Mass Effect RP: The Aegis Protection Firm

[Chicago Ted]

Spoiler: OoC

I'm not saying he is forced to be afraid, but it is a thing that can't simply be ignored and shoved off and I'm making it clear. To deny what is surrounding you is also god modding, and to say that something simply doesn't effect you is pretty well tied with it.

I also see this as basic emotion planting as fine. GMs I know use this in certain context to make a scene easier to understand, and to basically lay things out in a simpler way. This is a situation that is very hard to write and capture the full scope of it. This tactic works fine for giving a good idea of what exactly hits a character. I'm not saying he needs to be intimidated, and in the end, I say be defiant if you wish still, but acknowledge what's coming at you. To hand wave it with something such as "is not scared" pretty well defeats the point of most of it. The only reason I say it is ill advised is also because Verahl takes this matter extremely deeply.

And this side of fear is actually a part of Verahl. Some people have the ability to walk into a room, and instantly brighten up people. Verahl has the opposite. It's part of how he has succeeded in his life, and he often used this ability when working with Aria. This is also amplified by the fact that he is a Batarian. The four eyes aspect of them is enough to unnerve some people. It makes it hard to focus on them, and to know exactly what they're staring at.

 

[Crayzor]

"I don't have a problem with your people, Verahl. I was just pointing out that, whatever these humans are doing, it's nothing I haven't seen batarians do before. Are you going to tell me that most of the attacks on human worlds aren't orchestrated by batarians? That the batarian govenment hasn't funded pirates and slavers so they'll carry out attacks? That batarians don't, ridiculously, blame humans for their exile? You can go anywhere on this station and you'll always find batarians who'd like to wipe humans out. Karnak is a fine example. He's angry at these humans for attacking batarians, but I bet he wouldn't even blink if the roles were reversed."

Thayna was surprised at Verahl's burst of anger. While she could appreciate why someone could get angry over what she said, she had not expected Verahl to.

 

[Xero Scythe]

Spoiler: OOC

Maybe I should explain this:
Basara is still afraid of Verahl when he's like this. It's just the one subject of slavery in which Verahl doesn't have as much effect. He's lived under it his whole life, and it doesn't frighten him. the Ver Stare can get him for most other things though. Frankly, slavery is the whole reason for his rather cavalier attitude, as you called it. It was that or go insane, like that one girl from the ME1 side mission "I Remember Me". Instead of emotionally distancing himself by saying it happened to someone else, Basara decided to laugh & shrug it off, hiding what he really felt deep inside, somewhat like that one kid under Shishio from Rurouni Kenshin. I hope someone can at least semi-understand what I'm trying to explain.

Basara looked at Verahl, hiding his emotions like he normally did. "I'm sorry if I spoke out of place. I was merely stating what I've experienced in my life." Even as he said this, he subtly moved his center of gravity so that he could more easily move to protect Thayna. He realized that things could go bad, and something told him that his Soldier armor would be a bit more effective at blocking a bullet than a Biotic's armor would be. "I agree with Santius. Verahl, what are we going to do about this 4-6 gang?"

 

[CJ1145]

Meer looked around, a bloodlust in his eyes and ryncol in his gut. "What the hell do you mean 'what should we do'? We can't just let these punks run roughshod over Omega because we think it's not our problem! Sooner or later, it will be! Come on Verahl, I've been itching to kill something for days, don't tell me you're gonna pass up such a perfect target?"

 

[The Zango]

A loud whistle was heard from the top of the stairs leading to the lobby and seconds later Ocara's voice was heard, calling down into the common room.

"Hey, Thayna can I get a little help with something here? Like now"

Being the nosey Turian that he was, he had taken a seat by the descending stairs so he could listen in on their conversation, making sure that he could interject if he felt necessary.

While this wasn't the interjection he imagined he would have to make, he still felt it was his responsibility to defuse the situation downstairs, so that everyone could focus on the problem at hand.

He hoped that Thayna would take the opportunity to remove herself from the volatile situation downstairs, while he didn't think Verhal was the type to unleash his anger violently on his subordinates, he had seen the aftermath of what he had done to Santius and he didn't want to imagine the response that would generate amongst the others.

 

[Xero Scythe]

Basara grinned when he heard Ocara's voice. "Whatever deity is up there listening, thank you." He thought. "Better go, Thayna- I think I can hear the strain in his voice. Maybe that oversized stack o' boxes of his finally fell on top of him." He pushed Thayna towards the door gently, but it was strong enough that there was no chance for resistance. "While I don't exactly believe we should go in 'Ooh-Rah!' style, like Meer suggests, I still say we have to stop them, if only because it's bad for business if this continues." Basara shrugged. "Anyway, Verahl, it's your choice."

 

[Crayzor]

Thayna reluctantly allowed Basara to move her towards the stairs, before slowly ascending them. She was annoyed that she had effectively been ejected from the meeting and felt like going back in anyway. But it was better than her staying there and ending the meeting by fighting Verahl.

"What did you want, Ocara?"

The turian was sat near the top of the staircase, and it was obvious he had been eavesdropping on the situation in the meeting.

 

[The Zango]

"Just thought I'd defuse the situation a little" replied Ocara, extending another bottle of alcohol towards Thayna, a warm smile on his face. Even though she might not appreciate the 'favour' now, she'd see that it was for the best eventually... He hoped.

"Don't worry its Asari"

 

[Crayzor]

Thayna took the bottle from Ocara, a little rougher than was probably necessary, and sat down next to him.

"I guess I should thank you. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to talk my way out of that situation."

She put the bottle to her lips and took a large gulp.

 

[The Zango]

"Dont worry bout' it! I do it so often around here, its practically on my buisness card" replied Ocara with a warm smile, tapping one of his gauntleted fingers against Thayna's bottle, just as a Human would when saying 'cheers!'

"Ocara S, sniper and diplomat for hire"

 

[Crayzor]

"Ocara S, sniper and diplomat for hire"

Thayna smiled to herself at that. While she was still sceptical about the young turian's abilities in combat, she found him to be very likeable and easy to be around. He seemed to be perpetually relaxed and laid back, something she liked to see in people.

"Do you think Verahl will hold this against me?"

 

[The Zango]

Nah, he'll be fine, once the next 'big thing' comes around, he'll forget completely about that little thing"

As Ocara spoke, he rotated the joints in his neck and stretched his arms, spending so much time in full combat gear, with no actual action was beginning to take its toll on his sleep deprived body.

"However, I don't see any dinner invitations forthcoming though" continued Ocara, forever jovial.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Spoiler: OoC

Sorry I've been gone, busy weekend, have hardly had an hour to myself until this evening.

Alright, this is a rather important post, and I want everyone to be reading it, that's why this is going up as an announcement as well. What has played out here kinda emphasize's it.

Don't barge in.

When a situation has presented itself where two characters are interacting, or it's being focused to two characters, wait until it's resolved before you start posting. What we've had here is a complete interruption of initiative and flow, which is something that really bugs me. This situation was supposed to play out with Verahl and Thayna. It wasn't supposed to have others breaking into it. We had several posts interrupting this however. Think about this as a natural conversation. When someone is singled out like this, don't break into it. Remember you manners, and remember to let a person speak. If someone is directly asked or pressured, let them respond first. They have the initiative. They have the right to respond first since their character has been singled out to respond. Do not interrupt it unless you feel it is ABSOLUTELY needed, as in, you better be able to justify the reason for the interruption, and it better not be because your character feels like they need a say in the matter right at that specific moment. If you would like to post however, do so without interrupting the scene. Thoughts and subtle actions may be taken, such as shifting in your seat or showing a visible feeling towards the situation (frowning, sighing, smiling, etc.). Do not however take major actions that will disrupt the scene or speak out of turn. To demonstrate what exactly I am meaning by this, I would like to emphasize a post made by CaptainGuy or Sage.

Spoiler: Sage

Sal watched as Verahl glared at Thayna, and she could feel things were going to get very bad very quickly unless Thayna chose her words very carefully. Since Thayna was one of the newer members of the company, Sal felt she wouldn't. Sal slowly backed away a little, not wanting to be caught up in Ver's wrath.

Spoiler: CaptainGuy

Yossar sighed quietly to himself, as was the case in many scenarios, the best results would be achieved via staying the hell out of it. True he did have feeling on the matter, to him Thayna and Basara were being idiots, confusing the idea of Batarians and the Hegemony. What they were complaining about was the actions of a state, to say it was the Batarians was simply racist, as if you were insinuating those things were in the Batarian's nature. But, he chose not to add a single word, Verahl made it clear to Santius it was between him and Thayna, what Basara said was out of turn, he wouldn't make the same mistake.

This was a perfect post for the situation, because it showed what the character was feeling and thinking, but did not interrupt the scene.

Now, situations like this don't come up that often, but they are extremely disruptive when interrupted, and can cause havoc. These moments are more common for Big and Crayzor however since, as far as I'm aware, they are the players who live furthest away from most of us, and because of this, sometimes we must wait for their response. If you are a more active player, or online at the moment, I ask you still wait until a later time after the action has been dealt with before responding to it. You might be on at this time, but you don't have priority.

Alright, to summarize and to end my ranting, I'll kinda just break this down a little easier. If a character has been targeted in a scene you are in, give them priority over yourself. If you would like to respond, go ahead, but do not do things such as taking actions or speaking until it has been resolved. If you are not in the scene, feel free to continue, but if you are, then wait. Otherwise, we get disruptions that disintegrate what is being done. Keep this in mind when posting.

I?ll be honest right now. This bit is me stepping down a bit from a GM position and just saying something that I?m feeling. What has happened here has really annoyed me. I?m not certain why, but this scene has really gotten under my skin. I?m sorry if I?m coming off as a bit of an ass, but this is the only real time in this RP that I?ve actually been angered by what has been done. Maybe I should have made this pet peeve of mine clearer before, but I?m making it known now. Also, if you are feeling snuffed by this, remember that there is always another time and place. The NPCs we have have been written to be interacted by anyone at almost any time. I?ll admit, weekends and Fridays have now become rather busy for me, so I won?t be posting as much then, but I will try to be more active for our more active players. So if you?re online and you feel like you want your character to have a say in something, or want them to do something, approach them, and I will try to respond as quickly as possible.

I?m also open for your own plots and character development if you lay what you want done out to me, and I will be happy to work them out and to try and have them put into effect. I can?t guarantee that they?ll all be accepted, but if you want your character to go in a certain direction, feel free to bring what you want done to me. If you want something out of this RP, I will try to provide it for you. Private Sessions can be done also, and smaller sections can be played out directly between the player and me in order to keep it undisclosed for a while.

 

[Xero Scythe]

Spoiler: OOC

Sorry about the interruption, Chicago. But I sorta have to agree with Tellme. For the last two posts, which I think is pretty much directly for what you hate, I'm trying to get back to the 4-6. Can we just remember this, never do it again, and move on with the story, please?

 

[Crayzor]

Spoiler: OOC

I agree with Xero. Let's forget it happened and focus on the 4-6

 

[Captainguy42]

" Even if we do kill the leadership that's no guarantee they are going to stop, guys like the 4-6 are movement, they tend to have plenty of motivated followers who are willing to take the place of their leaders and keep the movement going. One thing that's important is that we tell all the other non-human heavy companies about this gang, I doubt they'll be happy with them, and I'm sure they'll be willing to help clean them up once we take out the leadership."

 

[Chicago Ted]

Spoiler: OoC

Fine, let's just ignore this part, but there is a good reason for this anger, and that's in the wording you chose Crayzor. It's the fact that you used 'your people' that angered Verahl. You stereotyped his culture with the worst of the worst, and applied it to a whole. It's even more compounded by the fact that you had just seen Batarian citizens up above who play no hand in what happens to humans, and still regarded it them. To Verahl, this is just extremely offensive.

To give an example and put a bit of perspective that would be easy to relate to into this, it would be like insinuating all Germans are Nazis, or all Muslims are Extremists.

The point still remains in the part of 'Don't interrupt' though. Do not barge into things such as these, wait for them to play out a bit before sending your character in. I asked you in character to wait, and now I'm asking out of character for you to do the same thing as well for these scenes. I don't care if you see them as pointless, you still don't have the right to be interrupting them because you see it as such.

Verahl:

Verahl paused, still angered by what had been said, but listened to Yossar. He felt embarrassed by his outburst, but the ignorance and contempt Thayna displayed was enough to send him over the edge. He cleared his throat, before speaking again.

"I wouldn't think we'd be the first to run into these refugees, Yossar," Verahl said, in a much more controlled and professional tone. "So I would think support wouldn't be too hard to acquire."

He leaned over the table and gazed at the centre of it, lost in thought for a moment as he thought about which course of action to take.

"I'll contact others first. See if there's any mutual interest in having the 4-6 destroyed," he turned and made his way towards the stairs.