MISSIONS | March 2014

[ironwood]

Greetings, Tushanites!

March 1st happens to mark a new phase of gameplay here in the wonderful world of turtles and we need you to make it work! Below, there are five missions. Please read them over carefully and then fill out the textarea form at the bottom. There is an element of randomization here but players can also submit missions for pre-formed groups of their own choosing! Part of expanding the known realm of Konryu, we've updated and expanded our Setting page to include 8 new continents which are going to be gradually opened for exploration and development, which you'll start to see coming in to play in the missions below.

As detailed in our State of the Shell: Missions section, each mission your character undergoes (threaded out with at least ten comments from your character) is worth a credit, and each handwaved mission is worth half a credit. Please note: only missions that you yourself come up with can be handwaved. The 'mod missions' are ones where participation is considered mandatory, as you are filling a limited slot. If we notice a trend amongst any one player of signing up for missions and leaving their mission-mates hanging, we will be speaking with them to determine a suitable outcome.

March is a bit different than what will follow, as this is a new concept and we're trying to put a system in place that works for everyone, so for this month we have five prefabricated missions, so that players can get some understanding of what can be done in the world. If you'll note we also have a comment header where you can suggest the sorts of missions you'd like to see in the months that follow! Feel free to be as succinct or not as you please, as we'll be basing next month's missions on this feedback.

We also have a comment header for questions. Please don't hesitate to for more information or clarifications... we're new to this too!

This month's planned missions are as follows:

→ SIAXHI (INVESTIGATION)
→ VIAN THAX (RESCUE)
→ TEYRAN (EXPLORATION)
→ GHA'NAL (QUEST)
→ DUST (UNDERCOVER)

Each month, a player can volunteer a character for up to three mod missions. Like other limited space elements in the game, we ask that each player only submit one character from their roster for the mod missions, though their other characters can be submitted for player missions, so long as it's one mission per character per month. To sign up, fill out the information below and choose your top three missions in order of preference. If there are more signups than available spaces for a mission, we will RNG characters into the slots. If your character isn't RNG'd into the first mission, they'll be added to the pool for the second mission, and so on for the third.

Mod missions will be tallied and their participants notified on the 5th of the month @ ~9:00PM EST. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that everyone who signs up a character for a mission will be chosen for one of the mod missions, as it is based solely on the number of signups for each one. In the event that your character isn't chosen for any of your three choices, you can still sign them up for a player mission before 9:00PM PST on the 7th.

Player missions can involve either just your character or a pre-planned group, or even have open signup! Once your mission is approved by the mods, including any clarifications or extra information needed, you're set for playing it out. Remember that the mission can take place at any point throughout the month. For convenience purposes, we've also created the %missions tag in the log comm and we'd be very appreciative if it could be added to mission logs when they get posted.

Mod Mission Signups

Player Mission Signups

<b>Player:</b> <b>Character Name & Journal:</b> <b>Mission Choice #1:</b> <b>Mission Choice #2:</b> <b>Mission Choice #3:</b>

<b>Player:</b> <b>Character(s) & Journals:</b> Name (<user name="USER">) <b>Mission Duration:</b> How long will it take ICly? Is it happening on specific IC dates? <b>Mission Difficulty:</b> ★☆☆☆☆ <b>Mission Type:</b> <b>Projected Plot Impact:</b> What changes are the end goal of the mission? <b>Proposed Worldbuilding Changes:</b> What aspect of the setting are you interested in developing with this?

Comments

(frozen comment) MOD MISSIONS

[ironwood]

Here are the writeups for the mod missions this month. Signups go in the comment header below.

SIAXHI (INVESTIGATION)

[ironwood]

Character(s): 3-5 needed.
Mission Duration: 10 days.
Mission Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Mission Type: Infiltration/information gathering and instigating a riot.
Projected Plot Impact: Malicant's hold on Siaxhi will be weakened.
Proposed Worldbuilding Changes: The Duchess of Castis may be persuaded to send a retinue of her finest soldiers back to Keeliai for training. As this is the first time in centuries Castis as had any contact with Keeliai, she may also try and slip a spy of her own into the city.

DOSSIER

Evandau will push a dossier across the desk towards your character, who he'll then leave to read its contents. The dossier will describe what is known about the duchy of Castis. It has a population of roughly three hundred thousand people. They used to be pirates, of a fashion, until they settled in the inlet they now call home, and the Duchess rules from a beautiful palatial mansion the design of which is based on a ship, to remind her and her family whence they came.

The Castis family is four members:

DUCHESS HABIN CASTIS: The head of the household and indeed the entire duchy. She acts a fool, but most citizens agree it's just a cover.
BOREAU CASTIS: Her younger brother. He holds a rank in the local standing army, but doesn't seem to care for the position.
KERISTAN CASTIS: The Duchess' elder daughter. Approximately nineteen. Has an alarming tendency to challenge other people to duels, which she tends to win.
KANTE CASTIS: The Duchess' youngest daughter. Barely five, she's charming and precocious and has no apparent fear of strangers.

The document will detail Evandau's suspicions that a member of the house of Castis has been replaced by one of Malicant's agents, or that Malicant himself is possessing one of them, and there is considerable information detailing these suspicions over the last eighteen months, courtesy Eshai's agents in Castis.

The proposed mission suggests infiltrating the house by whatever means necessary (considered a two-person job) while the other half of the mission suggests starting riots in the streets. The populace has been under an increasingly heavy tax in the past year, and people are at their breaking point. A riot would be a good cover for whoever is infiltrating the House, as it would provide an outside distraction. The Duchess is throwing a gala for her youngest daughter's sixth birthday, and they need all the help they can get.

IF INFILTRATING: Your character has their choice of ways to infiltrate! They could pretend to be visiting nobles from another far-off land (seriously, they can go nuts with this) or they could pretend to be kitchen staff, or anything you can come up with. Evandau is giving them carte blanche to use the palace treasury to come up with outfits, ideas, or anything in between. Go nuts! Whether or not your character gets caught is up to you in this regard.

IF ROUSING THE POPULACE TO A RIOT: Again, your character can use any means at their disposal. Evandau would make sure they were properly outfitted, with weapons and anything else they might need. The population needs very little to riot, they're basically a truck full of diesel and fertilizer. A lit match would do it at this point. You can come up with as many NPCs as you'd like, and do whatever you'd like to further this cause. Your characters may be captured or escape as you'd like, and you may also damage or destroy as much of the city as you choose.

OUTCOME: Your characters are meant to determine the identity of Malicant's agent, and they can ICly choose whether to kill that individual, or bring them back to Keeliai for questioning. IT IS UP TO YOU which of the family members it is! Go nuts! Leave intentional breadcrumbs for your characters to follow so they can look like badass detectives! Either way, the Duchess will be grateful for their help. Providing she herself isn't the Agent...

WHAT CAN WE DO?
Literally anything you want, as long as it falls into the above guidelines. If you're uncertain as to whether or not you're okay to go ahead with something, just ask! These plots are meant to be malleable to a point, and you and your mission-mates can bend it to whatever ends you want so that you have the maximum amounts of fun. For all intents and purposes, Castis is your playground for the duration of this plot. Don't worry about contradicting local mythology or anything like that, it's being created as you play in it.

SIAXHI DISCUSSIONS

[solo_patria]

So. Ideas? Input?

[controlledvariable]

ICly Steph would volunteer to infiltrate the palace and suggest pretending to be visiting nobles rather than staff. OOCly I'm up for anything though I'd like for them to succeed.

A thought re: who's the agent

[controlledvariable]

I'm pretty down with whatever people decide, but if we wanted to go the route of Boreau being the agent, he could have recently started paying more attention to the miltiary going ons which could be a clue that he's the agent.

VIAN THAX (RESCUE)

[ironwood]

Character(s): 5-6
Mission Duration: 4 days
Mission Difficulty: ★★★★☆
Mission Type: Rescue Mission!
Projected Plot Impact: The characters would be able to return some of Evandau's top agents, and would likely earn his favour in doing so.
Proposed Worldbuilding Changes: None major.

DOSSIER

Evandau will be pacing as your character enters the room, and he'll bark at them to sit without preamble. He points to a corkboard he has set up nearby, with several pictures upon it. These pictures are of agents that Eshai had placed deep undercover in the underwater city of Vian Thax nearly a decade prior. Contact with all three has been lost. They have been listed as MIA since before Eshai's death, but now Evandau is going after them. Leave no man – or woman – behind.

Vian Thax is comprised of a race that has long divorced itself from the surface affairs. Though they are human-looking in appearance, they have adapted to survive underwater. They are very technologically advanced, which includes the great barrier around their city that gives them an air-breathing environment, and they have largely avoided any of the troubles that accompanied the first Malicant War. The population of the city is a hundred and seventy thousand, and their technology is almost exclusively based on hydro-power.

But due do their technological advancements, Eshai had them marked down as a serious threat owing to her suspicions of Malicant being a technopath, and installed three spies in various positions throughout the city.

Characters will be supplied with the necessary means to go underwater, so this mission is not closed off only to people capable of breathing or existing underwater.

THE SPIES:

SHASOH: Shasoh appears to be the oldest, physically of the three. He was the first to be compromised, when his interest in the city's domed mechanics started calling too much attention to him. He was tried and executed. Characters can choose to bring his belongings back to his family or leave them in the city.

USTA: Usta had infiltrated the city's police force, and was posing as a detective there. She was the second to be caught, trying to pursue a series of gruesome murders in the city. The murderer is a highly placed Vian Thax official, and given Shasoh's very public trial and execution he thought to slander her with similar accusations to tie her up in legality and get her off his case. Except, it turned out to be true.

PALLAS: Pallas is the third of the three, and had been placed in the city as a lawyer. He is currently fighting to have Usta released, but his cover is being worn dangerously thin and he is too closely watched to send word to Keeliai.

The proposed mission is to bring all three home, dead or alive, and Evandau has no more information than that. Characters can choose to break into the city by brute force – and they'll be met with the same in turn – or try a subtler approach.

IF THEY BREAK INTO THE CITY: They will be up against some tough resistance, these guys are on par with Atlanteans for physical abilities – they're bulletproof, and they can throw around trucks with ease. A sufficiently well-armed or prepared team could shove their way through the crowd, but the Thaxians may retaliate by killing their prisoner, which is entirely up to the players involved. If your characters are insufficiently prepared, they may also be taken prisoner – though we ask that no more than half would end up that way, otherwise who would rescue them?

IF THEY TRY A SUBTLER MEANS: The good old 'posing as cargo' routine is always a possibility! A smooth talking character could get into the city, a magic user could create a fake clone of Usta to sneak her out of the prison, a normal human might have the skills to pick the locks and sneak into the facility, a heavy hitter could run point and dispatch any police officers they come across. Characters could contact Pallas first, and he could smuggle everyone inside the prison. The sky's the limit, here.

OUTCOME: The outcome is largely up to player discretion! If you guys would rather have Usta die and rescue only Pallas, that's a possibility. If you'd prefer to rescue both, any of the above options are valid.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
Again, whatever you'd like! Go crazy with worldbuilding, go crazy with NPCs, create what you want to do whatever seems the most fun for you or your characters. We highly recommend that people do pair-offs in groups of 2-3 to facilitate less coordinated threading, but other than that you're free to ask us for anything that concerns you, and carry on as you see fit.

VIAN THAX PLANNING/DISCUSSION

[ixis]

Naugus has been tapped for this mission! LET US PLOT, FELLOW RESCUERS.

As we trickle in, shall we determine what methods our characters would propose or prefer in various legs of the journey, or what talents they could present?

Naugus would prefer to sneak into the city, proposing he use his shadowmelding to get in and maybe let in or sneak in the rest.

He also can make elemental illusions of people, shaping air, dust or fire into a reasonable facsimile of a person. They're not tangible, however, so the ruse would only buy so much time when it comes to extracting the targets from prison/the city. He also has to channel the facade to keep it up for any extended amount of time.

If things get hairy, he's very combat-ready with all manner of elemental magicks and brute force.

He's NOT a very good team player and might need someone to babysit him and make sure he doesn't go charging off and saving the day on his own, and royally screwing over everyone in the process. Himself included. Planning ahead of time is for CHUMPS, says he.

TEYRAN (EXPLORATION)

[ironwood]

Character(s): 9-12
Mission Duration: 6 days
Mission Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
Mission Type: Escort Mission!
Projected Plot Impact: The Worldeater is on the side of the angels now, and it's keen to stretch its wings! He's off to discover Konryu's last floating city, and your characters are invited along for the ride!
Proposed Worldbuilding Changes: Opening up the Skycity of Teyan for access and further missions.

DOSSIER

The Worldeater has taken it upon himself to curl up in a grand circle around the palace, and has his head near one of the windows of Evandau's office when your characters are ushered inside. Evandau himself looks... a little singed, but otherwise unharmed, and he will tell your character with exasperation that the dragon, who calls himself Han, has decided he wants to explore the world after being cooped up for the entirety of his life in a bottle. Han agreed to take several people along so that Evandau can get the lay of the land from a better venue than what's generally available to him.

Han will telepathically contribute to this conversation, and explain that he would be grateful for any company. This may or may not make Evandau twitch.

The dragon will set out to circumvent the globe with all necessary supplies, and the characters will be free to cling to its back. Even shrunk down as he is outside the bottle, the dragon is still of a fairly substantial size (think about the length of your average skyscraper), and he's really quite wide so it won't be a harrowing ride! The dragon will fluff up its frills and give the characters a protective place to hunker down and enjoy. Characters on this mission who can fly are of course welcome to do so.

After flying for some time, and performing some aerial acrobatics to limber up, the dragon is going to come across the city of Teyan. Once upon a time, prior to Malicant's coming to Konryu, floating cities were the norm across this grand planet, but the dragon has never seen one before, and so he will stop and investigate.

TEYAN
Teyan was abandoned in the war nearly a millennia ago, but it's remarkably intact and gives a very good idea of how the city and society used to function back then. For the curious, this is actually Eshai's home city and the sky-capital of the country she's from! There are no people here, but there are all manner of goodies to be found and brought back, there are books rich with history. This city is actually a 'mini landfall', and characters can explore to their heart's content. Notable locations are as follows:

ESHAI'S HOME can be found in Teyan, it's a very small, Spartan building with little furniture and almost no comforts. There is, however, a sizeable weapons rack. There would be several books of poetry written in a form similar to haiku that she'd obviously penned herself, and a collection of medals granted to her from her long and substantial military service even prior to Malicant's arrival.

THE LIBRARY Did you say books? The characters are free to wander and take as many books as they'd like! As the library was hermetically sealed for the last few hundred years, they haven't decomposed at all and are as readable as they would have been in yesteryear. They are also written in English. If you or your character would like specifics of these books, please tell us which subject your character would look for, to a maximum of two books, and we will give you a more detailed description of them.

THE MINIMART Did you ever wonder what a hyperadvanced futuristic magical society would stock its shelves with? Wonder no more! Your characters are welcome to find anything that makes even marginal amounts of sense on these shelves (seriously, if you can justify why it would be reasonable given the world, feel free to have them find it) and take it back to Keeliai! Just remember, the dragon may charge standard freight rates for anything over a hundred pounds.

THE ROYAL HOUSE Surprisingly demure for a family that occupied the Palace of Landed Sky for the better part of the year, the Royal House is the first place where your characters can find hints of Malicant's arrival, and the draft of the evacuation notices for the city on a desk. The Royal House is a beautiful place that looks considerably older than the rest of the city, and is notable for being several stories high. Most other buildings in Teyan are single-story, so as not to generate too much wind resistance. There are missives and documents here in locked or secret drawers throughout the house that talk about the growing threat from Kerstad, a country across the ocean, and a frank discussion of a small massacre that occurred that involved the death of several diplomats and the Sandalwood Empress, Eshai's mother. There is also a recording that seems rife with deep space static but that would sound like Malicant to those that have heard him before. The voice says, Hello. Did you miss me? before it cuts out.

Re: TEYRAN (EXPLORATION)

[alphatar]

With 12 characters and four places to visit, not to mention the trip going to and back, we're going to have a lot to do. Breaking them up into mini threads and having people tag around is my suggestion.

If anyone wants to have an 18 year old Avatar to go with them anywhere, let me know here or on plurk (skericide) and we can plot something out or just wing it!

[tomemyoutliers]

Breaking them down into mini threads seems the best way to tackle this, so that's got my vote!

Shockwave will be flying in a jet-alt mode for the trip, and will use the holoform to explore the city - so the secret of being a giant robot is still under wraps for now (although everyone is free to wonder how someone can pilot a jet for that long). They'll have to do their best to convince Shockwave to leave, as his holoform will be found primarily in the library.

But if anyone wants to plot something out with a giant robot who is pretending to not be one, let me know!

MODS - If I could get details on two books, please? Science, obviously.

[unetrustworthy]

I third the suggestion of doing mini-threads.

I actually purposely chose to have Midii do this over the two actual fighters of my hoard because I think she's the one who could benefit the most from it. It might be difficult to tell from some of her threads, because she's been trying so hard to leave her past behind, but she's actually quiet adept at being on the battlefield or caught up in the rush of a moment. Not in actually picking up a weapon, per say, but in keeping her cool and observing as much as she can from the shadows. Which means she won't be hot-headed enough to try and charge forward, but she could be excellent in terms of any Intelligence aspects of the missions.

She'll also be just as curious as the dragon about wanting to learn more about the world, especially after a recent conversation with Evandau about past events and their possible reasons.

Plotting with the twelve-year-old ex-spy can either be done here, or over on plurkL hina_mun

Re: TEYRAN (EXPLORATION)

[skybluejeep]

So Malicant is Moriarty. Good to know. ;)

Stiles is going to spend the majority of his time in the Library as well, with a brief diversion into the royal house.

Mini threads is a go, agreed! However anybody would like him around, please let me know. My plurk is lisandraface

[6collegecredits]

Okay. Sooooo....Darcy's mainly going out of uncontrolled curiosity and thus will want to poke her nose in just about everything. I'd especially like to see her hoarding stuff from the minimart and then exploring the royal house. Also the library to look a political books.

Mini threads sounds like a good plan to me, too. If you want to plot directly with me you can hit me up at anyjack. Darcy will be packing her taser as usual so she's got some minor defense if people are looking for it.

Re: TEYRAN (EXPLORATION)

[dracobin]

Mini-threads sound good to me!

Basically every single location in this landfall is right up Temeraire's alley! Due to his size, though, actually manipulating what he finds may prove difficult, so he'll definitely be friends with anyone kind enough to read the books aloud for him and so on.

He's also had the great misfortune of encountering Malicant before, so he'd recognize the voice in the recording if anyone wants to be there for that!

You can plot with me here, or poke me over at simplyirenic!

MODS--can I get some info on history and science books in the library? Temeraire would most likely want to take one of each!

Re: TEYRAN (EXPLORATION)

[burnseternal]

I agree that splitting this up into minithreads and tagging around looks like the way to go! Maybe one of us can set up a log and a bunch of top comments and we can swing it from there.

And since everyone else is doing it, if anyone wants to plot out anything specific with a zen alienbug, you can just comment here or reach me on plurk at feygasm! He's going to be spreading his time around equally with the exception (as with most of the characters it seems) of the library, though I'll need to give a little more thought to what subjects he'll seek out.

[soulstoker]

I'm also all for mini-threads!

Leia will be spending most of her time exploring the minimart and royal house! She'll probably check out a few of the books at Eshai's home and the library, but studious reading isn't really her thing in all honesty. If anyone wants to plot directly for an overly energetic 15-year-old, feel free to hit me up here or at ghostory.

Re: TEYRAN (EXPLORATION)

[fearlessherosheart]

I'm cool with the mini-threads. Tazendra will be looking for trouble, so can either be asked by someone to be bodyguard in case there's problems or will wander around but will probably make for the royal house.

[justlittle]

Also agreeing with the mini-threads idea. Bean will head straight to the library (MODS can I get some info on two history/political books?) and once he hears about what's been found in the royal house, he'll check that out too.

Plotting can be done here or on plurk @ gazzafizza.

GHA'NAL (QUEST)

[ironwood]

Player: 3-5 needed
Character(s): 3-5 needed
Mission Duration: 3 days
Mission Difficulty: ★★★★☆
Mission Type: Capture of a dangerous creature called the Gha'nal and return it (mostly) unharmed to Keeliai.
Projected Plot Impact: A new method of resisting Malicant's influence may be developed.
Proposed Worldbuilding Changes: It's speculated that a possible antibody can be made from the Gha'nal's venom that may increase the resistance to Malicant's possession and influence.

DOSSIER

Milyn will meet your character at the Palace, leading them to a small anteroom and show them an old kedanese medical text which depicts a formidable looking creature not entirely dissimilar from a manticore with a lion-like body, long snakelike protruding fangs, and a whiplike tail stretching almost ten feet long said to be able to cut stone. This is a Gha'nal, she will explain, and it is one of the few creatures in this world who can move between the different Planes of Life, Death and Dreaming. They were hunted nearly to extinction during the first Malicant War but it has always been rumoured that some survived. Based on Tu Vishan's course, it's been determined that he will be passing very near a small atoll in the sea where it's suspected the Gha'nal may be hiding itself. However they will only have time to be within range for a few days, putting a short time window on this mission.

The Gha'nal is capable of shifting itself through the various realms, making it able to disappear and reappear at will. In addition to being physically formidable, its fangs are capable of paralyzing anyone for several minutes -- more than enough for the beast to either escape or attack. The atoll is extremely desolate, basically just a jut of barren rock in the middle of the ocean, so characters will be told not to expect much help from the terrain. The only known way to capture a Gha'nal is to put it to sleep, but anchor it physically so it cannot slip into the Dreaming plane and leave its captors empty-handed. Milyn will provide several packets of a powered herb which can be used as a sleeping powder which will keep the creature under sedation for a full 24 hours.

Once they've arrived on the atoll, they'll discover not only that there is an adolescent female Gha'nal, she's also guarding a young cub. Players have the choice of whether their character will stick to the original plan and capture the female, or capture the easier to handle cub, or attempting the most risky decision to double or nothing try and drug both and bring them back as a pair.

OUTCOME: Milyn has made arrangements for an enclosure to be built which will be able to contain the Gha'nal and keep it from moving between Planes. She will be pleased to reward them accordingly and tutt over and tend to any injuries they may have sustained in the process.

Re: GHA'NAL (QUEST)

[sophos]

HELLO GUYS WHAT UP (i am tomato ftr!!)

annabeth has literally grown up fighting monsters so this is p much right up her alley 8) also she is in possession of a pegasus which could be useful here?? and she can go invisible, which could also be useful. she may or may not try to take charge, too, or at least be like OK GUYS I HAVE A PLAN LISTEN TO ME

she'll definitely suggest trying to take back both cub and mother once the cub is revealed, but lmao she's also being a little reckless lately so!! consensus/democracy rules

[warrioreidlos]

We should probably start putting this thing in motion huh?

Otter made us a log right here.

I think we should probably figure out a few things.

1. Roughly when in the month would you like this to be set? Beginning, end, somewhere in between? Personally I am fine with either.

2. Shall we just jump into this thing or would you like to plot out a few things more first? And on that account, should we divide the log up in several sub-threads to divide up the action and keep things flowing more quickly?

3. Uh. Anything else?

Re: GHA'NAL (QUEST)

[backinakidflash]

I'm hoping you guys all see this. I'm sorry, but I have to hiatus due to family medical stuff. I might only be gone a few days, but I can't guarantee anything until everything is less chaotic.

If you would like to godmode Bart for this, let me know. Otherwise, I may simply tag it when I get back.

[warrioreidlos]

My sincerest apologies, but I am going to have to bow out of this mission, seeing as I will be dropping the game. I had really been looking forward to doing this thing, but for various reasons I will be dropping, so yeah. I'm sorry if I've been holding up anything. I figured it'd be better to pull out before tagging in though, so you guys can play out the mission with the four of you. If you want, you can always assume that Reiner spoke to Armin (And I'm really sorry we won't be able to play that out, Otter) and then bowed out of the mission himself, or something.

Again, I'm really sorry about this.

DUST (UNDERCOVER)

[ironwood]

Player: 1-2 needed
Character(s): 2 needed
Mission Duration: 1 day
Mission Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Mission Type: Drug buy and possible bust
Projected Plot Impact: Information on where Dust is being supplied to the city from.
Proposed Worldbuilding Changes: A better understanding of the illegal drug supply being fed into Keeliai as well as possible NPCs involved in its trafficking.

DOSSIER

Use of the drug known as Dust has been on a steady increase throughout the city and Evandau has reached the point where he's ready to try a sting operation, having up until now only been able to arrest users or bottom of the ladder sellers. He will need a pair of volunteers to set up a buy with Yengi, a known distributor. The caveat here is that Yengi will be very reluctant to sell to Foreigners, given their seeming allegiance to the Emperor. Your characters will have to put on a convincing act and may have to tell a lie close to the truth in order to sell their cover and even then success is not guaranteed -- and neither is their safety. These criminals are not shy about killing to protect their underground enterprise and the Emperor can provide a grim list of policekedan who have undertaken the same endeavor and where each of their body parts were found.

There are two options, Evandau explains. Either you can go in as a pair of buyers or one can take on a bodyguard position, either hidden or visible. It's very likely, he warns, that your character may be asked to take some of the Dust to prove they are indeed a user of it. The Palace will arrange for a suitable amount of juulan to buy the Dust, though Yengi may add a "Foreigner surcharge" to see if that will rattle them. The best case scenario is to make the successful buy AND track Yengi afterward, where supposedly he will be returning to pick up more supply for another sale. However if the operation goes sour, they may well have to defend themselves and likely they will not be able to track Yengi but rather have to kill him instead.

IF THE BUY IS SUCCESSFUL: The characters will be able to track Yengi to one of the Dust supply houses and witness a half dozen other kedan, the descriptions of which can then be reported to Evandau and duly rewarded for completing the mission successfully with their cover intact.

IF BEING CAUGHT IN THE ACT: The characters will be attacked in retaliation, either by Yengi alone or with his reinforcements and the outcome of this (who is injured, if anyone's killed, etc) is entirely player's choice but word will spread of their descriptions among the traffickers.

Re: DUST (UNDERCOVER)

[jondrette]

Hi, I'm Shea, with Eponine here. She's pretty decent at navigating seedy, criminal under-bellies. She was part of one, once.

So whatcha thinking, mysterious, yet-unnamed partner?