Magic World solo - Part VI - battles lost

As it is 10 years to the day that I posted the beginning of this adventure, you might not remember where it left off. You may accordingly wish to review the other postings (there are only 5 in total) before continuing the thread of the narrative. If so, click here.

I'm going to wait a fortnight between this post and the next to give everyone a chance to catch up (plus I'm really busy). At the end of this post can be found an explanation of why this campaign (nearly) died and what I did to pick it up again.


Scene 9

Chaos: down to 8

Setup: Modified (was: return to camp)
Altered: difficult trip

NPC list: bad guy(s), bad guy minions, contact, quest giver, interested 3rd party, Sergeant Eldega, army, other army, sorcerer, sorcerer's demon ianitor

Threads: Who am I? ; What am I doing? ; Who did this to me? ; Mission

Having been given an enchanted bronze mirror to take to General Angklabas, our heroine fled the sorcerer's tower and walked alone toward the lake [Navigate roll to walk to lake shore directly: 05, success]. But a small enemy force has encamped by the lake, so she must go round.

[Search (66%) roll to notice before too late: 54, ok. Hide (47%) roll to evade: 15, ok. The detour adds (1d6=) 6 hours to her trip. She needs a Stamina (CONx5%) roll to plod on: 17, ok

Q: any more problems? Unlikely: 81, No.]

She avoids all the sentries and patrols, but it is the middle of the night when she finally trudges back into camp.


Scene 10

Chaos: down to 7

setup: Modified (was: give mirror to general)

Interrupt: Remote event - Usurp / A project

She reports immediately to Sergeant Eldega. "You're late. But I wasn't going to denounce you as a deserter until morning. 's always a nice start to my day! Let's go take the general his prize. And be warned: he's not going to be in a good mood. Word round camp is they're sending a new general to relieve him of command. Probably be here in [1d4-1=] three days."


Scene 11

Chaos: down to 6

Setup: give mirror to general

[the general's reaction: hostile -20%; PC needs to make a Charismax5% roll: 96! not good]

"You sent this... this... person on such a delicate mission?" says General Angklabas to Sergeant Eldega. "And you! You're late! And where's the rest of your unit!? Incompetence! Get out of my sight..."

[Q: What are the general's intentions? Overindulge / Leadership
Q: Can PC return with the sergeant? 50/50: 47, Yes.]

"Well," says the sergeant, "I did say he'd be like that... Now go get some sleep. I think you're going to be needing it."


Scene 12

Chaos: up to 7

Setup: the battle

In the morning, Angklabas orders the army to prepare for battle. The whispers that a new general is arriving to usurp his command are already winging through the camp, but there's no way he'll let himself be replaced in the field. They will attack the enemy this very day! Units begin to be called into formation before they've finished their morning rations, and harried soldiers must pull on their armour after they've scurried into line. Sergeant Eldega's irregulars are shunted to the front ranks of the army's right wing.

The clarion sounds and the army marches south to the village held by the enemy barbarians, whose spies have already warned them of the approaching host. The attack is signalled at once, and the battle is joined.

[I used the Adventurers in Battle Results tables from MRQ Empires to determine the course of the battle.

A roll of 1d4 indicates a Losing battle (appropriately).

My PC is not looking to play the heroine in this -- and is still at only 7hp -- so she chooses to fight Cautiously (1d10 with no mods = 10; resulting in (1d2=) 2 kills and an encounter to be played out.

Foe level 1
-surrenders when injured, does not accept surrender
-same HP as PC
-weapon skill 11% worse, smaller weapon (shortsword, 51%)
-leather armour
-Dex 9

So, then...]

Sergeant Eldega's unit is sent forth in the first wave. Some manage to outmanoeuvre the enemy and break through their lines, whilst others engage in a pitched battle along the rocky shore. Our heroine is one of these latter. Two barbarians fall beneath her sword, but then she finds herself caught between the rocks and the surf, and cut off from her allies.

A young nobleman -- not a barbarian by his dress but certainly one of their supporters -- comes suddenly before her, shortsword at the ready. His dress is far too elegant for the battlefield: fine raiment and jewellery over a suit of costly leather armour. He seems unsure of himself at first, but summons all his courage and rushes to attack.

[Round 1]
His opponent is faster, and is already swinging her heavy sword at him as he draws near. But she has terribly misjudged his velocity; the blade that should have crashed down upon his brow falls well short and clangs against a large rocky outcropping, snapping off at the hilt [Attack roll 00 -- fumble; d%=weapon breaks]. The noble misjudges his own sword's length as well, but his blade only swishes through the air before his target [he rolled 93, a regular miss].

[Round 2]
She drops the useless hilt and hurriedly draws a dagger [-5 dex ranks=9, simultaneous actions]. The noble turns aside her blade with his own. She easily sidesteps his riposte [both attack rolls succeed; he parried, she dodged].

[Round 3]
But she easily regains the advantage. Lashing out with her knife she stabs him in the side, right through his armour. The wound is not terribly deep [4 damage puts him at 8hp] but bloody nonetheless. He throws down his sword and shrieks, "Please don't kill me!"

"Fine," she says, picking up his sword, "you are officially my prisoner. Let's get moving back up the beach."

The noble, Ealdwig by name, readily complies. But they have hardly gone 100 paces when trumpets sound.

"They're sounding the retreat," she says, "I guess we're through, then." She remarks the terror passing over her prisoner's countenance at her words, and hastens to add, "I'm not going to kill you. How about you give me some of those jewels as ransom and we call it quits."

He pulls off [1d3=] a medallion and two rings and hands them over. He is about to pull off his last ring when he hesitates. "This has been in my family for generations..."

"Keep it," she says. "Call it payment for the sword. Now go home."

[white gold ring 54bp, gold medallion 274bp, silver ring with flawed peridot 53bp]

Scene 13

Chaos: down to 6

Setup: aftermath

The camp has been over-run, so the survivors of Angklabas' army must trudge further north to into the forest. Fortunately, few of the barbarians are interested in harrying their vanquished foes, not whilst they have an entire camp to loot.

[Q: Did the Sergeant survive the battle? 50/50: 63, Yes (but wounded: 1d8=8 damage, 5hp left]

Our heroine regroups with the survivors. She can't find anyone from her unit, save Sergeant Eldega herself, who is bleeding from the forehead and boasts several new dents in her armour.

"Oh, it's you," says the sergeant. "I should have guessed you'd be the one to survive. This is all a mess: the general's dead, morale's low, hardly anyone survived the rout..."

[prejudiced-doubt-current scene]

"So why stay? If it's over...?"

"Got to wait for reinforcements!" [hostile-destruction-allies]

"Seriously?"

Sergeant Eldega shrugs.

"I'm no use here. Send me to the temple with the rest of the wounded." [fast talk (40%) 14, ok]

"I'll think about it."

It takes [1d3-1=] two days for the remaining commanders to rally the surviving troops and begin the northward trek. Once out of the forest, the army splits in two halves. The able soldiers march to the north east and the wounded (to which group our heroine is happy to have been appointed, despite being still under the yoke of the good sergeant) make for the temple to the north at a slower pace.

[Q: Is everything (relatively) ok? 50/50: 78, No.
Q: Enemy attack? 50/50: 80, no.
Q: Disease runs through camp? 50/50: 21, Yes.
Q: Problem on road? unlikely: 96, exceptional no]

But disease has already sped through the camp, and our heroine succumbed the night before the march. Many are those who are left to die upon the side of the road, but she forces herself to ignore the creeping chills (and the somehow still healthy sergeant's cajoling) and put one foot ahead of the other until the temple of the sea nymphs is in sight.

[Disease rolls redacted. She's down to 4hp by the end of the march.

Q: Magic healing given? Very unlikely: 05, Exceptional Yes. =Healing Trance spell
Q: Robbed whilst unconscious? Likely: 10, Exceptional Yes. She loses her 1d6=3 most valuable possessions.]

She is barely conscious as she crests the hill, and only dimly aware of the sergeant shouting something at a frightened novice, who then rushes her off to a makeshift dormitory. She sees the novice, or perhaps one of the higher clergy, standing over her and pronouncing soothing yet incoherent words, then drifts away...

When she comes back to her senses, the scene is much changed. The noise and confusion are all gone. In their place are orderly rows of low cots with convalescents clad in white robes. She finds that she too is similarly clad, and her things (or what remains of them) are stowed on the floor beneath her bed. Her armour is gone -- probably thrown away -- as is her sword and most of her jewellery. Only her dagger and the tarnished silver ring with the flawed stone escaped the predations of her former comrades-in-arms. She also finds a scrap of tattered parchment has been pinned to her robe, covered in a curiously child-like scrawl. It reads, 'Yer the worst soldier ever. Enjoy civilian life. Sgt Eldega'.

[Time for experience rolls!

Potential increase is the usual 1d6, or 1d8 for Occupation Skills. One occupation skill increase roll automatically succeeds -- fortunately, for the dice were not terribly kind to her.

dodge x
fast talk (occ) +8
nature x
navigate +3
hide (occ) +4
move quietly (occ-auto) +5
listen (occ) x
search (occ) x
sense (occ) +1
track x
sword x
dagger x

She also got to roll to see if her POW increased, but sadly it didn't.

The next scene was played a little while later, apparently after I'd written up my MCSV rules.]


Scene 14

Chaos: Average/d10

Setup: to the city

NPC list: bad guy(s), bad guy minions, contact, quest giver, interested 3rd party

Threads: Who am I? ; What am I doing? ; Who did this to me?


Sensing that she may have overstayed her welcome, she bids farewell to the haggard priests and harried temple staff and sets out for the city to the south.

[Q: Can she get to city unmolested? 50/50 (4+): O4 C6 - yes.]

It's a relatively pleasant walk. 'I can't remember the last time I've not been going about with wounds or sickness or broken bones,' she thinks. 'Disappointing that the magic only healed my physical ailments...'

When she reaches the city gate, the guards demand she pay the entry toll. She's not a single coin to her name, but pleading poverty does not move them to shew charity. [Difficult bargain (20/2=10%): 52, fail.] In the end she hands over her ring, as she doesn't rate her chances outside the walls after nightfall; even if there weren't the remnants of an army spread through the countryside, the glowering clouds promise rain. The guards accept the trinket, and let her pass. She briefly entertains the notion of asking them just what city this is, but decides against it lest they think her mad and eject her from the gate.

She wanders the streets aimlessly. Nothing sparks her memory, nor gives her the slightest inkling of ever having been here before. None of the myriad faces look familiar, nor does anyone call her by name with a friendly greeting. Nor even an angry one.

A walk through an open-air market reminds her of the desperation she'll soon feel if she can't find anyone to help her. She surmises that help for one of her skills and (apparent) standing will not be forthcoming in the more wealthy districts she's been drifting through, and so makes for one of the less respectable quarters to try her luck there.

In no time at all a gaudily-dressed youth does call out and wave her over, and addresses her with a torrent of sweet blandishments -- but it's only a pander trying to drum up business for an exotic brothel. [Cities random encounter] The gentleman is truly sorry to hear of her reduced circumstances, but cannot offer assistance himself. He does at least give her directions to the docks when she asks.

[One more encounter check. I'd rolled major personage in the Cities tables, but since I didn't have any defined, I rolled on the d30 Sandbox Companion's NPC column in the adventure generator section.

1d30=magic-user, d6=f
Q: What does she want? Take / Trials - looking for a companion in her trials
Power level? UNE table R-3 (standard): d%=89, Slightly Stronger (has been on 2-3 adventures)

I picked a name off my list and rolled a quick stat block and beginning spells (I have an Excel table that rolls random spells with levels up to 1/2 INT):

Tzingaal
STR 11   Grimoire:
CON 11   Agony (2)
SIZ 10   Sorcerer's Strength (1-3)
INT 16   Witch sight (3)
POW 18
DEX 11
APP 15

Q: Can she help with memory? 50/50 (4+): 02 C3 - No, but... might know someone.]

She makes her way south towards the harbour (she hopes). Her circuitous path takes her down a shadowy narrow street, full of dark, shoddy tenements and boarded-over shops. The only soul with her on the street is a young woman in a costly yet very well-worn dress of light blue. She moves with a willowy grace, gliding down the cobbled street like a phantom. The overcast sky lends extra radiance to her long red hair, but redder still is the arc of blood seeping through the fabric from her shoulder blade down to the middle of her back.

Our heroine is struck with a sudden pity for the wretched creature before her, and cannot help but quicken her pace to see if she can be of any help.

"Are you alright? You're covered in blood."

The woman stops abruptly and turns round.

"I--? Oh. Of course I am. I'm fine. Relatively speaking. Are you a healer?"

"No, I'm... this is just the robe they gave me at the Oceanid's temple. After the battle..."

"Oh. I just heard... I've been away."

"Do you live here?"

"No. I hadn't intended to come back. But circumstances forced my hand."

"But you know the city?"

"As well as any."

"I'm not from here."

"Your accent does rather give it away. Are you lost?"

"You could say that."

"Where are you trying to get to?"

"I don't know. I..."

"You don't know...?"

"I can't remember anything."

"Because of your injuries in the battle?"

"No, I remember the battle, and being conscripted. But before that... nothing. I've tried to piece it together, but, nothing makes sense. I learnt a pair of names -- no more."

"I've not got the widest acquaintance in the city, but I might be able to help you find them."

"I think someone called Gzashal had my, uh, comrades and I ambushed because we worked for someone called Yuclender."

[T Fast Talk (43%) to gain trust: success
? Insight (41%): fail, no suspicions

Q: Names mean anything to T? Unlikely (5+): O6 C2 - Yes, and...
Q: Involved with one or other? Unknown: 1d6=5 Unlikely: O6 C4 - Yes, but...
Q: Which? (1d6) 1-3 G, 4-6 Y : Y
Q: Relationship? (1d6) 1-2 good 3-4 neutral 5-6 bad: N
Q: How does T know him? (1d6) 1 retainer, 2 acquaintance, 3 business associate, 4 owes debt, 5 owes gratitude, 6 former student: d6=2
Q: Does T have any ideas about heroine? 50/50: O3 C2 - No, and...]

"Do you believe in fate?"

"Fate...? I don't know. I mean, I don't think so."

"Maybe you'd ought to do. It just so happens I was on my way to find an old colleague of mine... by the name of Yuclender."

"Oh! but, just what sort of person is this Yuclender?"

"He used to be a sorcerer, until something robbed him of his magic. Probably. Now he's a crime boss of sorts."

"Are you a sorceress?"

"Well, I'm no criminal!"

"That's a relief. Or, wait--"

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean... look, why don't I make a discreet enquiry before dragging you in front of him, in case you have it all backwards. My business with him is of a more mystical cast, anyway, so it won't do to dwell on his more... pecuniary concerns. This is his street. Why don't you just linger out here whilst I go in and have a quick word."

The sorceress slips into a building through a door that is cleverly disguised as having been boarded over securely, as our heroine anxiously awaits news of her fate.

~~ End of Part I ~~

Notes on a campaign that failed... and then flourished

This adventure began and then fizzled out back in 2015. I tried to write up the bits in this post back then, but got discouraged and put the whole thing aside.

The main reason it failed was my experiment with the PC. Amnesia seemed like a good idea for revealing the character's background piecemeal, but the dice just weren't super helpful. Maybe it would have worked better in a more defined setting, and maybe it was just bad luck with what few clues I did roll. And trying to write 3rd person narrative about a character with no name is a lot less fun than one might imagine!

But the real death blow came in the encounter with the sorceress. Just from the little bit I knew about her (the stat block above), she seemed like a much more interesting character than my current PC, even with the big revelation when the sorceress went to talk to the mysterious Yuclender. So I put it aside and went off to do other things. I thought about picking it up again once or twice, but inspiration was lacking. I even thought about just consigning it to the dustbin and starting a completely new adventure with the sorceress as the main PC. But I was kind of curious to see what sorts of trouble the two of them might get into together. And I was also curious to see what happened with Yuclender himself. He got a random stat block and then a random Profession from the MW rulebook. So he was a Sorcerer, but with only a 15 POW he wasn't able to use magic (requires 16+); instead of changing the stats or re-rolling, I just ran with it. And as that was too good to discard, I knew I had to keep the whole thing.

The UNE result that said the sorceress was "slightly stronger" than my PC provided the key. I had interpreted that as having been on 2 or 3 adventures already. And instead of giving her a handful of random experience checks and maybe an extra spell, I decided I could just play out those adventures. All I had to do was make sure she got back to the city and had some reason to meet this strange ex-sorcerer, Yuclender.

I'd probably have posted some of it before now, but (due in part to computer woes) I played the first bit totally offline with books, pencil, and paper -- and I have a slight aversion to typing up my notes once they reach a certain length. And I do have quite a few games going that I've never posted about, so...

In any event, Magic World became one of the standards in my eternal rotation of games, and it inched ever closer to the point where the two adventure strands were destined to meet. Of course, had Tzingaal died that would've scuppered the whole thing, but (spoiler alert) she didn't. Everything worked out without me having to put on my GM hat to force things to go a certain way, and it provided plenty of impetus for further adventures. The only difference between the meeting as it originally played out and as written above is the detail of the blood seeping through the back of Tzingaal's dress.

It is the tale of how she came to find herself in such circumstances that shall form the matter of the next series of posts.

New low or personal best?

We had a couple hours to kill in Bloomsbury t'other day, so we decided to pop into the Petrie Museum, having not been there for a while.

I've got a better phone camera than last time I was there, so took lots of pictures of the Egyptian & Greek inscriptions, and as many of my favourite artefacts as I could fine.

More germane to the substance of this blog, I also took lots of pictures of jewellery and smaller items that would make good inspiration for treasures, especially for Runequest, like I often do on a museum visit.

A handful of the cases had little cards with floorplans of the tombs and temples where objects were unearthed. My camera is now good enough to get pictures of these... also for Runequest.

CT solo - Part 9 : Imperial justice

094-1105
Regina A788899-A Ri

Once she's safely secured all the passengers in their staterooms for the return to normal space, Ortance proceeds to the bridge. Since Regina is her homeworld, Captain Rov had offered her a seat so she could get a better view of it than she could from staring out a porthole.

The Issaries lurches out of jumpspace, and Ortance's immediate view is of the console she's doubled over whilst the feeling of her innards being pulled out her ears subsides. 'Do spacers really get used to this?' she muses. When she finally looks up, all she can see is Assiniboia, the gas giant around which Regina orbits, and even that is blurry as her eyes haven't stopped tearing yet.

She glances instinctively over at Gzo to gauge the depths of her disapproval, but finds she is engrossed in the sensor readouts. And Rov is on the commo, talking to someone about a fusion plant malfunction.

[Ship encounter: 1000t long liner, Requires help with repair, please!
Malfunction: d66=Fusion plant sensor failure]

Rov has Gzo check their position, and tells the panicking comms officer on the other end of the line that they can be there within 2 hours. Gzo charts a new route, and tells the captain that hal Ushsh can watch the bridge whilst they are making repairs; she's going to take a nap in her stateroom so she can be well rested to plot their course to the mainworld later. Rov waves her away, and tells Ortance to go help Lluyd collect some tools; he's taking them both over as the repair team.

As she's making her way to engineering, she hears the Captain's voice come over the general intercom, outlining the situation for both crew and passengers and explaining they have both a moral and legal duty to help other spacers in distress.

The Xiola Umbar is a 1000t luxury liner, and easily the most opulent space vessel any of the Issaries' repair crew have ever seen. 'Swanky' is the way Lluyd puts it. Ortance is immediately reminded of an ocean-going surface yacht, like the one she was on for Oezkaeoth Evoedh's bat mitzvah. The smartly uniformed, almost liveried purser leads them through a maze of wood-panneled corridors ornamented with soft carpeting, brass runners, hanging lamps, and oil paintings to the aft of the ship. It's almost a shock when the reach the engine room, which is as loud and dirty and functional as the Issaries'.

[Q: Anything untoward happen? doubtful (6): O2 C3 - no, but...]

Repairs take the better part of a day. When they are finally finished, and exhausted Ortance trudges back to her stateroom, and after a perfunctory 5 minutes in her fresher, passes right out. When she does awaken, it's to the Captain's voice on the intercom announcing they've one hour before putting in to the highport. She has barely enough time to get dressed and force a comb through her hair before she has to get the passengers ready for arrival.


095-1105

Captain Rov has given the entire crew a week's shore leave. Ortance has assured him her little errand shouldn't take longer than that. And she certainly doesn't intend to spend any more time at home than is absolutely necessary.

It takes an age to get through customs. Ortance doesn't really remember what it was like when she left -- it was thirteen years ago! -- but there seems to be a tension she doesn't remember from growing up. Every third news bulletin scrolling by on the reader is about Zhodani though, so maybe that is the reason.

[Q: Any issues getting through the starport? unknown d6=6: O5 C4 - no, but...]

She queues for a most tedious hour-and-a-quarter to get to the customs official's kiosk (she's see the same new briefs appear at least 6 times by then), and then of course there is some issue with her identity check. A uniformed agent takes her aside into a small holding area, and her annoyance melts away, leaving only sickening fear in its place.

After another agonising wait, a different agent comes through with datapad in hand. "Sorry for the hold-up, Miss Staalazingen. I'm afraid you'd joined the wrong queue. You've been offworld too long to still qualify as a resident. Normally we'd have to send you to the back of the proper queue, but with the heightened security measures that would cost you another two hours, minimum. I've looked over your Identification Records, and I don't think the enhanced checks will be necessary. Your family is hardly on the dissident watchlist! So if you'll just sign here I can send you on along." [Roll SOC- (9 or less) to avoid complications: 2D=4, fine]

"Thank you ever so much," says Ortance. "I do awfully appreciate it!"

"Welcome back, Miss Staalazingen!"

. . .

Ortance calls home from the shuttle departure lounge to avoid turning up completely unannounced, and is mildly distressed that it's only one of the housekeepers who answers, and a new one she's never met at that! But at least there will be an air/raft waiting at the downport to collect her.

Staring out the shuttle's porthole at her homeworld growing larger and larger beneath her, she finds the only way to hold back the unwelcome feeling surging up inside her is to focus on the unpleasant reason for her return. 'So it's come to this,' muses Ortance, 'I'd honestly rather have assassins shooting at me than my family's constant sniping.'

[Q: Any other incidents getting out? unlikely (5+): O3 C4 - no, but...]

The shuttle lands on time, as she'd expected. It's a short trip by light rail through the port to the local departure terminal at the extrality border. Even though she's not quite left the port, she's finally taking in the familiar sights and smells of Regina -- she can't quite take to calling it home again -- when she sees Fadmer rushing towards her through the crowd.

No, it's not actually him. Just another pinch-faced man in an unflatteringly high plastic collar. Nor, it turns out, are either of the two other sudden appearances of men fitting his same description actually her pursuer. She should stop jumping at shadows. Maybe she really has seen the last of him. Maybe she really doesn't need to be carrying a spanner in her backpack; she'd not do well to assault an ugly stranger with it her first day back.

Ortance finds the driver sent to fetch her. She mumbles a greeting as her luggage is taken from her and loaded into the back of a very new, very stylish enclosed air/raft, then stares wordlessly out of the tinted windows for the long ride to her family's manor in the countryside.

. . .

Let us respect poor Ortance's privacy and say as little of her homecoming as is strictly necessary. Her parents were, of course, too busy to greet her when she came back to the family home, arriving several hours later once their individual business and/or social engagements were concluded. Her older sister arrived later still. And her brother send only a belated apology for his absence, communicated to her the next morning over a solitary breakfast by a serving maid.

And for two days she did see relatively little of them, until at long last she was able to corner them both (individually, to be sure) to hear her out and give her an opportunity to plead her case. You can be sure both expressed disappointment that it was only such a terrible, if only half-explained (Ortance was sparing with details) conundrum that should entice her back to the family nest, but [another roll under SOC succeeds] they are rather made aware of their duty toward the Imperium and agree to (have their valets) look through their lists of contacts to find a suitably place person to listen to Ortance's evidence.

[Yet another roll against SOC seems in order: 2D=7, they do have some useful connection.
She can see someone in 1d6=2 days.

Q: Anything happen in the interim? 50/50 (4+): O3 C5 - no]

Ortance spends the next two days looking up old school friends, having disinterested catch=up chats, playing interminable rounds of ceccit, sitting in sidewalk cafés which are all new and yet somehow no different to the ones she remembers. There's even a family dinner -- just her, Mater & Pater, and her sister. Rensunby is there too, of course, but he's too much a stickler for etiquette to actually eat with the Family.

The communiqué comes during dinner, but again, Rensunby tells the maid to wait, and has it brought only once the Family have retired to the sitting room for tulosyry and cakes. Ortance is pleased to see that she has an appointment at the MoJ building for the following afternoon with a Sub-Director Randesh Corterwal. Mater just smiles when Ortance reads the message aloud. "Tell Ranny he still owes us an invite to his box at the opera," she says.

. . .

The Ministry of Justice building is as imposing inside as out, if not more so. A great and spacious atrium of dark marble and even darker crimson carpeting give the impression of a religious edifice rather than a governmental building. Even the security scanning station is ornamented with baroque brass fittings. Ortance passes through with relative ease; she'd brought nothing with her save the datacrystal, as instructed, though she fairly imagines she can feel the unseen rays of the meson scanner setting her teeth to rattle. Once past the checkpoint, she reports to the reception desk, where an aide is already standing by to escort her to the sub-Director's office.

Sub-Director Corterwal has a awe-inspiring view of the city and maritime harbour from the 176th floor. Better even than Ortance got out of the shuttle's portholes. But the Sub-Director, rising from behind his antique hardwood desk, greets her with an entirely casual conviviality, asking after her mother's health and admitting that he has indeed been remiss in not extending an invitation to the opera.

"So, Ortance-- I may call you Ortance, mayn't I?"

"Of course, Sub-Director."

"Ha ha! Randesh, please."

"Yes, of course, Randesh."

"Now, your mumsie told me you'd uncovered evidence of illegal research. And a conspiracy too! I don't mind saying I'd written it off as hyperbole before she'd finished her sentence, but she assured me you were a serious girl and hardly given over to exaggerations. How'd she put it? Your creative inklings were 'somewhat less-developed than the last director of the Regina Grand Theatre's last season'. Well, you know how she is. But please, in your own words, tell me just what it is you've discovered."

Ortance clears her throat and launches into an over-detailed account of her final evening at the office. She soon realises she's blathering, despite Randesh's look of polite interest, then checks herself and begins anew.

"I'm sorry. What I discovered is evidence that Luenvire BioMed has been developing highly addictive street drugs and testing them by selling them to the lower classes on Uakye. It's bad enough they're even making the stuff, but they're testing it on Imperial citizens! I knew I had to do something. So I copied all the files onto this datacrystal and ran. The government of Uakye may be corrupt too, as there was a manhunt launched before I even left the business district. I don't know, maybe they aren't involved. Maybe they just believed what the corporation told them I'd done. But I'll leave that to the Ministry to decide. They sent agents after me too -- the company, not the government -- and one nearly killed me. I didn't know who to trust. Even when I, er, secured a position as steward on a trading vessel, I didn't tell the Captain anything else but that I had discovered evidence of something very very illegal and I had to get home to Regina because I knew my family must know someone I could entrust it to. I'm sorry, did that all make sense?"

"I think I followed the salient points. Do you have the datacrystal with you? Not that I don't believe you, you understand..."

"I have it right here. Do you want me to show you?"

"Please."

She hands over the crystal which he slots into a recess on his desk. The windows dim and a display blinks to life on the wall. Ortance goes over to it and begins paging through lists of files.

"I copied everything in a hurry, so most of this is probably extraneous. Lets see, market reports... old market reports... pictures from the office karaoke night -- please don't look at these -- ... outstanding invoices... right, here it is: Project 139.88.c-0. So, what do we have in here...? Here's a status report... here's minutes of a meeting... ooh, molecular diagrams! This is pretty advanced stuff. And... here's the memo I saw, or maybe not. It's similar. There must be dozens like this. Ugh. It makes my stomach churn just thinking about it."

"You've not read it all?"

"I couldn't bear it! Besides, it spent most of the trip here hidden in a maintenance duct. Let's see, here's more lab results, and 'test markets', eeew... and some correspondence with a Baron Vliiru. Oh my Gods, I was at school with his daughters. I can't believe it. Wait, doesn't he also work at the Ministry...?"

"I think I've seen enough, Ms. Staalazingen. You do understand what these documents could mean for the security and tranquillity of the Imperium, should information like this be made public."

"Of course! That's why I wanted to bring them to you."

"Excellent. Then I am sure you'll understand why I am compelled to take this next important, if distasteful, step."

Ortance's confused reply is cut short by the sound of the office door sliding open. A pair of armed guards enter and are beside her in moments. Before she's had time to process their appearance, they have clapped binders on her wrists.

"Orders, Sub-Director?"

"Interrogation suite 6, please. And do tell Henstergin to be gentle as possible, would you?"

"At once, Sub-Director."

"Why?!" shrieks Ortance. "I don't understand."

"I'm extremely sorry it has to be this way, but you know of the project and what it entails. And what it implies. As much as I am inclined to believe you haven't shared this knowledge with anyone else, I'd be remiss in my duty if I did not find out with absolute certainty. The security of the entire subsector -- if not the entire sector -- is at stake."

"But I didn't do anything wrong!" pleads Ortance. "I didn't do anyth--"

The door snicks shut as the guards are wrestling a struggling Ortance off down the corridor. Sub-Director Corterwal sighs, opens the bottom drawer of his desk, and pours himself a stiff glass of Knorbes Special 1059. He drains it in a single go, then pours a second before hailing his secretary on the inter-commo.

"Yes, Sub-Director?"

"Berrenijs, I need you to cross-reference my diary with the Norris Opera's schedule for next week, and let them -- and me -- know when I'll be using my box. I need to explain some unfortunate circumstances to two very loyal subjects of the Imperium, and I find these things always go down best with some good music to soften the blow."

~ finis ~

------------------------------

And so, the little experiment of playing a completely random PC ended in tears. Not my own, fortunately, but my hapless character's. When she presented her evidence to the MoJ, I asked the Oracle the following question:

Q: Is Ortance given any accolade/reward for exposing Luenvire? Likely (3+): O2 C2 - no, and...
+Event: PC negative - Punish / Attention

The No, and... result followed by that Event set the gears in my head spinning, and suddenly I realised who was financing Luenvire Biomed's secret project in the first place, and just how much trouble poor Ortance had blundered into.

So what is to become of her? There will certainly be no trial, but an extra-judicial killing and disposal of her body in jumpspace is too harsh a penalty for what she's done. Instead, she'll be confined as a political prisoner in Imperial Prison Station 17 in orbit about Pixie, in case they ever need to produce her as a witness and victim of the cover-up (i.e. should details of the project ever be made public, and the MoJ needs to begin an actual cover-up operation). Or perhaps someday I'll run some PCs through The Kinunir, and they'll be hired to by a patron to rescue her instead of the Senator.

CT solo - Part 8 : Catching up

[But what about her pursuer?

Q: Does Fadmer have any associates here? unlikely (5+): O4 C8 - no.
Q: Can he draw on any special resources? 50/50 (4+): O2 C3 - no, but... he's got money to draw upon (so he'll have bought a revolver and a dagger)

Fadmer needs to roll INT or less (10-) to track down Ortance.
DMs for her evasion: +streetwise, +2 high INT
2D+3=7

Q: Where does he find her? 1-2 street, 3 pub, 4 hostel, 5 shopping centre, 6 cinema: pub
Q: Is it busy? 50/50 (4+): O3 C7 - no.

surprise: F4, O1 - he achieves surprise; encounter range=short]

Ortance has found a pub with the least ghastly music piped in for her last evening on Forboldn. She's sitting in quiet contemplation of something purporting to be beer when she looks up to see Fadmer sliding into the booth beside her.

"I guess you found me then."

"You were a fool to have doubted it. You're only prolonging the inevitable." [react=6, unreceptive]

"You're too late, you know. I've hidden the datacrystal, and sent my parents a long letter telling them where to find it if I'm not home within a 3 weeks of receiving it."

"And if it's gone when they get here? And you're gone?"

"If I'm gone it won't matter. It will be here without me."

"You're failing to see the big picture. I'll get you to tell me where it is."

"You want another lump on your head to match the first one?"

"You haven't any friends here and I do. You're hardly in a position to make threats."

"But you've no authority. We're just two private citizens with a personal quarrel as far as the corporate police are concerned."

"I'm sure I can manage an extradition with their help."

"Hm. And just how do you propose to get me out of here?"

"I'd hoped you'd come quietly."

"So you have a gun?"

"Don't you?"

"I didn't intend to stay so long I'd need one."

"You are new at this, aren't you?"

"Does it show?"

"Not to your credit, I'm afraid."

"Oh, bother. May I at least finish my pint?"

"Be my guest."

[Q: Has O seen an escape route here? 50/50 (4+): O2 C2 - no, and... there's only the front airlock]

Ortance gives up halfway through and says they might as well go now. As they step into the airlock and the door closes behind them, she pulls her gun from her bag instead of her filter mask.

"Well played! But you can't very well shoot me."

"True. But I perhaps--"

She backhands him across the face with her gun before finishing her sentence. They scuffle as the airlock's internal pressure changes to the exterior levels, Fadmer landing several good punches before she knocks him senseless with the butt of her pistol.

[surprise dice, O6, F1 - surprise attack
pistol butt attacks as a club -1: hits for 5 dmg to STR (down to 3)

Round 2
F fights back unarmed
his fist hits her for 3dmg to STR (also down to 3)
O's second attack misses

Round 3
F hits again; she takes 5 dmg to END (down to 2)
O hits for 6dmg. His 3 physical stats are now 366, so wherever it's applied will render him unconscious.]

The door opens as Fadmer slumps against the wall. Ortance hastily holds her mask to her face as she runs into the street.

She starts to consider whether she really should hide the datacrystal and send a letter like she'd said. For now, she retrieves her stuff from the hostel and finds elsewhere to live.

[She must throw 6+ to avoid immediate issues, DM +streetwise: 2D+1=8, ok
The police will only investigate later on a roll of LL or less (4-); 2D=no
Q: Can Fadmer pick up her trail again? unlikely (5+): O4 C5 - no]


070-1105

On the appointed day, the Issaries takes off, but only flies into low orbit. Stantil & hal Ushsh take the launch down to a place 50km outside of town that's popular with hikers. Ortance has paid cr100 for a taxi there.

[Q: Any problems? unlikely (5+): O6 C8 - yes
Q: What? Communicate / Environment

need to roll 8+ to land without incident: DMs +electronics, +ship's boat
2D+3=12, ok]

Dust storms make landing hazardous. Ortance sets up the comm as a beacon to help guide the launch in. At least the taxi driver doesn't make her pay extra whilst she sits out the storm in the back seat. He doesn't want to drive until the storm abates.

Ortance is bent nearly double against the wind as she races into the launch's airlock, which closes swiftly behind her. She removes her breath mask, and is still brushing the sand from her clothes when the interior airlock door opens and she sees hal Ushsh laughing at her.

"What?"

"Nice black eye."

"I ran into Fadmer."

"With your face?"

The rendez-vous is at the jump point (the launch is also M-drive 1), 6.2 hours away. Hal Ushsh tends to Ortance's injuries with a first-aid medkit to pass the time.

[No ship encounters, drive malfunction, or misjump.
Event: Sensors are producing false readings. Or are they?]

Meanwhile on the bridge of the Issaries, Gzo and the Captain have been glued to the sensors; anomalous reading keep appearing at the extreme edge of sensor range, and they suspect the ship is being followed. Adpl is on standby in the turret.

Gzo has already put the jump co-ordinates in the computer, and as soon as the launch has docked, the Captain activates the j-drive. He's ordered Gzo and Adpl not to discuss the possibility of being followed with the rest of the crew; he doesn't want to sow panic. And no one really questions the hasty jump. The Captain is just like that sometimes.

[To avoid bad reactions for this trip: 10+ due to how stressful things have been; 2D=10]

The jump is surprisingly calm. Maybe too calm. Ortance spends a lot of time holed up in her room. The sole passenger (Clanstie the hunter) hardly bothers her outside of meal times.


077-1105
Hefry C200423-7 Ni Va

When the Issaries is about to emerge from jump at Hefry, Captain Rov orders everyone to their action stations, except Ortance & hal Ushsh, who are to remain on standby in the lounge. No one questions the order, but they can all tell something's up.

[Q: Anyone question the order? certain (2+): O1 C3 - no, but...
ship encounter: 200t far trader, Ignore you, but polite
50/50 chance for in/outbound]

After a few tense minutes, the sensors report a far trader inbound for the main world. Gzo tries to hail them, but gets no response. The Captain orders Stantil to delay acceleration until the trader is out of weapons range.

Four hours later (it should have been about three) they land on Hefry, a tiny vacuum world.

[World Event: You get ill. you are bedridden each day till you successfully roll End 10+
Q: Is this the plague? unlikely (5+): O1 C4 - no, but...
It affects 1d8=3 N/PCs.
7+ to diagnose: DMs +medical, +2 if EDU A+ : O 2D+1=8, h 2D+3=7]

Gzo, Adpl, and the Captain started feeling feverish as the ship was descending, but none of them said anything, thinking it was probably just nerves. By the time the ship has safely put down on the docking pad, they are all shaky and sweating. Hal Ushsh orders them confined to quarters immediately. Everyone is convinced it's the plague from Forboldn.

Hal Ushsh enlists Ortance to go over the information they picked up at Forboldn and cross-index it with the ship's library programme. Based on the symptoms and the library data, they both feel certain it's just a normal cold. But they do tell the port control, and agree to a 48-hour quarantine to be safe.

Sure enough, Gzo recovers in 24 hours, and Rov in 48.


080-1105

The Captain and Stantil go into the port to drum up trade. Everyone else gets shore leave. Ortance prefers to remain aboard, ostensibly to look after Adpl who's still poorly but on the mend.

There's nothing good for speculative trade (4t overpriced (120%) farm machinery abandoned in port & offered for sale), but the Captain does nearly fill the hold with freight, and finds five high passengers bound for Regina -- much to Ortance's chagrin.

78,920 ship's fund

+195,000 195t freight
+ 60,000 6x high passengers
+  9,000 9x low passengers
- 26,900 life support
-  5,000 fuel
-    300 berthing
----------
310,720 new ship's fund

67,500 owed for gross profit first voyage (due 090-1105)

132,000 owed for gross profit 2nd voyage (total due 090-1105 = cr199,500)

126,000 secret fund


87-1105

It's finally time to leave Hefry. Ortance welcomes the new passengers aboard with consummate grace and charm, even though she is inwardly suspicious of each. None of them look in the least bit dangerous, but then, neither did Fadmer. So she'll keep a close scrutiny on them all, in the name of attentiveness. What a diligent steward she is!

[no malfunctions, misjump, or eventful ship encounter

Q: Do any passengers make O nervous? 50/50 (4+): O3 C4 - no, but... none of the do. And all of them do.
She needs to roll SOC or less (9-) to maintain the sweet & charming façade: 2D=4]

The passengers don't actually cause her any bother this trip, but her nerves are frayed from looking for trouble in the most minute gestures, and suspecting a coded threat lurking behind every utterance. It's worse than being at one of Lady Dovenpford-Kiishalikir's soirées!

[Avoid bad reaction 9+ this trip: 2D=8]

But it is nearly an axiom of space travel (so young Ortance believes) that when the passengers are well behaved, it is the crew who will kick off. One evening in the galley, Stantil -- of all people! -- loses his temper with hal Ushsh.

She'd given him lip for his gentle reprimand about always antagonising Adpl, and he responded with both barrels. The shouting is more than Ortance can take, and for the sake of her own sanity, she must intervene. [Needs 9+, DM +steward: 2D+1=5]

It works a charm! Now instead of excoriating each other, they've both turned all their ire on Ortance, who soon rushes off to her room in tears.

[Q: Any fallout? 50/50 (4+): O5 C6 - yes
Q: What? Propose / Bureaucracy]

Captain Rov steps in with a new duty roster. Ortance, Stantil, and hal Ushsh are all put on different shifts so they don't have any contact -- but the bad feelings still simmer.

[Onboard event: What the problem is will probably revolve one of the PCs skills, status or situation.]

(1d6): 1 medical, 2 electronics, 3 streetwise, 4 computer, 5 SOC, 6 corporate background: 1d6=4]

The Issaries' computer starts glitching again. None of the sinks or fresher will dispense any water as it is all being diverted to the engine room as emergency coolant [Wildly / Dry]. Ortance has to work with Lluyd to find the source of the problem and fix it.

[10+ needed for repairs, roll once/day; DMs +engineering, +computer
The problem starts day 1d3=1
d2: 7+2, fail
d3: 10+2, success

Captain Rov must make steward roll (8+) to deal with passengers: 10+1, ok]

Lluyd, in the engine room, finally isolates the affected sensors, and Ortance re-programmes the monitoring software to account for the needed adjustments. She's also had to simulate a decontamination emergency in the main airlock so it could be used as a shower -- and provide drinking water.

Somehow, Captain Rov has kept the passengers from getting too tetchy during the crisis, which lasts nearly 72 hours. And Ortance must work ceaselessly the rest of the trip to keep them happy. But at least it means she's too busy to worry about what's waiting for her at home.


next post: Regina!

CT Solo - Part 7 : Off the ship

Ortance comes to in the dark of her stateroom, having been patched up. She feels quite woozy but the pain -- of which she is finally aware, now that the shock has worn off -- is dull and distant. She pulls on some clothing and totters out of her stateroom towards the bridge.

[been asleep 2d6=5 hours

Q: Any passengers in the lounge? 50/50 (4+): O5 C6 - yes
1d3=2; 2d5=1,2 both the hunter and the merc
reaction rolls: 8 & 6]

Major Ieske and the hunter are in the lounge when she passes through. "Job well done," says the hunter. The mercenary is just sullen and stares.

[Q: Who's on the bridge? 1d3=1 of the crew, d6=Gzo]

Only Gzo is on the bridge, diligently monitoring the security cameras. She looks up briefly when she hears the iris open, then looks back at the monitors as she speaks.

"You’re not supposed to be out of bed."

"Couldn't sleep."

"We dosed you with a lot of pain meds. How are you conscious at all?"

"Yeah. I guess I have a high tolerance still."

"Still?"

"Never mind. Where's, um, where is he?"

"Your assailant?"

"Yeah."

"He's safely restrained in his stateroom."

"Oh. I wanna talk to him."

"I don't think..."

"I can handle it. I need to know."

"It's not that. Hal Ushsh, er, convinced him to make a confession to the Captain. I don't think he's going to be conscious for a few more hours."

"Where's the captain?"

"Later. Get back to bed."

Ortance is in no condition to object

. . .

When she awakens again, she sees the message light blinking on her display. 'When you get this, come to the bridge.'

She gets properly dressed this time, cleans her teeth (ick - how long has she slept?), and heads to the bridge, where Captain Rov is waiting there, absently monitoring the instruments. She stands helplessly by the entrance, waiting. He finally swivels in his chair to face her.

[Q: How much information did they get from Fadmer? 1 none, 2-3 the broad strokes, 4-5 fairly specific, 6 enough to scare them into handing Ortance over: d6=4

Reaction roll=9]

"Quite a world of shit you've dragged us into," he says. [knowing - speech - enemy]

"I'm, uh, sorry. I didn't mean to involve anyone else. I was just trying to get away."

"We should have thrown you out the airlock before we hit Whanga."

"I..."

"Oh, come on, I'm joking. It's not the sort of thing that's good for morale on a ship, believe me. And you're part of the crew now, so there's a certain amount of looking-after that comes with it."

"Um, thanks."

"Sit down, Staalazingen, before you fall down. We need to know if you're holding anything back."

"Yes. Of course. From the top, then: I stole evidence of illegal research from Luenvire BioMed, where I used to work on Uakye. I'm taking it to Regina to hand over to the MoJ."

"That's... well, that's commendable."

"If you knew what they were planning... you'd understand."

"I'm not sure I want to know. So, you boarded the first ship heading Rimward?"

"No, just the first ship, full stop. They were after me, and either the police were in on it or the corp had convinced them I was a dangerous criminal. I just had to get away."

"So, no master plan?"

"Simply dumb luck and hope."

"Hm. We can try to help. Throw your pursuers off the scent somehow. We're kicking Fadmer off the ship at Forboldn. I don't think we can get much help from the authorities there, so we'll just have to let him go. We'll be kicking you off the ship, too. Publicly, at any rate. We'll find a way to double back and pick you up, but I want the mark on our ship lifted -- for all our sakes."

"Understood. And thanks."

"As I said, you're one of us now. Just as long as you understand this works both ways."

"Aye aye, captain!"

"Lluyd's always saying that. Is it a Solomani thing?"

[Q: Any problems before they hit Forboldn? unlikely (5+): O4 C3 - no, but... crew and passengers tense.
Q: O get any visitors? unlikely (5+): O6 C7 - yes
Q: Who? (1d6) 1-4 crew, 5-6 passenger: crew, d6=Gzo]

063-1105
Forboldn D893614-4 Ni

Ortance spends the rest of the jump in her quarters, having been officially relieved of duties by order of hal Ushsh. About an hour after the ship returns to normal space, Gzo stops by to see her.

"How are you? Fit for duty yet?"

"Um, I don't know. I guess."

"You're not winning any awards for your work here, you know? Sneak on the ship, hired on because the captain is soft, bringing a hired killer aboard and keep things to yourself, and now you're 'just too traumatised to work'." [prejudiced - assessment - campaign]

"I never--"

"That was our esteemed medic's opinion. But you want to know mine? leave. We're sending you ashore at Forboldn for some attempt at throwing the pursuit off our tails. Just walk away. Get a berth on another ship and go wherever you want, but don't come back here. If you've any decency, you'll see it's the right thing to do. And if you don't... I just hope you don't get us all killed."

[no ship encounters]

After six more hours the Issaries touches down at the starport, which is only marginally better than the one on Knorbes. Or Whanga. And this is mostly down to the massive amount of warehouses and a miserable little transit centre that looks like a maglev station food court -- only with more sheet metal.

[Remote Event from earlier -- Delay / Illness: there was a plague outbreak onworld, but it's seemingly contained now (check for illness amongst new passengers, etc.).

Q: Do they hear of the plague on-world? unlikely (5+): O2 C4 - no, but... will after 1d6 days in port]

Crew salaries are due. Ortance is getting her 1st month pro rata (20 days, so 2/3) AND garnished 75%. She gets cr500, and her debt to the ship is reduced to cr8500.

The passengers are disembarked. Ortance is given her money, the confiscated pistol, a filter mask, and the long range communicator. Stantil tries to re-assure her, telling her it's already tuned to the Issaries' private frequency.

She mopes off into the centre to find a way into the settlement proper. It's scarcely less primitive than Knorbes, but the ubiquitous construction machinery looks all to be of offworld manufacture. According to the Library Data, the first colonists only arrived in 1089 -- when Ortance was 18. She's going to have to be on her own here in these conditions for a few days -- hopefully not any longer. Suddenly she feels homesick for Uakye. Or Regina.

[Random encounter getting out of starport: Police patrol
2D=6 cops with pistols - 2 have SMGs as well
Reaction=4, hostile attack on 8+: 6]

There's some sort of incident taking place inside the terminal, but she can't immediately tell what it is. A group of armed 'police' (corporate thugs, essentially, as Govt Type=1) usher her rudely away. [9+ to find out what's going on, DM +1 for high INT, +streetwise: 2D+2=5, no idea]

She doesn't want any part of it. Fortunately there are transport links on the other side. Ortance pays for a ticket and gets the light rail (steam powered!) into town.

[Q: Is Fadmer about? unlikely (5+): O5 C2 - yes, and...
surprise rolls: 3,4 they both notice the other]

She's been on the lookout for Fadmer ever since her boot made its first impression in Forboldn's dusty soil. She was relieved not to see him anywhere at the terminal. She only catches a glimpse of him as her train is pulling away from the platform -- and he's on it!

She sits with her back to him and feigns ignorance. At the first stop, somewhere sparse and industrial-looking, she attempts to dash off the train just as the doors are starting to close.

[roll under DEX (8-): 2D=7, ok]

She springs out onto the platform just in time. Fadmer stares at her out the window in surprise, and Ortance can't resist showing him two fingers as the train chugs inexorably away.

But where the hell is she? Is this what answers to startown?

[For killing time on Forboldn, I ran her through a sequence of Travelling Alone.

When she gets to Options, it will be time to radio the ship.

>Upkeep cr360 as she's skint (SOC effectively 6)
>Buy equipment - a changes of clothes, cr25
>idem (-cr25 more)
>Sell Equipment
>Event: Legal encounter, throw Law Level+ to avoid
allowing DM+streetwise 2D+1=10, avoided
>Options

Putting all that into a bit of narrative--]

Forboldn is a particularly grim little world, and the port area grimmer still. Fortunately, Ortance once picked up a taste for slumming, which is useful when one's options are limited. She finds a dingy little residence hotel to stay in, utterly lacking in charm, and buys only as much food as she can cook in the room. She does splash out cr50 for two new outfits, local clothing styles to fit in better, and cheap as you like. She finds an inordinate number of pawn shops in the neighbourhood between the bars and gambling halls and is similarly taken aback at the large number of police on such a low Law Level world. Luckily she knows how to avoid them.

Four days later Ortance has grown immensely weary of the local entertainment options. Thank fuck it's almost time to call the ship.


next post: rendez-vous!

CT Solo - Part 6 : The gun

056-1105

The Issaries lifts off into orbit, and after about 6.4 hours travelling out to 100d makes a seamless transition into jump space. [no malfunctions, misjump, or ship encounter]

The voyage progresses calmly, and the crew are mostly on good behaviour. Gzo snipes at Stantil a little, but he shrugs it off and she doesn't press the matter. [bad reaction -- avoid on 8+: 2D=8, just]

This is Ortance's first time taking care of passengers, so she does her best to be as attentive to their needs as possible [needs 8+ (Steward-0) to avoid a problem: 2D=11]. She surprises herself at how well she can keep them all happy. The four suits from various firms seem mostly content to talk amongst themselves. The hunter is a little more needy; she's announced her intention to take passage all the way to Jenghe, and aside from making a mess in the passenger lounge, she sems affable enough. Even the angry mercenary from the inn isn't as difficult as Ortance had feared. Nothing is going wrong at all... until the [1d6=] fourth day in jump.

[ship event: Theft from a passenger stateroom or luggage area

Q: Is it one of the 2 interesting NPCs who's the victim? likely (3+): O5 C5 - yes, d2=merc
+Event: PC negative - Take / The mundane]

It starts with a seemingly inconsequential happenstance: Ortance comes back from clearing the galley and notices that the nice perfume she picked on Knorbes [Generously / Feminine] is missing from her stateroom. She doesn't remember taking it off her side table by the bunk. She's still wondering where it got to when the mercenary knocks at her door, asking for a private conversation.

Major Amna Ieske
A8A986   Age 30   Army  3 terms
Homeworld: Mertactor
Rifle-1, Autopistol-1, Blade-2, Leader-2, ATV-1, Gambling-1, SMG-1, Tactics-1
Low Passage, Auto pistol, Cr10000
Personality: Guilt Ridden, Sullen



"Someone's nicked my pistol from my quarters," says Major Ieske.

"I thought all passengers' weapons were stowed in the ship's locker."

"Well, you must have missed one."

"That's a breach of protocol!"

"Is that really what bothers you about this?"

"Of course not. Sorry. When did you see it last?" [1d3-1=1 days ago]

"Yesterday. Ship's time."

"I'll see what I can do."

Ortance goes straight to hal Ushsh. "I need your help..."

[Reaction=11]

She explains the problem, and hal Ushsh surprises her both with her eagerness to help and her promise to keep it quiet for now.

"Whilst I'm serving dinner in the lounge, I need you to look through the staterooms of everyone present -- and quickly. I'll ping your commo if anyone leaves early."

[Q: How many show up for dinner out? d6=all!
Steward 6+: 2D=9]

Ortance's half of the plan seems to go well. All six passengers show up for dinner and she keeps them fed and happy, though Major Ieske's usual grimace seems even more dour than usual. Ortance has planned a meal with extra courses tonight to give her more opportunities to get close to her charges, clearing plates and pouring wine. She hopes that she can detect the perfume thief, though she doubts that anyone would be foolish enough to wear the scent before disembarking. Still, there may be a lingering trace if they'd tried it.

[She'll need to roll SOC- to detect anything: 2D=5, success

Q: So, does anyone smell of perfume? unknown d6=4: O5 C6, yes
Q: Who? 1d5=not the hunter, so random roll on the Patron chart; absurd result =businessperson
d66=naval officer; terms=3, human male]

And there is! And not on who she'd have expected. The man's name is Fadmer Vigapf, and he'd done 3 tours in the Imperial navy before joining the private sector. When he proffers his wine glass for another round, she gets a definite whiff of it on his fingers.

When dinner is over, Ortance pings hal Ushsh for a briefing. Or is that a debriefing? She's no veteran herself, and doesn't want to get it wrong and make an arse of herself in front of her new soldierly shipmate.

[Q: Can hal Ushsh get through all the staterooms before someone leaves? unlikely (5+): O6 C5 - yes
Q: Did she find anything? doubtful (6): O1 C1 - no, and...]

Hal Ushsh is annoyed that she couldn't find any evidence -- of perfume or weapons -- in any of the staterooms. But she agrees to shadow Mr. Vigapf for a time.

Then Ortance reluctantly finds the Captain to make a report.

[Q: on a scale of 1-6, how angry is he? d6=4, rather put out]

He upbraids her for a few minutes for failing to get the passengers onboard correctly, then abruptly asks what she's going to do about it.

"I think I know who stole it. Or, at least, stole something from my quarters."

"You had a weapon too?! You know, I am still within my rights to put you out the airlock."

"No! it was that perfume I bought on Knorbes. I smelt it on one of the passengers tonight at dinner. I think he must be the thief."

"We can't go accusing innocent passengers... or letting rumour get out about how we run the ship."

"I understand. I can take care of this quietly. So far, only hal Ushsh knows. I just need a small toolkit from engineering."

"For what?"

"In case it's hidden in the ducts."

"This is going ot be a theme with you, isn't it?"

"I hope not."

"I'll tell Lluyd to leave a toolkit in your stateroom."

"I'd rather it were on the bridge -- my room's not secure."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

[Q: Anything happen before 'nighttime'? unlikely (5+): O6 C8 - yes
Q: What? Remote event - Delay / Illness (noted)]

The 'evening' is quiet, and Ortance is only bothered a few times by passengers wanting a nightcap or needing help (again!) with the onboard entertainment programme. When everyone is presumably fast asleep, she fetches the tools from the bridge, dons a set of engineering coveralls, turns off the alerts on her comm, and sneaks through air/maintenance vents on the passenger deck to spy on the former naval officer.

[5+ to evade detection, DM +1 for Dex 9: 2D+1=5, just]

It's not as easy as she expected to peer down through the vents. She has to prop herself up awkwardly to see anything. And doesn't enjoy feeling like she's doing something perverse. Thankfully, her suspect seems not to be undressing for bed just yet.

[Q: Anything to see? unlikely (5+): O6 C1 - yes, and...
Q: Does he leave the stateroom? unknown: d6=2: O3 C3 - yes, but... after O has crawled off
+Event: PC negative - Pursue / Investment (suddenly, the pieces all fit into place!]

He is just sitting on the edge of the bed, turning something over in his hands -- the purloined pistol!

Ortance craws back out of the ductwork and balls up the coveralls which she deposits with the tools back in engineering. Then she checks her comm to see there were no messages and goes back to her stateroom to get clean and changed before bringing in the cavalry.

But when she gets out of the fresher, she finds Fadmer sitting on her bed with the pistol in his hand. She yelps and shuts herself back inside. He knocks on the door and says, "put this on and we can have a civilised conversation" whilst handing her uniform through the cracked open door.

Fadmer Vigapf
866AC9   Age 32   ex-Navy Lieutenant  3 Terms
mechanical-1, navigation-1, auto-pistol-1, admin-2, dagger-1




She emerges to see him standing with his back against the stateroom door. He waves her over towards the bed with the gun. She sits on the edge. He remains standing, holding the gun down -- but holding it nonetheless.

"Where is it?" he asks.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. Where is it?"

"I don't know what you want. You must have the wrong person. I'm just a steward on a commercial freighter."

"Please, Ms. Staalazingen. Once they realised you'd fled offworld, Luenvire sent out agents to all the nearby planets to track you down. Fortunately for me, I drew the Knorbes assignment. Poor Agent Yilteseb got sent to Alell. Now, where is the data crystal?"

"What makes you think I even have one?"

Section chief Malaskisan had just gotten one that very day from the stationery cupboard. It was gone when you disappeared. And we know what data you copied. It set off alarms."

"Oh."

"Oh, indeed. If you return it to me, you may just walk off this ship alive."

"It's still on Uakye."

"I don't believe you."

"Why would I lie?"

"Because you seem to have no idea what you're doing, and you think I won't just have you put in cold storage and shipped back to Uakye to face your trial. Assuming they can wake you upon arrival..."

"Fine. But it's not in here. I've hidden it on the ship."

"Where?"

"In a crawlspace somewhere."

"Take me to it."

"So... if I hand it over, then what?"

"That depends on how sensible you are."

"You'd just leave at the next port?"

"Or the one after. Once I'd handed over the crystal, of course."

"And me?"

"Provided you keep your mouth shut, it's not worth having to clean up the mess of your murder. And without evidence, no one will believe your story."

"Oh."

"And if you are thinking of double-crossing me somehow, I should point out that I left word of which ship I'm travelling on. In case of any accidents."

"Fine," sighs Ortance. "I need the screwdriver in that drawer to get the hatch open. I'll get it so you don't have to root through my knickers. Slowly, so don't shoot."

Screwdriver in hand, she leads him silently into the cargo bay and opens the hatch leading to the ducts where she used to hide. She crawls in, then turns to ask, "you coming?"

[Q: Does he insist on following? likely (3+): O2 C8 - no]

"I'll wait here, if it's all the same. But don't try to stall -- or escape."

"The ship's not that big," concedes Ortance, who is inwardly planning to stall. Or escape.

[to stall and possibly outsmart him--
basic throw 8+
DMs -- both are SOC 9, so they know how to read one another; O's higher INT +1, his Mechanical -1, her Electronics +1: 2D+1=10, success]

She crawl back towards where she used to hide, but doesn't go the full distance. Instead she stops round the first bend, but leaves her feet still visible. She messes about a bit with panels and wires, and manages to tap into a computer port. She rips out some wires in hopes that it sends an alert.

[for this to work, throw 6+
DMs +computer, +1 INT over 10: 2D+2=8

Q: What sort of alert? Coolly / Damaged = engine coolant leak]

She stalls a bit longer, and is rewarded by the sound of the iris valve to the starboard engineering section opening. She calls back to Fadmer. "Got the inner hatch undone. I've got to move a few metres forward to get the crystal. Won't be two ticks!"

She slides off and tries to find a way into engineering.

[Q: Can she? 50/50 (4+): O4 C3 - yes, but...]

Ortance comes to a to a grating which she doubts she can remove, but she sees Lluyd looking at the reactor.

"Pssst! Lluyd! Hey, Rawwan!"

"What the fuck are you doing in there?"

"We're being hijacked! Activate the anti-hijack programme!"

[Q: Does Fadmer come in to investigate? unknown d6=2: O6 C8 - yes
Lluyd needs a DEX roll (9-) to alert the crew before he finds her: 2D=9, ok

Q: What does he do? (1d6) 1 attack, 2-3 restrain, 4-5 'take me to the captain', 6 play dumb: 3]

Lluyd sends an alert to the captain from the engineering comm panel moments before the iris opens and Fadmer steps through. He orders her at gunpoint to bind her own feet with emergency bonding tape, then he binds her hands behind her back. It's loud, so gagging isn't a worry. He uses a power drill to quickly unbolt the grating and heads into the crawlspace after Ortance, who is already sliding off in search of an exit.

[Q: Can he pick up O's trail? likely (3+, trail through the dust!) : O5 C2 - yes, and...

to get out of a different hatch before he overtakes her--
basic throw 8+, DM +1 for dex 9: 2D+1=8, ok
She randomly emerges near 1d18=stateroom (between #5 & #10 on the plan in Supplement 7, Traders & Gunboats)]

She thumps through the confines of the twisting ducts, and eventually clambers up to the upper deck through a hatch built into the floor grating between two of the staterooms. As she pulls herself up into the corridor, she sees Fadmer crawling up behind her. As his head and torso appear above the deck, she slams the grating down on him, but instead of hearing a wet thud, the deafening report of his pistol reverberates through the passage, and then lights flash dim and red as the hijack warning klaxons begin to sound distantly in Ortance's ringing ears.

[Q: Is Fadmer desperate enough to shoot? 50/50 (4+): O4 C7 - yes

He's got a base -1DM from Dex & skill, +2 for range (house rule: I don't use the bonuses on the attack matrix for armour, only the penalties), she's evading for -1, so total of +0.

Ortance's: DMs, +2 ~club at close range but -1 for her evasion, so +1 total.

so... F rolls 9, hit; O rolls 8, hit (actions are simultaneous)
O takes 3D=7 damage to (1d3=)DEX, physical UPP now 627
F takes 2D=6 to END, down to 860 - unconscious]

Without looking back, she sprints aft towards the galley, through it, and straight up the port side corridor.

[Q: Any crew there? 50/50 (4+): O1 C2 - no, and... no one (passengers wisely staying in their staterooms!)]

Her pace doesn't slacken as she runs through the next iris, up the corridor and into the passenger lounge. She bangs on the door to the bridge.

"Let me in! He's got a gun! Let me in!"

The iris opens after what seems like a lifetime. Even though they checked the monitor to see it was just her, there are three shotguns pointed at her face.

"Get in!" screams hal Ushsh.

She slips inside and they close the iris.

Gzo is still watching the monitors. "Where is he?" she asks.

"He didn't follow me?"

"Your shoulder!" interjects Stantil. "Have you been shot?"

"Oh. Shit. I--"

"Never mind that," says hal Ushsh. "It's not spraying, so it oughtn't be fatal. Where did you see him last?"

"I-in the starboard corridor. Um, port? No, definitely starboard."

"Stantil, you're ex-navy so I trust you to aim downwards and not hit me in any crossfire. Get to the starboard corridor iris. Staalazingen, you're with me."

Hal Ushsh goes out through the iris without waiting to see if they follow. Ortance and Stantil obey her mechanically, with varying degrees of shock and sang froid.

Ortance directs hal Ushsh back the way she'd run, and points uselessly at the disturbed floor grating towards which her comrade is already advancing. Stantil soon appears just beyond it, gun aimed downward. Hal Ushsh pads up and peers down along the barrel of her shotgun, then relaxes.

She activates her commo. "We're ok. Target neutralised. Cancel the alarms, please. They're doing my head in."

She hands her shotgun to Ortance, opens the grate the rest of the way, and jumps down inside. She tries to heft Fadmer up through the hole, but [STR 6] grudgingly has to call to Stantil for help.

Ortance watches passively as they get Fadmer out onto the deck. His face and shirt are drenched in blood.

"Is-- is he dead?"

"No. But he took a nasty bump on the forehead. That'll make you bleed like a speared hurood."

"Oh. Good."

"Speaking of bleeding," says Stantil. "You're doing rather a lot of it. Maybe we'd ought to see to that now that things are under control."

"Yeah. Um. OK. I'm just going to sit down... here for a moment... first...."


next post: it's not over yet!

CT Solo - Part 5 : Travellers have adventures?

041-1105

In the morning, freight arrives on the same, or similar, vehicles. There's 190 tonnes of it, all stamped with Imperial registrations, and even with Whangan help the crew need another eight hours to get it fully loaded.

Hands are then shaken, goodbyes are said, and the Issaries takes off for the nearest lake for re-fuelling, then heads up to the jump point.

[no malfunctions, or ship encounters... jumpspace

To avoid a bad reaction (per Solo) 8+ : 2D=5
Who? 1d7=captain,
What? d6=Argument with another PC ; d6=Lluyd

Q: How much does O overhear (on a scale of 1-6): 4, a fair bit
Q: What does he say? UNE:mysterious - conundrum - parents]

Ortance is too tired to sleep, and for an hour after they've hit jumpspace she wanders, lost in vague and unfocussed thoughts, through the quiet ship. Or maybe not so quiet. She hears voices down the passage coming from the galley. It's the Captain and Lluyd. Then they're coming closer. No, not closer, just getting louder. And louder. And louder still. Now Ortance can make them out with absolute clarity, as the Captain lays into Lluyd about some past incident, though never mentioning it exactly as they both know very well to what he is referring. Lluyd's peevish counter-arguments are similarly opaque. The Captain's diatribe devolves into ad hominem remarks about Lluyd's doubtful parentage. And they are louder still. No, this time they are coming closer.

[She needs to roll Dex or less (9-) to duck out without being noticed: 2D=9, just...]

Ortance scurries away round the corner. The captain calls after her, asking her to back up his opinion, but she pretends not to have heard.

[Q: Any fallout? 50/50 (4+): O4 C1 - yes, and...
Q: What? Take / The public]

The next two days sees the argument flare up [d6=3] thrice more, and always when other crew are present. Many take to hiding away in their staterooms

[Q: do any of the other crew approach her? 50/50 (4+): O3 C4 - no, but...]

One night when Ortance has crept out for a snack, she catches Adpl in the galley on a similar sortie.

"Are they always like this?"

"It's not the most unusual occurrence, that's for certain."

"So... do we just hide?"

"It's safer this way. Believe me, you don't want to get involved. It should be nearly over by now."


049-1105
Knorbes E888765–2 Ri

The Issaries comes out of jump at Knorbes near(ish) to a gas giant. But a panic sweeps the bridge when the M-drive won't start. Lluyd runs down to engineering diagnose problem.

[Event: Engineering problem requires all crew to help replace a huge component.
Ship Encounter: 200t far trader - Radio silence, they fear pirates]

As they are waiting for the diagnosis, a 200t far trader appears on the sensors. It doesn't hail them, and refuses to acknowledge any communications. Adpl runs to the turret to stand ready.

All eyes are fixed to the long-range scanner readouts as Lluyd's voice crackles over the intercom. "It's as I feared: the grav field regulator's T-housing is well and truly fucked. We've got the spare, fortunately, but I was hoping not to have to do this until planetfall on Hefry under a complete shutdown."

"What does this mean?" asks the Captain.

"It weighs nearly 500kg."

"Can't we use the grav pods from the cargo bay?"

"Grav pods... on the regulator."

"Oh, ah, right you are! Right, Ortance, you stay here and keep an eye on the sensors. Adpl will remain standing by in the turret. The rest of us, to engineering!"

Ortance is soon bored of watching the sensors blinking. But within the hour, the silent far trader leaves the gas giant's orbit on a jump heading. Adpl says they can stand down, and had probably better join the rest in engineering.

Whatever animosity had been eating at Lluyd and the Captain has been replaced by esprit de corps, as the crew sweat and strain in unison to replace the damaged housing. Ortance is swept up in their élan and is soon laughing and swearing along with the rest like a real spacehand.


052-1105

Having repaired the M-drive and re-fuelled at the gas giant, the Issaries touches down on Knorbes some 68 hours after arriving in-system. [N.B. on the greater continent, not the restricted area covered in The Kinunir!]

[World (non-)Event: Security check. Roll the Law Level or higher (5+) to avoid a complete check of papers and a search of belongings and vehicle. 2D=6.]

Captain Rov meets some imperial functionaries on the landing pad, and they check over the ships papers for about 20 minutes before rubber-stamping a local clearance certificate. Despite -- or rather, because of -- the extremely low technology on the world, it's a popular tourist destination (for those who can afford such extravagance) and not at all the backwater its UWP would seem to indicate.

Ortance feels the need to stretch her legs after a week aboard ship, so when the Captain announces he needs to go into town to arrange the cargo delivery, she asks if she might be allowed to accompany him. Surprisingly, he says yes.

[He intends to bring 1d3-1=2 others.
Reaction roll: 2D=9]

Hal Ushsh will be going too, with a shotgun (in a carry-bag), just in case. All three get cutlasses to wear out of the ship's locker.

[Q: transport into town available? 50/50 (4+): O5 C5 - yes
+Event: Remote event - Communicate / Information = rumour about another system within J2 1d6=Forboldn]

There's a driver with a 6-legged, low-slung orange-skinned beast hitched to [d6=]his wagon who came to loiter by the landing pad ever since the ship was spotted in the sky. The Captain gives him some local currency (square metal coins -- he keeps a box of them in the ship's locker) for the ride.

The driver proves to be excessively garrulous. "I drove some cor-po-rate types inter town not [d6=] four days gone. One them said a-t'other the Lanthy-num deposits what they surveyed on Forboldn wasn't so big like what they putted in their re-port, nor of so much of purity, as they was like to secure more bigger funding for their extracting that-a-ways. They muster thoughted I was too much-like a yokel to understam what they was on about. Vraoksy little zruitins, they was!"

[Reaction roll for the driver was a 10, so I thought a Rumour seemed appropriate.
rumour : specific location, Naturally / Dry
Q: What's it about? Deceive / Benefits
magnitude : ±1 aid/annoyance depending on who they talk to
Q: Encounters in / on the way to town? 50/50 (4+): O2 C5 - no.]

It's getting late by the time they are dropped off in the town square. Rov puts them up in a travel inn. Ortance is taken aback by the primitive conditions in the settlement, especially as they're staying somewhere that caters to off-worlders.

[On a roll of Soc or less (9-), she'll make some tremendous gaffe. DM +streetwise: 2D+1=12]

She's never seen so many wooden buildings before. But she keeps her cool and doesn't do anything to embarrass herself. She doesn't balk at the straw mattress in the room she and hal Ushsh are sharing, and doesn't mind only having an oil lamp for light. And, most importantly, she can guess at the function of the chamber pot under her bed without having to ask -- or using it to store her valuables!

[Q: Are the corp types staying here? 50/50 (4+): O5 C4 - yes, but... not for long
Q: Anyone else? unlikely (5+): O6 C1 - yes, and...]

They are awakened in the morning by Captain Rov knocking at their door to summon them down for breakfast.

"Sleep well?" he asks a yawning Ortance.

"It wasn't quite as comfortable as the ship's ductwork, but not too badly."

When they descend the two flights of stairs (the inn, at 3 storeys, is the tallest building in town), they find the common room filled with offworlders. At one table sit [d6=] five people in expensive and pristine explorers' clothing [Aggressively / Clean]. Nearby are three men clad in outlandish furs and skins [Naturally / Fancy]. And alone in the corner sits a dour woman in the stained uniform of some mercenary battalion or other [Quietly / Horrible].

[Q: Do any take interest in the party? 50/50 (4+): O4 C3 - yes, but... (needs reaction roll)
d3=outlandish
reaction=6]

The ones in the overdone 'rustic' garb (the natives here wear furs, but no more so than do the inhabitants of Regina) keep looking over and whispering to one another.

"They're making me paranoid," says hal Ushsh.

"I'll go order us some more of this, um, tea or whatever it is," says Ortance, "and see if I can't hear what they're saying."

"You must have good ears."

"Not particularly. But eavesdropping over breakfast is the way of my people. How else does one learn what one's friends really think?"

[She must roll under Soc (8-) to overhear anything : 2D=6, ok.
Conversation: scheming - bargain - retainers
Q: Who? (1d6) 1-2 Ortance, 3-4 hal Ushsh, 5-6 both]

Ortance returns with three more steaming cups. "So, it sounds like our friends were very taken with your 'proper military bearing', and were discussing whether or not they could poach you from us to keep them safe from the 'primitives'."

"Ha!" responds hal Ushsh. "I'd like nothing more than to see the 'primitives' rough up that perfumed lot. Tempted to do it myself!"

The Captain wants to get down to business. He says Ortance can come with him or have a look about the settlement on her own, but she's not really ready to be alone on such a world, a fact she confirms when she follows him outside into the square and is visibly shocked to see an air/raft floating by. One of the locals, noticing her surprise, begins to scream, 'a floating wagon! black magic! witchcraft!' until her friend makes her stop, and both devolve into peals of laughter.

"There's a lot of offworld tourism here," offers the Captain. "The, er, rustic character of the world is a major draw amongst the nobility. I'm surprised you've never heard of it."

"I'm not quite as posh as all that."

"Could've fooled me, m'lady," laughs hal Ushsh.

Captain Rov leads them into the commerce centre, which is notable for having electricity and robust, TL8 computer equipment. They also change imperial credits for local coinage - for a fee, and have an in-house broker [admin-1] to facilitate trade with the local government, farmers, and artisans (but there's an additional 3% surcharge, so 8% total). And, of course, things o Knorbes take place at their very own pace.

In the end, they pick up 195t of freight, 2t of silver for speculative trade, 6 high passages and another 9 low. After a quick jaunt out of town in a wagon to finalise some deals and a day to sightsee in and around the settlement, they head back to the ship to help with loading.


next post: action aboard!

[Or keep reading if you want some more mechanics & economics from all the above. There were lots of die rolls for very little adventure...

9 high passengers available
10 low
4 major cargoes: 60,60,30,30
6 minor: 5,5,10,15,15,30

Speculation: 25t silver @cr49,000/tonne (a bargain! but the crew aren't sitting on Mcr1.225!)

quick accounting--

cr100,000 ship's fund

+ 195,000 195t freight
-  98,980 2t silver
+  60,000 6x high passengers
+   9,000 9x low passengers
-  26,900 life support
----------
cr238,120 new ship's fund

mortgage & salaries will be due at next planetfall (technically, on 060-1105)

things of course take extra time

Q: Does trading require a visit outside the settlement? 50/50 (4+): O4 C4 - yes, but...
Q: How is the trip? Slowly / Cute - party can't help but gawp at the idyllic scenery & quaint farmhouses

encounter: 2d=5 vigilantes with hand cannons
react=7, neutral (they don't approach the offworlders, just observe them pointedly)

legal encounter (5-): 2D=6, none; the vigilantes let them alone after a while. but they get the idea that the residents don't all love the outsiders

Q: Any run-ins at the inn? unlikely (5+): O2 c1 - no, and...
Q: Did anything interesting happen at the ship? 50/50 (4+): O1 C2 - no, and...
Q: Are any of the passengers from the inn? likely (3+): O6 c6 - yes
+Event: Introduce a new NPC - Travel / Travel = has 1d3+1=4 High Passages, will use them all (wants to go to Jenghe)

Q: Who is new NPC (via Patron table)? hunter, human female

Clanstie Venaodru
A666BA   Age 34   Hunter  4 terms
Gravitics-1, Air/raft-1, Hunting-3, Laser Rifle-1, Mechanical-1, Medical-1, Survival-2
Equipment: Laser Rifle
cr50,000

Q: Which group from the inn? d3=the merc]