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| The Brabazon Workworld | |
|---|---|
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| The Brabazon Workworld (Sidebar) | |
| Located in | Albion |
| Ports | The Bit Between |
| Shops | Little Niceties |
The Brabazon Workworld is a port in the outer circle of Albion, located in the same segment as The Floating Parliament. The Albion-Reach Transit Relay is located very near to this port.
Log Entries[ | ]
Listen: the roar of a workworld's factories. A leviathan of industry.
The air smells of iron and sweat and misery.
The sky smells of smog and furnace-fires. You near the workworld - where debtors, the poor, and the sick are put to use.
Incautious Driver: "My father helped pay for this place. I wonder if he ever visited it."
Incognito Princess: "The people at Brabazon should stop complaining. Miserable? Move somewhere else."
Repentant Devil: "Brabazon! Such efficiency! Such moral apathy! My people should be taking notes."
The Eccentric cranes from a window, trying to take in the immensity of Brabazon's great machines.
The Inconvenient Aunt looks up from her newspaper. "Brabazon, unhappy? No work ethic, your generation."
The Rat Brigade peers down at the factory, looking for even a hint of greenery.
Your Inadvisedly Big Dog is despondent. Its attempts to befriend your Blemmigan Voyager were met with a spray of caustic froth from the irritable mushroom.
"Dear God," the Fatalistic Signalman breathes, as he takes in the extent of the workworld.
"Imagine living out a mayfly's span, and never seeing the sky." The Vagabond shudders.
"They employ Clay Men for the hardest labour," says the Clay Conductor. "As though our value is only in our work."
The Bit Between[ | ]
The officials of Brabazon never bothered to formally name its waypoint. Captains dock here to pick up goods or deliver workers. It is not a place to linger, because of the proximity to the accelerated time of the workworld.
| The Last Day | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 303698 |
The Last Day[ | ]
A horn blares. The factory doors creak open. Those Workworlders lucky enough to have reached the end of their service blink in the light of freedom. They were young when they first arrived. Now their skin is calloused and wrinkled; aged not only by hard labour, but the slow-burning light of the Clockwork Sun.
Trigger conditions
Date ≥ 
An Opportunity at the Brabazon Workworld,
An Opportunity at the Brabazon Workworld ≥ 1
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Help a Workworlder with their paperwork
They are due to be released, but Brabazon never makes it easy.
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Failed event | |
| Trapped by bureaucracy
The official forms are labyrinthine, written in the smallest possible type for workers who can barely read. Unfortunately, you have no luck sorting through them. The hope of freedom in the worker's eye fades. They shuffle back through the gates.
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| Successful event | |||
| According to Section 4B(2)...
The Overseer is most displeased when you turn up with one of her workers, forms all correctly filed out and stamped. They are forced to release the prisoner on schedule. Your only reward is a smile from the prisoner, and a scowl from the Overseer. It is enough.
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| Recruit crew from the Workworld
Former workers, now old and exhausted. Brabazon does not pay for their journeys home.
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Welcome aboard
The now elderly crew shuffle aboard, almost relieved to be given orders. Their bones are brittle, but they will work hard. Working hard is all that they've known in their lifetimes under the lash.
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Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
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| The Bit Between | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 281872 |
The Bit Between[ | ]
Brabazon Workworld: the first workworld to be established in Albion. Working here, debtors can escape prison; they remain till their debts are repaid and a ticket away has been funded. The primary industry is that of hours processing, which has the side effect of accelerating time on the workworld surface. The dock is between Brabazon Workworld and Little Nice – where the more privileged overseers reside. The dock is, for captains' sake, nearer Little Nice than the workworld. Unexpected ageing would deter even the greediest captain from arriving.
Trigger conditions
Uprising Lock ≤ 0,
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ask after the Dismal Chamberlain
What happened to him after your altercation in Brabazon?
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The Chamberlain's fate
You make your way to the slum where you first duelled the Chamberlain. After a few hours of fruitless questioning, you stumble upon an eye-patched overseer. You recognise him as the man the Chamberlain attacked while under the influence of moonlight.
"He ended up in solitary for what he did to me," says the overseer, adjusting his eyepatch. "But it turned into a bit of controversy. He had a lot of influence with royalty. Eventually they whisked him away to Carillon so he could repent."
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| Ask after the Dismal Chamberlain
What happened to him after your altercation in Brabazon?
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The Chamberlain's fate
You make your way to the slum where you first duelled the Chamberlain. After a few hours of fruitless questioning, you stumble upon an eye-patched overseer. You recognise him as the man the Chamberlain attacked while under the influence of moonlight.
"He ended up in solitary for what he did to me," says the overseer, adjusting his eyepatch. "But it turned into a bit of controversy. He had a lot of influence with royalty. Eventually they whisked him away to Carillon so he could repent."
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| Track down the Dismal Chamberlain
To find the Martyr-King's Cup, you must win a sword from one of your fellow questers. And you know where the Chamberlain is staying.
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Moonlit uplands
Following the Queen's directions, you find your way to the street where the Chamberlain is staying.
As you walk through rolling clouds of soot, the clamour and walls and noise fade away one by one. Then the smog clears. You remember (how could you have forgotten?) that you are a knight, riding your destrier up a narrow road on a barren, windswept hill. There are no stars tonight, but the moon seems to fill the sky.
The Dismal Knight
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| Track down the Dismal Chamberlain
To find the Martyr-King's Cup, you must win a sword from one of your fellow questers. And you know where the Chamberlain is staying.
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Moonlit uplands
Following the Queen's directions, you find your way to the street where the Chamberlain is staying.
As you walk through rolling clouds of soot, the clamour and walls and noise fade away one by one. Then the smog clears. You remember (how could you have forgotten?) that you are a knight, riding your destrier up a narrow road on a barren, windswept hill. There are no stars tonight, but the moon seems to fill the sky.
The Dismal Knight
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| Ambition: Establish a spider-council here
Your sorrow-spider is cunning, and will be able to find its way down to the workworld. You release it and, sure enough, watch it scuttle silently after an overseer as he passes through the gates.
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A strand of the web
Time moves more quickly on the workworld itself, so barely a day has passed for you when the spider reappears, its work already done.
In the wordless, signed language of its weaving legs it informs you of a forgotten factory, now clogged with webs, where the juvenile sorrow-spiders have learned to knit themselves together using an old Spinning Jenny.
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| Ask what has happened
Children are no longer trekking between their school in Little Nice and Brabazon. The Overseers look tired and wary.
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"It's the workers, you see. We just can't keep them happy." The Overseer sighs heavily. "We can't change anything, we can't keep them happy, we can't do anything right. Just making themselves miserable, and life harder for us. We don't want to make them work. But if they don't..." He shakes his head.
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Game note: It is possible to lower unrest in the backstreets of Brabazon.
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| Travel to Little Nice
The Governor of Brabazon Workworld resides in the picturesque village at the far end of the Bit Between.
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Thick double doors separate the Bit Between from Little Nice. The fresh air of this pretty village is in sharp contrast to that near the dock.
 Little Nice
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| Join a tour of Brabazon Workworld
With the right forms, you can requisition hours. The tour guide can use those to ensure you remain safe.
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The Overseer checks over your permit and sets aside some Brabazon hours to be woven for you. She hands the group over to the Tour Leader, who shepherds you all into a side room.
 Preparations for the Workworld
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Game note: Once you join the tour, you will not be able to leave till the end.
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| Join a tour of Brabazon Workworld
A neatly printed sign offers: 'Tours of Brabazon. Witness the Worthy Work of Albion's Unfortunates, Blessed with Toil'. Near it, several well-dressed personages are gathered in a tight group. Occasional guffaws rise above the chatter.
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"We run this tour at cost, you know," says the Overseer who collects your contribution. She hands the group over to the Tour Leader, who shepherds you all into a side room.
Preparations for the Workworld
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Game note: Once you join the tour, you will not be able to leave till the end.
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| Join a tour of Brabazon Workworld
The guards are not corruptible. Starshine does not help them perform their daily toil, and keep others at theirs. You would most certainly not be allowed to join a tour in exchange for it.
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A way to pass the time
The exchange is quick, furtive and entirely discreet. "We won't say nothing if you don't say nothing," the guard says. "Tour leaves presently. Don't be late."
The Overseer checks over the note given by the guards and sets aside some Brabazon hours to be woven for you. She hands the group over to the Tour Leader, who shepherds you all into a side room.
Preparations for the Workworld
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Game note: Once you join the tour, you will not be able to leave till the end.
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| Join a tour of Brabazon Workworld
The Overseer requires information. No one can be sentenced to the Workworld without there first being evidence of a crime.
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Donation received
The Overseer listens intently to what you have to say. "Hmm. Useful, I think. We shall see what can be done with it."
She directs you to a group by the Tour Leader, who shepherds you all into a side room.
Preparations for the Workworld
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Game note: Once you join the tour, you will not be able to leave till the end.
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| Find the Overseer who spoke of the workers' unrest
They have slipped into a room marked 'Staff Only'.
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 A Small Kitchen
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Game note: You will be able to change your mind.
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| Signal the revolutionary agent
The cape sliding off their left shoulder. The hair tied just so. The not-remotely-discreet eyebrow raise whenever you meet their eye. They match the description the revolutionaries gave you.
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They demand a complicated handshake before they'll hand you a carriage clock. "Same deal as on the tour. I stole you a pocket of time, myself. Make good use of it."
As they turn to smile innocently at another Overseer, they shove you towards a maintenance hatch. "Get through there, and someone will take you the rest of the way."
 The Headquarters
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Game note: This will take you straight to the hideout of the revolutionaries.
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| Take the 'Official Shortcut to Brabazon Back Streets'
It is open only to those working at the port, those previously of the port, and yourself.
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It might now be an official route, but it's still through the maintenance hatch. It's not a dignified departure.
The Backstreets of Brabazon Workworld
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| Take the 'Official Shortcut to Brabazon Back Streets'
If you don't have the hours, you can requisition them.
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It might now be an official route, but it's still through the maintenance hatch. It's not a dignified departure.
The Backstreets of Brabazon Workworld
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| Attempt to converse with an Overseer
Few are willing to stop for mere conversation. Those that do will only linger at the Little Nice end of the tunnel. It's safer.
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Advanced query needs investigation Game note: You can try again in 15 days.
| |
| Stand for Parliament in the Brabazon Workworld
Those who even have the time to notice your campaign are hard edged and weary. They demand strength and purpose.
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Failed event |
Advanced query needs investigation Game note: A new Election will be called here in 15 days, if you wish to try again Game note: It costs 50 sovereigns to stand. It is refunded if you win. |
| Minor setbacks
The polls are not in your favour. Your opponents appear to have the will of the people behind them. Fortunately, it is a long way from here to Parliament. You suspect that it will not be long before the winner tires of their new position and steps down.
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| Successful event | |||
| The election is called
At least a few of the people bother going to the polls.
 Election Night
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| Listen to the Will Of The People
A delegation has been sent to petition you in your role as Minister.
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Endless problems, few solutions
You listen with appropriate amounts of care to each person who begs a moment of your time. The majority are local issues, not worth bringing up in Parliament. Occasionally, inspiration strikes for a new law. You promise with a practiced politician's sincerity that even if there is nothing you can do, you will do it to the best of your ability. They seem mollified by that.
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| Rare event (10%) | |||
| Endless problems, few solutions
You listen with appropriate amounts of care to each person who begs a moment of your time. Until the egg hits you in the face. The perpetrators run off giggling. You wipe away the dripping yolk. Someone should make a law against that sort of thing.
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| Travel to Little Nice
The Governor of Brabazon Workworld resides in the picturesque village at the far end of the Bit Between.
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Thick double doors separate the Bit Between from Little Nice. Only these doors, and the distance from the Workworld, protect Little Nice from the stench of industry and the run-off of the large-scale processing of time. The fresh air of this pretty village is in sharp contrast to that near the dock.
Little Nice
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| Attempt to converse with an Overseer
Few are willing to stop for mere conversation. Those that do will only linger at the Little Nice end of the tunnel. It's safer.
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Investigate the clocks |
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The Clocks Must Run On Time
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| Listen to the work of the Committee for the Improvement of Working Conditions
The new Governor has encouraged the people of Brabazon to form a committee. It has yet been unable to reach any decisions. If you bring them tea, they'll stamp any permit you provide.
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The Committee sits in a requisitioned stock room, just off the Bit Between. It is cramped, forcing the members to rotate who attends. Workworlders and Overseers sit in equal balance.
Airs of Brabazon(Committee)
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Wave at the children on the way to school
The Governor is trialling a scheme whereby the children get to attend school in Little Nice. Their chances of earning a way off port while still young, are increased.
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Something is wrong
There is shouting coming from Brabazon Workworld. It must be tremendous for you to hear it from here.
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A Post Unrest Uprising
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| Deliver the Sequencer's care package
When you explain the nature of your delivery to the overseers, some appropriately-downtrodden workers are summoned.
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The summoned workers are exquisitely downtrodden – the overseers take vocal pride in having gone an extra mile on your behalf, and carefully selected the most miserable of a bad bunch.
The amassed labourers shuffle their feet, apparently expecting a trick. Finally a filth-faced man steps forward, ducking his head in greeting, and fumbles the package open. He picks out one of the bow-tie manuals and stares at it for a while. A series of emotions pass very visibly over his face. Finally he inclines his head and thanks you without inflection.
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| Help the Incautious Driver hunt for the Verdant Fragment
Their connection to its progenitor should assist.
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Failed event |
Special is calculated as follows: 70 * 1.67
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| A failed attempt
The Incautious Driver spends hours sniffing at the air in search of familiar spores, but to no avail. "We should try somewhere else," they reluctantly decide, shuffling with uncharacteristic glumness back towards the train.
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| Successful event | |||
| A taste on the wind
The Driver sniffs at the air for any hint of loose Verdant spores dragged in by passing travellers. "I can taste something. A fear. Not death, but the loss of something important. The Fragment doesn't want to return. It doesn't want to give up what it's become."
They close their eyes, focusing. "I can can taste its design, as well. Its... host knew of a place called Hostrop Deep: a desolate corner of the sky. It meant to hide there. The Deep will be hard to find. When we're close, we'll need to use our scout." The Deep .
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| Observe the factious dock
Most locomotives pass by here without docking. They heed the Overseers' lights, alerting them that the post is suffering internal conflict.
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Observer changing the observed
Your very presence seems minutely calming. Perhaps the Overseers, on spotting you, recall that they must at least not be on their worst behaviour.
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| Recruit some desperate workers to join the Psalmists
The White Well offers freedom (though also, admittedly, frostbite). You'll need to call in a favour to get the workers released.
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A batch of converts
Arrangements are made. Favours are called in. A band of workers in smoke-stained smocks are brought out to meet you. They assure you they'll convert to whatever you like, as long as they can leave here.
You talk to them about the doctrine of the Judas Psalm. Can they think of anyone who has wronged them? Anyone they want to curse in the name of God? Their eyes light up. "Do you want a list right now?" asks a haggard woman at the front. "Or can I have a few days to write up something comprehensive?"
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| Deliver your fanatic from the Blue Kingdom Embassy
It's her stop.
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The fanatic disembarks
She shakes your hand to say goodbye, a wild look in her eyes.
"I will infiltrate the workers' ranks," she hisses. "I will spread word of the Philosophy among them. They all want an end: an end to injustice, an end to this world, an end to their oppression. I can promise them an ending to everything."
 Explore Port Prosper
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| Little Nice | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 281874 |
Little Nice[ | ]
Little Nice is entirely charming. It is populated with carefully unique houses, painted in a curated array of colours. Overseers in striped blazers tend the topiary and maintain the paintwork. Behind a water feature bustling with cherubs is a cottage with an out of place little tower. This is the home of the Governor of Brabazon.
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deliver the chaperone's bequest
A chaperone at Perdurance asked you to deliver a bequest here, in order to reduce the term her family needs to serve at Brabazon. The governor's staff handle this sort of thing.
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A decision
You are directed to a modest desk in a confined office in a shabby corner of the mansion. A brisk secretary greets you, and offers you tea. A formality, not a genuine offer. The chaperone's jewelled eye is heavy in your pocket.
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Deposit the eye as requested
The secretary seems disappointed. Time is more valuable than coin, here.
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She examines the artificial eye critically. "We'll have to get it professionally assayed, of course. Its market value will determine the amount of time by which service can be reduced. At that point, the residents in question will have to decide how the reduction will be divided among them. If a dispute occurs, the cost of legal resolution will be deducted from the value of the bequest." She drops the eye into a drawer. "We'll take care of it."
She completes and stamps an elaborate series of forms, then hands them to you. They are labyrinthine and baroque; exactly the sort of thing you could use to befuddle some overworked junior official.
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| Keep it and cover your tracks
No one need ever know.
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You keep the eye, and instead make a lesser payment in sovereigns. This both reduces the necessary paperwork, and means that when you pawn the eye, you will be in profit to a satisfactory sum.
The secretary comments, with a distinct lack of interest, that your payment will reduce the residents' term of service by up to a year, and that they will need to agree how that reduction will be divided among them. "In the event of a dispute, the cost of legal resolution will be dedicated from the value of the bequest." A form, a signature, a stamp, and the business is done.
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| Converse with the Governor
The Governor runs Brabazon. In the absence of more direct control from London, he is all powerful here.
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Game note: Bring gossip to take tea with the Governor. He'll let you keep what you can't consume.
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| Converse with the Governor
Brabazon is run by the Governor. In the absence of more direct control from London, he is all powerful here.
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Game note: Bring gossip to take tea with the Governor. He'll let you keep what you can't consume.
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| Recline on a bench
Admire the topiary. Consider the immaculate lawn.
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A pocket of peace
The grass is immaculately cut. The hedges are trimmed. Stars burn silver, above. But it is hard to ignore the thunder of the hour-looms, spinning their knot of hurrying time over the workworld below.
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Advanced query needs investigation Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
Game note: This will lower Terror, a little.
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| Write a Port Report
The Brabazon workworld is one of several, but it is preeminent among them. As a major industrial centre, it is of interest to many.
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The Overseers here work hard to ensure Little Nice remains perfect: from the freshly painted fence curlicues to the newly-mown grass of the lawn. It's hard to get a sense of what's going on in Brabazon from your current, curated surroundings.
The Overseers themselves are no use. They must have been briefed: each gives you clearly-sanitised information. You only have to speak to four before you hear a repetition. You will have to go down to the workworld itself to learn anything true about Brabazon. |
Game note: You cannot get a Report on Brabazon Workworld from Little Nice.
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| Write a Port Report
Brabazon Workworld is one of several workworlds, but it is preeminent among them. It is Albion's major industrial centre, and thus of interest to many.
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The Overseers here work hard to ensure Little Nice remains perfect: from the freshly painted fence curlicues to the newly-mown grass of the lawn. It's hard to get a sense of what's going on in Brabazon from your current, curated surroundings.
The Overseers themselves are no use. They must have been briefed: each gives you clearly-sanitised information. You only have to speak to four before you hear a repetition. You will have to go down to the workworld itself to learn anything true about Brabazon. |
Game note: You cannot get a Report on Brabazon Workworld from Little Nice.
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| Listen to the Governor's request
Overseers wait to escort you to the Governor. He has requested you.
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"Brabazon must be self-sufficient. Without industry to justify their lighting, our fires will go out. We must have work."
His brow furrows. "The workers refuse to understand that they live so long as they work. That is not a threat; it is a fact of living here. They require hope. Give it to them. Not enough to stir them into revolt, but enough that the fires remain lit."
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| Drink with the Overseers
Revolution has been and gone. The Overseers labour to ensure Brabazon works efficiently and reasonably safely. But on occasion they are permitted to relax.
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 The Knackered Horse
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Advanced query needs investigation
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| Return to the Bit Between, and your locomotive
Little Nice is a such terribly charming place. But it's time to be back on your engine.
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The scent of freshly-cut grass follows you into the Bit Between.
The Bit Between
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| Preparations for the Workworld | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 281891 |
Preparations for the Workworld[ | ]
The tour leader hands out thick cloaks. "To keep off the smut." The group covers itself. The hood lends one woman, with her hair coiled up high on her head, an awkward shape and unexpected height. Satisfied, the tour leader begins a briefing.
Trigger conditions
On World ≥ 1
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receive a carriage clock
The tour leader presents you each with a carriage clock.
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"As you know, time on the workworlds moves more velocitously than it does outside. In order to exempt you from the effects, we've had the looms spin a fold of external hours to cover the tour. Please carry these carriage clocks. They will show you how much time your protection will last for. Please don't stray."
He pauses for emphasis. "It is crucial that you stay with the tour. If your time runs out, every minute it takes for us to realise could be hours for you." There is flurry of anxious whispers. Once it has subsided, the group is led onto the workworld.
A Tour of Brabazon Workworld
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| The Backstreets of Brabazon Workworld | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 281896 |
The Backstreets of Brabazon Workworld[ | ]
The shanties are pressed close together. There are no more streets – only cramped alleys. Their few windows are clogged with filth. Grimy workers trudge from work to home, eating as they go. Time is precious here: minutes not spent at work are given to sleep.
Trigger conditions
Time as Measured by a Carriage Clock ≥ 10
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meet with the workers' leader
A faintly-bearded youth sidles up to you. "Our guv wants a word."
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The youth ushers you past his exhausted peers into a two-storey, brick house. Its doorway is lit with a red lamp.
The Headquarters
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| Explore the true Brabazon
You're backstage now. The lights and the props and the sham of the tour are left behind.
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Behind the scenes
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| Write a Port Report
Brabazon is one of several workworlds, but it is preeminent. Affairs there act as a barometer for the others.
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The wheels that turn the world
Industry is booming here, as always. Labour is cheap; demand is high. Discontent simmers among the workers, but the ones who prove valuable are promoted to oversight positions. The wheels turn. Brabazon persists.
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| Speak to the workers and reduce their disgruntlement
Give them a distraction, something to talk about besides their discomfort.
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Calming the Masses
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| Supplement the workers' meagre rations
With some supplies you have smuggled from your engine.
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A repast
The locals have grown so used to gruel that even Murgatroyd's Fungal Crackers come as an exotic extravagance to them. You share what you have with as many as you can. Fuller bellies means more strength with which to agitate for better conditions.
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Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
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| Tell Sky-Stories to weary workers
The best place may be a factory floor, so they can listen while they work.
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A fair trade
You have to shout over the clamour of the machines. Some of the workers ignore you. Some mock you. Some only stare with hard, suspicious eyes. Others listen as closely as their labour allows, and ask questions when you pause. One or two reply with stories of their own, about the travails of their own lives; before they came here, and after.
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Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
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| Deliver Verdant Seeds to the greenhouses
They will grow quickly, easing the burden on those who tend the huge, sweating greenhouses.
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An exchange of horticulture
Since you can practically watch your seeds growing, the gardeners take the opportunity to lean on their spades and complain about their lot.
Once they trust you, they also show you one of the more unusual weeds they've had to dig up. It is viney, and intricately curled, and grows from Monday to Saturday, then reverts to a sapling on Sunday. One of the gardeners calls it a miracle. The other notes the indigo of its leaves, and blames a leak from the nearby hours-refinery.
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Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
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| Provide Fuel for warmth
In some parts of Brabazon, further from the factories, the smog is cold, and hangs dirty icicles from the gutters. The people that live there huddle in patched cloaks and threadbare blankets.
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Around the fire
Coal in the hearth; fire in the grate. Stiff fingers spread out before the flames. Families draw close around the heat (it is quicker to work off a debt as a family), and neighbours too. Stories are told. Mostly stories of how things could be better.
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Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
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| Secure a worker medical attention
A worker has been injured in a factory accident. A common occurrence. So common that she can't be seen until the doctor next visits. More urgent care could be invoked, if you have the necessary paperwork.
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A Doctor calls
The doctor's call-book, safely secured in his office in the Bit Between, claims he visits Brabazon twice a week (or once over the Christmas and Easter periods). But from the perspective of the workworlders – isolated in their envelope of frantic, scurrying hours – the gap between his visits is rather longer. The debtors complain bitterly about the arrangement.
You arrange a precious visit to the doctor's surgery for the injured worker. Colleagues and family, desperate to show their gratitude, give you whatever they can spare. That turns out to be bibles, of the Ministry of Public Decency's 'Newest and Most Improved' edition.
|
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
| |||||
| Bribe an Overseer to spare the birch
A debtor has been accused of thievery and indolence. He is to be birched, as an example to others. Perhaps the overseer could be convinced to go easy on him.
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A simple exchange
It takes a substantial crime for the overseers to risk visiting Brabazon personally, and getting caught in its accelerated days. This one wants to get this over with and get back to the Bit Between as quickly as possible. His bribe is practically cursory.
The punishment is brief, but still gruesome enough to send murmurs of discontent through the crowd.
|
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
| |||||
| Provide books to a school
Brabazon's Board of Governors prescribes a very narrow reading list that may be taught in the workworld's classrooms.
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Book learning
The children fall upon anything that's new. Their old book of morally-appropriate fairy tales has been read so much that its pages are now fragile as tissues. You spend an hour watching them read the new works (which mostly consist of sermons), wildly misunderstand them, and swap imaginative interpretations of what they mean.
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Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
| |||||
| Supplement the workers' meagre gruel rations
With some supplies you have smuggled from your engine.
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"Please, [qvd:131182(SpeechFormal)], I want some more."
The locals have grown so used to gruel that even Murgatroyd's Fungal Crackers come as an exotic extravagance to them. You share what you have with as many as you can. Fuller bellies means more strength with which to agitate for better conditions.
|
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
| |||||
| Give charity
A man sits on a roughly-made chair, occasionally coughing brown phlegm into a handkerchief. When he sees you, he shouts: "A penny for your time?" He laughs.
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|
Failed event | Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
| |||||
"D__n! I didn't actually expect you to give me any. Thank you." He stares hungrily at your donation. "I couldn't work today. I just... I couldn't. Whatever I earn gets spent on my debt. It'll never be paid off. I've stopped caring whether it grows." He stands to shake your hand. "Please, take this. The Overseers haven't taken this month's money, yet." He laughs. It is too loud, and too long. "I like to watch the people who still expect change. You've given me a little longer to watch their hope die."
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| Successful event | ||||||||
|
"D__n! I didn't actually expect you to give me any. Thank you." He stares hungrily at your donation. "I couldn't work today. I just... I couldn't. Whatever I earn gets spent on my debt. It'll never be paid off. I've stopped caring whether it grows." He stands to shake your hand. "Please, take this. The Overseers haven't taken this month's money, yet. Time's more important to me. It might help me last till things change here. They're going to change."
| ||||||||
| Rejoin the tour
You still have time to get back.
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|
Someone has marked every corner with chalk. The arrows point towards the Brabazon Tour route. Here and there the markings have been covered over with soot, but it's easy enough to get back. Whoever the marker was, they were anxious not to get stuck here.
A Tour of Brabazon Workworld
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||||||
| Return to the Bit Between, and your locomotive
Brabazon Workworld is not a place to linger. There are more pleasant locations you could be.
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By the time you're back at the Bit Between, your shoulders are covered with orange soot. An Overseer extends a soft brush to clean you off.
The Bit Between
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| |||||
| Return to your locomotive in a hurry
Your carriage clock is chiming. You have lingered too long!
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Out of time
You race back to the Bit Between and your locomotive, only to find your crew getting ready to leave without you. You were only supposed to be gone for hours, but days have passed.
The Bit Between
|
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
| |||||
| Investigate the rogue hours trade
Your initial enquiries suggest someone is restoring hours to the workforce. As you passed a hovel, a youth retreated into it. Had he noticed you? You pursue.
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Out of hours employment
A group of sooty youths guards their loom protectively. "Please, Inspector. You've seen how things are. We're spending the best years of our lives working here. We just wants a few of 'em back."
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Turn a blind eye
The workworlds give little enough back by choice.
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The urchins exchange a look. They are unused to kindness, and aren't sure how to receive it. Ultimately, one thanks you, and declares you "all right." The others nod, as if this was as as good as a medal.
They happily show you their ingenious homemade loom, assembled from fragments of other machinery and pilfered parts. Soon, for your own safety, it is time to move on.
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||||
| Turn a blind eye... for a price...
Perhaps a few of their pilfered hours would be a good incentive to not report this.
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The urchins exchange a look. They expected as much, even if they hoped for better. You arrange a location to collect the hours while they find a better hiding place for their loom. For your own safety, it is time to move on.
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| Report the unlicensed loom
There can be no exceptions, only examples.
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When you deliver your report, examples are quickly made of the urchins. Their homemade loom is smashed, and the terms of their debts extended by ten years each. By the time they leave the workworld, they will be gnarled, white-haired warnings to others.
| |||||||
| A Post Unrest Uprising | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 283536 |
A Post Unrest Uprising[ | ]
Trigger conditions
Unrest at Brabazon ≥ 100
Currently Uprising ≥ 2
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Let the workers board the locomotive nearest them
Overseers have had enough time to form a barricade in the tunnel. Only one locomotive is unguarded: a wreck of a thing, barely more than salvage.
|
|
A group of men and women press inside. One elbows her way past a crewman despite her obviously dislocated shoulder. She must be truly desperate.
The locomotive had only two crew in addition to its captain. All three are thrown out onto the dock. The door is slammed and the engine jerks free, into the Wilderness.
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| Hold back the workers, reason with them
The only locomotive available is in dangerously poor condition. It does not look fit to brave the skies. Their lives may be passing swiftly here, but at least they're alive.
|
|
The workers halt, several look uncertain. Most seem to trust your judgement as a captain. Three men dismiss your words and shove their way aboard the engine.
The locomotive had only two crew in addition to its captain. All three are thrown out onto the dock. The door is slammed and the engine jerks free, into the Wilderness.
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|
| Speak with the Governor
He rushed from Little Nice the moment he heard of the disruption.
|
"D__n and blast it!" He follows this with profanities rarely heard in Albion, and never in polite circles. He has a few quiet words with the captain of the stolen ship, before turning to you. "We were due to break it for scrap. I doubt they'll get even half way to another port. It'll be the cold, or the hunger, but one will get them." He looks genuinely devastated.
"I'm doing the best I can. But I can't convince them that this is better than the alternative, no matter the truth." He smiles wryly. "This will do more to quiet them than anything I could. It's a useful sacrifice, at least."
Little Nice
|
|
| The Headquarters | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 281903 |
The Headquarters[ | ]
"A Eternal Uprest(LeaderDescription) man grins at you over a desk littered with documents. Some are criss-crossed with scrawled notes, others are pristine and freshly inked. The faintly-bearded youth has a beatific smile."Our leader, "
Trigger conditions
Time as Measured by a Carriage Clock ≥ 10
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talk to the revolutionary leader
"We have heard of your generosity." He pumps your hand. His grin is wry. "And as we know, the reward for generosity is to be asked to be more generous still."
|
|
An optimist
"You have seen the conditions here. This is the lot of the unfortunate, not the deserving. Unrest at Brabazon(Unrest) I want you to help us fight back, and secure better conditions for everyone who is sent here."
He pats the faintly-bearded youth on the back. "We have the will, and the strength, but lack something you have in abundance: freedom. We need provisions and materials. We need someone who can smuggle them in. One of the Overseers in the Bit Between believes in the cause." He describes the Overseer to you. "They will help you in and out."
|
|
| Ask how you can assist the workers' struggle
Their leader asked for your help. How can you assist?
|
|
Progress of the Struggle
|
|
| The uprising is beginning
Eternal Uprest(LeaderNameCap) is agitated, pacing anxiously. "Come, quickly. Our plans are prepared and our patience is gone. It is time!"
|
|
It begins!
He leads you downstairs. "Listen!" From all around, you hear shouts and chanting. The song of revolution is inharmonious, but it is passionate. "Thank you, Addressed As(SpeechInformal), for all that you have done."
He points in the direction of the Bit Between. "Now go; for your own safety. I'll see you again when this is settled. It is time we had a word with the Governor." Workers cheer as you pass. The heavy double doors to the tunnel burst open before you. The sympathetic Overseer rushes forwards to lead you away, and hears the shouts from the workworld. "Oh."
|
|
| Return to the backstreets of Brabazon
You have a little time left. If you've done all you wish to here, you return to the backstreets.
|
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No long goodbye
The leader is immersed in his maps and plans when you leave. The faintly-bearded youth seems unsure if he should stay or escort you out. He settles for a weak wave.
The Backstreets of Brabazon Workworld
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| Return to the Bit Between
Anxious, Eternal Uprest(LeaderName) points at your carriage clock. "Addressed As(CapitalInformal), you have to leave. Return when you have more time."
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Back towards your locomotive
The faintly-bearded youth accompanies you. "A tour is about to leave. We will conceal you amongst them." The plan is simple, and goes smoothly. Soon you emerge with another chattering tour of benefactors into the Bit Between.
The Bit Between
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| You are out of time!
Horrified, Eternal Uprest(LeaderName) points at your carriage clock. "Addressed As(CapitalInformal), you must go. Quickly!"
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Run!
The faintly-bearded youth hurries you through the backstreets. "Return soon," he exhorts, as he taps a coded knock on the heavy double doors burst open before you.
The sympathetic Overseer let's you out. "You're lucky. There's often a bit of reserve, just in case. But there's cutting it fine, and there's this." He shakes his head sternly.
The Bit Between
|
|
| A Small Kitchen | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 281907 |
A Small Kitchen[ | ]
The Overseer is sitting by the stove, waiting for the kettle to boil. He has two cups out – was he expecting you to follow him in?
Trigger conditions
On World ≤ 0,
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offer information on the revolution
You have seen Eternal Uprest(LeaderName). He let slip some of his methods. What will the Overseer give you for this?
|
He pulls out a notebook, and listens to you speak. He nods occasionally, but never interrupts. Finally: "Thank you for this, Addressed As(SpeechFormal). I can use this. I'll see that the workers have no more cause for complaint." He draws out a small purse. "The Governor gave me this, for you."
|
Advanced alteration value probably needs examination.
| |
| Return to the Bit Between, and your locomotive
You have nothing to tell him. Or nothing you wish to tell him.
|
|
The Bit Between
|
|
| Industrial Unrest! | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 281910 |
Industrial Unrest![ | ]
"Progress of an Uprising(Revolution)"
Trigger conditions
Progress of an Uprising ≥ 50 ≤ 200,
Uprising Lock ≥ 1 ≤ 1,
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investigate what's happening |
|
Advanced query needs investigation
| |
| Witness negotiations
In the front room, behind the desk, is Eternal Uprest(LeaderName). He has not seen you. In front of him, with their backs to you are two men. Neither has removed their stovepipes.
|
|
"The Advisory Board was horrified to learn of conditions under the previous Governor. Genuinely shocking. We are convinced that you are the person to right the ship. After all, who knows it better than you?"
The man takes out a sheet of paper and places it on the desk. You can't see what it says. The other stovepipe speaks. "There are some practicalities that might mean progress is slower than you or I would like. Production must be kept up, of course. After all, that's what puts food on the table. But I'm sure you can find efficiencies your predecessor couldn't. We leave it in your hands, Governor." Both stovepipes chuckle warmly. They shake the hand of the new Governor, and leave, giving you a small nod as they pass. The new Governor looks confounded. Whatever he expected, it was not this.
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| Congratulate the Governor
He has transitioned from leader to ruler, of sorts. He must be delighted.
|
|
"I... I suppose..." The Governor stares at his desk. After several moments, he speaks again. "If the furnaces die, so does Brabazon. The reality is: I can only shuffle a few workers off the workworld, but the rest would freeze. There just isn't the time, or the ships." He smiles; bright, charming. "I can make things better, at least: I can give them hope."
He glances at the document on his desk. "I won't be leaving. I've no use for this. Take it."
Little Nice
|
|
| Upbraid the Governor
The workers of Brabazon trusted him. They sacrificed their time for him, in the hope that he would save them. And now this.
|
|
The Governor meets your gaze, but says nothing. A gasp alerts you to the presence of the bearded youth. How long has he been standing behind you? With a gesture, the Governor dismisses him.
When the Governor speaks again, his voice is low. "If the furnaces die, so does Brabazon. The reality is: I can only shuffle a few workers off the workworld, but the rest would freeze." He smiles; bright, charming. "I can make things better, at least: I can give them hope." He glances at the document on his desk. "I won't be leaving. I've no use for this. Take it. Please."
Little Nice
|
|
| Ask the anxious Overseer what's going on
He is signalling to locomotives, discouraging them from docking. Visitors that were already at the port are being encouraged, firmly, to leave.
|
|
Reassurances
"Nothing to be concerned about. A small revolt, instigated by a fanatical group of revolutionaries. No doubt it will peter out soon, but while the situation is being resolved, we will be closing the port."
|
Advanced query needs investigation
Game note: Return to Brabazon Workworld in a week, when the unrest should be resolved.
|
| Ask after the Dismal Chamberlain
What happened to him after your altercation in Brabazon?
|
|
A head shake
"Sorry. Can't help you. Not now. Not the time." The Anxious Overseer encourages you to leave, now. Just as a precaution, of course.
|
Advanced query needs investigation
Game note: Return to Brabazon Workworld in a week, when the unrest should be resolved.
|
| Track down the Dismal Chamberlain
To find the Martyr-King's Cup, you must win a sword from one of your fellow questers. And you know where the Chamberlain is staying.
|
|
Advised to return another time
The Anxious Overseer shakes his head, not even listening to your questions. He encourages you to leave, now. Just as a precaution, of course.
|
Advanced query needs investigation
Game note: Return to Brabazon Workworld in a week, when the unrest should be resolved.
|
| Recruit the Clay Conductor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Category | Story Event |
| Type | Story |
| Data ID | 306802 |
Recruit the Clay Conductor[ | ]
A hulking Clay Man in a heavy coat stands on the platform. The Clay Men were an underclass in old London; very few of them came to the skies. This one holds an urn to his chest. "You're a captain; you can perform funeral rites," he says, nodding to the urn in his arms. "Then I want to travel." He pauses for a long moment, and then, as if feeling something more might be expected. "I could help out on your engine."
Trigger conditions
In Possession of a Clay Conductor ≤ 0,
Learning about the Clay Conductor ≤ 0,
Clay Conductor and Copper Companion ≤ 0,
Caring Companion ≤ 0,
Interactions
| Actions | Requirements | Effects | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recruit the Clay Conductor
Say a few words about death in the sky; skyfarers are accustomed to impromptu funerals.
|
|
A sombre occasion
You ask the Conductor where he would like to hold the ceremony. He looks about, confused, as though he hadn't expected the question. At last he comes to a conclusion. "Here will do," he says, indicating the crowded thoroughfare.
You and a few of the more respectable of your crew gather for a brief funeral. Everyone has at least something in black. You offer the expected phrasings before pausing for the eulogy. The Clay Conductor shakes his head. "You do it," he grunts.
|
Say a few words
You're sure you can extemporise something.
|
You render up a bounty of platitudes, benign wishes to the beyond and maudlin remembrances of departed friends—
The Conductor frowns, stonily, realising he needs to give you at least something to work with. "He could sing," he manages. You work a line about a 'man of clay with the voice of an angel' into the eulogy. The Conductor seems satisfied. "Where's your engine? I'm ready to assume my duties." The Conductor picks up the urn and heads off in the direction you point. |
Game note: This will give you the Clay Conductor, a First Officer who will increase your Hearts by 6, and your Iron by 2. | |||
| Make the Clay Conductor speak
You don't even know who's in the urn.
|
There is a long silence. Your crew look at their feet, acutely aware of the awkwardness. The silence continues.
Finally, the Clay Conductor speaks. "He was a Clay Man. He travelled on the Figaro." A pause. "He was a good singer." The Clay Conductor looks at you. "Where's your engine? I'm ready to assume my duties." | |||||||
Shops[ | ]
Little Niceties
A precarious shop sells the finest crockery in Albion, made from authentic Brabazon china. And at a rear door, captains can also purchase fuel mined among the dismal, stygian roots of the workworld.
| Item | Buy | Sell |
|---|---|---|
 Fuel
|
 20 Sovereigns
|
10 Sovereigns
|
 Crate of Nostalgic Crockery
|
50 Sovereigns
|
