A Few Students [7 Hivvem 4385, Barency]

[sythyry]

Mirrored from Sythyry.

Me: “That’s rather a lot of students.”

Mump: “Bah! Sixteen students? That would be a small class — a tiny class!!”

Me: “I am not, however, a teacher.”

Mump: “Nor do I expect you to teach them! Alzagonde, Hrone, and Vind are going — they are senior students, which in Vheshrame you might term graduate students, and they will instruct and guide the others!”

Me: “That improves matters somewhat. Still, this list of passengers is quite large.”

Mump: “It has been trimmed down to the barest essentials!”

Me: “The barest essentials average out to more than one non-student per student!”

Mump: “What, do you expect Prince Rastomil to go without a retinue, a bodyguard?”

Me: “There’s a prince on there?”

Mump: “I do not know how it is in Vheshrame, but in Barency, the flower of the nobility attend our school, and many of them study Behavior of Primes. After all, to govern people, one must first understand people.”

Me: “He seems to be specializing in the transaffectionate. This shows his excellent judgment and impeccable taste.”

Mump: “I suppose that is one way to interpret the situation. In any case, many students are bringing along their spouses. This is a matter of some urgency to them! They do not want to be thought to be going along to be transaffectionate themselves!”

Me: “Understandable, though rather insulting. I would like an annotated list, explaining who these people are and what their relationships are like. Otherwise I shall be tremendously confused.”

Mump: “Ridiculous!”

Me: “I shall not fly them otherwise; they may not enter my skyboat.”

Mump: “After various further remonstrations, I shall agree to have a graduate student prepare it.”

And here it is. Even with the list in hand, I am tremendously confused.

Name	Demography	Notes
Alzagonde	Rassimel woman, student	Senior student / instructor.
Amberstripe	Herethroy woman, servant	Chaperone to Rastomil
Arkathia	Orren woman, student	Wife of Burbot and Strappie
Balinbrax	Rassimel man, non-student	Sycophant of Rastomil
Bryef	Cani man, non-student	all the Cani are married, bodyguard of Rastomil
Burbot	Orren man, non-student	Husband of Arkathia and Strappie
Claryelle	Herethroy woman, servant	Entourage of Kerria
Cluthe	Cani woman, non-student	all the Cani are married
Dance-dap	Orren woman, non-student	Wife of Mhebb and Morayfay
Frippin	Orren woman, student	in danger of flunking out
Vind	Rassimel man, student	Senior student / instructor
Gresh	Cani man, non-student	all the Cani are married
Hrone	Cani man, student	Senior student / instructor; all the Cani are married
Invincible Fire Demon	Orren man, student	Son of the High Priest of Flokin, who is also a great lord and hero of Barency
Isko	Rassimel man, student	Some kind of baron
Izet	Cani woman, student	all the Cani are married
Jagraton	Rassimel man, servant	Bodyguard of Rastomil
Kazrie	Rassimel woman, servant	servant of the Cani
Kerria	Herethroy co-lover, student	mari of Tarragina; Grand Baron
Mhebb	Orren woman, student	Wife of Dance-dap and Morayfay
Molazasrie	Rassimel woman, student	disgraced minor nobility from Tauvane
Mongwose	Orren man, servant	Servant of Arkathia
Morayfay	Orren man, non-student	Husband of Dance-dap and Mhebb
Postmarine	Orren woman, student	Some kind of esquire
Rastomil	Rassimel man, student	Sixth child of the Duke of Barency; playboy
Schranie	Cani woman, student	all the Cani are married
Sizzletap	Orren man, non-student	Not sure why he’s here at all.
Strappie	Orren man, student	Husband of Burbot and Arkathia
Tarragina	Herethroy woman, non-student	wife of Kerria
Thivie	Cani woman, non-student	all the Cani are married
Trust	Cani man, non-student	all the Cani are married
Unispike	Herethroy co-lover, student	cosi of the Duke of Barency’s main personal lieutenant.
Vumachs	Cani man, non-student	all the Cani are married
Wentalilla	Rassimel woman, non-student	Secretary and bodyguard of Rastomil
Wetwetwet	Orren man, servant	Servant of the Cani

Comments

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

DOOM

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

DOOM

[dracosphynx.livejournal.com]

I approve of Invincible Fire Demon.

I look forward to Vae turning them all into fish for the duration of the trip so you can keep them safely isolated in an aquarium.

[rowyn]

I wonder if he picked Invincible Fire Demon for himself, or if his father named him that and he's been too scared to change it his entire life.

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

Suggested name change for the future: "Demonstratively-Vincible Fire Demon"

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

If it ever proves to be incorrect, I imagine his name will be the last thing on his mind.

[allessindra.livejournal.com]

Maybe if, instead of alinear list, you created a tree-structure for displaying htem it might get less confusing. Your translator should know what I mean.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

[Translator doesn't want to that much work!]

[brynndragon.livejournal.com]

I just split it up into relationship groups. It's clear a lot of the ballooning comes from 1) all the Cani having to go together (rather than just the ones who are students or guarding the playboy) and 2) Rastomil taking a noble's advantage of the situation. Also, what is up with Sizzletap? Is Mumps trying to prove he can make you jump through his hoops? Or is someone in the closet?

[zeeth_kyrah]

Frippin seems unattached as well; perhaps he's coming along to spend time with her?

[brynndragon.livejournal.com]

Actually, several of the students are not part of a group: Alzagonde, Frippin, Vind, Isko, Invincible Fire Demon, Molazasrie, and Postmarine. He could be/end up with any of them, or some combination of them, depending on the doom quotient of his presence.

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

Frippin is a student, at least.

Students are allowed.

[brynndragon.livejournal.com]

A quick check: All the Cani are married to each other, right? It's not that they're all married to someone who might or might not be on the list?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I ... think so?

[brynndragon.livejournal.com]

Ah, this is the list straight from Mump. I'd've assumed so as well, it's the right sort of number to be a Cani family.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

[waaauuuggghh, too many characters]

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

[Don't worry, only a few of them will show up at all.]

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Riiight.

I hope you all haven't left yet... because here is what I think is going on.

I think that, whether he means to or not, Mump is trying to pull one over on you -- be a social bully, get his way with you, whatever...

I think you need to have a chat with your crew, tell them that this number really isn't acceptable, and get their ideas and suggestions for what to do about it. Listen closely to the Cani, especially!

What I would suggest is some good old fashioned intimidation. Call each of them in, one at a time, and tell them The Rules Of the Ship. Ask them, specifically, why THEY want to come on the voyage, what their intentions are, who they have a relationship with, how they feel about going, etc. Also make sure to tell them that they will likely be getting adventurer experience, and that there is likely going to be risk to their person, and maybe even their soul, on the voyage. Then have them MEET some of those risks... Vae and hCevian. Then give them an opportunity to back out.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Sooo, roughly like this?

(Red = Rassimel, Green = Herethroy, Purple = Cani, Orange = Orren)



Unispike is a bit of an outlier on the Rastomil entourage because the table doesn't explicitly say that this person is part of the entourage, though parental association suggests it.

(Don't have patients to make all the names fit nicely in the circles.)

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

[Wow, that's quite a good diagram, especially considering how much I'm paying you. Should I do something with it,like post it in an actual entry? -bb]

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

If you'd like to, you can. It's kind of crappy, what with the names not really fitting, but if you think it'd be useful, to readers or to Sythyry, feel free! :)

[kris-schnee.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you were a Rassimel, to put in such organized effort! This has me wondering about the organizational-chart and slide-presentation habits of the other primes.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

I'm rarely very Rassy at all; I just needed something to constructively distract me during some procrastination. I thought this would be better than repeatedly clicking "Refresh".

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

OMG, PATIENCE. What was I smoking?

[beetiger.livejournal.com]

I thought maybe you wanted to give people something to do if they were bored in irooms or something. :)

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

This is awesome!

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

This diagram is wonderful! Thank you!

[rowyn]

I guess you should be glad the Herethroy couple didn't bring their husband and his other family? }:)

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

With this many people you're going to have to rope off a section of the ship for them, basically. Assuming that's even practical with the geometry or lack thereof.

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the combination of "It has been trimmed down to the barest essentials!” and "Sizzletap: Not sure why he’s here at all."

That DEFINITELY happens with Orren.

[zeeth_kyrah]

... what if Sizzletap is going to try to convert Inconnu?

I wonder who'll end up with the infinite resurrection medal?