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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


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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Oh, hey. It's Holmes and Watson. Huh, kinda surprised their both still men, but at least they're gay... Well, they're mlm. I hear Watson had a lot of women love interests in the original stories, so maybe he's bi? And/or poly?

Kinda surprised that Watson is the detective now, but it makes that the sailor would have the unglamorous job. In retrospect, it odd that Holmes would dirty his hands even as a consulting detective. His family were aristocrats, weren't they?

[X] Famous cat burglar, now retired and on vacation.

I want to see Lupin. Let's get a team of old folks (and Haruna) together for One Last Job.
Unfortunately, this is Lupin I, so there will be no Jigen or Goemon.

I am curious who the teen detective is. Nancy Drew books were first published in the 30s, so we're a bit early for her (but anachronisms have never stopped a story from being fun)

We're only a few years early for some Agatha Christie stuff, but I don't think she wrote any teen detectives. Ooh, but it would be so fun if it turns out that everyone on board (including Haruna) murdered someone.

It would make absolutely no sense and not fit the tone of the quest, but I kinda want The Man Who is Sunday to show up and just be super ambiguous at everyone.
 
[X] Teen kid detective who, at 16, is too old for this shit.

*groans and sinks into their seat while raising a hand to hide their face*

Oh kami, this is gonna turn into Murder on the Orient Express isn't it?
 
[X] Teen kid detective who, at 16, is too old for this shit.

*groans and sinks into their seat while raising a hand to hide their face*

Oh kami, this is gonna turn into Murder on the Orient Express isn't it?

Well the ship is fast (ish?), and coming from the Orient...

**Breaking News from the Orient**
*Foul Play on the High Seas*
All Crew and Passengers on Akitsukuni Liner Admit to Murder


Literally hundreds lined up to tell their sordid part in the gruesome affair as one passenger was found brutally eviscerated:
-"They were just the worst."
-"Nonstop flugelhorn practice on the promenade deck. And they picked up the instrument after the voyage began."
-"They ate the last bagel at breakfast. Twice."
-"Sneezed on my poodle."
-"Definitely had it coming after he taught my parrot The Song That Never Ends."
-"I only wish I could have thrown them off the ship myself, hauled them back up, then thrown them off again. Into sharks."

Authorities await the arrival of the vessel, for what will undoubtedly be the trial of the century.
 
I just realized I don't think I actually voted on this, despite justifying my vote.

[X] Some asshole Albian army officer who honestly might be the worst person on earth
 
[X] Some asshole Albian army officer who honestly might be the worst person on earth
Flash, aaaah, saviour of the Albian empire...
 
7-6: Mystery Solving Teens
The rest of breakfast was pleasant enough. You made quiet conversation with your two breakfast companions, asked about how their visit to Akitsukuni had been and then they departed. WIth that, you were left with a vast and yawning uncertainty about what to do with yourself. Aiko was still asleep--or already in the gymnasium and you were left to decide what to do with your copious amounts of free time. You weren't used to free time and it felt oddly despondent to have nothing to do.

For lack of anything better to do, you decided to spend your time wandering the ship. She was a pretty enough thing, good lines and the thrum of her engines was always comforting. So, you strolled down the promenade deck, occasionally stopping to study some detail of the ship's construction or to stare out over the calm sea. Soon you would no doubt be making your stop off in Heung Gong. After that,there would be a brief stop in Simhapura and beyond that the Aryavartan Sea before the Sokollu Canal and Europa.

There was something so incredibly incongruous, being on a ship under way and not having anything to do with it. It was almost uncomfortable… no, it was uncomfortable, an absence of purpose. It felt like you were shirking a duty you didn't have. Listlessly, you wandered the halls, back and forth across the decks, watching the crewmen and passengers get on with their day, the hours ticking away as the ship rolled gently on the waves and you made your third circuit of the deck. Unable to think of anything else to amuse yourself, you tried to work out how many crew were working on the foredeck by counting the comings and goings through the hatch there.

Eventually, you realized that you were, in fact, just wasting time, and you found a nice spot on the railing where the sun was near enough to warm you without being directly in its path, and you just leaned against it and stared out over the endless ocean. The skies and waves were both beautiful, clear blues, only a scattering of fluffy clouds painted onto the air, drifting slowly away. Maybe you should break out the watercolors, though you hadn't painted since secondary school…

"So, what is it? Lemme guess, art smuggling."

You blinked as a New Alleghenian voice cut into your pleasant imaginings of a seascape and painted ships on painted oceans. You turned towards the questioner and found yourself staring a slender, gangly, and altogether awkward looking teenage girl. Fifteen if you had to guess. Maybe sixteen?

"I beg your pardon?"

"Huh. Diamonds, then. Or you're on the run and wanted for murder. Nah, wait. Kidnapping? Or kidnappee? Or are you just here to grift people? Y'look like a grifter." What in the world did grift mean?

"I haven't got the slightest idea what you're talking about."

"Come on, let's get this over with. You've been wandering the deck, casing the joint for the last hour and a half. You're sitting on the great collection of luxuries in a thousand miles," she said. Technically you were still close enough to Tokei that that wasn't strictly true. "And you're suddenly really interested in counting all the sailors. Working out their shifts so you can make your move, I'll bet. Seen it a thousand times."

"I assure you, I don't have the slightest intention of robbing anyone. Or kidnapping anyone. Or smuggling anything."

"Oh. Murder it is, then."

"No! Where are you getting this from?" you protested. She looked askew at you for a moment, then shrugged and started rummaging in her bag. You couldn't help but notice its contents included two folding knives, a length of robe, a hand mirror, a skeleton key and was that a revolver?

"Alright, seems on the level ...Have you got a light then?" She produced a case from within her bag and opened it to extract a cigarette. Despite yourself, you patted down your pockets and produced the book of matches from your bedside table. You didn't smoke much yourself, but it had become a habit to carry matches or a lighter to be polite to your fellow officers

"Aren't you a little young to be smoking?" you asked, just as you struck the match and held it out, sheltering it from the breeze. You had become an expert in light cigarettes in poor conditions.

"Aren't you a little old to be asking stupid questions?" She asked in reply as she took a puff from the cigarette to ensure it was well and truly lit.

"Do you speak to all your elders this way?" This had to be the rudest child you had ever met in your life.

"Lady, if adults want my respect, they can try being a bit more respectable. If I've learned anything over the last year, it's that adults, one, think all kids are stupid, and two, are projecting."

"That seems quite the proclamation from a fifteen year old girl."

"I'm sixteen, and lady, if you'd the things I've seen, you'd understand."

You had trouble comprehending that statement. At first you thought you might not have heard her correctly. The nerve of this kid!

"You'd be surprised. Do the things you've seen include how to introduce yourself politely?"

"Keene. Carolyn Keene." she said. "And you are?"

"Haruna Arisukawa. Lieutenant Haruna Arisukawa of the Akitsukuni Imperial Navy. So what have you seen, then?" Curiosity was getting the better of you with this child.

"... oh jeez, well, okay first I'm looking for this geezer's clock and I got beat up by some robbers and locked in a shed for a few hours, then I had to break into a guy's house to prove he was stealing, then I had to rescue this friend of mine from an abusive home and that sucked. Uh, that was around last summer, but it was duck soup compared to the time I got handcuffed to a chair inside a sinking cabin cruiser by a gang of jewel thieves..." she rambled, all of it sounding quite casual. Like she was recounting a nice weekend shopping.

"That certainly sounds dramatic." you said, fairly sure she was making things up, but less sure with each moment even as the stories grew more unlikely. Especially once she showed you the scar on her temple left when she was pushed off a ladder several stories off the ground.

"...and then there was the time I found this nursing home that was just a front for these crumbs who were making old folks sign over all their money and just holdin' them there until they croaked." While you didn't recognize all of the words, the context made them rather clear.

"They what?"

"Right? And then there was the cult..."

You decided that New Allegheny was not a favorable honeymoon location.

"Doesn't anyone ever… help you?"

"No. I mean, there's those fucking goldbrick Stratemeyer brothers but they're always on the make and they won't go away and leave me alone. They don't even help with the cases, they just stumble around until they fall into a mineshaft or accidently trip a secret door but they're the brilliant teen-aged detectives and I'm a problem child." She took a long drag on her cigarette and then exhaled, watching the smoke drift aft for a moment. before the sea wind dispersed. "You catch on? You're awful quiet."

"I confess I don't exactly know what to say." you admitted. And you thought you lead a complicated life.

"That's fine. Nobody does."

"I can see why you smoke. I did for a while during the war."

"Boy! There was a war? And you were in it? I haven't kept up on anything, huh."

"Yes, Akitsukuni fought Caspia."

"Wow! Didja win?"

"Well, yes. Caspia proved unable to complete the war they had started."

"Well that's a boner if I ever heard one."

"Er, yes."

"Anyway, if you're not committing the crime, then someone else has to be. Adults are always doing crime. I should get in on it, ain't like anyone would catch me. You seen anyone suspicious? Anything of yours gone missing lately, heirlooms, precious jewels, furniture you like? Old clocks? You still got everyone you came here with?" she asked, looking a bit anxious.

You had the sudden urge to go check on Aiko. Just in case.

"Not unless it's happened since breakfast," you said.

"A lotta bad things can happen in a few hours." she said ominously. She stubbed out the remains of her cigarette on the railing, threw it overboard, and stalked off.

Somebody needed to have a word with that girl's parents.

---

[ ] You need to find Aiko and allow the universe to go back to normal.​
[ ] Actually, you know what you've never, ever had? A nap. You should try it.​
 
[X] You need to find Aiko and allow the universe to go back to normal.

This is the point you ask yourself what drugs have you taken.
 
>Dissin' the Hardy Bros Stratemeyer Brothers
'That'll do it. That's a cassius belli right there Missus. I'll have you know, I won't stand for the umbrage-OOOOF'


[x] You need to find Aiko and allow the universe to go back to normal.
 
Grab aiko and both relax in the sun. An hour or two of vacationing won't do any damage. Besides, sunlight is good for the brains.
 
[X] Actually, you know what you've never, ever had? A nap. You should try it.

I only vote for this because I know that there is zero chance that a nap will actually be had. It's just impossible to relax and sleep when you still have energy, and I'm eager to see how she deals with that.
 
[X] You need to find Aiko and allow the universe to go back to normal.

You know what, if we start swimming now we can probably make it back to Tokei for the fast mail packets option.
 
"... oh jeez, well, okay first I'm looking for this geezer's clock and I got beat up by some robbers and locked in a shed for a few hours, then I had to break into a guy's house to prove he was stealing, then I had to rescue this friend of mine from an abusive home and that sucked. Uh, that was around last summer, but it was duck soup compared to the time I got handcuffed to a chair inside a sinking cabin cruiser by a gang of jewel thieves..." she rambled, all of it sounding quite casual. Like she was recounting a nice weekend shopping.
... yeah, when you apply an ounce of reality the adventures Nacy Drew got up to would burn someone out enough to make Rusty Venture look sane.

Pre-Change Doc Venture, mind you.
"That certainly sounds dramatic." you said, fairly sure she was making things up, but less sure with each moment even as the stories grew more unlikely. Especially once she showed you the scar on her temple left when she was pushed off a ladder several stories off the ground.

"...and then there was the time I found this nursing home that was just a front for these crumbs who were making old folks sign over all their money and just holdin' them there until they croaked." While you didn't recognize all of the words, the context made them rather clear.

"They what?"

"Right? And then there was the cult..."
Those are indeed all Nancy Drew stories. Which I am now remembering have a mix of disturbingly plausible and fantastical.
"Doesn't anyone ever… help you?"

"No. I mean, there's those fucking goldbrick Stratemeyer brothers but they're always on the make and they won't go away and leave me alone. They don't even help with the cases, they just stumble around until they fall into a mineshaft or accidently trip a secret door but they're the brilliant teen-aged detectives and I'm a problem child." She took a long drag on her cigarette and then exhaled, watching the smoke drift aft for a moment. before the sea wind dispersed. "You catch on? You're awful quiet."
Ah, @Tiny_Dic, but those aren't the Hardy Boys. Sure, it's two brothers but remember that name? It's the name of the company and the man who published their books. So I'm wondering if the Stratemeyers are actually writing it all down Brothers' Grimm style.
"I can see why you smoke. I did for a while during the war."

"Boy! There was a war? And you were in it? I haven't kept up on anything, huh."

"Yes, Akitsukuni fought Caspia."

"Wow! Didja win?"

"Well, yes. Caspia proved unable to complete the war they had started."

"Well that's a boner if I ever heard one."

"Er, yes."
I like how the burnt out sixteen year old girl immediately perks up and gets excited when the topic of war gets brought up.

She's a real American alright. :p
"Anyway, if you're not committing the crime, then someone else has to be. Adults are always doing crime. I should get in on it, ain't like anyone would catch me. You seen anyone suspicious? Anything of yours gone missing lately, heirlooms, precious jewels, furniture you like? Old clocks? You still got everyone you came here with?" she asked, looking a bit anxious.
If she's anxious about stuff happening now, I fear for when Nancy cognizantly realizes she herself is an adult.

Also, did we just find Lupin's new nemesis?
"Not unless it's happened since breakfast," you said.

"A lotta bad things can happen in a few hours." she said ominously. She stubbed out the remains of her cigarette on the railing, threw it overboard, and stalked off.

Somebody needed to have a word with that girl's parents.
Did Nancy Drew ever have parents? I do not recall.

[X] Actually, you know what you've never, ever had? A nap. You should try it.
 
[X] You need to find Aiko and allow the universe to go back to normal.
 
Oh she was so much fun. Loved the dig at the Hardy Boys, that was the series I really learned to read with. :)
 
[X] Actually, you know what you've never, ever had? A nap. You should try it.

I like her jaded charming attitude to life plus I find it quite funny seeing how Haruna view her as a kid considering how young Haruna is, making her sound old, an adult.
 
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Amusing, though it fell a little flat for me due to lack of familiarity with the source material.
[X] You need to find Aiko and allow the universe to go back to normal.

Should presumably be rope.

I like her jaded charming attitude to life, pity Haruna already got Aiko since a relationship with a Alleghenian teen detective sound like fun though I find it quite funny seeing how Haruna view her as a kid considering how young Haruna is, making her sound old, an adult.
Eww. I already thought Aiko was a bit too young for her starting out and the power dynamics were kind of questionable. This is entirely next level and not okay.
 
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