GOLD SAILS, RED SKIES: VOTING POST FOR THE CONCLUSION

[ximilian]

● ● ● GOLD SAILS, RED SKIES: VOTING POST FOR THE CONCLUSION

The time has come for the team to decide how they wish to proceed through the conclusion of the mission. Before we get into planning, here is a quick recap of what has been newly discovered:

• The dragons were created by the orb and have it in their possession, and are not eager to part with it.

• Zefira's deal is still in effect and needs to be broken before the orb can be taken.

• The eldest dragon is interested in meeting Cian and Hivin.

• Cian has promised Andy to help her get the orb if her help is required.

· THE VOTE

The team will need to vote on how to get the orb. Each character gets one vote to either suggest a solution or +1 one suggestion of their choice.

Please write your suggestions as comments under the right heading, or +1 other characters' suggestions by responding to their comment. Remember you can only make suggestions on what your character is doing; if your comment includes the actions of other characters, they must confirm their participation with a comment.

If your character would ICly add something to a suggestion (offer magic, stealth, protection over someone or something, etc.) please also detail this in your comment as well as it will help colour the trajectory of the second log.

The vote will be open until SEPTEMBER 16, 6PM GMT. You only have one vote, but if you end up wanting to vote for something else or edit your vote, you can do so until the voting closes.

Note that the vote doesn’t mean that only one option will be chosen — depending on how it goes, the conclusion may feature elements from the highest-voted options. The mods may also ask follow-up questions for some courses of action.

And finally, the conclusion will go up on September 18th, when characters will return to the station.

Happy voting!

Comments

questions

[ximilian]

If you have any questions regarding the voting process, please feel free to ask them here.

(frozen comment) VOTING: THE ORB.

[ximilian]

Leave your suggestions for how to get the orb from the dragons below! The more detail you can offer, the better.

Keep in mind that the orb has an ongoing deal. The crew will have to break this deal in order to use the orb to bring them back to the station.

Others can then comment around and +1 the suggestion their character would agree with, and provide additional details if needed.

(frozen comment)

[dispassioned]

Chishiya's idea is outlined here.

Basically he wants to take the Kalain sisters to meet the eldest of the dragons to hopefully talk things out and find a way to compromise so they can end the deal and get the orb. Preferably, with minimal damage to the dragons, if that’s possible.

The elder dragon is clearly wary of humans so he’ll emphasize the importance of being honest and consistent as well as avoiding violence.

(frozen comment) +1

[singlelogbridge]

Wei Wuxian completely supports this and would like to offer his services in attempting to construct a barrier similar to the one that exists in the Cloud Recesses in his world, aka one that can't be entered unless the person trying to enter is carrying some kind of key. He could only do this if others with powers, especially those who could construct barriers were able to help, and he would like to enlist others for that purpose. He would probably try to enlist the help of any on the Blue Dawn with powers who would be able to help as well because the more people, the more doable.

He would need:

-people to provide raw power in the form of magical/spiritual energy
-others who can create barriers of any kind

(frozen comment) +1

[buckkeep]

if i can +1 twice, fitz is happy to be a magic battery for wwx

(frozen comment) +1

[blackfire]

yes to all this.

be honest with the dragons, try to rely on the sisters to help navigate the situation + hopefully come to a reasonable outcome that doesn't result in Dragon Genocide. he's going to support these efforts but won't seek to participate.

however, there are still the captains of the plunder and the hawking to deal with. he'll defer about the hawking to anyone who was on the ship who has a reasonable idea of what the captains are like — but he's going to recommend talking to Cian before the meeting with the dragons to figure out the threat she feels from Captain Hamm (the captain's statement about 'his treacherous brat' makes him think there's some sort of paternalistic connection there that he'd want to investigate) and if she expresses concern about good ol' Greybeard's motivations/etc, he'd suggest sort of distraction/diversion to keep him at bay and to ensure he can't interfere with the dragon summit or the collection of the orb.

if she seems to affirm his suspicions that greybeard will intervene, he's going to strongly suggest that they start shit on purpose - whether this is sabotage of the silent plunder itself, the staging of a mutiny (he'd volunteer the ever-charming ravkas to lead that one, thanks for falling on that sword, buddy!) or the simple act of catching the captain unawares and hitting him with a genjutsu — he'd tailor his suggestions to the group (the genjutsu thing would only happen if he felt he needed to act alone, but in the interest of making things Collaborative i'm down for whatever works narratively!) and would try to steer things towards the option of Least Bloodshed if possible, but still.

it's on his radar. "¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "

(frozen comment) +1

[ravkas]

nikolai with his successful background of handsome rogue privateer volunteers to lead a mutiny and acquire the silent plunder for himself

under his leadership there will be no more murder and plundering however he requires a fancy captain hat pls provide

(frozen comment) +1

[coordination]

Dipping back into the course of action from the last voting post wrt the Plunder, if it has merit folding into this then they might be a bit behind/down some crew. Which u kno could made Greybeard big mad and that much more determined to get there.

But Yzak's been doing what he does best in canon which is "stay on his team in his lane in order to do his main goal" and "lowkey maneuver and bend the rules within that however he can since he knows things be sheisty." Would that be able to get him at least in a place where Greybeard would hear out any idea or plan to distract him for a bit, who knows you tell me mods. But he's down to give fake intel like "oh there's lot of dragons/people this way if we wanna go here we should take this long way instead."

But if he's looking to just swing in there or attack/hurt anyone while the big important talks go on and ruin everything and can't be dissuaded or curbed from that long enough Yzak's always ready to just throw down. Like hello Captain I just received some very important information about these dragons and those girls that I think you need to hear punches in the face with his fake arm there's your fuckin intel bro.

Basically team here to drop the act and cause problems when obtaining the orb is that close.

(frozen comment)

[blackfire]

yeah, it def depends on what Greybeard seems likeliest to get up to for sure!!

i am here for yzak's chaos era tbqh.

(frozen comment) +1

[choicely]

As someone who can offer either power or create barriers, Yen is happy to help along these lines! She’d also be better equipped to assist with the magic side of things as opposed to staging any potential battle distraction against the other crews.

(frozen comment) +1

[bindsthedead]

Working with the sisters to end the bargain in a way that doesn't kill all the dragons sounds like an excellent idea to Sabriel. She'll just caution everyone that while altering the existing bargain is possible, it may come with a price.

And she can absolutely help with making barriers- and creating items with key spells to get past barriers is a technique she's familiar with, so she can help with key creation as well.

(frozen comment) +1

[oiorpata]

yes, the focus should be less so on altering the bargain so much as ending it + aiding the dragons and andy would help make sure the girls know about the price of altering it and the difference there.

+1 energy-giving

[shadysided]

Ziggy figures the most useful she can be for this particular mission is to use what she's managed to cultivate as his student to help power whatever he needs! It's not much, but it's something. Have some energy, teach! 👐

+1

[cruelyethuman]

Aleksander is always down to help Wuxian, either by creating a barrier or by offering his powers as fuel.

As part of the crew on The Silent Plunder, he is also well aware of how ruthless the captain can be and will offer ( look, it’s a compromise because he would be down for murder but doesn’t want to look too cruel to… some people) to blind them to misdirect the captain and crew away from delicate negotiations.

Should everything fail, The Darkling is ready to murder either the twins (no heirs, no deal, right?) or the dragons to get the orb.

If any fighting breaks out, he will protect the people he vaguely cares about (Alina, Nat, Wuxian, Yen, Yelena) by any means necessary.

(frozen comment) +1, fitz flavored addition

[buckkeep]

fitz 1000% here for this plan, with the addition that if the dragons are going to be badly effected by the loss of the orb he will do everything in his power to stop the orbers from getting the orb 🥹 sry

(frozen comment) +1

[ravkas]

nikolai unfortunately will back fitz here, he would not support this gain if it means leaving another group worse off

(frozen comment) -1

[bindsthedead]

Everything and everyone has a time to die. If he tries to stop the orbers from getting the orb, Sabriel will absolutely throw hands- and spells.

(frozen comment) +1

[oiorpata]

andy would talk to cian about meeting the dragon and explain what chishiya learned of the dragons and the orb situation so she's not going in blind. she already promised andy she'd help, but she wants cian to know everything about the dragons and the deal going into it in the hopes of allowing the royal girls + the dragons to create a new plan for them to coexist and to break the old orb deal without hurting the dragons in the process.

honesty with dragons AND the sisters! go team

assuming cian agrees, andy would also very much like to accompany cian (+hivin) to meet the dragon, worried about other crews moreso than the aforementioned dragon, and would display the little emblem cian gave her in the hopes of further proving she is only here to help and protect the girls. andy just wants to keep the sisters safe at the core of it, and she will human shield for them if needed, for any reason. if necessary she'd stand back some ways, but she would insist on going with cian as far as possible, knowing everyone on the island seems to be after the same thing, some with more aggressive tactics than others.

speaking of - she would also suggest keeping an eye on the other crews and keeping them away from the sisters + dragon meeting, but also maybe to keep them away from all the other dragons, to perhaps help prove to the dragons that not all people are terrible??

(frozen comment) +1

[deaddrop]

Not really much to add, but Natasha is behind this plan.

(frozen comment) +1

[softshoes]

Protect the gals, save the dragons, keep everybody in the loop!

(frozen comment) +1 to the +1

[dispassioned]

Chishiya would absolutely agree about keeping an eye on the other crews. And also thinks it's probably smart to have Andy along bc he is really not much of a fighter when it comes down to it.

(frozen comment)

[morethan084]

+1 To all of this! Although Daisy doesn't like the idea of Andy being a human shield, there's no better person to be just that.

(frozen comment) +1, whoops, i wrote a novel

[drawsblood]

Joric will stress that they aren't here to reinstate a monarchy and they disappear as soon as one of them touches the orb. Everything regarding the continued existence of the dragons and both their protection and the protection of the royal sisters against outside forces has to be thought of and properly worded before they meet with the eldest dragon and discuss all this with them, because if the dragons agree to give up the orb, no one can be left vulnerable.

We have three pirate crews with their own agendas. Broadly speaking, there's The Blue Dawn with women looking for a safe haven, The Hawking searching for the truth of their history, and The Silent Plunder looking for riches and to harm anyone that stands in their way. Before grabbing the orb and leaving, the Orbers need to work out exactly what kind of world they're willing to leave behind with these three crews up here.

• The Blue Dawn seems to be the least threatening and willing to offer assistance.


• The Hawking could be a threat due to their allegiance to Lady Spiertower. The Captain twins either need to be convinced that this place and the dragons are worth preserving so they don't blab to their patroness and she sends an army to kill the dragons and the sisters. If they can't be convinced than they have to be stopped from telling her somehow. Any ideas?


• The Silent Plunder is the most dangerous and simply has to be kept in the dark as long as possible. The Captain especially has to be kept away from the sisters while the meeting is taking place.

So with all this in mind and with the open conversation between Chishiya and Andy being read over, Joric would probably suggest that the amount of people approaching the dragon be low so as not to overwhelm him: probably just Chishiya, Cian, Hivan, and Andy as immortal bodyguard. Chishiya mentioned a portal and though it's true a portal isn't fast enough to stop a bullet, there should be a magic user in charge of a portal and a backup force ready to go if, say Greybeard's whole crew manages to appear to attack.

But while the meeting is going on, Orbers need to distract, mislead, or outright hold back the crews of The Hawking and The Silent Plunder to avoid them interrupting the meeting. I'm wondering if some of the Orbers have formed enough of an acquaintance with the younger dragons if they could play a role in distracting those crews just by flying overhead, knocking down trees in their paths, etc. Joric would be happy to spearhead that movement towards getting some help from the dragons. He's not wanting to put them in harm's way, but any sort of aid they could offer without being close enough for the crews to hit with ranged weapons might stall them.

In addition to the dragons, maybe the crew of The Blue Dawn could help slow the other crews down as well.

(frozen comment)

[bindsthedead]

For the twins... Sabriel might suggest a binding spell, one that prevents the twins (or others on the Hawking) from communicating the relevant information by any means (Speech, writing, illustration, singing, etc).

(frozen comment)

[drawsblood]

That's a great idea!

(frozen comment)

[morethan084]

+1 To all of this!

Daisy would be willing to help keep back the more dangerous crews, especially the Captain of the silent plunder. Whether that means distracting them somehow, using her powers to keep them back, or straight up fighting them if she has to. Ideally she wants to avoid violence, but if they start she won't just stand idle by.

(frozen comment) +1

[oiorpata]

+1 to everything as it ties into andy's plans, including the idea of not necessarily reinstating the monarchy so much as allowing cian and hivin more agency in what they decide for themselves, their legacy, and connection to the dragons; andy thinks giving them the tools to do so is the better option here and she'd stress to cian that the solution doesn't need to be as straightforward as a new queendom. she wants to set them up for continued success even after the orbers leave and the sudden implementation of a monarchy again is ripe for more strife.

cian is aware they leave as soon as the orb is touched. hashing out all the deets and creating an airtight plan for all of the above is a must!!

but also yes for getting blue dawn crew assistance, because ultimately they're after a safe space and refuge just like the dragons are. sounds like... potential allies. plus they seem to be rather fond of hivin.

with the hawking and their desire for knowledge, perhaps the dragons can offer more than lady spiertower (wrt to knowledge and history) and make them turncoat. or if not just seal 'em up, per sabriel's suggestion.

(frozen comment)

[morethan084]

+1

Avoiding violence is very much ideal. But if something starts, Daisy wont sit idle by. She'll do her best to protect those that need protecting.