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HRHR: No Sympathy For The Devil.
TAKE THE RIDE;
freedom is something that dies unless it's used
READ THE lemuria INFOPAGE.
First, this was supposed to be up forever ago and we apologize for that. I've been traveling and generally been busy with work this last month, but my time management has also sucked and I inadvertently hiatused from RP as a whole! And Pel has been ill, so the extreme lateness is a byproduct of legitimate things...and me being a tired ass.
Because of a number of factors, there won't be a check-in this month. Consider this it!
OVERVIEW.
This was supposed to be a slow burn sort of mission, with lots of intel and scouting. But now there's an entire cell here and that's an advantage to press. Upper mission control is largely absent, so it's up to the scouts and bit players in this stretch to make a stand.
Which is to say, Ashere and Vega have some missions for you.
HOW IT WORKS.
Characters will receive missives for the missions below. The following is consistent throughout:
- A maximum of 2 teams per mission, 2 individuals per team.
- Missions are first come, first serve.
- Failure will likely result in death or serious injury.
That said, if only one character signs up for a mission, they have to go it solo. In situations like this, they may want to drag someone else along by force (basically, this is a good way to get in any fourth wallers who want to participate), but from an OOC perspective, the bulk of RNG results will depend on the character who signed up. Whoops.
Please let us know if you have a plus one!
You have until September 7th to sign up; we'll tell you the difficulty of your HRHR the following day. If it's amenable to you, we'll roll for success.
A post will go up on September 14th for submissions; they're due by the 24th. Submissions are mandatory, even for failures. Otherwise, your characters die regardless of outcome and your activities will not factor into the plot; it'll be like no one took the mission at all. If only one person participates by the time submissions close, the mission will be considered a failure and a false start, but only the non-participating character will be penalized.
Like last time: Characters can still interact with the rest of the cell while working on HRHRs. Also, the general parameters of these missions and who is doing what is IC knowledge, so y'all have a general idea of each other's activities. Please feel free to use any previously obtained plot coupons, items, or elements in your plans.
If your characters have IC questions for either scout, they can ask them here.
Have fun storming the castle!
THE MISSIONS.
As stated above, there are four signups for each mission. You can suggest who you'd like as your partner if you have someone in mind, but mods have final say. Also, since this is our final set of HRHRs, if you want to sign up for more than one mission, be our guest.
Each mission has a list of skills; while characters can draw conclusions about what skills they need based off the mission parameters, these specific lists are OOC knowledge. These skills aren't required and, if your character has zero ability with them but would sign up anyway, that's totally okay. It'll just affect the skill level used in determining the success of the mission.
The scouts realize there probably aren't enough characters to accomplish every mission. That's fine. This is by design; some HRHRs will fall by the wayside, which will affect endgame.
» GENETICS LAB.
@ASHOLE eugenics is bad yall
In Lemuria's near future, genetic reconfiguration is the norm. Not only that, but many families choose to grow their children in genetic looms, to the point it's a sought-after statement of rank and loyalty to the empire. Longevity, lack of disease, elimination of birth defects...it sounds ideal, but the Regency-to-be uses this to create children all the more susceptible to brainwashing and unquestioned loyalty. Families that use these genetic sites say their children enter military and government service at alarmingly high rates out of gratefulness for the circumstances of their birth, but COST has always suspected otherwise.
These looms are also used to clone shabti. Keep them from being made, and you halt the manufacture of slaves for the Regency...and stop thousands of people from ever being born. Similarly, Tal-Viero uses these looms to clone himself and prolong his life, by transferring his thoughts and memories from body to body.
OOC NOTE: If your character fails by a significant margin and leaves enough genetic material behind in a functional lab, they may get cloned. Or maybe that's a plus for you; who knows.
SKILLS:
- Stealth
- Infiltration.
- Scientific/technical knowledge.
- Speechcraft.
- Infiltrate the Kargarov Labs in the Pyramid District and find the Seren Hakyo genetics team, who discover the key to creating the genetic loom technology in seven months.
- NEUTRALIZE them, CONVINCE them this tech is a bad idea, or DESTROY the technology.
- Optional: Find evidence the team or someone is engineering some manner of genetic compliance, to create children more susceptible to mindscrubs and unquestioned loyalty to figures of authority.
» BCE PROTOTYPE.
@STARBOY no way these assholes didnt figure out they were handling god bones
BCEs unlock the golden era of the Tranquil Empire and transform it into the Regency, an expansive colonialist regime that reaches through time, space, and multiple dimensions. They necessitate harvesting the bones of gods, lead to the creation of Araneans and Jhashch as you know it, and grant the ability to rewrite history. BCEs, while useful, are...problematic.
Luckily, they haven't been invented yet.
But they will be. There's a startup company in the low districts with a prototype. Making and marketing BCEs will skyrocket them to riches and stardom, lifting their families from poverty and changing their lives...along with the rest of history, past and present.
Too bad for history, right?
SKILLS:
- Technical knowledge.
- Magic.
- Speechcraft.
- Combat Prowess.
- Find Horizon Labs in the Lower District. Sneak in or break in; there's little in the way of security beyond padlocks.
- Find the prototypes and DESTROY them or CONVINCE the scientists this is a bad idea. Or NEUTRALIZE the scientists.
» AVENGE GROTHIA.
@ASHOLE i met the eyepatch bitch one time. she punched me in the face.
Revenge isn't part of COST policy. The dead are laid to rest, remembered, and survivors move on. Ashere's never been very good at that, though. While this mission isn't sanctioned by COST, he doesn't really give a shit and is taking volunteers regardless. And Vega, disinterested insofar as it doesn't make his job harder, doesn't care enough to stop him.
Ashere has identified a direct ancestor of the agent who will assassinate Commander Grothia and countless others. He's giving you the option to deal with this however you want.
SKILLS:
- Combat Prowess.
- Stealth.
- Assassination.
- Interrogation.
- Find Nonuel Ereshur, who is currently eleven years old. Ereshur is from a wealthy family living in the Pyramid District and in a military academy. She's doing fairly well for herself on the stealth and assassination track.
- NEUTRALIZE her or CONVINCE her that a career in assassination isn't worthwhile, thus derailing her family's eventual specialization in the Regency's empire.
» SAVE LITTLE XICI.
@ASHOLE i read about this in your files. fucking shitty man.
Another mission that isn't sanctioned by COST, but one Ashere lays out nonetheless. For those of you who have been with us from the very beginning: Remember Little Xici? Remember the horrible way she died, unmade by the Regency? You might be able to stop that.
Here's the thing: Like much of the eventual Regency, Little Xici doesn't exist yet. But the person who will eventually lead her to a horrifying, mutilated death? Yeah, he's around.
Gealach Mhac Oighear is a middling secretary in a temp agency that hires out lower class people from the low districts to work as temps in the Pyramid District. It's a shitty job, but one of the best you can get when you're Doine and poor. The connections he makes here will one day lead him to becoming a government official, tasked with chronal torture, a skill few have the stomach for without a mindscrub. But Mhac Oighear lived through the famine of 18.49PH; there isn't much that bothers him anymore, or much he won't do to survive.
SKILLS:
- Combat Prowess.
- Stealth.
- Speechcraft.
- Interrogation.
- Locate Gealach Mhac Oighear on his daily commute, at his home with his husband and four children, or at work (a secretarial office).
- NEUTRALIZE him or CONVINCE him that a highly lucrative contract with the government isn't worth it. Or maybe you can FRAME him and get him fired?
» DRAGON DAMAGE CONTROL.
@STARBOY kinda a dumbass aint he
Jörmungandr isn't supposed to be here. He's mostly a rumor in Lemuria itself, but if you go outside the city, it's kind of hard to miss a huge snake (like seriously, he's literally a snake) thrashing around in what your map identifies as the Crosslands.
Historically, this was revealed in subsequent decades to be a military ploy to weaken the Crosslands. Not that Jörmungandr knows this; he's just doing his thing after being brought in to counter Fafnir, who was planted as a convenient excuse to get Jörmungandr involved.
COST would love if the Crosslands were stronger during this time period, as they are the first major colony to jump-start the formation of COST. Can you calm Jörmungandr down?
SKILLS:
- Combat Prowess.
- Luck.
- Speechcraft.
- Magic.
- Calm Jörmungandr somehow, long enough that he can either be talked to our fought.
- NEUTRALIZE him or CONVINCE him to go home.
- Optionally: Those with some mythological know-how may be able to figure out that he's afraid of thunder; it's part of why he's staying out of high-tech Lemuria and destroying the relatively low-tech Crosslands. Less electricity.
» SAVE KEBECHET.
@STARBOY man i seriously cant give a single fuck about these kinds of politics
Finally, a mission sanctioned by COST. Kebechet is a danger, a formidable foe. And, while she was killed, the damage she did? It's already been done.
Wouldn't it be great if you could undo it?
Kebechet isn't Kebechet yet. She's a teenage girl named Ueli Ansath Sherel of the High Family Xol. She lives a placid life with her twin sister Oero, where they spend most of their time lazing about and playing games and being tutored at home. They live in the Royal District; while neither of them are in line for the throne, they're a cousin of a cousin of a cousin, granting them permission to live well.
It's your job to stop Ueli from ever becoming the monster known as Kebechet. Her motives for doing so lie in her twin sister's death and, despite no genetic engineering in her background (as of yet), her loyalty to authority.
SKILLS:
- Combat Prowess.
- Stealth.
- Speechcraft.
- Luck.
- Infiltrate the Royal District and the Xol mansion. Find Ueli.
- NEUTRALIZE her, MANIPULATE her to sever her bond with her sister, CRAFT a way to make her less susceptible to brainwashing, or CONVINCE her to question authority.
» KILL THE KING.
@ASHOLE we all have dreams yknow
This...isn't sanctioned by COST, but it's not not sanctioned, either.
The current ruler of the Tranquil Empire is the six-year-old Sanaliel Suu Tal-Kuon. He's a puppet emperor, whose strings are pulled by the Imperial Senate, the government of representatives appointed (paradoxically) by Sanaliel's advisers. Essentially, it's a self-perpetuating ouroboros of power keen to stay in power, becoming more and more ingrained with nothing changing.
In several years, Viero will step in, wipe out the senate, and make himself the new Regent; the Regency will be born. But he can't do that if Sanaliel is dead.
OOC NOTE: Sanaliel's major caretaker and advisor is a woman of indeterminate age. Vega's assessment of her as having many body mods is correct, but she's also a talented spellcaster. A witch, if you will, who looks as if she were carved from wood. Anyone in pursuit of Sanaliel will almost undoubtedly have to go through her first.
SKILLS:
- Combat Prowess.
- Stealth.
- Infiltration.
- Speechcraft.
- Infiltrate the Royal District and Imperial Palace of Kuon. Find the crown prince.
- NEUTRALIZE him. There is no nonlethal option, as Sanaliel is just too dangerous to keep in stasis. He's a chess piece, but a volatile one.
» KILL VIERO.
@STARBOY probability of someone worse taking his place: likely
but the alternative is doing nothing about it and thats fuckin dumb
You're probably wondering why there are all these assassinations and murders, but nobody's taking down the big man. Don't worry, this is what COST really wants you to do.
Tal-Viero, the ultimate big bad, the Regent for which the Regency will be named. He's kind of an asshole even now, before he comes into full power. If you get rid of him, you might just cut the head off the snake.
Or, considering how volatile Lemuria is, you might create a vacuum where another ambitious asshole will step in and take his place. But you've gotta try, right?
SKILLS:
- Combat Prowess.
- Infiltration.
- Wisdom.
- Technical Knowledge.
- Infiltrate the Imperial Barracks in the Pyramid District. Find Viero's quarters.
- NEUTRALIZE him. There is no nonlethal option, for reasons that are probably obvious.
- Optional: Find every scrap of information on Viero that you can. Much of his history has been obscured and kept secret through the years; that information would be really helpful. AKA: hack the shit out of his computers. They're highly encrypted; good luck.
» REVOLUTION ROCK.
@ASHOLE dont worry we all know how this works by now
Lemuria is a powder keg. Eventually, Viero will use all that untapped anger and aggression and harness it into a machine that brainwashes and colonizes "for the greater good". But if you could set it off now, ahead of time... Well, it might make a messy situation even messier.
The people of the low districts are angry and somebody has to fan that anger into a flame. There are semi-regular riots when food shortages happen, but so far none of that has lasted for more than a few days.
Here's the thing: For sweeping political change on a populist level? You need to organize.
COST, historically, is formed by rebelling colonies (that's what the C stands for) of the Regency. A revolt on this level never happened in history as it was. Success in this mission could jump-start COST's formation early, or possibly make it so the organization as you know it never existed, replaced by something better (or worse). Who knows, but it's time to rise up.
SKILLS:
- Speechcraft.
- Organization.
- Luck.
- Technical Knowledge.
- Locate crime bosses, food bank owners, and other influential community heads of the low districts. CONVINCE them to rally their people in an open revolt, make speeches to this effect, or publicly endorse you so you can act on your own.
- ORGANIZE the revolt. It may feel spontaneous, but you have to make some effort to convince these people that their lives, however shitty, are worth potentially losing in favor of a better future. Remember, the low districts are seriously outgunned.
- Optional: Find better weaponry, or hack the grids in the Pyramid District to make it easier for your mob to enact some mob justice. This will not be a bloodless revolution.
» SAVE THE DAY.
@STARBOY im getting a migraine from this telepathy bullshit
Most importantly, you gotta wipe out this power-memory share bullshit.
COST has no records of this event and it seems to have been erased from the histories of the Regency. That in itself is odd, but it's likely the result of a grand coverup rather than a chronal error. All the more reason why it's important and must be stopped.
A special app on your BCE will help you locate the source of the problem: It's coming from somewhere in the Pyramid district's military compound. No surprise there.
Infiltrating the building—not the barracks, but the fancy bureaucratic center where major military decisions are made—and following the signal will lead you to Fafnir, a dragon working for Viero. He's adding his magic to a telepathic signal boost, cataloguing a wealth of military and social knowledge for Viero's disposal. This is how he makes his coup.
OOC NOTE: The signal's strength intensifies the closer characters get to it. This will cause recruits to hallucinate their companions as their enemies, so characters may find themselves fighting each other. To the death, if necessary.
SKILLS:
- Combat Prowess.
- Infiltration.
- Luck.
- Technical Knowledge.
- Infiltrate the Pyramid District, and its high military offices.
- DEFEAT Fafnir or CONVINCE him to stop the signal.
- Don't kill your allies. Or, you know, do. The mission comes first, y'all.
- Optional: Access the data that's already been collected. Sure, it's amoral and a serious breech of everyone's privacy, but it could be a serious advantage in the right hands. And the right hands are yours, obviously.
ETCETERA.
For those of you who want to request more information about your HRHR that wouldn't necessarily be the purview of the scouts (i.e., what else can be found, would doing [x] have a specific effect, etc), we have a top level here for your perusal. This header also doubles as the place to request additional RNGs, whether because you're a masochist who wants to see your character die because they bungled a coin toss or you want to RNG a thread with someone besides your assigned HRHR partner.
Feel free to use this post to plot with each other!
READ THE LEMURIA INFOPAGE.
no subject
This mission was a SUCCESS, with the combined rolls of all participants coming to 73, with a margin of SUCCESS at 26 meaning they rolled a critical success!
This means the team had a pretty easy time of it, using whatever their chosen methods to easily infiltrate and gather data, dispatching any targets in the way without hardship. If anyone was injured, it was relatively minor. Likewise, they were able to secure the extra data from the genetics lab!
You can decide the specifics of the mission's outcome beyond those vague qualifiers. We encourage you to be as creative as you like in how your characters solve the problem and thread it out! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!