There’s a lot of talk about Violet’s next move and I don’t think anything has been decided.
“I've been trying to decide it but I have not been doing a very good job,” Violet admits.
We are now a third of the way through my planned 20+ session run for this campaign. The world is getting more developed but major questions remain about the psychic maelstrom, the 'gods', the Militia and other forces working towards remaking this world. This session is my long-planned ‘talkie’ session where everyone has Hot and/or Sharp highlighted. My players very much delivered despite the large amount of babbling by my infant son.
As in my earlier actual play reports, small green text indicates out of character talk, mechanics and other game aspects outside of the fiction.
Our main characters are:
- Gator (the Gunlugger) is an assassin and part-time bodyguard who wears customized scrounged armor made from Kevlar and ceramic inserts. Camouflaged for the jungle, his face was ruined in a fight with an alligator. His eyes are always sizing things up and his brutal life has left his body a hard sheet of muscle. He recently save a little girl named Memo and obtained a gang of mercenaries.
- Jarhead (the Savvyhead) is a thing African-American man with a short goatee, long dreads, and clothes covered in pockets and gear. Travelling around in an old news van, he repairs items for a living. He is investigating a device that can bend space and time. He has also obtained employees in the form of a young woman Allison and her brother Waters.
- November Orleans (the Skinner) is descended from a family which left New Orleans before it sank. She is a beautiful woman of mixed heritage with dark eyes and skin, a sweet face and lush body. She dresses herself in a mix of scavenged clothing that somehow works together and wears a necklace made from rows of antique coins which jingle and shine as she moves. Her main profession is as a dancer, especially belly dancing, but she has a sideline business in cooking and animal training.
- Violet Jefferson (the Touchstone) is descended by survivalists and her clothing and gear reflects her origins. Plain looking but fit, she carries a pocket copy of the Federalist papers and founding documents of the United States of America, an idea she hopes to revive. Her followers are demanding her help putting on a mission to liberate Miami from a tyrant.
Start of Session
November asks how she could use her new skill of animal training on an alligator. I explain it would take time, a few fingers, and an Acting under fire roll (vs. alligator). Plus there are limits to what you could train it to do.“What are the brightest animals around?” she asks.
We decide that most common smart animal are freaky ass rodents. She says she is looking for a sexy exotic pet. Violet suggests a tropical bird.
We start with highlighting:
- Violet gets Hard (by November) and Hot.
- Jarhead gets Hot (by November) and Sharp.
- November gets Hot (by Violet) and Sharp.
- Gator (when he shows up towards the end of the session) gets Sharp (by Jarhead) and Cool.
“I’m going to have to make a show of strength,” she says.
“I’m going to bring in a couple new followers of yours but they might not stick around long,” I tell her.
Next I decide that Waters is out of surgery. Since his mental wounds required the Autodoc's AI to operate on him, there is a roll to make:
Custom Move: Elective Surgery: when you allow the Hospital to operate on you, it fixes whatever ailment you have. Roll +weird. On a 10+ choose 1, on a 7-9 choose 2. On a miss all three.
- You are set to 2-harm (regardless of your previous harm level).
- The hospital adds something (a limb, an organ, a modification).
- The hospital removes something (a limb, an organ, a part of who you are).
I let Violet roll for Waters at +1 due to the fact she spend extra barter to get him mundane surgery first. She gets an 8 and after some die rolling chooses the harm and something removed options.
“They are both equally bad options,” she says before rolling a die to decide between something added or removed. Then she rolls. “Crap, well I would have said crap anyway.”
I remind the group that they still have hold left over from two sessions ago for declaring friends in Miami. Then we start.
Talking It Out
We start with Jarhead heading to his workshop after rescuing Memo.Jarhead pulls the pale little girl behind him. She bows her head, letting her long black hair hide the crowds and bright lights as she pads after him in hospital slippers and a gown. They slip through loading bay doors and out of the hospital proper.
As they reach the inventor’s van, she lets her shoulders relax. Jarhead indicates for her to sit in the back of the van amid the blinking lights and displays. She clambers up into the workshop and settles in front of repurposed tablet. As she slowly pushes a screen with a thin finger, Jarhead pulls out a piece of jerky and offers it to her.
Jarhead rolls Manipulate a person with food as leverage. He marks experience and gets an 11.
She takes it from him cautiously. As she nibbles at the salty meat, Jarhead says, “Let’s just see what you've got here.”
Gently he brushes the hair away from the right side of her face. Her eyes follow his as he traces the pattern of surgical scars across her brow to her temple. A pair of black data ports protrude from her skin. Gently he touches the side of her head, feeling where bone gives way to metal beneath the skin.
“That’s interesting,” he says. “What are these for?”
The girl flinches away from his touch suddenly, pulling her hair back over her face.
“Okay, Okay,” Jarhead says calmly. “Just asking.”
“The computer,” she says. “It does things to people. My mom brought me here because I was very sick. It tried to fix me but-.” She chokes off her reply.
The silence stretches out before she blurts, “I can feel them all.”
“Feel who?” he asks.
“So many," she says her eyes racing around the room. She fixes on Jarhead. “Your friend.”
“Which friend? All of a sudden I have whole lot more.”
“Sir Fredricks?” she sounds out.
Jarhead leans in. “Interesting. You feel him?”
“Yes, he’s close.”
“What do you mean close?” Jarhead looks around. “He’s alive in this room here?”
Memo shakes her head, her face twisting in pain. ”He keeps screaming. He keeps screaming.”
“Do you hear him not with your ears but your head?” the tinkerer says with dawning realization.
“Yes. I can’t not hear them,” she explains, clutching her ears. “They just keep talking. Some of them scream and scream and scream.”
”How many of them are there?”
“So many, so many. Most of them are quiet now.”
“Hold on a second,” he says. He reaches out with one hand and touches Memo while his other fiddles with the Tesla device. The device hums and suddenly Jarhead feels they are not alone.
Jarhead decides to reach through psychic maelstrom to Sir Fredricks. He rolls weird for Augury and gets a 9. He chooses to reach broadly for where his old friend is.
Cut to November.
November slips past a knot of nurses. Patients and nurses walk back and forth along the long white hall. Bright fluorescent lights clearly illuminate the room numbers.
She stops at Room 233 and pokes her head in. Inside the elderly Heron lies back on the hospital bed as several members of the Music Bowl play a low relaxing song. The man seems younger somehow, his infirmity lifted.
November steps inside and pays her compliments to the rejuvenated patient. He smiles weakly back. Leaving him to his recovery, she turns to Pandora.
November decides to Read a person on Pandora. She uses her +1 with her which gives her a 7. She marks experience.
“What are your plans once Heron recovers?” she asks.
“The doctors say it will be a few weeks,” the priestess says. “But we plan to return to the Music Bowl. Though if his progress is good, perhaps we can take him back sooner and he can finished his convalescence there. What about you?”
“Well my comrades are currently concerned by the rising power of White,” the dancer explains. “It’s not clear exactly what we would be doing.”
What does she want me to do? November asks.
Pandora smiles. “I hope Heron will be able to make a partial recovery soon and we can return to the Music Bowl. Perhaps in your company?”
“Perhaps,” November says.
“The festival is fairly soon. I’d like to make you a more integral part of it.”
“I’m flattered,” the dancer says smiling. “Please seek me out if you are planning to leave and I will do the same.”
Pandora nods. “I certainly will.”
November excuses herself and makes her way to the lobby.
She intends to speak to Violet to see if she has a plan. “And if she doesn’t I’m going to seduce A.T.,” she threatens.
Violet looks out the darkened window. The clouds that drifted in over the day released a torrent of rain that afternoon, one that shows no signs of ending. Growing winds whip the overgrown palm trees out front. She wonders if Boo and the others are alright.
Glancing at the crowds, everyone seems to be settling in for a long wait. A couple nearby argue about how bad it will be.
“It’s just a big storm,” the old woman says.
“Nah, nah it’s hurricane season,” her partner says.
A commotion draws her attention back to the front door. A group of waterlogged travelers spill out into the lobby. She recognizes Boo and Garber as well as other members of her circle.
We quickly establish the new characters: AOL, Scarlet and Joshua. AOL a tough traveler undeterred by inclimate weather and whose plan for a renewed Union is better communication. “There’s a whole movie about it,” she would say, referencing the Postman. “We just have to follow the plan.”
“Does she have a tendency to go postal?” Violet asks.
AOL steps out of the rain more concern with some disagreement with Boo than the weather. Scarlet busies herself drying out her long red dreadlocks while her boyfriend Joshua makes sure none of the optics on his ornate helmet are damaged.
Violet walks over to greet them but they immediately fall into an argument.
Joshua puts down his helmet. “What kind of idiocy are you up to?” he yells at Boo.
Boo coughs and slumps down on a bench, shivering slightly.
“Let my dad out of this, you can see how he is,” his son Garber shouts back.
AOL shakes her head. “I don’t know what you two were thinking going out there alone. You almost got hit by those raiders. It’s a good thing we came around. You would have end up dead and looted. And what’s this about getting people to join us piecemeal? That’s sounds like crazy talk.”
Joshua nods. “What we need is...how many of us are around? Four or five? If you are going to drum up support, sure but do it together. There’s the 7-11, those guys ought to want to be free of White. Assuming he hasn't hit them yet. And what about the Autodoc? I know these guys aren't going to want freaking voodoo climber victims around." He smiles to himself. "Then again maybe they do, It would be good for business.”
Violet uses Towering presence and gets an 11. She also earns experience.
“What’s done is done!” Violet shouts. “If you have something constructive to add to this strategy do it. Otherwise stop arguing.”
November slips up beside her. “We have a strategy now?”
“We are working on it,” the survivalist says, clenching her jaw.
Boo staggers to his feet. “Me and Garber,” he coughs out. “We went over to some of the smaller holds: Tatters and MarketStore. Neither of them is willing to help. Taters is scared stiff by White while MarketStore says that he offered them a better deal.
We establish MarketStore is a repurposed supermarket while Tatters farms potatoes.
He steadies himself on his son. “Since this is the first time you’ve asked for my strategy, here it is. I think that we are not going to get people on our side until we take out White. You’ve already paid for Gator. Get him on the ship somehow and let him shoot White. That will take care of it.”
“Not a bad plan,” Violet says.
I point out that she could have used Insight if she asked earlier.
This next bit happened while I prepared dinner.
November offers her own advice. “I know it’s not quite how you had it in mind, but isn’t A.T. interested in taking out White?”
“Yeah,” she says. “My concern is that he will also take out anyone who raises a finger against him.”
“You think will install himself as a new warlord?”
“He tends to be less tolerant of dissent than I am,” Violet says.
“So we need somebody to control him?” November asks, batting her eyelashes. “I could see if he might be amenable to a reasonable approach.”
Violet leans back against a wall. “We can give it a try. I just need him to wait for a while.”
November frowns. “I thought what you wanted was fair elections?”
“Yes but if he goes in guns blazing then we are going to have a lot of casualties and chaos. We need to make it so he’s no longer part of the problem.”
November looks down for moment before focusing on Violet. “You need to think what your end game is and then work towards it. If you want free elections here then you need to decide who is going to run it. Are you going to establish yourself as the body to protect that? What will be the qualifications for candidates? It sounds like you wouldn't mind White as a possible president or something but that he must respect the will of the people.”
“We need to establish a constitution before the election,” Violet says, fishing out her pocket copy of the Federalist papers.
“I can approach A.T and see if he’d be interested in supporting these election,” November says. “As for White I’m not sure what we could do to pressure him. I suppose we could tell him to support elections or else.”
“I doubt he’s going to go for it,” Violet says. “Given that he uses zombies.”
“Well it’s your vision,” the dancer says dubiously. “It sounded great but I thought he deserved a fair chance. But if you are saying we decide who doesn’t get to join the new republic then that’s cool too I guess. You’ve read the papers more than I have.“
“I find most people can be persuaded if you approach them the right way,” she adds. “I understand fully that some people need to be killed, That’s why my knives are not just for cooking.”
I come back to get a recap.
Violet is still thinking. She wants free election but points out that White can control minds and that both he and A.T. might not respect the free part.
AOL interjects. “Well if we are going to do something like that, we need to know what he wants. That way we can convince him to our way of thinking.”
“We can always start with not dying,” November says. “Most people want that.”
“Yes, but eventually he will be free to do what he wants. That could be a problem.”
Violet says, “yes, if what he wants to do is have a bunch of zombie mind slaves to do his bidding, then that’s not going to fly. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” She turns to Joshua and Scarlet. “What are your ideas?”
The scrawny man looks up. “I think we should infiltrate the ship and instigate a popular revolt.”
“Yes,” Scarlet adds. “We need to get on board and convince the people.”
“Hmm,” Violet says, considering her options.
Cut back to Jarhead.
Jarhead looks at the readout. Two pings register from the device. One distant and faint. The other far too close. Sir Fredricks’s body might still be in distant Orlando but his mind is here.
Or as I tell him, “you have your hand on it.”
Then there is contact and the concept of screaming rips through the tinkerer’s mind. Ah where am I am? the presence intones. The experiment went horribly wrong! Jarhead, I blame you for this!
Shut up! Jarhead thinks back. Calm down. Tell me what you see.
Jarhead tries to Manipulate a person. He earns experience but unfortunately only gets a 4.
He feels the angry mind lock with his, freezing him in place. As he struggles to regain control he senses hands on his neck, gasping and choking. His vision blurs and suddenly the psychic connection breaks.
The pressure grows on his throat and chest. He blinks. A swimming vision of Memo stares down at him with empty eyes, her arms reaching for his neck.
Jarhead rolls Seize by force to save himself. He gets a 7 and takes definite hold and suffers little harm.
He takes no damage (1-harm -1 for little harm)
“Hey Memo!” he gasps. “Wake. The fuck. Up!”
He flips her off of him and onto the ground. Gasping for breath, he watches as her eyes refocus.
“What happened?” she says glancing about as she picks herself up.
“An interesting result that we will explore further under contained conditions,” he says rubbing his neck.
Jarhead considers strapping her down. “He prefers not being strangled.”
“Wait here,” he says after a moment. He then heads into the Autodoc to steal a hospital bed.
Then we cut back to Violet and November.
”Just how bad is it on the ship?” Violet asks.
”No one is really sure. Boo was the last one there and his brother got shot for espousing democracy.”
”What do you mean you’re hardholder?” November quips. “I didn’t vote for you.”
”You don’t vote for hardholder,” Violet answers.
”Bang,” November adds, giving the real Apocalypse World answer.
Violet’s followers pitch camp a short distance away to dry out and rest. Garber goes looking for warm food for his ailing father. Meanwhile November and Violet continue their conversation.
November Reads a person on Violet (who decides not to help or hinder). She earns experience and gets an 8. She earns an advance and picks up Hypnotic.
“How could I get you to join forces with A.T.?” November asks.
“Convince him not lynch anybody who has a different opinion from him,” Violet says.
“Okay,” the dancer says, getting up . “I guess I’ll go talk to A.T.”
As she exits the lobby she runs into Jarhead.
“What’s the problem?” she asks.
“No problem,” he says quickly. The man’s dark eyes search the hallway before settling on a gurney equipped with leather straps.
November Reads a person on Jarhead. She gets a soft success. ”What does Jarhead intend to do?” she asks.
As the inventor grabs the gurney and starts turning it around, she asks, “who are you trying to tie down? Where’s Gator?”
“I haven’t seen him around,” Jarhead says. “It isn't for him.”
”It’s okay,” she says with a laugh. “He once told me he liked them.”
Cue group groans.
Jarhead wheels the gurney towards the loading dock, looking around for anyone else paying attention. “I think he’s in the cafeteria.”
“Who are you strapping down?” November asks.
“Uh, Memo.”
November looks at him for a little bit before smiling and walking away.
“What’s with the 21 questions here?” Jarhead says wheeling the gurney quickly back to his workshop.
Jarhead stops the gurney short of the half unloaded van. Standing near Memo is a man in white robes. Jarhead recognizes his long black hair from the group of Music Bowl cultists they traveled with.
“Can I help you?” he asks.
Jarhead Reads a person on the NPC (Wisher). He gets a 12.
”What do you intend to do?” he asks first.
“Maybe or maybe we can help each other. I’m looking to hire you make a gift for someone. I’m not sure what would be the best gift. But you know her better so perhaps you would have an idea.”
“Her?”
“November.”
Are you telling the truth (about the gift)?
Jarhead senses the stranger’s sincerity. “She was talking about buying a trained animal. But I’m not good on the whole animal thing.”
The stranger nods. “That does seem to be outside your expertise as far as I can see. My name is Wisher.” Wisher walks around the gurney toward him, his hand playing with one of the straps.
“Ah Wisher, I’m Jarhead,” he says offering his hand.
Jarhead Opens his brain and gets a 9 to get a vision of what November might want.
As they shake, he feels a flash. A vehicle, small but nimble, not a motorcycle but like one. “November wanted something like a motorcycle,” Jarhead muses. “But that’s a lot of time that perhaps you don’t have. Unless you have something pretty much intact.”
Wisher seems unfazed. “I’m sure I can come up with raw materials if that’s what you need.”
I tell Jarhead he can build one with his workshop in the time it will take Waters to recover. Perhaps quicker with the right parts. We also establish some base prices for vehicles: 2-barter for crap, 3-barter for fully functional, higher for anything nicer.
“Sure, it would cost you two barter,” Jarhead informs him, “but if you want something fancy on there, the price goes up.”
“How fancy are we talking?” the taller man says setting his hands on the gurney.
“Well there’s a bicycle seat and then there is a really nice seat. There are well-worn mufflers and then there are polished ones.”
“Well this should be very attractive,” Wisher says seriously.
“Then we are talking something like four barter.”
Wisher strokes his chin. “Well I’d be providing raw materials. That should knock down the price.”
“Which I don’t get to keep,” Jarhead counters.
“But then you don’t have to provide them,” Wisher says.
“Okay three barter then.”
Wisher smiles widely. “I’ll give you two barter now and arrange the parts to be here soon. I’ll get the remaining barter along once I’m able.”
“Okay that’s good.”
We cut back to Violet. This bit is pretty close to a soliloquy.
Outside the storm grows in strength. Inside Violet sits apart, lost in her thoughts.
We review her plan.
The first thing to remove White, she thinks. But we also need to make sure that stability in the holding isn’t shot to hell.
We establish that the Big Ship has roughly three hundred people on board. Violet is interested in how many people are needed just to keep things functioning.
Her mind runs over her experiences on the Big Ship. Three hundred souls, men, women, and children, packed onto the surface of a rusty hulk. But only few are needed to keep the power running and to maintain food and security. Boo told her that White's men were afraid of him, afraid that they would be infected with the climbers and zombified. Some of them might be turned to the cause once White is removed. But which ones were afraid? And which are really loyal?
Violet asks how she might learn who is loyal or not on the Big Ship.
“That’s a hard one. There you’d have to talk to people on the ship."
“Go undercover,” November suggests.
”We need to find out what the situation is on the holding,” Violet says.
“So it sounds like somebody is going to have to go over there,” I say.
“First we want to find out that A.T. doesn’t do anything stupid," she says. "Then we want to put someone in place to do recon on the ship.”
"Those sound like decisions," I comment. "Now just to decide who does what."
"It sounds like November is already dealing with A.T.”
"Who is going to go on the ship?"
"Who is best suited to recon?" she asks.
“Not Jarhead", I tell her.
”Hell no,” Jarhead adds.
"I guess I’m decent at that," Violet says. "I wouldn't ask someone to do it if I wasn’t willing to.”
The rain hits the glass ceiling of the lobby in large wet drops. Somebody is going to get aboard and find out. But who? I'll do it if I must.
Violet continues to plan. At one point she mentions, “though if White is killing anyone who stands in his way, we may need to eliminate him.”
I point out, "that’s what you paid Gator for."
November adds, “if you paid Gator to kill someone, he’s going to get killed either way.”
After some discussion she decides to Open her brain to the psychic maelstrom, hoping for a vision of the Big Ship.
"What is it like when Violet opens her mind to the psychic maelstrom?"
She relates it to hunting, watching and listening for her quarry with small details coming into focus.
I remark that the psychic maelstrom “is very sensie heavy.”
Unfortunately, she gets a 6 on her roll.
Violet casts her thoughts outward, opening her mind to the swirl chaos of the psychic maelstrom. Instantly everything is thrown in sharp relief: the thousands of raindrops hitting the glass enclosure, the paleness of Boo's skin, the subtle sniffing of Garber, and the whirling clouds overhead. Her thoughts stray for moment. I should make them an herbal tea later.
She then tries to focus on the south and the Big Ship. But instead of sensing the ship, she feels someone watching her.
In the gloom outside a phantom outline forms, someone looking back at her. Now I know, the figure's mind lets slip.
Oh crap, she thinks slamming the connection closed.
I was trying to decide if White knew about Violet or if he only knew about November. But now I don’t have to wonder.
November looks into her compact, applying her precious makeup carefully. She adjusts her outfit, adding a bit more modesty, a little less youth, and a touch more respectability. As a final touch she openly sheaths a knife at her waist. A.T. is a man of means and power and respects a woman who has both.
She smiles to herself, thinking back to when she spotted him in the hall. The soldier on the left, the hulking black man, had to be Mox. Mox might be weak on people skills but he was dependable. She knew he'd fall for her charms again.
November uses another of her hold to make Mox a friend.
Finished, she slipped out of the unoccupied hospital room and into the hall. Now just to find where he's staying, she thought to herself.
She spies Iris down the hall and intercepts her. “Hello Iris. How are you?"
As the two dark woman exchange pleasantries, November moves in close. "Where is the Militia? I saw them around here.”
Iris's smile vanishes. “Well I guess Barnum gave them space over in the West Wing,” she says quietly.
"You alright?" November asks. "You seem spooked."
A fragile smile reappears. “It's just we don’t like to get involved in the affairs of other holdings. Bringing the Militia in goes against that."
"Why do you think he did?"
“Well because of White I guess,” she says glancing away.
"Is the Autodoc going to support the Militia?" November asks.
November also rolls Read a person, earning experience and getting an 8.
"I guess so, we’ve set aside a number of beds for them." The nurse whispers, "I’ve heard rumors we’ve had some beds set aside for them for a while now."
"Are they here at your invitation?" November asks suspiciously.
"I don’t know."
"Is she telling the truth?" November asks.
"Yes."
November walks towards the two men guarding a checkpoint in the West Wing. The faded and patch camo clothing on the left guard at least was real. The right one's outfit was an odd lime green and made of a patchwork of denim.
The left soldier gestures to her to stop. “Hey what’s your business.”
The elegant woman stops and smiles. "Oh I’m looking for Mox. Last time he was here we spent some time together."
“Zuk go check that out," he says to the man on his right. He turns back to November. "Just wait here miss.”
As Zuk turns to go, she calls out, "let him know November is here."
A few minutes later Zuk returns with Mox. The large man's clothes are less faded and the big rifle strapped to his back shines from a diligent cleaning.
Mox smiles broadly. “November it's good to see you again.”
"You too, Mox," she says. "I passed you in the hall around lunch. It took me a while to recognize you. You are taking good care of yourself.”
"Thanks," he says flexing a bicep.
“I was hoping we could catch up, is there someplace we can talk privately?”
"Sure we’ve got plenty of space at the moment." Mox gestures down the hall and turns to the soldier, “She’s okay.”
Mox leads her into an empty hospital room that's been prepared as a bunk room.
November has time alone with Mox so she uses Hypnotic on him. With the +1 from her hold she easily gets a 10+ and earns experience as well. He is now captivated by her and will do what he can to help her. Or at least for the 3 hold she has over him.
November and Mox chat about recent events, each word placing him further and further under her charms. Mox happily fills her in on the Militia's plans.
And uses 1 of her hold.
“We plan to take down White, undoing the tyranny in Miami,” he says with a grin. "A.T. has got this all set up. We’re bringing guys down from the north. We’re bringing the big truck on the train. We are going to move in and take control of White's empire holding by holding. The train should be here in two days, unless there’s flooding. Once it gets here we'll start moving in. Nothing is going to stop this truck. It's a vintage piece, an armored personnel carrier."
November initially thinks about getting Mox to bring her A.T. but decides to use Lost instead. She gets a hard hit and calls A.T. to her.
As Mox finishes with his speech, November lets her mind connect to the maelstrom. Softly she calls into it: A.T. Then she waits as Mox prattles on.
Several minutes later, the white-haired man walks.
“Mox what are you doing here?" the Militia leader asks. "Who is she?”
“This is November Orleans," Mox says, "she’s a woman of refinement.”
November curtsies. “I dance a little, I cook, and I've even been learning to train animals. Mox was just telling me about your plans. I am grateful that you are standing up for the people of Miami. A.T. was it?"
November motions to Mox to leave them alone. The big man exits with a wistful look.
And uses another hold.
“Yeah A.T.,” he says unsteadily. He quickly regains his momentum however adding, “that’s nice of you say. It's too long that raiders and despots have been picking at the wreck of our fine country. My men and I intend to bring order to this lawless land.”
"Law and order are very important," she says sweetly. "There are some people who feel you should kill anyone who disagree with you. What do you think about that?"
November Reads a person, gets a hard success and experience.
A.T. scratches his beard. "Killing is a bit of unfortunate business in this world. It shouldn't be done lightly but sometimes it’s just necessary."
As an aside, I see Violet's followers as 'freedom first', especially the freedom of expression. The Militia on the other hand is 'the government stays out of our business'. There's an important distinction there.
“You wouldn't kill someone just because they disagree with you?" she asks. "Once you've established your law and order?”
"As long as they not acting against that order we don’t have a problem," he says with a practiced air. "If they are undermining that order, bringing weakness back to the Union, then that’s not going to sit well with me."
"Back in the day, didn't they used to have things like courts?”
He nods. "Yup. We‘re bringing those back."
“Then wouldn't you hold true to the findings of those courts?” she asks.
In game terms, "how could I get you to hold by their decisions?"
"Damn it now I have a deep political question to answer," I tell her.
I tell her, "As far as citizens, people within the Union, he would be willing to follow the outcome of a fair trial if the people involved were not a threat. He would be willing to compromise if it brought more holdings into the Union."
"Citizens of course have a right to a fair trial," he says as he begins to lecture about legal codes and individual rights. November listens to the spaces between his words. She decides he doesn't really care about the laws but does care about public opinion. Like any politicians, he would sacrifice his principles (or prejudices) to bring more people under his sway.
As he finishes, she says, “there are other people here fighting for the Union. Have you thought about joining forces with them? A young woman named Violet?”
A.T. snorts. "Violet, yeah I heard about her. Her heart might be in the right place but she’s never going to get anything accomplished."
“What are you going to do about her?”
In game terms "What do you intend to do?"
"She and I have talked before. I don’t see that I’m going to get her to agree with me anytime soon. But I think her Republicans might see things a little bit more rationally. I think I can bring them around."
Violet's followers get a name and now we know he intends to recruit them. I hope she doesn't get +desertion soon...oh wait, she already has.
November moves closer to him, letting him talk longer. She places a hand on his arm and turns on her charm. A.T. falters, smiles and closes the door to the hallway.
November decides to Seduce him. With the +1 from her cosmetics she gets a 9 and marks experience. So she has to put out.
“And so we fade to black.”
With her sex move, November decides to Hypnotize him for free. For her manipulation, she sets up a meeting with Violet.
Light streams under the door and into the dark bunk room. A.T. sits up and pulls on his pants. November leans over his shoulder. As she finishes her pillow talk, she softly suggests, "hey baby, let me set up a meeting, just you and Violet and me.”
The older man smiles in the dark. "Yup, maybe we can win her around."
And that's where we will end it for now. See you in two weeks.
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