Castles of Steel - Lesbians Good, Imperialism Bad

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Lieutenant Arisukawa Haruna

Balance Stats
❁ • ❁ Work / Life ❁ • ❁
❁ • ❁ Warrior / Princess ❁ • ❁
❁ • ❁ Radical / Respectable ❁ • ❁

Tactical Stats
Gunnery 0, Navigation +2, Command +2, Technology -4, Personal -2, Strategy +3

Stress: 3​


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PLEASE READ THE QUEST RULES BELOW

You collectively vote on the actions of Arisukawa Haruna, the first woman to serve openly in the Imperial Akitsukuni Navy.

This quest is set in a universe which is much like our own circa 1910, but with different politics, cultural norms, and ideas about gender and sexuality, as well as some unusual and advanced technology in places.

We are using this quest to explore themes like breaking the glass ceiling, divergent outlooks on gender and sexuality, colonialism and imperialism, and the place of royalty.

Content Warning
This quest goes some dark places.

There is violence, often explicit, often unfair, often against undeserving targets.

There are not always good options forward. The protagonist is not necessarily a good person.

There is implied content and discussion of sexual harassment and assault.

This is a world where people are often racist, sexist, queerphobic bigots. Sometimes, even the PC and the people they are friends with.

Voting Rules

We will tell you if write-in votes are allowed. If we do not say that write-ins are allowed, they are not. This is to prevent people from unrealistically hedging their bets.

You may proposal other options in a non-vote format, subject to approval, on non write-in votes.

We will tell you when a vote allows approved voting. If we don't say the answer is no, pick an option. We like making people commit.

Discussions makes the GM feel fuzzy.

Game Rules
When we ask you for a roll, roll 3d6. You are aiming to roll equal or under the value of your stat. If you succeed, Haruna gets through the situation with no real difficulties. If you roll above the target value, Haruna will still succeed, but this success will cost her something or add a complication.

Whenever Haruna loses something or faces hardship from a botched roll, she takes Stress. The more Stress Haruna has, the more the job and the circumstances she's in will get to her, and it'll be reflected in the narrative. Haruna must be kept under 10 Stress: if she reaches 10 Stress, she will suffer a breakdown and the results will not be great for her.

Haruna loses stress by taking time for herself, by making meaningful progress on her dreams, and by kissing tall, beautiful women.

Meta Rules
Author commentary is in italics so you know it's not story stuff.

Please don't complain about the system or the fact we have to roll dice. We've heard it before, we've heard it a thousand times across multiple quests. We're not going to change it, and it wears at our fucking souls.

Just going "oh noooo" or "Fish RNGesus Why!" is fun and fine. Complaining at length because you didn't get what you want less so.

If you have a question, tag both @open_sketchbook and @Artificial Girl. If you only tag one of us, you will be ignored. Seriously, we both write this quest.

And yes this is an alt-history type setting with openly gay and trans people, ahistoric medicine, and weird politics. Just... deal, please?

This quest employs a special system called Snippet Votes. Please read this post for more information.
 
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[x] If you want excitement, you need to go look for it. Resume the boat's pointless patrols and go bug some fishermen. Maybe you'll turn something up. (Fate roll.)
[X] You still had some of those primers on electricity, the ones you picked up so that you could understand what Aiko was studying. Maybe make a real effort on those? (+1 Technical)

[Snippet] some of the old folks of the island keep trying to trick or convince Haruna into doing Shinto rituals because she has imperial blood
 
Oof! Haruna broke hard.

At least things are better now. Let's see how Aiko's doing.
And those fishermen might be getting a bit complacent. We should get one of our wonderful subordinates to get us some copper badges, cause I'm fixing to go enforce Murphy's law.

But really, there's a war on. We should probably stay in shape, otherwise Murphy's gonna bite us.
 
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Artificial Girl said:
"Bullshit. Nobody cares about your stupid kites." You retorted.
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*Angry airplane noises*
Artificial Girl said:
namely in that the younger supply ensign was apparently also some brand of Ichthysian, though not nearly the same one, and the two of them had a brief but hilarious argument about theology that made absolutely no sense to you,
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Let's be honest, it barely made sense to them, either. :V

[X] Get whatever newspapers and articles together that you can and get the best idea possible what the overall war situation is. You're honestly not sure anymore.
[X] You still had some of those primers on electricity, the ones you picked up so that you could understand what Aiko was studying. Maybe make a real effort on those? (+1 Technical)

I have no idea where we are in the war, either. It could be just after that disastrous offensive, it could be after smashing up the railhead and moving on to mopping up, it could be mere hours before the offer of surrender is extended.
 
[X] You let active drills slip while you were out of it. Get the ship running again and take her out. Drill the crew and make sure they're at the top of their game. Make sure all the new crew feel integrated and welcome, while you're at it. (+1 forward to your next roll with the crew in combat.)
[X] Put some of that influence to use and see if you can get the Kari moved to a port where you don't just sit around waiting for the war to end. You have a good crew and they should see some action! (Diplomacy roll)

I like the diplo roll over the fate roll to see some action.
 
Shit there are a lot of good choices here... These are the ones that stand out to me?


[ ] Get those baseball teams organized. It'll be a nice way of keeping your mind something that's not exactly work and it'll keep the men from being too bored. (+1 forward to the next roll involving crew discipline)

[ ] You let active drills slip while you were out of it. Get the ship running again and take her out. Drill the crew and make sure they're at the top of their game. Make sure all the new crew feel integrated and welcome, while you're at it. (+1 forward to your next roll with the crew in combat.)

[ ] If you want excitement, you need to go look for it. Resume the boat's pointless patrols and go bug some fishermen. Maybe you'll turn something up. (Fate roll.)

[ ] Hey, you've done a lot of reading since the days of the minisub. Maybe you should find an excuse to hang out with Ota, practice your Joseon, and talk about the world.

[ ] Get whatever newspapers and articles together that you can and get the best idea possible what the overall war situation is. You're honestly not sure anymore.

[ ] Put some of that influence to use and see if you can get the Kari moved to a port where you don't just sit around waiting for the war to end. You have a good crew and they should see some action! (Diplomacy roll)

I know that's almost half of them...
 
I feel like the letter and the tech manuals would dovetail together quite nicely. And I don't think we should be rushing back to combat after we just cleared our stress.

Edit: I've been convinced otherwise, Ota deserves a chat too.

[X] You're already writing overly long letters to Aiko, though you let it slip when things were at their worst. She's probably worried about you. Write her a huge letter and make it lovely.
[X] Hey, you've done a lot of reading since the days of the minisub. Maybe you should find an excuse to hang out with Ota, practice your Joseon, and talk about the world.
 
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[X] You're already writing overly long letters to Aiko, though you let it slip when things were at their worst. She's probably worried about you. Write her a huge letter and make it lovely.
[X] Hey, you've done a lot of reading since the days of the minisub. Maybe you should find an excuse to hang out with Ota, practice your Joseon, and talk about the world.

We can't *not* hang out with Ota after that, imo, and getting in touch with Aiko is good for haruna and her both <3
 
[X] You let active drills slip while you were out of it. Get the ship running again and take her out. Drill the crew and make sure they're at the top of their game. Make sure all the new crew feel integrated and welcome, while you're at it. (+1 forward to your next roll with the crew in combat.)
[X] You're already writing overly long letters to Aiko, though you let it slip when things were at their worst. She's probably worried about you. Write her a huge letter and make it lovely.

Drilling her command and making sure her responsibility area is ship shape and run competently is back to basics for Haruna. She's done it at every posting, so it should be a good touchstone.

And Aiko really deserves a good proper letter.
 
[X] You're already writing overly long letters to Aiko, though you let it slip when things were at their worst. She's probably worried about you. Write her a huge letter and make it lovely.
[X] Hey, you've done a lot of reading since the days of the minisub. Maybe you should find an excuse to hang out with Ota, practice your Joseon, and talk about the world.
 
[ ] You weren't staying on top of your fitness when you were out of it. Time to do something about that and get back into shape proper. Aiko did say she thought you looked good in the photo! (+1 to the next roll involving physical prowess, buff Haruna.)

B-but, Buff Haruna.
 
Rough update, but it's good to see Ota again. Glad we got through the bender without causing any disasters.

I'm actually getting fond of that Ichy officer. We should do something nice for him and his boyfriend.
 
[X] You're already writing overly long letters to Aiko, though you let it slip when things were at their worst. She's probably worried about you. Write her a huge letter and make it lovely.
[X] Hey, you've done a lot of reading since the days of the minisub. Maybe you should find an excuse to hang out with Ota, practice your Joseon, and talk about the world.
 
[X] Get those baseball teams organized. It'll be a nice way of keeping your mind something that's not exactly work and it'll keep the men from being too bored. (+1 forward to the next roll involving crew discipline)
[X] You let active drills slip while you were out of it. Get the ship running again and take her out. Drill the crew and make sure they're at the top of their game. Make sure all the new crew feel integrated and welcome, while you're at it. (+1 forward to your next roll with the crew in combat.)
 
[X] You're already writing overly long letters to Aiko, though you let it slip when things were at their worst. She's probably worried about you. Write her a huge letter and make it lovely.
[X] Get those baseball teams organized. It'll be a nice way of keeping your mind something that's not exactly work and it'll keep the men from being too bored. (+1 forward to the next roll involving crew discipline)
 
I think writing the letter is pretty important. Not in a "we have to do this or else!" way, but because the gap in communication could be jarring, and, maybe more importantly, I think pouring her experiences into a letter could be good for Haruna. (also relationships take work, and i'm not going to miss an opportunity to work on the relationship)

I dunno about the second pick, so I may change my mind on that.

[X] You're already writing overly long letters to Aiko, though you let it slip when things were at their worst. She's probably worried about you. Write her a huge letter and make it lovely.
[X] You still had some of those primers on electricity, the ones you picked up so that you could understand what Aiko was studying. Maybe make a real effort on those? (+1 Technical)
 
[X] You're already writing overly long letters to Aiko, though you let it slip when things were at their worst. She's probably worried about you. Write her a huge letter and make it lovely.

[X] You weren't staying on top of your fitness when you were out of it. Time to do something about that and get back into shape proper. Aiko did say she thought you looked good in the photo! (+1 to the next roll involving physical prowess, buff Haruna.)

The technical aspects might mesh well for the letter but physical exercise is good on so many levels (says the dude who needs to start working out more).
 
[X] You weren't staying on top of your fitness when you were out of it. Time to do something about that and get back into shape proper. Aiko did say she thought you looked good in the photo! (+1 to the next roll involving physical prowess, buff Haruna.)

Though the Technical thing is a good choice too, but.
 
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Undead Martyr said:
says the dude who needs to start working out more
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Big mood.

[X] You're already writing overly long letters to Aiko, though you let it slip when things were at their worst. She's probably worried about you. Write her a huge letter and make it lovely.

[X] You weren't staying on top of your fitness when you were out of it. Time to do something about that and get back into shape proper. Aiko did say she thought you looked good in the photo! (+1 to the next roll involving physical prowess, buff Haruna.)
 
[x ] You still had some of those primers on electricity, the ones you picked up so that you could understand what Aiko was studying. Maybe make a real effort on those? (+1 Technical)
[x ] You weren't staying on top of your fitness when you were out of it. Time to do something about that and get back into shape proper. Aiko did say she thought you looked good in the photo! (+1 to the next roll involving physical prowess, buff Haruna.)
 
Cute Princess said:
[x ] You still had some of those primers on electricity, the ones you picked up so that you could understand what Aiko was studying. Maybe make a real effort on those? (+1 Technical)
[x ] You weren't staying on top of your fitness when you were out of it. Time to do something about that and get back into shape proper. Aiko did say she thought you looked good in the photo! (+1 to the next roll involving physical prowess, buff Haruna.)
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You have spaces in your voting boxes.
 
[X] You still had some of those primers on electricity, the ones you picked up so that you could understand what Aiko was studying. Maybe make a real effort on those? (+1 Technical)
[X] You weren't staying on top of your fitness when you were out of it. Time to do something about that and get back into shape proper. Aiko did say she thought you looked good in the photo! (+1 to the next roll involving physical prowess, buff Haruna.)
 
[X] Hey, you've done a lot of reading since the days of the minisub. Maybe you should find an excuse to hang out with Ota, practice your Joseon, and talk about the world.

[X] You still had some of those primers on electricity, the ones you picked up so that you could understand what Aiko was studying. Maybe make a real effort on those? (+1 Technical)
 
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