Invisible Parties — 9 of 31

Volume - NPCs

[I didn't really set out to write a game with almost-entirely female characters. Jave and Tsawac are characters I've had knocking around forever; both have been protagonists of unfinished games before, though Tsawac has seen rather more light as a leading light of my snarky comic strip Oxbridge Pissheads. The Three Rebeccas are of rather more recent coinage, from a Varytale game that was also about gifts and parties, albeit rather differently. A lot of the references to the Sheaf clade and to potlatch come from that.

Rebecca is, particularly in the UK, a ridiculously common name in my generation. It also happens to be one of those names with a great many linguistic and nicknamey variations - not on the scale of an Elizabeth or a Catherine, exactly, but quite enough to offer a range of aesthetic choice when selecting for a trio.]

Becky Baumgartner is a woman. Becky Baumgartner is in startroom. The description of Becky Baumgartner is "Tall and solid, with acres of jawline, Becky Baumgartner has always put you in mind of a matron of the Roman Republic: soft-armed, but with bones you could anchor ships to, and a sense of unaffected superiority that could anchor small planets. She says little and emotes less, but when she does she damn well means it."

Understand "woman" or "lady" as a woman. [Testers, man.]

beckytalk is a number that varies. beckytalk is 0.

Instead of talking to Becky Baumgartner:

now beckytalk is beckytalk + 1;

if beckytalk is 1 begin;

say "There are a number of questions that occur to you, but 'What the everliving fuck is going on?' seems to cover most of it. Poor diplomacy, possibly, but playing nice seems moot at this point.[p]'Forgo her.'[p]'That's not a - wait, [i]what?[/i]'[p]'Jave. We object to the match. Forgo her.'";

otherwise if beckytalk is 2;

say "It takes a little work to bring your temper down. One of the consistent points of the Sheaf clade, and of clades in general, is that nobody gives orders. Oh, there's an unspoken hierarchy, and leaders of various kinds, but... outside a life-and-death situation, even the [i]appearance[/i] of a command is a room-clearing insult. There's a lot of 'If you could' and 'Would you mind please', which drives you insane at times, but apparently you care about the underlying premise a great deal. Hunh.[p]'What's the idea here? If I say no, you... what does this place [i]do[/i], anyway?'[p]'A monkey trap. You are only held here by holding on. Let go, get out.'[p]'Hold on, and... what? Wait until the trapper shows up?'[p]A languid blink.";

otherwise if beckytalk is 3;

say "'Jesus shit, look: one, this counts as an attack on a clademate and I'll fucking [i]wreck[/i] you for it, two, what the fuck makes it even slightly okay for you to decide who I see, and three... what's going on here? If it's let go you want, why is there no way out?'[p]With an expression that says [i]enough[/i], she stands, walks, and fades away into nothingness.[p]Shit. Okay. Take stock. [expostul1]";

remove Becky Baumgartner from play;

end if;

Onholding is an action applying to nothing. Understand "hold on" or "let go" as onholding.

Carry out onholding: say "That's too abstract. You need a more concrete course of action."

[A common worldbuilding problem I have is that I am seriously not keen on the Tolkien-style encyclopedia approach, and would rather plunge into _media res_ and let the audience figure everything out. Generally I go over the top on this, which sucks, because people need to have some grasp of what's going on in order to care about it and to feel confident about interaction. This next is an attempt at succinctly summing up the situation.]

numbat is a number that varies. numbat is 0.

To say expostul1:

if numbat is 0, say "The Rebeccas, taken together, are not just walkers but weavers: they can not only traverse the ways and worlds, they can... take bits out of them, temporarily rearrange them into new ways and worlds. It's a rare gift. One of the things that can be crafted in this way is a [i]tangle[/i], a bounded array of tightly finite worlds that complement one another, packed very closely. This is not a stable arrangement, and they're usually set up as spectacles, exhibitions of craft and talent. Extremely elaborate party tricks.[p]But they're unstable. Imperfect. Whatever they've done, you can get around it.";

now numbat is 1;

Instead of talking to the player:

say "Every waking hour, man. Not as though you need to plan it.";

The initial appearance of Becky is "Becky Baumgartner is seated - enthroned, really, like a heavy-handed neoclassical allegory - with a snow leopard draped at her feet[one of]. She cocks her chin up at your approach[or][stopping]."

the snow leopard is scenery. the snow leopard is a person. the snow leopard is in startroom. The description of snow leopard is "Holy fuck but these things are huge up close. It looks... lean, alert, not a zoo animal. But of course it's completely relaxed."

Understand "pet [something]" as touching. Instead of touching the snow leopard: say "It tenses up ever so slightly at your approach, and you think better of it."

Instead of kissing Becky: say "The idea is a little disquieting."

Rivka Strossi is a woman. The description of Rivka is "[one of]Rivka has the air of a self-satisfied cat: she's petite, broad-hipped, with a constant slight smirk. You don't think you've ever seen her eyes: she's always veiled, or masked. Today it's oversized aviator sunglasses. Fearsome reputation, absolutely none of it confirmable. If Becky grounds the three, it's Rivka who makes them what they are. If she decides you're her enemy, she will crush you and not give the tiniest shit about it; and her definition of [i]enemy[/i] is a lot looser than most people's.[p][or][stopping][rivcostume of location]"

Rivka's aviator shades are carried by Rivka. Understand "glasses" or "sunglasses" as aviator shades. The description of aviator shades is "That style of big-lens sunglasses with a shape calculated to make their wearer look like aloof and dickish. On Rivka this is coals to Newcastle."

Rivka's clothes are worn by Rivka. Instead of examining Rivka's clothes: try examining Rivka.

Understand "biker" or "jacket" or "jeans" or "purple" or "skinny jeans" or "shoe" as Rivka's clothes when the location is startroom.

Understand "shirt" or "tie" as Rivka's clothes when the location is office party.

Understand "suit" or "cream" or "tie" as Rivka's clothes when the location is beautiful people.

Understand "hoodie" as Rivka's clothes when the location is gamesnight.

Understand "tattoos" or "tank" or "top" or "tank-top" as Rivka's clothes when the location is Under My Roof.

Understand "surplice" or "collar" or "ring" as Rivka's clothes when the location is wedding.

Understand "ballgown" or "gown" as Rivka's clothes when the location is ballroom.

Understand "veil" or "bolero" or "jacket" or "cuban" or "heels" as Rivka's clothes when the location is wakeroom.

Understand "ashes" or "ash" or "staff" as Rivka's clothes when the location is hotrock.

Understand "costume" or "red" or "black" as Rivka's clothes when the location is maying.

Understand "suit" or "thirties" or "30s" as Rivka's clothes when the location is DoubleTwisted.

Understand "earpiece" as Rivka's clothes when the location is orgy.

Instead of kissing Rivka: say "Or, y'know, you could dry-hump a hornet's nest."

The initial appearance of Rivka Strossi is "[the rivdesc of the location]".

Reba al-Nasri is a woman. The description of Reba is "Little aquiline nose, teeth a little too large for a mouth always smiling, really good at choosing scarves[one of]. Reba is the least obnoxious of the three, the one who you actually get along with when distinct from her cohorts. Which is ultimately why they've got a problem with you: while the motives and interests of the Rebeccas are a matter of carefully-tended ambiguity, the one thing they do not forgive is any attempt to divide the Rebeccas.[p]True, the possibility of schtupping Reba wasn't [i]entirely[/i] absent from your mind, and at least [i]part[/i] of the appeal of that prospect was that it would fluster the others. But it's not as though that formed an [i]objective[/i] so much as a routine possibility, a basic consequence of her being kind of cute and not conspicuously a jerk[or].[p][the rebalook of the location][stopping]."

The initial appearance of Reba al-Nasri is "[the rebadesc of the location]".

rebacount is a number that varies. rebacount is 1.

Instead of talking to Reba when Jave is in the location:

if rebacount is 1 begin;

say "[if the location is rebaseated][reba-act-3 of location] [otherwise]Reba bounds into an enthusiastic hug which you don't return. [end if]'You made it out together! Oh, I'm so happy you did.'[p]'Yeah.'[p][if the location is rebaseated][reba-act-4 of location] [otherwise]She pulls back, beaming, face a little too close. [end if]'Walk safe - and be happy. I'll see you at the next potlatch. ' There isn't any double meaning, no veiled threat; you might almost be friends.[p]'You... you don't really get to set us up for something like -' you wave an arm behind you, 'all [i]that[/i], and then play nice afterwards.'[p]She cocks her head to one side and does that little smile, as if you've said something adorably clueless. 'Our space, Tsawac. Walk safe.'";

now rebacount is 2;

otherwise;

say "You've nothing more to say to her. Well, you have several things, but mostly they're preambles to violence, so you'd better refrain.";

end if;

Instead of talking to Reba when puzzlecount < 4:

say "[one of]'What the shit are your cronies up to, al-Nasri?'[p]She actually looks hurt. 'Nice to see you too, T. How have you been?'[p]'Oh, same old - grouchy, lovelorn, intolerant of horsecrap. Seriously, what's the idea here?'[p]Reba straightens herself a little. 'It is... not easy to express our motives succinctly. We act as one, but we cast many shadows. Any single explanation would fall short. This one may serve you: we are offering you an opportunity for closure.'[or]'Closure is nonsense, Reba. Spin me another story.'[p]She bobs her head at an angle, beaming. 'If you must. In you and Jave we perceive the potential, perhaps, for a counterpart to we Three. Your gifts align in worrisome ways. You both tend to form attachments fiercely, firmly and to strong walkers. Harmless now, maybe, but introduce Nusku to the dynamic, or Dlamini, or the Shadow Minister, or, no offence meant, Thalud -'[p]'Wow. Just... you have some [i]really[/i] incomplete information.'[p]'Care to enlighten us? No? Then admit that the principle has some merit.'[or]'Jesus, Reba, Jave isn't... my conspiracy to come up with some crazy-ass dynastic threesome or whatever. Hard as it is to imagine, not everybody aspires to be you.'[p]'I'm sure you intend nothing of the sort; the potential is what matters. This is a long-term aspect. A shorter one: the match would bring Jave into the Sheaf, and she is ex-Mission.'[p]Ah. Yeah, that one has some clout. Among a certain mindset, ex-Mission is about as cuddly as ex-KGB.[or]'Look, Reba, she's not Mission. Completely severed. Doesn't draw pension, she doesn't even [i]like[/i] hanging out with vets, and she'd never rat if it might possibly hurt me.'[p]'Love is the falsest witness. Mission is Mission. Also, we understand she's [i]not interested in food.[/i]' She twinkles at that, but it's actually a pretty serious indictment for a potential clademate. Food's at least half of what holds the Sheaf together.[or]'Can you please cut the crap, Reba? For me? The Rebeccas aren't God, I'm not Job. What's the [i]real[/i] reason? If you tell me then maybe I can, you know, negotiate, figure something out that works for everyone.'[p][if the location is rebaseated][reba-act-1 of the location][otherwise]She draws closer, raises her brows.[end if] 'Maybe I'm just jealous.' It's a joke, yes, but only half one, and you both know it.[p][i]Shit.[/i] [if the location is rebaseated][reba-act-2 of location] [otherwise]You refrain from slipping your hands over the crest of her hips. [end if]This would be an awful lot easier if she was tidily [i]wrong[/i].[or]You're sure she could come up with a hundred more reasons, but it's clear there's no negotiation possible, and it's only going to make your heart ache.[stopping]";

Reba wears Reba's clothes. Instead of examining Reba's clothes: try examining Reba.

Understand "drapery" or "drapes" or "drape" as Reba's clothes when the location is Turning Stair.

Understand "dress" or "sundress" as Reba's clothes when the location is Wine-Dark Sea.

Understand "hijab" or "headscarf" or "scarf" or "head scarf" as Reba's clothes when the location is Barren Way.

Understand "straw" or "hat" or "dress" or "floral" or "print" or "scarf" or "crock" as Reba's clothes when the location is Hollow Way.

Understand "gown" or "wedding" or "wedding-gown" or "makeup" or "fishnets" or "tights" as Reba's clothes when the location is Empty City.

Understand "boots" or "boot" or "dress" or "skirt" as Reba's clothes when the location is Into the Woods.

Instead of kissing Reba:

if Jave is not in the location and the best route from the location of Jave to the location of the player through undestroyed rooms is nothing begin;

say "[one of]For almost two seconds she kisses back, and then firmly pulls away. 'Consolation prize, Tsa? Revenge? Insult to my loyalty aside, you don't exactly flatter.' She looks genuinely disappointed and uncomfortable. So hooray, now you've conclusively ruined [i]that[/i] as well[or]She's right. You're just making yourself look like a fool[stopping].";

otherwise;

say "You're not sure how she'd react. And it'd certainly elicit reprisals from the other two.";

end if;

Instead of attacking Reba:

say "Becky could probably throw a solid punch, at least, and you suspect Rivka of being warrior-gifted. But you doubt Reba would be able to fight back at all. That's a sticking-point, regardless of how angry you are with her.";