PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

[larkers]

> PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

What is Plot Engagement and how does it work within Meadowlark? This is the page where players can come discuss with us how to facilitate plots within the setting. However, there will be occasions where a plot doesn't work within Meadowlark's world, and we'll suggest alternative routes. For small worldbuilding or gameplay details, please direct your question to the FAQ. If you're ever not sure if you're at the right page, don't worry—we'll help you get it sorted out. We know we have a load of info!

WHEN WILL YOU HEAR BACK?

◉ All Plot Engagement answers go out on Sunday, except during events.
◉ The deadline to submit a question and ensure you'll hear back from us on Sunday is 11:59 PM UTC on Saturday.

PLOT ENGAGEMENT INCLUDES

◉ Player plots! If you'd like your character to become a mafia boss, this is your place to start. Typically, this involves anything that could impact the setting or other player characters.
◉ Character career advancement that gives the character additional power or status within the setting.
◉ Metaplot exploration and information! We plan all events to give characters something to explore after the event ends. This is the place to do it!

SUBMISSION TIPS

◉ Specify what your character is looking for when they're investigating. What questions are they asking and what angle are they trying to explore?
◉ If you have a specific goal in mind but don't know how to reach it, please let us know.
◉ If you link a thread to us, please summarize it! That helps us process the plot in question.
◉ Don't worry about not knowing the setting like the back of your hand before you submit the plot—that's up to us! We're here to help you with any adjustments to get you on the right track.

NOTES & THINGS THAT YOU CAN HANDWAVE

◉ Characters always start out in entry level positions. Characters can update their skill sets to the 2512 standard through paid apprenticeships or internships.

◈ If a character is advancing within a major corporation (as noted on the Setting or Locations page) or one of its subsidiaries, we will need to approve this advancement.
◈ If a character becomes a supervisor at a local bar or other small business, we do not need to approve this advancement.

◉ Joining the police force within a city requires three months of IC training (six months OOC).
◉ We'll approve whether someone has social media fame, but we will not be providing social media follower counts. Once you have a plot for how to use those followers, that's where we step in!
◉ All Morningstar business goes on our Morningstar page. Please feel free to discuss specific plots here (including joining), and go there for signups and anything else.
◉ Characters getting jobs, finding apartments, participating in the fighting rings, getting married, making workplace friends, the creation of minor NPCs, etc. do not need to be run by us. Please let us know if these expand into player plots or other plot bits!

QUICK LINKS

◉ FAQ: For small worldbuilding or gameplay details.
◉ Setting: Our setting page! We'll update as needed.
◉ Jobs: A reference for who's working where!
◉ Locations: Both major and minor locations within New Amsterdam, as well as outlines for other megacities.
◉ Mod Contact: For wider game concerns.
◉ The Story So Far: Gamewide plot events up to current (your CTRL+F best friend!).
◉ NPC page: Includes NPC blurbs and inboxes.
.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[warfares]

🤔🤔🤔

4. Okay, let me see if I can articulate what I'm thinking and then you can tell me if it's feasible and hopefully it can be taken from there.

What I'm thinking specifically would be event/party security. He has been working through a company that has had him doing smaller-scale club gigs and he's been cooling his heels there, more or less. So what I was thinking was looking at moving on to mid to higher level events/parties.

[leaderboards]

these are both excellent answers, thank you. i'll drop by el's inbox soon!

[dragonwarder]

Daenerys is still talking with Cassius about a few specific elements of the research facilities, but I wanted to come back here before I forgot.

She's going to make the effort to drum up and encourage interest in the research down on Adelaide Island with her colleagues in the New Amsterdam research facility. If pressed about her reasoning, she would be able to reproduce a copy of the misfire message that was originally sent to Octavia Blake (which I unfortunately cannot link, since the original post is now locked and hidden).

She would be willing to bring Aramis and a few of the other, more knowledgeable scientists with her on the trip.

I'd like to open this whole thing up to more of the game, but I'm having some challenges finding reasons for additional Displaced to follow her there. I'm open to guidance or ideas here.

One idea I had was having her ask for funding to bring a Displaced-specific field investigation team along for data collection. She plans to ask Cassius about how the folks funding the NA research feel about Displaced in the wake of all the simulation aftermath, and if they feel positively, she would then reach out on the network to invite them along.

I know its been a hot minute since Dany's main objectives here were discussed, but her personal goals are focused on finding the cause of the genetic anomalies in the world's various creatures, figuring out if they have any links to the kaiju that have popped up previously, and finding a way to study/communicate with them on her own (and possibly establish formal, ethical ways of studying their existence in the world on a larger scale).

/jurassic park theme intensifies

[harmistice]

HELLO AGAIN MODS!

So, following the ABSOLUTE DISASTER that occurred on Loki's post, Hux is quickly going to go into paranoia overdrive. He has convinced Kylo Ren to accompany him into some of the seedier areas known for merc activity to personally recruit some body guards. His purpose for bringing Kylo Ren is because he looks way more like a thug than he does, and he knows it.

He has a large background in building armies underground, but he's going to start small (like 2-4 people) and recruit more over time using a combination of his mind control venom powers (via poisoning their drinks and/or food) and what little money he can spare. His strategy will be to use both until he has them under his sway enough that they are willing to work for him on merit.

Since his mind control spit has a time limit and also a biology limit, consider this my attempt to lay some groundwork for him to get involved in the merc scene to make a small name for himself. He will not be using them to funnel funds into his pocket, but instead focus on attempting to cultivate his own cult family of muscle.

I would appreciate knowing how well this would work out, and how many he can be expected to hang onto and/or the rate at which he may accumulate additional people (or paths to further recruitment, if there is a cap on how long he could get away with this before people got suspicious).

[angerberg]

I think I'll go with archivist-in-training for Yen's profession.

To that end, when questioning about the relics, she'll mostly present herself as a friend of the Lynches who is a history buff. She will connect it to curiosity about her work, and she'd understood that these relics were dug up from a site that she hadn't heard about previously. She'd turn the question around and express interest as to why these collectors went for these relics in turn — Looks? Prestige? Scarcity?

On the subject of further research, she'll start pursuing the question as to which mega-corporations built the trains and when individual routes were completed. (A clarification included in this: were the trains built after North America was allegedly destroyed? Or before? Was there ever a plan to reach that area?) She'll also dig at who at the United Nations was making policies around approval of these train routes, budgets, etc.

[larkers]

Hey Jessi,

Thanks for the gruesome details! We'll assume that the only part of Aoi Maeda left is her arm, which is in Damian's possession. You're free to follow up with that one when you get a chance.

While Jason might not be hanging around Red Wings, Jun will still be on his pursuit to draw him out. There will still be private detectives milling around, so Jason will definitely still have to keep himself low. Without much evidence, the NAPD won't be able to pursue, but it seems like Jun has a longer memory and a deeper pocket.

Durcell won't be meeting up with Jason, themselves. They'll be sending a few of the Hi-Jacks down with questions asking for proof of both Jason and Loki's claims, as well as the strategy for how they plan to go about their plan for continued destabilization. As in, they'll be looking for some proof of what Jason talked about when he met with them in the sim!

Depending on what Jason decides to pass along, we can go from there!

[larkers]

Hey Raina, thanks for the reply! Hideki's most likely going to be having a hard time, so Jason will get texted a few times before there's radio silence. Keep an eye on the calendar for July for updates on this.

[larkers]

Hi Mal!

That's absolutely fine. Feel free to have him move up the ranks as you'd like. If you have a specific plot in mind that you'd like to explore, please let us know!

[larkers]

Hi Kay!

We want to let you know that we love this idea and that it will likely actually directly feed into our next event, so this is great!

If we're correct about the message you're referring to, then this was actually sent to James Holden, not Octavia. We were able to dig that message up and have reproduced it here for your reference, but it was shared back when these infodumps went out, so you can assume that Daenerys has a copy of it.

originally here
[ A deleted preliminary pitch dated October 14th, 2511, regarding research from July 5, 2511 for an article for a scientific journal that never made it past the initial planning stages due to a lack of sufficient scientific evidence reports on the discovery of numerous new reptilian species near Adelaide Island, close to the Antarctic continent. These warm-blooded reptiles contain spines over their back and a distorted exoskeleton that the researcher states is "biologically unsound."

Reply attempts will receive the normal message when anyone tries to contact an invalid address:

Message Delivery Subsystem NO VALID IDENTIFICATION.
Your message wasn't delivered because the address couldn't be found. ]

Seeing this, Aramis would definitely be intrigued and would convince one or two other researchers to back the expedition. They do, in fact, have positive feelings toward the Displaced following the simulation and would be willing to take along any of them who wished to go.

The rest of the details can likely be sorted out through your thread with Cassius and then that can lead to the network post, if that works for you! Once we know which Displaced will be coming along, we can provide you with more details about the trip, what they'd find, and so forth. We do ask that if possible, this is organized fairly soon so that everything can be ready to feed into the July event.

[larkers]

Hey Kay!

Mercenaries aren't easily pinpointed on the streets or in a specific location, and don't tend to congregate where they can easily be found (IE they're not like the bounty hunters in Star Wars). This is in part because mercenaries are also hired to help guard the drop offs of the Displaced, so if they were able to be found in a bar, that would make it easier for the Displaced to get answers. So, we propose that this plot begins with Hux and Kylo Ren doing the research to find out where the mercenaries are hanging out! If they're hanging out anywhere.

There is a plot tidbit here that will help them get started. We're not sure if this has been shared publicly, but you can check with Fade about it.

We did have two write ups on how the mercenaries work in the world, too: one to our former Octavia player as well as one to Tona when she played Dutch.

As an alternative plot, you can have Hux and Kylo Ren home in on the discharged UNA soldiers for mind control purposes. They'll be more malleable to his venom by default, and getting them under his thumb will catch the attention of mercenary groups that are hoping to recruit these former soldiers, as well. You'll run up against Catra's plot with this, but we feel that this could create some fun conflict in trying to slip in while there's a hole in military power.

Hopefully this helps, and reach out to us if you have any other questions!

[dragonwarder]

My bad, I was going off the story so far document and misread the layout.

I'll throw up something tonight. Thanks!

[purrsistence]

Sorry this response is so late, I've been a bit low-energy this month and had to take a while to think about things!

1) Sounds good, maybe can I get back to you on this point? I've been trying to think of alternate angles but really kind of drawing a blank atm!

2) Awesome!

3) I've run this by Jessi, but ultimately we both agreed that a) Jessi has enough on her plate and we both have enough balls in the air between our two characters CR-wise already without adding more, and b) Catra has already ICly identified Jason as someone who would be opposed to her goals and so would be reluctant to go through him directly (and dislikes Loki), so I'm probably trending more towards pursuing it from the second angle rather than the first! I'm happy enough to do some mafia/mob NPC write-ups if you'd like, but yeah considering I already have a lot of CR with Jessi, I'd like to use this an opportunity to do things with players I don't necessarily already have tight CR with! I get that this is also just making my life... harder for myself... but oh well sometimes it just Be Like That.

4) My original plan for the Vyonation angle was to have her go through Daisy since Catra knows she works there, but it's looking likely that isn't an option anymore, so! Unless that can be her Simulation Rescued NPC then yes would probably lean more towards the Hi-Jacks, since she doesn't have any other connections/ways to get an in with a large company like that, but she is familiar with how gangs operate ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

[realists]

throwing in an idea for a late candidate for governor

amabel delafield-chapin, a youthful aquacultural scientist (specifically fish farming) running on the platform of increased city independence from the un, citing the number of calls for the government to abandon the city during the simulation, inflating the number and inflammatory nature of those calls to make them seem much more widespread. amabel is basically stealing wholesale from the displaced's call for independence from the una and shifting that to the un, itself -- she is calling for increased infrastructure that supports the very poor amongst citizens (affordable housing, namely) and more social programs to uplift all citizens (opening up more apprenticeships, building an easier ladder to scientific industries, easier to access vocational training) because a smarter, healthier, safer society is a more independant and sustainable society. reform, prosperity and peace.

amabel's parents have reupped their marriage contract every ten years since it was signed, despite her mother being from a wealthy family who looked down on the marriage to someone not at all as well off, and she was raised comfortably on their income from a giles-bell research scientist (mother, lissa delafield) and a nurse (father, jonas (ne meijer) delafield). she is herself married to a maternal health specialist called cressida delafield-chapin.

amabel for governor 2512

[harmistice]

The discharged UNA soldiers actually makes more sense and will angle better for what I'm going for long term, so I'll redirect to that. c:

Is there a rough idea of how many of them are living in NA and how easily Hux would be able to track them down? Just want to get a rough idea of how long it's going to take him to both get a handle on using his power well, and how long it will take him to organize them in any meaningful way.

I know Emiri discussed some pro-UNA stuff for Catra to focus on, and I imagine the two will end up connecting on this at some point (and Hux already has Kylo on board...ish).

[dragonwarder]

I am going to give you a list, plus some basic relevant skills to make planning/writing easier. This is based on who confirmed they were interested in volunteering on the network post, and what they told Daenerys ICly.

(I tried to sort them by relevant experiences. If I get any updates between now and tomorrow, I will edit)

Daenerys - Field experience with Aramis and co, specific knowledge surrounding that
Catra - Experience with research missions
Kylo Ren - Tracking, hunting, previous research experience
Kyna Medina - Tracking
Riku - Reconnaissance, observation
Akechi - Ren handler, special detective eyes
Jon Snow - Cold weather survival, hunting, muscle for hauling/fighting
Rey - Cold weather survival, muscle for hauling/fighting
Jyn Erso - Cold weather survival
Gabriel Reyes - Bodyguard
Sora - Bodyguard
Tommy Shepard - Superhero (go fast bodyguard)
Marian Hawke - Bodyguard
Ren - ?
Traejen Lighrend - ?
Ian Fowler - Mechanical engineering and chemistry experience
William Clayton-Queen - Hacking

[larkers]

Hi Tifa!

Unfortunately, there's nothing very surprising around the purchase of the relics. They went to private collectors and those with money to burn, or were auctioned off for charity. Some of the buyers were likely interested in the time period or place the relics came from, some bought them as status symbols, and some just bought them because they were beautiful or rare.

As for the trains, the UN took over after the destruction of North America and began building the megacities then. It was only after the megacities were established that the network of trains was built. Prior to that, there was no plan to link North America to any sort of global train network. As far as Yennefer's research will tell her, the trains were simply an attempt to connect far flung locations that were now under control of a global government. The trains themselves were built largely by local contractors, and not any one corporation. Most of those specific contractors have been lost to time, but they likely wouldn't be of any interest to Yennefer, anyway.

We encourage you to have Yennefer draw her own conclusions and chase those leads, since we meant for this to be more straightforward - so if you have any ideas for where to go from here, we welcome them!

[larkers]

Hi Emiri!

We're gonna renumber this because the former "2" isn't requiring an answer, so keep that in mind!

1. As a suggestion, if Catra goes the mob route, she can use their long history of loyalty and fidelity as a way to hook in the soldiers. You know who hasn't tossed their own onto the street? Who doesn't see their people as expendable? The mob.

2. Skipping to the Jessi note - we're fine with that! Catra can start getting people's attention at the fighting rings, especially since they're run by the mobs. Her plan for recruiting soldiers will make her an ideal candidate, especially if she gets the right ear.

3. Catra's Simulation Rescued NPC can be an underling of Xavier Tagore, the Chief Security Officer of Vyonation. They won't be very close to him in ranking, but will have a lot of permissions since they're one of his hand chosen. You can feel free to fill in the blanks on this person from here, if you'd like!

[larkers]

Hey Emma,

This sounds fine and we will incorporate Amabel into the plot going forward! As a note, the current price of housing is at a low in New Amsterdam at the moment! Some of her political direction may be around keeping it that way, especially since they may want to draw more residents in.

Let us know if there's anything else!

[larkers]

Hi Kay!

While it would be difficult to find out any hard numbers for how many UNA soldiers exist, let alone how many are currently living in New Amsterdam, there would be a few avenues to investigate when it comes to tracking them down. This mainly links back to how they're recruited, which was discussed in more detail over here.

So, there are a few angles Hux can take with his search:

1) Searching through police profiles and dossiers, which are required to be public record. While they're not extremely detailed, there may be clues to be found by picking out anyone who had an extremely clean record with the NAPD and then left the force at a fairly young age (it won't outright be stated that they were recruited into the UNA, but it will be simple enough to guess).

2) Given that many of these soldiers were pulled in from low income areas, Hux could travel to those parts of the city (near the wall or the underground) to ask around about any discharged soldiers who'd recently returned home. Due to the fact that soldiers are provided subsidized housing, there may also be certain apartment complexes that house the families of a handful of soldiers, making them a little easier to track down.

3) Depending on where Hux works (if he does currently have a job! we weren't sure as we didn't see anything on the job page), he might have co-workers who know of one of these soldiers as a family friend, acquaintance, etc. etc.

These are just a few options that came to mind, but feel free to let us know if you have any other ideas or avenues based on this information.

[larkers]

Hi Kay! Thanks for hooking us up with this list! Here's the deets so you can set this up. We assumed it'd go ahead as a log, so feel free to ask any additional questions and let us know if you need any help in getting it set up!

First off, due to the timing of the trip, we assume that it will be taking place around the same time as the Arrival Log that goes up next weekend (OOCly, of course). That means that anyone who goes on this trip will not be present for the Arrival Log. These logs will be coordinated to happen side by side, with a little bit of handwaving regarding time, of course! This is in large part because we'll also be using the Arrival Log to set up some aspects of the event.

As an additional note: the sign ups that you gave us are the final sign ups! We promise to anyone who missed out on this that there will be cool stuff in New Amsterdam.

Before we proceed, we recommend that some characters bring their glowing relics on this trip just in case, as they may need to make an impromptu gate to get the heck out of there. You'll see why near the bottom of this write-up!

GETTING TO ADELAIDE ISLAND

Getting to this island via boat is going to be treacherous for all of the characters on their way! While scientific enhancements in medication (High Quality Dramamine!) and boats will help, the characters will be taking The Drake Passage over to Adelaide. What does this mean for them? A miserable time ahead, all things considered. They'll have to battle nausea while dealing with terrible currents. This is the most unpleasant body of water in the world. Global warming caused things to change, but it won't be perfect.

Anyone taking the trip will be given dramamine to deal with the motion sickness, but it'll be up to them to take it. Even then, there's a high chance that it won't work. The people navigating the boat across The Passage will be used to their passengers getting violently ill. It's a part of the rite of passage for this kind of trip.

(For some extra info from our science consultant on The Drake Passage, go here!)

ARRIVAL/RESEARCH TIME

Needless to say, upon arrival it is very cold. Everyone will need to have specific cold weather gear, and anyone who seems ill-equipped to handle it will be kept indoors and forced to handle bagging and recording any samples. In addition, anyone who doesn't pick up on how to take and handle samples before they're brought indoors will also be relegated to that. There won't be a lot of need for muscle on this trip. Overall, it's largely going to be a peaceful endeavor, albeit with a lot of signs that things could have turned for the worse at some point.

As for research, characters will be working on both Adelaide Island and taking a short boat trip to Deception Island. The team there will explain that there used to be facilities located on Deception Island, but after they got destroyed several times over throughout the centuries, all samples from there are taken back to Adelaide Island for analysis. Field research time.

WILDLIFE AND SAMPLES

In this region, most of the more "common" creatures that have made it are the following:

Nototheniodei fish
Leopard seals
Antarctic octopuses with sub-zero venom

In addition, the surface area is very spiky and unusual, albeit lacking in any color. It's extremely monochrome.

This research trip will not be focused on these more typical creatures, albeit the researchers and Displaced could still take samples to see if any of them have evolved in unusual ways (especially given the unusual reptilian creatures found here before).

Other than these more common creatures, anything else the Displaced might find will be uniquely mummified due to the lack of humidity in the area (AKA it's extremely dry). Characters will be able to find the following (again, mummified):

• Reptilian creatures with exoskeletons like the one we referred to above (some of these are gator-like, while others are snake-like)
• Thick-furred walrus-like creatures, taking up massive amounts of real estate (so to speak) in the ice
• Featherless birds with retractable claws for talons
• Unusual mollusks with thick, spiky shells and legs that extend from them (these in particular are venomous, so they will need to be careful when extracting them—even breathing in their vicinity could be dangerous)

HACKING INTERLUDE

William's skill set will also be relegated to the indoors, but that means he'll be able to dig into the servers there via the local connection to see what's what. This particular research facility has been around for a long while, with some of its most unusual findings starting around 200 years ago. At the time, thanks to the large amount of ice that was melting, they found (equally mummified) bodies that were buried on Deception Island. Most of the clothing would be carbon-dated to the early 1800s. No one really knows how these people got here, but several of them had scarification and tattoos of various geometric symbols. Otherwise, these samples were passed off to labs elsewhere, as human remains aren't really in their wheelhouse. For what it's worth, none of these humans came up as unique in any way (in terms of biology) in the findings by those other labs.

Otherwise, William will learn that the laboratory is doing its best to publish its findings there, especially as they've found more and more unique creatures in the past year. Despite its best efforts, they've been running into roadblock after roadblock. There have been questions of integrity around their findings, and several attempts to pull funding from the area. None of these attempts seem as if they're intended to go through. On the contrary, they're clearly meant as scare tactics to keep the researchers there working but never getting any information out. They'll see this current expedition as an opportunity to bypass that process to get their news about these weird evolutionary formations out into the world.

TROUBLE LURKS (EARTHQUAKE, TSUNAMI, VOLCANO?)

After a few days of research, the ground will begin to rumble right before a massive earthquake occurs, causing massive damage in the area and sending shocks through the world. Knowing about the risk of the volcanic activity, the researchers will advise everyone to get moving. While the volcano won't be erupting yet, there will be a risk of a tsunami on the horizon, so they will need to move. The Richter scale of this earthquake will be around an 8.2, causing a great deal of damage and likely costing the lives of a few valuable NPCs (as they won't make it back to a mediunit in time).

Elsewhere, this will have an impact on the megacities, as there will be rolling brownouts. We'll be detailing this in the Arrival Log, so please don't have anyone post about this earthquake until then!

[purrsistence]

Excellent! All right. Sounds like a plan!

In that case I'll probably go the mob + fighting rings angle since that seems to be easiest and most IC!

As for Vyonation, a security underling sounds like the perfect person for Catra to target. I'll let you know when I've written up some details for him/her \o/

[evocation]

Kyna wants to look into some of the depictions/murals the characters found in the ruins, how the rulers linked to those ruins might have been connected to the relics found there and maybe to the Displaced. Back home, she had a pretty good knowledge of folklore/mythology, largely because a lot of her job involved separating pure fiction from kernels of truth in hunting monsters/banishing spirits, etc.

So, with that in mind, Kyna is going to be looking at folk heroes, more specifically historical (or questionably historical) rulers, military heroes, and saints who have a distinctly mythological bent to their story. For example, Joan of Arc’s visions, Romulus’ connection with Mars, King Arthur’s everything, etc. She wants to see if there’s a familiar link between stories like these. She’ll also be looking for mentions of visions, dreams, supernatural powers, and of course, the blue glow, plus similar connections in any famous weapons or objects those figures were said to have (Excalibur? All those magical Celtic spears? That kind of thing.)

Kyna’s background is mostly in folklore and mythology, so she won’t know much about art history or archaelogy as it applies to these heroes, and might be at more of a loss there. She’ll be trying to dig up information in museums, research institutes that are open to the public, and online, but won’t be trying to get a job to help in her search right off the bat. If asked, she’ll just lie and say she’s a grad student doing her thesis on folk heroes and the concept of apotheosis. If that doesn’t get her anywhere, then she’ll try getting a job as an intern, low level research assistant, or whatever she can manage that would get her foot in the door. It's totally cool if this stuff takes a while for her to dig through, because it's a Lot.

So, more specifically:

1. Will Kyna find any folk heroes or famous figures beyond the ones the Displaced found at the ruins that seem to have links to the blue glow? If so, will she discover anything that expands on how those powers or mythological connections seemed to affect them, or how they were used? 


2. Will any of this ring similar to the experiences of the Displaced? Will she find anything that hints at how those people gained their powers or “blessings”? Do any of those famous weapons or relics seem similar in glowy function to the ones the Displaced found?


3. Do any of those stories differ from the ones she’s familiar with? The versions in her world are essentially identical to the real world. 


4. Will she find any evidence of cults or religions similar to Ball’s that worshipped those figures, and is there anything that stands out among them? Is there anything that would link those groups together as being part of a network or an older religious tradition?

[nonscriptum]

HELLO MODS IT'S ME but in Plot Engagement instead of the FAQ this time.

I've been trying to parse out a way for Nate to a.) get involved with Crimes (TM) and b.) figure out what his power is for some time now. Since he got an upgrade, I think this can be facilitated by a potentially dangerous scenario, which would be very on-brand for him.

I wanted to see if he could do really, really, really unreasonably well in a gambling den or casino over the course of an evening. Either would work, and he'd dress the part for whichever was the intended venue, though obviously a blatantly advertised casino is easier to get to than an underground gambling den. Given his power's slight unreliability but tendency to be more accurate and effective when he concentrates - say, the way one would when playing various games of chance - he might have a few flubs but ultimately be graced with Lady Luck's presence.

Obviously, this is not something without its consequences, and has the very real chance of making some powerful families unhappy. Some possibilities could be wanting to kill him or wanting to hire him, or both (he's used to that), though that's just the general idea off the top of my dome.

Either way, I really liked the idea of Nate both learning that he does have a power (FINALLY) but also really ticking some people off/getting involved in the Crime Sphere, since that fits the whole theme of his equal-opposite reaction thing I'm trying to aim for.

[ishotyouuu]

if Wade is not involved in this I swear to god

[lifetothefullest]

Jumping in here real quick to tack on a question; if Lance accompanies Nate on this adventure and lurks around playing poker (gotta use that psychologist/criminal profiler experience for SOMETHING and if that something is reading poker faces and making money then that's just how it goes) would there be any interesting gossip to pick up on? Whether through direct conversation or just overheard in the place?

Specifically he'd be interested in any rumors or sentiments from the native population regarding the displaced, but if there's anything else noteworthy that might come up that's great too. And of course if there's nothing, no worries! Just figured I'd ask while he's gonna be there anyway.