Session 22 – That Building was a Lightweight. Sad!

Dramatis Personae

+Ronnie Whelan as Ronnina
+Linlin Kins as Umquat
+Adventures of the Mind as Don Harper of Mars

Loot

1500 Credits for completing the job.
That’s 500 Credits/XP each

Haven Turn

Don Harper of Mars spends his third Haven Turn training Toughness. Success! Don Harper of Mars is now tougher!
Ronnina spends her second Haven Turn improving her Sleight of Hand from a 1 in 6 chance to a 2 in 6 chance. Success! Ronnina’s Sleight of Hand is now improved!
Umquat spends her second haven turn learning Heal, improving it from a 1, to a 2 in 6 chance. Success! Umquat is now a better healer!

Rulings

Walls cost 1 credit per 1′.
Buildings cost 50 credits per 10’x10′ square. This cost is doubled for each floor above or below the ground floor. (100 at floor 2, 200 at floor 3, 400 at floor 4, etc)

Stronghold

Umquat funds the construction of a 3500′ wall, which will encircle an area of the park that is now claimed by the party.

Questions

The party decided to use 3 out of their 5 total questions from the acquisition of Zessler Vox’ Journal:
Did Zessler Vox have any other place where he may have stored treasures? Vox did not seem to have any significant holding aside from what the party discovered. However, he does make note of a place where other wizards who had been forced to go underground mingle. An old manor estate managed by a mysterious group whose goals have never been made terribly clear, but who have never been anything but helpful to those wizards who are unwelcome outside of Comet Caller territory.
Did Zessler Vox have any apprentice, or anyone close to him? Vox seems not to have been a well regarded magician. He rails several times in his journals about his anger at his own teacher for failing to have the guts to “do what was necessary.” and “kill the bastards before this shit happened.” Drawing on details you can construct some information about this teacher: an older man named Uliur Wizened Fingers, now a retired member of the Comet Caller council.
Was Zessler Vox have any hidden treasures? Vox did make note of a safety deposit box in VAULT XIX, a bank in Comet Caller territory. He notes that the box number is 2389, and that the passcode for entry is “The frothing head, acidic life, the origins of the beast.”

NPC Relationships

The Fighting Mongooses – The party not only handled the job they were given, but handled it in a spectacular fashion. No one really knows how they pulled it off, but it’s clear that they haven’t been sitting around idly for the last few months. Particularly with all the money they’re suddenly throwing around.

Bobby Dave – A 45 year old farmer. Agreed to move his operation into the PC’s stronghold Loyalty 6.
Makepeace – A 32 year old prostitute. Agreed to move her business to the PC’s stronghold. Loyalty 10.
Curly Locks – A muscular woman who was unconscious during the majority of the adventure, and was moved around like a piece of treasure. Has accepted that she’s been shanghaied as Umquat’s henchperson. Loyalty 7.
Sally Mae – The party hasn’t actually met her, but she apparently is a pretty good dealer of Space LSD, located on 4th street.
Bartleby – The party took the time to ensure his bed was kept safe when they destroyed their target building. It’s a kindness that humble Bartleby will not forget.
Nrrk – Nrrk has been brought on as the party’s chronicler and propagandist. He is not a hireling, and his work will be handled via the investment rules.

Highlights Recap

My first writup was lost, so forgive me if my second pass is a little rushed.
The party returned to fighting mongoose territory with the meat and leather and bones from the female rotocula they had killed, and flush with cash, decided they ought to find some explosives before returning to the task of destorying the building. In a lucky twist, they found a vendor selling some “plasticy, clay-like stuff” which the vendor thought was just some kind of fire fuel, but which the party recognized as C4. They managed to pick up an armful of the stuff for just 2 credits. It was at this point the vendor caught on to the fact that he was getting stiffed, and tried to drive a real hard bargain for the detonator. The party made a show of begrudgingly paying the hefty cost of five whole credits that he demanded, and went on their way with enough explosives bring down a building, no problem.

On the way, the party encountered a fat little man sitting in a nook and juggling some balled up papers. When he noticed the PCs approach, he dropped his juggling and turned furiously towards his typewriter, making a big show of putting words to paper, and mumbling about ‘constant interruptions.’

When the party tried to talk to him, he went off on them. Accusing them of holding back his artistic genius by preventing him from devoting himself fully to his masterwork. A piece of fiction that would explore the quality of human character like no other. It would delve into the martian character like no other work since the death of Edgar Rice Burroughs. He continued on in this manner until he realized that the party was actually interested in his work. And not just attentively interested, but financially interested.

They offered him writing work as their chronicler and propogandist in exchange for financing his writing. His attitude changed immediately from haughty, self-aggrandizing pseudo artist, to supplicating, self-aggrandizing, pseudo artist. He happily accepted the work.

Shortly thereafter, the party finally reached their destination. It was, as they had been told, not a very special building. Within they found the expected assortment of bums and druggies. They manged to clear the first floor quickly by bribing everyone to leave with their (soon to be rotted away) golden dragon scales. One fella, though, they kept around to help them make their way around.

In the basement they found a guy sleeping on a pile of old phonebooks, next to an electric furnace which had been gutted of all its internal components. Instead, there was just a big ol’ fire blazing inside of the housing, providing some measure of heat throughout the building. The guy down here was only too happy to make himself scarce for the 15 credits he was offered. He presumed that the party was probably here to commit some crime, though, and asked them to try and not get any of the blood on his bed, which he had grown quite fond of. The party agreed, and after he left, Ronnina made a point to spend some time moving his bed to a safe location outside the building.

The party moved on upwards through the building, ushering people out while claiming to be representatives of The Outsiders. Most folks were fine with leaving. Cancer kids, junkies, bums, none of them really had anywhere to be. Umquat derided them as “weak.”

First, the party met a huge muscular woman  with an ab-window in her green jumpsuit. She was filthy, an arm covered in track marks, and hair…her hair was oddly clean. Beautiful golden curls cascading down to her shoulders. She was entirely unconscious, and Umquat decided she would make a good Henchperson. They carried her, like a piece of treasure, down to the street so she’d be safe from the explosion.

Second, there was the druggie who jumped up and declared that the PCs were goblins. Before any real attempt to calm him was attempted, he leaped out of a window and down to his death.

Third, the party met Bobby Dave, a guy who had knocked out a bunch of apartment walls, and was using a series of mirrors to grow crops. They offered him a job growing crops for them, which he initially refused, citing all the lost work that he’d have to endure if he walked away from the coming harvest, not to mention that he was too late to get started on a new harvest elsewhere. The party agreed to cover his expenses for 200 credits, and he came along happily.

Finally, the party met Makepeace, a woman who provided sexual services to the tenants. She was easier to convince to leave that Bobby Dave. All she needed was a small financial incentive, and enough folks to move all her stuff, something the party was able to do for about 125 credits.

Once the building was clear, the party set their explosives in the basement. Their engineering calculations were bad, but fortunately they had enough explosives on them that it didn’t really matter. The building came down, filling the streets for miles around with smoke and debris. Immediately, the party heard sounds of weapons firing. Bows, Scorpions, even Onegars. Using her enhanced hearing, Ronnina was able to determine that these sounds were coming from a building adjacent to the one they’d just destroyed.

While the rest of the party moved to safety, Ronnina found a spot to hide where she could wait for the smoke to die down and find out what was going on. While she waited, she heard someone being killed and eaten a few hundred yards away from her, but she remained silent, and thus avoided the encounter.

When the dust did settle, she saw that the building to the East of the one they’d destroyed had apparently been well prepared for what they were doing. They had a number of projectile weapons directed towards the building that had been on the West side of the one the PC’s had brought down. With the obstacle between them now gone, the Eastern building had opened an all-out assault on their neighbor. Determining that this was not the party’s problem, the group set off on their way back to Fighting Mongoose Territory.

On the way they encountered a building with a Neon sight that said “Vinny’s” They tried to get in, but were denied access. They marked the location, and vowed to return later.

And so ended August 2516 C.E.