*Note. Due to me miscalculating the number of actions in Larekko12's vote, the gardening job has been added to this update. Also, huge amount of fan wank for the world of Defiance outside of well, Defiance. You have been warned.
1.3
Wednesday, April 4, 2046
Defiance, Earth, Sol System, Terra Ferox Universe
You leave your house with a somewhat clear mission in mind for the day. The library's a bit of a walk from your house, but it's not much trouble. You leave the books on the races of Irath and the castes of Daribo in the drop off chute outside, and walk inside to great Miss Gonzalez.
The Hispanic woman smiles at you warmly. "Sam! Back so soon?"
"Yep. I actually came here for some books on language?"
Denise stands up. She's remarkably spry for her age. Votan medicine, you guess. "Which ones? We have some good ones on Irathient, Spanish, and French, and some okay ones on Castithan and Sensoth."
"What do you mean, okay?"
"I mean that they only have a little bit of vocabulary and some stuff on how to write the language. The Castithan book is actually meant to teach little Castis the alphabet. Nothing that's going to help much in an actual conversation."
"Do you guys have an inter-library exchange program?" you ask hopefully.
Miss Gonzalez laughs. "Not since my grandmother ran a library in Old St. Louis, no. It's too much effort to send a letter to New Las Cruces, Cedars, or any other nearby town just to get a few books. Not a good business model, either. Maybe if we got a maglev or better transportation, but this is the frontier, kiddo. We're lucky to have this."
She gestures to the five or six shelves of books, all neatly organized compared to many like it you've been to. "You still want that book on L'Irathi?"
"Is that what the Irathient language is called?"
"Yep. I could never get the hang of it. Kastithanu's fine. It's quick, snappy. A lot like Spanish. Irathient is just so slow and boring."
Kastithanu must be the name for the Castithan language. She hands you the book. "So, library books are ten bucks to buy, right?"
"Bucks? I haven't heard that terminology in a while. Yes, but I don't like to encourage it."
"I'd just like to keep this book on L'Irathi."
She purses her lips, before nodding with a small smirk. "Fork over the cash then, Iron Man."
You resist the urge to sigh. You either look like a pizza delivery guy or Tony Stark. There's never been an in-between with your physical appearance. -10 Scrips.
"I'm guessing you don't want the other books, then?"
You Observe the book on English to Kastithanu. It's not a skillbook. The Spanish one is, but none of the others are. You can actually find those with your power, which is nice. "I'm fine, thank you."
"Suit yourself. Hey, if you want an interesting read, I've got this book on the postwar United States. You seem to be a big guy on current events, so I thought you might like it. I can just go in the back, we got a whole shipment all the way from Honolulu!"
"Maybe later, ma'am. I've got some stuff to do, with getting adjusted to Defiance and all."
You give a friendly wave goodbye and take the book with you to a reasonably private alley. Would you like to use this skillbook? Warning! This will destroy the book. Yes.
Skill Unlocked! L'Irathi 4/25. The dominant native tongue of the Irathient people, but not the only one. Accepted as a lingua franca among Terran-based Irathients and most raiders, when English is not in use.
The book is good enough to start you off with four language points. You're guessing grinding works by reading more books on the Irathient tongue, or by simply practicing with speaking to the aforementioned race. There aren't many Irathients in town, though, and you're a stranger to all of them. Problematic.
Well, you can always try to get a job. You remember that tree-chopping option, and find your way to a small stall on the outskirts of town. A hardy-looking white human that could pass for Paul Bunyan's shorter and more cheerful brother beckons you in with a smile. Warren Rossiter, according to Observe.
"Warren Rossiter, Fredericton Lumber Corporation. How can I help you, sir?"
"My name is Sam House. I came here to apply for tomorrow's job."
Warren nods sagely, his expression turning somber. "I see. Do you have your resume and background check with you?"
You blink. "I...wasn't aware I needed those."
There's a tense moment of awkward silence, before the man bursts out in laughter. "Just kidding! You should have seen the look on your face. This isn't 2010. You don't need that stuff here."
"That's a relief."
"Well, we got a lot of applicants here. Miners who want a break, Castis who can't get a job elsewhere, even a Sensoth and some refugees all the way from Venezuela! Between you and me, though, I think they were fibbing. Didn't even say where in the country they were from. Guess with the VoCol there it doesn't really matter."
The manager continues. "Anyway, sorry, Mr. House. We've got enough workers. I can pencil you in for an appointment on the...10th of April to discuss next week's shipment, though."
You ponder the question for a moment, before nodding. "I can do that."
"Great! We'll test your strength, skill with an axe, and give you a uniform, and from there it's just a matter of getting on the landcoach."
The two of you have a final handshake for a goodbye, and you head out. Well. You have a few things you wanted to do, like reading some books or checking out the Need/Want, but you need money in order to do those things. And loath as you are to admit it, the gardening job will give you a small number of scrips.
Okay. Fine. You head to the guesthouse, and pick up the letter for going to Miss Hawkins' house and helping her with the weeds. It's the same as you remember, with the stipulation that the actual amount can be lowered to 20 scrips if she wills it. Her home is a small little room at the top of an apartment complex, with a massive greenhouse on top. You're amazed her landlord let her build that.
You knock on the door, and Sandra Hawkins, an old African-American woman, greets you cordially with a wide smile. "Good morning! How can I help you, young man?"
"I'm here to help with the gardening job."
"An odds job kind of guy, then? Come on up! I'll show you what you're going to be doing."
The garden is larger than you thought it would be. Nine rows of varying flowers, all of which you Observe to the best of your ability. +1 Observe! Observe 7/100! "Well, I'll show you where the weeds are, and you do your darnedest to not tear up any of my flowers."
"I can do that."
Quest Alert!
Clean Miss Hawkins' Greenhouse!
An elderly woman needs a pair of hands to help rid her greenhouse of weeds. Win her friendship and a small amount of scrips for assisting her. Small penalties are given for damaging flowers.
Completion Rewards: 25 Scrips. 89 EXP. Increased relations with Sandra Hawkins. The Gardening skill.
Completion Failure: None.
Sandra kneels down on the small carpet she has installed around the plant basins, and starts pulling. "You start at the other end. Please do your best to not damage my flowers."
It's another job without much talking. By the end of the hour, you're finished. "Not bad, kid! I'll call you again if I ever need my garden weeded again."
You manage to give a grin in response, as you remember exactly why you hated gardening. Skill Unlocked! Gardening 1/100. You have a basic idea of how to arrange a garden. You have a vague idea of which plants grow where, and when they bloom, as well as other random factoids, but don't ask much beyond that. You're an amateur gardener at best.
A bit rude of your power to say, but ultimately true. +25 Scrips! +89 EXP! Increased relations with Sandra Hawkins (Neutral to Friendly).
You say goodbye to the old woman, and leave with a bit more money in your pocket. It's around two o'clock. Not really a reasonable time to go to a bar. Maybe seven or eight, when it's getting dark. Six hours. That's enough to read through two books.
The Second Reconstruction was written by an Italian-Brazilian named Augusto Buccho, who was representing the Catholic Church as a priest in Rio de Janeiro when the Pale Wars started. He mainly focuses on South America in the book, but he mentions Italy a few times.
The Votanis Collective is the official name for the nation state that controls the remnants of the refugee fleet that arrived in 2023. Their main base is in the city of Sulos, a small chunk of land near the Amazon River in northern Brazil that the UN granted them in 2015. During the Pale Wars, the largest front of the war was in Central and South America, between the native governments and the VoCol.
There isn't much of the original Earth left in the northern tip of South America. Aggressive use of poisonous gas and Terra-spires in the Amazon rainforest led to the eradication of almost all of the native tribes, as well as the cities of Manaus, Porto Velho, Iquitos, Cuiaba, and Boa Vista. As evidenced by these targets, Brazil was the main focus of the Votans during the war. An estimated eighty-seven percent of the population was wiped out in targeted attacks alone. By the end of the war, the only significant remnant was located in the south.
Other South American nations suffered similar fates to lesser extents (but still devastating). At the very least, Colombia managed to force a peace with the Votans, leaving them with only a third of their nation under human control. Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and the Guyanese nations weren't so fortunate.
Central America, with the small colony of Omec in southern Mexico, fell within the first months of the war. The treatment of their people was moderate compared to South America, but still brutal. On the bright side, only 30-40% casualties in the war, and minor human autonomy zones exist in the old Earth nations of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Costa Rica. There are also small border states in the middle of old Mexico.
The book glosses over the collapse of continental Amero-Canadian authority, and you finally realize that this book is actually biased in favor of Latin America. That would have been nice to know. Still, you're a third of the way to finishing. Might as well keep going.
The Votanis Collective has land from Oaxaca to La Paz, and the only thing keeping them from steamrolling Earth and taking land from everyone else is the existence of recovering humanity keeping them in check. Buccho takes pride in mentioning that he lives in the Papal State of Piratini, the last surviving vestige of the original Catholic Church in the world. Piratini is a small state of fifteen thousand surviving Brazilians and a few hundred Votan dissidents that is very fortunate to exist. The VoCol is considering eliminating them, due to their support of human terrorists in Venezuela and Peru.
Then there's the State of Colombia, which is a shaky narco-military dictatorship that survives because they don't have official relations with the Earth Republic. Buccho doesn't talk on them much, only mentioning that the capital is in Barranquilla and that they've quietly incorporated some of the Central American governments in exile and their delicious militaries.
The other great power in Latin America is another nation closely aligned to the Earth Republic. The Union of La Plata is the remnants of the Argentinean and Chilean governments that unified in the late 2020s during the height of the war. Post war, they've been fighting the VoCol's expansion south tooth and nail, to the point where Sulos has essentially thrown its hands up and looked north. The government of La Plata is unfortunately authoritarian, and the same man has been President since 2035.
Buccho regales the reader of his visits to Cordoba, the capital city, Santiago, the crown jewel of the nation, and Caitaco, a small village under direct control of the Catholic Church. You're disappointed to see that most of the descriptions are remarkably similar. Human survival and growth, Catholicism is great. At least the part with the prostitutes in Ibarlucea was funny.
You admittedly don't pay much attention to the book, since Observe was pretty damned misleading with this book. There's one part of the book that focuses on a Votan society, and even then, it's sort of condescending to the Irathients, who Buccho considers savages to be uplifted. The town of Cuenca is one of the more interesting points of the book, with the author doing an okay job of watching the native Ecuadorean population interacting with the Irathient population, and how they react to being treated as a glorified reserve by Sulos.
Well. You could have gone without that. Still, you have a detailed knowledge of South American affairs now. Could be worse. The next book should be more interesting. It's on the subject of the foundation of the Republic of Columbia, better known as the Earth Republic. It's a bit annoying how similar the name is to the military dictatorship to the south, but you can deal with it.
At the end of the Pale Wars in 2031, the Earth Military Coalition disassembled worldwide, forming (for the most part) unified governments dedicated to forming a unified Terran government dominated by humans. La Plata in South America, Tianxia, Nihon, and Sibir in Eastern Asia, Bharat in Southern Asia,the Unified European Intermarum, and so on. Each bears the emblem of the Earth Republic, while being different nations in their own right.
The main focus of this book is on Columbia, a nation born out of the surviving United Nations dignitaries in New York City, and the regional governments of New England, the Maritime Provinces, Quebec, and southern Ontario. Columbia is an authoritarian Presidential democracy that seeks the reunification of North America under its rule.
There's mention of major cities in Columbia, like Boston, Toronto, and the rising star, Fredericton. The sleepy New Brunswick town has morphed into the new Hollywood and Detroit in one, mostly due to the massive amounts of gulinite (some kind of important mineral, Defiance mines it too) found outside the city limits.
Former President Bryant gives accolades to her country, mentioning the recent restoration of Detroit and the annexation of the Saginaw city-state as proof that someday the United States and Canada can be reunited. She also proudly mentions the continued colonization southwards, even including photographs of Earth Republic soldiers standing in the ruins of Cleveland and men in Hazmat suits next to the still in-tact Washington Monument.
Finally, the patriotism ends, and she moves on to the good stuff. Friendly city-states and overseas territories of Columbia. Timmins, a gulinite/gold mining city in Ontario that's due for annexation into the Earth Republic whenever they can get a maglev line up there.
Jackson, Mississippi. Last refuge of American forces in Dixie during the Pale Wars, very proud of its heritage and very armed. Too stubborn to sign up with the E-Rep, but Bryant says that once the maglev to Yuma is finished, their next project is cleaning up the river connecting them to Defiance.
The independent Republic of Texas is skimmed over, but the government in Amarillo seems pretty okay to you. Democratic and equal rights for Votans enforced by Constitutional amendment, as long as they abide by human laws.
My-Vrtya. Previously you read how 'communist' revolts on Daribo failed, due to the highly engrained caste society into Castithan culture. In 2030, towards the end of the war, a group of worker castes hijacked a small group of Votan ships, and crash landed in the wilds of Oregon. After a misunderstanding with local Coalition forces, they made an alliance with the nascent Earth Republic, earning them protection from Sulos.
Defiance barely gets a footnote. It gets a patronizing mentioning as a town of six thousand, as an 'interesting experimentation on humans and Votans living under their own laws together'. Bit cheeky of Madame President to say that.
Then there are the Earth Republic colonies/puppet states, mostly formed from city-states or rich gulinite mining regions. Dallas, Oklahoma City, New Las Cruces, Yuma, Cedars, Minneapolis, Wabakimi, Boise, Vegas, Hermosillo, Lakota, Boulder, and Tyfrun, just to name a few that catch your eye.
That's only half the full number. These areas get brief descriptions of their exports and estimates of their populations, as well as dates of first settling or annexation. The book ends with Danielle Bryant talking about how awesome the Earth Republic is, and how unity of the peoples of Earth is the only way for success and recovery to happen. You agree...but damn, could you put any more propaganda into that idea?
You shut the book, and rub your eyes a bit. You've got enough money for a single beer, maybe chat up the bartender a bit. The Need/Want sounds like a fun joint. You enter the building. It looks like a re-purposed warehouse, like a lot of buildings in town. There's refreshing jazz music playing, which is better than you expected when you first saw it. It seems like a rap source of place. Must be the Castithan influence in town.
The door swings open in front of you, and you resist the urge to blush at what you see. You're from Miami, and you've seen hookers in public before. But in the middle of the most popular club in town, blatantly plying their...trade? You turn away from a human miner being cuddled by a young Castithan girl, and right in your face is an Irathient man in leather clothes sloppily kissing another in a somewhat undone suit. Okay. This is definitely the kind of place your mother told you to avoid.
You have to admit, despite the...vivid imagery around you, it's got a pretty neat atmosphere. Dozens of people from multiple races gathered together to get sloshed and have sex. You take a seat by the bar. A Liberata bartender walks up to you. "Want a drink?"
"What do you have that's cheap and good?"
"If you're looking for cheap, there's the Yuma Slammer. Five scrips, and if you finish the thing without passing out, you get free drinks for a month,"
You give Jered Kikema a curious look. "I'm interested. Can I see it?"
"Our man likes to see the goods first, then? Fine."
Jered does...something with a variety of liquids, ingredients and strange fruits. He gingerly places it down on you, pushing his glasses to the bottom of his nose as a challenge of sorts. Yuma Slammer. The most alcoholic beverage in Defiance. +1 to Vitality, -5 to Intelligence for thirty minutes. 75% chance of passing out.
Quest Alert!
Down that Yuma Slammer!
Finish the Yuma Slammer without falling flat on your ass. If you're still conscious five minutes after you're done, you get free drinks at the Need/Want until May 4th and 50% off on...other pleasures. Fail if you pass out.
Completion Reward: Free drinks at the Need/Want until May 4, 2046. 50% off on all night porter meetings until May 4, 2046. 10% discount on food/drink at the Need/Want for life. +50 EXP. Increased relations with Need/Want.
Completion Failure: Decreased relations with Jered Kikema.
Challenge accepted. -5 Scrips. You look Jered in his bespectacled eyes, and down the entire thing in one, drawn out gulp. "What's in this stuff?" you gasp as you finish. It's not bad...just very strong. +50 EXP. Increased relations with Need/Want (Neutral to Friendly). Item Earned! Personal Coupon for Free Drinks and 50% Night Porters until May 4, 2046. Personal Coupon for 10% Discount at Need/Want for Life.
The Liberata laughs. "Damned if I know. I just know how to make it."
The next five minutes are spent with a pounding headache and Jered claps his hands when you finish. You hear a cacophonous applause from around you. Huh. Looks like you have fans. You raise the empty glass into the air, drawing more accolades from the crowd. "I'm going home, folks! Thanks for the good...whatever this is!"
Ugh. Never doing that again. Unless it's a quest. Then maybe. You pass out on your couch in a rather undignified manner.
You wake up the next day at 9:30. What do you do? You have six actions to take.
[ ] Read the books. Could give valuable information on the cultures of this brave new world. You can choose up to two. 1 action each.
---[ ] The War of the Three Hells
[ ] Visit the library to return the two books you've finished, and acquire two more. 40% chance of one being a skillbook. You can buy library books for 10 scrips. Counts as 1 action. You can choose 2 books/book subjects below, or write-in.
---[ ] Get the book Our Flag Was Still There, describing the survival of the United States after the Pale Wars. You could use some patriotism right now.
---[ ] Votan assimilation to Earthly culture.
---[ ] More stuff on post-war human culture.
---[ ] Native Votan culture.
---[ ] Focus on human geopolitics post-war.
---[ ] Write-in. Please don't be a smartass and write 'something that's a skillbook'.
[ ] Look into jobs. One of the papers you got from Vavilov says that the border guards need some help clearing out some fallen trees from last night's storm. They're looking for five or six volunteers from town to help out. 90% chance of success. Rewards 80 scrips. Increased relations with Defiance Border Patrol. 60-120 EXP. Counts as 1 actions if you don't succeed, 3 if you do.
[ ] Look into jobs. A wealthy merchant wants someone to wash his roller. It's not a very dignified job, but it looks like it pays well, and you only have to do the exterior. Materials for doing the job are provided by Mr. Bedford. 100% chance of success. 30-70 EXP. 50 Scrips. Counts as 1 action.
[ ] Look into jobs. Defiance is a mining town, and almost all of its mines are controlled by a fellow named Rafe McCawley. Maybe you can get a job as a miner? Rewards 120-160 scrips per day. 80% chance of success. Counts as 1 action, unless you succeed, in which case, it's 3. New skills, potential rewards, EXP. Job has unreliable levels of security (cave-ins, scrappers, hellbugs, etc.). You'll compete with other workers for who gets the more profitable shafts or exploration duties.
[ ] Look into jobs. Maybe Clancy needs a junior Lawkeeper to help out? Rewards 3200 scrip per month, other benefits, new skills, allies, EXP chances. 50% chance of success. Counts as 1 action, unless you get the job, whereupon its 4 per day, and you get a new Title.
[ ] Look into jobs. There's an Earth Republic recruitment officer giving out pamphlets on joining the Terran Unitary Expeditionary, a place for people to get a new life serving in the military. Life will be hard if you get in, but you think you can handle it. See new places, kill interesting people. It'll be fun. Rewards 2500 Scrip per month, other benefits, new skills, EXP chances. 60% chance of success. Counts as 1 action, changes the quest entirely if you accept. You will get a new title.
[ ] Explore the town on your own. 1 action each. Rewards are a surprise. Will expand Sam's knowledge, allies, and armory in varying ways.
---[ ] Go to the bazaar, looking for something to buy or just walk around. Write in for things you might want.
---[ ] Go to the Need/Want and just talk to people. Might meet someone interesting.
---[ ] Find some Irathients and strike up a conversation. You want to grind up your L'Irathi. 80% chance of success.
---[ ] Sign up for that Castithan martial arts course, if they let humans in. 70% chance of success.
---[ ] Go to the bookstore to see if they have any particular skillbooks you might want. 60% chance of success.
[ ] Grind your skills.
---[ ] Write in with elaboration.
Questions, comments, and criticism are all welcome. Speak up if you have problems or queries.
Here are the rolls for this chapter. I added in the Yuma Slammer thing out of boredom, and because I didn't really feel like writing any of the night porters from canon.
Rolls Needed for Language Rolls (Castithan/Irathient respectively)=60 to earn basic language. Every ten digits higher than that earns another level.
56, 95 for Language Rolls.
End Result: Learn 0/15 Kastithanu and 4/25 L'Irathi
Roll Needed for Lumberjack Job=30.
15 on Lumberjack Roll.
End Result: No Lumberjack job. Try again on April 10, with guaranteed success.
Roll on Yuma Slammer Needed=75
76 on Yuma Slammer Roll.
End Result: Free beer and whores! Woooo!
Also, I'm going to start doing little worldbuilding posts at the Vote Locked post, just so they aren't 'Plan X wins. See ya.'. You will know this stuff IC, it just wasn't important enough to be in the update.
I don't know why, but formatting this post was hell.
My offer of 1 stat point to anyone who can design an inventory stands. Your help is needed.
