Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[I take it back. Connected dialog; I'd say Brand was pretty decent until Eddard said he was too busy wo wait...]]

"I'm sorry, sir," says the man trying vainly to stop the occasional drop that gets through the thick foliage overhead, "but things have indeed changed in the School... Did you say that Master Nathaniel was your mentor?"

When Brand nods in reply, he says, "Could you tell me your name please?"

"I said friend and mentor. And today I discovered he may be the only one of each remaining, so I really would appreciate seeing him...though Minton did recommend waiting until the rain had finished. Never asked why, probably should have. But...to answer your question...Alaric Brand is my name. And you are?"

At the mention of Brand's name, the fellow stands up straighter and bows. Then he says, "Koric Brand's son. I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you. I am Eddard Maclan."

He then shows you a signet ring on his finger, the siIver of which matches the School journeyman medallion resting on the front of his shirt.

"I went to your family's estate once for a party," he says, "and I must say I have taken quite a liking to the vintages your family produces there."

A particularly large drop of water lands on his head, at which he curses and then says, "Let us get out of this damn rain, shall we?"

He then sprints towards the library.

Brand follows cautiously at a safe distance, and when they reach the library entrance takes off his cloak and shakes it. He glances at Maclan, trying to place the name, face, or mannerisms. "Well Eddard, aside from having excellent taste in wine, what else can you tell me about yourself. Obviously a journeyman, which is no small feat. Are you also a student of Nathaniel's?"

"No," Eddard replies, trying to brush water from his hair, "but I've spent some time talking with the old man. That's how I knew he was your mentor. He mentioned the name Alaric several times to me, I just didn't know he meant Alaric Brand."

"Can you really do what Nathaniel can do?" he then asks. "Project yourself through walls, and all that?"

Brand shrugs, and resorts to vagueness followed by distraction, "My experience is very different to Master Nathaniels, but we have similar interests." Then he smiles, "So he mentioned me did he? I hope he wasn't too rude about me?"

"No, no," says Eddard. "Not at all."

Then Eddard looks toward the administration building and then speaks in a quieter voice. "I'm supposed to show you out, but shall we go up and see the old man, I'm sure he'd like to see you, in the flesh as it were," he adds with a grin.

Brand smiles back, and nods, "That would be most agreeable. I don't think that harridan....Haneena was it? I'm terrible with names. I don't think she took a liking to me. And I suspect she doesn't really have great fondness for Minton either. Do you know who she does like? I should probably tread carefully around them."

Harridan?" says Eddard as he leads the way towards the stairs. "That's a bit harsh. I admit she can be brusque at times, but she's always done right by me."

He leads Brand up the stairs and through the shelves of books to the small back room that Nathaniel claims as his bedroom, where Brand sees a young woman sorting bed linen on a table near the door. The woman is wearing the bronze medallion of a student.

"Hello Lucinda," says Eddard. "How is he today?"

She puts a finger to her lips and says quietly, "He's asleep at the moment, and I wouldn't waken him, he's not been sleeping well these last couple of days."

Brand sighs, and speaks in hushed tones. "Lucinda is it? My name is Alaric. I was hoping to see Master Nathaniel today, but I certainly don't want to disturb him."

He glances at the door, back at the shelves of books, and considers for a moment, then continues.

"I did want to consult [[volume name, vaguely relevant to astral travel, if he knows one, but see above]] then visit Mistress Vodin, if she is present. If the Master wakes in the next hour or so, would you be able to send me a message? Otherwise, just let him know that I'm back and will visit again as soon as I can?"

"I'm supposed to escort you from the School," says Eddard to Brand before Lucinda can reply. "Nothing was said about using the library, or seeing one of the other masters, I was just doing you a favour because I knew Master Nathaniel might want to see you."


"Well. Then I guess I shall wait a little for Nathaniel to waken, should he choose to do so."

Brand settles on the floor and begins meditating, hoping to, by some miracle, succeed in leaving his body, if only to check on Nathaniel.

When Brand settles on the floor, Eddard says, "Look, I'm sorry, but perhaps it would be better if you came back some other time."

From his position on the floor, Brand says, "What I was told was that I was not supposed to be unescorted. I am escorted. Or are you saying you were specifically ordered by that woman to eject me from the school forcefuly, and if so, under whose authority?"

Eddard—who is now looking decidedly uncomfortable—replies, saying, "Well, I suppose her authority is that of the archmagus himself. Things have changed over the last few days, since the avatar arrived."

"Isn't that the truth," mutters Lucinda.

Brand looks up at Lucinda and smiles, then turns to Eddard.

"Since the archmagis had already left by the time you were summoned, I doubt that very much." Then he shrugs, "Perhaps you should consult with Master Minton, the gate master, and ask him the best course of action.

"If Haneena had wanted me to leave, then I believe she would have said so to me directly, and I don't really think you should end up being the meat in the sandwich here. I can be escorted by.Lucinda here, and swear not to leave this spot unless ordered to do so by Lucinda. How does that sound?"


"Don't look at me," say Lucinda, picking up the last item of linen. "I have to go to practice."

After hearing out Lucinda, Eddard states forthrightly, "I also have other other things that I have to do."

He then softens his tone and says, "I am sorry that Master Nathaniel is not available, but it really is time for you to go."

Brand stares at him for a moment. "First explain to me precisely what it is that Haneena said to you."


"What she said is irrelevant," says Eddard puffing out his chest. "I am telling you that it is time for you to leave."

Brand notices that Lucinda is no longer paying attention to her linen.

Brand slowly stands up, and straightens to his full height, shakes out his cloak, and hangs it behind him, then looks down at Eddard. "Well, master Maclan, I'm glad that we have now established that everybodies time is being wasted, including my own. Because I think what the archmages assistant said is relevant, and because I have a good memory, I think it is important to mention that her relevant last words to me were 'I will get someone to come and sit you, as you shouldn't really be wandering around the school unattended''. Ignoring for a moment the offensive tone, I note that she did not request that I leave, but from her words I assume that you are my 'sitter'. Perhaps if you disagree with some aspect of this interpretation, Lucinda here should find either Master Minton or Haneena, -- or even Master Narim for that matter -- any of whom should be able to sort out this clear misunderstanding."

"It seems we are at an impasse. I've told you what I was told by Haneena. You don't want to tell me what she told you to do for some reason. That's fine. I have suggested getting a master to resolve this. I have suggested Lucinda get a master for the same purpose. I have suggested we wait quietly for a little while to see if Nathaniel wakes. I have suggested quietly reading, or visiting another master. This all seem reasonable suggestions to me. Do you have a better suggestion than demanding for no obvious reason that I leave?"

[[You realise of course that this is all one sided and doesn't take into account anything to do with what Eddard was told, by whom, and the current situation at the School, which Brand knows very little about except from what he was told by Minton, who may, or may not be, an unreliable witness. The situation still stand.]]

[[You realise of course that this is all one sided and doesn't take into account anything to do with what Eddard was told, by whom, and the current situation at the School, which Brand knows very little about except from what he was told by Minton, who may, or may not be, an unreliable witness. The situation still stand.]]

[[That's fine, in fact it seems to be a whole can of worms; I'm completely happy that there is a huge undercurrent here that he is unaware of; it's why Brand tried to get to that by asking about Haneena's orders.

IF this is not a misunderstanding between you and I then, the Brand would now suspect Haneena is the prime instigator here. Eddard seems like a good natured victim in this.

IF this is a misunderstanding between you and I, then Brand can probably draw no useful conclusion other than that he overstepped a mark.

What I am trying to assess is if there is a fundamental misunderstanding between you and I (meaning you think Brand has been completely unreasonable, whereas I think he has behaved more-or-less in accordance with reason and his expectation wrt to the school), or if there is a misunderstanding between Brand and Eddard/Haneena (which is something that would have Brand investigating WTF is going on).

Does that make sense?

Just let me know where we are at in terms of who misunderstands whom... ]]

Looking back at Eddard, Brand sees he is looking very determined and is now well past any attempt at Persuasion.

Brand sighs, "Very well."

He shakes his head, looking aghast at Eddard,  "What has happened to this place? Is it all a result of that apparition, or has some other malign influence taken over here?"

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[You realise of course that this is all one sided and doesn't take into account anything to do with what Eddard was told, by whom, and the current situation at the School, which Brand knows very little about except from what he was told by Minton, who may, or may not be, an unreliable witness. The situation still stand.]]

[[That's fine, in fact it seems to be a whole can of worms; I'm completely happy that there is a huge undercurrent here that he is unaware of; it's why Brand tried to get to that by asking about Haneena's orders.

IF this is not a misunderstanding between you and I then, the Brand would now suspect Haneena is the prime instigator here. Eddard seems like a good natured victim in this.

IF this is a misunderstanding between you and I, then Brand can probably draw no useful conclusion other than that he overstepped a mark.

What I am trying to assess is if there is a fundamental misunderstanding between you and I (meaning you think Brand has been completely unreasonable, whereas I think he has behaved more-or-less in accordance with reason and his expectation wrt to the school), or if there is a misunderstanding between Brand and Eddard/Haneena (which is something that would have Brand investigating WTF is going on).

Does that make sense?

Just let me know where we are at in terms of who misunderstands whom... ]]

[[Trying not to say too much for story reasons—because agreeing or disagreeing would do that—but Brand being Brand doesn't fit in well considering the current circumstances in the School, a place he hasn't actually physically visited in some time in a city that he already thinks has changed since he was last in it.]] 

Looking back at Eddard, Brand sees he is looking very determined and is now well past any attempt at Persuasion.

Brand sighs, "Very well."

He shakes his head, looking aghast at Eddard,  "What has happened to this place? Is it all a result of that apparition, or has some other malign influence taken over here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," says Eddard, still looking tense. "All I know is that School security, which I'm partly responsible for, has been increased, and I need you to leave. Now!"

[[Trying not to say too much for story reasons—because agreeing or disagreeing would do that]]

[[What I am trying to assess is whether you think Brand was behaving unreasonably given his prior experiences at the school. I get that Eddard & Co may think they are being reasonable and that Brand is not, that's fine...that's just  statement about the changed world order. If you think Brand was behaving unreasonably in a semi-objective sense, then that's what I need to know...no story secrets required ]]

 Edit: not sure if I'm asking subjective or objective. Probably objective from a limited PoV...

Quote from AlaricBrand >>

[[Trying not to say too much for story reasons—because agreeing or disagreeing would do that]]

[[What I am trying to assess is whether you think Brand was behaving unreasonably given his prior experiences at the school. I get that Eddard & Co may think they are being reasonable and that Brand is not, that's fine...that's just  statement about the changed world order. If you think Brand was behaving unreasonably in a semi-objective sense, then that's what I need to know...no story secrets required ]]

[[Brand's assumption that he had free access to the School was unrealistic from my point of view, especially when Hanneena told him that he shouldn't be moving around the School unescorted (I even suggested this in Comment #500). The School has never been accessible to the public (that is what Minton is/was for), Also, Brand is not a student or alumnus of the School, and has always presumably visited physically as a guest in times that were more 'friendly' than they are now. Plus, a lot of those visits would have been astrally or only to the gatehouse to see Minton, and therefore he would have not been seen in the main part of the School. Note that neither Eddard or Lucinda recognised Brand and they would have both been at the School for years, and Haneena—who seemed to recognise him—only seem to know him as a Brand rather than someone associated with the School.

Following on from that, when he was told to wait by Haneena, he waited until she was gone and then left the building, which was down right suspicious from Eddard's point of view. At the time, I was half expecting you to tell me that he was stealthing, and I even gave you a Perception roll to see if Brand detected Eddard looking for him, which unfortunately was a fail (but did gain some experience points). If that had been a success, I would have told you that Brand heard someone looking for him and given you another chance for Brand to hide. Unfortunately, once Eddard saw him, his access to the School became limited. And except for the fact that they both have Noble backgrounds and a lucky roll I made about there being some sort of connection between the three of them (i.e., Eddard having heard Alaric's name in conversation with Nathaniel), then Eddard would have been trying to escort him to the front gate immediately.

I hope the above makes some sense of the 'one-sided' comment I made regarding the conflated message you sent through. There are, of course, other factors involved as well, but I won't be going in to those to avoid spoilers.

And it is now coming up to 12:30, so I'm done for the night. Cheers.]]

[[Thanks for the detailed explanation; I must admit I am having a great deal of difficulty in reading comprehension, it seems. Mainly, I suspect, in relation to things I expect from past lives vs things that are reality in this world; things that you have certainly detailed for me in several places, but which for whatever reason have not registered.

eg. despite your comments, I assumed that 3 months ago he would have been a semi-regular physical visitor, therefor failure to be recognized by 2 students probably meant they were new students, and iirc Melitta was a journeyman, so I assumed Eddard was 'journeying' around then. If even 3 months ago he needed an escort, I had no idea. I also assumed that since Minton let him through, there was no problem walking around (Master vs PA, I'd go with the master). These are my mis-apprehensions, not your problem.

Brand also walked in plain sight through the quadrangle deliberately, fully expecting to be found by whoever it was. The way that played is just another example of my failure at reading comprehension vs expectations. And yes, it was a crude powe-play by Brand, and I misunderstood the friendly reaction from Eddard.

In any case, my difficulty in compartmentalising combined with the number of misunderstandings I have already had make me think that maybe this is not 100% for me. It's a fun setting, and fun to re-play Brand again, but perhaps too jarring for my aging brain, and the slow cycle-time does not play well with my OCD!

It's been a long and busy day today, so I'll sleep on it. But I fear PBEM suffers from the same things emails do: much too easy to read the wrong things into them, without the human interaction to back it up.]]

[[I agree that the many timelines are hard to keep track of after so long, and I think your memory of them are better than mine. Add to that the whole alternate timeline thing where the ring wasn't destroyed—for the purposes of my story world and one of the main reasons I am doing this—and things are very likely to be confusing. Sorry.

It's up to you whether you want to continue, but this is the only real form of roleplaying I can do at the moment, what with all the other calls on my time and being so far out of town (I sleep over on my fortnightly sessions at the Berriman's).]]

Yeah, confusing and with a remarkable capacity to snowball out of control. Your comment about Brand using stealth exemplifies this: you expected me to use stealth because, i assume, in your world view Brand was clearly operating in an underhanded and devious way, and needed to use stealth to avoid being caught. For me stealth wasn't even on the radar: he was escaping the dictates of an overzealous administrator who had taken a dislike to him and his family, and was therefore imposing unreasonable restrictions upon him. The result was a snowball of mis-assumptions ending in a scenario that I am entirely uncomfortable with continuing.

Other than you nurse-maiding me into the future eg. "As Brand steps into the courtyard, he is surprised there is no escort waiting for him. Minton had always summoned an escort in the past.", and when he arrives at the admin block "Master Alaric, what on earth are you doing here without an escort...." Etc.

Perhaps this would get better with time, but so far it only seems to have got worse. At this point I suspect there is no reasonable way forward: I'm not comfortable with how the scenario unfolded based on completely divergent world views, and I cant imagine you want to spend your very limited time telling me Brand should or shouldn't do something.

[[Sorry you feel that way and it seems that text is a very ambiguous medium as this entire snowballing of events seems to stem from when Brand left the administration building under a misapprehension, despite textual clues that I thought should have meant that he was expected to stay in the building until an escort arrived for him.

If you are no longer interested in playing, what would you like me to do with Brand? He and his family are part of the background of this world and I would like to know if I can continue to have them involved, or whether you would prefer for me to downplay their involvement, though that might be hard for Brand's father considering his position in the scheme of things.]]

[[Yeah, I think the "textual clues that ...meant that he was expected to stay in the building until an escort arrived for him" were clear, it was the other aspects that were not: I took it to be an impost by an annoyed admin person (I think I even made an OOC comment to that effect), not a clear indication he was in breach of both old and new rules (which he would have known). This is largely down to my failure to correctly register changed world details.

I guess if there is no capacity to rollback or reinterpret any of this, and no reasonable ongoing ability for you to offer more direct clues when engaging in egregious behaviour, eg [[Checking: Brand knows this behaviour is specifically disallowed, and has not done this before]], then probably I can't see myself enjoying continued play. I'd be forever second-guessing if I'm stepping on a minefield of inappropriate actions...and then finding out too late that he never would have embarked on that course of action.

Let me know which way you'd prefer to go. In either case, this is your world, and Brand can be used as you see fit.]]

Edit:

[[For what it's worth, and I have no idea what your preferences are, I'd vote for rollback to one of the following:

• when he leaves Minton, and enters courtyard and realizes there's no escort...he'd ask Minton to call one. That said, that's and awful lot of rollback....
• the next point would be when he ignored Haneena's instruction, which is a bit less rollback (in this case, I'd say he knew Minton was upset and off his game, and decided he could go to the admin building by himself). He would then wait for an escort, as he was used to doing I assume.
• The minimal rollback version would have him giving into Eddards suggestion that he comes back tomorrow. I'd rationalize his disobeying the rules as perhaps eddard took too long to arrive and Brand was getting impatient.

If none of these work, then I'm open to other suggestions, or maybe this just can't be made to work.

[[Will have to address this later tonight. Have just had visitors leave and have had a proofreading job that needs to be done tonight land in my email inbox. Will be back soon.]]

No problem. I'm more or less happy with any choice you make, I don't want to make even more work for you.

[[ Proofreading job finished and not as long as it usually is, thank goodness.]]

[[Happy to do the minimal rollback with Brand agreeing to come back tomorrow, and the rationalisation is easy because Eddard was the one who suggested going to see Nathaniel (a case of him bending rules for a brief period) after realising that there was a connection between himself, Brand and Master Nathaniel.]]

[[That works, just let me know where to start from...and any "major-faux-pas-incoming" warnings always appreciated.]]]

[[How about here?]]

Brand sighs, and speaks in hushed tones. "Lucinda is it? My name is Alaric. I was hoping to see Master Nathaniel today, but I certainly don't want to disturb him."

He glances at the door, back at the shelves of books, and considers for a moment, then continues.

[[Depending on his knowledge of the library he might look through the "Compendium of Beasts and Beings Magical, Mundanel and Diverse of all the Known Planes" for a set of eyes like those that haunt his dreams]]

"I did want to consult [[volume name, vaguely relevant to astral travel, if he knows one, but see above]] then visit Mistress Vodin, if she is present. If the Master wakes in the next hour or so, would you be able to send me a message? Otherwise, just let him know that I'm back and will visit again as soon as I can?"

[[For the record, as far as Brand knows, books about other planes (or creatures from such planes) aren't to be found in this library, and the closest thing to a book on astral travel would be Nathaniel's diaries. Therefore, he would probably ask for something more mundane such as the source of nightmares, or some such.]]

"I'm supposed to escort you from the School," says Eddard to Brand before Lucinda can reply. "Nothing was said about using the library, or seeing one of the other masters, I was just doing you a favour because I knew Master Nathaniel might want to see you."

Brand sighs and glances at the door, "Then I guess it will have to wait". He turns to Lucinda, "If you can, please let Nathaniel know that I'm back and will visit again as soon as I can."

Turning back to Eddard, he nods and says "Lead on." As they move away down the stairs, he says "I had not realized Haneena had requested I leave, did she give a reason?"

Eddard leads the way back down stairs saying over his shoulder that, with the unrest in the city brought about by the recent deaths of the warlord and a seeker of the temple of Donai, and a recent occurrence where some strangers had managed to get into the school and cause trouble, that the archmagus had ordered that the School's security had to be improved.

As the two of them look out once more at the rain, he then adds, that Haneena did not give him a specific reason as to why Brand should be escorted out of the School, but as she has the full confidence of the archmagus, he didn't see any reason to ask why. He then proffers the suggestion it might have something to do with how late it is in the day and the new security regime.

"After you," says Eddard grimacing at the rain and the distance to the gatehouse.

Brand wraps his cloak about him, and strides quickly to the gate house. As he walks, he asks "What happened to the troublemakers?"

[[When he comes within sight of the exterior (presumably as external gate is opened -- by Minton?), he will look for anyone watching the gate from outside, remembering the possible follower from before]]

Eddard follows Brand into the rain after cursing in Oannes name at the foul weather, but he then runs ahead to cover and waits for Brand to reach him before speaking.

"The Arion worshipper took one of the older students as a hostage and escaped—we're still not sure how."

He then makes a break for the covered entrance next to the gatehouse where he is met by an enthusiastic Bruxa, who bounces around excitedly as Eddard ruffles his ears.

The entrance to Master Minton's quarters in the gatehouse, however, stays shut and in the gloom, Brand can see no evidence of any light coming from under the door.

Meanwhile, Eddard tries the door and finds it locked, but there is a key hanging on a hook on the wall, which he uses to unlock the door.

"It's been nice to meet you, Alaric," he says opening the way to the rain-swept street. "Perhaps we can have a drink sometime?"

[[Make a Perception check, but that's me for the night, I can't keep my eyes open any longer.]]

Perception: 17

Brand smiles, nods, and holds out his hand, "That sounds good to me! Though I regret tonight is not possible, nor tomorrow at lunch. Is there a time that is best for you, and how should I get in contact, just ask for you at the gate...assuming it's open?"