Googling this so I won't contaminate what I know in-game. I think it has to do with being able to tell how far east-west you are by comparing when it's noon to you, relative to when it's noon in, say, Liverpool, or Sardic.
Indeed, not only does MJ know, but MJ's wife is directly descended from the Harrison who invented the clock that solved the problem, which story recurs on the Discovery Channel from time to time--pun not intended. He solved the problem by incorporating four pendulums geared together swinging one ninety degrees out of synch with each other, so that the effect of the sway of the deck one one pendulum would be exactly opposite to the same sway on its opposite, and the clock would keep consistent time.
He spent the better part of his life trying to claim the king's prize (for solving the longitude problem), because the prize committee did not want to give the prize to a journeyman clockmaker who had found a way to keep accurate time at sea, but was hoping some nobleman or scholar would devise an astronomical solution. No such astronomical solution has been devised, although theoretically if you could measure moon position with much greater accuracy than we can currently, you should be able to determine the very slight change in moonrise times.
Are you actually keeping a journal (some players do, and they're fascinating to read, so feel free to post it if you are) or are you just stating that your character is doing so?
Your improvement means you room with the other pilot; there is the pilot commander plus two pilots, of which you are one. Someone has to be at the helm around the clock, although in emergencies the captain or first mate will do the job. You will frequently pull night shift, although for that, since the Chief Pilot and Chief Navigator are, respectively, second and third officers, the chief pilot is often up a good part of the night anyway.
You get through thirty days uneventfully; navigation is estimating three more weeks.
--M. J. Young
For now I'm just declaring it in character. For the most part, not enough happens on a daily or weekly basis to really justify actually writing one. We're just not playing that level of detail. Which isn't a problem for me, really, it just also means there's not much to write about.
Taking the night shift doesn't trouble me, but it does inspire me for another psionic vision mode (I'm going to be the king of these some day): Night Vision. Sure. I'll try that - a basic light-amplifying night vision, like the way cats see, but in color (since I see in color normally). Might come in handy if I can get this one right.
Can my psionic accuracy be used to help me keep an accurate course at the helm? I mean, aiming a gun or aiming a ship is all just a matter of scale, isn't it? I'll try that, too. Gives me something to do while I'm otherwise just keeping the ship steady.
You accomplish the night vision, with some difficulty; it's not as clear as day, but it does give some sense of color in the dim light.
Concerning your suggested use of 1@1 Heightened Awareness (Accuracy) P 3@1 to pilot a ship, the way I see this skill working is that you are able to perceive and process the position of a target much more quickly and accurately than normal, and thus to "get a bead" easily. Explain to me how that same skill translates to piloting the ship, being mindful that you probably cannot see what is directly ahead over the prow but are relying on information from navigators and deck hands.
--M. J. Young
I see your point. I can't really come up with a good answer for that, it just seemed to me that being able to lock in one thing based on line of effect would translate at least a little into locking in another thing based on a somewhat longer line of effect, but I suppose not if it's supposed to be based on a sort of "instant math" style.
At least with night vision I can see where I'm going a bit more easily. Hopefully I won't do something foolish like crashing into an iceberg on my first voyage. Steady as she goes, then, and straight on till morning... or something.
... In fact I should probably switch my Telescopic Vision on every so often, just to make sure there really isn't an iceberg or a coral reef or a float of seaweed or something out there ahead of us. Not that I expect the more experienced pilots and navigators would plot me a course through such a thing, but who can predict an iceberg or a float of seaweed? So I'll do that. Keeping my Night Vision on, once every hour or so I'll spend a few minutes zooming in to make sure the way ahead is clear.
In the mean time, I pass the time between input from the navigators and deck hands quietly singing my seafaring songs.
You emerge to the deck one night, about to take your turn at the wheel, and give your vision a whirl. To your surprise you see a ship coming up fast on the port stern, dark sails hiding in the dark sky, under full sail to catch you.
It is evident that they will close the gap in a minute.
--M. J. Young
Great gods! I point it out. Does anyone else see that? I point it out to the other pilot, to the navigators, the captain, anyone I can get my hands on.
By the time you find someone to point it out, the ship is alongside.
"You've got good eyes," he says. "ALL HANDS ON DECK! WE'RE BEING BOARDED!"
And even as he says it, armed men start leaping from the other ship with ropes, securing these to your gunnels.
--M. J. Young
Already? Great gods.
My smallsword won't be much use for cutting ropes. I have a hatchet in my backpack - at least I think I have a hatchet in my backpack, as it was where I normally stored it - but fat good that would do me either.
I retreat against the aftcastle and look around at the enemy ship, seeing if I can pick out their captain, or at least whoever seems to be coordinating their boarding effort. Someone who seems to be barking orders. While I'm looking, I'll rest a hand on my pistol.
If I can pick him out, I'm going to try to trigger my Psionic Accuracy (hoping dry-fire practice has been helping me be able to turn that on reliably, like my other psionic vision modes), and then use my Pistol Gunslinging to take the shot and try to more or less assasinate their captain, or at least their boarding commander, outright.
Cuz this is my house, and that's what you get.
If I can't pick him out, I'll switch to smallsword. If I can, I'll switch to my smallsword after I take the shot.
Either way I do plan to use my battle prayer - "Thor guide me. Put strength in my hands and rage in my heart, to defend my friends and break my enemies" - for increased accuracy with the smallsword. No sense using it on the pistol when I only get the one shot with it.
You scan the chaos, but no one emerges as particularly in charge of coordinating this; rather, the boarders seem to have some well-practiced techniques they are following, working together more like a basketball team, each doing his part.
You feel the assurance of your ability as you pray your prayer; you will enter this battle fiercely and powerfully.
--M. J. Young
I'll save my bullet for their captain. For now I will draw my sword and prepare for battle.
Are they using planks like the last batch did? If so I want to TK Pulse their planks into the water before they anchor them.
Are they swining over on ropes? In which case I want to get under where their ropes are swinging and begin stabbing people as they swing over.
Are there pirates aboard already? In which case I pray, "Thor protect me!" and dive into the fray. A stabbity doom awaits you!
I don't suppose I have time to go below for more ammo, so I really go only have the one round chambered and perhaps a handful of shots on me, however many is normal for a man with a gun to carry (as I surely would've found out spending three weeks in the company of other gunmen). Alas. I should've liked to be able to strike at range.
Wait. That gives me an idea. Do any of the pirates swinging in have guns in their belts? If so, I want to attempt a Marionette Telekinesis based on my TK pulse, to pull their triggers one by one and shoot them where it just ain't decent.
The pirates already aboard swung over on ropes or leapt the gap; they also brought ropes with them to secure to the rails. The others are pulling the ships closer using (hand-driven) winches on their deck to draw the ropes tight so that they can step or hop across the narrowing gap. They, at their main deck, are level with your main deck; your forecastle and aftcastle are both higher than theirs.
It is not typical to reload a gun in the sort of combat you do aboard ship--it takes a good minute to do it, what with pouring everything down the barrel in sequence and tapping it all down with the ramrod. Musketeers will do that in combat, because they fight in lines; but in the chaos of a boarding, you take the one shot and switch to the sword, or save the shot for when you need it. You will have between two and five extra loads in your pouch, but they don't travel well so you don't usually carry more than you expect to need.
Before you engage your first pirate, you think of trying the marionette telekinesis. You are unable to focus on separate points on the same object.
Wading into the fray, you meet your first pirate and lay him low before he can strike. Another comes in on your flank, and you easily block his attack, and then injure him, but he is still fighting.
--M. J. Young
I say my armoring prayer, "Thor protect me!" sword in hand in the heat of battle, as it feels more appropriate now that I'm actually fighting, and then focus on the injured pirate, aiming to finish him off.
Then it's time to look for a new pirate to fight, and a group of crewmen from our side to link up with, all while trying not to get stabbed in the spleen on the way. Not so hard, right?
You trade misses with this opponent, and then deal a fatal blow.
Pirates are now pouring over the rail, and it is at this point you and two deck hands defending--and the deck hands are using boarding pikes, which are stored on the deck and so were at hand. In seconds you are facing three pirates, and wondering where security is.
--M. J. Young
Are either of the deck hands hurt? If so I'll peg the wounded one to "Go below! Find security and alert the captain! By all the gods get more men up here!"
If not, I peg whichever of them is closer to the stairs to the same end.
Where the hell is everybody?
Back to back with either one or two deck hands, I'll continue to fight the pirates, aiming to polish them off as quickly as I can.
I also want to try a spell. I have one for armor and one for accuracy, now I need one to deal more damage.
I say, "May the venom of a thousand serpents flow through my blade, and the frailty of ages cripple your bones." Intended weapon in hand, same casting time as my other spells, in the heat of battle, appropriate words spoken in English aloud such that sound matters. Alliance holy magic, as serpents and old age are symbols of punishment and defeat in Norse symbolism. If I can claim my sword as a focus, I do, otherwise having it in my right hand (only!) counts as part of the spell.
Neither of them are injured, and it's clear that the alarm has been raised--it's just taking a while to roust and organize a defense in the middle of the night.
To use an object as a magical focus for holy magic, you have to identify it as a holy symbol. This requires either that it be permanently blessed in a very elaborate ritual by someone of considerable magical ability, or that it spend many years as the personal possession of some supremely holy person.
You can make a sword an element in a spell; you can even narrow it to "this sword" if you wish. Its value as an element of the spell will in part be determined by how difficult it would be to replace it if something happened to it. A sword being a manufactured object already has some value (more than the single point which is given for material components that are pretty much ubiquitous).
What is the definition of the weapon in hand? Will any weapon suffice, or do you wish for it to be more narrowly defined?
--M. J. Young
I'll go whole-hog and narrow it to this sword, as it's sort of my signature weapon anyway.
You shout your curse at them, and they shout curses back at you. You silence one of them permanently, and sidestep one swipe while parrying another, and then swing very close to one of your adversary's ears--but he dodges skillfully.
--M. J. Young
I find it odd that I can bonus my armor and accuracy but not damage. Very odd indeed.
As he dodges, I TK Pulse him, aiming to throw him off balance as I press the attack. Of course, have to watch out for the other guy, but not much I can do about that just now. Have to trust to man to my left to keep him off me a moment longer.
Oh for a crew drilled in squad tactics! It makes my Greek heart weep.
I'm going to have to have a talk with Security if I live through this...
As a technical point, you can bonus your damage by bonusing your accuracy, because of the single-roll hit-and-damage system. That is, if your chance to hit is 40% with a lethal attack, you can do 1 to 8 intensities of damage, and your average damage is 4.5 per successful attack, 1.8 per swing. Add 10% to your chance to hit, and your damage range goes 1 to 10, your average damage per successful attack is 5.5, and your average damage per swing is 2.75. You do more damage because you hit not only more frequently but potentially harder. What you cannot do is bonus your damage directly--which would be a much more significant bonus to the amount of damage you are doing.
You shove the dodging man with your mind, and he loses his balance and tumbles to the deck. That leaves you one of the original adversaries and a new one filling the gap left by the dead man.
--M. J. Young
I aim to stab the new guy, aiming to take him by surprise while he's not fully in position yet. I'll use my Kiai, too. It seems appropriate. I'm sorta counting on the man to my left, and the fact that I'm wrapped in a big black cloak, to keep the other guy off me. Hopefully if he does get to attack, he'll hit nothing but divine magic and cloak...
They swing first; but the new guy is put off balance by your lunge and drops his sword. You miss him, but on the return swipe manage to put a minor stab on the other.
There are sounds of help coming; at least, you hope it's help coming.
--M. J. Young
He's no threat without a sword, but he will be when he picks it up. Let the other guy reel from me having just stabbed him. I'll finish off the disarmed one. If I kill him with one stab, I focus on the armed one with the other, otherwise I focus on him till he is well and truly stabbed.
You get nicked by a swing from the guy you ignored, but skewer the disarmed man; then you turn back on the man who hit you and slice his throat wide open.
More pirates are coming, but you now see Brown, the number two man in security, coming into view with another security guy, another deck hand, and a medic in tow.
--M. J. Young
I'll rally my two deck-hands and get into position to meet the next wave of pirates with a wall of pointy. While we wait for them to swing in, I'll try again to pick out their captain and if I do, then I will shoot him. If I don't, then I will wait for the pirates to swing in and wall-of-pointy them.
You get a glimpse of someone shouting orders on the other deck, but he's a good sixty or seventy feet from you (and medium range for this weapon probably doesn't go past forty or fifty feet--it's an unrifled barrel, after all). However, you are not waiting for more pirates to board--they're here, they're just a bit disorganized and so you get a few seconds respite before the next ones are on you.
You shout to the deck hands to form a wall, and suddenly you find yourself standing between Balcon on your left and Brown on your right. The flash of their swords is so fast it is almost embarrassing to you, but they are engaging the enemy, and the battle just got a bit easier for you.
You lunge into the nearest pirate, and bring him down. You draw back your blade, looking for another target, but Brown has already brought down three and Balcon is attacking his fifth, and the pirates are now trying to skirt your defenses--a line which is widening across the deck as the rest of security and deck finds spaces.
"You all right, Mr. John?" Balcon asks. "We brought a medic."
Your injuries are at this point very minor.
--M. J. Young
I give Balcon a nod. "I'm fine." The pirates are trying to skirt us. That's not good. I tell my two deck-hands, "Get to the top of the stairs and hold that hatch. If any of those pirates get around our lines, I don't want them having the run of the place." After all, if they're not carrying hatchets or axes, it's not likely they're going after the masts or the rigging. They'll be trying to hurt our men and damage our ship, and we can't have that...
I look to Balcon and Brown. "You two saw what Walter and I started last time. What say we give 'em another? Show these pirate scum what they get for attacking us in our home."
If the two of them are with me, I want to start looking for a way to get onto the pirate deck.
If they've drawn in close enough to just jump across, let's have at it.
If they need ropes, let's grab some of theirs, and have at it.
If they're too far to do anything, then I want to TK Pulse their entire sodding ship a yard or so closer, and have at it. (I already know I can TK pulse big things from pushing around those armored canoe things that one time.)
If Balcon and Brown aren't with me, then let's set about mopping up our own deck. I want to angle my fighting to get me closer to the pirate captain, who I can now see, even if he is a bit far to hit with an unrifled gun (something I'll have to see about when next I reach a metal-working town).
"The objective, sir, is to minimize crew casualties while driving the attackers off the ship. If we can get them to retreat, that's preferred." Balcon kills two more pirates and blocks a couple of incoming swings while saying this. "If any member of our crew boards their ship, it creates a more difficult situation, as we have to find a way to retrieve the crewman, but it is more important to protect the ship, the rest of the crew, and the cargo, so one or two men on the wrong ship by their own choice become expendable.
"Think of it this way: the pirates would like nothing better than for us to leave our ship undefended so they can take it and escape from us. If they put their crew on our ship while we're on theirs, we've lost--we will never catch them without a good crew."
Several of the people on your side have been wounded, but the pirates are falling back, trying to make it back to their own ship without being killed. A few of them have landed in the water, but they've got lines lowered for their men to get back aboard.
--M. J. Young
Then lets continue mopping up pirates.
While they're trying to fish their men out of the water, I'm going to try to get my shot on their captain. If he has approached the rail, or if I have managed (as I was trying to) to get closer to his end of the ship, then I'm going to take that shot, Psionic Accuracy, Accuracy Prayer and all.
You are driving the pirates off the ship, killing and injuring quite a few; however, you do not get another glimpse of the captain, who apparently has moved off to direct their escape.
Inside of another ten minutes, the pirate ship is pulling away. Deck hands are looking disgustedly at the fallen, and medics are treating your own injured.
--M. J. Young
I'll clean off and sheath my sword, and assist in the cleanup efforts any way I can. If that includes stripping the pirates for weapons and equipment, so much the better, but either way.
At some point after the fight I want to talk to Balcon again and ask how he got so fast, and if he can teach me to move like he does. If he's reluctant I'll offer to pay him for his extra time out of my share for this run.
The pirates mostly have cutlasses, which are taken if they're any good or thrown overboard with the bodies if they're damaged.
Balcon laughs at your request. "You're not bad at all, yourself," he says. "I've been doing ship security for--well, since I was a lad, just about. I've fought more pirates than there are seagulls in Haven. You get better because you practice.
"Now, if you want to practice with some of the security guys, you'll have to fit it into your schedule somehow, but I'm sure they won't mind. I'd recommend you get in an hour every other day, if you can. When you get better, you'll want to spend more time at it, but at this point there's no point overtiring yourself."
--M. J. Young
Right...
So, if I'm able to fit in that much time around my work as a pilot, I'd definitely like to do so, on a continuing basis. Otherwise, it's back to business as usual until something changes.
I'd mostly like to know when next we're going to be spending any significant downtime in a metal-working town. I want to see if I can explain the concept of a rifled gun barrel well enough to have one made when we get there, or have my current gun (already a step up from my old one) rifled in order to improve its accuracy (hopefully without weakening the barrel too much).
But yes, for the most part, back to business as usual.
There are three pilots, including you, and so during calm weather on calm seas you usually get a relatively fixed shift. Usually you're at the wheel five hours, then off for five hours, and then back on for five; sometimes during your off time you are called upon to spot from the bow, but this is also done by navigation so that's not that frequent in calm conditions. Also in calm conditions you've got nine hours of down time after you get off your second shift, during which you are expected to sleep and eat.
This means you've got five hours in the middle of the day (you are generally the pilot when there is daylight, since you are least experienced) in which you are pretty much free to get food and do whatever you want. That would include practicing your weapons skills. Usually you can find a member of security available to practice, as they spend a fair amount of their downtime doing that.
The ship does not spend more than thirty-six hours in any port but Sardic unless there is trouble, and although in some sense they do plan for trouble, they don't plan for it to happen on a particular schedule. The first port of call, New Tempest, is a manufacturing city. After that, you do some of the toughest sailing on the route, through Rough Passage, and come out to complete the trip to New Haven, an Agricultural port. From there you cross the Lesser Syndic to get to Emerald, and it was shortly after that that you joined the crew for the long journey back across the Greater Syndic to Durnmist.
When you are in Rough Passage you will have no free time for the duration, which might be as much as a month. Sleep, eat, drive, and watch will be your complete schedule, with time off to use the head.
--M. J. Young
In that case I had best split those five hours of downtime into two and a half hours of fighting practice (not that bad - I used to do as many as four hours at a time in fencing training) and two and a half hours studying up on the nuances of piloting, especially piloting at night (for which I will also use my Psionic Night Vision to help).
I wonder if it would do me any good to do a ritual akin to calling the four quarters, basically to set up a sanctified space either on the deck, around the helm, or in my quarters, in terms of thereafter being able to include "within such-and-so sanctified space" as a component in future divine spells (especially things like staving off fatigue, skill bonusing spells, and so on) that might come in handy further on. Metaphysically I know this does something. In real life I more or less can't actually do magic without it. I just wonder if it would do me any good, out here in the Verse, as it were.
If you are asking me as a player, I would answer, "How would you know?" Keep that answer in mind.
If you are asking me as someone trying to figure out how to run games, I'll answer behind the screens.
--M. J. Young
As a player (and I'm typing this before I go read the Behind the Screens version) I would know because it's always worked that way before. A sacred space properly prepared enhances my feeling of magic, makes me feel stronger and believe more strongly, and isn't it belief that guides magic?
That said, while we have some slow times, I would like to do that. I'll start with one in my own quarters, a circle 8 feet in diameter centered over my own bed. The ritual will take two hours, and I'll cast it during my roommate's work shift so I know I won't be disturbed. It will involve lengthy magic words. (out of character I'm not feeling poetic right now, so I'll just say "I say the words" and fill in what they are later)
At the very least it means calling the four corners, calling upon Njordr, god of the sea, to bless the space, Odin, in his capacity as god of wisdom, to guide me in my casting, and Freya, goddess of magic and patron of sorcerers, to lend me her strength and valor.
All of this I will do as an Alliance Holy Spell with my specific sword Soulmourn in my right hand, the words intoned so that sound matters, in my native English, with the requirement that my concentration not be interrupted during casting, and limited so that if I am ever dismissed from the crew of the Mary Piper the circle will be rendered useless. I will also add the condition that a specific blessing - the five minute "quick version" of calling the corners and invoking the gods - must be said inside the space before it can be used for casting. It will not work if not primed with the ritual words.
(If all of this seems pointlessly elaborate, bear in mind that I have consecrated a ritual space for my in real life by not dissimilar means. I didn't own my sword then, and the ritual space is considerably more portable than the deck of a ship, but the actual ritual, including the need to prime a permanent structure, is the same.)
Other than that, I'm going to keep up my cycles of work and practice.
With my swordsmanship training, I need to continually step it up. Train harder and more aggressively. Spar with two or three people at once. Train when the deck isn't steady. Dump some water on the floor and train on unstable footing. In the dark. With my nightvision, without my nightvision. Train tired. Train drunk. Combine these difficulties. Train with weights on.
Would you describe this as performing the same ritual you did before to consecrate holy ground, with the same effects, the differences within the scope of variables over which you have control, or would you describe it as a new ritual created based on the example of the one you did previously?...I have consecrated a ritual space for my in real life by not dissimilar means. I didn't own my sword then, and the ritual space is considerably more portable than the deck of a ship, but the actual ritual, including the need to prime a permanent structure, is the same.
What skill ability level would you give yourself on the original ritual?
--M. J. Young
I would say its the same ritual, and I'm probably above-average amateur with it, on the order of 1@8, as I've practiced it, researched it, and seen it done before, as well as having done it before... I would say three times. Once for my room at my mother's house, once for my ritual corner in my current dwelling, and once for my portable altar. So yeah, I'm pretty good with it, and yes it's probably the same ritual, just with more components added in and more tightly bound to a non-portable space.
Consider the ritual complete. You will have to at some point describe the shorter activation ritual used with it.
Word is you will reach New Tempest probably tomorrow, the fifty-first day since departing from Sardic.
--M. J. Young