[Tapper]

Game number is 79.75

Tales of the Desert, The Nepeth Draught (ToD 0.33).
Prelude.

The man before me is famous. He is Abdul al-Adil, also known as the Collector of Fables. He is perhaps the closest to a historian Madeena al Salaam knows, even though he is not from here. And he is my guest, on his own insistence. The subject of his enquiry is not me, alas. Perhaps I have grown beyond the concern of mortals, condemned to be only noted when I finally relinquish my grasp on power, when the City of Peace becomes a City of Strife.

Instead, Abdul al-Adil is more concerned with history. He wants to know about war, about heroes, about savages, about magic, about treasures. And from that short introduction, I gather that he is not at all interested in history, but merely seeks lives up to his nickname, looking to add just one more fable to his repertoire. There often is nothing more true than a name. Nevertheless, all of the elements are part of this particular history, so maybe the tale I will tell will remain, in some way or another. I take a sip of clear water, and start to speak.

“To the south of the city, you'll find the Sea of Sand. Ask a trader who emerges from the desert and he will tell you that from here until Ishktar Oasis, you will find nothing but rolling dunes punished by the sun and the wind, obscuring the trails. To find your way, he will tell you, you will have to read the instruments of navigation, and have the memory of a fox and the nose of a camel. And every map will tell you the same. Beyond Ishktar, to the west,after you cross the Stone Flats, you will reach the land of the Nepeth Pharaoh, and it is here that our story begins.

The Nepeth are powerful, and ancient. Ask any Nepeth – there are enough of them in the city, actually: soldiers, priests, merchants, slavers - and he will tell you that their civilization rests on three pillars: the river, the Pharaoh, and the army. He will tell you that the river provides, the Pharaoh rules, and the army protects. But the essence of their society is not those three pillars that uphold the splendid temples and pyramids of the Nepeth religion as a roof under which they all shelter. No, the fundament is the peasant, he who farms.

And there, my dear Abdul, is where our story starts.” I take another sip, push with the tip of my tongue against the iced pearl that cools the water, and observe. Al-Adil has put down his brush, he sits and watches, scratches himself under his turban. He's waiting for the armies, I fear. Oh dear.

“We do not know what caused it. We only know the results. But last spring, the delta did not flood. The peasants had only dry fields to work with. And so, they turned to the priests. And the priests did what priests do best (apart perhaps from swindling riches, food and women from gullible believers): they prayed. They beseeched the God of the River, Keshet the Crocodile. He didn't answer them. They turned to Apsis the Sun God, to take pity on them and let the sweltering heat stop. Apsis did not answer. Then, they offered mirrh and gold to Osis, the God of the Pharaohs, for guidance, but he had none to offer. Finally, they offered the first born child in each family to Hasnet, their jackal faced God of Death, if only he would take mercy on the starving. Hasnet continued to feed, and no doubt he was bloated before he could even start on the first born babies.
They even prayed to Basket, the Cat Goddess, who never listens, for what cat does?

And with one pillar crumbling, the other two had to share the burden, and the Pharaoh sent out the armies of the Nepeth to conquer the nearest source of water that is big enough to relieve his population. He sent them marching to Ishktar Oasis.” I take another sip, content in the knowledge that even my drink suits my story.

“Naturally, anything that needs to be conquered is of value. And anywhere you find value, you find those who trade. It is no different with Ishktar and the many surrounding smaller oasis. I know you are a foreigner, but surely you must have heard of Delat and Meshkir? They are two of the five great Merchant families that together, from the bazaars known as the Houses of Agreements, rule the flow of wealth to and from Madeena al-Salaam. The Delat family specializes in transport of various... precious goods, most of whom require... a deft touch. Some of their goods are dangerous, some are exquisite, some spoil rapidly, and some are so sizeable that an entire caravan is required. The Meshkir, they prefer livestock and food. Probably because it walks itself to its destination, instead of requiring wagons. They breed camels, and goats. Their dates are marvellous, as is the cheese. Naturally, they have also profitted from Ishktar's relative proximity to the Nepeth slave markets, and they have a virtual monopoly on slave laborers here in Madeena. A very profitable trade, that. I am not sure I would call slaves livestock, but the Meshkir, they do. Of course, the bitter irony of the invasion was that the Delat might have to transport themselves back to Madeena and the Meshkir ran the risk of becoming slaves themselves. And so they harnassed their riches in pursuit of war to hang on to what they perceived as theirs.

And that is where the third party comes into this story. For where there are folks growing rich, there are also parasites in plenty. Robbers, thieves, murderers, hacks and swindlers all seek a share of the wealth without working for it, but in the Sea of Sands lurks a danger that makes them all gnats on the back of a lion. The Sea of Sands is the territory of the White Foal Clan of the Khanates, and as any clansman will tell you, the White Foal are the best raiders of all of them. The Black Stallion has better warriors and bigger numbers, the Red Mare has more fertile pastures, the Clan of the Golden Standard is the most feared and the Horde of the Hundred Thousand surely has the numbers over any of them.” I have to suppress a smile there. “But the White Foal are hardened and dangerous and they would not let the Nepeth drive them away. And thus, war loomed.”

I suck the pearl from the cup, tuck it into my cheek it like I would do with the stone of a date, and swallow the last bit of water. The pearls are a famous eccentricity of mine, a little bit of honesty-installing cruelty that keeps the City of Peace a city of peace. At first, there were plenty of greedy little men who tried swallowing the pearl, to then cough them up at home or even shit them out, greedy for their value once they had cleaned the wastes of their own body of them. Until they found out about the little magic I put in there... swallow, and a little djinn of air is conjured forth. They like air, and air is rather scarce in body cavities. And so, the djinn claws their way out, bringing the pearl with them. The last time someone decided to be greedy, was fifteen years ago. Usually, once in every twelve years someone needs to die to remind the people that this is not just fable... maybe they've gotten smart. Somehow, I doubt it. I resume my tale.

“I am the Khalif. I value peace and prosperity. Everyone knows that, and even before a single drop of blood was shed, all three parties had asked me to mediate. The Nepeth wanted water, but I had not a drop to grand that isn't already someone elses. The Houses wanted protection, but I have no army. The White Foal wanted aid, but they have always taken more than they need, so why would I help them take even more? Even so, judgment was required, and I am the Khalif.
I made three judgments. The Traders should protect themselves and if they seek my aid, then I will require the price of obedience. I demanded Ishktar Oasis, and they ceded it. I now controlled the source of this war, and it would be mine to bargain in the settlement. The White Foal I promised that if they worked in concert with Madeena al-Salaam, their way of life could continue. The Nepeth committed a crime in invading my lands, and therefore, they deserved punishment, but if they showed sufficient strength, I would grant them that which they wanted. And thus, I dispatched a force that could enforce all three. I sent one entity. I sent the Qadi of Loathing, that immortal creature with magic of unimaginable power at his disposal. One of the three Heartless who serve me.” I spit out the pearl for emphasis. It clatters on the ground, makes three little jumps before spinning in place, a finger length away from the Collector of Fables.

“Your audience is over, Abdul al-Adil. But if you wish to hear more about the Nepeth Drought, I will grant you another hour at dusk, tomorrow.” In a quiet voice, I add: “I hope you will take notes.”
For a second, he blanches as if I threatened him with death. And maybe I did, for I am the Khalif of the City of Peace. I am the Qadi of Cold Justice.

Players:


1. Silencer
2. Tattersail
3. HiddenOne
4. GH
5. JLV
6. D'rek (perhaps)
7. Lyca
8. Khellendros
9. Shinrei
10. JA (after jan 2)
11. HD (after jan 2 and it must be ToD)
12. ansible
13. twelve (but only ToDS)
14. Mentalist (missed his "IN").

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 02 January 2012 - 02:05 PM

[Tapper]

Game Phases.

Important: you can sell any number of goods, you can buy any number of goods, you can produce any number of goods.

However, unless otherwise stipulated, YOU CAN ONLY TAKE 1 ACTION EACH PHASE.


Dawn: at dawn, orders for the Workshop must be sent in, and P-S starts publishing contracts and the goods for sale on the bazaar. He will update these at the same time as voting updates. Dawn is a seperate phase from night but has a 0 hour duration - it's length is technically only the "It is now day X, # players alive, no-one has voted. For sale are the following goods. The following contracts are open."
Some abilities can only be used at dawn.

Day: the regular day phase. No changes here.

Battle: at the end of the day phase but before lynch resolution (if any), all battles take place, and all Battle phase abilities are resolved, in the following order:

Guard - Heal - Find - Other - Battle.

The actual kill resolution is thus last, after all other effects have been activated and computed.

Dusk: the end-of-day message, also containing the lynch. In this phase, P-S will also do all of the following, in the order below:
1) remove all goods from the market,
2) grant to all players the goods they produced during dawn;
3) return all goods bought and unsold to their owners;
4) settle all fulfilled/ ended contracts;
5) add or subtract the dinari players earned/ spent on goods and contracts that day;
6) resolve Dusk actions, in the following order: Guard - Heal - Find - Other.

Night: night is night as we know it. Resolution for night actions is the following:

Guard - Heal - Find - Raid - Theft - Assassination.

This post has been edited by Tapper: 29 December 2011 - 04:12 PM

[Tapper]

Mechanics: the Bazaar.

Madeena al Salaam is a city of commerce. Everything is for sale, from mundane food to magical legions of golems. It is just a small matter of paying the right price. However, Madeena also has a thriving service community, where less tangible goods change hands: services, actions, favors, titles, positions.

The Bazaar is operated by Path-Shaper and offers each player the opportunity to do one of the following:

- Buy and Sell from the Bazaar
- Buy from and Sell to players
- Offer Contracts

Read below for what things mean.

1. Buy and Sell from the Bazaar.

Each day + night phase, P-S will offer a certain amount of goods for sale, at a fixed price.
Each day + night phase, P-S will offer to buy a certain amount of basic goods, at a fixed price.
The goal of this option is to allow a trickle of dinari and goods to players who can't sell their own excess goods or whose needs are not sated by the market of players.
Each day, players can send a PM to P-S, listing one good they want to buy, and one good they wish to sell. P-S may or may not then offer that good the next day phase. Expect selling prices to be unpleasantly high and buying prices to be at cut-throat rate.

2. Buy and Sell to players.

Each day + night phase, you can offer goods for sale to other players. To do so, simply send a PM to P-S listing what goods you wish to sell, which amount, and at what price. Each game day, P-S will update the market. The supply side of the market closes after everyone has logged in and posted at least once that day. Other players can buy goods at the offered prices. Naturally, you can buy your own goods if you so choose, sometimes, that is a very good strategic option.

There is no barter trade: only dinari are accepted as currency. We're not barbarians, after all.
Speculation is not allowed: you cannot buy more than your current amount of dinari in your Treasury, even if you know that you'll gain more dinari through your own sales.

Anything not sold at the end of the day is returned to you.

Offer Contracts

You can also offer Contracts. Contracts are basically a reward for a player if he does something in the game. P-S will monitor contracts and will supervise pay-out, because Contracts are anonymous. Each contract can contain only 1 clause. Contracts cannot refer to players, roles or factions as a condition for fulfilling the contract.

Contracts contain 4 stipulations:
1) what you want to happen in the game;
2) how often you are going to reward that;
3) for how long the contract stands;
4) the height of the reward (once more, dinari only).

You must be able to pay out the entire reward at the time you put up the contract.
If you cannot fulfill the contract, everyone who legally fulfilled it and is not paid in full will learn the following:
1. your alt
2. your role
3. your faction


Example of a legal contract:

The first 2 players to vote D'riss on day 3 will receive 2000 dinari each.

Example of an illegal contract:

The first Nepeth* player to vote D'riss and** to put 3 water on the Bazaar for sale at a price of 4000 dinari each*** will receive 3000 dinari.

* = faction bound, therefore not allowed.
** = a second clause, therefore not allowed.
*** = a further stipulation of the second clause, which is essentially a second clause again.

There is a duration here, but it is subtle: it ends after the first player fulfills all conditions.

This post has been edited by Tapper: 29 December 2011 - 03:47 PM

[Tapper]

Mechanics: your role.

Each player plays 1 Character (role)
Each Character has possession of the following:

A Home.
Each Home is unique and has a name. A Character ALWAYS has a home. All Homes produce at least 1 Good for their owner per turn, sometimes a lot more. Most Homes can be upgraded, usually resulting in a higher production, but some Homes also gain abilities through upgrades. In games where a tile system is used, Homes are placed on a tile, but in all other games, their function is symbolic.

Wihin each home, there are six elements.

The Treasury.
The Treasury contains all dinari that the Character has. Dinari are used to pay for actions and auctions. Dinari are carried over from one game to another (if a character does not die in a game, of course). Dinari are measured per thousand.

The Well.
The Well produces a certain amount of water per day, this is usually 1 or 2, but can be higher. Your Character and all of his Retainers consume water per day, your Character at a rate of 1 Water per day. Produced Water is moved to the Storage before it is consumed.

The Surroundings.
In the Surroundings, certain goods are produced each day, usually raw resources that stand at the bottom of the refinement chains. Produced goods are moved to the Storage.

The Storage.
In the Storage, all produced items are placed until they are used, sold or taken away.

The Workshop.
In the Workshop, goods can be refined or combined into other items. Goods that are produced here are moved to the Storage.

The Courtyard.
This is where your Retainers wait for you to give commands.

Example:

Shinrei's Sake Den
Treasury: 1000 dinari.
Well: 3 water per turn.
Surroundings: 1 rice.
Storage: empty.
Workshop:
combine 1 water and 1 rice into 1 sake. (notation: 1 water + 1 rice → 1 sake)
1 slaves + 1 sake → 1 Drunk Retainer.

The Courtyard: empty.

Retainers.

Every Character has Retainers that he can recruit. Retainers are your hangers-on, and have two functions.
The first function is to allow you to use certain abilities. Many Retainers improve your abilities, others give you completely new ones. Many abilities require a specific type of Retainer, but for some abilities, any type of Retainer will do.

The second function is in battle. The more Retainers you have, the harder you are to kill in battle. The stronger your Retainers are, the easier it is to win battles.

Each Retainer has several statistics:

Combat Rating (CR): how strong your Retainer is in battle. The higher, the better.
Recruit Cost (RC): what goods you need to create one of these Retainers.
Leadership Requirement: how much Leadership these guys take: the combined sum of Leadership Requirements of your Retainers may not be higher than your Leadership.
Water Consumption (WC): You have to feed your Retainers. Each turn, they will consume this amount of Water.

Retainers can have abilities. Some produce certain goods or a certain amount of dinari, others act as bodyguards against assassination, others can carry stuff when you raid. They are very versatile and allow a certain amount of customization to your Character. Some basic Retainers are available on the market.

Example:

Kurt's Shit flinging Monkey.
CR: 1.
RC: 1 banana.
Leadership Requirement: 1
Water Consumption: 1

Ability: once per day + night cycle: lower Kurt's Shitflinging Monkey's CR to 0 to gain 1000 dinari. You can only do this before the Battle phase.

Items.

Madeena al-Salaam is a city of trade, magic and wonders. A great many wonderous and inventive little tools are for sale, and where there is demand, there is supply. Some Characters start with items, and more can be acquired through play.

Items allow you to do stuff and/or bust your statistics, and they have very, very few restrictions. Unlike Retainers, Items do not consume water, which makes them very powerful. On the other hand, in general, most Items cannot be produced, only purchased, which makes them expensive and your access to them erratic.
Is there a downside to Items? Why, yes, there is. Items can be stolen.
Like Retainers and dinari, Items carry over from one game to the next.

Example:
D'rek's Healing Catapult.
Once per phase, heal target player. The player cannot be killed during battle the first time he is attacked per turn regardless of the outcome of the battle. If used outside of the Battle phase, this ability grants him +1 Combat Rating but only if he is the defender against an assassination.


Titles.

Names carry weight, but titles tell even more about someone.
Every Character has a Title, and Titles allow you to do things. Generals and Warriors for example can start combat, Raiders can Raid, Thieves can use Theft, Priests and Mages can summon Djinn, Qadi are immortal summoners and Assassins can kill.

Titles can be purchased, acquired through the market, inherited, and sometimes, gained through abilities. They will always be yours until you die. When someone dies, their purchased titles are either inherited or returned to the market and their personal titles are lost forever.

Each title also has a command rating associated with it, which determines the maximum amount of Retainers you can command.

Example:
King of HHM.
Cost to purchase: 3 aquevit, 2 water, 1 pizza and you can't be Irish.
+1 Command
Hereditary (this title is transferred to the highest ranking player in your faction after you die).
Ability: Once per day, pay 1000 dinari to target a player. That player automatically votes you.

Abilities.

Each Character has three abilities to start the game with. More can be unlocked, but at a heavy price and only a few at a time per game. Although reappearance is a given for as long as a Character survives, few Characters will see more than 3-4 games in total, which makes Abilities something to be cherished, for they often interact with your Title and fit your Home's production, which is not a given for Titles, Items and some Retainers. Abilities cost money to use, which is their biggest downside.

Example:

Tapper's Game Design:
cost: 1000 dinari.
you confuse target player through your ridiculously elaborate mechanics. He is guarded for the next phase.

Now that we have examined players, what about basic Titles?

Sure, here we go. To maintain a bit of surprise, higher ranking titles (which are in general hereditary) are not explained, only their chain of inheritance is.
Let's take a look at Military roles first. Military roles can attack other players during the battle phase, which (together with Assassination), is the most direct way to kill another player. Attacks are important: they have a whole phase dedicated to them. So, how does a Battle work?

Battle Rules.
Only Generals and Warriors can attack (cost: 3000 dinari).
The player with the highest Combat Rating from all used Retainers plus his own Combat Rating wins the battle, and he destroys a number of enemy Retainers equal to the total number of Retainers he commands himself.

If the Combat Rating of both armies is equal, no combat takes place.
If the loser had less Retainers than the winner, the losing player is also killed.
Futhermore, for every destroyed Retainer the winner obtains 1 Slaves (who are Goods).

Example:

General Obdigore attacks Merchant Tattersail. Obdigore commands a battallion of charioteers, who have a CR of 4. He himself prefers to command from the back, so he has no CR.

Tattersail has 3 Caravans, each with a CR of 1 but he has used two of these for actions in a previous phase. He does have a Scimitar, which gives him a CR of 1 for himself. His army's total Combat Rating is 2 (unused Retainers only).

Obdi wins the battle with 4 against 2. Because he commands 1 Retainer, he will destroy 1 of Tattersail's Caravans and gain 1 Slaves. Tattersail used 1 Retainer in the battle: this Retainer is destroyed over the two who were already used. If there was a choice, the Retainer with the lowest CR is destroyed.


Raid Rules.
Only Raiders can Raid (cost: 1000 dinari).
Characters that are Raiders are adept at ambushing other people's Storage, taking a sample of all goods present there. There is no defense against Raiding, unless you have an ability, item or Retainer that helps. A Raider carries 1 of each available Good in the Storage away. He does not touch the Treasury and does not steal Items and does not destroy Retainers.

Example:
Raider Vengeance raids General Obdigore. Obdigores Storage is filled with 1 Weapon, 3 Water, 2 Slaves and 4 Jewelry. Vengeance takes 1 weapon, 1 water, 1 Slaves and 1 Jewelry and adds them to his own Storage.


Theft Rules.
Only Thieves can use Theft (cost: 0 dinari).
Characters that are Thieves can rob other players. They steal that player's lowest value Item as well as half of their dinari (rounded up) from the Treasury, to a maximum of 3000 dinari.

Example:
Thief Drinksinbars robs Raider Vengeance. Vengeance has a scimitar (value 4000 dinari) and a Bottle of the Djinn (value 10000 dinari), and has 3000 dinari in his Treasury. Dibs steals the scimitar and 2000 dinari from Vengeance's Treasury.

Trader Rules.
Only Traders can use Trade (cost: 1000 dinari).
Characters who have the Trader title can exchange one good in their storage for another good that they also have in their Storage.

Example:
Trader Lyca produces 2 Politics and 3 Water per day+night cycle. Once per cycle, at any given time, she can decide to pay 1000 dinari and change 1 Water into 1 Politics or 1 Politics into 1 Water.

Caravan-Leader Rules.
Only Caravan-Leaders can use Transport (cost: 0 dinari).
Characters who have the Caravan-Leader title can use one of their Caravans to gain 1000 dinari as their action in the Day Phase.

Example:
Caravan-Leader dktorode wants some money. Once per day phase, he can use one of his Caravans (using it means he can't select it to perform any actions at all this day + night cycle), to gain 1000 dinari.

Assassination Rules.
Only Assassins can use Assassination (cost: 4000 dinari).
An Assassin is a Character who can target another player at night. They compare their own combat ratings (usually only influenced by items and abilities) without taking Retainers into account unless these have an ability. The loser dies. In case of a tie, both die. The attacker has to specify which items he wishes to use, the defender automatically uses all available and unused items he has.
Note: Assassins are typically not able to win in battle versus a General or Warrior with one or more Retainers, despite their accumulation of Combat Strength, but will generally be able to kill a General or Warrior through Assassination.

Example:
Assassin Silencer (Combat Rating 1), wielding a Chakram (CR 3 when assassinating) attacks Caravan-Leader dktorode (CR 2). The combat is 5 versus 2, and since dktorode has no bullet proofs and is not being healed, he dies.


Summoner Rules.
Only Priests, Mages and Qadi can Summon (cost: depends on Djinn).
Summon creates a Djinn, which is a special type of Retainer that typically has a great many abilities and is very strong, but who, once dead, cannot be re-summoned. Ever (coughyestheycanwithcoughabilitiescoughshutup). Furthermore, the ability to summon is gained from Items and abilities only, not through the Workshop like regular Retainers.

Example:
Mage Mentalist summons Aktar, Djinn of Pleasant Odors. In order to summon the Djinn, he pays the associated cost (in this case, 5000 dinari) and destroys Aktar's Perfume Flask, the item that gave him access to summoning Aktar in the first place. He also has to pay a cost in goods: 3 Water, 2 Jewelry, 2 Magic.

[Tapper]

Dynasty.

I really liked the faction system from Spycraft, and I liked D'rek's Rot3K thing even more.
So I decided to blend them together and come up with something new. Each Character is a member of a faction. Each faction has a pre-determined number of playable characters in it.

Each faction is fully published before ToD 0.33 will even begin.

Each faction has certain strong points and certain weaknesses, anbd many factions produce certain goods in abundance but lack others completely. Some of the specializations of a faction can be gleaned from stories, others are straightforward because a Character's main title is also published, and titles do things, so you'll know (a bit) about the general gist of a faction.

When it comes to factions, there are certain things to observe.
1) If a character dies, there is no replacement. Ever. Perhaps his titles are transferred, perhaps not even that: titles will only be transferred to players in the same game as the deceased - so if a faction is wiped out in a game, all its titles are lost.

2) If a character gets recruited, he joins his new faction permanently. He becomes part of their faction on the faction sheet.

3) if a faction no longer has any characters in it, it will crumble to dust and is removed from the entire game. This will be hard to achieve, though.

4) All belongings Characters have, travel from one game to the next. So if you buy an item in ToD 0.33, your character survives the game to surface again in ToD 4.25, then he will still have that Item. The same goes for dinari, goods, Retainers and titles. Spending all your goods and all your dinari in one game will mean your character may end up dirt poor in the next with nothing to his name.
If a Character dies, all his Items and acquired (non-hereditary) Titles will be sold, except those that are special to his faction. For example, the title of Tar-Khan will never be sold as it denotes the likely successor of the current Khan of a Khanate Clan... which can only be a Khanate player.

Character Upgrades

Each Character has 3 abilities. Some are active (aka, you must say "I use this ability now") others are passive (aka "P-S will tell you when something happens that triggers it").

Each Character also has several Upgrades. Upgrades improve your Home, make your abilities stronger and/or give you new abilities or increase your Combat Strength or Command or increase/ decrease your Water consumption. Upgrades are of course bought with Goods and dinari.
You're probably correct when you think you can't purchase an Upgrade without doing some serious shopping on the Bazaar. Buying Upgrades or using abilities thus becomes a trade-off.

Once again, if your Character survives a game, he takes all his Upgrades with him to the next he is playing in.

This post has been edited by Tapper: 29 December 2011 - 08:44 PM

[Tapper]

Faction 1: The Nepeth.

Royal Family

Pharaoh Tsutitepsis
First Wife Nekhiti
First Consort Hepshi
Heir Prince Nermosut (Tsutitepsis X Nekhiti)
Princess Qedishi (Tsutitepsis X Nekhiti)
Prince Nemuth (Tsutitepsis X Nekhiti)
Prince Tserish (Tsutitepsis X Hepshi)
Princess Hatepsut (Tsutitepsis X Hepshi)
Lady Notepi
Bastard Prince Notepsitut (Nermosut X Notepi)

The Court:
Trade Minister Septut
Trade Deputy Pesip
Trade Deputy Koshtut
High Priest of Apsis (Sun) Teresh
Priest of Apsis (Sun) Nekeesh
Priest of Osis (Pharaoh) Ushnet
Priest of Keshet (River) Tamut
Priest of Hasnet (Death) Neret
Priest of Basket (Cats) Nekest

The Army:
High General Mentet of the Royal Army
General Terus of the Chariots
General Fuset of the Archers
General Turash of the Golden Infantry
General Keshket
General Potedopeth
General Hepothepsi
General Kophotrep of the Household Regiment
General Necromancer Toliptoth
General Necromancer Kushtet
General Necromancer Kushtet
General Necromancer Kushket
General Necromancer Testvat

Faction 2: The Qadi

The Khalif, Qadi of Cold Justice.
Tarkin the Bitter-Hearted, Qadi of Loathing
Silenah, Qadi of Corrupting Pleasure
Bertrand Du Bouillon, Qadi of Obsession

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 06 January 2012 - 01:08 AM

[Tapper]

Faction 3: The Khanates

Black Stallion Clan
Kadukai, Khan of Khans
Chenshi, Raider (wife to Kadukai)
Chagatai, Warrior (son of Kadukai)
Kublai, Warrior (son of Kadukai)
Khesmak, Tar-Khan
Nemujin, Raid-Leader
Sarkhan, Leader of the Hunt
Shenoshka, Outrider of the Khan + day 1, the Tale of the Nepeth Drought

Red Mare Clan
Nebanchuck, Khan
Terumari, Tar-Khan
Sedlak, Raider
Tashmar, Raider
Gashgarak, Warrior
Terush the Blood-Hound, Warrior

White Foal Clan
Temujin, Khan
Tepmashi, Tar-Khan (daughter of Temujin)
Khaheris, Raider
Shemakh, Raider
Marouane, Raider
Tepushari, Warrior

Horde of the Hundred Thousand
Grüsh, Khan
Teshimek, Tar-Khan
Osman, Raider
Suleiman, Warrior

Clan of the Golden Standard
Yesugei-Khan
Sepmesh the White Foal (wife to Yesugei)
Mehmet Skull-drinker (son to Yesugei)
Setosh (daughter to Yesugei)
Ogedai, Tar-Khan
Qu Sujin, Warrior
Yupan, Warrior

Faction 4: The Cult of the Vulture

The Grand Council
Master Ali the Unhanded
Master Shemets the Blind
Master Neferti the Unstable
Master Shemukh the Cripple
Master Neruh the Unmanned
Master Fatimah the Deaf

House of Illusion:
Mage Shela
Mage Goldenhand
Mage Brother Sister
Mage Dada
Mage Dreamfather
Mage Mist of Dreams
Mage All-Mother

House of Terror
Mage Hassan the Dreadfather
Mage Daruk the Raiser
Mage Ternash the Risen

Golden Circle of Fate
Whitch Temul the White
Whitch Mahul
Whitch Once-Betrayed

House of Djinn
Summoner Hassan ibn Hassan
Summoner Muhammet ibn Hassan
Summoner Djamud ibn Hassan
Apprentice Ibn Hassil
Apprentice Tehush

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 04 January 2012 - 11:25 AM

[Tapper]

Faction 5: The Night prophet

The Inner Circle
The Night Prophet
The Daughter that Listens
The Daughter that Speaks
The Guardian of the Night
The Guardian of Twilight
The Guardian by Day
The Collector
The Contractor

The Assassins
The Daughter of Blades
The Daughter of Poison
The Daughter of Mishap
The Daughter of Drowning
The Daughter of Strangulation

The Sons of Life
The Son of Blood
The Son of Bone

The Orphanage
Orphan of Mages
Orphan of Merchants
Orphan of the Desert + day 1, Tale of the Nepeth Drought
Orphan of War
Orphan of Poverty

Faction 6: The Houses of Agreement

The House of Magic
Delat ibn Adaephon, Merchant-Prince
Sharif ibn Delat, High Trader
Tokar ibn Delat, Master of the Roads
Alisa ibn Ben Khar, Trader
Eda Ishan, Trader
Temulin Half-Blood, Caravan Leader, High Trader, Tax Collector of Ishktar Oasis.
Gemüsh Güsu, Caravan Leader


The House of Necessity
Sharif ibn Meshkir, Merchant Prince
Deshmar ibn Sharif, High Trader
Omar ibn Deshmar, Trader + day 1, Tale of the Nepeth Drought
Effendi, Trader
Emiral, Caravan-Leader
Duqaq, Caravan-Leader

The House of Luxury
Huassan ibn Qolat, Merchant Prince
Ruben ibn Huassan, High Trader
Fatimah Nün, Trader
Tepan Sush, Trader
Eyla the Scimitar
Faida, Caravan Leader

The Iron House
Hakhim the Blade, Merchant Prince
Osman ibn Hakhim, High Trader
Hila the Gorilla, exotic pet
Hisham the Healer, Trader
Indira, Trader
Kalib al Asim, Caravan Leader

Faction 7: The Beggar's Guild

The Thieves
Adnan
Jilla
Maymun
Atif
Kasib
Kumpal
Kurrat al-Ayn
Mendi
Duad

The Pickpockets
Mulah
the Monkey Man
Three Finger
Nizam

The Swindlers
Al-Hafti the Quack
Puja the Priest
Qashima the Beautiful
Muad-dhi
Qer-Apet the Easily Affordable
Rahjit the Back-Alley-Boy

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 06 January 2012 - 01:09 AM

[Tapper]

Swag for sale in The Nepeth Draught

Items:

Al-Shazar's Bag of Plenty
Unique Item
Cost to purchase: 13000 dinari. Value: 5000 dinari.
Special: once per day+night cycle, produce 1000 dinari.

Addas' Spyglass
Unique Item.
Cost to purchase: 17000 dinari. Value: 9000 dinari.
Special: once per phase, do a find on target player. When you are Raided, you will learn the identity of the player who raided you.

Amaq's Torn-out Tearduct
Unique Item.
Cost: 17000 dinari. Value: 7000 dinari.
This Item summons the Djinn Amaq, Djinn of Catatonic Despair. Summoning Amaq requires 12 Water, 3 Magic and 1 Artefact, and destroys Amaq's Torn-out Tearduct to create the following Retainer:

Quote

Amaq, Djinn of Catatonic Despair.
Combat Rating: 3
Leadership Required: 0
Water Consumption: 0
Recruitment Cost: 0
Passive. After you have used one of Amaq's abilities, you cannot take actions during the next phase. If you used Amaq's ability during the night phase, you cannot use your workshop.
Special 1: Night only: guard target player. This counts as a use of Amaq.
Special 2: Day only. guard target player. This counts as a use of Amaq.
Special 3: Assassination only. Passive. Characters targeting Amaq's controller with an Assassination have their Combat Rating lowered to 0.

Water Clock
Quantity for sale: 4
Cost to purchase: 4000 dinari. Value: 3000 dinari.
You can take 2 actions per day phase, but not the same action twice.

Retainers:
Peasant Levy.
Quantity for sale: 10
Cost to Purchase: 6000 dinari. Value: 2000 dinari.
Combat Rating: 0.
Leadership Required: 1
Water Consumption: 1
Recruitment Cost: -
Special: when determining which Retainer dies when losing a battle, Peasant Levy is always destroyed first.

Mercenary Irregulars
Quantity for sale: 7
Cost to Purchase: 10.000 dinari. Value: 3000 dinari.
Combat Rating: 1.
Leadership Required: 2
Water Consumption: 1
Recruitment Cost: -

Court Eunuch
Quantity for sale: 2
Cost to Purchase: 10000 dinari. Value: 3000 dinari.
Combat Rating: 0.
Leadership Required: 1
Water Consumption: 1
Recruitment Cost: -
Special: produce 1 Politics during the Day Phase.


Titles:

Tax Collector of the South
Cost: 15000 dinari
Hereditary Title.
Each dusk, you collect 1000 dinari from the richest player of each faction. If multiple players of a faction have the same amount of gold, the lowest in status pays.

Governor of Ishktar Oasis
Cost: 22000 dinari
Your Surroundings produce +1 Sandstone, +1 Livestock, +1 Slaves and +1 Metal per day.

The Brave
Cost: cannot be purchased.
The Brave is awarded to the first player who wins a battle against an opponent who has more Retainers than the victor at the start of the battle.
This player gains +1 Combat Rating.

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 02 January 2012 - 01:01 PM

[Path-Shaper]

In 1 hour, 45 minutes at Noon my time (CET), the game starts.
We start the game at the start of the day phase (thus, there is no dawn).
First day is 48 hours long (because there will be a load of questions, I suspect), all others are 32 hours long, with a 4 hour night.

The Bazaar has the following goods for sale:

Sandstone: 4000 dinari.
Water: 4000 dinari.
Metal: 4000 dinari.
Livestock: 4000 dinari.
Slaves: 4000 dinari.
Weapons: 9000 dinari.

The Bazaar offers to buy the following:
Sandstone: 1000 dinari.
Water: 1000 dinari.
Metal: 1000 dinari.
Livestock: 1000 dinari.
Slaves: 1000 dinari.
Weapons: 3000 dinari.
politics: 1000 dinari.

Items, Retainers, Titles (see page 1, post #9 for description:
Al-Shazar's Bag of Plenty (1): 13000 dinari
Addas' Spyglass (1): 17000 dinari
Amaq's Torn-out Tearduct (1): 17000 dinari
Water Clock (4): 4000 dinari
Peasant Levy (10): 6000 dinari
Mercenary Irregulars (7): 10000 dinari
Court Eunuch (2): 10000 dinari
Tax Collector of the South (1): 15000 dinari
Governor of Ishktar Oasis (1): 22000 dinari

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 02 January 2012 - 09:18 AM

[Path-Shaper]

IMPORTANT 1 : REVEALS OF ANY KIND ARE 100% FORBIDDEN. THE ONLY WAY TO REVEAL IS BY FAILING TO PAY THE PROMISED REWARD ON A LEGAL CONTRACT.

IMPORTANT 2: ONLY ONE ACTION PER PHASE (DAWN, DAY, BATTLE, DUSK, NIGHT) UNLESS YOUR ROLE/ ITEMS/ ABILITIES SAY OTHERWISE. TRADING AND PRODUCING STUFF ARE NOT ACTIONS.

victory conditions:

Nepeth: achieve vote parity. The Qadi does not count for determining when parity is reached.
Everyone else: remove all Nepeth from the game.


Regarding victory conditions and factions et cetera:

basically, this is like Spycraft. We have a group of factions (number unknown, but the OP contains hints) that all have the goal of eliminating one other faction.
Unlike Spycraft, where there were hidden VCs based on points, we here have the bigger meta-game as a background mechanic. Serc is more or less correct in comparing this game to an RPG, it more or less is on the meta level. There is winning this game, of course there is. But there is also ToD 0.66 and further, just like Rot3K had multiple games and recurring characters.

So you also play for keeps.

A player whose character who comes away from this game with, say, 2 upgrades, a filled treasury and a filled storage, maybe an item or an extra Retainer, has secured a strong position for the next game that character appears in. Even better if you manage to kill/ drive into poverty someone from a faction who is on your side in this game. Because he sure as hell won't be in a future one.

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 02 January 2012 - 08:30 PM

[Path-Shaper]

It is Day 1. 47 hours and 58 minutes remaining

14 Players still alive: Anomandaris, D'riss, Eloth, Emurlahn, Galain, Hood's Path, Kaschan, Korvalain, Liosan, Olar Ethil, Omtose, Serc, Sukul Anandhu, Telas

8 votes to lynch, 7 votes to go to night.


Players not voted: Anomandaris, D'riss, Eloth, Emurlahn, Galain, Hood's Path, Kaschan, Korvalain, Liosan, Olar Ethil, Omtose, Serc, Sukul Anandhu, Telas

The Bazaar has the following goods for sale:

Sandstone: 4000 dinari.
Water: 4000 dinari.
Metal: 4000 dinari.
Livestock: 4000 dinari.
Slaves: 4000 dinari.
Weapons: 9000 dinari.

The Bazaar offers to buy the following:
Sandstone: 1000 dinari.
Water: 1000 dinari.
Metal: 1000 dinari.
Livestock: 1000 dinari.
Slaves: 1000 dinari.
Weapons: 3000 dinari.
politics: 1000 dinari.

Items, Retainers, Titles (see page 1, post #9 for description:
Al-Shazar's Bag of Plenty (1): 13000 dinari
Addas' Spyglass (1): 17000 dinari
Amaq's Torn-out Tearduct (1): 17000 dinari
Water Clock (4): 4000 dinari
Peasant Levy (10): 6000 dinari
Mercenary Irregulars (7): 10000 dinari
Court Eunuch (2): 10000 dinari
Tax Collector of the South (1): 15000 dinari
Governor of Ishktar Oasis (1): 22000 dinari

There are no Contracts to be fulfilled.

Good luck, have fun, play nice.
The game is on.

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 02 January 2012 - 05:37 PM

[Korvalain]

First.

[Olar Ethil]

*steals the icecream*

But at least i have the food. Just cheking in, be back later.

[Korvalain]

My icecream!

vote Olar Ethil


for stealing it.

[Path-Shaper]

It is Day 1. 47 hours and 14 minutes remaining

14 Players still alive: Anomandaris, D'riss, Eloth, Emurlahn, Galain, Hood's Path, Kaschan, Korvalain, Liosan, Olar Ethil, Omtose, Serc, Sukul Anandhu, Telas

8 votes to lynch, 7 votes to go to night.

1 Vote for Olar Ethil ( Korvalain )

Players not voted: Anomandaris, D'riss, Eloth, Emurlahn, Galain, Hood's Path, Kaschan, Liosan, Olar Ethil, Omtose, Serc, Sukul Anandhu, Telas

[Emurlahn]

Checking in


Olar Ethil's letting us know he's a thief already?

[Liosan]

Life is good. New mafia game has started.

[Anomandaris]

*steals plush tiger*

And at least I have a slav...er...snuggle buddy.

[Galain]

Hello everyone. Anyone else online?

I'm gonna grab a bite and reread the rules. Slowly.