PARAMO RICONQUISTA: JAUNT INFO

[powersthatbe]

Paramo Riconquista
a return to the world of pirates, mermaids, and ninjas
July 19 - August 27

The Festa Di Riconquista, held every six years, is when the aggressive island duchy of Paramo celebrates its history of naval victories - battles are re-enacted on old, mothballed ships, which are sunk in glorious fireworks displays, and jingoistic military pomp and patriotism rule the day. But we’re not concerned with the celebrations of Paramoese civilians - and our only worry about the Navy is that they might catch on to what’s happening under their nose.

Separately, two groups have come to Puerta Lagunuesta, where the Festa is held. The first group, the Crownbreakers, a coalition of pirates, mermaids, and refugees from En Zhenming, are using the Festa for cover. The re-enacted sea-battles sink ships above Thalassian waters - and so it’s possible to send the rebel mermaids still living in Thalassia arms shipments, messages, even, perhaps, magical assistance in the form of a dragon scroll - if they can load them aboard the ships to be sunk, and be sure they survive the sinking.

The second group, the Xunhuo Guwei, are to all appearances fireworks merchants from En Zhenming, here to sell colorful pyrotechnics to the Paramoese. In fact, their mission is to mine the channel south of Lagunuesta, and damage the Paramoese fleet, triggering a war between En Zhenming and Paramo. The Truenamed Emperor knows that in any such war, there is only one place that Paramoese troops could safely land and gain a foothold - the Bando. And the Paramoese are infamously ignorant about what distinguishes one group of Zhenmingren from another.

However, the opening stages of each of these plans are disrupted by the ignorance of the smugglers each group has employed to bring in their contraband. With four weeks to go before the naval re-enactments finish, the smugglers hand off the shipment of salt-blessed blades and spears and deep sea charges to the Xunhuo Guwei, and deliver the shipment of limpet mines and reefblasters to the Crownbreaker crew.

Now, under cover of the festivities, the Xunhuo Guwei and the Crownbreakers must find one another and evade detection by the Paramoese in a war of assassins, sabotage, and misdirection. The fates of three Empires hinge on the actions of four dozen spies and thieves…

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Comments

QUESTIONS

[powersthatare]

This jaunt was written by Matt.

Re: QUESTIONS

[fearinahandfulof]

Are things like elementalism and summoning practiced within the Empire, or are they restricted to the Bando?

Re: QUESTIONS

[powersthatare]

They are practiced within the Empire! Summoning is less common, but not unheard of.

Re: QUESTIONS

[wolvering]

A time of many questions!

One: Which scenario would be more likely:
--En Zheming sends a spy into Bando (pre-Code of Dishonor), who upon getting there decides that he likes Bando better, and proceeds to be a double agent for the Bando people (or a specific group). Reporting to both sides, but falsifying/hiding just enough to give Bando the edge and similar.
--An Akuryu from a formerly upper class family (ie can mimic linguistic/cultural practices of the upper crust well enough) slipping back and forth over the border in order to report on the going ons in the Empire (and perhaps twist thing in Bando's favor)

Two: does a situation similar to modern China exist in regards to language(s)? (ie a lot of local varieties, with a prestige variety of the court. Then the written language is primarily for the prestige variety, although others will use the same orthography with different pronunciations, etc etc) Or, would there be a situation in which someone might, say, use the Mandarin-equivalent of their name in some contexts and the Cantonese in others (and which of those would be the prestige language/variety).

Three: Saya's back, and eager to learn all the healing from all the places. She'd be very proficient in healing arts practiced in Bando (wouldn't be proclaimed the next Master in the Sun Temple, but definitely on a high tier of skill and knowledge), tried to learn everything about the Travelers' treatments/vaccine from Haunted Isle, and has taken to traveling other places to learn what's practiced there. She's probably tried to get passage to the Stepping Stones (since that was part of the Travelers' cover last time), and has been aboard the Pulao since... whenever the last stop in Bando was until now, picking up as much as she can as she goes.

So! What should she know? (and what exciting new things can she pick up in Paramo?)

Three B: Regarding the Travelers' medicine, how reproducible would it be, and could a very bright girl with drive and willingness to experiment a little be able to expand on it at all? (or: would she be able to make antibiotics and/or vaccines at all, and could she have expanded it beyond the Stricken sickness in the past two years)

Four: is there any healing magic besides the one Siren Song? (and could she theoretically learn it if she's stumbled across it)

I'm sure I'll have more, but that's all for now.

Re: QUESTIONS

[fridgeninja]

One: either is possible, but the first sounds a little more likely!

Two: The first suituation you describe is roughly accurate! En Zhenming is inspired by Yuan Dynasty China.

Three: this is a complex question, give us a couple days to get back to it!

Four: crude vaccination is possible! it's difficult on a ship, where there isn't space for a good lab environment and animals for testing. the rest is unlikely.

Re: QUESTIONS

[fridgeninja]

Make that 3B not four...

Four: there are Salt gifts for staunching wounds, small magic, not big dramatic healing.

Three

[powersthatare]

So! In Paramo, it is thought that dirty water, earth, and air corrupt the spirits, and those spirits are responsible for disease. Since Pod's medical knowledge about vaccines and antibiotics includes basic germ theory, she would have a more sophisticated view.

They're very good at cauterization and amputation here; both being necessary for trauma medicine as practiced by a navy, and know a little about nutrition and how it affects sailors - other than that, everything is very crude.

Re: QUESTIONS

[breakaleginhalf]

Would some gentle interrogation inquiries reveal any information on the salt-blessed weapons in general, if people ask around town?

Re: QUESTIONS

[powersthatare]

They were clearly made by smiths in the duchy of Vijilancia. Imports of foreign steel are strictly controlled & such weapons reserved for naval officers and noblemen, so it's a foregone conclusion they were smuggled in if they came in en masse.

[fearinahandfulof]

What kind of information would Infiltrator Knowledge impart?

On another note, how prevalent are spirits and magic in Paramo, outside of salt gifts and such? Are elementalism, illusionary magic, and/or summoning commonly known of?

[powersthatare]

Is your investigator human-shaped or mermaid-shaped?

SO. In Paramo itself, "salt gifts" are the usual expression of these things. On the mainland, there are elemental spirits, though they are not dragon-shaped and not worshipped, and there are independent magical traditions that function differently than illusionary magic and summoning (the elementalism is mostly the same).

BUT in Paramoese religion, such things are considered witchcraft, and so those gifts are all but unheard of in Puerta Lagunuesta.

Re: QUESTIONS

[wholeheaded]

This is probably more general but: can one Memory Immersion themselves from a human investigator into a mer-infiltrator?

[desperate_times_right]

Does Dismiss Traveler I count as a portal in terms of dropping everyone on the Hora Ultima?

Re: QUESTIONS

[ninjayeehaw]

Just because I'm not sure it's been brought up before - what does the Dread Empress actually look like? And probably everyone on this jaunt would be familiar with her, but do people typically recognise her on sight, or has she kind of reached mythical status?

Re: QUESTIONS

[willyousee]

For a Salt Gift: You and the items on your person do not get wet when doused with salt water?

[capital_asset]

Are the crabs, lampreys, rays, etc. in this mingle native to this area (especially the crabs), and is that something someone with Infiltrator Knowledge would know?

Also, is the algae native to the area at all? I'm guessing no, but just to be sure.

[fearinahandfulof]

Are there shrines and/or cemeteries around and easily accessible, and if so would there be spirits/ghosts to talk to?

Re: QUESTIONS

[insidegalra]

Can other trained illusionists break through/spot/etc other people's illusions if they know to look for them? Also, if someone else has an illusion cast on them, such as for a disguise, what's it like being in one?

Also, could someone who knows the theory be able to figure out how an illusion could have been pulled off and/or call bullshit on the possibility of the phenomenon being an illusion?

Or, basically: how can an illusionist solve a mystery and catch a culprit that's supposed to be another illusionist if illusions aren't particularly permanent? (I suppose I should also ask: is it possible at all)

[scarsolderthanyou]

Is there a direction in particular that the fish and/or algae seem to be coming from? A direction the scent of them comes more strongly until they wash away, or something that could possibly be observed from far above (should Stone happen to go flying for a better look)?

Re: QUESTIONS

[carbonatedscientist]

Sento's taking algae samples to analyze in his lab in Liminal. Would he find anything particularly interesting?

Re: QUESTIONS

[bite_the_hand]

So Yang here is one of Captain Shen's explosives experts. Would it be possible for the 'drop mines' they accidentally ended up with to be repurposed into something that can be used at or near the surface? Especially some type of bomb or mine that could be fastened to the hulls of Paramoese ships?

[razorblade_empress]

Can mermaids see ghosts?

Re: QUESTIONS

[insidegalra]

So, speaking of En Zhenming spies!

When Teisuu decided that being a double agent wasn't as effective, he'd have probably faked his death (just in case he needed to pick it up again) so how likely is it for anyone on the Xunhuo Guwei to have knowledge of spies that went missing in action in the Bando?

Secondly, I'm assuming there's some way(s) for spies to reveal themselves to other covert groups/operatives as being loyal to En Zhenming. What would it/them be and if there's more than one, what would Teisuu be using?

Re: QUESTIONS

[capital_asset]

Are ghosts susceptible to illusions?

[fearinahandfulof]

Can salt-blessed weapons be reproduced Liminally, or would they just end up as regular, non-blessed weapons?