The Battle of the (Martian Bonsai) Trees

• Martian Tree Monster Battle!
• Fae visit to be made: second of three items acquired.
• I'm okay with Kristen playing Sophronia and Victor during the battle, if, say, we decide Sophronia is doing illusions to keep wedding from noticing anything.
• Extra FP to Alden for Reginald's letter. Does he also get one for Sophronia spilling his secret to Merrill (on the In Love With a Brazen Lass / his life just became more complicated)? - Let's save that for when it actually causes a complication, or for when said complication comes up in play.
• Graf von Gheistbiennenstock wants to talk to Gregory about Africa before going on honeymoon to search for Klaus.

Short version: The wedding went off fine, though Alice needs to drink Radu's cure for the dry rot Sophronia caused her (leading Victor to wonder about whether the fae can heal with illusions, we figured).

Sophronia needed much soothing by Reginald as she realized how little she could protect any kids she had from the fae. Alice met Talos briefly. Phineas, Ferb, and Agent P made a cameo. There's a ball at the Benjamin residence.

You can trust me to mimic you at a public function

Yes. yes I can

Aw

I cannot see how this can possibly go wrong

You couldn't do this tidily, could you?

Dear, we are going to have to talk

You put them in a zone for me. Was I not supposed to hit them? I was trying to be halpful. You don't want me to be unhelpful.

Thinking about weddings

Ours will be so much calmer

I bet yours will only have ONE enemy

Okay, we have a wall again.

Darling, I realize that this is the bride's perogative, but I have Opinions on the wedding

First, I want it to be outdoors in an elevated area

Oh, so that the ltnig can hit us

Ltng we can deal with. It's sneak attacks I worry about

But I expect our weddig will be terr boring -- it will be very small

Secondly, I want the entire wedding party ARMED

You want to arm Talos?

Talos counts as armed no matter what

It's going to be a circus. I want it to be a circus that can take on all comers

And on top of that, I was complimented on my perfume! I wasn't wearing any perfume!

Lime juice illusion?

No asking the faeries for thigns!

The Lady Miriam is not going to be our fairie godmother!

You mean the flying island laced with New Martian technology?

Yes, the very defesible one only we know how to fly

I'm not really sure how you got up here, but good kitty!

I'm not taking over the world with anyone who's not part of the club. If there's gonna be a bunch of irredemiable meglomaniax taking over the wrold it's gonna by MY etc

There's a lot of hugging going on during this conversation.

Hugging Sophronia is not a safe thing to do right now. She is literally emitting smoke.

This version of Reginald is fireproof.

It is possible to escape your family. For instance by moving to africa. This has been demonstrated.

Reginald's Letter to Gregory

Then the Graf will need a letter of introduction. After speaking with him, "Gregory" will (probably) give the Graf a letter addressed to "His Majesty The Royal Consort, The Hunting Ghost, Disciple of Anansi"

• Inside the letter

Dear Reginald,

Please allow me to introduce our good friend Graf Rupert von Gheistbiennenstock, and his new bride Rachel (nee Durless, older sister of Angelina). Rupert is a member of that most excellent club I told you about on our visit. Rachel has been kind enough to permit a bit of business on their honeymoon, and so he is looking for his brother Klaus. The Graf can fill you in on the details, but it has something to do with the good Lady Doctor we left in your care.

I’ve informed Rupert of the charade that you’ve been engaged in to boost the esteem of Her Majesty’s choice of you, my dear fellow, as her consort. Be assured that he will be not at all surprised to hear the Bambenga calling you by my name and title, and that he is as willing as I to support you in your efforts.

Rupert is in all ways a most reliable, capable and admirable fellow, and you can depend on him in all things. I hope you will be able to lend him what assistance you may in a part of the world he will no doubt find strange.

I’ve taken word to your family, and told them the full tale of you fate, as we had discussed. While they were dismayed at the prospect of not being reunited with you in the foreseeable future, they were very happy to hear about the growing prosperity of the Bambenga and your family. My mother, father, grandfather and aunt Rosemarie also send their sincerest well wishes, and look forward to meeting the people of Pensington South, as they have taken to calling it, someday.

It might interest you to know that Lady Wilkinson has agreed to marry me, and that my footloose days, while not quite over yet, do now seem to have an expiration date, as I buckle down to the business of learning how to run the estate. I’m sure we will meet again, and I’m comforted that the international post can only get better. I do wish I had you here to advise me while I try to find a new valet with even half your skill.

I remain,

In my Most Sincere Affection,

Your Friend,

Gregory Sage, Heir of Pensington

Story Games Thread

Tonight, Kerberos Fate had The Battle of the (Martian Bonsai) Trees. Josh invoked our first environment Consequence, as a wall of the church was knocked down.

Sophronia: You couldn't do this tidily, could you?

Fortunately, the wall was fixed before the Consequence could be permanent.

Reginald: Darling, I realize that this is the bride's prerogative, but I have Opinions on the wedding. First, I want it to be outdoors in an elevated area.

Sophronia: Oh, so that the lightning can hit us.

Reginald: Lightning we can deal with. It's sneak attacks I worry about. Secondly, I want the entire wedding party ARMED!

Sophronia: You want to arm Talos (a 20 foot tall iron man)?

Reginald: Talos counts as armed no matter what. It's going to be a circus. I want it to be a circus that can take on all comers.

But, it was Sophronia, the 9 inch clockwork faerie, who freaked out the most, as she realized that, no matter what she did, there was simply no way she could protect any children she had from the fae. Well, no way that didn't involve abandoning them, which she did not consider an acceptable option (and which likely wouldn't work anyway -- we all know the stories).

She flew to a rooftop and made lightning storms and cried and hugged her cat (who has the ability to Keep Up with Sophronia). And Kristen asked for a Fate point, as she decided that, yes, Reginald was right to worry about Sophronia winding down. Alice used her psychic power to help Reginald locate Sophronia, and he caught her as she wound down and started to slip from the roof. They had a heart to heart conversation, and Sophronia is slightly calmer.

Write Up Attempt

Tonight, Kerberos Fate had The Battle of the (Martian Bonsai) Trees. After some discussion about who needed to be inside the church and who needed to be outside, and what Alice could and couldn't do from inside, it was concluded that Sophronia would need to make an illusory Alice.

Sophronia: You can trust me to mimic you at a public function.

Alice: Yes. yes I can.

Sophronia: Aw.

I think this had to do with Alice setting up one of Sophronia's Aspects.

Someone at Some Point: I cannot see how this can possibly go wrong

Four Ascendant Martian tree monsters attacked. Now, they were tough, but their best skill (+5 Ascendant) was actually hiding. Sure, Reginald probably wanted to cut down all the trees near the church, but this would not have been allowed. As it was, he saw the tree monsters right before they attacked.

Alice, Victor, and Reginald were each on one side of the church. Victor got somewhat battered by his tree monster, while Alice quickly stacked hers up with the one on the other side of the church, and then, at Reginald's request, tossing those two at his tree monster. Tree monsters have weapon and armor at +3. Tossing one at the other negates a point of armor. Reginald-as-Beaver only needs to deal with 1 point of armor. The tree monsters also have a minor invulnerability to mental attacks, although their Willpower starts at Mundane +2. (No, it has nothing to do with iron content on Mars. It's just that they're sentient-but-alien.)

When Victor found himself in a tight spot, Josh invoked our first environment Consequence, as a wall of the church was knocked down.

Sophronia: You couldn't do this tidily, could you?

Fortunately, the wall was fixed before the Consequence could be permanent, and no one inside the church, apart from Bartholomew, Sophronia, and possibly the groom, ever knew anything was wrong. Our Heroes did have to come back with mortar after dark, of course.

Also, while Sophronia was effective at filling Victor's tree monster foe with termites, her attack on the ones Alice and Reginald stacked up also affected her best friend and her fiance. Alice was still being affected by Dry Rot as a moderate consequence. She'll need to drink Radu's cure for this, while we figure Victor's wondering about how this whole fae illusion thing works and whether the fae can heal with their illusions.

Alice: And on top of that, I was complimented on my perfume! I wasn't wearing any perfume!

Reginald (as he gets hit by Sophronia's attack): Dear, we are going to have to talk!

Sophronia: You put them in a zone for me. Was I not supposed to hit them? I was trying to be helpful. You don't want me to be unhelpful.

Everyone hastily agreed, but Reginald noted that he was still thinking about weddings.

Sophronia: Ours will be so much calmer

Alice: I bet yours will only have ONE enemy.

After the wedding had been brought to a happy conclusion and the curse lifted, Reginald decided to make a few things clear.

Reginald: Darling, I realize that this is the bride's prerogative, but I have Opinions on the wedding. First, I want it to be outdoors in an elevated area.

Sophronia: Oh, so that the lightning can hit us.

Reginald: Lightning we can deal with. It's sneak attacks I worry about.

Sophronia: But I expect our wedding will be terriby boring -- it will be very small. (Such an optimist -- I'm not sure it will be at all small.)

Reginald: Secondly, I want the entire wedding party ARMED!

Sophronia: You want to arm Talos (a 20 foot tall iron man)?

Reginald: Talos counts as armed no matter what. It's going to be a circus. I want it to be a circus that can take on all comers.

Folks returned to London and to the club. Sophronia got more and more agitated as she considered the problem of keeping the faeries from interfering with any children she might have.

Sophronia: No asking the faeries for things!

Sophronia (later): The Lady Miriam is not going to be our faerie godmother!

There was some discussion of holding the wedding on the flying island.

Sophronia: You mean the flying island laced with New Martian technology?

Reginald: Yes, the very defensible one only we know how to fly.

But, Sophronia was still very agitated. She flew up and out of the club, and she found a rooftop steeple and settled in to make lightning storms. Martin joined her.

Sophronia: I'm not really sure how you got up here, but good kitty!

Alice -- er, Alec Campion -- put in an appearance in London and gave Lady Miriam the second item from Mars, one of the crystals from the gravestones. Lady Miriam accepted this, but told Alice to avoid repetition in the future.

Reginald began to worry as Sophronia didn't return, and as Alice confirmed she had not wound the clockwork faerie. Kristen asked for a Fate point, as she decided that, yes, Reginald was right to worry about Sophronia winding down. Alice used her psychic power to help Reginald locate Sophronia, and he caught her as she wound down and started to slip from the roof. He brought her to her bower and wound her. They had a heart to heart conversation.

I was running a scene for Josh at the time, but I recall Sophronia saying that she was as bad as her father, and that there was simply no way she could protect any children she had from the fae. Well, no way that didn't involve abandoning them, which she did not consider an acceptable option (and which likely wouldn't work anyway -- we all know the stories).

Alden: There's a lot of hugging going on during this conversation.

Kristen: Hugging Sophronia is not a safe thing to do right now. She is literally emitting smoke.

Alden: This version of Reginald is fireproof.

Reginald said that no one asks to be born, but that doesn't mean it's awful for people to have children. He also tried to convince Sophronia that everyone had family they couldn't really escape, or at least, that he did.

Sophronia: It is possible to escape your family. For instance, by moving to Africa. This has been demonstrated.

Eventually, Reginald managed to calm Sophronia down at least a little.

I forget the context of this:

Reginald: I'm not taking over the world with anyone who's not part of the club. If there's gonna be a bunch of irredeemable megalomaniacs taking over the world it's gonna by MY bunch of irredeemable megalomaniacs taking over the world.

Alice had a brief conversation with Talos about games, Martian invasions, and making the world a better place. She'd accidentally stumbled onto him, on account of she's Psychic, and the GM needed to give her a scene while the lovers were talking, but she doesn't get to do it whenever Josh wants. She was a bit annoyed that Talos hadn't gotten back to her when she'd given him her card, but as Talos noted, plenty of people choose not to be at home when someone presents a card. he does plan to attend Sophronia's wedding.

I added a pinch of comic relief by having cameos of Phineas, Ferb, and Agent P. Agent P wears a deerstalker cap, not a fedora, and slid down a chimney, leaving Sophronia feeling somewhat out of date on the haunts of London. She saw Milo Pepperton brief him and suggest that briefings _could_ take place at the club. Agent P seemed impervious to this. Phineas and Ferb have modified the coffee machine to produce tea as well, but need to cover their add-on with brass frippery to match the aesthetic of the rest of the machine. Oh, and there's a ball at the Benjamin residence.