Thursday, June 27, 2013

Wordslingin'

Time for a denouement! Or, as Georges the GM entitled the session, "Consequences." Because we've been paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate lately.


[Joe was not present last session, which means it's time for everyone favorite NPC voices!]
Georges the GM: "Consuela has left Mads a voicemail."
Ariel: (excited) "Can you do it? Please?"

[We take stock of the situation after our most recent combats. Lukas, Lyta, and Mads are all injured. Torgath, surprisingly...]
Georges the GM: "Torgath's unscathed."
Julie: "For once."
Brock: "The world is upside down!"

[Torgath spends his being-uninjured time on the important things he couldn't get to before. Which is a shame.]
Ariel: "I spend time looking into Calisteria."
Georges the GM: "She's still in the morgue."

[Recall that Joe wasn't here last lesson.]
Mads: "Did we figure out who those guys were?"
Lyta: "Ooh, boy, are you out of the loop!"

[Lyta fills in Mads on the recent adventures.]
Lyta: "Lukas is back. Jimmy's back."
Mads: "You don't sound enthused."
Lyta: "He got shot a lot."

[Lyta informs Mads that Kinross was behind the kidnapping. Out of game, Joe knows about Geddy. He walks the fine line between roleplay and metagaming.]
Mads: "Who else was involved?"
Lyta: "Kinross' guys. Most of whom are now dead."
Mads: "Was it you killing them?"
Lyta: "It was a team effort."

[Lyta also informs Mads that his virus was used on the systems of the Meredine Clinic.]
Mads: "I need to check this out."
Lyta: "Sure. How you gonna do it?"
Mads: "I have no idea."

[More on the Meredine Clinic attack.]
Mads: "Anyone die?"
Lyta: "Just the one."
Mads: "The one?"
Ariel: "Your roommate."

[Everyone goes to visit Lukas as he's convalescing. A few bullet holes doesn't stop him from giving orders.]
Lukas: "Ask Dawn if she still wants to do a deal."
Torgath: "I will if I see her."
Lukas: "'If.'"

[Mads is also present. And seems not to realize the importance of working persona names.]
Mads: "How you doing, Lukas?"
Lukas: "Don't call me that. I'll tell Kes to kill you."

[Torgath also goes to see Billy, the strong-but-silent shadow to Jimmy's show. Also, unbeknownst to almost everyone but Torgath, kind of an emo goth hipster.]
Torgath: "Is there any other books I can bring you?"
Billy: "It's not currently in print."
Julie: "If there's one place where you can find books people have thrown away..."

[Meanwhile, Consuela has asked Mads to meet her at the Hammer so that she can tell him what she's found out about his new 'friends.']
Consuela: "All their friends die, Mr. Magnus, and those that don't die, it's because they don't last long as friends."

[More of the same.]
Consuela: "You can't trust them, Mr. Magnus. They don't have your interests at heart."
Julie: "We don't."

[Also at the table is Sid Teg, a behemoth of a man, who found out all this information in the first place.]
Brock: "No independent verification required!"
Ariel: "Would you doubt Sid Teg?"
Brock: "Not to his face!"

[Consuela continues to discuss the other PCs.]
Consuela: "They are known in places like this, places where people get hurt. Often they are doing the hurting."
Brock: "That's the way we like it!"

[Mads will be leaving on the northbound train for school soon. Consuela has packed him a lunch.]
Consuela: "Don't eat it here. It would be rude."
Brock: "And you're not the sort of guy who wants to be rude in a place like this."

[Mads leaves the Hammer, only to find Sid Teg pulling up next to him in his car.]
Sid Teg: "Hop in."
Joe: "I hop in."
Julie: "For certain definitions of 'hop.'"

[Turns out Sid Teg isn't just picking up Mads a favor. Or at least, not as a favor to Mads.]
Sid Teg: "Boss put out a BOLO for you. Anyone who finds you is to bring you in. I appreciate you not telling him I was having lunch with you at the time."
Mads: "Why's there a BOLO for me?"
Sid Teg: "You must have done something interesting."

[After being left stewing for several hours, Tom Chambers summons Mads to speak with him.]
Mads: "Hello, Tom. How's it goin'?"
Doc Chambers: "That's a complicated question."

[The Doc cuts to the chase.]
Doc Chambers: "I assume by now the team comprised of Quinn, Kes, and Grim have told you about the events yesterday at the Meredine Clinic?"
Mads: "..."
Doc Chambers: "I'll take that as a yes."

[The Doc has figured out that the virus that attacked the clinic was written by Mads.]
Doc Chambers: "I've been told by people who know these things that it's a brilliant piece of programming... but you know I'm not here to compliment you."

[The Doc starts explaining what's going to happen now.]
Doc Chambers: "You're a very skilled young man, Magnus. I wonder what you're intending to do with these skills."
Ariel: (in Darth Vader voice) "Join me..."

[The Doc lays out the consequences.]
Doc Chambers: "If you step out of line, the best thing I can do for you is give you to your mother to feed you to the NGIS. The worst thing I can do is take care of you myself."

[Mads hopes he's gotten off light with a warning. How naive he is.]
Mads: "Am I off the hook?"
Doc Chambers: (amused) "Oh, no, no, no..."

[The Doc warns him that if Mads interferes with his interests, he'll take care of him himself. Which poses one small problem.]
Doc Chambers: "You don't know all my interests, which means pretty much anything you do could indirectly affect my interests."

[One last thing: the Doc has Karin take Mads down to the basement, to the cold-storage lockers.]
Karin Hassan: "Go in."
Mads: "Into the locker? Is this subconscious bullying because I--"
Brock: "It's more conscious bullying."

[Inside the storage locker...]
Georges the GM: "You see Candy's body on a slab."
Julie: "And now you face the consequences of your actions, as we all do tonight."

[Mads is extremely unsettled by seeing Candy's body.]
Mads: "What the fuck is this supposed to prove?!"
Karin Hassan: "I thought that was pretty clear."
Mads: "...That's true."

[The Doc has extended an offer to Mads, via Karin.]
Karin Hassan: "If you want, I'll put you in touch with somebody. It's perfectly confidential."
Brock: "As if that's true!"

[Meanwhile, Lukas is talking with his siblings. Lyta has informed him that Geddy is alive and in the Doc's custody.]
Lukas: "Why not find Geddy and kill him?"
Lyta: "Because that would cause more problems for us."
Lukas: "That's true."

[Lukas is worried that the Doc will kill all three Lassander siblings for trying to cross him.]
Torgath: "You seem awfully worried about this."
Lukas: "And you're not worried enough!"

[Lyta and Torgath catch up with Mads and Karin on their way out.]
Torgath: "What did Karin do to you? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

[Lyta and Torgath take Mads for a drink.]
Lyta: "How's your first week of being a military commando?"
Mads: "I think it's kicking in."

[Lyta has a frank conversation with Mads, pointing out that the Doc isn't generally happy why people cross him.]
Lyta: "You know the Doc, right?"
Mads: (reflectively) "I don't think I do."

[Lyta tries to warn Mads about what might happen if he's in trouble with the Doc.]
Lyta: "He's got a mean streak."
Georges the GM: "Let's just take a moment to think about what Mads has seen Lyta do over the last week..."

[Mads has decided he's not cut out for being a commando and will be going to school in the north like his mother wants.]
Lyta: "So, back to the life of school and video games?"
Georges the GM: "Some therapeutic Pac Man?"
Joe: "Pong."

[After their drink, Lyta and Torgath go see Ennik to pass along their condolences to Esmeralda, Candy's mother.]
Ariel: "What was I supposed to find out from her?"
Brock: "Nothing! You were supposed to be a compassionate human being!"

[Ennik isn't happy with the way things have gone down.]
Ennik: "Tell Lukas that we're done."
Julie: "Isn't this the third time we've been done?"

[Ennik and the rest of the caravaners think that we're responsible for the death of Candy... and quite a lot of other people, for that matter.]
Torgath: "That's a weird leap of logic."
Lyta: "No, it's not, Torgath."

[Lyta tries to explain things to Torgath.]
Lyta: "People think we're an albatross. Where we go, people die. And they're not wrong."

[Lyta passes on Ennik's message to Lukas.]
Lyta: "Ennik wanted me to let you know that we're done. Again."
Lukas: "That's because he can't count."

[Karin has kindly allowed the Lassander siblings some time with Candy's body, given that they are not invited to the wake.]
Karin Hassan: "Take as much time as you need, but they'll be by in a half-hour to collect the body."
Torgath: "So take as much time as we need up to a half-hour?"
Karin Hassan: "...Yeah."

[The siblings pay their respects to Candy's body.]
Lyta: "I know it's hard."
Torgath: "I see dead people all the time."
Lyta: "Yeah, but you cared about this one."
Torgath: "Not enough."
Georges the GM: "Oh, how true."

[Karin Hassan is upset at the Lassander siblings for all the problems they've caused, including Candy's death.]
Torgath: "Why's Karin mad at you?"
Lukas: "Everyone's mad at us. Because they think we were part of Jimmy's plan, which is not entirely untrue."

[After visiting with Candy, the siblings pay a visit to Jimmy and Billy, who are also convalescing.]
Lukas: "Well, well, if it isn't the Croyden brothers, the only two people in this building less popular than we are."

[Lukas tries to determine how much damage control he'll have to do.]
Lukas: "What did you say to Chambers?"
Jimmy Croyden: "I said nothing. My brother, on the other hand, left precious little to the imagination."
Lukas: "Loquacious fucker that he is."

[Jimmy Croyden tries to figure out how things went so wrong.]
Jimmy Croyden: "I think back two seasons ago, when you were in the bed and I was making the deal with you. I don't remember--- Well, I do. I tend to suppress it, but I do remember you telling me the Doc is a crafty fellow and that I shouldn't underestimate him. I guess the joke's on me."

[Jimmy reveals that the Doc has made a deal with him.]
Lukas: "So you're on the payroll?"
Jimmy Croyden: "Not exactly. More like an indentured servant."

[The Doc has lent Jimmy and Billy the money to get their father out of hock with the Kolsons for his gambling debts. Instead, he'll be working security at the Lucky Shot.]
Brock: "It's irony that you're putting a card counter in charge of stopping card counters. It's poetic justice that he's doing it to pay off his gambling debt."

[Jimmy sums up the situation.]
Jimmy Croyden: "So all's well that ends well."
Lyta: "Is it?"
Jimmy Croyden: "Shite, no."

[Jimmy and Billy will also be working for the Doc, which means they'll be based in Khayr ad-Din for the foreseeable future.]
Lukas: "Think about how happy the nuns will be to have you in town full-time."
Jimmy Croyden: *groans* "I'd forgotten about that. I need more morphine."

[Lukas goes to find Karin Hassan, who is mad at him.]
Lukas: "Some might suggest that it's cruel to make a man in my condition chase you down."
Karin Hassan: "Don't make me laugh; I'm mad at you. I don't even know why I'm mad at you. They didn't tell me."

[Karin is upset by everything that's happened, but isn't sure how much more truth she can take.]
Karin Hassan: "I'm just looking for some things to be true, that I don't think matter to anyone else."
Lukas: "Nothing about you and I isn't true."

[Karin lets Lukas in to see the Doc.]
Doc Chambers: "Quinn, how did you get past my secretary, I wonder?"
Lukas: "I ducked to the left, deked to the right, lunged, and dropped a flash-bang."

[The Doc sets the mood.]
Doc Chambers: "So, you're up and about? That's very bad for you."

[The Doc lays out the situation as he sees it.]
Doc Chambers: "You're running out of people who will hire you. The Kolsons are dying off at an accelerated rate, and those that aren't talk amongst each other. The NGIS won't touch you. I suppose there's the SRID, but you're rapidly running out of planet."
Lukas: "Did you prepare this speech?"
Doc Chambers: "Always."
Lukas: "Cut to the end."

[The Doc tries to hire Lukas for the good of the Badlands.]
Lukas: "We've already had this speech from someone who believed it, not just someone trying to sell it."

[Lukas is having none of the Doc's guilting.]
Lukas: "You caused us to be here today."
Doc Chambers: "...Talk me through your reasoning."
Lukas: "You set us up."
Doc Chambers: "I set a lot of people up."

[Lukas informs the Doc that the reason we took Jimmy's job was because it was part of the contact, not because of any animosity.]
Doc Chambers: "So it just comes back to money. I almost wish it had been a personal grudge -- at least then we'd have an emotional connection."

[Lukas turns down the Doc's offer of employment.]
Brock: "Lukas will hobble a little faster... with dignity."


And that's it for now. Next up: a time jump as Lyta and Torgath return to Junira Loresh, Lukas gets facial reconstructive surgery, and Mads leaves for school so that Joe can start playing a new character. See you in two weeks!




Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game

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