Ishka Game, Worker's Revolt, IC

[shaddy_24]

Worker's Revolt

The day cycle is just beginning in most of the city as you each approach the warehouses on the edge of the Necropolis. Five of them, used for temporary holding of materials destined for the Necropolis, Everdark, the Temple District and the nearby Commons. Almost everything passes through these five buildings; food, equipment for the various police and guard forces, holy items for the temples, supplies for local stores, and it's even rumoured the Alliance sometimes uses them to smuggle contraband in or out of the area. Workers are getting into fights though. Work isn't getting done, and it has has affected everyone in the nearby districts for the past two weeks. The union boss was finally forced to call you in.

Each of you was recommended directly to the supervisor, either because of your excellent diplomatic skills, your fighting talents (though he'd much rather you didn't show them off) or your connection with one of the local police forces. He never wanted you on this job. Most of these problems tend to be the result of one or two workers, who get some minor leadership position among the crew and use that to drive their own prejudice. The problem sorts itself out either when the worker loses interest or when they're caught and fired.

You're arriving at around 7:00, just half an hour before the biggest shift change of the day. The shifts work in staggered 8 hour schedules, with two crews working at any given time. Every 4 hours one of the crews changes shifts, while the other keeps working to cover for the lost time. Mornings are always busy for the warehouses, though they usually work all night to accomidate those that don't like the light. The biggest crew goes on shift at 7:30, and the supervisor wants you there so you have the largest possible group of workers to talk to.

It's drawing towards 7 now as you approach the supervisor's office, located in a building just half a block away from the warehouses themselves. Others are approaching too, and you assume that they're the others hired for this job.

Spoiler

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Feel free to introduce and describe yourselves here. If you have any questions about what you're being hired to do or the situation in general, don't hesitate to ask. If you want any special events to have occured before the start of the game (meetings with bosses, etc), go ahead and post them or PM me and I'll play it out with you.

[ForzaFiori]

Baldor wills himself into full tangibility as the others arrive. As they do, he introduces his self, and offers each a handshake. Hi. I'm Baldor Svenson. I take it your here to help with the union problem as well?

[Felyndiira]

Serin Rosier:

I could see the clouds hanging over the necropolis. It's really no different from any other city once you're accustomed to the absence of a rising sun, not much different from how they're little different from you or I. They passed by me now; workers of the living and of the dead. You could see a few stains of flesh and torn tendons, but their eyes just blinked at me and they went away. They went back to their busy lives, just like us.

I've frequently been within the premises; after all, as a cleric and devoted of Saint Kenrik, I was an excellent tool for anyone who really wanted a good relation with the undead city and had the will to approach me. Still, it might just be me, although no matter how many times I come here, I can't shake off the feeling of estrangement from the fact that not many of its citizens know me. Why would they? It's perfectly logical for them to be focused around their own busy lives, unfettered by the ventures of some minor celebrity a number of nations away, but I guess I'm a bit spoiled by the way the Republic treats me. A few performances in the Republic, a few invitations to speak at rope-ball, and you really start getting used to the special treatment; it feels almost, well, lonely to finally be just another one of the every-people.

A starry-eyed, barely teenage child attempting such a crucial task, standing at the forefront of an army of skeletons and walking corpses - it's quite a special sight, if you could see it. It's such a spectacle that I have a hard time imagining it myself, as I do every other time I was to act as an envoy for the Necropolis. I'd get a resounding every time I go back to my employer with a successful contract in hand, sometimes when negotiations were not quite as successful and sometimes when there's no negotiations going on at all. "I really can't believe that I'm speaking to a child star," they'd laugh, and I'd give them a blank look before I finally realize that they were talking about me; I could never get used to the fact that I'm still only thirteen years old.

I'm only 4'10", too, at an age when most girls are growing like an elf. You know, a midget with a pretty voice, with a fluffy brown hair cut a bit shorter than most girls my age, who's almost always seen with a scarf and a decidedly unflattering blouse and dress. Most of the others were taller: a rather pretty elf, a person composed vaguely from water, and one from air; I was almost surprised that there were two that I bested in height. Halflings should not have been a surprise, but I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with scrolls and numbers. I must be afflicted with paranoia.

One of the halflings was going around now. He was greeting everyone with a rather charming voice - at least to me - and offered me a handshake. His hands were rather cold for such a charming face; it reminded me almost of Saint Krenik, when his hands calmed my heart and transformed me into his servant. His hands were cold in the wisp of a dream, too, although it was a sort of a warming cold, full of kindness and some sort of guiding light that nudged me not to condemn the world - to realize that life is a wonderful journey. Perhaps if I can meet him again...ah, I'm digressing again; how silly of me to so suddenly lose sight of my task.

"I'm Serin. Nice to meet you," I replied with a sheepish laugh. It is necessary to begin every first impression with a friendly voice and a warm smile.

[Zipding]

Intheras
A moderatly tall elf with grey skin and bright white hair is seen striding through the crown of workers. Most of the workers ignore him as they continue their work. He casually walks through, watching the workers and sighing heavily. As he gets closer, everything else becomes visible. He is wearing a dark leather robe that appears to be made of pure shadows. As he approaches Baldor, Serin and the others, he appears to be scratching the back of his head and sighing.
"Well, it looks like I'm not the only one here. My name is Intheras, a field agent for the Lurkers," he introduces himself. "Why my boss wants me hear, I don't really know, maybe it's because this problem is right next to the Everdark."

[Parlity]

Allie

A humanoid air elemental floats overhead. Bubbly goggles hang in front of her helmeted head without visible means of support. A loose rainbow-colored shirt, a green and black cape, and bandoleers cover her torso.

She shakes Baldor's hand weakly. "A pleasure to meet you. I am here to help with the union problem. My name is Allie."

[ForzaFiori]

The introductions over, Baldor allows his body to fade back into it's normal incorporealness, releasing the strain on his mind. Well, aren't we a diverse crew. I suppose that will come in handy when dealing with others. It will be hard to find someone who can't relate to their problem. Baldor says. Though he is standing near you, his voice sounds almost as if it is coming from a long distance, and you can see through him now, where you couldn't a few seconds earlier.

[tonberryking]

It's actually hard to refer to Dota as a "person" given that she looks very little like a humanoid. Her wedge shaped head, vaguely canine, vaguely serpentine, looks about curiously, her aqua body reflecting light oddly, though her armor seems normal enough. She's not much taller than the human girl but her arms look large enough to tote around an intricate sledge hammer crafted for combat, as well as a 'heart' shaped shield nearly as tall as her body from the hips up. As side from two upside down "V"s painted on the armor, where her heart would be were she human, her armaments don't identify if she's from any sort of regiment or mercenary company.

"This the place with the worker problems?" she asks, voice implying gender as she blinks her large aquamarine eyes around. It gives her an ironic child-like countenance.

[ForzaFiori]

Indeed it is. Judging from your attire and weaponry, I'd say your yet another of our gallant effort to stop the problem Baldor says to the water creature. My name is Baldor. I'd offer to shake your hand, but I've just gone back incorporeal, and making the transition to many times leaves me with a headache. he finishes, with a sheepish smile.

[tonberryking]

"Name's Dota," she explains, shifting the maul's weight on her shoulder, "I'mma mercer, so you don't hafta worry about who hired me, but just know I'm the one who goes up in the fore front. So we're together on this, the lay's that people keep getting in fights, keeps people from moving trade around?" Dota isn't sure, as her expression reads, why this requires outside help, beyond maybe thinking that someone she's supposed to help quell is a giant of a fighter.

"Who're we suppose ta talk to about this?"

[shaddy_24]

You all introduce yourselves to one another as you move towards the supervisor's office. Moving inside, you find a small building with several offices down a central hallway. The head supervisor's office is at the end of the hall, his name, Silin Terivalis, on a small metal plaque.. The door opens seconds after you open it, and a thin half-elf looks out at you. "Well, thank you for arriving so promptly. If you'll come in, we can get to work." The office is pretty bare, with only half a dozen chairs of various styles and sizes in front of a plain wooden desk. He waits for each of you to enter and sit down.

[Parlity]

Allie flies into the room and floats over the chair furthest inside. She turns her bubbly-goggled head to Silin.

[ForzaFiori]

Baldor enters the room, standing behind the chairs. I would prefer to remain standing if you don't mind sir. That way I can concentrate on our job, and not staying on top of the chair rather than in it.

[Felyndiira]

Serin simply follows the halfling ghost, and seats herself in one of the chairs near the back. She studied the supervisor with a faint smile, though she was content to fade into the background and let the others answer for her, for now.

[The Anarresti]

The door behind everyone bangs open, and a tall, wiry humanoid busts through the now open doorway. He is dressed in an intricate entertainer's outfit, of glowing yellows, bright whites and electric blues. He wears a tattered kaki turban wound around his head, shaggy white hair poking out around the bottom. His eyes are as solidly blue as a pair of robin's eggs.
He stands with his hands clasped on his knees for a few seconds, catching his breath. He raises a hand:
"Sorry I'm late," he says, in a resonant tenor with just the slightest hint of exotic Outsider voice-echo. He walks past Serin, reaches out a hand, tustles her hair and growls something in a glottal, dignified language. [Draconic]

Spoiler

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"Hey kid, how yah been? What're you doing here?"

Then, turning to the room at large, he sits cross-legged on the air, about three feet off the ground. He takes a stubby ivory pipe out of an unseen pocket, along with a small tin of leaf and a tinder twig. He packs a healthy pinch into his pipe, lights it and sticks it in the corner of his mouth.
"So, what did I miss?" he asks, before puffing on his pipe. Red-brown smoke jets out of his nostrils, shrouding the area around his head in a haze that smells not unlike cinnamon.

[Felyndiira]

"(I'm surprised they dragged you into this as well,)" she whispered, likewise in Draconic. Then, switching back to common, she quickly added with a smile, "oh, we're just being seated. You came at a right time, Mister Storyteller."

[shaddy_24]

Silin jumps as the door slams open again. He settles down again as Abi identifies himself. "Okay. I guess we can start for now." Glancing over each of you, he shuffles through a pile of papers. "This isn't a serious matter. We've had problems with the workers before. But there are some differences here. Usually the unrest only lasts a few days, maybe a week. This unfortunate situation has been ongoing for nearly three. And I can't figure out why. Usually the culprits are easy to identify. A single worker, maybe a few, who are connected to each event, and are usually responsible for provoking the arguments. This time, there's no connection. Fights have flared up in all of the warehouses, in all shifts, and in all areas. We've had fights among the managerial staff, haulers, portal operators, everyone's fighting. I hope that I don't need your help. I hope this situation works itself out as all the others before have. But so far it hasn't." He slumps down slightly in his chair and rubs at his eyes.

"All channels are open for you. You have permission to go anywhere, as long as you follow all safety precautions, and you can question any member of staff. I've got badges for you," he pulls out a number of small pins and places them where you can reach them, "and all managerial staff has been alerted to your objectives and has been ordered to aid your investigation in any way possible. If you have any questions for me, I'll be available to answer at almost any hour. I haven't been home for more then a week anyway. I sleep here in the office, so you should be able to find me." He pulls a large bundle of sheets out of a drawer. "This has reports on all of the altercations so far, as well as the names and work schedules of all the supervisors and managerial staff. I can't give you a full employee list, since there's just too many working here." He puts the bundle down next to the pins. "If you have any questions immediately on your mind, ask them now. If you're going to be here anyway, I might as well help out as best I can."

[ForzaFiori]

I have a query sir. Baldor says, looking at the very material pins. Do you know of any gates to the ethereal plane nearby where I could get this badge switched over?

[The Anarresti]

Abi-Alaku
Abi pulls his pipe out of his mouth. Smoke billows out of the hole beneath his nose as he speaks."I don't know this area very well. I was wondering if you have any suggestions you have as to where to start looking."

[tonberryking]

Dota pokes at the pin and the papers, head tilted before she too pipes up after a long pause, possibly to avoid being interrupted by any other speaker.

"These workers and paper pushers who were actually IN the fights and stuff. Ones who started it? Were they all sacked or's there any still here who can try to explain to us what got into them to cause a ruckus?"

[Zipding]

Intheras
The grey elf leans over and picks up the stack of papers, reading through the names of the managerial staff and supervisers.
"Sigh, well, I think that the people we should first talk with are the managers and supervisors. They probably know more than the average workers, so it's our best shot," he suggests before picking up a pin and placing it on his black leather.

[Parlity]

Allie

She turns her goggles to Dota. "Wonderful idea." She picks up a pin and attaches it to the bandoleer across her chest. "Please tell us about your facilities and daily work. It will give us an idea of what is unusual."

[shaddy_24]

Silin nods to each of you as you ask your questions and answers them quickly.

Baldor
"I've actually accounted for that already. Your contact mentioned that you were a ghost, so one of the supervisors, Kayton, is holding a pin for you. His office is just down the hall, and he should be in already."

Abi-Alaku
"I'm not sure. I've talked with all of the supervisors, and they didn't have any information I could use. Maybe you'll catch something that I missed. Try talking with them and work your way through the chain of command."

Dota
"There's been very few cases where we've actually been able to determine who started the fights. Both sides blame the other, and even the most impartial bystanders contradict each other. Even what magical investigation we're allowed by law hasn't come up with any conclusive answers. So most of the people involved are either on probation or temporary leave."

Allie
"Crates and packages arrive almost constantly. They're sorted out and moved to holding areas. They stay here for a few days at most, before they're picked up and sent to their final destinations. We've got supply portals, specifically designed for cargo, that connect to areas in the Merchent's district, the Necropolis, Temple District, Everdark and the Commons. Most of the supplies are sent through them, while the rest is carried on carts to where it's needed. Most of the workers are either haulers, cart drivers or portal workers. Overseers typically track where cargo's supposed to go and make sure it goes to the right area. The supervisors track who's working when and keep track of the employees. And they all report to me, who has to make the decisions that affect everything else. Just talk with the overseers, they'll let you know what to expect."

He waits to see if you have anything else to ask him.

[The Anarresti]

Abi-Alaku
Abi puffed on his pipe for a while. Then he took it out of his mouth, blew out a couple smoke rings, and began to tell a story.
"About thirty years ago, when I was on the Air Platoon, a goblin-manned airship came into the docks. The ship had been adrift for several weeks, having been caught in a stampede of Thunder Buffalo. I was one of the members of the boarding crew. I remember flying onto the deck, with torn sails and floating spars held onto the ship by naught but the remains of the rigging. With me was a wizard, fresh out of the University, and a military man. When we went to investigate the ship, the crew wouldn't speak to us, they just skulked about belowdecks. Their captain was able to described briefly what happened, but he wouldn't speak above a whisper, and he seemed afraid of the sun, shielding his eyes and retreating to the shade. The wizard immediately began looking for traces of a curse, and the heavy stood next to him, convinced that the crew were actually ghouls, plotting to rip us limb from limb. I wondered if there was more to the story, so I opened a hatch and climbed belowdecks. So you know what I found?"
The question was rhetorical. But Abi took that moment to puff on his pipe some more, and let the tension build up.
"Dozens upon dozens of empty grog bottles. The crew was so relieved at surviving their brush with death that they drank themselves sick. The only thing wrong with crew was their pounding hangover."
Abi chuckled to himself, then realized that the man behind the desk would probably expect some point from his story.
"The point is, apparently complicated problems often have deceptively simple solutions. So don't worry, Mr. Boss Man, sir. We'll have these warehouses ticking over smoothly in no time."
Abi stuck his pipe back into his mouth, apparently pleased with himself.
[Telepathically to all PCs]

Spoiler

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I know it's weird to hear my voice in your head, so I apologize. No, don't look at me, just listen: the devil's in the details. There's probably something that the Boss Man missed, not because he didn't look carefully enough, but because he didn't look in the right place. He said to start with the overseers, that probably means he thinks the problem is apparent to the overseers, which means that route of question has been picked clean. No, talk to to people who really make the place run, that's the portal guardians. But we got to make out like we're talking to the overseers, see: catch them off guard. We just need to keep our eyes peeled as we're walking down the warehouses, and if we see anything odd, anything at all, go at that first. Never do what we say we're going to do, because if something is controlling the minds of these workers, they've got fingers in pies all over the place. So watch out.

A thought suddenly occurred to Abi. "Why don't we start now? Just talk to the inspectors as the shifts are changing, that way we get a good look at both shifts while one enters and the other leaves."

[shaddy_24]

The head supervisor sits quietly as he listens to Abi-Alaku's story. "I hope it is as simple as you say. And that's why I wanted you to come down now. This is the biggest shift change of the day: you should be able to catch many of the overseers as they arrive or leave, and-" He's cut off by a lound bell ringing. All the blood immediately drains from his face.

"That alarm... there's something big going on!" He dodges out from behind his desk, running towards the door to his office. "Follow me! This could be very serious."

[Zipding]

Intheras
As the CEO of this branch of warehouses goes pale at the sound of the bells, Intheras lets out a deep sigh.
"I think this problem is another fight with the workers. Do you think this could be a group of people unknown to almost everybody causing this?" he asks quietly to the others as the supervisor books it to the door. After asking, he lazily gets up and half-jogs half-walks behind the supervisor.

[The Anarresti]

Abi-Alaku
"Given that this union boss has already tried most conventional tactics, probably," Abi replied, dropping to his feet but keeping his pipe firmly clenched between his teeth.

[Parlity]

Allie floats out the door, keeping pace with the supervisor.

[ForzaFiori]

We will worry about who started it when we finish breaking it up. Come on and help us make sure no one's killing anyone. Baldor says, as he follows Allie out the door.

[shaddy_24]

As you all move out into the main area, you see the other doors are open and the supervisors are gathering together by the front door. Silis says over his shoulder, "This isn't a simple fight. The overseers would handle that and would report it after the fact. The alarm is only sounded for fires, gate raiders--"

"Riots." Another voice cuts in. A human ghost phases through one of the other walls and approaches the group of you. "Which is what we've got on hand now."

Silis takes this information and spins to the other supervisors. "Alert all emergency response teams. Kayton, keep an eye on the situation. Take one of the sending stones, alert me if anything else happens. Oh, and leave that pin I gave you with Baldor here. Arim, you go too. We need eyes on the situation. Check with the overseers, make sure they're alright."

The ghost pulls a small pin out of his pocket and passes it on to Baldor before phasing through the door to one of the offices. He comes back out seconds later, and he and a raptoran in fancy clothes head back out towards the warehouses. The other supervisors split up and head into their offices or run outside.

Silis turns back to you as the supervisors get down to work. "This is the worst case scenario right now. This is the largest shift change we have everyday, there are more workers here now then any other time. Let the security forces sort this out, we'll get to work on it after this is handled. I'm going to go meet with the head of security, if you want to come along feel free." He turns to head out the door of the office.

[The Anarresti]

Abi Alaku
Abi dumps the smoldering leaf and ash out of his pipe and grinds it under his heel, before returning the ivory piece to a breast pocket. Turning to the other people, he says "I don't know about you, but I intend to check this out." He touches his bow, as if to remind himself of its existance.
"And to stop it, if necessary, by tricks or force. Or both."