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>>4628417
Having managed to figure out about the worsening political and military situation well ahead of the Strike, he founded this group – which is, to your knowledge, still nameless, oddly enough – with the sole stated intent of keeping as much of its membership as possible alive and healthy through the coming months and years. To that end, the group … and you … had played a bit dirty, and a bit cruel. Of the roughly two thousand full-time residents of the lake, only three hundred and fifteen were group members, and it had been decided that group members would only ever help other group members. Additionally, using the forewarning that Parasol had provided, and relying of the acceptance and then the assistance of the Sheriff’s office, critical supplies and key infrastructure around the lake were secured and seized even before the first of the Soviet warheads hit. Everyone else around the lake had the rude double awakening, that not only the World as they had known it went and died on them, but all of the limited food around the lake had already been claimed; and they would not be getting any.

Obviously, this did not make your group popular with Outsiders – which is what you call your non-member neighbors – and soon after the group thought they had secured the lake, they were hit with an sophisticated and highly coordinated attack that left five Firefighter dead, and now irreplaceable firefighting equipment deliberately destroyed. These mysterious assailants, referred to as ‘Firebugs’ by the group, and how to destroy them, were one of the major concerns of the meeting you are sitting in right now – or laying in, considering that you are strapped to an antique stretcher, placed on the refreshment table, positioned between an unplugged percolator, moonlighting as a large thermos, and an empty platter that once might have held all of the remaining doughnuts in Northern Maine. Despite your distance from everyone else in the Steering Committee, almost all of the decisions have been going your way here – and even if you were unable to convince Parasol that the group should take the time and effort to salvage all abandoned buildings around the lake, you are riding high on your success.

>>4628423
As far as you are concerned, It is a much needed change of pace, because almost right up to the start of the meeting, you were running around … er, that is, being quickly rolled in a stolen hospital gurney … around … like that chicken with the Sleepy Hollow cosplay, trying to reclaim a very valuable piece of equipment from an absolute snake, architect and fellow member of the Steering Committee, Jim Reaves. In the end, you had been forced to concede that despite having already bought it (technically, you earned it through labor, back on the twenty-seventh, when a gasifier would just be an oddity instead of the absolute blessing that it would be now) that possession was in fact, nine-tenths of the law. And since you had only your accounting of a verbal contract to ‘prove’ that remaining tenth was in your favor, you had to arrange for the group to buy it from Reaves, so you could buy it from them, or else risk the thing being sold or disbursed elsewhere. It did not come cheap, either – it cost you a meaty hike in your taxes to the group, from owing them 12.5% of everything your Homestead produces to 23.5%. Suffice to say, even though your mood has improved quite a bit, you are still sore about it.

Sore enough, that when everyone starts to shuffle back to their seats in the relative gloom of the conference room, and you notice the thieving bastard himself, who must have slipped in here during the break, you seriously consider saying something, if not to denounce him as a cheat, then to embarrass his tardy ass, having missed the entire first part of the first ever full meeting of the Steering Committee.

>What do?

Your name is Reginald Mantle – and before the Strike, you were making a pretty good run of being a modern-day homesteader, even if you did need to augment your income with odd jobs, almost all of which related in some way to trash removal or salvage ‘picking’ – as well as filling the contractor position as your relatively isolated, Northern Maine lakeside communities’ only Animal Control Officer. On joining up with your group of fore-warned survivors, you received a serious promotion – you are now the Chief Salvage and Reclamation Officer, and despite not being one hundred percent clear on your new responsibilities, anyone would agree that your star is rising. But of course, this is not the time to get swell-headed. While what you have been through so far may seem like a lot, the fact remains that in your location, surviving the apocalypse was always going to be the easy part. Surviving the post-apocalypse, on the other hand …

>>4628427
Alright! We are back, and ready for action! I am purposely leaving this choice a bit open ended, as there was some discussion about how to deal with Reaves when he showed up again, and I don't want to railroad you guys. Also, once we get some more players in here, it will be time to take a look at leveling Mantle - even if it is not much, he did manage to pass at least two Speech tests (on his own) last thread, and he should get something for that - not to mention him participating successfully in debate at the Steering Committee.

And for the previous threads:
>>>http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=TrashQM

>"Where were you Reaves? Not misplacing any of the groups possessions like you did mine, I hope."
In my current state I am probably as bad at words as Reggie, so suggestions on how to talk shit better would be appreciated.

>>4628427
>stay quiet and watch
probably best to observe first, try to figure out his play before we open our mouth.

>>4628495
>In my current state I am probably as bad at words as Reggie, so suggestions on how to talk shit better would be appreciated.
Were you the anon who had told everyone to take his suggestions with a grain of salt, because he had just drunk '20 beers'?

>>4628544
Unfortunately no, I'm just tired and dealing with a sinus infection.

>>4628545
Oh, well, I am sorry hear that.

>>4628495
Supporting this because i kinda want to see his reaction and better what would i said

>"You know, I once heard its more important to be good at being a man than being a good man. More important to feed and protect your family than to have people think you're a nice guy. I can agree with that so I get why you sold my gasifier out from under me. When you join a group of people, though, keeping your word also has real value because if people can't trust you then you're kinda screwed. This has been a crazy week so instead of yelling at you about what a snake you are like I felt like doing when I first heard about this shit you pulled I'm just going to remind you that everybody in this room has people they are looking out for and care about, not just you. Try to have a little more respect and faith in us, Reaves, if not because its the right thing to do or keeping your word then because its the best bet you have for the future."

How about this?

>>4628801
Yeah that sounds good mind if i change my vote

>>4628544
>Were you the anon who had told everyone to take his suggestions with a grain of salt, because he had just drunk '20 beers'?
Reporting in. 20 was lowballing it. Back in action for Thread 5, though.
>>4628801
Supporting this. We're on a roll lately with speaking, lets keep the ball rolling.

>>4628801
This is good, I'll roll with it.

The question rolling around in my mind is wether we bring up the possibility of a bunker and the legitimacy of our claim to its contents that we'd be willing to give up to the Group's communal pool for the good of the group to fuck over Reaves. We could prove its existance if we could conveniently check to see if Reaves bought tools to break into the bunker with the credit from the gassifier.

Or maybe I'm going full Nero Wolfe and we should never go full Nero Wolfe.

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Before Parasol or anyone else starts the meeting back up again, you decide that there are no two ways about this – you will need to do something about this whole fucked up affair. The smart option would be to realize that you already had the machine, could prove none of accusations you are considering making, and just clam up and leave well enough alone – even if it meant Reaves getting away scot free. But, as it just so happens, you are not smart. You are dense, stubborn … and proud – prouder than anyone who works with garbage for a living has any right to be. Proud enough to nearly freeze to death alongside those poor chickens of yours as you stayed in an unfit, unsafe and practically unheatable derelict of a Farmhouse that first Winter at the lake, rather than admit anyone … or yourself … that your eyes had been much bigger than your stomach, and you desperately needed help getting the place habitable. Surviving that miserable first Winter tempered your pride – but it did not rid you of it.

Obviously, you are not intending to get the machine back without paying the group for it. You know that you cannot – it is off the table – and that is not just a reflection of your relatively lackluster rhetorical abilities either. Chickless took the time to explain the situation; nine-tenths of the law, all of that shit. But … you cannot just overlook this, even if overlooking it would be the ‘smart’ move. That fucker stole from you, in proverbial broad fucking daylight. You know full well that you will not be able to prove anything, and because of that, there is definitely a chance that your credibility with everyone present is going to take a hit here for making these claims publicly like this. Still, you know that what you are saying is the truth – and even if it does hurt you, there is no way that it will not hurt this bastard even more. At the end of the day, you are heads and shoulders more credible than this snake, and so long as you have the option, you are not letting Reaves get away with shit. There are no scraps in your scrapbook.

You swallow a couple of times, straighten yourself up as much as you can - at least, as much as you can without risking pissing yourself - and you call out, speaking clearly with as much steel in your tone as you can muster under current circumstances.

"Reaves."

Most people were still in the process of making it back to their spots still, but Reaves having just plopped himself down in the first empty seat he found at the foot of the table, was already siting with the back of his greasy head to you. For a moment, you wonder if he is going to ignore you, but then he looks over his shoulder at you … and honestly, you do not know what you were expecting. Shock perhaps – or maybe him to be twirling a waxed mustache that he spontaneously grew.

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>>4629008
Instead, the bastard is completely nonplussed.

“Hm? What is it, Mantle?”

Not allowing yourself to be put off by this non-response to what was effective a challenge, you – you just start talking. Your tone remains hard, and even as the rest of the room takes their seats, some of those sitting closer to the foot of the table ‘rubberneck’ and watch your little confrontation play out.

"You know, I once heard its more important to be good at being a man than being a good man. More important to feed and protect your family than to have people think you're a nice guy. I can understand that, so I get why you sold my gasifier out from under me. When you join a group of people, though, keeping your word also has real value because if people can't trust you then you're kinda screwed. This has been a crazy week so instead of yelling at you about what a snake you are like I felt like doing when I first heard about this shit you pulled, I'm just going to remind you that everybody in this room has people they are looking out for and care about, not just you. Try to have a little more respect and faith in us, Reaves, if not because it’s the right thing to do or keeping your word then because it’s the best bet you have for the future."

Not everyone in the room is paying attention to you at the moment. In fact, you would say that most of the room’s attention is elsewhere. Parasol himself still hasn’t actually sat down yet, he is still looking over the minutes with the provisional member who is working as the secretary. But for those that are paying attention to you and Reaves, you have their undivided attention, even as they look amongst themselves in confusion as to what is even happening. Then there is Reaves himself – at some point during your little spiel, the nonplussed look gave way to one of confusion – tilted head, opened mouth, male bimbo confusion … uh, you need to stop referring to him as a male bimbo, because if you said that out loud, someone might take it to mean that you thought he looked good. Wait, have you said that to anyone? Shit, did – suddenly, your ‘gay panic’ internal monologue is interrupted.

“Mantle, what on Earth are you talking about?”

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>”What on Earth? I am talking about my Gasifier, you miserable snake!”
>”You know what – forget it. I already have the thing, and you aren’t worth it.”
>Commit to #canceling this fuck, explain to those listening how he stole from you.

Oh, if no one noticed, the name of the picture in >>4629008 indicates that Jim Reaves does not look anything like Dick Dastardly. Funnily enough, Jim Reaves looks like a taller, handsomer, early-forty something version of Mantle himself. Which does not mean much of anything, since I have deliberately not described what Mantle looks like. Anyway, this is the overnight vote.

>Commit to #canceling this fuck, explain to those listening how he stole from you.

I have a terrible feeling about this but this can't stand.

>>4629013
>>4629013
>”What on Earth? I am talking about my Gasifier, you miserable snake!”
Chickless you little cunt, did you fuck us over?

>>4629013
>>Commit to #canceling this fuck, explain to those listening how he stole from you.
All in.

>”What on Earth? I am talking about my Gasifier, you miserable snake!”

>>4629013
>>>Commit to #canceling this fuck, explain to those listening how he stole from you.

>>4629147
>>4629129
>>4629033
>>4629031
>>4629019
6+ hours and 5 votes, later I will consider this closed for #canceling Reaves. Going to get something to eat for breakfast though.

>>4629233
This … this is not going to fucking stand. You turn, as best as you can, considering that you are strapped to a stretcher, to the other members of the Steering Committee that are listening to you, and try to quickly explain the arrangement that the two of you had come to, how you had held up your end, and then how to your surprise, Reaves sold the thing out from underneath you. While this is happening, several other people further up the table hear your monologue and lean in to listen, as Parasol has still not reconvened the meeting. Soon, you are done – you have said everything that you can, even admitting that you can prove none of these things, to prevent Reaves from using that to take the wind out of your argument’s sails. Your small audience, having realized you have spoken your piece, concluded your denouncement, turn to Reaves, to hear his response to your allegations. You are feeling pretty good about yourself, until you actually look at Reaves, and realize that at someone during your spiel, his look of confusion has been replaced with that fucking airhead smile of his. And if that was not enough of a red flag, when he does actually speak, he is not even responding to you – instead, he addresses those listening.

“You know, those are some pretty serious allegations … which, as Mantle himself admits, he cannot prove. Now, I would be well within my rights to call this slander – but Mantle has been through a lot lately, and as the agreement was verbal, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt here – that he must have misremembered the terms of our agreement.”

You knew something like this was coming, since you spoke with Chickless. You knew this was going to be your word against his, and without any witness to call on, any confrontation would almost immediately devolve into a back and forth like this – But! For that … fucking faggot to just sit there and say that he is giving you the fucking benefit of the doubt! You are trying your hardest to not splutter and shout at the man, or do anything that would make you look like you were impotent – though considering that you were seriously injured, tied down to an antique stretcher, and stashed on the snack table between the coffee and the doughnuts, that ship had probably already sailed. Still, you are able to reign yourself in before you make a scene – and after glaring as hard as you could at the snake, you spare glance towards the head of the table and notice that Parasol has taken his seat – though he has not yet reconvened, instead he seems to be in conversation with the Sheriff. Your attention is called back however, when Reaves speaks up again, finally deigning to talk to you this time, and there is a trace of heat in his tone.

>>4629286
“Mantle, whatever misunderstanding there has been here … whatever you think I did to wrong you, we should discuss it later. There is business to attend to here.”

“And you have been doing a great fucking job of attending to it – you fucking ‘jimmy-come-lately’.”

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>“Fuck that – I am not spending one second I don’t need to in your august fucking presence. We are dealing with this, right now.” (Continue the argument)
>”Fuck this – I don’t even know why I bothered saying anything. You are a twisty fucking snake, what good is the truth to you.” (Drop the argument permanently)
>”Alright you fuck – you want to pick this up later? Fine. But if you think we are going to be talking to each other alone, you have another fucking thing coming. (Arrange a ‘sit down’ later)

"I said my piece. There's work to be done." (Drop the argument permanently)

>>4629288
>”Fuck this – I don’t even know why I bothered saying anything. You are a twisty fucking snake, what good is the truth to you.” (Drop the argument permanently)

>>4629288
>>”Alright you fuck – you want to pick this up later? Fine. But if you think we are going to be talking to each other alone, you have another fucking thing coming. (Arrange a ‘sit down’ later)

>>4629304
+1. No good can come from pushing this any further. We already got the gasifier back, and tried to defame Reaves. Not much else can really be said, we can walk away from this in a calm manner.

>>4629304
>>4629445
>>4629478
>>4629489
Four hours and Four votes later, we close this for Dropping the argument as calmly as possible.

>>4629590
“I’ve said my piece, and considering your track record here, all I would get out of any further conversation with you, would be more and more aggravating lies – so forget it.”

Reaves just snorts derisively at that, but instead of rejoining battle, he just turns back in his seat to face the head of the table, and those around him who were listening in, after realizing that the … whatever this was ended, return their attention to the meeting, though you notice that some of them are sharing uncomfortable looking glances amongst themselves. Taking their cue, you look to Parasol, who has finished his conversation with the Sheriff and is shuffling through the notes that he has in front of his desk. Before he does finally get around to reconvening the meeting, you find yourself wondering if you did the right thing here. Calling him out in front of (some of) the Steering Committee like that felt good, but it feels good in the same way that masturbating feels good; very fleetingly – and then it leaves you with mild unease and embarrassment. Were you being childish? Naïve? You did public admit that you got seriously ripped off – if that got around, would be known in the group as a sucker? Well, at this point, there is nothing for it – you cannot un-ring that bell.

Your attention returns to Parasol as he is explaining the food situation, which is as you had expected; extremely dire. The current food reserves of the group might just be enough to last until when Winter would normally end. Obviously, there are several problems with that. First and foremost, is since the Soviets induced Yellowstone to erupt, the entire world was facing the prospect of a volcanic Winter – basically, a miniature ice-age. So, making an assumption that the thaw should be coming some time in April would be the height of wishful thinking, no two ways about that. Secondly – even if for some strange reason, Winter ends when it normally does, you still need food to get you from the thaw to the first harvest. How perfect would it be to survive the Winter, plant what you could, only to starve to death waiting for harvest. Finally, there is a point to be made about how tight things are going to get. Right now, there is a wide variety of perishable foods that need to be eaten through, so everyone in the group is getting between 1600 and 1800 calories of food a day. That is less than what most people eat normally, but it is still healthy, it is basically just a diet. But once the perishables are eaten through in a week or so, everyone is going to be getting between 400 and 600 calories of food a day – well within starvation territory – for the rest of the Winter, until the food runs out, or it is otherwise augmented.

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>>4629887
Parasol does not have that much to discuss about the food situation – beyond giving everyone that grim outlook, and mentioning what he has been doing as far as food production has been concerned, he does not pose any questions for the committee. But, during a lull, when Parasol is probably trying to think of something else to say to reassure everyone, Chickless speaks up in that relatively flat voice of his, and explains that you had managed to find a crab farmer, who was willing to join up with the group to keep his breeding stock, and his operation, alive. There are murmurs all around the room, and faces turn to you, some intrigued and curious, others simply incredulous. You are on the verge of asking someone to kindly fetch your bucket, and show it around the room, when you remember that when you showed them to Chickless, the crabs were all on Death’s door. It has been at least an hour since then – and dead crabs do not make for the best visual aids.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Ask someone to get the bucket – if the crabs are still alive, you will receive a +3 modifier bonus to any Speech-Rhetoric tests for requests to the Steering Committee for resources for your crab recovery expedition. If the crabs are dead, you will receive a -2 modifier malus to any Speech-Rhetoric tests for resources for your crab recovery expedition.
>Forget the bucket, and just make your request for assistance from the members of the Steering Committee – see what they can do for you.
>Forget the bucket, and simply acknowledge that Chickless is correct, and that you will have crabs for the group very soon. Do not ask for assistance from the members of the Steering Committee, you do not want to go into debt needlessly.

>Note: if you decide against asking the members of the Steering Committee for assistance now, you can still ask Parasol (or anyone else, on an individual basis) later. Basically, you are deciding who you want to owe a favor to.

>>4629890
>Forget the bucket, and simply acknowledge that Chickless is correct, and that you will have crabs for the group very soon. Do not ask for assistance from the members of the Steering Committee, you do not want to go into debt needlessly. Mention that you are looking into expanding the system to work with more efficient animals for a better feed input to food output ratio and would appreciate any advice anyone has.

>>4629890
>Forget the bucket, and simply acknowledge that Chickless is correct, and that you will have crabs for the group very soon. Do not ask for assistance from the members of the Steering Committee, you do not want to go into debt needlessly. Mention that you are looking into expanding the system to work with more efficient animals for a better feed input to food output ratio and would appreciate any advice anyone has.

>Forget the bucket, and simply acknowledge that Chickless is correct, and that you will have crabs for the group very soon. Do not ask for assistance from the members of the Steering Committee, you do not want to go into debt needlessly. Mention that you are looking into expanding the system to work with more efficient animals for a better feed input to food output ratio and would appreciate any advice anyone has.

>>4630363
>>4630091
>>4630038
Alright - I'll close this vote for the write-in. I have classes tomorrow, so look for the next post before noon tomorrow.

>>4630445
Might be a bit later with that post, but I figured that in lieu of that, I could pose this vote right now.

When you do eventually send your men out to retrieve Greenly and his crabs, do you want to go with them?

>Yes
>No

>Yes.

I remember that there was salvage over at his place so maybe we should at least take a look at that in case our salvage ability detects some crazy cool stuff within?

>>4630984
>no
honestly as long as we're literally bed-bound we should learn to stay out of stuff a bit

>Yes

>>4630984
>>Yes

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You have no doubt that even with your lackluster rhetorical abilities, you would be able to secure material and personnel support from the rest of the Steering Committee, especially with the looming prospect of food shortages and a 400-calorie diet looming over everyone. But considering the debt that you have already taken on to secure the gasifier, your Homestead is already going to be running tighter than it should have been – picking up a room full of partners for this operation would mean that there would be a room full of creditors waiting for you once you got the crabs under lock and key. So instead of asking for material or personal assistance, you simply announce that Chickless is correct, and that you should be producing crabs on a small, but regular scale very soon – though you deliberately make a point of adding ‘assuming everything goes well’. You also mention that the only real constraint on your production is going to be providing feedstock for the crabs – so if anyone had ideas on how to source scraps of meat, they would be appreciated. More than a few people around the table throw out ideas that are obvious, impractical, or otherwise just kind of stupid – which you might have expected. You have to remember that you are the closest thing to an authority on animal husbandry in present company. Still, it is nice to see the enthusiasm, and so you decide to take a delicate tact. Once you are no longer being bombarded, and the room quiets down, you politely thank them for all of their suggestions. Who knows – one of these guys might later come up with a better idea for you later, so why discourage them now?

With your announcement quite noticeably improving the mood of the room, Parasol momentarily resumes control of the room only to hand thing over to Chickless. He stands up, and gives a brief and clinical report on his railyard raids – the first in Bangor to steal the trains, and the second across state lines in American Quebec, in a small town called Lac-Mégantic*. While the group had picked up trains and equipment both times, the real score of the raid was the seventy-three tanker cars, full of crude. Besides the number of cars, you do not get a lot of new information here, except that currently the tanker cars have been divided up, and are being guarded, far enough away to be out of the reach of the Firebugs – hopefully.

*Lac-Mégantic, Quebec is a real-world town, and was the site of Canada’s second most lethal rail disaster. In 2013, an unmanned freight train with a full load of crude oil slipped its brakes, from the railyard into the town, and derailed. The ensuing explosion killed 47 people, 5 of whom who were never found – presumably vaporized. That train, just like the one Chickless brought back for you had seventy-three cars of crude oil, or about 2,190,000 gallons.

>>4631160
Chickless reminds everyone that it will be some time before any refining operations begin, and that even when they do, refining will be a slow and inefficient process. He raises his voice a bit when he makes this point, and keeps it raised when he instructs everyone to not use this potential windfall as an excuse for not conserving and rationing fuel. With that said, he just abruptly sits down – and it takes a second for Parasol to realize that he has the floor again. When he does, the next topic is …

>Please choose One of the following:
>The situation at Mt. Kineo
>The situation with the Maine National Guard
>The situation with Carter

Also, consider the snap vote closed. You will be going with the convoy to Greenly's farm to secure the crabs.

>>4631162
>The situation with Carter
food situation is grim! Maybe we should look into breeding roaches, as feed if not for human consumption.

>>4631162
>>The situation with Carter

>The situation with Carter
Wonder if that little creep survived.

>>4631544
>>4631254
>>4631164
Alright - three votes. Assuming I don't fall asleep on you guys, this next one will be the overnight vote.

The next topic is a short aside - Carter.

Ah, forget it – it is no good. Even your excellent puns are not enough to brighten your mood. Just thinking about that vertically challenged fuckstick is enough to sour your mood and keep it soured. Finding yourself ensconced in dark thoughts, you think back to the shootout, when just for a few seconds, you had a clean shot at him. If you had know that in a matter of hours, you would be in the clutches of the Maine National Guard, who had first been alerted to your group by Carter … would you have taken the shot? Would you have been able to kill an unarmed man in anger? You hope you do not ever find out, but with everything Collapsing …

You realize that Parasol is talking already, and you start to listen in “… former Undersheriff decided to … shall we say, tender his resignation, he armed himself and his followers out of the arsenal at the Public Safety building. After running him off, and reclaiming the building, the armory was a complete mess – supposedly it looked like a hurricane had gone through there – but we believed that just about everything was still there. Unfortunately, yesterday, Peckinpaugh completed an accounting of what arms had been issued to members, and an inventory of what was left in the armory. Suffice to say, we are short a lot more than that the five cruisers and some bog-standard rifles. He must have carried off all of the non-lethals, most of the body armor and the environmental gear, and had the pick of the litter of what few marksman and anti-material rifles we had. But the worst isn’t the guns or the gear – it is the ammo. He must have carted off more than half of what we had on hand. And damn near all of the specials – the armor piercing, the tracers … for the anti-material rifles, the high-explosive.

“So, we are going to try to get it back – some of it, at least.”

Murmurs around the table at that announcement, but Parasol continues to speak, undaunted. “It has been five days – we have secured the lake against the Firebugs, Outsiders, or roving looters as best as we are able. It seems to me that we should make at least one final attempt to hunt down the convoy – a drive north, in strength, into the Northwoods, to ensure that the remains of Carter’s convoy are not camping on our doorstep. If we come across one of the six vehicles that we routed, then that is just a bonus – a bonus made all the sweeter by the chance, slim as it admittedly might be, of recovering some of the missing arsenal. Of course, in the process of looking for them, we will no doubt come across other things worth, er, well … taking. To that end, in addition to the Deputies, we will be allowing all appropriately equipped and outfitted members to come north with us – and whatever they can haul back, they will be allowed to keep, tax free.”

>>4632774
“I am going to announce it publicly right after this meeting ends, and it should depart tomorrow, at first light.” That – damn it! That was when you were planning on leaving for Greenly! Even worse than missing out on tax free ‘income’ is that you had been entertaining the idea of asking for a Cruiser with a pair of Deputies to come with you, for protection – or maybe track down a member with an extra truck to come along so you could haul some salvage back with the crabs. But if everyone is going on this … you do not want to say it is going to be a wild goose chase, but as far as you can tell, the odds of anyone recovering any of the arsenal after five days is going to be pretty slim – Parasol even admitted as much. Well, whatever you want to call it – if everyone is trying to get in on this, then that means that you will have a harder time getting additional members to join your expedition. Hell, it also means that you will have a harder time getting the large box trucks you were hoping to scrounge up to transport the crabs – the prospect of a salvage haul means that everyone will be after them. Obviously, you using it to bring livestock in for the group gets you priority over some other member wanting to use it for salvage, but with so much demand, you will probably have to ‘rent’ the things – and here you had been hoping to only have to cover the cost of fuel.

You do have options, however. You had imagined doing all of this in one big trip, but if you do not have enough carrying capacity, then you could make multiple trips. Alternatively, you could try to make the run in the middle of the night, instead of the morning – which means that as long as you got the group’s box trucks back in one piece, you could give them to someone going on the Northwoods expedition. Actually, if you did it at night, you could go on the expedition – but that might be overdoing it. You could just accept this, and pay whatever needs to be paid to get whoever and whatever you need to properly outfit your expedition on its original tomorrow morning timetable – remember, Greenly will run out of the fuel that is keeping his crab’s feedstock alive tomorrow, around 2pm, and that is with draining all the fuel from his vehicles as well. The three remaining options were to ask Parasol to postpone the expedition, which would be a really hard sell, to ask Parasol to just cancel his expedition, as you do not see how it could ever hope to accomplish its stated goals or ask Parasol to postpone just the announcement of the Carter hunting expedition until you are done outfitting your expedition.

>>4632777
>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Haul the crabs and whatever you can from Greenly’s with what vehicles you have – you do not know for sure how many trips it will take, but it is what it is.
>Move your expedition’s timetable up – make the run at night. Hopefully will allow you to work something out with the group where you can use and then return the box trucks before they are needed in the morning. Also gives you the option of the going on the ‘Carter hunting expedition’.
>Simply accept that the cost of the expedition has increased – rent the box trucks and hire additional muscle for the planned departure in the morning.
>Ask Parasol to postpone his expedition – this is a lot to ask, considering that the more time that goes by, the less likely hide or hair of Carter will be found (even if he is extremely unlikely to be found already)
>Ask Parasol to cancel his expedition – this really is a lot to ask, especially because he has already told the Steering Committee about it.
>Ask Parasol to postpone the announcement of his expedition – this is kind of a slimy thing to ask, but it would be one of the easiest ways to get what you want.

I really need to stop saying when I am going to get the next post up, because I always seem to end up taking much, much more time then I say.

>Move your expedition’s timetable up – make the run at night. Hopefully will allow you to work something out with the group where you can use and then return the box trucks before they are needed in the morning. Also gives you the option of the going on the ‘Carter hunting expedition’.
As long as Tolle can get his sleep I'm all for it.

maybe now would be a good time to tell Parasol about the tank? If he can send a few men to help dig it out and get it in a driving condition tomorrow, we can use it to join Carter hunt the next day. So basically ask him to postpone it, for the option of taking a tank and saving lives in a shootout.

>>4632855
From the first thread:

>“Err … well, suffice to say, I was busy sneaking a tank home.” The young Parasol, still bent over, hands on his knees, breathing heavily, looks up at you, with an inexpression more akin to genuine interest and confusion than straight incredulity. “Sneak … Sneaking a tank home? Is that … is that some sort of euphemism?” Well, to be honest, it frankly does sound a bit euphemistic; and for all you know, it very well could be.

>“I mean, I’m sure it could be, but no, I was actually sneaking a tank I found back to the homestead. Well, actually, it is a combat engineer vehicle; it’s built on top of some obsolete tank chassis.” Parasol just chuckles at that.

So, he already knows. Besides that point, your write in is perfectly acceptable. It would be much easier to convince him to delay if you could offer him tank support. If this choice gets the most votes, then there would be the question of driving the tank or having it carried on an adequate trailer, assuming one could be found - and finding one is not a guarantee.

>>4632855
Actually I want to change to this Anon's write-in. We'll have to deal with Carter eventually. Might as well get the job done right and get paid besides. Some part of me wants to ensure an intact tank to get the lazer defense from the shed but maybe upping our credibility will let us retrieve it the slow and easy way.

>>4633006
Did you delete your original vote? I can't see anything that you would be 'changing' it from.

Anyway, that is three votes - you will ask Parasol for a slight delay so you can accompany him. Alright.

>>4633151
Actually, the more that I think about this, there should be some rolls involved here. Can I please get 1d6 and 5d20 for a Speech-Rhetoric test? CR 35+ will push the departure time of the Northwoods expedition back 6 hours (but you will still get some free assistance today with your tank). CR. 55+ will push the Northwoods expedition back to Tuesday at daybreak. CR 75+ and Parasol will let you pick the departure time yourself.

If you roll under 35, then no worries, the group will still help you with your tank - just not right now.

>1 roll of 1d6 (+2 for very good news)
>1 roll of 5d20

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4633313
Good news everyone!

Rolled 12, 18, 6, 15, 2 = 53 (5d20)

I hope this doesn't turn into a disaster when we have to show someone how to use the tank.
We're indisposed and not particularly good at teaching. Tinn isn't really an option either since he's Tinn and we're part of the 'government' that's left.

>>4633716
>I hope this doesn't turn into a disaster when we have to show someone how to use the tank.
Gunther could be a good candidate for a driver. Sure, we know fuck-all about teaching, but Gunther is good enough behind the wheel that he might be able to get the hang of it better than the others. Or Tolle, seeing as he already drove firetrucks he must be somewhat used to piloting heavy vehicles. Still, this isn't going to be an easy task.

We should keep Gunther off battlefields so he doesnt get killed. We need him alive petty badly.

My best guess is we depart on Wed at 1 am or so or whatever leaves us enough time to deal with roadblocks and attack 30 minutes before dawn to minimize the benefits of their antimateriel rifles at long range but not give them any significant advantage if they have nightvision gear?
I dont know what 53 multiplied by an 8 level multiplier is but if its a 1.5 multiplier then we can get hopefully get enough time to ensure the crab setup is assembled and working right, train 2-4 drivers, get Tolle some solid sleep, and process that moose into jerky and canned meat before it goes bad?

>>4633865
Pretty solid plan. Works for me, assuming the roll was sufficient to leave at that time.

Rolled 17, 10, 6, 18, 12 = 63 (5d20)

>>4633313
rolling again for shits and giggles.

Also supporting this>
>>4632855
>>4632781

Alright - so with the +2, that 6 becomes 8, which is equivalent to the Tier III modifier tables 6 : the modifier is x1.500, as >>4633865 figured.

((12*1.5)-1) = 17
((18*1.5)-1) = 26
((6*1.5)-1) = 8
((15*1.5) -1) = 21.5
(2*1.5)-1) = 2

CR 74.500

35 < 74.500 Passed!
55 < 74.500 Passed!
75 > 74.500 Failed!

So you weren't convincing enough for you to dictate the time, but you at least got it pushed back to Tuesday morning.

File: This is what your CEV sta(...).jpg (120 KB, 1023x867)

120 KB JPG

Alright, this is … hmm. While you have serious doubts that you are going to be able to find and recover anything Carter took from the armory, that does not mean that you could not get something out of this – something more than salvage. If you were to tell the group about your tank-thing, you might be able to convince them to help you get the thing out of your ravine and it would hopefully delay things long enough for you to: one, actually participate in the Northwood expedition, and two, equip your expedition without having to compete with other members. Two birds with one stone – assuming you can sell this thing to Parasol, this could be a real … uh, you do not know what, but it would certainly be really good for you. You take a moment or two to compose yourself, and before Parasol can move on to another topic, you speak up.

“Mr. Parasol – um, if you would be willing to hold off on this out for a little bit longer … and if I could get some help with getting it ready, I could come along with my tank – the one I told you about, remember?”

You spend the next few minutes explaining to an incredulous room that you have a tank – well, a combat engineer vehicle and that with any luck, it just needs a little bit of work to be ready to run. Obviously, it should be more than enough to deal with any debris or roadblocks that you would encounter – though after your accident on the bridge, you have learned enough to be cautious about loads. That thing is heavy. Tinn said was probably just under 60 tons loaded and fueled, especially with the Base backhoe grafted on to it. After a bit of discussion, Parasol is willing to push back his timetable until Tuesday at daybreak, which should give you more than enough time to get to Greenly’s, load up the crabs and any salvage that you can carry, go back to your Homestead to get the crabs set up there, then prepare for the Northwood Expedition. Oher the Paramedic really hit the nail on the head when he told you that everyone was running around constantly. You spare a moment to think of Mathew, his grandson, who killed one of Carter’s Deputies to protect you, and how he must be doing, when you realize that the subject of conversation has changed … to your tank.

“… we have already agreed on this – with those Firebugs around, it would be absolute madness to not keep our specialized vehicles spread out. We’d be inviting an attack!”

“Inviting an attack – and leaving what might be our groups single most valuable vehicle stashed in a damned barn – I suppose that is not inviting an attack, correct? If I remember the reports, Mantle’s farmstand or whatever the Hell it is has already been targeted.”

>>4634599
There is a sound of murmured consent around the table at the last point … and you realize just what is happening here. They are discussing your tank-thing as if it was their tank-thing! Damn it! You should have known that this could, or would happen – the group is able to requisition important equipment from members – remember, Chickless is going to force Reaves to sell the gasifier to the group. And what did you do? And what did you just fucking do? You just publicly advertised that you had something incredibly valuable, something the group could never realistically hope to find another of, or to make one on their own, that is what you did. Damnit – damnit! You take several embarrassingly ragged breaths, trying to calm yourself. Trying to look at this objectively, there is merit to the idea of the group having the tank, and not you – Mt. Kineo is basically a fortress, surely it would be safer here than sitting in your dooryard. Not to mention, if it became wildly know that you had a tank-thing, then that could draw down a bunch of unwanted attention to your Homestead, attention that you might not be able to defend yourselves (and the rest of your property) from. And even if the group did take it, it would not be like you would never be able to use it again – besides Tinn, you were probably the only person on the entire lake who knew how to operate it, even if you barely knew which way was up in there.

It seems that you have several options here. You could swing for the fences, and attempt to argue that despite several compelling reasons against it, you should keep your tank-thing. You could try to come up with an arrangement, where you sold or rented it to the group. Or you could try to come up with another arrangement, where you would share the thing – somehow.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Try to argue why you should keep the tank-thing, and not the group. (Write-In arguments accepted)
>Try to come up with a ‘sharing’ arrangement between you and the group. (Write-In details accepted)
>Declare that you are open to selling or renting the tank-thing to the group. (Write-In details accepted)

>>4634602
>>Try to argue why you should keep the tank-thing, and not the group. (Write-In arguments accepted)
"Oh hell no. I am sure as shit not getting shafted out of MY property twice in one day. That belongs to me, we would be little better than the reds that damned us all to this situation in the first place if we resort to shit like this. Besides, I'm one of the few people on the lake that knows how to pilot the damn thing, and as the sole food producer of the group it'd be better off at my homestead anyhow.

Hah, 'Targeted' my ass. You're telling me some random yokels that didn't know how to even put down a damn boar, instead resorting to stab poor Dander in the side would know how to pilot a fucking tank?"

I'm open to switching my vote if anyone presents anything better, but I figure sperging about salvage like this is pretty true to Mantle's character. I've had a few drinks this morning, so God knows I'm missing some decent points here.

>>4634602
>Try to argue why you should keep the tank-thing, and not the group. (Write-In arguments accepted)
1) it is our property, and property of members should remain untouched
2) with us acknowledging it's existence, and being willing to use it for the group, we show good faith. "Punishing" us by taking it from us sends a fatal signal to other members holding valuable assets.
3) putting all your eggs in one basket is retarded. Say there was a siege of the big house, we could show up in the enemies back with that thing
also why fucking not put it in a barn? It's a tank, not a fucking vintage car. Afraid it'll rust?

>>4634639
Supporting this argument

Alright - I can work with this. Considering you already have your conditional modifier roll (6, not 8 as the good news of you having a tank is no longer pertinent to the discussion at hand) I will set the CR for you successfully arguing to keep the tank at 66 (70 - 4 for the good write-ins). Can I please get 1 roll of 5d20?

Rolled 12, 14, 9, 13, 1 = 49 (5d20)

>>4634876
Here goes

>>4634884
((12 * 1.25) - 1) = 15.000
((14 * 1.25) - 1) = 16.500
((9 * 1.25) - 1) = 10.250
((13 * 1.25) - 1) = 15.250
((1 * 1.25) - 1) = 0.250

66 > 56.750 Failed!
Well, that didn't work. But because you were within half of a degree (10 points) of passing, I will give you a temporary +1 bonus to your modifier (from 6 to 7, or x1.250 to x1.375) for the next part of this conversation.

Now that you maintaining full ownership of the tank-thing and keeping it on your property is off the table, what would you be willing to settle for:

>Please choose ONE of the following (a reminder to not roll until I call the vote):
>Agree to sell the tank-thing outright to the group, using your modifier to get you a higher price than you would otherwise.
>Ask to rent the tank-thing to the group instead of selling it outright. It will be kept on your property, and you will be able to use it for free (assuming the group isn't already using it): CR 65
>Ask to rent the tank-thing to the group instead of selling it outright. It will be kept at Mt. Kineo, but you will be able to requisition it for free (assuming the group isn't already using it): CR 45

>>4635000
>Ask to rent the tank-thing to the group instead of selling it outright. It will be kept on your property, and you will be able to use it for free (assuming the group isn't already using it): CR 65
I'll leave the roll to someone else this time. Nice digits, Trash.

>Ask to rent the tank-thing to the group instead of selling it outright. It will be kept at Mt. Kineo, but you will be able to requisition it for free (assuming the group isn't already using it): CR 45

Failing would mean losing the tank so I think the safe route is best.

>Ask to rent the tank-thing to the group instead of selling it outright. It will be kept on your property, and you will be able to use it for free (assuming the group isn't already using it): CR 65
Damn commie bastards.

>>4635578
>>4635342
>>4635008
Eminent Domain is not anywhere near as much fun when you are on the wrong side of it. Can I get 1 roll of 5d20? Also, I'm crashing pretty hard right now, so expect the next post around noon tomorrow.

Rolled 6, 9, 6, 11, 4 = 36 (5d20)

>>4635595

Rolled 12, 19, 17, 8, 16 = 72 (5d20)

>>4635597
You double nigger. One number over 10 out of 5. This is how you roll.

Also, failing basically every roll is getting really old. I don't mind failing during the course of a quest but this is sapping my enthusiasm for this quest.

>>4635932
>Also, failing basically every roll is getting really old
I fucking swear the dice in this quest are cursed. At least once we finally get a success it'll feel more substantial.

>>4635935
Not sure if it is the dice or the system. I get it is supposed to be kinda bleak and gritty but with 5d20 x modifier, we will still always be more likely to fail a dc 65 than we are to pass it, even at the upper end of the bonus multiplier. And hell, one bad roll has left us an invalid for at least a month or two which is not a fun time imho.
Basically, Mantel just feels incompetent to me. Hell we pissed our self trying to sit up. It is like this character was only born to suffer.

>>4636022
I kind of agree that dice are overly harsh, but eh, nobody seemed to mind earlier.

>>4636035
>>4636022
>>4635935
>>4635932
>>4635597
Hmm. I hear you guys - the rolls are pretty harsh. Maybe things could use a bit of balancing. As for this particular roll, Seeing that there are no implicit time constraints in this negotiation, I suppose I could allow you to roll for:

>Ask to rent the tank-thing to the group instead of selling it outright. It will be kept at Mt. Kineo, but you will be able to requisition it for free (assuming the group isn't already using it): CR 45

I'll keep your modifier roll at 7, all I need is one more roll of 5d20.

Rolled 18, 2, 14, 5, 9 = 48 (5d20)

>>4636176
>the rolls are pretty harsh
Eh. As expected, social stats aren't exactly Mantle's strong suit. iirc, you did mention earlier we had a chance to shore them up at some point? I think things will be a little more forgiving if that's the case, test the waters with the stat increase before committing to any balance changes. Anyways. Rolling.

>>4636022
To be fair, it was the choice to eun to cover after initially firing instead of fleeing that boned Mantle. A vote I still regret but I must admit has really grounded the game in reality with high stakes.

>>4636217
>>4636177
Alright - that should do it. As far as exp goes, yeah, I'd say at this point, you should have earned enough to level up Speech-Rhetoric or Speech-Deception.

Both of them are currently at the same level - Rank Amateur (Bo1, then -1). The next level is Ranking Amateur (Bo1, then +0.5). [There is a third Speech skill, Speech-Flirtation. Normally, you don't get to level up skills that you aren't using, but I would be willing to wave that for skills in the same family that are low enough - lets say you can level Speech-Flirtation by using Speech-Rhetoric and Speech-Deception up to Nascent in Understanding. At your current Speech-Flirtation rank, Delusional or Unwilling you roll Wo4. If you were to level up to Oblivious, you would roll Wo2 instead.

>Bump up Speech-Deception to Ranking Amateur (Bo1, then +0.5)
>Bump up Speech-Rhetoric to Ranking Amateur (Bo1, then +0.5)
>Bump up Speech-Flirtation to Oblivious (Wo2)

Anyway, I will get the rest of this written up, some time after lunch. I would really like to get a proper run in today - at least two posts and an overnight, but I whenever I promise that stuff, I always seem to come up short.

>>4636243
>>Bump up Speech-Deception to Ranking Amateur (Bo1, then +0.5)
Rhetoric is unlikely to end up fucking us completely if we botch the roll. Whereas, all the lying we've been doing lately really points toward Deception. Even if we curb the lies from here on out, we'd probably want to shore up the skill in order to keep up the charade. Several charades at this point, goddamn.
I assume we're all in the same boat here with Flirtation. Not at all worth it. Maybe we'll luck out at some point and meet a chick that has a thing for Salvage Spergs, but as for now I think we're much better off with Deception, just to cover our ass.

>Bump up Speech-Rhetoric to Ranking Amateur (Bo1, then +0.5)

Lets bring some strength to dealing honestly with folks.

>Bump up Speech-Rhetoric to Ranking Amateur (Bo1, then +0.5)
Let's try to keep the lies at a minimum, I think we've weathered most of the fallout so far so it's probably not so dangerous we have to spend our first upgrade on it so far. I've seen a lot of suffering from failed rhetoric rolls and it seems more common.
and as for Speech-Flirtation, yes, I agree that we will probably never need an extra rank in it
Reggie is not, and will never be, a 'ladykiller' or a 'cassanova'

>>4636258
>>4636264
Mates, you can reply to a post directly by clicking the post number so you don't have to bother typing it out, and you can highlight a sentence or whatever before clicking the post number to automatically greentext it in the reply so you don't have to copy-paste the vote into your reply.
Unless of course you already know this, if that's the case never mind then. Just dropping this now to make things a little easier on all of us
>Reggie is not, and will never be, a 'ladykiller' or a 'cassanova'
Eyup. I just don't see it happening. Stretcher bound Reggie trying to put the moves on some woman to gain something out of it? No dice. Literally and figuratively.

>>4636243
>Bump up Speech-Deception to Ranking Amateur (Bo1, then +0.5)
>>4636257
what he said

Today has been full of indignities for you – and you are not referring to being stashed on the snack table, or accidentally wetting yourself after straining to sit up. You are on track to be robbed – twice. You swallow once or twice, compose your thoughts as best you can, and in a lull in the conversation, you attempt to lay out an argument on why you should be able to keep your tank-thing.

“Ok – I get that everyone is all excited, great, but I wanna remind everybody that this is my tank, right? So tell me, why shouldn’t I … I mean to say, once we get it out, and get ready, why wouldn’t we keep the thing with the only person who could operate it? Doesn’t that make the most sense? I mean … I – no one else here knows how to drive that thing.”

You are interrupted by a voice – one that you recognize from a few moments ago, who was advocating keeping the tank-thing at Mt. Kineo.
“I’d honestly question if you knew how to operate ‘that thing’. You just said a minute ago that you drove it into a ravine.”
“God Damn it all, no! I drove it over my bridge, and it gave out on me. I certainly didn’t just fucking drive the thing off a fucking cliff. I know how to operate equipment! I grew up driving tractors on my Grandfather’s farm, for God’s sake.”

That last bit about growing up driving tractors is a massive exaggeration on your part – you could probably count the number of times that you were actually on your own, driving the tractor on one hand. It does not seem to matter though – your little fib about your level of experience and your ‘clarification’ that it was the bridges fault that the tank-thing was in the ravine, and not yours does not seem to have convinced anyone. Around the table, there is silence – and the only person that you can actually see clearly is Parasol himself, sitting at the head of the table. Waiting for him to say something, you find yourself just looking at the man. In the near gloom of the conference room, especially now that the Sun is getting lower in the sky, you sort of have a hard time reading his expression – though, that never was a strong suit of yours, now was it? The silence is getting to you, and you stop yourself from continuing to try to press your case – even if silence here might have suited you better.

“Listen … Mr. Parasol. I get that there are security concerns, after those prowlers showed up – but we got a good crew out there. We know what we are doing – if we didn’t I’d be down a boar, and who the fuck knows what else. We can protect it – we just get the thing under wraps, and it is just another large piece of equipment in a barn. There is no need to take –”.
Parasol interjects here.

>>4636542

“Actually, there is. There is no logical reason why such a valuable vehicle should be left in a relatively unsecured location. I might not be a military man, but even I could tell you why tanks are stationed on bases, and not at checkpoints – with no crew to operate the war machine, it is effectively defenseless. So it makes sense to store them in the most defended area that you can. I don’t doubt for a minute that you have a good crew, or that you and them would defend the tank admirably, even if it cost you your lives. But if the thing is parked at Mt. Kineo, then we don’t need to worry about losing it in an incidental attack or a raid.”

“Please, you …”

You were about to say ‘Please, you can’t do this to me’, but quite obviously, that is not the case. Probably like ninety percent of what the group has done since its inception has been taking things – and not just from outsiders. Reaves, even though the bastard does not know it yet, is going to be forced to sell his – no, your gasifier, God damn it. And then Gunther, if he, for whatever reason, decided to move on after this then the group will take his medical supplies – take, not pay. Now that you think about it, there have probably been dozens of members who have been put on the spot like this. And no doubt, there will be more in the future. It is Collectivist bullshit, being forced to just hand over your property like this - Red through and through - but in the end, you cannot think of any way to convince him to take another course here. Probably has already heard all of the arguments, anyway. Sighing, you compose yourself the best you can, and change tact.

In the end, you are able to maintain ownership of your tank-thing, at least on paper. You will rent it to the group, in perpetuity, and the war machine will be kept at Mt. Kineo. Assuming the group does not need it for something else, then you can have it disbursed to your Homestead for free – though you would still be expected to return the thing with fuel. Of the armament; you are allowed to keep two of the nineteen shells that you recovered with the thing – for emergencies - as well as the Firecracker, the coaxial M240b you dismounted, along with all of its ammunition (and belts). The exact ‘rent’ will be determined later – after its recovery, repairs and shakedown run have all been completed.

Rent as in rent from the group to us? Can just call it quits with the gasifier and return our tax rate to the original quota.

>>4636544
Business having been concluded, there is a quick lull around the table before the Parasol changes gears once again. While by the end of it, you were the one that was dragging things out, you are glad that the negotiations were wrapped up when they were – any more of the back and forth in front of the entire Steering Committee and it would have started to feel like you were publicly airing dirty laundry or something. But even with all of the awkwardness of having a high-level negotiation in front of more than a score of third-parties, it was not all bad – you were fairly certain that you managed to impress some of the members by holding your ground. Even if your ‘victory’ in maintaining ownership is a technicality at best and a fig-leaf at worst, a win, no matter how small, is a win.

>Speech-Rhetoric at Rank Amateur (Bo1 +0.5)

The next topic that Parasol brought up was …

>The situation inside of the Big House itself, and how the group is going to keep the place habitable.
>The situation with the Maine National Guard, and how the group is going to fight or coexist with them.
>You don’t know, because you interrupted him to bring up Tinn, while you were thinking about the tank.

As an aside - while Mantle will not be wooing any woman with a Speech-Flirtation rank of Delusional or Unwilling, there are alternatives to romantic relationships with women. There are some women who would be open to more transactional relationships - not a whore, per say, but a woman who would be willing to put in work around your Farmhouse (and perhaps in your bed, if you felt comfortable in asking that) in exchange for protection, food ... etc.

Anyway - I intend to close this vote at 7:00pm. I will roll to tiebreak if necessary.

>>4636550
Rent as in the group would be paying you - and assuming that you roll well enough when it comes time to negotiate, negating the additional 11% is on the table.

>>4636554
>The situation inside of the Big House itself, and how the group is going to keep the place habitable.

Lets give Mantle a break from heartache to talk about other peoples problems

Honestly, this tank situation is okay. We borrow it for free, it is generating income instead of taking up storage space, and we still get the 240.

>>4636554
>The situation with the Maine National Guard, and how the group is going to fight or coexist with them.

>>4636571
thats true. I originally regretted bringing it up at all but the tank is hard to conceal so this whole discussion would have happened sooner or later anyway. And who knows how long it would take to get it in working order without external help.

>>4636554
>The situation inside of the Big House itself, and how the group is going to keep the place habitable.
"Heh, damn reds, enjoy your commie problems" - Reggie's brain

>>4636796
>>4636590
>>4636571
Alright consider this closed for discussing the situation in the Big House.

The next topic that Parasol brought up was the Big House. Earlier, you had been kind of shocked at the condition of the prison yard; group members have just been parking their vehicles in a portion of the yard, and in many cases, alongside their vehicles, they had been storing – or dumping – additional belongings that they could not fit inside their rooms. There had even been some people who were sleeping alongside their vehicles – in tents. Other portions of the yard had been turned into what could only be described as a dump, and there had been what was quite obviously human waste mixed in with the trash. Not loose, thankfully, but you could smell it. To be entirely honest, the condition of the yard – at least the center portion of it, the ‘common land’ that the membership was using, was appalling and dangerous. Toward the edges of the yard, near the Club House, and on the other side, near the Motor Pool, things were better – but still dangerously overcrowded.

If, God forbid, anything was to happen – a fire, or worse, an attack – in its current state, the entire yard, not just the messy ‘common land’, would be a liability, a morass waiting to happen. Parasol knew this – everyone with eyes and a brain behind them knew this. The issue was what should be done about it. Obviously, the trash and especially the human waste needed to be dealt with – burn or bury it, before it becomes any bigger of a health risk. But still, that leaves cars and trucks and piles of stuff strewn all over the yard. And with the Northwoods expedition, that will probably bring back even more stuff – much of which, will inevitably end up sitting in the yard, in boxes or under tarps. Again, Parasol and everyone else in the table recognized this. But … while some of the stuff sitting out there was sentimental – like pieces of furniture from member’s homes, most of the stuff was at least somewhat useful. Even if every member did not need a vehicle, allowing them to keep them ensured that there would be spares and replacements for a long, long time. Similar idea with sets of tools, or generators – or even things like tents, kayaks and canoes.

The question that Parasol posed – and this was a question – was how on Earth do you deal with this? Members living here have already given up so, so very much. Perhaps not as much as some, to be sure, but a lot – and now, to tell them that they would need to give up even more, stuff that you had previously said that they could keep. Stuff that was useful too. That is not going to sit right with them. Hell, that does not sit right with you. Thinking on it a moment, you remember that Parasol mentioned that there had been members who had left the group. Obviously, that is a real concern. Not just losing manpower, but having Outsiders with insider knowledge. And all of this is at a time when the daily ration for a group member is going to drop from 1600 to 400 calories.

>>4637733
Suffice to say, the morale of members is a serious concern here - as serious as the risk that is posed by the current condition of the 'common land'. No one is really saying anything at all here - it does not seem like anyone thinks there is a good answer. In that assessment, they are probably right. Still, there needs to be some guidance here.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Beyond clearing away the trash, leave the ‘common land’ as it is – there is no good reason to rock the boat while everything is still in such flux.
>Advocate for figuring out some way to organize the mess in the ‘common land’ better – in away that would not require anyone to throw anything out
>Advocate for charging ‘rent’ – anything not on wheels, and the member that owns it needs to pay for it – for an ‘internal’ member, this would be by taking extra hours or a more unpleasant job
>Figure out what exactly the group is going to need in the long term, and then clear everything out of the ‘common land’ that it does not.

>>4637736
>>Advocate for figuring out some way to organize the mess in the ‘common land’ better – in away that would not require anyone to throw anything out
Maybe someone could go through with a clipboard and an inventory list to find out what belongs to who exactly, get that all on file to avoid disputes of someone trying to claim property that isn't theirs? If everything was accounted for, it could be tucked away in a more compact, and hopefully less hazardous manner. Anyone else have any ideas?

>Advocate for figuring out some way to organize the mess in the ‘common land’ better – in away that would not require anyone to throw anything out
>>4637748
This sounds good to me.

>Beyond clearing away the trash, leave the ‘common land’ as it is – there is no good reason to rock the boat while everything is still in such flux.

This problem is actually just an "opportunity with teeth" if we end up providing a real solution we could get some $$$.
Trailer houses or RVs would be better than damn tents in winter. Would save people calories and give then some minimal storage space. Our place could use one or two to give people some personal space and storage. I think our group doing a raid on a trailer park or RV park and taking what trailers have decent wheels and are structurally sound could kill two birds with one stone.

>>4637736
Can't we just remain neutral in this vote as we are a satellite and not affected?

Semi trailers would also function for shelter or storage.

>>4637824
To answer your question, yes. There is no reason why you could not simply abstain here. Obviously, the problem here is more than just the trash.

As for the vote itself, I will leave it up for another hour or so.

Alright - I will get to writing this up.

>>4637811
I suppose I should clarify, that the tents are a temporary thing - no one in there right mind would spend a Winter outside in the cold, the snow, the volcanic ash and the fallout if they had a clean room available.

Before the silence can become indomitable, you force yourself to speak up.

“Listen, the last thing we want to do is to make it any harder on any of our guys. It doesn’t need to be said how much they’ve already given up, either because we asked them to, or the reality of situation didn’t leave them a choice. It also doesn’t need to be said that most of that stuff in the yard is not going to make it through the Winter – Hell, forget the coming radioactive volcanic Winter, those boxes and crappy tarps wouldn’t be enough to protect most of the stuff out there from a typical Maine Winter. I suppose that could be one way to deal with the issue – just let their stuff rot into the ground, and then once it is obviously worthless, just clear it away, but frankly, I don’t consider that fair.

You find yourself inadvertently glowering at Reaves as you say that last bit, but recover when you realize that everyone in the room is attentively listening. Straightening, but being careful to not over-straighten yourself, you continue.

“I think we need to compartmentalize here. The yard is a mess, yeah. But that is to be expected, considering how we have crowded this place – and we have crowded it, even if we didn’t realize. Sure, the number of members living here full time doesn’t approach the theoretical max capacity of the Big House – either as a county jail, or way back when, as a hotel. But guests staying at a hotel travel light, and guests staying at jail ‘travel’ even lighter. Our people who are living here, none of them are ‘traveling light’ – and under the current circumstances, we shouldn’t be so ready to force them to. It isn’t just for the sake of sentimentality and morale, or to prove that we respect property rights –” you consciously have to stop yourself from glaring at Reaves here, but you manage “ … there is pragmatism to it. From what I have seen, most of the stuff out there is worth keeping from a purely material standpoint. Now, it would be optimal if we could keep the vehicles and all the hardware and have a yard that was clear.

“Unfortunately, with the Firebugs and Outsiders going around, that yard is the only safe spot for the stuff, at least for now. Instead of just clearing the common area – we should accept that under the circumstances the best we can hope for is to organize it instead. If we could find trailers to stuff the … stuff into, then that could work. For that matter, it might not be a bad idea to look for campers or RVs – judging by the tents out there, some people no doubt have reservations about moving into what were cells – even if ninety years ago they were hotel rooms.” By the end of it, most people are nodding along. No one really seems to have any better ideas – which admittedly, is surprising, considering the unironic brain trust that Parasol assembled here.

>>4638102
It could just be that everyone was ready to be done with this, and that proposing an alternative to your suggestion would drag things out.

A very real possibility, considering that this was the second to last topic ‘tabled’ by the Steering Committee that day. The very last was what on Earth to do about the Maine National Guard. There were several positions, but in the end you …

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>advocated doing nothing, at least for now, hoping that they would fall apart before they got a chance to deal with you.
>advocated sending a diplomatic entourage to Bangor, in hopes that your group could come to terms with them.
>advocated sending in infiltrators to Bangor, to simply observe and when possible report on their strength and disposition.

>advocated sending in infiltrators to Bangor, to simply observe and when possible report on their strength and disposition.
This is entirely so that we might maybe get our guns back eventually.

>advocated sending in infiltrators to Bangor, to simply observe and when possible report on their strength and disposition.

We will need to reach out diplomatically eventually, but should do so with more information on their situation.

Actually I'd like to change to
>advocated sending a diplomatic entourage to Bangor, in hopes that your group could come to terms with them.
In case they try to send Petra or do something unwise.

>>4638103
>advocated doing nothing, at least for now, hoping that they would fall apart before they got a chance to deal with you.

Thing is, any infiltrators who are caught will face the same shit we had to deal with and might lack our resolve when it comes to holding our tongue. I really don't think it is wise to give them more of a casus belli than they already have if someone is caught and spills the beans.

>>4638103
>>advocated doing nothing, at least for now, hoping that they would fall apart before they got a chance to deal with you.
We really should send out feelers before sending out a diplomat, but from what we saw the situation there was a straight up madhouse, and I doubt the guard got any friendlier toward us after we made our escape. We should do nothing for now, wait for the situation there to progress a bit more. If the guard gets more desperate or stretched thin, they might warm up to the idea of dealing with us on better terms a bit more.

>>4638103
>advocated doing nothing, at least for now, hoping that they would fall apart before they got a chance to deal with you.
but set up observation posts FAR below the road so we'll know when they're coming.

Alright - not ready to start writing immediately, but considering it has been so long, I might as well close the vote on this one. Three votes for doing nothing, one vote for diplomacy, one vote for infiltrators. A pretty good spread.

From your perspective, the best thing to do here is to stay the fuck out of Bangor, and the fuck away from the Maine National Guardsmen. The last you saw, Bangor was in the process of coming apart at the seams – in fact, at this point, it is safe to say that the only thing keeping the city together is the presence of the Guard itself. When the city inevitably comes undone, you estimate that there is a very good chance that it will take the remains of the Maine National Guard with it – they had what, two companies to stave off an entire city full of desperate people? If you were to wait long enough, this particular problem might actually just go away. The risk to you and the rest of the group here is that something happens that convinces the Guard to come after you while they are still a functioning fighting force. Something like a big fat reminder that your group still is out there – or worse, a wannabe spy getting themselves caught. While it seems silly that your take here is to just “hope the problem goes away” the fact of the matter is it is reasonable to do so, and any other course of action carries with it significant risks. When you get an opportunity to speak, you tell the room as much.

“Believe me when I say that anyone and everyone in Bangor is having a bad time right now – and it is only going to get worse. The Guard has its hands full keeping small areas safe, maintaining roadblocks and checkpoints. They are stretched well beyond capacity – in a word, they are ‘stuck’. And they are going to remain ‘stuck’ as Bangor rots, burns and dies all around them, and hopefully takes them with it.”

There is a lot of uncomfortable murmuring at that statement, but it is the truth as you see it – and after your treatment at the hands of the ‘nutcracker’ you will be waiting with bated breath for news of their destruction.

“So as things stand, the Guard is not an immediate threat. Emphasis on ‘as things stand’. But, if we give them some reason – like a big fat public reminder that we exist, or some sort of provocation – then they might just ‘unstick’ themselves and come after us, before the house of cards their living in has a chance to collapse on their heads.”

In the end, your suggestion was well received, no doubt because some extra weight was given to it, as you had just been in Bangor barely more than two days ago. There really is not much more to say on it, and eventually Parasol takes the discussion in hand by announcing that the group will not be ‘tempting fate’, his exact words, by giving the Guard any more reminders of the group’s existence. You think that this is going to be it, and the next thing that he is going to do is announce that the first full meeting of the Steering Committee is concluded. Instead …

>>4639274
“Before we go, there are two things. First, I’d like to thank all of you here – both for believing in me, and conducting yourselves admirably through what is no doubt the greatest adversity humanity has ever faced. The way forward is going to be hard, but I believe with ever fiber of by being that we are going to get through this. And even if it is a cliché, I believe that we are going to get through this together. It is important that you hear that, and believe it as much as I do. And it is more important that the people underneath you hear it, and believe it more than I do.”

Besides the impressively fast clacking in the corner as the redhead hammers away at her typewriter, composing the minutes, the conference room is completely silent.

“If this thing of ours comes to naught, most likely it will be because of us – not the Soviets, or the Guard, or even starvation or sickness. Us. We are all in the same boat – and going forward, our lives and the lives of everyone with us are going to depend on us, the leadership, being on and modelling best behavior for everyone else.”

There is a bit of coughing at that – some of it from you, directed at Reaves – and more typing. But beyond that, the conference room, now covered in the noticeably lengthened shadows of very late afternoon is still quiet. After taking a moment, perhaps for emphasis, perhaps to organize his thoughts, Parasol continues.

“On a more pleasant, or even a ‘fun’ note … our group still doesn’t have a name yet. Does anyone have any ideas?”

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>No, nothing comes to mind.
>Yes, actually. How about (write-in).

>>4639278
>Yes, actually. How about "the Lakers"
we can get matching shirts!

>>4639289
I like it. Supporting this

>Yes, actually. How about the Debouche Militia. Makes us sound formitable.

There are some suggestions tossed out from around the room. One of which is ‘the Debouche Militia’. You had actually thought of that one. It is not bad name, by any stretch of the imagination. But it would be a stretch of the imagination to say that the group was anything approaching a militia. There was what, like three hundred of you? And the only ones that really knew anything about fighting were the Deputies and the Guards, and there couldn’t be more than fifty of them – probably less, considering that there had been some members who resigned. No – calling this motley crew of yours a ‘militia’ is less of an aspiration and more of a presumption – which is why Parasol was playing it smart in deciding to keep everyone away from the hot mess formerly known as Bangor. A militia you were not, but you had another idea for a name, one perhaps a bit inappropriately tongue in cheek for the situation here, but whatever.

“How’s about we call ourselves 'the Lakers'?”

There is laughter and honest-to-goodness ‘hoots’ at that. Who the Hell is ‘hooting’? Unfortunately, your great idea is so tongue in cheek and funny, that the rest of the room is too busy laughing to take it serious as a legitimate suggestion. When you try to explain that maybe you could find a supply of Laker uniforms somewhere and new rounds of laughter – and ‘hoots’ – break out, you are fairly certain that they are now laughing at you. When you try to explain that you and your suggestion are serious, and that while you understand the likelihood of finding a cache of basketball jerseys for a team that is on the far side of the continental United States is very low, you have found stranger things before, and there is still even more laughter – and more fucking ‘hoots’ - you are convinced that you are the one being laughed at here.

When someone suggests calling the group 'the Pistons', and another round of laughter breaks out you bite your tongue. Well, this fucking blows, but it was just a suggestion after all. Perhaps you could try once more to sell it to the room. Or perhaps you could – and this would be a real novelty – let it go. You have been doing a lot of ‘letting things go’ and general accommodating lately. You let the gasifier go, sort of, and you let the tank-thing go, also sort of. The old you would have been up in arms over that stuff, but between your condition, the state of the World and perhaps a bit more open-mindedness on your part, you have – well, to say you ‘improved’ would be a bit much, but perhaps there has been a change in your personality, just a little bit?

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Attempt one last time to argue for adopting ‘the Lakers’ as the group’s name. (Speech-Rhetoric CR 66)
>Accept another defeat here, and let your great idea for a name go the way of the Dodo bird.
>Throw out a new, better idea for a name instead, to win the day (write-in).

>>4639721
>>Attempt one last time to argue for adopting ‘the Lakers’ as the group’s name. (Speech-Rhetoric CR 66)

>Throw out a new, better idea for a name instead, to win the day (write-in): Innangard .

>>4639721
>Accept another defeat here, and let your great idea for a name go the way of the Dodo bird.
We'll secretly start referring to them as "the Debouchebags". And we're totally getting those shirts for our homestead homies!

>>4640091
I'll change my answer
>Accept another defeat here, and let your great idea for a name go the way of the Dodo bird.

>>4639721
>>Attempt one last time to argue for adopting ‘the Lakers’ as the group’s name. (Speech-Rhetoric CR 66)
We're not moving on this. We're Lakers through and through, 'til the very end.

Ideas I rejected: Skinwalkers, Free People's City-State Republic of Debouche, Starving Autists, and The Group.

>>4640224
>Starving Autists
"Heh guys, get it? Because we're gonna be hungry since we don't have any real farms, and how...why are you guys looking at me like that?"
an even better name than The Lakers

>>4640226
HOOT HOOT HOOT HOOT!

>>4640224
>Skinwalkers
I kinda like that one, yeah. I hope we get around to seeing something 'paranormal' in these threads at some point, it is Maine after all.

>>4640224
>the group
how avant-garde. Could also just call ourselves an abstract symbol, like the artist formerly known as Prince

The Group formerly known as The Lakers

>>4640274
the group's seed and feed

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4639766 Try for the Lakers again
>>4640091 new name: Innangard (Vote Canceled)
>>4640207 Throw in the towel
>>4640210 Throw in the towel
>>4640214 Try for the Lakers again

Well, after almost 17 hours, have a tie and a bunch of memes. I guess I will have to roll for this.

1: Fight for your right to fight ... as the Lakers
2. Let it go, but secretly refer to the group as the Debouchebags

>>4640699
We are going down swinging it seems! We still have that x1.250x modifier active, so all I need is one roll of 5d20. CR is a high (but possible) 66.

Rolled 7, 14, 19, 9, 9 = 58 (5d20)

>>4640704
Whatever, lol

File: 1608800293513.gif (991 KB, 245x250)

991 KB GIF

seriously? NOW we fucking win?

>>4640724
Well, with random chance, you gotta win sometime, don't you?

((7 * 1.25) + 0.5) = 9.250
((14 * 1.25) + 0.5) = 18.000
((19 * 1.25) + 0.5) = 24.250
((9 * 1.25) + 0.5) = 11.750
((9 * 1.25) + 0.5) = 11.750

CR 75 > 66 Passed!

The group is now known as the Lakers.

Oh, here is a snap vote:
>Meet up with someone (write-in who)
>Look for something (write-in what)
>Go to the Infirmary and do Dialysis

>>4640746
>Look for something (write-in what)
ask around if anyone has seen our boy LeBlanc. As described he is pretty much our best friend so we should maybe try to find out what became of him?

>>4640761
+1

>>4640779
>>4640761
Alright - I will get to writing, so consider this locked in. I would like to make an important distinction however - LeBlanc is Mantle's 'best friend' only in the sense that he doesn't have any other friends, as far as their actual relationship, they are not that close.

>>4641102
Yeah I understand that Mantle is basically a weird loner, still we should ask for the guy.

File: Lakers Uniforms.jpg (88 KB, 1064x598)

88 KB JPG

Actually, no – no you have not changed at all. If you think about it, even if you wound up ‘losing’ both your gasifier to Reaves and the tank-thing to the … the Debouchebags, you fought tooth and nail for them. You need to take a bit of heart, and remember that in the end, any losses on your part here have been temporary – you won both of them back in the end. Reaves had that gasifier well out of your reach for long enough to get it running and then give a public demonstration with it – and with the new law of the land, possession being nine-tenths (or more) of the law – it was basically his at that point. But rather than walk away with your tail between your legs, or try to insist on your rights here and look like some sort of jackoff, you held your tongue and paid through your nose – and you won. It is yours again, the group says it is. You did not give up – and you did not give up on keeping the tank-thing either. Being forced to rent something to someone else on their terms might be dogshit, Communist dogshit, but it a markedly smaller pile of Communist dogshit compared to absolute mountain of the stuff that is ‘Eminent Domain’. You stuck with it, and you came out on top, keeping the paper – well, keeping the paper on paper, as to your knowledge, there is not actually a physical copy of a title. Actually, that does not make sense, now that you think about it. If you had the paper on paper, that would mean you actually had the paper. What you mean is that you have the paper in –

You are snapped out of your internal monologuing as Parasol says that it is alright they do not settle on a name today. It is blatantly obvious that he is about to dismiss everyone – but even if him and the rest of the room have given up on picking a name, you have not. You are stubborn after all, and that stubbornness is not going to be slaked by some laughs – or by some ‘hoots’ either.

>Speech-Rhetoric Test CR 66
>75 > 66; Test Passed!

“Now whadda mean, we don’t have a name. We have a name – the Lakers.”

The laughter – including the hooting – returns, but this time, you are undaunted.

“Yeah, it is funny. That’s the point. There is going to be enough time for serious shit and misery in the coming days and months – and, if we are lucky enough, the coming years. So why not do something a bit light-hearted and goofy where we can? For that matter, the name itself is decent enough – Hell, way I see it, we have more of reason, more of a right, to call ourselves the Lakers then those faggots in LA do, and even if I can’t turn up a bunch of jerseys, we still got ourselves a decent color palette to play around with.”

>>4641530
Chickless of all people speaks up.

“Mantle makes a fair point. The Lakers lost any real connection to the name after they left Minneapolis and the ‘land of ten thousand lakes’ for Los Angeles and the money.”

You had not even know the team had moved, but that does make sense – Los Angeles and the surrounding areas are hilly and scrubby, not ‘lakey’. Judging from what you can see around the table, this is news to the rest of the Steering Committee as well. Surprisingly enough, more than just learning a new piece of trivia, people really seem to be really considering your suggestion this time around. You do not know if you have finally stumbled on to a convincing argument, you worn them down by this point, or they simply are ready to leave and b be done with this, but whatever the case is, you are pleased – pleased and ready to take this across the finish line.

“Anyway, what I am getting at is, everyone is absolutely right – it is ridiculous thing to call ourselves, sure – but is it any more ridiculous than calling this thing here a ‘militia’? Or any of this other pretentious drivel that’s been thrown around here? For God’s sake – it is just a damned name, it doesn’t signify anything, and it clearly doesn’t really matter either – if it did, we couldn’t have gotten this far without one, right? I don’t see the need to waste anymore time or brainpower on this nonsense. This is an actual and literal non-issue! Call us the Lakers – fuck, call us the Celtics. But we shouldn’t allow ourselves to get hung up on petty, pointless dogshit like this, when there is actual important stuff to get done.”

There is a moment or two of silence at the conclusion of your speech – if you could even call it that – but then Parasol himself speaks up.

“Mantle does raise some solid points – with everything that is bearing down on us, we could use laughs wherever we could get them. And we did manage to get this far without any name – no doubt we could keep going on without a ‘proper’ one. So, in absence of any better suggestions, and to allow us to focus our attention on more important issues, from here on out we will be ‘the Lakers’. Before we clock out here – does anyone have any questions?”

Actually, now that you think about it, you do. You realized that someone around the table might have news about LeBlanc – the only person around the Lake you know well enough that you would be comfortable referring to as a friend. While it is true that the last time you saw the man, he was driving like a madman on the road that would eventually take him to I-95 North and towards Canada, there is a chance that he came back – in fact, considering his skills, there is even a chance that he is a group member. But unfortunately, the Sheriff himself puts the kibosh to that line of hopeful thinking.

>>4641608
Apparently, Sheriff Arthur knows LeBlanc too, and when he realized that the man had not been tapped to become a member ... er, a ‘Laker’, recognizing this as a serious oversight, he personally headed out there to make the offer, as soon as the situations with Carter and Polk had been resolved, and it was clear that the Firebugs were not going to be making any more attacks. This put Sheriff Arthur’s visit to LeBlanc’s house very late in the day on the 28th, during dusk. The place was still abandoned, and it clearly had been looted – doors broken in, the works. When you mention the last time you saw him – driving uncharacteristically fast on the road towards the Interstate, there is some murmuring at that. While there is no way to know for sure, it certainly looks like Leblanc was forewarned about the Strike – somehow. That raises a lot of new questions, questions that you are acutely aware that you will probably never get definitive answers for. Beyond that, as far as anyone around the conference table knows, LeBlanc still has not returned, and with the roads becoming more and more impassable and treacherous by turns, it is increasingly unlikely that he will. But, after hearing you and the Sheriff speak about the man, Parasol announces that if he ever does show up, him and his wife would be accepted as members in a heartbeat.

A couple other people have questions, and once they are answered, Parasol dismisses everyone after informing them that the minutes for this meeting will be available at the next full meeting of the Steering Committee, tentatively scheduled a week from now. Hmm – that is not exactly optimal. You were hoping to get a copy sooner, in lieu of notes that you would otherwise be taking. Ah well, you should not complain – if you were so inclined, that would be a perfect excuse to introduce yourself to that redhead in the orange provisional member jacket. But to focus on more important – and less dangerous – matters, before the room completely clears out, you find an unexpected opportunity to call over and briefly speak with someone you might not have spoken to otherwise …

>Please choose ONE of the following, writing in if there is anything specific you would like to talk to them about:
>John McLaughlin - Firefighting Chief
>Colby Morton - Cafeteria Chief
>Issac Vittum – Mitigation Chief
>Actually, you don't bother. You have more important things to do.

>>4641627
>>Actually, you don't bother. You have more important things to do.
Lets go get our Dialysis over with, then we can address the situation with Norton.

>>4641627
>John McLaughlin - Firefighting Chief

Ask about getting some firefighting gear assigned to the homestead as we are currently the only food producer for the Lakers?

>Issac Vittum – Mitigation Chief

I have no idea what a Mitigation chief is and I'm a bit curious. Should we be talking to someone soon about Mantle's Mom's meds while Parasol is here or maybe trading a bucket of crabs for a nice pair of trucks for Fleckers and Gunther or a 22lr pistol for Mantle?

>John McLaughlin - Firefighting Chief

>>4641914
>>4641697
>>4641671
>>4641640
I am about to fall asleep, so I will keep this one open until tomorrow, but I will clarify that the Mitigation Chief is responsible for cleaning up fallout and volcanic ash, as well mitigating the risks that they pose. The decontamination vestibules, for example, were one of Vittum's first recommendations to the group. I figured I would just clarify this, in case it changed anyone's vote.

...that does actually change my vote, I'm curious if he has any quick advice about how to best avoid the risks, where it's safe to keep animals, etc.
>Issac Vittum – Mitigation Chief

>>4642113
+1, talking to Mr. Science man might smarten us up a bit.

>>4642192
>>4642113
>>4641914
>>4641697
>>4641671
>>4641640
Alright - consider this closed. I will get to writing this one up.

As everyone was filing out of the room, there was one guy who decided to avoid the ‘crush’ at the doors and waltzed over to see if there were any refreshments left back here. Seeing an opportunity to network, you introduced yourself, and in turn, the man introduced himself as Issac – with two s’s and one a – Vittum, the Mitigation Chief. Without prompting, he explains that his ‘department’ is responsible for cleaning up volcanic ash and fallout, as well as developing practices and equipment to protect – or rather, to mitigate – any and all ill-effects from that stuff. Apparently he was the one who came up with the idea of the decontamination vestibules, and he was the one who created the instructions for the do-it-yourself Improvised Outerwear that everyone was wearing. And when you mention that you did not even know that there were official instruction on how to make the stuff, his hands go to the pockets of his fleece, but to his surprise, he comes up empty.

“I could have sworn I still had a few left. Whatever – I got some more in my room – 245, in the third block. Swing by before you head home, and I can get you a couple for you and your people.”

It is a generous offer, and even if it might be unnecessary as you and your Homestead are all outfitted already, and presumably already got the instructions you take him up on it, partly to be polite, partly so you can talk to him again and partly so you can see what the blocks look like. As you accept his offer, you notice him glancing at your hands. When you catch his eyes, he has the good grace to look embarrassed for ‘gawking’ – even if it was really nothing. After a rushed apology;

“The Guard really did a number on you, huh?”

“… eah, they certainly did.”

Strangely, the man looks really uncomfortable, more than you would be if you got caught rubbernecking at someone’s injury. But before you can decide if it is worth asking about, Vittum explains.

“I, uh, I got a cousin in the Guard. Stationed in Bangor, with the 1st Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment.”

Ah, that was it. You explain to him that the Guardsmen that worked you over were from Waterville, not Bangor, and you can see the relief just wash over him. It is understandable, you suppose, to be glad that one of your relatives were not directly involved in torturing people. Of course, this ultimately changes nothing – the Guard is still the enemy. It does raise an alarming point however: Spry and the 488th Military Police Company were not from Bangor – they were originally stationed in Waterville. You had not given it any thought, but other companies from around the state could have been marshaled to garrison Bangor and protect the Bangor International Airport – which was so valuable because it could accommodate strategic nuclear bombers, as well as low orbital craft and even certain types of spaceships.

>>4642611
What you are getting at here is that there might be more Guardsmen in Bangor than you previously thought … and who knows what the Hell could fly in there? If there was still a United States government out there, is it possible that they are still capable of supplying their men in Bangor by air? Unlikely, but it is an uncomfortable thought, all the same. Trying to focus on more pressing, practical matters, you ask Vittum for any advice that he might have on keeping animals under these current conditions. After asking some pointed questions about your animals and the setup you have, he gives a fairly pessimistic answer.

“If the animal or its fodder is outside – even if it is being kept under a tarp, in a barn or in one of those … what did you call them … paddocks? That is not going to be enough to keep the animals or the feed clean. You need to understand – fallout and volcanic ash are … for the sake of discussion here, think of it as a type of dirt. Dangerous, lethal dirt. So, if dirt from the outside can get in to where you keep your animals or your food, then that means that fallout or ash can as well. And if it can, then it will – and you only need a little bit of it to cause health issues.”

“Well how on Earth am I supposed to run a farm that doesn’t get dirty?”

“No – you are missing the point. So long as the dirt from inside and the dirt from outside are kept separate, there is no problem – at least with fallout or ash. Just – Here, how about I plan on sending someone over to your Homestead soon, to make some recommendations on how to keep your operation safe and clean?”

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>That sounds good, we should be able to squeeze them in on (write in when you want your visitor)
>That sounds good, but we are a bit busy right now. Can I get back to you with a date later?

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Dialysis next.
>Norton next.

>>4642614
>That sounds good, we should be able to squeeze them in on (write in when you want your visitor)
>Dialysis next.

>>4642622
in three days time

>>4642622
sounds good to me. supporting

>>4642622
I also support this.

>>4642751
>>4642691
>>4642624
>>4642622
Alright, consider this one closed. I will try to get something out for an overnight vote, or failing that, something first thing tomorrow morning.

>>4643180
Running behind my own schedule - I will get the post up as soon as I can. But before that, I realized I need some rolls, to make sure we get down the stairs safely. Just as before - I need two rolls of 1d100. Don't roll a 1 2 or 3 on either of them, or you will take an additional injury.

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>4644111

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>4644111

File: This is what you got.jpg (13 KB, 350x299)

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You will accept all of the help you can get – so you tell him to send someone over three days from now. Once that has been settled, seeing that the ‘crush’ at the door has passed, Vittum excuses himself and heads out. By this point, the conference room is empty, and for a second you start to worry that you were forgotten, before a Guard with three other non-uniformed group members – no, with three non-uniformed Lakers in tow, comes in to take you down the stairs. You tell them about your bucket full of crabs that are still very definitely alive, and one of them says that he will make a second trip back, after you are safe and secure on the first floor, in your gurney. After they extricate you from the snack table, you are hauled out of the room swiftly, and before you know it, you are going down those damnable stairs again. While you do not consider being hauled up or hauled down a flight of stairs a comfortable or stress-free experience, you would have to say that going down them does seem much less harrowing than going up. The descent itself seems to be much faster than the ascent – and almost before you know it, you are being slid off of that antique and back into the stiff, uncomfortable and thoroughly welcomed embrace of your stolen hospital bed. By the time you have been strapped in and adequately draped with the Improvised Outwear, the guy who promised to get your bucket of crabs has returned, and gingerly places it between your feet, as the Guard who brought you down, along with the Guard who was left in the lobby of the ‘Club House’ as the coat-check, carefully fit your face mask and respirator around your neck brace.

Apparently, Gunther and Tolle already set up the dialysis machine in the Infirmary, and are still in there, waiting for you – as well as the fat fuck on duty, Big Nate. As the Guard from upstairs and the volunteers cart you over there, you find yourself reflecting on your relationship with Mr. Butterball. You are being honest when you say that there was no real inciting incident between the two of you – at least, not that you are aware of. You just … rubbed each other the wrong way. And that would have been the extent of it, had Forsythe not used his position in his day job at the Consolidated Mooseleg Municipal Dump to make things difficult for you. Every opening he got to mess with you, from getting cute with the tipping fees, to making you go through a load bit by bit to ensure that it ‘was not contaminated’. The worst was when he started using regulations – some obscure, others simply fabricated on the spot – against you by refusing to accept certain pieces of trash for a bevy of dogshit reasons – like not accepting anything into the incinerator that was made in China because of fear of lead poisoning, so you would have to shift through an entire truckfull of trash to separate out the chink shit.

File: Thesaurus.jpg (149 KB, 461x768)

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>>4644476
If his boss, Emmanuel was there, he let it go a little bit, no doubt enjoying the show, but in the end he would always do the right thing, and tell the fatso to take the load. But when Emmanuel was elsewhere, there was no one to appeal anything to, so to save yourself the time and cost of hauling everything elsewhere, you would have to jump through whatever hoops Big Nate had thought up. Most of the time, it was just stupid shit – annoying pranks – but there was one time that he really went too far. After a full day of backbreaking labor, you arrived with a massive load – the bed of the truck with the plywood box on and the trailer filled to the brim – and to your dismay, Emmanuel was nowhere to be seen. Big Nate waddled on over, and after what could not even be called a ‘cursory glance’ declared that he could not accept a single piece of your trash today, as there was a quote-unquote “unusual redolence of an unknown provenance”. You were so worn down by the days work, that after only a few minutes of beating your head against a fat wall trying to convince him to reverse his decision and just accept the load, you threw in the towel and just drove on. It wasn’t until after you had offloaded the trash at another dump an hour or so later – for significantly more money than you would have paid in Debouche – that you started to wonder just what the fuck ‘redolence’ even means.

Smell. ‘Redolence’ means smell.

That fat fucking comedian. Not accepting trash because it smells – and on top of that, the load didn’t even smell in the first place! It was almost entirely building debris. That stunt – ooh! Eighty dollars extra to get rid of the stuff at another dump, plus another hour and a half of your time … not to mention the wear and tear on Farm Truck. You resolved that he would never get another by you again – so the next time you showed up to the Consolidated Mooseleg Municipal Dump, you brought a binder with all of the rules, regulations and memoranda … and a thesaurus. In retrospect, the thesaurus might have been a bit much – considering how hard Big Nate laughed when he saw it, it must have been the funniest thing he ever saw, someone bringing a thesaurus with them to make sure they do not get duped. He got mileage on that one, too. The next time you showed up, without one, of course, Big Nate had one on hand to offer you. Then he started mailing them to you, and when he finally ran out of thesauruses to spam you with, he just sent random reference texts instead, like pocket dictionaries or English to Finnish, stuff like that. All of them had ‘to improve your vocabulary’ written in big black Sharpie on the inside of the front cover. And every time you got one of them, you were back at the dump with that fat bastard’s baritone laughter burning your ears.

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>>4644487
Blessedly, when you finally arrive in the Infirmary, he is not there. It is about dinner time, after all. You take a moment to enjoy the mental image of Big Nate suffering on a 400 calorie diet, before Gunther rolls you into position by the machine, and asks you if you need the men who pushed you over here for anything else. Snapping out of it, you say that you do not, thank them for their help and then, feeling kind of awkward, you thank them again as they leave. Tolle is sitting a chair nearby – sleeping so heavily that your arrival did not even wake him. After a moment of fiddling, the dialysis machine lights up – the only thing that is ‘on’ in the entire Infirmary, it looks like. Just like in the conference room, the lights are left off, and with the barred and plated windows blocking most of what limited sunlight is left this late in the day, the room is in a similar state of near-gloom. In a moment, Gunther has you hooked up and the machine pumping steadily away. While still looking at the machine, he speaks to you over his shoulder.

“Alright – well, it is going to be about two hours to work through today’s treatment. I know there were things you wanted to do and people you wanted to see – but dialysis is going to grind you down a bit. It won’t like … knock you out or anything, but it isn’t going to be pleasant either. So, whadda want to do?”

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Tolle seems to have the right idea. Now that the expedition has been delayed, no one is going anywhere. Just sleep.
>We are still on a tight time table to Greenly and his crabs back to the Homestead before they start dying off. Send Tolle to find Bennett Decoteau – the Motor Pool boss.
>While I wouldn’t want to deal with anyone on the Steering Committee in this condition, I think I could manage talking to Norton, if Tolle could find him.
>Actually, I had something else in mind … (write-in)

>Tolle seems to have the right idea. Now that the expedition has been delayed, no one is going anywhere. Just sleep.

As much as I hate to waste an opportunity to get stuff done, might as well sleep through this.

>>4644490
>Tolle seems to have the right idea. Now that the expedition has been delayed, no one is going anywhere. Just sleep.
more importantly, let Tolle have his sleep too. shouldn't abuse the man too much.

>>4644490
>>Tolle seems to have the right idea. Now that the expedition has been delayed, no one is going anywhere. Just sleep.
Tolle's been diligent. Let him nod off, finally

>>4644665
>>4644605
>>4644524
Alright - that settles it. Time for some sleep.

You are tired. It is hard to admit, especially considering that you really have not done anything beyond just talk, but with the rhythmic pulsing of the dialysis machine to your right softly lulling, you decide that Tolle has the right idea. You tell Gunther that you are going to try to catch some more sleep. He smiles and nods at that, then quietly brings over a seat so he can stay by the machine. The nap that follows is deep and dreamless, and it seems that you woke up as soon as you fell asleep. However, there are two clues that time has in fact passed. The first is that the room is dark – the sun has set and with it, all light has left the Infirmary. The second is that you are racked with several new discomforts that were not there before going out. Cramping is the most noticeable – it feels like you have Charlie-Horses in both of your legs. After that is some serious nausea, serious enough that you can feel bile rising. Finally, there is a sense of wooziness, or lightheadedness – probably something to do with the dialysis affecting blood pressure.

Now, all of these are small potatoes compared to the aches and pains of your more serious injuries, but … you really were not expecting to wake up after your nap feeling worse than you did before. You try to set aside your discomfort and frustration, and focus on how much of a blessing it is that you even have a dialysis machine and a nurse to run it for you – but, if you are being honest, you still feel pretty fucking miffed. Pushing your selfishness aside, you notice that the machine itself still appears to be pumping, which means that it has not been the two full hours yet. You shift in the bed as much as you dare with the line still in, to surveil the darkened Infirmary. Tolle is still sleeping in the chair opposite the machine, but Gunther is not in the one he brought over next to it. Well, you are not particularly worried at that, as these machines run themselves well enough that one trained nurse is enough to tend several of them at once – clearly the machines do not need to be ‘mother henned’. Your reflections on the capabilities of these particular machines, however, are cut short when you hear movement in what you judge to be the near right corner of the infirmary, just outside of your field of vision, restrained as it is by the brace immobilizing your neck. However, before you can decide on calling out ‘who’s there’ or not, Big Nate waddles into your line of sight. Of fucking course – it was too much to hope for that he would just … not be here.

>>4645159
That said, the bastard is not antagonizing you – beyond giving you a shit-eating grin when he sees that you are awake. A minute or so passes, but Big Nate seems to just be doing his own thing; now that you can get a good look at him, you notice that he is carrying around a clip board, and seems to be taking an inventory of the loose stuff in the drawers and cabinets around the room. For a big guy, he is surprisingly quiet on his feet – practically silent, really. As he continues with whatever it is that he is doing, you find yourself wondering what you should be doing right now. You intended to wake up with the dialysis complete and with Gunther and Tolle ready for fresh orders – this has kind of thrown you for an unexpected loop.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Try once more to sleep through the rest of the dialysis.
>Wake up Tolle and give him instructions to go find Norton
>Wake up Tolle and give him instructions to reach out to the Motor Pool
>Call over Big Nate and (write-in)

>>4645160
>Silently remain awake, mentally cataloging and scheduling tasks for the days ahead to make sure there are no obvious scheduling conflicts or things you are forgetting and then otherwise quietly organizing your thoughts and feelings.

>>4645172
+1. Getting an in character reminder of what's on the agenda for these next few days could be pivotal.

>Silently remain awake, mentally cataloging and scheduling tasks for the days ahead to make sure there are no obvious scheduling conflicts or things you are forgetting and then otherwise quietly organizing your thoughts and feelings.
this sounds helpful

>>4645172
+1. I don't want to wake Tolle, I don't want to talk to Big Nate and I certainly don't want to sleep with that asshole in the room and Gunther MIA.

>>4645365
>>4645205
>>4645196
>>4645172
Alright, that sounds good too. Can I get a roll of 1d6 and one roll of 5d20 for a Mental test to see how well you organize things. If you manage to break CR 55, then you will have a slightly easier time of outfitting your expedition to Greenly's.

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4645650

Rolled 17, 15, 6, 7, 11 = 56 (5d20)

If you are awake, you should stay awake – even if the dialysis machine seems Hell-bent on making consciousness a miserable experience for you. Deciding that your time here would be better spent organizing, you try to mentally catalog and schedule everything you need to do in the days ahead. Your immediate concern is that there is a conflict someone with something. Lets see here – today is the first of November, a Sunday. You have until two in the afternoon tomorrow to get to Greenly before his generators run out of fuel and his crabs start to die off; in addition to that, there will be some people coming by to pull or dig your tank-thing out, and see if they can get it operational. The day after that, Tuesday, is when the expedition into the Northwoods is scheduled to leave – at daybreak. Beyond that – you have the meeting with Vittum’s guy three days from now, Wednesday … and someone is going to be coming by at some point to collect your ‘tax’. Oh, and there is your new standing commitment to start looting and knocking down abandoned buildings. You take a good long minute, trying to remember if you made any other commitments outside of the ones you have on your Homestead, but when nothing else comes to you, you pivot to trying to schedule out your time to make all of these possible.

((17 * 0.75) – 4) = 8.75
((15 * 0.75) – 4) = 7.25
((6 * 0.75) – 4) = 0.5
((7 * 0.75) – 4) = 1.25
((11* 0.75) – 4) = 4.25
= 22

22 < 55 Test Failed – Second Degree Failure.

You are acutely aware that you have never been particularly good at planning. To work around this, you usually tried to plan things so you could start a job, finish the job, and then move on to the next one. When you have, in the past, tried to schedule things so you are working on two jobs at once, it … it just does not work for you. People who knew you – like LeBlanc, for example – would say that you got lost in the weeds really easily. So, it really comes as no surprise to you that all this exercise feels like is just banging your head against a wall. There is one saving grace here – all of these things have hard and fast deadlines. You know, at the very least, that there are no conflicts in the sense that you are expected to be in two places at the same time. Beyond that … while you are almost certain that you can make this work, as far as making an itinerary to get all of this done, nothing is really coming to you. Might have helped if you had paper – if your fingers were still broken. Also, it might have helped if you were not constantly on the verge of vomiting. Jesus Christ, how long is this going to take?

>>4646434
But the miserable time you spent here was not a complete waste – at the very least, you reminded yourself on what you wanted to do here at Mt. Kineo tonight. You wanted to talk to Norton, and wanted to secure fuel, generators, and box trucks for your expedition to Greenly’s farm. There might have been some other things that you wanted for the expedition … but right now you are drawing a blank. Hopefully, you can remember before you have to head out tomorrow. You are drawn out of your thoughts by the sound of a door opening – and Gunther walking in, carrying a tray in his hands with a hard plastic cover on top. When he speaks, he does so in a normal volume, enough to rouse Tolle awake.

“Ah, thought I could get back before you got up. Those crabs – one of them was already dead and the other two were dying, so I made an executive decision to have them cooked. Hope that is alright. You probably aren’t in the mood for food right now, but I figured that we could use the third crab to … what’s the phrase, grease some palms?”

Sparing your ‘rival’ a glance, from what you can see in the gloom of his reaction to all of this, Forsythe looks scandalized – but the fat fuck bites his tongue. Meanwhile, Tolle is wide awake now, and when Gunther lifts the lid off the tray, and steam and smells hit you, he treats you all to one of his disturbingly toothy smiles. Making a point of not staring, you look at the crabs and consider Gunther’s suggestion. He is right, you are in no condition to be eating anything – which is a shame, because it really smells great. You have had lobster before – obviously – but you have never had crab. After giving Tolle his plate, Gunther covers up the tray and checks the machine before announcing that you have just a few minutes left, then you will be all done. As Tolle and Gunther dig in – and Forsythe leaves in a huff – you can contemplate your next move here. The obvious thing would be to find Norton before it gets any later – presumably, the motor pool has someone working a night shift, so that should be able to wait.

Having decided on dealing with the Norton situation, you realize you need to decide how you want to resolve the Norton situation. While the man was a real asset when those prowlers came by, and as a Firefighter, he has a bevy of useful skills and connections, he also … you still do not know what exactly the situation is with him, and the food. Fleckkers and Tolle both thought that he might be abusing the situation to get meals at Mt. Kineo and at your Homestead – which is considered to be stealing food, effectively a capital crime. Of course, you do not have anyway to prove that, and even if you did, you have no real reason to want him executed or exiled – especially because his family would probably be kicked out as well. What do you want here?

>>4646437
>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Clearly, this is not working. Thank him for everything he did for you, but cut him loose.
>Bring him in and let him speak in his own defense – make a decision afterwards.
>Bring him in and dictate your terms (write-in your terms) to him, and then make him make the decision.
>Actually, just ignore him for now. You have more important things to do.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Have Norton brought to you in the Infirmary. (Confront him alone)
>Have yourself brought to Norton in his “apartment”. (Possibly confront him in front of his family)

>Bring him in and let him speak in his own defense – make a decision afterwards.
>Have Norton brought to you in the Infirmary. (Confront him alone)

Hate to even spend time on this but there will likely never be a "good" time.

>>4646453
+1

>Bring him in and let him speak in his own defense – make a decision afterwards.
>Have Norton brought to you in the Infirmary. (Confront him alone)

>>4646453
+1

>>4646453
+1

>>4646910
>>4646886
>>4646789
>>4646489
>>4646453
Alright - consider this one closed. I should get the next post out in the early afternoon.

“Tolle, when you are done with your dinner here, could you track down Norton? I would like to … figure out where he stands. It would be nice to able to get this situation resolved, one way or another before we head back to the Homestead.” With his mouth full of crab (and closed thankfully enough), your hired man nods, and resumes chewing. It is an awkward affair – Tolle and Gunther are sitting right at your right and left, respectively, and eating what looks and smells to be an incredible meal. And you are just stuck in between the two of them, trying to not vomit. You could tell them to take it elsewhere, but that would look really weak. So, you just sit there, and eventually Tolle finishes up and heads off, leaving you alone with Gunther. He finishes eating in silence, and once he is done, he disconnects you from the machine. After going a little bit longer without saying anything, he finally asks how you are feeling after the treatment. You mention the cramps in your legs, and the nausea – he nods at that, and then gets up, looks around the room for a minute, then returns to your beside with a blood pressure cuff. Whatever reading that he gets off of it does not seem to be any cause for alarm – at least, you do not think so. He is not saying anything. Did something happen while you were gone? Is he still tired? You are not sure, but even your limited intuition is picking up on something. Under normal circumstances, you would just ask about it, clear the air as soon as you can – but these are not normal circumstances. You are going to be dealing with Norton momentarily, and you do not want to stop a heart-to-heart with Gunther to deal with your ‘third wheel’ – it could send conflicting messages to your guest. Nah – one thing at a time. Norton, then the outfitting for your expedition, and then if and only if the ‘mood’ is right, a talk with Gunther.

But of course, it would never be that easy. After trying and sort of succeeding in engaging Gunther in small talk for a couple of minutes, Tolle returns. Alone. Alone and looking exhausted all over again.

“Uh … he isn’t here. After your meeting started, there was a call for Firefighters – apparently the group acquired a trainload of crude oil, and they wanted to make sure that the stretches of track that they are stashing them on have proper firebreaks and defense against Firebugs and stuff. I spoke with Midge – his missus – and she doesn’t know when he’ll be back. But she made a point of mentioning that he was personally asked to go, by Marty, John’s number two.”

>>4647936
You do not know who Marty is, but you do know than John McLaughlin is the Lakers’ Firefighting Chief. But even if he was asked to waltz off to inspect the crude oil caches, this is getting ridiculous. How long are you going to keep chasing after this guy? At this point, you are seriously considering the possibility that he is actively trying to hide from you – which makes Fleckkers’ hypothesis and Tolle’s fears about him ‘double dipping’ into the food supply using his currently indeterminate living arrangements as a cover seem more and more credible. But all of this leaves you where?

“Tolle, if he knew he was going to be gone, did he, like … write a letter, or leave a message for me with this wife of his?”

Your hired man just shakes his head. God damn it – Norton is really putting you through the ringer here. Whether or not the man is trying to avoid you right now, you are just about ready to completely cut him off right now. But … you are acutely aware that the objectively worst thing you can do right now is cut your nose off to spite your face. You are frustrated – and miserable after a round of dialysis. Perhaps you should hold off on any drastic decisions until you recover some composure. Or alternatively, you could take this opportunity to learn a bit more about the situation by sending for ‘Midge’. As Tolle had pointed out two days ago – the situation might be more complicated than it seems. If there is more to this – something nefarious …

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Send Tolle to tell ‘management’ that Norton is fired.
>Send for ‘Midge’ and question her about Norton.
>Forget this nonsense for now, and shift gears to outfitting the expedition.

Hey guys - really sorry for the delays here today. Fitting this in between classes is proving more difficult than it was this Fall. I still intend to put out at least one post a day, but going forward I am going to avoid saying when specifically to expect the posts, because I end up missing my deadlines more often than not, and I don't want to jerk anyone around.

>>4647949
>>Forget this nonsense for now, and shift gears to outfitting the expedition.
If he didn't include his wife in this with any instructions after he went off (supposedly) then bothering her further probably wouldn't be fruitful. He might have not even let her in on the whole situation. While the fuckaround is tiresome, lets just cut him some slack and wait until he's available. Shit, how many days has it even been since the strike? And how many days had he even stayed at the homestead? Like, 3 max? Lets focus on more pressing matters.
>spoiler
No worries, man. This definitely is my favorite quest currently running, but if you're busy you're busy. Thanks for running all in all. I should say so more often, but often forget or am sleeping through things.

>Forget this nonsense for now, and shift gears to outfitting the expedition.

We'll bump into this guy at some point

>Forget this nonsense for now, and shift gears to outfitting the expedition.

>>4647949
>Forget this nonsense for now, and shift gears to outfitting the expedition.
next time he shows up at the homestead have him brought to us immediately.

>>4648457
>>4648233
>>4648008
>>4648007
With a lead like this, I don't see any reason to keep this open. I will get to writing.

Now wait a minute – you need to calm down before you start catastrophizing. First, you need to remember that you do not even know what the rules even are on this - it is entirely possible that Norton has done nothing wrong. Second, you need to recognize the fact that the man has a family – and he is going to put them first. Which is why when you originally asked for people to keep an eye on the Homestead … and Fleckkers, you asked for a couple of guys without families. The only reason that you wound up with Norton is because the original guy – Lieutenant Reitz, one of the eight you rescued from the prisoner transport – was killed in the ambush at the Boat House by the Firebugs. And Norton was the one who stepped up to replace him. Could that be the issue? That he thinks of himself as a neighbor doing you a favor, instead of an employee of yours? That would explain why he is so comfortable just flitting in and out, why he does not feel the need check in with you or why he does not even owe you explanations for his absences. Well, whatever is actually going through his head is immaterial at the moment. He is not here, and considering the circumstances, you are probably not going to be seeing him tonight. While there is a part of you that would be fine with just cutting him off right now, you remind yourself that you should not make a call like that until you actually talk to the man.

After taking a moment to compose your thoughts, you ask if Tolle could head over to the Motor Pool – you would need to talk to someone about getting box trucks and fuel for them, the generators, and anything else you decide to take over. Of course, there are a lot of decisions that need to be made here, but they all depend on what is available to you and what they cost. Cost as in ‘operational’ and ‘opportunity’ cost, of course – as far as you are concerned, you have already paid for this expedition by handing over your tank-thing. And if the rest of the group did not see it that way, then you will just have to make them see reason. Hopefully.

Tolle departs, and once again, you are left with Gunther. Who still seems to be acting kind of … your are not even sure how you would describe it. Did something happen when you were in your meeting that upset him? You do not even know for sure if he is upset or just tired still – you cannot see that well. The Infirmary is dark, and even after your eyes have adjusted to it, you cannot see much more than grayscale outlines and shadows with the little bit of light coming in from the barred and plated windows. (Is it moonlight, or is there an electrical light on somewhere?) If something is bother Gunther, you would want to know – even if it was just him being tired, so you could tell him to take another nap. A minute, then another pass. Then two more. All of them in silence.

>>4648937
At this point, you think Gunther has fallen asleep again, judging by the angle of his head over the back of the chair, but you are not sure.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Potentially wake Gunther up and ask if everything is alright.
>Let Gunther get rest (if that is what he is doing), ask if everything is alright later.

>Also, I need 1d3 to determine your bonus/malus to your modifier roll (1 is -1, 2 is nothing, 3 is +1) as well as a roll of 1d50 to determine how much equipment is currently available to you (higher is better).

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4648941
>Let Gunther get rest (if that is what he is doing), ask if everything is alright later.
One thing after another.

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>4648941
Sorry, you asked for d3, did a d6 out of habit.

Rolled 5 (1d50)

>>4648941
>>Let Gunther get rest (if that is what he is doing), ask if everything is alright later.

>Potentially wake Gunther up and ask if everything is alright.

>>4648961
>>4648964
>>4649026
>>4649057
Seven hours is long enough - consider this one closed.

>>4649470
>Roll of 2 on 1d3: No bonus or malus applied based on disposition.
>Roll of 5 on 1d50: Serious availability issues hamper your expedition.

You decide against speaking up – if Gunther is asleep, then you do not want to wake him up, and if he is awake, you do not want to start an important conversation just to cut it off when Tolle shows up with the representative from the Motor Pool. So time passes in silence, until it is finally broken by two pairs of approaching footfalls. As the door to the infirmary is opened, you are pleasantly surprised to see that Tolle is carrying an electric camp lantern as he ushers in the kind of seedy looking fellow behind him. As your eyes adjust back to the presence of light, you try to get a good look at the guy, but as you blink away the spots and dots you find yourself not able to place him. There is rustling, then the squeak of the chair to your left as Gunther starts to stand up, but you wave for him to sit down. The newcomer, without prompting, takes Tolle’s chair to your right. Once the Firefighter sets the electric lantern down on a bedside table, ensuring that things are illuminated, he steps back and simply remains standing. It takes you a moment to notice, as your head is still immobilized by the next brace, but the guy from the Motor Pool has a three-ringed binder open in his lap. After thumbing through it for a few more moments, he finally speaks up – straight to business, without so much as an introduction.

“Tolle here told me that you were looking for box trucks. Well, you are in luck – we have one ready for you.”

“Um – well, good … but I was hoping for a couple, Mr. …”

“Beety.”

Jesus, it is no wonder why he didn’t introduce himself with a name like that.

“Anyway, that is we have at the moment. Of our six, one is experiencing tranny troubles, and is probably going to have to be retired and parted out, another one is currently engaged by the group itself – logistics work – and three have been engaged by individual members. That leaves the one that was earmarked for you. A sixteen-foot GMC –”

“Sixteen feet? That is practically a minivan!”

At first, Beety just shrugs at that, but after getting a look at your expression, he sighs, and then deigns to explain himself.

“I get what you are doing is important. If it wasn’t, then I wouldn’t have been told to earmark anything – gas included, by the way. But I can’t just magic up bigger trucks for you – or for that matter, I can’t just take back trucks that have already been disbursed to paying members that are already out in the field.”

>>4650505
There is no question that this is not acceptable – while you only have a vague notion of how much floor space you are going to need to move Greenly’s operation, you are certain that you will need more than a single sixteen-footer to do it, unless you are willing to make several trips – which you would, if you absolutely had no way around it. But this is dogshit – you should have had the pick of the litter here … actually, you should have had the entire litter. So, what are you going to do?

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Obviously, this guy is on the night shift for a reason. Take the offered truck, and then attempt to go over his head, and send Tolle to speak to the Motor Pool Boss, Bennett Decoteau.
>Obviously, there has been a misunderstanding here somewhere. Take the offered truck, and then attempt to go way over his head, and send Tolle to speak to Parasol.
>Obviously, you have gotten as far as you are going to get with this character. Take the offered truck, ask for the names of those with the others, and attempt to track them down.
>[Bribe] Obviously, you have gotten off on the wrong foot here. Offer him your raised in Maine Maryland Blue Crab dinner – and ask if there is anyway that you can work something else out here.

>>4650508
>[Bribe] Obviously, you have gotten off on the wrong foot here. Offer him your raised in Maine Maryland Blue Crab dinner – and ask if there is anyway that you can work something else out here.

>>4650508
>>Obviously, this guy is on the night shift for a reason. Take the offered truck, and then attempt to go over his head, and send Tolle to speak to the Motor Pool Boss, Bennett Decoteau.

>>4650654
>>4650699
In case it changes anyone's votes, the bribe opens up options that would not otherwise be available, or can be used for a single +2 bonus on any Speech roll. You only have one, and it will go bad at the end of the night, so be deliberate with it.

>[Bribe] Obviously, you have gotten off on the wrong foot here. Offer him your raised in Maine Maryland Blue Crab dinner – and ask if there is anyway that you can work something else out here.

Maybe another truck is having troubles too and will be "in the shop" with us for a bit?

Actually, this could cause trouble, I'll change to
>>Obviously, this guy is on the night shift for a reason. Take the offered truck, and then attempt to go over his head, and send Tolle to speak to the Motor Pool Boss, Bennett Decoteau.

There is a yard full of vehicles, we can barter to borrow one of those probably.

>>4650894
>>4651593
>>4650699
>>4650654
So we still have a tie - no worries. I will leave this open for a little bit longer, but when I am ready to write I'll close and roll for it.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4651882
Alright - I am ready to write. Let's see which way we go.
>Roll of 1 : Bribing Beety
>Roll of 2: Bye-Bye Beety

File: Lobster Cracker.jpg (143 KB, 1000x801)

143 KB JPG

You get the sense that something has set this man against you. Perhaps it is because you called on him so late at night. Perhaps it is because other members … er, Lakers, had been pestering him about the truck that he had to set aside for you. Perhaps Tolle smiled at him, who knows? But whatever the cause, you clearly have gotten off on the wrong foot here. Thankfully, you think you have a way to get things back on track. You gesture to the covered tray.

“Have you ever had Maryland Blue Crab before, Mr. Beety?”

When he answers no, you gesture to the tray and tell him to try one. He looks surprised at the offer, but he quickly accepts, lifts the cover, and takes the third and final dish from the tray. Thankfully enough, it seems that the cover did its job – there is just a hint of steam that comes off the dish. Good thing – a cold or even room temperature meal would be a pretty lack-luster bribe. As he digs in, Gunther pipes up.

“Apparently, with crab, most people use hammers, instead of the crackers and picks you use for lobster. But when I asked around the Cafeteria, all they had was the lobster stuff – which is a bit oversize for these guys – and like, large tenderizing mallets, the kind they use on raw meat. So, I went with the lobster stuff.”

Beety is nodding along as he plows through the meal, but he is not saying anything – and while that simply could be because his mouth is full, the awkwardness of three guys just sitting around, watching another guy eat kind of gets to you, and you find yourself talking just to ‘fill the void’.

“Not as much meat on them as a lobster – and they don’t have the tails, which is the best part, as far as I am concerned – but the upside to all of that is that these bastards can be farmed.”

Beety continues to just nod along as he finishes demolishing the crab, breaking down all of the legs, and then prying away to get at the meat of the thighs on the carcass itself. Seeing this, Tolle glances back to his plate, and in a moment is trying his hand at breaking through the carcass. Finally, Beety is done, but it is a few more moments before he actually says anything.

“This was really nice – thanks for that. Now, as far as your situation with the trucks – I get it. Flatbeds are out because of everything going around in the air right now, and even if they were acceptable, they’ve all been grabbed up for this Expedition that Parasols got going on. And, this isn’t a situation where you can just throw pickup trucks at it either – on top of the fuel for all of the trucks, and pay for all of the drivers, you would need to get a generator for every single truck, and fuel it. But I think there is a way forward here. Unfortunately for me, it means me putting my ass on the line. And that is unfortunate for you, because I am not going to be taking on any risks without being compensated for it.”

>>4652209
“We got five school buses in the Motor Pool, but as to who ‘owns’ them, that is in a bit of a gray area. Peckinpaugh’s people brought them in, intending to … I think the phrase they used was ‘uparmor’ them, turn them into Improvised Troop Transports. All well and good, but those things haven’t been touched since they were parked on the 28th – which, I suppose is understandable, considering that the entire ‘Armory’ division consists of Peckinpaugh and two or three other guys. With everything going on, those guys have a lot on their plates, so if those buses that they have sort of … foisted off on another division and forgotten about, were to go ‘AWOL’ for a few hours, they probably wouldn’t even notice until they were back – and if they did, they’d have no real grounds to complain. We’re not a parking garage, after all. As long as they all made it back in one piece, this wouldn’t even be an issue.”

“So – here is the deal. You get up to five school buses – sans seats, of course – ready to go tomorrow morning. You provide the fuel. I go with you, to drive one of the buses, and keep an eye on the rest. If anything happens to any of the buses, you make it right with Peckinpaugh. In exchange, I want … ten live crabs, and if any of them die on the way to your Homestead, then I want them too. And I want a favor from you – I don’t know what specifically, but when I do, I will let you know.”

He wipes his hand on his pants, then offers it to you.

“That sound good?”

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>“Maybe I should talk to Peckinpaugh about this.”
>“I don’t know if I like the sound of that favor. Could we do this without it?”
>“Well, how about … [Speech-Rhetoric Test to reduce the cost]

>>4652212
>Well, how about...


If I'm supposed to roll for the check, sorry, I didn't see how I was supposed to. New to this quest.
Peckinpaugh will have to cope.

>>4652212
>>“Well, how about … [Speech-Rhetoric Test to reduce the cost]
5 live crabs. As well as those that die on the way over. We haven’t even seen the crab operation Greenly has, 10 fucking crabs could hamper the whole thing. Lets put the new Speech skill to the test.

I’m phone posting, am the asshole that rolled the 5 that got us into this crab deal in the first place. Haven’t dropped the quest or anything, Icestorm knocked out the power to my place, and the power of a load of other people. County wide, 60% don’t have power, I don’t expect to have power back up at my place for a while. Generator won’t run my PC, and there are essential things elsewhere to run otherwise. Internet works some fucking how, would’ve posted earlier but I’m banned on mobile. And speaking of gennys, these things are fucking LOUD. I can’t speak for a gasifier, but we’re probably going to attract some unwelcome attention to the homestead, on top of Fleckkers shooting that guy who was trying to stab Dander, we’re probably a good looking target. Sole food producer of the Lakers, with a sustainable and presumably loud power source. Tons of disgruntled people around the lake, and people who may have known the stiff. Potentially 2 dead guys, iirc, didn’t one other get shot but got away? We got our work on defenses cut out for us. Not good. Maybe we could consult Tinn?

>“Well, how about … [Speech-Rhetoric Test to reduce the cost]
10 live crabs and 10 lbs. Of moose meat.

>>4652212
>>4652382
I think 10 live crabs is a bit greedy and pointless, but he can have the dead ones for all i care - we're mostly concerned about the breeding stock. Let him have some of the moose meat.

>>4652338
Welcome aboard! As a rule (at least in this quest) rolling is done after voting, because if you could roll before voting, then anons would just choose whatever decision got the best rolls. It would sort of defeat the purpose.

>>4652368
Okay, one vote for 5 live crabs and the ones that die on the way over. Glad to hear that your still with us, despite inclement weather (and inclement rolls).

As far as generators being made louder by gasifiers, I haven't read anything about that, so I am going to assume based off of what I know about them that they do not.

As far as the noise of generators, constantly running, attracting unwanted attention ... suffice to say that is a very valid concern, though it is somewhat mitigated by the relative remoteness of the Homestead (remember, it is an absolute rat's nest of roads to get to your place).

As far as the prowlers that you fought off (who are almost certainly not Firebugs), you are correct. There was one confirmed kill and questionable one.

And as far as reaching out to Tinn goes, that is a big fat question mark.

>>4652382
One vote for 10 live crabs, 10 pounds of moose meat (and none of the dead crabs?)

>>4652470
One vote for no live crabs, some (lets call it 10 pounds of) moose meat, and the dead crabs.

So I'm going to leave this up for a little bit longer while I eat dinner - hopefully we get a consensus before ... say 9:15 pm, Eastern Standard Time. If there isn't one by then, then I will roll for it so I have a chance of getting a post up overnight.

>>4652490
How about a compromise? Five live crabs, any that die on the way, ten pounds of moose meat, and we don't owe him a favor.

>>4652512
I like this. I’ll support it.

>>4652212
>“Maybe I should talk to Peckinpaugh about this.”

With out luck one of the buses will probably die or get wrecked and how would we feel if some asshole rented out our stuff while we weren't looking?

And a note, just got out of the hospital after 4 days and I am glad we are still rolling like crap.

>>4652558
>>4652556
>>4652529
>>4652512
>>4652470
>>4652382
>>4652368

So we are trying for five live crabs, ten pounds of moose meat, any that die on the way, and not owing him the favor. The 'not owing him the favor' is going to be expensive. Here is the break down:

CR 66 and up: You get everything you asked for.

CR 50-65: You can choose between:
5 live crabs, all of the die off, and 20 pounds of meat with no favor,
No live crabs, all of the die off, and 25 pounds of meat with no favor.
(or No Deal)

CR 36-49:You can choose between:
5 live crabs, all of the die off, and 30 pounds of meat with no favor
No live crabs, all of the die off, 35 pounds of meat with the favor.
(or No Deal)

CR 35 or lower: You can not budge him - either accept his terms, or walk away.

Note: The 800 pound bull should dress out to about 320 pounds of meat, of which you have more than 300 pounds remaining on ice in your bathtub.

Also note: While all animals will dress out at slightly different percentages, for simplicities sake, in this Quest, we will say that the take home weight of all animals including humans is 40% of the live weight of that animal.

>>4652556
Now that would just be terrible, wouldn't it?

Alright - enough delay. I need 1 roll of 1d6 (which receives a +2 bonus because of the bribe) and 1 roll of 5d20.

>>4652639
Do you add the bonus or do we to the d6?

Rolled 16, 5, 1, 8, 1 = 31 (5d20)

>>4652646
trying this roll again

>>4652646
Players would roll the 1d6 and the 5d20, then I would calculate their score.

Also, oof. But don't worry. If whoever rolls the 1d6 gets it high enough, we still should be able to break 35.

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4652673
Yeah...I was going to let someone else roll that since I already seem to have the curse of the thread rolls, but here goes to keep things moving.

>>4652692
Phew. Down to that wire.

>>4652646
>>4652649
>>4652692
>>4652694
Alright - lets see.

6 (from 4+2) on the Tier II Modifier Table is x1.250

(16 * 1.250) + 0.5) = 20.500
(5 * 1.250) + 0.5) = 6.750
(1 * 1.250) + 0.5) = 1.750
(8 * 1.250) + 0.5) = 10.500
(1 * 1.250) + 0.5) = 1.750

CR 41.250 > 35 Passed!
CR 41.250 < 50 Failed!
CR 41.250 < 65 Failed!

Alright, after some back and forth, you have the following three options:
>5 live crabs, all of the die off, and 30 pounds of meat with no favor
>No live crabs, all of the die off, 35 pounds of meat with the favor.
>Simply say 'No Deal' and walk away. (Your 'bribe' is not refunded)

>>4652765
I'm thinking long term here, we go hopeful and choose the second option:
>No live crabs, all of the die off, 35 pounds of meat with the favor.
It sucks to lose so much extra meat, but we don't know how many crabs will even survive, so it would be nice not to have to give the first 5 to him.

>5 live crabs, all of the die off, and 30 pounds of meat with no favor

>>4652765
>No live crabs, all of the die off, 35 pounds of meat with the favor.
give him the shitty parts of the moose and hope he chokes on the dead crabs

>>4652765
>Simply say 'No Deal' and walk away. (Your 'bribe' is not refunded)
>Talk to Peckinpaugh

>Simply say 'No Deal' and walk away. (Your 'bribe' is not refunded)
>Talk to Peckinpaugh

Its not an aweful deal but that he wants the die off makes him more invested in our failure than success.

>>4652807
>>4652827
>>4653029
>>4653305
>>4653491
I am going to leave this until 1:15pm EST, for a tiebreaker or for someone to change their vote. If that doesn't happen, then as much as I hate to roll for something like this, when the two choices are so radically different, I am going to have to - don't want to burn any more daylight.

>>4653554
>>4653029
Switching to no deal. Maybe my IP has changed but its me.

Alright - consider this closed. I will get to writing.

>>4653649
God … that offer does sound pretty good, excluding the bit about the favor. And it would be better if you could talk him down to five crabs instead of ten, considering you do not even know how many there are, let alone how many you are going to be able to bring back. Unfortunately, by Beety’s own admission, those buses are not his to rent you – they belong to Peckinpaugh and the Armory. If anything happened, if they got damaged or broke down, or what … you certainly could not replace them. Suddenly it dawns on you what exactly you have been seriously considering here, and your nausea worsens noticeably. Perhaps it is not as bad as selling stolen property, in a practical sense – but as far as ethics are concerned, by offering the buses for rent to you, Beety is effectively stealing them. What kind of hypocrite would you be, if hours after that sappy speech you gave Reaves, you turned around and started playing the same games with other people’s property that he was? Hell, as far as you are concerned, considering how long it took you to realize this, and how seriously you were considering it, you are a hypocrite. Well, that ends here. It might make this a bit more complicated, but you are going to do the right thing.

“Mr. Beety … I’m sorry. I can’t agree to this in good conscience. Just today, I had to buy something back that was stolen from me – I couldn’t live with myself if I turned around and did basically the same thing to Peckinpaugh.”

As you speak, Beety just stares at you. For a moment, he started to retract his hand, but strangely enough, he stopped. By the time you were finished speaking, his hand was fully extended again, as if he still expected you to shake it. There is a tense moment, and your legs involuntarily spasm, just enough for you to grimace in surprise. As you compose yourself, Beety finally speaks his mind.

“Well, Mantle, if you want to pay for the buses twice, I’m not stopping you.”

You are about half a second or so from realizing what he means, when he just spells it out for you.

“But I’m not going to let myself and the Motor Pool get cut out of this.”

“What the fuck! This is fucking ridiculous!”

“No, ridiculous would be if I, under the current, dire circumstances, just let a bunch of food slip through my fingers. I … look, you want to talk about doing things in ‘good conscience’? I have a wife, and an eleven year old daughter. I can’t let them go hungry, in ‘good conscience’. Those crabs of yours, I could turn them around quickly – trade them for some non-perishables, so when the food allowance from the Cafeteria eventually dries up, we don’t have to go straight to eating only shoe leather."

"So if you want to do the right thing, and pay Peckinpaugh for the buses too, then that’s fine – all the power to you. But I’m not letting the buses go without getting paid.”

>>4653817
This is dogshit! Is there some sort of sign on your back that says ‘cheat me’? How the Hell are you going to handle this?

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>He is desperate – that much is clear – but impotent. Simply dismiss him, and send Tolle to find Peckinpaugh.
>“I wonder what Peckinpaugh would say about this. Or Parasol for that matter.”
>You don’t have time for this. You still need to get fuel for the generators and buses. Just accept this dogshit, and move on (you will get to vote on one of the two remaining choices from >>4652765)

>He is desperate – that much is clear – but impotent. Simply dismiss him, and send Tolle to find Peckinpaugh.

>>4653862
Support

>>4653862
+1

>>4653862
This is the way.

>>4653823
>>“I wonder what Peckinpaugh would say about this. Or Parasol for that matter.”

“Beety, I understand you are trying to do your best for your wife and kid, so I am not going to take this dogshit of yours personally, as I might have otherwise. But let me make myself crystal fucking clear. I’m not going to be a party to a theft, even if it is just a temporary one. And I certainly won’t stand to be extorted. So if there is any tomfuckery with that glorified minivan, or those buses, or anything on wheels that belongs me or any of my people, the two of us are going to have a problem.”

“And you are not going to like my solution.”

God, that came out perfectly! Sounded like something out of a gangster movie. Normally, you are never able to come up with good lines like that until hours after the fact. But that … that was great! The threat was concise, and appropriately ambiguous. Which is good, because you have absolutely no idea what exactly you would do if he actually did try anything – though you are certain with your connection to Parasol, you could bring the hammer down pretty damned hard. Beety just looks at you before breaking eye contact and finally withdrawing his hand. Tellingly, he clenches it into a fist as his arm returns to his side. He angrily grabs the electric camping lantern, and storms off, leaving the three of you nearly blind in the darkness after becoming accustomed to light.

“Tolle, do you have a flashlight in your truck, or a Yippo or something? This darkness is a bit much, especially if I am suppose to be conducting business in here.”

Before Tolle can respond, Gunther chimes in to mention that not only do the ceiling lights in here work, there was a Streamlight left behind for emergencies, on the desk in the back office. You can’t understand why Gunther did not mention that sooner, but you do not bring it up, partly because it should have been obvious that if the dialysis machine can run, then the lights should still turn on. Hoping that you are not blushing at your own stupidity – or if you are, then hoping that neither your hired man or your guest can see – you ask Gunther to go fetch the Streamlight, and tell Tolle to go fetch Peckinpaugh. Tolle heads out, carefully picking his way through the darkened Infirmary towards the double doors on the other side of the ward. Gunther, no doubt well practiced from his time as a night nurse, has an easier time navigating his way through the gloom to the back office. It does take him a minute or two to return though, and when he does, he is not carrying a Streamlight. Instead, he has an electric Christmas candle in his hands.

>>4654227
“Strange thing – the Streamlight was gone and this was in it’s place. I think that big guy … uh, Nate, he must have swapped them.”

Oh, Jesus. Gunther walks over to your bedside, hands you the candle and stoops down, presumably to plug the thing in.

“Listen – I wouldn’t even bother. If he left it, it is probably broken. His dumb idea of a practical joke. Or maybe it’s like one of those hand buzzers, but instead, it’s a – ”

To your surprise, the candle does not shock you, nor does the bulb fail to light. But the light that it does emit, instead of the warm orange-yellow of a typical incandescent, is a harsh magenta – this lightbulb is clearly a black lightbulb. You did not even know they made them in electric candle sizes. As you look at the thing, you notice that Nate wrote a message down the length of the plastic candle, presumably in invisible ink, judging by the way that it glows in the light.

Don’t jerk off!

You are seriously contemplating throwing the damned thing, but decide against it. You are not even one hundred percent sure that Forsythe even knows about the extent of your injuries, but Oher knows, and they are both Paramedics (apparently). When Gunther sees it, does a poor job of suppressing a chuckle, before taking the seat at your left side again.

“Hell of a bedside manner on that fat fuck – Not that I'd want him here, but isn’t he supposed to be on duty tonight?”

“He asked if I could cover for a bit, so he could help his dad. Didn’t say with what exactly, but I figured since I was already going to be here, and I was more qualified –”.

“A lot more qualified. Blimp-o isn’t even a real Paramedic yet. Just a student.”

Time passes, and as you lay and Gunther sits in silence, bathed in the odd purple light of black bulb, you find yourself wondering what the Hell is keeping Tolle. You do not even know what time it is, but it has been at least half an hour – and even after your talk with Peckinpaugh, you still need to talk to someone about getting the fuel, as well as actually plan the expedition itself. Maybe you should send Gunther to check on Tolle – or maybe you should send him to … who would you get fuel from? George Light was the Petrochemical Chief, but with the refinery still nothing more than a daydream, you suppose that for the immediate future, any and all fuel will come from Chickless and the Disbursement Department. Alternatively, you could take this time to ask if something was bothering him earlier tonight, but then again, perhaps sleeping dogs should lie.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Send Gunther to look for Tolle and Peckinpaugh or whoever is on in the Armory so you can ask about the buses.
>Send Gunther to look for Chickless or whoever is on in Disbursements so you can ask about the fuel.
>Ask Gunther if something is or was bothering him – he seems quieter and more standoffish than usual.

>>4654233
>>Ask Gunther if something is or was bothering him – he seems quieter and more standoffish than usual.

>Ask Gunther if something is or was bothering him – he seems quieter and more standoffish than usual.

>>4654233
>>Ask Gunther if something is or was bothering him – he seems quieter and more standoffish than usual.
If he is reluctant to share, maybe we could try to salvage the conversation and direct it toward brainstorming pranks to get back at Nate with?

Got power back. Will be able to post steadily from here on out, seems like the thaw hit today so hopefully the lines won't go down again.

>>4654233
>Ask Gunther if something is or was bothering him – he seems quieter and more standoffish than usual.

>>4654812
>>4654686
>>4654275
>>4654266
Alright - consider this closed. I will get to writing.

“Hey Gunther, um … not to be nosy, or anything like that, but is everything alright? Earlier you seemed, I dunno, not tired, but … kinda withdrawn, I guess.”

He looks at you, questioningly, which looks really strange and almost threatening in the harsh purple light. But after a moment, his face softens a bit before he sighs and tries to explain.

“Withdrawn seems to be a pretty harsh way of putting it, but … it just seems that everyone is sort of keeping me at arm’s length, and it must’ve just gotten to me.”

“Well, jeez, Gunther – if this is about not being in the meeting, I can honestly say that –”

“No, this – no. This is not about the meeting. When I was by myself, or even when I was with Tolle, I’d notice group members staring, and sometimes even whispering. And when I tried to introduce myself, it was like everyone I spoke to had a chip on their shoulder or something. I couldn’t understand it. Still can’t.”

Ah … well. While you are not particularly happy that people have been giving Gunther the cold shoulder, but all things considering you could at least understand it. When Parasol came to your house on Halloween, he explained that he had declared a blanket moratorium on new members, in response to people pestering him endlessly about letting their friends and their family into the group. Some people had taken his rejections pretty seriously, apparently, there were some people who just … well, you are not sure if they formally renounced or just left, but either way, the group had lost members over this. But with the situation so dire, and so long as everyone was subject to the same rules, the bulk of membership accepted the status quo without too much complaint. Until, for your sake (and the sake of Gunther’s nursing skills and truck full of medical supplies and equipment) he made a very public exception to this rule with Petra and Gunther. No doubt that some of the people who accepted the moratorium are now bristling at it – and by extension Gunther. Come to think of it, that might be why Parasol was pushing so hard for the Northwoods Expedition. The prospect of getting to stretch your legs, and the chance at tax-free goodies could be a play to raise morale. Obviously, Gunther and Petra’s presence here is not the only thing dragging down morale, but it could seriously be a compounding factor.

File: x-mas rave.jpg (40 KB, 500x331)

40 KB JPG

>>4655624
You ask Gunther if when he met with Parasol, he told him about the moratorium, and when Gunther just shakes his head, you explain the situation, and why members might be a bit cold or … whatever towards him. He seems genuinely relieved by the explanation, and says that under the circumstances, he would be an ass to continue to take any of the frigid behavior of members personally, especially considering that some of them might have been the ones that had family members and close friends refused. Further conversation on the subject however, is cut short by the noise of the doors to the infirmary opening up. Tolle announces himself, and walks over – alone, but looking very pleased with himself, though that gives way to confusion when he draws closer to the source of light.

“Is that ... an electric Christmas candle ... with a black bulb?”

“What’s the matter? Not into the Yuletide rave scene?” You pointedly look at him for a moment, then follow up your wise crack with a serious question. “Couldn’t find anyone from the Armory?”

“Nah – I found him in a matter of minutes. The hold up was being able to speak with him, he was working with a couple of Guards. I, uh – well, instead of waiting around, I went to see if I could find someone in Disbursement instead. There was a letter on the door, addressed to ‘Mantle and Company’ so I figured it would be alright if I read it.” Tolle hands you the letter, and you fumble to open it up with your bad hand as your good hand holds the electric candle. Reading the thing is fairly difficult – it seems that someone sneezed on it lately, and there are fluorescent blue flecks all over the paper. Tolle, who might be blushing – it is hard to see – quickly summarizes the letter for you. “Basically, Chickless says that with food on the line, fuel should not be the limiting factor. He will fill up whatever you take with you, and once you get back, and everything left over has been drained, he will charge you for the difference. A nominal charge – his words.”

“Well, that’s … good. That’s really good. But what about the buses?”

“Took some time, but those Guards finally got their stuff straightened out. So now I’m up. I explain who I am, give him the basics of what we are doing – and I ask him, pretty please, can we borrow your buses. And this guy doesn’t have any idea what I am talking about. This was the first he heard about the damned things. Turns out there isn’t a lot of communication between the Armorers. There’s like only three of them; the guy I spoke to here, another one that lives at Public safety, and Peckinpaugh still in his store – he’s got specialized equipment and stuff that he isn’t going to abandon there. So I promise the guy a couple of crabs … figured it would be alright, if we cooked him some dead ones, and the two of us spend the next ten minutes tearing that place apart looking for the keys. And then finally …”

>>4655631
Triumphantly, Tolle draws them out of his pocket, grabbing them all at once in one hand by the thick rubber tags, letting the keys themselves dangle underneath his fist. Well good – with the buses (and the minivan) you should have enough options on how to compose your convoy. But before you sit down, and decide what you want to bring and who you want to drive for you …

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Thank Tolle for his quick thinking with offering the Armorer the crabs but ask in the future that he does not promise any of your produce without clearing it with you.
>Praise Tolle for his independent thinking with offering the Armorer the crabs.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Return to your Homestead so you can gather the generators, the gasifier (which should have been delivered by now), and whatever else you would bring with you on your expedition.
>Remain at Mt. Kineo for now, so you can check on the minivan, have the buses prepared (removing the seats), and take care of whatever other business you might wish to do here.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>There is another Laker that you would like to involve with this expedition – someone who you think would be a real asset. (Write-in who: you can ask for any named group member, or any combination of named group members, but they will not necessarily accept)
>Having a Deputy in a Cruiser come along with you could be a real help. Reach out to the Sheriff’s office and see if you can hire an escort.
>You know, there is someone who could be a real help, both with the expedition, and with the group at large. He might not be fond of nighttime callers, even under normal circumstances, but perhaps this is the time to reach out to Tinn.
>You should be able to do this without bringing on any more individuals.

>Praise Tolle for his independent thinking with offering the Armorer the crabs.
Better deal than we would've got otherwise and we've been working him hard, better not browbeat him over this.
>Remain at Mt. Kineo for now, so you can check on the minivan, have the buses prepared (removing the seats), and take care of whatever other business you might wish to do here.
If we stay here we don't have to make another trip, whereas if we go home now we'll have to come back for the buses anyways.
>You should be able to do this without bringing on any more individuals.
As much as I love our rascal Tinn we may fucking die if we pay him a visit.

>>4655634
>Praise Tolle for his independent thinking with offering the Armorer the crabs.
Mantle is a control freak but we must cut down on the micromanaging and start putting some trust in our people.
>Remain at Mt. Kineo for now, so you can check on the minivan, have the buses prepared (removing the seats), and take care of whatever other business you might wish to do here.
what the other guy said. Try to make it quick and avoid further distractions though.
>You should be able to do this without bringing on any more individuals.
everyone we bring is one more mouth to feed.

We do need to pay Tinn a visit at some point though, we have a better chance that most others at forming a beneficial relationship and I need more of his brand of crazy in this quest

>>4655725
Yeah everyone loves Tinn, he's more or less the secret hero here. Lets try to find time sometime.

>Praise Tolle for his independent thinking with offering the Armorer the crabs.

>Remain at Mt. Kineo for now, so you can check on the minivan, have the buses prepared (removing the seats), and take care of whatever other business you might wish to do here.

>There is another Laker that you would like to involve with this expedition – someone who you think would be a real asset. (Write-in who: you can ask for any named group member, or any combination of named group members, but they will not necessarily accept)

What about Midge, Norton's wife? We can make it worth her while as is fair either to help with the crabs or if she is into canning or chartuterie to help with the moose and get the straight dope on Norton.

Networking is key, this is a good opportunity. If not Midge then maybe Richard Sucec – Chief Engineer or Sam Stokes – Chief Water Officer could help us reassemble this thing and plan to expand it? Thoughts, Anons?