April 30th
-It's coming up on the last chance for Newton to attack the tank. Sam and his helpers are working hard to finish it.
-Meanwhile, the new equipment is distributed at Fort Newton.
-Bryant mentions to Corwin that Newton is now broke and will be in the red even if they win.
-Gerard wants information from Ophelia soon, he wants to leave town before the army arrives. He also offers money if she can get him info on where the new weapons and equipment came from.
-Ophelia gets several more requests for information on said weapons and equipment.
-Ophelia reports information to Corwin, then later breaks in and gets a lead on the equipment--the kid that passed out in the woods. She goes and sees him, and bribes him to tell her where he was. Ophelia goes out, finds the silo, takes pictures.
-Ophelia meets up with Dutch and Virgil. They decide to try and take Gerard down tonight.
-Ophelia takes Gerard to the back room, tells him about the silo.
-As Virgil and Dutch go out to try and intercept Gerard and his men, Virgil is stabbed by Morton, seeking revenge for the murder of his cousin. Virgil isn't badly injured, but Dutch is forced to gun down Morton, alerting Gerard and his men, not to mention the militia.
-A firefight ensues which is broken up by the arrival of Eva and the militia.
-As Ophelia is departing the scene, she finds another mobster up on a roof radioing information. She kills him, but not before he manages to get the word out that Dutch and Virgil just tried to kill Gerard.
-Eva has Gerard and his men sent to the sheriff's office for holding.
-Ophelia reports to Corwin that the men are mobsters and that they were asking her for information about a nuke. Corwin holds an emergency meeting of the council, where they decide off the record that the mobsters must be killed for safety's sake.
-Anders sends his deputies on break, Dutch walks into the cell with a silenced pistol. Gerard tells Dutch he strongly suspected him but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt; he also tells Dutch that in the near future things much more important than his dispute with the mob are coming and he'd better be ready to make the right choices. Dutch kills Gerard and all his men.
-Ophelia tells Dutch and Virgil about the man with the radio. They are almost certainly now marked men.
May 1st
-The train is finally ready to go. It is sent down the tracks at top speed, packed with explosives. At the last moment the one car it's pulling, modified to be a mobile fortress, is detached. The tank is started up and fires a shell at the engine, but it's too late. The engine smashes into the tank, they fuse together and go tumbling, then explode. Then the car arrives and its occupants open up with their weapons. They inflict heavy casualties, but are all eventually gunned down. Then Virgil and his men, who had been videotaping the events thus far, ride down before they can reorganize and make a deadly hit-and-run attack.
-Back in Newton, the recording of the engine taking out the tank is played in the town square. Morale is much improved. Meanwhile Colonel Washington is forced to halt to regroup and tend to the wounded, and wait for the New Eden forces to catch up, but he pledges that he will retaliate for today's attack.
Saturday, December 6
Friday, November 21
Episode 12 Downtime
Newton Defense Plan, Draft 5
SIGNED, FORCE COMMAND
Cmdr. Eva Cervantes, Capt. Charles Sheridan, Virgil Church, Sam Newton, Alexander "Dutch" Williams
ABSTRACT
Given the radical imbalance of forces between those defending Newton and those attacking, we feel that it is of grave importance to leverage our comparative advantages to their greatest extent. We feel that these advantages lie in four areas: first, terrain; second, equipment; third, unique skills of elite troops; fourth, psychological warfare.
The terrain of Newton is uniquely suited for defense. The enemy has two options for attack: they may enter the town through one of two mountain passes, both of which are narrow and easily defended, and which we have much experience defending. Their other options are to attack through the mountains, which present unique challenges for moving a large force and, most importantly, would preclude the use of the enemy's heaviest weapon, the tank. Either option works to our advantage.
The equipment recently discovered in the pre-cataclysm cache brings us up to rough parity with the Greer renegades in terms of average equipment. It also puts us clear in the technological lead over the New Eden mixed/irregular forces. We have discovered that there is enough light and medium weapons to equip approximately 100 troops with state of the art "Land Warrior" equipment, as well as allowing us to redistribute existing equipment and not rely on some of our older and less reliable gear. We feel this will act as a significant force multiplier, especially in light of some of our plans of attack (see below).
It is also worth noting that we recovered a tremendous amount of radio gear, which will give us communications unequaled among our enemies. We mean to use this to its full advantage.
In terms of elite troops, we have the 16 men of Church's Irregulars, all of whom are highly skilled in both defense operations as well at detached, asymmetrical warfare. They are also highly adept at moving quickly through inclement terrain. In addition, we have thirty men provided by Lucius Lessard-Newton, who are all rated as excellent marksmen and in individual combat. In addition, many of our recently-activate militia are former mercenaries and veterans of the Bandit Campaign. Less than 20% of our forces are unbloodied, bringing us to only a slight disadvantage in terms of overall experience of the Greer renegades.
We believe that the enemy's strength lies in their faith in the leader and the righteousness of their mission. They are on a mission from God, so they cannot fail. We will rid them of that notion through unpredictable and devastating surprise attacks, attacking targets of opportunity as well as officers, supplies, and gear. We will use leaflets to compound the effects of these actions.
PREPARATION
Barricades will be constructed on the Newton side of the northern pass sufficient for our entire regular force. These will be designed to counter heavy infantry and cavalry.
The Newton Outpost will be reinforced for the brief stand and feint.
Town Hall and Fort Newton will be reinforced for our last stand.
Church's Irregulars and Lessard-Newton's elite troops (whom we are dubbing the Commandos) will be outfitted with the best of the gear recently recovered from the Pre-Catalysm Cache. They will also set up an encryption scheme to cover communications between them and Force Command.
Sam Newton's steam engine will be made ready to attack. It will be armored to resist light weapons. An armored rail car equipped with heavy machine guns and grenades will be prepared for volunteers to man. They will cut it loose a few moments before impact and use the momentum to carry themselves in to the thick of the enemy.
Church's Irregulars and Commandos will be equipped with whatever anti-tank weapons we have in case the train fails.
PLAN OF ACTION
We foresee three distinct but related operations: first, skirmishes and harassment to slow down and demoralize the enemy, second, defense at the pass, and third, defense in the town itself.
In the first phase, our elite troops, moving quickly, will capitalize on our enemy's lack of mobility and attack them from forest and mountain at night or when they are otherwise unaware. There are no less than five places between the enemy's current location where following the track will lead them close to compromising terrain, which we can use to our advantage.
Our skirmishes will try to severe the enemy's supply lines wherever possible, or destroy his supply train. Furthermore, if the opportunity presents itself, they will try specifically to eliminate Colonel Sam Washington. According to Corwin's report to the council, he has built up a substantial cult of personality and his death, we believe, would deal a blow to morale without equal.
It is also recommended that the irregulars make every effort to carry the dead out of the combat zone, both to recover their equipment and to add an air of invincibility. We believe that this will provide a significant blow to morale.
A crucial part of the this plan lies in Sam Newton's steam engine. Although we believe that we have recovered sufficient anti-tank gear to defeat Greer's weapon, we believe that attacking it with the engine will be a surer and more demoralizing method of destroying it, in addition to providing excellent support for the first of our skirmishes. We will use our superior communications equipment to coordinate this attack, and it will be timed to attack when the terrain affords our enemy minimum warning.
During this initial skirmish, our irregular troops will attempt to assist those who have volunteered to man our ad-hoc armored train, though it is a secondary objective and those troops manning it are to be regarded as expendable.
During these skirmishes, our troops would also disperse leaflets in an attempt to wreak havoc with morale and motivation through psychological warfare. See below for recommendations regarding these leaflets.
Once they reach the Newton Outpost, our troops will put up a brief firefight and then fall back into the pass, leaving our enemy three options: stay put, in which case we will hit them with our artillery as best we are able, attack through the mountains, the disadvantages of which have already been discussed, and attack through the pass.
If they attack through the pass, troops stationed along it will use automatic fire and grenades on the tightly-packed troops, while snipers will attempt to pick off officers. At the far end of the pass, our troops will retreat to already-established barricades and hold their ground. The irregular troops, should any have survived, will move in the open end of the pass and either attack or pick off retreating troops. We will, however, not box them in - as Sun Tzu suggested, a cornered enemy will fight much harder than one who has means of escape.
If the enemy makes it through the pass, our forces will retreat and regroup at the Fort and town hall, these being the two most structurally sound buildings in the town, as well as occupying commanding terrain. At this point, auxiliaries will pass out our remaining equipment to anyone in town who wishes it. It is our hope that if things make it to this point, the enemy will be sufficiently few that this may turn the tide.
[Maps, etc. included]
LIST OF FORCES
[What follows is a long list of troops, divided by command and assignment]
SUMMARY
Use of terrain, elite troops, and psychological warfare will win the day if anything does. These facts are to be kept in mind at all times.
Note that this plan may work equally well when applied to the New Eden forces. However, being less experienced and further from home, we expect the psychological aspects to be even greater.
APPENDIX 1: LEAFLET DESIGN
The Reverend Stapleton contributed to the first portion of this leaflet.
"As a man who knew William Netwon though his entire life and had the solemn honor of overseeing his last rites and burial, it saddens me to see grievous actions being committed in his name. Separatism and blind obedience were anathema to him. He fought for himself and for God, not for leaders high on their plateau of command or hierarchs in their rich palaces. Consider, are you fighting for yourself? Are you making your own decisions, as he did? Or are you being blindly led to your own destruction?
-Reverend Wyatt Stapleton
Take heed of the Reverends words. If you choose not to, then, be aware that we will make every effort to defend that which we've worked and bled for. We will attack you at night, we will strike your flanks, we will use artillery to hit from beyond the horizon. There will be no defense. Our elite troops, skilled in mountain and forest warfare, are shadowing you as you read this. They may be watching and preparing an attack at this moment.
In William Newton's stead, however, we are prepared to be merciful. If you surrender by unloading your weapon, placing it barrel-first in the ground, and waving this leaflet or white flag, you will not be harmed. Indeed, our town is made up of diverse and eclectic individuals seeking their own wealth - if you are not her enemy, you are welcome to join her.
So consider your options: death at an unexpected moment, or a new life in a fast-growing town. Which seems like a better deal to you?"
Episode 11 Summary
April 27th
-Dutch gets a visit from Gerard, the mobster. He asks Dutch for any information he has about Chris Wall's disappearance. Dutch just tells him that he was knocked off by some civic-minded citizens. Gerard warns him he's sticking around until he figures out the whole truth.
-Lucius visits Eva; he has hired a few dozen mercenaries and brought in some high-quality weapons.
-Anders gets word that the Intel man wants to meet with him and someone wants Ophelia arrested. He brings in Ophelia to resolve this; Mr. Morton, the cousin of the man Ophelia stabbed, wants her arrested for his murder. For now he only has the rumors that his cousin was last seen going into the back room with Ophelia. Anders holds Ophelia for 24 hours while Mr. Morton is told to come back with names of trustworthy people who can confirm his information.
-Anders goes to meet Mr. Emerson, the Intel man. He runs into Thomas Newton on the way out, who tells him the council is meeting in an hour to talk to Cody's prime minister. Emerson tells Anders that in light of the current situation he's made other arrangements for the Intel corporation, through someone's connections in Cody.
-In the middle of the webcam conversation with Cody's prime minister, the connection cuts out at exactly 9am. It appears all the internet lines to Newton have been cut simultaneously.
-Cpt. Sheridan, scouting ahead, finds that the oncoming army is dragging a tank with them. He tries to send a message to Newton at a local town, finds that the lines to Newton are down. He sends a messenger and buys up a bunch of explosives and destroys sections of track in order to slow them down.
-In Newton, about 200 irregulars are mustered for the defense of Newton, and Virgil's band joins up. Meanwhile, Sam Newton sells weapons to the citizenry.
-The council gets word about the tank. Corwin goes to see Sam Newton about his steam engine; a plan is hatched to quickly try to make it functional and to send it down the tracks to destroy the tank.
-A message is sent off to Greer asking for help.
April 28th
-Virgil is out scouting; he finds that the enemy has repaired the tracks overnight and is still moving.
-Dutch watches the mobsters make the rounds, trying to get information.
-Mr. Morton returns to Anders with credible witnesses; Anders decides to launch an investigation. Just then Virgil arrives and tells Anders he's the one who killed the man, but points out that he's too important to Newton's defense to get arrested. Anders tells him he'll hold off on arresting him until the conflict is over.
-Ophelia, now released, gets word that a New Eden force is also on its way, picking up conscripts as it goes.
-A council of war is held in Newton. The plan is to rally around Fort Newton. A messenger arrives with a list of demands from Greer in exchange for help; the council decides to reject it.
-Sam Newton reports that his steam engine should be ready to go in time for the plan. The plan is expanded to include a rail car armed with machine guns; volunteers are found to go on this suicide mission.
-Solomon reports to Corwin that the field hospital has been set up. Also, a child playing in the wilderness somehow managed to inhale a bunch of nitrogen gas; Corwin sends Sheridan to figure out why.
-Corwin goes out alone to meet with Colonel Washington.
-Gerard Finner asks Ophelia for information; offers lots of money. He also offers Virgil work in the future.
-Virgil and Ophelia go to talk to Dutch about this; they find Dutch three sheets to the wind and with no idea how he's going to handle the situation.
April 29th
-Corwin meets with Colonel Washington, who reveals his motivations for joining with New Eden and attacking Newton; he became disillusioned with Greer as they became more and more greedy and less focused on Edenist ideals, and he sees the same thing happening to Newton since William Newton died. He wants to preserve Newton as it was before, not wanting to see the same thing happen as did to Greer, and if that means conquering it so be it. He does not detain Corwin but provides him with a fresh horse to return to Newton.
-Sheridan goes out and looks for the source of the nitrogen. What he finds is an underground military facility. He starts up the emergency generator and finds an armory full of well-preserved pre-cataclysm military hardware. He also finds a nuclear missile; the facility is a mothballed missile silo.
-Dutch gets a visit from Gerard, the mobster. He asks Dutch for any information he has about Chris Wall's disappearance. Dutch just tells him that he was knocked off by some civic-minded citizens. Gerard warns him he's sticking around until he figures out the whole truth.
-Lucius visits Eva; he has hired a few dozen mercenaries and brought in some high-quality weapons.
-Anders gets word that the Intel man wants to meet with him and someone wants Ophelia arrested. He brings in Ophelia to resolve this; Mr. Morton, the cousin of the man Ophelia stabbed, wants her arrested for his murder. For now he only has the rumors that his cousin was last seen going into the back room with Ophelia. Anders holds Ophelia for 24 hours while Mr. Morton is told to come back with names of trustworthy people who can confirm his information.
-Anders goes to meet Mr. Emerson, the Intel man. He runs into Thomas Newton on the way out, who tells him the council is meeting in an hour to talk to Cody's prime minister. Emerson tells Anders that in light of the current situation he's made other arrangements for the Intel corporation, through someone's connections in Cody.
-In the middle of the webcam conversation with Cody's prime minister, the connection cuts out at exactly 9am. It appears all the internet lines to Newton have been cut simultaneously.
-Cpt. Sheridan, scouting ahead, finds that the oncoming army is dragging a tank with them. He tries to send a message to Newton at a local town, finds that the lines to Newton are down. He sends a messenger and buys up a bunch of explosives and destroys sections of track in order to slow them down.
-In Newton, about 200 irregulars are mustered for the defense of Newton, and Virgil's band joins up. Meanwhile, Sam Newton sells weapons to the citizenry.
-The council gets word about the tank. Corwin goes to see Sam Newton about his steam engine; a plan is hatched to quickly try to make it functional and to send it down the tracks to destroy the tank.
-A message is sent off to Greer asking for help.
April 28th
-Virgil is out scouting; he finds that the enemy has repaired the tracks overnight and is still moving.
-Dutch watches the mobsters make the rounds, trying to get information.
-Mr. Morton returns to Anders with credible witnesses; Anders decides to launch an investigation. Just then Virgil arrives and tells Anders he's the one who killed the man, but points out that he's too important to Newton's defense to get arrested. Anders tells him he'll hold off on arresting him until the conflict is over.
-Ophelia, now released, gets word that a New Eden force is also on its way, picking up conscripts as it goes.
-A council of war is held in Newton. The plan is to rally around Fort Newton. A messenger arrives with a list of demands from Greer in exchange for help; the council decides to reject it.
-Sam Newton reports that his steam engine should be ready to go in time for the plan. The plan is expanded to include a rail car armed with machine guns; volunteers are found to go on this suicide mission.
-Solomon reports to Corwin that the field hospital has been set up. Also, a child playing in the wilderness somehow managed to inhale a bunch of nitrogen gas; Corwin sends Sheridan to figure out why.
-Corwin goes out alone to meet with Colonel Washington.
-Gerard Finner asks Ophelia for information; offers lots of money. He also offers Virgil work in the future.
-Virgil and Ophelia go to talk to Dutch about this; they find Dutch three sheets to the wind and with no idea how he's going to handle the situation.
April 29th
-Corwin meets with Colonel Washington, who reveals his motivations for joining with New Eden and attacking Newton; he became disillusioned with Greer as they became more and more greedy and less focused on Edenist ideals, and he sees the same thing happening to Newton since William Newton died. He wants to preserve Newton as it was before, not wanting to see the same thing happen as did to Greer, and if that means conquering it so be it. He does not detain Corwin but provides him with a fresh horse to return to Newton.
-Sheridan goes out and looks for the source of the nitrogen. What he finds is an underground military facility. He starts up the emergency generator and finds an armory full of well-preserved pre-cataclysm military hardware. He also finds a nuclear missile; the facility is a mothballed missile silo.
Saturday, November 15
Downtime Episode 11
"I admit I'm curious, Colonel. You haven't ever fully explained your reasons, and you strike me as a man of principle. Why betray your oath to Greer?"
Colonel Sam Washington looked up from his glass of port and regarded Lorenzo with a raised eyebrow. "Interesting way to put that question, Hierarch. Very...direct."
"Well, they say a man who turns once might well turn again. I don't want to find myself in the position Greer does now."
Washington laughed and reclined further in his chair. The Hierarch's office was large and well-appointed, with original artwork, sculpture, and a few interesting machines framing the single largest desk that Washington had ever seen. "That's wise enough, I suppose. Well then," he leaned forward, "let me make this clear. I won't betray my oath to you because I'm not going to swear one."
Lorenzo sat up, looking surprised. "What? But you-"
"I don't even like you, Lorenzo; I think you're a petty bureaucrat with delusions of grandeur." Lorenzo sniffed at that but Washington didn't give him time to interrupt. "For better or worse, however, your delusions seems to be shared by a awful lot of people and, perhaps more importantly, your goals and mine are the same."
"So, what? All I've gained is a mercenary, loyal only to his paycheck?"
"Oh, not at all. What you've gained is a crusader, loyal to his cause, and that is the very best type of soldier to have." Washington stood and walked over to a miniature orrery and pushed on one of the planets, sending the entire system spinning around the miniature, gold-leafed sun.
"It became clear to me that the Greer to whom I'd sworn an oath no longer existed. They're not concerned with people or God anymore, just resources. Monopoly, leverage, supply, those are the watchwords of the government. I can't say that elicits a tremendous amount of sympathy from my...romantic heart." They shared a chuckle.
"So why me, then? What's your cause?"
"I'm a soldier second and a Christian first. An Edenist first, really. And as an Edenist, I believe as you do that William Newton is as near to a saint as you're likely to find nowadays. But, when the people of Newton put him in the ground, they must've buried his ideals with him because suddenly, they're acting much less like William and much more like Greer. And that will not do at all."
Lorenzo nodded. "Then you're right, we are agreed."
Washington turned back to Lorenzo. "I assume, then, that we're also agreed when I say that action is necessary, and soon. I didn't bring an army with me to keep them in camp."
Lorenzo smiled and finished off his glass. "We are agreed. Action it will be."
Colonel Sam Washington looked up from his glass of port and regarded Lorenzo with a raised eyebrow. "Interesting way to put that question, Hierarch. Very...direct."
"Well, they say a man who turns once might well turn again. I don't want to find myself in the position Greer does now."
Washington laughed and reclined further in his chair. The Hierarch's office was large and well-appointed, with original artwork, sculpture, and a few interesting machines framing the single largest desk that Washington had ever seen. "That's wise enough, I suppose. Well then," he leaned forward, "let me make this clear. I won't betray my oath to you because I'm not going to swear one."
Lorenzo sat up, looking surprised. "What? But you-"
"I don't even like you, Lorenzo; I think you're a petty bureaucrat with delusions of grandeur." Lorenzo sniffed at that but Washington didn't give him time to interrupt. "For better or worse, however, your delusions seems to be shared by a awful lot of people and, perhaps more importantly, your goals and mine are the same."
"So, what? All I've gained is a mercenary, loyal only to his paycheck?"
"Oh, not at all. What you've gained is a crusader, loyal to his cause, and that is the very best type of soldier to have." Washington stood and walked over to a miniature orrery and pushed on one of the planets, sending the entire system spinning around the miniature, gold-leafed sun.
"It became clear to me that the Greer to whom I'd sworn an oath no longer existed. They're not concerned with people or God anymore, just resources. Monopoly, leverage, supply, those are the watchwords of the government. I can't say that elicits a tremendous amount of sympathy from my...romantic heart." They shared a chuckle.
"So why me, then? What's your cause?"
"I'm a soldier second and a Christian first. An Edenist first, really. And as an Edenist, I believe as you do that William Newton is as near to a saint as you're likely to find nowadays. But, when the people of Newton put him in the ground, they must've buried his ideals with him because suddenly, they're acting much less like William and much more like Greer. And that will not do at all."
Lorenzo nodded. "Then you're right, we are agreed."
Washington turned back to Lorenzo. "I assume, then, that we're also agreed when I say that action is necessary, and soon. I didn't bring an army with me to keep them in camp."
Lorenzo smiled and finished off his glass. "We are agreed. Action it will be."
Friday, November 14
Episode 10 Summary
April 22nd
-The council talks over webcam with Floyd Barrows, Greer's ambassador, about a mutual protection alliance. Barrows says that for Greer's council to be willing, they would need something from Newton--they're confident they don't need Newton's help. They decide to make an overture to Cody instead.
-The man from Intel is still waiting for Anders to bring up his case to the council. Thomas Newton hears about him and takes an interest.
-Virgil has been spreading rumors that New Eden is trying to extort Newton, hoping to drum up business. There's a protest underway against New Eden in Newton. Bryant tells Corwin that he can only give the surveyors from New Eden the runaround for a little longer before they start to get suspicious.
-Lucius is pleased with the reports he's hearing of the insurgency in New Eden. He has his mercenaries make a delivery of a bunch of money in Greer dollars to the insurgents.
-Lorraine finds Thomas waiting for her in his office. He's pissed Lorraine is continuing to support Corwin and making little show of being Newton's leader. He says if she's not willing to lead she should step down in favor of someone who can. He calls her Corwin's lackey, they yell, she slaps him, he storms out.
-Dutch meets Virgil in Smacky's. He wants Virgil's help escorting his wife out of Newton and somewhere safe.
-Ophelia gets word that someone with a lot of money to burn is financing New Eden's rebels.
April 23rd
-The council meets with Cody's prime minister by webcam. He is in favor of an alliance with Newton, but says it'll be hard for it to pass parliament with the perception that Newton is in bed with New Eden. To dispel this perception, the coucil decides to send their refusal of New Eden's offers.
April 24th
-Newton's decision to cut ties with New Eden is all over the news.
-Anders takes an extremely angry call from Lorenzo.
-Virgil gets an offer from an anonymous source to disrupt Greer's supply caravans to the front line between New Eden and Greer (which are not currently in a shooting war, but getting close). He needs the money, but is not sure whether to take it or not.
-Dutch tells his wife he wants to send her away for now. She doesn't like it, but agrees for the sake of keeping their unborn child safe.
-Virgil decides to send a reply that he's not willing to take the job without meeting the person offering it in person.
-Dutch comes in, Virgil has a frend in Cody who has a house that should be safe for his wife. It'll cost Dutch a ton of money, but he agrees.
April 25th
-Dutch's wife leaves Newton.
-Dutch visits Ophelia. He wants any information she gets about the mobsters, and he wants it instead of Corwin (in breach of Ophelia's deal with Corwin). Again, it costs Dutch a ton of money. She reveals that some mobsters are already on their way to Newton.
-Ophelia bumps into one of her old informants who stopped feeding her information. It turns out he's in town looking for a new buyer for his information. They talk in the back room, he tells her that he won't deal with her any more because of her ties to Corwin, and that others feel the same way--she's not part of the underworld any more. She tells him she's just playing Corwin. He reveals that he's recording their conversation, but before he can get a word out to extort her she stabs him dead. Ophelia gets Virgil and his men to help her dispose of the body, and then goes on to decide to put out the rumor that what actually happened, happened to try and buy back some cred.
-Eva and Captain Sheridan are told to make ready for potential military action, even though they are now underfunded and undermanned. One of the remaining soldiers mentions that his cousin works for Lucius, who pays well. Eva goes and visits Lucius, asks him to help fund the militia; he agrees to support them, implicitly in exchange for favors.
April 26th
-Cody's parliament is in the middle of deliberations for the Newton support bill.
-Ophelia tells Dutch about a mobster named Gerard Finner who is looking for Dutch, just spotted two hours outside town.
-The news suddenly comes through that the Greer colonel in charge of the frontline defense against New Eden has defected to the other side, taking with him about 20% of Greer's forces and a substantial amount of Greer military hardware.
-The council talks over webcam with Floyd Barrows, Greer's ambassador, about a mutual protection alliance. Barrows says that for Greer's council to be willing, they would need something from Newton--they're confident they don't need Newton's help. They decide to make an overture to Cody instead.
-The man from Intel is still waiting for Anders to bring up his case to the council. Thomas Newton hears about him and takes an interest.
-Virgil has been spreading rumors that New Eden is trying to extort Newton, hoping to drum up business. There's a protest underway against New Eden in Newton. Bryant tells Corwin that he can only give the surveyors from New Eden the runaround for a little longer before they start to get suspicious.
-Lucius is pleased with the reports he's hearing of the insurgency in New Eden. He has his mercenaries make a delivery of a bunch of money in Greer dollars to the insurgents.
-Lorraine finds Thomas waiting for her in his office. He's pissed Lorraine is continuing to support Corwin and making little show of being Newton's leader. He says if she's not willing to lead she should step down in favor of someone who can. He calls her Corwin's lackey, they yell, she slaps him, he storms out.
-Dutch meets Virgil in Smacky's. He wants Virgil's help escorting his wife out of Newton and somewhere safe.
-Ophelia gets word that someone with a lot of money to burn is financing New Eden's rebels.
April 23rd
-The council meets with Cody's prime minister by webcam. He is in favor of an alliance with Newton, but says it'll be hard for it to pass parliament with the perception that Newton is in bed with New Eden. To dispel this perception, the coucil decides to send their refusal of New Eden's offers.
April 24th
-Newton's decision to cut ties with New Eden is all over the news.
-Anders takes an extremely angry call from Lorenzo.
-Virgil gets an offer from an anonymous source to disrupt Greer's supply caravans to the front line between New Eden and Greer (which are not currently in a shooting war, but getting close). He needs the money, but is not sure whether to take it or not.
-Dutch tells his wife he wants to send her away for now. She doesn't like it, but agrees for the sake of keeping their unborn child safe.
-Virgil decides to send a reply that he's not willing to take the job without meeting the person offering it in person.
-Dutch comes in, Virgil has a frend in Cody who has a house that should be safe for his wife. It'll cost Dutch a ton of money, but he agrees.
April 25th
-Dutch's wife leaves Newton.
-Dutch visits Ophelia. He wants any information she gets about the mobsters, and he wants it instead of Corwin (in breach of Ophelia's deal with Corwin). Again, it costs Dutch a ton of money. She reveals that some mobsters are already on their way to Newton.
-Ophelia bumps into one of her old informants who stopped feeding her information. It turns out he's in town looking for a new buyer for his information. They talk in the back room, he tells her that he won't deal with her any more because of her ties to Corwin, and that others feel the same way--she's not part of the underworld any more. She tells him she's just playing Corwin. He reveals that he's recording their conversation, but before he can get a word out to extort her she stabs him dead. Ophelia gets Virgil and his men to help her dispose of the body, and then goes on to decide to put out the rumor that what actually happened, happened to try and buy back some cred.
-Eva and Captain Sheridan are told to make ready for potential military action, even though they are now underfunded and undermanned. One of the remaining soldiers mentions that his cousin works for Lucius, who pays well. Eva goes and visits Lucius, asks him to help fund the militia; he agrees to support them, implicitly in exchange for favors.
April 26th
-Cody's parliament is in the middle of deliberations for the Newton support bill.
-Ophelia tells Dutch about a mobster named Gerard Finner who is looking for Dutch, just spotted two hours outside town.
-The news suddenly comes through that the Greer colonel in charge of the frontline defense against New Eden has defected to the other side, taking with him about 20% of Greer's forces and a substantial amount of Greer military hardware.
Saturday, October 11
Episode 9 Summary
April 17th
-The party of Lorraine, Thomas, Dutch, Lucius, and Lucius' bodyguards arrive in the city of New Eden and are brought to their quarters.
-Dutch and Lucius discover that their quarters were until recently the Greer embassy. They go to a nearby internet cafe to catch up on news, and find out that Greer and New Eden are arguing about a mining town on the Greer side of the Greer-New Eden border that the government of Laurel once ceded and the new regime now wants back.
-Back in Newton, Anders is approached by George Emerson, a Vice-President of Logistics from the Intel Corporation, who is looking to move computer parts and raw materials through Newton instead of New Eden/Laurel, now that there are stability concerns. Anders agrees to negotiate the use of his warehouses and to bring the matter up with the council for protection and other details.
-Ophelia brings intelligence to Corwin that Greer is mobilizing it's army over the contested mining town.
April 18th
-At their quarters in New Eden, the diplomatic envoy has breakfast brought in by a local teenager, who is in awe of Thomas and Lorraine as William Newton's children.
-As they go to meet the Hierarch, they are met with staring crowds.
-They meet with Hierarch Lorenzo, who gets right down to business with his request to build a cathedral in Newton. Lorenzo also pledges to support Newton against Greer. Lorraine and co. tell him they must discuss things with their council.
-On their way out, Dutch spots a mobster from his old mob looking at him from the window of an inn.
-The group decides to ride out to a nearby village, worried that Lorenzo might have people monitoring internet lines. Lorraine and Thomas go to the internet shack to contact the council while Lucius and Dutch go to see what the locals think of the new regime.
-The council decides against allowing the cathedral, but is concerned what might happen with an outright refusal. Lorraine and Thomas decide to ask for the matter to be fully explored with surveyors before work crews are sent, in order to buy some time.
-Lucius gets some information from the local priest, who is not entirely thrilled with the change of regime. Lucius and Dutch booze up a local, who tells them that the new regime is supported by New Eden's outer territories, which Lorenzo comes from, but is unpopular in the inner territories. He also mention his rebellious son Jeb, who has been getting up to trouble at night since the regime changed.
-They talk to Jeb and find out that they're going to the city to vandalize, post graffiti, and start fires as rebellion against the new government--and that there are more organized parties who might be forming a resistance.
-Back in the city, Lucius sends out his mercenaries to look for resistance cells, planning to arm them with his smuggled weapons.
April 19th
-Lucius' men have located a resistance cell led by members of the old government and the press. Luicus sends them to quietly give them his weapons while he meets with the Hierarch.
-A second meeting with Lorenzo is arranged, where Lorraine agrees to the cathedral but asks that a full survey be done first before workers and materials are sent. Lorenzo is insistent that things must be done with all speed and seems to suspect they may be playing for time. The meeting turns into a heated argument, but the party from Newton manages to get him to relent and agree to their terms.
-Back at their quarters, Lucius' men confirms that the weapons have been distributed.
-Dutch visits the inn that the mobsters were staying at and bribes the inkeep for information, and finds out that they were passing through on the trail of Chris Wall.
-Thomas talks to Lorraine, upset that they're not taking New Eden's offer. He insists that whatever happens, Newton needs to have teeth for what's coming.
-Lorraine sends one of Lucius' men ahead as a messenger to tell Newton to start talking to Greer about protection from New Eden.
-Corwin gets the message and writes a diplomatic opening to Greer.
-The party of Lorraine, Thomas, Dutch, Lucius, and Lucius' bodyguards arrive in the city of New Eden and are brought to their quarters.
-Dutch and Lucius discover that their quarters were until recently the Greer embassy. They go to a nearby internet cafe to catch up on news, and find out that Greer and New Eden are arguing about a mining town on the Greer side of the Greer-New Eden border that the government of Laurel once ceded and the new regime now wants back.
-Back in Newton, Anders is approached by George Emerson, a Vice-President of Logistics from the Intel Corporation, who is looking to move computer parts and raw materials through Newton instead of New Eden/Laurel, now that there are stability concerns. Anders agrees to negotiate the use of his warehouses and to bring the matter up with the council for protection and other details.
-Ophelia brings intelligence to Corwin that Greer is mobilizing it's army over the contested mining town.
April 18th
-At their quarters in New Eden, the diplomatic envoy has breakfast brought in by a local teenager, who is in awe of Thomas and Lorraine as William Newton's children.
-As they go to meet the Hierarch, they are met with staring crowds.
-They meet with Hierarch Lorenzo, who gets right down to business with his request to build a cathedral in Newton. Lorenzo also pledges to support Newton against Greer. Lorraine and co. tell him they must discuss things with their council.
-On their way out, Dutch spots a mobster from his old mob looking at him from the window of an inn.
-The group decides to ride out to a nearby village, worried that Lorenzo might have people monitoring internet lines. Lorraine and Thomas go to the internet shack to contact the council while Lucius and Dutch go to see what the locals think of the new regime.
-The council decides against allowing the cathedral, but is concerned what might happen with an outright refusal. Lorraine and Thomas decide to ask for the matter to be fully explored with surveyors before work crews are sent, in order to buy some time.
-Lucius gets some information from the local priest, who is not entirely thrilled with the change of regime. Lucius and Dutch booze up a local, who tells them that the new regime is supported by New Eden's outer territories, which Lorenzo comes from, but is unpopular in the inner territories. He also mention his rebellious son Jeb, who has been getting up to trouble at night since the regime changed.
-They talk to Jeb and find out that they're going to the city to vandalize, post graffiti, and start fires as rebellion against the new government--and that there are more organized parties who might be forming a resistance.
-Back in the city, Lucius sends out his mercenaries to look for resistance cells, planning to arm them with his smuggled weapons.
April 19th
-Lucius' men have located a resistance cell led by members of the old government and the press. Luicus sends them to quietly give them his weapons while he meets with the Hierarch.
-A second meeting with Lorenzo is arranged, where Lorraine agrees to the cathedral but asks that a full survey be done first before workers and materials are sent. Lorenzo is insistent that things must be done with all speed and seems to suspect they may be playing for time. The meeting turns into a heated argument, but the party from Newton manages to get him to relent and agree to their terms.
-Back at their quarters, Lucius' men confirms that the weapons have been distributed.
-Dutch visits the inn that the mobsters were staying at and bribes the inkeep for information, and finds out that they were passing through on the trail of Chris Wall.
-Thomas talks to Lorraine, upset that they're not taking New Eden's offer. He insists that whatever happens, Newton needs to have teeth for what's coming.
-Lorraine sends one of Lucius' men ahead as a messenger to tell Newton to start talking to Greer about protection from New Eden.
-Corwin gets the message and writes a diplomatic opening to Greer.
Friday, October 10
Episode 8 Summary
April 12th
-Ophelia gets news from pilgrims and her contacts that the situation in Laurel is heating up.
-Ben Gregson, the treasurer of Newton, announces to the council that the town is low on money and has been forced to dip into emergency funds.
-The council discusses the possibility of selling bonds, but decides to cut back the militia budget for now. Eva is upset to get the news.
-Thomas Newton discusses the possibility of using Newton's economic pull to affect Greer's currency exchange rate.
April 13th
-The news arrives that overnight, the Laurel government has been deposed by a new very theocratic regime, which has renamed the city-state "New Eden."
-Newton pledges its cautious support of the new government, as do the other two city-states.
-Lorraine talks to Corwin, and brings up the issue of Greer and the possibility of economic retaliation, as Thomas suggested. Corwin responds that the risk outweighs the benefits, and Lorraine goes along with it, but says she wants to improve the Greer situation one way or antoher.
-Tom Brass, Anders' deputy, suggests that the sheriff's office try to pick up some of the slack from the reduced militia to stave off any budget cuts.
-New Eden opens diplomatic relations with Newton by teleconference, conducted personally by the new Hierarch of New Eden, Lorenzo I. He wishes to build a cathedral in Newton, open trade, and reinforce the route from New Eden to Newton. The council is nervous about his intentions and puts off any definite answer.
-Corwin suggests that some new journals of William Newton suddenly come to light in an attempt to de-canonize him, and that they generally look into contributing to the downfall of the New Eden government. The council is split regarding this. In the end, they decide to put together a fact-finding mission.
-Both Thomas Newton and Lewis Bryant visit Sam Newton to enlist his aid, Thomas Newton as a supporter of New Eden as William Newton's closest living relative, and Lewis Bryant as against New Eden as someone in a position to say that William Newton was no saint. Sam proceeds to say he'll go along with both.
April 14th
-Opelia gets word that the press of New Eden has been taken over by the government.
-Corwin recruits Dutch to join the party going to New Eden.
-Corwin asks Lorraine to lead the party, so they can go as a diplomatic envoy.
-Thomas asks that Lorraine brings him along, and encourages her to pick her own party rather than let Corwin run the show.
-Lucius shows up, also wanting to join the party and offers to bring bodyguards along.
-Lorraine announces her plans to leave tomorrow. Corwin is upset and insulted that Lorraine didn't consult him on putting together the party, and asks to send Dutch along at least.
April 15th
-Lucius and his men put together a wagon with a bunch of weapons hidden under some trade goods Sam sends with Lucius.
-Virgil gets news from Philo that there is someone interested in hiring him and his men as mercenaries.
-Ophelia gets news from pilgrims and her contacts that the situation in Laurel is heating up.
-Ben Gregson, the treasurer of Newton, announces to the council that the town is low on money and has been forced to dip into emergency funds.
-The council discusses the possibility of selling bonds, but decides to cut back the militia budget for now. Eva is upset to get the news.
-Thomas Newton discusses the possibility of using Newton's economic pull to affect Greer's currency exchange rate.
April 13th
-The news arrives that overnight, the Laurel government has been deposed by a new very theocratic regime, which has renamed the city-state "New Eden."
-Newton pledges its cautious support of the new government, as do the other two city-states.
-Lorraine talks to Corwin, and brings up the issue of Greer and the possibility of economic retaliation, as Thomas suggested. Corwin responds that the risk outweighs the benefits, and Lorraine goes along with it, but says she wants to improve the Greer situation one way or antoher.
-Tom Brass, Anders' deputy, suggests that the sheriff's office try to pick up some of the slack from the reduced militia to stave off any budget cuts.
-New Eden opens diplomatic relations with Newton by teleconference, conducted personally by the new Hierarch of New Eden, Lorenzo I. He wishes to build a cathedral in Newton, open trade, and reinforce the route from New Eden to Newton. The council is nervous about his intentions and puts off any definite answer.
-Corwin suggests that some new journals of William Newton suddenly come to light in an attempt to de-canonize him, and that they generally look into contributing to the downfall of the New Eden government. The council is split regarding this. In the end, they decide to put together a fact-finding mission.
-Both Thomas Newton and Lewis Bryant visit Sam Newton to enlist his aid, Thomas Newton as a supporter of New Eden as William Newton's closest living relative, and Lewis Bryant as against New Eden as someone in a position to say that William Newton was no saint. Sam proceeds to say he'll go along with both.
April 14th
-Opelia gets word that the press of New Eden has been taken over by the government.
-Corwin recruits Dutch to join the party going to New Eden.
-Corwin asks Lorraine to lead the party, so they can go as a diplomatic envoy.
-Thomas asks that Lorraine brings him along, and encourages her to pick her own party rather than let Corwin run the show.
-Lucius shows up, also wanting to join the party and offers to bring bodyguards along.
-Lorraine announces her plans to leave tomorrow. Corwin is upset and insulted that Lorraine didn't consult him on putting together the party, and asks to send Dutch along at least.
April 15th
-Lucius and his men put together a wagon with a bunch of weapons hidden under some trade goods Sam sends with Lucius.
-Virgil gets news from Philo that there is someone interested in hiring him and his men as mercenaries.
Tuesday, September 23
Episode 7 Summary
March 18th
-We open on a town council meeting. New members are Thomas Newton, a banker and Jeff Newton's heir, and Lewis Bryant, a member of Bill Newton's original party that left over a disagreement, who bought out White's estates.
-Anders proposes the creation of a citizen registry, but it is tabled for the time being.
-Ophelia returns from her trip to establish a greater intelligence network on a caravan, and meets Virgil who has been contracted to escort said caravan. Business is drying up for Virgil.
-Bryant talks to Sam Newton as a fellow person who didn't get along with William Newton.
-Thomas gets Lorraine's support for exploiting Newton's status as an economic center. Lorraine is finding that there are fewer buyers than usual for her horses from the three city-states.
-Dutch gets an encrypted message. It turns out to be from Cottonwood, telling them that they've had cases of radiation sickness and discovered tainted water as the culprit, but have been told by Greer not to tell Newton.
-Corwin sends the militia to check the water. The creek water is fine, but water drawn from wells is found to be contaminated.
March 19th
-Dr. Solomon tells the council that outlying farms are the most affected through irrigation; only about 40 individuals are at risk as habitual drinkers of well water. Most of the new farms given out to mercenaries are affected. He warns that if the exposure has been going on for more than three weeks, a large part of Newton's crop will have to be destroyed.
-The council is concerned that this is intentional. They debate whether or not to inform the populace of the nature of the threat, but decide to do so.
-Temporary measures are set up at great expense to provide water to farms from the creek, including using Lorraine's horses to haul it.
-The council sends out summons for a geologist and a civil engineer to come out to Newton, also at great expense.
March 26th
-The radioactivity is decreasing steadily, but still above safe levels.
-The geologist arrives and sets out to survey to find the source of the radioactivity.
-The civil engineer sets out plans for aqueducts and deeper wells, but it will be expensive.
March 29th
-The geologist has found the source on Randolf Peak, a day's ride from Newton, but was turned back from closer inspection by the Greer army, which has set up camp in the area.
-Corwin proposes the use of diplomacy and, if needed, a covert operation.
-Greer, meanwhile, asks for a diplomatic meeting. It is conducted by video over the internet with Floyd Barrows, the diplomat from Greer.
-Barrows is evasive and claims not to know much, just that their expert teams are working on the problem. He says Greer's council may be willing to reveal information if Newton allows investigators to investigate if Newton was involved with the contamination of the water.
-The council decides to send secret operatives to find out what has happened. The council agrees to fund a team Corwin creates under the guise of approving funding for a new reservoir.
-Corwin gets Dutch to assemble and lead a team to investigate. He also gets Ophelia to join the team.
-Dutch hires Virgil and his band for the rest of the team.
-Dutch says goodbye to his wife, who is upset that Dutch is putting himself in danger.
March 31st
-The team arrives and sets up camp.
-They approach the camp and find that a perimeter has been set up around a large tent which people in anti-radiation suits are going in and out of.
-The infiltration turns sour and a firefight errupts, but no one from Newton is identified and the team manages to make it look like a bandit attack. Meanwhile, Dutch uses the distraction to don a suit and enter the tent.
-Dutch finds that the site is an old Department of Energy dump site for radioactive waste. He collects evidence showing that an underground river had eroded through part of the site, but that someone had cut a barrel open and dumped it into the water. Greer did not cause the contamination, but someone did, and Greer was hiding the facts. The evidence also indicates that the dumping took place around March 10th, so the crop will not have to be destroyed.
April 2nd
-The team makes it back to Newton and delivers the evidence.
April 3rd
-The council discusses the documents. They decide to release the information anonymously to all three city-states. Corwin has Ophelia do so through her network.
April 7th
-With the information leaked, Cody and Laurel have condemned Greer for hiding the information. Newton joins them in condemnation. Greer apologizes, but pledges to bring justice to the perpetrators of the contamination. A collaborative effort between the three city-states to clean up the site and relocate the waste begins.
-Virgil, now much richer after the covert operation and having enjoyed it more than he's enjoyed his work for months, considers turning to the mercenary business.
-Ophelia continues to spread propaganda against Greer.
Next session will pick up on April 12th.
-We open on a town council meeting. New members are Thomas Newton, a banker and Jeff Newton's heir, and Lewis Bryant, a member of Bill Newton's original party that left over a disagreement, who bought out White's estates.
-Anders proposes the creation of a citizen registry, but it is tabled for the time being.
-Ophelia returns from her trip to establish a greater intelligence network on a caravan, and meets Virgil who has been contracted to escort said caravan. Business is drying up for Virgil.
-Bryant talks to Sam Newton as a fellow person who didn't get along with William Newton.
-Thomas gets Lorraine's support for exploiting Newton's status as an economic center. Lorraine is finding that there are fewer buyers than usual for her horses from the three city-states.
-Dutch gets an encrypted message. It turns out to be from Cottonwood, telling them that they've had cases of radiation sickness and discovered tainted water as the culprit, but have been told by Greer not to tell Newton.
-Corwin sends the militia to check the water. The creek water is fine, but water drawn from wells is found to be contaminated.
March 19th
-Dr. Solomon tells the council that outlying farms are the most affected through irrigation; only about 40 individuals are at risk as habitual drinkers of well water. Most of the new farms given out to mercenaries are affected. He warns that if the exposure has been going on for more than three weeks, a large part of Newton's crop will have to be destroyed.
-The council is concerned that this is intentional. They debate whether or not to inform the populace of the nature of the threat, but decide to do so.
-Temporary measures are set up at great expense to provide water to farms from the creek, including using Lorraine's horses to haul it.
-The council sends out summons for a geologist and a civil engineer to come out to Newton, also at great expense.
March 26th
-The radioactivity is decreasing steadily, but still above safe levels.
-The geologist arrives and sets out to survey to find the source of the radioactivity.
-The civil engineer sets out plans for aqueducts and deeper wells, but it will be expensive.
March 29th
-The geologist has found the source on Randolf Peak, a day's ride from Newton, but was turned back from closer inspection by the Greer army, which has set up camp in the area.
-Corwin proposes the use of diplomacy and, if needed, a covert operation.
-Greer, meanwhile, asks for a diplomatic meeting. It is conducted by video over the internet with Floyd Barrows, the diplomat from Greer.
-Barrows is evasive and claims not to know much, just that their expert teams are working on the problem. He says Greer's council may be willing to reveal information if Newton allows investigators to investigate if Newton was involved with the contamination of the water.
-The council decides to send secret operatives to find out what has happened. The council agrees to fund a team Corwin creates under the guise of approving funding for a new reservoir.
-Corwin gets Dutch to assemble and lead a team to investigate. He also gets Ophelia to join the team.
-Dutch hires Virgil and his band for the rest of the team.
-Dutch says goodbye to his wife, who is upset that Dutch is putting himself in danger.
March 31st
-The team arrives and sets up camp.
-They approach the camp and find that a perimeter has been set up around a large tent which people in anti-radiation suits are going in and out of.
-The infiltration turns sour and a firefight errupts, but no one from Newton is identified and the team manages to make it look like a bandit attack. Meanwhile, Dutch uses the distraction to don a suit and enter the tent.
-Dutch finds that the site is an old Department of Energy dump site for radioactive waste. He collects evidence showing that an underground river had eroded through part of the site, but that someone had cut a barrel open and dumped it into the water. Greer did not cause the contamination, but someone did, and Greer was hiding the facts. The evidence also indicates that the dumping took place around March 10th, so the crop will not have to be destroyed.
April 2nd
-The team makes it back to Newton and delivers the evidence.
April 3rd
-The council discusses the documents. They decide to release the information anonymously to all three city-states. Corwin has Ophelia do so through her network.
April 7th
-With the information leaked, Cody and Laurel have condemned Greer for hiding the information. Newton joins them in condemnation. Greer apologizes, but pledges to bring justice to the perpetrators of the contamination. A collaborative effort between the three city-states to clean up the site and relocate the waste begins.
-Virgil, now much richer after the covert operation and having enjoyed it more than he's enjoyed his work for months, considers turning to the mercenary business.
-Ophelia continues to spread propaganda against Greer.
Next session will pick up on April 12th.
Wednesday, September 17
Anders Downtime Episode 6
Duty Report, First Week of February, 2074
Not much to report this week. The new Eastern patrol seems to be settling into their routine, though they still need to figure out the difference between "minor conflict" and "good shindig." Also, thinking that that kid... Parris, I think his name was, needs to have his gun taken away for the week.
Hell, I don't even recognize my whole staff any more, let alone half the folks we're supposed to be serving and protecting. I hate to do it, but I might have to ask the council to start documenting folks, making a record of everyone in town, and establishing a basis for "Newton Citizenship." Otherwise, there's no telling where my jurisdiction ends and the militia's begins. Well, that's something for another day.
One final thing to report - One of the deputies brought in a pamphlet for something called "Citizens for an Equitable Newton." Mostly garbage, railing against the Council, and pretty much all nonsensical, but I felt like it should be noted.
Not much to report this week. The new Eastern patrol seems to be settling into their routine, though they still need to figure out the difference between "minor conflict" and "good shindig." Also, thinking that that kid... Parris, I think his name was, needs to have his gun taken away for the week.
Hell, I don't even recognize my whole staff any more, let alone half the folks we're supposed to be serving and protecting. I hate to do it, but I might have to ask the council to start documenting folks, making a record of everyone in town, and establishing a basis for "Newton Citizenship." Otherwise, there's no telling where my jurisdiction ends and the militia's begins. Well, that's something for another day.
One final thing to report - One of the deputies brought in a pamphlet for something called "Citizens for an Equitable Newton." Mostly garbage, railing against the Council, and pretty much all nonsensical, but I felt like it should be noted.
Sam Downtime Episode 6
Ya know, the people of this town never seem to astound me. A man picks up a gun, rides around the woods for a bit, suddenly he's a model citizen. Heh. Buncha damned fools. Still, seems to me that 'model citizens' don't get their businesses looked at too closely, so score one for me.
Of course, it'd also help if business weren't so damned slow. Nobody needs a gun if there ain't nobody to shoot at. If we don't get ourselves into a war soon, I may have to go legitimate. Bleh. Well, best thing at this point seems to be to keep on the lookout for some new avenues for my particular breed of commerce.
Of course, it'd also help if business weren't so damned slow. Nobody needs a gun if there ain't nobody to shoot at. If we don't get ourselves into a war soon, I may have to go legitimate. Bleh. Well, best thing at this point seems to be to keep on the lookout for some new avenues for my particular breed of commerce.
Dutch Downtime Episode 6
It's been a quiet couple of months, thank God. With the bandit problem gone or near-gone, the business of managing shipments and protection for Corwin is now astoundingly easy. Spending a lot of time sitting on my hands, and worrying.
It's only a matter of time, though. The Shadows will be wondering why Chris stopped reporting back, and sooner or later whoever they've got playing boss will start wanting questions answered. Plus, I'm pretty sure that Chris will have sent back info about the town, especially regarding the lack of any 'ruling faction'.
I don't know how many they've got any more, but I'm thinking that beating Chris to death was a bad move. Get the feeling I'm going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I'm thinking that there are those in town who, left with nothing better to do, might welcome an... organization like the Shadows.
It's only a matter of time, though. The Shadows will be wondering why Chris stopped reporting back, and sooner or later whoever they've got playing boss will start wanting questions answered. Plus, I'm pretty sure that Chris will have sent back info about the town, especially regarding the lack of any 'ruling faction'.
I don't know how many they've got any more, but I'm thinking that beating Chris to death was a bad move. Get the feeling I'm going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I'm thinking that there are those in town who, left with nothing better to do, might welcome an... organization like the Shadows.
Tuesday, September 16
Character Recap, Ep. 6
Lorraine is noticing a slow, but steady dip in sales between Newton and the other three city-states. As such, while Lorraine is in favor of expanding Newton, trade is her main priority and she does not want to jeopardize that by pushing the city-states away. As such, she has been conducting diplomatic correspondence with officials from all foreign parties. Nothing too overt, merely putting out feelers for who would be in favor of Newton's expansion and what she would need to do to placate those who want to keep Newton under wraps. I will note that Lorraine intends to play the piper's tune as well as she can, but pluck her strings one too many times and she'll break. (Don't tell me that a piper's instrument doesn't have any strings.)
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With the bandits dispersed, Eva (feeling that her job may be in jeopardy) has converted the militia into a standing army. The bandits may be gone, but tensions are running high all around and it's in Newton's best interest to be prepared at all times. She has enlisted 50 men to work in the militia year-round. Some of them have their own land and families, some live and eat in the barracks of Fort Newton. A few have lived in Newton for years, but most are mercenaries. As soon as the last snows melted, she began in-depth training including firearms, artillery, tactics, and drills. She has also contracted to have an outpost built on the western path going out of Newton. While not complete, the outpost's construction is well under way.
------
Ophelia is realizing the price of working for Corwin. Being out in the field again has made her constraints clear. She is anxious to have her independence again, but she is not quite willing to give up her new source of income. As such her only option is to make Corwin dependent on her information network so much so that he doesn't have a choice. She won't betray him, strictly speaking, but she doesn't maintain any delusions of undying loyalty either. In her time out on the streets, she has found that her contact in Greer has gone missing with not a trace left behind. Thankfully she has managed to secure several other sources. As to how trustworthy those sources may be is questionable.
-------
With the bandits dispersed, Eva (feeling that her job may be in jeopardy) has converted the militia into a standing army. The bandits may be gone, but tensions are running high all around and it's in Newton's best interest to be prepared at all times. She has enlisted 50 men to work in the militia year-round. Some of them have their own land and families, some live and eat in the barracks of Fort Newton. A few have lived in Newton for years, but most are mercenaries. As soon as the last snows melted, she began in-depth training including firearms, artillery, tactics, and drills. She has also contracted to have an outpost built on the western path going out of Newton. While not complete, the outpost's construction is well under way.
------
Ophelia is realizing the price of working for Corwin. Being out in the field again has made her constraints clear. She is anxious to have her independence again, but she is not quite willing to give up her new source of income. As such her only option is to make Corwin dependent on her information network so much so that he doesn't have a choice. She won't betray him, strictly speaking, but she doesn't maintain any delusions of undying loyalty either. In her time out on the streets, she has found that her contact in Greer has gone missing with not a trace left behind. Thankfully she has managed to secure several other sources. As to how trustworthy those sources may be is questionable.
Corwin Gray, Ep.6 Downtime
Corwin started of his meeting with Gus White directly, as he always did.
"Lucius is going to buy the Parks estate when it goes up for auction tomorrow."
"I'm not surprised. He's asked me about it once or twice."
"Even if he buys it, he can't be allowed to take a seat on the council."
White raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his brandy. Corwin always set the best for his guests. "Now I am slightly surprised. I'd always suspect that you had a hand in his actions."
Corwin chucked and took a sip of his own brandy. "Very briefly, it's true. During the time I did work with him, however, I became certain that his instability and frankly blinding lust for power undercut his usefulness."
"You're definitely not alone in thinking that. I assume you have a suggestion?"
Corwin took a deep breath before saying, "Yes. I think you should retire."
White coughed. "Excuse me?"
"You'll be out of the council anyway. Jeffery Newton's will explicitly states that his property can't be broken up, so regardless of who Abrams decides is actually going to be the beneficiary they're going to have more land than you. So if you take your retirement now and sell off most of your land, you'll have a generous nest egg, not have to worry about management, and someone else will take your place on the council."
White pursed his lips and sighed. "I'd hoped that it wouldn't come to this. I mean, I've enjoyed being a part of making Newton what it is."He looked distinctly resigned. "As long as I'm out, I suppose, I might as well keep that sniveling bastard from enjoying it. The only problem is that since the town's boundary's just opened up, there's land for the taking for just about anyone. Values have never been lower. Anything I own outside of the central town area is going to sell for a substantial loss."
Corwin nodded. "That would be true, but fortunately, I've received word of someone coming in to town whose desires are going to far exceed the little plot of land we're giving to veterans. An old friend, actually, and he'll pay market price for any land he can get."
"Who?"
"Lewis Bryant. Remember him?"
White cradled his head in his hands and sighed. "Good thing Bill's dead."
"Why do you think he's coming back? It's water under the bridge, anyway; I would gamble not a dozen people in town can even tell you what their feud was about. Regardless, it's not like Bill exiled him or anything; they just went their separate ways. It'd be a good sign of reconciliation if it was him you sold land to."
"Maybe, but do we want him on the council any more than Lucius? Better the evil you know; after all, nobody's really spoken to Bryant outside occasional correspondence in something like 15 years."
"I think he'd make a good addition to the council. His disagreement with Bill was one of concience, remember, not passion. Some level-headedness in power would do the town good."
White shook his head. "All right. If you think it's a good idea I'll look into it. I can't promise any more than that, of course..."
"Not that I would expect you to. And if you need any help, just let me know."
"Lucius is going to buy the Parks estate when it goes up for auction tomorrow."
"I'm not surprised. He's asked me about it once or twice."
"Even if he buys it, he can't be allowed to take a seat on the council."
White raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his brandy. Corwin always set the best for his guests. "Now I am slightly surprised. I'd always suspect that you had a hand in his actions."
Corwin chucked and took a sip of his own brandy. "Very briefly, it's true. During the time I did work with him, however, I became certain that his instability and frankly blinding lust for power undercut his usefulness."
"You're definitely not alone in thinking that. I assume you have a suggestion?"
Corwin took a deep breath before saying, "Yes. I think you should retire."
White coughed. "Excuse me?"
"You'll be out of the council anyway. Jeffery Newton's will explicitly states that his property can't be broken up, so regardless of who Abrams decides is actually going to be the beneficiary they're going to have more land than you. So if you take your retirement now and sell off most of your land, you'll have a generous nest egg, not have to worry about management, and someone else will take your place on the council."
White pursed his lips and sighed. "I'd hoped that it wouldn't come to this. I mean, I've enjoyed being a part of making Newton what it is."He looked distinctly resigned. "As long as I'm out, I suppose, I might as well keep that sniveling bastard from enjoying it. The only problem is that since the town's boundary's just opened up, there's land for the taking for just about anyone. Values have never been lower. Anything I own outside of the central town area is going to sell for a substantial loss."
Corwin nodded. "That would be true, but fortunately, I've received word of someone coming in to town whose desires are going to far exceed the little plot of land we're giving to veterans. An old friend, actually, and he'll pay market price for any land he can get."
"Who?"
"Lewis Bryant. Remember him?"
White cradled his head in his hands and sighed. "Good thing Bill's dead."
"Why do you think he's coming back? It's water under the bridge, anyway; I would gamble not a dozen people in town can even tell you what their feud was about. Regardless, it's not like Bill exiled him or anything; they just went their separate ways. It'd be a good sign of reconciliation if it was him you sold land to."
"Maybe, but do we want him on the council any more than Lucius? Better the evil you know; after all, nobody's really spoken to Bryant outside occasional correspondence in something like 15 years."
"I think he'd make a good addition to the council. His disagreement with Bill was one of concience, remember, not passion. Some level-headedness in power would do the town good."
White shook his head. "All right. If you think it's a good idea I'll look into it. I can't promise any more than that, of course..."
"Not that I would expect you to. And if you need any help, just let me know."
Lucius Lessard-Newton, Ep.6 Downtime
Lucius felt his vision narrow and his heartbeat pound in his chest. His hands shaking ever so slightly, he put down the report his lieutenant had handed him and tried to breathe deeply.
"Who's responsible for this?"
His lieutenant licked his lips, refusing to make eye contact. "Well, Mr. White's obviously responsible directly, but it looks as if certain other members of the council have taken a set against you."
Lucius felt like shouting, but bit his tongue until he could respond with more dignity. "That's not very helpful, St. Croix."
"Um, well, sorry, sir. What I mean to say is, the rumor is that Mr. Gray and Mr. White discussed the matter after a council meeting a few weeks ago, and that he's been helping White shop around for a suitable buyer for his land."
Rejected! A personal insult! And after all he'd done for the town! Wasn't his support of the militia sufficient? And certainly his campaign against Jeffery had been popular on the council. And he's even conspired amiably with Corwin during that man's shot at power. And now, rather than proper thanks, a knife in the back from each of them.
It was a good thing that he had already purchased his insurance. Now, as it turned out, he might want to buy a larger policy.
"And who, St. Croix, has Mr. White found? It's not in this report."
"As near as I can find, his name is Lewis Bryant."
"Who's responsible for this?"
His lieutenant licked his lips, refusing to make eye contact. "Well, Mr. White's obviously responsible directly, but it looks as if certain other members of the council have taken a set against you."
Lucius felt like shouting, but bit his tongue until he could respond with more dignity. "That's not very helpful, St. Croix."
"Um, well, sorry, sir. What I mean to say is, the rumor is that Mr. Gray and Mr. White discussed the matter after a council meeting a few weeks ago, and that he's been helping White shop around for a suitable buyer for his land."
Rejected! A personal insult! And after all he'd done for the town! Wasn't his support of the militia sufficient? And certainly his campaign against Jeffery had been popular on the council. And he's even conspired amiably with Corwin during that man's shot at power. And now, rather than proper thanks, a knife in the back from each of them.
It was a good thing that he had already purchased his insurance. Now, as it turned out, he might want to buy a larger policy.
"And who, St. Croix, has Mr. White found? It's not in this report."
"As near as I can find, his name is Lewis Bryant."
Virgil Church, Ep. 6 Downtime
Virgil penciled in the last few columns in his ledger and pushed it away from him, not bothering to look at the bottom line. He knew what it would say, anyway. Being a town hero in the aftermath of a bandit uprising buoyed his group along for a few months, but people were starting to get back to reality. There was no way another group of bandits was going to spontaneously rise up. Even the old camps that had little to do with Philo had been effectively disbanded by Newton's campaign and its aftermath. Caravans weren't being attacked at all, or only by very small numbers. In short, there was no reason to pay for a group of heavily armed, highly skilled escorts like Virgil's band.
For now, costs were being met, but each week brought fewer and fewer customers, and Virgil's expenses had increased. 15 men, rather than 12, each with the best equipment and horses he could find, were expensive to keep happy. Fact was, unless business improved measurably in the next month to a month and a half at most, he was going to have to cut back just as he was expanding. Virgil had never styled himself a soldier, but his days as an irregular were looking rosier than ever in afterthought.
Good thing he'd sprung Philo from the Fort.
For now, costs were being met, but each week brought fewer and fewer customers, and Virgil's expenses had increased. 15 men, rather than 12, each with the best equipment and horses he could find, were expensive to keep happy. Fact was, unless business improved measurably in the next month to a month and a half at most, he was going to have to cut back just as he was expanding. Virgil had never styled himself a soldier, but his days as an irregular were looking rosier than ever in afterthought.
Good thing he'd sprung Philo from the Fort.
Monday, September 15
Philo Questioning Transcript
Q: Your name for the record, please.
Philo: Philo.
Q: Given name?
Philo: Just call me Philo.
Q: Is that an alias?
Philo: One of many. I find it's not prudent to get tied down to a name. My real name wouldn't do you any good anyway. It's not me you're interested in, it's my employer.
Q: Very well. Who is your employer?
Philo: Damned if I know.
Q: You do understand that you could be executed for banditry under Newton law? To say nothing of attempted assassination of the Administrator and his son. Answering these questions is the only thing that might save you.
Philo: I'm acutely aware of my situation, thank you, and I'm willing to give you as much information as I have. However, my employer kept me at a very long arm's length. Blind drops, intermediaries, the works. Presumably in case of this exact situation.
Q: Fine. Then, why did you launch attacks against Newton?
Philo: Because I was being paid well to do so. It's the sort of thing I do for a living.
Q: I mean, what was your employer's reaason for doing so?
Philo: As far as that goes, I can only speculate. But I can tell you that we were instructed to do what it took to get your town to mobilize as it has done.
Q: That was the only purpose to the attacks?
Philo: That and to scare people off if possible, but that didn't seem to materialize. Think about it. If we wanted to destroy the town or kill all its residents, we would have launched a decisive attack right from the beginning if we had half a brain, not waited for you to get mobilized.
Q: What about the arson attack?
Philo: Just to strike at a target that would get your hackles up. We were under orders not to damage the town too badly.
Q: Why not?
Philo: Again, I can only speculate. But it's not hard to see that there's two likely possibilities. Either someone in Newton wanted an excuse for Newton to build an army and expand, or someone outside of Newton wanted to turn Newton into a threat.
Q: Into a threat?
Philo: Once you had built up some troops, we were told to attack small towns around Newton to try to get them to come to you for aid. I gather the city-states that those towns belong to aren't too happy about that.
Q: What about the mortar attack?
Philo: As for that, I was told that Newton was going to be expecting a big mortar attack. We got sent a few mortars and a bunch of decoys. We were to fire a few shells and then pull out of the area entirely. I would guess so that you guys went nuts trying to track us down before we could strike again. But you tracked us down and nabbed our spy in town. And then you nabbed me. And now you know what I know.
Q: That's all?
Philo: That's all. I'm just a businessman. Someone offered me enough money to come out here and harass this town, and so I did. You've been calling us bandits, but we're mercenaries, same as you hired yourself. Of course, the bandits around here thought we were bandits. It seemed to intimidate them a fair amount, to say nothing of the intimidating power of your new army. I believe most of the smaller groups that didn't join up with have left the area.
Q: Thank you for your answers. We will decide what to do with you.
Philo: Philo.
Q: Given name?
Philo: Just call me Philo.
Q: Is that an alias?
Philo: One of many. I find it's not prudent to get tied down to a name. My real name wouldn't do you any good anyway. It's not me you're interested in, it's my employer.
Q: Very well. Who is your employer?
Philo: Damned if I know.
Q: You do understand that you could be executed for banditry under Newton law? To say nothing of attempted assassination of the Administrator and his son. Answering these questions is the only thing that might save you.
Philo: I'm acutely aware of my situation, thank you, and I'm willing to give you as much information as I have. However, my employer kept me at a very long arm's length. Blind drops, intermediaries, the works. Presumably in case of this exact situation.
Q: Fine. Then, why did you launch attacks against Newton?
Philo: Because I was being paid well to do so. It's the sort of thing I do for a living.
Q: I mean, what was your employer's reaason for doing so?
Philo: As far as that goes, I can only speculate. But I can tell you that we were instructed to do what it took to get your town to mobilize as it has done.
Q: That was the only purpose to the attacks?
Philo: That and to scare people off if possible, but that didn't seem to materialize. Think about it. If we wanted to destroy the town or kill all its residents, we would have launched a decisive attack right from the beginning if we had half a brain, not waited for you to get mobilized.
Q: What about the arson attack?
Philo: Just to strike at a target that would get your hackles up. We were under orders not to damage the town too badly.
Q: Why not?
Philo: Again, I can only speculate. But it's not hard to see that there's two likely possibilities. Either someone in Newton wanted an excuse for Newton to build an army and expand, or someone outside of Newton wanted to turn Newton into a threat.
Q: Into a threat?
Philo: Once you had built up some troops, we were told to attack small towns around Newton to try to get them to come to you for aid. I gather the city-states that those towns belong to aren't too happy about that.
Q: What about the mortar attack?
Philo: As for that, I was told that Newton was going to be expecting a big mortar attack. We got sent a few mortars and a bunch of decoys. We were to fire a few shells and then pull out of the area entirely. I would guess so that you guys went nuts trying to track us down before we could strike again. But you tracked us down and nabbed our spy in town. And then you nabbed me. And now you know what I know.
Q: That's all?
Philo: That's all. I'm just a businessman. Someone offered me enough money to come out here and harass this town, and so I did. You've been calling us bandits, but we're mercenaries, same as you hired yourself. Of course, the bandits around here thought we were bandits. It seemed to intimidate them a fair amount, to say nothing of the intimidating power of your new army. I believe most of the smaller groups that didn't join up with have left the area.
Q: Thank you for your answers. We will decide what to do with you.
Episode 6 Summary
January 2nd
-In the early morning, Dutch and his small group are keeping up surveillance on the bandit camp. They now count 50 bandits.
-The council decides to launch an artillery attack followed by infantry. Jeff Newton is absent--he has been sitting by his (still comatose) son, Andrew Newton, at Fort Newton, and has not been observed to eat for some time.
-As preparation for the attack begins at Fort Newton, the bandits hastily strike camp, hand out mortars, and split into several groups.
-Dutch and co. run for it as the artillery fires.
-Virgil's band rides out and investigates the remains of the camp. He finds that they took weapons with them but left a lot of supplies behind.
-Ophelia gets her intelligence reports; her Greer contact does not send one.
-Dutch and Virgil set out to track down the bandits and manage to find two groups of them setting up for a mortar attack. Meanwhile, in town, Ophelia attempts to root out a bandit spy who is trying to cause chaos in town and fails, but Eva steps up and manages to find him.
-Dutch and Virgil take out the bandit groups, taking some of them prisoner and forcing them to talk on the radio like everything's fine. They find only a few mortars but lots of lengths of lead pipe the same size as mortars, and only a few mortar shells.
-Virgil finally announces that the gig is up as they manage to triangulate the bandit leader's position just a mile out of town.
-Philo, the bandit leader, tries to escape. Virgil, Dutch and Eva ride after him. Philo tries hiding and tries escaping down a slope where horses can't follow, but our heroes catch him and take him into town as a prisoner.
-The town celebrates and rewards and commendations are given all around.
-The council questions Philo. (See next post for details.)
-Anders delivers notice to Lucius that the Parks estate is up for auction. Lucius tries to figure out if he will have enough land to be on the council.
-Sam Newton gains a little bit of a better reputation in town, despite only having served for about 24 hours. He also helps himself to wheelbarrow loads of spoils of war.
-Eva settles down to spend some quality time with her family.
-Ophelia is rewarded for her work. Corwin now asks her to travel to the neighboring city-states, especially Greer, to establish a more firm intelligence presence for Newton.
-Virgil visits Philo in jail with a bottle of wine. He tells Philo that his fight against him was just business, not personal. Philo says the same, and Virgil expresses interest in doing business with Philo should he get out of jail alive.
-The next day, in the middle of a council meeting, Dr. Solomon shows up with urgent news. Andrew Newton has died, and Jeff Newton has hung himself.
The next session will jump ahead several months, to the spring.
-In the early morning, Dutch and his small group are keeping up surveillance on the bandit camp. They now count 50 bandits.
-The council decides to launch an artillery attack followed by infantry. Jeff Newton is absent--he has been sitting by his (still comatose) son, Andrew Newton, at Fort Newton, and has not been observed to eat for some time.
-As preparation for the attack begins at Fort Newton, the bandits hastily strike camp, hand out mortars, and split into several groups.
-Dutch and co. run for it as the artillery fires.
-Virgil's band rides out and investigates the remains of the camp. He finds that they took weapons with them but left a lot of supplies behind.
-Ophelia gets her intelligence reports; her Greer contact does not send one.
-Dutch and Virgil set out to track down the bandits and manage to find two groups of them setting up for a mortar attack. Meanwhile, in town, Ophelia attempts to root out a bandit spy who is trying to cause chaos in town and fails, but Eva steps up and manages to find him.
-Dutch and Virgil take out the bandit groups, taking some of them prisoner and forcing them to talk on the radio like everything's fine. They find only a few mortars but lots of lengths of lead pipe the same size as mortars, and only a few mortar shells.
-Virgil finally announces that the gig is up as they manage to triangulate the bandit leader's position just a mile out of town.
-Philo, the bandit leader, tries to escape. Virgil, Dutch and Eva ride after him. Philo tries hiding and tries escaping down a slope where horses can't follow, but our heroes catch him and take him into town as a prisoner.
-The town celebrates and rewards and commendations are given all around.
-The council questions Philo. (See next post for details.)
-Anders delivers notice to Lucius that the Parks estate is up for auction. Lucius tries to figure out if he will have enough land to be on the council.
-Sam Newton gains a little bit of a better reputation in town, despite only having served for about 24 hours. He also helps himself to wheelbarrow loads of spoils of war.
-Eva settles down to spend some quality time with her family.
-Ophelia is rewarded for her work. Corwin now asks her to travel to the neighboring city-states, especially Greer, to establish a more firm intelligence presence for Newton.
-Virgil visits Philo in jail with a bottle of wine. He tells Philo that his fight against him was just business, not personal. Philo says the same, and Virgil expresses interest in doing business with Philo should he get out of jail alive.
-The next day, in the middle of a council meeting, Dr. Solomon shows up with urgent news. Andrew Newton has died, and Jeff Newton has hung himself.
The next session will jump ahead several months, to the spring.
Wednesday, September 10
Collective Downtime, Ep.6
All of my character's plots are kind of in limbo right now, so I figured that I'd just briefly recap their current objectives.
Corwin wants to expand the town of Newton. Corwin doesn't specifically want to increase his personal power per se, although he is quite jealous of the power he already has and views any increase as a desirable side effect. Really, Corwin has invested himself in Newton so thoroughly that he views the town as his personal responsibility, one he owes to Bill, and it flatters his ego to see the town do well. Especially if it's under his direction. He is quite convinced he knows what's best and won't hesitate one bit to push his will on others. Thus, he may have somewhat altruistic goals, but he hasn't suddenly become an altruist.
Lucius, on the other hand, wants the town to expand as well, but it's for a more personal gain. He wants to be on the Council, or to lead it. He wants to be important. He's so convinced that he needs to be on the Council he hasn't yet come up with a firm plan regarding what he'd do if he got there. As the last episode showed, he's completely willing to break the law, but he is not entirely evil - he doesn't want to kill or ruin unnecessarily.
Virgil wants to make money. He knows that he can only do that by protecting the trade of Newton, so he does want the town to expand, at least in principle. However, if the town expands too well and eliminates all of its threats, as it appears that they might do to the bandits, he would not be entirely opposed to creating a new one (such as with Cody or Greer?) in order to be paid to end it.
Corwin wants to expand the town of Newton. Corwin doesn't specifically want to increase his personal power per se, although he is quite jealous of the power he already has and views any increase as a desirable side effect. Really, Corwin has invested himself in Newton so thoroughly that he views the town as his personal responsibility, one he owes to Bill, and it flatters his ego to see the town do well. Especially if it's under his direction. He is quite convinced he knows what's best and won't hesitate one bit to push his will on others. Thus, he may have somewhat altruistic goals, but he hasn't suddenly become an altruist.
Lucius, on the other hand, wants the town to expand as well, but it's for a more personal gain. He wants to be on the Council, or to lead it. He wants to be important. He's so convinced that he needs to be on the Council he hasn't yet come up with a firm plan regarding what he'd do if he got there. As the last episode showed, he's completely willing to break the law, but he is not entirely evil - he doesn't want to kill or ruin unnecessarily.
Virgil wants to make money. He knows that he can only do that by protecting the trade of Newton, so he does want the town to expand, at least in principle. However, if the town expands too well and eliminates all of its threats, as it appears that they might do to the bandits, he would not be entirely opposed to creating a new one (such as with Cody or Greer?) in order to be paid to end it.
Tuesday, September 9
Episode 5 Summary
Dec. 31st
-A town council meeting is due to take place in an hour, the first with Jeff newton returned to his post.
-Ophelia gets information on Cody and Greer being upset at Newton, bandits (other than the big force) vanishing, and William Newton becoming a point of contention in Laurel.
-Dutch gets information from his inside man with the bandits; they're still moving around, but they're waiting for equipment.
-Ophelia gets urgent information as she's waiting to talk to Corwin that the bandits have purchased 30 mortars.
-Lucius leaves a meeting with Corwin as Dutch and Ophelia come in.
-Corwin is worried about someone behind the scenes pulling the bandits' strings-the intelligence corroborates this.
-Dutch prepares a new operation to search for the bandits.
-Corwin decides to declare the council meeting secret because of this intelligence. Lorraine agrees.
-At the meeting, Jeff becomes the administrator again.
-Corwin presents his new information. Jeffery challenges it because Corwin cannot confirm it or reveal his source; Jeff finds it very convenient that it would come up just as he's returning to office.
-After a tense argument between Corwin and Jeff, Jeff decides to act on the information.
-A general draft is proposed. Jeff is opposed, but is overruled and the draft is implemented.
-As the meeting breaks up, Jeff tells Anders that he believes that all that is happening is because someone is trying to push Newton to mobilize the way they have been.
-Commander Cervantes gets the order to institute the draft; decides to threaten seizure of property for dodgers.
-Lucius gets word from his informant that Jeff is planning to speak publically against the draft the next day.
-Lucius goes and talks to Anders, asking him to expedite the auction of Parks' seized land.
-That night, Anders finds that the sheriff station has been broken into and the evidence locker cleared out, including the explosives that had been stored there.
Jan 1st
-Anders talks to Jeff, warning him that he suspects an attack with the explosives; Jeff refuses to cancel his speech.
-Anders sends out his deputies to search for the explosives.
-The town is unhappy about the draft.
-Jeff makes his speech. Though he does not say anything too inflammatory or particularly make a call to action, he does attempt to drum up public support for himself.
-Lorraine, Sam and Lucius respond to his speech, and an impromptu debate starts. Jeff starts out defensive, but things turn ugly when he goes on the attack by paranoia-mongering, including revealing town secrets. Jeff is shamed when Sam declares that he's going to enlist in the militia, and the crowd turns on Jeff.
-Just as the debate ends, there is an explosion. Jeff Newton's temporary domicile has been blown up. Curiously, all the servants were absent.
-The council decides to oust Jeff as administrator (Jeff himself is absent), making him only a normal council member. They elect Lorraine in his place.
-They additionally vote to censure him, but to excuse him on account of the strain of his situation.
-The council agrees that in view of the threat of a mortar attack, the conflict with the bandits must be ended quickly.
-The meeting ends, but Corwin presents, off the record, the information from his sources, now that Jeff is no longer present.
-Lucius updates his ledger with the cost of half a dozen mercenaries, equipment, and heavy weapons.
Session ended late on Jan. 1st. Next session will most likely pick up late on the 2nd.
-A town council meeting is due to take place in an hour, the first with Jeff newton returned to his post.
-Ophelia gets information on Cody and Greer being upset at Newton, bandits (other than the big force) vanishing, and William Newton becoming a point of contention in Laurel.
-Dutch gets information from his inside man with the bandits; they're still moving around, but they're waiting for equipment.
-Ophelia gets urgent information as she's waiting to talk to Corwin that the bandits have purchased 30 mortars.
-Lucius leaves a meeting with Corwin as Dutch and Ophelia come in.
-Corwin is worried about someone behind the scenes pulling the bandits' strings-the intelligence corroborates this.
-Dutch prepares a new operation to search for the bandits.
-Corwin decides to declare the council meeting secret because of this intelligence. Lorraine agrees.
-At the meeting, Jeff becomes the administrator again.
-Corwin presents his new information. Jeffery challenges it because Corwin cannot confirm it or reveal his source; Jeff finds it very convenient that it would come up just as he's returning to office.
-After a tense argument between Corwin and Jeff, Jeff decides to act on the information.
-A general draft is proposed. Jeff is opposed, but is overruled and the draft is implemented.
-As the meeting breaks up, Jeff tells Anders that he believes that all that is happening is because someone is trying to push Newton to mobilize the way they have been.
-Commander Cervantes gets the order to institute the draft; decides to threaten seizure of property for dodgers.
-Lucius gets word from his informant that Jeff is planning to speak publically against the draft the next day.
-Lucius goes and talks to Anders, asking him to expedite the auction of Parks' seized land.
-That night, Anders finds that the sheriff station has been broken into and the evidence locker cleared out, including the explosives that had been stored there.
Jan 1st
-Anders talks to Jeff, warning him that he suspects an attack with the explosives; Jeff refuses to cancel his speech.
-Anders sends out his deputies to search for the explosives.
-The town is unhappy about the draft.
-Jeff makes his speech. Though he does not say anything too inflammatory or particularly make a call to action, he does attempt to drum up public support for himself.
-Lorraine, Sam and Lucius respond to his speech, and an impromptu debate starts. Jeff starts out defensive, but things turn ugly when he goes on the attack by paranoia-mongering, including revealing town secrets. Jeff is shamed when Sam declares that he's going to enlist in the militia, and the crowd turns on Jeff.
-Just as the debate ends, there is an explosion. Jeff Newton's temporary domicile has been blown up. Curiously, all the servants were absent.
-The council decides to oust Jeff as administrator (Jeff himself is absent), making him only a normal council member. They elect Lorraine in his place.
-They additionally vote to censure him, but to excuse him on account of the strain of his situation.
-The council agrees that in view of the threat of a mortar attack, the conflict with the bandits must be ended quickly.
-The meeting ends, but Corwin presents, off the record, the information from his sources, now that Jeff is no longer present.
-Lucius updates his ledger with the cost of half a dozen mercenaries, equipment, and heavy weapons.
Session ended late on Jan. 1st. Next session will most likely pick up late on the 2nd.
Tuesday, August 26
Lucius Lessard-Newton, Ep. 4 Downtime
"He did what?" shouted Lucius, feeling sheer outrage fulminate in his breast.
Gray ducked slightly and looked around, nervous about being overheard. Nobody was listening, of course - they were standing in a logging hut on the edge of Lucius' property, well away from prying eyes.
"It's not so much him, but -"
"I know, you insipid fool!"
"But Doctor Solomon said that Jeffery has regained much of his faculties. He said that he might even be at the next council meeting!"
Lucius fought the urge to throttle his informant. It wasn't the man's fault, of course, he was just doing his job. And maybe he couldn't blame Jeffery for healing, but he was going to be damned if someone wasn't going to pay for this obstruction. It threatened to throw a monkey wrench into the entire plan.
The Newton name still carried a lot of weight, as the recent unrest had definitely shown, just as it had shown that the weigh disappeared if your Newton had a hyphen in front of it. Suddenly, his plans for expanding the town were "not what Bill would've wanted," as if his sniveling bastard of an uncle had a monopoly on Grandfather's opinions.
Feeling his heart rate slow, Lucius decided on a plan. "Gary, I want you to go back to him and do as you've been doing. Congratulate him on his fast recovery. But set your affairs in order - I may have a tremendous amount of money for you if you're willing to do a few...unsavory tasks for me."
Gary narrowed his eyes. So the man had standards after all! "Like what?"
"That'll remain to be seen. Trust me, I wouldn't have you do anything you'd be too uncomfortable with. No, you're far too useful for that."
Gray ducked slightly and looked around, nervous about being overheard. Nobody was listening, of course - they were standing in a logging hut on the edge of Lucius' property, well away from prying eyes.
"It's not so much him, but -"
"I know, you insipid fool!"
"But Doctor Solomon said that Jeffery has regained much of his faculties. He said that he might even be at the next council meeting!"
Lucius fought the urge to throttle his informant. It wasn't the man's fault, of course, he was just doing his job. And maybe he couldn't blame Jeffery for healing, but he was going to be damned if someone wasn't going to pay for this obstruction. It threatened to throw a monkey wrench into the entire plan.
The Newton name still carried a lot of weight, as the recent unrest had definitely shown, just as it had shown that the weigh disappeared if your Newton had a hyphen in front of it. Suddenly, his plans for expanding the town were "not what Bill would've wanted," as if his sniveling bastard of an uncle had a monopoly on Grandfather's opinions.
Feeling his heart rate slow, Lucius decided on a plan. "Gary, I want you to go back to him and do as you've been doing. Congratulate him on his fast recovery. But set your affairs in order - I may have a tremendous amount of money for you if you're willing to do a few...unsavory tasks for me."
Gary narrowed his eyes. So the man had standards after all! "Like what?"
"That'll remain to be seen. Trust me, I wouldn't have you do anything you'd be too uncomfortable with. No, you're far too useful for that."
Friday, August 22
Episode 4 Summary
December 21st
-The council meets in the afternoon and votes to add a law requiring a sound mind and the ability to attend meetings in person or by proxy to the requirements for administrator.
-Meanwhile, at Fort Newton, there are a number of serious supply deficiencies.
-Dutch gets a message that Chris Wall will be in Smacky's all day meeting the locals and asking him to drop by.
-Representatives from the nearby villages of Sublimity (part of Cody) and Cottonwood (part of Greer) arrive asking to speak with the council. They speak first with Dutch, then are brought before the council. They are being heavily raided by bandits and their respective central governments are not responding with enough speed. They want Newton's protection and are prepared to swear fealty to Newton. They also have some of the supplies that Newton needs.
-There is concern on the council about helping them, because it could be seen by Cody or Greer as Newton infringing on their territory. Corwin is particularly cautious, but Anders and Lorraine want to help them.
-In the end, the council votes in favor of helping them.
-Meanwhile, a crowd has gathered outside protesting what they see as the ousting of Jeff Newton from power. Corwin and Lorraine speak to the crowd and manage to placate them for the time being.
-The council refuses the fealty of the two villages, but requires that they provide supplies, pay tribute and give Newton economic privileges.
-Meanwhile at Smacky's, Chris is talking to Ophelia. He wants to form a long-term business relationship with her, and asks her a question he already knows the answer to. She lies, Chris is extremely displeased.
-Dutch meets with Chris, upset that Chris is acting so openly.
-Chris' goons corner Ophelia in the back alley and warn her against telling anyone that Chris is a mobster or that Dutch knows him.
-Ophelia, now under watch by Chris' goons, meets with Dutch; Dutch tells her to send an anonymous tip to Corwin that Chris and his buddies are working for the bandits.
-We jump ahead a few days to:
December 24th
-It's the evening. The snow has started up again.
-Corwin gets the tip, tells Dutch to round them up quietly and interrogate them in the basement of his warehouse.
-Dutch meets with Virgil and hires him to kill and hide the bodies of all the mobsters except Chris, who he'll deal with personally.
-As Dutch is leaving to deal with the mobsters, his wife tells him she's pregnant.
-As the clock ticks to midnight, Virgil's men ambush and kill the mobsters one by one.
-Dutch wakes up Chris and gets him drunk "to celebrate his wife's pregnancy."
-Virgil notices that Dutch and Chris know each other.
-Dutch leads Chris to Corwin's warehouse, locks him up in the basement, and beats him to death.
-Virgil's men bury the mobsters out in the wilderness.
December 25th
-Corwin makes a speech to the townsfolk, speaking of William Newton and how he is missed, and drawing a parallel between the chances at a new life he gave people with those Jesus gave.
-Dutch reports to Corwin that he couldn't get anything they hadn't already heard out of the "bandit spy" and that he died during interrogation.
-Virgil talks to Ophelia about Dutch knowing Chris. Dutch agrees to put in a good word with Corwin about her giving the tip on Ophelia's behalf, and to pay off Virgil for his silence.
-Sublimity, now with a group of Newton militia stationed there, is attacked by bandits.
This session left off on the morning of December 25th. It will pick up again in the afternoon of the 30th.
-The council meets in the afternoon and votes to add a law requiring a sound mind and the ability to attend meetings in person or by proxy to the requirements for administrator.
-Meanwhile, at Fort Newton, there are a number of serious supply deficiencies.
-Dutch gets a message that Chris Wall will be in Smacky's all day meeting the locals and asking him to drop by.
-Representatives from the nearby villages of Sublimity (part of Cody) and Cottonwood (part of Greer) arrive asking to speak with the council. They speak first with Dutch, then are brought before the council. They are being heavily raided by bandits and their respective central governments are not responding with enough speed. They want Newton's protection and are prepared to swear fealty to Newton. They also have some of the supplies that Newton needs.
-There is concern on the council about helping them, because it could be seen by Cody or Greer as Newton infringing on their territory. Corwin is particularly cautious, but Anders and Lorraine want to help them.
-In the end, the council votes in favor of helping them.
-Meanwhile, a crowd has gathered outside protesting what they see as the ousting of Jeff Newton from power. Corwin and Lorraine speak to the crowd and manage to placate them for the time being.
-The council refuses the fealty of the two villages, but requires that they provide supplies, pay tribute and give Newton economic privileges.
-Meanwhile at Smacky's, Chris is talking to Ophelia. He wants to form a long-term business relationship with her, and asks her a question he already knows the answer to. She lies, Chris is extremely displeased.
-Dutch meets with Chris, upset that Chris is acting so openly.
-Chris' goons corner Ophelia in the back alley and warn her against telling anyone that Chris is a mobster or that Dutch knows him.
-Ophelia, now under watch by Chris' goons, meets with Dutch; Dutch tells her to send an anonymous tip to Corwin that Chris and his buddies are working for the bandits.
-We jump ahead a few days to:
December 24th
-It's the evening. The snow has started up again.
-Corwin gets the tip, tells Dutch to round them up quietly and interrogate them in the basement of his warehouse.
-Dutch meets with Virgil and hires him to kill and hide the bodies of all the mobsters except Chris, who he'll deal with personally.
-As Dutch is leaving to deal with the mobsters, his wife tells him she's pregnant.
-As the clock ticks to midnight, Virgil's men ambush and kill the mobsters one by one.
-Dutch wakes up Chris and gets him drunk "to celebrate his wife's pregnancy."
-Virgil notices that Dutch and Chris know each other.
-Dutch leads Chris to Corwin's warehouse, locks him up in the basement, and beats him to death.
-Virgil's men bury the mobsters out in the wilderness.
December 25th
-Corwin makes a speech to the townsfolk, speaking of William Newton and how he is missed, and drawing a parallel between the chances at a new life he gave people with those Jesus gave.
-Dutch reports to Corwin that he couldn't get anything they hadn't already heard out of the "bandit spy" and that he died during interrogation.
-Virgil talks to Ophelia about Dutch knowing Chris. Dutch agrees to put in a good word with Corwin about her giving the tip on Ophelia's behalf, and to pay off Virgil for his silence.
-Sublimity, now with a group of Newton militia stationed there, is attacked by bandits.
This session left off on the morning of December 25th. It will pick up again in the afternoon of the 30th.
Tuesday, August 19
Note to Chris Wall - Episode 3 Downtime
Chris,
Sorry I had to run off; urgent business for my boss, you know how it is.
I'm thinking it's best if you and the boys you brought stay off the radar for now. We've got a lot of people coming into town right now, so everyone's keeping extra eyes on anyone unfamiliar. Wouldn't want anyone down at Smackey's starting to ask questions. I'd put you up myself, but we've only got the one bedroom, and that couch we found ain't exactly great for sleeping on.
I put out some supplies for you; there's a tent, some cots, food and some firestarters. If you head up west from town, there's a nice little spot just over the third hill where the cliffs shelter the site pretty good. Y'all should be comfortable enough there for a couple of days. Keep your guns around, though; plenty of bandits afoot.
I'll talk to you soon.
-Dutch
Sorry I had to run off; urgent business for my boss, you know how it is.
I'm thinking it's best if you and the boys you brought stay off the radar for now. We've got a lot of people coming into town right now, so everyone's keeping extra eyes on anyone unfamiliar. Wouldn't want anyone down at Smackey's starting to ask questions. I'd put you up myself, but we've only got the one bedroom, and that couch we found ain't exactly great for sleeping on.
I put out some supplies for you; there's a tent, some cots, food and some firestarters. If you head up west from town, there's a nice little spot just over the third hill where the cliffs shelter the site pretty good. Y'all should be comfortable enough there for a couple of days. Keep your guns around, though; plenty of bandits afoot.
I'll talk to you soon.
-Dutch
The Journal of Anders Leigh - Downtime 8/19/08
Jeffery's awake, finally. Doctor says there's no brain damage, and that he's going to try to get him on his feet in a week's time or so. Said something about plans "moving too fast;" not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, a bigger Newton is more traffic, more safety, more prosperity. On the other hand, my job gets a lot harder when I stop knowing everyone as people and start seeing them as "the civilian population." Guess we'll have to see.
Virgil Church, Ep. 3 Downtime
Virgil is getting a bit worried. He's not concerned about the danger of fighting the bandits, he's concerned about it being too safe afterwards. Nobody would be willing to pay for an escort by a band of heavily armed mercenaries if the pass was safe enough that children would be playing in it. That'd shoot his dreams of expanding his business in Newton. No bandits means no risk, meansno money for protection. He'd have to leave Newton and make his living somewhere else, fighting against more competition and, heaven help him, more regulation. He hadn't realized at the time, but Church is slowing discovering that the old status quo had a lot going for it.
Lucius Lessard-Newton, Ep. 3 Downtime
Lucius waited impatiently as Jeffery's manager counted the money. It was all there, of course, just as Lucius promised - he was no spendthrift, especially when it came to something this important.
"Alright, 500 dollars. What do you want again. I think you need to be real clear."
Real clear? Lucius briefly entertained the idea that the man was wearing a wire, but that seemed unlikely - not only were such things rare enough as to be improbable, by all accounts Gary Bucknell was a tremendously unimaginative person, if competent enough at his job.
"Very well, friend Gary. I want you to write up a summary of any substantial order that Jeffery gives you, and I want you to give it to me. Just substantial orders, mind; I don't want pages of nonsense such as what he had for lunch."
"And what are you going to do with it?"
Lucius narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to pay you for it. That's all you need to know. I'll contact you in a few days - I expect an accurate summary at that point. If I like what I see, there'll be more money and more work."
Gary nodded thoughtfully, and Lucius waited for him to go away. He hated dealing with this kind of subterfuge - Grandfather would never have stood for it. He'd have called Jeffery out and they'd have settled their differences one way or another. However, Lucius held no illusions about how his combat skills compared to Grandfather's; at any rate, shooting a man who's ill would hardly be sporting. The confrontation would come soon enough, but to know just when might require Lucius to get his hands dirty a bit.
"Alright, 500 dollars. What do you want again. I think you need to be real clear."
Real clear? Lucius briefly entertained the idea that the man was wearing a wire, but that seemed unlikely - not only were such things rare enough as to be improbable, by all accounts Gary Bucknell was a tremendously unimaginative person, if competent enough at his job.
"Very well, friend Gary. I want you to write up a summary of any substantial order that Jeffery gives you, and I want you to give it to me. Just substantial orders, mind; I don't want pages of nonsense such as what he had for lunch."
"And what are you going to do with it?"
Lucius narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to pay you for it. That's all you need to know. I'll contact you in a few days - I expect an accurate summary at that point. If I like what I see, there'll be more money and more work."
Gary nodded thoughtfully, and Lucius waited for him to go away. He hated dealing with this kind of subterfuge - Grandfather would never have stood for it. He'd have called Jeffery out and they'd have settled their differences one way or another. However, Lucius held no illusions about how his combat skills compared to Grandfather's; at any rate, shooting a man who's ill would hardly be sporting. The confrontation would come soon enough, but to know just when might require Lucius to get his hands dirty a bit.
Lorraine Newton, Downtime Ep #3
My good brother Jeffrey has come back from the dead. Unfortunately, our reunion was not as satisfying as one might hope. Perhaps Jeff will cool down after realizing how brazen the bandits have become. If Newton continues the way it has been, and if the bandits continue the way they've started, all that Bill wanted will have become the equivalent of the piles of horse shit peppering my ranch.
Fortunately Jeffrey's opposition provides me the opportunity of entrenching Corwin in my grasp even further. Thus far he's been thankful for the support I've given. In the coming weeks, convincing him that he needs me, as a Newton, to stand against Jeffrey shouldn't be too difficult. It would a shame if the rift between the two of them were to become too wide, but it might serve to benefit me. I mean, we all know who #1 is.
Fortunately Jeffrey's opposition provides me the opportunity of entrenching Corwin in my grasp even further. Thus far he's been thankful for the support I've given. In the coming weeks, convincing him that he needs me, as a Newton, to stand against Jeffrey shouldn't be too difficult. It would a shame if the rift between the two of them were to become too wide, but it might serve to benefit me. I mean, we all know who #1 is.
Friday, August 15
Note for Episode 3 Downtimes
An important thing to think about when writing downtimes for your council characters is what you think of Jeff's assertion that Newton is on the wrong track and more importantly what you plan to do about it. Remember that you're in a situation without precedent, it's not clear who is really in charge, and you have a wide range of unethical and illegal courses of action available to you as long as you don't get caught.
Also remember that each of your characters will remember William Newton differently. He wore many different hats over the course of his life, so it's possible that Jeff is wrong or that Corwin is wrong or that they're both partially right. Everyone's opinion of "what old Bill would have done" is going to be biased.
For the rest of your characters, downtimes will just serve their normal purpose, which is showing me what direction you want each character's plot to take.
Also remember that each of your characters will remember William Newton differently. He wore many different hats over the course of his life, so it's possible that Jeff is wrong or that Corwin is wrong or that they're both partially right. Everyone's opinion of "what old Bill would have done" is going to be biased.
For the rest of your characters, downtimes will just serve their normal purpose, which is showing me what direction you want each character's plot to take.
Corwin Gray, Ep. 3 Downtime
Journal Entry for December 20th.
Jeffery is awake now. I told him of what was going on in the town, and with the bandits. I told him of our campaign to eradicate their infestation. I told him of our plans to expand the town. His response was less positive than I expected. Far less. "It's too fast. This isn't what my father would've wanted."
Did he even know his father? The naive fool. How could someone as incompetent, as blind, as Jeffery possibly be the son of someone as capable as Bill? I see now that I was correct - Jeffery is badly underqualified to serve as Chief Administrator. Of course, I could never have voiced his opinion to Bill while he still lived. Not only did he love his son, he honestly thought that Jeffery would be the future of the town, would continue to shape it in his image. The imbecile is trying his best, apparently, but it seems as though he has no idea what his father's vision was!
There are those in the Council who feel that I've overstepped my bounds and that I'm pursuing this agenda for personal profit. Anders, in particular, has made little attempt to hide his suspicions. In a sense, they're right - I am doing this for my own profit. I am also doing it for their profit, for the benefit of the entire town. Without the bandits, think how we could grow! Expanding the town is not just a pleasant side effect of our campaign; it both allows and forces us to make good on our promises. It is essential.
In the end, I have no choice. Bandit raids on Newton and her outposts are intolerable. I will do whatever is necessary to destroy every bandit that remains a threat to us - THAT is what Bill would've done. It's what he did, in fact. If Jeffery, or Anders, or whoever else disagrees with that fact, they only prove their ignorance.
Jeffery is awake now. I told him of what was going on in the town, and with the bandits. I told him of our campaign to eradicate their infestation. I told him of our plans to expand the town. His response was less positive than I expected. Far less. "It's too fast. This isn't what my father would've wanted."
Did he even know his father? The naive fool. How could someone as incompetent, as blind, as Jeffery possibly be the son of someone as capable as Bill? I see now that I was correct - Jeffery is badly underqualified to serve as Chief Administrator. Of course, I could never have voiced his opinion to Bill while he still lived. Not only did he love his son, he honestly thought that Jeffery would be the future of the town, would continue to shape it in his image. The imbecile is trying his best, apparently, but it seems as though he has no idea what his father's vision was!
There are those in the Council who feel that I've overstepped my bounds and that I'm pursuing this agenda for personal profit. Anders, in particular, has made little attempt to hide his suspicions. In a sense, they're right - I am doing this for my own profit. I am also doing it for their profit, for the benefit of the entire town. Without the bandits, think how we could grow! Expanding the town is not just a pleasant side effect of our campaign; it both allows and forces us to make good on our promises. It is essential.
In the end, I have no choice. Bandit raids on Newton and her outposts are intolerable. I will do whatever is necessary to destroy every bandit that remains a threat to us - THAT is what Bill would've done. It's what he did, in fact. If Jeffery, or Anders, or whoever else disagrees with that fact, they only prove their ignorance.
Episode 3 Summary
Note: due to downtimes, it was decided to start this session a few days later than planned.
December 15th
-In the early afternoon, Sam, Virgil and Ophelia are meeting at Smacky's for business and a few moments of relaxation. The town has mobilized greatly in the past few days.
-Meanwhile, Corwin, Dutch and Lorraine are discussing the steadily-arriving mercenaries. Dutch will be in charge of them.
-Both groups see a strange, solemn group enter town and proceed to the cemetery, where they leave offerings and prayers at the grave of William Newton--they're a group of pilgrims.
-Corwin is informed that the outpost has radioed that they're under attack. He sends the militia out to retake it.
-Dutch leads one group of scouts on horseback, Virgil another, and Captain Sheridan a third. They set out and surround the outpost while Eva marches the main force to the outpost.
-Half an hour before the main force arrives, the bandits attempt to withdraw and blow up the outpost tower. The scouts engage and manage to stop them.
-Back at town, with most of Newton's forces gone, a group of about thirty bandits on horseback attack the town and try to burn down warehouses. Corwin, Anders and Lorraine barely manage to drive them off. Corwin arms and organizes defenders, Anders mixes it up with the bandits in the warehouse district, and Lorraine leads the firefighting and manages to take out several bandits with a fallen grenade. Sam helps save the day with sniper fire from his roof. In the end, only one warehouse is badly damaged, only two defenders die, many bandits are dead, and the returning scouts manage to take prisoners. Anders and Corwin are both injured.
-An impromptu meeting of council is held in the church, which is being used as a hospital. The council members are concerned that the bandits are acting in a strange manner. They aren't stealing anything, and have nothing to gain from their attacks. Furthermore, no one can think of a faction that would profit from what they're doing. The three surrounding city-states currently have more to gain from Newton's existence than its destruction. They agree to continue to ramp up Newton's mobilization.
-Dutch and Corwin discuss setting up an intelligence network. Lorraine suggests using Ophelia.
-Dutch breaks the news of Chris Wall coming to visit to his wife. His wife is upset and does not want the mob to become a part of life again.
-Corwin meets with Ophelia and hires her to start collecting information for the town's exclusive use--no resale.
-Ophelia talks to the pilgrims. They are Edenists from the city of Laurel, and revere William Newton as a modern-day saint. They reveal that more pilgrims from Laurel are on the way.
We jump ahead several days:
December 20th
-More mercenaries and equipment are trickling in. So are more pilgrims.
-Dutch interrogates (with a baseball bat) a bandit prisoner named Jay that he and Corwin have been keeping hidden in the basement of the town hall. He names someone named Philo as the bandit leader. He says they move around a lot, and are well paid. Dutch plans to send him back to the bandits to spy for him.
-Chris Wall arrives. Dutch is unappy but shows him around town.
-Later that night at the council meeting, Lucius takes the floor and proposes to claim the outpost as part of the town of Newton, and use the land to pay mercenaries.
-Anders, Grissom and White vote against the proposal, concerned that Newton is getting ahead of itself. The other three vote in favor, and the assembly votes in favor and the proposal passes.
-Jeff Newton wakes up and is upset about what has happened while he was unconscious. "This is not what my father would have wanted."
The session ended on the evening of the 20th. The next will begin in the afternoon of the 21st.
December 15th
-In the early afternoon, Sam, Virgil and Ophelia are meeting at Smacky's for business and a few moments of relaxation. The town has mobilized greatly in the past few days.
-Meanwhile, Corwin, Dutch and Lorraine are discussing the steadily-arriving mercenaries. Dutch will be in charge of them.
-Both groups see a strange, solemn group enter town and proceed to the cemetery, where they leave offerings and prayers at the grave of William Newton--they're a group of pilgrims.
-Corwin is informed that the outpost has radioed that they're under attack. He sends the militia out to retake it.
-Dutch leads one group of scouts on horseback, Virgil another, and Captain Sheridan a third. They set out and surround the outpost while Eva marches the main force to the outpost.
-Half an hour before the main force arrives, the bandits attempt to withdraw and blow up the outpost tower. The scouts engage and manage to stop them.
-Back at town, with most of Newton's forces gone, a group of about thirty bandits on horseback attack the town and try to burn down warehouses. Corwin, Anders and Lorraine barely manage to drive them off. Corwin arms and organizes defenders, Anders mixes it up with the bandits in the warehouse district, and Lorraine leads the firefighting and manages to take out several bandits with a fallen grenade. Sam helps save the day with sniper fire from his roof. In the end, only one warehouse is badly damaged, only two defenders die, many bandits are dead, and the returning scouts manage to take prisoners. Anders and Corwin are both injured.
-An impromptu meeting of council is held in the church, which is being used as a hospital. The council members are concerned that the bandits are acting in a strange manner. They aren't stealing anything, and have nothing to gain from their attacks. Furthermore, no one can think of a faction that would profit from what they're doing. The three surrounding city-states currently have more to gain from Newton's existence than its destruction. They agree to continue to ramp up Newton's mobilization.
-Dutch and Corwin discuss setting up an intelligence network. Lorraine suggests using Ophelia.
-Dutch breaks the news of Chris Wall coming to visit to his wife. His wife is upset and does not want the mob to become a part of life again.
-Corwin meets with Ophelia and hires her to start collecting information for the town's exclusive use--no resale.
-Ophelia talks to the pilgrims. They are Edenists from the city of Laurel, and revere William Newton as a modern-day saint. They reveal that more pilgrims from Laurel are on the way.
We jump ahead several days:
December 20th
-More mercenaries and equipment are trickling in. So are more pilgrims.
-Dutch interrogates (with a baseball bat) a bandit prisoner named Jay that he and Corwin have been keeping hidden in the basement of the town hall. He names someone named Philo as the bandit leader. He says they move around a lot, and are well paid. Dutch plans to send him back to the bandits to spy for him.
-Chris Wall arrives. Dutch is unappy but shows him around town.
-Later that night at the council meeting, Lucius takes the floor and proposes to claim the outpost as part of the town of Newton, and use the land to pay mercenaries.
-Anders, Grissom and White vote against the proposal, concerned that Newton is getting ahead of itself. The other three vote in favor, and the assembly votes in favor and the proposal passes.
-Jeff Newton wakes up and is upset about what has happened while he was unconscious. "This is not what my father would have wanted."
The session ended on the evening of the 20th. The next will begin in the afternoon of the 21st.
Tuesday, August 12
Corwin Gray, Ep. 2 Downtime Addendum
Dutch,
I agree completely. I'm going to be presenting the council with a bill that will provide for the hire of a number of "irregulars," mostly mercenaries and hired guns from out of town, but also including natives like Virgil Church's band. This might seem unusual, but there is much at stake and we cannot afford to lose.
Under normal circumstances, these men will be integrated with the normal militia, but I will see to it that you, as our new Supervisor of Irregular Troops, will have complete oversight of their use. This will involve making sure they do what they're supposed to, of course, but you will be free to use independent detachments in special circumstances.
-Corwin
I agree completely. I'm going to be presenting the council with a bill that will provide for the hire of a number of "irregulars," mostly mercenaries and hired guns from out of town, but also including natives like Virgil Church's band. This might seem unusual, but there is much at stake and we cannot afford to lose.
Under normal circumstances, these men will be integrated with the normal militia, but I will see to it that you, as our new Supervisor of Irregular Troops, will have complete oversight of their use. This will involve making sure they do what they're supposed to, of course, but you will be free to use independent detachments in special circumstances.
-Corwin
Captain Charles Sheridan, Ep. 2 Downtime
After-Action Report, December 10th
At length we found the remains of the bandit raid – seven dead men (find their names attached) with a small fraction of their cargo, mostly worthless sundries of no use to uncivilized men. Of horses, weapons, and carts there was no sign. There is substantial evidence of a firefight in the area, and all of the men died of gunshot wounds.
Afterwards, we decided to push forward slightly, to see if we might be able to catch the bandits dividing the spoils nearby, or perhaps overtake them on the way back to their camp. In this we were unsuccessful, but we did see evidence that points to a considerable bandit presence: a number of abandoned camps, fresh garbage, and traps for large game. These are too far off the road to be the detritus of normal travelers, and too far from Newton to be townsfolk.
Attached are pictures of several of the abandoned camps.
At length we found the remains of the bandit raid – seven dead men (find their names attached) with a small fraction of their cargo, mostly worthless sundries of no use to uncivilized men. Of horses, weapons, and carts there was no sign. There is substantial evidence of a firefight in the area, and all of the men died of gunshot wounds.
Afterwards, we decided to push forward slightly, to see if we might be able to catch the bandits dividing the spoils nearby, or perhaps overtake them on the way back to their camp. In this we were unsuccessful, but we did see evidence that points to a considerable bandit presence: a number of abandoned camps, fresh garbage, and traps for large game. These are too far off the road to be the detritus of normal travelers, and too far from Newton to be townsfolk.
Attached are pictures of several of the abandoned camps.
Dutch Williams Downtime for Ep. 2
Mr. Grey,
It's been a hell of a couple of days, hasn't it? I'd like to say I'm sorry about what happened to the caravan; I should have known that the first shipment of the year was going to get attacked hardcore. Maybe with a heavier guard... well, I doubt we would have saved the gear, but we might have kept a few of our men alive. Maybe.
Anyway, I'm writing to ask you for a favor, of a sort. That militia woman just drafted me. Thing is, I think I'll be able to do better work without a chain of command over my head. There's things one man or a few can do that an army can't. I'd like to ask if you could inform her that I'm busy working on some "special projects" for you. At the very least, it'll probably end up being true.
-Dutch
It's been a hell of a couple of days, hasn't it? I'd like to say I'm sorry about what happened to the caravan; I should have known that the first shipment of the year was going to get attacked hardcore. Maybe with a heavier guard... well, I doubt we would have saved the gear, but we might have kept a few of our men alive. Maybe.
Anyway, I'm writing to ask you for a favor, of a sort. That militia woman just drafted me. Thing is, I think I'll be able to do better work without a chain of command over my head. There's things one man or a few can do that an army can't. I'd like to ask if you could inform her that I'm busy working on some "special projects" for you. At the very least, it'll probably end up being true.
-Dutch
Corwin Gray, Ep. 2 Downtime
Journal Entry, Corwin Gray, December 11th, 2073
After reviewing Cmdr. Cervantes’ report on militia readiness, and after Lucius’ generous but (I am quite sure) not entirely selfless donation, I have decided to pass through the Council a bill authorizing the militia to purchase arms and heavy weapons from neighboring towns, as well as non-Newton “irregular” forces, to be armed with aforementioned weapons.
Though I have no doubt my plan to bring in foreigners to fight for us will not be an entirely welcome decision, I feel that there is no reason to commit to an endeavor of this magnitude without being prepared to take it all the way. For the first time in its history, Newton needs a standing army.
I am no fool; I have read my history. Mercenaries can be uncontrollable and dangerous. Therefore, we shall distribute them evenly throughout the militia, as well as keeping their numbers to the bare minimum possible.
Idea: Lucius will no doubt be pleased to hear me say this, indeed, he strongly hinted at this himself in his speech to the Council. Much as Bill did, we shall wrest control of the pass and the mountains from the bandits, as well as expanding the safe zone around the Crossroads Outpost. Rather than being content to leave it safe yet still “contested,” we should strongly consider annexing that territory.
It is my understanding that there are several claims on the land, including a tenuous one from Newton proper, but, in clearing it, I have no doubt that our claim would be recognized by any objective source as strongest. Therefore, let it be done – I shall propose it to the council myself at our next meeting. This will also allow us to reward those who serve best with additional land, always the strongest motivator. Who knows – perhaps in time some of these mercenaries will become proper citizens.
After reviewing Cmdr. Cervantes’ report on militia readiness, and after Lucius’ generous but (I am quite sure) not entirely selfless donation, I have decided to pass through the Council a bill authorizing the militia to purchase arms and heavy weapons from neighboring towns, as well as non-Newton “irregular” forces, to be armed with aforementioned weapons.
Though I have no doubt my plan to bring in foreigners to fight for us will not be an entirely welcome decision, I feel that there is no reason to commit to an endeavor of this magnitude without being prepared to take it all the way. For the first time in its history, Newton needs a standing army.
I am no fool; I have read my history. Mercenaries can be uncontrollable and dangerous. Therefore, we shall distribute them evenly throughout the militia, as well as keeping their numbers to the bare minimum possible.
Idea: Lucius will no doubt be pleased to hear me say this, indeed, he strongly hinted at this himself in his speech to the Council. Much as Bill did, we shall wrest control of the pass and the mountains from the bandits, as well as expanding the safe zone around the Crossroads Outpost. Rather than being content to leave it safe yet still “contested,” we should strongly consider annexing that territory.
It is my understanding that there are several claims on the land, including a tenuous one from Newton proper, but, in clearing it, I have no doubt that our claim would be recognized by any objective source as strongest. Therefore, let it be done – I shall propose it to the council myself at our next meeting. This will also allow us to reward those who serve best with additional land, always the strongest motivator. Who knows – perhaps in time some of these mercenaries will become proper citizens.
Lucius Lessard-Newton, Ep. 2 Downtime
Address to the Council:
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, fellow citizens. This town has begun on a journey of a magnitude that it has not seen since my grandfather, William Newton, first killed the bandit kings of this valley and declared it free territory. I am speaking, of course, of the campaign to ride our town of its bandit menace, and to free the road for trade of goods and ideas.
I feel that this is exactly what grandfather would have done. I have heard that he spoke often of the bandits in his later years, but was concerned that we lacked the strength to deal with so deadly a menace. However, I feel that, understandable as it was, his concerns were not justified – not only are we capable of dealing with this threat, we must deal with it.
As a patriotic citizen of Newton, then, I feel as though I must to everything I can to ensure our operation’s success. To that end, I shall commit every non-essential employee of my family and my lands to the militia, and to furthermore make a substantial donation to the town’s coffers, to be spent on arms and experts to assist us.
It is my hope that, as a result of this campaign, Newton will emerge from its chrysalis into a Golden Age, which will catapult it from a small trading town to the greatest city-state in the land. Thank you!”
Mild applause.
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, fellow citizens. This town has begun on a journey of a magnitude that it has not seen since my grandfather, William Newton, first killed the bandit kings of this valley and declared it free territory. I am speaking, of course, of the campaign to ride our town of its bandit menace, and to free the road for trade of goods and ideas.
I feel that this is exactly what grandfather would have done. I have heard that he spoke often of the bandits in his later years, but was concerned that we lacked the strength to deal with so deadly a menace. However, I feel that, understandable as it was, his concerns were not justified – not only are we capable of dealing with this threat, we must deal with it.
As a patriotic citizen of Newton, then, I feel as though I must to everything I can to ensure our operation’s success. To that end, I shall commit every non-essential employee of my family and my lands to the militia, and to furthermore make a substantial donation to the town’s coffers, to be spent on arms and experts to assist us.
It is my hope that, as a result of this campaign, Newton will emerge from its chrysalis into a Golden Age, which will catapult it from a small trading town to the greatest city-state in the land. Thank you!”
Mild applause.
Ava Cervantes, Downtime #2
Dear Councilmembers,
It has come to our attention that Newton has a prime opportunity to deal with the well-known bandit issue. While Newton was founded in an effort to ensure a measure of safety on the trade route, it is easy to become overly complacent in accepting the bandits as a problem without end. The difficulty with this is that as we become more complacent, the bandits become increasingly bold. This has become vividly evident with the attack on Corwin Gray's supply caravan. Also, with the new threat from an unknown party on the Newton heirs, I think it best that we deal with our known enemies quickly and reduce any dangers as much as possible.
I have no wish to draw this process out, as I prefer Newton in a time of peace rather than tension and fighting. I plan to deal with this situation with efficiency and speed. However, I think it equally important, if not more so, to keep in mind Newton's defenses. It would not be wise to send all of our troops out to deal with these rogues while leaving our homes naked and vulnerable. If anything, I believe Newton's defenses should be increased during this period of tension. All I can hope is that I will receive the council's agreement on this matter.
I have gone over preliminary listings of all registered able-bodied persons and I estimate that after establishing our defenses, we will have an attack force that will be sufficient to deal with the bandits provided their numbers do not exceed our current understanding. I have sent an armored caravan to Cody to procure any items that will be necessary in the time ahead, such as plentiful supplies of ammo, assault rifles, grenades, and hopefully a howitzer or two.
Sincerely,
Eva Cervantes
Militia Commander
It has come to our attention that Newton has a prime opportunity to deal with the well-known bandit issue. While Newton was founded in an effort to ensure a measure of safety on the trade route, it is easy to become overly complacent in accepting the bandits as a problem without end. The difficulty with this is that as we become more complacent, the bandits become increasingly bold. This has become vividly evident with the attack on Corwin Gray's supply caravan. Also, with the new threat from an unknown party on the Newton heirs, I think it best that we deal with our known enemies quickly and reduce any dangers as much as possible.
I have no wish to draw this process out, as I prefer Newton in a time of peace rather than tension and fighting. I plan to deal with this situation with efficiency and speed. However, I think it equally important, if not more so, to keep in mind Newton's defenses. It would not be wise to send all of our troops out to deal with these rogues while leaving our homes naked and vulnerable. If anything, I believe Newton's defenses should be increased during this period of tension. All I can hope is that I will receive the council's agreement on this matter.
I have gone over preliminary listings of all registered able-bodied persons and I estimate that after establishing our defenses, we will have an attack force that will be sufficient to deal with the bandits provided their numbers do not exceed our current understanding. I have sent an armored caravan to Cody to procure any items that will be necessary in the time ahead, such as plentiful supplies of ammo, assault rifles, grenades, and hopefully a howitzer or two.
Sincerely,
Eva Cervantes
Militia Commander
Friday, August 8
Episode 2 Summary
December 9th, 2073
-The council meets. Masterson and Keller are gone, Lorraine and Anders are in.
-Corwin briefly addresses the crowd with the facts to stop rumor-mongering.
-Electing a temporary administrator is discussed. Croft nominates Corwin Gray, seconded by White. after no one puts forth a second nomination, Corwin nominates Anders, seconded by Grissom. They depart the chamber while deliberations and voting is conducted. The council votes to suspend a normal rule allowing 24 hours for nominations from citizens.
-Sam Newton visits Virgil Church in his cell, lowering a radio through the bars. Virgil is willing to keep Sam's secret as long as Sam is willing to make it worth his while. Virgil points out that Ophelia knows too. Sam leaves him some money and some tools to escape if he so desires.
-Back at the council, Lorraine and White speak in support of Corwin.
-Sam runs into Thomas Brass, community leader and leader of the local neighborhood watch. Tom asks Sam if he knows anything about the explosives. When Sam protests his innocence Tom reveals that Judy White (the councilman's daughter) saw another local dealer in illicit goods, Erwin Parks, meeting with strangers that night, and most people believe he's the one who sold the explosives.
-Virgil gets restless in the cell and decides to escape.
-Sam meets with Parks and taunts him. Parks insists he was just selling drugs to the strangers. Sam plants money and dynamite hidden outside Parks' shed.
-Corwin is voted administrator with only Grissom opposed.
-Meanwhile, Anders notices a mob growing inside and outside Smacky's bar. Also, Virgil entering the bar despite being ostensibly imprisoned.
-Virgil meets with Ophelia and confirms that she's willing to keep Sam's secret too if it's worth her while.
-Anders goes to try to calm the crowd. Meanwhile, Corwin calls out Eva and the militia to help break up the mob.
-Anders, Corwin, Eva and the militia work together to break up the mob. Anders talks to them and eventually shoots somone in the leg, Corwin invokes William Newton ("I'm glad old Bill is dead tonight, because if he saw all of you it would break his heart, and then he'd break you"), and Eva expertly leads the militia in applying restrained force. At the last moment Virgil riles the crowd up again by yelling that he had personally seen Parks selling the explosives, but the situation is barely defused in the end.
-Anders tosses Virgil back in the slammer.
December 10th
-Anders releases Virgil and gives him his stuff back, knowing Virgil would probably just escape again/steal it back otherwise.
-Anders investigates Parks' home. He finds him gone and finds the money and dynamite planted by Sam. He thinks it's strange that Parks would leave money and hide his explosives poorly, but he has no other leads.
-Work begins on reopening the pass.
-Virgil and Ophelia pay a visit to Sam to discuss his secret. Virgil extracts a discount on supplies from him, Ophelia gets him to agree to feed her information.
-Mr. Hardy shows up with paperwork for Anders, who is faced with tons of work between his many new duties.
-The pass is opened. Corwin's shipment to Greer is the first out the door.
-Dutch gets an encrypted message from Chris Wall, a fellow mobster from Dutch's past who announces he will be visiting for Christmas and checking out Newton as a possible place to set up shop.
-Lorraine asks Corwin to bump up one of her horse caravans on the queue for outgoing shipments in exchange for her continued support.
-Lucius pays a visit to Anders, asking him to expedite the public auction of Edwin Parks' land so he can buy it. In exchange, he agrees to provide Anders with an able assistant to help him with all of his newfound work.
-That night, Corwin's shipment gets jumped by bandits in the pass.
-Corwin realizes this when the outpost fails to sight them. He sends his assistant to wake up Eva and hire Virgil. Anders, working late, sees the commotion and follows everyone to the fort to see what's going on.
-Corwin sends the militia out to try to find his shipment. Anders and Corwin get into an argument. Anders is angry that Corwin is using the militia for his own purposes, and Corwin insists that with Newton wealthier and more powerful than ever it's time to end the bandit problem once and for all.
Session ended late on the night of the 10th. The next session begins early on the 12th. The major plot arc for the next few episodes will be the bandit problem.
-The council meets. Masterson and Keller are gone, Lorraine and Anders are in.
-Corwin briefly addresses the crowd with the facts to stop rumor-mongering.
-Electing a temporary administrator is discussed. Croft nominates Corwin Gray, seconded by White. after no one puts forth a second nomination, Corwin nominates Anders, seconded by Grissom. They depart the chamber while deliberations and voting is conducted. The council votes to suspend a normal rule allowing 24 hours for nominations from citizens.
-Sam Newton visits Virgil Church in his cell, lowering a radio through the bars. Virgil is willing to keep Sam's secret as long as Sam is willing to make it worth his while. Virgil points out that Ophelia knows too. Sam leaves him some money and some tools to escape if he so desires.
-Back at the council, Lorraine and White speak in support of Corwin.
-Sam runs into Thomas Brass, community leader and leader of the local neighborhood watch. Tom asks Sam if he knows anything about the explosives. When Sam protests his innocence Tom reveals that Judy White (the councilman's daughter) saw another local dealer in illicit goods, Erwin Parks, meeting with strangers that night, and most people believe he's the one who sold the explosives.
-Virgil gets restless in the cell and decides to escape.
-Sam meets with Parks and taunts him. Parks insists he was just selling drugs to the strangers. Sam plants money and dynamite hidden outside Parks' shed.
-Corwin is voted administrator with only Grissom opposed.
-Meanwhile, Anders notices a mob growing inside and outside Smacky's bar. Also, Virgil entering the bar despite being ostensibly imprisoned.
-Virgil meets with Ophelia and confirms that she's willing to keep Sam's secret too if it's worth her while.
-Anders goes to try to calm the crowd. Meanwhile, Corwin calls out Eva and the militia to help break up the mob.
-Anders, Corwin, Eva and the militia work together to break up the mob. Anders talks to them and eventually shoots somone in the leg, Corwin invokes William Newton ("I'm glad old Bill is dead tonight, because if he saw all of you it would break his heart, and then he'd break you"), and Eva expertly leads the militia in applying restrained force. At the last moment Virgil riles the crowd up again by yelling that he had personally seen Parks selling the explosives, but the situation is barely defused in the end.
-Anders tosses Virgil back in the slammer.
December 10th
-Anders releases Virgil and gives him his stuff back, knowing Virgil would probably just escape again/steal it back otherwise.
-Anders investigates Parks' home. He finds him gone and finds the money and dynamite planted by Sam. He thinks it's strange that Parks would leave money and hide his explosives poorly, but he has no other leads.
-Work begins on reopening the pass.
-Virgil and Ophelia pay a visit to Sam to discuss his secret. Virgil extracts a discount on supplies from him, Ophelia gets him to agree to feed her information.
-Mr. Hardy shows up with paperwork for Anders, who is faced with tons of work between his many new duties.
-The pass is opened. Corwin's shipment to Greer is the first out the door.
-Dutch gets an encrypted message from Chris Wall, a fellow mobster from Dutch's past who announces he will be visiting for Christmas and checking out Newton as a possible place to set up shop.
-Lorraine asks Corwin to bump up one of her horse caravans on the queue for outgoing shipments in exchange for her continued support.
-Lucius pays a visit to Anders, asking him to expedite the public auction of Edwin Parks' land so he can buy it. In exchange, he agrees to provide Anders with an able assistant to help him with all of his newfound work.
-That night, Corwin's shipment gets jumped by bandits in the pass.
-Corwin realizes this when the outpost fails to sight them. He sends his assistant to wake up Eva and hire Virgil. Anders, working late, sees the commotion and follows everyone to the fort to see what's going on.
-Corwin sends the militia out to try to find his shipment. Anders and Corwin get into an argument. Anders is angry that Corwin is using the militia for his own purposes, and Corwin insists that with Newton wealthier and more powerful than ever it's time to end the bandit problem once and for all.
Session ended late on the night of the 10th. The next session begins early on the 12th. The major plot arc for the next few episodes will be the bandit problem.
Wednesday, August 6
The Journal of Samuel Newton: December 9th, 2073
Damn! Whoever the hell bought that damned dynamite off me just tried to use it to kill my nephew. Didn't work, but did a number on Will's house and put both the boy and his boy out for a while.
Dammit. This is bad. There's at least one person who knows where the bastard got the bombs, and as much as I like Church, I don't know how far I can trust him. Even if he's smart, it's gonna be bad for my pocketbook, and if he ain't... hellfire. The sheriff or that militia woman figure out where the explosives came from, I'm humped, and I'm willing to bet there are enough of my brother's loyalists still around to make sure that the penalty for selling bombs is death by public lynching.
I don't even know if anyone else knows, though I'd be a fool to assume otherwise. There's no way in hell I'm gonna keep my name off this, I reckon. Only thing to do is make sure it goes on the right way.
Dammit. This is bad. There's at least one person who knows where the bastard got the bombs, and as much as I like Church, I don't know how far I can trust him. Even if he's smart, it's gonna be bad for my pocketbook, and if he ain't... hellfire. The sheriff or that militia woman figure out where the explosives came from, I'm humped, and I'm willing to bet there are enough of my brother's loyalists still around to make sure that the penalty for selling bombs is death by public lynching.
I don't even know if anyone else knows, though I'd be a fool to assume otherwise. There's no way in hell I'm gonna keep my name off this, I reckon. Only thing to do is make sure it goes on the right way.
Monday, August 4
Ophelia Wolfe, Downtime #1
“Oh, Ophelia. Oh, Ophelia, what have you been doing?” Nobody knows. Well maybe Mr. Fritter, Smacky’s hired mouse (he scares the finer types away, so says Ophelia), but really he doesn’t count.
Lorraine Newton, Downtime #1
Glancing at the clock, 5 after 9, I realize it’s time to shut the books. I’d been pouring over them for the last half hour. Twisting and turning numbers to see if they might make themselves any more appealing than they seem to be, unfortunately numbers tend to be so goddamn stubborn. Winter has never been my favorite season, but with the pass being closed so long, it’s almost unbearable this year. I can feel my gut damn near twinge every time I contemplate how low those numbers have fallen. Not a single horse has gone since October. I let out a huff of breath as I push out my chair. Not a thing to be done, I’ll have to speak to Corwin. Lord knows, I’m not the only one suffering. That pass has got to re-open.
Lucius Lessard-Newton, Downtime #1
The map of the town was hopelessly out of date. Additional land Grandfather had acquired late in his life had been crudely and imprecisely penciled in, and the places where the “official” border of the town had expanded had been annotated with that information and absolutely nothing else. It was the same on survey documents, deeds, and the handful of other official documents that he’d looked over so far.
Lucius took another swallow of his now lukewarm tea and turned to the next document. Just like most of the rest, it indicated the borders of the town with a reasonable degree of precision, but it was a brand new number – not a single one of the documents agreed with any of the others as to Newton’s exact boundaries. Furthermore, Lucius had no doubt that most of the farmers on the periphery tilled and sowed on land that was technically outside the borders of the town and therefore contested. His father certainly had.
Most likely the reason for the inaccuracy lay in Newton’s extremely ad hoc origins. Nobody could agree on how big the town was at its founding, with the few sources that named it (Neither Grandfather or anyone else in his band had been much on paperwork in the early days, it seemed) saying that it was either the walls of the bandit compound Newton had formerly been, or the trickling Washington River, or the edge of the forest as it had existed then.
Whatever the reason, Lucius’ felt his hopes lift, if not exactly soar. Maybe with a full blood, first generation Newton or two on his side, especially one with land on the periphery, he might be able to convince the council that the town extended beyond his current fields, possibly all the way to Dosset Creek. That’d add almost 100 acres of unimproved land to his claim by itself, and reasonable good land too. The more people that agreed with him, the larger the expansion was likely to be – they’d all want a slice of the pie after all. Aunt Lorraine, for instance, would certainly not say no to some more of the prime grazing land watered by the creek. With 100 acres of additional land, he’d just need square inches more to edge old Gus White out of the council.
Lucius leaned back in the town hall’s uncomfortable chair. He’d need to put all this away before the meeting started – the council were the last people in town he wanted hearing of his plan.
Lucius took another swallow of his now lukewarm tea and turned to the next document. Just like most of the rest, it indicated the borders of the town with a reasonable degree of precision, but it was a brand new number – not a single one of the documents agreed with any of the others as to Newton’s exact boundaries. Furthermore, Lucius had no doubt that most of the farmers on the periphery tilled and sowed on land that was technically outside the borders of the town and therefore contested. His father certainly had.
Most likely the reason for the inaccuracy lay in Newton’s extremely ad hoc origins. Nobody could agree on how big the town was at its founding, with the few sources that named it (Neither Grandfather or anyone else in his band had been much on paperwork in the early days, it seemed) saying that it was either the walls of the bandit compound Newton had formerly been, or the trickling Washington River, or the edge of the forest as it had existed then.
Whatever the reason, Lucius’ felt his hopes lift, if not exactly soar. Maybe with a full blood, first generation Newton or two on his side, especially one with land on the periphery, he might be able to convince the council that the town extended beyond his current fields, possibly all the way to Dosset Creek. That’d add almost 100 acres of unimproved land to his claim by itself, and reasonable good land too. The more people that agreed with him, the larger the expansion was likely to be – they’d all want a slice of the pie after all. Aunt Lorraine, for instance, would certainly not say no to some more of the prime grazing land watered by the creek. With 100 acres of additional land, he’d just need square inches more to edge old Gus White out of the council.
Lucius leaned back in the town hall’s uncomfortable chair. He’d need to put all this away before the meeting started – the council were the last people in town he wanted hearing of his plan.
Virgil Church, Downtime #1
Virgil sat in the lockup, twiddling his thumbs. Anders had thrown him in here as soon as he’d had a spare moment, to “think for a spell” on what he’d done. He’d dealt with a threat to the town, right? The men were patsies; there was no way that had useful information. It wouldn’t do to leave them behind where they might make trouble. Besides, the only good bandit was a dead bandit. As long as things didn’t get too peaceful, anyway.
At any rate, Virgil had other things to ruminate on. He had realized, sitting in the Fort with the doctor and Anders and Eva, that only he and Ophelia Wolfe knew where the stranger had gotten his explosives, and it naturally would not be good for Sam Newton if word got out what he’d done to his nephew. Virgil tossed around the idea of blackmail, but decided in the end that Sam was too goo d a friend for that, and too useful as an ally in any case. Still, he could make some money off of this – doubtless Sam’d pay good money to protect what was left of his reputation. Otherwise, well, it didn’t bear thinking on.
At any rate, Virgil had other things to ruminate on. He had realized, sitting in the Fort with the doctor and Anders and Eva, that only he and Ophelia Wolfe knew where the stranger had gotten his explosives, and it naturally would not be good for Sam Newton if word got out what he’d done to his nephew. Virgil tossed around the idea of blackmail, but decided in the end that Sam was too goo d a friend for that, and too useful as an ally in any case. Still, he could make some money off of this – doubtless Sam’d pay good money to protect what was left of his reputation. Otherwise, well, it didn’t bear thinking on.
Corwin Gray, Downtime #1
So, Keller and Masterson were off the council. Keller was a fool and it Corwin wished that it had taken an event less momentous than Bill’s death to knock him off his high horse. Masterson was competent enough, more so than his lineage might suggest, but he was also something of a non-entity. That left Ed Grissom, Gus White, and David Croft on the council, plus Corwin himself, in addition to the two most likely new members: Anders Leigh (Corwin was still shaking his head over this one) and Lorraine Newton.
Corwin pushed his ledger aside and rubbed his eyes. He was not looking forward to the evening’s meeting. The others were going to be howling for blood with no real ideas to back up their rage, and demanding action without allowing for planning. Just like any other week, except no administrator to break up disputes, plus doe-eyed Leigh and Lorraine too new to hold their own.
He paused for a moment before pulling a blank sheet of paper and, with a brief hesitation, started writing notes. Corwin’s position as Council Speaker, tenuous and honorary as it was, meant that he was more or less first among equals. The town’s bylaws were rather incomplete, but if anyone was going to stand up and take the position of administrator pro tempore, it would be him.
Corwin hated the thought of scheming his way into Bill’s old post; his death still felt a little unreal, like he could walk in through the door any moment and start barking about how things were going to get done. No more of that. Jeffery certainly didn’t have the spine for it. Corwin would just have to get things done himself, without the old man’s omnipresent stare to break through deadlocks.
Corwin shook his head. Back to the matter and hand. Leigh and Newton didn’t know how things worked and probably wouldn’t try to stop him. Grissom would protest no matter what Corwin did, but his greatest supporters had been Keller and Masterson, so he was neutered. Croft would disagree with Grissom for just about any reason. White would be wary, but if the rest of the council (Grissom aside, of course) fell on his side White would go along.
Corwin put his pen aside and crumpled up the sheet he’d been writing on. Politics were supposed to stay out of the council; it was for “the good of the town, and the good of its people,” as Bill had always said. No more of that either, it looked like.
(P.S. I didn’t mention this in the narrative, but Corwin has a substantial, high-value shipment ready to go to Greer, and is getting very frustrated with the pass being closed. This is very much an open secret – a fair amount of Corwin’s wealth comes from the shipping concern he owns, and much of the stuff he ships is grown or produced on his own land.)
Corwin pushed his ledger aside and rubbed his eyes. He was not looking forward to the evening’s meeting. The others were going to be howling for blood with no real ideas to back up their rage, and demanding action without allowing for planning. Just like any other week, except no administrator to break up disputes, plus doe-eyed Leigh and Lorraine too new to hold their own.
He paused for a moment before pulling a blank sheet of paper and, with a brief hesitation, started writing notes. Corwin’s position as Council Speaker, tenuous and honorary as it was, meant that he was more or less first among equals. The town’s bylaws were rather incomplete, but if anyone was going to stand up and take the position of administrator pro tempore, it would be him.
Corwin hated the thought of scheming his way into Bill’s old post; his death still felt a little unreal, like he could walk in through the door any moment and start barking about how things were going to get done. No more of that. Jeffery certainly didn’t have the spine for it. Corwin would just have to get things done himself, without the old man’s omnipresent stare to break through deadlocks.
Corwin shook his head. Back to the matter and hand. Leigh and Newton didn’t know how things worked and probably wouldn’t try to stop him. Grissom would protest no matter what Corwin did, but his greatest supporters had been Keller and Masterson, so he was neutered. Croft would disagree with Grissom for just about any reason. White would be wary, but if the rest of the council (Grissom aside, of course) fell on his side White would go along.
Corwin put his pen aside and crumpled up the sheet he’d been writing on. Politics were supposed to stay out of the council; it was for “the good of the town, and the good of its people,” as Bill had always said. No more of that either, it looked like.
(P.S. I didn’t mention this in the narrative, but Corwin has a substantial, high-value shipment ready to go to Greer, and is getting very frustrated with the pass being closed. This is very much an open secret – a fair amount of Corwin’s wealth comes from the shipping concern he owns, and much of the stuff he ships is grown or produced on his own land.)
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