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Brewing Trouble - A Flying Circus Quest

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Fermenting A Plan
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    • [3X][CLIENT] The great sky-train robbery.
    [2X][CLIENT] A manager at SIF is looking for someone to do... a discrete job. Good Pay advertised + Expenses.
    [2X][CLIENT] Escort the SIF Management Team Building Excursion.

    Okay, so voting was confusing this time, but I think this is an accurate tally. We'll start with hearing out the witches on the robbery, and you can vote for beginning negotiations or going to learn more about other jobs.

    Dipak sits down on the edge of a chair and strokes his beard. "I have to admit, I'm curious what a group of witches want to steal." You give him a shocked look. "It's fine! We're not agreeing to it. Besides maybe it's just a crime, not a crime crime, you know?"

    "Fine. We'll go see if it's crime crime or not."
    The three of you are squished onto a bench facing Maus. The place she asked to meet in is not literally a hole in the wall, but only because it's two holes in the wall, making an enclosed tunnel. The skewered meat is delicious, and you're having to restrain your temptation to make a scene. Cat and Dipak, the traitors, have already finished theirs and keep trying to steal from you.

    "So what are you- Hey! -what are you wanting us to do? We're not exactly equipped for sky-train robbery."

    Maus sips her drink, then sets it aside. "So, you've met the Giftkriegers. And thank you for shooting them down, by the way. Well, their habit of gassing people and stealing their stuff doesn't always completely work. A few years ago, my village was attacked- no, I don't need your sympathy.

    "We were attacked, but the Matron got us apprentices onto a visiting trader's plane, and we escaped." Her fist clenches on the table. "Everyone left behind... didn't survive."

    You all wait in silence. She's obviously struggling with her emotions. After what feels like a minute she resumes.

    "Our village, we were researchers of magic. Our founder worked on Gotha's Leviathan projects until she realized what she was doing was wrong. So she fled, hid, and then the world ended. But she continued studying, trying to undo what she had done. We might be safe for now, but eventually someone will pick up the knife and try to kill the world again.

    "The Goths who attacked, they didn't find the lab. The research. Unfortunately, those of us who escaped? All apprentices. None of us knew how to find it either."

    Dipak clears his throat. "That's a sad story, but how do you get from there to skyrail robbery?"

    "Dipak!" Cat reaches across you to smack his head. "She's getting there, don't be rude."

    "I'm not-" "Shh!"

    Grumbling, he rubs his head and looks back to Maus.

    She smiles slightly. "Don't worry, almost there. Us, the apprentices, we didn't know what to do, but we still keep in touch. Last week, Merle heard something at her job. She works as an assistant for a Manager. Someone found the vault and sold it to SIF."

    "And you want it back."

    "Exactly. We have a plan, but we need a distraction overhead, and if things go wrong, protection. Fortunately for us, they missed the last skyrail, so we had a chance."

    "Hmm. No offense, but can you afford us?"

    Payment? 2d10+2*Wealth = 16+6=22
    She laughs. "We're a coven of witches. Magic is remarkably useful for oh so many things," she flips her hand, "both honest and not. We're offering 22 thaler."

    Cat's eyes are glittering, but you put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll need to discuss it."

    "Don't take too long. If you're not interested, we'll have to find someone else. We fly in two days, that's when the skyrail returns from Südorf."
    Is this crime crime? Maybe.
    [] Take the job.
    [] Talk to the manager with a discreet job.
    - [] Actually, we'll take this job.
    [] Take the Escort job to Oberzell, the Glass City.
     
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    Llist of Proper Nouns and Names
  • Informational
    • I'm bad at remembering names, so I have this to keep me straight. Figured it might be useful for you all as well.

    People:
    - Elena - Caroline's sister who asked for help finding her.
    - Master Perlen - An old glider-knight who taught Leon to fly.
    - Dr. Bremen - The doctor in Kummerheim who treats Dipak's injuries.
    - Brunhilde - Leon's faithful maid.
    - Amrita - The Skyborn convoy leader.
    - Anik - A person working with Amrita.
    - Lieutenant Moser - An officer of the SIF-guard.
    - Dorian - One of the players in the card game with Leon and Dipak.
    - Jenny - The doctor helping with Leon's recovery and showing him around SIFstadt.
    - Sigvird - Legendary figure, owned a horse, also legendary.
    - Georgia - A rumble-bee farmer who hires Leon, Dipak, and Cat for a mission.
    - Schwinn - A scammer who stole Leon's billfold.
    - Johann - A factory worker at SIF, involved in Schwinn's card game scam.
    - Maus - A member of a coven of witches, involved in planning a heist.
    - Katze - Another person involved with Maus, possibly criminal.
    - Sergio - A bouncer at the Polished Prop.
    - Philip - A mechanic working on Cat's plane.
    - Merle - An apprentice witch who works as an assistant for a Manager.
    - Manager Stephan - Manager at SIF who is certain there's a conspiracy.
    - Esther Volkmar - Dipak's newest observer. Formerly SIF militia.
    - Elchie - Leader of the coven of witches that tried to betray you.
    - Doctor Zimmer - Doctor treating Cat in Berndorf.
    - Guildmaster Nikolai Durban - Guildmaster of the Berndorf Farmer's Guild. Arrogant and not very smart.
    - Majordomo Gunther - Head servant at your Estate.
    - Karl von Gerstenstadt - Your brother, in charge of the family Estate. Making a hash of it, as always.
    - Lamnia - Maker of fine prosthetic limbs in Berndorf.

    Places:
    - Kummerheim - The town where the story starts and where Cat is from.
    - Fokker Mountains - The mountain range cutting across southern Himmilgard.
    - Doana and Elba - Two of the three moons.
    - Albatros Valley - A lush green valley north of the Fokker Mountains.
    - River Rhona - A river that was poisoned during "The End".
    - Oberzell/The Glass City - A city that was turned to stone and then glass by a mysterious gas.
    - SIFstadt - A wealthy town with a skyrail manufacturing plant.
    - Steinbrunn - A town with a University, facing Goth trouble.
    - The Polished Prop - A fancy casino where the fight occurs. Run by people in blue shirts.
    - Südorf - A town mentioned as a destination for a skyrail.
    - The Clearing of Truce - A clearing where a Fae enforces a truce. Nobody there can be shot.
    - Berndorf - Home of the Farmers, and no slouch when it comes to industry. Located on the Donna river, with all the trade that implies. SIFstad's rival.
    - Fisher's Lament - Bar in Berndorf.

    Organizations/Groups:
    - Skyborn - A group or race of people who seem more comfortable in the air than on the ground.
    - Akash Saundary - The name of the Skyborn trading convoy arriving in Kummerheim.
    - Fishers - Fish-people that was scared away from SIFstadt by blue laws.
    - SIF - The heart and ruler of SIFstadt. A corporation. Surprisingly well managed, but still a government and a corporation.
    - SIF-guard - The SIFstadt militia that also protects trade in the region.
    - Goths - Fascists expanding southward to threaten SIFstadt.
    - Giftkriegers - Criminal bandits known for gassing everyone before stealing their stuff.
    - Flexible Mounts - A band playing at the Polished Prop.
    - The Farmer's Guild - Political Power in Berndorf. Bitterly opposed to...
    - The Dockworker's Guild - Political Power in Berndorf.

    Planes:
    - Königskondor L.1 - Leon's Airplane.
    - Cheetal - Dipak's airplane.
    - Ritter Pfau - Cat's airplane.
    - Theler Kobras - The type of aircraft used by the attacking pirates.
    - Spinnes - A type of triplane aircraft used by the Giftkriegers.
    - Ritter Falke - A legendarily bad plane.
    - Braun Puma - Cat's new plane.

    Other:
    - Flying Circus - A group of pilots that work as mercenaries.
    - Thaler - The currency. Worth a lot of money.
    - Scrip - The local currency in a town. Whatever it's actually called.
    - Osteogen - A medical treatment mentioned for healing bones.
    - Jägerin - What Cat's village wanted her to become. A hunter of Fae.
    - Windjammers - Skyborn airships that travel by sails.
    - The End - The end of the war, and the old civilization. When the old world went mad and nearly every city was destroyed.
    - Rumble bees - Flying insects that produce luftane-infused honey.
    - Luftane - A substance produced by rumble bees and sky whales, related to their ability to fly.
    - Old Gotisch - The language in which the opera is sung.
     
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  • Informational
    • We should take the Sky rail job, but I am *extremely* curious about this (curse my FOMO):

    [x] Talk to the manager with a discreet job.
     
    If we do choose the robbery, we should probably shuffle people around, since Dipak's gunner was pretty displeased about him jumping out last mission. Maybe leave Cat's plane behind and have her and Dipak fly together?
     
    Barley Sane
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    • Lots of talking, but exactly one vote for each of the options.
    I shall be the tiebreaker and pick the one that doesn't commit you to anything.
    [X] Talk to the manager with a discreet job.

    Compensation: 14+9=23 thaler
    You decided that actual criminals had much better taste than Managers attempting to act criminal. When you stepped into the grimy, run-down bar that was the location for your meeting, it was nearly silent. Everyone in the bar was looking towards the back room. The request had said "come alone", so your friends were leaning next to the door, ready for anything... anything stupid. And you couldn't rule that out.

    Pushing your way through the curtain you see Manager Stephan. One look makes it obvious why the bar was staring. You've never seen a more obvious rich person attempting to look poor, and you and your brother had tried when you were 13. Even so, his tiredness and worry is undisguised.

    Sitting down in the chair across from him you close your eyes and sigh.

    "The bird sings at midnight."

    "The cat get the milk. You're Leon von Gerstenstadt? I've heard great things about your family. Great things."

    "I sincerely doubt that. How can I help you?"

    "Ah, yes, straight to the point. I like that. You know, back when I was..." He pauses, seeing your expression. "Ahem. My department manages the expansion of the skyrail. Planning routes, doing the construction, all of that sort of thing. Lots of exploring, surveying, and so forth.

    "Anyway! Last month, one of the exploration teams found something. Too big to fly home, so they started traveling to the nearest skyrail station to send it home. And that's the last we heard from them. Normally, this would be a job for the militia. Except it turns out, that there's a conspiracy!"

    He reaches below the table and pulls out a thick folder with strands of yarn hanging from it. "I first suspected something when-"

    You hold up your hand. "Please, I don't need all the details, what kind of conspiracy?"

    He looks slightly disappointed, but sets the folder aside. "I suspect one of the other Managers is planning to betray us to the Goths. Someone has been intercepting messages from the exploration team, making sure they never reach me. Furthermore, they're in contact with someone outside of the city. I haven't been able to find out details, but I think it's something to do with the upcoming management team building trip.

    "In my snooping I managed to learn that the expedition team will be coming back on the next skyrail from Südorf. I want you to make sure it arrives safe and sound. If you can bring proof that someone tried to steal it, that would be even better. I don't want to involve the militia until the skyrail is on the way, or the traitor might get suspicious and hide. But if you can get proof. Well, we'll be heroes!"

    You're leaning back in your chair, biting your tongue. It hurts, so at least your not dreaming. He must mistake your disbelief at the situation as something else, because he leans forward.

    "Look, I know it sounds crazy. But I have 23 thaler in my discretionary budget, and I can guarantee repairs and access to the hospital. Even if I'm crazy the contract will be good. If you can get whatever is so important back safe, it's yours. What do you say?"
    What do you say and do?
    [] Write-in.

    Reminder, the format for plan votes is
    [X] Plan-Name
    - [X] Sub-item
    - [X] Sub-item
    Then you can vote for the whole plan by just doing
    [X] Plan-Name
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Oh this is priceless :rofl:

    God I'm way too tempted to just memevote for something funny and yet a) I'm too tired to think of what that might be, and b) I'm not quite tired enough to actually think that's a good basis for decisions anyway.

    So I'm going to bed. But this is friggin' great. Thanks for writing :)
     
    [X] Decline, go back to Maus and take the train robbery job.

    Something is fishy with both jobs here, but the train robbery will probably be the most mechanically interesting, and this guy is giving more bad vibes than the witches.
     
    Getting Ce-real
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    • [X] Decline, go back to Maus and take the train robbery job.

    And I didn't forget.
    [X][GETREAL] We need to talk.
    - [X] Cat
    - [X] Our relationship status
    - [X] Is she interested in dating Leon?

    "So we all agree that we'd rather help the witches rather than the crazy manager?"

    Both you and Cat nod. "He seemed really twitchy, I'm not sure he's entirely stable. I do feel a little bad for him though, his assistant is actually conspiring against him."

    Cat scoffs. "If he jumps straight to a massive conspiracy he's not the smartest knife in the belt. I say leave him."

    Dipak stands and dusts off his knees. "I'll go talk to Maus then, see if I can squeeze out some more pay. Better to do this one-on-one, I think. No offense, but you two are terrible bargainers."

    "Hey!" Cat interjects, "I saved you last time!"

    "Okay, but you also really want to do this job, don't you? Don't look at me like that, you've been going on and on about it being just like a story. No, you're staying here."

    You take the moment to speak up, "I'd like to talk to you anyway, if you have a moment." Stupid, of course she has a moment.

    Get Real (+Calm): 16+2=18, +1 XP
    Cat sits down in the chair she just vacated, but something in your voice must have given her a hint of how serious you were. She sits straight and looks at you.

    "Cat, I wanted to ask... Actually, Brunhilde, do you think you could..." and you wave vaguely at the door.

    She startles, then smiles and heads for the door. You're pretty sure you hear her mutter "Finally" on the way out.

    "Umm, I wanted to ask, I mean, if you don't mind, I... Okay, hold on a second." You take a moment to breathe. Calm.

    "I wanted to ask if we are just friends, or if, maybe we could be something, you know, more?"

    You look up from where you hands are clutching your knees to see Cat blushing furiously.

    "Leon, I don't think... I mean, you're a rich and famous person, and I'm just some half-breed who doesn't even know her own father from nowhere." She's hiding her face, looking away with hunched shoulders and you can see them shake with emotion.

    You stand up, step forward and take her hand. "Cat, no! That's not who you are anymore. You're Cat, the dashing heroic mercenary who beats up criminals and breathes fire. And I like you."

    She looks up, her bright green eyes shining, framed by her black, shimmering purple hair. "I didn't think, didn't want to hope. You're always so calm, so composed. And I'm violent and impulsive. Do you mean it?" She looks away nervously, "It's not that I don't trust you, but I need to hear you say it."

    You reach out and brush her cheek with one finger. "Yes Cat, I like you. I thought you were pretty when we met, but now I know you. And I know your beauty goes deeper than that. You can be a bit scary, but you want to help people."

    She stands, or you pull her up, but you're standing, holding her, looking up at her looking down. You can smell her, some flower and a hint of canola oil.

    She holds you back and in a serious tone "I need one promise from you. I'm not going to be some prize to put on the shelf, so promise me you won't try to coddle me, okay?"

    You nod. "I've met enough women who know nothing but clothes and parties to know that's not what I want. If you need your share of thrilling danger, then I'll be right beside you."

    Your arms wrap around each other and pull into a hug. "Is this a bad time to mention I've never had a boyfriend? Like, at all?"

    You smile at her, "We can take things slowly, there's no rush."
    How hard should Dipak push them? Current payday is 22þ, each success is +4þ, but adds a -1 to the roll (starting at Dipak's Daring of +3). 80% chance on the first push, falling to 50% on the 4th. Any failure is total failure.
    [][NEGOTIATE] ? Pushes.

    Dipak will also have time to find a new Observer before the flight, so that's handled.

    Where do we want to go? SIFstadt will probably be unfriendly, unless we kill everyone involved.
    [][TOWN] Berndorf, the center of farming in the region. SIFstadt's political and economic rival.
    [][TOWN] Glasturm, a town of a few hundred near Oberzell. Where exploration of the dead city starts from.
    [][TOWN] Maisfarm, a tiny, worthless village that nobody cares about.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • We have to push at least once to turn a profit, and AA is probably going to cost us more in repairs. Maybe push twice?

    As for the towns, while hiding out in a small village would probably be wise, the company just costs to much in upkeep. Berndorf is probably the best bet.

    Also, hopefully we didn't just hand Cat a death flag with that nice bit of romance…
     
    marshalcarolus said:
    We have to push at least once to turn a profit, and AA is probably going to cost us more in repairs. Maybe push twice?

    As for the towns, while hiding out in a small village would probably be wise, the company just costs to much in upkeep. Berndorf is probably the best bet.

    Also, hopefully we didn't just hand Cat a death flag with that nice bit of romance…
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I think your math is wrong. Salaries + Upkeep is 10þ per routine. Then expenses, but if you'd stop getting shot so much...
     
    [X][NEGOTIATE] 1 Pushes.

    Might as well roll it for one, but not honestly seeing a reason short of sheer naked greed to push for more at the moment- and if we really wanted that we should've gone for the corpo rat.

    [X][TOWN] Glasturm, a town of a few hundred near Oberzell. Where exploration of the dead city starts from.

    Showing up right after spitting in their rival's eye sounds like a great way to get a foot in the door. I mean, they're inevitably going to turn out to be some kind of shitheads culturally, governmentally, or both, but it'd be nice to cop a bargain and maybe make a friendly contact or two before that happens, right?

    Buuuuuuuut dead city and the daring, desperate, and/or deluded souls trying to explore it sounds like more fun than Rivalry 2.0: Uno Reverse: This Time It's Different, Electric Boogaloo: The Rerivaling. (For sufficiently horrific values of "fun", at least.)
     
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    [X][NEGOTIATE] 2 Pushes.


    [X][TOWN] Berndorf, the center of farming in the region. SIFstadt's political and economic rival.

    I just want to see what Berndorf is like compared to SIFstadt.
     
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