Thursday, April 18, 2013

Wordslingin'

A long-expected party! Yes, at long last, it is finally time for Doc Chambers' fundraiser gala to support the Meredine Clinic. And at least so far, nothing has blown up! Huzzah! (Of course, we all know it's only a matter of time...)


[We make final preparations before the gala.]
Joe: "Is there any place I can have my drones cover the perimeter?"
Brock: "Listen to this guy: 'my drones.'"

[Meanwhile, Torgath is secretly contacting Dawn.]
Ariel: "I'm being as careful as humanly possible, which is probably not careful enough."

[Lukas is suspicious about Torgath and what he's up to.]
Brock: "I don't have to have read the blog post to know Torgath has a way of contacting Dawn."
Ariel: "You did take her phone."
Brock: "Yes, but Lukas is not an idiot."

[The core PC group have all bought tickets to the gala. Mads, however, needs to find a way to put himself on the guest list.]
Georges the GM: "There's an easy and an a hard way. The hard way is to break into the security system and put your name on the list. The easy way is to buy a ticket."
Joe: "How much does it cost?"
Georges the GM: "1,500 dinar."
Joe: "What?! That's the easy way?!"

[Next up: how do we travel the four blocks from our hotel to the TNTR tower?]
Brock: "Decision time: do we take the Pinkywagon..."
Julie: "It requires a certain occasion to bring it out."
Brock: "And here I thought this was the one."

[Instead of the Pinkywagon, we decide to hire sedan-bearers and a palanquin.]
Brock: "You know what they'll be saying: who are these people?"
Georges the GM: "The goddamn covert operatives, of course!"

[If you're going to hire sedan-bearers, you might as well go all the way.]
Brock: "Could we make our sedan-bearers wear little Gear costumes to make it look like we're being borne by little Gears?"
Georges the GM: "...The problem is finding the costumes."

[The fundraiser gala will include an auction for charity.]
Georges the GM: "The main prize is a Paxton Warrior III."
Joe: (excited) "Really?"
Brock: "You already have one!"
Georges the GM: "Don't get any crazy ideas, but it's parked in the middle of the room."

[Lyta's spiffied up for the occasion, which includes buying a very high-hemmed, low-neckline red dress.]
Torgath: "Isn't there a dress to go on top of that?"
Lyta: "No."
Torgath: "Isn't that underwear?"
Lyta: *glares*

[We are greeted by Karin Hassan, who also got herself spiffied up.]
Joe: "In the midst of Mads gawking at Lyta..."
Julie: "Lyta or Karin?"
Brock: "Why choose?"

[Sadly, Karin can't stay and talk as long as she might like, because she's acting as one of the greeters.]
Karin Hassan: (to Lukas) "You look really good." *kisses his cheek*
Mads: "Nobody said anything to me..."
Lukas: "That's 'cause you look strange, Mads."

[Everyone is in their formal best. Even Jimmy Croyden.]
Julie: "What does Jimmy look like?"
Ariel: "Does he look like a leprechaun?"

[Our job with Jimmy is almost complete. That said, he wants to hire us for another one: to safeguard the Quicksilver he's planning on bringing to town in a few days.]
Jimmy Croyden: "I'm also prepared to offer some percentage of the final sale. Our past dealings have shown me that we should... share in the bounty in future transactions."

[Of course, we need to finish the current deal first.]
Lukas: "When do you want this to go down with the Doc?"
Jimmy Croyden: "Well, there's no rush..."
Lukas: "We have good intelligence that the Death Watch will try to blow up this event."
Jimmy Croyden: "...Sooner rather than later, then."

[Meanwhile, on the other side of the room...]
Georges the GM: (to Joe) "You see your mother talking to Lyta."
Joe: "...Shit."

[Karin has returned to spend some time with Lukas, including being his date for the evening. She takes him aside, somewhere less public.]
Karin Hassan: "I really wish I was doing this for different reasons... but I have a message from Bill."

[The message from Bill relates to the dead Death Watch members who attacked the Gamma Maglev track earlier in the day. Lukas is concerned, and Karin's not quite sure why.]
Lukas: "How much did Bill tell you about what's going on?"
Karin Hassan: "I hate to be cliché, but this is needs-to-know and I don't need to know. If I got paid, this would be way above my pay grade."

[Among the dead bodies found at the explosion site were four who had previously died at the warehouse, one unidentified, and one clearly recognizable, only minorly injured Major Sergeant Pavel Frobisher, who we know was the leader of the remaining Death Watch squad members.]
Bill Pearce: "Either he's not good with explosives, or... No, I've got no alternatives."

[It occurs to us that the Death Watch may no longer be interested in assassinating von Breslau.]
Lukas: "The good news is they may be moving away from striking this event."
Bill Pearce: "That's good news six hours after you told me they have 30 tons of explosives."
Lukas: "Oh, they still have that."

[Back in the main ballroom, Lyta is no longer speaking with Mads' mother; instead, she's being approached by Dawn and her superior officer.]
Georges the GM: "All the women are drawn to you."
Jule: "That's not quite the effect I was hoping for with this dress."

[Lukas notices Dawn approaching Lyta.]
Brock: "Do I see anything I can use as a weapon? A fork, perhaps?"

[Dawn corners Lyta at one of the gambling tables.]
Lyta: "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
Dawn: "No, I imagine you weren't, give that you locked me up."
Lyta: "And yet here you are, all mobile and stuff."

[Lukas is talking with Doc Chambers to set up the meet for Jimmy to hand off the Borodin Package. Lukas asks why there are no Peace River delegates among the guests, given that their Warrior III is the main auction piece.]
Doc Chambers: "I've got a love/hate relationships with Peace River. Currently we're in the latter part of that relationship."

[Lukas sets up the meeting.]
Lukas: "You may remember I told you my uncle was interested in donating to the cause."
Doc Chambers: "I'm sure I remember your uncle. I definitely remember a donation."

[Ah, the awkward innuendos needed to fit reality into the metaphor...]
Lukas: "You remember that part of it needed to be cash? For... tax purposes?"
Doc Chambers: (deadpan) "Oh, yes. Taxes in the Badlands can be full of such red tape."

[Mads joins the conversation.]
Mads: "You're making a speech?"
Doc Chambers: (deadpan) "I'm obligated. You know how much I hate the limelight."

[Mads finds out that the Warrior III will probably be auctioned off for several hundred thousand dinar. Mads really wants it. He does not have several hundred thousand dinar.]
Joe: "I wheel up to the nearest person."
Julie: "Of the rest of the PCs, or just in general?"
Brock: "Wheel up to random people and ask them for donations?"

[We take stock of the evening so far.]
Mads: "Has anything out of the ordinary happened?"
Lukas: "Have you seen any bombs go off?"
Mads: "No."
Lukas: "Me either."

[Mads sees Dawn approach our table and wonders why Lukas isn't being physically aggressive to her, given their recent history.]
Mads: "Isn't she a person of interest?"
Lukas: "Yes, but at these sorts of events, you have to ask nicely. You can't--"
Julie: "Stab indiscriminately with a steak knife?"
Brock: "I'm being very discriminate."

[Dawn joins the table when Torgath is off in the washroom.]
Dawn: "I think we got off to a bad start."
Lukas: "Which time?"
Dawn: "Pick one."
Lukas: "I think they've all been bad."

[We discuss the most recent time.]
Dawn: "Admittedly, the last time you left me in holding with zip-tied wrists..."
Lyta: "It's a good look for you."

[Jimmy, meanwhile, has been watching the entire conversation between Lukas and Dawn. It may not have been the wisest idea to talk in front of him.]
Jimmy Croyden: "I haven't the foggiest idea why she stepped away from the salad. It's delightful. Have you tried the walnuts? They're candied."

[Torgath returns after the conversation with Dawn.]
Torgath: "What did she say?"
Lukas: "That she's mad at you and never wants to see you again."
Lyta: "...This is a good salad."

[Lukas fills Jimmy in on some of the relevant details of the Death Watch threat.]
Lukas: "They found the last six Death Watch guys at the explosion site on the Gamma Maglev."
Jimmy Croyden: "Grand."
Lukas: "It would have been grand except that four of the last six were not actually in the last six, but rather already dead."

[Lukas needs to hurry up the meeting between the Doc and Jimmy, but he can't just walk up to the host of the gala in the middle of the meal. Instead, he decides to try to get Josephina to do it.]
Lukas: "May I say how particularly lovely you look tonight."
Josephina Dragushan: "Enough with the compliments. What do you want?"
Lukas: "Pass a message for me?"
Josephina Dragushan: "Back up a sec. More compliments."

[Lukas is good at making friends. Sadly, Josephina is not one of them.]
Josephina Dragushan: "Do you ever get shot in your line of work?"
Lukas: "From time to time."
Josephina Dragushan: "I'd like to see that someday."
Lukas: "..."

[Lukas returns and has a bit of a veiled conversation with Mads while everyone pretends Jimmy isn't listening.]
Jimmy Croyden: "The candied walnuts. Truly lovely."
Mads: "Jimmy, shh."
Lyta: (to Jimmy) "He's telling you to be quiet. He's growing up so fast."
Jimmy Croyden: "Soon he'll be flying out of the nest."
Lyta: "Soon he'll be asking you to pay him."
Jimmy Croyden: "...I pray he never grows up."

[Mads realizes that the Death Watch may yet attack the gala that we are all attending.]
Mads: "It's really frustrating, this life-endangerment thing."
Lyta: "And you've only been doing it for four days."

[Lyta and Jimmy discuss the likely exorbitant amount of money that's going to be spent on the auction.]
Jimmy Croyden: "All that money..."
Lyta: "Which should be yours?"
Jimmy Croyden: "If they're going to blow it all anyway, I'm just saying, do they deserve it?"
Lyta: "You're talking about cripples, Jimmy."
Jimmy Croyden: "But they're... special. Do you want to take that away from them?"
Lyta: "I think they do, yes."

[Mads realizes a consequence of the gala being funded, specifically, by the BCG.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Every flower arrangement has got a bug in it."
Lyta: "But they're so pretty."
Jimmy Croyden: *speaking into the centerpiece* "Indeed. WELL DONE!"

[Jimmy and the Doc conduct their business at one of the 'standard' roulette tables. Jimmy places 7,000 dinar on Red 19, and after the Doc confirms the Borodin Package is legit and nods to the croupier, the ball lands on Red 19.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Well, what are the odds of that? 36 to 1, I believe!"
Doc Chambers: "It's your lucky night -- you're about to bankrupt the foundation."

[Lyta and Lukas reflect on the deal that just went down.]
Lyta: "So that's the 'standard table,' huh?"
Lukas: "I guess so. Now he just needs to get out with his winnings."

[The deal is done, and Karin Hassan has still not returned from the Lucky Shot Casino, where we know six large decorative pillars were delivered, which were likely made of high explosives.]
Lukas: "Jimmy's not here, we owe nothing to von Breslau... Let's go. Mads, get your hover-chair."
Mads: "I wish."
Brock: "As we pursue this potentially false alarm."


That's it! Next week, the adventure continues in the Lucky Shot Casino, where Karin Hassan may or may not have been taken captive by people who may or may not be planning on destroying the building. Good times all around...




Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game

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