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1. A - But, I'm ok with giving it back to him later if we confirm that it's useless to us. 2. FGH
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Apr 25, 2018 22:07
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dont be mean to me posted:1 B W1 (Call up Kind's cover, see if she can exhibit the record; use our best 'it's better if I don't know if you're lying, Kind' voice. If 'yes', put her in touch with Dr. Magee, or pass on the offer ourselves; Mabin probably doesn't need fifteen squirrels' help to decide which.) Everyone has interests and almost everyone side hustles, and if he starts to think we're corrupt, well that's just how things work in his world and he probably won't want to test the mutual adverse leverage situation we'd have going. for 2 I'm going to say D1 - Give an update to Mr Post, to keep him in the loop, not to say that we're done. Then H
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Apr 26, 2018 00:30
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dont be mean to me posted:1 B W1 (Call up Kind's cover, see if she can exhibit the record; use our best 'it's better if I don't know if you're lying, Kind' voice. If 'yes', put her in touch with Dr. Magee, or pass on the offer ourselves; Mabin probably doesn't need fifteen squirrels' help to decide which.) Everyone has interests and almost everyone side hustles, and if he starts to think we're corrupt, well that's just how things work in his world and he probably won't want to test the mutual adverse leverage situation we'd have going. This but also E, pull out the skeleton key that was In My Pocket. That's a thing right?
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Apr 26, 2018 00:42
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1 B W1 2CH
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Apr 26, 2018 00:54
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vorebane posted:This but also E, pull out the skeleton key that was In My Pocket. That's a thing right? Ooh, yeah pulling out a master key or bump key for that lock is a good idea and totally doable with IMP.
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Apr 26, 2018 01:20
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B. I have a thought about hooking him up with the cult but he'd recognize us instantly and if we give hints to a non-CDC 'spook' things get hosed. Perhaps we can have an underling who enjoys jazz help him out and get an audio recording in the process? H
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Apr 26, 2018 01:36
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B DGH
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Apr 26, 2018 05:31
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A. Fine with offering to return it or getting help from Kind. EF. That record probably has something significant to do with the time travel or time bubble. Maybe the recorded audio can exert some control over the portal. At the very least we should try to get a copy of the audio before we leave from Mr. Magee (he’s an audiophile so there’s a good chance he already digitized it or has equipment to do so). Lee Fenway sounds like a cover for Mr. Banks. Decent chance from the descriptions so far that Mr. Banks would be into our No Gods No Masters agenda and a potential long term ally. Teleporting to the window and cracking the filing cabinets with a skeleton key sounds great. Going swing dancing with Alex sounds fantastic but I’d like to get more intel before going near the portal. If Drift is still alive they can hopefully rough it another day while we use our full support network to get oriented on this four dimensional puzzle. malbogio fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Apr 26, 2018 |
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Apr 26, 2018 06:23
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You get the details about dancing tonight and call Alex. She is thrilled with the idea of swing dancing and asks if she needs a zoot suit. You choose to ignore that and instead plan to meet her at her place at 5:30, enough time for dinner before dancing. She asks point blank if this is an excuse to investigate some weirdness. 1 What do you tell Alex? A No, just date night. (Lie) B Yes, but be vague about it. C Yes, it might be dangerous in fact. You still have a permit to carry right? D Alex, how much to you know about time travel? After looking up the best route, you then decide to drop in on Lee Fenway. The bus ride gives you some time to research Robert Johnson and listen to a few recordings by him. You have the Record That Shouldn’t Exist thanks to some excellent work by Ms. Kind. ”Yes, Hello? Hello Mr. Magee. My name is Alison Baum, I’m a board member of the Blues & Soul Historical Society Minnesota chapter, how are you? Good good. Listen, my friend here has just told me that you might have a rare recording by Robert Johnson. I have to say that is absolutely amazing! Yes, listen what we’d like to do is verify it’s veracity, but assuming it’s genuine we’d be willing to pay you handsomely, perhaps even start a program in your name. Right. Right. No, I get that. I would be hesitant to let such a gem out of my sight too. But, Ms. Pillager is, aside from being a member of the CDC, a card-carrying member of our organization. Mabin, can you show him your id please? Thank you. So,we of course would have Mabin sign a release form, have someone there witness it. We just need to move fast here. Mabin, once you get the record bring it down to the studio asap alright? Okay, so. Let’s talk figures....” It had been a quick whirlwind conversation and you were surprised Magee fell for it. You felt sort of bad for the fellow in some ways. You’d plan to bring the record back, assuming it wasn’t like a key to anything. It looked like a normal record with a dark blue label in the center, from Delta Records. Aside from Johnson’s name it also had the date and the song or album title “The Devil’s Solace Blues”. A search online contains no reference to a song by that name. Non Existent records lead to non existent songs, it’s not entirely surprising, but the logistics of it are baffling.  The St. Paul Marina is carved out of the North bank of the Mississippi. Right now the slips look about half full, likely people fleeing to warmer climes were not tricked into returning quite yet. The marina looks pretty fancy, at least to your untrained eye. There is a ten-foot chain link fence running the perimeter, it wouldn’t be an obstacle for you, but you figure it is best if you try to keep this semi-legal for now. There is a gate that leads to a parking lot sprawled out in front of what you assume is an administrator building. Or, would it be called marina master or harbor master? You approach the building and see there is a cracked and faded sign demanding that “Vistors sign-in here!” and so, girding yourself, you open the door and enter. The interior looks almost like a auto-parts store in declining health. There are shelves with what you assume to be specific boating parts that sag along the walls. Dust and grime has clouded the plastic packaging and there is a pervasive smell of oil and grease in the air. An electronic chime wheezily announce your arrival, and a portly man is summoned from some dark back room. “Can I help ya?” the man gives you a guarded smile as he leans against the counter. You see he is wearing a mostly-clean work shirt with the marina’s logo emblazoned on the pocket. A love the logo his name, “Dave” is embroidered. “Yes, uh. I need to see Mr. Fenway,” you say. As you do so, you start to again use your ability to rearrange his perception and understanding. He will see you as an authorized figure, someone who demands must be met without question. “Why’d you want to see Lee for?” Oh for fucks sake. You recover quickly. “He and I have a mutual friend. I’m just trying to get some information as to where our friend is.” “Lee don’t like company. I better give him a call.” He moves to pick up the land line, you casually fold your arms and brush the base of the phone with your finger and somewhere in the phone, something breaks. Dave attempts to call out, frowns, resets the phone, and tries again. “I’m sorry,” you say apologetically. “But I am kinda in a hurry. Listen, I’ll just pop down there, say hello, see if Mr. Fenway’s seen our friend, and head out. Should I sign in?” Dave studies you for a moment, then sighs and pushes a visitor sign-in sheet under your nose. You smile sweetly and sign in. Fenway’s “address” is on J Dock, halfway into the marina. From a distance you can see his houseboat, about 50 or so feet long and wrapped in some sort of blue tarp. You see a few other boats like this and assume it’s some kind of winterizing precaution. This presents a problem for you though, as you cannot see into the houseboat, and it is possible that Fenway cannot see out. You have little idea of what this man is capable of, only that he seems to cavort with demons, which makes him potentially dangerous. You should proceed carefully. 2. How do you approach Fenway? E Walk up and introduce ourself as Mabin, claim to be mortal. F Approach him and be honest with what we are. Giving him that information might make him more willing to trust us G Try to sneak on via mundane means. H Sneak in via Demonic Form I We need to shock and awe this guy, kick down the door and take names. J Something else. 3 Assuming Fenway listens to us, what should we ask him about? K Mr. Drift’s current or most recent status L His relationship and history with Drift M The possible abnormality at the Wabasha Street Caves N Other possible abnormalities Drift may have found O Drift’s apartment and secret room P The Robert Johnson record. Q Something else.  _______________________________________________________ So we’re going dancing with Alex, which will be fun! We can also plan on breaking into Drift's cabinets, but dropping by Fenway's first seemed like the best idea. We failed our Authorized roll again, but sweet talked him and Sabotaged our way into the marina. All voting is Approval Voting unless noted. CYOA Discord Server - If you have questions feel free to ask in the thread or here. Rules: From Kickstarter Preview Character Sheet World Map Dice Rolls Conspiracy/Plot Board Offical Playlist 
NinjaPete fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Apr 27, 2018 |
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Apr 27, 2018 17:46
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1 BC 2 EF 3 I'm good with all of these really
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Apr 27, 2018 18:19
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1. CD 2. EF 3. KLM
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Apr 27, 2018 18:45
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1 C1 Probably, I'm not sure it'll be there though, bring your gun regardless. Also, if she wants to wear a suit, think more 20's, so a Tuxedo. 2 FH 3 KM those should be highest priority, but if we get him to talk, we should try to get answers to the rest too.
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Apr 27, 2018 23:16
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1CD 2EF 3KLMN
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Apr 28, 2018 00:07
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1. CB 2. F 3. KMN
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Apr 28, 2018 06:05
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D. Try to watch our phrasing. It’s helpful if Alex researches and prepares in case she gets sucked into a portal, but we don’t want to say anything that might draw GM attention on a phone line. F. In case it’s Banks let’s play it straight, maybe emphasize our anti-authoritarian bona fides. KLMNP. Drift probably got portaled in the caves, but it’s safer to confirm than assume. If we click we can trade intel for intel.
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Apr 28, 2018 07:00
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voting closing today
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Apr 30, 2018 18:51
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1. B 2. F 3. LKMN
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Apr 30, 2018 19:03
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I thought I voted already! 1d2f3Lkpn
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May 1, 2018 07:46
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dont be mean to me posted:1 BC works for me.
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May 1, 2018 17:53
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You take your hands out of your pockets and, holding them up slightly, step onto the dock and walk, slowly and deliberately, towards the boat. You make sure to walk loudly and not make any sudden movements, when you get to the boat’s slip you hear what is unmistakingly the sound of a long gun being cocked. The sound causes a chill to run down your spine, though you had expected something like this. “Kdo jsi?” a voice croaks out from behind the tarp. “A family friend,” you reply. You burn some Aether, reaching out around you. This gives Fenway something to sense, if in fact he can, and it gives you a chance to read the area. You sense a few sources of Aether coming from the houseboat, and something under the water as well. But nothing major “Don’t have family, or friends for that matter,” Fenway says in English. “Who sent you? Who are you with?” “No one sent me. I’m looking for someone.” “Don’t lie. Boats count as “places of abode”. Be a real shame if I had to castle doctrine you.” “You think shooting someone unarmed, standing on a dock, is a good idea?” “Dave would back me up. Answer the question, who sent you? Those fuckers at the Capitol?” “If I told you ‘no’ would you even believe me?” “Probably not. That’s how our kind work. Home Office?” You are silent for a moment, thinking through your options. A creaking noise from inside the boat causes you to finally give an answer. “I’m a freelancer. I’m working for the Office currently, but I’m not one of them. I’m like Drift.” “Drift? Never heard of him.” Lies? Or have I just messed up royally? “Really, so there isn’t a video of you carpooling with him to go see a body?” Silence. “A body that seems pretty strange for here. And now.” Another creaking and a hidden zipper silently makes it’s journey across the tarp, slashing it open. “Come in. Slowly.”  You walk onto the deck of the boat, hands still raised, and step through the tarp opening. The interior of the boat is darkened, and it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust. As you slowly regain your vision, you feel something hard and cold pressed against your back, as a rough hand pats you down quickly. Fenway tugs off your satchel and looks through it, setting it aside when he is done. The gun to your back pushes you forward, onto a bench covered in shag carpeting. You sit and get a look at your “captor” He is incredibly nondescript. Average height, build, he has greying hair, a scraggly beard, and powerful-looking arms. He is wearing a duster of some kind, patched and stained at the hem, and of course, he is leveling a shotgun at you. Aside from the gun, the only remarkable thing about his appearance is the eyepatch over his right eye. Fenway does not lower the gun as he takes a step back and zips the tarp back up with practices ease. He keeps eye contact with you as he shifts his weight and leans slightly against the large ship’s wheel that takes up much of the room in this cabin. “Where is this video?” “Medical Examiner. They have footage from the parking lot.” Fenway sucks on his teeth for a moment. His good eye rolls around in his socket as he is thinking. “What are you doing here?” he rasps eventually. “I’ve been hired by the Home Office to find Mr. Drift. Or at least his notes.” “Should have expected they’d send some other stooge eventually. What do I call you stooge? “Ink. What should I call you? Fenway?” He shakes his head, “Banks will do. How did you find Fenway’s name?” “My sources. I’m sure you understand I can’t reveal them.” He sneers at that, “Listen Ink. You’re cautious but don’t think I won’t kill you and drop your body under the ice as soon as it’s convenient for me. Don’t get cute with me. Where did you hear Fenway’s name?” “Police records. Not many scoundrels in St. Paul with eyepatches.” At that he scratches under said eyepatch. “This loving thing. So, you’re looking for Drift. Did you find him?” “No, I was hoping you’d help me with that.” “Heh,” he cackles. “I already told your benevolent overlords I’m not their henchmen. Why would I help them?” “You’re not helping the Home Office, you’re helping me.” “Lady, I don’t know you and I certainly don’t give a rats rear end about you. I’d just as soon keelhaul you as let you go.” The gun is making you nervous. You suspect that you might be able to survive a blast from that, but that is being generous with your own survivability. You need to get him to get that gun off you. “You’re right,” you say. “You shouldn’t give a rats rear end about me. I might be a spy or an assassin. But I have information that might be important to you, intel about Drift. And if you kill me, you won’t get any of it. The trail will go cold for you, and you’ll have to look over your shoulder for whoever comes looking for me afterwards.” Banks thinks about that for a moment, then shrugs. “I’m used to living on the run. If i need to burn Fenway and move on to some other river rat, so be it.” “What about Drift?” “What about him? He was a business associate. I don’t get too worked up about business.” “Even if that business is the River?” He is very still at that, and you feel like you have guessed right. The name, the Cover, falling in with Drift, in your mind that points to him having some interest in the River itself. “The Home Office is planning something.” you continue. “They want to map the River to a degree which hasn’t been done before. They think that, now, for whatever reason, the River is an asset. An exploitable resource.” “How do you know this?” “It’s one of the things Drift was hired for. Surveying the River and helping them map it. What reason did he give you?” “Professional curiosity,” Banks grumbles. “So, seems like I do have a stake here, but you haven’t convinced me that just shooting you isn’t the better option.” “Because, I’m not sure I want to let the Home Office in on all this. There might be more going on here than I know, and the Home Office might not be able to be trusted.” “So, who is able to be trusted?” You look at him. “No gods, and no masters.” Again he is silent for a minute, then he steps back, outside of grabbing range, and lowers the shotgun slightly.  “What do you want to know?” “Tell me about you and Drift. How did you come together?” “He contacted me through a web forum and then dead drops. He said he was new to the city and wanted to survey the River and see what possible Machine influence there was, get a lay of the land. His goals more or less aligned with mine and he brought me some details of things he’d already discovered.” “Like what?” “He’d found a few pieces of Infrastructure along Dayton Bluffs, and he seemed to be pretty sure Rasinback was real.” “Raisin...back?” “Fish cryptid. Or a species of fish cryptids.” “Seriously?” “As a heart attack.” “What did the two of you explore?” “Well,” Banks started to look uncomfortable. “There have been stories, for quite some time, about ghosts and odd artifacts along the river, mortal stories I mean. There have been Unchained stories too, take a wrong turn and you end up in a different reality. Or you get swallowed up by the River, or snatched up by some weird creature. Drift seemed convinced there was something there. We cross referenced these stories, sudden disappearances, supposed ghost sightings, anything semi paranormal, and we got a few locations along the River that popped up again and again. We decided to explore one.” “The street caves.” Banks nods. “It was the most active one, and the easiest one to poke around in, just go on a tour and step away when no one is looking.” “What did you find?” “At first? Nothing. No Aether, no Infrastructure, nothing. After a few days, Drift ended up setting up a gadget he’d made, basically an Aether trail-camera. It senses Aether being used and sends him an alert and takes a picture. He set it up in one of the tunnels that has the most sightings. Then, on a Saturday night, I get a call from him saying we need to get there asap. I ask him why, he said the camera went off. We hightail it down there, but the place is already surrounded by cops and ambulances. So we couldn’t get in. But Drift, he has the images the camera took, sent right to his phone.” “What was on it?” you say after a moment, realizing this is an interactive story more than anything else. “The tunnel, just like normal. But there are two guys. One on the ground, one standing over him. The standing one is holding a gun, looks like he’s shooting the other guy. That’s image one. Image two, just the body. No other guy.” “So, after that you came up with the scheme to check out the body?” “Yeah. Drift was convinced, totally convinced, that the caves were a doorway.” “To where?” you ask dulfully. “To when,” Banks replies. “Between the stories and the pictures, Drift thought the caves led to the gangster era. Something about the amount of energy and...belief, in those caves caused a gap in reality that someone could literally step through.” “How?” “No idea. After seeing the body Drift became more convinced. He was certain there were special...conditions, that needed to be met to make the whole thing work.” “Conditions?” “Yeah, time of day, way you walk in, what color underwear you have on, weird poo poo like that.” “Did he tell you what these conditions were?” “No. He said he was going to test a theory and..that’s all I’ve heard from him.” “Nothing else?” “No,” Banks says. “You ask me, his theory was if he could open that door. And he did.” 1) What else do you ask him? 2) Do you want to bring Banks into your confidences? A Sure, he seems like an expert here, and while we can’t trust him, he might be an ally. B No, we know little to nothing about him. This should be the last time we meet. 3) After this, what do we do next? C Go back to Drift’s apartment D Check in with the laptop E Find a way to play this record F Get ready for tonight. ________________________________________________ So, negotiation took a bit, but we managed to reach him. He is a pretty paranoid guy, but unskilled in persuasion which worked to our advantage. All voting is Approval Voting unless noted. CYOA Discord Server - If you have questions feel free to ask in the thread or here. Rules: From Kickstarter Preview Character Sheet World Map Dice Rolls Conspiracy/Plot Board Offical Playlist
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May 4, 2018 17:56
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1. - Ask him about the other places he and Drift cross-referenced as potential hits. - What his stake in the river is, why is he obsessed with it? - Do you have a copy of the video from Drift's phone? - Is the aether camera still there? 2. B 3. FDE
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May 4, 2018 18:12
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- A. Hell yeah. We don’t know his full story but he’s independent and agrees with our agenda. That’s better vetting than we have on our Ring. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them is working for the Home Office and IDed us for Post. CDE. If we want gangster outfits we should just have Alex get them or use In Our Pocket. Time is limited.
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May 5, 2018 03:00
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what my fellow Steve said. A portal to gangland, that's mighty interesting, see? 
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May 5, 2018 03:16
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the_steve posted:1. - Ask him about the other places he and Drift cross-referenced as potential hits. This
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May 5, 2018 03:36
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2a3fcde
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May 5, 2018 04:56
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1. - 2. A Winning him over with "No gods, no masters" is good enough for a start. 3. FDE
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May 5, 2018 06:01
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1 [Upvote any questions Mabin doesn't have reason to believe to be inflamatory.] 2 A for malbogio's reasons 3 CDEF, but for C only check with a drone to make sure nothing interesting's happening because we showed up here, preferably from some coffee shop or hole in the wall around the corner if we have the range. In My Pocket's a nice idea to take F off our schedule but there's more to getting ready for a Prohibition-era adventure than just the clothes.
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May 5, 2018 11:54
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dont be mean to me posted:In My Pocket's a nice idea to take F off our schedule but there's more to getting ready for a Prohibition-era adventure than just the clothes. Ugh. I was going to bring up our demonic photographic memory but Prohibition ended just before the Dust Bowl started so that’s not going to be much help. We could do some research but it’s not our strong suit. I assume we could still use In Our Pocket to meet various needs after time traveling but we’d need to confirm the rules first to ensure our borrowed items weren’t causing a butterfly effect. If we’re able to affect the present through our actions in the past then the portal is dangerous and powerful enough to make controlling it and carefully abusing it a dominant strategy going forward. However if time travelers impacting history were a thing I expect we would have heard about it by now. As such I find it likely that this sort of time travel is more limited, in which case our actions in the past shouldn’t affect the present. The primary reason I was thinking we might want to pull 1920’s clothes out of our Pocket later was in case they were necessary to enter the portal. I’d prefer to get more information first, but we may have a pressing need later if for instance Alex were sucked through. There’s a decent chance the Aether-camera feed was being sent to Drift’s laptop. If so maybe it caught Drift entering the portal and can reveal the exact location and conditions for entry. malbogio fucked around with this message at 15:37 on May 5, 2018 |
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May 5, 2018 15:25
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I went back to look at Drift's notes to see if what Banks said casts any new light on what we've already seen. The strange notes on Drift's map make a bit more sense now: “Pattrn local vs temprol? -- musing about activation conditions? “End # significant? -- musing about activation conditions? “Connectin for 4.” -- musing about activation conditions? “Banks/John knows, trust?” -- we know who Banks is now. What (who?) does he know? If what, the question of trust is focused on Banks. If who, the question of trust is focused on the other person. “1927-1991=????” -- sounds like birth and death years? A period of 64 years, or 4*4*4. A very GM-y number. 1927 is presumably the year the caves portal points to, since it was the year on the dead guy's record. These are the locations Drift was interested in. They were circled on Drift's investigation map, and he had also looked them all up on his "normal" laptop: -Mill City Museum -- museum built on the site of an old grain mill, which was built in 1880. Right on the river. -Wabasha Street Caves -- where we're going tonight. Legend is it was a hangout of famous gangsters. Which means for our purposes it actually was. -Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome -- Built in 1982, demolished in 2014. Replaced by the U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016. At various times home to 4 different teams. A little away from the river. -Fort Snelling -- built over the period of 4 years (1820 to 1824). It has a checkered history that aligns pretty well thematically with GM shenanigans. Right on the river.
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May 5, 2018 22:18
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quote:1. - Ask him about the other places he and Drift cross-referenced as potential hits. "We also identified Mill City and Fort Snelling. Though there may be more. Drift wanted to avoid Mill City for now, don't know why. I nixed Snelling. The caves were the best bet." quote:
"That.s my business," he says sharply. After a second, he seems to soften a bit. "I have invested a lot of time in protecting the River. That's all that you 'd need to know for now. quote:
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"I don't have a copy no. After seeing it and verifying it, why would I need to keep something incriminating like that around? As far as I know the camera is still up and active, though you'd need Drift's phone or computer to access the feed." __________________________________________ Been pretty busy so I apologize for the down time.
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May 7, 2018 17:48
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Did Drift ever mention anything about the old Metrodome?
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May 7, 2018 17:56
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Dr Subterfuge posted:Did Drift ever mention anything about the old Metrodome? Banks thinks for a moment. "No. Though he thought there would be more sites than we found. Why?"
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May 7, 2018 19:16
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NinjaPete posted:Banks thinks for a moment. "No. Though he thought there would be more sites than we found. Why?" I think he was investigating it, but I don't know why. Its connection to the river, if it exists, isn't as apparent as the other sites you mentioned.
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May 8, 2018 00:41
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So, uh, NinjaPete hasn't logged in for two weeks.
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May 23, 2018 09:31
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Kavak posted:So, uh, NinjaPete hasn't logged in for two weeks.
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May 23, 2018 10:04
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malbogio posted:NP posted on the Discord on 5/14 that they were going to be really busy for a few weeks. Sounded like they’re planning to resume in the near future. Must be finals time for them too.
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May 23, 2018 10:08
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loving hated finals. Didn't do poo poo for the learning process. I've got a BA in Psych Cum Laude and I install tires for a living. Pffffff. Seriously though Erikson was a maniac.
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May 25, 2018 04:20
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malbogio posted:NP posted on the Discord on 5/14 that they were going to be really busy for a few weeks. Sounded like they’re planning to resume in the near future. This is 100% it. Between grad school and teaching my own classes for the past few weeks, I have not even been able to think about this game, which stinks. I plan to have an update by the 7th.
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May 25, 2018 18:56
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Still better update cadence than Viking CYOA 
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May 26, 2018 00:09
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“Try not to be disappointed after all this time.” “Why would I be disappointed?” “Well, I mean it might be underwhelming,” Moroni looks chagrined. “My tech guy told me the laptop is “oddly empty”. “What does that mean?” you ask. “Take a look,” Moroni spins the closed laptop to you, leaving a faint trail in the clay dust on his work table.After a moment you open it and are mildly surprised to see only two icons on the desktop, a folder labeled “Pictures” and a Notepad file that is untitled. “Did your guy lose stuff?” you ask, “Some sort of firewall built in that deleted data on a forced entry?” “No,” Moroni says. “Hunter said once he cracked in, that was it.” You look at the desktop for a few seconds. There is some sense to this. Drift, like all Unchained, wouldn’t have a real need to take down notes, he’d have perfect recall of anything he saw or read. Many Demons still like to write things down though, either to help them organize their thoughts, or for the sake of others. To have nothing seems, suspicious, to say the least. “Alright,” you close the laptop and tuck it into your bag. Between the laptop and the portable record player, it’s getting tight in there. “Thanks for that Aldo. I’d love to catch up, but I have a date tonight.” “No Gods. No Masters.” Moroni says solemnly. *** When you get back to your apartment you unpack your bag, taking our your normal kit and the laptop, along with the items Banks gave you. The portable turntable looks like nothing else as much as a giant stapler with various buttons, and the clamshell burner phone is nearly fifteen years out of date. The river rat had insisted on a burner for all communication and made it clear that he would only answer a call from this phone. You have already checked it for any sort of tracker or bug and found none. Banks is merely paranoid, not duplicitous. You turn your attention to Drift’s laptop, searching for hidden icons or folders, storage space that is unaccounted for, things that Moroni’s hacker friend might have missed. You find nothing after half and hour of poking around, even popping out the battery and checking for hidden SD cards. Finally satisfied, you open the folder for photos first. There are only four in the folder, all unnamed other than the automatically generated date. Looking at the thumbnails, they all appear to show the same scene, a tunnel of some kind. These must be the Aether camera shots. You open them up.  The first photo is an empty stone tunnel. You know the tunnels were originally mined from the sandstone in the area, the most used ones would have been lined with brick over the years and wired with electricity. Though you can see running lights on this picture, the bare stone walls suggest that this tunnel is not one of the main ones. You pour over the photo, committing it to memory so you can reference it later tonight. The second photo is the same location, same lighting and angle, only now there is a body on the floor. The body lies collapsed under the archway that leads to a yawning darkness. You zoom in, trying to get some details of the body, assumedly the John Doe that Drift was interested in, but see nothing. The man in wearing a suit and hat and lying in a puddle of what you can assume is blood. You also note a discarded record sleeve in the body’s hand. You spend a few minutes flicking back and forth between the first and second photo. The first one has no body, obviously, but also has no puddle or record. Whatever teleportation occurs seems to bring a person and whatever is near them or touching them, contact field maybe. You check the photo’s metadata and see that, according to the time stamp, these photos were taken at nearly the same time. 10:38 pm. You then jump to the third picture. Same palce, though the body and blood puddle are gone, only a slightly darkened stain under the arch remains. There is a man standing under the the arch now. You zoom in to try to see his face. Darker skin, though the poor lighting makes identifying his race impossible, a thin moustache, close-cropped hair. He is wearing slacks and a button-down shirt. The style looks older, or at least timeless at first glance. He doesn’t look familiar to you and you assume this is Drift. A check at the date confirms this is the night he went missing. “Drift” is holding a handgun above his head like a starter pistol. The photo is too grainy to identify the gun, though maybe someone like Ruin could, but you think it is a revolver. There is an odd distortion near the gun’s muzzle, perhaps the camera caught it mid-fire? The final picture looks identical to the first, an empty tunnel. You have to check to make sure it’s not the first one jst copied. But this one was taken on the same date as the third picture, and also at 10:38 pm. You flick back and forth between the first and fourth picture, looking for some difference. The stain is there but that seems to be it. You are about to go on to the text document when something catches your eye. A small section of the stone archway seems lighter in the forth picture than in the first. You wonder if it is a speck of dust on the camera and go back to see if it is in the third picture with Drift. It’s not, though you do notice that the lightened area is directly above where Drift is pointing his gun. A chink caused by the bullet? you wonder. A portal that takes a person, or Unchained I guess, along with whatever is touching them, but leaves anything that isn't. After a minute reviewing the photos and finding nothing new, you turn to the text document. You notice it is written in a Creole language, something that any Unchained would be able to translate but a human wouldn’t, unless they were from Haiti. Other than that, it seems like a brief outline, notes organized into a sort of first draft of his findings thus far. You scan it, looking for things that jump out at you. ”..River acts as a supernatural buffer, it is an unspoken DMZ....” “... suggests the Machine and Loyalists are as inconvenienced as we are...” “... final report will explore possible origins of the River, which I suspect predates all Machine activity on this continent.” “...cannot start to imagine how to control such a font...” “Snelling is one such fracture point..” “...can quantumly affect time as well as space, we have been blind...” Finally you get to the final summation section - Several (4 or more) locals along the River that are open doorways to other times - The earliest I have found seems to be from 1927, and the latest, the early 1990s - These doorways are perhaps created by an enormous piece of Infrastructure that lingers, even after it’s output is achieved. - Through a series of conditions involving time, action, and location, we can use these doorways. And, what is on the other side can as well. - This of course provides a huge opportunity to your organization, along with a huge danger. As such, I have suspended my analysis of the River to focus on these doorways. I hope to explore the 1927 door soon. That is the last entry. Obviously the doorway worked, though Drift didn’t seem to return. Either he has chosen not to return yet, or he cannot. Either way, the answers seem to lie on the other side of the door. You look at the clock and see that you need to get ready for your date. You set up the turntable so you can listen to the record as you get dressed. There is a hissing and snapping sound as the needle finds its position. As it does so, you look at your closet. 1. What are you wearing dancing? A Simple dress, classically cut B Something fun and period, a flapper dress. C Pants and a nice blouse, Alex might dress up more but you like to stay semi functional. D Weirdly enough, the suit you borrowed from Mr. Close might work here.. As you are deciding “Devil’s Solace Blues”, the song that shouldn’t exist, starts to finally play.  “Please allow me to introduce myself...” You stop what you are doing and listen to the song playing. “What the gently caress?” ________________________________________________ Few more things to decide! 2. Do we intend on trying to use the doorway tonight? A Yes B No C Yes but....(fill in any sort of conditions) 3. What preparations do we take? Anything with a majority of votes will be done A Tell Alex B Tell Banks C Forward the text files to someone (who?) D Tell the Ring E Have another Unchained come with us (who?) F Something else. So, it’s been a long time. I apologize for that. I won’t get into many details other than depression and anxiety suck, and getting treated for those is not too much fun either. Luckily now that I have ripped the band-aid off, we should be back in the swing of things. If anyone needs a reminder as to what the hell is going on, let me know. I also need to, eventually, write a good summary or make a wiki or something. All votes are Approval unless noted CYOA Discord Server - If you have questions feel free to ask in the thread or here. Rules: From Kickstarter Preview Character Sheet World Map Dice Rolls Conspiracy/Plot Board Offical Playlist
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Jul 11, 2018 17:15
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