RotheRed
RotheRed sat alone in his office. The light from the lone window behind him fell on the map, unrolled across his desk. The map seemed to be the only thing illuminated in the room, in the whole world. He couldn’t pull his eyes away and looking at it, he felt he was losing the war.
The Red Army was in firm control of Orup, but that was it. Worse, as much as he hated to admit it, Gilman had completely stymied his attempts to move eastward. It was time for a fresh strategy.
Knock, knock.
Glad to have a pause before delving into a new strategy called out. “Come.”
The door opened, BrutAl5o stepped into the office. “Hello, Boss.”
“Brut? What are you doing here?”
“I have two pieces of information I must tell you. One piece I was tasked to deliver by Lieutenant FreiMarkt. The other is more personal. Which would you like first?”
“The one regarding my Army first, please.”
“With all due respect Boss, I believe they both regard your Army.”
“Okay, fine, give me the message from your lieutenant, first.”
“Yes, Boss. Gilman has fallen,” BrutAl5o held up a hand to forestall any celebration. “It wasn’t us. It was the Green Army.”
“Green Army?! What do you mean there is no Green Army!”
“I think the principles who took Gilman would disagree. But I wouldn’t go ask them, they have been very hostile to the Red Army.”
“Interesting, that is very interesting. But no matter, Will you bring a message to Lieutenant FreiMarkt when you return to your post?”
“No, I’m sorry Boss, I can’t. I won’t be returning to my post. I have to resign my commission in the Red Army. With the death here the other day. That was a TZ overdose. I’ve had it verified, that was a Total Death. I have been ordered to find out who’s behind the TZ, then to do what is necessary to stop anyone else from dying from that stuff.”
“Is there no way I can change your mind?”
“No, I’m sorry.”
“I understand, some kind of personal mission.”
“Something like that.”
“Well I hate to lose you, you’re a good soldier and an asset to the Army. Could we maybe come to an agreement, that when this mission is complete you will be welcome back into the ranks as if you never left, if.”
“If?”
“Yes, if you take my message to the lieutenant. If it arrives with the seal intact, when you return to the Red Army it will be at the rank of sergeant.”
“I accept, is the message ready?”
“It will be in just a moment.” RotheRed quickly wrote a message, sealed it and passed it to BrutAl5o.
BrutAl5o received the note, then held his hand out to RotheRed. “Boss, I want to thank you for being so cool about this. I’ll try and finish up this other thing quickly so I can return to the righteous battle against the perfidious Blue Army.”
After shaking the offered hand RotheRed said, “See that you do, dismissed.”
The door had scarcely closed on BrutAl5o when ChefBobOne65 knocked to inform RotheRed that Otto_Korrect had returned and was waiting to report. A few minutes later the door closed behind the aristocratic looking principle. “Reporting Boss, I believe I have found what we are looking for.”
“This is fantastic news! Please share your map and then show me this location.” Otto_Korrect complied, and the fog shifted on RotheRed’s map revealing much more of the water system. RotheRed could now see that Gilman sat in a strategic position to control a delta formed by two rivers. Otto_Korrect pointed to the spot below where the two rivers joined. “I think this would be the best place for long-term control of the river. Its placement works as a control point for crossing the river east and west, it’s also a good place to control any travel in or out of the delta north or south. That would be the short term goals, long term this could expand to take Gilman and control the delta.”
“I can see that you’ve thought this through. Frankly, I’m impressed, and I agree with your assessment. Your next orders are to make it happen, how many soldiers do you think you’ll need, lieutenant?”
“Lieutenant?”
“I told you that if you were successful in your mission, you would be promoted. I need the commander of this base to be of an adequate rank.”
“Yes, thank you, Boss.”
“So how many do you think you’ll need?”
“I think five to start, but once I’m established I will want more to act as a raiding party on the far side of the river.”
“Go and pick your five from the RedRoom. On second thought, take a. sixth. Task that soldier to be a runner. Send them to me when you are established and ready for reinforcements.”
“Sounds good, any other orders?”
“That’s enough, you are dismissed. Good luck,”
Otto_Korrect left and was shortly replaced by Drac1, who sashayed, almost a slither, into the room. She snapped a salute on approaching the desk. “Reporting in Boss.”
“How were your travels south? Give me your report.” RotheRed ordered.
“I found the journey Interesting, very interesting. First I went south, I followed the road all the way down to Sourka. That town is a madhouse, seriously there are no rules, it’s the wild west. Three factions, I don’t think it would be right to call them clans, are constantly fighting for control of the town.”
RotheRed held up a hand, “I’m curious, why don’t you think that these factions are clans? Do they have names?”
“Yes, they have names, Buckaroo, Vaquero, and Gaucho. I have a few reasons for not calling them clans, they might have names but no leadership, the names seemed to me to be more a way to label parts of town. There is no loyalty, principles are always changing sides. I don’t think that you could find a single principle who felt they were a soldier for solely one faction over the others. It’s truly chaos.”
“I see. Was there anything else?”
“Just something I saw there.”
“Yes?”
“There is a giant statue there. It’s the result of a victory of Ragnar, It must have a couple million likes, it towers over the town, impressive really. I hadn't heard of him, have you?”
“I think I met him, he was working at the bank. I also fought him once, I didn’t win.”
Drac1 nodded her head, “Impressive, I think?. From what I’ve heard and seen, he’s kind of a big deal. He is a bounty hunter with the Band of the Golden Hand.”
“Them, I’ve heard of.”
“Okay, so Ragnar is their leading hunter. More, when I listen to the conversations in common rooms, he is seen as leading the fight against the Tokeners, a fight which is highly popular as far as I can tell.”
“I’m for it. Anything else?”
“Not at Sourka, I watched the statue then headed back, with a stop at CampOut on my way.”
“Good, tell me about it.”
“It was originally inhabited by two groups. The Band of the Golden Hand, we have already mentioned, I arrived shortly after something happened, and the other group was leaving.”
“Leaving? What do you mean?”
“I couldn’t get a straight answer about what happened, some clash between the Band and a principle calling itself LiZzard. What I gathered was that LiZzard was part of the naming group of CampOut, a few principles who didn’t want to be caught up in the clan mentality. When I arrived those who remained of that original group had joined the Band. whether they were coerced to join I couldn’t say.”
“Did you get any sense of leaders of the Band?”
“I couldn’t find out anything about their leadership. I did speak with MoProbs who takes all the bounties and assigns the hunters. I guess you could call him the leader, he acted more like an office manager. Nice enough guy. He was fully focused on business so I sure you could approach him, but if you want anything I think he will want to get paid.”
“You met this MoProbs?”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Do you think you could gain audience again?”
“Probably, they're not very formal.”
“Good. Please go get a drink from ChefBobOne65, and send him in here.”
“Yes, Boss.”
The door closed, RotheRed stretched his back then stood up. He walked to the wall with his weapon rack, Three swords, in their scabbards hung on the top of the rack, two shields hung from the bottom. He chooses a sword with +1 Damage and +1 speed. The scabbard was also enticing with +2 Appeal. The shield he chooses one with +2 Defence and +1 strength.
He was still adjusting the weight of his equipment when there was a knock on the door. RotheRed decided his equipment was in the best possible formation and stopped fussing with it. “Enter!” he called out. ChefBobOne65 closed the door once he was inside the office, “you asked for me, Boss?”
“Yes, come in. I’m going on a brief mission, will you have any problems running this place while I’m gone?”
“No problem Boss, I’ll keep it running smooth. What do you want me to say when people ask to see you?”
“Tell them I’m busy, and to wait. I don’t think I’ll be long.”
“Very good Boss, anything else?”
“No, thank you.” ChefBobOne65 opened the door as they both left the office. Outside of the office, the noise of the social room swallowed RotheRed. ChefBobOne65 left to go back to his bar. RotheRed looked around the room to try and find Drac1. The social space was about three-quarters of the way filled with all manner of principle. Almost every one had incorporated red into their outfit, advertising their allegiance with the Red Army. With a growing sense of pride he spotted Drac1, he was finding it difficult to keep the corners of his mouth down.
Drac1 was sitting at a table by herself, with her back to the room facing the wall, she was giving off a serious ‘leave me alone’ vibe. Her head snapped around snake quick at the sound of his footfall. Her eyes went wide when she recognized him, she started to leave her seat to stand up. RotheRed waved a hand and said, “sit.” She sat. “I’ve come to offer you a new mission,” he continued. “I need you to accompany me to CampOut and set up a meeting for me with that MoProbs.”
“I can do that, I accept.” She drained her glass of TZ, placed it back on the table. “I’m ready, when would like to leave?”
“If you’re ready, let’s leave now. No time like the present and all that.” RotheRed turned on his heel and walked to the door, the drag of a chair and some light steps were an indication that Drac1 was following. His hand was on the door handle when the cry of “Boss!” turned him around.
ChefBobOne65 was hustling in his direction. “What!” RotheRed barked.
Cheeks red, either from embarrassment or exertion and wheezing a little ChefBobOne65 shuffled to a stop. “I’m sorry Boss, really I wouldn’t unless I thought it was really important. There is a principle here to see you, I think you should meet them.” He panted.
RotheRed looked around the room and saw no one who stood out. “Where are they?” he snapped.
ChefBobOne65 gulped and pointed to the office door, “your office, Boss?”
That was the wrong answer. “Is that a question? Why? Nevermind. Just walk away we will talk about this later. Drac1, you go ahead. If I don’t catch up with you before you reach CampOut, begin preparations for a meeting with MoProbs.” RotheRed had turned on his heel before hearing the obligatory, “yes, Boss.” He did wait a moment before opening his office door to hear the main door close behind Drac1.
He tore the office door open, and stomped into the room, slamming the door closed behind him. At first he thought that they had fled and the room was empty, then a shadow moved in a back corner. RotheRed took a step forward and the shadow fully left revealing a beautiful woman in tight black clothing. He waited in the doorway and focused on the mysterious principle.
aSTARTe
Level 3
Wallet-10AU
aSTARTe spoke, her voice low, “There you are, I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me.”
“You are in my office.” RotheRed spluttered, “do you even know who I am?”
“I asked to speak with the leader of the Red Army and was told to wait here. You say this is your office. So I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’re the leader of the Red Army, am I right?”
“You are. If you know who I am, who are you and what do you want from me?”
“Oh, darling you are adorable. I’m the second hunter for the Band of the Golden Hand. You know who we are? Oh good, that will make this easier, quicker. I’m here to make you an offer.”
“An Offer?” RotheRed moved around his desk, to buy a moment to think, took a seat then motioned for aSTARTe to take a seat across from him. He filled his glass with TZ from the pitcher that was on the desk.Once she was seated he asked, “You got an offer, let’s hear it..”
“My partner and I would like to change how the Band operates, to do that we need your help.”
“What do you mean change how it operates?”
“We believe that our current business model is too passive, our plan is to transition to a more active pay model, something more like a subscription service.”
“Passive? Active? Subscription? What are you talking about?”
“Its simple really. As it is right now, principles only take out a bounty after another principle has been Tokened: passive, we have to wait for a Tokening, and for a principle to come to us. That’s a lot that is out of our control, the active model will fix all that. Principles will pay a monthly subscription or I don’t know what we’ll call it, anyways they will pay us and we guarantee that they won't get Tokened.”
“If they don’t pay, then they will get Tokened?”
“That’s it exactly!”
“That’s extortion.”
aSTARTe’s whole attitude changed, no longer light and friendly, “Fine, what if it is? You have an army and you’re letting it go to waste. Work with us and we can make real money.”
“Money!? Why would I want to make money like that? That a terrible idea, I would never, or anyone in my army, agree to have any part of your ugly idea. Chef Bob! Chef Bob get in here!”
aSTARTe remained in her seat, seemingly unmoved by the outburst. The door open and closed, still she sat unmoved, staring at RotheRed. “Get this Tbag out of here,” RotheRed said.
“I’m really disappointed that you won’t help. I’m also sorry to have to tell you that you’re wrong.” aSTARTe said.
“Wrong? I didn’t say anything?” RotheRed asked.
“Before when you said no one from your army would help when you said that, you were wrong.” She said it so matter factly.
Realization struck RotheRed. “You?! ChefBob?”
“Don’t go Shakespeare on me.” aSTARTe’s laughter filled his ears and ChefBobOne65’s bulk filled his vision.
