Play date: July 19, 2014
Game date: November 13, EY218
Location: Bashois, Nodapar system
Previous events: Finding the former prison of Carerra, where Choi might be
As the five of them walk down the cracked road towards Carerra in the dark Volkova notices that the lights of the old prison are flickering slightly. This is not too surprising given the magnetic fluctuations here. When they get closer to the place they can see it's got a chainlink fence surrounding a tall stone wall that in turn surrounds some grim prison buildings. There's a raised guard house abutting the outer fence and when they enter its lit-up area the armed guards call for them to stop. There's a tense moment while the Hummingbirds and Black Rose wait to see if their bald pates are convincing enough.
It seems like their shaved heads do the trick: the guards call out that they're early, and when Jillian growls out a not-very subtle response the gates are opened and they stroll in, doing their best to look like members of the gang that the whole planet seems to be afraid of. In the dim light workers can be seen toiling in the large farm that lies between the fences. These people look the part of slaves, with shabby clothing and a cowed demeanour. The obviously better-fed armed guards keeping watch over them make their position more obvious.
At the far end of the fields the imposing gates in the high stone walls are open and the guards there let in the "Gandhis" with a comment about how they're early. Once inside Jillian accosts someone and demands to know where she can get a drink here -- surely there's a bar -- and is pointed to a nondescript door.
After Jillian knocks on the locked door it's opened by a rather large Vishnan bouncer, who scowls at them but lets them in without a word. The place inside certainly looks like a bar: it has room for about twenty-five people but currently only five people are there, including the Vishnan bartender. Of the five other customers two are nursing drinks at the bar. The only noteworthy one of the lot is an old man in a cloak in the darkest corner, speaking in hushed tones to an adventuresome-looking pair.
Bishop leads his group to the bar, where the bartender pulls out an unopened bottle for him and quickly adds five clean shot glasses without being prompted or asking for payment. She informs him that they're early and asks where Nutan is. Still playing at being a fearsome Gandhi Bishop grunts that he doesn't know and doesn't care. She gives him a dirty look but doesn't say anything else. The others sidle up to the bar as well and the two customers already there slink off to the tables. Being a Gandhi has its advantages!
The bottles on display behind the bar all have handmade labels with names like "Liver Shiv", "Shitty", and "Brainrot". Bishop's been given a complimentary bottle of "Less Shitty" and he fills the tightly-packed row of shotglasses with aplomb, leaving one empty: he's not drinking. "Less Shitty" is a surprisingly good brand of phenomenally strong liquor, leading to lots of surprised gasps during the first shot. While the group is working on their drinks the bartender asks Malcolm what brings them to Carerra early. He's even more terse than usual, saying only that it's a special trip in a hostile tone.
Watching the bartender's reaction Jillian realizes that they've been playing the part of jerky goons too strongly. She decides to take a lighter tack and jumps in, asking if the bartender knows Mi Kyong Choi. Choi was indeed here but hasn't been in a while; the person who'd have more information would be Schmitz, Carerra's ruler. Volkova hasn't copped on to the idea of being nicer than they have been but offers the barkeep a cigarette from a pack from uBuntu just because it's her thing. It's not a tobacco cigarette, but it's not bad.
When the bartender starts asking Malcolm some more probing questions Jillian steps in again and shuts her down. Finally giving up, the bartender stalks over to the other end of the bar and focuses on cleaning glasses. Bishop thinks that she was hitting on Malcolm but keeps that to himself.
Deciding to finish off the bottle here seems like a good idea until they've actually finished off the bottle and its effects kick in. Ester and Volkova's bulk and judicious eating of beer nuts keep them from getting too drunk and Jillian, for once, is only happily tipsy. Malcolm's the one whose liver isn't up to the challenge. He literally falls to the floor and is unable to climb back up Mount Bar Stool. Volkova takes Jillian by the arm and helps her to the door while Ester holds Malcolm upright and hustles him out. Unfortunately, Malcolm's body rebels against the booze and he vomits all over the floor, Ester barely managing to point him away from the others in time. Bishop offers a lame apology and offers to have "Mama Bear" fix their useless generator as a halfhearted gesture. Getting out the mop and bucket, the bartender coldly tells them to talk to Schmitz about the generator and then mutters something else under her breath that they can't make out. On the way out they see a sign on the wall advertising a fight in the arena tonight. Volkova's very interested in watching that!
Once they're outside Jillian starts going on in Ester's ear about Xao. She talks about his stupid pirate obsession, his stupid ship's name, how he's not nearly as attractive as he thinks, and so on. This is all new to Ester and she nods intently as Jillian rambles.
If they're going to see Schmitz Malcolm should be left somewhere to sleep off his booze instead of bringing him along and having him vomit. Jillian grabs a slave and demands to know where the Gandhis usually stay here. The frightened slave says "Purnima's" in a quavering voice and points to the bar door that they just exited through. Lovely.
Back in the bar Purnima, the barkeep, has finished cleaning up Malcom's mess and isn't too happy to see them back. She apparently can't deny them rooms, though, and gives them the keys for two along with a couple of buckets. The rooms are fairly cold and bare, which goes along with being part of a former prison. Malcolm gets dumped on a bed and lies there like a sack of potatoes with fewer eyes and more limbs.
Bishop thinks that everyone should be at their best to see Schmitz and offers to make a little something to perk up everyone's energy level. They agree and his mixture -- made where no one can see it so they don't have to know the fairly high grub-to-nongrub ratio of ingredients -- also takes the edge off of the drunkenness. Malcolm's less drunk, but that only makes him very drunk and he'll still be staying in the room. Ester offers to stay as well and keep an eye on him; when he hears this he insists that she's not his type, which she pretends not to hear.
With Malcolm safely out of way Bishop, Jillian, and Volkova go to see Schmitz. The old warden's office is where the current leader is found and it's easy enough to find. As it turns out Jillian's feeling a little too good from Bishop's concoction and she's weirdly euphoric to the guard at the front door. He comments that they're early and looks like he's going to give them a hassle so Volkova brusquely shoves her way past him and the rest of the "Gandhis" follow.
There are a few more guards inside and then they're up the stairs and at Schmitz's office. She's short and otherwise physically unremarkable, but has a suspicious look to her, given how they're not the usual group of Gandhis and have come early. This look becomes more pronounced when Jillian keeps acting strangely. Bishop jumps in to try to salvage this important meeting but Jillian refuses to back down and starts asking about the malfunctioning generator and the fight that night while Bishop is keeping on track and asking about Choi. Schmitz is happy to talk about Choi if someone's going to go after her. She was basically preaching about controlling the planet's animals to take over the planet. Schmitz found her personally annoying and that dislike became professional when Choi managed to steal about twenty people away from Carerra. Schmitz isn't sure where Choi went exactly but is certain that the group's quarry is in the sizeable delta to the north. It should be easy enough to get resources from Fangtooth -- where Schmitz likely assumes they're from -- to travel through the delta.
Volkova's free to look at the generator and the fight tonight is of course open to everyone if they want to watch. When Schmitz asks questions it's clear that she's been informed about the new arrivals. They claim to not know anyone from Fangtooth, the Gandhi enclave to the north, but from "Shankwater", which they simply describe as being "far away". They pass off their walking in rather than driving because they came from Minty Alley, from which they stole a boat. Despite her altered state of mind Jillian catches on that Schmitz is deeply suspicious of the gang but as long as she thinks they're potentially Gandhis she dares not do anything.
A guard takes Volkova to the generator in an adjacent building. He assumes that her "Electric Eliminators" jacket refers to her profession as an electrician until she explains how she got it. The generator is not properly designed to operate with these sorts of magnetic fluctuations and Volkova doesn't have the proper tools, let alone parts, to do much more than make it work somewhat better. While she works she chats with the guard, Elliott, mostly about the fight tonight. Elliott thinks that it would be a good idea for her to fight: looking at her muscles and listening to her story about beating up gang members he's sure she'd win. There are various levels of matchups available: one-on-one or battle royales, armed or not, lethal or until someone gives up. Volkova's not interested in killing someone or mangling them with weapons, so she agrees to let Elliott sign her up but only for a nonlethal one-on-one match. He's excited about betting on her and winning for the first time in a while: he seems to have a history of making poor bets. He's sure this time will be different!
When he asks her a bit about her background she works out that many communities here are centred around old population centres or areas where trash is dumped on the planet. She claims to be from a town near a bioweapons dump, which he doesn't especially want to hear more about.
Having done what she can with the generator Volkova heads back to Purnima's and hangs out with the rest of her crew until it's time to go to the fight. It's not much of a rest and Malcolm's still not truly got his feet under him when they leave. Bishop, who disapproves of violence, whether for sport or not, volunteers to stay with Malcolm. Malcolm insists that Bishop's not his type.
The fights take place in what looks like the old gym, complete with splintery pull-out gym bleachers. It's obvious that the slaves are kept in the back while the masters get the better views up front and armed guards keep the peace. The Gandhis have the best seats in the house, of course. An almost completely sober Jillian finds the fight organizers and finalizes the arrangements for Volkova's match: one-on-one, unarmed, and until someone's unconscious or taps out. This puts her near the beginning of the evening's festivities: as the night wears on the fights will get larger, increasingly savage, and more lethal, with the last couple being literally to the death. Jillian does her best to portray Volkova as a weakling to push the odds in her favour but no one's buying it and the odds are pretty much even for the fight. Jillian coughs up one of Volkova's off-world bottles of vodka for the bet and then joins Ester in the Gandhi booth.
Volkova's turn eventually comes up and the organizers have matched her with "Vasava, the Vishnan Bull", a mountain of a man who looks like he knows his way around a fight and seems to be roughly her equal in terms of muscle mass. He's wearing trunks and nothing else: Volkova's come with her "Electric Eliminators" jacket -- which she puts aside for the fight -- and clothing with a minimal amount of potential handholds. The two of them are introduced to the crowd by the incredibly loud announcer who doesn't actually need a bullhorn to shout above the crowd and then they shake hands in the centre of the arena. They lock eyes and he asks for an agreement not to hurt each other permanently. Volkova's not interested in crippling anyone and immediately concurs. Then they separate and begin to warily circle each other.
Both start off going for body blows but it soon turns into a grappling match, the two of them straining for an advantage. The turning point comes when Volkova trips up Vasava and gives him a swift kick in the ribs before he manages to regain his feet. She's pretty sure that she hears something give when she does so and he's obviously in pain for the rest of the match. She eventually uses that to her advantage and maneuvers herself behind him, getting a firm grip on his arm and pulling it behind him. She ends up a position to break it badly. He turns his head to look at her to see if she'll keep to their agreement. She does, making it obvious to the crowd that she could easily cripple him and giving him the opportunity to tap out with no loss of honour.
Letting him up, Volkova is hailed as the victor and shakes Vasava's hand and tells him that it was a good fight. He thanks her for not hurting him too badly (though he is tenderly holding his ribs with his other arm) and in a moment of generosity for a fellow combatant Volkova offers him her Electric Eliminators jacket. Jillian notices that the slaves seem to appreciate this.
The prize for her success is underwhelming. Volkova's bottle of very good vodka has disappeared and been replaced by two bottles of "Shitty". Disappointed by the loot but happy about her victory she takes the bottles and they decide to retire for the night. None of the Hummingbirds have any desire to see any of the more gruesome fights coming up. On the way out Volkova catches sight of Elliott, the guard who pushed for her to fight, gleefully holding his own winnings of two bottles of "Shitty" and giving her a huge grin and wink.
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Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 19)
Jillian's Bedpost Notch Count: 0
Malcolm's Bedpost Notch Count: 0: no one was his type (running total: 7)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 4)