The Ninth World Turns Recap #004  -  Feed the Machine

Campaign Day 001

XP: Everyone has 1 xp from discovering the machine

Turn 3 Recap

Narrative 1:

Mintz has made it to safety in his compound, three guards remain outside, scrambling to enter the door before the rebels descend on them. The guards near the barracks are equipped with spears and shields now, and with a turtle defense are managing to defend the door while reinforcements join them from inside.  

Actions for round 1:

Basai - The interior of the warehouse was cavernous and cold, lit by numerous glowing spheres built from pieces of the numenera for this specific purpose. Coloured lines on the ground indicated the sorting arrangement and general nature of the crates... it was a system the Diruk knew by hir core by now. “I think I know the one,” shi responded to their inquiries, puffing hurriedly as a few ranged out in front of hir and shook her hands to mimic the motion of 'no' humans did with their heads. “I go first, pointy things less likely to make me bleed.” It took a good amount of force for a guard to thrust one of their lances through hir rocky exterior up close, shi believed shi had a better chance of shrugging off a blow if shi took point. Humans were so fleshy and strange... so susceptible to the wear and tear of their environments.

It was why they wore their brightly coloured shells, shi knew, but it never made much sense. Why bother with flimsy animal skins and synth? The things of the earth, like the metal armor of the guards, protected fleshy things better. When shi thought about it, Basai didn't seem much armor on the rebels. Why?

Azzuretta checked on her human and saw that there was nothing threatening Jay Zin. This filled her with happiness, not just because he was safe but it meant she felt free to go do what she wanted... She could investigate what the stone man thing was. She leaped and with a quick flutter of beats of her wings landed infront of the giant blue rock creature... She made a happy churbling burble sound... and made sure to show off her brand new plumage to the people there.

Basai - Before they moved forward again, something swished through the door and landed on the ground before hir, gurgling and showing of its plumage. The Diruk paused a moment, as if surprised, and remained motionless for a moment admiring the obvious attempt to show off. The bird from earlier! It wasn't being aggressive but Basai was afraid of cracking the bones of such a dainty creature so instead of grasping it, shi simply crouched and leaned forward to offer an arm to clamber up on to, puffing steam gently and wiggling fingers a bit, trying to welcome it onto hir arm. Would shi even feel it's weight? Did it want to come close? Hir crystals flickered between blue and yellow. Waiting a moment, shi continued onward.

Shi lead them through the warehouse, purpose in her surprisingly quick step – to the humans hir 'brisk walk, near jog' was more akin to a standard gait. The echoing thud of rock and crystal against the stone made it hard to ignore the sheer weight and momentum of the Diruk despite the not entirely swift nature of hir movement.

Before long, shi stopped before the odd crate. It hadn't been processed yet, just stamped as received and noted so Mintz's people hadn't pulled it apart. That was good fortune! Basai puffed and hissed steam excitedly, surprised hir earlier curiosity would be sated. “It was very heavy. Moved too.” Shi snapped the locks and stepped back at the lid was shifted aside to reveal a... machine. Basai's colours dulled for a moment. Shi had hoped it was some sort of living thing, perhaps, something different like hir.

Jay Zin barely had time to celebrate his two well placed crossbow bolts before someone was asking about and complementing Azzuretta.

She bites one guy and gets all the credit... what is with that...

Out loud he chose to be more diplomatic. Thank you... I'm proud of her.

The Rebel with a few curt words then asked for help with the Barracks...

Divided Jay zin took a look at the warehouse where the rebels seemed in control of things and then looked over to the more out of control situation at the Barracks. With a nod and sigh he replied...

Yeah I'm on it...

With that settled Jay gave a whistle to Azzuretta and ran to the garden between him and the barracks to find a good cover position to fire from. (succeed to run up to 100ft)

Mechanus - The rebel woman was insistent, "Abolite crystals. Where are they? I don't have time to look through your entire caravan..."

Mechanus knew exactly what she was talking about and exactly where that particular crate was found. He bid the woman to wait and quickly, or rather slowly, conferred with Muur and got his approval.

He turned to the rebel, "This is expensive cargo. Very expensive and my boss expects full payment. Do we agree?"

With her nod as the approval, the nano went to the crate and pulled forth the melon-sized crystal. It scintillated with the colors of the rainbow as if it was alive somehow.

The woman extended her desperate hands; her blue war-paint seemed to glow. But Mechanus shook his head, "I'll follow you. I can't let this out of my sight for now.

Daks - ”Looks clear.” says a nearby rebel. Grinning at his success Daks turns, heading for the warehouse. “Hold up."Says the rebel. "Looks like we might have trouble.” Daks looks at the rebel with a fiendish grin. “Well? Get over there!” Daks shouts as he turns, running towards the warehouse. I hope I made the right choice fighting with these rebels. I'm not even sure what they want. But images of his sisters and a better life for the people of White Lake push him forward. Regardless. If I'm going to do this I'm going to be where the action is. 

Daks approaches the device as the button-pusher is explaining to the Diruk that the generator is about to give out. He goes on to ask the Diruk to take him to some kind of gem that will charge the generator.

Breona - A rebel passed the tent and looked inside, a blur of speed dashing past and then gazing inside, stopping abruptly. The blur turned out to be a young man Breona's age, with brown hair and a friendly, open face that did not really match the fierce war paint in his freckled face. So very familiar. His face mirrored the shock and surprise she felt, but then broke out in a big smile. He spoke, high-pitched, too fast for her to understand, a torrent of words. Despite that, she still knew who this man was, even though she didn't know how it was possible for him to be here.

Heemsoth. Same freckled face and easy smile. Her best friend in childhood, and Explorer companion. It was with him that she found her first cypher, in an abandoned cave by the river. Shining rivulets of liquid metal at the back of a cave, glowing in the dark, leading deeper into the hillside. Within, a machine with its power depleted, the room kept alight by the strange liquid metal, casting a golden light over everything. They had never told anyone. It had been their secret alone. "We will come back with a power source," had been their pact, to never be fulfilled.

Companion of so many adventures. First childhood crush. Breona had been heartbroken when his family was hit hard by a run of bad crop decisions and inferior ghianche leaf. He had moved away to Orilla, leaving her to be a lone explorer, when they had both been 12 years old. But now he was returned to her. In the middle of a rebellion.

He laughed as he affectionately dabbed paint on her forehead, with a certain flourish. "Bree. I can't believe that you are here. It must be fate." She could understand him now, his voice down to normal speed. Heemsoth's voice had changed, from their childhood days, but it was unmistakably him.

She couldn't feel the paint on her skin but her perception changed immediately after the application. Gerrit's whimpering turned into slow, deep sounds. It was almost funny, and for a moment the urge to giggle rose in her. Shaking her head, she reached for Heemsoth's arm instead. "I can't believe you're here! What are the odds? I thought you were in Orilla with your family!"

Heemsoth chuckled, shifting the mace he was holding to his other hand, to give Breona a one-armed squeeze. "I was. It sucked. The merchant-barons are exploiting the population, and the Council doesn't do anything. Once you slide into debt like we did, it's crushing. There is no hope. Or there wasn't, until now!" He turned completely serious, looking at Breona with deep conviction in his blue eyes. "Warlord Tarvesh will lead us away from this oppression. He is the only one strong enough to fight the merchants. Our time has come! For a strong Milave!" There's a certain hint of fanaticism in his voice. He handed her a small tub of the facial paint and pointed to the back. "If that ain't Gerrit, the wannabe merchant prince? Feel free to give him some paint as well. You will be faster than the guards and can help our cause. You'll help us, right?"

Breona nearly cringed. Her brother had never made it a secret that he saw his future as a merchant and not as a ganch-farmer. What would Heemsoth say if he found out that Gerrit was leasing and farming the former property of his family? "Tarvesh, really? I hear he's doing some heavy recruiting." She held the tub of paint in her hands, indecisive as to what to do.

Narrative 2:

Mintz & his remaining guards are in the compound, the rebels arrive at the compound door - it appears sealed. The guards are definitely gaining ground on the rebels at the barracks door.

Actions for round 2:

Breona opened her mouth to speak, but it appeared that Heemsoth had remembered that he was here for a cause. With a final, emphatic "You got to join us, Bree!", he dashed out from under the tent towards to compound, brandishing his mace. She stared at the small tub in her hand, then turned to the table, where the almost comically slow Gerrit was telling her something too slow for her to understand. This device is amazing! It must give everyone with the paint this boost.

She considered her options. She could be a coward like her brother and wait for this situation to calm down. If the guards took care of the situation, there would be no harm done for them. If the rebels won, and Heemsoth survived...The thought filled Breona with a sudden panic. She didn't meet her friend again only to lose him immediately. In a quick decision, she tossed her brother the tub, and dashed outside, following Heemsoth. While running, she pulled her crossbow from her back, reaching for a bolt from her quiver.

Filled with giddiness, Breona raced past some guards, feeling as if she could fly. She shouted "For Milave!" as she ran. She hadn't had any life goals beyond the acquisition and exploration of numenera, but she knew she didn't want to be a farmer or merchant. Why not join a rebellion with her former best friend? Why ever the f#!! not?

Breona ran towards the compound, to where Heemsoth had run to help his friends.

Jay Zin found himself a likely enough bush and kneeled behind it. He surveyed the situation with the guards at the barracks and decided the one who was just walking out of the door and still trying to get his bearings was a likely enough target. He fired the crossbow bolt into the unsuspecting man hoping it would make any of the guard inside a little more cautious about coming out that door.

Jay Zin prepares a shot, lining up the crossbow shot with the slowly moving guard as he emerges from the barracks. Unfortunately, the guard has his shield prepared as he exits the building and just manages to deflect the bolt.

Mechanus - Trying not to get hit, the nano enjoyed his superior speed and reaction times as compared to the guards. he turned to the woman leading him, "You better hurry. You know your speed boost is about to end, right?"

He scoffed at the chaos, "So what's your plan? What's the end game of all of this?"

Azzuretta stood before the hulking stone creature straining her senses to understand it... She could tell it wanted to be her friend... This made her happy for some reason. Not as happy as a fresh fish but she still liked this rock creature. It was holding its arm out.. some sort of greeting she guessed.... when she heard Jay Zin whistle for her. She looked back towards where the whistle had come from. She was torn for a second but knew there was much fighting going on outside. With a final chirble and a gentle push nudging the great rock creature on its way Azzuretta took a leap and with a single pump of her wings landed on top of the closest wagon and with a second leap was headed across the compound to see what kind of trouble her human had gotten himself into this time.

Basai - The Button-Pusher continued to talk about the machine, explaining that it was a generator of some sort. Basai didn't quite catch the details but came to understand that it needed to be fed something to keep working.

“It requires Abolite, a crystal that this merchant has a near monopoly on. We haven't been able to figure out the source or the storehouse, yet. Do you know where it is kept?” The Button-Pusher seemed hopeful.

However, as the crystal was named, the Diruk visibly stiffened. An odd juxtaposition to hir earlier movement, shi seemed as a statue now... a towering pile of rock and ore that bore no expression, not even a puff of steam. It was hard to gauge – was the Diruk thinking or had the life suddenly left it?

Basai was, in fact, thinking. Abolite... that what they called the shimmering rainbow crystals they harvested from hir. Rare even among hir own deposits, the Abolite was preferentially chosen and the one crystal they would dig deeply and painful for.... it... powered this machine? Shi was faced with a decision now... be honest and help or feign ignorance. The idea of being imprisoned again, a living fuel source for the machine, drove a spike of fear and the long term distrust fueled by abuse bubbled up within hir. It was several heartbeats before the Diruk responded, quietly and slowly rumbling hir query first, “I'll show you if you promise not to enslave me again.” There was a soft flicker of blues and oranges that touched into red... if someone had been observant earlier, they might note the colours' greater meaning of a guarded tone.

Shi did not care for their cause... was only helping because they had effectively made escape an option. Basai was not about to walk into the chains of another master. Shi would wade her way through rebels and guards alike to freedom if shi had to. Basai only hoped that betrayal did not run in the veins of this human too.

Button Pusher responds "Enslave you? Of course we wouldn't enslave you. We oppose slavery, these merchant lords have been acting above the laws for far too long. After the assistance you have given us, you will be rewarded generously and you are free to leave as you see fit. Of course, given the battle prowess you have shown today, we could certainly use your help with the cause!"

Daks takes a wide stance next the the machine, notching an arrow. Go on. I'll watch the machine. If bad come to worst I might just be able to buy you some time. I'm pretty good with these thing. I should be able to give it enough juice to last a little longer. The button pusher looks at Daks whose hands are crackling against the string of his bow, his arrows glowing blue.  

Button-Pushers says to you Daks: “This device might be a bit too complex for whatever you have up your sleeve. We tried every type of external power we could find to get this thing running. It must require something that is unique to the Abolite crystal to run. I’m sure we can find lots of ways for you to use your abilities in service of the cause though!”

Turn 4

Narrative 1:

Breona: You reach the door to the compound and it is locked tight. You can hear guards inside behind barred windows. They are slowly trying to get bows strung and ready. It was clear they were not prepared for this invasion. The rebels are arguing amongst themselves, they want to batter the door down but haven’t made it budge yet. It appears to be barred from the other side. The rebels see that help is needed near the barracks and some are advocating that they should all go give assistance there, he suggests that perhaps there is access to the compound through the barracks.<describe the argument a bit, describe the appearance of the door, what you notice behind the windows> Heemsoth begins to head towards the barracks while the guards are bickering.<What does he say as he goes? Do you follow him immediately? Make a Run Check roll (Difficulty 4-1=3)to see if you keep up with Heemsoth> Most of the rebels begin to follow, a few stay behind to guard the door.

Mechanus: The rebel says to you. “Our end game? Oh, you mean the point of this raid? We are but one part of a larger movement. We are allied with Tarvesh. There are rebel cells all over the city that are depending on us keeping this machine working. As soon as we activated that machine, it gave all of us across the city the edge we needed to overthrow the merchants. The longer we can keep this machine running, the more damage we will do.” You walk with the rebel into the warehouse.The rebel stops abruptly. You turn to see Daks pointing an arrow directly at you. Behind Daks, you see the machine and Basai. (Please read Basai’s entry and choose whether you realize the significance of the gem for the visitant. Do you understand the violence and threat that this gem represents for Basai?)

Jay Zin: The guards continue to come out of the barracks with shields and spears. (Azuretta will take one round of long movement to be by your side, and another movement round to be at the door) <Your shots against the guards are difficulty 1 now, because they have shields>

Daks: You see two glowing humans enter the warehouse, Mechanus and a woman. They pause when they see your arrow drawn and pointed in their direction. <Do you shoot, do you call out? Do you lower your weapon and apologize? Please Tag Mechanus and the rebel in your post so that they can respond> See below for an example of “tagging”

Basai: Button-pusher does not seem to notice your discomfort, he asks you to carry the crystals over to the machine. You marvel at how many are in the box, it must be all the ones that they have ever harvested from you all gathered up together. So much pain and agony can fit into one box. Button-pusher dumps them all into a receptacle and you see a gauge slowly rise. It goes about a quarter of the way up before button-pusher curses. He says “I had hoped to find more, do you think there could be any others lying around? Why would he only have so few?” You turn your head to see a human (Daks) standing a few feet away, with an arrow knocked - looking at the door. You follow his gaze to the door and see the largest Abolite crystal that you have ever seen. You realize that this is the Diruk organ that is responsible for crystal and rock regrowth, without it a Diruk will die. The size of this crystal tells you it must have been a large, old & powerful Diruk that would have been killed for this crystal.

Actions for round 1:

Narrative 2:

Breona: Make another run check to see if you keep up, same difficulty. If you make both rolls you will end up at the barracks entrance with Heemsoth at the end of round 2. Otherwise you will arrive in round 3. <also, while running you will run past the tent - maybe your brother calls out. Feel free to survey the scene while you are running to give us an idea of how she is seeing the courtyard and the battle at the barracks door>

Jay Zin: You see the rebels running to the barracks entrance and realize the tide of battle is about to turn. The guards see as well and they are slowly stepping back towards the door, creating a bit of a bottleneck there.

Mechanus, Daks, Basai: If the gem Mechanus holds gets placed into the machine, the power will go up to about 75%. Button-Pusher is satisfied that this will give them the edge they need for the Rebel Cells across the city to make real progress and lasting damage. He asks you all to follow him as he runs towards the Barracks Entrance to support the effort there. He appeals to your senses of honor, adventure, and resentment of the powerful. He promises wealth, companionship, a sense of purpose, and a place in the history of Milave. <Each of you should feel free to speak for him, how does he appeal to you? If you say that you are not part of the rebellion, he will gently chide you - if you try to leave here the Merchant Guards won’t ask you politely about your involvement. The streets are chaos now, your only chance to get out of this city safely is to help us.> Please make run checks if/as you follow him across the courtyard.

Actions for round 2:

Narrative 3

OOC: The next turn will begin with you all in the Barracks, if your run checks didn’t get you here already, this round simply ensures that everyone has arrived.

The rebels push the guards back into the barracks, you all enter behind them.

Action for round 3:

GROUP is Together: Describe the scene. There is combat still going on here and there, but the room seems mostly clear on the other side of the door, the combat has been pushed into the hallways and stairwells. Describe your impressions of each-other. You could Tag one another here, if you saw an opportunity to have your characters talk.

<Tagging Tutorial> -

This round should see some of you interacting! To tag one another in your posts you can format your text similar to this, insert an empty QUOTE into your text for each other character (PC/NPC) that will speak or respond to your actions:

Example:

Daks <Action 1>

Daks releases a warning shot into the door beside Mechanus’ head. “Halt!” he cries. “What business have you here?” he glances quickly to button-pusher for approval, before returning his gaze to the door.

[QUOTE=Button Pusher][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Mechanus][/QUOTE]

Daks realizes he has erred in threatening the entrance of these two, he lowers his weapon and apologizes.

Daks <Action 2>

...

Don’t hesitate to ask any questions about expectations or format in discussion tab with [ooc]

Map Link

Let me know if I’ve missed an effort here please. I haven’t been tracking this until now.

Cyphers: (all pages #’s refer to Technology Compendium - let me know if you don’t have book and I will add more detail)

For those of you new to Numenera - don’t be scared to use your cyphers! You will always find more cyphers than you can (safely) carry.