Episode 92 (S3-07) - "Bringing Down the House"

[Oneiros]

OR: "Messages in a Bottle Episode"

It's not quite the Fall of the House of al-Tahan, but it looks like there are rough waters ahead as Hamid and his siblings will have to steer the family ship (of the desert) through a (sand)storm of publicity and shame. Can Hamid handle the family PR as deftly as he does for the Rangers/LOLOMG?

And Grizu/Azop get to grips with the finer points of friendship and folk dealing with problems in their own way, but not before some 'misunderstandings' have taken a critical turn...

It's an episode of contrasting halves this week, yet neither lets up on the emotion as the struggles to keep folk together are just as real and raw, regardless of whether it's a family trying to cover its mistakes or an adventuring group still working on the ties of friendship & family. Difficult times all round and we haven't even got to the root of Hamid's family tree or just what is in the bank safety deposit box that they have a key to. What further mystery lies within? And what of Howard Carter's (yes, for it is he) drunken revelations of taking the blame for the city's woes? Will LOLOMG take the time to sift the sands on that one?

[scottfrombeantown]

That went about as well as one could expect for a bunch of drunken hooligans going up against two trained fighters. Poor Grizzop trying to put his victim's legs back on was both heartwarming and terrifying. Plus Alex's muffled wails as Carter made me snort coffee out of my nose.

And one of these days, Azu will successfully comfort somebody.

[akelis]

May 30, 2018 11:32:27 GMT scottfrombeantown said:

And one of these days, Azu will successfully comfort somebody.

In perhaps her most important effort, Azu did comfort Hamid upon their fist meeting with maximum effort hugging, so I think she's allowed a few other flubs now and then.  In fairness though, she's doing far better than Bertie in the not just slaughtering all furniture and even making an effort to reduce the damage caused by drunken goblins that are apparently a bit rubbish at not upsetting the local grumps.

As for Hamid... that was a wonderful effort to both diffuse and assist with the situation.  I have mixed feelings about how right what his father did really is because his brother is not facing the actual harm he has done.  Hamid is right that he needs responsibility, but he genuinely needs punishment in an environment where his access to alcohol and other tools of escape are removed. Other than being older, I don't understand why his father cannot leave the guiding of the family to him at this point unless they feel Saira is genuinely better suited to understand and manage it all.  I once again ended this episode wanting to give poor Hamid a hug.

[lego]

I think generally, Saleh should have taken the fall - Saleh the younger - but I cant blame his father for wanting to protect his son.

I'm glad Hamid finally managed to get his father to talk to him, that was important, and hes definitely grown up a lot.

akelis, are you saying Saleh should have left the guiding of the family to Saleh or Hamid?
cause i think that Saleh's reasoning against Saleh, is that he needs to be punished, and shouldn't necessarily be allowed to run things if hes willing to kill people, and Hamid doesnt want to because he is currently running a mercenary company and on a mission from the meritocrats. Also I think Saira? is better placed to run the company in the sense that she's just better at it

[Azu4HeadPriestess2018]

Kudos to Alex this week for some EXCELLENT chewing the scenery this week when RP'ing Howard Carter.

[lego]

I do feel bad for Bryn (and Alex) these past few episodes, having to listen to the utter hilarity of Azzop, and then jump straight back in to tense emotional conversations!
some excellent roleplaying guys!

[annoyingbard]

I was surprised that Hamid didn't stand up to his father more firmly. He seems to have taken the idea of just letting him confess to a murder he had no part in laying down.

[lego]

yeah, he seemed surprisingly alright with that.

[tabbyclaw]

May 30, 2018 12:38:36 GMT akelis said:

I have mixed feelings about how right what his father did really is because his brother is not facing the actual harm he has done. Hamid is right that he needs responsibility, but he genuinely needs punishment in an environment where his access to alcohol and other tools of escape are removed.

That was touched on briefly. Dad tasked Hamid with seeing that his brother is "kept away from people" so he can't hurt anyone else. Time will tell exactly how that shakes out, but he's not ignoring the fact that Saleh himself needs to be dealt with.

Regarding how willing Hamid is to go along with letting his dad take the fall, I suspect that's down to being aware that he can only push so far. Dad is barely willing to listen to "I will go along with you if you just let me help" at this point; further attempts at 'I can't let you do this' are going to result in Dad refusing to listen to anything he has to say.

[Brave Sir Robin]

Hamid sees his father's action as a noble sacrifice. It's not the plan he would have proposed initially, but once his father did he was fully on board. He's not just reluctantly going along with it. Hamid still has a lot to figure out.

[elbereth2502]

I do not think, that Hamid's father does the right thing to teach his son a lesson about responsibilities. Saleh jr. should face the consequences of his doings by admitting that he did murder a person. The al-Tehan family is in a bad place with either, the father OR the son, having to commit to it, but with the father taking the blame, I think the son will not learn. But I felt good to see Hamid's father accepting Hamid as nearly an equal and to recognise him as a grown up. I pity Hamid's sister a bit, because she said, she wanted to get away from the family business and now, without asking her, Saleh sr. and Hamid just decide that she hast to become the head of the business. At least asking her would have been nice or respecting the things she told Hamid the day he arrived.

Grizzop's attempt to reattach the legs he shot off the drunk man were hilarious. A drunk Goblin-Palladin who tries his best to not kill someone and diffuse such a situation with healing the guy he nearly killed will be a picture I will have in my head for very long. And I am very sure Azu will one day have a glorious moment when comforting someone (there must be a natural 20 out there for her). The bar brawl in itself was such a funny scene - especially Azu's non-lethal cleave through a lot of drunkards - I really had problems to continue my breakfast without choking because of laughing.

P.S.: Thanks to Alex I now cannot get "we go together" from Grease out of my head.