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 Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 0/5 quote:Duchess: Well, it's Market Day, and that means that EVERYONE from out in the wastes around here is in the hold right now. Your boys are gonna try and keep the peace, but who got killed last time you had a Market Day? Why do you think Jazz might have done it? What do you usually do on Market Day, anyway? The only thing worse than a good Market Day is a bad Market Day - every idiot who can stand the journey converges on my hold looking for something, be it food, water, sex, drugs, guns or worst of all: justice. It doesn't exist. If someone's wronged you and you can't personally take revenge or afford a mercenary you're pretty much poo poo out of luck. I keep order in Slurry, but the only 'law' is my word. That doesn't stop the complaints, of course - "the Night Creche stole my baby", "some rear end in a top hat keeps driving through my crops", "I shot myself because a spirit told me too" - it never ends. Until I get sick of holding court and clear the room, anyway. Today's not all that different, except that one of the outriders (Leadfoot) from the Last Convoy is here demanding - loving DEMANDING - that I account for the death of one of their radio ops. Got shanked five or six times and dumped in one of their fuel tankers the last time they were in town, they only just found the body. I know Jazz had some kind of grudge against the Convoy - used to be with them before he signed up with Eye, I think. I wouldn't ordinarily give a gently caress, but I did guarantee their safety within my walls... "My word is good, Convoy man. Accounting will be in blood or water. If I don't have the killer for you by close of market you'll leave here with a man's weight in finest aqua" Expensive proposition, but if the Convoy decide not to do business with me it'll cost much more. I signal Flan and Erfboi to start moving the crowd along and gesture Hoods and Creek over to me. "Find Eye. Tell him I want to talk to Jazz about something important." I'd go myself, but I need to track down (sigh) Mastiff. I have a job needs doing and as little as I like the exhibitionist the job calls for exactly her kind of expertise. quote:Also, what does your hold always have the hardest time getting hold of, Food or Medicine? What'd you have to go through last time you ran out? Food isn't exactly easy to come by, but with access to the Pump we can boil and clean things enough that we rarely starve. I say we, I mean Slurry - I don't go hungry unless poo poo is really bad. Medicine, though... That can be tricky. Old world drugs still survive in their plastic packaging, some people even know how to make things that kind of work the same, but the Big Farmer who could grow chillstabs from the ground is long gone. If a sickness sets in and supplies are cut off then all you can do is wall the poor bastards up and let them die alone so it doesn't spread. They bang on the walls and cry for a while, then they stop. If you're feeling extra tough you can burn the place down but fire doesn't exactly discriminate, and fuel is expensive. The last time we needed to do that was...rough. Some kind of blood disease got into a cult-family called the Creche, and we boarded them up until they went quiet. There's rumors they survived and escaped and went strange, calling themselves the Night Creche and stealing kids for food or replacements. No proof though.
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Oct 19, 2016 01:12
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 15:22 |
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 1/5 quote:Duchess, Hoods and Creek nod and split off to search the place for Eye. While the rest of the petitions come along, which one do you accept? Which one is so insulting you kick them out of your hold for the day? Tin-leg is a hunter out of Jawbone who goes after those lizard-birds, the ones that scream like a siren when they get scared. He's come along to ask permission to go after a pack that moved in to my territory. They take a lot of patience to stalk so no-one usually bothers with them, but the skin makes good leather. I grant him a permit to operate, contingent on selling his goods here (which he probably would have done anyway, the Elders of Jawbone have no appreciation for commerce). If he's any good I'll see about getting him to stay on permanently. The perennial argument between Gorky and Fever over their shared market stall has brewed over into a fight again, and Gorky has come to ask me to rule in her favor. Again. Fever might be a pain in the rear end but she's not a serial whiner, so when Gorky tries to bribe me with a lovely trinket of copper and teeth she gets to go for a long walk off a short wall. The fall doesn't do more than bruise her, but the gate crew know not to let her in before sundown. That sours my mood enough that I stop taking requests. quote:Anyway, as that circus wraps up for the day, you give a thought to finding Mastiff, and if you were to guess, she's somewhere where she'll get plenty of attention while not actually being in the press of people. So, that'd be the Eye. Anything else you wanna take care of before you go out amongst the people? Review my notes. The Eye reported that Rash is over in Big Mound working on some kind of weapon. I thought he was dead, but if he isn't I don't want him working for those trash-hoarding assholes. I don't want war, but I am going to make some kind of response. I tell Laki to prep the barter I offered Leadfoot in case we can't (or won't) get hold of Jazz, and then take a small crew over to the Storm for a chat.
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Oct 20, 2016 01:20
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 1+1/5 quote:Duchess, Nothing like leaving your court and enduring the press of the people to remind you why it's good to be in charge. Who do you take with you and why? "Jobber, Torg, Mink, Pink-eye, Fingat. You're with me. Everyone else, keep the peace till I get back or I'll string you up myself." Those five are the least likely to do something stupid like start poo poo with Mastiff or Aurica - plus Fingat is a decent driver. We roll out in Issues - my errand isn't really urgent enough to justify the gas, but gently caress walking when you don't have to. If I took more people or one of the armed vehicles people would freak out, but this is just a nice Market Day drive. Long live the chief, right? When we pull up I leave everyone but Mink in the car and stroll over to the little drama unfolding, "You better not have Mastiff running errands for you right now, Aurica. I got something important needs doing. Big reward, better than whatever the bounty is on this poor assho- Is that Xon? poo poo, I thought he was all the way dead, not just half." Idle curiosity briefly gets the better of me as I walk up close to have a look. While rubbernecking I whisper to Mastiff: "Rash is in Big Mound, working on something for the glowing rear end in a top hat Brotherhood. You go over there, you kill him, I have a pile of jingle with your name on it. You bring him back to me alive and able to work, the pile gets twice as big. Whatever this is (gesturing at Xon) can wait, right?" Manipulate Mastiff: 2d6+1 7 Marking XP for Hot. If Mastiff drops what she's doing and does my job instead she gets XP.
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Oct 24, 2016 03:35
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 2/5 This is why doing business with Mastiff is a pain in my rear end - questions and theatrics and the constant low grade flirting. Give me a simple killer any day. But she's a loving artist when it comes to murder, and I'm prepared to put up with her bullshit to get this job done right. I don't do her the satisfaction of pulling away and return her smile with a cold one of my own. "Solo run. I don't have time for war right now, so it has to be quiet. And for payment...I'm sure I can find you something nice if you don't want beans and bullets. After all, it's market day." I signal for Fingat to bring the car over. "I'll get Xon to Needle. My job takes first priority, understand?"
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Oct 24, 2016 06:22
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 2/5 A handshake, and Mastiff is gone like the wind on her creepy leg-bike. There's several ways this can go really well for me, and only one bad outcome - if she gets caught and talks and the Brotherhood believe her, it could mean war. Well, worst comes to worst we can take anything they throw at us. I can pay her in her preferred currency - I have few books, but it's worth disposing of some to solve a problem. Failing that, I'm pretty sure I saw a trader selling some gear that looked like it would fit 'Tib'. I'll look into it. It's looks like Xon's lucky day, as Needles rocks up with an offer to fix him, and some kind of offer for me. "Get him loaded and stabilized, I have a couple of things to take care of before we head back. You and your...new friend? can ride along." Aurica is nervous, but I don't think it's about me. More than usual anyway. I shake my head at her question. "I don't need you as well, the suspension on Issues is having enough troubles. Besides, going to be a big party tonight, yeah? You gotta get ready for that." I put an unsubtle emphasis on tonight - the gang will pick up on it. I don't need them drunk or high until later. Once the sun goes down, they can do whatever for the night. And here's Eye and Creek, bang on time. I got no reason to make these words soft, but catching Eye on their own drat code will be satisfying. "Eye. I have a problem I hope the Truth can help me solve. A Convoy man, killed the last time they came through Slurry. Killed by someone who knew their way around a blade, knew where to hide a body on those trucks, and had plenty of hate for him or his. Those are Facts. Far as I know your boy Jazz fits those facts, at least most of the way. You tell me I've got the wrong of it, I'll trust you. But the Convoy are loving mad over this body, so unless you have someone else for me to give them by sundown I'm going to be out of pocket in a big way." Read a Person: 2d6+1 7 What does Eye intend to do? Sell Jazz down the river? Let Duchess buy trouble off? Find another
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Oct 27, 2016 02:58
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 2/5 I narrow my eyes at Eye's question. It's fair, but still loving impertinent. My reply is full of quiet menace: "Find the fucker who did this, bring them to me by sundown, and I'll show you what I do when the guilty try to avoid 'justice' in my town. If I have to pay the price, I'll collect from you later. Blood or barter, I'll stay ahead either way." Almost as an afterthought I add: "Blood would be my preference." Duchess would love you to find someone to offer up, and would rather not pay the bounty. The actual culprit would be nice. "Needles, tell your contact I'm interested in funding their expedition, but I'm not putting money down until I see proof this stash exists. I got enough demands on my purse today"
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Oct 29, 2016 07:32
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 2+1/5 I round up everyone I bought with me back on to Issues and bang on the cab when Needles and M are on board. "Take it easy, Fingat, don't want Xon bleeding any more than he needs to. Straight to the Doc's place." I look at M. They seem pretty confident about their discovery, but if I have to pay Mastiff and Leadfoot tonight there's no way I'm putting money down on a risky venture. I shake my head and look vaguely disappointed. "Sorry pal, can't afford to drop anything at the moment. Market Day keeps my time and money very busy, y'dig? Tell you what, I don't want you going off and selling this stash to someone else - stick around on my dime and in a few days we can make a proper run at it, pay you as a guide and give you a finders fee." Manipulate M: 2d6+1 7 I want M to keep the stash a secret until I can pay him, and am prepared to offer hospitality to keep him quiet marking XP for rolling hot
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Oct 30, 2016 13:19
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 3/5 Prick better not eat or drink much, if that's his attitude. And if he thinks he can just go and find another buyer like snapping his loving fingers he's batshit. The only other 'Market Day' within any kind of travel distance to the west is at Bled-Dry, and those fucks won't give him nothing but a bullet to the back of the head for his trouble. Then they'd probably sell the stash or the info on to the Clickers and those blind assholes would probably burn the whole lot just to prove a point. No, if he wants to leave before I have the location out of him he's going to be sorely loving disappointed. If the crowd gets nasty at the Storm tonight I can use that as an excuse make a move on the whole operation, keep Aurica as a manager and have another direct revenue stream so that don't confront me none. Eye is on the hook for finding someone to give to the Convoy now, so that's safely delegated. I may as well enjoy the day. The ebb and flow of commerce in my town, the sound of jingle changing hands, two urchins kicking the poo poo out of each other over a scrap of meat, noisy loving from Mis-Cheef's place, a stream of freaks and losers from all over the wastes...and yet something's not right. Can't put a finger on it yet, but as I do little light haggling over some ammo for the techincals the hair on my neck is starting to stand on end. Read a Sitch: 2d6+1 6 What should I be on the lookout for? But I can expect the worst The last time a market day went sour some waster had bought in a piece of old world hi-tech that looked like it would play music, but when it got rigged up to a generator the 'sound' was like an explosion. Half a dozen dead, more deaf for life, a loving riot, the works. I've put a ban on unidentified 'devices' inside the walls for that exact reason. This feels different, an absence rather than a presence.
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Nov 8, 2016 05:18
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 3+2/5 "Your loving prices, I outta flog you outta my market for being a loving thief, gently caress. These bullets better all be good or-" Jagged loving dust, now what? People throwing down out of loyalty to Mad-Cap? My hand reaches for the grenade inside my jacket, but I stop. This has to end cleanly and clearly, no collateral damage or signs of weakness. A sharp whistle that cuts over the crowd noise and some hand gestures bring all of my guards in the immediate vicinity running, and I draw my knife. It's a good knife, and I've got way more guys than they do, but I might have to spill some of my own blood to end it my way. Whatever. "Alright boys, it's Market Day. Let's do some business." Leadership: 2d6+2 8 They do it. Seize by Force: 2d6+2 6 Exchanging Harm, taking definite and undeniable control of it (The market place) Harm depends on how many of the Guards are present - I'm assuming enough to make this large v small gang fight, but if the bulk of the gang is elsewhere it turns into Medium v small. First scenario we do 3-harm and have 3 armor, otherwise it's 2 and 2. Marking 2xp? for rolling hard twice When the dust settles a little I've got the one who yelled in a headlock and as I'm slowly forcing my blade into his eye socket I give him a history lesson. "Mad-Cap said the some loving thing when I took this place from him, you know what I said then? Everyone dies. That day was his turn. Today? Today it's you." The kicking intensifies for a while, and then subsides. I stand up, wipe the blood and brain off on his already filthy robe and gesture at Blow Dog. "Clean this poo poo up. Any of 'em still breathing get locked up so I can ask what joker put them up to this. Everyone else, get the gently caress back to shopping, huh? Commerce ain't gonna comm itself!" quote:Also, why does Erfboi want to hurt Rowlf so bad? What could Rowlf have said that would have set Erfboi off so hard? The thing with Erfboi is as much as I love him like a stupid little brother, he is loving thick. And he knows it. And he knows people know it. And Rowlf's never been shy about giving him stick for it, especially because Rowlf and Zephyr are close and Erfboi wants to gently caress Zephyr so Rowlf has been using that as leverage. If Rowlf said something about Zephyr no longer being part of any kind of deal, well...Erfboi is slow but he's got a real good memory. I normally give him a lot of rope, but loving with Needles or the clinic is way out of line. thatbastardken fucked around with this message at 13:45 on Nov 14, 2016 |
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Nov 14, 2016 13:38
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3 | Harm=0:00 | XP 0/5 Advance! Taking a manufactory.as a holding option, to be fluffed out later as Rash 'voluntarily helping' with the technical work If that's the worst fight we have today I'll be...not grateful, but pleasantly surprised. There's a bit of a howl as Birdie gets over the shock of being hit in the forehead and the pain kicks in - looking at her it's not too bad, just bloody like head wounds get. A good flap of her scalp is loose, and that's kind of gross, but the brain isn't showing. Looks like she deflected a blow away from her face, which is a kind of lucky. "Hell, Birdie, you weren't that pretty to begin with. Let's get you to Needles before you make any more of a mess." Oh good, Jobber has a live one. Alright, set of orders for the gang:
"And someone find Zeb. That tin-plated old bastard has work to do." I grit my teeth and spit out the next instruction like it's choking me: "And invite Sundown to the keep. Politely." Time to see if having that freak around is even vaguely worth the trouble. I'll walk Birdie to Needles myself. Hopefully the attackers had enough jingle on them to cover the glue for her face. thatbastardken fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Nov 24, 2016 |
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Nov 23, 2016 14:07
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 15:22 |
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Cool +1 Hard +2 Hot +1 Sharp +1 Weird -2 Barter=3+1 | Harm=0:00 | XP 0+1/5 I shake my head at Erf-Boi sauntering up like he's on loving holiday. "The hell have you been, Boi? Just had an attack in broad daylight. Some crazy fuckers claiming to rep for Mad-Cap, if you believe that bullshit. All the ones who came at us are down so just go help Zeb in the Market for now. We'll be getting some answers out of a live one later - you can help with that if you behave." He should like that - I don't need to hear his answer about where he's been just yet, it's a busy day for everyone. I keep moving past, guiding Birdie (by now the blood's obscuring her vision, and she's probably concussed) to Needle's infirmary. Shugusa is looking after Xon, but Skip's gone - must have left in a hurry, by the mess. Well, this should be a simple enough patch job. And the kid's got to be easier to con out of paying than Needles - he knows me better than I like to admit. "Hey Shuggy-boy, you wanna do your Duchess a favour? Look after my girl here, fix up her face all pretty and get her something for the pain. I'll owe you one, yeah?" Manipulate Shugusa: 2d6+1 11 He'll do it, barring complications. And I get XP for rolling hot Once she's settled in I start strolling back to the Keep. Need to be where people can find me for a bit.
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Dec 8, 2016 15:24
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