1,001 Aliens and Other Tales
Nota bene: I left my cell phone charger in D.C. this weekend. I may not be reachable by cell phone for a few days until it arrives here.
Why was I in D.C., you may ask? I spent the weekend visiting the awesome egowumpus and minervaish. We didn't really do any "D.C. stuff" like the National Archives or the Air and Space Museum-oh well, next time!-but we had an awesome time hanging out. Part of the time was just the three of us, and part of it included their really cool, entertaining housemates.
Wumpus and I played a truly intense game of chess. I won, but only barely-it was incredibly tense and up in the air the whole time, right up to the final three or four moves. Then I taught him Martian chess, which was amusing.
Saturday, after an amazing diner brunch followed by the requisite Aralis discussion, we played 1,001 Nights.
Our Court-level characters were:
1. Me: Prince Faroukh, the unhappy and somewhat sickly eldest son of the current Sultan
2. Wumpus: Prince Sa'id, son of a foreign Sultan, kept in our Court to prevent his father from attacking
3. Minerva: Maryam al-Rumi, a foreigner ("al-Rumi" means "from Rome") with a reputation for nigh-miraculous healing powers. She was brought to court as a doctor, obviously, but her primary responsibility seemed to be to try to cure Faroukh of his persistent hacking cough.
Maryam envied Prince Faroukh his closeness to the Sultan (she was in love with the Sultan) and Prince Sa'id his naiveté. Her Ambition was to earn the affection of the Sultan, and to do it by discrediting Faroukh.
Prince Sa'id envied Maryam her unrelenting knowledge of the world, and Prince Faroukh his right of first pick in all things. His Ambition was to force Maryam to acknowledge his superior expertise.
Prince Faroukh envied Prince Sa'id his family's love and concern (the Sultan was cold and distant, while Sa'id's family were constantly sending care packages and envoys to attempt to negotiate his return, etc.), and Maryam her accomplishments that she had earned herself, rather than simply being treated as special because of her birth. His Ambition was to trick Sa'id into assassinating his father (!).
We played four tales. "The Two Princes & the Newt," GM'd by Maryam, was unfortunately interrupted by the Sultan inquiring as to Faroukh's health. Sad! It was a notable story largely for the fact that the two (Court) Princes were cast in the Story as... two Princes, only in the Story they were actually brothers. Sa'id's Prince nearly had to marry the Newt, too."
"The Lion and the Mouse," GM'd by Faroukh, was an amusing story of how Mouse bested mighty Lion through trickery and the help of his friends Crow, Alligator, and Hyena. Faroukh cast Sa'id as Mouse in order to try to convince him subtly that the weak can overcome the powerful.
"1,001 Aliens" (I mean, "1,001 Shadow-scorpion thingies"), GM'd by Sa'id, was a tragic tale about a group of space marines the Sultan's soldiers sent to investigate a gold mine that had lost contact with the kingdom. A well-done Arabian Nights version of Aliens, my favorite moment was when I realized exactly what story Wumpus had framed. "Wait... we have to go into a mine? That no one's heard from in awhile? And we're a group of soldiers accompanied by a random peasant girl? Hmm... this seems... familiar somehow." There were no survivors.
Finally, Faroukh told the tale of the "Grand Vizier and the Genie." (I wanted to end the game with something extremely in-genre.) The Vizier was played by Maryam, and the Genie by Sa'id. But the Genie turned out to be very tricky, and fooled the Vizier into becoming trapped in the lamp, while the Genie enjoyed the comforts of the Vizier's position at court. Then the Genie was killed by the vengeful 3rd Under-Vizier, but not before the Genie invoked the ancient curse laid on the family of the 3rd Under-Vizier should he ever betray the Genie. The story ended with Sa'id commenting, "Thus it is said that he who would slay a Genie digs two graves."
I was surprised it took us four tales to finish the game with only three players, but we had been rolling rather badly throughout, and also splitting our dice between our Freedom and Ambition. And the result wound up being completely awesome: at the end of the Grand Vizier tale, we all had a ton of dice, and as a result we all "won" simultaneously.
Maryam achieved her Freedom, while the two Princes won their Ambitions. Faroukh had also decided not to invest anything in Safety, as had Maryam, so we were both publicly rebuked by the Sultan after Faroukh suffered a coughing relapse-Faroukh for being a weakling, Maryam for failing to cure him. Faroukh used the Sultan's display of tyranny to goad Sa'id into attacking the hated monarch. Sa'id succeeded, and in turn enjoyed the look of dismay in Maryam's eyes as he realized he had bested her expertise as a doctor with his well-placed thrown dagger. Faroukh begged Maryam to take her with him into the world and teach him to accomplish things for himself, but (as neither Prince won his Freedom) wound up getting dragged into a protracted and lengthy war with his former friend, even though it was his own heart's desire that had set it off. Maryam returned to Europe, where she lived happily ever after.
I believe I have also succeeded in getting Wumpus hooked on Wesnoth, a favorite pastime of my own for about two years now.
Why was I in D.C., you may ask? I spent the weekend visiting the awesome egowumpus and minervaish. We didn't really do any "D.C. stuff" like the National Archives or the Air and Space Museum-oh well, next time!-but we had an awesome time hanging out. Part of the time was just the three of us, and part of it included their really cool, entertaining housemates.
Wumpus and I played a truly intense game of chess. I won, but only barely-it was incredibly tense and up in the air the whole time, right up to the final three or four moves. Then I taught him Martian chess, which was amusing.
Saturday, after an amazing diner brunch followed by the requisite Aralis discussion, we played 1,001 Nights.
Our Court-level characters were:
1. Me: Prince Faroukh, the unhappy and somewhat sickly eldest son of the current Sultan
2. Wumpus: Prince Sa'id, son of a foreign Sultan, kept in our Court to prevent his father from attacking
3. Minerva: Maryam al-Rumi, a foreigner ("al-Rumi" means "from Rome") with a reputation for nigh-miraculous healing powers. She was brought to court as a doctor, obviously, but her primary responsibility seemed to be to try to cure Faroukh of his persistent hacking cough.
Maryam envied Prince Faroukh his closeness to the Sultan (she was in love with the Sultan) and Prince Sa'id his naiveté. Her Ambition was to earn the affection of the Sultan, and to do it by discrediting Faroukh.
Prince Sa'id envied Maryam her unrelenting knowledge of the world, and Prince Faroukh his right of first pick in all things. His Ambition was to force Maryam to acknowledge his superior expertise.
Prince Faroukh envied Prince Sa'id his family's love and concern (the Sultan was cold and distant, while Sa'id's family were constantly sending care packages and envoys to attempt to negotiate his return, etc.), and Maryam her accomplishments that she had earned herself, rather than simply being treated as special because of her birth. His Ambition was to trick Sa'id into assassinating his father (!).
We played four tales. "The Two Princes & the Newt," GM'd by Maryam, was unfortunately interrupted by the Sultan inquiring as to Faroukh's health. Sad! It was a notable story largely for the fact that the two (Court) Princes were cast in the Story as... two Princes, only in the Story they were actually brothers. Sa'id's Prince nearly had to marry the Newt, too."
"The Lion and the Mouse," GM'd by Faroukh, was an amusing story of how Mouse bested mighty Lion through trickery and the help of his friends Crow, Alligator, and Hyena. Faroukh cast Sa'id as Mouse in order to try to convince him subtly that the weak can overcome the powerful.
"1,001 Aliens" (I mean, "1,001 Shadow-scorpion thingies"), GM'd by Sa'id, was a tragic tale about a group of space marines the Sultan's soldiers sent to investigate a gold mine that had lost contact with the kingdom. A well-done Arabian Nights version of Aliens, my favorite moment was when I realized exactly what story Wumpus had framed. "Wait... we have to go into a mine? That no one's heard from in awhile? And we're a group of soldiers accompanied by a random peasant girl? Hmm... this seems... familiar somehow." There were no survivors.
Finally, Faroukh told the tale of the "Grand Vizier and the Genie." (I wanted to end the game with something extremely in-genre.) The Vizier was played by Maryam, and the Genie by Sa'id. But the Genie turned out to be very tricky, and fooled the Vizier into becoming trapped in the lamp, while the Genie enjoyed the comforts of the Vizier's position at court. Then the Genie was killed by the vengeful 3rd Under-Vizier, but not before the Genie invoked the ancient curse laid on the family of the 3rd Under-Vizier should he ever betray the Genie. The story ended with Sa'id commenting, "Thus it is said that he who would slay a Genie digs two graves."
I was surprised it took us four tales to finish the game with only three players, but we had been rolling rather badly throughout, and also splitting our dice between our Freedom and Ambition. And the result wound up being completely awesome: at the end of the Grand Vizier tale, we all had a ton of dice, and as a result we all "won" simultaneously.
Maryam achieved her Freedom, while the two Princes won their Ambitions. Faroukh had also decided not to invest anything in Safety, as had Maryam, so we were both publicly rebuked by the Sultan after Faroukh suffered a coughing relapse-Faroukh for being a weakling, Maryam for failing to cure him. Faroukh used the Sultan's display of tyranny to goad Sa'id into attacking the hated monarch. Sa'id succeeded, and in turn enjoyed the look of dismay in Maryam's eyes as he realized he had bested her expertise as a doctor with his well-placed thrown dagger. Faroukh begged Maryam to take her with him into the world and teach him to accomplish things for himself, but (as neither Prince won his Freedom) wound up getting dragged into a protracted and lengthy war with his former friend, even though it was his own heart's desire that had set it off. Maryam returned to Europe, where she lived happily ever after.
I believe I have also succeeded in getting Wumpus hooked on Wesnoth, a favorite pastime of my own for about two years now.