Proposal: The Deck of Many Rats [Trivial]

Create new upgrade in rule 15:

Eye of Atlantis 20 Supplies: Once per lacuna, a Mariner may sacrifice 5 supplies on the behalf of their Ship. Mariners may not sacrifice supplies if their ship’s total supplies are less than 4. This is done by making the comment of ‘Sacrifice: DICE’ in the GNDT. The results of the roll are as follows: 1) 10 Supplies are devoured by rats; 2) Rats eat through the ropes leaving the ship with 2 less speed; 3) Nothing Happens; 4) Add 5 supplies to the ship’s hold; 5) Mariners aboard the ship gain 3 morale each; 6) The ship gains 5 speed. These effects last until the end of the lacuna.

Failed by Cayvie, 21st April. -3 to Keitalia, +1 to Cayvie.

Proposal: What is this? Hamlet? [Trivial]

In rule 22 under the ailment Undead reword the first sentence to read:

Once a Mariner has reached 0 Morale they are transferred to a Ghost Ship of the Poet's choosing regardless of distance and given the ailment Undead.

And rename Rule 27 to Umbra

Half of the earnings (rounded down) from this proposal are differed to Satyr Eyes.
Umbra is Latin for shadow or shade (being a pun for ghost).

Enacted by Cayvie, 21st April. +2 to Keitalia, +1 to Cayvie.

Proposal: Let's Try That Again, Shall We?

In Rule 13, 'Gods', at the end of paragraph 2, add the following:

A Priest may re-roll a Prayer Roll a number of times equal to the number of Mariners aboard the Priest's ship who worship the same god as the Priest, devided by two, rounded down. If a number of such re-rolls are made, only the most recently rolled Prayer Roll counts.

[As far as I know, there's really no incentive for non-Priest Mariners to have gods. If there is, consider this an incentive for all the Mariners on a ship worship the same god.]

Enacted by Cayvie, 21st April. +10 to Royce, +2 to Cayvie.

Proposal: Getting better (Trivial)

In the rule ailments change:

that mariner's morale is reduced to 0 and converts to the god 'chthulhu' with the morale effects described in the rule 'gods' (but without a seven day waiting period).

to

that mariner's morale is reduced to 0 and converts to the god 'chthulhu' with the morale effects described in the rule 'gods' (but without a seven day waiting period) and loses all ailments

This proposal will give no morale to dunam on passing.

Failed by Cayvie, 21st April. -3 to Dunam, +1 to Cayvie.

Proposal: Critically Ill

In the rule ailments add the following line:

Sometimes mariners get so critically close to death that they fail to see straigth and are caught in a twilight world between life and death. When a mariner has at any time 5 or more ailments, at least one of them being depression, turned into a pig or enraptured, that mariner's morale is reduced to 0 and converts to the god 'chthulhu' with the morale effects described in the rule 'gods' (but without the seven day waiting period).

Enacted by Cayvie, 21st April. +10 to Dunam, +2 to Cayvie.

Proposal : Small Gods

Add to the "Gods" Rule:-

If a God has no worshippers, the Poet may write a Chapter in which that God appears to a chosen Protagonist vying for their worship, and either tempting or threatening them. There should be only two options - one in which the Mariner converts, and one in which the Mariner refuses. If the Mariner chooses to convert, they are converted to follow that God without (given the exceptional circumstances) any Morale penalties being made.

Enacted by Kevan, 19th April.

Proposal : Someone's Trying To Break Into That Island! [Trivial]

[ A fixed Island for the Sirens to live on, which is pretty much fatal to Ships that are careless enough to end a Lacuna there. ]

Add a new Island, Anthemoessa, at a random point between Distance 75 and Distance 0, with a "size" of 3, such that it doesn't overlap any existing Islands, or any current Ship locations. It has the following effect:-

Anthemoessa. Any Ship that starts a Lacuna in the Zone of Anthemoessa is lured onto the rocks by the Sirens - the Ship has its Orders set to "Idle", for the next Lacuna, and all crew become Enraptured.

Enacted by Kevan - timed out, 7 to 6. Anthemoessa is placed at Distance 34-36. +3 to Kevan.

Proposal : Private Healthcare [Trivial]

Add a new God:-

Asclepius, god of medicine and healing. A successful prayer to Asclepius will Heal a number of Mariners (of the Priest's choice) equal to the Prayer Roll. Mariners Healed in this way lose the "Enraptured", "Turned into a Pig" and "Depression" Ailments, if they have them.

Enacted by Kevan, 17th April. +3 to Kevan. (Also: Spelling mistake of "Cthulhu" corrected, in ruleset, as per Rule 1.)

Lacuna 7: Take In the Spectacle Sound of It All

For the love of Poseidon and all the gods, what had Captain Dunam, called the great-hearted, done to deserve this?

Dunam paced the length and breadth of his narrow cabin. Though really it was as much a shrine as a cabin; this was where the captain made plans as to how best to honor Poseidon, and the sea-god's influence showed in the paintings and carvings that decorated the room. Dunam liked having them there. They reminded him that his god saw all he did, and that his pious works would be rewarded.

Only today, for the first time since his commander Achilles had been felled at Troy, Dunam did not feel that Poseidon was with him. He would almost have said that Poseidon had been acting erratically, if the thought alone had not carried intolerable undertones of hubris. Only a week ago the wind had been blowing strong at the Eriphyle's stern, guiding the ship towards Ithaca with a gentle but firm hand. Since then... well, the reversal had been complete.

First there had been the phantom ship. It had flown at the Eriphyle at full sail; every mariner had been terrified, and even the rats began throwing themselves overboard. In desperation the captain had turned to his priest, Brother ChinDoGu of the sober jests, for help. ChinDoGu had knelt and prayed like no man the captain had ever seen, and just as the ghostly craft was about to fall on the Eriphyle, it evaporated like so much mist. Dunam, of course, was relieved at its disappearance; but worry about its origin gnawed at his gut. Why had that ship, for the few moments he'd been close enough to see it clearly, looked so familiar? And why, moreover, had Brother ChinDoGu been so shaken and affected ever since? It was demoralizing the crew, and Dunam knew Poseidon did not look well on malcontents. What had ChinDoGu seen in his religious trance?

Such concerns had been lifted from the captain's mind soon thereafter, however, when the wind -- Poseidon's wind -- had ceased to blow. At first Dunam assumed that Poseidon's divine business had distracted him from the Eriphyle; but as the days wore on, he began to wonder whether the god even remembered they were there. Concerned, he had once again turned to his trusted priest for guidance, and the priest gave him a name.

Keitalia. The Odyssey's oracle, the crazy old second-sighted one, had prayed to Poseidon to retard the Eriphyle's progress. Normally Dunam wouldn't have cared; everyone knew the seer was as balmy as Cassandra. What bothered him was that Poseidon had listened! By what right... Dunam stopped himself. For what reason -- surely a just one, but none the less inscrutable for that -- had Poseidon taken away the wind at her behest? Unless it had been coincidence that the wind had died when it did. There would be vengeance, oh yes, there would be vengeance.

And now, to compound injury upon injury, Dunam had just returned from a resupplying expedition (that he'd been forced to go on by the lack of wind, he thought bitterly) during which half his men had nearly been enchanted by the sorceress of the island. Oh, she'd been pleasant enough once Dunam had used his masculine wiles on her; but the news she'd delivered would have been hard for any hero to bear.

"Really," Dunam thought. "I've heard of taking the long way back -- but through Hell?"

Re-proposal: The Riot Act

I'd like this to pass.

Change Rule 7: Calls for Judgement to Unique Proposals. Add the following to the top.

Unique proposals obey their own rules as contained in this rule. They are not subject to any other rules governing proposals elsewhere in the ruleset.

Calls for Judgement

Add the following to the bottom.

Riots
Any player may instigate a Riot at any time by posting to the BlogNomic weblog. The post must contain the word 'Riot' in bold in its title to be considered a legal riot.

The Riot lasts for 48 hours. At the end of those 48 hours, the riot must have attained Quorum to pass. If it has not, it fails. A Riot is not subject to veto.

If a riot passes, the dynasty immediately ends with no haitus. The entire ruleset except rules 1-10 and the glossary repeal themselves and the game continues in a meta-dynastic state until a new Poet is elected in accordance with the ruleset.

--------------

Add the following to Rule 3:

Morale is normalised at the beginning of each new dynasty. If a Mariner's Morale was higher than 125 before the Ascension of the new Poet, it drops to 125. If it was lower than 75 before the Ascension, it rises to 75. If it was between 125 and 75, it retains its value for the new dynasty.

Add the following to the second paragraph of Rule 5:

If there is no Poet, a vote of DEFERENTIAL counts as an explicit vote of abstention.

Edit Rule 10 as follows:

Delete the emboldened from the following paragraph, then move the paragraph to under the one that is currently below it:

When a Dynasty has been won, all Mariners' GNDT stats are reset to zero or blank, and their Morale is set to 100. Any Mariners who were idle throughout that Dynasty may be removed from the game, at the Poet's discretion.

Add the following paragraphs:

Should an Poet be made idle during their tenure, without having previously requested it, the Dynasty immediately ends with no haitus. The entire ruleset (except rules 1-10 and the glossary) repeal themselves and the game continues in a meta-dynastic state until a new Poet is elected in accordance with the ruleset.

Periods of meta-dynasty are defined as periods of play in which there is no Poet, and are considered to be dynasties for the purposes of the ruleset, excluding Rule 9 in its entirity.

Basically, I'm trying to provide for a more ongoing game structure; meta-dynastic periods are periods without Emperor or theme, so that a continuous nature to the game can be developed.

Specific fixes: Emperors can request to be made idle, Riots are easier to pull of (basically a codified CfJ, but I think it could be useful to have a separate proceedure), and Unique Proposals are immunised from the rest of the ruleset.

Passed 7 to 4 (Timed Out) by Josh. +11 to Josh.

Proposal: Alternate Mythos (trivial)

Add a new god, Chthulhu, to the gods list, with the following description:

Chthulhu, a malevolent Elder God bent on destruction and insanity. A successful prayer to Chthulhu allows a Priest to increase or decrease any ship's Foresight value by the prayer roll minus 2 for the duration of the lacuna, or add the Ailment Foresight(1) to a ship without the Foresight ailment for the duration of the lacuna. If this action would decrease a ship's Foresight value to a value below 1, that ship loses the Foresight ailment. If at any time there are 6 or more followers of Chthulhu, he rises from the Mediterranean waters, and all mariners immediately lose 100 morale, or 50 if they have chosen Chthulhu as their god. This sentence and the previous one then are immediately deleted from the ruleset. A follower of Chthulhu may never convert; nor may a follower of Chthulhu win a Dynasty.

Passed 11 to 1 by Cayvie @ 17:15, 04.16.2004. +3 to Cayvie.

Cayvie's Log: the Prequel

To ease my boredom on this endless sea sojourn, it seems that my goddess has granted me insight into what other priests have been praying for. Those silly trident-heads... what will they come up with next? Speeding up their own ship, slowing down another... acting like this is some sort of a race to Ithaca, when it is obviously the wiser course of action to take what the gods give, and arrive when one is meant to. Tempting fate is never a good idea; the old tales all tell us this.

More disturbing news, though; I hear tales of dead men rising from their sea graves and assaulting our ships. I hope these events turn out to be simple rumors spread by our boastful sailors in the ports they land in.

Keitalia's Log: Days To Remember

Day 1
Dunam seems to become even more reckless these days. He works his crew to the bone just to gain distance. I hope to ease their sorrows. Hopefully he will grant them rest and good cheer with a mighty feast this fine day.
It seems as the days go by the crew of the Odyssey become drearier. Royce and Udlear are affected most of all. I am certain they miss Ithica more than anyone aboard this mighty vessel. Perhaps they have families there... I wish I were so fortunate. If I assured them that we will be the first ones to step onto its glorious shores it would give them some cheer. Even though they do not worship Poseidon, I pray that Poseidon will hear our desires this day to reach the shores of Ithica.

Day 2
Has Poseidon finally recognized me as his long suffering servant? It appears to be so, for he has rewarded me with such glorious miracles that are beyond human comprehension. Such glorious happenings are most assuredly a sign to me. Long have I studied and pondered upon the waves, but never have I seen or heard of such occurrences. I beheld the most gorgeous fish I have ever seen; it seemed to ascend from the surface of the glorious sea and was struck down by an arrow of Athena. This arrow was undoubtedly meant for me. Why has the Eriphyle lashed out in such a fashion? I am relieved that Poseidon has found it fit to spare his servant this day, but in so doing he has sacrificed a benevolent creature of the sea. I will continue to dedicate my life to his mighty will. There is no possible way to repay him for his mercy.

ChinDoGu's Log: Poseidon's Ambivalence

Today the outlook seems bleak. Yesterday, as I prayed to the mighty god, I felt his blessings upon this vessel I was confident that he would speed our passage. However when I awoke this morning, I noticed the winds and the waves against us. Rather than speeding us, he has spurned us. I wondered what it was we had done, to deserve his wrath.

I prayed. I pondered. Eventually it came to me. We had done nothing. Indeed someone else had raised the hand of our god against us. Sacrilege. Poseidon will protect his own. Swiftly I make the appropriate sacrifices, attempting to appease him. Meanwhile I advise our captain. "We have been attacked, underhandedly, by our fellow Greeks. This hindrance has a source in Keitalia. However I could not see the crone doing so without the approval of her captain. We must look to Kevan as the source of our troubles.

Axiallus' Log: It Cannot Be So

I look over the blue waves at the dim shape of the Odyssey in the distance, and narrow my eyes. I find it near-impossible to believe that my fellow Greeks have poisoned Poseidon’s mind against us, but our respected Brother ChinDoGu assures me that it is so. Captain Dunam, in his great, fiery wrath, has ordered us to hamper the Odyssey in any way possible, while ChinDoGu will undergo prayer and sacrifice to our sea god in an attempt to avert his displeasure. I have been crafting arrows for some time now, and it seems that they will soon be put to use against my kin. It weighs my heart down to do this, but since the Odyssey has betrayed us, it is a necessity. The Eriphyle shall see Ithaca again, and soon. Before the traitors of the Odyssey do, that much is for certain! So I sit here, on this beautiful beach, and make additional arrows while my brothers-in-arms gather supplies for the long sail ahead. Hmm? What's that I hear? The Captain is issuing orders. Excellent; we shall see what Dunam's plan is. I shall write more later. May my arrows fly true!

Proposal: Some of us achieve sanity and some of us are afflicted with it ...

append the following to rule 6 "enactment":

A silly mariner is a mariner who remains active by voting but refuses to propose anything but trivial proposals. Any admin, while enacting and/or failing proposals may demark a mariner as silly by putting an "@" by their name on the sidebar, provided that mariner has been active for at least two weeks but has not proposed a single non-trivial proposal within those two weeks. All other mariners are encouraged to laugh at and ridicule silly mariners.

Failed 4 to 8 by Cayvie @ 17:13, 04.16.2004. -3 to Aaron, +1 to Cayvie.

Proposal: The Riot Act

Please read and think about it. I'm prepared to resubmit this (many times) if it's popular but flawed.

Change Rule 7: Calls to Judgement to Unique Proposals. Add the word Calls to Judgement in bold at the top. Add the following to the bottom.

Riots
Any player may instigate a Riot at any time by posting to the BlogNomic weblog. The post must contain the word 'Riot' in bold in its title to be considered a legal riot.

The Riot lasts for 48 hours. At the end of those 48 hours, the riot must have attained a 75% majority (i.e. 1.5xQuorum) to pass. If it has not, it fails. A Riot is not subject to veto.

If a riot passes, the dynasty immediately ends with no haitus. The entire ruleset except rules 1-10 and the glossary repeal themselves and the game continues in a meta-dynastic state until a new Poet is elected in accordance with the ruleset.

--------------

Add the following to Rule 3:

Morale is normalised at the beginning of each dynasty. If a Mariner's Morale was higher than 125 before the Ascension of the new Poet, it drops to 125. If it was lower than 75 before the Ascension, it rises to 75. If it was between 125 and 75, it retains its value for the new dynasty.

Add the following to the second paragraph of Rule 5:

If there is no Poet, a vot of DEFERENTIAL counts as an explicit vote of abstention.

Edit Rule 10 as follows:

Delete the emboldened line from the following paragraph, then move the paragraph to under the one that is currently below it:

When a Dynasty has been won, all Mariners' GNDT stats are reset to zero or blank, and their Morale is set to 100. Any Mariners who were idle throughout that Dynasty may be removed from the game, at the Poet's discretion.

Add the following paragraphs:

Should an Poet become idle during their tenure, the Dynasty immediately ends with no haitus. The entire ruleset (except rules 1-10 and the glossary) repeal themselves and the game continues in a meta-dynastic state until a new Poet is elected in accordance with the ruleset.

Periods of meta-dynasty are considered to be dynasties for the purposes of the ruleset, excluding Rule 9 in its entirity.

OK, that's a brief fix. Since the Declaration of Victory was illegal, and there is no haitus, this proposal should be fine. Basically, I'm trying to provide for a more ongoing game structure; meta-dynastic periods are periods without Emperor or theme, so that a continuous nature to the game can be developed.

Also, with minor problems, it will be easier to vote this in then edit it with proposals later. None of this is going to happen any time soon, after all.

Self-Killed by Josh, adminned by Keitalia at 14:47 GMT, 04.15.2004. -3 to Josh, +1 Keitalia.

Declaration of Victory on Behalf of Royce

I declare that Royce has won this dynasty and that he should ascend according to rule 10, on account of me being bored too. I suggest that Royce be the individual to ascend because he is not a boring person and has demonstrated an active imagination in the other dynasties in which I have participated with him. Additionally, I like him. Soooooo ... If you agree with me that Royce should be the new Emperor, Poet, whatever you will, then vote FOR this particular rambling. If you disagree with me, then stab me with your face, or you can just vote AGAINST this rambling.

Thought

I think it's true that there is a substantial amount of Mariner frustration and boredom in this Dynasty. Non-Captain/Priest Mariners really have nothing to do but sit around on the ship, propose, and vote. (And most seem to be deigning not to propose).

Of course, this is thematically perfectly accurate. Deckhands and Warriors really wouldn't have had that much of an opportunity to affect anything at all while onboard the ship. Any proposal that would give them the opportunity to do so would sound thematcially absurd.

Therefore, I think the problem may be in the theme itself. Don't get me wrong; I'm really enjoying this theme, and the way it's shaping up. I am referring in a more general way to the entire idea of themes that has shaped Blognomic for the past few Dynasties.

More and more, I have been finding the idea of themes terribly restrictive; if we're all Mariners in the ancient Mediterranean, we don't have the opportunity to stock up on Laser Cannons. If we're all Superheroes, we don't really have the opportunity to, say, create a language through proposals. If we're all Mobsters and Policeman, we don't have the opportunity to gain doctorate degrees in Nomicology.

An even more frustrating (for me) development that springs from these themes is the lack of meta-nomicking. Nobody seems to be proposing things that affect the game of Nomic itself. There are no attributes assigned to the different rules, no way to affect or limit the types of proposals that certain people are allowed to pass, and rare indeed has been the proposal that affects voting.

I think this is because people get so caught up in the themes themselves that they forget they're playing Nomic. People are complaining about the lack of anything to do. There should be no such lack; this is a game of Nomic! You can propose anything you want! Give people the ability to fly, to visit underwater cities, to reward themselves if they pass proposals containing all 26 letters of the alphabet, to be awarded the Slightly Rusted Iron Skillet of Doom (whatever it may do) for applying the Smell Things ability to a Monkey with Rheumatism, to do anything you can think of at all.

Of course, none of these ideas would pass, because they'd be un-thematic.

Just my two cents. Don't spend them both in the same place.

Proposal : Bovine Spongiform [Trivial]

[ Gah, I thought the "recharge time of three Lacunae" clause for the Isle of the Sun meant that it took three Lacunae to Resupply there, but it doesn't, does it? I assume the intention was to give ships two impossible-to-Resupply Lacunae in which to sail away, after they'd stocked up on steak. ]

Remove the sentence "All Ships must Resupply at the Isle of the Sun whenever they legally can; however, an Order to Resupply here has a recharge time of three Lacunae." from the Isle of the Sun, in Rule 19. (Since you can't go beyond the Island until you've Resupplied there, this original clause is more or less obsolete.)

If "Lacuna Eclipse" passed (which shed the ruleset's only other mention of 'recharge times'), then remove "Recharge time" from the Glossary. (It made dramatic sense for Super-Powers, last Dynasty, but is much clearer when worded in plain English, for other game aspects.)

Passed 10 to 1 by Keitalia at 14:42 GMT, 04.15.2004. +2 to Kevan, +1 to Keitalia.

Proposal : Lacuna Eclipse [Trivial]

[ Really just allowing the Poet to end a Lacuna prematurely if all Captains have submitted Orders for the next one, since we're not waiting for anything else. But I'll tidy the rules up a bit while I'm here. ]

Remove the text "The Poet may execute the Actions legally [...] higher number than the previous." from Rule 12 (Distance).

Enact a new Rule, "Lacunae":-

The period of time between one implementation of Ship Orders by the Poet and the next is called a Lacuna. An implementation of Ship Orders by the Poet may be said to end one Lacuna and begin another. The poet makes a post to weblog at the start of a new lacuna, including the Lacuna number. (Each new Lacuna gets a number one higher than the previous.)

If a Lacuna has lasted for more than four days, or if all Captains have submitted Orders for the end of that Lacuna, then the Poet may end that Lacuna.

Passed 11 to 0 by Keitalia at 14:40 GMT, 04.15.2004. +2 to Kevan, +1 Keitalia.

Proposal: Reveille [trivial]

Create a new Rule, numbered 28 1/2, entitled "Reveille":

When a Mariner votes in favor of a Proposal, he or she should include the word "huzzah" in the same comment in which his or her vote is placed, if he or she feels that the Proposal creates a game mechanic which allows all Mariners significantly greater control over the fate of the game, their Ship, etc. Such a Mariner is called a Huzzaher.

Provided it does not time out, a Proposal in which over half of all counted votes are cast by Huzzahers, and in which the Poet is a Huzzaher, is said to be Huzzahed. Upon a Huzzahed Proposal's passage, the author of the Huzzahed Proposal (the Huzzahee) gains 20 Morale in lieu of the usual Morale bonus for the passage of the Proposal; additionally, Huzzahers gain 5 Morale. This Rule is then repealed.

There seems to be some frustration about lack of Mariner participation, and I think there's some merit to it. I'm not ideally situated to know what would help, however. This proposal would sound a "wake-up call" and provide rich rewards to the one who came up with an ideal solution.

Passed 12 to 0 by Satyr Eyes at 6:36 GMT, 04.15.2004. +3 to Satyr Eyes.

Proposal : Row Damn you.

Create the following upgrade "Slaves", adding its description to the Actions rule

Slaves 10 Supplies A ship with slaves must spend an additional 3 supplies/ lacuna in order to feed them. Slaves count as mariners on that ship for the purpose of all ship calculations. Slaves have a morale of -100, and a speed of 2. A ship may only purchase the slaves upgrade once.

Timed out; failed 5 to 6 by Satyr Eyes at 6:30 GMT, 04.15.2004. -3 to ChinDoGu, +1 to Satyr Eyes.

Proposal : Prophets of real Power [Trivial]

Add the following to the description of the job "Prophet"

The presence of a Prophet on a ship adds one to the Ship's Foresight value; if it did not have Foresight before, it instead gains Foresight (1).

Passed 8 to 3 by Keitalia at 1:52 GMT, 04.15.2004. +2 to ChinDoGu, +1 to Keitalia

Proposal: Alternate Solution to Depression (trivial)

Add to the rule entitled Depression:

If a Mariner who has Depression proposes a non-trivial proposal and that proposal passes (without being declared trivial in voting), he/she may remove the ailment Depression from him/herself within 24 hours of the proposal's passing.

Here, now you don't have to feast; you just have to be useful ;)

Failed 5 to 5 by Keitalia at 1:27 GMT, 04.15.2004. -3 to Cayvie, +1 to Keitalia.

Proposal: Natural Log Rhythm [trivial]

I notice no one is posting logs, perhaps reflecting what may be seen as a paltry 2 Morale reward and the difficulty of getting everyone to post in a given Lacuna. Therefore:

In the first paragraph of Rule 26, "Logs," change "the Protagonist gains 2 Morale" to "the Protagonist is exempt from Homesickness penalties when the Poet moves Ships, immediately subsequently". Additionally, change the second paragraph from:

If during a Lacuna all Mariners aboard a Ship post Log Entries that receive such For votes, the Captain of that Ship gains 10 Morale; additionally, all Mariners on that Ship are exempt from Homesickness penalties at the end of that Lacuna, as the ship's community is so intimate that its crew barely misses home.

to:

If during a Lacuna at least half of the Mariners aboard a Ship post Log Entries that receive such For votes, all such Mariners gain 5 Morale and lose the Ailment "Depression," if they have it.

Working Depression in gives Captains a mode of getting rid of Depression that doesn't entail Feasting for a Lacuna, but only if they encourage cooperation among their crew.

Failed 5 to 7 by Cayvie at 4:18 GMT, 04.13.2004. -3 to Satyr Eyes, +1 to Cayvie

Lacuna 6: Pray...

There was a knock on the door of the golden chamber. “Enter,” commanded a hoarse voice. Zeus had strained his vocal cords the previous night holding assembly with the Olympian gods, exhorting them to ever greater efforts in cementing the current generation of gods’ burgeoning rule over the world and its people. Grumbling, he reached to a side table by his throne for a sip of nectar.

The door opened, and Hermes, resplendent in the winged helmet and boots that were his signature, entered Zeus’ audience room. “Amphitrite, your majesty,” he announced in a high tenor.

“Amphitrite?” exclaimed a surprised Zeus. “I was expecting her husband.” Poseidon had been absent from the Olympian council the previous night. This was not unusual; the other gods were frequently too busy to attend Zeus’ congresses, some even spurning them for political reasons. But Zeus insisted that his elder brother be kept apprised of developments in the worlds of gods and mortals, and had summoned him here to fill him in on what he had missed. “Hermes, show the lady in. Then be a good lad and fetch some wine from Dionysos’ cellars, for the lady and I to share.”

“That won’t be necessary,” said Amphitrite, insinuating herself into the chamber. “I won’t be staying long.” Zeus marveled at the attractive nereid’s complexion, which always appeared to be shimmering with water even when she had been on land for some time. Nodding, he dismissed Hermes and focused his attention on his visitor.

“Welcome to Olympus,” he began. “Your husband is well, I trust?”

“Well but indisposed,” replied Amphitrite. “He has a lot of prayers to answer. The Greek heroes on the wine-dark sea have been bothering him for help a good deal of late. I offered to go to Olympus in his stead today, as he was rather tired. He apologizes for his absence.”

“Tell him he should have visited in person,” Zeus said, shaking his head. “Audience with me is a duty as well as a privilege, especially for the lord of the sea. Nonetheless, thank you for coming up.”

“An honor, your majesty.” Amphitrite’s face, Zeus noted, was severe and cold as ice, in spite of – or perhaps accentuating – her beauty. His thoughts turned momentarily to his own bride Hera; considering, he decided that while Amphitrite was decidedly the better-looking of the two, he did not envy Poseidon his willful and calculating wife.

Zeus continued. “I’d been hoping to discuss politics with Poseidon. His third of the world and mine have to stay in accord if we gods are to… well…” Zeus caught himself just in time. He had been about to say “retain control of the world,” quite forgetting that the current gods’ control of the world had come through the violent removal of the Titans – including Amphitrite’s father Nereus, whom Poseidon had overthrown. Exacerbating tensions between the Titans and Zeus’ regime would not be a wise career move. “…Maintain harmony amongst ourselves,” Zeus finished smoothly. “Since he’s not here, however, I’m afraid I don’t have much to say. Bring him my regards, if you would. Oh, and tell him to stop playing favorites with the Greek sailors; he’s ruining Eris’ betting pool.”

Amphitrite bowed. “I will tell him – though I suspect he would assure you that his favor is not all it seems. If there is nothing further, my lord, I bid you good day.”

“Good day to you, Amphitrite. May you never lack for power or wisdom.”

Proposal: Skip to the end (TRIVIAL)

For the next lacuna, all ships' speeds are doubled.

Failed 2 to 8 by Cayvie at 4:17 GMT, 04.13.2004. -3 to Josh, +1 to Cayvie

Proposal: Holy Cow [trivial]

At the huge speeds some of our Ships have been reaching -- kudos to their able Captains, by the way! -- it is not inconceivable that some Captains will try to bypass the Isle of the Sun completely. This would disproportionately disadvantage smaller ships which would have to stop at Circe's isle, Descend to the underworld, and employ their Foresight to survive the Isle of the Sun while their swifter competitors coasted right past it. And it seems a shame to let people reach Ithaca without surviving the greatest trial Odysseus and his men faced in song and story. Faster Ships should face the same trials as slower Ships; if anything, they should face more, as we agreed when we exempted the furthest-behind Ship from Sailing rolls. Hence:

In Rule 19, "Mariner's Map," change the Isle of the Sun's distance zone from "25-15" to "20-15". Add between the first and second full sentences of its description: "No Ship may have Distance less than 15 unless it has Resupplied here at least once; Ships that have not Resupplied here have their Distances set to 15 whenever their Distances would otherwise fall below 15."

The story reason: there's a storm brewing, and the Ship has to dock and wait it out. Same as in the source material.

Enacted 9 to 0 by Keitalia at 3:43 GMT, 04.13.2004. +2 to Satyr Eyes, +1 to Keitalia.

The Sun's Rim Dips, the Stars Rush Out...

As twilight falls, the mariners aboard the Eriphyle spy a tattered white sail upon the horizon to stern, approaching at a rate no mortal crew could match. Dunam, called the great-hearted, barks for all hands to come on deck. Those on the ship watch the advancing specter with an ever-increasing sense of dread...

The Ghost Ship Calypso declares an attack on the SS Eriphyle. The attack will, of course, be a Massacre. Any priests aboard the Eriphyle now have twelve hours to perform a ritual before the phantom ship arrives alongside them.