Sophomore, Early November

Altclair is Naomi's campaign, set at the college of Altclair, which is somewhere in Minnesota. Think Pamela Dean's Tam Lin, GURPS Illuminati IOU, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Other source material (that Naomi's not familiar with) might include Elizabeth Hand's Waking the Moon and most of Charles de Lint. Players are me (Justin Thorne) and Josh (Michael Conoway). Manny (Jim Gaffney) dropped out, and Beth (Diometra) lives in Chicago, and is only an occasional player.

Naomi moved to Chicago, but I'm a year behind in my write ups, and she hopes to run a few more adventures via phone, email, and visits before I have exhausted my supply of material.

From the Desk of Justin Thorne:

Letter to Israel Bar-Lev, Israeli Defense Forces

Dear Sir:

Here follows the written account/analysis I promised. The former may be a bit sketchy in parts; should you need more details, let me know. The latter may be old news, and in any case, I don't pretend to have experience in this sort of thing.

I was on the phone with Michael Conoway at some time after midnight on Sunday, November 7, when there was a knock on the door. Expecting Ken Maravitch, I called his name, and received an affirmative answer in his voice. I told him that the door was unlocked and attempted to return to the phone conversation.

Very shortly thereafter, whomever it was who had knocked was in the room, holding a knife at my throat. While this person was not wearing any kind of physical disguise, his features were blurred, I believe by magic. I said, "Nice move," partly because I was genuinely impressed and partly in an attempt to alert Michael. The man instructed me, in a different voice, which might or might not have been his own, to finish the phone conversation. I let the receiver drop on the floor, gambling that he would attribute this to fear rather than an attempt to stall. I might not have tried this if I had known what was going on, since I would have have assumed, correctly or not, a higher degree of perception on his part.

He picked up the receiver, handed it back to me, and repeated his instruction to end the conversation. I did this, calling Michael Ken, which was a tactical error since my captor should have known that I had thought he was Ken. However, he did not seen to recall this fact, which may or may not say something about his competence or his intelligence. It does imply that the spell he used to disguise his voice was not intended to mimic any specific voice, but rather to make me hear the voice I expected to hear. It may imply that he can't do that on a visual level, but this is by no means certain.

It occurs to me that my assumptions that a) my captor was male and b) he himself was the mage casting the spells may both be incorrect. I do not think that this is the case.

I hung up the phone, as instructed. My captor took out a pair of handcuffs and instructed me to hold out my wrists. At this point, I panicked and called for Caliban. (1)

This was stupid. I did it because I thought the man would kill me. I thought this because of recent events on campus, but I should have realized that this did not fit the pattern of those events. (Unsurprisingly, I was wrong about them as well.) About the only smart thing I did was to use the flat of the blade, and that was a kind of accidental intelligence. (2)

The man swore, and he, or the mage, if he was not the mage, transported us to Mexico as Caliban hit him. He recovered from this quickly, assuming he was the mage, and used his magic to freeze both Caliban and myself. He took Caliban from me, and either he or someone else must have cast the spell to bury whatever magic I put into the sword. I heard voices talking in what I guessed was Arabic, but the sound was somehow not comprehensible, although my Arabic is reasonably good. I'm guessing that magic created that effect.

Shortly after the door closed, I could move, and I apologized in Arabic, assuming that the room was being monitored. There was no answer, so I sat down to wait. After several hours, a man wearing a ski mask came in. I apologized again, in Arabic, explaining that the only reason I had been less than thoroughly cooperative was that I had thought that the man in my room was going to kill me because of what had been happening on campus recently. He asked me where I had learned Arabic, and I explained that my roommate of the previous academic year had taught me. He said something on the order of "Ah yes, Rashid."

I am not sure if at that point I had made two further mistakes, or if I accidentally did the correct thing, or if it ultimately made no difference. First, I made it clear to my captors that I understood Arabic, throwing away a potential advantage. It is possible that they knew I spoke Arabic, but the man talking to me seemed surprised. When I asked which language he preferred we speak, he indicated Arabic and seemed more comfortable with it than with English

It is also possible that using Arabic bought me some time, since I could legitimately ask my captor to repeat himself, ensuring I understood what he was saying, and if I took a little longer than a native speaker of Arabic to answer a question, it might have seemed to be a matter of searching for the correct vocabulary. I suspect that shifting to Arabic did not hurt and may have helped very slightly.

My second mistake was to indicate that people on campus would presume, incorrectly, that they knew what had happened to me. I might as well have said, "Go ahead and kill me; no one will know there's anything unusual going on until the body has long since been disposed of."

Then again, I had, if accidentally, perhaps given my captors incorrect information. Michael Conoway had arrived in my room with exquisitely flawless timing: Early enough to see us vanish, yet too late to be able to do anything foolish. This is when he sent his letter to you. (3)

Since my captors knew nothing of this, they may have relaxed or been more patient than they might otherwise have been, feeling that they had plenty of time. They may have believed that I was lying, but I do not think so.

Their first order of business was to determine what I told your people in May. As you know, I told them just about everything, the few exceptions being in areas they did not know enough to ask about. When I said that I had been magically interrogated, this seemed to be a surprise to the man who was questioning me. This surprised me, since, clearly, they had at least one mage working with them whom I would have guessed to be reasonably competent. When I asked if they knew about the sort of mind magic you used, my questioner assured me, too quickly, that of course they did.

Now, it is possible that he was telling the truth. But unless he is a much better actor than he seemed to be, I think that he, at least, did not know about mind magic. This does not mean that the others were similarly ignorant, but no magic of that kind was used on me. In fact, I don't think any magic was used once I was released from the spell holding me motionless.

One thing they particularly wanted to know was whether the name of any organization had been mentioned in May. When I said that you had mentioned Black September I was told that this organization that been dead these past twenty years. My captors seemed anxious that I believe this, although I may well be mistaken. In any case, I assured them that I had absolutely no knowledge of such matters, being merely an ignorant American.

Once they felt that they had learned everything I could tell them about what happened in May, they expressed interest in my talents as a maker. As Michael pointed out, this was a tactical error on their part. Having learned what they needed to know, they ought to have either killed me or released me, probably the former.

As far as I could tell, they had little idea of what I could and could not do. Their first request was for a tank, and I explained that this was impractical unless they were willing to wait while I learned how an ordinary tank was built. Similarly, I have no idea how one makes a gun. Inevitably, the subject of Caliban was raised, and I pointed out that Caliban was a special case, one that could not be duplicated, and I explained to them that weapons were hardly my specialty. (4)

I offered to write them a play, and they asked if I could work on propaganda. This would have been an interesting journalistic experiment, but frankly, the idea of kidnapping an American ignorant of the cultural context to write material that their own people could write, and probably with a somewhat better command of written Arabic, is absurd.

The next request was for a flying carpet, something I could not pretend I had never done, but which, frankly, I doubt I could do again.(5) I was willing to make the attempt, obviously, but, as I suspect your people have discovered, my notes are utterly worthless.

Since you arrived shortly after the purple thread, you know the rest, so I'll shift to analysis here. First of all, I do not think that these people learned much about me from my original roommate. Second, he either did not pass on everything he knew to his successor, or, more likely, his successor did not pass it on to the people who were holding me.

I may be mistaken, but they only referred to two items I had created. Only my second roommate knew about the carpet, so he must have communicated with them. I did not tell him about Caliban, but, of course, I used Caliban when I was kidnapped. My captors' apparent ignorance of my fluency in Arabic also indicates that neither roommate told them much about me as anything other than a maker.

Third, as Michael pointed out, my captors apparently knew little or nothing about makers and had no way to check whatever I might produce for them. (6) While I am far from immune to threats to my physical safety, I am not sure that allowing me to work on anything intended as an obvious weapon would have been safe from their point of view. Possibly this is why they did not press me on the subject, but I think it equally likely that they did not think through all the possibilities. If so, they may have been counting on my having a strong sense of self-preservation or on being able to convince my subconscious through purely verbal means that it was in my best interest to cooperate fully.

As for the propaganda idea, apart from the mundane reasons not to have me do this, I could not vouch for what kind of subtexts would show up, regardless of my conscious intentions. And as for the carpet, here again, I do not think that they considered all the possibilities that giving me the materials I requested would open up. That I did not consider these possibilities is largely irrelevant; they should have been thinking of such things.

Short of a thorough brainwashing job--and I have no idea of how effective such things are, so possibly even then--attempting to convince me to function as a maker for them was the height of idiocy. This means that my captors either were idiots or wanted me to believe that they were idiots.

If they were idiots, they may have been reporting to superiors who were more intelligent. This could easily have been a low risk method of finding out what I could and would do, and perhaps also of discovering whether you or anyone else could or would come after me. This seems far too likely to me, particularly if the mage who first brought me to Mexico, presuming there was only one mage, was not present when you rescued me. (7)

That's all I can come up with. Let me know if you need more details. (8)

Justin

Letter to the Postal Mages

To the Ancient and Honorable Order of Postal Mages (9)

Thank you very much for delivering Michael Conoway's letter. I owe my freedom, and, quite probably, my life to you.

Sincerely, Justin

Footnotes

(1) Caliban is Justin's sentient sword. Due to what had been happening on campus, Justin thought, incorrectly, but not utterly unreasonably, that the person in his room was trying to eliminate the homosexual population on campus. When he saw the handcuffs, Justin thought the person intended to kill him in front of Ken.

(2) Justin figured that the person in his room might have friends outside, and reasoned that if he did any serious damage to this one, said friends would do serious damage to him. In addition, he didn't want a murder on his record, especially as this might well lead the local authorities to learn about how he'd accidentally killed his stepfather with Caliban. It would get very messy, cramping his academic career and not helping with the situation on campus. Finally, Justin didn't want another death on his conscience.

One of the things I like about the Altclair game is that these things matter. The players don't have to worry about mundane problems they game to get away from, but at the same time, PC actions have consequences, and the characters don't generally go around killing or indulging in anti-social behavior. Fr'ex, when Michael killed a man, the man had just shot him twice. Despite this, Michael tried to keep the man alive, and very much regretted his actions.

(3) Michael teleported as soon as Justin hung up the phone. Naomi asked how he could ensure reaching the correct location. I pointed out that Justin's room had the perfect beacon: a twinkling, glowing Z that Michael created to demonstrate that Justin was a sensitive. Most people can't see it.

Michael wrote to Israel in part because he wanted to know if Israel were behind Justin's disappearance. If he had been, Michael would wisely have refrained from interfering. Since, unlike Justin, Michael didn't know Israel's address, he put the letter in an envelope with Israel's name on it, then put that in a second envelope, addressed to the postal mages, asking if they would deliver the inner letter to Israel without reading it. He explained that it was important for Justin's sake that it get delivered, IIRC. He figured this might work for Justin, just as the Train Called the City of New Orleans will go out of its way for Michael. When Justin returned, he gave Michael the address for Israel. He wasn't at all sure that trick would work twice, since the postal mages don't do politics, and delivering the letter was pretty close to the line, if not over it. Israel had no idea that the postal mages were involved, since they made the letter appear as if it had been delivered by mundane means, such as special emergency courier, or something like that.

(4) Michael (upon hearing that Justin told his captors that weapons were not his specialty): Justin! You lied!

Justin (embarrassed): It may have been a translation problem. My Arabic vocabulary is a bit shaky-

Michael: You lied! I'm proud of you!

(5)This was the world's lowest flying carpet, floating about three inches off the ground.

(6)Michael pointed out that Justin had missed some possibilities himself.

Michael: Justin, what's the medium you're most comfortable with?

Justin: Metal? (as Michael shakes his head) Wood? Stone? What?

Michael: People! Justin, you're a director.

Justin wasn't sure that trying to manipulate his captors would have been such a good idea, but he did file this away for future musings.

(7)If I recall correctly, Justin's analysis here is mostly correct. What he did not and still does not know is that the situation had been set up by an Irish terrorist who knew about Justin's abilities and dropped a word to the Palestinians to see what they would do. That is, unless Naomi has changed her mind. Since no one knows the precise situation in character, the GM is well within her rights to modify it.

(8)Israel and his people rescued Justin once they found out where he was being held. Justin did not immediately assume that he was out of danger, and he had three questions.

1. Are you going to kill me?

Israel asked why Justin thought that. Justin handed him the notes on making a flying carpet, and Israel said that he certainly didn't expect someone who hadn't been trained by the Israelis to resist interrogation. Justin pointed out that it would simplify matters for Israel if he were dead. Israel said that if his country had made a habit of going for the simple, ruthless solutions, it wouldn't have survived so long.

2. Are you going to try to recruit me, forcefully or otherwise?

That was also a no. Israel said that they might ask for a favor at some future date, but as Justin figures he owes them at least one, he doesn't necessarily consider that a problem. Israel also said that he'd keep Justin under surveillance to prevent future kidnappings. While this bugged Ken a bit when he learned about it, Justin had assumed the Israelis had been keeping him under surveillance since the previous May.

I wonder if that would count as a minor delusion in GURPS terms. I suspect not, as Justin had reason to believe it and did not make major changes to his lifestyle as a result.

3. Having established that Israel wanted neither to kill nor to recruit him, Justin asked for a note to show his professors, and, more importantly, his director, as proof that he really had been kidnapped by Arab terrorists.

Israel agreed, but arranged to have it come from American government officials. Justin had no problem with this. His professors raised their eyebrows, but said nothing, particularly the ones who remembered that Justin had been helping with a government investigation into the Jerusalem Bombing in May. Daniel, Justin's long suffering director, said that the note was unnecessary and he was just glad that Justin was alive and well.

In order to get Israel to agree to return him to campus asap, Justin not only promised to write the letter above, but also agreed to a quick debriefing via mind magic. Israel was a little surprised, as he had accidentally hurt Jim, one of Justin's friends, with mind magic. This was because Jim tried to keep Israel out of his mind and because Israel is not primarily a mind mage. Justin had no intention of resisting, but Israel had one of his subordinates put Justin into a light trance to further reduce the risks.

It occurs to me that this is part of why the players have their PCs think carefully about their actions, taking past events and potential future consequences into effect: The NPCs do the same thing. Of course, Israel is more Naomi's PC, or, in OTE terms, a GMC, than an NPC.

(9) As mentioned in (3), Michael alerted Israel to Justin's situation by way of the postal mages. Justin knows damn well that, by all rights, they shouldn't have delivered that letter. He did eventually learn more about the postal mages and why the letter had been delivered.

Natter

Comment to Simon Reeve

re:Justin and math: No, that's not the Econ Department. Justin's just not especially good at math, despite or because he's dating a Math major. It's never been a priority for him. Sarah became pregnant with two men's babies because of Michael's magic. Michael, the land king, wanted his queen, Sarah, to bear his child. I have no idea whether folks in the Midwest still do barnraisings. re:Helen: Justin considers it a minor miracle that they are still friends. He didn't tell her about Sarah, but she might have heard from Delilah. Her reaction might have been "Why does Sarah always get what she wants?" or "What did Ken think of that?" Justin got both of these reactions a couple of times. Daniel's reaction was "You're an idiot," followed by "Michael's also an idiot." As Justin told Michael, the experience was sort of like having something the Mob wants. Fighting isn't a viable option, so one cuts the best deal one can.

Justin: It was probably one of the more heavily negotiated fucks on campus.

Michael: Why am I not surprised?

Comment to Colin Speirs

While thinking about the idea of treating NPCs as monsters it's okay to bash, it occurred to me that one reason Justin is respectful of the Good Folk is his friendship with Daniel. It isn't the only reason, but there is an element of "These are Daniel's relatives" in all his dealings with them, despite--or because of--Daniel's mixed feelings about his relatives. Perhaps GMs who want non-monster bashing games should focus on creating ties between PCs and "monsters". I don't know if the college student model of Altclair would work, but there are other possibilities. Have PCs be responsible for showing orc diplomats around town or guarding/protecting the orc hostage prince. Send the PCs as diplomats/hostages/exchange students, or as merchants seeking new markets to exploit. The next gen ST Klingons are a decent model here, and one could have a Klingon roommate at Starfleet Academy. Igtheme, anyone?

Comment to Joshua Kronengold

When Justin said, "You -are- a terrorist'" Rashid did not deny this. The shell game he played and his replacement's comments on it served as confirmation that Rashid, himself, was a terrorist. If asked, Justin would say that he knew Rashid was a terrorist. Rashid Mk. II's gradual comprehension of why Justin de-enchanted the flying carpet indicated that he was at the very least a spy for terrorists. As for there being a difference between "killing people for a concrete goal" and "killing people as part of a message/ideology," Steve made a similar point. Justin isn't sure he is convinced; after all, delivering a message or serving an ideology can be a concrete goal.