I'll draw my pistol. If necessary, I'l switch on my Night Vision, otherwise I'll just stay on deck with Officer James.
Is that sort of exchange common here? What kind of place IS this?
I am assuming you are asking James.
"Oh, yes--the miners risk their lives to bring this stuff out of the ground and ship it to the civilized world. The savages here are unpredictable but that they will be violent. I have never heard of anyone landing here without being attacked at least once, and sometimes the attacks are viscious. Some have lost their lives defending ships at Emerald. Be glad that as a pilot you don't take quite that risk. The mines are inside defended fortresses, and protected caravans transport goods between them and the docks. The companies attempted to put up fencing here, but the natives tear it down, and no one can afford a constant militia here."
Even as he finishes, seven more spear-weilding natives come charging from the woods at a different point on the defenses. Shots are fired, and swords drawn as some but not all of the natives are hit. Then they fall back to the woods, fleeing from the gunfire.
--M. J. Young
Seeing that I'm not really needed here - they have the natives under control, and the Captain is handling business, but for the vague question of letting me come out if its viable - I'll go back below deck.
I'm going down to the hold. I have the ritual for this in mind already - in fact in an earlier post I had suggested I was going to do this on the way here, but that got retconned - so hopefully this won't take terribly long.
I'll plan to spend two hours on it, hopefully the time it will take the captain to negotiate a big sale in a difficult place and begin moving cargo back.
I want to go around the ship's hold and bless the whole thing in one big Hallowed Ground ritual, limited to using this Holy Ground for Restore/Preserve Freshness spells and Healing spells. This is Alliance holy magic, I will be saying appropriate words such that the sound of them matters (invoking Sif, goddess of the harvest, Odin in his capacity as god of sorcery, and Njord the sea god) in English, using my sword - which must be my sword SoulMourn - in my right hand as part of it, walking in circles around the hold gesturing and tracing runes in the air with both hands, alternating. I will further limit this Holy Ground to requiring the same activation ritual my smaller one uses, only the size of this one means that rite will take ten minutes instead of five.
Did you take your crates to the deck, or are they still in your berth?
Although it is referred to as "the hold", it is sectioned into several areas partial walls, so that food is in one section, industrial gear in another, and supplies for the journey in another. Also, the hold bay door is open, with deck hands moving about, bringing out things and bringing in things.
One of them comes and says, "Captain's ready for you. Bring your stuff."
--M. J. Young
I would've brought my crates on deck when it was time. If it's only just now time, then I'll only just now bring my crates. Inspection will reveal they're only about a day old if my spells have been holding up.
And when I get the chance, I'm going to Holy Ground the part they keep the food in, obviously.
Either way, where I am at present is with the captain, and my crates, on the deck.
You rush back to your berth and try to grab both crates; they're too big to carry both at once, so you take one--the berries, you think, will be more impressive. Up the ladders and out onto the main deck, then down the gangplank a bit winded from the rushing (although for that the work has done much to increase your stamina).
"Where have you been, man? We can't waste time here." The captain seems serious. You indicate that you've got to go back for the plums, but he calls to one of the deck hands, by name: "Go to Mr. John's Quarters and bring out the crate of plums he has in there.
"Now," he says, "show the man what you've got."
You pry open the lid on the crate to reveal fresh berries. His eyes widen.
"I haven't seen blackberries since I arrived here--and fresh? Do you grow them on the ship?"
Your plums will be here in a moment, but it's your turn to talk.
--M. J. Young
"These are yours to purchase, sir," I answer, managing a rakish grin, "But I'm afraid the secret of how I brought them must remain mine, for now."
I select the best berry I can find and place it in his hands. After all, first one's free...
Plums? I thought I had berries and eggs, from the shy girl...
"These are all I could manage this pass. In the future, there may be more, but for this year, a rare treat..."
Not for the first time, I'm glad I'm a competitive extemporaneous speaker. Hopefully some of that will translate to diplomacy and salesmanship.
No, you originally were thinking apples but you swapped them for plums; you considered eggs, but you only had room for two cases and had already decided on fruit. (Check back in the thread if you like, but I'm pretty sure that's correct.)
The plums arrive, and the buyer is suitably impressed by these as well. You discuss price.
"Well, you drive a hard bargain," he says, "but you deliver a remarkable product. These will be gone by the end of the day, no doubt, but the workers will appreciate them greatly.
He brings up two wooden crates about a cubic foot each, with detached lids. Each contains uncut gemstones, green facets visible in places where they have broken, ranging from about the diameter of a nickel to that of a golf ball. "One for the berries, and one for the plums. Satisfactory?"
--M. J. Young
Two crates of uncut gemstones...
Did the captain mention at all how much these uncut gemstones are worth elsewhere?
Am I even allowed to carry them considering they're the same cargo the ship itself is carrying?
Can I get a quick bead on the captain and Officer James' reactions are?
If the captain doesn't react like I'm getting too obviously ripped off, I'll take their offer.
It does not appear that Emerald has anything to trade other than emerald, and the captain does not seem at all surprised that this is what is being offered. At some level, this is closer to money than trade goods, although it certainly is trade goods. The ship has been loading some rather large crates of the stuff, three to four foot cubes, but has also offloaded scores of crates of everything from dried meat to machine parts.
You note that playing poker with the captain would be a bad choice.
While you are contemplating this, there is another attack, and everyone ducks for cover.
"They're particularly aggressive today," the captain says.
"Indeed," the local negotiator says. "Don't know what's bothering them."
--M. J. Young
This time when they attack, I'll Psionic Accuracy and take a shot at one of them if I get one. (Remembering that Psionic Accuracy would overcalculate, compensating for things like being way out of normal range by aiming along a higher ballistic arc.)
Either way, when the attack is done, I'll take his deal, though I'll be sure to ask the Captain just how good a deal this was, seeing as I don't really know what uncut emeralds are worth.
You pop out of hiding with your gun ready, and realize that you are barely a few feet from Davis, one of the more experienced of the security people, who is just unloading a flintlock rifle into a crowd of a dozen savages. Startled by the fact that these savages are perhaps ten feet away from you, you fail to focus on your accuracy. You fire over him into the same crowd, and--
Have you ever fired one of these before? I don't see the skill on your sheet, and while it wouldn't be difficult to teach yourself to use a flintlock pistol, if you've got the skill I should roll it that way.
*****
The captain is no expert on the value of the gems either, but says that's at least several hundred diktar in each crate. The value goes up once you have them cut and polished, but that takes a professional hand and some time to do it.
--M. J. Young
I have like a 1@2 or 1@3 Bod-bias Pistol Gunslinging that I developed at the table at UberCon. I was in Sardic at the time. Without my Psionic Accuracy... well... it's a good thing they're in a nice tight bunch like that.
---
I'll accept the captain's explanation, and ask him if he'll be willing to take me through getting that done, seeing as I've never traded in emeralds before. Especially since I imagine the ship itself is probably trading in emeralds right now, and I don't want to cross the line as far as competing with the company.
Absolutely right, and shame on me for not looking there for it. You use the pistol as a martial arts weapon.
You fire at almost the same moment as Davis; the thunder of the pistol and rifle together echo across the harbor, startling the natives. One of them flinches, wounded, but by whom you could not say.
Davis draws his cutlass in his right hand and his pistol in his left, and prepares to meet the onslaught. Sounds from the others suggest that help is coming, but there is too much confusion from the shouting of the attackers to be certain what is being said.
Perhaps one of those shouts was a command, because abruptly all twelve of the attacking natives raise and throw their spears--and three of them are coming your direction. One clatters on the dock at your feet, another sails past you, but the third gouges your arm. Meanwhile, Davis is hit by two of the four spears hurled his direction, but does not seem badly injured. One spear lodges in a crate behind which the purchase agent is hiding. Two others are aimed at the Captain, and one of them rips his sleeve but does not do more than scratch him.
Two of the attackers fumbled their spears and dropped their clubs, and are now attempting to recover them.
The captain pulls the trigger on his pistol, catching one of the natives in the shoulder.
--M. J. Young
I'll draw my sword as well, and drop in with Davis if it looks like he's going to press the attack.
If it looks instead like everyone is going to posture at each other, I'll reload my pistol in the interim.
I'd love to be bold enough to grab a spear and hurl it back, but I'm not feeling terribly cinematic today.
If the natives are fleeing, I'll go behind that crate and see if the purchase agent is alright.
The natives are still coming forward.
You move up next to Davis, and he fires his pistol seconds before slashing with his cutlass; you also lead forward with your sword--but as the pistol ball finds its mark and another attacker staggers back, the band loses its resolve and starts trying to collect its wounded and retreat to the woods.
--M. J. Young
So it is. I'll let them go, then take the time to reload my pistol so it's ready for next time. Clean off my sword and sheath it. Then go see to the purchase agent.
The purchase agent is taking it in stride. He's uninjured, and venting his shock as anger against the natives.
"Sorry, Captain. I've no idea what has them so riled today. You know how unpredictable they are."
"It's all right, William. You certainly can't control the natives. So far so good."
You thank the agent for his offer, and take your two small crates of uncut emeralds aboard the ship.
Your bunkmate wants to know how you managed to bring blackberries and plums all the way across the Syndic Sea without them spoiling.
--M. J. Young
I answer him plainly, "My gods grant me the power to change things. To restore food to freshness, to heal the wounds of myself or others, to guide my hand in battle. Their gifts are many, and their way is easy..." If he seems interested, I'll indulge in a little shameless evangelism, otherwise I'll keep to myself.
Once we're at sea again, I am going to spend some of my off-hours finishing my holy ground incantation in the food-storage area of the hold. This is a two-hour ritual invoking Freyr and Freyja, twin gods of fertility, and Njordr, god of the sea. Alliance Holy Magic, appropriate words spoken so that the sound matters, activation ritual required, limited to Restore/Preserve Freshness and Healing spells, uses my specific named unique sword in my right hand, discharged by using it to cast a spell.
I'm also going to ask the Captain - once we're not being speared at - some more about polishing and pricing the emeralds, and how to trade them as not to conflict with the Company.
Harry, check your email ASAP. I just sent you something I think you will be interested in. Sorry to intrude, BTW.
"Oh? That's interesting. I know the cannibals have ideas about gods and such, but I didn't know that there were any notions among the civilized people. I'd love to hear about it."
The captain interrupts. "This, though, might not be the time. It appears that our cannibal friends are organizing for another assault, and I'd like to get Mr. John out of harm's way. We're almost done anyway, William. Is there anything else you need, or which we should try to bring next year?"
"No, can't think of anything. Thanks again."
"Don't mention it. We are well compensated for our efforts, even with the risk of being eaten."
--M. J. Young
"Some of us have such notions. But truly, later would be better."
And so it is. Once we're below - which is what I figure the captain means by "out of harm's way" - I'll try to figure out when is best to tell him more. Are we ever off work at the same time, for instance?
(And by "once we're below" I mean "once we're below, with my ridiculous piles of emeralds.")
It was the purchase agent who was interested--he is not a member of a crew, but the person with whom the Captain deals in buying and selling on the dock. It will be a year before you see him again, give or take, and of course there's no certainty that he'll be the same guy next year.
Sorry for the confusion.
You retire to your cabin with two sealed crates of gems. Soon you feel the ship pull out from the dock. Security comes through doing a head count, to confirm that everyone is aboard. It's not a good place to be left behind, so the check is made even though very few members of the crew leave the ship.
--M. J. Young
I was going by this. Are you retconning that to have been the purchase agent instead? In which case I will ask him how I might contact him next year, if he's not the same agent. Is it possible to deliver him a message through his company, for instance? If it is, I'll have something for him in writing so that I can explain to him the whole concept of the gods I believe in (*cough chapter one of my Cleric's Guide that I finally started researching! cough*).Your bunkmate wants to know how you managed to bring blackberries and plums all the way across the Syndic Sea without them spoiling.
If you're NOT retconning it, then, whatev. I've got his money and I can preach to my bunkmate at will.
If all is well with the security sweep, if they're done loading things into the food hold, if I've got two hours of not having to be on duty and can generally count on being uninterrupted, I'd like to go down to the food hold and cast that sodding Holy Ground ritual I've described twice or thrice previously (or at least I remember typing more than once - not sure it got posted).
Ah, yes, there it is:
Once we're at sea again, I am going to spend some of my off-hours finishing my holy ground incantation in the food-storage area of the hold. This is a two-hour ritual invoking Freyr and Freyja, twin gods of fertility, and Njordr, god of the sea. Alliance Holy Magic, appropriate words spoken so that the sound matters, activation ritual required, limited to Restore/Preserve Freshness and Healing spells, uses my specific named unique sword in my right hand, discharged by using it to cast a spell.
I'm also going to ask the Captain - once we're not being speared at - some more about polishing and pricing the emeralds, and how to trade them as not to conflict with the Company.
So it is. I'll execute on all of that, as we're at sea again, presently.
I'm sorry; I had missed that I had included a bit of conversation from your bunkmate. That did not occur on the docks, but when you were back on the ship (or perhaps when you were taking your goods off the ship to the docks). I had skipped a track before the previous post, and thought that that conversation was with the purchase agent (who also had asked you about how you did it--but now that I recall you told him it was going to have to remain secret). So there was nothing about not discussing it on the docks, because you were not discussing it on the docks--my error.
And that means that upon your return to the ship your bunkmate asked and that began the discussion about the gods, which was not interrupted by the captain because you were already back on the ship.
You can play it from there however you like.
On the spell, how large an area are you including in this version?
Concerning the emeralds, there are still a few problems to resolve. You'll have to find a gemcutter to cut and polish them, and it takes a long time to do each gem so you're going to have to be in port for more than an overnight stay. You'll have to bargain with him for what he'll charge--unless you're just going to sell your emeralds uncut, but that gets you into a different problem. You don't have an import license. If you attempt to offload a crate of emeralds in any of the civilized ports, customs will stop you, and if you attempt to sell uncut emeralds you're going to have trouble finding a buyer either for small quantities or for large quantities that don't have a customs seal. After all, if someone brings in a couple of uncut emeralds in his pockets, that's just personal property; but if someone brings in an unsealed crate of uncut emeralds, it's probably either smuggled or stolen, and no gemcutter is going to want to be involved in illegal activities.
Anyway, he wishes you luck with it.
--M. J. Young
In that case, I'd like to see if the Captain would offer to buy them off me himself. "What?" you ask, "That's foolish?" Well, no. See, my logic here is, he DOES have an import permit. He's my captain - I trust him not to rip me off - so if he says he's good for it when we get back to Sardic, I believe him. What I want to do is basically set it up so that he will sell my emeralds for me as part of the emeralds the ship itself is carrying, and arrange a certain small bonus for me, either out of the ship's funds, his own pockets, or the company itself, whichever is easiest and most legal, so that I can get paid. He, of course, can thereafter keep a percentage of the value that I added to ship's haul of emeralds - say 20% - with my promise that next year he'll be able to fill his hold with fresh fruit. He's already seen me do miraculous things for him. If he treats me well, I'll continue to do them. And no one need be any the wiser, if he doesn't wish it...
As for the spell, I'll try to include the entire food hold. I don't know exactly how big that is. If, after two attempts, it seems impossible to manage the whole thing as one casting, then I will attempt to do it in two castings - half the room each time. I wish I had the time to wood-burn a focusing circle into the deck-boards, but I doubt the captain trusts me enough to let me do that just yet anyway. Maybe when my magic fills his hold with emeralds next year...
(I had this amazing image in my mind the other day, of the Mary Piper under sail, with a Thor's Hammer detailed on her mainsail and runes of protection and swiftness etched into the hull all the way around the rail, filled in with scorched emerald dust and almost aglow with magic. Maybe years hence...)
There are three holds which are used for food. Two of those have now been cleaned out and one is being filled with emeralds; this will be locked once the deck hands have all the cargo in place. The remaining one is after, below the galley and sick bay. This is where food for the crew is stored; the others are where food as cargo is stored. Each of these is roughly thirty feet by twenty feet, but warped to follow the walls of the outer hull.
Medical supervises access to the hold in which the crew's food is kept. Those doors are secure.
Which of these holds would you like to visit, and what steps are you taking to do so?
Concerning your offer to the captain, he says that there are problems but he will put it under consideration. In any case, it's several months before you'll be back in Sardic, so there's time to consider the possibilities--and since no ship and no crewman has a guarantee of making it home, it's a bit premature to make decisions about what might be done when you get there.
I thought I should mention that each of your crates weighs somewhere between forty and fifty pounds.
--M. J. Young
As for the Captain, well, we'll get there. Worst case scenario, there's a black market in every big city. I just hope it won't come to that.
As for the holds, well, I'll talk to the Captain. I'll tell him the same thing I told my bunkmate: "By the same power that lets me see in the dark and go three days at a time without sleep, by the power that lets me recover from an injury that should've left me out for months in less than a night's rest, I can preserve food nigh indefinitely. That's how I can guarantee you'll be able to do next year what I did this year. All I need is access, and time. The food hold for the crew, and the food holds for the cargo. Give me a day, tops, somewhere stable and safe, and I can do for you on a large scale what I did for myself on a small scale. I had to try it out before I offered..."
"Well, as far as stable and safe goes, we're just entering the Syndic Ocean--where we found you last run--and it's the least predictable part of the entire journey. I can't say when we'll encounter pirates, weather problems, ocean problems, even sea monsters. I can't even say with any confidence how long it will take to reach Durnmist on the other side. I've heard of it being done in under two months, but I've never done it in anywhere near that time.
"But if you want time in the galley supplies hold, tell Doc Evan I've approved it, that you've got a technique that helps preserve food and I'm going to let you use it in the galley hold. Don't mess up, though--we don't have any other food, and we've a long trip to the next known port."
--M. J. Young
I nod, and so I'll go.
I'll tell the Doc, and get my access like the Captain said. In fact, if either the Captain or my bunkmate want to watch, I'll invite them along. After all, if they see the power of the gods at work, it might help to convert them. I'll just ask that they try to remain as quiet as possible during the ritual, and hold all questions for the end, when I'll be able to explain everything more freely.
The captain is rather busy; your bunkmate is rarely free when you are, since you cover the same job on different shifts. Neither of them is going to spend a couple hours watching you perform some strange ritual in the cargo hold.
Doc Evans is pretty disturbed at the idea that you're going to be playing games in the larder, and he delays you while he argues with Captain John about it. The captain insists that you're not going to hurt anything, and if it boosts your morale to feel like you're doing something to help the ship, that's a good thing all around. It still delays you a couple days, such that you are three days out of Emerald before you are actually given access to the larder for a couple hours. You have to do it in near darkness, because even having reluctantly given permission Doc Evans says he can't guarantee no one will enter the larder as part of meal preparation until after nine at night, and someone will be back by four in the morning, so that's the only chance you've got for a two hour slot uninterrupted.
You do perform it successfully, once all the red tape has been cleared.
--M. J. Young
Yay.
I indulge in a moment of self-satisfied grinning as I feel the magic coming together. In my mind's eye I can almost see the interplay of the forces at work. I'll turn the circle on and say my Restore Freshness and Remove Fatigue spells here. This Holy Ground is strong and it feels good to break it in right away. As part of my lengthy prayer time, I will thank the gods for their kind attentions so far, with the promise that from now on, my rituals are as much for their glory as for my survival.
Completing these is an insane rush. It's not exactly the Mythal at Myth Drannor, but standing magic like this is the stuff of legends! To think that someone of my modest skill has created something so strong, so lasting, that it empowers magic cast upon it... It is at once exhilarating and humbling, as I am but a servant of the gods. It's their power, but they see fit to lend it to me.
Once that's done, I'll tell the Doc that now, all I'll need is to be able to get in here for about an hour. Once a week ought to do it. Other than that, his space is his own.
With that finally finished, it's back to business as usual, doing my job and practicing my psionic vision modes on duty, my fluting and fighting off duty, and preaching the words of the gods to anyone who will listen.
You activate the ground and cast your two spells. The power is exhilarating, and you have no doubt that the spells worked.
The Doc raises an eyebrow when you say you want access once a week, but doesn't say anything.
Things are falling back into the routine.
--M. J. Young
During this relative lull, I'll go over my time here. Fill in any gaps in my journal. Muse over the people I still miss from back home. Melinda, who was so good to me in our too-brief time together. Jen, my princess, who I miss more than home. My cousins, especially David and Samantha, both so much more than they ever let on.
In the quiet nights, I'll practice my more oft-neglected skills. My night-vision, psionic accuracy, and pistol gunslinging. I won't actually fire any rounds, but I'll (new use!) use psionic accuracy to lock my line of sight on where the bullet would have gone, so I can tell if I'm doing well with my pistol gunslinging.
Beyond that, I'll spend my off-hours playing my flute for the men in the mess hall, singing sailing songs and drinking songs and trying to keep morale up when all else is dull.
Hopefully, this quiet time will give me a chance to talk with my bunkmate, and I'll tell him about the gods. I'm a pretty darn good storyteller, if I do say so myself - probably a function of my Writing - so I'll tell the stories as dramatically as I can, trying to draw my audience in and make them care. That's one of the good things about the Norse gods, after all. Being more mortal than immortal, and more flawed than perfect, they are easy to relate to, and easy to talk about. They provide a shining example of what to do and, in some cases, a shining example of what not to do, and it is obvious they answer my prayers.
This is often misunderstood. "New use" and "practice" are not compatible descriptions of skill use. "New use" means that I used the skill in a different way that I have before as part of a rolled skill check which might have botched, and I succeeded in doing that. "Practice" means that I am going through the motions of using the skill in a relatively safe controlled environment in which I do not roll for success and thus I do not botch.
The difference is very slight, but perhaps I can illustrate it with an example.
Let us suppose you are shooting arrows at a target, and you decide to make your practice more difficult by trying to split or shaft your own arrows. Doing this makes practice more difficult, but it is still practice--it is practice made more difficult, and thus if you are trying to increase the difficulty of your practice sessions (e.g., to make it double doubled so you can advance to level 2) this is a possible way of doing this. I probably roll somewhere for how many arrows you destroy in this way, but otherwise it is simply assumed that sometimes you succeed and sometimes you fail, but you always take your time without any pressure and try to split or shaft the arrow you just fired with the arrow you are now firing.
On the other hand, if you are at Prince John's festival and Sir Guy of Gisbourne has just put an arrow in the bullseye of the target and is claiming victory because you cannot best that shot, and you have never shafted an arrow before, then you can announce that you are going to attempt to shaft or split his arrow, take the penalties for size of the target, roll the dice, and if you are successful claim new use for having split an arrow with an arrow. If you fail, of course, you lost the contest; if you botch, the arrow may have flown into the crowd and they may be seizing you for murder. The point is, success mattered.
The same can be said of many other archery tricks--cutting cords, for example. You can use these as practice techniques in which case they are not new use bonuses, or you can do them in the thick of combat where it matters and get new use.
I should mention that it is also possible to make such techniques as arrow splitting and cord cutting skills in themselves, specialized attacks with the bow at which you have a separately listed skill ability level. These skills would then be bonused by the use of special equipment, such as narrow-point arrows for shafting or frog crotch tips for cord cutting.
Thus your practicing psionic accuracy by using it in connection with sighting your weapon in practice is practice. For what it's worth, I'm not certain how you could practice it differently, although I suppose that it is arguable that the use of psionic accuracy to "get a drop on" a target without shooting might be a distinct use of the skill.
I think we need to add your storytelling skill to your sheet; you've relied on it more than once. My inclination is to place it above M0@0 role playing games but below M0@2 acting, so it will be a 2@5 (the SAL of your English Writing skill) Storytelling M0@1.
Your bunkmate is fascinated by your stories, and makes time to hear them despite your disparate schedules.
This keeps up for most of a couple weeks.
--M. J. Young
Does that mean that, lacking a credible threat to my person, I can never claim a new use? Or, as perhaps a corollary, a skill for which there can be no penalty for failing can never be new-used? After all, attempting to shaft an arrow and failing might cost me the contest if Guy de Guisbourne had just hit that bullseye, but the use of psionic accuracy leaves me no worse off if I fail to trigger it, even in that case. I still get my shot, and I am still - in that example - Robin Hood, and thus respectably good with a bow regardless of psionics. Is it done on purpose, then, that skills such as Psionic Accuracy can never, by any means, be New Use'd, simply because there is no situation in which failing to use it can have negative consequences, except perhaps in the most impossibly contrived circumstance (I am 2@1 psionic accuracy, attempting to fire a gravity gun, which I've never used before, and I MUST hit this shot or the villain wins)? Must the circumstances really be THAT outlandish? Or is it enough to say that once or twice per day, say, the last time before I take a break, I will trust the gods and roll the dice, and if fortune favors me, I advance in marks instead of in days, just this once (as it's pretty artificially contrived to even CONCEIVE of a new use for something as excessively specific as Psionic Accuracy)?
And so it is.
I really AM that good, especially when I'm talking about religion. Back when I was a Sunday school teacher, I used to give lectures on God and the Bible that seemed to flow through me from an outside source, a true moment of divine magic if I've ever felt it.
I will discourse at length about the gods to my thus enraptured bunkmate, and if he shows any interest, I will even teach him how to observe the gods as I do. This may include allowing him to watch my Remove Fatigue ritual, which is no secret, but certainly not my Restore Freshness ritual, which I AM considering something of a trade secret, at least for the time being.
(I've since learned, OOCly, that pretty much every inch of my religious practice is wrong, being based more on Wicca than actual Asatru, but Verser-me has no way of knowing that, so my 'Wicca-tru' flavor of divine magic must, for now, remain.)
Beyond that, it is business as usual.
I should probably start a separate thread on new use, but Monday is a bad day for me to be adding things to my list of things to do. I'll deal with it here.
In the example of shafting the arrow, the success or failure of the psionic accuracy might not matter--success would mean new use, failure would mean it's not new use--but the potential that you might botch is still in view. That botch might be anything--brain burn with a visual component that prevents you from being able to focus your eyes on the target without succeeding at a difficult will power check, psionic shockwave spreading out from you injuring everyone around you including, at the epicenter, yourself; psionic inaccuracy, penalizing every shot you make for a while; neural breakdown, chipping away at your mind and possibly driving you to madness; the list might include a number of other things.
When you are practicing, even if you are practicing by using psionic accuracy to attempt to shaft an arrow, we're not going to roll for it because it is practice, and because success and failure do not really matter, and because this is a controlled practice situation--and as a result, you cannot botch in practice, you can only learn.
The "new use" improvement is not supposed to be the norm but the unusual. It is supposed to be the thing that kicks in from time to time particularly with the guy who never "practices" but attempts to get better by taking risks and using his skills in unexpected ways. Certainly the guy who is constantly using his skills is "practicing" by doing--that's built into the Mary Piper advancement system, in which you are using the skills necessary to the job on a daily basis and do not roll them, but if as a pilot it suddenly falls to you to avoid the whirlpool or the iceberg or outmaneuver the incoming pirates, that's when you roll, and that's when you can try something outrageous that might fail or botch and claim in the process that you just did something you never did before (instead of simply using your ordinary skills in an extraordinary situation, which is not a new use). This constant ordinary use or practice of your skills builds skill ability level slowly; the other is the rare eureka moment that happens to people a couple times in their learning, that they suddenly see something about what their skill can do that they never considered before, and tried it, and it worked.
I expect "New Use" to reflect that rare eureka moment, and in most (but not all) cases to be a response to a pressure situation, and in all cases to be a situation in which the potential for botch is real.
Now, if you want to do something in "practice" and make it a new use, the way we do that is we announce that we are not in "practice" but we are "trying something new", and on that one attempt we roll the dice to see whether it succeeds, fails, or botches. If it fails, you didn't do it, and you don't get the credit; you can wait a reasonable time and try again, but you can't just keep trying until it works, because "keep trying" is part of the check in many skills (starting a car, for example--if it fails, it didn't start when you tried most of what you knew as an operator, and you're going to have to use such skills as you have acquired as a mechanic to get another shot, or wait and hope that it was just flooded or something). If it succeeds, you did it. If it botches, you face the consequences. However, if the botch consequences are not real in potential, it cannot be a new use.
Your bunkmate's interest, to this point, is merely in hearing the stories. You can tell that he is not certain whether to grant them credibility or take them as interesting fiction.
It is the sixteenth day out from Emerald, the one hundred fifty second day of this trip, and you are at the helm in the middle of the day when an alarm rises. There is a small fast ship closing from the starboard stern, and it does not look like it has good intentions.
--M. J. Young
Given that description, then, I would like to "try something new" a couple of times in the course of that sixteen-day time lapse. Mayhaps twice in that time. As described, using Psionic Accuracy to target a shot I did not fire, in order to gauge my progress with Gunslinging.
In the present...
I focus on that ship and trigger my Telescopic Vision (which should be getting fairly reliable now that I've been using it on an hourly basis for almost a year), and see if I can figure out what they're on about. See what they're doing, and so on.
If they seem to be preparing for battle, I'll do what I can to out-maneuver them, but as the Piper's a cargo ship I imagine the difference between us and them is like trying to outmaneuver a motorcycle with a garbage truck. Either way, I let the alarm continue.
If and when they close with us, I'll draw my pistol and palm an extra round. If I can do more by making their boarding actions harder and firing on them from the aftcastle than by joining in the melee, I'll take my shots from here - psionic accuracy and all.
You do not make the accuracy work in that situation, at least that you can tell.
You try to use your telescopic vision to look at the ship, but in the midst of the confusion all you get is a brief blur as people and ropes and all pass through your line of sight and you snap your attention back to the wheel as the chief of deck is shouting for your instructions. You tell him which way you are going and ask for full sail in that direction. Catching the wind in the lateen sails, you pick up speed as you turn away from the approaching ship.
Security is manning deck guns and kitting up for boarding. You are losing ground, but not as fast as you were, buying time for the crew to prepare.
The captain is on deck. He nods your direction, and turns his attention to assessing the situation.
--M. J. Young
I continue to turn away from them, trying to get them astern as long as possible. I'm also going to turn back to face them, and attempt to TK pulse their ship back and away. I know I can TK Pulse big things from that business with the canoes last year, so I'm hoping I can TK Pulse REALLY big things, too. Targeting the ship itself, I try to push it away.
In the meantime, I continue to try to out maneuver them.
I don't have a Holy Ground up here on the aftcastle, but I'll whisper a prayer anyway. "Njordr grant us speed and safe passage, and Thor keep your hammer at our backs. Give me the skill to protect my people, and the speed to see us home." Alliance Holy Magic, appropriate words spoken aloud so that the sound matters, spoken while at the wheel of the ship. I'd like to claim full-body involvement since I have to be standing at the wheel, which is a nailed-to-your-desk situation. I'll continue to pray for about ten minutes.
I'm counting on the "it's the effect, not the method" interpretation of divine magic here, whether it's easier to help me by bonusing my Piloting check, by filling my sails with a favoring breeze, or by turning their ship into bricks, whatever the gods decide is best, I'll take.