You make up your mind: it’s time to leave Euron for a chance at a better life. Your uncle comes in a battered pickup truck to pick up your mom, and after a tearful farewell, you bid her goodbye, promising to visit. The friend of your father arrives three days later, driving the transport truck. The drive to Thiva took three days, in which you learned that your father’s friend was named Ivan Diaz, that his brother’s name was Carlos, and the factory canned corn grown outside Estilus. You also learned how to roll cigarettes while in a moving vehicle, where most truckers stored their hooch(under the seat) and a improvised lesson on how the transport system works on Mallenia. You also bummed around a dozen truck-stops while Pablo haggled over the price of gasoline. You made fast friend with many of the truckers who ran the transports, telling them stories of your escapades of your youth, the tragic death of your father, and how everything seemed like it was better five years ago. The truckers all agree, take puffs from their homemade smokes before stamping them out, and sigh before heading back to their vehicles.
When you arrive in Thiva, you’re overwhelmed. Dropped off outside the factory, you gaze in awe at the bustle of the city before heading inside. The first thing you see is the receptionist, a strict-looking lady sitting at a desk who appears to be around seventy peers at you through squinting eyes before demanding your name. You say you’re Edmund Rodríguez, and you`ve applied for a job here. She looks over a slip of paper on her desk and yells, “Charlie! New employee here!”
A stout man enters the room from a door behind the desk, a wide smile on his face. He holds out his hand, saying, “Welcome to the job, my name’s Carlos.” and you shake it. He takes you into the factory to show you how to do your job. The job is to take crates filled with cans of corn out to the trucks and stack them in. It was boring work, but you were paid well and you quickly made friends on the job. You found an apartment near your work and split the rent with three of your friends. Letters arrive from your mother, and your friend Nicholas reads them out to you. She’s settled into her new life and doing well, repairing clothes, cooking, cleaning. After a busy day at work, Carlos calls you into his office. You’re afraid you’ll be fired, but he smiles as he hands you a small book with pictures inside. You flip through it for a moment, puzzling out the plot through the pictures before Carlos gently takes back the book. You look at him for a moment, trying to figure out what this means when he says, “Edmund, I’ve put you in night-school. You ain’t the smartest cob in the cornfield, but you work hard and you have potential. I have a friend in town who takes on my people for cheap. It’ll teach you how to read and write. You’ll go, right?” You nod and thank him profusely, excited at the prospect of not only being able to read whatever you come across whenever you want, but also being able to write back to your mother without having to ask someone to write it for you.
Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months. You learn to read and write; you send letters to your mother, you carry crates, you head out on the town to drink on weekends, you stumble through your first sexual encounter, you buy a bike to ride down the streets, you begin to dream of moving out on your own. In short, life went on. The upset came suddenly; shattering the peaceful life you had been building and bringing back all your questions about equality and government. The crumbling economy had led to massive government deficits and Manuél Gomez needed a way to fix the economy. The nationalization of the profitable parts of the private industry would work well to get some cash pumping into the coffers. The first wave of nationalization included the factory, and one afternoon a dozen soldiers marched into the factory and demanded to see the manager. Carlos came out with a smile and asked what was wrong. The troops said he was under arrest for treason and his assets are now property of the government of Mallenia, and Carlos was promptly beaten into a pulp. The workers that approached had murder in their eyes, and the soldiers held their guns firm, lining up ‘dissidents’ in their sights and firing. The workers pour out of the factory, fleeing for their lives.
Life slowly returns to some semblance of normal over the next week. The old management is gone, replaced by armed troops walking around the property. The occasional university student would climb a fence, scream a few anti-government slogans and then try to run. After a week, you can’t take it. The soldiers arrest workers who work slowly, you haven’t been paid, and you’re fed up. You quietly arrange a meeting at your apartment, inviting a few close friends. You’ve realized that Gomez is corrupt and bleeding the country dry, crushing the people beneath an iron fist. He’s robbing the people of the fruits of their labours, and that just isn’t right. You should be allowed to complain if your being ripped off, allowed to choose who would lead you, and be allowed to make choices, damnit! The ten of you make a pact right then and there that you are going to collapse the government of Manuél Gomez and make Mallenia great.
The Revolution is born!
The group quietly claps for a moment and then settles down. First, you had to make some choices. The revolution is barely a minute old at this point, but Nic quickly suggests you need a way to garner support and help the masses see their oppression. You need a way to spread the word. You are unarmed, have very little cash and are unknown. Where the revolution goes is in your hands…
A) Head to the factories and recruit some workers while sneaking out at night and committing acts of vandalism on government propaganda.
B) Head to the slums and recruit some of the downtrodden and unemployed, then commit acts of violence against government property.
C) Head to the University and recruit some students, using their skills to produce some propaganda of your own.
Character Sheet
Name: Edmund Rodríguez
Age: 17
Occupation: Unemployed
Lifestyle: Amateur Revolutionary
Attributes
Intelligence: Average(5/10)
Strength: Good(6/10)
Agility: Good(6/10)
Charisma: Good(6/10)
Skills
Persuasion: 2
Explosives: 1
The Status Of The Revolution
Members:
Edmund Rodríguez
Nicholas Miles
10 ex-factory workers
Supplies:
75$
Popular Support:
24% Against The Government
60% Afraid Of The Government
0% Know Of The Glorious Revolution
0% Approve Of The Glorious Revolution
Author
Topic: Revolution(The Revolution Begins!) - A Multiple Choice Text-Based Game (Read 17435 times)