Verad

I request to be included only for gag-pairings from here on out.

*side-eyes* Is this a faux-pas? Should I have framed it differently? ...People aren't staring, are they?

Overall: Possibly, depending on a number of factors including the cost of renaming and race-changing the character (because I may be willing to kill an RP character but there's no way I'm going to delete an in-game one into which I've put a significant amount of work) and my personal mood towards the character. If I ever reach a point where I think, "Ugh, Verad again," then yes, he will likely be purged. I will warn people in advance for courtesy's sake, but will not change that course once it's been set. In Verad's specific case: Highly unlikely to occur without being scripted. Random chance and death is always a possibility, but he seems to attract a full medical corps once he's been even mildly injured. He must have good health insurance.

It would honestly be faster to post the parts of Verad that aren't quirky, but: -As is well-known by a number of people by now, he makes a specific point of ordering the worst drink a bar can serve to him before he drinks anything else. Not only does this make his next drink taste much better by comparison, but it gives him a sense of the bartender's personality based on what they consider the worst drink in the building. -He is a surprisingly decent sketch artist; the self-portraits that he used as placeholders when he used to sell lockets are all done by his own hand. -He actually doesn't like Cactuars all that much - they're creepy and they move weird and they never talk - but his Cactuar-related ventures have moved so much product that he feels compelled to keep relying on them.

Nobody yet. There's not enough irony. I'd say Roen to be a jerk, but good lord that woman goes through enough trauma. I think if he's going to die he's going to die for someone rather than because of someone, so really, the killer could be anybody.

I don't necessarily see it as lazy, but rather the way the devs want the setting to work. Their preference is to make sure that adventurers are seen as integrated and legitimate organization within the setting, and that even the "shady" ones have a sort of redeeming feature that grants them that legitimacy. Rather than lazy, it's more like a clash of setting expectations. See also: every argument in World of Warcraft ever about the legal status of warlocks. As for eliminating organized crime, I would applaud Merlwyb if she were able to do so in such a fashion. That's Vetinari levels of clever, right there, especially if she uses a similar system.

I feel like this is perhaps exaggerating the impact of the second claim. You are correct that a thieves' guild needn't be officially sanctioned, but you ignore your prior understanding that the developers have a specific type of narrative in mind for the setting, however dismissive you may find that. Part of that narrative is that the adventurer's guilds are legitimate organizations, and the various Disciple classes products of officially sanctioned, legitimate enterprises. That the city-states wouldn't tolerate an unofficial thieves' guild says nothing about their manpower or ability to stamp out such groups. What it does say is that unofficial guilds would be unlikely to have doors open to the public, street signs advertising their location, and receptionists around to tell you about the nature of the guild and give you the option to join. This makes it difficult for such a guild to maintain the same structure and image provided by, well, every other guild in the game. Perhaps the city-states have that manpower, but perhaps they do not. Perhaps they only have enough to make it that such a guild would be forced underground, as it likely would be anyways. This would still mean that such a guild could exist, but it would deviate from the aforementioned structure above. Thus, it doesn't get included, and the statement about not "standing" for something is an IC fig-leaf, and not indicative of actual ability to shut such a thing down. I just don't think this narrows the setting in the way you're describing, and that you're drawing conclusions from it that are a bit of a leap.

I don't care if it's lore-compliant or not. You need to make this shop, and I need to sell your defective products. This is non-negotiable.

It is very much choir-preaching. Quite often, the people who would disagree are people who are not on the forum where the post is made.

It is not easy to be a dubious merchant. The thoughts upon such a man's mind are great and weighty, and only a good barmaid can ease a dubiously furrowed brow.

I'm just happy to be included.

The previous night had proven to be a triumph in the little-researched and less-often-attempted field of moving a giant shark through the streets of Ul'dah. A great meeting of some of Ul'dah's finest minds - plus Verad - put together one of the few, the only plans for transporting one Leanne Delphium's freshly caught pair of Megalodons into the Quicksand, that she might successfully display her trophy. Using a combination of a pudding flesh for grease and an egi of Titan for leverage, Leanne Delphium was able to be carried, proudly, riding upon her trophy, into the Quicksand for all to see, prior to its being rendered into food for the refugees of Ul'dah. The experiment did not go without its share of failures, however, as the egi, in its initial enthusiasm, did not so much carry one of the Megalodons as throw it. There was much screaming and panic amongst the citzenry as it flew overhead in the Ul'dahn night, illuminated from underneath by lamplight on the glistening grease used to give the egi its initial hold. Reports of a crash somewhere were confirmed, but no body was found, nor did there appear to be any sign of the vast quantities of gore that might otherwise indicate the crash of such a massive creature. Soon, whether there had been a flying shark, and where it had landed, became one of the least-discussed mysteries of Ul'dah . . . --- R'hoshi squinted at the end of the tunnel, looking up at where the ladder ended and the ceiling turned to rock. He knew, knew in his gut, that not a few yalms of stone above sat the Third Bank of Ul'dah, the First and Second Banks being far too secure. Enough gil to fulfill all the crew's wildest dreams was right over their heads. After affixing the firesand charges where Fofolan had indicated they would be best placed for an outward explosion, he clambered down the ladder with the easy grace and agility typical to Seekers, hopping down the last few steps to meet the assembled crew with a grin and a tilt of his head. They were a rag-tag bunch, certainly, but over the course of this job he felt they had come together - Fofolan had gone off the rolanberry wine, likely for good. Behind him, he was sure that Ansabryda would use the proceeds to fund her new vessel and impress her mate. And Reynfred? The Highlander had been at R'hoshi's throat since the moment he'd been brought into the plan - at first. Now he would die for the Tia, and R'hoshi likewise. They were a crew now, a proper gang. "Okay," he said, leaning forward as if they were children and he was to provide them with a present. "You all know what to do here. This is it. Soon as Fofolan hits the charges - " The Dunesfolk gave a thumbs up, his grin bright underneath all the dirt. "As soon as that happens, the floor goes sky-high. Reynfred and Ansa handle any security, Fofo and I crack the vault, we empty out as much as we can, and we're gone again." He knelt down over the demolition charge, reverent. Never had so much potential been present in one little lever. With his share, he could train, challenge the Nunh, and win R'noggya's heart. It was a shame about the people whose money would be taken, of course, about the economic chaos that would follow, but sacrifices had to be made. Pausing to wipe away a tear from his eye, he realized this was no time to get sentimental. "Okay, Fofo. Push it." The blaster they'd chosen was a bit large, and Fofo struggled to bring it down. Soon, all four had placed their hands on the lever - together. As it should have been thought R'hoshi. The rumbling and explosion above left a ringing in their ears, but the tunnel ahead did not fill with rubble. That was the only possible flaw in the plan, and now? Now there was no flaw at all. Once they'd gotten the noise out of their ears, R'hoshi gestured up the ladder, clambering back up to lead the way. The others affixed goggles to keep dust out of their eyes and followed suit. From his position, R'hoshi could see the success of his plan in front of him. The hole they'd opened was larger than anticipated, but ahead of him he could see the skylight of the Third Bank and the stars and moon glittering above. A few more rungs now, and they would be rich. He paused, however. There was a shadow in the air. Something large. The rest of the crew noticed the hold up. "What's up?" said Reynfred, sounding concerned - R'hoshi would be the first to suffer if the guard had arrived early. "Everything okay?" "Yeah, I think," said R'hoshi, squinting as the shadow blotted out the stars and the light of the moon. "I don't know - what is that thing - " The skylight shattered. --- The next day, the Third Bank of Ul'dah reported that there had been an unsuccessful robbery attempt in the form of a fairly elaborate heist. The security chief, normally very forthcoming with details regarding crimes against Syndicate property, seemed strangely reticent to provide further information. He was quoted as saying only, "It's dealt with. Trust us. You don't want to know." On an apparently unrelated note, the bank floor was closed for renovations the same day. Customers of the Third Bank were directed towards the other two for several months to follow. While there was some grumbling, life otherwise proceeded as normal.

Shipped with the dead, the incestuous, and the gelatinous. I see how it is. A-bloo-bloo. Though I admit it is all highly dubious.

Some bleed I have permission to post: My wife is taking her diet seriously and getting used to using calorie calculator programs She was plugging in the values of some food just now, and I happened to notice that she had place the value of one food at "5 onz." It was not a spelling mistake.

Does that mean I win the Shipping Thread?? Yes. But you return home with 0 Gil. These two in combination show that I am really the best to get the no-prize here.

Weren't you there? Didn't Verad lose to you? Though to be fair I also missed the nosebusting.

You know, if RPed well with an honestly socially awkward character... it could be adorable! It's all in the narration and description. Make that competent while the character bumbles and stutters, and the work is done.

Dubious ain't easy.

I find that I've been getting much more diplomatic in dealing with other people. This isn't the first time it's happened, either, as I had a similarly gregarious character on WoW. On the other hand, I get a little unreasonably vexed when other people, even those who would have no way of knowing, say "dubious." That's my word now. You can't have it.

But - but I need those necklaces to downplay my giraffe-like origins.

Die, and die horribly.

Despite his profession, Verad venerates Oschon rather than Nald'thal, feeling that his business is dictated more by the whims of fate and where his feet take him than by the laws of commerce and the typical economy. According to one chapter of his memoirs, he has been banned from Ishgard at least once on the grounds that a series of unfortunate coincidences and his own glib tongue caused Halone herself to descend from the heavens to take him as her champion and consort. He was forced to decline, feeling that she was doing Ishgard's weather a disservice, and Halone hath no fury like herself scorned. He is therefore a little wary of anybody espousing ardent faith in her, on the off-chance she remembers him and decides to act through her worshippers. He is ambivalent-to-neutral on the rest of the gods and their worship.

Things had not turned out as he'd planned, but it was abundantly clear now why that was the case: he'd laid the wrong trap. Clearly a rat was the wrong prey. Now, he thought as Franz approached, bare chest glistening both with sweat from Ul'dahn heat and the shimmer of the pudding itself, what was the correct prey. It had drawn itself to the Sultansworn, than to the woman in the hat, and then to the man's chest. Based on that, it was quite clear what he needed to do. "Thank you very much, good sir," he said, plucking the pudding from Franz's chest between two gingerly grasping fingers. He had come prepared to contain it, and dropped the wriggling mass into a small sack that he extracted from one of the many hooks on his belt. "I don't suppose I could ask you or any one of these fine ladies to lay on the ground and attract more? This may be a prime location for them, and they are clearly attracted to flesh - if not in the manner I had originally intended." After some thought, he decided against cutting the pudding apart. Something about some of the onlookers suggested things would be worse for him if he did that now rather than later.

I use NPCs quite interchangeably, and consider them to be largely disposable. When I was running events for the Ransacked Rug, there were at least four crucial NPCs that stuck around through the duration of the plot, and were often in the same scene. Attempting to level alts for them would have been a nightmare. It was far simpler for me to just describe them and their actions, as I would during a tabletop game, then to take the time and commitment necessary to level that many alts. I would consider leveling an alt for the sake of specific representation if and only if a particular NPC is kept around for so long, and regarded as important enough by other players, that it becomes a full-fledged character in its own right to be played outside the course of the storyline for which it was made. So in short, I don't consider characters that have specific models to be NPCs. They're characters. NPCs only get the visual representation afforded by verbal description, and I use that all the time.

47 points for Verad! Good times.