[IC] Pirates, Politics, and Other Things

[mrpitchfork]

Chapter 1

Desparo
The sun loomed over the land as if it would rain fire. Summer is just beginning. In the air the sun beats down on your crew, and working in the crow's nest is almost unbearable. It has caused heatstroke in one crewmate and it has caused conflicts within the crew during flights. One way to solve this problem has been to land the Lady Maria entirely and continue your exploits in motorcars and on foot.

Much of a lumberjack company in Diebesbande was massacred by Königsbär. They had begun cutting down the Eigenheim trees, which was obviously seen as intolerable by Königsbär already so it was an outrage when the actual deforestation begun. Tomorrow the humans and the forest creatures would meet.

Word got around that Vespa is also going to be attending the meeting and will probably yell just as much as Königsbär.

Vanderslu
Every once in a while smaller pirates try to raid your caravan when it brings goods to the city. One time Vespa herself tried to pull a full-fledged raid, but it backfired when too many other pirates tried to get involved. Cooperation within a crew is one thing, but cooperation between them is a whole different thing.

The rivers are still going strong. They keep some areas in the caves around Bergwerk flooded so divers can get to where nobody could climb to otherwise. Alot of great things are to be found in the inaccessable places of caves.

In fact, today you will likely have gathered enough goods to go to the city. The skies have been almost totally clear of pirates due to the sun. They are all on the ground now, but that makes them solfwa

Aldebrandi
The flooding in the caves has halted mining in Bergwerk, so your father had to buy metals (due to arrive soon) from Silber instead of Bergwerk. It's much more expensive, but it's always necessary at this time of year unless you both can keep building using generic parts. Wood usually isn't a problem, but your father has been experimenting with different ones to improve the frame of his motorcar design (which is like a single car of a train that needs no track, but it does not connect to other cars) and some of the woods he would like to use are only available through Eigenheim. He will have to do smaller commissions to make up for this blow in his schedule and the money in compensation he will have to pay because of the Eigenheim lumberjack massacre.

Lebensraum
One hundred twenty-two dead, twelve wounded, one healthy enough to run back and give King Devond the forest king's message. This was the headline for both today's newspaper and for the signed and sealed letter sent by the King, which contains a briefing checklist for this season's negotiations with Eigenheim and an extra list relevant to the forest king's slaughter on the lumberjacks. The negotiations will happen today; normally you would sent your most trusted representative to speak for you in the negotiations but the forest king's massacre has made everyone cautious.

Floura
In your wanderings you have heard about Eigenheim, and have ventured there as you have ventured countless other places. The creatures of the forest tolerate harmless travellers (With the obvious exception of the King of the Forest, who will order the slaughter of any human in the forest not on official business) and have warned you, behind the King's back, where you should never go, and have usually helped you with food or navigation if you needed it.

This time of year, the forest is especially pleasant. The sun doesn't just warm your face, it warms your soul. The fruits and berries in the forest are so sweet you can feel it, and the air carries a neverending , distant song. It was very difficult not to be in a state of euphoria in the forest in the Summer.

Today you notice more forest creatures moving around than usual. A familiar creature, an elk you had met a few times around here, approaches you.

“Soon our King and the human King will meet. Königsbär will be through this area and you need to leave or he will find and kill you. If you want to stay in the forest you can go among the human audience and they will take you.”

[Hat-Trick]

Geare was fussing in his room, which held his own personal (and small) workshop. The piece he was modifying was the power efficiency optimizer he was trying to perfect. The device was potentially a gold mine. If it was installed into any machine it would theoretically increase efficiency by at least 25%, more if he wanted to be optimistic. Unfortunately this was his fifteenth try in the past year alone. The first few times were the worst, acting more like a mini-bomb than anything benign and causing internal damage in what ever he installed it in.
As he worked, his personal widgets, Sweeps, Beeps and Creeps, watched in awe on his desk. The small orb-like constructs would hand him a tool now and again when he needed it, even hand him a rag when he got too sweaty due to the heat. Luckily, his custom-made prescription green lens goggles kept the sweat out of his eyes, so he didn't have to bother with the rag too often, usually to dry off his family's trademark red hair to stop it from sticking to the goggles.
A quick banging at his door nearly made Geare toss the efficiency optimizer into his own face. "Geare, you aren't tinkering with that optimizer again are you?" His father called.
"No?" Geare called back, stashing the optimizer into a desk drawer as his father opened the door.
"Please, Geare," his father, Bryant, sighed. "We can't afford anymore explosions right now. You know that."
"Sorry." Geare put away his tools with the help of the Eeps, as he called them collectively.
"I got a client downstairs that has a programming problem on his plow-golem. I'd like you to look at it."
"It's not my work, is it?" Geare hated having to redo his own work. He allowed himself a bit of pride when it came down to programming.
"No, some amateur trying to show off," His father chuckled as he returned to the workshop. Geare deposited the Eeps into his cargo pockets and dashed out to work.

[Codac]

“Greetings friend and thank you for the warning” Floura said contemplating her best options. One, she could rush and try to reach her destination before the meeting took place, or she could take shelter with the other humans in the area though she really didn’t feel like acting as a poor blind woman.

Floura sighed “And it was such a nice day too. Do you know how far it is from here to Diebesbande. Also do you know where the humans are meeting.” She asked to see which of the two was closer. She was not looking forward to the answer what ever it was she is either sprinting to the city or acting and she couldn’t decide which was worse.

[Siriq]

Elrich

Elrich is happy with what he was able to find this expedition. After taking inventory, he is very encouraged by the potential profit. He was ecstatic when he found a medium sized (about 20 carats) and very rare red Diamond. It is without a doubt it is one of his best finds he has had his entire career. He carefully folds a felt cloth around it, and places it in a small lock box. Pirates will get this over my dead body. He then places it in his personal pack, debating with himself if he is going to sell it at all.

After briefly looking at a map and at the sky, he has a gut feeling that now would be the best time to leave to have a safe journey back to civilization. He calls a meeting with Marcus, Jonas, and Walter. He produces the inventory list and passes it around. "This has been a great expedition, and we should make a significant profit when we make it back to civilization. Every thing appears to be locked up and prepared to move. I will be transporting the diamond personally and will be giving the key to Walter. When we get to Berwerk we will meet up with Tommy and discuss what to do from there. Great job everyone!" He pours everyone a shot of alcohol. "A toast to a job well done and a safe journey home." After quickly taking the shot, they set to settling the small detail.

Soon after their meeting they set off on their way back to Berwerk.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desparo jumped off off the Lady Maria with the grace of a dancer and landed on the ground as lightly as an ox. Taruto had many fine attributes, but lightness of feet was not among them. He pulled his hooves out of the two holes in the dirt he had created and set to work organizing a landing party.
The crew heaved one of the motorcars out of the ship's hold and lowered it to the ground. Taruto chose Brahmain, a dark skinned fellow with more piercings than Taruto could count, and Lyo, a heavy set creature of a species Desparo couldn't quite figure out. What mattered wasn't his exact genus, but the fact that he was big and he was dumb and made the perfect bodyguard who didn't get any ideas that he should be the captain. Desparo was amazed by the number of crew members he had been forced to make walk the plank in his lifetime.
The three of them climbed into the car and drove into the forest to wait for the meeting.

[The White Lyre]

“You are correct, this is bad news. Thank you.” The envoy bowed quickly and left the chamber, his polished heels clicking on the wooden floor of the halls.

He did not speak for hours, after that.

It was true, of course. The news had been bad and would probably grow worse as the week progressed. The outcome was not clear - any man could make a guess or unsure predictions - but it was clear that Bergwerk would feel the consequences in the wake of this letters arrival.

For a long time the only sounds were the leaves rustling in the wind, filtered through the open windows of the study. Occasionally, a strong gust would flutter the pages on Lebensraum’s desk, or blow the curtains outwards briefly. From the far side of the manor, then, the lord heard the sounds of quickened feet on wood. He has come.

Felix heard the sharp, stubborn sounds of Worth’s feet, but behind these sounded the relaxed, even a bit reluctant, steps that had to be Hansel's. Worth always walked with a comical sense of purpose. A comical facade of purpose. The deep voice of Felix’s sentry mumbled something, quickly cut short by the high pitch of the banker’s. Seconds later his door was opened outward, revealing two men in the doorway.

The first was called James Worth - a banker, economist and a man attempting to be political. The second was Hansel Jaeger, a man closer to Felix’s humor and liking. He was one of Lebensraums’ diplomats and a trusted man.

“My lord, how are you?” The question was asked out of such necessity it practically sounded rhetorical coming from Worth. His voice was always too loud, Felix thought, and always too high.

“Fine, thank you, Mr. Worth.” He responded, nodding to the second man as he entered quietly afterwards, “Hansel.”

“I tried to tell James, my lord...” Hansel started, but was promptly ignored and interrupted by the man standing in front of him, “My lord, you do know what has happened, don’t you?”

Felix snorted at Worth’s insolence, but nodded, “Yes, Mr. Worth, I have heard.”

“And you do realize the significance of this to me, do you not?”

Again, he nodded.

“Then, my lord, give me leave to represent Bergwerk, in the negotiations!”

Felix sighed heavily, his eyes detaching themselves from Worth’s for the first time. They became unfocused as he lost himself in thought, briefly. He had been sitting here for hours since he had been awoken early in the night to read the message. It lay open still, next to the early edition of the paper. He had thought of many things relating to the massacre since then, but he had known that this would come inevitably; and he had also anticipated that it would have to be dealt with first.

“Mr. Worth. You barge into my study with such speed that I would think you are in fact a runner of letters such as the one who brought me this, from the king himself.” He says, pointing to the letter, “Do not think that I do not appreciate you or what you have done in the past for myself and Bergwerk, but this is too much to ask. Show some humility, Mr. Worth, and consider the delicacy of the matter at hand.”
“Oh, I have, sir.” The man replies in the same nasal tone, dauntless in front of Felix's frustration, “Indeed, I have. Who better to represent your interests than the man who has funded the research and development of those interests for nearly a decade?”

James Worth had not always been a thorn in Felix’s side. Indeed, he had funded the research of many things for Felix, and willingly, and without question. Something had happened, though, in the past two or three years. It had taken a while to become an annoyance, but at some point the change had become obvious. James Worth had become lost in his own ego and ambition.

“I think, Mr. Worth, that the best man to represent my own interests is myself.” Felix said with finality, standing up abruptly, “And although I applaud your sincerity, I must say, it is past time I leave and do my duty. I will be attending these negotiations. For now, you are dismissed. Hansel, you will stay and accompany me to the station.”

The reparations of this curt dismissal would be tedious but it was true, Felix had left his departure much too late. He would have to hurry to his train car in order to arrive in comfortable time for the negotiations. Bergwerk was so far removed from the war that this sort of thing was usually a formality. This time, however, Felix would go himself - after all, he had become quite interested in the power struggle between the three factions in the past while. Some whispered that he might soon formally align Bergwerk with someone other than Devond...

[mrpitchfork]

Geare
A man stands at the front bar, slightly shaken, obviously annoyed, and demanding to see the one who will fix this confounded machine.

"Here he is, Mr Porter. This is Geare. He is a very competent worker and you can trust your soil to him."

"Well I had quite better be able to. Come on, boy, I have some soil that needs plowing."

He leads you to a cab which takes you down to his farm. From the distance you can see a large, old model plow golem going back and forth across the same stretch of soil, boring a deep trench in the ground. As you get closer you can see it is hunched unnaturally and it shakes.

Floura
The elk pauses for a moment. "I trust enough that I could consider you a friend. Ride on my back; I can take you to the edge of the forest very quickly, but no further. There you will meet the humans within the hour." The elk's company urges him not to, but he dismisses them.

Elrich
And the sky is indeed clear; normally it would be dotted by distant pirates but today you see none at all. Normally you would find this eerily odd but you do know that the Queen of Pirates herself is going to the negotiations in the forest, so she's probably being followed by many of the smaller pirates. In fact, it's probably safe to use an express train to Bergwerk, since the pirates aren't out at all and the bandits couldn't even dream of catching this train.

Once you reach Bergwerk you see that there are fewer people in the streets than usual. Word says that everyone is gathering to watch the negotiations in the forest via telescope, but the whole story will be printed and delivered to every place in the kingdom by tomorrow.

You discover Tommy sitting in the public square on the main road, talking with the locals about what might happen at the negotiations.

Desparo
As you near the place of meeting you notice a larger caravan of cars, obviously owned by the government, and some smaller groups owned by pirates or private company. The head of the government's caravan is surrounded by protective and armed vehicles, and none of the pirates' cars seem to be carrying Vespa's colors on them. In fact, many of the pirates are shouting through the trees at each other talking about Vespa's absence, but nobody seems to have any answers.

Lebensraum
There is a quiet rabble outside, as the locals wait for you to leave; they are proud to live in a town important enough to have its own representative in the negotiations, and they are excited about the outcome and how you yourself have decided to go. There are a few angry shouts at you from the crowd from people the war directly affects; not angry at you, but angry at their hardship and hoping that your influence at the very least will fix things.

As you enter the cab you notice immediately that the driver is rather gruff and disheveled, but has a hardy and somehow pleasant atmosphere to him.

"Well good day to you, sir, and how been your day in's far?" he said. His accent was foreign, probably from either far, far south or from the nearby small farming village.

[Hat-Trick]

"I'll need to see its book," Geare says, watching the lumbering golem make its way to and fro. When handed the book, Geare begins by canceling the power up command to stop the golem from damaging any more of the field. "Who programmed this golem?"

"Some young bloke about your age," Mr. Porter answered.

"Ah," Geare mutters, pulling the Eeps out of his pockets and directing them to look the golem itself over. Their program wasn't much, but they would find and log any obvious problems while he proofread the book. "Ah, there it is. They forgot to add a command." Geare looked the page over, front and back and pulled a pre-made program outline. He filled out the outline to include the contents of the page, plus the proper coding to extend the plowing to the whole field and not just one length. Ripping out the erred page and placing the refined version in its place, Gear consulted with the Eeps to see if there were any mechanical problems before starting the golem back up.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desparo leaped from the motor-car and strode proudly to the clearing. "You there!" He shouted at a young lad of about 17. "Where is Vespa? I was under the impression that he/she (can't remember) would be attending the gathering."
The boy said nothing. Taruto, never one to suffer fools, drew his long rapier and held it to the boy's throat. "Speak, before I cut your tongue out."
An elder looking pirate came forward. "I'm afraid someone already beat you to it. Show him your mouth, laddie." The boy looked nervous. The pirate smacked him over the head. "Do as i say!"
The boy opened up his mouth, revealing the useless stump of a tongue. "He lost it in a fight a few months ago. We had just raided a merchant fleet when another airship emerged from the clouds and stole our wares."
"The blaggards. And what honorless dogs visited this treachery upon you?"
"Why, the Lady Maria, scourge of the western skies. Crewed by an honorless lot with no regard for the Pirate Code." At this moment, his eyes seemed to noticed the flag flying from Desparo's motor-car.
"You dog! I lost twenty good men that day and all the treasure onboard my ship."
His hands went toward his belt where pistol was holstered. Before he could draw the dishonorable weapon, Desparo's rapier slashed across his throat. The pirate crumpled to the ground.
His young companion let loose a gutteral cry of anguish and fury and pulled his own sword. He swung wildly at Taruto, desperate to kill the bull-man. But Desparo was a master swordsman, and in no time had disarmed the waif and plunged his rapier into the boy's heart.
Brahman and Lyo were behind him at this point, their own weapons drawn. A gang of five pirates advanced on them, ready for blood.

[mrpitchfork]

Geare
The Eeps point out some silly inefficiencies, but nothing too serious. Mostly some minor redundancies in the motors powering the plowing arms.

Mr Porter looks impressed. "Are you done already? That was much quicker than I had expected."

Desparo
"HUMANS!" comes a terrible roar from behind the pirate horde. Most of them flinch visibly, the rest whip around to face the source of the sound. A large bear steps forward and flourishes his claws in the air.

"Barbaric! Officious!" he curses under his breath. "As much as my claws thirst for your blood, I am forced to hold back. Unless you pathetic creatures come up in arms as you do now!" He roars and pushes some fear-stricken pirates to the ground, and then looks to you. "And I thought your kind would be better," he scoffs.

[Hat-Trick]

"Yep, we're done here," Geare said proudly. "My father will handle the bill when we get back. If you want, you can schedule some mechanical maintenance at some later date to optimize efficiency, but your Plow Golem should be fit for work as it is." He scooped up his helpers and deposited them back into their pockets before heading back for the cab.

[The White Lyre]

Lebensraum

Felix walks through the crowd with ease, aided by the fact that a dozen of his soldiers accompany he and Hansel to his departure. In his right hand he carries an ornate cane and in his left his briefcase, full of notes and research regarding economy, the war-effort, and science.

"Hansel, I want you to keep an eye on Worth for me." Felix whispers quickly as they walk the distance from his manor to the coach, "I want you to gather all the information you can on what exactly happened to those soldiers, as well. And, finally, when I get back I would like to see the scientists as well as my financiers and diplomats. Good day, Hansel. I'm sorry you couldn't go this time, but I'm sure you realise the significance my involvement in this meeting could have." The two men shake hands, look each other in the eyes, and then both spin around and walk towards their destinations.

With a wave to the crowd Felix enters the cab and nods to the driver, "Pleasant enough. About to get much more interesting, I'd say."

I'm sorry, I didn't see that you'd posted on the 1rst. But if you want to, and others do too, I would really like to get this started up again!

Btw, if we do start this up, I've taken dark slate grey Felix's voice, if that's okay.