[UA] Whiskey Flask

[Tim Toner]

----- Original Message -----
From: Royal Minister of Stuff <yokeltania at yahoo.com>
To: <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2001 11:43 PM
Subject: Re: [UA] Whiskey Flask


> What?  Someone please explain this reference to me.  I
> don't go to many cons.  (But I have done an "Eye of
> Argon" reading, if that's applicable.)
>
> --- Timothy Toner <thanatos at interaccess.com> wrote:
> >
> > My Ghod, people!  We have our Whiskey Flask!

It's a polarizing topic based on a subjective reading of the rules that
defies all attempts to reach a consensus.  The origin of the term (though
not the concept) comes from the early days of Mage:  the Ascension, when
someone asked how Life could be used Coincidentally. (Brief explanation for
those who've never played Mage--there are two kinds of Magick:  Coincidental
and Vulgar.  Coinicdental magick involves finessing certain circumstances so
that a magickal effect can be disguised as something that might have
happened, "as a coincidence."  To travel, we use Correspondence.
Teleporting there is Vulgar.  Having a cab stop right in front of you,
driven by a former NASCAR champ and catching only green lights is
Coincidental.  Ugly Coincidental, but Coincidental).  Someone conjectured a
'healing potion,' disguised as whiskey.  When the person wanted to be
healed, he'd reach into his coat pocket, retrieve the whiskey, and take a
swig.  The question is--did the whiskey flask have to be there in the first
place?  Might it be possible, since no one saw the contents of your pockets
prior to your removal of the flask, to have the flask just kinda be there?
Or would you need Matter first to make the bottle out of nothing, and then
Life to pull off the Coincidental effect?  There was so much rancorous
arguing back and forth, that the argument was put down only after a scorched
earth campaign in which three of the most obnoxious posters were booted off
of the mailing list.  In the years that followed, 'Whiskey Flask!' was
invoked whenever we found ourselves heading down the dark path away from
Games as an Amusement to Games as Source of Pride.  The amazing thing is
that the topic was revisited time and again about every six months, mostly
brought up by new players who stumbled across it (or a variation, the most
significant being the 'cigarette case,' to avoid bullets) on their own.


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