Story Recap: Beyond the Horizon

Good morning! It’s Jonathan here with a STORY RECAP for the recent event, BEYOND THE HORIZON. The goal of these Story Recap posts is to help fill in the blanks for those that might have missed an important mod, been at NPC camp, sleeping, or simply were not able to attend the game. These are major points of continuity that might be important as our season continues, and I hope this will help with the FOMO feels.

Tickets for our next event are on sale TODAY!!! You can buy tickets for our next event, QUEENSGRACE starting right now!

You can also find our other game recaps from this season online here:

• Season 3, Episode 1: THE SECOND FOUNDING (brand new today!)

• Season 3, Episode 2: CARNIVAL MACABRE

• Season 3, Episode 3: BLOOD FEAST

• Season 3, Episode 4: THE LONG NIGHT

So once you’ve been caught up, let’s talk about what happened next…

Beyond the Horizon - the premise

The ambitious merchant culture espoused by the Junkerpunk population, a ragtag group of smugglers, tradesfolk and privateers, has always been a dynamic beat in the overture of the Greater Lonestar. But now, armed with their temporary position on the San Saba Board and the backing of Holy Mother Queen Jasper of the Tribes Disparate, this grinning group of sellswords and sword sellers have decided to strike out and do what New Bravado proved could be done; build a town for themselves. 

The infant settlement of Drywater, just a few hours walk to the west of New Bravado’s extended territory, has begun to erect its first permanent structures and acquire its first permanent citizens. Queen Jasper, the sickly but politically powerful matriarch of the Antler clan, has come to New Bravado to oversee the perilous and brave process of sculpting a homeland from irradiated dirt. With the help of the Longberths, a faction of the Tribes Disparate who have historically butted heads with the smaller merchant faction, the scrap of land will become a dry port of call only rivaled by Waking Prime. 

With glory on the horizon for the honest folk of the Muddy Water Accord, all seems well in the wet thaw after the Long Night. But the waves of Lake Bravo stir uneasily as something shifts beneath its surface, and the sound of distant foghorns echo balefully from the direction of The Clutch. Only time will tell what lurks in the deep waters of that ancient wound. 

the future of drywater

• NOTE: We talked a bit about the main mechanic of the weekend in my blog post last week. Unlike previous games that have followed a tried and true (if somewhat linear) formula of a thing occurring and the town working to deal with it, the primary story of this event was designed as a SCAVENGER HUNT, requiring the LCs to complete various Zone of Mechanics around the play space to complete the plot. This was a bit of a change of pace from the regular way we organize our events, so let us know in feedback if you enjoyed it!

The culmination of the Junkerpunks’ dreams come true, the new settlement near our town of Bravado is really honoring the choice the players made during our online event, The Certainty of Tides. During the party in the Clutch, the faction known as the Muddy Water Accord rose to prominence in the Junkerpunks and decided to compete with the RRC on equal terms. Their continued success led to being chosen as a victor of the San Saba Cup Murderball prize to earn a seat on the Board for 3 months. Following a significant victory in the boardroom after the backing of Queen Jasper, the Junkepunks and Admiral Sinker Swim earned to right to fund the Drywater Settlement Package.

Survivors competed to complete tasks across the town, from offering Thoughts & Prayers, building fashion furniture, performing feats of mental gymnastics, breaking up ice around the lake, picking up trash and protecting the local wildlife, or even simple manual labor. For every four tasks completed, you could submit a vote towards which of three possible Drywater Upgrades would be established in the town. The Upgrade that won popular support would bring new resources to the town of Bravado, based on which faction was backed as a secondary support for Drywater.

The three options were:

THE CALI*CO-OPERATIVE ARSENAL

Owned and Operated by the dependable Cali*Co Caravan, the *Co-Operative Arsenal will employ the local Junkerpunk population for the purpose of munitions development and production. Located on the scenic ridge that overlooks Drywater, the Arsenal will develop and produce munitions for the defense of the Greater San Saba and her citizens from the threat of zed, raider, or invading body.  Espoused by the Holy Mother Queen Jasper of the Tribes Disparate, the Arsenal is her final attempt at preserving the San Saba as the homeland of her people and their allies.

THE REDFIELD BOATEL AND SPA

This sumptuous lounge and resort will be just one stop down the Oxline from New Bravado and attract personages of affluence from across the Greater Wastes. Local Junkerpunks will make up the staff of the Boatel and Spa and be provided with a living wage, ongoing benefits, and housing. Located on the river, the Boatel and Spa will technically be a mobile living environment permanently docked at Drywater. The kitchens at the Redfield will produce highbrow brews and confections beyond anything the San Saba has seen so far, and are personally endorsed by Felicity Redfield, CEO of the Railroad Conglomerate.

THE IMIX INSTITUTE

The closest GraveTech research facility is located in the Dead Marches, many miles to the distant south, beyond even the Blastlands.  To be placed in the middle of town as a multi-story cathedralex, the Imix Institute would employ and educate the local Junkerpunk population as researchers and volunteers in the ongoing effort to understand and benefit from the Mortis Amaranthine and the Grave Minds that lurk within it.  This project is endorsed by the leaders of the Grave Council, Takheeta Firstborn and Commander Rampart.  Research from this facility would likely produce compelling advances in Grave and Psi- technologies.

The tasks to support Drywater were quickly picked up by those in the RRC, particuarly as Felicity Redfield was in town to promote the new Redfield Boatel & Spa option. Felicity was a bit ruffled after being literally shipped to town in a box from Requiem, but offered compelling reasons of fairness and equality for the Junkerpunk workers in the new town. In addition, she offered a number of job opportunities exploring the depths of Lake Bravado in a new submersible device called The Blackfish.

Other faces came in town as well, to explain in more detail what their Drywater Upgrade would offer to the town. Commander Rampart of the Grave Council offered a disturbing potential future, with the time being right for another Archon incursion in only 10 more months, exactly one year to the date of the emergence of the Monolith. Since the device that allowed the town to oppose the Archons was destroyed in the fight, the Imix Institute would offer potential new weapons to fight back against an imminent threat from beyond death, including perhaps an answer to the threat of the Gravetouched in town.

Finally, the venerable Queen Jasper, Holy Mother, asked the question of what role the town of Drywater would really play into the future with an offer to reshape her legacy with the weapons and research of the Cali*Co Arsenal. Dubbed the “generational trauma gun” by her opponents, the Arsenal would offer military support to keep the Junkerpunk settlement unthreatened by opponents and allow them true neutrality in a dangerous San Saba political network. The Queen also met with her loyal subjects, including the Cervaxi Tribe, the SCAdians while in town to speak about an upcoming event for the Tribes. Visitors from the north in the shape of the Bloodied Wolves from Verdigrift signed a contract and offered protection to the Queen while she was in town, and listened to her call to arms. Her message was dire, even if she was at peace with the choice…

The city of Drywater clearly needed political support and something to set it apart from the other settlements and to help shape its narrative in the Greater San Saba. So what niche will the new settlement fill?

the winner of the Drywater upgrade is…

In a perhaps too on-the-nose commentary on real world politics, the final winner of the contest was…

The Redfield Boatel & Spa!

Greetings from Slim & the RRC!

The final tally of votes was:

• Redfield Boatel & Spa - 18 votes

• The Cali*Co Arsenal - 13 votes

• Imix Institute - 8 votes

While more total people submitted votes for the Arsenal and the Institute, the financial might of the RRC would not be diminished. Led by prominent RRC figures like Slim Straightedge, the individual Work Orders of the RRC aligned folks counted for far more, with the most number of fully-filled Work Orders submitted in the contest. Those that completed a challenge with the Master Financial Influence skill were even able to offer additional votes, but most of these folks hailed from the RRC. Hopefully, Rampart’s ominous warning of the future won’t come true, but for now Drywater stands to be the next destination spot in the San Saba!

Unfortunately, in our unintended commentary on modern politics only about 20% of the population of Bravado in attendance even cast their support into the challenge! The future of the San Saba was determined by a group of powerful, financially motivated and well-organized individuals instead of a more popular and populous, but apathetic voter base… Seems familiar, for some reason…

With the success of the RRC’s bid to create a new Boatel & Spa in Drywater, the town of Bravado could soon see new items like Brews, Meals, Culinary devices, or even Gizmos being traded with our fair town in the future… and the future is bright indeed thanks to the efforts of the town in dealing with an unfortunate pollution issue…

the sound of drums and The leviathan

A major side complication in the support for Drywater emerged in the terrifying raiders known as Drowned Ones, and a continuing threat to the ecosystem of Bravado.

In addition to the political intrigue of the Drywater Settlement Package and the supporting factions, the Junkerpunks needed more mundane help establishing their new inland settlement of Drywater. Clearing out wildlife, threats and foliage to bring in the bones of their new city, these tasks fall to the Vados willing to work. This work included one particularly LARGE concern..

Following the Long Night, which was horribly cold and unusually long, a significant strain was placed on the local ecosystem. The local Leviathan population, whose life cycle includes the Long Night as part of its gestation process, skyrocketed following an unusually cold winter season. Even the other Bravado critter populations are declining, and new invasive species are moving in. 

The town quickly had to deal with Baby Leviathans, who, while adorable, were still predatory animals despite the amount of Crystal Candy they were fed in an attempt to make them pets. They also encountered larger Juvenile Leviathans, at first confused for adults, until the final appearance of the largest Leviathan anyone has ever seen (we literally had to bring it to site in a truck…), the momma Sea Leviathan, or Chompy for short. The pollution in Lake Bravado had even mutated other species past the Leviathans, like Murder Goat Deer, and even raiders!

This larger population attracted their only real predator - the raider clan called Drowned Ones. A large raiding part of the particularly moist raiders arrived in Bravado intent on hunting two kinds of prey - the new Leviathan spawn AND the survivors of Bravado! These raiders posed a serious threat throughout the weekend, with the terrifying Wavemasters scattering concentrated pockets of defense with the Terror skill, to the Drowned One Fishers using Nail or Fear on opponents before surrounding them.

The town had a choice to deal with the exploding population of Leviathans emerging from Lake Bravado, while dealing with a constant assault of raiders:

The adored creations of Harlow Ulmer from a work-in-progress photo — Baby Leviathans! Also, their cat!

• They could simply KILL the Leviathan, and exterminate its spawn by destroying any Leviathan eggs they found on the way. This would be a permanent solution to the problem, but would involve destroying a massive mutated beasty with giant guns provided by Professor Heavywater and the Junkerpunks. However, the town would probably have to prepare for the consequences of killing a large animal like a Leviathan for an already strained Morgue system, as well as a potential ZOMBIE LEVIATHAN.

• They could also try to SAVE the Leviathan, and preserve any Leviathan eggs that were found for a future, more controlled release into the waters of Lake Bravado. While this would be a more challenging task, using giant Tranquilizer Pills shoved physically into the maw of the giant beast, it would have less impact to the ecosystem overall. Unfortunately, as any vet tech can tell you, trying to medicate a dangerous animal is easier said than done..

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the town chose to try to SAVE the Leviathan population of Lake Bravado. Spending most of the day on Saturday developing a Tranquilizer for the Leviathan, Pogo and the Darwins of Bravado led the charge to develop a cure. In a final fight on Saturday night, the town faced off against the raiding parties of the Drowned Ones in an attempt to deliver a medicated payload to the momma Leviathan. With the Wavemasters dragging the fallen towards the waiting Dark Water and the Leviathan, it became quite deadly to fall to the blows of the massive tentacled arms of the Leviathan or the waiting spears of the Drowned Ones.

After a prolonged fight against the Drowned One Raiders, people literally being spit out of the giant maw of the Leviathan after a bit of “tummy time”, and the unstoppable tentacles wearing down the defenses of the townsfolk, the Leviathan finally fell into a tranquilizer-induced sleep. With the ability to treat the wounds of the beast, deal with the mutating effects of pollution by applying poultices to the wounds, the Leviathan eggs were able to be safely extracted from the stomach of the creature and placed into the care of Professor Heavywater and the Junkerpunks. While a few of the eggs ended up in unscrupulous hands of the black market, the Junkerpunks are now in control of a way to limit the damage to the ecosystem by the town of Drywater.

other threads “On the horizon”

There were several other minor events of note:

• Takheeta Firstborn, leader of the Grave Council, was on hand to oversee the penance for the deaths of the Lovelace family during the BLOOD FEAST event. Saturday night, she and several of the grave heads of Bravado were crucial in developing a new Morgue for Drywater. The addition of a new Mortis across the lake really brings some questions to mind: what does it mean to make something new in a dead world? To forge new imprints and new systems when nothing has been “new” for millennia? Is it brave and hopeful? Or is it shortsighted, and stupid? With the antagonism increasing between Takheeta and Commander Rampart, this will surely be another spark in the fire.

• Don Chevlin, explorer extraordinare, and agent of the Ark Society, was in town to offer Delves and strange new technologies in exchange for your Arks. While a threat of a watery grave was possible, several intrepid adventurers braved the depths of the lake and the tunnels beneath Bravado in search of fortune and glory…

• An explosive (sic) birthday party occurred in Kiva, with a bomb-filled cake being delivered to Turbo Six, the Mountain That Rides on his birthday… (Look, I’m writing this so it’s important to me!) It was an attempt at death by chocolate! What fiend could have tried to take down the leader of the Road Royals?

• During a Masquerade ball hosted by the always stylish Candy Hearts, there were more than a few masked individuals prowling about. It was virtually impossible to tell who was really in attendance during the ball, and the General Store was filled with music, dancing, and masks. In fact, it seemed like the entire second floor was reserved for a VIP event for those with the proper headgear…

Wrap up and Teasers

It was an eventful weekend, with the introduction of some new props sure to return by popular demand, new Raiders, a number of interesting ZOMs to complete across the camp, as well as a change of pace for the main theme of the event changing from our usual cadence. We had a blast telling this story for you, so let us know what you thought with our Feedback Form!

As a last teaser, I’ll leave you with this final event that happened during the game:

• On Sunday morning, a group of OX KILLERS attacked the Depot, but they were stopped before they could burn it down. This outcast tribe of technophobic barbarians was ejected from the Tribes Disparate during our online event called The Shining City. What does their reappearance mean for the upcoming SUMMIT OF THE TRIBES DISPARATE being called during our next event? With the health of Queen Jasper quickly declining, a new leader of the Tribes Disparate must be chosen to replace the dying Queen, but their enemies and rivals are circling…

Tickets are on sale NOW for our next event, QUEENSGRACE! We’ll have more about the impending struggles of the SUMMIT and what it means for the TRIBES DISPARATE in the future! See you soon, Vados!

Story Recap: The Second Founding

Hey there Vados! This is a bit late, but I started by season Story Recap posts after our second game during Season 3, so I missed this one. I’m gonna cover the major events of note from this game that might be useful to know about as we progress through the season. It’s been a bit, so I’ll try to keep this brief on the major salient points.

As a note, this season directly follows up on the stories that we introduced during the shortened Season 1 (cut short in March by the pandemic), and the online Season 2 we ran that have been documented in our Lonestar Skies archive, found HERE.

The Second Founding - the premise

In the last year, the San Saba Territories have expanded to include hundreds of miles of new land. During that time new groups and philosophies have taken root in the gritty soil between the Dune Sea and The Spoiled Coast, fundamentally changing the face of the Lonestar. The sleepy scrap of dirt that was once Bravado has fallen into disrepair in the year since Felicity Redfield left following the Fountainhead Incident in Essex, and only due to the revelations in Barogue (pronounced “Buh-row-guh” :p) has she returned.

After returning from the Lost City, Felicity asserted her mineral rights over the city of New Bravado and sought to reclaim it from the raiders, ranchers and roughshods who had taken up residence there. In order to entice new Survivors to Bravado, the RRC leader offered tenement rights to any companionship, company or crew willing to help her settlement. The will of the San Saba and its Laws, must be brought to the untamed wastes through sweat and blood after all. However, a threat of Bad Brain had sprung up amongst the common folk and was beginning to become a problem…

New Laws, New Order

One of the major events that occurred during the online season was the official forming of the San Saba Board, a unification of the many factions of the area that banded together to enforce a system of law and order in the Territory. Their collective economic, military, and political will has placed them in a position to encourage the citizens of the area to comply.

During this event, we introduced several new faces and figures in the leadership of the territories. We also combined several factions into one, with the Conglomerate and the Railroad Commission uniting in one massive faction known as the Railroad Conglomerate (still conveniently using the RRC abbreviation so they could save on stationary and uniform costs).

The San Saba Board has offered some measure of stability in the chaotic wastes, and claims as its members several major factions from our Dramatis Personae:

• The Chair

  • Holds the power of Veto

• The Railroad Conglomerate, or RRC

  • 2 seats; Felicity Redfield, CEO, Dr. Janus Stewart, COO, aka “The Scientist”

• The Tribes Disparate

  • 1 seat; The Speaker for the Tribes, Holy Mother Queen Jasper

• The Grave Council

  • 1 seat, Takheeta Firstborn

• The Warden of Prudence Penitentiary

  • 1 seat; Warden Tabitha St. Mercy

• The Law Dogs

  • 0 seats; Boss Wyatt is the liaison between the Board and the Law Dog Union

The Board has established several functional laws in the San Saba:

• “The spilling of Blood and Bone is the prerogative of the Wastes. But to steal the Infection of the Body, or the Work of the Hands is forbidden.”

• “Brass and Contracts are our Sacred Currency. Thems that break a Contract are a Breacher and are subject to the Gauntlet. Anyone not holding a Contract is a Vagrant and has no voice in Company Affairs.”

• “None shall interfere with the Delivery of the Post. Nor the Collection of the Grave Tax.”

Additionally, the return to live events also gave our Survivors a chance to explore the curious choice of the mysterious Chairman in exercising his rare right VETO to prevent the rambunctious Junkerpunks from joining the alliances of the San Saba. The Junkerpunks have set themselves opposed to the RRC and will likely need your help in the future…

a Bloody return

Things do not stay the same when you leave them alone, they are subject to the forces of the universe regardless of the Survivor’s participation. In the year since any civilized person trod the scrap of dirt that is New Bravado, the disease known as Bad Brain had ravaged the agricultural population and produced a crop of Grave Head Raiders that submit to a monstrous Raider Queen known as the GUTMOTHER. The survivors had no choice but to eradicate the threat, save what farmers they can, and attempt to begin all over again. 

The Gutmother; a Raider Queen which is a form of mutated leader of Raiders that rarely emerges, was at the head of a massive clan of Grave Head Raiders. These Raiders use crude chemical bombs to control and herd hordes of zombies. The Gutmother staked her claim in Bravado despite the Burning Season and rival clans pressing against her borders. If the RRC and the Survivors were to seek to settle her lands, they would have to eradicate the clan entirely and seize it themselves.

Unfortunately for the Vados, the Raider Queen possessed a unique ability to return from the Grave, seemingly, infinitely. Her great Herd of undead, whispered by some to be the infantile third Stampede, churned under her undying eye and only by locking her wholly in the Mortis, body and all, could the Vados hope to quiet the Gutmother long enough to find a way to kill her and scatter her troops to the four corners of the San Saba.

a prison of flesh, bone, and psionic will

After surviving several assaults on the town, the Grave Council, through their agent Commander Rampart came up with a plan to stop the Raider Queen. With the help of the townsfolk, they were able to construct a pocket within the Mortis Amaranthine that could could contain the Gutmother as a makeshift prison. If it worked, it could suspend the Gutmother’s endless recycling through the Gravemind. With a titanic expenditure of psionic crystals, resolve, and even the pickled head of the Gutmother from one of her deaths, the town was ready to lay their trap.

Rampart provided several Barougian Seals, psionic devices recovered from the Lost City, inscribed with the phrase “IMPRINT IS MATTER, MATTER IS IMPRINT”. This phrase, found in the writings of the Undying Prince, spoke to a truth of the world. The Grave Mind operates by returning your IMPRINT to the world as MATTER, so it could be inferred that MATTER could also be returned back to an IMPRINT. The Ritual of Imprisonment, designed by the Mystagogues of the Grave Council, would require killing the Gutmother over and over until her imprint could be locked into the ground for good.

During the terrible battle at the Maw, Rampart used a strange psionic device, a crystalline matrix imbued with limitless power, to lead the ritual. While the soldiers of the town dealt with the Grave Head Raiders throwing themselves at the shield wall protecting the ritual, a brave few struck out to take down the Gutmother in the midst of the fighting. Each time she fell, they would drag her screaming, bleeding form to the center of the ritual circle again and again. Each killing blow on the Raider Queen served to settle her imprint one step further into the ritual prison.

After THIRTEEN waves, the Gutmother weakly tried to fight back as the final killing blow sealed her into a psionic prison of flesh, bone, and psionic will. While not truly dead or alive, the Gutmother was sealed away to prevent the endless cycle of regeneration from continuing. However, shortly after the fight, the strange crystalline matrix was discovered to be missing, taken by an unknown foe in the chaos following the battle.

Hopefully, the strange seals holding the prison of the Gutmother will survive, lest a terrible Raider Queen be loosed on Bravado and the San Saba once more…

That’s it for this recap. Sorry that this is a bit less specific information than my later Story Recaps, but it was like 6 months ago so that’s basically forever… See you next time ‘Vados!

Murder Inc.

Howdy Vados! It’s Jonathan here with a special update for our next game, BEYOND THE HORIZON! Today, since I have time to write in the middle of an ice storm, we are going to discuss how we are going to be implementing the new Murder Inc. faction into our local game. This is a bit of a spoiler warning for things you might find out in game, and this is a bit of a longer post.

First, credit to where it’s due: The Murder Inc. concept was re-released as a support doc by the DR Connecticut staff. This article today assumes some passing familiarity with the concepts included in their Murder Inc. Support Doc, and you can see the license we use this with on our Accreditations Page. I’d recommend reading this doc first, so you’ll better understand the variations I describe below, but I’ll attempt to explain it in broad strokes. We also incorporated several ideas here from Tom Kelly and our friends at DR:NY in how they added Murder Inc. into their game.

Full Transparency Mode

The stuff we are going to talk about today is a secret IN GAME. While you might know bits or legends about the faction or even have a complete understanding of their backstory out of game, this stuff is a secret kept to only the members of the organization. Consider this a SPOILER WARNING, but our goal here is to clearly telegraph how you can join Murder Inc, who is involved, and what their rules and rituals will look like. Our hope is that by being transparent, we will allow you to be prepared to “opt in” to this style of CvC play.

If you don’t want to know about Murder Inc., STOP reading here! This info will be linked on our website, so you’ll be able to find it later if you want.

The history of Murder Inc. in DR:TX

First, some history. It’s time for a bit of backstory:

In the last days of 2.0, the STs and Gamerunners ran a series of games that detailed the events of the Hiway War, a devastating conflict between the collected factions of the Lone Star and a villainous Full Dead known as Hiway Rob. The war was set to reshape the landscape of the Lone Star in preparation for our transition to new ownership with Shan and Aesa, but also to prepare for the new 3.0 edition. Our plans were to erase all traces of the past and go into the new world with a blank, fresh slate for our stories in 3.0.

However, during those last games we allowed players to contribute in-game resources like scrap, Brass, and herb and complete a series of mods to “save” a faction that they cared particularly about. Our promise was to include those factions in some new form in our 3.0 setting, though we made sure to explain that it would not necessarily be an exact copy of the old faction, but something new to account for the changes in our setting.

Several factions were saved by player action, including the Antler Tribe, Cervaxi Tribe, the Buccs, the SCAdians, the Road Royals, the Spider Haus of Red Star, and the Imix Tribe of Unborn. You can still find elements of these survivors today, in player-led factions like the Road Royals, and in NPC-led factions like the Tribes Disparate, the Grave Council, and the Junkerpunks.

However, one faction was saved during the Hiway War that we don’t talk about: the Guild.

The symbol of Murder Incorporated

In 2.0, the Guild was the larger network of assassins, criminals, and murderers across the settlements of the Wastes and was joined by learning a skill known as Guild Member. The original Murder Inc. faction was detailed in a DR 2.0 tabletop sourcebook called Diaries of the Rum Coast and was a subfaction within the larger Guild network. The Guild Member skill worked similarly to the Criminal Influence skill in 3.0, allowing you to attend shadowy meetings in the dark. In old Bravo, the Guild was heavily tied to the machinations of Judge Parker, Hiway Rob, and several other villains of the past, and the lines between Murder Inc. and the Guild were often a little murky.

In game, Murder Inc. only claimed a dozen or so members across the network, so it was more of a secret society than a criminal gang. They were both groups of shadowy assassins, seeking to eliminate serious threats by carefully removing targets, but the Guild was filled with corruption from within and powerful figures calling the shots to eliminate their own enemies, and not targets that were a greater threat to the wastes. Murder Inc. claimed to stand above the corruption, but was eventually taken down by their enemies and their own corruption during a national event at the end of 2.0.

Fast forward to the present, after the three-year time skip between 2.0 and 3.0, and we are ready to talk about what happened next. After the events of the recent Dead Waters online national event run by DR:CT, the faction known as Murder Inc. has made a return to the wastelands, but they’ve been present in the San Saba for a while…

The Widows of the Lone Star

From our first posts about the Widows, we’ve always been a bit coy and playful about their connections to the Guild. We even literally spelled it out for you in the description of the faction on our website. Spoiler - the bolded letters at the start of the sentences spell out “GUILD”. This is also one of our primary CvC factions within DR:TX, and serves as a vehicle for CvC related plot and activities within our game.

While the Widows are part of the larger Lovelace Family, the Widows serve a more specific purpose — preventing the horrors of the Hiway War from ever happening again, through any means necessary. Sure, the public face of the Lonestar Widows and Children’s Fund deals with charity, orphanages, and community service and they do some very good work in the San Saba Territories. But within their ranks are also the talented assassins of The Veiled, who hide their identity when they act in the name of the Widows to eliminate a threat to the wastes. It’s one reason that the Widows have declined a position on the San Saba Board, as they want the ability to act as they see fit without the burden of politics.

Clauthia Lovelace

The Widows are led by three figures - the Widows of the Lonestar, subtly echoing the tales of the Three Fates of old mythology — Clauthia Lovelace, Mx. Lackey, and Atrophy Lovelace. Each represents a philosophy or way they approach the goals of the faction in their roles as Spinner, Measurer, and Cutter, and each was widowed by the atrocities of the Hiway War and represents a different way of dealing with their own grief and loss.

So naturally, the Widows represent the single best way to include the new Murder Inc. items and support material into our game. In fact, they’ve basically been doing this already in our game for the last year because of their history with the former Guild!

At the next game, interested players will have a new opportunity to join the subfaction within the ranks of the Widows of the Lone Star, known as the Veiled.

Joining Murder INc. is NOT a requirement of joining or participating with the Widows of the lonestar faction.

You can join the Widows without joining Murder Inc. but it is a way of deepening your connection with the secret rituals of the Widows. If you have the Widows Society Membership on your sheet right now, you can also easily gain the Society Membership for Murder Inc. but it is not required. There will still be a number of ways to interact with the faction or attend the Widow’s Tea on Saturday afternoons, all without necessarily being a shadowy assassin or embracing CvC.

Murder Inc. and the rules

Now that the history lesson is out of the way, let’s discuss how you join, and how we will use these concepts in our local game. Let’s talk briefly about where we will differ from the source material, and our implementation. Again, the basic write up of the Murder Inc. faction is found on the DR: CT website, found here.

• We will NOT be using the listed “families” in the Murder Inc. Support Doc. Instead, our “families” will be existing NPCs and NPC factions within the DR:TX game. The first known “families” in DR:TX are the Lovelace Family and The Veiled.

• Players cannot teach another character the Society Membership skill, at this time. You may only be inducted into the organization by an NPC sponsor in DR:TX after passing a test or personal plot request.

• This is a separate organization from our other CvC Faction, the Red Ledger. You can be a member of both factions, but you may find your loyalties occasionally tested…

• The Widows of the Lonestar will NOT be the only way to interact with Murder Inc.

  • There will be additional NPC sponsors, “families”, and more in the future, as the faction grows in influence and scope. There are already members in other existing factions you can learn about in game if you are diligent, but it is a secret society after all!

  • If you want to join Murder Inc., but don’t want to be a part of the Widows, submit an Personal Plot Request so we can include your ideas into a different NPC sponsor to the faction.

• We will be looking at choosing PLAYERS to be our Blade of Shepherd’s Chosen, a group of the Sainthood of Ashes faith that serves as a check on the conscience of those that would eliminate a threat during the rite of the Honor Hunt. If you are interested in this role and have a character interested in Murder Inc. with this faith, let us know at info@dystopiarisingtx.com.

Joining Murder Inc.

Let’s talk about some specific requirements for joining the faction. These traditions, steps of joining, and play expectations of this group will be listed on our website as well.

• The rules for Society Membership are found on page 106 in the DR Corebook.

• You must have at least Basic Criminal Influence to join Murder Inc. The only way to find out about an secretive organization of assassins is to already be a criminal!

• You must have Proficient Stealth to join Murder Inc. OR the ability to be disguised by a friendly ally using the appropriate item effects.

• Joining this faction will be considered to be opting-in to CvC in DR:TX, and you will be required to join the SES System at the start of each game.

• Members of Murder Inc. must wear a physical MASK during official meetings of the faction. Failure to do so could result in violence directed at your character by other characters or NPCs. In game, this will be represented by the Many Faced Mask item card.

• Trying to attend a meeting of Murder Inc. without being a member is a dangerous and character deadly prospect — you have been warned!

• Performing the Murder Dive procedure without the blessing of the Widows will have potential ramifications — you have been warned!

• If you have both Proficient Widows Society Membership AND Murder Inc Society Membership, you are considered to be a member of The Veiled, a subfaction of the Widows of the Lonestar.

How to join during the February event

To join the faction of Murder Inc. at our February event, you will have a few options:

• If you already have the Proficient or Master Widows Society Membership or you have the Inner Circle PFA, you will be able to simply chose a subfaction (see below) to join during our February event. The Widows are the first faction to formerly induct members into Murder Inc., and have already vetted a chosen few into the ranks of the organization.

  • We will write this on your sheet during Widow’s Tea on Saturday afternoon of game at 1:00 p.m. This will happen in the Meadows, near the Farming Roleplay Zone.

• If you attended the Dead Waters online national event, you likely already have this Society Membership on your sheet. You are not required to join the Widows, but instead represent a free agent inducted in the Sunken Saints. Congrats!

• Lastly, if neither of the above apply, you will still be allowed to join the faction by completing a SKILL TASK during the event. This will require you to complete a challenge to craft or buy a suitable Many Faced Mask item card, so you will need an appropriate phys rep for this item. While we encourage you to provide your own mask, we will have a few extras available in Ops you can borrow if yours does not arrive in time. The blueprint for this item will be made available as part of this task, so don’t worry!

Now, if you join the faction of Murder Inc, you have a choice ahead of you…

The Subfactions of Murder Inc.

Murder Inc. is separated into three subfactions. Each subfaction espouses a preferred method or philosophy of how they approach their goal of eliminating threats to the wastes, and you must select one of these subfactions of Murder Inc. when you gain the skill. This will look like “Society Membership: Murder Inc (Adherents of Betrayal)” on your sheet in the Notes section.

• The Adherents of Betrayal — The known NPC of this faction is Clauthia Lovelace, played by Aesa Garcia. One of the more prominently known members of the trio of Widows, Clauthia maintains a network of spies and informants throughout the Lone Star. She traditionally meets for afternoon tea on the weekends, and engages in the idle gossip and rumors that make up her trade. Their members wear a bauta mask when performing the tasks of Murder Inc.

  • Clauthia will be able induct willing characters into a subfaction that specializes in dealing with targets that cannot be easily assassinated, but must instead be dismantled and destroyed through subtle manipulation and economic influence. With their influence and power, Adherents take down these titans of industry -- taking all that they have before killing them in the night. If you are craving a political faction that works on a larger scope to influence the San Saba, this is a perfect philosophy for you.

• The Silent Knell — The known NPC of this faction is Mx. Lackey, played by Sadie Hawkins. However, Lackey has been known to appear in different disguises and are periodically seen played by other Guides or STs. One of the most obvious agents of the Widows, this member of the Veiled is normally assigned to handing out tasks and missions to others of criminal intent. Always dressed sharply, they play the role of the servant in public but operate with much more independence outside the sight of the other Widows. Their members wear a featureless blank mask when performing the tasks of Murder Inc.

  • Mx. Lackey is a master of disguise and inducts members into a subfaction that prides itself on secretive assassinations and making their kills appear to be accidents. These assassins, spies, and informants normally take out delicate targets -- ones that have amassed too much power and would become martyrs if their deaths were known to not be accidents. Disguises, poisons, and more subtle tools of misdirection are their specialty and they abide by a code of secrecy even more strict than the other elements of Murder Inc. If you are craving a chance to be a disguised secret agent or stealthy assassin, this is the philosophy for you!

• The Watch of the Bone Chapel — The known NPC of this faction is Atrophy, played by Shan Lind. While all of the Widows understand what it means to be invisible in society, Atrophy has perfected the role of shadow. Atrophy trains new recruits to the Veiled and determines most assignments that require an assassin, even if the target is already dead and within the Grave Mind. No traitor to the Widows has escaped the wrath of Atrophy and tales of her deeds are ghost stories told to new recruits. Their members wear a plague doctor mask when performing the tasks of Murder Inc.

  • Atrophy is a Graverobber and master of the Murder Dive, and inducts members into a subfaction that deals with undead threats and challenges to the natural order of the Mortis Amaranthine. Their group focuses on eliminating some of the worst threats in the wasteland -- those who have learned all that they could about the Grave Mind and have used their knowledge to the detriment of society. This includes wayward Graverobbers, Grave Attuned, and even Techno Savants who have discovered ways to manipulate the grave that could spell disaster for others. If you want to embrace the life of the “gravehead” and fight powerful undead monstrosities and their masters, this is the philosophy for you!

The Traditions of Murder Inc.

There are a number of common traditions of this faction in the DR:TX game.

• The Rite of the Mask — This is a tradition of the Widows, and requires the prospective member of the Veiled to construct their own calling card - a signature mask that will hide their identity while working on the tasks of the faction. Traditionally, this mask can include a black veil that can conceal your identify or one of the more specific masks favored by the subfactions. Members of Murder Inc. must always were a mask while on mission, and failure to conceal your identity can be a transgression worthy of death.

  • This rite will require you to complete a challenge to craft or buy a suitable Many Faced Mask item card, so you will need an appropriate phys rep for this item. The use of a blueprint for this item will be traditionally made available as part of this task.

• The Blooding — When new members are brought into the fold, there are a series of initiation rites that they have to undergo. While the Lovelace Family has their own rites, there is one universal one that everyone must undergo: being blooded.  Becoming blooded involves participating in a kill with the rest of the “concerned citizens”. This is an opportunity for the family to teach the new member how a kill is normally done, and also allow them to show the family what they’re capable of. Normally, the new member either does the first or final strike on a target. For families that focus on gathering information or creating dossiers, being blooded can mean something different. Instead of doing the actual kill, a new member instead prepares enough information for others so that a successful strike can be carried out.

• The Honor Hunt — Honor Hunts are saved for the worst that humanity has to offer, and task the members of Murder Inc. with assassinating a priority target. Honor Hunts are called by one of the leaders of a family within the San Saba and are voted on by the collected members of Murder Inc. The person that calls the hunt will make their case for why that target must die, as well as provide the intel and research that is available. Each member is expected to work together to complete the Honor Hunt within three months. If they fail, it’s viewed as a slight on them and their family and other members of Murder Inc. in the area may look down on them. A vote must pass a majority before a Honor Hunt is called, and can be vetoed by the Blade of the Shepherd’s Chosen.

  • At the formation of Murder Inc. in the Sunken Saints, it was also decided that the “one and done” rule for both targets and Honor Hunts should be instituted. Whenever a person is hunted, they are killed once and then are not hunted again – as long as they learn their lesson. A target may not be chosen twice without significant provocation.

    Note: The “one and done” helps when players engage in CvC so that it’s not a continuous back-and-forth until someone loses their character. Keep in mind that with casted characters, this matters less – though the DR:TX staff finds it important to be transparent with players of our future plans for that casted character, or if we know other players that want to engage with that casted character.

• Voting in the Faction — Following an example of our friends in DR:NY, and the Murder Inc. faction there, when the faction decides to declare an Honor Hunt, you will be able to VOTE for or against that hunt using your levels of Criminal Influence:

  • Basic Criminal Influence gets one vote

  • Proficient Criminal Influence gets two votes

  • Master Criminal Influence gets three votes

  • The Inner Circle PFA will add one vote you can cast. For example, a character with both Inner Circle and Master Criminal Influence will get four total votes.

• The Blade of the Shepherd’s Chosen — For families that hold to the old traditions of Murder Inc., they have a member who is also part of the Blades of Shepherd’s Chosen. This Sainthood-only group is responsible for determining whether an Honor Hunt is warranted or not. For these families, an Honor Hunt is proposed by leadership. Then, the Blade researches the individual and determines whether or not the Honor Hunt should be officially called. If the Blade decides that the Honor Hunt isn’t warranted, then they can veto the hunt. Having a Blade of Shepherd’s Chosen often helps families keep on the right path, and puts a check on leadership that has become too corrupt.

  • In DR:TX, this role will normally be held by a player. However, the ST staff reserves the right to step in as the Widows to influence a vote or stop a Honor Hunt.

• Forever Sharpening the Blade - The Traditions of Murder Inc. are unique to each chapter but they are not set in stone. The nature of the society and their focus on avoiding the corruption of the past means that this can and will change over the course of play. When a new rule or tradition is introduced, it must pass a vote of all members of the faction and can be vetoed by a member of the Shepherd’s Chosen similarly to a Honor Hunt. When a major change occurs in this manner, it will be recorded on our website for the future.

Wrap UP

Whew! That was a lot! Thank you for sticking with me through a complicated subject. This information will be included on our website soon, so you can refer back to these materials at your convenience. We want this faction to be a tool to embrace CvC play in Dystopia Rising, but we are eager to let you decide how this faction evolves and influences the landscape of the San Saba in the future. Let us know what you think!

Dramatis Personae: Important NPCs to Know for Season 3

Howdy Vados!

Briefly, we’re going to go over some of the major NPCs you’ll be interacting with (often) in the second half of Season 3. Our goal here is to set the stage and showcase the interconnectedness of our next four events amongst themselves, but also, to the greater metaplot of DR:TX.

I’m not saying these NPCs are going to stick around that long, by any means. But this primer will at least give you an idea of who to pay attention to in games 4-8 of Season 3. 

Holy Mother Queen Jasper, Bearer of the Antlered Crown 

Queen Jasper is the ultimate leader behind the 13 Houses of the Tribes Disparate. Around fifty years old, Jasper entered the Bravado Narrative at the height of the Hiway War where she provided troops and resources to defeat and destroy Hiway Robb in the wake of her father’s assassination. Her homeland was once the Blastlands that now surround New Bravado, but these verdant fields were lost to carpet bombs early on in the conflict.

The Tribes formed out of the various outcast and abandoned peoples ravaged by the War, gathered together by the charisma, heroic deed, and martial prowess of the Queen.  From groups of scholars, psions, and merchants, forces of crafters, pirates, and soldiers, the Tribes have been made stronger by the unique and collective strengths of the great Houses that follow Queen Jasper. After the Hiway War and the Fountainhead Incident, the wandering thirteen Tribes found their new homeland in the forested causeways of Essex, where they grow in power and in purpose as they build a new home around them. 

Jasper is sick with an unknown degenerative disease. At times, she seems to be an unstoppable warrior, a killer without rival. At others, she can barely keep her head up in meetings.  Some of the house-heads, rulers of their respective tribes, are beginning to express a lack of faith in her leadership. There are several Houses that could rival her for the crown, including the sailors of the Longberths, the Fallow Hope faithful of the Jacintos, and even her own brother, Prince Shale of the Antler Clan. But for now, all thirteen houses still pay homage to the Holy Mother, Antler Queen of the Tribes Disparate.

Takheeta Firstborn, Mystagogue of the Grave Council, Leader of the Imix Tribe

Of all the Unborn in the Lonestar, of those who were birthed by its morgues rather than those who immigrated here, Takheeta was the first to claw her way out of the primordial muck. She is considered the progenitor of her entire tribe, known as the Imix, with every member carrying some amount of the same genetic data that created Takheeta contained in their helixes. 

Following the Hiway War, Takheeta, along with Commander Rampart and several other key members of the organization, formed the Grave Council - a powerful faction to steward the damaged morgue system that resulted from the Psionic Bomb that ended the Hiway War.  Under her leadership the strange grave cultists called Mystagogues developed an Imix ritual to prevent a disease known as the Curse of the Unfinished from spreading, earning the sole ability and fiscal control of morgues throughout the San Saba.

As the years have passed, Takheeta has entrenched herself as a religious icon to Gravemind worshippers, adherents of the strange faith called the Quiet Path, and as an authority on the San Saba morgue system. Her ultimate goal, as stated, is to fix the damaged morgue infrastructure in the Lonestar entirely - rendering her Groundskeepers useless but the system whole and perfect. Takheeta will achieve her dream through any means necessary, no matter the cost.

Commander Rampart of the Grave Council, Leader of the Reckoners

The Baywalker soldier known as Commander Rampart has been a colossal influence on the success of the Grave Council since their founding. During the Hiway War, Rampart was part of the Fallow Hope contingent assigned to Temple Station, but when his latent psionic ability was awakened by the terrorists of the Third Eye he became a mercenary and assassin in the madness following the War.

Ruthless and pragmatic, Rampart leads the elite ranks of the Reckoners, a shadowy military branch protecting the secrets of the Grave Council. His stated goal is to make sure that the weapons and technology that enabled Hiway Rob to decimate the morgue system never fall into the wrong hands again, though there is controversy about how many strange relics end up in his hands versus some hidden vault.  A powerful psion himself, Rampart helped defend Essex against the outsider threat during the Fountainhead Incident and led Bravado in a ritual that imprisoned the Gutmother.

There is an uncertain hostility between Rampart and Takheeta, though he arguably is the second in command of the faction. Rumors of a schism within the walls of the Bureau between the Reckoners and Mystagogues, his involvement in the murder of Takheeta during the struggle for the Fountainhead, and his subsequent exile afterwards has many suspicious of his motives. While Rampart has avoided overt trips to Essex in recent months, it is certain that his former exile has ended — though the secretive soldier is not forthcoming on the terms of his return to grace.

Felicity Redfield, CEO of the Railroad Conglomerate 

As she was born into a lesser Pureblood House before the Hiway War, following its conclusion, Felicity Redfield found herself in a unique position of power. As one of the few remaining members of the extended Lineage League, Felicity used what remained of her clout and dowry to form the RRC and spent the ugly, irradiated years following the Hiway War building train-tracks across what is now the Greater San Saba. 

Her crowning achievement is the settlement of New Bravado, which she owns down to the rocks the city is built on, followed shortly thereafter by the creation of The Iron Ox; a locomotive of monolithic proportions, designed to endure the threats of the Greater Wastes as it trucks goods between settlements at speed.  The tracks of the RRC Oxline stretch further each day as the influence of the rail system continues to grow. Felicity has spearheaded “delves” into the uncharted ruins underneath Bravado in search of some unknown goal, using resources found beneath to fund future endeavors.

Deeply motivated to create a more magnificent future in her image, Felicity is a founding member of the San Saba Board, on which both Takheeta Firstborn and Queen Jasper both serve as voting members. Her company, thanks to a merger in 04” PHW, retains two of the five votes needed to change San Saba Law.  Though she has not always seen eye to eye with the Board and the Chairman, her ambition has continued to reap dividends for the RRC.

Sinker Swim, Grand Admiral of the Junkerpunks 

Thrust into a position of power, Sinker Swim is not only the ultimate leader of the expansive merchant fleet that makes up the Junkerpunk’s handshake-agreement network but also, currently, a voting member of the San Saba Board. The Saltwise pirate has been the heart and soul behind the recent successes of the wayward faction.

Bouncing back from the precipice of destitution after a riotous party in the Clutch, the Junkerpunks have recently focused on becoming a bonafide rival to the San Saba Board. Thanks to their own gumption, and some unexpected support from the RRC and the Tribes Disparate, Sinker Swim has recently managed to push through the Drywater Settlement Package, which will fund the founding of a new inland settlement to the west of New Bravado. 

Generally understood to be a sort of roughshod, grating personality; Sinker has regardless been responsible for the safe arrival of hundreds of New Bravado citizens via the port at Lake Bravo. All of the exports that leave the New Bravado territory that don’t take the Oxline out, end up in the cargo holds of Sinker Swim’s merchant fleet. 

Queens Grave, Queen's Grace

At Bravado’s Perimeter, During the Final Battle Against the Archon Threat

Holy Mother Queen Jasper, Bearer of the Antlered Crown, advances on the oncoming horde of undead with all the gravity of a small star, and the killer density of a subway bombing.

Her arms are two, thick cords of sinew and meat that heft twin blades; too thick to be daggers and too ugly to cut cleanly through the slimy, forgiving skull of yet another aggressing corpse. This one, like a thousand others, discorporates into chunky biomass around her cudgel-knives. She blinks the bleak viscera out of her eyes and spits. 

Queen Jasper has rarely felt so alive. 

The pressing mob of wailing zombies, innumerable and immutable in their path, do not ram into the line of her soldiers so much as seep into the cracks between them. Like horrible estuaries the shamblers make space in the shoreline of her vanguard and expand, like winter’s first freeze, isolating her soldiers and suffocating them under cracked tooth and filthy nails. 

And so, she makes space too. Wherever she can Jasper shucks zed like corn and reduces them to their constituent halves with all the efficacy of a rabid farmhand. The Eastern front is hers; all of that flat, tilled acreage, recently evacuated and nearly impossible to hold for its geography and size. 

She has left the more cursory cardinals to the RRC and the Reckoners. 

Someone else, she thinks, would have gotten this part wrong.

Behind her, and behind the six-man-deep wall of Antler Soldiers that flank her on either side, the terrible Monolith looms just over the horizon. A hellstone of osseum and calcified biomass that, the blind and horrible typhoon of death that is thinning out here, relentlessly seeks to destroy. 

She knows, as she bends another nameless undead over her knee and shatters whatever turgid structure serves it for a spine, that her pace here is unsustainable. The Holy Mother can feel the edges to her illness behind the bright and brilliant wall of amphetamines and her own cocktail of adrenaline and dopamine. Beyond that bright halo of wellness, she foresees unconsciousness. 

But the flank must hold, she reflects, even as she crushes the meaty neck of a butcher-dead and a wave of nausea seizes her by the brain and renders the world a runny watercolor of pain and confusion. 

“Not now.” She pleads to the nameless thing that turns the seasons, and doubles over. “A bit longer.”  For a jittering, horrible instant black creeps into the edges of her vision and she loses a few seconds of time. A soldier dies to her left in a mess of incisors and gutstrings, and the Holy Mother pulls herself back from the brink of unknowing by sheer force of will. The vessels behind her eyes burst with the effort and red blooms in her vision. 

She kills a hundred more undead in less than ten minutes. By the end, she is shaking like a leaf in late autumn and the distant sound of the Monolith’s horrible, Archon-ending claxon is indistinguishable from her own pounding heartbeat. 

And then, all at once, it stops. The noise stops, the zed stop - and for a brief and terrifying instant, Queen Jasper believes she feels her heart stop too. 

But it doesn’t, it shudders again, and blackness rolls over her all at once. 

Distantly she hears someone yell her name. And the ground rushes up to meet her. 

---

Two Weeks Later, In the San Saba Boardroom, at the Flying City of Waking PrimE

Jasper’s eyes flutter open to reveal the bright and vaulted boardroom at the top of Eureka Tower. The familiar, flat drone of the Chairman’s voice has lulled her to sleep, again. 

“The situation of the San Saba is one of reclamation…” She hears the Chairman continue, before she loses the thread of his point. He is, she thinks, a terminally boring young man. 

It is becoming harder and harder to stay awake, the Holy Mother reflects, peering down into her lap and at the rich layers of her skirts. Fringe and taffeta swaddle thin legs, inches smaller than they were at the fall of the Monolith. Thick, green varicose veins spider out from the backs of her thighs and calves; morbid renditions of the late life characteristics her mother had lived long enough to achieve naturally. 

“The Penitentiary prefers a well-kept State and, in the interest of Order and Justice, vote ‘Nay’.” Warden Tabitha St. Mercy intones, her expression hidden by her mask but implied by the way she crossed her arms when she said it.

Queen Jasper does not expect she will be able to do the same in her lifetime. 

“The Grave Council cannot, at this time and during this period of reclamation and upheaval, provide the necessary personnel to staff a new Morgue. We must, in good conscience, vote Na-”

“That’s why I’m proposing it,” another, rougher voice cuts in - interrupting Takheeta Firstborn and drawing Jasper’s attention back to the present. 

The rawboned figure of Sinker Swim, the Junkerpunk’s Grand Admiral and temporary board representative, leans onto the marble tabletop with both hands. “I agree that the San Saba is undergoing a facelift right now.” They continue, shark-sharp teeth cutting off the ends of their words as if they are eating them, “I. Get That. I want my people to participate, too. Drywater would be a tradehub for my folks on land. I want the Board to approve a relief and settlement package for the Junkerpunks. We have more than earned the right to our own town, and we will continue to impress. But you must give us the tools to succeed here…”

Somewhere, in the echoing annuls of her memory, Queen Jasper can remember making the same argument for her own people at the zenith of the Hiway War. After their homeland was firebombed into carbon dust and after her father was killed to weaken their leadership, she remembered the demoralizing, exhausting, lonely years that would follow after. Without aid, they never found their homeland - and only with the events of Essex did the Tribes Disparate stumble into one. Holy Mother Queen Jasper raps her tiny silver gavel on the marble tabletop and opens her mouth to speak. 

“The Tribes Disparate cast their vote in support of the Drywater Settlement Package.” The Holy Mother declares in a voice too sure and too stately to match her emaciated countenance. She continues with all the authority of her experience and station; “The search for one’s homeland should be a short journey, not a crusade waged against your neighbors.” 

Felicity Redfield, the RRC snake with hair like red-hot copper filament, raises her own hand in, stunningly, support. Her lapdog, the Semper-Scientist, raises his fist an instant after hers. 

“The RRC'' Felicity begins archly, “Sees the benefit of a sister-settlement and offers the land to the West of New Bravado but East of Barogue, in terms to be discussed upon the resolution of this meeting, to this Settlement project.” Her eyes flicker towards the Chairman, then back to Sinker Swim whose mouth is open in a small, surprised ‘O’. 

The Boardroom is quiet for a moment before the Chairman speaks. His voice is resigned, almost wistful. “Then the formal state of the vote is 4/6, in favor of the Drywater Settlement Package. Motion Approved.”

Jasper smiles inwardly. Sinker Swim appears stunned that they got this far. Felicity maintains the look of a satisfied cat while her pet scientist shuffles his notes around, again.  

“Congratulations.” Takheeta Firstborn, Mystagogue of the Grave Council offers from Sinker’s left side. And for once, Jasper thinks she might mean it. 

“Concerning the Baroguean Exhumation…” The Chairman continues, as though something of monument had not just occurred.  

Jasper sighs, and peers out the wraparound windows at a clear, clean sky. 

---

Later, in Jasper’s Quarters at Eureka Tower

Someone knocks. Jasper can smell the thick and saline scent of a Saltwise on the other side of the metal door. She invites the Admiral in after the Antler soldier stationed at her door dutifully frisks them.

“Grand Admiral Swim.” Queen Jasper greets them, spinning in the leather chair which surely cost an unfathomable amount, to meet Sinker Swim’s suspicious stare. “I would stand, but - I won’t today. My bones grow old quickly, and they ache when I am in the high altitudes of Waking Prime.” 

Sinker waves a scaly, dismissive hand and takes a seat on another unreasonably expensive chair. “What are you trying to get out of supporting me in there? What do I owe you?” They asked, their tone abrupt and frank. 

“To remember that I was the first to support you, when it gained me nothing.” Queen Jasper replied, suddenly very tired. “I have been giving some thought to my legacy, recently. You have probably noticed I am…” 

“Falling apart at the joints?” Sinker supplied helpfully, “Greenveined so hard you’ll be sprouting roots soon?” 

“Dying.” Jasper agreed with a solemn smile that did not betray the grief in her chest.  “And I would like to be remembered as a leader who made homes, not war. As my final year concludes, in the winter of my life, I would be known as a peacemaker.” 

The Grand Admiral’s expression softens and their posture eases. “Well that’s… great then. Though, we really don’t need your pity.” 

“Good, because I’m not giving it to you.” Jasper rasps, then coughs up a meaty wad of phlegm and blood. “I’m giving you resources, which is what I wished I had when I was you.”

She coughs again, and feels the edges of another episode. “Now get out. I’ve got letters to write.” 

It is maybe 10 seconds after Sinker vacated her apartments that the Holy Mother Queen Jasper vomits up nearly eight ounces of black bile, studded with bits of coagulated psion crystal, onto her desktop and various correspondences. 

“Again?” a familiar voice asks from the shadow of her bedroom doorway.  

Felicity’s pet scientist steps back into the room. Janus Stewart jots something down on the clipboard he holds in the crook of his elbow. 

Jasper croaks pathetically as The Scientist removes a thick, ugly syringe from the pocket of his lab coat. 

“Just a few more months.” He promises. 

And plunges the needle into her solar plexus.