MISSION: PERDITION'S REST

[futurologists]

MISSION: PERDITION'S REST All characters, established or new, will receive a form of this dossier to their devices. Thus, consider all information hereon as ICly available to all characters. Please direct questions here, and follow this link to view locations. The Bounty Board for Perdition's Rest has extra side-missions for your character to take until the end of the mission, which is currently slated for mid-December. PERDITION'S REST BRIEFING This mission will have recruits on an unnamed planet that ALASTAIR had flagged roughly a thousand years ago, named Q-65 by its current inhabitants. ALASTAIR's file on the previous mission here is incomplete, so retrieving clues to help fill in the blanks is an optional mission objective. The current inhabitants of Q-65 chiefly live in the colony Perdition's Rest, where they mine argecite, a crystal important to their spacefaring culture. The planet was flagged by the TIMELINE.exe as having the potential for full temporal disruption; the primary mission objective is to investigate a fundamentalist group known by locals as the Deemers, who proselytize that digging deeper into the planet's core will bring the whole of them to salvation. A secondary mission objective is to deal with the mining efforts by themselves, as continuing mining will destroy the planet. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: INVESTIGATE FUNDAMENTALISTS. Temporal destruction will result if the Deemers' goal of deeper mining is achieved. Prevent this by whatever means necessary. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: STOP MINING EFFORTS. While destruction of the planet will not adversely affect the Timeline, if mining continues, the planet cannot sustain itself and its other natural resources will go to waste. OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE: RETRIEVE ALASTAIR RECORDS. Centuries-old records are somewhere in the vicinity of Perdition's Rest from ALASTAIR's previous mission. Find them. PERDITION'S REST OVERVIEW Perdition's Rest is the primary settlement on Q-65, a boom town colony whose main purpose is to mine for argecite, a crystal that is found in rich veins throughout the planet. Q-65 is a chaparral planet, mountainous terrain mixed with scrubland and the occasional pine forest. It can be very dry and hot in the summer, upwards of 33ºC (92ºF) in midday, but luckily, you'll be here during the winter season. Expect rainfall to break up the otherwise arid conditions, with temperatures averaging around 24ºC (75ºF) during the day and much cooler at night. On arrival, all recruits will receive a modest sum of local currency to spend on clothing, housing, transportation, etc. If more money is desired, recruits may consider taking on tasks for locals. The locals are called the Qorral, a spacefaring species that survives by sending colonists out to argecite-rich planets, mining them hollow, and then moving on to other planets to do the same. The Qorral have brightly-colored eyes and sepia-toned skin, but otherwise appear to be very close to humans biologically; they require argecite in their diet for nutritional purposes, their home world's supply having run out centuries ago. Their society appears to be egalitarian, and are quite accustomed to dealing with non-Qorral people, so recruits should not expect any discrimination. As a spacefaring people, the Qorral are very technologically advanced, though frontier life necessitates they use fossil fuels; they appear to have little use for animal husbandry, all their working animals replaced by mechanical versions. Prior to the Qorral's arrival on Q-65, ALASTAIR has no records of intelligent life here. Perdition's Rest has existed as a colony for roughly 30 years, with a few prior years spent at another colony, located at the ruins known by locals as Boneyard Junction. Earthquakes brought on by mining efforts caused this original colony to half-collapse, leading the colonists to move to a location further away from the mines. After 30 years spent mining for argecite, the deposits are nearly depleted and the colonists are working to scrape the last remains from the planet before moving on, resorting to frequent use of fracking, which results in earthquakes. It's only a matter of time, ALASTAIR analysts say, before the entire planet meets the fate of Boneyard Junction and collapses into itself. Within the past year, some Qorral have left Perdition's Rest to live out in a separate camp up in the nearby mountains. These separatists are religious fundamentalists that call themselves the Redeemers, and that the Perdition's Rest population refers to pejoratively as the Deemers. This group proselytizes that the continual galaxy-wide search for argecite can end if they only dig deeper and further into the planet -- a so-called path to salvation. The Deemers' numbers have been steadily growing over the past several months, new members leaving Perdition's Rest to never return. The Deemers are not aggressive, so the sheriff has no cause to raid their camp -- but that doesn't mean there are no bodily threats around Perdition's Rest. Some colonists who have grown unsatisfied with their lot have become bandits out in the desert, robbing any of their former friends and family who stumble too close to their camps. In addition to this, the local fauna includes giant spiders and lizards, snakes, scorpions, and canines. But these threats all pale in comparison to the sandworms that have recently been driven to the surface by the more aggressive mining tactics. As you work toward your mission objectives, be careful -- this planet is wild.

Comments

QUESTIONS?

[futurologists]

[futurologists]

What happens if one of the recruits eats meals laced with Argecite?

The Qorral don't actually put argecite in their food; they consume it in a refined form in capsules. So the chances of a recruit eating argecite on accident are very slim! However, in case ingestion does occur, the results would be similar to metal poisoning: nausea, digestion issues, etc.

[futurologists]

Will the people of Perdition's Rest know anything of ALASTAIR/their mission there? what about the past ALASTAIR mission?

The Qorral are aware of ALASTAIR and that they are here to investigate the Deemers. Beyond that, it will be up to recruits to explain (or hide!) any further information.

Regarding the previous ALASTAIR mission to this planet, which was one thousand years ago, the Qorral know nothing -- they've only been living here for 30 years, after all!

[futurologists]

Would recruits be able to get hired by the locals to work in the colony? If a character wanted to, say, work as a performer — or even just perform once — at the saloon, would that be plausible?

There will be a number of odd jobs from locals available on the bounty board for cash and other rewards. As for working at an establishment on a more permanent basis, the Qorral are aware of ALASTAIR's temporary presence here, so they will be reluctant to hire anyone at an actual staff position. If characters are particularly persuasive, they may be able to swing temporary, menial jobs.

As for working as a performer, that's absolutely fine! Be aware that the Qorral performers are escorts, so recruits may wind up being propositioned...

There is also a bounty available for saloon performers (open until 22 October).

[futurologists]

Up to how many people will be able to share one room together in the saloon? Would it be possible for characters to stay in other places, or perhaps camp outdoors?

We would estimate that around four people can comfortably stay in one room, unless you like slumber parties! There is only one bed per room, so everyone must learn to share.

Otherwise, characters may work odd jobs in exchange for room and board; for example, the reverend may let people stay in his house in exchange for helping out at the church. Other locals may not have the room (or inclination) to allow strangers to stay in their homes, so they may wind up sleeping at their shops instead of a comfy bed.

If a character would like to camp outside, this is perfectly feasible; the weather to expect is listed above (around 75ºF during the day and colder at night). Expect frost in the morning. Keep in mind that bandits and wildlife are also a danger if camping outside the city limits, where the sheriff does not patrol.

[futurologists]

How do the locals feel about robots that aren't from their world and aren't horses/livestock?

Some children might be surprised, but the adults are used to AI and wouldn't bat an eyelash.

[futurologists]

Would there be any opportunity to overhear any valuable gossip about the bandits or the Deemers?

None of the NPCs will have much to say about the Deemers beyond general grumblings of distrust or an occasional more personal story of how a friend or relative up and joined them without warning.

As for the bandits, characters who listen closely may hear the weapons dealer at Corbucci's speaking to his employees using suspicious phrases like a "special delivery" for "special clients."

[futurologists]

Is it possible to be tossed in the drunk tank at the jail for the night simply because you're believed to be drunk, even if you're not? (Or any other mishap where you get to sleep the night off at the jail regardless.)

Of course!

[futurologists]

I saw mention of renting a metal horse, but could a character re-appropriate one from the bandits, if they can manage to get over to one? Do the metal horses have any personality, AI, etc?

Characters may steal horses from the bandits, but be careful -- if they bandits aren't "disposed of," they may be looking to take their property back! As for the horses themselves, they behave like living horses but aren't sapient in any way.

[competing]

does argecite have any effects on humans? like, say, what if someone wanted to grind it up and use it as a facemask....

[opticnerd]

Would it be possible for someone to reprogram one of the scrambled guard drones and make it "theirs" ?

[scarredhorns]

If it's possible to reprogram the guard drones, then would it also be possible to disable them by pulling out their wires or something? That way they can be repaired by the Qorral in the future?

[prodigism]

Quick question. Can characters get other weapons made at the blacksmith aside from guns? I was thinking of having Arima get a sword made, prior to the new log going up, and was just wondering if that was at all possible at this point!

[friendlykillingmachine]

Would it be jumping the gun to have characters sabotage some mines or should we hold off on that for ooc reasons?

[predomination]

SO. If someone with keen observation skills and a highly tactical mind were to observe the Deemers during the fighting from a... safe distance, would he notice anything particular about their movements, the way they fight, etc.?

Basically, do they move as a cohesive unit, do they seem to take any orders from any specific Deemers (is there a clear pecking order beyond Black being the leader etc), or is it basically a civilian militia running around willy-nilly and shooting at everyone like crazy people.

Basically, anything interesting Urahara could pick up on to inform the rest of the Audentes of when we inevitably end up fighting them a second time. Because he likes his plans.

[dishearten]

hey mods,
wrt the new log, since pete made those trackers for his bounty, is it at all possible for him to plant one on a Demurr horse or two in the fray or one of the demurrs period, to try and get a beat on where they are?

also relatedly, is his tracker actually bringing in information for recruits/the town to be more prepared for bandit attacks?

also relatedly relatedly, he and tony were casually talking about putting together an alarm system for potential attacks, is this possible/a plot we could facilitate (having some other characters help build it)?

thx!!!

[secondnature]

Hey, for the log that's up, I'm definitely keen on having Keith uncover some lost technology and pieces of information. Is there anything I need to do on my end to play with that, or is more information coming out later and we can just say our character(s) went for it?

Thanks!

[scarredhorns]

For the saloon fire, I was wondering if it would be possible for Nyuu to escape the fire by way of the window in her room? Or would the saloon's exterior be too hot for that?

I'm not planning for it to be a safe escape. The rough idea is: after she breaks the window, she steps onto the slanted roof extension (I don't know the specific term for it, but here's a pic to show what I mean); she loses her balance and rolls off the roof, landing hard but at least she's out of the burning building.

Just want to know if this is all okay.

Re: QUESTIONS?

[friendlykillingmachine]

For the arson investigation sign-ups, do you want us to sign up under this subthread or do you want us to PM the mod account?

Thanks!

[scarredhorns]

Regarding the Taraxa, would it be possible for Lucy's vectors to extract them without killing their host? I was just thinking that since her vectors can phase in and out of bodies without killing her target (unless she wants to), Lucy could reach into the brain and withdraw them from the ear or nose since her "arms" are capable of delicate work.

And if that's possible, would there be any resistance from the Taraxa itself on the way out? Like would it do some internal damage to the body as it's being pulled out in a last ditch effort? And could Lucy prevent that by keeping a good grip on it?

[perma_banned]

Ban has this power called 'Fox Hunt' which allows him to steal things magically. He's used it before to cleanly remove demonic parasites from peoples' bodies without causing them harm.

How successful do you imagine this might be in dealing with the Taraxa?

[viscontree]

Are there any clues near the saloon? Julius is planning on snooping there for a bit and I wanted to know if anything would turn up! He'll happily share anything he comes across.

I thought it was worth checking in with you guys just in case.

[heroforhobby]

Hey! Question on the brain slugs we got going on here, would it be feasible to say they wouldn't be able to invade his body since they have to bore in and he's (seemingly) indestructible? I know I can say he just never came in contact, but it might be useful to know, and I don't want to just assume with him. :)

[futurologists]

That works! If they can't enter the brain, they can't take control.

[slushfund]

how, uh. how would you go about angering/luring a large amount of sandworms? would contained explosives in a mine near the fracking field do the trick? or do i need to hear about their favourite foods...?

:')

[futurologists]

Hi! We won't be answering any hypothetical questions about the CYOA. Just try something and we'll tell you if it works!

[keeper]

Hullo mods, adding to questions for sandworms! Do they play a role in the natural production of the world's argecite and/or have anything to do with the temporal core of the planet? Or are they just there to be terrifyingly awesome?

Also, re: luring that's mentioned above, how much external stimuli (in this case, with elemental/destructive magic spells) would be needed to divert the attention and movements of a single sandworm? Thank you!

[futurologists]

Hi there! The sandworms are just part of the regular creepy fauna that lives on this planet.

As stated above, we will not be answering any hypotheticals about the CYOA. Just try something and we'll let you know if it's successful!