The cast:
- Brace (ex-Brainer Battlebabe): the ship's pilot and also a spook, that despised part of humanity touched by the weird. He has extensive psychic powers. Shiv hates him and the White Guard tried to violate him. He killed the crew of the Nevermore and claimed their ship. He didn't ask who really owned it.
- Midnight Storm (ex-Skinner Solace): teenage post apocalyptic rock star who wants to help people. He has begun to see Wolves of the Maelstrom around and they want to end the music.
- Nightingale (a.k.a. "Gale") (ex-Angel Touchstone): the ship's doctor hunting her brother Bluejay. She's been suffering visions of reavers and an old wooden church. She also has a vision for the world. A vision to hold the darkness of the void at bay.
- Manfred (Faceless): A massive man who wears a mask fashioned from a stop sign. He used be a cook on a cattle ship.
- Switchblade (Maestro D'): acrobatic woman in a fool's motley who runs a traveling carnival and is handy with a knife.
Switchblade's (Switch for short) establishment is the space ship called the Carnival. Its main act is spectacle. I forget the side acts. Among the Carnival's relationships, it owes Bluejay. It has no fixed location and everyone is packing. The last choice will ultimately turn out to be a liability.
As for starting moves I believe she had You call this hot and A devil with a blade. She's rather dangerous. Her appearance is inspired by Harley Quinn.
The Carnival was inherited from Switchblade's father. The ship travels from port to port, offering it’s strange spectacle. The crew of the ship is a tight-knit family, with Switch as the community head.
The ship interior is divided into different zones. In the center of the ship by the main entry port is the hangar bay. This is large area holds the carnival booths, rides, and food when the ship enters port for business. During travel or other non-carnival days, the hanger bay tends to remain fully erected, although far less staffed. The hanger bay also serves as the main common space of the crew, as most other areas of the ship are cramped and crowded.
Towards the ship’s bow are the general quarters, where almost all of the crew sleeps. Past the general quarters is the bowhead, where the flight deck, central nexus, and captain's quarters are found.
Towards the ship’s aft is the den, where farm and display animals are housed and cared for. A few of the ship’s crew sleep here to keep a closer eye on the animals.
Past the den is the engine block, where the baelight reactors and other vital machinery are maintained.
The Ties That Bind Us
We picked up right after Midnight Storm KO'd Ula, a crew member on the Starlight who has been affected by whatever brainwashing is going on at the new garden ship at port.
Midnight looked down at Ula then over the Switch. "Can you help me with her?"
The acrobat and the young man carried Ula to the medbay. Gale looked up from some complex medical equipment.
"What happened to Ula?' she asked.
"I had to knock her out," he admitted.
"Knock her out? What the hell were you thinking? She's your friend." Gale opened Ula's eyes and shined a light into them.
"She wanted to leave the ship. So does Bigs. Everyone on that garden ship is brainwashed or something."
"You could have talked to her. You don't solve problems with violence."
"You don't understand. I did. They did something to her. I think it has to do with the plants they keep on the ship." He pulled a violet plant from his jacket. "Please, look at this fruit. Check her blood or something. I'm sure there is some drug in there."
Gale finished examining Ula. "Well she seems alright. I'll run some tests to make sure you didn't give her a concussion. And I suppose to see if there are any drugs in her system."
Midnight handed her the strange violet fruit. Gale stared at it, then collapsed.
She opened her brain and failed.
She woke a few minutes later, Midnight and Switch looking down at her.
"Is she okay?" Switch asked.
"I'm fine," Gale said standing up. "Just that damn church again."
"What?"
Gale grabbed a syringe and took a blood sample from Ula. "You can take Ula back to her bunk. I'll look into the fruit."
Midnight set Ula down in her and Bigs's bed. "I'm going to wait until she wakes up. i owe her that."
"Well I've got to go," Switch said.
"I understand. I'll find you later."
After an age, the White Guard finally tromped out of the dock, leaving Brace and Rat alone outside the Nevermore.
Brace let his eyes trace the black shape of his new ship. Then he turned to Rat. "So let's talk."
Rat pulled away from him. "I don't want to talk, I don't want to think about those pirates or what happened to them. Just let me go."
"Maybe I could give you a job."
He continued to back away. "Look I'm done. I won't tell anyone about what you did but I don't want to see you again. I'm just going to leave and find some hole to hide in."
"We can make a deal. " Brace began to reach for him when several burly men enter the dock.
"Which of you is in charge?" asked one with a shaved and tattooed head.
"Just leave us alone," Brace hissed, stabbing the thug's mind.
Direct Brain Whisper Projection to use the Weird to go aggro. Which he then gets a hard hit on.
The man backed away quickly, gripping his head. "Guys, let's leave." He blinked and glared at Brace. "The real owner of that ship wants to talk to you."
Brace watched them leave. He turned to Rat but he was gone.
"Fuck."
Sun and another man entered, glancing back at the goons they passed along the way.
"This is the repair man for the door," she said.
"Great, you got my message. Sun I need to ask you another favor."
"I have other things to do, Brace."
"I can make it worth your while. Later. Perhaps in the engine room this time. Just watch this ship for a little while I run errands."
A successful Manipulate a Person (using Unnatural Lust fixation to use Weird).
Sun looked him up and down and smiled. "Sure."
Switch smiled as she entered the spacious hanger bay of the Carnival. Collapsed banks of stadium seating framed the center ring, empty except for one of the freaks practicing their routine. She spotted Daily by the game booths.
The clown was pacing back and forth, muttering about debts and numbers.
"What is it Daily?" Switch asked.
"Oh thank goodness, you are finally here," Daily replied, his painted smile twisted into a scowl. "We've got problems. A messenger came by. Bluejay is here. In Megaton."
"So? I mean, I know he has an interest in our business."
"An interest?! We owe him half the ship for bailing us out after the fireworks accident. He wants to see you. Something has him upset and he's calling his chips in."
Switch swung around the clown. "I'll take care of it. Our debt isn't as bad as all that. Did we get any produce from the garden ship?"
"Yes. I've got a crate of that purple fruit. Hopefully they sell well when we open up."
Switch stopped and shook her head. "No, don't sell it. Don't give it anybody. I heard there is something wrong with the fruit."
"Alright, you are the boss."
"Okay, I'll find Bluejay. See you later."
"Break a leg!" he shouted after her.
"Are you Brace?" said a child with dark hair tied in pigtails.
The thick crowd pressed in on Brace. "Yes. What is it?"
"Gale said she wanted to see you."
Brace looked around. The market-folk paid no attention to him.
"A tip?" the urchin suggested.
"Get paid upfront," he suggested before heading for the Starlight.
Brace found the medbay door watched by Rum. The child blocked the door.
"No one goes in."
"Out of my way," Brace said, pushing the kid over.
A woman screamed as the door slid open. "My-my arm!"
"It will hurt more if you don't tell me what I want to know," Gale said, adjusting her grip on Crypt's shattered limb. "Plus you might lose the child if you bleed any more. I can repair the damage, fix your arm and save the child but only if you tell me who really employs the Nevermore."
"I told you! The captain. Cipher."
Gale began to twist. "And I told you that I can tell when you are lying. Now who is it!"
Read a person works but doesn't deliver the answers. So go aggro it is. Too bad the NPC decides to take the harm.
Crypt grit her teeth. Brace listened as Gale bent the arm at unnatural angles. She left Crypt's arm a ruined boneless thing.
"Now I'll have to amputate," she told the unconscious woman.
Gale noticed Brace for the first time. "Oh I didn't see you there."
"What? Why did you do that?" he said.
What follows is a lot of Read a Person with if I recall correctly rolls to help! There were trust issues in our group.
"I learned that someone else was involved with the Nevermore."
"Why do you care?"
"If you are going to be tromping around with that ship, you'd better know who else might be after it."
Brace expression softened as he realized Gale no angle in this, no reward besides helping him. In that moment he felt an affection he hadn't felt for another in a long long time.
Gale used his silence to lay out the larger picture of her motivations. "That's why we need to be working together. If we want to survive and not become reavers ourselves, we need keep the bonds between family and friends strong."
Gale uses her visionary move.
The communication terminal hissed to life. A badly bruised Sun appeared on the screen.
"Brace? Bluejay wants you know he has the Nevermore. He's threatening to kill me if you don't come to the apartments in Bay 6."
Brace got up.
"I'm coming with you," Gale said.
Midnight Storm arrived at the medbay minutes later. Rum stopped him at the door.
"Is Gale in?" Midnight asked.
"She left," the child said sternly.
"Okay, can do me a favor? I need you to deliver a message."
Rum straightened his back. "I'm standing guard."
"Look, please? I'll let you try out my guitar."
"You don't care about me. You didn't believe me about Shiv. You're not my friend."
That last sentence is child authentic. Being a father is hard sometimes.
"I said I was sorry about that." Midnight lowered himself to Rum's level. "Look I told the captain what happened. He's looking into it."
The teenager looked into Rum's eyes for a moment. The boy looked away.
Midnight got up and searched the ship for someone else to help. He found Shiv in the Gallery.
"Hey Shiv, can you do me a favor?" he asked.
"No."
"Look I just need you to deliver a message. I have some jingle if that helps."
A successful Manipulate a person using the leverage of tools.
Midnight slipped some tools from his satchel. Shiv took them into his weathered hands. "These are pretty nice."
"Payment from a grateful fan. Can you go to the club district in Dock 4? Go to Snail's and tell him that not to give out the fruit. If he wants to argue about it, tell him to come to me."
"Fine, I could use a drink."
Switch entered the gray apartment building. She passed under a camera mounted on the ceiling and headed for the two large men flanking the elevator. One pressed the button as she approached.
He waved her in. "Press five."
The fifth floor was given over to a large suite of rooms. A reception area filled the entrance hall.
A tall woman looked up from her desk. "Bluejay will see you in a moment. Please take a seat."
The woman got up and exited the room. Switch looked around. A line of chairs ran along one wall. Two men waited there. One was ancient, his skin paper-thin and covered in liver spots. As she sat down, he fidgeted away from her.
"I'm Switch," she said. "You are?"
He slipped a mask over his bald head and adjusted the straps with shaky hands. "Please don't breath in this direction miscreant."
She looked away from his yellow eyes to her other companion. "How about you?"
"Scar," the robed figure intoned. She caught a glimpse of a sharp toothed smile under his hood. A shiver ran down her spine.
Great, she thought. An old geezer and a contract killer.
The woman returned. "This way please."
Switch followed her through several rooms and into an office.
Bluejay stood by a wooden desk in a tailored leather suit, cradling a gray beetle the size of a kitten. Gently he placed the thing in a cage on the desk beside two suitcases, red and green. "I'm glad to see you, Switch."
Bluejay is the central threat of his own front.
Kind: Warlord: Dictator
Impulse: to control
Description: Bluejay has moved up in the world. Having made some profitable deals since Lilly Pad, he has set himself up as a power broker in the Void. Now he "owns" several criminal enterprises and hidden bases. The Nevermore belongs to him. He wants to bring more under his control, including Megaton. Mech & Boss are likely rivals to him, threats that need elimination.
Cast: The Skirr (psychic devouring bug thing), Bug (grenade lobbing psycho, 4-harm 1-armor 3 Hit thug), Hurt (face of burnt scar tissue)
Bluejay has access to several gangs: 3-harm 1-armor for the most part. He is stepping up weapon buys though.
Custom Moves:
- Art of War: When dealing with Bluejay in a conflict (social or martial) roll+Sharp. On a hit everything is fine, you are an even match for him. On a 7-9 he brings some aspect of his empire to bear that adds an additional complication. On a miss he makes a move.
- Skirr: When a brainer sees a Skirr or someone uses Weird in the presence of one, roll+Hard. On a 10+ things go okay, just a bit of buzzing in your head. 7-9, you choose 1. On a miss the effect is reflected on you:
- Nose bleed: 1 harm (ap)
- Headache: your next action (after this) is acting under fire
- Its in your head: answer in what ways is your character's mind and soul most vulnerable?
- The Skirr deals s-harm or 1-harm (ap) in combat and has 1-armor and 1 Hit.
- Money Talks: Bluejay drops a large amount of jingle for you to do something. Roll acting under fire. On a 10+ you can walk away. On a 7-9 he had 1 hold over you. You can spend this hold by doing what he wants or by taking a -1 forward. On a miss he has 3 hold over you. Used against an NPC they side with him.
"What is that thing?" she asked leaning in to take a closer look.
"It's called a Skirr. Be careful, it bites."
The creature turned to face her on size stumpy legs. Switch couldn't see any eyes but sensed it was looking at her.
Switch straightened up. "What do you want from us Bluejay?"
"I need you to deliver a package for me. It is for a man named King on the planet Everette."
"Planets are dangerous Bluejay. The reavers have taken all the habitable ones."
"Not Everette. Do this and I'll reward you richly."
He opened up the green suitcase on his desk. Inside lay entertainment cubes, spices, silks and other valuables.
6-barter in other words.
Switch makes her roll against money talks mostly.
"How about this instead? I'll deliver your package and then you let us out of our arrangement."
"But Switch, I thought our deal was good for both of us."
"But mostly you."
"Well fine. Take the payment and deliver my package. If you return the full contents then I'll let you go. Deal?"
That is what a hit on Manipulate a Person looks with Bluejay.
"Fine. Where's the package?"
"Right here." He patted the red suitcase. "Jimbo! Come in here and help this lady carry her luggage back to her ship."
A large man lumbered in. He picked up each suitcase in a meaty hand and followed Switchblade back to the Carnival.
Brace and Gale entered a reception area. Two men sat at the chairs lining the far wall while a tall woman watched from a desk. A goon and woman dressed in a harlequin's outfit pushed past them onto the elevator.
"Now what?" Gale asked.
The receptionist looked at them. "Bluejay is expecting you. This way."
She led them to Bluejay's office. Gale's brother sat on the desk, petting his strange alien insect. Brace scanned the room trying to locate a strange buzzing noise.
"Hello sister. Hello Brace."
"Where is Sun?" Gale asked.
"What do you want?" Brace said.
Bluejay looked Brace in the eye. "You killed the crew of the Nevermore. They worked for me. Now you are going to make it up to me."
"Jay, why are you doing this?" Gale asked.
"Gale, this isn't something you need to involve yourself with. Please go to the room. We'll catch up in a little bit after Brace and I talk."
"No! You are hurting people."
"Gale, I thought you understood how things work. Gus, please escort my sister out. Gently."
A thick-set man approached her but Brace lashed out with his mind. The mental energy rebounded on him, sending him to his knees.
He tries to go aggro using Direct-brain whisper projection. He fails his roll against the Skirr however and is affected instead.
"I wouldn't recommend any tricks," Bluejay said as the Skirr clicked its mandibles. "This creature comes from a very unique ecosystem. It reacts poorly to psychic activity."
A few other men entered from the other room. Bluejay waved them off.
"Gale I promise Brace will be unharmed. Do I need to have my men move you?"
Reluctantly Gale left, glancing back at Brace. The pilot looked lost.
"Now that we are alone," Bluejay said, caressing his creature. "Let's talk about how you compensate me for the loss of the Nevermore. I can tell you are at least as dangerous as they were. That's good for you. Work for me and I'll give you the Nevermore. You will follow the old crew's contract. Get a new crew, pillage and loot. I tell you where and fence the goods for you. At very favorable rates."
Brace looked at Bluejay and his pet. He considered Sun and Gale.
And makes a Read a Person roll to find some way to manipulate bluejay. Then he makes his manipulate a person roll.
"I have a counter offer. I deliver you White for Gale and my freedom. You leave us alone and Sun goes free."
"Oh you're clever. Okay, deal. In fact, I'll give you Sun now. Gus! Come in here and take our new partner to the women."
Gale allowed herself to be led into the next room. She spotted Sun across the tiled floor, sitting at a glossy bar. The engineer nursed a drink and pressed an ice pack against her face.
"Sun are you alright?" she said, examining her over for trauma.
"I'll be fine, stop prodding me."
Gale turned around. One of Bluejay's goons stood by the door.
"We need to get out of here."
"Gale, I don't think he's going to let us go."
Gale slipped a hand into her medical bag. "Just follow my lead."
The medic walked up to the exit. The man held up calloused hand. "Sorry you need to wait here."
Gale flipped the syringe out and stabbed it into his neck. "Sorry."
Hard hit on seize by force or act under fire? Given the likely consequences, I think seize by force makes the most sense.
The thug gasped and collapsed as the sedatives went to work.
Gale opened the door. "Follow me, this way to the reception area."
They entered the entrance hall. The tall receptionist waited there, bat in hand and a half-dozen men with clubs ready.
Gale charged them. The woman thrust with her bat but the medic slipped underneath the weapon. As two men swung at her from the right, Gale used the receptionist as cover and sunk a fist into her gut. A one-eyed thug brought a club down over Gale's head hoping to choke her. Gale grabbed the metal rod and hurled him into three of her attackers. The other attackers jostled around them. A high kick drove off two.
A club clipped her hard in the shoulder.
She grabbed a dropped club and knocked a recovering goon flat on his back. The receptionist kicked back to her feet. She barely brought her bat up in time to parry a finishing blow by the medic. Gale swept her feet out from under the receptionist, twisting to face the three men maneuvering to her rear. She swung in a frenzy, sending men to the ground bloody and unconscious.
A successful seize by force against a gang.
Sun fled across the carnage into the elevator.
Gale bleeding from her temple, slammed her new weapon down a few more times.
Brace entered the room and surveyed the aftermath. "Let's go."
They raced to the elevator where Sun repeatedly pressed the ground floor button. The elevator doors closed and they descended.
In part 2, we look at what Midnight has been up to.
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