Re: The OOC Discussion Thread

[Jeremy Silverstein]

When was the last time? They met after the raid on the hospital, but didn't really chat. The time after the vampire kidnapping?

The last time I can remember was when he was prepping you and Adley for your time adventure.

We seem to always miss each other

Anyway, there's two obvious times they might run into each other; while Nick is retrieving the wooden crate [assume it's still in the basement somewhere, unless it still contains vampire] or in the workshop making preparations.

Unless you've got any other ideas?

That sounds good.

I could also bring Morrigan along since I'm suppose to be giving her a tour of the chantry. Could be a convenient way for everyone to meet up, unless you want to keep the scenes separate.

[Nicole Bouchard]

I'm also up for a scene with Nic whenever and wherever. The more links and history with you guys, the better.

Plus, I'm kinda aware that in RL terms, it's gonna be some time before folks could chat with Nick again...

I could also bring Morrigan along since I'm suppose to be giving her a tour of the chantry. Could be a convenient way for everyone to meet up, unless you want to keep the scenes separate.

Well, what parts of the building have they not toured yet?

[Jeremy Silverstein]

Well, what parts of the building have they not toured yet?

We have currently toured through none of the building except for Serge's room and the common room.

So any part of the chantry is open to meet with Nicole.

[Nicole Bouchard]

Well, the best bet is to continue the tour and have them run into Nick either on the first or second floors. That while it's possible they might run into her in an upstairs hallway. Say, 6.15.

Unless either of you have a better idea?

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

Do you need for me to set up a scene for continuing the tour or do you guys want to do it?

[Morrigan]

Well, the best bet is to continue the tour and have them run into Nick either on the first or second floors. That while it's possible they might run into her in an upstairs hallway. Say, 6.15.

Unless either of you have a better idea?

No, that seems fine to me.

Do you need for me to set up a scene for continuing the tour or do you guys want to do it?

I think we can do it. This interaction is about done, and Morrie can suggest they see what else there is, and off we can go.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

Sounds good.

[Nicole Bouchard]

In other news; will Morrigan be going on the Seattle mission?

That depends on Morrgian and her player's desires.

Just thinking that if Morrigan doesn't go on the Seattle mission [after all, there's only limited slots for it and OOC from what little I know of her talents seems not best suited for it. Though obviously not my call] I don't mind double-scening; Nick and Morrigan going back to the hospital on a salvage / clean-up run around 7-8AM *and* Nick joining Colin in around 2PM for the preparing proper for the mission.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

You have to ask her I will let all player characters who's characters what to take part in the mission go but your suggestion also work then again Morrigan can be part of the salvage trip and the Seattle mission as well.

[Nicole Bouchard]

The IC conversation tangent with Colin has gotten me wondering about the possibility of Steelhaven getting a kind of manager/salesperson Acolyte at some point. Before Nick presses this tangent, are you fundamentally opposed to such an idea?

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

I am not oppsed to it og Steelhaven get something to sell or trade with sleeper society, for now the Chantry do not produce anything for sleepers.

[Nicole Bouchard]

Well, the Chantry doesn't *have* to produce for Sleepers, it only needs to find a way to pay for the Acolyte...

But thanks for clarifying that. I didn't want to have Nick explore an idea which is clearly never going to happen. [I know this does not mean 'it will happen', but at least it won't be shot down on principle alone].

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

But unless I understood you wrong you wanted an accolyte to conduct buessiness between the Chantry and sleepers, unless something is produced what do Steelhaven need an acolyte in such a position for? I mean if Nicole can convince the leaders of the Chantry that such a person will be of benefit then by all means but I am a little confused as to the benefit myself. But no she stand free to suggjest it and explain her idea.

[Nicole Bouchard]

No, more business between SH and other Chantries / Horizon realms. SH has assets which aren't being utilised that well, mainly due to the fact few residents have much entrepreneurial flair and/or lack the time/inclination to develop this. Get an Acolyte to leverage these assets better, use the profit to fund improvements of the Chantry. Example; Nick's thought of refurbishing the weapons recovered for resale to other Mages; it would be more effective if she then didn't have to hawk them from her own stall [so to speak].

Said manager may also be able to reduce the running costs in the Chantry by conventional means, like finding cheaper utility suppliers, targeted improvements and so on. Lastly, it will free up time for the Deacons etc to do other things which are better uses of said time.

In fact, they're soon heading to a place *full* of possible candidates for this role; Horizon. After all, they don't need an Awakened or even a Sorcerer to do this; merely a person who knows magick etc exists. May even be able to find some ambitious offspring of a resident trader/shopkeeper there who thinks being in Boston might be a good move career-wise.

[Warpmind]

It's not a bad idea - an in-house full-time administrator/accountant/librarian, though someone born and raised on Horizon might not be the best choice; would be better to hire someone Earthside, who is at least familiar with the Earthside issues.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

Well there is as mentioned both Bee's mother and Kyle's mother they are both True Believers and one of them might be willing to take the job.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

By the way now that not allot is happening would you guys like me to start the briefing for the Seattle mission scene and we can play that while the two scenes we have running can play out in their own pace.

[Nicole Bouchard]

Yeah, but a Horizonite might 'double-job' as say, a person buying Earth stuff to export 'home', which means the Chantry might not be so pressed to pay them a full-time salary etc. Plus, they may also find it more exciting being in Boston than a 'Earth-born' would. Also, more likely to be knowledgeable about magick [as in, the theory of etc] than an Earthling which will make them more useful in that direction. Lastly, hiring a Horizonite will perhaps be easier; there's more of them to choose from, the likes of Morgan have the contacts and being hired as an acolyte is hardly a mystery to them.

But as ever, merely thinking aloud here.

On the other point; with the mission planning, there's a bit of an issue as wouldn't that scene also involve the other two PCs?

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

They might be able to do both, hire someone from Gorizon to handle deals to and from Horizon and hire someone from Earth to handle managing the books and dealing with sleeper authorities, especially if the person from Horizon manage to find their own source on income they might be paid with a percentage of th take.

Everyone on Horizon knows a bit about magick that is true and being hired as an acolyte would be common. Jeffry having been born on Horizon himself have many contacts there and might be able to find someone to hire.

It would be the scene can start before they get there with characters interacting with one antoher.

[Nicole Bouchard]

Though it does depend on the Sleeper legal setup of the Chantry; SH does exist in the 'real world' and thus would need to be owned by someone/thing and pay taxes etc. Chances are, whatever setup is operated [company, charity, social club etc], they'd have a Sleeper lawyer/accountant functioning as a dummy boss on behalf of the Deacons and filing the tax returns etc [so they partly already have this].

As for Morgan's contacts, I was also thinking of his Hermetic status and age. They increase the chances of him being able to hear of possible candidates from a myriad of sources. But it does depend on the Deacons to effectively write the job role up *before* seeking applicants.

[Warpmind]

The next Deacon Primus is a Virtual Adept, I'm pretty sure he's got all the bureaucratic matters regarding the building in the palm of his hand, quite literally.

The legal inheritance of the building and everything associated with it from George Steelhaven is quite likely already taken care of, in fact.

...I suppose asking Alessia to take on a consultant role would be a magnificent deal for SH...

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

George Steelhaven oficcially own the building and he have a fund that pay for it's repairs and upkeep, so yes there is a legal part to that, the control of the fund as well as ownership of the building will pass to Narim when Master Steelhaven leave to become a Postulant.

Alessa would be a good accountanted, a very good one but she come with strings attatched to put it that way.

[Nicole Bouchard]

Speaking purely OOC, I'd have the Old Man turn SH into a 501(c) organisation - basically, a form of co-op, non-profit or charity at some time in the past. It not only makes them exempt from taxes, but also means the Old Man isn't on the hook for the 'expected profits' from a apartment building worth more than $10m+ and with a 'projected income stream' of at least $720k a year. [This is normal practice for rich people in the USA - avoid income tax, no inheritance tax etc.]

And while the Adepts etc *can* hack their way out of such things, chances are it would leave traces for the Union etc to find. Similar reason to why they don't simply get the IRS to spew out rebate cheques for all the characters. Plus, isn't this what Fortunae are [partly] for - to sort out elder Mages tax affairs etc so they don't have to worry about 'that kind of thing'. After all, obscurity is often the best defence. And the best thing is; we can continue to handwave it all.

'Strings attached' is partly the reason Nick didn't suggest Kinfolk for the role. A Horizonite would also normally have 'strings' which attach them *to* the Mages, thus increasing loyalty.

For the accountant/lawyer issue, it's possible they use the same one as another Chantry does. Or just some 'Lionel Hutz' type who for a c$5,000 a year retainer simply signs and files when needed and does not think any further than that. [Would explain why they're never heard of / seen].

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

Speaking purely OOC, I'd have the Old Man turn SH into a 501(c) organisation - basically, a form of co-op, non-profit or charity at some time in the past. It not only makes them exempt from taxes, but also means the Old Man isn't on the hook for the 'expected profits' from a apartment building worth more than $10m+ and with a 'projected income stream' of at least $720k a year. [This is normal practice for rich people in the USA - avoid income tax, no inheritance tax etc.]

I have no idea how such a system work, but unless that then risk the Chantry just being sold off or risk the Deacon Council loosing control over the Chantry that sounds like a good solution. However if that means the Deacons loose control of the Chantry the building will remain oficially owned by the Deacon Primus. Also I am sure each older Master have set up some sort of solution to have a persona set up in sleeper society. I have never worked out exactly who have such a persona and who do not as it is allot of work and is completely not important to the story at this point.

And while the Adepts etc *can* hack their way out of such things, chances are it would leave traces for the Union etc to find. Similar reason to why they don't simply get the IRS to spew out rebate cheques for all the characters. Plus, isn't this what Fortunae are [partly] for - to sort out elder Mages tax affairs etc so they don't have to worry about 'that kind of thing'. After all, obscurity is often the best defence. And the best thing is; we can continue to handwave it all.

I am sure most who live on earth have some sort of persona set up and pay taxes it have never been something I have worked out since it is not really something important to the story I just assume they have some sort of system in place, some cover story that hide that they are like 300 years old.

'Strings attached' is partly the reason Nick didn't suggest Kinfolk for the role. A Horizonite would also normally have 'strings' which attach them *to* the Mages, thus increasing loyalty.

Hiering someone from Horizon is quite possible to do if Nicole can convince the Deacon Council.

For the accountant/lawyer issue, it's possible they use the same one as another Chantry does. Or just some 'Lionel Hutz' type who for a c$5,000 a year retainer simply signs and files when needed and does not think any further than that. [Would explain why they're never heard of / seen].

You are thinking all the Chantries in the Tribunal have the same person who help out with accoutning and taxes that know about mages and just generally work for the mages of the Boston Tribunal? Well that is quite possible.

[Warpmind]

Pretty sure Narim won't need to "hack" his way out of IRS trouble, unless someone outside first manages to hack public records to tamper with Steelhaven Hall's filings. Both George and Narim are highly organized individuals, and George is an old lawyer, albeit on the Mage side of things; he knows how the legal bureaucracy works, and Narim's possibly one of the greatest geniuses in the state when it comes to processing and organizing information. We can probably assume that they already have the building/holding company/whatever registered as the most secure and economically stable arrangement available, whether that is a 501(c) or other form of formal ownership. Mind, they've most likely opted for security above profitability in terms of priorities, meaning the income is less than it could potentially be, but there are fewer angles of attack for, say, greedy entrepreneurs wanting the whole city block to plonk down a new skyscraper or something.

Basically, as the Umbral representation suggests, Steelhaven Hall is an unassailable fortress more than a profitable apartment building.

[Sponsored content]