Archived threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Wretched%20Sea

1st Thread: Introduces naval combat and economic mechanics.

2nd Thread: Introduces looting in the ruins, the large-scale Battle of Sbvysek.

3rd Thread: Heavy exposition for the Republic, the Citadel Navy, and Reynolr himself.

4th Thread: Revelations about the unsettling amulets popularly worn by Scrap Bay nobility, and a great deal of exposition in general from a untrustworthy and evasive source in Céleste Chapuis.

5th Thread: Strange journeys with Miss Chapuis using the amulet - after dropping off the Republic prisoner with your new acquaintance in Scrap Bay, you set out into the southern Interim Sea on escort duty only to face a remarkably accurate Republic ship in a blinding storm.

6th Thread: Exploring the ruins of the fortress, you encounter a thinking relic of the Old Empire, and after an unsettling encounter, repair the Brora. After, you find your way to Vryag, chasing the trail of the Republic light carrier.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScribeQM

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After long hours of discussion with Commander Janae and the leader of her Marine complement, Lieutenant Teagan, finally, a workable plot is formed.

"Alright," Janae says, wearily tracing a finger on her ship's map, "Our raiding party will land on the north side of the island and approach the port proper overland. Get down the cliff, infiltrate the cylinder, and destroy the carrier. Meanwhile, a second raiding party will sneak in more directly and place charges under the coastal gun battery. Do you think they should blow the guns as a distraction on our signal - a flare, perhaps? Or only to cover our escape? Or, only if things go badly for us? Personally, I favor the purely reactionary role, but Teagan here wants the guns blown to shift their attention prior to our real action."

Of the plan to approach over the island:
>I approve.
>No, I still think we should infiltrate via boats through the ruins of the port.
>No, I still think we should sneak into the main harbor, and approach directly.
>Something else?

To the second party...
>Blow the guns at our signal, prior to our action.
>Destroy the guns to cover our escape.
>Only trigger the explosives if we're discovered, to cover our escape.
>The entire idea is flawed. We should focus on the carrier - our pool of good men is limited, and they risk alerting the Republic garrison before we even go for the carrier.

>>1413804
>I approve.

>Blow the guns at our signal, prior to our action.


Welcome to the Citadel commandos. 1 in every 4 of you will suffer a tragic death in order to save the rest.

>>1413804
>I approve.

>Only trigger the explosives if we're discovered, to cover our escape.

If we trigger the explosives early they'll just be alerted to our presence. We should use them while we're escaping to add to the confusion.

>>1413804
>I approve.

>Destroy the guns to cover our escape.

That way they can't shoot at us as we run. Also in for penny and all that.

>>1413834
>>1413840
So long as we blow the guns I'm good. Either after the alarm hits or leave them on a timer after we sink the carrier.

>>1413804
>I approve.

>Destroy the guns to cover our escape.

Is it bad I kind of hope this mission will be a disaster?

>>1413821
> 1 in 4
Those are some optimistic odds anon.

>>1413804
>I approve

blowing them beforehand will distract them, but also alert them.

better to use then as a cover in case things go pear shaped.

>to cover our escape.

im tempted to say scrap the second team entirely.

>>1413851
It's a reference to a computer game but it would fit better if we were on the Republic's side, as Republic commandos...

Right when I'm running my quest. Try not to get us killed guys.

>>1413804
>I approve.
>Destroy the guns to cover our escape.

Making no dissent to the overland plan, you respond to Janae's query on the second team. "We'll blow the guns to cover our escape. It's not like we can rappel back up the cliff after their carrier explodes - no, we'll have our best chance if the garrison thinks they're under a traditional assault."

"Sound logic," Janae agrees, giving an amused look to Lieutenant Teagen. He scowls, but without hostility - the crew of the Ibis seems to be a well-knit team, as combat experience tends to do. Speaking of crew, you figure that while the bulk of the raiding force will be from the Ibis and the Extirpate, you could realistically argue for a second man or woman from the Brora. Bearing in mind that the Brora will have to manage itself without you while you're gone, you decide on...

>Master Evans
>Engineer McKenna
>Radiowoman Liset
>Ensign Redek
>Radiowoman Liset
>A Seaman
>A Conscript
>A Gunner
>Nobody else. Officer tradition dictates your presence - you needn't endanger any of your crew on this risky mission.

After, you head back to the Brora to retrieve your equipment.

Your armament:
>The Republic LMG
>A rifle.
>Your service revolver.
>Your Astaeran pistol.
>Unarmed.

Additionally, while the basic supplies of flare guns, rope, provisions, etc are being loaded into the boats, you take some extra equipment, though weighed down by basic supplies, you can only take two:
>The Amulet. Could give us an edge.
>The book of Republic code signals.
>A pad and pencil, to sketch out a map and the path to Vryag.
>A container of Klendhak Containment Remover, the explosive and buoyant liquid looted from the techno-fortress.

>>1413967

>Nobody else. Officer tradition dictates your presence - you needn't endanger any of your crew on this risky mission.

>Your Astaeran pistol.

>A container of Klendhak Containment Remover, the explosive and buoyant liquid looted from the techno-fortress.

>A pad and pencil, to sketch out a map and the path to Vryag.

>>1413967
Tell the crew we will only accept volunteers for this, seeing as none need to come with us by tradition but we want an escort.

>Your Astaeran pistol.
>The Amulet. Could give us an edge.

If we are in a scenario where we need something more powerful than this, the operation has went loud and chances are we can take something from a dead ally or enemy. The amulet has proven too useful to leave behind on a OP as dangerous as this, no matter how much I may distrust black magicks.

>>1413967
>Radiowoman Liset

Communication will be necessary if things go south

>Your service revolver.
>Your Astaeran pistol

Alternatively do we have anything silent like throwing knives, garrotes, or spear guns?

>A container of Klendhak Containment Remover, the explosive and buoyant liquid looted from the techno-fortress.

>The book of Republic code signals.

>>1413967
>Nobody else. Officer tradition dictates your presence - you needn't endanger any of your crew on this risky mission.

>Your Astaeran pistol.
>At least one of the satchel charges, preferably more.

>A container of Klendhak Containment Remover, the explosive and buoyant liquid looted from the techno-fortress.

Waiting a bit before the next post, as this is the last vote before the mission begins.

>>1414028
We have to have a cleaver in the ship's Kitchen or something, right? Or a few bayonets?

>>1414077
You'll take a knife, though Reynolr is certainly not trained or experienced in silently killing people. He could try, though - and that's a roll to the ever-cruel dice gods.

>>1414086
We should talk to the commandos and get some pointers on it first then.

>>1414131
Bear in mind that none of the raiders are 'commandos' of any relation to the definition of that word - they're a mix of sailors and marines, some combat-experienced and weapons-trained, but none of them are SAS or Royal Commando types.

>>1414139
. . . Do we have any Conscripts that might know how to silently kill a man?

>>1414144
The question you are looking for there anon is do we have anyone who chose to perform military service as penal duty or was a part of a gang.

>>1414152
Yes that was the implication. Along with us not asking them how they knew those skills since every man's past is his own and they're getting a fresh start in the Navy.

>>1414186
Aye but we need to know this sort of thing, seeing as it could come up in future.


For example, if it so turns out that one of them was producing fake ID's before being thrown into our command, they may turn out to be quite useful.

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A container of Klendhak around your shoulder, and the book of Republic signals in your pocket. You had decided not to bring any of your crew onto this mission - chasing glory because of tradition shouldn't get anyone under your responsibility killed.

Leaving the Brora behind at the anchorage, you stay on the Ibis as she carefully makes her way around Vryag, keeping the plume of smog from its factories barely in sight. A Republic banner floating from her mast, the Ibis's engines burn cleaner and produce less smoke.

Without incident, the corvette arrives at a point directly across from the port of Vryag. You head to the boats with the raiding party, and cast off for the shore - nine in one boat, and eleven in the other.

The earnest chatter of the first hour gradually fades as the bulk of Vryag looms closer in the early morning haze - silence, broken only by heavy oars slapping into the water, reigns over the muffled expanse.

Commander Janae is seated across from you on the bow of the lead boat - after a long while, she speaks to you.

"Reynolr, was it?"

"Yes."

"You've seen action, right? Not as much as my crew, but enough. You're fairly new to the fighting Navy, judging by your command, but I've seen a few snippets in the dispatches, you've been busy."

"Indeed." You don't know quite what else to say.

"My point being, when we pull this off, we're going to kill a lot of Republic sailors. You've surely killed, in the heat of battle - you strike me as an honorable sort of officer, not the kind to slaughter scrappers and call it a patrol, but it's battle. A fair situation, such as it is. But these men and women... they'll be unsuspecting, Gods willing. What do you think of that? Perhaps it will leave you with, dare I say, doubts?"

Her question is empathetic, but her tone is anything but. A sharp smile twists her face, and you know without a doubt that she's testing you - perhaps vetting an unknown member of a dangerous mission, getting a feel for a peer and potential rival, or maybe even just simple amusement. You've seen people like the latter in the Academy, trainers who loved to watch their pupils squirm at the prospect of combat and death - men and women who've permanently retained the black humor of war. Of course, an experienced officer like Janae could be anyone under the mask...

>The Kraegsk belongs to the Citadel. They're just squatters.
>It's our duty, simple as that. I do not relish in killing, but I do not shirk from it. I expect nothing different from them.
>They're guilty of regicide and blasphemy. To kill them is a service to man and the natural order.
>I wish we didn't have to, but to let a carrier go would doubtlessly kill Citadel men and women months and years from now.
>Glory does not care for lives, Janae. You yourself seem awfully eager for the glory of the carrier.
>It's the way of war. There is no good answer.
>What does it mean to you?
>Something else.

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>>1413759
Hey scribe, have some fanart

>>1414247
>It's our duty, simple as that. I do not relish in killing, but I do not shirk from it. I expect nothing different from them.
>I wish we didn't have to, but to let a carrier go would doubtlessly kill Citadel men and women months and years from now.
>It's the way of war. There is no good answer.

>>1414247
>It's our duty, simple as that. I do not relish in killing, but I do not shirk from it. I expect nothing different from them.
>What does it mean to you?

>>1414247
>>It's the way of war. There is no good answer.

>>1414255
Noice!

>>1413804
>Only trigger the explosives if we're discovered, to cover our escape.
>>1413834
>If we trigger the explosives early they'll just be alerted to our presence. We should use them while we're escaping to add to the confusion.
pull a 'guns of navarone' and spike the gun's ammunition to detonate when fired
https://youtu.be/JlNtmRfT6kU?t=163

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"It's our duty, simple as that. I don't relish the killing, but I certainly don't shirk from it. We can expect nothing else from them." you say.

"Quite vague," is all that Janae says.

"It's the way of war. There is no good answer," you say heavily. "Do you disagree?"

"No..." Janae says, scowling slightly. "No, that's quite accurate."

The conversation stops until you near the shore of Vryag, close enough to discern the immediate ruins and the mountains towering inland. To the left, more ruins - to the right, a coast of cliffs and wrecks. Directly inland there are a series of raised pipelines snaking their way over the mountains, though there seem to be valleys that lead farther inland without the massive changes in elevation - you suppose conquering changes in height wasn't a challenge to Astaeran engineers.

With a glint in her eye, Janae vocally defers to you on which direction to take - the outsider here among the crew of the Ibis and Extirpate, you'd made a convenient figure to blame if the direction proves dangerous or impassable. It's not particularly malicious of her, but it's all too standard behavior of an officer seeking to deflect official responsibility for failure in front of their men - and the after-action reports.

Certainly, she won't be so circumspect with the potential glory.

You can discern lights and smoke on both shores, though the distance makes confirmation of Republic troops impossible.

>We'll traverse the leftward shore, through the ruins. [risk of Republic encounter]
>We'll go by the rightward coast, through the wrecks. [risk of Republic encounter]
>We'll go through the middle of island - through the valleys, if possible. [no evidence of Republic presence, do not know what lies beyond the first mountain]
>No, Janae, I do insist. YOU decide on where to go.
>Something else?

>>1414247
> It's the madness peculiar to war that lives taken in one place saves them in other.

> These men are unsuspecting, but not uninvolved. Right now they are simply soldiers who aren't soldiering as well as they should be.

> Glory does not care for lives. Remember that we kill to achieve a purpose, not for revenge or pleasure. If this truly I'd for any reason other than Duty then best we turn back now while we are still soldiers with an unpleasant task, not murderers with an excuse.

>>1414420
Damn it! So long re-writing what I wanted to say and get the "soldiers with an unpleasant task, not murderers with an excuse" line in.

> Ask Janaes opinion since she pointed out she has more experience with this.

> Decide to go through the wrecks regardless.

Familiar ground.

>>1414255
Damn, thanks! Wonderful art, very reminiscent of the art style of the quest but technically superior. And the kill markers are a good laugh, heh. Made my night, kind anon.

>>1414446
>>1414460
Sadly late, but that excellent monologue is going to be used sooner or later, probably sooner. Janae probably isn't done probing us before the action...

>>1414470
>! Wonderful art, very reminiscent of the art style of the quest
thanks, didn't do it myself, got it from a friend who does furry smut

>And the kill markers are a good laugh
well we [i]do[i] keep blowing lifeboats off decks
keep the killcount updated on your twitter and I'll be happy to keep it updated

>>1414460
I'll back this.

>>1414420
>We'll traverse the leftward shore, through the ruins. [risk of Republic encounter]
I feel that while there is risk in the ruins a serious delay or obstacle (or getting spotted, easy if you're silhouetting at the top) from getting over the cliffs would be disastrous, and the ruins present good cover for sneaky sneaky. Given we expect more enemies inland, and the valley offers little concealment (along with the unknown), it seems the least appealing. The ruins help with detection and offer several routes and backstreets.

>>1414420
>We'll traverse the leftward shore, through the ruins. [risk of Republic encounter]

Vote is currently tied between left and right. Also note that there'll be an 11 PM EST break for Samurai Jack.

>>1414420
>We'll go by the rightward coast, through the wrecks. [risk of Republic encounter]

>>1414623
Whatever it is ask for janaes opinion rope em in with the decision.

>>1414907
Nah ask her opinion then tell her she didn't make a strong enough case for it. Decide Right and put her on point because "Maybe your experience was more about hands-on skills not tactics".

If it goes wrong, blame her for alerting the enemy or whatever.

I am the EEEEVIL Rupert.

>>1414420
>>We'll go by the rightward coast, through the wrecks. [risk of Republic encounter]

>>1414420


>We'll traverse the leftward shore, through the ruins. [risk of Republic encounter]

>>1414420
>We'll go by the rightward coast, through the wrecks. [risk of Republic encounter]
Nearly missed it

>>1414623
You still there?

>>1414420
>>We'll traverse the leftward shore, through the ruins. [risk of Republic encounter]

>>We'll traverse the leftward shore, through the ruins. [risk of Republic encounter]

Ruins offer us more coverage and allow us to disembark in a pinch easily.

>>1415626
Wrecks will be worse patrolled because they're uneven, provide better cover since we can slip from boat to boat, might have loot, but yeah disembarking is more difficult. Then again what's one more boat among many?

>>1415691
Going through the wreaks is dangerous, the boat could easily run aground and leave us stranded here.
>>1415523
Our lord and savior Scribe would never leave us without just cause.

The vote is legitimately still tied 5-5, so I'm going to say that going overland isn't an option and a dice roll masquerades as Janae's opinion.

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>1417141
"Overland is a poor choice, we have no idea what's in the valleys and it'll take longer regardless. The ruins and the wrecks, though, seem equally placed - plenty of hiding spots for both us and the garrison's sentries... any opinion, Commander?"

"Hm. Well..."

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“The wrecks are more familiar,” Janae says. “Even if they’re ancient, the basic subdivisions of warships is recognizable - the citadel is at the bottom of the ship, engines are in the citadel, that sort of thing. We’re more home in the corpses of ships than the corpses of buildings.”

You assent to her, and quickly the party lands on the shore and begins the journey to the port of Vryag. The boats draw off and head for the ships - tomorrow night, the coastal guns will be silently raided, Gods willing.

The morning is clear and calm, waves gently lapping against the beach and your boots as you make a particularly long detour around a wreck. Your party carefully makes its way through towering hole driven through an even larger warship by forces unknown. On either side are rooms, the ancient contents torn apart and scattered, but the internal doors are sealed and locked. Looking up into the brightly lit haze of the sky, the secondary battery of the warship pierces the glow in broken rows - beyond, the skeletons of trawlers and cargo ships poke up from under the sand, the plating washed away, dotting the beach and pooling together in places like puddles of blood.

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>>1417690
You march onwards as the sun arcs into the center of the sky, illuminating the entire expanse. The cliff stretches on to a great flow pipe, waste water still flowing down and staining the ocean - but that is still a long way off. The chatter of the morning has ceased, the groaning wrecks accompanied only by the clatter of equipment and footfalls on the sand. You pass an aircraft carrier, the sides polished and angular, great banks of surveillance equipment bristling from the control tower. Pausing in the shadow of another warship, the party eats a silent meal of canned rations.

You’ve been comfortable with eating meals with your crew on the Brora, but these are unfamiliar ratings, and it’s increasingly certain that they cannot be swapped out for your familiar crew - they want different things, their value system is knocked askew from yours. The Kraegsk makes some appreciate what they have, and mindful of the cost - it would seem the Kraegsk also forces a lust for glory in the hearts of others. You suppose there’s little else for a sailor in this archipelago - either a grim sort of empathy, or glory. The only really human motivations in this utterly inhuman place.

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>>1417703
Despondently digging out scraps of dried meat from your mixed ration can, you eventually decide to sit with the officers - apparently the other ships have a somewhat more traditional view of officer-enlisted relations, though you could hardly call yourself chums with your own crew. Commander Janae and Lieutenant Teagan are there, along with the only officer from the Extirpate, a gunnery lieutenant named Meylohn. Teagan is busy discussing the merits of the various small arms they’re carrying with the Extirpate man - it would be formally rude to ignore the other officer, so you reluctantly sidle over to Janae.

She looks tired - perhaps so much time spent running around Scrap Bay made you slightly better prepared for the ardours of the raid. Yet she looks up at you with the same hard glint in her eyes, the same sharp, incisive smile.

You sit down on the length of rusted steel, ready to pass the meal in silence, but Janae doesn’t allow that.

“Commander Reynolr,” she says formally.

“Yes?” you respond, adding belatedly, “Commander Janae.”

“Your answer, earlier… it was uncommon. Not from the ranks, certainly, but an uncommon sentiment from an officer, especially a junior one. Tell me, did you hold a command previous to your current ship? A shore posting, a home fleet assignment…”

“No. From academy ship to trawler.”

“That explains part of it. Your interesting moral calculations are untainted by the long months of pining for something in the stinking hot postings of Soreya, or any of the traditional junior postings. Tell me another thing, Commander. Do you believe you are saving lives?”

“Citadel ones, yes. Eventually, this carrier would kill others.” you say. “I said that earlier. You don’t seem to be the type to forget.”

“No, I’m not. But, Commander, you’ll never meet these theoretical people, yet you’re ending very real lives right now. You will never now if you were right, but you know the wrong that you do very clearly.” Janae looks thoughtful, but not particularly genuine in her regret.

“And you think this wrong?”

“I did. Now I only care about my crew, and in an ancillary fashion, my career. Certainly you seem to think the same.”

“You’re not wrong… but I can’t reduce the arithmetic of saving lives to your murky indifference. It's the madness peculiar to war that lives taken in one place saves them in other - it’s madness, but it’s true. And it’s duty.”

“Few officers care so much about duty,” Janae chuckles, speaking with surprising frankness. You suppose that a Republic-occupied shore is in many ways a more comfortable setting to discuss the reality of Navy service than an officer’s billet in Scrap Bay. “You and I know that. A thousand motivations, but duty is more responsibility than anything loftier.”

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Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>1417716
“It’s a justification,” you sigh. “The Republic personnel in that port… those men and women are unsuspecting, but not uninvolved. It’s cruelty, but it’s our responsibility to further the effort of the war, to bring peace to the better system.”

“Peace?” Janae smiles bitterly.

“For the Kraegsk, maybe. For the scrappers and civilians under our protection, certainly. You know the first thing I did with my ship? Saved a crew of scrappers from a raider. Yes, I know there are a lot of bastards - on both sides - and their motivations and bloody and greedy. Being a decent and conscientious officer won’t change that. But it will change things for the ones who suffer from the excesses of glory… and that’s our duty, and our duty takes many forms. Including destroying an important war asset for the Republic in this place.”

“Yes, in this place,” Janae says. “A light carrier is valuable in the Kraegsk, but absolutely nothing in the southern battlefronts. An interesting philosophy, Reynolr.”

“Glory does not care for lives,” you say, feeling a twinge of conviction in your battered soul. “We kill to achieve a purpose, not for base revenge or pleasure. If this is for other reasons besides duty, we’d best turn back now while we are still soldiers with an unpleasant task, not murderers with an excuse.”

Janae does not respond for a while, looking thoughtful. Finally, as the party begins to rise for the next leg of the march, she looks back to you.

“An admirable philosophy.” she says, her voice empty of hidden meaning - almost respectful. The party marches on.

Eventually, you come across smoke - blue banners flapping in the coastal wind...

>>1417743
It's a largely abandoned position, empty, rusted guns perched on a makeshift wall with a dozen unrepaired holes driven into it by time and the waves. Still, there's a small shaft of smoke coiling into the sky from beyond the wall - a small sentry post, probably. No radio aerials are present, but a flagpole with a series of signal flags flying from it is driven into the sand.

>You use the book of Republic signals.

According to your handy book, the signals translate to a general "all-clear", Janae's eyes sparkle at the news, though she's not alone - Teagen, Meylohn, any sailor or marine you see - it's clear, they want to attack, and your signal book provides a convenient way to deflect attention from the noise.

You look up - the huge flow pipe, set into the cliff, towers over the whole scene. Smaller excess pipes are set below it, at sea level, empty of running fluid - they lead into the mountain and installation presumable inside. Perhaps a way around?

>You do not have the Amulet.

However, you can't think of a safe way to traverse the depths of the mountain, to speak nothing of convincing your comrades to take a stealthier approach.

>Do not dissent to the attack. Advise for the attackers to not use guns. [+0 to the success of the roll]
>Do not dissent to the attack. Advise for the attackers to use guns, hopefully the signal book can cover the inevitable suspicion. [+2 to the roll]
>Advise that they attempt to take the sentries prisoner first. [-2 to the roll]
>Attempt to convince the party to go around, into the mountain.
>Something else?

>>1417783
>Do not dissent to the attack. Advise for the attackers to use guns, hopefully the signal book can cover the inevitable suspicion. [+2 to the roll]

>>1417783
>>Do not dissent to the attack. Advise for the attackers to not use guns. [+0 to the success of the roll]

Apologies for the long wait, guys, and I definitely went overboard with the last post. Still, Trawler Quest continues to run, and I'll get a properly set up and timed run tomorrow. That one late response set up an excellent character moment for Reynolr, and I couldn't find the strength to pass it up...

>>1417783
>>Do not dissent to the attack. Advise for the attackers to use guns, hopefully the signal book can cover the inevitable suspicion. [+2 to the roll]

>>1417783
>>Do not dissent to the attack. Advise for the attackers to use guns, hopefully the signal book can cover the inevitable suspicion. [+2 to the roll]

We're committed at this point.

Rolled 8 + 2 (1d10 + 2)

You watch silently as a picked force of marines, led by Lieutenant Teagan, run forward to deal with the sentry post. They brandish guns of every type, and you figure it's for the best - the signal book is a better chance of avoiding undue attention when compared to the possibility of the sentries alerting the garrison. You wait breathlessly for the shooting to start.

Unfortunate 15 min pause. Sorry, guys.

Familial strife cropped up. I'll update the thread with a post and a vote as early as possible tomorrow, before the proper run. I'm sorry, again.

>>1418274
Thanks for running while you could.

>>1418274
Thats ok
You do what you gota do

Fucking hell I missed it

One, two, three shots, a pained shout, and silence. You suppose that's a good thing, since five marines went forward and they can't all be dead from three shots.

Teagan appears after a short minute, waving the rest of the party forward - through the wall and in front of the flagpole lie two Republic sentries, sprawled out beside the flagpole. Janae scans the beach with her field glass, and declares that there's no activity from the next flagpole. a great distance away.

That went about as well as it could have, you think with some relief.

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>>1422071
As the raiding party shuffles out of the sentry post and further towards Vryag, you take your new post at the rear of the column, finally able to tally all your forces...

META

54 is the abstract strength of the raiding party - while combat will be explained in greater detail if this mission actually comes to that, suffice to say that modifiers to the strength and the enemy's strength will be noted in voting options and descriptions. Two large-ish forces fighting result in two d100 rolls, plus the strength of the force and plus/minues the various modifiers of terrain. d10 rolls handle individual fights.

>>1422104
Neat

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>1422104
By late afternoon, the stench of Vryag fouls the air, and you march in the shadow of its factories. You're close - if you are to stick to the original plan of infiltrating via the cliff, you must find a way to higher ground, inland, shortly.

Another Republic position looms from among the wrecks. Janae, through her field glass, relays the nature of the defense...

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>>1422228
The news is not welcoming, at least to you. The rest of the party certainly is making a good effort to seem unperturbed. A broken Republic tank rests in the sands, its turret replaced by an anti-aircraft cannon pointed worringly down the beach in your direction - a makeshift but unbroken length of scrap wall lines the beach horizontally, aided by a beached sub chaser used as a rampart. Republic banners flutter in the coastal breeze, and you can see a respectable series of shelters built into the bow section of a freighter - the perimeter garrison must be reasonably sized, though you can count only a few heads appearing and disappearing on the other side of the wall. It'd take time to get a full count, and night is falling.

In the distance, the coastal battery is visible - rangefinding towers festooned in blue banners, and an array of guns of every type pointed at the sea. You realize that your coastal path has taken your party to the side of Vryag that's closer to the cylinder, but also facing the coastal battery, though it is doubtful the guns themselves can aim down the coast.

Still, unless you wish the change the plan, you have to get up and inland, to descend on the cylinder from behind. You look around for a way up, a tunnel of any sort...

Rolled 5 + 2 (1d10 + 2)

>>1422315
You search around the cliff face, as Teagan and Meylohn breathlessly discuss the finer points of a night assault on the perimeter wall. Janae, at least, seems to remember the plan - she's looking at the cliffs in earnest, too...

File: Up the Belt.jpg (186 KB, 500x634)

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>>1422328
The cliff is pockmarked by conveyor belts, piles of crushed rock still persisting after the century or so of abandonment - the technology is quite crude by Astaeran standards, by your reckoning. Most of the passageways are shut by cave-ins or stout metal doors, but after only a few minutes of searching, you find an open belt...

There are red specks, bits of shining surfaces in the pile of rubble below the belt's end, and your head hurts slightly. Straining your eyes at the distant light, you reckon it would be dark by the time you made it up the belt, and hopefully around the Republic perimeter line.

Your head hurts, worse now.

The metal door that has fallen away to expose this passageway, seems to have done so fairly recently - the hinges are not yet ruined by rust. Hopefully, that means the Republic hasn't factored this detour into their defenses...

A tangle of hair, a gleaming figure making its way up the belt a hundred paces away from you. You blink disbelievingly, wincing at the contrast - you can feel the contrast, the pinprick of pure white against the infinite and pervasive decay of the Vryag coast...

and the crystals shine brighter, they were...

>You did not take the Amulet.

The figure fades away, the red fades, and you shake your head to clear it of the pain, with surprisingly good results.

Janae sidles up. "Good find," she says, looking concerned. "Look, I say we stick to the plan, but a lot of the lads want to get up there and storm the defenses. It could work - the charges should be in place by now, if we acted with speed... but I think we should stick to the plan. That Extirpate man is advocating for it..."

>I think we should go up and around, using the passageway. Stick to the plan.
>I agree with the men. We should attack swiftly, and end this whole business quickly. Improvisation and violence will give the Citadel the advantage. [strength 54 against unknown strength. Estimated 20-40]
>We should wait and try to observe the enemy's strength. If the perimeter defense is weak, the garrison will be weak as well... [the night passes, and you know the enemy Strength at the perimeter wall]
>We should abandon this whole business. Let's get out of here!
>We should divide the force. I'll go upwards, and... [___]
>Something else?

>>1422362
>I agree with the men. We should attack swiftly, and end this whole business quickly. Improvisation and violence will give the Citadel the advantage. [strength 54 against unknown strength. Estimated 20-40]

>>1422362
>>I think we should go up and around, using the passageway. Stick to the plan.

Stealth will be our advantage for now.

>>1422362
>I think we should go up and around, using the passageway. Stick to the plan.
If this path proves untenable as long as we're not detected (higher chance the longer that observation post doesn't check in or gets relieved) we still have some time to go back, worst comes to worst we can have marksmen on the bluffs overlooking the enemy if we go back to frontal assault.

>>1422362
>I think we should go up and around, using the passageway. Stick to the plan.

>>1422362
>I think we should go up and around, using the passageway. Stick to the plan.

>>1422362
>I think we should go up and around, using the passageway. Stick to the plan.

>>1422362
>>I agree with the men. We should attack swiftly, and end this whole business quickly. Improvisation and violence will give the Citadel the advantage. [strength 54 against unknown strength. Estimated 20-40]

>>1422362
>I think we should go up and around, using the passageway. Stick to the plan.
Glad I caught it live. With that potential vision, with stones made of the same material as the amulets and the outline of a woman, I kinda wish we brought our own to see what this area held. maybe it could have shed a light on the origin of the stones, as it seems it was mined here.

But what is odd though, it seems the stones were not sought after. This belt is the waste dump, where all the unwanted useless material goes. This means either the amulets were made near or after the fall of the empire, after this facility shut down, or they are the byproduct of something else.

I say byproduct because, if this is a waste belt for unwanted ores, then the cylinder, maybe even the whole island, was a mining facility, with the cylinder the start of a now sealed shaft or guideline for a massive drill.

Just some shadowrun level stuff to think about. Analysis of the thread so far to follow soon.

>>1422834
Doing a brief dive into the archive, I realized we've seen something familiar to this form before. Back when we were in the technofortress and near that huge amulet. We had pulled Celeste somehow to us. We had the amulet then, and could see her clearly. Then Mckenna comes bursting in. He does not have an amulet, but he says he could make out a flickering human form.

We had come to the conclusion that the huge amulets could have amplifying effects. This could be something similar, there could be a massive amp stone somewhere, or maybe just all these smaller stones and a possible vein of the rock doing it, pulling a vision to us. We can't make it out clearly because we don't have an amulet with us, but like with celeste, there could be something being pulled to us, or us to something.

Whether it be to celeste, celeste to us, or maybe something else entirely, maybe some scene in the past, remains to be known.

>>1422362
>>I think we should go up and around, using the passageway. Stick to the plan.

This is a stealth mission!

>>1422846
The confusing thing is we don't have the amulet with us. Have we used it so long that we're "attuned" or something? What happens if we keep using it? It's spooky.

"This is ostensibly a stealth mission, until the moment that the carrier's internal integrity is compromised by misused scuttling charges," you say firmly. "We should go up this belt, and make our way to the cliff that overlooks Vryag proper."

"Good," Janae nods. "They can't dispute the authority of two commissioned officers."

Authority comes from respect, you think, and I doubt they respect me at the present. You stay quiet, though, and watch as Janae waltzes off, no doubt to frame the decision's merit as resting entirely on your shoulders.

With a few angry glances in the direction of the Republic banners from the Extirpate complement, the raiding party enters the shaft and heads upwards. Forty minutes and a hundred paces of elevation later, you re-enter open air.

File: The Digging Machine.jpg (295 KB, 799x592)

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>>1423573
Immediately, a painful ache in your brain asserts itself at the sights. You're in a high valley, various elements of advanced digging machines scattered along the walls and floor. Dominating the entire scene is a huge raised rail line, supporting a gigantic, ancient machine - eerie cranes float in the air apparently unsupported, forming loose approximations of physical connections and proper engineering. The machine is damaged, however - the central control spire has been sheered off, replaced by a rusty and sagging tower of plates and support. Several of the floating cranes have been damaged, and replaced by crudely sensible designs, funnels stained black - yet none of the machinery seems operable, even the crude replacements looking abandoned and decayed.

The walls of the valley intensify your headache whenever you glance up to them - glistening, spider-like constructs cling to the rock, veins of red spreading out from them, crystals jutting out of the sheer cliff faces like the marks of a disease. You don't dwell for too long on the red crystals, feeling strangely glad that none of them are at ground level...

Below the machine is a chute for the presumable ores (or were the red things the target of this operation?). A comparatively small structure for sorting is connected to the chute, with one of the exiting conveyor belts being the one that you ascended on - another belt leads to a pipe head straight down into the bowels of the island, and a third leads to... another rail line.

The main rail line and valley that the monstrous digging machine is suspended in runs perpendicular to your overall target, the Cylinder of Vryag - this transport line, however, appears to run straight south to the port. That way is narrow and dark, the glimmer of red crystal and dozens of white pinpricks of the spider machines crowding the walls of the valley...

"I'll be damned!" one of the marines yells, standing on the control platform of an ore car on the secondary line. "This thing is operable!"

The party seems quite cowed by the towering digging machine, and the spectacle of the ancient's efforts. You think they'd be open to suggestion - or maybe the crystals are dulling their minds, their blank and vaguely frightened stares...

You shake your head to try and clear away the pain and errant thoughts, only succeeding of ridding yourself of the latter. You seem to be the expert on wandering ruins - you decide to recommend...

It's beginning to get dark.

>Go down the secondary line to Vryag on foot. Old tech functioning after centuries is not uncommon, but the Republic garrison might know that too...
>Go down the secondary line to Vryag, using the ore car. The quicker we get through, the better, and you see no signs of Republic presence around here.
>Head down the main line and valley to the right.
>Head down the main line and valley to the left.
>Using rope, head down the pipe and into the depths.
>Something else?

>>1423180
We're about as attuned as Mckenna, its just the amount of gems that's causing it.
>>1423574
Holy shit I was right, this is a fucking mineshaft. I'm unsure though if it was for teh gems or if the gems infested everything.

>Go down the secondary line to Vryag on foot. Old tech functioning after centuries is not uncommon, but the Republic garrison might know that too...

>>1423591
Guess I'll update with that. Was hoping for a good run tonight, but seems turnout is low and I have a genuine family crisis happening downstairs. I know that sounds like a pissy fucking excuse for flaking from a session, and I can't convince you otherwise, but it really is distracting and to distance myself from my usual shitty purple prose, it's fucking miserable and I need to go back down asap. I'll try to get another update in, sorry guys

>>1423667
Be safe Scribe and its all good mate. Family shit is more important then a Curse. After all, There is a thing called a QM's curse.


>>1423574


>Go down the secondary line to Vryag on foot. Old tech functioning after centuries is not uncommon, but the Republic garrison might know that too...

>>1423574
>Go down the secondary line to Vryag on foot. Old tech functioning after centuries is not uncommon, but the Republic garrison might know that too...
Staying on foot for now seems to be the best way to preserve our stealth.

>>1423667
>>1423667
Its no big deal scribe. Its finals week here at my uni and I suspect other colleges across the US. I'm done, but maybe others are not. Try again later, maybe with a bit more heads up.

>>1423574
Go down on foot

>>1423667
Its cool. Curse of QMs and all that.

>>1423574
>>Go down the secondary line to Vryag on foot. Old tech functioning after centuries is not uncommon, but the Republic garrison might know that too...

>>1423778
I've missed portions of the last few sessions because of finals, but I'm done as of tomorrow morning. I think most people will be done by the end of the week.

>Go down the secondary line to Vryag on foot. Old tech functioning after centuries is not uncommon, but the Republic garrison might know that too...

Good luck irl QM

>>1423574
>>Something else?

Can we stick explosives into the cart and use it as a distraction prior to our attack?

I hope we have a chance to explore this place again once the republic is dealt with.

>>1429433
probably post war