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westwhere2022-09-03 10:17 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2022-09-03 10:17 pm
plot roll | lights out
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LIGHTS OUT | MINARAS
Critical systems at various military, academic and medical institutes in Minaras malfunction, suffering anything from brief but recurring glitches to complete breakdowns. They require urgent, expensive and sophisticated repairs linked to gears: cogs, wires, keys, grease and steampunk microsystems. Corrosion appears to be the main culprit.
Unfortunately, the industrial barons of Minaras are unenthusiastic to donate the necessary repair resources. In a public message, high councillor Arabella and other government officials subtly encourage good citizens to liberate the supplies, alluding that light crimes committed in the process will be pardoned.
Careful: the barons didn’t make their wealth by leaving their assets unprotected…
✘ OBJECTIVE: Barter, win or steal parts from reluctant industrialists and study the repair areas.
- ■ Characters working at Minaras public institutions notice a sudden spate of operational errors: lights go out completely or temporarily, while watch ship communication systems are frequently disrupted. Civilian clockwork droids stop moving or fleetingly refuse to acknowledge citizens (this does not apply to droids assigned to the party). Several factories suspend work.
■ Brief light outages strike residences and public areas. Citizens stumble or drift on unlit roads — a few approach you mutely with unshed tears in their eyes, catching your hand to drag you to their homes. If you go, you will find nothing amiss beyond the eerie quiet, while your hosts pointedly stare at you as they enter their beds and silently weep. This stops once lights come back on. Citizens cannot explain what they were doing and remembering their own actions in a haze.
■ Characters with access to the military may overhear that basic production services have not been performed in Minaras for some time. Some say the current outages were inevitable: lubricants, routine parts and processed coal are in short supply, with the army considering whether to requisition.
■ Eager to turn distress into dance, the wealthy aristocracy hold several candle-lit parties. Here, characters can overhear Minaras’ industrial elite has long felt the brunt of the government’s fixation with medical progress. Much of the processes that keep the city running have been relegated to private suppliers, and the barons feel pressured to sustain Minaras. Some favour rebelling against the high council, with a few admitting they have been contacted by Remembrance terror group leader Chrichter.
■ Those affiliated with medical units make dark discoveries: in the absence of light to support cryogenic conditions, several living and dead subjects seem to rapidly deteriorate. The dead show signs of internal rot, while the living cough blood and develop high fevers. They are swiftly isolated.
■ At the government’s behest, public service buildings, formal bounty hunter abodes and several taverns offer pamphlets, maps and instructions to steal repair parts. The government will not pursue this theft. Read the fine print: this pardon does not extend to major crimes (permanent injury, murder, the annihilation of a baron’s home or factory). You can trade parts in for a handsome 30,000 governmental coins.
■ The pieces needed are: specialty factory cogs, pipes, high-density fuel — a precious handful of which can power an entire watchtower — and product or recipes for efficient lubricants.
■ If you enlist to hunt parts, shady bounty hunters will share loose maps and observations on the basic daily patterns of the barons’ factories or households, to help you infiltrate. You will also receive basic weapons and a stiff drink.
■ Some of the items you seek sleep in safehouses, others in the barons’ own homes, while some are in factory warehouses. Most parts are secured with codes you can learn by following your targets, or receive from government sources. You may need to pretend to be a factory worker to enter work spaces, or a servant to infiltrate a baron’s home.
■ Beware droids, guards and berserk watch ships. You’re safe if you’re trapped and turned in with public authorities, who will furtively release you — but you may need to break yourself out, if barons take justice in their own hands.
■ Those with technical ability can also offer to conduct repairs once parts are secured, gaining access to one institute of their choice: a watch tower, a medical unit (pick between academy or care centre) or a factory. Pair up for this one, and ask up to three specific questions!
■ Report in with your liberated goods. No pressure, but we will need at least three parts recovered by 20 September to return Minaras online.
NPC ACCESS: ARABELLA
no subject
Still, Vanessa certainly seems to be taking up the cause. Coffee with one of those ladies will give her an angle Wrathion himself would struggle to make use of. Between the two of them, that's certainly useful -- peer pressure is not something to be underestimated. He glances idly in the direction she had pointed, and considers the opportunity. If they can turn enough of these people to the cause, there is hope. Hope is what Minaras needs right now.
(You speak of hope, Wrathion's voice, lighter and younger but all the same grave. Believe me, the thinnest sliver of belief that we might somehow survive the coming devastation is all that sustains me.)
He turns to look back at her, raises an eyebrow at her stare -- then flits his gaze over at the scuffle.
Ah, he had wondered where that droid had gotten to. It's usually considerably more intent on enforcing
Leaving her to organise matters a moment he slips across the room. Goslan, who Vanessa had pointed out, is indeed quite far into his cups -- and Wrathion takes a moment to advise him of his concerns. If Minaras is weak, what if Eidris takes the advantage? Peace can only last so long, and with Remembrance also causing problems... no, it is better if this problem is resolved quickly. He's heard more dragons have been born recently. More dragons! So many of them, growing up so quickly. Honestly, if stability continues this way then he would have concerns investing here. Eidris has none of this, surely the factories there would be a better bet?
The man's grumbling about young upstarts (he doesn't appear to have noticed Wrathion himself is young) continues in response for some minutes, during which Wrathion's eyes find Vanessa.
Ah. Her stiff body language tells him everything he needs to know.
Excusing himself momentarily, Wrathion makes his way over to the two of them and, subtly, gives the man a nudge.
He stumbles, one hand landing on Vanessa's arm, and her droid comes roaring back across the room to impose polite distance. Wrathion appears the other side of, silent as a ghost, and shoots her a look of silent faux-alarm. How scandalous, to be sure.
"I believe the drink has gotten the better of him too," he offers. "It's entirely possible we should begin to make our excuses before one of them tips their drink onto your dress."
Which would be a terrible waste of a very nice dress.
no subject
With one hand over her face to hide the smile that's trying to peek through, Vanessa stays nearby Wrathion as if she is too afraid to let the others near her. She's recovered enough to say her farewell to the host, at least, though she is still careful to keep her face partially obscured in a demure fashion. Anyone would understand... She is a lady of virtue, no doubt tired of men always seeking her for romance (and more money).
It isn't until they're free from open ears that Vanessa lets a chuckle slip through. Perhaps she ought to feel bad for the circumstance, but she doesn't. The man was vile, and even worse, he was boring.
"Quite a show for my sake. You have my gratitude." He may attempt to play coy, but she has sharp eyes, as he's said. She saw how close he was to the man when it happened.
no subject
If it's going to be trying to keep her safe from any untoward company, then she may as well leverage it whenever she finds someone unpleasant. Easy enough to blame the droid, after all. He quirks a smile at her, wryly amused by the laugh she's finally let go of.
"I hope you didn't find it too much?"
Not that he would particularly regret it, either way. She does appear to be recovering, so it cannot have been so bad as all that -- and the cause is an important one. They cannot continue their investigations if Minaras is collapsing around them. The people here too, they need their facilities to be operating properly. They will suffer without medical facilities, even if their... state of being is questionable to begin with.
That is no business of Wrathion's, he'd simply like to not leave it all in a worse state than when they arrived. To help the people of Minaras and Eidris both, the people and the dragons.
no subject
"My constitution is not so weak as that. Worry not, I feel quite fit." Though she is mentally wary, Vanessa doesn't feel the need to burden him. Regardless, she has been to much more trying parties. Often, they ended in disaster, so this was quite the success on her end. Any visions she received were quite tame, though they did still spark a curiosity that is difficult to stifle. But stifle she does.
"Were there any that you felt certain to have convinced to donate on behalf of Minaras? Given your skills, I would not be surprised to find half the room ready to offer their supplies for the sake of social clout."
no subject
The flattery pleases him, something he doesn't try to hide, and Wrathion links his hands behind his back -- chin lifted imperiously as they walk.
"Of course. Howe certainly seemed frustrated at my lack of commitment, and the suggestion that there was an easy fix to this which might encourage others as well as myself made him think. I don't believe he has any current reason not to act on that consideration. The Tilcotts too, it seemed, had not considered properly the danger to their own family. The prospect of protecting themselves by donating to end the crisis seems one they are considering."
None of these arguments are baseless, after all. They are all entirely possible, which is the key to making them convincing. He has hopes that they might bear fruit, although if such acts will last beyond this one event... well, that is less certain. They seem inclined to do things to help themselves, but perhaps less so to help everyone else.
no subject
“I wonder if you aren’t concerned for repercussions, should they open their hearts to the city’s needs, and you in fact decide not to invest as so earnestly teased.” Which she knows he won’t, and neither should she. She would rather not be in business with such people.