>>4583804
Well, you can tell that it has been a long time - I forgot the command was 'spoiler' not 'spoilers', not to mention that control-s does it for you automatically. Oh well. Also, I have a bunch of things prepared. Rather than dump them on all of you, I will intersperse and explain them as needed.

Parasol and Deputy Bean are looking at you expectantly - and you realize it must have been at least half a minute since anyone spoke. Whatever exactly Fleckkers originally planned to do with the intelligence about the active farming operations nearby, the 'whales', you cannot simply keep that information to yourselves any longer. First off, the longer you sit on this information, the less valuable it is, because as more time goes on, the more likely it is that something happens to the farms or the farmers that would either prevent or dissuade them from cooperating with you or the group.

Fleckkers, as well as Norton, who you have yet to meet, are currently out in the surrounding countryside, trying to sound out 'whales', either for integration into the group, or if that fails, as targets for supply raids. So as far as that concern is ... concerned, it is being addressed, partially, at the very least. If, or rather, when you bring the rest of the group in on this, you will be able to speed up the process of 'sounding out' these whales. So as far as that is concerned, that issue is going to be resolved the second you open your mouth about this. The sticking point here is not the situation out in the surrounding countryside, but rather, how this is going to go over inside the group. Three days ago, Fleckkers found incredibly valuable information, but instead of sharing it with the group, as he would have been expected, if not required to do so, he sat on it. And then he headed out to act on that information, still without any effort to share what he found. Even if you covered for him, by lying and saying that he made a second trip to the store earlier today, or that the intelligence was found in a mess of papers that got brought here accidentally on the first day, and no one realized their value until today, or whatever the fuck ... the fact is that he left to act on this intelligence. By himself.

The concern here is that whatever you say, whatever excuse you come up with, the issue is going to be him leaving to go wheel and deal (and maybe steal) without mentioning it to the rest of the group, not when the intelligence was found. And while you could feed them a 'line' about when the information was found, there is no way around the fact that Fleckkers, along with Norton, left the lake. You cannot spin that. And as soon as the truth (or the lies) come out about the intelligence, then everyone is going to (correctly) assume that Fleckkers left to get food without telling anyone else.

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>>4583863
Under the current circumstances, that could be a serious issue. Now, your immediate instinct is to simply keep your mouth shut for a little bit longer, until you understand if Fleckkers has committed a proverbial (or God forbid, an actual) hanging offense. And as it stands, you were away from the Homestead while Fleckkers was sitting on this intelligence, so your hands are clean in this, at least for now. Unfortunately, by not saying anything to Parasol while he is right here, about the intelligence or Fleckkers mission, you are effectively implicating yourself in Fleckkers misdeeds.

You have several options here. You could simply tell the truth, to protect yourself, and hopefully the rest of your Homestead from being 'accessories after the fact'. Then, once you and everyone else is protected, you could see what, if anything, you could do to protect Fleckkers. You could attempt to cover (read as: lie) for Fleckkers, and minimize his potential 'crimes', at the cost of becoming very minutely implicated in the eyes of the group. While at first glance, it might not seem as attractive as remaining innocent in all of this, you need to remember that you aren't sure (and have no way of being sure) that this is going to be a major issue, especially if you are lying about it in the first place. The third option is to reverse course completely, and remain quiet about all of the intelligence. It is entirely possible that you could keep this a secret, and you have already been told that you have every right to trade or steal from non-members. You are a homesteader, you have animals, so it would be expected that you would have a great deal of knowledge of local farming operations. Of course, if it ever gets out that you hid this information, then you are completely implicated in it, and it will probably not be look on kindly. And while your miraculous ability to secure food for the group no doubt would raise you and your 'Satellite' to prominence, the fact remains that working alone you will almost certainly lose out on food and even animals by working alone, as opposed to working with the group.

>Please Pick One of the Following:
>"The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth". (You will abandon your original plan to cover for Fleckkers, and tell Parasol exactly what happened)
>"Some lies, some more lies, and maybe a bit of the truth" (You will stick to your original plan to cover for Fleckkers, even if it implicates the entire Homestead)
>"Nothing, the whole nothing, and nothing but nothing" (You will abandon your original plan to cover for Fleckkers, and tell Parasol nothing about the intelligence)

>>4583864

>"Some lies, some more lies, and maybe a bit of the truth" (You will stick to your original plan to cover for Fleckkers, even if it implicates the entire Homestead)

The intelligence was found in a mess of papers that got brought here accidentally on the first day, and no one realized their value until today. Take full responsibility for the decision to make contact and admit it may have been a hasty move but you are trying to secure a food supply for the group and farmers have both food now and the skill to grow more later which will be even more important once supplies start running low and with the effects of Yellowstone(that you admittedly don't know much about) being in play.

>>4583909
Solid vote to kick things off this thread. Supporting this.
Nice to see you back Trash. Figured you had put this on hiatus to focus on schoolwork.

I'll leave this up for a bit while I grab dinner, but even if no one else shows up to vote, I'll close it when I get back.

>>4583921
More or less. Thankfully, I should be able to squeeze in a good portion of a run before the school term starts up again.

>>4583909
I'll go with this
>"Some lies, some more lies, and maybe a bit of the truth" (You will stick to your original plan to cover for Fleckkers, even if it implicates the entire Homestead)

Alright, that settles it.

Reggie Mantle – 23 years old, 5’9”, 164 lbs.

Skills:
Subject to slight corrections if playtesting reveals imbalances
Delusional or Unwilling in:
Teaching, Speech-Flirtation, Farming-Animal Handling
Oblivious in:
Learning, Melee-Bladed, Vehicle-Boats, Vehicle-Military
Nascent in Understanding:
Athletics, Mental, Melee-Unarmed, Melee-Bludgeon, Farming-Horticulture,
Rank Amateur:
Vehicle-Heavy, Speech-Deception, Speech-Rhetoric, Handicraft-Sanitization,
Ranking Amateur:
Ranged-Volumetric, Farming-Animal Husbandry, Vehicle-Car and Trucks, Handicraft-Repair
Competent:
Ranged-Sidearm, Ranged-Targeted, Handicraft-Demolition, Handicraft-Construction
Assuredly Competent:
Genuinely Skilled:
Handicraft-Salvage
Nascent Master:
Master:

Abilities:
Ballistic Frugality: Has a supranatural ability to know when a target has been downed – will never need to make checks against ‘overkill’.
Miraculous Shooter (T): Has an unnerving ability to score kills, even with completely inadequate weapons. (Penalty for inadequate ranged weapon is shrunk to a fifth of what it would otherwise be)
Garbage in, Salvage out: Has an uncanny ability to find workable if not saleable materials in what appears to be waste. (Sanitizing an area will provide additional salvage, calculated as 33% of the area’s determined total salvage value. Sanitization time and cost increased by 20%. Character must be present for entire Sanitation. Ability typically works once per area, with exceptions at discretion of QM).

Attributes:
Hard Nut to Crack (T): Is considered uncommonly durable, at least, for a human. (Has 6 pips instead of 4, and all 1’s rolled on resistance checks are rerolled)

Flaws:
Subtly Gimped:
Has a pair of very slightly aberrant legs (Athletic tests that involve use of legs are 33% more difficult)
Paranoid:
Has a dangerously overactive imagination (Mental tests are 10% more difficult, and are more frequent)

Here is Mantle's Character Sheet. This is going to be a Speech-Deception test; at his current level of 'Rank-Amateur' he rolls one set of 5d20 (with a -1 malus to those gross rolls) and one set of 1d6 (with a +2 situational bonus to that gross roll, as you are ultimately giving Parasol and the group really good news, so any ... questions about Fleckkers and the rest of your homestead are more likely to be overlooked.)

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>>4584089
When the net is calculated, you want to get at least a 60. If you get an 80 or more, then you have completely insulated everyone but Fleckkers from suspicion, while seriously minimizing the suspicion that he would be under. If you manage to get above a 100, then there are no hard feelings at all. On the other end, if you get lower than a 40 you have done nothing to minimize suspicion on Fleckkers or insulate the rest of you from suspicion, and if you somehow manage to get less than 20, you will have redirected all suspicion on Fleckkers completely on yourself (as much or as little as there may be).

>Please, one roll of 1d6 and one roll of 5d20.

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4584090
o my moose-killing dice

Rolled 5, 10, 3, 15, 13 = 46 (5d20)

>>4584090

>>4584098
>>4584163
could be worse, I guess. at least that 3 becomes a 5

Maybe that's a 60 then? Was a 5 on a 1d6 1.5x or 1.25x?

>>4584177
just checked, it varied but in all likelihood it is not a 60, but above a 40 at least

Rolled 10, 18, 12, 17, 4 = 61 (5d20)

>>4584090
Welcome back!

at least you dont have January exams, I'm dreading mine already. I will probably fail one of them

>>4584089
What´s the difference between animal handling and animal husbandry?

>>4584749
apparently he knows how to breed em but is shit at taking care of em

Alright, so from Delusional or Unwilling to Rank Amateur, the modifiers are

Roll of 1 x0.5
Roll of 2 x0.625
Roll of 3 x0.75
Roll of 4 x0.875
Roll of 5 x1
Roll of 6 x1.125

The Gross Roll was 3, with the +2 situational modifier becomes 5. A Net Roll of 5 here means a 1x modifier. Alright, so far, so good.

Now, we have the other Gross Rolls; 5, 10, 3, 15, 13. At Rank Amateur, there is a -1 malus applied to each of these Gross, so the 'True' Gross is 4, 9, 2, 14, 13. With a modifier of 1x, the 'True' Gross is equal to the Net, so the Net is 42. Looking at the conditions, I realize that I sort of screwed things up, as between 40 and 60, there is no defined result. With that in mind, I guess I can consider this a partial success, where you completely insulate yourselves from suspicion, but do not minimize any suspicion on Fleckkers behalf.

>>4584749
>>4584757
Pretty close actually. Animal Handling refers to riding domesticated animals or taming wild animals (if that ever comes up). Animal Husbandry refers to raising, caring and processing domesticated animals.

Alright, I need to do a couple of things, but I should be ready to run in a few hours.

>>4584188
I can't even imagine January exams - but best of luck on yours!

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>>4584862
>Rolled 42: Partial Success (Everyone but Fleckkers is insulated from ‘fallout’ over delay in intelligence sharing)

“Well, on the topic of food, I have some good news for you … Fleckkers, my hired man, figured out where we might be able to source some stuff.” Both Parasol and Bean perk up noticeably, and Parasol shifts in his seat to lean in a bit, giving you his full undivided attention. Of course, considering that you are going to be lying through your teeth here to protect yourselves (and hopefully Fleckkers), Parasol and Bean being keyed up like this is not exactly ideal. Of course, under current circumstances, there is no real way to casually discuss food. But there is no way around this, or at least, you are unable to see one.

So, you have already decided that you were going to lie here. In fact, you had already decided that you were going to lie here back when you were first discussing this intelligence with Fleckkers, earlier today, but you admittedly lost a bit of your nerve. Now that you have decided (twice now) that you are going to bend the truth to protect Fleckkers and the rest of the Homestead from any potential ‘fallout’, there is the question of what exactly you are going to say here – with any luck, what you come up with on the spot will be good enough.

“Well, on the day that Fleckkers looted the Union, he cleaned out the offices as well – force of habit, I guess. Now, with everything going on, Fleckkers and the rest of the guys here didn’t think that much of it, beyond the little bit of money he must have pulled from the safe or strongbox or whatever. But today, when we were cleaning things up a bit, we got a good look at the loose papers – receipts mostly – and we realized that by cross referencing names on those receipts with phonebooks, we could conceivably track down most of the backyard farming operations and maybe even all of the professional farmers in the county. Him and Norton are out there right now, trying a couple of these leads.

Parasol looks as if he is going to melt into his chair in relief at the news, but Deputy Sheriff Bean is not sharing those sentiments, at least outwardly. Even as Parasol delicately pats you on the upper arm, avoiding your injured shoulders, Bean is straightening up in his chair and looking around the room. He will not find anything here of course – all of the ‘loot’ from the Union has been stashed away elsewhere on the property, and the documents themselves are … actually, you do not know where exactly they are, but you would assume that they are with Fleckkers and Norton. Still the fact that he is looking around like this is cause for concern. Parasol is in the middle of telling you how much this good news is going to mean to everyone, when Bean abruptly interrupts him, in an alarmingly professional sounding tone.

>>4585004
“That is some very valuable information, Mantle. Thank goodness for the bad habits of this Fleckkers – and thank goodness that someone was able to figure out its importance. Who did you say figured it out again? They deserve some sort of award.” Parasol, who has not seemed to pick up on the line of inquiry here, agrees wholeheartedly, and mentions that he planned on discussing creating a system of awards and bonuses at the Steering Meeting tomorrow, when the entirety of the groups Inner Circle meets for the first time. You make a point of politely nodding along to Parasol, while your mind races, trying to figure a way out of this situation with Bean here. You deliberately avoided giving anyone ‘credit’ for discovering the value of the loose papers. Bean is clearly on to something, so what can you say to nip this in the bud?

If you say that it was Fleckkers that figured it out, then that would probably dump a lot of suspicion on him. If you say that it was someone else, maybe even yourself that figured it out, then … you do not know. That could put the whole thing to bed, or it could undo some of the work you did here to insulate the rest of the Homestead from any suspicion. There really isn't anyway to know for sure ... And if you were to say that it was someone other then Fleckkers who figured it out, who should you give ‘credit’ to? Who would be the best to deflect any suspicion off of all of you, if you were to go that route?

> “It was Tolle that figured it out.”
> “It was my mother that figured it out.”
> “It was Fleckkers that figured it out.
> “Well, actually, I figured it out.”

“It was Fleckkers that figured it out."

This web of lies stuff is not Mantle's forte.

>>4585020
I will leave this one up while I get dinner, and I will close it (rolling if necessary when I get back)

>>4585007
> “It was my mother that figured it out.”
The old lady is certainly above suspicion

>>4585080
She isn't that old, actually. While I get dinner going, here is here sheet for reference.

Dusk Mantle – 43 years old, 5’4”, 139lbs.

Skills:
Delusional or Unwilling in:
Vehicle-Military, Vehicle-Heavy, Ranged-Volumetric, Ranged-Sidearm, Melee-Unarmed, Melee-Bludgeon, Ranged-Targeted,
Oblivious in:
Melee-Bladed, Handicraft-Sanitization, Vehicle-Car and Trucks, Vehicle-Boats,
Nascent in Understanding:
Handicraft-Demolition, Farming-Animal Handling, Speech-Flirtation,
Rank Amateur:
Speech-Deception, Speech-Rhetoric, Farming-Horticulture, Athletics, Handicraft-Salvage,
Ranking Amateur:
Handicraft-Repair, Learning, Farming-Animal Husbandry, Teaching,
Competent:
Handicraft-Construction,
Assuredly Competent:
(none)
Genuinely Skilled:
(none)
Nascent Master:
(none)
Master:
(none)

Abilities:
Upside-Down Metabolism: This character has an uncanny ability to remain healthy at preposterously low levels of calorie intake. (Weight Loss begins at sustained (3 health checks) 1000 kCal diet, Potential Health from undereating can only arise at sustained (3 health checks) 500 kCal diet.

Attributes:
Kindhearted: It is undisputed that kindness can go a long way. But in which direction? (Can never receive Blooded or subsequent attributes, committing or reacting to violence requires moderately difficult Mental test, all Speech actions with non-hostiles receive +3 bonus to non-modifer Gross Rolls)

Flaws:
Very Gun Shy: While this character is not a complete pacifist, it remains an unfortunate fact that they are never going to be completely comfortable around firearms. (Ranged Skills are 100% more difficult for this character to learn)
Low Blood Pressure: This character has uncommonly low blood pressure, and if it is not controlled with specific prescription medicine, will result in a chronic malus to all health checks (-15), and increased susceptibility to certain health issues.

>>4585007
If we go for
> “Well, actually, I figured it out.”
they couldn't really say we withheld intelligence- after all, this is the first time we're meeting with anyone since we came back to our house. We've told them just about as promptly as we could. The only odd point is that after we got here we just happened to decide, while laid up like this, to look through all these papers.
What do you guys think about this, does this seem like a feasible option? Fleckkers will be pissed we cracked on this either way though.

>>4585150
The only flaw with this option is how unlikely it seems that bedridden Reginald was digging through papers instead of getting caught up on the situation or sleeping or anything else.

>>4585150
I think its not that crazy. You get back, here whats happened, then get an idea.

After all, we are only covering for fleckkers back here. I think parasol can look between fingers here to some extent. I think we are a bit overly paranoid here. Everyone knows that everyone will try to benefit themselves some.

>>4585020 Fleckkers 1
>>4585071 Discussion
>>4585080 Fleckkers 1 Mother 1
>>4585111 Discussion
>>4585150 Fleckkers 1 Mother 1 (You) 1
>>4585207 Discussion
>>4585275 Fleckkers 1 Mother 1 (You) 2

Alright, so that is settled. You are going to take credit for this. With any luck, this should put any questions that Bean has to rest. I will get to writing.

“Well, actually, I was the one that figured it out. I was laying around in here, and I noticed some papers when we were cleaning up for your arrival, and I asked about them – they were the documents that Fleckkers grabbed when he cleaned out the office. I think he was originally looking for operating manuals or something like that … and he just must’ve grabbed everything … or something like that.” Bean is looking at you expectantly, so you find yourself continuing before you even know it. “So, a few minutes passed – and I am still on this bed, like a lump on a log, and it just comes to me how valuable these papers could be. So Fleckkers pulls them together, grabs my phone book, and heads out, intending on following some of these leads after picking up Norton.”

Now it is your turn to look at Bean expectantly. Hopefully, he will accept your story, and this will be the end of it. There is a tense moment, but after he realize that you do not have any more to say on this, he nods his head, and lets the subject drop. Parasol seems to have finally picked up that something is going on, but after looking between you and Bean for several-several seconds, he brushes it off, and gives all his attention to the good news instead. “This is an absolutely incredible windfall Mantle. With any luck, this should net us enough sustainable food production to get us through the Winter. When your man, Fleckkers gets back, have him come right into Mt. Kineo, and we’ll get people working on sounding out all of these leads.” Well … you knew that if you were to tell them about the intelligence, they would expect you to share it. Of course, considering that you have no easy way of copying it, “sharing it” actually means handing it over.

While you do not doubt for a second that if you asked, they would let you see the documents again after you handed them over, and they would probably even share leads that they had worked out from them, the issue is that by the time that you were able to get your hands back on the information again, its value would have dropped precipitously. Realistically speaking, you should not count on getting much of anything out of this intelligence after you hand it over. It is an admittedly bitter pill to swallow, but it goes down a bit easier with the knowledge that Fleckkers is the one working this. He is a professional – and knowing him, he will work as many leads as he possibly can before finally coming in. So you are about to agree to Parasol’s terms with as much false enthusiasm as you can muster, but as you do, a new thought comes to you.

>>4585382
The food, and more importantly, the food production that these leads are going to bring in for the group is going to be a lifesaver. Parasol just admitted as much. Not to mention, the amount of food that is going to come from this is probably going to be actual magnitudes more than whatever your Homestead could produce regularly – maybe you could you try to negotiate here? Have your ‘taxes’ waved, in exchange for this somehow? But assuming you want to go through with that, how do you broach something like this without … you do not know … seeming like some sort of hustling profiteer?

>You should forget it. The ‘taxes’ you pay the group are not going to break your Homestead, but trying to weasel out of them like this, when lives are on the line might seriously damage your relationship with Parasol, which in the end could be more valuable than a permanent ‘tax’ exemption.
>Agree to turn the intelligence over to the group as soon as it comes in, but then immediately pivot, using your cooperation here as grounds for running a ‘tax-free’ ‘satellite’.
>Inform Parasol that turning the intelligence over to the rest of the group is going to come at the cost of a permanent ‘tax’ exemption for your satellite.
>Write-In Proposals will be accepted

>>4585384
I forgot to mention that this was going to be an overnight vote. I intend to start tomorrow's run early, hopefully before noon (Eastern Standard Time). I hope to see you all then!

>>4585384
>Write-In Proposal: Ask that Parasol onboard some number of willing, experienced farmers into the group. Their help over the nezt year will be valuable. More important though is that come spring after next, considering the likely conditions at that time, they will be the best shot at long term survival. This is a big ask, considering the people who didn't get in who were related to members, but one worth making.

Realized I didn't paste it all.
>At least 2 but possibly more potential farmers will be suggested by Mantle and picked by Parasol. This is in exchange for the intel.

>>4585393
>>4585443
I think I get your meaning here, but we should put it as a request rather than a demand. Something like this:
>Look Mr. Parasol, currently I am running this operation with my mom, two cops and, well, Flekkers. All of them are good and capable people, but none of them is exactly an expert in farming, and I'm more of a dabbling amateur as well. What I'm saying is, when I saw this intel, I was hoping we would be able to recruit some real farming know how and maybe some more lifestock to our little operation here.

it wouldn't make sense to shut down a big, working operation, but maybe some old gut living alone with his 5 cows and 10 chickens or something would feel safer with us.

>>4585497
True, I guess I was thinking more along the lines of recruiting the farmers to be Orbiters running their own Satellites. Offering it as kind of a strong request rather than ademand is fine too.

>>4585488
>>4585497
makes sense to me. +1.

Hey guys- really overslept on my part. I just need to take a shower and I will get the run going asap. I guess you can consider voting closed for this as well.

After a brief moment of consideration, you decide against using the intelligence as a bartering piece. That said, you are not going to pass an opportunity up to ask for a boon. "Of course. As soon as Fleckkers gets in, I will send him and his papers on to Mt. Kineo. That being said ... about the situation here on this Homestead; I'm holding the place down with my mom, two firefighters and, well, Fleckkers. Now, they are all capable people - good too - but none of them really know that much about farming. And to be entirely honest, I can't consider myself that much of an expert either. Sure, I make money, and in that sense, you could call me a 'professional', but at the end of the day I would be hard pressed to call this operation 'sustainable', considering that I needed to work odd jobs to keep the Homestead solvent." You trail off a bit, trying to think of the best way to word this next part. "I understand that the 'books are closed', and that you are already making serious exemptions considering Petra and Gunther, but I was hoping that if we could find someone amenable, we could bring in some skilled - and properly kitted out - farmers into the group, preferably here.

Parasol chuckles at that and waves his hand in a dismissive nature. "Mantle, the issue with bringing on members is that we didn't have enough food to get us through Winter. But if the member produces their own food, then that is another story. And if the member produces their own food and then more, then that is yet another, better story. With any luck, we can convince these free-standing farming operations to become 'satellites'. If you find a smaller farm, and can convince them to fold themselves into your operation here, then that would be fine too. In fact, we'll do you one better. When we get the information, and start looking around we will make a point of keeping an eye out for any candidates for a 'merger' like that.

Oh. Well. Uh ... hmm.

On one hand, it is good to hear that you and Parasol are on the same page here, it is good to know that he understands the limitations of your operation here, and most of all it is just plain good that you got exactly what you wanted. On the other hand lies are serious sticking point: that 'exactly what you wanted' is what Parasol was already going to give you ... which means that there was stuff 'left on the table' here. Now, you will quickly need to figure out your next move - if you want to push for something more or not. You could use this opportunity to ask for something else, you could segue into discussing your 'tax' or 'dues' to the group, you could ask to put off the discussion of 'taxes' and 'dues' until you are on the other side of the windfall from the Prague Farmer's Union's intelligence, or if you had specific questions for Parasol (or even for Deputy Sheriff Bean) this would be a good time to ask.

>>4585891

>Try for another boon, maybe even something that Parasol wasn't instantly willing to give you (Write-In)
>If you were to discuss your taxes right now, you could probably use the good will you got from handing over the intelligence to negotiate either a lower rate or complete deferment
>Ask to put any determination of taxes on hold for now, until everyone has squeezed everything they can from the intelligence
>Wind the meeting down, and ask a few more questions (Write-In)

>>4585894
>Try for another boon, maybe even something that Parasol wasn't instantly willing to give you: Assure us that the belongings of the Peakes remain untouched.

Going back on our promise was a major dick move, and having Parasol lie to the Peakes made him think less of us. By turning the lie into a truth now, we can redeem this smudge and avoid any unpleasantness arising from it.

>>4585959
I will let this sit for about another hour, then I will consider this vote closed and get to writing. For a big ask like that, we will definitely roll for it.

>>4585959
supporting this. feeling like we can pull it off.

Alright, with two votes in, I guess we can roll for this now. This is a bit of a stretch goal - considering that we are still in the process of negotiating with Parasol, that means we keep our modifier roll of 3+2 (resulting in a modifier of 1x). This should be a bit more difficult than the previous test ... so I will put the base CR at 66, a 10% increase over the first test. Considering that the medical supplies are literally worth more than their weight in gold, this is not going to 'painless' for you. Parasol is going to need to get something out of looking the other way on this.

106 or higher, and Parasol agrees to release the entire cargo with no strings attached, if the Peakes decide to move on.
86 or higher, and Parasol agrees to release the entire cargo, in exchange for an additional 1% tax for the next two years
66 or higher, and Parasol agrees to release the entire cargo, in exchange for an additional 2% tax for the next two years
46 or higher, and Parasol agrees to release half of the entire cargo, in exchange for an additional 1% tax for the next two years
26 or higher, and Parasol agrees to release half of the entire cargo, in exchange for an additional 2% tax for the next two years
6 or higher, and Parasol agrees to release half of the entire cargo, in exchange for an additional 3% tax for the next two years
5 or lower, and Parasol does not agree to release anything.

With the understanding that this is going to cost you something, no matter what, do you still want to pursue this? Doing the right thing here isn't going to be cheap ... (as a frame of reference, the tax on a satellite like yours could be anywhere from 7.5% to 25% of assessed production capacity, paid every third day)

>Ask for Parasol to guarantee the cargo (do not roll until this vote is closed, please)
>Let this drop, and wrap the meeting here up by asking to formally join the group by signing the Compact that was mentioned earlier.
>Let this drop, and segue into negotiating the taxes for your Satellite.
>Let this drop, and inform Bean and Parasol that you are getting tired, but intend to resume this with them tomorrow.

>Let this drop, and segue into negotiating the taxes for your Satellite.

>>4586194
I will leave this up for another hour or so, then close the vote and move along.

>>4586091
>>Let this drop, and segue into negotiating the taxes for your Satellite.
I didn't really want to risk fucking them over but at this point it's too little too late and it will kill any chance we have to knock the taxes downwards.
If we can let's make it up to them, if they stay we can try to fix Gunther's truck, the speed demon wouldn't be whole without it.

>>4586282
>>4586194
Alright, consider this closed. I will get to writing the next post up.

>x7 African Layers @ 25-40 eggs a year (100% in Season) for first 10 years of life – quantity but not quality slowly decreases until end of fertility at 25 years. End of life at 35 years, with outliers living as long as 50 years. Meat is desirable, dresses out 7.9 pounds for Gander and 6.5 pounds for Goose. (also 3 African Ganders)
>x7 Khaki Campbell Layers @ 200 to 300 eggs a year (10% during Winter, 90% in Season) for first 5 years of life – quantity but not quality reduces until end of life at 10 years. Meat is desirable, take-home weight is about 1.6 pounds. (3 Khaki Campbell Drakes)
>x1 Holstein Heifer (Boadicea): Once lactation begins after calving, will average 61.7 pounds of raw milk each day for 300 days. Due in a week
>x1 Landrace Derivative (Dander): Current weight is 500 pounds, and gaining. If butchered now, would yield about 180 pounds of potentially undesirable meat.

So, you aren't going to get any eggs from the Africans over the Winter, they are simply to sensitive to lay out of season like that. Your ducks, on the other hand, are troopers, and will lay 10% of their yearly yield in the Winter, so long as you can provide adequate heat, light and food to do so. Which works out to anywhere from 140 to 210 eggs over the course of the Winter from the Khakis. I streamlined Milk production, it actually changes week by week over the lactation period - instead of dealing with that mess, I simply took a generous average instead. Obviously, you are not going to get anything out of Dander unless you butcher him, but 180 pounds of meat is a big deal. Also, it should be noted that you could attempt to incubate some of the eggs from your ducks instead of eating them, just be aware that it will be difficult to do so under the current circumstances.

CR 100 & up : Your taxes are set at 5 % of assessed production capacity.
CR 80 & up: Your taxes are set at 7.5 % of assessed production capacity.
CR 60 & up: Your taxes are set at 10 % of assessed production capacity.
CR 40 & up: Your taxes are set at 12.5 % of assessed production capacity.
CR 20 & up: Your taxes are set at 15 % assessed production capacity.
CR 6 & up: Your taxes are set at 17.5 % assessed production capacity.
CR less than 6: Your taxes are set at 20 % assessed production capacity.

I will need someone to roll 5d20 for the Speech-Rhetoric test to determine your taxes. The CR values reflect using your cooperation with handing over the intelligence as grounds for reduced taxes - the outcomes here have been appropriately skewed in Mantles favor.

>1 roll of 5d20 please

File: Khaki Campbells.jpg (214 KB, 640x480)

214 KB JPG

>>4586394
Also, this is the time. If we were going to lie about what we can make on our Homestead,to try to reduce the assessed production capacity of our Satellite, all as a ploy to pay less 'tax', this would be the time to do it.

CR 100 & up: Your taxes are reduced by 10%
CR 80 & up: Your taxes are reduced by 7.5%
CR 60 & up: Your taxes are reduced by 5%
CR 40 & up: Your taxes are reduced by 2.5%
CR 20 & up: Your taxes are not reduced, but you are not caught in a lie.
CR less than 20: You are caught in a lie - there are repercussions.
Please do not roll for the Speech-Deception test until voting is closed, and we have decided that this is the path that we are going forward with. Of course, if no one has, then someone should roll 5d20 for the Speech-Rhetoric test to determine your taxes

>Lie to reduce taxes
>Yes
>No

Also, the attached picture is a gaggle of Khaki Campbell's for reference.

Rolled 12, 14, 1, 4, 17 = 48 (5d20)

>>4586394
Rolling
>>4586403
>>No
Not a fan of taxes, however I don't really want to dig ourselves too deep into a hole here. If Parasol ever finds out something is up, we'd be fucked. Lied to save our skin, asked Parasol to give a good (yet dishonest) word to the Peakes, then lying about Taxes? This has been one hell of a meeting.

No lies. We've done enough to damage our rep recently.

>No

>>4586559
>>4586553
>>4586527
Alright, that settles it. I just need to take care of a few things, and then i can get to writing.

It is uncomfortable for you, but you make a point of bringing up the guarantee that you were supposed to secure for the Peakes and their cargo. You ask Parasol point blank if there is any possible ‘flexibility’ on this point. At first, his only answer is a tired sounding sigh. Then: “Mantle, a shipment of medical supplies like that are an actual Godsend. It would be one thing if it were a matter of a group member looking to establish a private stockpile – under the current circumstances, scalping is almost certainly going to be the new ‘business as usual’ when it comes to critical supplies like that. Still, at the end of the day, it is easier to tolerate scalped supplies than no supplies. Now, I understand that you gave your word to the Peakes, and I respect the fact that you clearly feel indebted to them. But I gave our people my word that I would do everything in my power to see that they are taken care of. And it just so happens that it is definitely in my power to impound a shipment of medical supplies belonging to two outsiders.

“I sympathize with you. But the good of the group is more important than your word or your debts to them. It feels scummy, because it is scummy. But unfortunately, that is where we are and that is what we need to be now. I mean, we can talk about “finding” supplies, or “scavenging” them. At the end of the day, even “looting” falls short of what we are really doing.” Parasol pauses for a moment, and when he starts to speak again, there is a noticeable strain in his voice. “Every scrap of food and drop of fuel we pulled from the town or anywhere else, that is a scrap and a drop that our neighbors can’t have anymore. Chickless can try to ‘spin’ the whole thing, but this isn’t a fucking top – it is life and death. And for the non-members that are still around the lake, the hundreds of them, it isn’t going to end well. Now, of course, if we shared everything equally, or just let things devolve into a free for all, then it wouldn’t end well either, for us or them.

“But that is the problem. If we do live through this shit, then we live through it at the … expense of our neighbors.” Parasol pauses again, but after a ragged sounding breath, draws himself upright. “You keeping your word to outsiders like this … the only thing it is worth is your feelings. Now, we can’t do much with your feelings, but the food you produce here is another story entirely. If keeping your word were worth a few additional “points” of “tax” to you, for, say the next two years, then maybe, a guarantee could be worked out. But that is a far as I can go here. I simply – categorically – cannot let this shipment slip though with nothing to show for it. To be honest, I shouldn’t be letting it slip through with only duck eggs and raw milk to show for it either, but I will bend here, on this and this alone. For me, as much as you.”

>>4587223
Of course, you should not accept those conditions either, and so you turn him down.

For me, as much as you.

If you had not already gotten the sense that Parasol might not possess the kind of ruthlessness and functional cruelty that command requires in this situation, it was crystal clear right now. In a way, it was a sort of silver lining to spend so much of the past three days unconscious. Parasol clearly did not have that ‘luxury’. This whole ‘us-or-them’, survival of the fittest – it is all well and good to talk about, but when ‘them’ turns out to be your neighbors, it becomes something else entirely. Something very had to bear. Of course, there are even heavier burdens placed on vessels even more fragile. Oher’s grandson, Matthew, who killed one of Carter’s deputies to protect you is who immediate comes to your mind. But with a sick feeling in your stomach, you realize that you do not even really remember what your savior looks like. His hair was … brown? And he was White, of course, would have stood out like a sore thumb if he were not.

That kid saved your life, and is now under an incredible burden because of it. And you cannot even remember his face – though at least now you can say that it is not from lack of trying. But for all your focus, the only face that comes to you belongs to someone else – Chip Allen, the kid from the ‘Kate’ who tried to coax that Bull Moose from the pool, only to be almost killed in the process. His pallid, dripping and broken face looms large out of the fog of your mind. Your stomach, which was already in knots over your inability to remember Matthew’s face, plummets. Chip was sent to First Light Eastern Maine Medical that day before the Strike. You know for a fact that charnel house ‘triaged’ a lot of its patients out. Chip would have almost certainly still been at the hospital when the ‘triage’ began, which means that he could have easily been turned out – either to a shelter, or even the streets.

>>4587326
You feel a grim certainty here. Chip is as good as dead, if he was not dead already. There is more than a little guilt on your part here. If you had responded to that call properly, instead of taking your sweet time brushing off his father’s attempts at bribing you, then Chip never would have had the chance to make such an unequivocally retarded mistake. Now, of course, Chip and his father David are not, nor would they ever be members of your group. And as outsiders, the likelihood of their survival was always going to be slim. But to know, to know without a shred of doubt that someone is going die soon, and in no small part because of your actions – or more specifically, your lack of actions, it is … not easy to take.

For a more than a moment or two, you feel completely overwhelmed, but then you force yourself to focus and compartmentalize. Chip made a stupid mistake, and unfortunately for him, the timing was such that he made the stupid mistake the day before mistakes became increasingly fatal. And you would have taken the situation in hand, immediately, if his cue ball of a father did not purposely delay you from securing the situation. Now, you made a mistake – and you are not going to let yourself forget that, but you are going to remember that the only reason you could make that mistake in the first place was because of other mistakes made by other people. Set aside, if you can, that you are a professional, and that you were supposed to be in charge. Okay, that is actually pretty hard to set aside.

But you have to keep moving forward here – and to do that, you need to make your burdens bearable in ways that you can. Just like Parasol did, by eventually making an offer for the guarantee the Peakes were promised when he should have been laughing in your face instead.

For me, as much as you

Atonement is a very strong word, but it is the one that comes to mind here – and your atonement for the role you played in Chips injury and presumed-to-be-impending death is going to be getting Matthew through whatever the Hell he is going through right now. You are not going to let anyone else you are responsible for slip away. If you do nothing else with this miraculous second chance you have received than get that poor kid through this Winter in one piece, then you could die … well, less-burdened, at the very least.

After the conversation (and internal monologues) here took a notably somber, if not miserable, turn, neither you or Parasol (or Bean) feel the need to drag the meeting out any longer. The discussion pivots to the ‘taxes’ that you will owe, and for the first time in your life, you are gladdened to be talking about ‘taxes’. Truly, it is any port in a storm. (CR 43) You manage to negotiate Parasol down from 15% he originally threw out there, all the way down to 12.5%.

>>4587330
Suppressing a sigh, you reflect that your negotiation abilities really could use a great deal of improvement. And as the next trespass in a long line of things to be ashamed of and guilty over, even after all of that soul-searching and promises of atonement for your mistakes (and misdeeds) you still gave more than a passing thought to lying or ‘obfuscating’ what a reasonable estimation of your Homesteads production capacity would be, in a bid to lower your ‘taxes’. To make matters worse, it was fear over being caught in a lie, rather than your sense of right and wrong that eventually dissuaded you against it. Jesus Christ – if adversity shows someone’s true colors, does that mean you have always been this rotten?

But with the hour growing later, and the taxes settled, Parasol leaves a copy of the group’s Compact with you, says that you can return it signed when you come to Mt. Kineo tomorrow for the Steering Meeting, and prepares to head out – calling in the three extremely unobtrusive armed Deputies that you had completely forgotten about to help him an Bean get ready to head out. They are still suiting up when you realize with a start that once they leave, you will be left completely alone on the Homestead. What should you do?

>You should be alright for a little bit. No need to bother anyone.
>You should ask Parasol to have them sent over as soon as possible.
>You should ask Parasol if some of his guards can be left here while you wait.

>>4587331
>You should be alright for a little bit. No need to bother anyone.
don't want these guys snoping around.

>You should be alright for a little bit. No need to bother anyone.

>>4587331
>>>You should be alright for a little bit. No need to bother anyone.

>>4587570
>>4587458
>>4587344
Alright, consider this closed. I will get to writing.

After a moment of indecision, you stifle a yawn, and decide to let them go. While you are not thrilled being left alone on the Homestead, especially as the sun is going down, you are more concerned about these men rummaging through the place. Confined to your stolen hospital gurney, you would not be able to keep an eye on them, if you asked them to stay. As Parasol and company say their farewells, you realize that if Bean is still following on that line of inquiry that he was on earlier, if he got a chance to speak with anyone else from your Homestead before you could all get your stories straight about your ‘brilliance’ in figuring out the worth of the intelligence, then you could be caught in a potentially damning lie. No – it is for the best. Besides, you do not consider yourself in any great danger. And it is extremely unlikely that any would-be hostile would know that you were home alone, or for that matter that you were next to completely defenseless.

So long as your hired man, mother and guests are back soon, you are not going to worry – and you certainly are not going to panic. You know, for someone who was having a near total paranoid breakdown, thinking that they found a body in an oil drum just four days ago, you are being really even keeled about all of this. In fact, to a certain extent, you are even being kind of sloppy – the potentially dangerous kind of sloppy.

Hmph! Now that sounds more like you, does it not? Well, nothing to do about it now; your visitors are outside in the dooryard starting up their cars. Ah well. As long as you stay awake … well, no, that would not be worth anything, would it? You are all bundled up in a hospital bed, for that matter, you do not even know where the few remaining firearms you own are in the farmhouse any more after Fleckkers rearranged everything packing his loot in here. And even if you could get your mangled hands on a firearm, you know that in a firefight, you would not last more than a second, if even that. Nah, there really is not anything for it. You could take a nap, and in doing so, skip ahead to the return of your household and guests, you could read the Compact that Parasol left you, propped up against your left knee in your bed, the letter that Dr. Grisham wrote for you about your injuries, or you could try to plan out a project for the Homestead. Options, options, options.

>>4587719
>Take a nap, and ‘time skip’ ahead.
>Read the groups Compact – even though joining the group is a foregone conclusion, you are still curious about the document itself.
>Read the good Doctor’s letter – you do not even remember if was written for you or a caretaker, but after racking your brain for a bit, you realize that you never got much of a prognosis out of the man.
>Take your time to plan out repairing the ‘replacement wing’ of the Farmhouse, to make it sound and secure, if not fit for human habitation.
>Take your time to plan out rebuilding the ‘missing wing’ of the Farmhouse, to restore the building to its fullest potential.
>Take your time to plan out building a new outbuilding for secure storage, to free up space in around the Homestead.
>Take your time to plan out building a new outbuilding for year-round habitation, to ensure that your household had room to expand.
>Take your time to plan out extracting your ‘tank-think’ from the ravine and rebuilding your poor bridge.

>Read the groups Compact – even though joining the group is a foregone conclusion, you are still curious about the document itself.

>>4587722
>Read the good Doctor’s letter – you do not even remember if was written for you or a caretaker, but after racking your brain for a bit, you realize that you never got much of a prognosis out of the man.

>>4587722
>Read the good Doctor’s letter – you do not even remember if was written for you or a caretaker, but after racking your brain for a bit, you realize that you never got much of a prognosis out of the man.

>>4587722
>Read the good Doctor’s letter – you do not even remember if was written for you or a caretaker, but after racking your brain for a bit, you realize that you never got much of a prognosis out of the man.

>>4587722
>>Read the good Doctor’s letter – you do not even remember if was written for you or a caretaker, but after racking your brain for a bit, you realize that you never got much of a prognosis out of the man.
An outbuilding for storage and refurbishing the replacement wing would go a long way for making this place livable and a bit more inviting to the Peakes and any potential farmhands we'll be getting out of that intelligence, however we'd better get to the letter sooner rather than later.

Alright, consider this one closed. I will get to writing ASAP.

While you knew that you would need to eventually expand your operation here, first and foremost on your mind right now is that letter that Dr. Grisham gave you at the safe house. Gingerly, you fished the letter off of the bedside table, and shifted yourself so you could see what you were doing in the limited candlelight available to you. Embarrassingly enough, you actually had a bit of difficulty opening the letter, as you wanted to proceed here without using your injured hand (or rather, the hand with the injured fingers). It took longer than you would care to admit to anyone else, but eventually you managed to get it out, with only the one hand. The document in the envelope was not a letter however, but a very clinical diagnosis. Well actually, it was both diagnosis and prognosis – explaining to the reader what had happened to you in medical terms, as well as Grisham’s estimation of how long your recovery would be.

While you had been worried for a second that the medical language would have gone over your head, you were able to parse it much easier than you thought you would. Of course, considering that you know where you were hurt, that no doubt makes it much easier to make heads or tails (or perhaps in this case, heads and tails) of the document. Everything is more or less lines up with what you were told, or what you expected – continue with dialysis for the next few weeks, change your bandages as regularly as possible. As you said, more or less what you expected for recovery … with the exclusion of two points.

First, there was the bedrest. That night … last night, actually – blurred together something fierce, and while you remember that the topic of recovery time and bedrest had been thrown around, you thought your recovery was going to be a month, but according to this document, Grisham wants you on complete bedrest for that month, then another month in a wheel chair, then another three to four months of “no strenuous or sustained” activity “of any kind”. Now, it seems to you that Grisham here is seriously erring on the side of caution, understanding that if anything happened, odds are you would be able to get the necessary medical attention is effectively zero. Still, five to six months of convalescence … especially under the current circumstances … you do not honestly think you could do that. More than that – you have to wonder if it would be tolerated.

The second point of concern in the document is about the injury to your collarbone. The prognosis on that injury … assuming you are reading this right … is a lot worse that you understood. Without any real way to ensure that the collarbone knits itself back together properly, the best-case scenario is mild but chronic pain and stiffness, and the worse is that – again, assuming that you are reading this right – you lose some range of motion in your neck, permanently. You did not even realize that was possible.

>>4588209
You realize suddenly, if you were to follow these orders to the letter, then you would have to attend the steering meeting tomorrow in your bed - what an absolute sight you are going to be. Well, whatever ... you are less concerned about being snickered at by your peers tomorrow, and more concerned with being resented by them for the next five to six months. God's sake - you were not hurt that badly, were you? Still, maybe there was a way around this.

>But just because there was a way, doesn't mean that it should be taken. No need to play fast and loose with your health like this. Everyone should understand that you don't want this vacation, and if they don't - then fuck them.
>You would not dismiss Dr. Grisham's concerns out of hand ... but was there anything wrong with seeking a second opinion? There are other doctors and medical professionals around the lake - no doubt that the group recruited at least some of them. Maybe you could get a second opinion.
>The fact of the matter is that Dr. Grisham is not here right now. If you didn't want to have to deal with this nonsense, then all you need to do is hide or destroy his letter, and you can claim it said whatever. Who would question you?

>You would not dismiss Dr. Grisham's concerns out of hand ... but was there anything wrong with seeking a second opinion? There are other doctors and medical professionals around the lake - no doubt that the group recruited at least some of them. Maybe you could get a second opinion.

>>4588251
>But just because there was a way, doesn't mean that it should be taken. No need to play fast and loose with your health like this. Everyone should understand that you don't want this vacation, and if they don't - then fuck them.

we should at least try to take it slow. I trust that shit will happen to force us out of bed soon enough.

>But just because there was a way, doesn't mean that it should be taken. No need to play fast and loose with your health like this. Everyone should understand that you don't want this vacation, and if they don't - then fuck them.
Yeah, for the time being we follow doctor's orders. We can decide if we want to break them when we need to.

>>4588306
>>4588302
>>4588277
consider this closed. I will get to writing.

You look at the letter, and then shifting slightly in your stolen hospital gurney, you take a look at your body, though bundled up as it is there is not much of anything to look at right now. If Grisham said that it would take … five to six months … to get out of the woods, then you are not going to question that. More importantly, you are not going to let anyone else question that either. Anyone questioning your commitment to the group – or for that matter your Homestead – can take a running start to go fuck themselves. At the end of the day, this is your health you are talking about. If there is one thing that you should be overly cautious about, it is your health. It is sort of tricky to fold up the document and get it back in the envelope with it all looking nice, but right now, you have time on your hands – er, well … that is to say, you have time on your hand, so long as you are babying the other. You didn’t intend to, but soon after you got the letter bundled up, you must have drifted off to sleep.

You awoke to the sounds of your household arriving back from Tolle’s house, or wherever else they went. That nap, while unexpected, was far from unpleasant. There had been a dream too, though the details were already slipping away from you. You had to … buy a replacement torpedo? By the time that you manage to blink the sleep from your eyes, whatever meaning that might have had is completely lost to you. Your mother, having decontaminated herself first, comes over to see how you were doing. “How did it go, Reggie?” After stifling a yawn, you replied, in what you feel was an honest and objective summation.

“It went really good, mom.”

Her attention had already shifted to the copy of the Compact that you were left, and she does not look back at you when she makes her remark. “‘Well’, Reggie dear, it went really ‘well’.” Ah Jesus. Even if you have not had to much time with her yet, it is good see that she is more or less the same as always. Pointing to the Compact that has her attention, you ask in jest if she checked that for grammatical errors as well, before signing. “I didn’t check – but I couldn’t help but notice a few, and I only read it twice.” Oh brother.
Momentarily, Tolle and the Peakes filter over, and after polite inquiries and general pleasantries, Tolle floats the idea of preparing dinner. Well, you are certainly hungry – but with supplies temporarily stored in the barn, along with the last remaining things from Tolle’s place gathered in this day trip – there is still work that could be done.

>Have dinner first, but then get everything secure, inside the Farmhouse, before the going to bed.
>Work first, food later. Get everything in and secure, then have a dinner – a nice one – before bed.
>Should be alright for now. Besides, under current circumstances, working outside at night might not be safe.

All this talk of dinner has me hungry

>>4588546
>>Should be alright for now. Besides, under current circumstances, working outside at night might not be safe.
We should definitely have someone keep watch on the barn throughout the night, shifts would be optimal. I imagine that after an outing, the prospect of heading out to carry things back inside, then having to decontaminate again wouldn't be appealing. Lets let them unwind, not run them like a slave driver

>>4588588
Sounds reasonable. +1

>>4588594
>>4588588
Alright, this is a pretty solid lead. Consider this closed - I will get to writing it up.

Deciding that you have already conscripted your guests into enough labor for the day, you decide to lay off for now. You decide that it would be a nice treat to have some of the moose meat tonight – you should have anywhere between 250 and 300 pounds of meat to eat your way through. Pointedly, you ask Tolle if he would be interested in cooking up the venison – partly because your mother especially dislikes cooking with meat (especially red meat), partly because your mother does not particularly like cooking at all, and partly because you mother is neither a diligent or capable cook. For his part, Tolle jumps at the chance, and after heading upstairs to collect some of what you presume to be the finer cuts, he heads into the kitchen, and gets to work. As your mother and Petra sit down on the sofa, intently wrapped up in discussion you cannot quite hear, Gunther makes his way over to you.

Using your good hand, you point at the boxes of beverages stowed around if not under your hospital gurney. “Would you like a drink, or are you on call tonight?” Gunther chuckles at that – as we he should. It was a great joke. “Actually Mantle, I wanted to ask you –”. He cuts himself off. “Is that the Compact? Parasol mentioned that he gave you his copy.” Parasol mentioned? It takes several-several seconds to remember that you arranged a meeting between Parasol and Gunther, one that would hopefully clear away all remaining hesitation that he had about joining up. You were not so blunt or tactless to just come out and ask the man if he was ready to come aboard, but him asking about the Compact was almost certainly a good sign. “Would you like to look it over?” Gunther nods, and you pass him the box clipboard with the document inside. He thanks you, and wanders off to one of your Grandfather’s stuffed reclining chairs to read through it.

Uh … okay. You were expecting a bit more conversation, and that maybe you would find an opening, some opportunity to sell him some more on signing up. But you can respect someone who takes things at their own speed like this. No need to needle the man.

The smell of seasoned meat cooking draws your attention towards the kitchen – it seems like you chose wisely, putting Tolle on cooking duty tonight, over your mother … not that it was a hard decision, considering. To your surprise, she and Petra seem to be playing some sort of dice game – definitely not what you expected. Hmm. It is not immediately obvious what exactly you should do in your time before dinner.

>Try to make small talk with Gunther
>Try to get in on the game that your mother and Petra are playing
>Start to plan out repairing the ‘replacement wing’ of the Farmhouse
>Start to plan out rebuilding the ‘missing wing’ of the Farmhouse
>Start to plan out building a new outbuilding for secure storage, if not habitation
>Start to plan out extracting your ‘tank-thing’ from the ravine and rebuilding your poor bridge

>Try to get in on the game that your mother and Petra are playing
Lets leave Gunter to his reading, and avoid distracting him.

Rebuilding the missing wing could make a pretty nice living space. I was more keen on the idea of building a storage building earlier, but why not just build a new wing all together, and leave the replacement wing as is. We construct (presumably) less, and we don't have to make a choice between keeping the loot secure in the farmhouse, or people secure in the farmhouse. One construction project rather than two seems optimal. We can get to securing the animals and putting something in place to protect them from the fallout and ash sooner. Although, the matter of insulation comes to mind. Winter is coming, and it may become difficult to source insulation. If the replacement wing is already insulated (albeit improperly according to thread 3) it may be a better idea to build a storage building which we could get away with not insulating, and refurbish the replacement wing. For the time being, we should look into getting ourselves that trailer left on the Morrison farm, we could talk over specifics of that with Reaves at tomorrow's meeting. And Reaves is an architect, right? Maybe we should talk over some of these building plans with him. Hopefully the tank-thing's journey didn't mulch the road over there too much. Might make getting that trailer over here just as difficult as a new construction all together. What was meant to be a short statement on my original vote became a long-winded rant about construction options. I was kind of all over the place with this, and didn't really reach a conclusion, but I think we should probably wait on deciding anything to build until we hear about the availability of materials, and potentially Reaves opinion. Though, I'm not really certain what he could clue us in on. Estimates as to how long building one of these options could take?

>>4588744
You certainly have the option for completely new construction - just remember that this is Northern Maine, and buildings intended for year-round human habitation should have proper basements. There are the remains of the field stone foundation on the 'missing wing' that could be excavated and built on, but the project does not become impossible if you wanted to build something completely new, on the front of the farmhouse instead (or the back, but that would require moving the paddocks and working around the existing barn). The time that it would take would be largely determined by the decision to build a new foundation or use the existing one, how long it took to source the building materials, and most importantly, how long before snow, volcanic ash and fallout become serious hazards to health and safety.

I don't want to close a vote like this one just one vote if I can help it, but I also don't want to have this be the overnight, so I will leave this up until 1:00 am EST 12/31/2020

>Start to plan out extracting your ‘tank-thing’ from the ravine and rebuilding your poor bridge
our poor tank :(

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4588796 roll of 1
>>4588744 roll of 2
Well, I guess I will have to roll for this.

>>4588841
Okay. At this point, I think I will call it for tonight. I will start the next run with us trying to get in on the dice game. I will make a post in the general to announce the start of tomorrow's run, but it should start up before the thread stops bumping. See you all then!

>>4588845
Thanks for running, man

>>4588744
>>4588792
regarding nuclear winter, I think digging might be a better choice. extending cellars and subterranean structures for better shelter. This should be done before permafrost sets in.

>>4588960
+1 on this. things are going to get real bad soon. if anything, we will have problems with the cold without proper heating and looming dreadful winter.


also, isn't Petra some kind of nurse? perhaps she could look at our shoulder and get a splint or something in place.

>>4589053
Otis is a nurse, I wouldn't trust Petra to brew a cup of coffee. If we need medical attention we should ask for an actual doctor but for now following doctors orders should be fine.

File: tank-thing.jpg (120 KB, 1023x867)

120 KB JPG

>>4588960
Definitely, a root cellar would be a fantastic option. And additional underground storage in general. Or a basement extension within that foundation from the missing wing. With those trains the group sourced, we might be able to convince them to let us get at some shipping containers to bury if they manage to snag any. Lack of any heavy duty tools to dig would be an issue, but we have the tank-think just sitting there in our ravine. We even have Tolle to pilot the thing. With the bucket loader, excavating another cellar would be a breeze.

>>4588796
changing to this

Alright, so it seems that there is more interest on figuring a way to get the tank out of the ravine instead. I will get to writing that up instead.

>>4589266
burying shipping containers is a meme at /out/. Short version: they are not built for this and will cave in pretty much immediately.

>>4589307
Ah, got it. In that case, we can find another solution and probably won't need to sink any good will or favors to do so.

While you are intrigued by the sight of your mother playing a dice game of all things, you realize that there are much more important things you could be doing with your time. Namely – planning on how to get your tank-thing out of your ravine. There was a lot of other potential projects around the place, but all of those projects could be expedited by getting that thing working again. And that expediting would be necessary – no doubt Winter will be coming soon, and with it, serious complications for anyone looking to dig foundations. Of course, the biggest concern is the state of the tank-thing itself. It took a serious tumble, and if anything was broken, then you would have to find someway to fabricate replacement parts yourself. You will not know for certain until you try to drive it out of there, but you would imagine that the treads or suspension are the most likely to have taken damage.

There are additional concerns with the operation – specifically, what condition you want to leave the ravine in, and what you want done with the bridge. As it stands, the ravine that runs parallel to the road provides a nice bit of natural defense to the property. Simply digging your way out, right from the wreck site would probably be the easiest option, but would partially undermine those natural defenses. To remedy this, you had two options.

The first would be to rebuild the wall of the ravine after you dug yourself out with a retaining wall; a tidy option, but one that requires materials that you do not have at the moment. The second option was a spot further along the ravine where the tank-thing might be able to drive its way out without any digging, but it is about a quarter mile up the ravine – and on the other side of the bridge, meaning that you would need to completely clear that out of the way. Of course, these two options are remedies to a very specific problem – one that might never come up. The likelihood that you are going to be assaulted by a mechanized company seems to be vanishingly slim. Not to mention, your Homestead was attacked, and the intact ravine did not stop those assailants, whoever or whatever they were.

>Just dig your way out. The defense that you are impairing by doing so is of questionable value anyway.
>Dig you way out, but then take the time to rebuild the wall of the ravine.
>Clear away the bridge, and pick your way through the gentle-enough grade to make your way out.

Then, there was the bridge. And there were options there too – but as the situation with the bridge was largely, if not completely, independent of getting the tank-thing out of the ravine and ready to work on other projects, the big one was if you wanted to take care of it now, or later?

>If you were going to work on other projects around the Homestead, a normal entrance to the property would be nice.
>While it would be much harder to maintain, and it might present a security risk, the logging road would suffice for now.

>>4589355
>>Clear away the bridge, and pick your way through the gentle-enough grade to make your way out.
>>If you were going to work on other projects around the Homestead, a normal entrance to the property would be nice.
Our bridge couldn't support the tank-thing, that much is clear. Why not tear it down, maintain the integrity of the ravine and rebuild the bridge entirely, yet study enough to support heavier duty vehicles?

>>4589355
>Just dig your way out. The defense that you are impairing by doing so is of questionable value anyway.
>While it would be much harder to maintain, and it might present a security risk, the logging road would suffice for now.

building walls and bridges is a waste of time and resources at this point, all our efforts should be directed to making the homestead itself suitable for the long winter.

>>4589399
Changing to this.
Tank-thing itself may need repairs, which could be time consuming as well. Lets just get through this process quick and dirty, once we have our other stuff out of the way, we can come back and clean things up a bit. If we get a chance.

>>4589408
>>4589399
>>4589387
I didn't intend to leave this any longer, but I still need to eat something today.

>>4589355
>Just dig your way out. The defense that you are impairing by doing so is of questionable value anyway.
>While it would be much harder to maintain, and it might present a security risk, the logging road would suffice for now.

You flip back and forth on this for a little bit, but in the end, you decided to simply dig your way out, and to put of the rebuilding of the bridge. Even if the defensive benefit from the ravine was in some way negated by this undertaking, at the end of the day, it is still not anything anyone would really be able to drive through without risking a wreck – and as you already realized, whatever protection it provided when it was intact was not enough to stop an incursion onto your property. As for the bridge – well, you do not think you will ever truly live that down, but for now, you should be able to get on without a bridge. Taking the logging road in and out will be a pain, especially with trailers or heavy equipment, and considering that it is nothing more than two dirt ruts through your small little woodlot, plowing it is going to be an absolute mess. There is also the question of security, considering the circuitous nature of the road, as well as how you cannot drive through it too quickly. The road seemed to have been a slap-dash affair when it was put in; tellingly, you could find no municipal records that referenced it, indicating that it had been made without permission. If there had been any regrading of the land when the road was first cleared, you could not see it – the entire thing was just laid down right on top of the natural contours of the land. Predictably, driving on it was not a pleasant or quick affair. Of course, if you were to get the ‘tank-thing’ out of the ditch and in working order, then it would be a relatively easy project to properly grade the land for a road. The only sticking point for that project would be if you wanted to source gravel to keep the road in better condition longer, especially through the Winter.

Setting aside what you want to (or at the very least) could do with the ‘tank-thing’ you are acutely aware that you will be in no condition to drive it, anytime soon. Which means you are going to have to teach someone how to operate that thing for you tomorrow, and probably for the immediate future.

>Tomorrow, you are going to have to teach at least one person in the Homestead how to operate the tank, and there is nothing stopping you from teaching all six – except the consideration that the more people you teach, the longer it will take, and the more likely that something in the tank will be damaged by a ‘student driver’. Worth noting – that operating the vehicle effectively in combat would require four operators (commander, driver, loader, gunner) and operating it effectively as construction equipment requires two operators (driver, engineer). That is not to say that it can not be worked (or fought) by a single man, but it is not optimal to do so.
>Petra Peake
>RN Gunther Peake
>Jedidiah Fleckkers
>Fireman Doug Tolle
>Fireman Edward Norton
>Dusk Mantle

Caught up on reading the backlog, and looks interesting as fuck.

>>4589723

>Jedidiah Fleckkers
>Fireman Doug Tolle

Fleckkers and Tolle are our main hired hands, and they're going to be doing a lot of the work while we're in recovery. Tolle has experience driving big-ass vehicles, and Fleckkers would make a good back-up. Teaching Norton would be okay too, but he isn't living here full-time to take much advantage of it. No point in teaching the Peakes until we know for sure that they're staying, and Mom isn't all that great at driving. May as well get a few capable drivers and not risk smashing it up by accident by limiting it to 2 students right now.

>>4589723
>RN Gunther Peake
>Jedidiah Fleckkers
Gunther is a beast behind the wheel and the prospect of driving this thing might entice him to stay. Flekkers is our main man in general.

>>4589887
actually I'd put in
>Fireman Doug Tolle
as well. If he can drive a fire truck this thing schould not be too hard for him.

>RN Gunther Peake
>Jedidiah Fleckkers

>Petra Peake
>RN Gunther Peake
>Jedidiah Fleckkers
>Fireman Doug Tolle
>Dusk Mantle

Don't know Norton well enough yet, but might as well teach everyone else. They'll probably need to know eventually and inside the tank could be a safe place to be in trouble comes calling.

>>4590026
Speaking of Norton, we should schedule some time to have a talk with the guy soon. Can't have a guy living in our house whom we don't even know, and this whole Mt. Kino thing is also still unaddressed.

>>4589723
Norton, and tell Gunther that you want to teach him too if he wants to stay.


>>4590026
think we should have people do other things instead would be more valuable, preparations for winter and do on.

Rolled 5 (1d5)

>>4589740
Glad to have you along!

Hmm. There does not seem to be any consensus here, so I guess I will roll for it.

>>4589740 Fleckkers and Tolle -- roll of 1
>>4589887 and >>4589898 Fleckkers, Tolle and G. Peake -- roll of 2
>>4589914 G. Peake and Fleckkers -- roll of 3
>>4590026 Everyone -- roll of 4
>>4590075 Norton and G. Peake -- roll of 5

Also, quick vote - do you want to try to stay up until Norton and Fleckkers get back tonight, or do you want to just get some sleep after dinner instead?
>Get your beauty sleep
>Stay up to catch Santa Claus

>>4590268
>Stay up to catch Santa Claus
It'd be nice if Gunther knew he his prior NASCAR experience was appreciated while he was thinking about staying tonight.

>>4590268
>Get your beauty sleep
as long as we're not alone we can doze off

>>4590268

>Stay up to catch Santa Claus

We could use our rest, but Norton and Fleckkers should know what was going on with Parasol. Giving them the heads-up that we'll be at the meeting tomorow and figuring out who'll be watching the homestead can be done tonight so that everyone gets a fair shake of rest and avoids the risk of burn-out.

>>4590490
>>4590451
>>4590275
Alright I will get to writing this up.

Hey - I just wanted to give a quick update. I haven't finished the post yet, and I feel myself fading fast, so the next post will either be an overnight, or if I throw in the towel, and early morning one.

Either way, I need two rolls. One 1d8 to determine how long Fleckkers and Norton are going to keep you up waiting for them (1 being 1 hour after dinner, and so on), and 1d4 to determine what exactly they found (higher is better).

>Please, 1 roll of 1d8
>Please, 1 roll of 1d4

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>4590613

Here's for the time.

Rolled 3 (1d4)

>>4590613
come on Santa

Whoops! Well - let me get this post finished. I'll make a post on the general when it is up as well.

File: Excellent Moose Vension Cooked.jpg (73 KB, 760x571)

73 KB JPG

>Living Room, Homestead
>7:28pm on 10/31/2020
>Cold, but definitely above freezing
>Some Wind, Negligible Fallout and Ash
>Sunrise around 7:00am

After some thought, you settle on Teaching your guest Gunther and your oddly itinerant live-in hired man Norton how to use the ‘tank-thing’ tomorrow. While some might question dumping that kind of responsibility on a guest, who might choose to leave at any time and the member of your Homestead that seems to have at least one foot out the door, your plan – if you could even call it that; perhaps idea or hope would be more accurate – is that by giving them these responsibilities, they would be more tightly bound to you. It is a bit manipulative, to be sure … but you are not trying to guilt trip them into obedience, you merely are trying to show them that they are trusted. Really, that is the extent of it. When you get more time, you will need to Teach more people on how to use the thing – if you ever intend to take that thing into a fight, it would be for the best to have four operators. Further considerations on how exactly you would like to crew your tank-thing is abruptly interrupted by the completion of dinner. While you typically take your meals in the kitchen, the small wooden desk you use in lieu of a proper kitchen table is obviously not large enough to accommodate everyone here – so any group meals will need to be taken in the living room. Without prompting, Tolle, and then, upon seeing what he was doing, Gunther as well, moved your stretcher closer to the coffee table, where the meal was going to be taken. Placed between the coffee table and your merrily cracking woodstove, you cannot help but feel … cozy. Considering everything that has happened, and everything that is going to happen, both to you and the world at large, it seems almost indecent to think like that. Still, the living room, lit in comfortable candlelight, with the gusting of the wind around outside barely audible, and everyone siting around, waiting with smiles and anticipation as this celebratory meal is brought out.

Consumed and Removed from Inventory
>8/? pounds of Excellent Moose Venison
>8/? Slices of Whole Wheat Loaved Bread
>8/? (Homestead Grown) Duck Eggs
>6 pinches/? Pepper
>3 pinches/? (Store Bought) Salt
>1 oz/? of (Store Bought) Butter
>0.75 fl oz/? of Olive Oil
>1/? (Scavenged) Bottles of Wine
>?/1 Carbonation Canister
>?/? Clean Water

>>4591635
Despite Tolle’s discomfortably toothy countenance, in addition to being a capable cook, the man has impeccable manners; serving your two guests, then your mother, then you (the largest and best-looking portion) then himself, leaving two remaining smaller portions for Fleckkers and Norton. Your portion was served to you on a TV tray that you pulled out of an actual pile of trash – all the way back during your abortive attempt to get a mechanical engineering degree. Outside of some frat house, if you remember correctly. During the course of the meal, one of the bottles of wine in the cardboard box of drinks that Fleckkers brought up is opened – you pour yourself a glass of carbonated water, and then another for Petra, at Gunther’s request. Petra does not seem particularly put out by being preemptively denied a glass of … whatever the Hell this wine was exactly – but after the toasts to your miraculous return home, and the miracle workers who got you through – she does eye the bottle bit. Seems to be more curiosity than anything else.

Dinner winds down relatively quickly. Despite being well made, the meal was not particularly large – and you are relieved that you do not need to chide anyone to finish all of the food on their plates; no doubt that would ruin the mood. Tolle heads into the kitchen, with the dirty dishes, as well as the portions for Fleckkers and Norton. Oh yeah – Norton. There was an issue with him splitting his time between here and his family back at Mt. Kineo. And it was not just an issue of you losing out on his labor either; there was a serious question as to the food situation. He could be getting meals from both Mt. Kineo and from your larder – which is against the rules. If he is able to get meals elsewhere (and he is) then he is not supposed to be receiving food rations from the group. Of course, you do not know if he is “double dipping” – Hell, you do have never even so much as seen the man, at least to your knowledge. But if he is, and he is found out, then he might the first member the group forces into exile, if they do not just summarily execute him.

If it turns out that the man is indeed “double dipping”, then you are unsure of what you really can do, beyond telling him to knock it off. The man did indeed take initiative during the attempted burglary to protect your mother, so you did owe him something, even if it was just the benefit of the doubt on this. But if he gets caught, you doubt that your favor with the group would be able to save him. You will need to figure out a way to deal with this … and probably soon. He will be returning with Fleckkers tonight, after trying to sound out nearby farming operations, either as potential satellites or potential marks for raids.

>>4591636
When to deal with Norton:
>Deal with Norton as soon as he comes in the door and is properly introduced. No need letting this fester any longer than it already has, for all of your sakes.
>You do not want to sour the man’s first impression of you by immediately implicating him in a capital crime, regardless if he is guilty of it or not. Let it sit until morning, or whenever is convenient.
>The man has been out there, risking his life, not just for the group, but for your Homestead. If anyone deserves to be treated with kid’s gloves, then it is him. Wait until he is heading off to Mt. Kineo next to set him straight.

How to deal with Norton:
>Take the initiative, and explain your concerns. This is effectively accusing him of a capital crime; however, it will immediately get to the heart of the matter. No ambiguity will remain between you.
>Take a tactful approach, and do not mention any of your concerns. Instead, force the issue by making him choose between living here or in Mt. Kineo full time, as firmly and politely as you can.

>You do not want to sour the man’s first impression of you by immediately implicating him in a capital crime, regardless if he is guilty of it or not. Let it sit until morning, or whenever is convenient.

How to deal with Norton:
>Take the initiative, and explain your concerns. This is effectively accusing him of a capital crime; however, it will immediately get to the heart of the matter. No ambiguity will remain between you.

>>4591637
>>You do not want to sour the man’s first impression of you by immediately implicating him in a capital crime, regardless if he is guilty of it or not. Let it sit until morning, or whenever is convenient.
>Take the initiative, and explain your concerns. This is effectively accusing him of a capital crime; however, it will immediately get to the heart of the matter. No ambiguity will remain between you.

>>4591637

>You do not want to sour the man’s first impression of you by immediately implicating him in a capital crime, regardless if he is guilty of it or not. Let it sit until morning, or whenever is convenient.

>Take the initiative, and explain your concerns. This is effectively accusing him of a capital crime; however, it will immediately get to the heart of the matter. No ambiguity will remain between you.

Don't come swinging right out the gate, but don't bullshit the man. We don't have a reputation as a smooth operator, and given everything from how we treated our people to the vibes I got from Tolle and Fleckkers, blunt as fuck is the way to be here.

>>4591692
>>4591694
>>4591711
Alright, consider this closed. I will get to writing.

You have never been a smooth operator. In fact, by any reasonable interpretation, you have never been any type of operator. The extent of your tact is limited to a vague knowledge of when is and when is not an appropriate time to broach sensitive subjects. This vague knowledge provides enough illumination for you to know that following up your introduction to this man with an accusation of what amounts to a capital crime is probably not going to make a good impression. And for Norton, that impression is important – if you rile him up too much, he might just up and leave. Which … would not be optimal. As crowded as it is here, the fact of the matter remains that he acquitted himself well during the attack, so you are loathe to give up a skilled and capable man, such as himself. On the opposite side of the scale, you are not going to pussyfoot around the topic at hand. When a decent moment arises tomorrow, you will take him aside (or rather, you will have to ask him to roll you aside) so you can have a sincere, direct, talk about this … issue.

With your plan on how to deal with Norton settled on, you allow yourself to sink into your gurney. Petra passes by, heading into the kitchen with Gunther and Tolle, carrying what you would have to assume was her dish and flatware. You notice that she had one of your steak knives, but the fork was not one that you recognized. Someone must have augmented what flatware that you own with their own – makes sense, you did not own that much. Those forks looked good too – thicker and with a much better finish than your own, considering you ‘misappropriated’ all of yours from the dinning halls at your would-be Alma Mater. You find yourself suppressing a sigh. When you … stole those, you were angry at the university (and in retrospect, yourself) – you had spent a great deal of time and money, doing what everyone says; stay in school, go to college, even when truly, your heart was not in it at all. The whole affair was a miserable slog. When you saw yourself starting to act out, by doing things that were otherwise out of character for you, like needlessly stealing worthless flatware, glasses, mugs, plates, stuff like that, you realized that if you were not at the end of your rope, you would be soon. You took a leave of absence (with no intent of coming back) and relocated up here, to do things you actually wanted to do. As time passed, you had given some serious thought to getting all of the stolen flatware together to mail it back, but you decided against that – concerns over them following it up somehow … and embarrassingly, concerns over the cost of shipping everything back. You were willing to do the right thing, so long as it did not actually … hurt … in anyway.

>>4591820
You blink wearily. Quite honestly, you should not be in a position to judge someone like Norton, a courageous, family man, who made his living as a leader of Firefighters - but that is the way that things have worked out. You will just have to do your best … of course, there would not be anymore judging on this. You have already made your verdict. Of course, if he was doing this, and he challenged you over it, could you take the next step? Come to think of it, what even would be the next step?

Ah, fuck it. You will burn that bridge when you come to it.

…

An hour passes, of light conversation, during which you sort of deliberately avoid your mother. As far as you know, she is completely unaware of what happened to you at that charnel house. You have no idea how to broach the subject, and tell her the true extent of your injuries. For that matter, you are not entirely certain if you even should. Some might have assumed that Oher was joking around about having to administer sedatives after telling her you were injured in a firefight, but you knew your mother. In fact, you are sort of … just waiting for the other shoe to drop with her. You thought she would be much, much more … you do not even know … worked up, hysterical?

During a lull in the conversation, Tolle heads upstairs, and after a minute or so, returns down the stairs with a rifle slung over his shoulder – some sort of M-16 variant, no doubt from the Public Safety building’s arsenal. He announces that he is going to grab some things in his truck from his place to bring inside, and then he will take the watch tonight, at least until Fleckkers and Norton show up. Gunther gets up to offer his help, but Tolle gives the dismissive variant of one of his odd little waves. Already up, Gunther mentions that he is thirsty, and asks if anyone else wants some water. Petra accepts, you and your mother decline. Hmm – water. Admittedly, you had not given it as much thought as you had food, but for a full house like yours, especially one that was keeping a bunch of animals besides, supplying clean water is a serious issue – if you intended to expand your operation here. Of course, this was not a problem unique to you, other satellites of the group would no doubt have to deal with this – something to listen for at the Steering Meeting tomorrow.

Gunther is rummaging about in the kitchen, and after ‘suiting up’ Tolle heads out, with a flashlight in his off hand. Petra has wrapped her shoulders in a blanket, and is lounging on the arm of your couch, looking towards the kitchen, and presumably Gunther. Your mother is in another one of your Grandfather’s upholstered recliners and is looking directly at you. When she notices your gaze, she gives you this big, relieved looking smile. Glancing away in awkward discomfort, you notice to your surprise that she has a pomegranate, of all things, in her hands. Where on Earth did she get that? You love pomegranates.

>>4591823

>You have hours before Fleckkers and Norton make their appearance. You can choose all of these choices or none of them, remember that speaking with one of the three people in the Farmhouse can (presumably will) be overheard by the other two. (For me to write an option, it needs a NET of two votes – meaning you should vote against choices you do not want)

>Your Mother, Dusk Mantle
>Ask her how she is doing with ‘everything’
>Ask her how she faired on the roads, getting here.
>Ask her about the pomegranate she has.
>Ask her for the pomegranate she has.
>Tell her the full extent of your injuries

>Your Registered Nurse Guest, Gunther Peake
>Ask him how he is doing with ‘everything’
>Ask him how his conversation with Parasol went
>Ask him what he thinks of the Homestead

>Your Registered Jailbait Guest, Petra Peake
>Ask her how she is doing with ‘everything’
>Ask her if her ears are alright from the Harpoon ND
>Ask her what she thinks of the Homestead

>Ask her how she fared on the roads getting here.
>Ask him what he thinks of the Homestead
>Ask her if her ears are alright from the Harpoon ND
Do not inquire about the pomegranate. It holds many secrets.

>>4591827
I believe the above Anon has chosen well. I also choose:
Mom
>Ask her how she fared on the roads getting here.
Gunther
>Ask him what he thinks of the Homestead
Petra
>Ask her if her ears are alright from the Harpoon ND

>>4591827
>Ask her how she fared on the roads getting here


>Ask him how he is doing with ‘everything’

>Ask her how she is doing with ‘everything’

>>4591832
>>4591893
supporting these two.

>>4591832
>>4591893
those two, and I also want that Pomegranate.

>>4592149
>>4591918
>>4591895
>>4591893
>>4591832
I am not ready to write yet, so I will let this sit overnight. I should start the run before 12:00pm EST but whenever it starts, I intend to post in the Quest Thread General

>>4591832
How she fared on the roads?
Do not ask about the pomegranate
Do not ask for the pomegranate
What he thinks of the Homestead.
How are her ears doing?

>>4591893
How she fared on the roads?
What he thinks of the Homestead.
How are her ears doing?

>>4591895
How she fared on the roads?
How he is doing with 'everything'
How she is doing with 'everything'

>>4591918
How she fared on the roads?
What he thinks of the Homestead.
How are her ears doing?

>>4592149
How she fared on the roads?
What he thinks of the Homestead.
How are her ears doing?
Ask her for the pomegranate

So, I was looking for a net of at least two votes for something to ask that question.
How she fared on the roads? (5 votes for, 0 votes against, Net 5) Will ask
Ask about the pomegranate (0 votes for, 1 vote against, Net -1)
Ask for the pomegranate (1 vote for, 1 vote against, Net 0)
Ask what he thinks of the Homestead (4 votes for, 0 votes against, Net 4) Will ask
Ask her if her ears are alright from the Harpoon ND (4 votes for, 0 votes against, Net 4) Will ask
Ask him how he is doing with 'everything' (1 vote for, 0 votes against, Net 1)
Ask him how she is doing with 'everything' (1 vote for, 0 votes against, Net 1)

Not quite ready to start writing, but I will close the vote now, and at the very least, get a draft started.

>>4592274
Alright, so my scheduled got all turned around. Post will be up ... soon-ish.

Dragging your gaze and your thoughts away from the incongruent fruit, you return your mother’s smile, as genuinely as you possibly can. While she has been nothing but relieved since you have seen her, this is in no small part because she does not know the full extent of your injuries – and perhaps more importantly, how you got them. She would obviously want to know what happened to you, you do not want to ruin her good mood yet. Of course, it was not like you could permanently keep the truth from her. Gunther and Petra both knew both the extent and the cause of your injuries – in the case of Gunther, he was bodily hauled out of the room as Criminal Investigations Warrant Officer Spry went to work on you. Eventually, she is going to find out, and the other shoe is going to drop. But for tonight at least, you can not bring yourself to ruin the high spirits everyone is in by working your mother up, even if –

“Reggie, is something wrong?” Ah, shit. You mother has always been perceptive about this kind of thing. But you have a plan to throw her off the scent here. “Oh, I was just kind of wondering … how you fared on the roads on your way up here? By the time we made our way in from Bangor, they were an absolute mess.” A bemused smile breaks out over your mother’s face. “How I fared? Besides getting a little turned around, everything was more or less fine. I made it in long before things got really dangerous on the roads.” You look at her for several-several seconds, but that seems to be it. While you are certainly glad that she made it back alright, with how late she was, you were kind of hoping that she had more of an … adventure, as immature as it would be to wish an ‘adventure’ on some one in these times. You are about to turn away and ask Petra if her ears are doing alright after than ND with the Greener-Martini Harpoon, when you mother asks you if everything is alright. Again.

You did not expect to be placed under the microscope like this – and you are not sure how you are going to be getting out from underneath it. You could just admit that you need to talk to her later, but even if she did not immediately demand that you tell her right now what was going on, she would still expect you to tell her really soon. And more importantly, she would be getting herself all wound up in the meantime. Which would destroy any ‘coziness’ here. Already, her smile has disappeared, and her eyes have more and more of that familiar mix of suspicion and worry. Maybe you are being unfair, or a bad son, but you do not think that it is unreasonable for you to want your homecoming not ending with your mother … well, actually, you are not entirely sure what she would do. You expected a lot more hysterics from her when you were reunited, but she took it well. Maybe it will not be an issue to tell her, or to ask to tell her later. Or you could just … you, know, uh – lie.

File: female-hand-holds-pomegra(...).jpg (39 KB, 675x900)

39 KB JPG

>Tell your mother the truth, as gently as possible, looking to avoid a meltdown (Speech-Rhetoric Test 60)
>Tell your mother that everything is fine. (Speech-Deception Test CR 60)
>Tell your mother that everything is fine now, but you need to talk later. (Speech-Rhetoric Test CR 50)
>Tell your mother that everything is fine, but you are just getting tired (Speech-Deception Test CR 40; forfeit chance to ask anyone else questions)
>Tell you mother that you were just wondering about the Incongruent Pomegranate in her possession (Speech-Deception Test CR 40; must ask about Pomegranate)

>>4592681
>Tell you mother that you were just wondering about the Incongruent Pomegranate in her possession (Speech-Deception Test CR 40; must ask about Pomegranate)
I'm fine mum, gosh!

>>4592681
>Tell you mother that you were just wondering about the Incongruent Pomegranate in her possession (Speech-Deception Test CR 40; must ask about Pomegranate)
this is only because we can't afford a meltdown right now
I don't want to play into the mysterious pomegranate's hands

>>4592681
>>Tell you mother that you were just wondering about the Incongruent Pomegranate in her possession (Speech-Deception Test CR 40; must ask about Pomegranate)

>>4592681
>Tell you mother that you were just wondering about the Incongruent Pomegranate in her possession (Speech-Deception Test CR 40; must ask about Pomegranate)

>>4592681

>Tell you mother that you were just wondering about the Incongruent Pomegranate in her possession (Speech-Deception Test CR 40; must ask about Pomegranate)

Look, what's the worst thing that can happen with the Pomegranate? Hidden listening devices rigged up by the National Guard? Don't be absurd. That's the remains of the CIA's purview anyways.

>>4593108
>>4592919
>>4592834
>>4592821
>>4592812

Alright, that settles it, we will ask about the Incongruent Pomegranate.
We will need 1 roll of 1d6 and 1 roll of 5d20.

Sorry for the delay, I thought I was going to have a lot more availability than I ended up having today.

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4593165
Reggie Mantle in the Tale of the Incongruent Pomegranate sounds like a bad mystery novel

Rolled 7, 17, 8, 13, 19 = 64 (5d20)

>>4593165

Here goes.

>>4593187
>>4593191
Alright.

Raw Roles Modifier Gross Rolls True Gross
7.000 x0.875 6.125 5.125
17.000 x0.875 14.875 13.875
8.000 x0.875 7.000 6.000
13.000 x0.875 11.375 10.375
19.000 x0.875 16.625 15.625
________
51.000

CR 51.000 > 40
Deception Test Passed!

I will get to writing

>>4593261
What the fuck happened to all my nice formatting?

CR 51.000 > CR 40
Speech-Deception Test Passed

After making a split-second decision to not ruin the mood of your homecoming celebration by explaining the full extent and cause of your injuries, you find yourself having to think quickly on your feet (or rather, on your back) to come up with some way to divert your mother’s attention. You decide that the best diversion here would be to ask her about the pomegranate that she seemingly pulled out of thin air.

“Er – I’m fine. I was just … wondering about that pomegranate you got there, that’s all.” She glances down at the fruit, and when she looks back up at you, all of the suspicion and worry has faded away from her eyes, to be replaced with another familiar sight; her on the verge of tears. You suppress a sigh, as well as the urge to take your head in your hands. Out of the frying pan into the fire. “Oh, this? After the … attack, I guess? On that first night. I stayed the next day at Mt. Kineo. They were distributing fruit with the meals, at the cafeteria, and then me and this older couple were given this pomegranate to share – and I knew how much you loved them, so I offered to trade them my meal for their share in the thing, so you … would have one … when you came … back.” At this point, she is sobbing, really sobbing, crying more than you have ever seen her before. She rushes over to you, and with a bit more force than she should have, she throws her arms around you. Knowing that you will just make things worse if you tell her to stop, you do your best to not let any discomfort show – not that she would be able to see any, with her face buried in your neck brace.

“I was so worried! My baby, my Greatest – he got shot and then dumped off at that sty of a hospital, all by himself!” Jesus Christ. Considering how emotional she got, you had a hunch that she was bottling things up – you had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, after all, but she had gone just long enough without melting down like this that you started to think that just maybe she had actually gotten all of this out of her system. God, can you imagine what would have happened if you told her that you were tortured? She probably would have gone catatonic. It was a particularly long minute, before she stopped crying, and her breathing went from ragged back to normal . But she still stays where she is, her face buried in your neck brace. At some point, you had gotten both of your arms around her to comfort her without even realizing it, and so you just embrace her back. But your mind is not in it, not entirely.

You are beginning to think that it might not be the best idea to tell her about the torture at all. Obviously, you had other injuries, but maybe you could explain them away – as long as mother never saw the remains of your testicle, with a bit of fibbing, you could probably hide the extent of your injuries from her. Maybe.

>>4594291
That would mean telling the Peakes and Oher … and whoever else knows to not tell her – and of course, you would have to hide that letter. That would also mean lying to her. Could you do that?

>No, you could not. Wait for the proper time, then tell her the truth. If you get the opportunity to do so, then ask the people that know to not say anything to her about it, you want her to hear it from you.
>Yes, you could. Make a point of seeking out anyone who knows the full extent of your injuries, and ask them not to say anything about it to her, that the truth will only take her mind off of more important concerns.

>>4594293
>>No, you could not. Wait for the proper time, then tell her the truth. If you get the opportunity to do so, then ask the people that know to not say anything to her about it, you want her to hear it from you.
Holy shit. We actually passed a roll for once.

>>4594293
>No, you could not. Wait for the proper time, then tell her the truth. If you get the opportunity to do so, then ask the people that know to not say anything to her about it, you want her to hear it from you.

>No, you could not. Wait for the proper time, then tell her the truth. If you get the opportunity to do so, then ask the people that know to not say anything to her about it, you want her to hear it from you.

Oh Mom. Just knowing you're safe and having you here makes me feel relieved.

>>4594704
>>4594585
>>4594346
Alright, that is the three votes I was looking for to close it. It is pretty late, so I will start writing this up after a good nights sleep.

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No, no. You could not just lie about something like this. You will have to her – you are not FDR for God’s sake; she has a right to know. Just … not tonight, maybe not even tomorrow. But soon. After another minute or so, she finally pulls her head out of your neck, and smiles at you as she idly brushes your hair with her hand. You let this moment last for a bit longer, than interrupt her by asking if she wants to share the pomegranate. She brightens up at that and pulls away from you to go get it. But as she returns to your side with the fruit in her hands, she speaks up on the matter. “Actually, I was thinking. This is probably the last pomegranate than any of us are going to have for quite some time, maybe even …” She trails off, but her train of thought is fairly obvious. Maybe even ever. Thankfully, she does not seem to dwell on that at all, instead, she just blows right past it without a second glance.

“Anyway, I was thinking that we could save some of the seeds, and try to grow our own pomegranate tree. I know you can grow them here - my nana grew a few trees from seed at her home on Peaks Island.” It seems that this Incongruent Pomegranate brings nothing but surprises. Or rather, nothing but surprises and issues. It is certainly surprising to hear that your great-grandmother was able to grow such a Mediterranean fruit in such a … not Mediterranean clime, but it remains that there were several points as to why her ability to grow them does not automatically mean that you could. Namely, the conditions, primarily the radioactive volcanic Winter which might just completely preclude growing much of anything outside beyond fodder for livestock. Of course, the difference in growing conditions between Peaks Island and Debouche, even before this Nuclear War, were seriously different. You have at best a vague recollection of what the USDA Hardiness Chart was, and you know for a fact that this portion of Northern Maine is 4a. Peaks Island is in the middle of Casco Bay – Hell, municipally speaking, it was part of Portland. Pretty much as Southern Maine as you can get; which would put it as a 5b or maybe even a 6a – a serious difference in the lowest extreme temperature. And while the volcanic Winter would no doubt change all of the ratings, it would probably suppress them all more or less evenly. So where the lowest extreme temperature, the metric that was used to determine an area’s hardiness rating, used to be between -10° F and -5° F it might now be between -30° F and -25° F. It is possible that you will be living in a fucking tundra before you know it.

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>>4594896
The final sticking point in all of this is a sinking suspicion that your great-grandmother might have been a better gardener than you. You are about to start to explain why this probably is not going to work – and it should not be that difficult to sell it as impossible, considering how little your mother seems to know about any of this – pomegranates are not even trees, they are shrubs. But as you look at her expectant face, obviously enthused about the prospect, you find yourself beset with second thoughts. It is not like you needed to put the seeds in the dirt today – so long as you kept them at a safe temperature, you could plant them at your leisure. And if you could get a greenhouse up and running, as a long-term type of project, for more than just pomegranates, that could be really something useful. Not to mention, if you pulled this off, you would probably be the only fruit producer in the group. At this rate, you will be single-handedly protecting the group from Scurry. And perhaps … no, you definitely do not want this to be the last pomegranate that you ever eat.

Of course, this is not something that should even be considered lightly. Greenhouses by there very nature are delicate under the best of circumstances. If anything goes wrong, even once, and it is cold enough outside, then you stand to lose everything in one fell swoop. Of course, this is not the best of circumstances, by any stretch of the imagination. And you are not just talking (or thinking, in this case) about the fallout, or the ash, or potential tundraification. You are talking about thieves, vandals, and yes, arsonists. A large and delicate structure like a greenhouse is a tempting target. You could try to mitigate this by making several smaller greenhouses instead of one, to put your eggs in more than one basket, but that would be less efficient. You could try to … armor up the greenhouse, but how on Earth would you manage to do that? Bulletproof glass? Maybe if you got your Homestead secure enough, it would not be an issue – or maybe, you could build your greenhouses at a more secure location, like Mt. Kineo. But those two solutions come with their own problems; the former requires who knows how much time and effort spent into fortifying and securing your property, and the latter opens you up to issues with new taxes and the potential for group members helping themselves to your produce.

> “Sure, why not? I’ll start looking around for a greenhouse to … ‘requisition’ – and if either of you find any other fruit that we could grow, then be sure to save some seeds.”
> “We can save some seeds, but I can’t make any promises. We need to consolidate and improve the food production that we have, before we try to diversify. Also, Pomegranates are shrubs, not trees.

>>4594898
> “We can save some seeds, but I can’t make any promises. We need to consolidate and improve the food production that we have, before we try to diversify. Also, Pomegranates are shrubs, not trees.
1) we really have more important shit on our mind
2) it takes a long time for a fucking tree to grow from a seed. This will not produce fruit for a long time.
So if we find greenhouses they should be used for tomatoes or strawberries. Otherwise just requisition as much canned fruit as possible.

> “Sure, why not? I’ll start looking around for a greenhouse to … ‘requisition’ – and if either of you find any other fruit that we could grow, then be sure to save some seeds.”

We had Fleckkers steal rolls of clear plastic. Greenhouses and emergency window replacements were what I had in mind when I threw that on the list. Just need some framing material.

>>4594922
+1 on this. I think it's not the most important thing, but man, we should try.

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>>4594922
It is quick and easy to build
LEAN TO GREENHOUSES
You need LESS glass/plexiglass/clear plastic
You need LESS time to buil it
The wall will STORE heat from the sun and give it back at night = less heating needed

It was really popular back in 18th Century England and France to farm warm climate fruits and flowers

>>4595006
Isn't moisture a problem with this kind of setup? Moldy wallpaper and stuff?

>>4595122
Thats why you need vents on both sides

Alright, it looks like we are going to be getting into the fruit business. Consider this closed. I will get to writing the next bit up.

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Maybe this is biting off more than you can chew, but … to be entirely, honest with yourself, you want this. You do not need this, obviously, but you want this. You do not want to live in a world without fresh fruit, no one in their right might would want to. Considering that you are the only Satellite dedicated to food production at the moment, this responsibility falls pretty much entirely on you. Besides, something like this should not be that difficult – so long as you keep your (and everyone else’s) expectations tempered, you can definitely see yourself producing some fruit. And in the long term, someone should at least make an effort to keep these … oh, what is the word. Animals have breeds, plants have … strains? You do not think that is wrong, per say, but you think that there was a specific word for strains of a plant – was it ‘cultivar’? Well, whatever the proper word is, someone should make an effort to keep these plants around for future generations. Come to think of it, there are institutions that do things like that; things called Seed Banks. You read about them once or twice on the ARPAnet. Could be something to look into later.

You realize with a bit of a jump that you have just been blankly looking at the Incongruent Pomegranate this whole time. “Ah – Sure. Why not? We can definitely try; ‘requisitioning’ stuff like this should be no problem. And I am sure that everyone would be tickled pinked if we were able to produce fresh fruit. I will see what I can do to get some assistance, maybe some other types of seed – though, now that I think about it, Fleckkers probably grabbed some from the Union, but those would probably be vegetables, and a bit more suited to the climate and soil than whatever fruit seed we can source on such sort notice.” Mother smiles at that, and then wordlessly heads into the kitchen to get a knife to portion the pomegranate out. It takes her a bit – Gunther returns from the kitchen first with his water, and in the break from all of this, you take a minute to ask Petra if her ears have been ringing after the ND with the Greener-Martini Harpoon. As you explain how Tinnitus works, she gets progressively more and more alarmed. You try to explain that if she has some Tinnitus, odds are it will go away, considering that this was a one time thing, but it is not until Gunther says almost the exact same thing as you did (albeit with a bit more medical terminology) that she finally calms down a bit. “Well, there was a bit of that ringing, but that was just after the harpoon-thingy went off.”

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>>4595443
The harpoon-thingy. Jesus Christ. And your distaste for her choice in language there aside, you are not going to overlook how she is choosing to describe what happened. It was an ND, cleanly and clearly her fault – but not only is she describing it as if it were an AD, it seems that in her mind it is as if the gun was some wild animal that she didn’t have any control over. While you are not sure if that is just fear and unfamiliarity with firearms, or it is just her way of ducking responsibility … it is cause for concern. And frustratingly enough, it seems that Gunther is not going to say anything about it.

This is not the first time that Petra did something stupid and dangerous – when Gunther was heading off to evade the highwaymen that were chasing you after you blew through an abandoned checkpoint that they were looting, Petra panicked, and rushed after him. Come to think of it, were was Gunther in all of this? There was no reason for him to take Petra along with him on that escapade, and absolutely no reason for you to be left alone like you were. She is shaping up to be a bit of a liability, and Gunther seems unwilling to call her out on her mistakes, or is conveniently blind to his cousins missteps. Something needs to be done before this becomes a serious problem

Spank her! And with that unbidden thought comes the mental image of a completely naked Petra, vigorously scrubbing herself with her back (and her ass) to you, just so slightly swaying back and – Mpthmt! Ow! No more of that! No more of that! Stuff that potent will put what is left of your left testicle in traction before long, or whatever the Hell the proper medical for it is. But indecent, licentious and painful images and thoughts aside, it seems that you are going to have to do something about Petra.

>Offer to Teach her how to properly use a firearm, and then take the opportunity to have a talk about making good decisions under fire … or how not to be a liability, or something.
>Reach out to Gunther later, and reiterate to him what you said after the ND – she needs to be taken in hand, and as her elder (and male) cousin, it is his responsibility to have that conversation with her, as awkward as it may be.
>Try an alternative tact, and talk to your mother (later obviously) instead – the two of them seem to have hit it off pretty well, and your mother, emotional as she can be, is much more tactful than you, and might be more willing than Gunther to act.
>Let it drop for now – the danger has passed, and you do not need to rock the boat like this, before everyone settles down, and gets used to each other. You still fully intend to do something about it later, though, just not now.

>Let it drop for now – the danger has passed, and you do not need to rock the boat like this, before everyone settles down, and gets used to each other. You still fully intend to do something about it later, though, just not now.

Gunther might just take initiative on his own. No need to micromanage people we are trying to win over.

>>4595445
What the fuck Reggie
>>Let it drop for now – the danger has passed, and you do not need to rock the boat like this, before everyone settles down, and gets used to each other. You still fully intend to do something about it later, though, just not now.

>>4595445
>>Let it drop for now – the danger has passed, and you do not need to rock the boat like this, before everyone settles down, and gets used to each other. You still fully intend to do something about it later, though, just not now.
Hopefully there isn't another issue on the horizon before we get a chance to speak to her on the matter. For now though, it'd be best to avoid it.

>>4595545
>>4595529
>>4595493
You will gingerly avoid this, at least for the immediate future. Just don't forget about it! Consider this closed, I will get to writing soon - it will be the overnight vote.

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It is definitely frustrating, but you are going to let this particular sleeping dog lie, at least for now. You want to win Gunther over, and anything that could be seen as micromanagement on your part runs the risk of souring things between you. So, you are just going to sit tight, and hope that eventually Gunther takes care of this without any prompting from you. And if he does not, then once things have settled into a sense of routine, and Gunther and Petra have officially joined the group (in your mind, simply a formality at this point), then you should be able to find an opening to talk with Gunther, or Petra, (or your mother, if you wanted to try to take that tact). Mother returns from the kitchen finally, with that meat cleaver you picked up from the Morton House job – one of you first clean-outs, ever. The sight of your mother attempting to saw the pomegranate in half with the cleaver is a humorous sight – you are almost certain that she knows how to properly use one, but is simply too ‘blade-shy’ to do so. It is all the funnier if you remember the condition the cleaver was in when you found it in that wreck of a house; the thing was covered with rust, and when you fished it out of the cabinet drawer you found it in, you discovered that a rat, a right big old bastard, had crawled underneath it to die. The thing cleaned up really nice though, barely any pitting on the blade after you got the surface rust off, and after some woodworking trickery, you were even able to restore the original handle to some semblance of respectability. If you mother knew any of that, she probably would not be able to bring herself to look at the damned thing, let alone use it on something that she would be eating. You are not worried, of course, you used some serious disinfectants on that thing – and three years later, you did not have Kudzu* or anything.

*Mantle is confusing the aggressive vine, Kudzu with the aggressive prion disease Kudu. It is also worth noting that Kudu is not something you can just randomly get from diseased or rotting meat – you must either eat human brains, or eat meat that has been contaminated with human brain.

Well, if you are not going to be asking him to have a talk with his cousin, then you might as well as him how he has been dealing with ‘everything’. You pose just that question to him as he is finishing off his glass of water, while curiously eyeing the small portion of pomegranate that your mother offered him. “Honestly, I haven’t thought about it much. There has just been so damned much to do – it really has not had time to set in.”

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>>4595788
You have heard that before, and you tell him as much. Of course, you leave out … certain aspects of the situation with Matthew. Even with that unpleasantness omitted, he does not seem to take that particularly well. His shoulders slump noticeably, and he sighs nasally. “Is there such as thing as ‘overcompartmentalization’? Where you just ignore things … that you should not be ignoring?” What kind of question is – Oh.

You had almost forgotten; that high-speed chase out of Bangor that he (and Petra) went on all happened because he accidentally knocked down a looter at that abandoned checkpoint as he was taking his truck to the safe house. You had forgotten about – or perhaps you had just compartmentalized it away – and it seems that Gunther had as well. Another Chip Allen situation – and while this highwayman might not be as bad off as that kid, this is no time to be taking anything more than the most superficial of injuries. You do not want to see Gunther worked up over this. In fact, you do not want to see Gunther worked up over anything at all. How should you try to settle this?


>Please pick ONE of the following:

>Empathize with him, by coming clean with the Chip Allen situation – and explain that compartmentalization is necessary to keep our heads, and to protect loved ones (Speech-Rhetoric Test CR 50)
>Gently encourage him – explaining that compartmentalization is necessary to keep our heads, and to protect loved ones. Keeps the unflattering situation with Chip Allen under wraps (Speech-Rhetoric Test CR 60)
>Tell him that there is no such thing as ‘overcompartmentalization’ – it is completely relative. Whatever he is compartmentalizing is exactly what he should and needs to compartmentalize. Deal with it later – or maybe, do not deal with it at all. There are more important things to get worked up over. (Speech-Deception Test CR 55)

>>4595789
>>Gently encourage him – explaining that compartmentalization is necessary to keep our heads, and to protect loved ones. Keeps the unflattering situation with Chip Allen under wraps (Speech-Rhetoric Test CR 60)
Hard threshold, but a more noble sounding option. While we know what happened with Chip wasn't our fault, and it is something we can emphasize with him, I think that would probably have more fallout if it went wrong and he misunderstood the situation.

>>4595789
>>Gently encourage him – explaining that compartmentalization is necessary to keep our heads, and to protect loved ones. Keeps the unflattering situation with Chip Allen under wraps (Speech-Rhetoric Test CR 60)
Above Anon has it right I think.

>Gently encourage him – explaining that compartmentalization is necessary to keep our heads, and to protect loved ones. Keeps the unflattering situation with Chip Allen under wraps (Speech-Rhetoric Test CR 60)

>>4595989
>>4595882
>>4595875
Alright - really overslept here, but no problem. Can someone please roll 1d6 and someone else roll 5d20, to see if we can swing it?

Rolled 2 (1d6)

Rollan

Rolled 16, 11, 12, 16, 15 = 70 (5d20)

>>4596187
>>4596184
Alright lets see how we did.

Raw Rolls
16
11
12
16
15

Gross Rolls (2 is x0.625 at our current level)
10.00
6.875
7.500
10.000
9.375

True Gross Rolls
9.000
5.875
6.500
9.000
8.375

Net Roll
CR 38.750 < 60
Rhetoric Test Failed by 2 Degrees (greater than 20)

For future reference:

Modifier Tables
Modifiers from Delusional/Unwilling to Rank Amateur
Roll of 1 x0.500
Roll of 2 x0.625
Roll of 3 x0.750
Roll of 4 x0.875
Roll of 5 x1.000
Roll of 6 x1.125

Modifiers from Ranking Amateur to Assuredly Competent
Roll of 1 x0.625
Roll of 2 x0.750
Roll of 3 x0.875
Roll of 4 x1.000
Roll of 5 x1.125
Roll of 6 x1.250

Modifiers from Genuinely Skilled to Master
Roll of 1 x0.750
Roll of 2 x0.825
Roll of 3 x1.000
Roll of 4 x1.125
Roll of 5 x1.250
Roll of 6 x1.375

Rolls at Skill Rank
Delusional/Unwilling: Roll 4 times, then take the worst of the four sets as the Gross Roll (no True Gross)
Oblivious: Roll 2 times, then take the worse of the two sets as the Gross Roll (No True Gross)
Nascent in Understanding: Roll once, but then apply a -4 malus to each roll in the set (Gross -4 = True Gross)
Rank Amateur: Roll once, but then apply a -1 malus to each roll in the set (Gross -1 = True Gross)
Ranking Amateur: Roll once, but then apply a +0.5 bonus to each roll in the set (Gross +0.5 = True Gross)
Competent: Roll once, but then apply a +1 bonus to each roll in the set (Gross +1 = True Gross)
Assuredly Competent: Roll once, but then apply a +2 bonus to each roll in the set (Gross +2 = True Gross)
Genuinely Skilled: Roll 2 times, take the best set, but then apply a -1 malus to each roll in that set (Gross -1 = True Gross)
Nascent Master: Roll 3 times, take the best set, but then apply a -1 malus to each roll in that set (Gross -1 = True Gross)
Master: Roll 4 times, take the best set, but then apply a -1 malus to each roll in that set (Gross -1 = True Gross)

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CR 38.750 < CR 60
Speech-Rhetoric Test Failed by Two Degrees

Gunther clearly needs to hear something – you do not know what exactly, beyond just reiterating that compartmentalization is necessary to get through these sorts of situations, and that engaging in it does not make him a bad person. After a second of consideration, you decide against sharing your experiences with compartmentalization, as they do not paint you in a particularly favorable light – even if you really are not particularly responsible for that unpleasantness. Empathy would be an effective tool here, no doubt, but you are not going to risk Gunther’s impression of you when you are so close to getting him on board – with the group, and more importantly, with your Homestead. But you do have another tact you can take with this conversation …

“You ever read Dune?” Gunther just looks blankly at you for a second, before shaking his head no. “Oh, uh … well, okay.” Damn it. Well, you have committed yourself to this, so you better explain what you are getting. “See, I bring it up – because the main character, Paul, he goes through some unpleasantness – not entirely dissimilar to what we are going through, right now. Among other things, his father dies.” Actually, there was a bit more to it than that; Duke Leto killed himself in a last-ditch attempt to kill his nemesis and avoid torture at the hands of that nemesis as well – though if you remember correctly, the extent of the torture was just getting wax dripped on his back. That is like, fetish-tier shit. Hell of a lot better than what you got. Of course, Gunther does not need to hear any of that, either. “Anyway, even after getting out of danger he finds that he can’t mourn his father’s death, or really get that worked up about any of the other terrible things that happened to him, and his people. To him, at least, at first, all of this stuff is just a bunch of facts. But later, when things finally smooth themselves out, that is when he can properly start to process his emotions.”

Gunther does not seem to know what exactly to make of that. Maybe it was not the best idea to try to compare his situation to a sci-fi novel. Did he feel that you were trivializing things? And now the more you think about it, maybe it was for the best that Gunther had not read Dune: the book ends with Paul, now the Emperor, compartmentalizing and justifying his role in a massive, galaxy wide Jihad that saw the extermination of 61 billion innocents, in the span of just 12 years. Okay – definitely a good thing that he never read the damned book.

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>>4596667
Tellingly, Gunther changes the subject to the fucking pomegranate before you even have a chance to recover, or try another tact that does not rely on 55 year old pop-culture references (Jesus, what the fuck were you thinking?) If you had to guess, you have not assured him of anything at all – outside of the fact that you are uncommonly awkward at times and not a good person to turn to with stuff like this. Still, with the conversation turned to more lighthearted topics, the mood in the room recovers steadily. Apparently, Gunther and Petra had never eaten pomegranate before, and they clearly are enjoying their first tastes. After Gunther heartily agreed that trying to cultivate pomegranates would be a worthy endeavor, and the entire room was done laughing at Petra, after admitting that up until now, she had thought that pomegranates were just some type of large red onion, the mood in the room had completely recovered. Your mother was talking with Gunther about what other fruit seeds could be sourced, and of those, what could reasonably be grown, and Petra was closely examining the half of the fruit that was being left untouched to source the seeds from. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see a battery-operated clock that someone must have put up at some point in your living room. The time is 10:04 pm.

By 10:18pm, Gunther and Petra were ready to head for bed, but your savior had one more request for you. “Mantle, is there like a spare gun around I could have?” Petra and your mother, who were over in a corner, digging through their respective bags stop abruptly, and look over their shoulders at the two of you, their uncertainty and concern plain to see in their eyes at this abrupt request. You try to keep your face more neutral, but Gunther might have seen something, as he immediately takes a much more conciliatory tone.

“The group seems to have everything pretty well in hand, but … you know, ounce of prevention and all that?” It is a reasonable request, and Gunther has been nothing but helpful – to put it mildly – so you have no reason to deny him what is effectively a reasonable request. The issue is that you do not know where exactly your remaining guns are, and as much as you trust him, you are not entirely certain you want someone who could potentially (as unlikely as it would be, at this point) be leaving you tomorrow rummaging around your things, alone – not to mention he said ‘have’, not ‘borrow’.

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>>4596673

>Please pick ONE of the following - do not roll until the vote has closed:
> “I really don’t see any need for that – and besides, between Tolle out front on guard and Fleckkers with Norton out on the roads, all of my guns are accounted for.” (Speech-Deception Test; CR 40)
> “Gunther, I’m sorry, but we do not have any guns to spare at the moment. I hope you understand” (Speech-Rhetoric Test; CR 55)
> “Uh … well, go ask Tolle if there is anything that he isn’t using at the moment … for you to have for the night. Tomorrow, when we head into Mt. Kineo, I’ll see about you getting something you can keep.” (Commit to buying a firearm, or using a favor to secure one for Gunther)
> “Jesus. I don’t know where any of them are, after all the packing and unpacking, but you can knock yourself out looking for them. Just bring what you find by me, and I will tell you what you can keep. (Commit to giving one of your remaining firearms to Gunther)


On the Homestead, you know you have:
the Beater 10/22 with underslung light
the Ragged Single Shot Shotgun
the 'Firecracker’ – the M240b with bipod

>>4596680

> “Gunther, I’m sorry, but we do not have any guns to spare at the moment. I hope you understand” (Speech-Rhetoric Test; CR 55)

Unless Fleckkers 'acquired' some, and if the hired hands are using our guns, this is the truest answer we've got. I don't want him rooting around in our unsorted inventory, and if they're sticking around, lying to him will get found out after we sort shit out and build emnity between us. If we find any to spare in the stash, we can play it off as having been found during the salvaging while we were laid up in Bangor.

> “Jesus. I don’t know where any of them are, after all the packing and unpacking, but you can knock yourself out looking for them. Just bring what you find by me, and I will tell you what you can keep. (Commit to giving one of your remaining firearms to Gunther)

I have reservations about Gunther accidentally seeing something and blabbling about it but maybe we can use this as an opportunity to talk about discretion and our inventory and we have to start trusting him at some point. Also I REALLY want to get him gunned up.

>>4596667
>the book ends with Paul, now the Emperor, compartmentalizing and justifying his role in a massive, galaxy wide Jihad that saw the extermination of 61 billion innocents, in the span of just 12 years
Loved Dune. iirc, the second book picks up as Stilgar's POV, and around 9 pages in he's debating as to whether or not kill Paul's 10 year old kids.
Things got crazy quick.
>>4596680
> “Jesus. I don’t know where any of them are, after all the packing and unpacking, but you can knock yourself out looking for them. Just bring what you find by me, and I will tell you what you can keep. (Commit to giving one of your remaining firearms to Gunther)
Letting someone who may decide to leave our homestead root around is fucking dumb in theory, (Fleckkers isn't going to be happy if he finds out) however, I think it could go a long way in building trust with Gunther, and besides we conscripted his help moving the Farmer's Union loot out to the barn already. He's already seen a lot, and with this we build trust and (hopefully) are able to avoid burning any more favors for Gunther/trading anything away. We already decided on trying to use favor to get his truck fixed, right?
I'm really worried about this web of lies we're digging ourselves into. It absolutely isn't Mantle's forte, and if we start asking people on the homestead to keep things from other people on the homestead, they're naturally going to realize we're asking others to keep things from them. Trust is a two way street.

>>4596730

That's the third book. 2nd book is Paul becoming Jesus/Mohammed.

>>4596730
>>4596713
>>4596688
I will leave this for about another hour or so, then I will close it, rolling for it if necessary. The next vote will be the overnight vote (or failing that, the first one of tomorrow's run).

>>4596765
Alright consider this closed. I will get started on writing, but I might not be able to get it out tonight - just a forewarning.

>>4596845
Thanks for running regardless.
>>4596734
My memory fails, then. Might be time for a re-read.

>>4596896

No worries, I just re-read it like a week ago. Otherwise, probably would've made the same mistake.

“Well, uh – I’m going to level with Gunther. I own six guns – and five of them I brought with me to …” Belatedly recalling your mother’s presence in the living room, you decide against discussing that shootout any further, and lamely attempt to cover this rather conspicuous self-interruption by coughing. “Suffice to say, I am not entirely sure where they are at the moment, as I left them … with friends. Some of them might have been returned to me, but if they had, I don’t know where they would be in the house at the moment. But if they were around, then among them would be an old break-action shotgun and a 10/22 with an underslung light. If you can find either of those, then you can have your choice of the two of them.” Gunther smiles, thanks you, then heads straight upstairs to start his search. With his departure, your mother and Petra resume digging through their luggage, leaving you once again with your own thoughts. You are, as one might expect, not particularly thrilled about giving away one of your guns, especially after two of them were cached away in fucking Bangor, probably never to be retrieved. But if Gunther does join up with the group, and does end up staying with you, then you really have not ‘given’ that gun away. It would still be around, protecting the place.

And if the Peakes do move on after all of this, then … you really cannot begrudge them something like that. You cannot reasonably expect anyone to protect themselves and a flighty girl cousin with a damned harpoon that has only three shots left. Your mother, having seemingly found what she is looking for heads upstairs, passing Gunther on his way down. From your position, parked between the coffee table and the woodstove, you cannot see them of course, but you can hear them passing each other on the stairs. Mother and probably Petra would be sleeping in the master bedroom, while everyone else bunked down in the living room. No doubt that would be a more comfortable arrangement for them, but the fact of the matter remains that when Winter hits, everyone living here will probably have to sleep in one room – the resource cost required to heat multiple rooms to comfortable, or even just safe, temperatures would be stiff. Looking around the room down here, you try to imagine it with everyone bedded down. It would be tight, but it could be done without removing any furniture. Gunther walks by, noticeably empty-handed, and pokes his head down the cellar stairs, before retreating to look for a light.

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>>4597093
There was that trailer on the Old Morrison Farm – as per your agreement with Reaves, it belongs to you now. If you were able to get that derelict moving, your tank-thing would be more than enough to tow it. Of course, there was the mold issue – not to mention, that trailers like that are poorly insulated – even worse than neglected Farmhouses. Getting that thing habitable, and then heating it … well, it certainly would not be an easy answer to your space problems – but it should be easier than restoring the ‘Replacement Wing’, rebuilding the ‘Missing Wing’, or even just putting up completely new construction.

Half an hour passes, and after what sounded like a miserable time of it in the basement, at least from what you could hear of it on the first floor, Gunther seems to have given up on finding a gun tonight. He apparently did not find anything – which you realize with a bit of a start, means you have no idea where on earth your ‘Firecracker’ is. If someone thought that was one of the guns from the Public Safety Arsenal, and took it, or gave it to someone – shit, you might not see that gun again either. You suggest that Tolle might have an idea where the guns are, more to assuage your concerns about the M240b not being in your possession any more than to see Gunther get his peashooter, but it seems that the man is ready to turn in for the night. He finishes off the glass of water that he started hours ago now, and sits down in one of the comfortable reclining chairs. He noncommittally agrees to ‘gear up’ to go ask Tolle about the guns, mentioning that he just needs a minute first before he does. But before that minute is up, your nurse has fallen fast asleep. Petra joined your mother upstairs some time ago, and judging from the lack of noise, the two of them have fallen asleep. The living room is now only lit with two candles; a fat white one, at least two inches in diameter, on its own candlestick, and the much smaller candle on the saucer that Gunther was using to search the basement. Conveniently, both of them are on the coffee table – you could blow both of them out safely, if you so wished.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Wake Gunther up immediately – he has had his minute, and there is no sense in leaving this undone.
>Let Gunther have a small nap, while you stay up for now and try to figure out how you are going to grow pomegranates or something more pressing like, how you are going to house everyone, or the water situation or something
>Time for some shut eye. Blow out both of the candles, and then get some sleep yourself. Tolle will wake you when Fleckkers and Norton get in. (Time-Skip to Fleckker's and Norton's return)

>Time for some shut eye. Blow out both of the candles, and then get some sleep yourself. Tolle will wake you when Fleckkers and Norton get in. (Time-Skip to Fleckker's and Norton's return)

Reginald has been worrying enough. Some sleep will be good for him.

>>4597094

>Time for some shut eye. Blow out both of the candles, and then get some sleep yourself. Tolle will wake you when Fleckkers and Norton get in. (Time-Skip to Fleckker's and Norton's return)

Time for sleep. Gotta do it eventually, and now's as good a time as any.

>>4597111
>>4597107
Consider this closed. I will get to writing.

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You find yourself yawning just thinking about staying up any later. With little trepidation, you lean over toward the coffee table, and blow out the two remaining candles as carefully as you can. Darkness claims the room, and the smell of smoke from the extinguished candles drifts over to you as you gingerly curly up under the covers in your stolen hospital bed. Sleep comes quickly, but unlike earlier, there are no strange dreams.

You are awoken by the sound of the Farmhouse’s front door being opened – but before you are even awake enough to worry about it, Tolle calls out quietly, asking if anyone is still up. Gunther is sitting straight up, and you find yourself managing to prop yourself up a bit on your elbows. Seeing that everyone down here is up, Tolle turns on his flashlight, and enters the front door, followed closely by Fleckkers, carrying a covered bucket. Once the two of them are through the door, Fleckkers closes it behind them, and after joking saying ‘Trick or Treat’, the two of them start decontaminating themselves (and the bucket). Gunther seems to be a bit more awake than you are right now, and asks an obvious question – “Is everything alright? You were going to go out there with that Norton guy.” Fleckkers makes a dismissive hand gesture at that, then returns to cleaning and stowing his gear, carefully rolling it up, then stuffing it in a black plastic trash bag. Even once he is done decontaminating the bucket, he still takes several-several seconds to answer that question.

“Yeah – the guy is fine. Everything is fine, he’s just back at Mt. Kineo.” You poorly stifle a frustrated groan; at this point, you cannot help but start to think that Norton is deliberately avoiding you. Fleckkers must have somehow picked up on your discontent, even in the near total gloom outside of the beam of Tolle’s flashlight, as he elaborates on the situation without further prompting. “I explained your stance on the living situations to him, about him needing to be either here or there, full-time. His response to that was to tell me to drop him off at Mt. Kineo, so he can make a decision by the time you arrive for that Steering Committee thing tomorrow.” Your discontent has now boiled over into anger, and not all of it was directed at Norton. You do not know what exactly Fleckkers said, but somehow you just know that he was not exercising a lot of tact at the time. Of course, you never said that Fleckkers should not talk to Norton about his new need to make more permanent housing arrangements – in fact, you kind of expected him to say something. You just … did not consider that Fleckkers would be indelicate.

>>4597581
But as you relax yourself back down into the gurney, and as sleep’s hold on your faculties continues to loosen, you find your anger towards Fleckkers cooling. While Fleckkers can be blunt to the point of being crude (when he is not inexplicably a bundle of nerves) the fact remains that even if he was indelicate in passing along your decision on Norton’s situation, as the head of the Household, you are ultimately responsible for not specifying what he should say, or how he should say it. Of course, while your anger towards Fleckkers steadily cools into self-reproach, your … continued aggravation at all things Norton-related does not slake. You had been willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt – against your first instinct to cut him loose – but now, it sounds like he is going to leave you before you can even give the man his second chance.

You can worry about what to do about Norton later – but right now, the more pressing issue is how their little farm tour went, and what on earth is in that bucket. Unfortunately, there is one thing preventing you from just coming out an asking how the trip went – Gunther. By your estimation, the man saved your life three times; by getting you out of that fucking charnel house, by getting you out of fucking Bangor, and by leading the highwaymen away from that absolute lemon of a safehouse. You feel a genuine sense of indebtedness, no doubt exacerbated by your failure to follow through on your promises to him, and you definitely want the man to stick around – and that is the problem here. Currently, he really only has one option, joining your group, and becoming a ‘hired man’ in your Homestead. If you let him overhear where intact and friendly farming operations are, all of a sudden, he has … more than one option.

And he clearly has some reservations – namely the guarantee for his cargo if he decided against joining up … and then there was the recent request for a gun – a request that was not predicated on him joining, or him doing … anything really. Your concern is that if you give him another option, then he might seriously consider it – which would seriously leave you in the lurch here. On the other hand – if you were to tell Gunther to relieve Tolle, it would be pretty obvious that you were sending him out of the room to discuss this stuff – sending him a clear cut message that he is not trusted, which again, might lead to a situation where Gunther decides against signing up. A third option would be to simply tell him to go play ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ so you can have an important discussion, and hope that his respect for your candor (as conditional as it is) is enough to smooth over any disappointment at not being trusted with this valuable information.

>>4597582

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Allow Gunther to remain in the room while you, Fleckkers and Norton discuss how the ‘barnstorming’ operation went.
>Ask Gunther to relieve Tolle on sentry duty, softening the blow by using this as an opportunity to get him one of your less powerful firearms. (Speech-Deception Test CR 66; modifier roll has +2 situational bonus)
>Ask Gunther to go relive Tolle on sentry duty, explaining that you need to have an important conversation for group members only; soften the blow by using this as an opportunity to get him one of your less powerful firearms. (Speech-Rhetoric Test CR 55; no modifier bonus)

>>4597584
>>Allow Gunther to remain in the room while you, Fleckkers and Norton discuss how the ‘barnstorming’ operation went.
I think we need to be banking all the trust we can get with him. The other farmers certainly aren't as well situated as us, might not even know decontamination procedures. And Gunther must know that the group plans to move on those farms eventually, either for assimilation, where his cargo would likely get tampered with anyways, or as a target.

>Allow Gunther to remain in the room while you, Fleckkers and Norton discuss how the ‘barnstorming’ operation.

Gunther is unlikely to leave.

>>4597582
>Allow Gunther to remain in the room while you, Fleckkers and Norton discuss how the ‘barnstorming’ operation went.

>>4597584

>Allow Gunther to remain in the room while you, Fleckkers and Norton discuss how the ‘barnstorming’ operation went.

He'll know, one way or another. Even if he debates bouncing for the barns, that'll probably change with the knowledge that the group is making moves on them later. He might snitch on us to Parasol though, which may be a problem if he isn't staying in the household.

>>4597584
>Allow Gunther to remain in the room while you, Fleckkers and Norton discuss how the ‘barnstorming’ operation went.

>>4598135
>>4598057
>>4598039
>>4597915
>>4597645
Alright - you will allow Gunther to stay in the room. No funny business.

This whole being kept at arm’s length is not going to endear the trust necessary for them finally commit to joining up. At this point, you need to bite the bullet and demonstrate that you trust them, and in turn are someone that they should trust. Gunther has reservations true, but you need to remember that they are valid. You are asking a man to join up with an armed insurrection in the middle of a Nuclear World War – and while your government has clearly taken a serious beating, it still exists out there. Setting aside any questions of rapidly diminishing feelings of patriotism on your part, if they were to get their long arms around you again, and if they knew half of what you did, you would almost certainly be executed. Same goes for Gunther, probably … if he joined up. As it stands now, he could probably just … leave the lake, disappear into the Northwoods or whatever, assume a new name, and if the government ever got their hands on him … they would probably let him go.

His reservations are frustrating – but you need to remember, he has options, options that you do not have. You cannot fault the man for trying to consider all of the angles before making a commitment that would get him killed if he were ever caught. And the man might never make the objectively correct decision to join up if you continue to high hand him. Show some trust today to get him to sign that fucking Compact tomorrow. Or is it already ‘today’? What time is it, anyway?

“What time is it, anyway?”

Tolle perks up at that, and then after a bit of searching, manages to find and illuminate the battery-operated clock on the living room wall. 1:48am. As you try to figure out how long it will be until the Steering Committee meets, you realize that you do not remember when you were told to be at Mt. Kineo. Were you even given a time? And it is not like you can ask Fleckkers or Tolle, considering they were both out of the house when you were talking to Parasol and Deputy Bean. You will deal with that in a minute. First things first – “Fleckkers, how did you make out?” No response, beyond him shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Then finally, a very tight, very curt ‘alright’. Jesus Christ, this is like pulling teeth.

>>4598465
“Fleckkers, it is alright. I trust Gunther to keep confidences. So … hang up the cloak, sheathe the dagger, whatever the fuck. Just tell us.” For a moment, you wonder if Fleckkers is going to refuse, but eventually, he clears his throat and starts talking. “We had time to follow up on seven different leads. There were two small dairies, but we struck out on both of them. One had been completely shuttered – well before any of this started, at least a month or so ago – and there was no one living in that farmhouse, either. The other dairy we found looked like it had been hit already, judging by some damaged fencing, but we could not get close enough to talk to them – they were firing warning shots as soon as they saw us. Shame too, it looked like a pretty big operation. Then there was a very small stockyard, just some guy with an old barn and a small pasture. The cattle were all locked up in the barn when we arrived, so I don’t know how many that guy had – but, we could hear them, bellowing and groaning. We were actually able to talk to that farmer, though his end of the conversation was entirely colorful threats and demands for us to leave.

Fleckkers takes a quick break in his accounting of the ‘farm crawl’ to cough and clear his throat, and you are finding yourself having to resist the urge to groan out loud in frustration. Then Fleckkers casually says “But we had a bit more luck the further we got away from built up areas”. He does not immediately elaborate, as he continues to try to clear his throat. “I’m sorry. That mask and getup I was wearing dried me out.” After several-several more seconds and a few dry (and admittedly hoarse sounding) coughs, Tolle leaves the room to get him a glass of water, and Fleckkers soldiers on.

“There was a … I dunno, was a really small operation, had a little bit of everything, bees, vegetables, chickens, sheep, a goat - I guess you could call it a Homestead, like what we got here. And this guy running it, he was the first person we were actually able to have a conversation with. Guy is named Boris Blackie; seemed nice, and sounded like he knows his stuff too. Had a wife, didn’t see any kids. Was willing to talk, and was willing to trade … for our rifles, which besides the truck were the only things that we were not going to be able to part with … but he didn’t seem that enthused about the idea of moving his operation closer to the lake when we floated it. And he is pretty damn far out there – and if the roads continue to get worse, then it might get to a point, eventually, where paying him would take more time and fuel than it would be worth.

>>4598471
Tolle returns with the glass of water, and Fleckkers downs the entire thing in one go, thanks the Firefighter and continues with the accounting of his trip. “There were two more points of interest . Both of them turned out to be boarding operations – one was a horse stable, and the other was a dog breeder and kennel. Obviously, I don’t think anyone would be particularly enthused about eating horse or dog meat, but those animals obviously have uses beyond food. The kennel and breeder specialized in hunting dogs, and the horse farm had a bunch of those forest trails all set up – they train their charges for cross country races. And beyond that, the stable also had a serious supply of hay … so if you needed to source some more for your heifer, you might have options, provided you can afford it – these were round six-by-sixes, with full plastic wrap. No doubt that it is premium stuff. Oh, and before I forget – it seems that the stable and kennel are owned by the same family, cousins. Vincent and Chris Quammen – no idea what kind of fucking name that is. Anyway, I bring it up, because if we, or the group, were to do something to piss off one of the two, the other would probably cut it off with us as well. Something to consider.

The former safecracker pauses for several seconds and clears his throat one last time. “Now, those six were the only ones that we were going to bother visiting. But on our way back, we needed to take a detour on account of a blocked road, and we were passing close to another potential … point of interest. This guy bought stuff to raise a handful of turkeys, and we figured, why not swing by. It was real late, but we take a detour from the detour, and head out over to the place. So there is this old, dilapidated farmhouse, junk and old broken down equipment everywhere, the remains of a barn that looked like it collapsed in on itself …all completely at odds with this brand new, prefabricated warehouse – you know, the kind you can order in catalogs, and have installed in a weekend, just standing off to the side of an incredible mess. Well, now, we’re really curious, so me and Norton knock on the door and then this guy comes to the other side of it, and we explain who were are, why we are here, and how we found out about the place and what we can do for each other … you know, we feed him the spiel we cooked up for prospectives. So, he just stares at us through this little window on the side of his front door for a moment, introduces himself – his name is Andrew Greenly, by the way - and then he agrees to join. Just like that. Turns out that his farm needs constant power, and if there isn’t, the whole thing will fall apart, within as little as an hour. But if he can get that power, as well as clean water and table scraps … then he has an otherwise completely sustainable system, to produce – hold on, I had to bring some back with me, otherwise you'd all think I went nuts out there.

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>>4598475
He opens up the bucket and holds it out. Tolle points his flashlight in there, and when he looks in, he sort of jumps back a bit – much to Fleckkers’ amusement. After savoring that reaction for just a moment, Fleckkers walks the bucket over to you, followed by Tolle, who in the indirect light of his flashlight looks … a mixture of amazed and confused. Gunther gets out of his bed to come over and look as well. As everyone converges on your bed, you can just faintly make out the sounds of rustling in the bucket. You prop yourself up as much as you can without hurting, and crane your neck over to peer into the bucket, as Tolle points his flashlight straight into it. Inside are …

Crabs.

“Maryland Blue Crabs. This guy was on vacation down there a year or so ago, acquired at taste for the things, and decided to see if he could farm them, back up here. Turns out you – or he – can.” You cannot see his face, but you know from his tone that Fleckkers is feeling proud of himself for finding and recruiting a farmer. He continues, either oblivious to or uncaring of your lack of enthusiasm for all of this. “These things aren’t just meat, this is luxury stuff. You live on the Mason-Dixon line, these crabs are your lobster.” Suffice to say, you were not expecting to sign up a crab farmer, or any farmer with an electricity dependent operation, but as far as Fleckkers is concerned, this is ‘mission accomplished’. He seems to have a bad habit of inflating his accomplishments – first, the prowler that he killed became a Firebug in his recounting, and now his grand achievement of signing up a new Satellite that will require a massive expenditure of resources to produce an exotic luxury.

But just because this might not be the boon that Fleckkers has convinced himself that it is, that does not mean that this should just be dismissed out of hand. If there was a way around the power issues –

Wait a minute! Four days ago, at the Reaves job, in the garage, there was an old, odd looking contraption – a contraption that matched one of the Light’s descriptions of a device called a gasifier. If it was one, and you could get the thing working, then you might be able to save some of this crab farmer’s operation. At the very least, it should be enough to save this nutter’s breeding stock. The gasifier unit may not be a long-term solution, but it could be a decent stopgap, something to buy time for the group to find that long term solution … or to determine if seeking a long term solution for this is worth anyone's time. You turn to Fleckkers. “So this guy – how many days’ worth of fuel does he have left?” His enthusiastic tone noticeably falters. “One and a half – and that is with siphoning all of his vehicles and equipment dry.” Shit; that leaves you next to no time at all. You will need to make a decision immediately, then.

>>4598485
>Please choose ONE of the following:

> “Let us see what we can do to save his operation without moving it – this will save as much of his production as possible, so long as he eventually gets the gasifier or an alternative energy source running.” (He will owe you for your assistance (and the working gasifier – if you have one, and give it to him))

> “Let us see what we can do to move his operation to the lake – some of his production will be lost in the move, but once established at the lake, he will have much more support available to him.” (He will owe you for your assistance (and the working gasifier – if you have one, and give it to him))

> “Let us see what we can do to move his operation to our Homestead – some of his production will be lost in the move, but once established at the lake, he will have our direct support available to him.”(He will join your Homestead, and you will need to help source food, fuel and water for the crabs – but everything he produces belongs to your Satellite.)

> “I’m sorry. This all sounds really interesting – but this is not the time for us to get into the crab meat business. I will inform the Steering Committee of his interest in joining, but beyond that he is on his own (Without your support, or the knowledge that you have what might be a working gasifier, it is unlikely that the Steering Committee will bring him into the group)

> “Let us see what we can do to move his operation to our Homestead – some of his production will be lost in the move, but once established at the lake, he will have our direct support available to him.”(He will join your Homestead, and you will need to help source food, fuel and water for the crabs – but everything he produces belongs to your Satellite.)

I bet it would take minimal effort to refit his setup for a more efficient animal like catfish. If there is a fish hatchery nearby it is possible their breeding stock hasnt died out yet but is also running on emergency power. If there are multiple tanks and one tank dies off by accident or "by accident" that would be a good choice of what to put in there I think.

>>4598489
>> “Let us see what we can do to move his operation to our Homestead – some of his production will be lost in the move, but once established at the lake, he will have our direct support available to him.”(He will join your Homestead, and you will need to help source food, fuel and water for the crabs – but everything he produces belongs to your Satellite.)
Other anon has the right idea about switching the operation around, depending on Greenly's set-up. Someone with the know-how to rig up a crab farm on his own must have a fair amount of technical knowledge, or some fairly decent skills. Although, seeing as he didn't greet our guys with hostility points to that kind of thing not being his nature/he's gunshy/he was desperate for a stranger to bail him out. I'm hoping he could be an extra gun in a fight if need be, however I'm a little wary about new people brought onto the homestead having problems with the people we already have here. Not everyone is going to get along.

>>4598656
>>4598580
Alright, I guess this has been long enough. Consider this one closed - I should have the next post up before dinnertime.

>>4598489
> “Let us see what we can do to move his operation to the lake – some of his production will be lost in the move, but once established at the lake, he will have much more support available to him.” (He will owe you for your assistance (and the working gasifier – if you have one, and give it to him))
I think this is the best option, keeping him close without actually taking him into our home. I'd also be careful to make assumptions about switching to another animal, the man does seem to love his crabs.

Just for clarification Trash: He does not have any turkeys right?

>>4598944
Fleckkers and Norton did not see any evidence of Turkeys, but they did not actually ask Greenly if he had them or not.

“Okay, alright. Let’s see what we can do to get this eccentric and his operation set up over here – with us, on the Homestead. Even if the whole ‘crab farm’ turns out to be a complete bust, this Greenly character seems like he would be a good guy to have around. Maybe his skills and knowhow could be directed towards less … exotic livestock, or even towards other fields completely. Like hydroponics, or something like that. Of course, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If he is able to produce adequately, then there is no reason to through something out that works to try for something else, right?” Your eyes are still adjusting back to the darkness, so you cannot see your hired men or your guest react to your decision, but you can hear the general sounds of assent the make. Good enough.

“Alright then – I will get approval for him to join up and shack up with us at the Steering Committee tomorrow. The group has a standing offer to provide material support to the Satellites, so hopefully we can call that in; no doubt they would be willing to help out if we told them it was for food production – though they probably would blanche at footing the fuel bill …”. You trail off as you are suddenly struck by the feeling you are forgetting something important. There is a long moment as you try to think, while your newly acquired crabs scuttle around in Fleckker’s bucket. Then it comes to you – your promise to Parasol to hand the intelligence over, and your deceit that it was you who realized the value of the documents that Fleckkers snagged from the Prague Farmer’s Union.

“Fleckkers, when you dropped Norton off at Mt. Kineo, did anyone there ask you for those documents?” When his response is a prompt “nope” it seems that you have stumbled across another nascent headache here. Not to mention, an awkward position with Gunther … again. You had resolved to demonstrate trust in him by letting him stick around and hear Fleckker’s report. But if you were sending Fleckkers to drop off the intelligence, then you should seriously consider getting your stories straight, that it was you and not him who figured out the potential value of the documents that were completely incidentally taken from the office of the Union. Of course, this is not what happened at all, but it was what you told Parasol and Deputy Bean. You have already trusted Gunther enough to hear sensitive information – are you willing to tell Fleckkers that you lied to Parasol in front of him?

>>4598983
>Please choose ONE of the following:

>Work around the issue by ignoring Parasol’s order to send Fleckkers directly to Mt. Kineo with the intelligence as soon as he got back.

>Hope that you can ignore the issue for now, and get a minute alone with Fleckkers later to get your stories straight before you head to Mt. Kineo.

>Simply bite the bullet, and directly tell Fleckkers that if Parasol, Deputy Bean or anyone else asks, it was you who figured out the potential value of the documents that were completely incidentally taken from the office.

>Try to get your story straight with Fleckkers in a way that Gunther does not realize you have deceived your group’s leadership. (Speech-Deception Test CR 66, +1 situational bonus to modifier roll)

>>4598985
>Hope that you can ignore the issue for now, and get a minute alone with Fleckkers later to get your stories straight before you head to Mt. Kineo.
here we go again with the web of lies shit

>Work around the issue by ignoring Parasol’s order to send Fleckkers directly to Mt. Kineo with the intelligence as soon as he got back.

This option means we wait an hour or something to debrief Fleckkers and let him take a breather before going to Parasol and in that time Reginald and he get their stories straight? If so, this seems like the best option.

>>4599161
+1 on this. we should NOT tangle ourself up in more lies, that's suicide.

So much to do.
Secure the gasifier.
Check on the Dander the pig's injury.
Dig out the sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate and make moose jerky.
Clean the chimney before things get icy.
Use spray insulation to improve the house.
Build the greenhouses.
Secure the laser for the tank at the Morrison place and search the place thoroughly for a bunker.
Check around for an orthopedist for Mantle.
Secure meds for Mom. Then long term plans dictate the need for a pharmacuedical chemist, non-crank herbalist, or maybe a diatician to help her manage her low blood pressure or whatever is causing it(congenital heart defect or genetic disease maybe?).
Negotiate payment to Gunther for dialysis.

>>4598985

>Work around the issue by ignoring Parasol’s order to send Fleckkers directly to Mt. Kineo with the intelligence as soon as he got back.

If pressed, they did roll up at 2 in the fucking morning. Didn't want to send him up there, alone, at night, where he has a bad reputation and a tendecy to clam up when asked anything. Probably would've got shot.

>>4599161
Supporting this.
>>4599286
>Secure the gasifier.
Definitely. The gasifier might not be in working condition, and with limited man power, I think it'd be best to get Greenly and his operation to our homestead before making moves on the gasifier. We can hold him over with a bit of our own fuel until we manage to recover it. We might need to borrow a larger vehicle to transport things, though. We have several trucks but there's no telling how large his set-up is. Unless I misread something, Fleckkers never saw what things looked like indoors.
>Check on the Dander the pig's injury.
I know Gunther isn't an expert on animals or anything, but as a paramedic, he must have some degree of medical training. Asking him to look at the wound to see if it's infected, or not looking good might be a decent idea. Should hold us over for the time being, or at least shed light on whether or not we need to bring in a veterinarian.
>search the place thoroughly for a bunker.
Good idea. The Morrisons seem very interesting. Checking with the records in town to see whatever became of them could have potential. Treasure hunt.

What do you other anons think about taking over one of the other farms and building up an "off-the-books" farm out at one of them?
I considered it for a while but now it seems getting accidentally attacked by the Parasol Group or maybe just found out seems to outweigh the benefits.

I think the empty dairy is the best bet for a secondary "on the books" location. Move raided stuff there in case we step on the toes of friends of any farmers that join Parasol for some measure of deniability. Maybe move some people out there because it IS getting cramped.

Thoughts, Anons?

>>4599082
Well, as far as the web of lies is concerned, you are pretty much out of it. Deputy Bean doesn't have much more beyond a partially correct suspicion that Fleckkers was holding out on the group, and as long as you and the rest of the homestead get your stories straight before Bean gets a chance to ask anyone else, he wont have any way to prove his suspicions - and with everything else on his plate, he will be forced to drop it.

>>4599161
Actually, the option meant (though I was not clear) that Fleckkers would stay the night, and head over to Mt. Kineo with you and whoever else wanted to visit while you attend the Steering Committee.

>>4599312
Fleckkers does indeed have odd tendencies, and it is a reasonable assumption that Parasol did not expect Fleckkers and Norton to make it back to the lake so late. The issue with assuming that you can just hand wave all of that away is that Fleckkers did in fact head straight to Mt. Kineo, to drop of Norton, before returning to the Homestead. (It is worth noting that neither Fleckkers or Norton had anyway of knowing that you were ordered by Parasol to have the two of them relinquish the 'farm intelligence'.)

So considering there were a few points of confusion on the vote, I will wipe the slate clean, and start anew.

>Please choose ONE of the following:

>Work around the issue by ignoring Parasol’s order to send Fleckkers directly to Mt. Kineo with the intelligence as soon as he got back.

>Hope that you can ignore the issue for now, and get a minute alone with Fleckkers later to get your stories straight before you head to Mt. Kineo.

>Simply bite the bullet, and directly tell Fleckkers that if Parasol, Deputy Bean or anyone else asks, it was you who figured out the potential value of the documents that were completely incidentally taken from the office.

>Try to get your story straight with Fleckkers in a way that Gunther does not realize you have deceived your group’s leadership. (Speech-Deception Test CR 66, +1 situational bonus to modifier roll)

>>4599710
>Hope that you can ignore the issue for now, and get a minute alone with Fleckkers later to get your stories straight before you head to Mt. Kineo.

>>4599710

>Hope that you can ignore the issue for now, and get a minute alone with Fleckkers later to get your stories straight before you head to Mt. Kineo.

Sticking to the vote I had before. Might be risky, but it still seems like the one with the best options so far. I don't trust our luck when it comes to deception right now.

>>4599710
>>Hope that you can ignore the issue for now, and get a minute alone with Fleckkers later to get your stories straight before you head to Mt. Kineo.

>>4599718
>>4599717
>>4599712
Alright that settles it - consider this vote closed, for the second time.

You are not entirely certain how you wound up in the middle of this web of lies; all you wanted to do was to cover for Fleckkers, to do right by someone who had protected your mother and stuffed the Farmhouse full to bursting with critical supplies – it was a good deed, was it not? But now, you might just have to keep lying, again and again. And every time you do, that is another complication, another chance for Bean or someone else to figure you out – not to mention that the more you lie, the worse it would be for you if you were ever caught. You need to put an end to this as soon as possible, and the best way to do that is to stop lying.

Easier said than done, of course. At this point, you cannot let Fleckkers go to Mt. Kineo without getting your stories straight, otherwise someone might question him. You cannot get your story straight with Fleckkers without admitting to deliberately deceiving Parasol to Gunther – and a revelation like that would seriously undermine all of the effort you put into being a person worthy of trust … or perhaps just appearing as one. Either way, he will probably be making a formal decision soon, and something like that getting out could change his mind – or more realistically, give him second thoughts, and drag out his decision-making on going up even longer. The only way you see around this is for you to ignore Parasol’s order for him to hand over the intelligence as soon as he gets back, and have him come with you to Mt. Kineo when head over there for the meeting of the Steering Committee. If you get questioned on that … well, there is an issue there. Fleckkers was already at Mt. Kineo tonight, to drop of Norton … hopefully, you can justify this by saying that it was late, everyone was tired, there could be prowlers around the lake, but it just kills you that you are even in this patently ridiculous situation. Hopefully this does not mar the high opinion that Parasol has of you.

“Alright. Alright.” You find yourself rubbing your eyes with your uninjured hand as you figure out how to frame your orders for your hired men. “Fleckkers, will those crabs survive until tomorrow?” All you get from him is a non-committal grunt. “Well then … feed them something, table scraps or a portion of your dinner, and then we will bring them with us when we head over to Mt. Kineo tomorrow. No doubt the group would be more willing to furnish resources to get Greenly established with us if they saw that he could produce. After that, get some sleep. Tolle, I’m sorry to do this, but we need you back out there on guard duty – you can sleep during the day. Before you step out, please tell Gunther where my shotgun or 10/22 are, okay?” You do not ask if they had any questions, simply choosing to relax back into your stolen hospital gurney and close your eyes. After a moment of stillness, they get the idea, and as you fall back asleep, you can hear them quietly move off on their assignments.

>>4599830
When you wake up, it is 8:06am according to the battery-operated clock on the wall, illuminated by the uncommonly red early morning sunlight. With a bit of a start, you realize that this phenomenon is almost certainly attributable to the nuclear-induced volcanic eruptions in the west. Honestly, the look of it was unnerving enough. In this unnatural natural lighting, Gunther is sitting on your couch, quietly reading what you recognize to be the instruction manual of your 10/22. Tolle is fast asleep on his cot, with his rifle stowed underneath. You do not see or hear anyone else. You straighten up a bit, and blink the sleep from your eyes, as you look around and try to figure out what exactly you are going to do next.

>Please choose ONE of the following:
>Talk to Gunther about teaching him to operate the tank-thing
>Talk to Gunther about administering dialysis to you
>Talk to Gunther about taking a look at Dander (your boar)
>Talk to Gunther about him making a decision on joining the group

>>4599851
>>Talk to Gunther about taking a look at Dander (your boar)
Lets not put any pressure on the man about him joining up just yet. We'll need to talk to him eventually, but lets hold off on it.

>>4599868
+1

>>4599868
+1
It won't be "boar-ing" it will be interesting.

>>4600052
>>4599940
>>4599868
Not quite ready to start writing, but with three votes in already, I might as well consider this closed.

>>4599851

>Talk to Gunther about taking a look at Dander (your boar)

Animal anatomy is different than human, but a stab wound is a stab wound. He should be able to at least give us an idea of how bad it is.

>>4600249
Alright I am going to start writing momentarily, but I just wanted to point out, >>4599457 Gunther is a Registered Nurse, which is a step or two above a paramedic.

>>4600249

I know, but an RN isn't a Veterinarian. A stab wound is pretty straight-forward and diagnosing infection is relatively simple, but if it damaged any of his internals, it'll be harder for him to figure out exactly what and how badly. He knows about how to prepare for IVs, administer medications, and perform a lot of the common medical procedures, but Gunther isn't a surgeon or a general practitioner MD. Just something to keep in mind, especially if we get the opportunity to score some veterinarian books to make it easier in the future.

>>4600274
>>4600288

Fuck sakes, meant to ping your post instead of my own Trash.

>>4600052
>>4600274
please write in this fucking joke, it sounds exactly like the kind of shit Mantle would say in an attempt at humor

>>4600346
Good thing I caught this, I was about to make the post. I will slide this in there.

Not wanting to wake up Tolle after a real double-header on his part, a long day followed by a long night, you gesticulate and wave at Gunther until he finally notices. He puts down the manual, and as quietly as he can picks his way over to your bedside, to talk – or rather, to whisper. “Hey Gunther, could I ask you to do me a quick favor, when you get a minute, of course.” When he silently nods yes to that, you explain what you want from him. “… of course, I know that this is not your area of expertise …” a terrible pun comes to you suddenly, and in your drowsy, less inhibited state, you cannot help yourself “… and after working with people for so long, this would probably be ‘boar-ing’ …” Gunther hangs his head and gently snorts at that; a much better reaction than you expected. “Heh heh heh. I’m here all week.” No laughter is forthcoming for that one though, he just looks at you with a patient and vaguely plaintive look. Jesus, the well has already run dry.

“ - But seriously, out of everyone available, you obviously have the most medical knowledge, and I would hate to lose Dander to this sort of bullshit.” He readily agrees, and when you say that you owe him for this, he insists that it is ‘no problem’, and that he would take care of it first thing after breakfast. Still whispering, you ask the former night nurse where the rest of your household has gotten themselves off to.

“Well, your mother and my cousin are still dead to the world, as far as I know. Fleckkers was looking to improve the little ‘bunker’ they built out of stacked firewood on your front porch, where they keep watch. Wanted to get some sort of roof on top of it – though that does not make that much sense, when you think about it, considering that it is on the porch and the porch already has a roof.” In you still drowsy state, it takes you a moment or two to think of what on Earth Fleckkers needs a ‘roof’ for, but it does eventually come to you, and you explain to your guest what he is looking to accomplish. “If I had to make a guess, I’d say that he wants a roof on there so no one could throw anything into his little woodpile – defense against a Molotov, or something.” Gunther’s eyes go a bit wide at that – his next question is a predictable one. “Do … do you think that is necessary?”

>>4600391
>>4600391
>Please pick one of the following:

>To be entirely honest, yes. Whether or not it was Firebugs who hit the Homestead the first night, the fact of the matter remains is that there are people on the lake who are capable of making improvised incendiaries. Making preparations against Molotov’s or improvised satchel charges are reasonable preparations, considering what we know about these people.

>To be entirely honest, maybe. While it is unlikely that those prowlers were Firebugs, or had any intent other than stealing food, there is a slight chance that they were like the Firebugs B-Team, or 'inspired' by them, or something. Making basic preparations against attacks that would be in their repertoire of them or an imitator makes some sense, though of course, there is a point of diminishing returns.

>To be entirely honest, no – considering that the fools who attacked us weren’t Firebugs. Firebugs are competent, stealthy, and above all, are arsonists. The prowlers on that first night were not competent or stealthy, and I don’t consider a Yippo, matches and fucking yarn enough evidence to consider their intent, primary or otherwise, arson. Fleckkers … maybe he is convinced, but ... don't you think it would be ‘politically’ convenient if they were Firebugs, because that would make him the only group member who managed to kill one? Don't worry about this.

>>4600399
>>To be entirely honest, maybe. While it is unlikely that those prowlers were Firebugs, or had any intent other than stealing food, there is a slight chance that they were like the Firebugs B-Team, or 'inspired' by them, or something. Making basic preparations against attacks that would be in their repertoire of them or an imitator makes some sense, though of course, there is a point of diminishing returns.
Can never be too careful. If actual firebugs showed up here for whatever reason, all of this paranoid preparation would be well worth it. It's definitely not the sort of thing Gunther would want to hear, but it's something we should admit.

>To be entirely honest, maybe. While it is unlikely that those prowlers were Firebugs, or had any intent other than stealing food, there is a slight chance that they were like the Firebugs B-Team, or 'inspired' by them, or something. Making basic preparations against attacks that would be in their repertoire of them or an imitator makes some sense, though of course, there is a point of diminishing returns.

This seems within the realm of honesty without unduely scaring Gunther or being dismissive to Fleckkers. Would't want to be boar-ish.

>>4600399

>To be entirely honest, yes. Whether or not it was Firebugs who hit the Homestead the first night, the fact of the matter remains is that there are people on the lake who are capable of making improvised incendiaries. Making preparations against Molotov’s or improvised satchel charges are reasonable preparations, considering what we know about these people.

no lie here, making preparations is a reasonable precaution.

>>4601085
>>4600883
>>4600866
Not quite ready to start writing, but we can tentatively consider this vote closed.

File: Mt. Kineo from Rockhead.jpg (91 KB, 824x666)

91 KB JPG

You raise a placating hand towards your increasingly worried guest. While you have serious doubts as to Fleckker’s (and apparently some Deputy’s as well) belief that the prowlers were Firebugs, taking precautions against them is not a terrible idea. These … you guess that you could call them counter-insurrectionists … are sensible enough to target isolated and soft targets. Beyond the cute stunt they pulled at the bait shop to lure the crew of Engine 2 to their deaths, there have been other fires set – mostly at the houses of group members. Possibly just as a way to vent, considering that the group buttoned itself up after the first attack, possibly to hopefully draw out members foolish enough to try to protect their property, or maybe just as psychological targets. From what little of their ‘playbook’ you have seen, they are looking for ambushes, not assaults – but that does not mean that they will not change up their tactics, especially if you and the rest of the group manage to avoid a repeat of what happened at the ‘Boat House*'. Of course, Gunther does not need to hear that right now – but you are not as reckless as to completely downplay a legitimate, while still potential, threat to your Homestead, or to scoff at reasonable precautions being taken against it … even if Fleckkers is playing politics, or grandstanding, or whatever the fuck it is.

Speaking quietly, to not wake Tolle, you try to honestly appraise Gunther of the situation here. “To be entirely honest, I think it could be a reasonable precaution. Firebugs use incendiaries, and while I doubt those prowlers were Firebugs, ensuring that the Farmhouse is protected against … I don’t even know … modalities, I guess, of attack, that we know enemies in the area use is smart.” Gunther does not seem particularly reassured; no doubt he was hoping that you would just say that your hired man was just being paranoid or making busy work for himself or something. You do try to reassure him; insisting that your Homestead is not going to turn into the OK Corral – and while that does seem to calm him down a bit, you realize that you really have no way to make a promise like that. Still he does not seem as wide-eyed and worried as he was just a minute ago, as he returns to reading the manual for your 10/22 … well, presumably his 10/22 now. It does not escape your attention however, that he is reading the manually much more intently than before – in fact, he is really pouring over it – no doubt because of the conversation you just had.

* For those of you who do not remember, the 'Boat House' is the name of the small Fire Station on the property where Public Safety and Public Works keep some of their watercraft on their own dedicated wharf - located just outside of Debouche in 'Rockhead', an unincorporated community. 'Pic related' is the real Mt. Kineo, seen from Rockwood, the real world equivalent of 'Rockhead'.

God damn it all to Hell. While it is certainly better that he knows the honest truth of your situation – you are very acutely aware that he could choose to join the group, but decide to live elsewhere. You had not given that possibility that much thought, and you do not recall discussing it with him at any point, but … this Homestead is pretty isolated, and while it is nowhere near as soft of a target as the ‘Boat House’ was …

You feel the need to do something, to convince your guest that your home is safe for him, and more importantly, his cousin, to live in. You have a couple of ideas.

>Choose as many of the following as you wish – just remember that these things are never as quick, easy, cheap or as straightforward as they seem.

> This would be a good time to tell him you have a tank-thing. Mention your pride and joy, ask him if he be willing to learn how to drive and operate it, so you could get it out of the ravine as soon as possible.

>Casually mention that if he did join up, you would be able to get him a much better rifle than that 10/22, and maybe even some body armor to go with it.

>Suggest that he attends the Steering Committee with you, as a note-taker, as your dominant hand is all bandaged up. He could get a better sense of the precautions that the group is taking, possibly making him more comfortable.

>Float the idea of having most of the Homestead head over to the Public Safety building at some point, maybe even today or tomorrow, to use the inside range for firearms practice.

>Tell him that you were going to request proper Firefighting equipment be sent over, to ensure that if there was some sort of incendiary situation, Tolle would have the tools available to deal with it.

>>4601144
> This would be a good time to tell him you have a tank-thing. Mention your pride and joy, ask him if he be willing to learn how to drive and operate it, so you could get it out of the ravine as soon as possible.
This we already decided on
>Tell him that you were going to request proper Firefighting equipment be sent over, to ensure that if there was some sort of incendiary situation, Tolle would have the tools available to deal with it.
this sounds very reasonable

>>4601199
I know it was already decided on, but it seemed kind of ... narratively awkward to leave out of this vote. Apologies for any confusion.

>>4601144
>>> This would be a good time to tell him you have a tank-thing. Mention your pride and joy, ask him if he be willing to learn how to drive and operate it, so you could get it out of the ravine as soon as possible.
I don't see any downside to this option. We planned to float the idea to him later anyways.
>Tell him that you were going to request proper Firefighting equipment be sent over, to ensure that if there was some sort of incendiary situation, Tolle would have the tools available to deal with it.
It's probably going to be costly, but as the group's only current food producer, whoever would be supplying us would probably see it as a safe bet. Reasonable option, and one we should be doing regardless.
>Float the idea of having most of the Homestead head over to the Public Safety building at some point, maybe even today or tomorrow, to use the inside range for firearms practice.
I'm sure he wants to give the 10/22 a shot, and giving Petra some firearm instruction wouldn't be a bad idea either. This could be a good opportunity to float the idea of him having that talk with her.

Hey guys just a heads up - my Wi-Fi has decided to completely shit itself. I dont know what the Hell happened, so it might be a bit before I can continue the run.

>>4601334
Alright - thankfully I was able to troubleshoot this on my own. Not quite ready to start writing, so I will leave this open for another hour or so.

> This would be a good time to tell him you have a tank-thing. Mention your pride and joy, ask him if he be willing to learn how to drive and operate it, so you could get it out of the ravine as soon as possible.
>Tell him that you were going to request proper Firefighting equipment be sent over, to ensure that if there was some sort of incendiary situation, Tolle would have the tools available to deal with it.
>Float the idea of having most of the Homestead head over to the Public Safety building at some point, maybe even today or tomorrow, to use the inside range for firearms practice.

> This would be a good time to tell him you have a tank-thing. Mention your pride and joy, ask him if he be willing to learn how to drive and operate it, so you could get it out of the ravine as soon as possible.

Far as firefighting equipment goes, if Fleckkers got a sump pump from the Farm Coop(it was on the List), we could rig that to a hose and a tank of water(maybe mount all this onto a trailer or a hay wagon) that should be easy to scavenge and power it with a power source it should get some decent water pressure that doesn't require being on the grid.

Did a little additional research. Looks like a good sump pump is only 1/4 as good as a low end mobile fire pump.
Thought it was better.
Could still work but not great.

Sorry for the unexpected lapses today - I will get a post up for an overnight vote and I intend for a more regular run tomorrow.