Geminid log begin shem the movies part four: office politics
Geminid A hissing sound emits from the odd little gargoyle-like being before the old men. A scratching noise, next, then a rumble. Then, a voice, dry and didactic:
Geminid "S'rayium, Tishar 18, 1934,
Geminid A 'dry day' in Belle Point was so called to distinguish between days without rain and days where the dust would blow through town. Rain often kept hidden in Belle Point, but desert it was not. The drought of 1934 undoubtedly broke all records--length, severity, number of dry days, average high temperature, and most dramatic end, certainly. For months, no rain drops had touched the ground, and the circumstance was affecting the people of th
Geminid e city greatly. 'Dry days' brought the dust storms.
Geminid That Mayor Watley had no control of the weather meant nothing. Priests of weather, of water, of force, of order, of chaos, of harvest, of famine, of sun, of moons, of any possible divine sphere were unable to call rain. The Archmagus Wilde Simon dipping his mighty mind into the oceans of mana, and with his great metaphysical presence could not command the rains to fall. Sacrifices were made--both by the common man just to get by and by the
Geminid powerful to try to coax the rain out.
Geminid Crops failed. Locusts swarmed the city. Riots broke out.
Geminid And the people demanded a recall election of the mayor /and/ city council. By Secomal 23rd, the people of Belle Point would elect a new government. On Tishar 18, the city awoke to...
Geminid Alsa, Paolo has put on the radio this morning, and the news all over it is that Aurdog Studios President Armande Green has announced his candidacy for mayor.
Geminid Corby, you awaken from a dark, dead sleep to hear a pounding on your door.
Geminid Tilluel, you wake up feeling parched again.
Geminid Alice, you hear the radio in David's house blaring the news through a now open window.
Geminid Angela, you awaken to the sound of people outside your apartment.
Geminid Quacklin, a rattling noise in your sculpture garden announces the morning explosions have knocked something over.
Geminid Tilluel, you wake up feeling parched again.
- Albert is now known as Tilluel
- Alsa listens to the radio report in befuddlement, then goes to work.
- A_Murray peeks out to see what's going on.
- Tilluel turns over on the cot, wincing slightly. She rises, looking for the craft service table in search of water.
Geminid Paolo wishes you a good day at work before you get out the door, Alsa. The drive over is the same as ever: traffic-filled, too long, and too hot.
Geminid Angela, two young street punks are loitering outside, glancing at your door every few seconds.
- Alsa puts his window down at a red light and tries to focus on the day's work ahead.
Geminid The caterers are already setting up out on the lot, Tilluel. Water is readily available.
A_Murray what color are their eyes?
Geminid It's hard to tell from this distance, Angela.
- Alice remains frozen for a moment, listening for signs of David himself.
Geminid Alsa, when you arrive, the protestors are at it full force again.
- A_Murray closes the door and gears up. Do I have a window?
Geminid Yes, Angela.
A_Murray Can I climb out of it and down?
Geminid Alice, you hear him moving about inside.
- Quacklin gets up, shivering. He slithers out of the tentacle and goes to inspect the damage.
- Tilluel drinks deeply and then goes outside to enjoy some sunshine before work
Geminid Yes, Angela, though you're a tight fit.
- Alsa makes his way inside the lot, giving the protestors as much distance as he can.
A_Murray I try to sneak closer and hear/see them better.
Geminid Quacklin, one statue has twisted a bit and landed on its side. No major damage, but you can tell a dust storm blew through late last night.
A_Murray r rog 10
Eklem A_Murray [rog: 10] 14 14 14
Geminid Roll rogue, Angel
Geminid r awa 10
Eklem Geminid [awa: 10] 11 13 13
Geminid They're talking about whether or not this is the right place to leave the message, Angela.
A_Murray And what color are their eyes?
- Quacklin sighs and covers his face with a pressed button up shirt. He climbs back in the tentacle to use it as a hoist.
Geminid It's dry and dusty out, all of you. A dust storm swept through in the night, leaving a fine layer of yellow and brown dust all over. Alsa, driving through it is choking with the window down.
- Alice moves up to the roof proper and keeps her ears open, waiting to catch a shot of him leaving and follow him in.
Geminid Blue and brown, respectively.
- lis gives channel operator status to Tilluel
Geminid Alsa, you see Tilluel getting some sun as you approach the lot proper.
- A_Murray steps out of the shadows too close for comfort for them and says, "Yes?"
Geminid Quacklin, it's no real trouble to get it hoisted up. Dust is stirred up by the process, though.
- Alsa gives her a dusty, "Good morning," as he makes his way inside.
Geminid Alice, it's about five minutes before he rushes out of the house, stops, rushes back in, shuts off the radio, then rushes out and gets in his car.
- Tilluel stands outside, toes wriggling in the thin dust, arms hanging at her sides, eyes closed but head raised slightly
- Tilluel smiles, opens her eyes and nods at Alsa before resuming her position
A_Murray (Dammit, where's the page with the phases of the moon?)
Alice And heads to the lot?
Geminid One sec
- Quacklin gives his suit jacket to Alga to keep her safe, moves walker inside the tentacle, lands the tentacle on it's base, then gets dressed and climbs out of a sucker. He fastens the latch behind him.
Geminid
http://www.merukis.net/wiki/index.php/Shem/1934
Geminid Yes, David drives to the lot.
A_Murray thanks
- Alice stops outside to take some more pictures of the gypsies.
Geminid The thugs freeze, Angela, and stare at you. One of them stutters, "Y-you Angela Murray?"
Geminid A Roma spits, "I curse you to eternal agony, flashing girl!"
A_Murray "Yes."
- Alice grins. "'Luck with that." She spits back.
- Quacklin heads for the nearest train station.
Geminid "Th-the boss said he wanted a word before you went in this mornin'. He's at the docks." he manages, to Angela.
Alice She does try to hit.
A_Murray "Thank you."
Alice r expectoration 15
Eklem Alice [expectoration: 15] 18 18 19
A_Murray I go to the docks.
Geminid r dodge 11
Eklem Geminid [dodge: 11] 13 16 20
Geminid You hit her arm.
>Angela< The headquarters at the docks are ugly, dirty, rundown on the outside, and sparkling clean and lavish on the inside
>A_Murray< Yo
Geminid Alice arrives shortly after Alsa, Tilluel, and Quacklin not far behind them.
- Alice drops off her packet of photos-1 to Donna's desk, as well as her contract.
- Tilluel goes inside, feeling more refreshed
>Alsa< Beccah needshelp logging in.
- Quacklin enters the studio in his worker's uniform as fast as his legs will take him, trying to shield his eyes from the dust with his hat pulled down low.
Geminid Not a lot of dust is kicked up by your mere walking on it.
Quacklin oh, I thought there was more dust about. My confusion.
Geminid Corby, you awaken from a dark, dead sleep to hear a pounding on your door.
- Gabe jolts awake and stumbles toward the door blearily. "Who is it?"
- Alsa gives channel operator status to Gabe
Geminid A wry and slightly angry voice says, "Your sister."
- Gabe pulls the door open, absently trying to smooth his hair down a bit.
Geminid "Where the hell have you been?"
Gabe "Here...what's up? Come in...what time is it?"
Geminid "Julia said you weren't at work yesterday."
Gabe "Think I picked up some kinda bug, knocked me for a loop..."
Geminid Angela arrives on set.
Geminid "Well, you're running late right now. Get your ass over there."
- A_Murray finds Alsa and walks up.
- Alsa is findable.
A_Murray "Mr. Ipanym."
Gabe "Thanks, kiddo." he throws on some suitable clothes and hightails it to the set."
A_Murray "You may have noted my absence yesterday. The security concerns for this film have become more complex. The union informs me that to better serve that purpose, I am to have an acting part in this movie."
A_Murray "It need not be big, or with lines, but I must be in the film to properly observe."
Geminid On set, David is setting up when Donna storms up to him, "What is the meaning of this?!" she demands, waving a batch of papers. "That's my contract revisions, seen to by the craftsmen's local." he returns coldly. "It's absurd! You're hardly worth the paper this is printed on, much less 800 a week!"
Geminid David sneeers, "Take it up with the union, lady. I got work to do!"
Alice picture
Geminid "Lady?! You watch your tone with me, David Canter," she snarls back. "You watch /yours/ with me, 'Miss' Mverik!" he snaps back. She glares, then turns to storm off. As she does so, the entering Corby catches her eye.
Geminid "/You/," she snaps in withering tones.
- Alsa looks at Angela for a moment, then says, "You're an actor?"
A_Murray "I am whatever I need to be to serve my purpose. Today that is an actor."
- Tilluel watches the yelling with slight interest as she picks over the things she can eat at the craft service table
- Gabe hesitates, having probably run in at full speed. "...yes ma'am?"
Alsa "Uh. Okay. So the story is broken up into 'pirates' and 'royals'. Which would you prefer?"
A_Murray "Pirate.:
A_Murray "
A_Murray "Make me a bosun and I won't have to act."
Geminid "You think you can come in here after blowing work off for a day, not answering your phones, having your agent unreachable, and leaving us without what would be a major role to fill? You think you still have a job?"
- Alsa nods. "Great. There are plenty of pirate costume pieces in wardrobe. Get into costume and I'll place you in the next scene with pirates."
- A_Murray nods. "Thank you for your cooperation sir."
- A_Murray goes to get into costume.
- Alsa exhales silently as Angela turns away.
- Quacklin climbs out from under a hydraulic press and shimmies over next to Angela. "Psst!"
- A_Murray stops, looks around at her eye level, then looks down.
Gabe "With due respect, I don't have Eddie be anything, ma'am, he just does things on his own. I'm sorry for not comin' in, I think I picked up some kind of day-long bug or somethin', it pretty much knocked me out for the day, I didn't even hear my phone. Also didn't know I was bein' considered for a major role, so I apologize for the trouble and inconvenience."
- Quacklin jumps slightly and waves. In a loud whisper. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but the captain has the crown."
Geminid She glares at Corby for a moment, then turns to Alice, "Alice."
A_Murray "Which captain has what crown?"
Quacklin "Also, the Scissor Man struck the pirate captain's sword."
Quacklin "The pirate captain!"
A_Murray "Has which crown?"
Geminid "Do you want his role?" she asks Alice.
Quacklin "The one he stole from the screaming princess. Not the tomboy princess.
Quacklin "
A_Murray "Why?"
Quacklin "Probably because it's worth lots of money."
A_Murray "He stole from the set?"
Alice "How much s'it pay?"
- Quacklin looks at Angela like she has a second head.
Geminid "750 a week."
- Alsa walks up behind Donna with a pencil and clipboard, listening wearily to this exchange.
A_Murray "what will be the consequences of the theft?"
Geminid [Ten times Corby's normal salary, and a fortune to everyone but the real stars]
Alice "I'll try it out."
- Gabe is looking vaguely disappointed and frustrated with himself.
Geminid She turns to Corby, "You get to be an actor, too, Mr. Corbannon," she says sweetly.
Geminid "Mr. Ipanym!" she shouts.
Geminid She turns, unsurprised.
Quacklin "Oh, the royals are chasing after the pirates to get back the crown and the princesses."
- Gabe idly wonders what bit part he'll be getting this time, since he managed to screw himself out of a good one.
- A_Murray nods. "Oh."
A_Murray "Thank you."
Quacklin "I suspect the tomboy princess will end up joining the pirates, they have more fun, and the captain is really dashing."
Quacklin "Though he's afraid of touching her."
Geminid "Ms. Higgins is now playing the role of pirate captain. Mr. Corbannon will be her plucky but unfortunate sidekick, who is target of her wrath when she is angry, and the natural target of every stray bullet, falling tree, cannonball... You get the picture.:"
A_Murray "No doubt." turns to get into costume.
Quacklin "Oh! In the savana!!!"
- Gabe is completely unsurprised.
Quacklin "I never got to finish telling you about the suit man who wanted to talk about strikes."
Quacklin "He was weird."
Alsa "We just got another pirate. Can we make him the incompetent captain of the guard?"
A_Murray "Yes?"
Quacklin "He left all of a sudden."
A_Murray "Describe him."
Geminid Donna smiles coldly, "No, he has to be Alice's assistant on and off the set."
Quacklin "Well, he was about one and a half brooms tall. He said he was a writer, but I think he was lying."
Quacklin "How can you be a writer if you're not writing anything?"
- Gabe rolls his eyes and shoves his hands in his pockets.
- A_Murray turns to him. "is he still here?"
Geminid [No, Quacklin]
- Alsa frowns at Gabe for a moment, then says, "Fair enough. You're, ah, the /bumbling/ pirate henchman. Go get into costume. Make sure you get a weapon from props, too."
Quacklin "No, he left my roof in a hurry, saying my life would get interesting soon."
- Alsa looks to Alice. "You too, Miss Higgins. Make sure they give you the big black hat."
A_Murray "If he comes back, come get me immediately. I will make his life...interesting."
- Alsa goes to find Angela.
Geminid Noble strolls onto set, late. "What, aren't we started yet?"
Quacklin "Okay! Avast!"
- A_Murray is getting into costume when you arrive.
- Quacklin wanders back to the machines.
- Gabe nods and heads off, muttering to himself once safely out of earshot about why it had to be /yesterday/ that he ended up skipping out on a job, and why couldn't the damn bug or whatever it was have either waited for next weekend or hit on Tagium, etc...
- Alice looks at Alsa a moment, then at Donna, then shrugs and starts away. Then she pauses and looks back to Donna.
Alice "I got a picture yesterday you're gonna want to see."
A_Murray Besides her stage sword, she also wears a katana across her back.
Geminid She looks to Alice, "They should be on my desk by now, then."
Alsa "Oh good, you're not in costume, yet. I had a moment of inspiration. How do you feel about 'captain of the guard'?"
Geminid She turns to go to her office.
A_Murray "As you wish."
- A_Murray divests of what pirate costume she was wearing,
A_Murray and goes for the captain of the guard costume.
Geminid Her underclothes could sail a ship, Alsa.
Alsa "Great! You'll be in the first scene we shoot today."
A_Murray "Yes sir."
A_Murray Now, instead of a stage sword, she wears a nice katana.
- Alsa can't tell the difference.
- A_Murray wears that costume like she was a guard captain in a previous life.
Geminid Miiji strolls onto set, also late, and looking angry, "My chocolates were lukewarm this morning."
Geminid Julia comes out, already in costume, having arrived early.
Geminid A PA says to Alsa, "Err, I think you're in charge of the shoot schedule, sir."
- Alsa gets the pirates, props, sets, Angela, and some extras together once they're in costume. "We're going to start shooting the Merukise Caper today. We're going to cold-open with a bit of action ..."
- A_Murray surveys the extras who will be playing guardsmen.
Alice Is there actually anything available that even fits Alice, much less looks anything but ridiculous?
A_Murray She makes them believe that she owns them.
Geminid The costumers can alter things very quickly for you
Geminid But all pirate outfits in the movies look ridiculous
Alice Fair enough.
Alsa "During a daring raid on a port town, the pirates learn of the wedding of the prince and princess. Sailor Corbannon sees a flyer with a picture of the princess on it, and falls in love then and there. Captain Higgins, on the other hand, decides that a kidnapping and ransom would be very lucrative. Questions?"
- A_Murray looks for the prince.
Geminid Miiji snaps, "Why weren't my chocolates cold?"
- Alice lets them take whatever measurements they need without too much resistance, then heads to Donna's office while they make the changes.
Geminid Noble smiles at Angela, having gotten into his royal garb
Geminid Donna's door is open, Alice.
Alsa "Drought. Any other questions?"
- A_Murray approaches and snaps to attention.
Alice She's in there?
Geminid Yes
Geminid Miiji stares a moment at Alsa, then stomps off to complain to someone else.
- Alice steps in and puts the scissorman picture down on the desk.
Geminid Noble gives a lazy salute in return.
- A_Murray remembers her father's tales of military men supporting lazy politicians. she feels prepared for this.
A_Murray to the gathered guardsmen, "His Highness will be off duty today. That means it falls to us to take care of him."
Geminid Donna looks at the picture, then frowns. She picks it up, then pulls out a wallet from her purse. She pulls out a cheque book, scrawls on it, then hands it to you. "Your first bonus."
A_Murray "Success may mean reward. Failure /will/ mean worse."
A_Murray "Are you in character now?"
Geminid The guardsmen look confused, but nod warily.
Geminid Noble smiles, "I love it when everyone's into it."
- A_Murray sneers. "GET TO ATTENTION WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU! YOU! TUCK THAT IN!"
- Alice squints at the check.
Geminid Donna pockets the picture.
Geminid The extras all look at each other, then start complying.
A_Murray "There will be lessons after this scene."
Geminid Julia asks Alsa, "When do we start, sir?"
A_Murray "If you wish to avoid them, start acting like royal guards."
Alice Big number?
A_Murray Angela is congruent.
Geminid The agreed upon number for incriminating pictures, even if this one wasn't.
Alsa "Props, can we get a picture of the princess, resplendent, on a piece of paper announcing a royal wedding? Also we'll need a sack that looks like it could be filled with stolen treasure."
Alice "You know what it means?"
Geminid Martane nods, "Err, can we borrow the continuity photographer?"
Geminid Donna shakes her head, "Not a clue. Consider that quiet money, too. Now get back to work."
- Alsa shrugs. "I suppose."
Quacklin "Okay!"
Geminid Martane looks for Alice.
Alice "Then I'll give you some of it for free. It means I ain't in any scene that mistake's fucking monster is."
Alsa "Miss Laird, are you in this scene?"
- Alice leaves to pick up her costume.
- Quacklin goes looking for ingredients for a bag of holding.
Geminid Donna shrugs.
Geminid Martane stops Alice, "Excuse me, miss."
- Tilluel has got into her costume from yesterday and stands near the side of the set they used last night, the Mountain I believe
Geminid Julia looks to Alsa, "Am I?"
- Alice pauses to look at Martane.
Alsa "No royals in this scene unless you can think of a reason to be there."
- A_Murray inspects the guardsmen and gives them "pointers" along the way.
Geminid Martane says, "We need a picture of Miss Tako. Can you get us one in the next few minutes?"
Geminid The guardsmen worriedly follow instructions.
Geminid Julia shrugs, then steps away.
- Alice rummages in her bag and holds up the picture from yesterday of 'Miss Tako' fallen on her pretty ass. "This one work?"
Geminid Martane looks at it, then nods, "I can work with it."
Geminid He reaches to take it.
- Alsa shouts over to them, "Resplendent!"
- Alice lets him and continues on.
Geminid Martane takes the picture off to his office.
A_Murray "Not bad for your first day out. Still need work. I'll make men out of you yet."
Geminid A zit faced teenager in royal guard uniforms actually gulps.
- A_Murray has mixed and very muted feelings about how her father would feel about this display.
Geminid Ten minutes later, Martane comes back with a poster in which Miiji is painted on looking resplendent and wistful.
Alsa "Right, so in this first shot, the pirates are retreating toward the docks. The guard think they have them cornered, but the pirates think otherwise. They're fighting, but attacks from either side are successfully being fended off by the other. Can we get a little dialog from the Guard captain and the Pirate captain, and some battle sounds from everyone else?"
Geminid Noble casually walks up to Alsa and asks, "Does out captain of the guard know we're not even shooting yet?"
A_Murray "yes sir."
Geminid Noble shrugs and steps out of the way.
- Alsa glances toward Noble, then Angela. "I guess she follows the method."
- Quacklin fills a bag with fake snow for heft, and puts silverware inside the bag to make it look filled will valuable. He hefts it to Alsa. "Here's the palace's silver."
- Alice joins the general assembly once attired.
Alsa "Thank you, Mr. Grippytop. Mr. Corbannon, take this. Work the prop during the combat."
Alsa "Clown it up a bit."
Gabe "Huh? Oh...yessir..."
A_Murray "When we press the pirates, we do so in formation. When they retreat, we press and break formation. Improvise the rest."
- Gabe takes it and eyes it speculatively.
Geminid The guardsmen nod apprehensively.
A_Murray "You are borthers in arms. You protect each other..." she looks into the distance. "...we are family."
- Alsa gives the set a once over, calling out to the different departments for readiness, "Actors, take your places. Lights? Cameras? Action!"
Geminid They nod.
- Tilluel sets her face into something sort of like determination and stands, fists clenched at the rear of the pirates
- Quacklin fidgets outside the scene.
Geminid The guardsmen get into position.
- A_Murray takes her place.
- Gabe tightens his grip on the bag, letting it rest on the ground for now, ready to tussle with it and hoist it over one shoulder.
- A_Murray draws her sword and stands ready.
Geminid That leaves us waiting for Alice to get into position.
- Alice joins the pirates, then.
Geminid Lights come on. Cameras begin to whirr. Action.
- A_Murray advances. "Stay sharp and keep your eyes open!"
- A_Murray locks eyes on Alice.
Geminid The guardsmen and the pirate extras advance, mock engaging. Tilluel, Corby, you are both engaged in mock combat by extras.
- Tilluel glows as she attempts to cast a flora/meta/earth spell causing thick vines to come out of the earth and hold the legs of Angela and the guard closest to her
Geminid What emotion?
- Alice stares back at Murray, having no idea what she's supposed to be doing. After a moment she glares. "At them, ye scabborous dogs!"
Geminid Wait, you combine all three?
- Tilluel jerks back from the oncoming guard holding up a dagger ineffectually
Tilluel r acting 4
Eklem Tilluel [acting: 4] 7 9 14
Tilluel r spell 9
Eklem Tilluel [spell: 9] 11 14 16
- Gabe drags the bag a little ways, then swings it at/in the general direction of one of the extras, drawing his...probably cutlass.
Geminid You combine all three spheres?
Tilluel well I thought I needed to use meta to combine two spheres?
Tilluel so yes?
Geminid It's just a regular sowrd
Gabe that, then
Geminid Yes, you need meta to combine, but you could get that effect with just flora.
Alsa As specified, Alice, being a pirate, was present when Alsa explained the scene, so feel free to use the instructions given above.
Geminid And it would be so much ridiculously easier.
Alice Alice was not present when Alsa explained the scene.
A_Murray I'll wait until the vines thing is resolved before continuing.
Alsa Alsa didn't explain the scene until everyone was present.
Tilluel flora then, thought I might need earth to make the vines strong enough
Geminid r diff 10
Eklem Geminid [diff: 10] 12 14 16
Geminid Weak vines appear around Angela's legs and the legs of guard next to her. Tilluel glows green.
- A_Murray cuts them. "Secure that mage!"
- Alsa nods approvingly.
- Tilluel grins fiercely and renewsher efforts to sword fight with her guard
Geminid Guards try to get to Tilluel.
- A_Murray does a foe-tossing charge for Alice, but gently enough so as not to actually injure the extras.
Geminid Fake pirates fling themsleves away from Angela as she tosses them.
- Alice is staying toward the back of the group, at the moment shouting at Gabe, "Corbannon, you moron! Spill a bead o' that and I'll have your ears for my necklace."
- Gabe trips over his own bag, still attempting to fight with his own guard/s. when he sees their leader start for his captain he'll try to get over there in time to intercept, still dragging the palace silver with him. "Sorry, Cap'n! Doin' me best!"
- Tilluel turns and leaps backward, lookiing for better ground to turn and face them again. This time she glows brown as she attempts to disrupt the ground of the approaching guards with acted malice
Tilluel r acting 4
Eklem Tilluel [acting: 4] 9 10 11
Tilluel r earth 10
Eklem Tilluel [earth: 10] 12 16 17
Tilluel um that should be 14
Tilluel sorry
Geminid r diff 8
Eklem Geminid [diff: 8] 11 14 15
Geminid As the ground shifts, Tilluel, you can tell they fall of their own accord, playing along with the scene, and not from the actual shifting. It was too faint for them to truly be affected.
Alsa Gabe, give us a stuntery roll?
- Quacklin gasps and stares, covering his mouth.
Gabe r stunts 13
Eklem Gabe [stunts: 13] 16 19 20
- Alsa chuckles a little at Gabe's performance.
- Tilluel pauses momentarily, but tries to recover quickly by doing another vine spell
Geminid You probably are too tired to cast a third spell in a row right now.
Tilluel r shock flora 9-2
Eklem Tilluel [shock flora: 9-2=7] 12 13 14
Alsa We're shooting this from various angles, stopping to move the cameras, focus in on specific events, do reshoots, etc.
Tilluel ahhh well then she doesn't and instead moves quickly around the fallen guards, ready to sword fight with the first to rise
- Alice draws her prop dagger and waits in the face of Angela's charge, waiting to see if Corby manages to get in her way.
- A_Murray is prepared in either case.
Geminid Prop sword. No daggers on the list.
Geminid No vines grow out of the ground.
Geminid A guard rises to engage Tilluel.
Alice Sword then. She holds it with both hands.
- Tilluel attempts to mock fight
- Gabe will, if he manages to get there in time, likely overextend while swinging his bag at a guard and stumble/fall right in the Guard Captain's path.
Geminid Angela, Corby is lying in your path.
Gabe r stunts 13
Eklem Gabe [stunts: 13] 14 17 19
- A_Murray will clear him with a dramatic leap, coming down right for Alice, and telegraphing the overhead strike from a mile away.
A_Murray she will clash sword against sword using the flat of hers, and not even close to all her strength.
A_Murray She will snarl at Alice through gritted teeth.
Geminid Would she use, say, half her strength?
A_Murray not even close.
- Alice doesn't even try to catch the sword. She jumps to the side and swings two-handed for Angela's legs.
Geminid Angela, you'd easily be able to sidestep and parry that.
A_Murray Angela's sword cuts only air, and when she feels the blow on her legs, she roars and falls.
Geminid Or that
A_Murray falls to one knee.
- Alice grins viciously and pulls back, catching her balance again from the swing. "You're slow!"
A_Murray "It won't matter, you cur." plays at rising slowly and painfully to square off again.
- Geminid sits silently off camera and stares at the set.
Gabe "Cap'n!" he scrambles up and tries to get over and help Alice, still dragging the bag and trying not to get it caught on anything, like 'fallen' guardsmen or pirates, or swords. It might take him a bit.
- Alsa watches to see how this improv plays out.
A_Murray "Now. Face me."
- Alice steps back again, holding her sword up in front of her, still grinning.
- A_Murray engages again.
A_Murray telegraphing her moves, moving at Alice's speed, giving and taking.
A_Murray all while limping on her "wounded" leg.
Alice One sec.
- Tilluel is still engaging with guardsman
- Alice acts to avoid holding an engagement for long. She ducks and dodges and only occasionally takes a swing. All the while she keeps moving back to the docks proper, grinning mockingly, acting the part of taking this far from seriously.
Geminid The guardsmen ineffectually fight with Tilluel, looking fearsome, but not scoring a touch.
Geminid Gabe, you arrive into the captain's engagement with the guard captian... now.
- A_Murray retreats a few steps, turning and pointing her sword at each in turn. "Approach me who dares."
Alsa "Cut!"
Alsa "Don't move!"
- Gabe starts to move, then stops at Alsa's call.
Geminid The guards men and faux pirates freeze.
- A_Murray freezes
- Alice pauses.
Quacklin "Or he'll smite you!"
Geminid The cameramen stop rolling.
- Gabe forces himself not to shoot the gnome an odd look.
Alsa "A couple of notes: first, Guard Captain, you're more of a ... a lawman. You don't want to fight, you just want these people ..." he pauses to glance at Quacklin, then resumes, "... you just want them caught. Pirates, you're about to get away. The guard captain appears to be hobbled, so might I suggest that you laugh at them as you board your ship?"
Alsa "Actors ready?"
Alice "Swhat I was about to fucking do."
Alsa "Great work, Miss Higgins, keep it up!"
- A_Murray is confused by "You don't want to fight."
A_Murray but says nothing.
Geminid The actors wait on the magic words.
Geminid The extras indicate their readiness.
- Alsa adds, "Your character is weary of battle. Secretly, she'd be just as happy if they got away, though she'd be ashamed to lose them."
- A_Murray thinks about that. "Alright."
- Alsa nods. "Good. And ... action!"
Geminid The cameras roll.
- A_Murray pants, and wearily lowers her sword. "You'll never get away with this."
Geminid The faux guards follow their captain's lead. The pirates sneer as they swarm around toward Alice.
- Alice grins. "Oh? Seems to me we already have. To the ship!"
Geminid "Aye!" "Arrgh!" "Avast!"
A_Murray "Dammit."
- A_Murray winces and drops down on her wounded leg.
Geminid A faux guards acts as if to help you remain upright, Angela.
- Gabe drags his bag closer to Alice, sheathing his sword with a flourish that nearly takes his belt with it. "Aye aye, Cap'n!" he swings the bag over one shoulder and follows his captain, laughing with the rest.
Alsa "And ... scene!"
- Alice laughs and turns to go.
Geminid The cameras stop rolling.
- A_Murray stops pretending and goes back to her usual vacant self.
A_Murray to the men, "Good job."
- Tilluel jumps aboard, laughing with delight
Geminid The men nod.
Alsa "Great work, everyone."
Tilluel oops
Geminid The extras all look exhausted.
Quacklin "Call the reserves! They are getting away!"
Alsa "Do we have the wedding announcement ready?"
- Alice lets her prop sword thunk to the ground and rubs her arms.
- A_Murray expertly sheaths hers.
Geminid Martane hands over the announcement.
- Tilluel sits on the 'deck', tired
- Gabe is grinning faintly, having had fun playing the comic relief.
Alice "The hells are you smiling at?"
Alsa "Mr. Corbannon, we need a reaction shot of you looking at the flyer. Can you give me 'falling in love'?"
- Geminid scurries over to stare at Corby's face.
Gabe "I'm havin' fun, why wouldn't I smile?" he looks at Alsa. "I'll do my best."
- Geminid is a two foot tall, gray gargoyle-like creature with huge black spheres for eyes
Alice "Don't. It makes you look like even more of a fucking idiot."
A_Murray to the men. "I'm going to show you all something that will help you look realistic."
Geminid The men all look to each other, then to Angela.
- Alsa stares at Geminid, then looks around. Is Donna visible?
A_Murray I point to the most visibly skilled one and call him forth.
Geminid Donna is in her office, out of sight
- Tilluel watches Geminid as he looks at Gabe
- Alsa moves over to the camera as it is rolled on to the ship deck. "Geminid, stand near me."
Geminid The most skilled faux guard steps forward.
- Gabe doubletakes at Geminid, ignoring Alice for the moment, then looks at the poster, then waits for Alsa's cue.
- Geminid saunters over to stand near Alsa.
A_Murray the short version is I show them how to do a reverse-five parry and riposte. I can go into more detail if you need it.
Geminid They get it pretty wrong, actually
- A_Murray rolls her eyes. "Practice that and you'll look real."
Alsa We get the shot. It's just a brief close-up.
- Gabe does his best to look like he fell in love at first sight of the flyer and the princess's face.
Gabe r acting 9
Eklem Gabe [acting: 9] 10 19 19
Alsa "Miss Higgins, in the next part of this scene, the pirate captain strolls past, snatches the announcement, and gets the idea to kidnap the princess for ransom."
Gabe ...probably the ebst acting I'll do the entire film, right there.
- Alice glances at Alsa. "S'easy."
Alsa "Mr. Corbannon, you just have to react to Miss Higgins. Ad lib if you like, but stay in character. Take your places, and ... action."
- Gabe is staring at the flyer, lovestruck.
- A_Murray takes this opportunity to do a security sweep.
A_Murray not on that part of the set though.
Alice "And if you ever- What in the hells are you looking at?"
- Alice pauses, then steps forward to snatch the flyer from the wall in front of Gabe to squint at it herself.
- Gabe looks up as the flyer is snatched. "She's beautiful, ain't she, Cap'n?"
Alsa Sorry, Gabe had the announcement in the sack, and took it out to admire once they got on deck. So Alice snatches it from his hand.
- Tilluel watches Gabe and Alice from the side fo the set
Alsa I should have been clearer about that.
- Gabe 's reaction does not change.
- Alice is already beginning to smile slowly. "Aye, that she is. And I'm bettin' ye'd like if we were to pay her a visit, wouldn't ye?"
- Gabe perks up, grinning like it's his birthday. "Aye, Cap'n, I'd like it a lot!"
Alice "Then we'd best hurry along and let the boys know. There's plans to be made."
Alsa "Cut! Great job, pirates. Yar!"
Gabe "Arr."
Geminid The pirate crew growls, "arrg!"
Alsa "Okay, we need the shot of the announcement. And ... oh, we can do the actual abduction at this point. Miss Tako, Mr Clarkson, we need you on set."
Geminid Miiji and Noble step up. Miiji looks annoyed, as usual, and someone runs up and wipes the chocolate off her face. She ignores this.
- Tilluel adds a belated 'arrg!' enthusiastically
- Alice fails to arr, yarr, or blarr.
A_Murray haha.
- A_Murray comes back from her patrol and watches with the rest of the guardsmen.
Geminid Julia steps up, "Am I in this one, sir?"
- Quacklin goes to the back of the set, and begins work on a new contraption. He takes skeleton puppets and starts reinforcing their ribs and spine for strength.
Alsa "Yes, Miss Laird, you too, thank you. Miss Tilluel bursts out of the audience just as the other pirates drop down from ropes. There's wind from the airship blowing everyone around. Mr Corbannon takes the princess, Miss Higgins shouts a few threats, and the pirates escape. Mr Clarkson is caught flat-footed; then he's devastated. Miss Tako resists, ineffectually, and voices her protest. Questions?"
Quacklin He breaks the ribs so they can open and close like giant interlocking hands, and adds a ratcheting mechanism to the hinges.
Geminid Noble, Miiji, and Julia indicate they have no questions.
Alsa "All extras who were pirates, go get wedding-goer costumes."
- Gabe nods, eyeing Miiji cautiously.
Alsa s/pirates/guards/
Geminid The guards shuffle off to do so.
Alsa "The guard captain is not in attendance. She'll come back in a bit later, to help with the pursuit."
A_Murray "yes sir."
Quacklin He makes rope nooses around the neck, and designs the spine so the ribs slam closed when the skull is pulled upwards, which engages the ratcheting mechanism.
Geminid Noble and Miiju take their positions.
Alsa "Actors, please take your positions."
Geminid Julia gets into place.
- Alice takes hers with those dropping in?
Alsa Right.
Geminid The wedding guests file in
Alsa "Where's that wind machine?"
Geminid Martane has the wind machine set up.
Alsa "And ... action!"
A_Murray (He prefers to be called "politician.")
Geminid Wind begins to blow.
Geminid Noble says, "What's this gale? What approaches?" He looks dramatically to where the pirates are coming from.
Geminid Miiji says, "Oh, my darling, I fear our wedding is to be ruined!"
Geminid Hats fly off in the wind.
- Tilluel glows as she does a weak air spell to give the illusion that she's causing the wind
- Quacklin constructs a small skeleton catapult, powered by the potential energy of a suspended anvil.
- Alice drops her rope and slides down it to the floor.
Tilluel basically a breath of air kind of spell
Geminid r diff 1
Eklem Geminid [diff: 1] 3 5 7
- Alsa cues ... right.
- Gabe drops down his rope just as Tilluel bursts out of the audience and Alice makes her entrance.
Tilluel r air happiness 10-2
Eklem Tilluel [air happiness: 10-2=8] 10 13 14
Alsa The pirate mage isn't causing the wind, the ship is.
Alice "You're right to fear. Take her!"
Geminid Miiji screams
Gabe "Aye, Cap'n!" he dashes over to Miiji and grabs her by the arm, pulling her back with him to his rope.
Geminid Noble gasps, "No!" He reaches out as if to stop her being taken, but utterly fails to do anything other than grasp stupidly at the air, struggling against the wind.
Geminid The other pirates swoop down and savage the area.
Alsa Crewmen pull Gabe out of the shot, then the other pirates one at a time.
Geminid Julia cries out, "My dear sister!"
Geminid Noble runs after the pirates, but is too late.
Geminid He shakes his fist in mock anger and shouts, "My love! I will save you!"
Alsa Anything else from the pirates?
- Alice grins. "Don't worry. You'll see her again. If you've the gold." She calls over her shoulder, leaving with the others.
- Tilluel retreats
Alsa "Cut! Perfect!"
- Gabe lets Miiji go as soon as they're out of the shot.
Quacklin finished, Quacklin runs to Alsa. "Mr. Ipanym! Mr. Ipanym! I made a weapon for the captain of the guard!"
Geminid Miiji crumples to the ground, shaking violently.
Alsa "Okay, we're moving on to the castle scenes. Mr Clarkson, Miss Laird, you ..." A weapon?
Alsa er, "A weapon?"
- Tilluel looks at her concerned
Tilluel is she ok?
Tilluel or is this real?
Geminid She appears to be having a seizure.
- Alice scowls, then glances at Miiji. She goes for her camera to get a picture.
- Tilluel rushes to her side, kneeling
- A_Murray squints at the gnome.
- Gabe looks vaguely worried that he did something to her. "Er...is she alright?"
Quacklin "It's non lethal, to capture them! Just like she wanted!"
Tilluel "Help her!"
- Alsa senses everyone rushing over to Miiji and looks for a beat, then shouts, "MEDIC!"
Geminid Julia calls out, "Dr. Earl!"
Quacklin "It's the skeletons of old pirates, redesigned as pirate traps!"
Gabe "How?!"
Quacklin "They'd never suspect!"
- Tilluel lays her hands on each of Miiki's shoulders, trying to calm the jerking by leaning against her
Geminid Dr. Earl, a black coated, sinister looking man with big eyes and a bald pate strolls casually over to Miiji.
- A_Murray looks around for anyone who looks suspicious.
Geminid He bends down, takes out a needle full of black fluid, and draws up her sleeve.
A_Murray other than him.
- Gabe gets out of the way.
Quacklin "I had to think hard for a way for the guard captain to trap the pirates. They had to be mobile traps."
Geminid He injects her with whatever it is, and you all see her arm veins go black for a moment, before they vanish back into her pink skin. After a few seconds, she awakens, calmed.
- Alsa watches this with considerable dismay.
- Tilluel slowly releases her shoulders
Geminid "All better," he intones coldly. Miiji sits up, looks around, and asks, "Did someone push me? Why am I on the floor?"
Tilluel she's utterly shocked
Tilluel "You were-- jerking, you fell."
- Quacklin continues to blather at Alsa, oblivious. "And they take a while to make. You need catch a pirate first and turn them into a skeleton."
Geminid Miiji scowls at Tilluel, "I did NOT fall. I am graceful."
Geminid She stands with difficulty, proving herself wrong.
- Tilluel jerks back, shocked further
Geminid Miiji storms off to her room.
Quacklin "We already had skeletons, so I had a head start. I'm sure they would have thought about it."
- Alsa turns back to Quacklin, catching that last line.
Alsa "Did you use one of the props from the list?"
- Tilluel watches her go, stunned and then gets back to her feet
Geminid Other than the regular cast, no one looks suspicious.
Quacklin "Of course!"
A_Murray this will go in a report to the boss later. the gnome /might./
Quacklin "They're pirate traps made of pirates!"
Alsa
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pL9OXbHp6-z_SOdDDcQePNQ
- Quacklin sits back and thinks. "I think they were pirates."
- Alsa hands him a clipboard. "Mark it off of the list. We'll put it in the next scene."
Quacklin "Okay!"
- Quacklin marks his parts.
Alsa "Which is the rallying of the chase. Mr Clarkson and Miss Laird go to the Captain of the Guard to prepare the pursuit. They prepare weapons, visit various temples for guidance, and finally set out."
Geminid That's disgusting. No one should do that in public, much less gnomes.
Geminid Noble and Julia nod and get into appropriate attire.
- Tilluel joins Alice since she's not in this scene
A_Murray "As part of the movie, or part of the background?"
Alsa "Oh! And, concerned princess, you make the case for coming along."
Alsa "This is in the movie. The three key characters in this scene are expressing their motivations for chasing after the Dread Pirate Higgins and her crew."
Quacklin "Guard captain! I have to show you how the pirate traps work!"
Alsa "There are several Gifts that you'll consider taking from the armory for this adventure, including the ... uh ... Mr. Grippytop's device."
- A_Murray nods. "Is there something I can lean on? a staff? walking stick?"
A_Murray (there is an 8 foot pole in the list)
- Alsa eyes Quacklin for a beat, then says, "Grippytop, get into costume. You're a castle-dweller for this scene. The master of the armory. You have to present all of the weapons on the list."
Quacklin "Okay!"
Geminid [And a Staff of Justice]
Alsa "Start with the ... skeleton ... thing ... and then go through the gifts, except for the sword of darkness."
- Quacklin runs off and puts on armor, then goes collecting all the weapons.
Geminid Martane, Darius, and the assistants help get the props together.
Geminid Julia and Noble find their places.
Alsa "For the first shot, the two of you are walking through the halls. Mr Clarkson, you're furious. But you don't want Miss Laird to be in danger. Miss Laird, you insist on coming along."
A_Murray aside to the men. "The castle armorer is a Gnome. We don't take his inventions seriously but his heart is in the right place, so we treat him kindly. We might adopt him as a form of mascott. a creature of our good fortune."
Geminid The soldiers nod.
Geminid Both actors nod.
Alsa "Then you'll find Ms. Murray and she'll insist on accompanying you herself, leaving the defense of the castle to her subordinates. Next, you'll visit the armory and Mr. Grippytop, then quick shots of the temples, and finally you will set off."
A_Murray "I will be grousing about our bad fortune when we are approached. One of you play foil to that."
Geminid A faux guard nods.
- Alsa gets into costume to play a priest of truth at one of the temples.
Alsa This centers around mostly
NPCs, so I don't mind abstracting over it.
Alsa Angela, Quacklin?
A_Murray ...can we play it out?
Alsa Yes.
Alsa "Action!"
Geminid Noble laments, angrily, "This outrage will not go unavenged. I myself will lead the expedition to save my beloved." Julia says, "And I will go, too, your Highness." Noble stops, "I think not, Princess. It's too dangerous." Julia sighs, "Nonsense. She's my sister, and I will see her rescued." Noble pauses, then says, "And I will rescue her, whilst you wait here. It's improper for you to come."
Geminid Julia glares, "I think not, your Highness. As her only sister, it is my duty to represent my family in her rescue from these foul pirates."
A_Murray (Noble is playing a prince, right?)
Geminid Noble throws up his hands, "Very well. On your head be it."
Geminid Yes
Alsa Sure.
Geminid The two reach Angela.
- A_Murray snarls. "Ten feet."
A_Murray "Ten more feet if we could have held formation."
Geminid A guard says, "Their mage caught us by surprise, captain."
Geminid Noble steps up, "Captain, we've a rescue mission to attend to. We'll need your best."
A_Murray "That seems to be the way of them. When we--" sees Noble.
- A_Murray rises slowly and painfully. "And you will have my best."
Geminid Julia chimes in, "And which of your fine men will accompany us? It's my sister's life at stake."
Geminid The extras all bow to the nobles.
A_Murray "For this? If I want something done right I do it myself. Corporal Falconer will keep watch while I am with you."
Geminid The 'corporal' bows again.
Geminid Noble extends a hand to shake, "It is heartening to see such loyalty."
- A_Murray shakes his hand. "Sir."
A_Murray er clasps his hand.
A_Murray for period realism.
A_Murray "These men hunt for their food."
Geminid He winces at your strength, and you're not sure if that's real or acting. "To the armory, then. We'll gird ourselves in the weapons of the gods to take down these dastardly villains."
A_Murray oops. reorder mine.
A_Murray I wouldn't have stepped on his line.
A_Murray on the way there, then,
Geminid "Do they, captain?" he asks, unsure of where that's going.
A_Murray "And as all such creatures, they've never eaten to their satisfaction. they stay hungry."
A_Murray "That is what we're up against."
A_Murray "We who live in the city, we eat like humans. We are up against animals.:"
A_Murray that on the way to the armory I presume.
Geminid Noble looks a little lost for a response, but Julia interjects, "And we will hunt them down like the animals that they are."
Geminid You reach the armory.
- Quacklin waits in a set background of castle walls, his head just sticking out of a thing of armor
Geminid Noble sees this and expertly turns away from the camera to conceal his laughter.
Geminid Julia boggles.
Quacklin "I'm the armorer! You need weapons for the pirates, right!"
- A_Murray defers to Noble.
Geminid Noble stutters, and Julia smiles, "News travels fast, good armorer. We need your best."{
Quacklin "I'll cover the non-lethal first." He holds up a skeleton to Angela. "Hold this."
Geminid Noble boggles along with Julia at the skeleton.
Quacklin he scoots back, making a scraping noise as the armor drags. "Ok, now throw it at that guard and pull back the noose."
A_Murray it has a noose?
Alsa "Cut!"
- A_Murray examines the skeleton warily.
Alsa "Mr Grippytop, what's going to happen?"
Quacklin "Oh, the rib hands will grab him."
Alsa "How tightly?"
Quacklin "Like a hug"
Geminid [Brilliant]
Quacklin "As tight as she pulls."
- A_Murray gives the noose a cautious tug.
Quacklin the spine moves up gently and the head bobs.
Alsa "Okay. Sir, are you up for it?" to the extra.
Geminid The extra looks to the professional stuntman, "Can I get the stuntman for it, sir?"
Alice "He's all yours."
Alsa "Mr. Corbannon, change your costume and get into position for this, er, stunt."
Alsa "Demonstration."
Alsa "Miss Laird, be gentle."
Geminid The extra gratefully cedes his spot.
- Gabe eyes the skeleton, then grins a bit and shrugs. "Yessir." he goes to get a quick costume change and takes the extra's place.
Geminid Julia blinks, "Err, me?"
Alsa Sorry, that was to Angela.
Alsa "Ms. Murray, be gentle, please."
A_Murray "Yes sir."
Alsa "Actually, while he's changing, test it out. I want to see it work."
- A_Murray shrugs, and uses it on a suit of armor.
Alsa Does the armor survive?
Geminid I... don't know. Does it, Quacklin?
Quacklin the skeleton's breast flies open and grabs the suit of armor. As she pulls, the ribs close and shut over the armor.
Quacklin there's a clicking noise.
Quacklin like a person-sized cage.
Quacklin the armor seems unharmed.
- Alsa scratches his head. "This props department produces the strangest things. Okay, we start again as soon as Mr Corbannon joins us."
- Gabe tries not to make them wait.
Alsa "Action!"
- A_Murray "tests" the aparatus on Corby.
Geminid For a moment there, it looks like Corby is crushed to a tender pulp, blood spurting from the contraption.
- Gabe is unsure of what exactly he has to do other than stand there. so he stands there.
- Alice takes a picture.
Geminid Then, he looks normal, just trapped, unharmed.
- Alsa startles, then recovers.
Quacklin "You pulled too tight!"
Geminid Noble recovers quickly, and Julia shakingly says, "How extraordinary."
- Tilluel 's mouth opens in horror and then she shakes her head slightly, still shocked when it dissapears
- A_Murray drops the rope.
A_Murray strides over,
Quacklin "Just a gentle pull, like this!" He pulls and the ribs ratchet close, quite snug.
A_Murray and frees Corby with the strength of her bare hands.
A_Murray "You alright?"
Geminid He's absolutely fine
Quacklin angela, roll strength?
Geminid You don't even smell blood, Angela.
- Gabe looks startled at Angela's feat. "Er...yeah, just fine. Nothin' to worry about."
Quacklin r opening strength 16
Eklem Quacklin [opening strength: 16] 19 22 23
A_Murray r st 15
Eklem A_Murray [st: 15] 19 22 25
Geminid It only opens a little, but Gabe's help after it starts to open opens it enough for him to get out.
- A_Murray marvels. "Incredible strength." she turns to Noble. "We could use them for traps, sir."
Geminid He nods. "Very, err, useful. What of the Gifted Weapons, good armorer?"
- Alsa nods at the mention of the other weapons.
Quacklin "I also made the globe bolas!" He holds up gloves with horseshoes sticking out of them, tied off with rope.
Quacklin "Oh, those." he sounds a bit bored. "Those are over there."
Alsa heh
A_Murray "Then to there." leads.
Quacklin The camera pans to a wall of swords, axes, rifles, a scythe, a magic wand, a Stillbirth Kris, a four foot long quill, a missile, the Hammer of Might, Staff of Justice, a bottle marked XXX, and 8 live herons.
Alsa Hmm.
Geminid Hahahaha
- A_Murray takes the staff, and does a few moves with it.
Tilluel hahahha
A_Murray then looks to Noble inquisitively.
Alsa Well, everything on that list can now be marked off of the props list. So let's roll with it.
Geminid Noble gawks at the herons a moment, then to Angela. "Ahh, captain, an excellent choice. And for myself, this Maul shall do." He lifts it, and it's as light as a feather, being a prop... or a Gift. Julia smiles at the herons, then takes the magic wand. "And this divine wand shall serve me well."
Geminid Noble poses with the Hammer dramatically.
Alsa About the missile ... like a rocket? With an Ienovan flag on the side?
Geminid Julia says, "Thank you, good armoer." Yes, a rocket. No markings.
- Quacklin makes an effort to stick his chin outside the armor. "Certainly!"
Geminid Noble bows to Quacklin as well, "Yes, our gratitude, good armorer. Now, to the holy houses of our fair land to secure the blessings of the Hosts of Heaven in our endeavor."
Geminid He strides out manfully.
Geminid Julia follows as well.
Geminid And do we abstract the temple scenes? Or...?
A_Murray please.
Quacklin yes
Alsa At the temple of Vision, the Priest of Truth is working a Loom. "You have come to seek a diviniation from the threads of fate, yes?"
Geminid "Yes."
Alsa "The Dread Pirate Higgins will not be easy to capture. But you may be able to rescue your beloved, if you are prepared to scour every corner of the earth. Begin your journey ..." he stands up and points to a map of the world, spread out on a wide table, as the camera zooms in on to the place he is pointing at "... here!"
Alsa "Cut!"
A_Murray Manos the Hands of Fate called. he wants his status back.
Geminid Noble drops the Hammer of Might, and it bounces.
Alsa What time is it?
- A_Murray twirls the staff in under her arm expertly.
Alsa For worst movie ever?
Geminid Assuming each scene was a series of takes and reshoots and whatnot, we'll call it 5 p.m.
A_Murray yes
- Tilluel watches Alice as she steps in to take her continuity photos
- Alsa goes in to Donna's office. "We're finished with the first half of Act I."
Geminid "So soon?"
- Alsa smiles. "We could do some reshoots, if you want to stretch it out."
Geminid "Under budget is good, Mr. Ipanym. Are you keeping track of all the requirements used?"
- Alsa nods. "Yes. We will most likely take a little time to splice in everything we didn't use."
Geminid "You still have hours left. Are you filming another scene?"
- Alsa scratches his chin a little. "Yeah. I think I'll give Mr. Corbannon a little more trouble." He goes back to the set.
Alsa "Okay, we're doing the 'forced wedding' scene. Pirate Corbannon has slipped away with the princess and is trying to have her married at various temples, but the priests won't have it. Princess Tako is also showing her displeasure ... physically."
- Gabe raises an eyebrow in an 'oh, lovely' expression, but says nothing.
Geminid Miiji sighs, but nods.
- Gabe goes and gets changed back into his pirate duds.
Geminid Miiji takes her begowned self to the set.
Alsa There is slapping, foot stomping, eye gouging, etc. ... and various shocked-looking priests. Rev. Alsa with a moustache, Rev. Alsa with an eye patch, Rev. Alsa with a veil ... etc.
- Gabe heads for the set once in character.
Alsa You guys want to play it out?
Geminid Only if you do
Alsa Gabe?
Alsa OOC, do we have stuff to do after hours?
Geminid I got plenty to throw at people.
Alsa Okay, so the 3 of them get a bit more screen time, Gabe gets some fake(?) bruises, and we get another scene in the can.
Alsa "Cut! That's a wrap for today. Great job everyone!"
Geminid The hits are real, but Miiji couldn't bruise a pea.
- Gabe makes them look like they hurt.
Geminid And Gabe can be hit by Angela and stand a chance not getting bruised.
Geminid Be right back. Take five all.
Quacklin ok
A_Murray top ten sings we're not getting an accademy award: Number 10: Quaklin.
Gabe hah!
A_Murray Number 9: Angela.
Gabe I thought she was good...
A_Murray thanks.
Alsa She's a little scary, though she takes direction well.
Quacklin another real life Quacklin
Quacklin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dehXioMIKg0&feature=player_embedded
A_Murray she's gonna be scary for a bit longer yet.
Quacklin Alice is our best actor
Gabe so what's no. 8?
Gabe Alice is awesome.
A_Murray whoa. that's friggin cool.
Quacklin no. 8) Teleportitis.
Quacklin no. 7) the non-exisitant romance between Miiji and Noble.
Quacklin no 6) Assuming the movie is 2 hours, we have 2 minutes per set.
Gabe jesus.
A_Murray jeezly.
Alsa I pointed that out early on. Most of the scenes will be about 5 seconds.
Alsa Sets, rather.
Quacklin no. 5) The dread pirate is 13 years old.
A_Murray no 5) Gifted weapons. Come on. /really?/
A_Murray bump yours to 4.
Geminid Okay.
Geminid Actually, finish the top ten. I like seeing this.
Alsa I think this movie is slowly becoming a comedy.
Gabe me too XD
A_Murray and 3: Skeleton traps.
Geminid The herons cracked me up til I hurt.
A_Murray I'll say it again so you can let it sink in. /skeleton traps./
A_Murray yeah, that was funny.
Gabe 2?
A_Murray herons in the armory!
A_Murray we know what Quaklin was doing in his spare time!
Quacklin no. 2) Two of the main actors can't read.
Alsa We may also know how he got his name.
Quacklin no. 1) NO SCRIPT.
Alsa #1 kind of negates #2 though
Alsa
Geminid So shooting wraps for the day.
A_Murray well...okay.
- Gabe starts thinking about where he's gonna grab dinner.
- Tilluel changes out of her pirate robes
Geminid It's about 7:45 p.m.
Gabe and gets back in street clothes.
Geminid David and Martane lead their crews in clean up.
Alsa Since every scene is improvised, are we avant-garde?
- Alice changes back into her tatters and looks to grab a moment in Donna's office.
Geminid Alice, you have pictures to capture.
Tilluel and quickly grabs some fruit from the craft service table before going out to enjoy the last of the day's sunshine
- Alice does so, then, and does the above when finished.
Geminid No, plenty of movies have done that over the years.
Alsa "Best in Show" meets "The Princess Bride"
Alsa divided by "Manos Hand of Fate"
Alice Doesn't dividing by zero break the universe?
Alice Actually... that's about appropriate.
Alsa Probably!
- Quacklin changes out of the armor and gets ready to head home by rail.
- Alsa steals food and goes home.
Geminid As you step out of the lot, Alsa, five people rush up to you, "Mr. Ipanym, a moment of your time!"
Alsa Reporters?
Geminid Yes.
- Alsa looks them over, waiting.
Geminid "Mr. Ipanym, how do you feel about Mr. Green's announcement?"
- Alsa grins gently. "I'm pleased whenever a leader of our community participates in our democratic process."
Geminid Another says, "What do you say to those who say your involvement here is base opportunism designed to get around the writer's strike?"
- Alsa frowns. "I sincerely hope that the studio and the union comes to an agreement soon so that we can bring our friends back to work."
Geminid "Is it true you've stolen Seamon Coranizo's team for this picture?"
- Alsa laughs. "That wouldn't be very nice, would it? We're lucky to have David Cantor and some of the same set technicians that have worked with Mr Coranizo in the past, but they're hardly 'stolen'."
Geminid "Did you know he's sworn to oust you from the director's guild?"
- Alsa shrugs. "I'm just happy to be working again. If Mr. Coranizo has a problem with me, that's between us."
Geminid "What's the new picture called, Mr. Ipanym?"
Alsa Am I free to name it?
Geminid Yes.
Alsa "We're calling it 'The Princess and The Pirate'."
Geminid "Any insights into the plot yet?" "Did you really pull unknowns off the street?"
Alsa (Which is an Adventure-Comedy-Romance starring Bob Home, IMDB tells me)
Alsa "Sure, we have some familiar faces and some newcomers. It's a globe-spanning adventure-comedy-romance."
Alsa (Bob Hope)
Geminid "Have any of your cast been hit by the locust swarms?"
Alsa "Locust swarms? I don't think so."
Geminid "Two men from every studio have been killed by locusts, they say, except this one. Some claim something sinister is going on."
Alsa "I had no idea. Thanks for the warning. We'll do our best to keep our people safe."
Geminid "Mr. Ipanym, is it true your old mentor Archie Challan is doing pornographic films now?"
Alsa "That's a scary thought!"
Geminid "Mr. Ipanym, is it true you've turned away from the vision church?"
Alsa "That wouldn't be very smart of me, would it?"
- Alsa is joking a bit, then serious and a little sad, in the last 2 responses.
Geminid "But is it true, sir?"
Alsa "We'll see."
Geminid "Mr. Ipanym, how do you feel about the gypsy protests?"
Alsa "I'm confused by them. Do you know what they're protesting?"
Geminid "The portrayal of their people in films."
Alsa "Well, then I'm even more confused, because we aren't portraying any of their people in this film."
Geminid "I think it's a more general protest, sir. What will be portrayed in your film?"
Alsa "Like I said, it's a globe spanning adventure, so that list is as long as my arm. I'd be happy to meet with one of their representatives to discuss the issue, however."
Geminid They write this down, "Will you be supporting Mr. Green in his race for mayor?"
- Alsa laughs. "I don't think that's in my contract! But seriously, I'd have to review his positions before I make a decision, like any good voter."
Geminid "Do you believe dark forces are behind the drought, like Mayor Watley suggests, or that it's just nature, and good old fashioned ingenuity will save us, like Mr. Green says?"
Alsa "I know what it's like to be under stress and over budget, and that's the position our mayor is in. So I understand how that can affect a person, but even if he's right, so what? We can't wait for some kind of mythic hero to rescue us."
Geminid "So he doesn't have your vote?"
Alsa "Not if he doesn't have a plan."
Geminid "Mr. Ipanym, is there truth to the story that you're using a new, experimental prototype of a magical creature device?"
Alsa "Yeah, a memory device. It's helping us with research, which is important when the story takes you to all these different places."
Geminid They write, "So this isn't some anti-union device?"
Alsa "Is there a union for that?"
Geminid They laugh. "When's the movie due out?"
Alsa "Well, we wrap on the set in about 3 months, so we're hoping to have it out next [season]." whatever the usual amount of time is between that and release?
Geminid By fall, then.
Alsa "Well, we wrap on the set in about 3 months, so we're hoping to have it out next fall."
Geminid [If you don't excuse yourself, I/the reporters will just keep asking questions]
Geminid "Mr. Ipanym, is it true your affair with Paolo Goldvein is on the rocks because of his drug habit?"
Alsa "Gentlemen, it's getting late, and I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so if you'll please excuse me?"
- Alsa pushes around and through them to his car.
Geminid A few protestors greet you with venom as you leave.
Geminid Where to?
- Alsa changes direction partway home, heading for Archie's house. It's been years since they spoke.
Geminid His mansion is down on Seashore Drive, in the Suncoast area.
Geminid There's a man on the gate.
- Alsa pulls up. "Hey, is Mr. Challin in?"
Geminid "Who may I say is asking, sir?"
Alsa "Alsabyerdiese Ipanym"
Geminid "One moment."
Geminid He comes back a moment later and says, "He will see you in the parlor, sir. Pull in here, please."
Geminid He lets you in the gate and shows you where to park.
Geminid The mansion is sprawling, huge, and beautiful. Much more tasteful than his films.
Alsa "Thanks!" Alsa pulls in, parks, heads for the door.
Geminid It swings open, and a fat old revel leaps out, "Alsa Buys a Dieter!"
- Alsa smiles. "Archie! How are you?"
Geminid He farts loudly, "A bit windy. Yourself?"
- Alsa laughs. "I got a job! It's been a while. So, pretty good. Can I come in?"
Geminid "At your own peril," he shows you in.
- Alsa enters. Apologetically, "I haven't been paid yet, or I would have brought something to celebrate. Sorry."
- Alsa adds, "I'll make it up to you later."
Geminid He waves that off, "I can't stop them paying me, so let's let that go, hey? Want a cream pie?" You have the instinct to duck.
- Alsa resists it, knowing Archie will be happier.
Alsa "Can I get it delivered?"
Geminid "Absolutely!" And the pie slaps into your face. He sighs with satisfaction. "You're the best, Alsa Bye Spider Beater."
- Alsa eats the whipped cream off of his fingers in globs. "That's fast!" Glob. "So." Glob. "I got accosted by reporters today. They tell some pretty scary rumors. Like that you've moved on from comedy."
Geminid "No, I still do comedy. I just have the actors do it naked."
Alsa "You're doing slapstick porn?" He pauses. "That's brilliant. Are you getting good box?"
Geminid He eyes you a moment, then says, "I love a good pun. Of course I am."
- Alsa grins. "Well, I had to find out for myself. Are you using your own name?"
Geminid "I have no reason to hide it. I got good backers, respectable ones. You should think about getting in on it."
Alsa "I will. Think about it, anyway. Um. They also said that most of the studios were having problems with locusts. Has anyone you know of been attacked?"
Geminid "I heard about some PAs and other crew sorts. One or two I knew name of. But none of the old gang or anything like that. Those locusts are bad news, Alsa. Something ugly is brewing." Hearing him get serious is unnerving.
- Alsa frowns a little, feeling unnerved. "Hey, Archie. That reminds me. On Uqtium, when I was in Green's office getting hired, he had all his board members and big producers in there with him, just watching us. Do you have any idea why that would happen?"
Geminid He grins, "Scare you shitless?"
Alsa "If that's all it was, it worked."
Alsa "And Green running for mayor ... does he have a chance?"
Geminid He shrugs, "I hope not, but we'll see. Thought about running myself, but I heard they only wanted serious candidates."
Alsa "Did you ever work with him?"
Geminid He nods, "Just one film, when he was still a producer. Well, half a film. He had this albino fellow with him, who didn't work or do anything but look creepy. When he started trying to tell me how to be funny, I told him where he and his creepy friend could stick it. It being my halibuts. He quit and his friend said something spooky and I took over the project and became a producer for the first time."
Alsa "So you didn't exactly establish a working relationship. Well, it looks like he's quitting being my boss, too. Maybe I'll become head of the studio." He makes a gesture of shooting himself in the head.
Alsa "Anyway. Where can I go to see your new film?"
Geminid "My latest released one? Any of the all nighters usually run that sort of thing before dawn. My next one? I'll let you know soon."
Alsa "Great! I'll make sure you're invited to the premiere of mine, if I actually finish it." He knocks on wood.
Geminid Archie laughs as the wood you knock on makes fart noises.
- Alsa smiles. "I've got to get home before I set of any more of your furniture. Thanks for seeing me, Archie. It was good to catch up."
Geminid "I look forward to it." He pauses, then says, "Goodnight, Allsafairinloveandwar."
Alsa s/set of/set off/
Alsa "Good night, Archie."
Geminid Paolo is in bed when you arrive.
Alsa Don't close any chat windows.
Geminid ?
Geminid What?
Alsa I don't see the logs showing up in the log directory.
Geminid I'm only running the main log.
Geminid And if I close my chat windows, they're saved on my computer anyway.
Geminid Unless you mean old logs.
Alsa It looks like rbot is logging everything anyway. We'll just have to fix up the files. No, just tonight's. It looks like I missed the logging plugin. It might have been one of the files that was temporarily screwed up.
Alsa everything = everything happening in a chat channel Eklem is watching
Geminid Ahh, got it. Okay.
Geminid Paolo is alseep when you get home
Alsa Did Paolo leave any hot ashes lying out?
Geminid There's a pipe out, yes
- Alsa cleans it up and goes to bed.
- Alsa washes his face, too.
Geminid Test
Geminid Can anyone see me?
- Disconnected (Connection reset by peer).
-
-
- ENDING LOGGING AT Sat Mar 28 22:38:13 2009
- BEGIN LOGGING AT Sat Mar 28 22:43:56 2009
- Now talking on #shem
- Topic for #shem is: games: 4/4, 4/11, 4/25 | do your karma
- Topic for #shem set by Geminid at Sat Mar 28 14:27:02 2009
Geminid Angela, you wake up with a splitting headache.
A_Murray it was worth it for that punchline.
Geminid Alsa, you awaken in a pool of your own blood, but with no wounds. Paolo is screaming.
- A_Murray rubs her head.
- Alsa sits up, slowly.
Geminid Paolo catches his breathe, "I... thought you'd been cut in half."
- Alsa looks at the blood. "I dreamed I was."
Geminid He stares in horror at the blood. "...How?"
Alsa "I don't know. It doesn't make sense."
- Alsa stands up, robotically. "I'm going to change the sheets."
Alsa And he does.
Geminid Paolo nods, then helps.
Alsa Once the bed is cleaned up, Alsa says, "I need to check on something at the studio. I can't go back to sleep after that anyway."
Geminid Paolo nods, "I'll clean up the rest."
Geminid He indicates the floor.
Alsa "Thanks." He goes to check on Tilluel.
Geminid You drive across town in the early morning hours, before dawn, and find the city oddly quiet. The trains run in the distance, cars are still out, a few people are here and there, but it's deader than during the day, and it's peaceful. You reach the studio to find a few writers and a lot of Roma camped out.
Geminid Inside, at Lot 42, Tilluel is fast asleep, safe and calm, with Geminid sitting near to her.
Geminid In the sets, Darius is tinkering with a few props.
- Alsa glances at Geminid, hesitating, then gently shakes Tilluel awake.
Alsa "Tilly! Wake up!"
Geminid Alice, you awaken in a bolthole, with black feathers all over you.
Geminid Tilluel, you wake up.
- Tilluel jerks slightly, half tuning over
- Alice lays still for a few minutes, panting in relief.
- Alsa is studying her carefully. "Sorry to wake you. Did you have a dream?"
Tilluel "Wha-- Alsa?" her eyes widen and she sits up. "You're ok!?"
- Alsa swallows. "Should I not be?"
Tilluel "You were-- in half?"
Alsa "From?"
Tilluel she's gasping slightly, astonished at seeing you
Tilluel "The Scissor Man. You were there! Don't you remember?"
Alsa "Yeah, I remember." He sighs. "So I'm not going crazy. AND Quacklin was right."
- Alice touches the feathers and asks quietly. "You still here..?"
Geminid No answer, Alice.
- Tilluel frowns and gives a small nod
Tilluel "I-- meant what I said. It's my-- fault. I'm so sorry!"
Alsa "Who else was there? Corby, Ms. Murray, and Quacklin."
Tilluel "Yes. They were there on Tagium too."
- Alice pokes her head out, seeking the time.
- Tilluel looks miserable. "They're all in danger in these dreams. It's-- awful!"
- Alsa frowns. "What did you mean by that? That you're susceptible?"
- Alsa sits on the unoccupied cot he set up for Alice.
Tilluel She looks him in the eyes suddenly. "What am I going to do?"
Tilluel She frowns at your question, torn.
Alsa "How are you susceptible? And why?"
Tilluel "I-- My soul's gone. Evil forces are attracted to me."
- Alsa frowns. "How could your soul be gone?"
Tilluel "I'm sorry. I should have told you. Then-- maybe you would've been sage."
Geminid Quacklin, Gabe, you both wake
- Alice gathers her things and starts for the lot early. No desire to sleep any more this morning.
- Gabe stares at the ceiling for a long moment before looking around for a clock.
Geminid Alice arrives at the lot.
- Quacklin wakes up, shivering. He starts to cry.
Tilluel Tears start to fall down her cheeks. "It-- it was an accident. I don't know how it happened. Now-- it's locked in some --burning crown. It-- makes no sense!"
Geminid It's a few hours before dawn, Gabe
Alsa "What crown?"
Tilluel safe not sage
- Gabe gets up and looks out a window to see if his father's home yet.
Geminid [sage means wise, so I assumed you were being awesome by using it]
Geminid His car is there
- Gabe lets out a soft, relieved breath and heads into the kitchen for a glass of water, mulling over the events of the day previous and the dream.
- Tilluel looks even more miserable at your new question. "I don't know. There are so many. --I have no-- way of knowing which -one."
- Alice sits down on a set and looks pointlessly over her camera, then gets up and starts wandering the site looking for good shots to distract herself.
Tilluel She's crying quietly now, her breath coming in unevenly and disrupting her speech
Geminid Tilluel and Alsa are sitting on cots talking, Alice. Darius is tinkering with props. Geminid is perched near Tilluel.
- Alice pauses, watching Tilluel and Alsa.
- Alsa puts a hand on her shoulder, comforting. "Hey, we'll get this under control, somehow."
- Tilluel regains her breath and her tears slow. She uses a sleeve to wipe her face, leaving it slightly smudged
Tilluel "I don't know what to do." she says in a small voice
- Alsa notices Alice at this point, glancing over to her, then to Tilluel, she whispers, "Was Miss Higgins there?"
Alsa s/she/he/
- Quacklin puts on something black and heads to the police station.
Tilluel She looks at Alsa, sad and slightly defeated. Then her expression changes to one of confusion. "Alice? Yes! Oh no! She's being chased!"
Geminid The nearest station?
Quacklin yes.
- Tilluel stands up quickly
- Alice glares at Alsa when he whispers, and turns away to resume looking for her shot.
Geminid It's in Akazad Alley. A halfling woman mans the desk, Quacklin
Tilluel "I have to find where she's sleeping. I'll be back!'
Alsa "Miss Higgins! You had a dream tonight. A man with enormous scissors cut a man looking like me in half."
- Alsa stands up. "On a train. Miss Tilluel was an attendant on the train."
Geminid Tilluel, you see Alice not far away
- Tilluel looks at him like he's mad and then sees Alice. "Are you ok!?"
- Alice pauses, conflict evident on her tired face. "Yeah. How come it didn't take?"
Quacklin "Excuse me. I saw someone get chopped in half with a pair of scissors last night. You'll need to find the body."
Alsa "I don't know." He doesn't mention the pool of blood. "Did you escape him?"
Alice "Yeah."
Geminid The secretary stares at Quacklin, "Fill this out." She hands him a form for "REPORT: MURDER (CITIZEN WITNESS)"
Alsa "How?"
Quacklin "Okay."
Alice "None of your damned business."
- Gabe probably ends up making himself a cup of coffee when he can't get back to sleep.
- Tilluel looks tired but happy after seeing and hearing that Alice escaped
- Quacklin fills out every item on the form. I pity the police officer that has to read it.
Tilluel "I'm so glad you got away."
Geminid Gabe, it's coffee.
Alice "Yeah? So'm I."
- Alsa grins a little. "How do you figure it's not my business?"
Tilluel "You have to find a way to disguise yourself. That's how I do it."
Alice "How d'you figure it /is/?"
- Gabe is glad for the normalcy of it. he finishes his coffee, leaves a note and his key for his father, and heads for the lot early.
Geminid Gabe arrives.
Alsa "Because we have to put an end to it, of course. If you found a method that works, we need to know."
Quacklin (where did this event occur: "In the savana, by the train tracks, nearby the inn. There was a baseball player there too. And a sorceress/banker/train attendant.")
Geminid Hahaha
Alice "Wouldn't work for you."
Geminid I think that report gets thrown away
Alsa "Why not?"
Geminid The clack clack of heels on the floor announces Donna's daily arrival. "Well, well. Looking for a few extra hours on the clock, are we?"
Alice "'Cause the magic pony I rode out on eats faggots."
Geminid She glances at Alice, "Making friends, Mr. Ipanym?"
Quacklin After filling his report, Quacklin heads to work.
- Tilluel looks to Donna, and gives her a weak smile.
Alsa "Your protege is as charming as ever."
Geminid Quacklin arrives.
Alsa "Hey, Donna, you heard anything about locusts?"
- Quacklin has his eyes on his feet, but looks up when he sees Alsa's shoes. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"
Geminid Donna smiles, "Armande wants to speak with you today, Mr. Ipanym. Something about an article in... several papers."
Geminid She looks to Quacklin.
Quacklin he runs and tackles Alsa's legs.
Geminid Then back to Alsa, "And all I know of the locusts is what was was on the radio."
Quacklin "I thought the Scissor Man killed you!"
Alsa "Nice to see you too, Mr. Grippytop. I'm afraid I have a meeting, but we'll talk about this later."
Quacklin "Was it --Okay."
- Alsa goes to see Armande.
Geminid She looks at the gnome and frowns, "Prop maker, go do your job or get off my lot."
Quacklin "Okay."
Geminid log list
Geminid When did Eklem vanish?
Alsa Yeah, that's what I was talking about earlier.
- Alice makes a detour to toss her packet of photos on Donna's desk, again holding back the snuff shot, and wanders the lot.
GrandGuignol
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