Behind the Crown [OoC], Out-of-Character information for Behind the Crown Options

[Bastard]

Back from my travels... catching up on posts.

Not much to catch up on. Sorry you all waited on me.

...

That was my first Gen Con. I met some friends there, one had gone to a few over 15 years ago. I had a blast. Wish there were more days so I could get more games in.

[pbangarth]

I always enjoyed Gen Con. Haven't been in over 20 years, though.

Welcome back. We are sooo close to the suspected/hoped-for end of the Mitsuhama hate-on for Blue. I would like to find out if M. will actually cut their losses and forget about him. I think Karmakaze might have some intel on that once the 7 days are up.

[Bastard]

We are sooo close to the suspected/hoped-for end of the Mitsuhama hate-on for Blue. I would like to find out if M. will actually cut their losses and forget about him. I think Karmakaze might have some intel on that once the 7 days are up.

Is PoliDemos tied to M?

I always enjoyed Gen Con. Haven't been in over 20 years, though.

My friend of over 35 years used to do D&D tournaments and qualified for a free tickets every year 15-20 years ago. He hadn't been since. Some other friends of ours were talking about going, so we all decided to meet in Indy (we all live in different states). Of course two guys cancelled, but my friend, his friend, and I all met up there. This was my first time, and I had a blast. I am already planning on going again next year.

[Koekepan]

So far, there has been no identified link between PoliDemos and Mitsuhama.

They also came up in Blue's life in different contexts; Mitsuhama wanted to buy out his old employers, and (tried to) shanghai all the workers in the same stroke.

PoliDemos was a (presumably dishonest) employer in his first run, now apparently with more fingers in local street politics, approximately congruent with their purported mission statement.

It's not impossible that they're somehow linked, but no visible link has been forthcoming.

[Bastard]

I require a GM bump.

I may have forgot or missed information to drive the story forward.

[Koekepan]

OK, to recap:

You're trying to answer some questions for your LoneStar contact, related to how/why a bunch of businesses dropped their data links back to LoneStar. This is kind of bound up in the question of Daisy, the undercover Star, going missing.

In the bigger picture this matters because LoneStar is supposedly the policing contractor for the whole Seattle enclave (give or take big corp areas and no-go barrens zones), and if something is undermining them, it looks like bad news, not just for the business, but also potentially for law and order in Seattle. Who would do this? Theoretically, the megas might, if they want to make a play for the enclave. For example, if Mitsuhama is playing as a catspaw for the Imperial Japanese State, they might be inclined to push to weaken the fabric of Seattle while on the other hand, it might be Knight Errant fueling the system. On yet another side, if it really is PoliDemos doing so, then who's behind them? Are they really a grassroots organisation? A homeowners' association gone metastatic? Why, aside from a powerplay, would they even want to push any security contractor out? They certainly seem to favour, and even enforce a rather strict level of compliance, judging by the fearful reaction of the barista, and the rather gangland vibe that they gave the old woodworker.

Then there's the question of the apparent squeeze play that they had been running on Petsonal Petsonalities. Presumably, if that's their kind of game, and it wasn't just one operator gone rogue for some reason, they're actually a pretty ugly crew. If so, why would a bunch of affluent suburbanites give them the time of day, let alone join in?

The fact that they have this kind of attitude, as demonstrated by people's responses to them, strongly suggests that if they did anything with Daisy, it was not gentle. On the other hand, Daisy may be a red herring. It wouldn't be impossible for LoneStar to fabricate a damsel-in-distress narrative to try to motivate people. On the third hand, if they wrapped her in foil and tossed her into a woodchipper, maybe her DocWagon band never had a chance to signal?

Right now, the hingepin for all these questions is PoliDemos. You could do more street research on them, or you could take it in a different direction and plan a more direct action, aimed at finding out what's really up. If you want to just roll up your sleeves and go in guns blazing, you need to identify a target location and do it, perhaps in the hopes of finding Daisy. On the other hand, if you'd rather understand the organisation, maybe what you need is to find out what they are doing, or telling recruits, or putting in their publications, or - well, anything along those lines, really.

Let me know if you need more of a bump.

[pbangarth]

Sorry, Koekepan, I've lost track of the time of day. I just posted assuming daytime, but I don't know how much daylight is left currently. I'll try to keep better track.

Honest.

[Koekepan]

By now, near noon.

[pbangarth]

By now, near noon.

Oh, God. Hours and hours till blessed dusk.

Hmm. Does Blue have any idea when the '7 days' he heard about from his first protector will officially end?

[Koekepan]

They should be pretty much done by now, but he has no idea whether the hour is relevant.

[pbangarth]

On my way tonight on the red-eye to Dublin. Staying near Belfast. Probably will have WIFI. Then a few days later staying in Belfast. Same likelihood. Day after I arrive, I will meet the sire of my border collie bitch. He is competing with his handler in the 2023 World Sheepdog Trials. Woohoo!

I will try to get Blue acting IC in the next few of days.

[pbangarth]

Does Blue know Billy's physical address? He's a contact, and has done work for Blue in the past, but ...?

[Koekepan]

Yup, Billy lives on the fringes between Seatac and Federal Way. Not a bad zone, if you don't mind proximity to the Puyallup region and all that. Like many shadowy people he's pretty paranoid, but Blue's known him for a while now.

[Bastard]

Not waiting on me, right?

Usually we are.

[Koekepan]

Waiting on Blue. Apparently Billy being well-and-truly unavailable is confusing him?

[Bastard]

Waiting on Blue.

Oh good. It's not me!

[Bastard]

Once Billy sees Karma she is going to wave him over, direct him to the car, and place herself between him and the building, since she is wearing armor.

[Koekepan]

Yeah, no, that's not the direction he's running. He's running from Karmakaze as hard as he can. And Blue.

[Koekepan]

Apparently, this is Blue channeling a gang boss saying: "Tony, Tony, I'm not angry. I'm just very disappointed in you."

[pbangarth]

Yeah, well, one can give Blue a little leeway here. He's been hunted for a week, including by thugs who seemed to magically find him. He wonders how that happened. Not!

But he still needs Billy's skills. So somehow he has to find a line to walk that serves him. Will he trust Billy fully ever again? Stay tuned.

[Bastard]

Not waiting on me are you?

Karma is kind of in overwatch mode right now until Blue solves the issue with Billy, or needs assistance.

[Koekepan]

I had actually been waiting on you, but I'll move on with that in mind.

[Bastard]

Still on overwatch... Blue can respond, Karma is just eavesdropping.

[Koekepan]

Karma can give a roll related to interrogation, given that she's eavesdropping. See if she picks up anything between the lines.

[pbangarth]

It finally struck me to ask how they kept finding Blue. Duh.