The American Experiment (Riot Quest)

This has been fighting me for a while, but I managed to get it sorted out.

A web of truths

Dockyards, New Orleans, Louisiana

Harry Fisher was a dockworker, and proud to consider himself a good one. He shifted his share of every load assigned to his team, and helped make sure the rest got shifted when someone was having an off day. He certainly wouldn't have any truck with damaging crates, or letting anyone else do so, nosirree! He had a living to make, a family to support, and hopes of making foreman in a few years. Not everyone who worked with Harry liked him, but enough did that when he asked for a favor, they were willing to go along.

Nobody had to do much, just remember a few shippers' marks, and where those crates got stored. Harry had to note down all of what he was told, which would have been difficult a few years ago, but... he'd always believed it was good to make friends.

At the end of his shift, Harry folded up a sheet of paper, and tucked it in his lunch bucket between the sheets of newsprint that had been wrapped around his midday meal. Later in the week, he would take a sheaf of such papers to a meeting, where everyone knew he was learning his numbers and letters.
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Nancy Whittaker knew a lot. One thing she knew was which Army officers had wives who would talk a lot at well-catered Society Teas, and willing to save a bit of money having coloured servers, so long as they dressed and behaved properly. (Any dark thoughts about what "proper behavior" constituted was carefully saved for the conversations after such Events, when she carefully made time for servers to vent in a safely curated space. There were many.)

Nancy knew that talking out grievances didn't necessarily help make it better, but (from long experience) it did tend to help keep one's temper. Other things that helped her with keeping an even countenance were helping others, such as her weekly meetings to teach others what they need to better their employment. And, of course, making connections that helped her to help others in other ways. Such as that nice Army inspector who had come through town last week...
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Josiah Woodlawn was a man who believed in responsibility. As a prominent businessman in Philadelphia, he felt he needed to know who he did business with, and to make sure undesirable elements didn't get into the city. As such, he made sure to network with others in the community, finding out what they needed, and who could give that to them. As such, he was making sure to meet newcomers, like David McLaurin, a cousin of the Governor of Mississippi, and a man with many business connections across the South.

The end of the war was certainly an occasion that warranted a Social Event, with everyone of importance present, if they could at all help it. Alas for Mr McLaurin, it seemed his evening would be cut short. After receiving a note from a servant, he rudely cut his conversation short and rushed out, causing a bit of a stir.

"I wonder what could have made him leave in such a hurry," one of the ladies in Josiah's circle tittered. "It must have been terribly important."

Josiah smiled inwardly, knowing she was one of the greatest gossips present. "I cannot say for certain, but I would imagine it may be related to the Army inspector who has been trying to track down shipments of armaments stolen from the army. I have heard they were smuggled to those neo-Confederate mobs down South, in crates shipped by his company. Which, well… the most charitable inference one could draw is that he is terribly negligent in hiring decisions. But, if it were just that, I don't see why the investigation would be pursuing him here."

And while I'm sure he will be saying this is all a web of lies, this is the confluence of a web of truths.

@Physici Omake bonus for synergy with TOD Agitation and Southern expansion actions - it's discovered that the White League is getting armaments stolen from the Army. (Which is passed on for use in the Orange Disciples' campaign to shift attitudes.)