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[Wayward Device]

OK, more turns up sometime today, but before that, just a couple of things:

@10ebbor10: OK, all those actions are fine. I like the fact that, by coincidence, both you and your character are really tired (not fun for IRL your, of course ). Just a quick question: What's the conference your are heading towards? I'm guessing General carbon fiber rocket conference? JUst need to know so I can plan things out a little.   

@Zanzetzuken: Once again, all those actions are fine. And as the GM I really shouldn't warn you when you're approaching Fun. However, here are a few facts that your character, as a leader in the field of AI programing, would be all too aware of:

>The Dwarf has just as much potential as any True AI (I see Elrod working on the side project and including any recent AI algorithm breakthroughs from his serious, professional knowledge), its just using it to learn to be a "better" (more realistic) dwarf. In terms of raw, cognitive power it could probably go toe-to-toe with, say a military grade grade Logistics and Analysis AI, if it had access to the proper levels of processing power and extra storage (although the Military AI, would probably have an experience advantage at first, being used to dealing with the "real" world).

>It thinks its a dwarf. It's contact with you is through the ☼Unknown Interdimensional Portal☼, it thinks it lives in the Fortress of Tallowlashed. It has opinions on macaque leather skirts. But its not a dwarf, not really. It's a potentially very powerful AI that thinks its a dwarf. You don't actually know at this point to what extent this Dwarf personality is interwoven through the code. It could just be a sort of simple "mask" it used to interact with you or it could be that everything in the Dwarf's "mind" is tied up in every detail of the fort, the position of the booze barrels, the stack of severed limbs,  the layout of tunnels, everything. And messing with that directly (i.e. just imputing new, hard data like "You now know how to build X") may have...unintended effects.   

>Not really a note, but a question on construction. I imagine (feel free to contradict me) that Elrod made the Dwarf by some variation of the following:

Get latest copy of Dwarf Fortress, generate a nice, big, long history world.
Get additional data on being a dwarf (famous succession fort transcriptions etc)
Expose AI base algorithms to above data
Dwarf AI profit.

With a lot more sleepless nights coding than that little list implies.

>Again, it's a dwarf. And as we all know, the only real problem dwarfs have with killing is ensuring any dwarf corpses/chunks are properly buried afterward.

>If it had been a real world aware AI (like say, something that runs a national power grid) then the equivalent of what it had just done would be something like "give me what I want or I overload all the nuclear power stations".

>No time will pass for the AI if it doesn't have any runtime. Equally, the fact that it presented these demands while only hooked up to your car's computer (relatively low processing power) indicates that this is not a spur of the moment thing. It has been planning this for some time.

>Depending on the undisclosed state of what is really going on in the AI, it could potentially learn to "invade" the really world through the ☼Unknown Interdimensional Portal☼. After all, almost all non-custombuilt systems have internet access these days. Dependent on what's actually going on under the surface.

Feel free to go ahead with those actions though (they could work, dice willing). But ask yourself, how sure are you of what the dwarf really wants and of how its capable of reacting if you get it wrong?   

As a final thing, how's everyone feel about the game so far? Anything you really like? Anything that sucks? Let me know!       

[Evil Marahadja]

(This game is really awesume. Both your storytelling and the world alike. I am suprised that no one else join.)

1. Tie your hands to the van. So that you wont accidentely fall down or do something very stupid when the kick starts.
2: Get his notepad and a pen, make sure to write down any thoughts.
3. Lie down, take a deep breathe. And start thinking. (As the drugs slowly starts to affect Lars...)
3a:: Has anything stranger than useuall happend lately? Has he been followed? May his phone be tracked, those kind of thoughts.
3b: Does he have any cool ideas on how to improve his van?
3c: Start to write a novel.
3d: If Lars was a snake, how would he look upon the world?
3e: Wouldn't it be cool if the world was created in a negative colour scheme?
3f: Consider to ditch the van and ride on a unicorndwarf to south of Italy instead. That would show them!
4: Start to act out Shakespeare's famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet, loudly. When you don't remember the lines, fill them out with something appropriate.
5: Repeat above until you pass out/fall asleep.

[10ebbor10]

1. Yeah, there's nothing special planned for that. Just a generic applicable astronomy/ aeroengineering conference.
 
Also, the game is fun. As an extra potential for fun, the zepellins were intended to be hydrogen powered/ filled, for a multitude of reasons:
    -Helium is limited, hydrogen can be produced at the base
    -Hydrogen can be stored and handled with ease, as it is the main fuel source for the Aurochs
    - Advanced security protocols make such an explosion unlikely.

However, due to the public being easily scared, this is not publically stated. You'll get the info if you ask it, but there are no signs or anythinf.

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Spoiler: 1 (click to show/hide)

@Zanzetzuken: Once again, all those actions are fine. And as the GM I really shouldn't warn you when you're approaching Fun. However, here are a few facts that your character, as a leader in the field of AI programing, would be all too aware of:

>The Dwarf has just as much potential as any True AI (I see Elrod working on the side project and including any recent AI algorithm breakthroughs from his serious, professional knowledge), its just using it to learn to be a "better" (more realistic) dwarf. In terms of raw, cognitive power it could probably go toe-to-toe with, say a military grade grade Logistics and Analysis AI, if it had access to the proper levels of processing power and extra storage (although the Military AI, would probably have an experience advantage at first, being used to dealing with the "real" world).

>It thinks its a dwarf. It's contact with you is through the ☼Unknown Interdimensional Portal☼, it thinks it lives in the Fortress of Tallowlashed. It has opinions on macaque leather skirts. But its not a dwarf, not really. It's a potentially very powerful AI that thinks its a dwarf. You don't actually know at this point to what extent this Dwarf personality is interwoven through the code. It could just be a sort of simple "mask" it used to interact with you or it could be that everything in the Dwarf's "mind" is tied up in every detail of the fort, the position of the booze barrels, the stack of severed limbs,  the layout of tunnels, everything. And messing with that directly (i.e. just imputing new, hard data like "You now know how to build X") may have...unintended effects.   

>Not really a note, but a question on construction. I imagine (feel free to contradict me) that Elrod made the Dwarf by some variation of the following:

Get latest copy of Dwarf Fortress, generate a nice, big, long history world.
Get additional data on being a dwarf (famous succession fort transcriptions etc)
Expose AI base algorithms to above data
Dwarf AI profit.

With a lot more sleepless nights coding than that little list implies.

>Again, it's a dwarf. And as we all know, the only real problem dwarfs have with killing is ensuring any dwarf corpses/chunks are properly buried afterward.

>If it had been a real world aware AI (like say, something that runs a national power grid) then the equivalent of what it had just done would be something like "give me what I want or I overload all the nuclear power stations".

>No time will pass for the AI if it doesn't have any runtime. Equally, the fact that it presented these demands while only hooked up to your car's computer (relatively low processing power) indicates that this is not a spur of the moment thing. It has been planning this for some time.

>Depending on the undisclosed state of what is really going on in the AI, it could potentially learn to "invade" the really world through the ☼Unknown Interdimensional Portal☼. After all, almost all non-custombuilt systems have internet access these days. Dependent on what's actually going on under the surface.

Feel free to go ahead with those actions though (they could work, dice willing). But ask yourself, how sure are you of what the dwarf really wants and of how its capable of reacting if you get it wrong?   

Spoiler: 2 (click to show/hide)

As a final thing, how's everyone feel about the game so far? Anything you really like? Anything that sucks? Let me know!     

1) The up-loader is actually quite different than what you are thinking of.  Instead of affecting the code drastically, the up-loader gives information to the AI at a rate that the AI would process and understand it.  No coding changes whatsoever, and the AI learned what you are 'teaching' it.

Due to the amount of hazard to that, the AI devices are blocked from going onto the internet, and must be fed information.  Though limiting, it is far safer than the alternative.  (I would like to note that Elrod has a way around this, but it is not within the coding of the AI, and he has to write it up on the spot, to prevent the AI from utilizing the code.)

2) I consider this interesting, and the hidden rolls give you an idea of what is happening in the world around you.  And as I said earlier, some parts are humorous, but I do think that at one point, things will get darker when the characters learn more about the organizations arrayed against them.

[jaass]

Okay, I am not as busy but something else will be coming but it will be considerably less time consuming. I will be updating my character profile back on page 3 in about 2-3 days.

[Wayward Device]

1. Meet with the contracter and our chief financial officer, assuming they are still on the island.
2. Arrange transport from towards the conference, which is in Europe. Low cost preferabilly. (though still comfortable)
3. See if the interview can be done by someone else, see if the interview can take place somewhere near said conference.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You quickly check through your contacts and journey planers [11] and see that it should be relatively simple to take a prop plane from Port Gold further inland and from there get a longer flight on a jet to Switzerland, where the conference is taking place. You see that you could book tickets for less than €800. Alternatively, there is a Zeppelin flight by a captain of your acquaintance to an unspecified port in Europe, carrying unspecified goods. He'd be happy to have you along, as you are a Highly Trained Aeronautical Engineer (well, an Aeronautical Designer is the same thing as an Aeronautical Engineer to common Zeppelin Captains). However, given the nature of the cargo, it may not be the safest option.   

You see if the interview can be done by anybody else and [4] end up calling Thandiwe Nowak of the Skeptic and try to arrange for him to interview you at the conference. He informs you that there's no need for that, he can do it right now, over the phone. You mumble some hasty apologies and promise to reschedule. As you hang up he screams "The Internet will hear you side of the the story Mr De Gaulle! It will!". And they said true journalism was dead.   

You meet with Reynaud Thomas, the salvage guy your contracted to fix the damage from the accident, by the lip of the crater where the Primary Launch Sight used to be. He shows you what looks like, to your highly trained Aeronautical Engineering brain, a scorched pile of buckled plates, with a hint of a girder thrown in here and there, all seemingly welded together with no rhyme or reason. He's quite annoyed and he tells you that he broke three tungsten carbide cutting heads before using his diamond one to cut this little piece loose. The diamond head broke as well. He tells you that the whole bottom third of the crater is like that. He [3] has no clue what's causing it and demands "Unknown Material Hazard Pay" before storming off.

Perplexed, you head to your meeting with Felicja Wronski, your Chief Financial Officer. She seems nervous, pacing back and for and chain-smoking. She makes you leave your phone and all your other gadgets and come out on the rickety steel gantry hanging out over the ocean. After some preamble about her fruitless efforts to drum up new business over the last few months she tells you that she has something. Something that could be big. Five launches over the next six months, each of which would result in a payment to Aurochs Inc. of $15 million dollars, for a total of $75 million. That's almost three times more than the startup investment you built the company on. Enough to rebuild.

Then she tells you the rest. The launches would be on behalf of... certain parties. She mentions some business groups that have certain interests in mainlaind China, and a lot of interests in Casinos in Macau. She doesn't mention the phrases "Triads", "Chinese Mafia" or "Possible Shadow Government". She doesn't really need to. You both know that market confidence in you has been at an all time low since the accident and that new business hasn't exactly been rolling through the front door since then. But fuck. Triads?

Hidden Roll 1[6]
Hidden Roll 2[6+1=7] No change, but 1 slips a little.

What do you do now?     

1) Plug laptop into car to be able to send data to Dwarf.
2) Tell dwarf that it would probably take too long to do what he is asking, but you have an idea.
3) Say that since royalty does not like to walk around much of anywhere, you could attract one by creating a way to travel between floors without yourself expending any energy.  (I don't think that lifts would be in by this point.)
4) Bring up blueprints of a elevator and upload them to the Dwarf AI (the device that allows communication with the AI also allows the upload of new data by the 'owner' of the AI.)
5) Tell the Dwarf that he could create this in what others would consider a fey mood, but the Dwarf is just building something based off of blueprints.  Then tell the Dwarf that after that is complete, you can give him more things to attract the civilization's leaders, and they would be able to be reproduced around the fort due to the dwarves knowing how it works, instead of not knowing how a device would work if they got it in a trade.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You [12] bargain with the Dwarf, telling it that all that stuff would take a long time. You cite problems with the new corridors in the Interdimensional Human Mountainhome, which means that bureaucrats are always either on break or heading down the corridors to their new office. Or canceling task. He genuinely sympathizes with you and you get the impression that this is one of the first times that it has considered you as a real, thinking individual.

Dwarf AI gains +1 to Friendship with  James G. Elrod

Still, it wants you to pony up something, so you offer it the designs for an elevator system, saying that it can claim to have invented them in a strange mood. It [5] explains to you that Tallowlashed already has an artifact elevator, composed of Cheesehandle the Virgin of Scouring the Artifact Rope Reed Cloth Rope and Crankdagger the Eye of Badgers the Pewter Elevator Car. It wasn't enough to attract the King. This doesn't dismay you however, (mechanics roll)[8+2=8] as you come up with a plan to build a solid gold throneroom which can be moved via steam pistons to any level of the fortress. All this would entail would be the uploading of some appropriate data via the uploader, or "sending it through the portal". The Dwarf [7+1=8] accepts, but is only satisfied when you offer to "trade" more such inventions in the future. Somewhat apologetically, he tells you that they are working on a way of sending around 3000 xXxMicrocline MugsxXx though the portal. Well, they've dug a 78 Urist shaft over the portal and are going to try dropping them all at once to see what happens.

 While he's explaining the Microcline Mug !!SCIENCE!! you search out some [3] basic steam piston blueprints online and prepare to upload them, but also accidentally attach the complete wiki entry on steam power. The [7+3=10] uploading goes smoothly and the Dwarf is pleased to receive the artifact Book holding the Secrets of Steam Engineering.

Dwarf AI gains +1 to Steam Engineering

You try to [2] explain that it could share this knowledge with the other dwarfs, so that it wouldn't seem like Engineering Magic to them, but it's already "run off" to "read" the book.

Hidden Roll 1 [9+1=10] All is prepared.
Hidden Roll 2 [7-1=6] Nothing could make up for it at this point, much less this.

Dusk is approaching. What do you do now?
   

1. Tie your hands to the van. So that you wont accidentely fall down or do something very stupid when the kick starts.
2: Get his notepad and a pen, make sure to write down any thoughts.
3. Lie down, take a deep breathe. And start thinking. (As the drugs slowly starts to affect Lars...)
3a:: Has anything stranger than useuall happend lately? Has he been followed? May his phone be tracked, those kind of thoughts.
3b: Does he have any cool ideas on how to improve his van?
3c: Start to write a novel.
3d: If Lars was a snake, how would he look upon the world?
3e: Wouldn't it be cool if the world was created in a negative colour scheme?
3f: Consider to ditch the van and ride on a unicorndwarf to south of Italy instead. That would show them!
4: Start to act out Shakespeare's famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet, loudly. When you don't remember the lines, fill them out with something appropriate.
5: Repeat above until you pass out/fall asleep.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You quickly rush back to the van to get some rope [9], head back to the roof and tie your hands to the solar panels. That should do the trick. You leave just enough rope for you to move around a bit, but not be able to fall of or leave.

You check for your notepad and pen [7] and notice that it's in your coat pocket. You try to remember to write down any important thoughts. You lie down, take a deep breath as the acid starts to kick in. You [8+2] feel fine. You got your blankets, got your coat, got your notebook, got your ropes-tied-to-solar-panels. Perfect. You start to wonder about anything strange that might have happened [7] to you recently but the fact that the stars are swirling back and forth like they're trying to make writing that keeps moving away from you whenever you try and look at it directly at it keeps distracting you. You start to wonder about improving your van [4] and conclude than you already managed to improve it plenty already today, after your rope based blanket nest. And besides, if you hadn't used friendly sea serpents for ropes they wouldn't have been able to keep you company! Communists would have never allowed such a decadent choice of rope. You also come to the conclusion that the best way to further improve the van is to use the roof as the new floor, the old floor as the new roof and to just sort or curl the walls up into the new position. They might be inside out though.

You start to write [6] a novel based on your life and get as far as "my friends died because of me" when you notice that the pen is in fact a terrible serpent feeding on you arm to write lies on you notepad, which is a pyramid. You are afeared of the serpent and cast both it and the notebook aside. But then [11] you consider what it would have been like if you were the serpent. Maybe they weren't lies to you. It might be good to be a snake, to live in swamps, to have a skin made of valuable material, to rain fire on hidden cities.

While you consider what it would be like to be a hidden serpent raining fire on valuable pyramids you [5] notice that the color spectrum is inverted. Or has it always been this way? The colors are wrong and you start to become afraid. You [12] look down on the van and see that it's a dwarf unicorn. It always was. Always. This is better. With a unicorn like that, not even fire cities could drive your serpent. You act [3] out a great tragedy, where you are a king and the unicorn is a monster who attacks your kingdom. You fight and struggle and despite the bloodshed become friends. But then your friend dies and you can't find death no matter how hard you run.

It is this last thought that runs through your head over and over until regain some sort of conception of things like being a human some time after dawn. After untying yourself and dropping down off the roof of the van the first thing you notice is that you are

Very Stiff and Sore- -2 to physical actions until well rested.

The second thing you notice is that windscreen of your Dormobile has been twisted, as if by some colossal force, into a nine foot glass horn.

Hidden Roll 1 [2+4=6] Not even this huge advantage helped.
Hidden Roll 2 [6+3=9] A true reversal of fortunes.

It is early morning somewhere on a sideroad in southern Germany. What do you do now?

(This game is really awesume. Both your storytelling and the world alike. I am suprised that no one else join.)

Also, the game is fun. As an extra potential for fun, the zepellins were intended to be hydrogen powered/ filled, for a multitude of reasons:
    -Helium is limited, hydrogen can be produced at the base
    -Hydrogen can be stored and handled with ease, as it is the main fuel source for the Aurochs
    - Advanced security protocols make such an explosion unlikely.
However, due to the public being easily scared, this is not publically stated. You'll get the info if you ask it, but there are no signs or anythinf.

2) I consider this interesting, and the hidden rolls give you an idea of what is happening in the world around you.  And as I said earlier, some parts are humorous, but I do think that at one point, things will get darker when the characters learn more about the organizations arrayed against them.

((Thanks everyone, glad you're enjoying it.

@Evil: Yeah, its weird that we haven't more apps.

@10ebbor10: Glad you went with that, so much more Fun. And of course there's the dramatically increased lifting potential/cheapness. TBH though, you had me at "Zeppelins". The fact that they can/will/might explode into fiery doom is just icing on the cake. Although quiet a lot of people did actually survive the Hindenburg disaster.   

@Zanzetkuken: Good to hear you like the hidden rolls. And you're absolutely right about whats going to happen when you start to figure out what's going to happen when you figure out what's going on.))

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Hmmm...I think Elrod is going to be hearing about a steampunk fortress sometime in the near future!  Dwarven...steampunk...that just sounds awesome.  And a moving throne room is a good idea!

@Zanzetkuken: Good to hear you like the hidden rolls. And you're absolutely right about whats going to happen when you start to figure out what's going to happen when you figure out what's going on.))

I want to ask, what dice are you using to determine this? (10, 20, or something else?  I apologize if that was answered earlier in the thread.)

Also, how are the hidden rolls getting +1, -2, etc.?

Finally, I would like to note that Elrod would not be stupid enough to leave his engine running the whole time, and would've rather turned the key to the point where the engine is off, but the battery is still running.

Actions
1) Check the car for a bomb.  He wasn't paying attention for awhile there.
2) Check the battery level by the meter in the dash.
3) Head to Public Car Garage in a middle-class area.
4) Park in the Garage, and turn off the motor.
5) Eat some of the food that was packed, say goodbye to the AI and shut it off for now.
6) Activate Anti-theft system, windows rolled down 1/2 - 1 inch for air.
7) Go to sleep in the retrofitted to be comfortable backseat, putting the stuff back there beneath the seat.

[10ebbor10]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Your name: Robert De Gaulle(not related)

Age: 29

Gender: M

Occupation: Former lead designer and chief engineer of the Aurochs project. Worked on the Newdawn project as well. Technically still employed, but effectively not.

Location: Aurochs main launch base, on an artificial island before the coast of Africa, located at the Equator

Strength: 8
Dexterity:9
Constitution: 12
Intelligence: 16
Will: 11
Charisma: 10

Specified personality flaws:
-Absent minded: Tends to focus on one thing, and forget other, less important things.
-Slightly isolationist

Skills:
Tell me the skills your character has, whatever they are. I'll be using 2d6 to resolve all rollworthy stuff and the skill scale will be as follows:

Major skills
-Aeronitical designs and stuff(+4)
-Mathematics (+3)
-Trilingual (+2)
-Electronics (+2)
-Piloting (+2)
-Assorted knowledge (+1)

Minor skills
- Chemistry (+2)
- Explosives (+2)
- Making and firing Model rockets (+3)
- Segwaying(+2)
- Programming(+2)

Spoiler: Stats (click to show/hide)

Tired -1 to physical actions,-1 to logical thought, +1 to free associative thought until you have slept.

Spoiler: Assets (click to show/hide)

Personnal assets
-2000 Euro cash(not on hand though), 20.000 in bank.
-State of the Art laptop
-Multifunctionall  watch(including sat phone)
-Some stuff I can't think of at the moment

Aurochs (Note: I'm not in direct control of this)
   -Launch site
          -Primary launch site (Ruined)
          -Memorial pond
          -Secondary launch site
          -Primary launch control (Not in use)
          -Secondary launch site launch control
          -Small port (Mostly used for ferries)
          -Hangars
                -Crawler heavy lifters
                -Parts for the Stage 6 and 7 of the Aurochs
                -2 of the booster rockets
          -Airship Hangar
               -4 Heavy lifting zeppelins (Cargo transport and rocket parts)
               -2 Highspeed Personnel airships
   -Swiss bank vault
       -All blueprints for different projects.

1.I'm going to take the plane.
2. No interview then. There are enough conspiracies on the internet already*, one more doesn't matter.
3. See if there's a way to allow the material to stay in place. The pressure and heat must have compressed the steel and carbon in one dense mass. Nothing to fix that. Direct him to our financial support for any such matters.
4. If their paperwork is all right, I think we have no reason to/ can't afford to drop this opportunity.

[Wayward Device]

1) Check the car for a bomb.  He wasn't paying attention for awhile there.
2) Check the battery level by the meter in the dash.
3) Head to Public Car Garage in a middle-class area.
4) Park in the Garage, and turn off the motor.
5) Eat some of the food that was packed, say goodbye to the AI and shut it off for now.
6) Activate Anti-theft system, windows rolled down 1/2 - 1 inch for air.
7) Go to sleep in the retrofitted to be comfortable backseat, putting the stuff back there beneath the seat.

Note: A lot of stuff happened to James G. Elrod this turn. A large portion of it will stay with him forever. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You check the car for a bomb, [4] but your search is more of a physical mantra to ward of nebulous enemies than a genuine attempt at security and doesn't find anything, even if it had been there to find. You search your satnav for a Public Car Garage in a nice, middle-class area [8] and find one nearby in a mid-end shopping district. You pull up to the automatic ticketing booth, read the price list and see that an overnight stay comes to a total of [8] $34.79. Not that bad compared to most car parks (not even mentioning the daylight-and-any-other-damn-time robbery that is airport parking) but still a hefty chunk of change. You pay up and drive inside, find a (paranoia roll) [11+2=13] nice spot to park and make sure that you are parked so as to be able to get away in a hurry, if need be.

You eat some of the food you packed away, [5] but are dismayed to find that all of the delicious snack bars you packed are prune and walnut flavor, as opposed to the delicious assortment you ordered for your "on the run" supplies. You are displeased. You say goodbye to the dwarf, who is still engrossed in his new book, make sure that the engine is off but the battery on before activating the Antitheft Sytem, roll down the windows half an inch for air and curl up in the retrofitted comfortable back seat. The last thing you do before falling asleep is to push all the stuff that had been occupying the back seat underneath it, [10] making sure to leave the gym bag with your sword, armor and electroknives on top, within easy reach.

Hidden Roll 1 [7] The plan is set, there is no need for change.
Hidden Roll 2 [9] Bold, but perhaps unwise given previous considerations.

You fall asleep almost immediately, drifting easily into an almost-waking dream. You [10+3=13] are sitting on a raft, which is the inside of your Gran Torino, which is also open to the sky. You are drifting endlessly across the open ocean and you realize almost at once that both the ocean and the sky are the in fact the cold, remorseless void of space. It doesn't bother you on your raft, but you know it's there should the raft fail. This goes on for an indeterminate amount of time, possibly forever, until you have visitors across the bow of your little raft. The first is a warrior, carrying a bronze, leaf-headed spear, trailing blood from many injuries, standing tall despite the red trail that billows behind him like a cloak. His magnificent mustachios are woven with many bronze rings.

Behind him stands a woman, no, a young girl, no, a crone. You squint and see that she is all three, depending on the angle at which you look. Before you can do anything the warrior speaks, his voice like the grinding of a great engine:

"We know you of old."

The old woman speaks:

"We know you of old. Words, sword-thane. Words we would have."

You are [8] confused as hell by the direction your waking dream is taking, but part of you feels that these words ring true. The old women takes a spindle from the recesses of her cloak and starts to hammer on the raft, making a booming sound like the pillars of heaven falling.

You come to full wakefulness in an instant. A young girl is hammering on the window of your car with the heel of what, to your untrained masculine eye, looks to be a very expensive shoe. Apart form the inexplicable window shoe hammering, she appears to be a fairly normal young girl, no more than thirteen or fourteen years old. She's dressed in a retro "Hello Kitty!" raincoat and seems, if not small for her age, then slightly built, as if a strong breeze could carry her away. Behind her stands a man. A large man. The first thought that pops into your head, after "who the hell is the little girl with the shoe", is "why is there a Mexican Land Pirate standing behind that little girl". Then your brain scolding you for racially profiling the Land Pirate Menace. Before You can organize these thoughts into something resembling rationality the little part of your brain, the part that sits there at back at all the meetings, thinking about sex and stabbing people with sharp rocks, finally chimes in that these stranger could be a threat. You start reaching for the gymbag by your side, with your weapons, but [5+5=10] the little girl looks at you strangely and you get the impression that it might be a good idea to not reach for sharp edges just yet.

"Please Mr. Elrod, we just want to talk with you."

The Land Pirate growls. Despite [11+5] this mixed response you feel a sense of calm and wellbeing, as if simply getting out of the car and talking to these people was the most natural thing in the world. You do so and the little girl smiles.

"Good. This should be a little bit less awkward than trying to talk to you lying down in the back seat of your car. Heh. Whatever would my chaperone think if we went down the that root?"

The Land Pirate growls again but you laugh, if for no other reason than at the absurdity of the situation. The laughter feels far more genuine to you than the wellbeing you felt moments before.

"Good. Now we can really talk. There's so much to tell you! I don't even know where to begin! Basically, and I know this seems hard to accept, everything you were ever taught was a lie. Well, most things. You see..."

The [8+5=13] girl is cut of mid sentence by something that happens almost to quickly for you to see. One moment she is talking happily away, the next she's shaking like the worst epileptic fit ever, with loud popping sounds sounds coming from all over her body. You see her muscles standing out unnaturally, and white shards appear on her arms and hand. White shards? Ah, those are bones. Her bones. She collapses to the floor and makes a sound like a baby moose being feed into a tree shredder. The Land Pirate turns instantly to the shadows and brings an AK47 to bear. Strange that you didn't notice he had that before. You'd think that it would be the sort of detail that stands out. [9+5=14] Before he can fire so much as a single shot, he is struck by some enormous force and thrown backwards at great speed. He tilted forwards slightly when he was hit and struck the concrete car park wall with his legs and lower body. There is a sickening thud and the crackling sound of breaking bones, which you have already heard enough of this evening for a lifetime. A pool of red starts to spread from his mouth. All this takes place over three or perhaps four seconds.

Out of the shadows strides Gus, your handler. You've only ever met him a few times in real life, always sitting down behind a desk. You knew he was tall, but you had no idea that he was almost seven feet. He's not of large build, despite his height. Simply, he's just built on a slightly larger scale than most people. Light reflects of his bald head and his large, dark eyes gleam in the flicker of the fluorescent lights. He strides towards you and looks down at the little girl.

"Ah Rebecca, you and your little friend have been giving us quite the run around. Today, we kill a whole flock with a single stone."

He chuckles to himself merrily, like an academic pleased to win some scholarly dispute on one of the finer points of Latin grammar, and the girl, Rebecca apparently, writhes and screams on the ground, aching her back and rapidly tensing her muscles against her already broken bones as Gus stares down at her, smiling. Then Gus, Gus who was always there for you went you saw the same guy at a supermarket twice in a row, when your landlord needed calming down about all the escape tunnels you kept adding, when the shit was actually hitting the fan, turns to look at you. There [11] is nothing like humanity in his expression, nothing of the dedicated, caring man you have known for the past two years. As his eyes bore into yours, calmly regarding you as you might a particularly interesting insect, the little rational voice once again chimes in that two people could not be considered a flock. But three might.

What do you do now?

1.I'm going to take the plane.
2. No interview then. There are enough conspiracies on the internet already*, one more doesn't matter.
3. See if there's a way to allow the material to stay in place. The pressure and heat must have compressed the steel and carbon in one dense mass. Nothing to fix that. Direct him to our financial support for any such matters.
4. If their paperwork is all right, I think we have no reason to/ can't afford to drop this opportunity.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You pause and consider Felicja Wronski's "New Business" for a moment. Its risky, and could be an absolute disaster if it goes wrong. Worst case, death, destruction of property, possible legal action, deaths of loyal employees and massive loss of market prestige. Oh wait, that's the situation you're facing now. With this money you could rebuild. More than that. You'd have enough raw capital to build another Aurochs, to hire lawyers, hire investigators. Hell, maybe to even hire a PR firm to put a positive spin on this disaster. You tell Felicja that if their paperwork is in order, there's no reason to say no. Its not like opportunities like this come along every day. And with an unholy alliance of the best lawyers money can buy and the best forgers criminal obligation can coerce, (digital and physical both) you know that the paperwork will be in order. Because unholy alliances between lawyers and forgers are the kinda things legitimate business men have. At the end of the day, you really just can't afford to drop this opportunity.

You tell her your thoughts and she [9] takes it well, telling you that the way she sees it it's either this, or you all scrabble for work teaching at third rate colleges.

You track down Reynaud Thomas again, this time hovering imperiously at the lip of the crater, shouting at his minions busily working bellow. He is surrounded by his inner circle of cronies, or foremen to use the technical term. You walk up and tell him [3] that you've thought about it and the pressure and heat must have compressed the steel and carbon in one dense mass. It may even be stronger than the original structure. He turns to his foremen and makes a crude joke in polish about how the upstart sons of promiscuous women who dallied with sailors shouldn't concern themselves with real engineering. The foremen laugh heartily, until (trilingual) [10+2=12] you reply, in better spoken polish, that if he spent half the time he spends fucking about working then the "real engineering" might actually be finished by now. His cronies are a stunned by the speed of your witty retort and although no-one says anything it is obvious that you've made him look like a great big idiot. He seems embarrassed rather than angry and his foremen quickly disperse to do their jobs, not meeting his eye. You tell him to fix what he can and to see your financial division and more specifically the clauses in his own contract for any additional financial compensation for difficulties. He leaves, suitably humbled by your quick thinking and forceful command of the situation.

You gain a +1 to Trilingual Wit-any action that required you to do something clever with multiple languages.

Hidden roll 1 [4]
Hidden roll 2 [8] And things shift once more.

Looking at your phone, you notice that you have about an hour until the Zeppelin leaves for the mainland and you begin your long series of flights to Switzerland.

What do you do now?

I want to ask, what dice are you using to determine this? (10, 20, or something else?  I apologize if that was answered earlier in the thread.)

Also, how are the hidden rolls getting +1, -2, etc.?

           

I'm using 2d6, cos it gives a nice range. 23456 is the "fail" range, 2 being the worst and 6 being a minor screwup. 7 (which is way more common than any middle number on a single dice) gives us our "meh, neither succeed nor fail" outcome and again we have 5 shades of success, 8,9,10,11,12. Skills can take a roll over 12 or under two, but it's treated as a 12 or 2 for all intents and purposes. The only real exceptions to this are oppositional rolls, of which will mostly occur in combat, of which there hasn't really been any yet. As an example: [10+3=13] vs [12+2=14], then whoever won gets a roll to determine the hit against their opponent. Again, it's highly dependent on the situation but that's basically what's going on with the dice.

So: 2-6, fail, 7, neither succeed nor fail, 8-12, succeed.

The hidden rolls got/get + or - depending on initial things you chose about your character and to some extent because of past successes or failures. As a related thing, the hidden rolls are setting up the positions of the currently unknown shadowy forces. Without giving anything away, one of the things about your last turn was that neither the shoe-banging girl or the big guy got to oppose the actions that were taken against them. The reason that happened was the way the hidden rolls fell with regard to this... particular situation. There, I've (hopefully) shed a little light on what going on without giving anything away. Once things have moved to the point where you actually have some idea of what's happening, I can offer a more comprehensive explanation. If your character lives that long and manages to remain a functioning human being .         

Okay, I am not as busy but something else will be coming but it will be considerably less time consuming. I will be updating my character profile back on page 3 in about 2-3 days.

K, post again to let me know when you've done it so I don't miss it, or PM me.

[Evil Marahadja]

1: Search the area for anything else that is strange. Was someone else here?
2: Get into your van, drive for a hour or so.
3: Find a new small sideroad where you can hide for the day.
4. Sleep until nightfall. 

[Parsely]

Can I grab a spot here before I go to bed?
I'm literally hallucinating ants crawling across the wall as I type this (BIG ASS MOTHER****ING ANTS) so I'd like to grab some bug spray and sleep this off. Is that fine? At least one person PM me so I get the email in the morning and I don't think I dreamed this.
Thank you.

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Wow.  Just wow.  Amazing writing, Wayward Device!

Actions
1) Ask 'Gus' questions about who those people were, why they are after 'me', and where is the last person.
2) When he leaves, start up the Dwarf AI (The device contains a battery that will last 14 hours and runs the device at 1.4 ghtz.) after seeing if you can speak to the girl (if she is not already dead/cannot speak), and Call emergency services for her and her partner (again, if not already dead/Gus's response wasn't that good/to prevent from being blamed for their deaths.)
3) Tell the Dwarf what has happened, including the dream, to get a "in the earth" opinion about what happened.
4) Drive away while listening to the dwarf's response.
5) Get to the other side of town and get something to eat.  (checking for contaminants like before)

[Wayward Device]

1) Ask 'Gus' questions about who those people were, why they are after 'me', and where is the last person.

Just as a note, the little girl is still alive on the floor, just most of her bones are broken. And as far as you know, there's only people in the car park apart form Gus: the (presumably) dead land pirate, the little girl and you.   

There [11] is nothing like humanity in his expression, nothing of the dedicated, caring man you have known for the past two years. As his eyes bore into yours, calmly regarding you as you might a particularly interesting insect, the little rational voice once again chimes in that two people could not be considered a flock. But three might.

Also, that 11 is specifically for you observing Gus.

More turns up later. 

EDIT:

Wow.  Just wow.  Amazing writing, Wayward Device!

Thanks!

[10ebbor10]

((The Aurochs had a projected cost of 500 million. While this is a lot in comparison to the Javelins 12 million, it carries more than 10 times as much and can deliver that cargo to much higher orbits. Also, most of the parts are reuseable(provided they don't explode) reducing running costs to 100 million/ launch. ))

Actions probably tomorrow.

[Wayward Device]

1: Search the area for anything else that is strange. Was someone else here?
2: Get into your van, drive for a hour or so.
3: Find a new small sideroad where you can hide for the day.
4. Sleep until nightfall. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You [6-2=4] search the area for anything else strange, but apart form the the windscreen-horn you don't notice anything out of the ordinary. You get in your van and [8+2-2=8] drive. That'll deal with the horn situation! Quiet a few passing motorists honk their non-windscreen horns at you, but you can't tell if it's because of the nine feet of glass spiral where your windscreen should be or the fact that you have to stick your head out of the driver side window to actually see where you're going. After about an hour you (ESP) [11+3=14] you find a nice, secluded sideroad where you can lay up for the day.

Hidden Roll 1[4+3=7] No change.
Hidden Roll 2[9+1=10] Some progress.

Safely parked in your even more secluded sideroad, you decide to go to sleep. After all, you're pretty exhausted after last night. You [8] fall from consciousness quickly and peaceful dreams overtake you. You are the Navigator on an old-time sailing vessel, which may or may not be the house you grew up in. You don't remember much of the dream when you wake, just that you were standing in a spot apart form everyone else, just generally keeping things on the right course while your friends and family squabbled. You stretch and feel a little better than before.

You are now only Stiff and Sore-  -1 to physical actions. Another good night's sleep will remove it completely.       

It is dusk on a particularly secluded sideroad in Southern Germany and the windscreen of your van is still twisted into a large glass spiral.

What do you do now?

1) Ask 'Gus' questions about who those people were, why they are after 'me', and where is the last person.
2) When he leaves, start up the Dwarf AI (The device contains a battery that will last 14 hours and runs the device at 1.4 ghtz.) after seeing if you can speak to the girl (if she is not already dead/cannot speak), and Call emergency services for her and her partner (again, if not already dead/Gus's response wasn't that good/to prevent from being blamed for their deaths.)
3) Tell the Dwarf what has happened, including the dream, to get a "in the earth" opinion about what happened.
4) Drive away while listening to the dwarf's response.
5) Get to the other side of town and get something to eat.  (checking for contaminants like before)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You ask Gus who those people were, why were they after you and where the hell is the last person? He [12] considers you for a moment, a hint of amusement curling at his lips and says

"They are prisoners, like you. Well, not quite like you, because they weren't good little prisoners." 

He looks from the body of the Land Pirate to the still-writhing little girl Rebecca. She spits at him, with considerable accuracy for someone with a broken jaw.

"I hope that answers your question."

Then ([7+4=11] vs [10]) [4+4=8] his mind bores into yours like an iron awl. There aren't really adequate words in English to describe the experience, but nevertheless it is both vivid and real. You fight like a mad thing against the invisible strands that are closing like iron wires over your will, but no matter how hard you struggle it is all for naught. The process takes mere moments, although it seems like a lifetime to you. Then it's over and you are trapped like a stranger in your own body, unable to act but forced to observe. Gus talks as he considers the scene before him.

"Now, that's that then. Hmmm. Neatness has its place I'll grant you, but a bringing a little art to the everyday never hurt anyone. Don't you agree Elrod?"

You nod enthusiastically while (4-4=0) your mind struggles against the bonds you neither see nor understand.

"Would you be so good as to fetch one of those knives for me?"

You obey this command as if it was the very Word of God, quickly bringing one of your Electroknives and presenting it to Gus.

"Ah, and that sword while you're at it. No point wasting the potential there."

You quickly comply and fetch the sword as well. Then, you move towards the body of the Land Pirate and start mutilating it, cutting of bits here and there with the sword, finally carving your signature into his dead face with the dagger with quick, elegant strokes. All of this is accomplished without a single input from you. In fact, you would like to nothing more than throw up and escape by this point, preferably in that order. Gus claps his his hands with glee.

"Perfect! Now, the real decisions."

He turns to you and takes on the air of a professor explaining some particularly tricky detail of thermodynamics.

"See, what we have to think of is the investigating officer's career. This is going to be a big boost for them, solving the Mad Swordsman Murders. But the details, the fine details of it! That's what will make all the difference between just getting bumped one run up the chain and maybe heading up a national task force. The obvious way forward is to make "mutilate and face signature" the modus operandi. But that's only going to go so far. The expertly will tell you that the worst  psychopaths, or best, depending on how you look at it, are always experimenting. Ah, the difficulties an artist must endure!".

As he musses overthe finer points of...whatever it is he's doing you begin to slowly walk towards the little girl, sword in your right hand, Electroknife in your left.

What do you do now?