[OOC] Heart of Darkness (Part II)

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

I'll get to doing right now

Something important cut into my free time unfortunately.

But HoD is on the top of my list now, so you'll definitely get the update tomorrow. I don't really want to be viewed as dragging my feet with HoD, because I'm still quite invested in the
story. My hope is to improve its post rate back to 3 posts in 2 weeks or something similar.

[secretID]

Thanks. Interesting ideas.

[Mindsiege]

By the way, the title for this post was supposed to be called 'Hubris' before I said that about Jimmy. It was a reference to Darce, but to clarify I edited it now. Made me too self-conscious to leave it like it was now.

[secretID]

I've rethought my next post a few times...

I don't have much of an idea of the big camp the party is currently planning to exit. Is it obvious where Darce is staying - or where he's headed? I'm wondering how difficult it would be to loiter within 100' of Darce's location in camp...assuming he remains in camp.

What are the darklings' sleep habits when in completely dark areas? Are there regular times when most sleep? Is it a long period? Etc.

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by secretID

I've rethought my next post a few times...

I don't have much of an idea of the big camp the party is currently planning to exit. Is it obvious where Darce is staying - or where he's headed? I'm wondering how difficult it would be to loiter within 100' of Darce's location in camp...assuming he remains in camp.

What are the darklings' sleep habits when in completely dark areas? Are there regular times when most sleep? Is it a long period? Etc.

The border outpost is pretty similar to the one that you visited in the north. Roughly, it's a big cavern dome with a jumbled mix of cliffs, stairs, and plateaus as its floor, some of them connected with bridges and riddled with disorganized little campsites that are basically spider-silk shelters but without walls. The dome is roughly 500ft to 750ft in diameter, and there are only two exits, the one that Jimmy arrived from and one that's guarded by an open portcullis which leads up towards the Heart Tree. There are plenty of little tunnels and cave holes leading into underground habitats which are mostly to get out of the open for the sake of sleeping. The day-to-day life appears to be happening more beneath the shelters rather than inside the caverns, where the shelters separate the otherwise disorganized outpost into areas or sections where similar activities take place.

More specifically, with Jimmy's short, uninvolved presence within the outpost, he would have no idea where Darce is headed, and even Boanagh wouldn't be sure as there are no permanent residences claimed by most darklings. And Darce isn't a regular in this outpost either. At the moment of Jimmy's instructions for Tink he can safely assume that Darce isn't leaving the outpost because he is heading away from both exits. About loitering, as long as you don't want to go inside one of the cavernous spaces, the dome is pretty high and Tink would always remain out of sight. It would be pretty difficult to listen in on most conversations though and if Darce heads inside anywhere, then it's quite possible Tink would lose a line of sight too. Especially in the centre of the dome there are a few subterranean intersections that a flying scout won't be able to fully supervise, but unless there are some long connecting tunnels that Tink isn't aware of, he could surmise that most travelling would happen out in the open.

About sleep habits, unfortunately, there aren't really any. The darklings can't survive light and you won't find anybody intentionally making it. They don't follow any kind of day-and-night circle and at best you'll find people who interact with each other regularly and thus ended up synchronizing their sleep circles. Loch didn't say anything, but he pretty much adjusted himself to Jimmy's needs as Jimmy's sleep circle has already drifted slightly away from the regular day and night.

[secretID]

I was interested in two things, which are somewhat in conflict:
1) Jimmy staying within 100' of Tink while Tink is spying in spider form (hopefully);
2) Tink stealing the cylinder and bringing it to Jimmy, which unfortunately cannot be done via the pocket dimension.

It sounds like #1 is pretty easy, given the modest size of the area - it wouldn't be strange for Jimmy to be within 100' of any particular location.

Jimmy and Tink can discuss the details of #2 further once Tink gets himself set up, if he succeeds.

Make sense?

[Mindsiege]

More likely Jimmy will draw attention no matter where he stands, but you're right that his mere presence in the vicinity of Darce will not be inherently suspicious. Of course that's provided that Jimmy will find a way of approaching that won't look like he's just following Darce after their rather public interaction. The darklings at least expected Boanagh's departure, so any deviation from that plan will be noticed.

About stealing the container, that's exciting! I imagine that Jimmy is going to proceed with that plan after he talked about the equipment with Boanagh? Either way, unless you follow immediately Tink would be left on orders from before that conversation happened.

@edit:
I might have misunderstood the question. But if you were asking whether Jimmy will be able to lose Tink inside the outpost, then that would only be possible if there are some deep tunnels leading away from the dome which Jimmy isn't aware of yet. If those don't exist, then Jimmy should be able to reestablish telepathic communication by circling around the outpost.

[secretID]

OK...so it sounds like this will work:

Tink goes to latch onto Darce as planned. After a little bit, Jimmy wanders around, calling out to Tink telepathically to more or less find him. (Jimmy won't care exactly where he is - he just wants to communicate with him.) They discuss a theft plan, which is pretty much just deciding how and where to meet up outside of camp after a successful theft.

Then...when Darce drifts off...Tink stealthily turns back into an imp, gets a light hand on the cylinder...and immediately gets caught and killed.

[Mindsiege]

Well, I can't give you any odds since it's all in the stars, but it certainly sounds exciting.

@edit:
Question. Does Jimmy involve his party with this plan or no?

[secretID]

Oh, I'll post IC, so you can see what Jimmy says.

I wasn't looking for odds so much as whether there were any obstacles obvious to Jimmy but not me. As far as the wandering, he can just brush off anyone who asks him what he's doing.

[Mindsiege]

Your IC post checks out for me. There's nothing that Jimmy would be aware of occurring to me as a problem right now.

Let's get into it!

[secretID]

Oopsie re the language barrier. I think that as a DM I would probably rule that Tink cannot use Jimmy’s hat, so I’ll let myself off the hook for that.

FWIW, I think I would be pretty easy for Jimmy to determine Tink’s location based on their communication coming in and out. I don’t think that will be important information, though.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

I don't want to spend too many posts working through the logistics of this little heist….

All the mechanics make sense to me.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

I'll need Jimmy to confer with Tink about what else the familiar needs to know

You mean in vague terms? I think Jimmy just needs to relay some directions to the campsite, no? I assume we’re not going to determine those with specificity, and of course I don’t know them now.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

a scene of your choosing where Jimmy makes an attempt to get Boanagh on board with waiting for Tink to complete his mission.

So…should I assume that Boanagh essentially insists on an explanation for the change in plans? If not, Jimmy has other options. He can explain all to Boanagh if and when Tink delivers the cylinder, or he can even meet with Tink privately before reporting what he did to Boanagh. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, and in any case Tink’s failure seems very realistic, if not highly probable.

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by secretID

Oopsie re the language barrier. I think that as a DM I would probably rule that Tink cannot use Jimmy’s hat, so I’ll let myself off the hook for that.

I don't think anything suggests that an imp wouldn't be able to use the helm. After shapeshifting into one of the beast shapes Tink wouldn't be able to keep the helm with him anymore, but the Comprehend Languages spell would at least work for an hour. It's not something Jimmy could have easily facilitated right after Darce was leaving though, so this is not really any relevant oversight.

Originally Posted by secretID

FWIW, I think I would be pretty easy for Jimmy to determine Tink’s location based on their communication coming in and out. I don’t think that will be important information, though.

Not really. I know I've been vague in giving you a layout of the outpost, but that's partially because the caves, gaps, and tunnels seaming the edges and center of it make for a bit of a 3d puzzle. Jimmy could probably eventually triangulate the right cave entrance that matches Tink's current position in a cave that's underground and out of sight, but it definitely wouldn't be pretty easy. Taking on that challenge would come with both time expenditure and exposure, so it's up to you to decide if it's something Jimmy thinks will be necessary to learn.

Originally Posted by secretID

All the mechanics make sense to me.

Sorry, I meant the logistics of the heist in regards to anything that's yet to happen when Tink actually proceeds with the theft. If Jimmy gets very hands-on with leading the heist we might be quickly introducing a lot of variables and it would take us quite a few posts.

But it's good to know that my rolls so far have been comprehensive.

Originally Posted by secretID

You mean in vague terms? I think Jimmy just needs to relay some directions to the campsite, no? I assume we’re not going to determine those with specificity, and of course I don’t know them now.

Well, anything that you think is relevant really, and only those pieces of information that Jimmy knows as of yet. If you can't give Tink his final instructions right now, we can arrange for Jimmy to come back into the telepathic range a second time. You're correct though that I'll gloss over the exact description of the path to the campsite, as you call it.

I'm wondering, will it be much of a campsite thought? I was imagining all the other characters sitting in a circle because there's not too much merit in setting anything up when you're not going to stay there for too long. A few hours of sitting in a cave outside of the outpost don't require much of a camp in the colony.

Either way, in regards to instructing Tink, at the least you need to let him know when to strike and where to go afterward. That's pretty much it as long as you keep it simple. The prospective location of Jimmy's party in a few hours won't be known to Jimmy before he talks to Boanagh though. Those (narratively vague) specifics can only be added if Jimmy comes back to Tink a second time, hoping that Darce won't have moved in the meantime.

Originally Posted by secretID

So…should I assume that Boanagh essentially insists on an explanation for the change in plans? If not, Jimmy has other options. He can explain all to Boanagh if and when Tink delivers the cylinder, or he can even meet with Tink privately before reporting what he did to Boanagh. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, and in any case Tink’s failure seems very realistic, if not highly probable.

Asking for forgiveness rather than permission is entirely possible. What Jimmy would assume though is that Boanagh will require a comprehensive explanation that he and the other three will have to wait an indefinite amount of time until Jimmy wants them to resume their quest. If Jimmy is missing without any explanation, Boanagh is likely to come looking to find him. If Jimmy tells him to wait without giving a reason a second time, I'll make it come down to a roll whether Boanagh accepts this. He wouldn't assume that there is any reason to delay or for Jimmy to keep him in the dark about anything he's trying to do.

[secretID]

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

I don't think anything suggests that an imp wouldn't be able to use the helm.

Huh. I just read the DMG section on items, and it suggests to me that Tink could use it.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

Sorry, I meant the logistics of the heist in regards to anything that's yet to happen when Tink actually proceeds with the theft. If Jimmy gets very hands-on with leading the heist we might be quickly introducing a lot of variables and it would take us quite a few posts.

Yup, that's what I meant - the mechanical issues going forward make sense to me.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

If you can't give Tink his final instructions right now, we can arrange for Jimmy to come back into the telepathic range a second time.

Cool. I misremembered what was IC versus OOC.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

I'm wondering, will it be much of a campsite thought? I was imagining all the other characters sitting in a circle because there's not too much merit in setting anything up when you're not going to stay there for too long.

Exactly. I figured it could still be several hours, but I'd prefer that they not be too settled.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

Those (narratively vague) specifics can only be added if Jimmy comes back to Tink a second time, hoping that Darce won't have moved in the meantime.

That's the plan. The whole area is very small, so it shouldn't take long at all to get that information from Boanagh.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

Boanagh will require a comprehensive explanation that he and the other three will have to wait an indefinite amount of time until Jimmy wants them to resume their quest.

Well, I see this as taking very little time. The area is so small that Jimmy can't be more than a few minutes from Boanagh. He regroups with him, gets the directions, stops by Tink to relay them, and leaves with the group. Seems like 5-10 minutes, no?

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by secretID

Well, I see this as taking very little time. The area is so small that Jimmy can't be more than a few minutes from Boanagh. He regroups with him, gets the directions, stops by Tink to relay them, and leaves with the group. Seems like 5-10 minutes, no?

Did I mess up using imperial units? I figured the dome would be a bit bigger in area than quadruple the size of a football stadium. In the center of the outpost we have a network of fissures and caves that make the space essentially two-storied. Then on the edges of the dome we have caverns that fork off into an irregular amount of additional living space. Then the surface floor would hold the tarp campsites which house workshops, storages and space for communal activities. The dome should be big enough to not be considered small for what it is, though it's definitely nowhere even near a village.

Regardless what we want to consider small, it shouldn't be more than a 5-10 minute thing to go to Boanagh and then back to Tink, depending on how long Jimmy gets sidetracked by conversations of course.