Ex terrorem, lucrabamur - Out of Terror, We Profit
Red Markets is an upcoming RPG that I'm super-stoked about and would love to try and get a game going for on here in that world.
The game is set five years into the Crash, the apocalyptic event that killed half the human species and divided the continental United States. An unknown infection referred to as The Blight appears seemingly at random worldwide, with no clear point of origin, turning humans into incredibly infectious monsters and shambling corpses. The Crash goes.. poorly. It's not a total wash, the governments of the world resorting to military invention to fight the spreading Blight. But there are only so many bullets, so many trained fighters. The cold, cruel mathematics of logistics prompt the US government to make a dreadful decision. They withdraw to the east coast, taking vital manpower and resources with them and blow the bridges. This splits the country into the Recession (east of the Mississippi river, where the U.S government has rooted out infection and rules with martial law) and the Loss (west of the Mississippi, given up and everyone left behind declared legally dead).
As one of the legally-dead living left behind in the Loss, you probably belong in an enclave, a survivor colony. You've spent the last five years scavenging food, medicine and other supplies, sitting on pre-Crash stockpiles and subsistence farming for staple crops. But five years is a long time and scavenging isn't a forever solution. Canned food is coming to the end of its life; even the nastiest MRE packets are beginning to turn. Most medicines that haven't been taken are simply expired. Even gasoline goes bad after so long. And people aren't making more, or at least the Loss isn't. But the Recession is. This is where the Carrion Economy comes in. It's an illicit black market trade between Loss enclaves and Recession people to carry out services in exchange for goods both sides want, backed by a form of cryptocurrency called Bounty. An example might be someone whose family was infected during the Crash hiring some Loss-based folks to go out and put their Zombie Grandma out of their misery; they pay in bounty and then that currency goes towards, say, buying medicine the Loss enclave needs. A big part of the Carrion Economy is the trade in legal documentation; the Recession government is gearing up for a big reclamation push in the next 15-20 years and they want to sort out things like inheritance, land ownership, who owns what and what can the State seize, which is causing a big bubble in the Carrion Economy.
So, it's the end of the world but capitalism is still chugging along just fine. And it's time for you to go out, pay your bills, try to strike it rich - and not get bit.
I've played and GM'd the tabletop game before, so this is of interest to me. Maybe a maester, or a minor relative recently returned from a journey (to explain why he'd not been here recently)?
I do enjoy Lovecraft and I've read The Repairer of Reputations (though not all of Chambers' King in Yellow fiction) as well as a lot of stuff inspired by it (Delta Green, True Detective etc) so I'd be interested.
"Two hundred gil!" The Al Bhed merchant spat from yellow teeth. The male stank of fermented fruit and someone else's sweat. He blinked behind thick, bottle-bottom goggle lenses. Solgun's tailed flicked back and forth like a riled snake.
"One thousand." The Al Bhed reached for the scraps quickly, but not quickly enough and a clawed hand yanked the machina back off the counter. Solgun showed his teeth and the merchant flinched back into his stall. He knew if the Al Bhed got his hands on the scrap before money changed hands, he'd try to break it and then claim Solgun was selling faulty goods, then act like he was doing Solgun a favour for offering fifty gil. Or call him a thief trying to steal the merchant's scrap. Al Bhed as a whole were tricky, but their merchants could be real fiends.
"<<Stinking beast>>" The Al Bhed switched to his native language, then back to Spiran. "Where's it from?"
"Battle of Djose, where your people's machina weapon failed." Solgun held up the weapon to the light, smacked it on the side a few times and the lights began to shine. It looked like a smaller, handheld version of one of the weapons that had been intended to hold back a legendary beast. Even after all these years it still worked.
"Feh, Djose. Every scrap hunter goes to Djose." The merchant waved his hand through the air like wafting off a bad smell. He was trying to haggle it down, Solgun knew, acting like it was something that the other relic hunters would have passed up as not worth the risk. The fact was that Djose was still extremely dangerous territory centuries after the battle, especially now that fiends were really coming back strong. Even the land worked against you, so many hidden holes and sudden currents. One wrong foot could lead to your death. Only someone with sure fingers and a knack for climbing could get safely into the really lucrative parts.
"One thousand. Or it goes elsewhere." Solgun's voice rumbled.
"Ehh.." The merchant tilted his head to the left and sucked his teeth, glancing over Solgun's shoulder to the mesh net that contained the rest of his wares for selling. "One thousand IF you throw those actuators."
Solgun's paw dwarfed the merchant's hand and they left happy with the bargain they had struck. He hefted his bag of scrap and paced through the merchants of the bazaar, head and shoulders above the Spirans, Al Bheds and Hypello. The celebration had drawn merchants out of the woodwork like louses and every sort of stall imaginable had been set up, with vendors selling colourful foods and fragrant spices to merchants haggling over weapons and cattle and stranger things still. Some idiot had brought a shoopuff to set up for riding, but there wasn't a large enough water source for the shoofpuff to drink around here so barrels were being rolled in constantly. Solgun stopped and watched the creature pant in the midday sun, waggling unevenly as it took steps, causing the passengers in the seats on the back no end of distress. Airships coming in to dock, land-trains still bringing in dozens of people. As if there weren't enough already packed into this place.
As he moved from one vendor to the next, he caught a glimpse of blue fur in the crowd. Another Ronso? The Calm Lands were close to Gagazet, but still.. He pushed on, past a crowd of young children and then saw the trail of pyreflies gliding lazily through the air. He was here, the ancient spirit. Tall, thin, like he had been gripped by the head and pulled skywards by an invisible hand, the spectre motioned silently, raising one spindly limb and pointing over towards the airship docks..
Solgun is a tower, standing near nine feet tall and heavily built. Unlike most Ronso, who have blue fur and white manes, Solgun's fur is sheer white and his eyes are a clear, light blue. Albinism is unusual among the Ronso. Due to his thick, warm fur, Solgun dresses comparatively lightly, with a few pieces of gold-coloured armour on his shoulders and forearms.
Faction: Though the Ronso are generally strongly associated with the Yevonists, Solgun is more independent and considers himself a Shard Hunter first and foremost.
Job: Shard Hunter/Traveller - Solgun wanders Spira and explores the many ancient ruins and destroyed cities that dot its coastlines, mountains and jungles. He makes his money by identifying and retrieving historical relics from these places, mostly selling to Yevonists though he has made sales of salvaged ancient machina to Al Bhed.
Personality: Solgun is a driven and dedicated individual who has travelled far from his home in pursuit of a quest he hasn't told many of. He's used to travelling alone and so he finds it hard to ask others for help. Paradoxically, he doesn't exactly hold things sacred despite having been raised in a strongly Yevonite environment and traversing temples for much of his career. He's coming to believe in something - he's not entirely sure what yet - thanks to his contact with the crystals and the spirits that have begun communicating with him through them.
Someone who interacts with Solgun would probably find him to be a little more talkative than most Ronso, which still makes him a stern and quiet individual, but his Spiran language is quite good and he has some Al Bhed - enough to make trades with the Al Bhed who buy his salvaged machina. He's aware that his size and unusual colouration is intimidating and is good at using that to his advantage - no-one wants to make four hundred pounds of sabretooth angry - but he doesn't particularly enjoy violence or resorting to it.
Those rare people who end up getting to know Solgun would probably be surprised to learn how intelligent, scholarly and well-read someone like him is. He spends a lot of time researching new places to plunder and valuable secrets that they might hold, and more importantly he needs to be able to spot the valuable things from the trash. And given what he finds in the ruins, he can surprise scholars with obscure tidbits of lost lore, the sort of lore you only get by going to lost places and searching it out - not sitting in a library reading approved textbooks.
Weapon of Choice: Solgun most often dual-wields melee weapons, using a round-headed axe (which doubles as a climbing instrument) and a one-handed sword that would take a human two hands to heft. These can join at the hilts to become a two-headed halberd-like weapon in combat.
Special Abilities: Solgun is extremely powerful physically, both in terms of strength and agility. He is most at home in mountainous environments where his powerful limbs can propel him up steep slopes, his sharp claws can grip sheer cliff faces and his tail allows him to balance on narrow surfaces.
Lancet - Solgun's only overtly magical ability, this allows him to sap health and mana from enemies, and borrow their powers to use in Ronso Rage.
Ronso Rage - Though typically a beserker fury that elevates his already-superhuman strength and might to ludicrous extremes, the unique potency of a Ronso using Lancet allows Solgun to mimic the attacks of fiends, machina and even other people he has fought in the past (though not necessarily as effective as they would have).
Character Flaws: Extremely Distinctive - Good luck trying to get Solgun to blend into a crowd. Ronso are rare enough off the slopes of Gagazet, let alone an albino Ronso. Low Magic - Despite is connection to the Gagazet shard, he has essentially no talent for, or defence against, magical attacks beyond trying to physically dodge.
Inventory: A few Ronso potions The Gagazet Shard Maps of Spira Yevonite scrolls Machina scrap
Bio: Solgun's birth was received with mixed feelings by the Ronso of Mount Gagazet; some interpreted the child's snow-white fur as a sign of purity, a blessing on the tribe, while others saw it as a warning that the snows were going to grow fiercer. Either way, the cub was marked by some higher power, that was agreed by all sides. Despite the decline of the Yevonite faith elsewhere in Spira, the faith held strong on the slopes of Gagazet and Solgun was raised in an extremely religious manner. He was taken on many pilgrimages to sites on the mountain where summoners fell in their quest to Zanarkand and the Final Aeon, though many such sites - and even ancient temples - lay on higher, more dangerous slopes that even the Ronso did not go.
Gripped with a desire to explore, Solgun began sneaking away from the tribe's village and climbing the mountain, battling the fiends that still stalked the slopes and seeking out the temples. It was a dangerous venture, but exciting, and soon won him a following among the other young Ronso. Soon he was not climbing alone but with friends, who helped him reach new heights. Things were looking up until their latest expedition were trapped in a ruined temple by a blizzard of almost unnatural intensity and duration. With nowhere to go but inwards, they delved into the temple proper, finding it running deeper into the temple than they could have imagined. As they pored over rotten parchment and dusty iconography, they also battled with fiends of strange shape and fearsome strength, even worse than those on the mountain slopes.
Eventually, only Solgun was left when their party fought their way to the centre of the temple - and the broken fayth that lay there. Whatever it had once summoned must have been long-forgotten to almost all Yevonite scholars, Solgun realised, and started collecting shards of the Fayth to take back as proof that something incredibly valuable was up on the mountain. Almost as soon as he collected the shards, the blizzard ended and he left down the mountain slope, the temple now his friend's tomb. But halfway down the mountain the blizzard struck again, of such chill and ferocity that even his thick fur offered little protection. All that kept him going was the image of a Ronso in priestly robes calling him, telling him to "seek the summoner".
Somehow he found the strength to complete the trek back down the mountain. For getting the other young Ronso killed, he was cast out from the Ronso tribe and it was believed that his white fur was somehow connected to the blizzard that "stole the tribe's young from them". Solgun took solace in the new mission he was given, to seek the summoner. Unsure which summoner that meant, he began travelling from temple to temple, picking through any reference to summoners and where a new one might emerge. Somewhere along the way, he found he had almost accidentally become a treasure hunter, financing his next expedition with the proceeds of what he plundered in the last one. The shards of the Gagazet Fayth - except the one that talked to him - paid his way for a long time.
Other: Due to his contact with the Gagazet Shard, Solgun is able to see pyreflies and unsent spirits more clearly than he normally would. Only one so far has been able to communicate with him, an ancient Ronso, the one which told him to "seek the summoner".
Interested. I think the town might be too small to support a sizable vampire population who hunt for their prey, so my idea is for a relatively normal "blood donor" who makes their money with providing for a vampire and has maybe picked up a few vampire-like traits from repeated exposure.
Solgun is a tower, standing near nine feet tall and heavily built. Unlike most Ronso, who have blue fur and white manes, Solgun's fur is sheer white and his eyes are a clear, light blue. Albinism is unusual among the Ronso. Due to his thick, warm fur, Solgun dresses comparatively lightly, with a few pieces of gold-coloured armour on his shoulders and forearms.
Faction: Though the Ronso are generally strongly associated with the Yevonists, Solgun is more independent and considers himself a Shard Hunter first and foremost.
Job: Shard Hunter/Traveller - Solgun wanders Spira and explores the many ancient ruins and destroyed cities that dot its coastlines, mountains and jungles. He makes his money by identifying and retrieving historical relics from these places, mostly selling to Yevonists though he has made sales of salvaged ancient machina to Al Bhed.
Personality: Solgun is a driven and dedicated individual who has travelled far from his home in pursuit of a quest he hasn't told many of. He's used to travelling alone and so he finds it hard to ask others for help. Paradoxically, he doesn't exactly hold things sacred despite having been raised in a strongly Yevonite environment and traversing temples for much of his career. He's coming to believe in something - he's not entirely sure what yet - thanks to his contact with the crystals and the spirits that have begun communicating with him through them.
Someone who interacts with Solgun would probably find him to be a little more talkative than most Ronso, which still makes him a stern and quiet individual, but his Spiran language is quite good and he has some Al Bhed - enough to make trades with the Al Bhed who buy his salvaged machina. He's aware that his size and unusual colouration is intimidating and is good at using that to his advantage - no-one wants to make four hundred pounds of sabretooth angry - but he doesn't particularly enjoy violence or resorting to it.
Those rare people who end up getting to know Solgun would probably be surprised to learn how intelligent, scholarly and well-read someone like him is. He spends a lot of time researching new places to plunder and valuable secrets that they might hold, and more importantly he needs to be able to spot the valuable things from the trash. And given what he finds in the ruins, he can surprise scholars with obscure tidbits of lost lore, the sort of lore you only get by going to lost places and searching it out - not sitting in a library reading approved textbooks.
Weapon of Choice: Solgun most often dual-wields melee weapons, using a round-headed axe (which doubles as a climbing instrument) and a one-handed sword that would take a human two hands to heft. These can join at the hilts to become a two-headed halberd-like weapon in combat.
Special Abilities: Solgun is extremely powerful physically, both in terms of strength and agility. He is most at home in mountainous environments where his powerful limbs can propel him up steep slopes, his sharp claws can grip sheer cliff faces and his tail allows him to balance on narrow surfaces.
Lancet - Solgun's only overtly magical ability, this allows him to sap health and mana from enemies, and borrow their powers to use in Ronso Rage.
Ronso Rage - Though typically a beserker fury that elevates his already-superhuman strength and might to ludicrous extremes, the unique potency of a Ronso using Lancet allows Solgun to mimic the attacks of fiends, machina and even other people he has fought in the past (though not necessarily as effective as they would have).
Character Flaws: Extremely Distinctive - Good luck trying to get Solgun to blend into a crowd. Ronso are rare enough off the slopes of Gagazet, let alone an albino Ronso. Low Magic - Despite is connection to the Gagazet shard, he has essentially no talent for, or defence against, magical attacks beyond trying to physically dodge.
Inventory: A few Ronso potions The Gagazet Shard Maps of Spira Yevonite scrolls Machina scrap
Bio: Solgun's birth was received with mixed feelings by the Ronso of Mount Gagazet; some interpreted the child's snow-white fur as a sign of purity, a blessing on the tribe, while others saw it as a warning that the snows were going to grow fiercer. Either way, the cub was marked by some higher power, that was agreed by all sides. Despite the decline of the Yevonite faith elsewhere in Spira, the faith held strong on the slopes of Gagazet and Solgun was raised in an extremely religious manner. He was taken on many pilgrimages to sites on the mountain where summoners fell in their quest to Zanarkand and the Final Aeon, though many such sites - and even ancient temples - lay on higher, more dangerous slopes that even the Ronso did not go.
Gripped with a desire to explore, Solgun began sneaking away from the tribe's village and climbing the mountain, battling the fiends that still stalked the slopes and seeking out the temples. It was a dangerous venture, but exciting, and soon won him a following among the other young Ronso. Soon he was not climbing alone but with friends, who helped him reach new heights. Things were looking up until their latest expedition were trapped in a ruined temple by a blizzard of almost unnatural intensity and duration. With nowhere to go but inwards, they delved into the temple proper, finding it running deeper into the temple than they could have imagined. As they pored over rotten parchment and dusty iconography, they also battled with fiends of strange shape and fearsome strength, even worse than those on the mountain slopes.
Eventually, only Solgun was left when their party fought their way to the centre of the temple - and the broken fayth that lay there. Whatever it had once summoned must have been long-forgotten to almost all Yevonite scholars, Solgun realised, and started collecting shards of the Fayth to take back as proof that something incredibly valuable was up on the mountain. Almost as soon as he collected the shards, the blizzard ended and he left down the mountain slope, the temple now his friend's tomb. But halfway down the mountain the blizzard struck again, of such chill and ferocity that even his thick fur offered little protection. All that kept him going was the image of a Ronso in priestly robes calling him, telling him to "seek the summoner".
Somehow he found the strength to complete the trek back down the mountain. For getting the other young Ronso killed, he was cast out from the Ronso tribe and it was believed that his white fur was somehow connected to the blizzard that "stole the tribe's young from them". Solgun took solace in the new mission he was given, to seek the summoner. Unsure which summoner that meant, he began travelling from temple to temple, picking through any reference to summoners and where a new one might emerge. Somewhere along the way, he found he had almost accidentally become a treasure hunter, financing his next expedition with the proceeds of what he plundered in the last one. The shards of the Gagazet Fayth - except the one that talked to him - paid his way for a long time.
Other: Due to his contact with the Gagazet Shard, Solgun is able to see pyreflies and unsent spirits more clearly than he normally would. Only one so far has been able to communicate with him, an ancient Ronso, the one which told him to "seek the summoner".
I'd prefer Dorne to the North, I think the North gets quite a lot of focus from the books already so something a little less visible might be good. Maybe even the Reach.
