Wakshaani

I thought about other corrupted dream stuff for Nythmare, but they're a bit .. tricky. Alip isn't a word that rolls off the tongue well and I don't know how well "You can summon hungry sleep demons" works as a temptation so much as "I'll give you a friend to keep you safe" does. Maybe tho! Still early in the process. Witness is going to be a pain. They've *barely* been mentioned and divination effects are always tricky. There's some crossover with Fate, unless you make it more rear-facing. Of course, "Hindsight is 2020" is a concept that's more Witness than Fate, so might be a better way to go. Not sure yet. This one'll take work. Gorgon's got the Medusa thing going on, as noted, and is *very* manilpulative. Some kind of social ability? I'll have to dig through Molly, and to some extent Shamus, and see what's there. Obliteration is just a complete blank thusfar. Worse, in many ways, than Witness. Reactivate or the like is well outside the power curve for what I'd be looking at, but some kind of "Take 2 damage, gain Fast" thing maybe. *Maybe*. There're two Dragons. One's from Earth and does the Kung Fu thing, the other's deeeeep in the Bayou but we don't know what she's up to yet. She's barely mentioned.I'll have to dive in a bit deeper to see what to do on this front. Coming along tho!

SMall update as paying work has taken a lot of free time. DECEMBER I'd originally gotten a bit complicated here, trying to do something with immunity to cold, then a few other things, before going in to dig into the Hypothermia rules and spotting that Frozen Heart made you immune to cold, in addition to the rest of what it did, and it was just a plain ol' General Talent, so December's offering is just Frozen Heart and done. MERIDIAN Once I'd figured December out, and just a perma-state was also fine in addition to a manifested power, then Meridian went from a problem to easy: Gain Amphibious (Can breathe underwater, bonus on swim checks and swim speed, can see better in murky water). I *migh* add a bit about needing to be in water once a day or lose a Wound (a bath is plenty), but that'd really restrict travel in some areas... the Badlands are on a strict timetable, for instance, and I don't think I want to do that. Makes sense, but PC-restrictive. Thoughts are certainly welcome! NYGHTMARE Another one that was problematic until I figured out that, like the Dreamer, Nythmare could hand out friends. Teddy bears (small ones, not teh big ones!), animated dolls, etc. I'm not sure if it should be a manifested power that "wakes them up" and lets them do stuff for an hour or if it should just be a Subordinate Character that can be easily replaced by buying a new doll/bear and having a good night's rest... in the morning, they wake up too! This works better than the early "reality waring" stuff I was poking at and is easier to grasp. Mind you, I expect more than a few players would flinch away from "Get an animated doll" but hey. Still leaves Despair, Gorgon, Obliteration, Dragon, Witness, and Fortune to go. Fortune is probably just one of the good luck General Talents, and Despair is likely Terror check-related, but ... Gorgon? Dragon? Obliteration? Yikes. Any suggestions are quite welcome!

Here's a question that came up the other day and I was stunned i didn't find an answer. Are Grimoires locked to magical traditions? That is to say, if my Oxford Mage finds a Grimoire that's full-blown Whisper, what with the gnawed0on bones and teh skull that you shake and that whispers secrets in your ear ... can I attune to it and cast it my way? Or can you only attune to a Grimoire in your tradition? It would seem *odd* that you could, since the wild voodoo traditions of the Gremlin Houngan we just bonked and my proper Guild Thalarian caster shouldn't be compatable at *all*, but it would seem that I could pick it up and staple it into my own casting just fine. And that strikes me as off. Yet I'll be buggered if I can find anything that disallows it. Ack!

Once I'm done with these, the idea is to make up twenty or so cards. When characters are being generated, it'd be as normal, but everyone gets one less General Talent than the book would give them. Instead, you use the Temptations. Thirteen for each Tyrant. On the front of the card will be the sales pitch, the whisper that it sends to someone crossing the Breach to see if it can snare someone to its side. You can easily mark 'em with Ace-King as well, if you wanted to rank them. The Grave Spirit gets to be the Black Joker. The last card, which will be replicated six times or so (depends on the size of the group) gets to be the Red Joker, in essence. You take the thirteen Tyrants, shuffle it up, then deal out one per player, then sit the Black Joker in the middle of the table, taking the other cards back behind the GM screen. Each player can, in turn, either ACCEPT the Temptation, at which point they keep the card and gain the ability that it has on the back, PASS on the Temptation, at which point they take a card from the middle and then replace it with what they had, or REJECT all Temptations. A REJECT means that they add their card to the middle pile and instead get the Red Joker. Each player may only ACCEPT once, at which point they're done. Each player can REJECT once, at which point they're done. Each player can PASS as many times as they want, so everyone could, if they want, eventually see all the Temptations. That's fine! The more they're Tempted, the better. The Red Joker is a simple one, to the effect of, "You have rejected all offers to aid you, choosing to control your own fate. Time will tell if this was wise or foolish; Either way, the choice is yours. You may choose any one General Talent for which you qualify." (Have to hammer out the wording later.) So, everyone gets the same chargen that they'd normally get, but they'd have the option of getting one of these Temptations instead. Of course, you can't serve two masters, so if they chose one, they could never choose a different one, BUT, it'd later open up more, stronger Temptations that would lock them into service of a Tyrant. That's the theory, at the least. Might make 5-tier "Servant of (Tyrant)" Advanced Pursuits instead, letting people walk the path instead of General Talents, not sure yet. Still lots to ponder!

Still early in the process, but I'm working on a few temptations, Manifested Powers (or similar) that are tied in with teh Tyrants who, in a way, pay part of teh cost off in exchange for linking to a Human. Oh, the Human doesn't know that they're in service of a great force at first, they think that they're winning the deal, but, over time, it gets more and more clear who's in control. As part of teh subsidized cost, they can be taken as General upgrades, rather than being a Destiny Step, but the player doesn't get to help put the package together ... it' already made for them. Isn't that so NICE of the Tyrants? To take away all that pesky MATH and complicated figuring out of one's own path and instead just being handed a gift and helped along a path? So kind-hearted, those guys! It's still EARLY in the process, so I'm happy to take suggestions. The Tyrants, and a few other major forces that are on a similar level (like the Grave Spirit) are a diverse bunch, after all, and more heads could really help. Below I'll post what I have thusfar, but the formatting is *not* going to work here I don't think, so brace for a bit of ugly. I know that a few of them have to be tweaked as I started them in 1st edition, where the spell bases and Immuto were different, but I've not cleaned that part up yet (Especially for Cherufe!) but the basic format should be clear. For these first gifts, one big goal is to keep all the target numbers at 7 or less. They're relative small gifts and, more over, are intended for common people, so should be relatively easy to pop off. Start 'em small, give 'em a little taste, then bring them in for more once they're hooked, as it were. *** Tyrannical_Temptations.odt

Yeah, getting to read this stuff with later understanding's been really interesting. Almost finished with the final book of 1st edition, reading the discussion between December and Rasputina, having just digested the talk between Zoriada and Levi... man. Lots of STUFF in there. On the plus side, we have an actual date for Molly's death, so it clears up some of the early confusion. Huzzah!

Not too much in the second book... Molly's timeline is still a bit messed up, but the *exact* date isn't important. We get to see that Francis was the name of the Governor-General's only son, but no mention of the GG's name, spouse, or potential other kids. Kirai gets introduced, as did Haemlin, teh Red Star, the Red Cage which ... you know, I always thought it did a giant meteor dive and CRASH into teh swamp, but instead it just sorta ... poofed. No impact, no explosion, nada. Then the ground collapsed into a sinkhole when all of that energy poured out of it. When December's physical form was killed in book 1, no big energy spike. When the Kythera portal was destroyed, no big energy spike, but the Red Cage was WILDLY out of control in terms of energy and I'm really curious as to why. There's a bit of timeline in there, but not enough to really work with. Book 3 starts with us getting our first hard date, however, with September 20, PF 114 (that's 1902) given for The Event, and that lets us work backwards to see when the storyline started (1901), and the sprinkling of dates that we have up until this point can be plugged in. Book Three (Twisting Fates) is crazy thick, so I'm guessing this one'll take a while to chew through. This and the next one would round up the 1st edition of the tabletop game, then I'll move on to the 2nd ed, before diving into teh RPG again. I don't own any of teh 3rd ed tabletop books, so if anyone wants to crub data and dates from those, it'd be much appreciated.

Moving through the next book slower than intended. (More stories!) ... the death of the Governor General's son, and the assrote dinteractions with said general, do not, in fact, drop his name in there. Even his dad is, "The governor-general won't like this..." Got to see Francis dead, buried, and avenged, and I'm currently digging through Colette's debut, the passing to her of the Leviathan's Eye, and the introduction of Hamlin (yikes!). No real dates yet, but gettin there...

It's a start, but I was looking for more detail and a bunch of small things that the timeline doesn't cover. I mean, geeze, when I left for a bit, I'm not 100% sure we knew the governor-general's NAME. Getting a bit more detail past "The breach opened HERE, the Red Cage fell HERE," beynd what the book opening timeline has? Handy stuff, but possibly unknown to us. For example, when did the quarantine zones get, well... quarantined? When did Perdita first show up? When did Seamus murder his first victim? We may well not have answers to this stuff, but, I'm still *curious*.

Curses. I'll have to crack out my old books and start doing detective work. The first story in the main book I grabbed had a few clues ... Phillip Tombers is reanimated in July of Year ?, having died "A month ago", so in June. Molly Squidpidge had been a zombie for "several months" at that stage. Rasputina gets a book from tombers, then escapes, leaving Seamus with Philliip's head and Molly in Phillip's grave. We later get to see Viktoria arrive on a train from Earth, talk to Leveticus, who'd been here before (as shown by his having business cards for his Malifaux shop on him!), but there's no time frame at first. But teh NEXT story has Rasputina (who passed them at the station as she was taking a train to Ridley) having the book in her hands and cracking it open for the first time, so we can deduce that this is happening the same day, or teh next day, as the first story. So, yeah, I'll need to take some notes. Might have to crack this badboy on my day off.

From Day Zero: the Breach Reopens until ... *vague hand flaps* today, a bunch of stuff has happened. Teh rise and fall of the Piper, the fall of teh Red Cage, that whole avatar thing, the period of Martial law, but also when the Latigo compound opened, when Riley was formed, what day Hoffman arrived, and so on? The more solid information the better. There's a LOT of info scattered in teensy nuggets in, like, every book ever made, but if anyone has compiled it, I'd really be all kinds of thankful for a share.

THE GAMBERRITOS A general term for the numerous kids that run around inside the safety of the compound, the Gamberritos (little rowdies) range from four to fourteen (At fifteen, they're expected to be adults and act properly!), spending much of their time running around, roughhousing, playing games, and generally being rambunctious. There's not a ton of educational opportunities at the compound in the normal sense ... Padre Garcia keeps them up on basic reading, Pablo can pass on some math, and now that Miss Barton is present, she's been positively mortified at the lack of schooling so has taken it upon herself to at least *try* to civilize the little ones. (Good luck, Miss Barton!) The Gamberritos are *always* around, chasing one another, hollering and whooping it up, crashing through crowds, and always trying to stay one-step ahead of Mama Flores and her wick spoon! Black, white, brown, and yes, even blue all scrum together, and it can often be hard to tell which barefoot and dust-covered kids are which, so the blanket term of "rowdies" just sorta *happened*. They don't mind. About the only time that they calm down is when someone new's shown up, then a dozen or more of them will gather around to watch whatever they're doing, oohing and ahhing if it's impressive, howling with laughter and tossing japes if someone's learning a new skill and doing it wrong. (Oh, the stories Miss Barton could tell about when she was first handed a pistol! It was a week before the red left her ears!) It rarely comes up, but the Gamberritos know ll the shortcuts and hidden passages in Latigo, which is how they move around and stay out of trouble. If there was ever some kind of siege, tehy'd certainly be able to sneak some PCs around to where needed. THE GENERAL The General used to have a full name but it's fallen off and now he's simply The General. At one point in time, the General arrived in the early days of Latigo, a veteran of the Powder Wars, with his noble helmet, chest full of medals, and a chest full of gold that he was using to hire adventurers. He headed west with a large group, intending to conquer the far mountains. A week after they left, the first stragglers returned, telling of the Neverborn ambush that they encountered and the horrors that they experienced. Over the next few weeks, a slow drip of other survivors, in ever-worse shape, would return to the compound, with even worse stories. After two months, the General himself returned, a broken shell of a man. He eventually recovered physically, but his mind, and his purse, have never been the same. These days, the General mostly stays in the Latigo Saloon, nursing his drink and trying to keep his tattered uniform presentable. He'll happily recant his tales of glory from The Wars over a hot meal and a drink, and is actually quite a good storyteller. Sadly, all he has left are his medals and his stories, and it's only by mercy that he even has a place to lay his head at night. He dreams of oneday returning to the mountains.... he claims to have a map to great treasure, and he'll happily split it with anyone who helps him find it, but the map is all in his head ... he burned the original copy years ago, for fear that someone would murder him for it and take the treasure that was rightfully his. The General is in excellent shape for a man of his advanced years, sturdy from a life of soldiering even if his limbs aren't as stout as they were in his youth, and despite his broken mind, he's still got a razor-sharp grasp of tactics and military command skills. During the second expansion, he took command of the defending forces while the Ortegas took the attack to the enemy and he performed remarkably well. He hope sto have that chnce again someday, but the local Neverborn now give the compound a wide berth, so he's unlikely to do so. Well, unless he can talk a group into taking him to teh western mountains and the fights that are sure to be unleashed on them there.

JACK TOMSON A grizzled old man, Tomson left his native Scotland afte rthe death of his beloved life, having nothing left worth living for, but willing to travel to Malifaux and offer his services until his time ran out. He joined a settling bad into the Badlands and won their respect with his hard work ethic and skill, but those were things that couldn't protect them from the Neverborn. He and his village fought hard, but only the timely arrival of the Ortegas saved them. They agreed to move into the Latigo compound for safety, and while three of teh survivors sucumbed to Black Blood Poisoning and had to be put down, most survived. Several returned home after taking time to recover but Jack had nowhere left to go, so he stayed and busied himself making some small repairs, then got to cranking out good nails. In no time at all, the compoun was asking him t make right what was broken .. dented pans, broken pots, bent blades ... and he not only repaired them but made them better than before. After a few failed experiments, he even took to making rifle barrels, then other firearm parts... he never designed his own, he was a blacksmith not a gunsmith, but he could put together anything once he knew what parts were needed. Ol' Man Jack is still there today, hammeirng away at the Latigo Forge, having taken several of the youths there under his wing. These days, everyone swears by his work, and getting a Tomson Blade on your first adult birthday is a tradition he takes pride in. He might not be the finest blacksmith on this side of the Breach, but he works miracles with the low-quality metal he has access to. These days, the apprenticies do most of the more common work while he tries to focus on weaponry, but it's not uncommon for him to wake up the town by hammering his anvil at sunrise, striking out a few "proper" nails so that the kids have some examples to follow, and he personally looks over every farming impliment to ensure they meet his standards. In his eyes, getting food's more important than killing. Life beats death. MARIA FLORES Maria isn't a spellcaster, a tragic figure, a genius, or anything special at all. She's a tubby middle-aged mother to several kids, quick to warn misbehaving children that she'll tell their mother what they've done, but even quicker to bring the gossip all around town. She's in EVERYBODY'S business and it's said that if there's a secret told in Latigo, it's heard by two heads ... who you intend and Mama Flores. She'll stop to observe every new arrival at Latigo and gab quietly with anyone in town to keep an eye on them and to report back to her what they see. Surprisingly, she doesn't make-up stories, but instead quickly digs deep into the truth and makes sure that it gets around. She's less a busybody and more of a one-woman newspaper, making sure that everyone knows what's happening. The Ortegas don't much care for public speaking, so instead of firey speeches when something's up, they just dispatch a pistolero to tell Flores what's up ... she'll handle the rest. If approached by visitors, Flores normally pretends to not speak English; if people don't know that she can understand them, they're more likely to blab something important. Once she gets to know someone, she'll let it slip, usually by correcting them with, "It's not nice to call someone fat!" or the like while thwacking them with a wooden spoon. Maria's a great organizer and is always involved in every celebration, making sure that everyone's fed, that musicians are paid, and that decorations are proper. She might be the most ordinary person in the entire place but that doesn't mean she hasn't got a role to play!

PADRE GARCIA Padre Juan Garcia was an early arrival, personally requested by the Ortegas after the First Expansion, as several members of teh family, and more the survivors that had been rescued, were dealing with a wide array of fallout from combat stress, survivor's guilt, and more. An older gentleman (and, in fact, Papa Loco's third cousin), Padre Garcia stood out in teh early wave not for being a strapping lad or a hard worker, but for being a calming presence. He was able to soothe frazzled nerves, heal mental wounds that no one else coudl see, and provide the basic spirituality that was so badly needed. After two years, he started, he started to express minor magical talent, so was sent back to Malifaux City for training in the Thalaric Method and official status with the Guild. By no means a powerful spellcaster, he nontheless has been writing Grimoires, known as "Latigo Bibles", and mentoring others whose magical talents begin to express. He and Pablo have an ongoing relationship about how the spiritualist who dislikes technology has the power to make automations go while the engineer who loves them hasn't got a spark in him to use. They tease one another on the regular, but everyone knows that it's just how they express respect. Padre Garcia is also the reigning checkers champion at the compound. JUDY AZUL Rescued as a small child in teh wake of a Neverborn raid, Judy, like many other children, was infected with Black Blood but was helped through it by Dr. Azul. Three out of four infected don't make it through intact but she was one of the lucky ones. For years, visitors would see her leading a pack of mixed children... some blue, some brown, some white... in games of tag, "Cowboys and Neverborn", and more, always underfoot and full of life. As the years passed, she grew into a striking young woman, and now feels like she should be taking the field, helping fight "for reals". She's a skilled sword-wielder, not on Francisco's level (but then, who is?!) and a decent shot, but they regularly chide her on her favoring a giant Neverborn-style blade instead of a sensible rapier or the like. She's actively pursued by many of the young Latigo men but, as yet, has never chosen a paramore... she's more focused on learning to fight! With her blue skin and horns, she has great difficult disguising her look, so instead wears it proudly. After all, she's still Human on the inside, no matter what she looks like on the outside. LOUIS BENOIT "You can't be serious." "I know, I know, just try it." "I am NOT going to east some kind of Gremlin swill!" "I swear, this isn't a joke! Here, I'll drink some first." "I don't care if you drink the whole bucket, I'm NOT going to drink some Gremlin-cooked pigfood!" "Well alright. More for us I guess." "Us? What us?" *points behind her* *turns to see dozens of hungry people lined up at an impromptu kitchen, getting stew ladelled out by a grinning Gremlin standing on top of a crate. Other people were all around the compound, heartily digging in and clearly enjoying the meal." "All of us." "... well I'll be a gremlin's auntie." And that's how "Louie" became the official Latigo chef. From trail stew to saute'd beef marinated in mushrooms to French pastries to Bayou chilli so hot that it makes Sntiago cry, it seems that there's nothing that the little guy can't put on a plate. Nobody's really sure how he got there but they're all glad he is! ELIZABETH "LIZ" BARTON Mrs. Barton is, first and foremost, an archaeologist (and anthropologist), one who came to Malifux in order to read the ancient tomes and help decipher the native writings. She was directed to the Latigo compound for some basic training and, while she's only been here for a few months, she's at least comfortable enough with a pistol that they're willing to let her ride out with a large group now. She's an avid reader, but she much prefers field work over musty libraries (and boy did that ever break Pablo's heart!) ... she just didn't know that it woul dbe quite so risky. Still, she's always ready to roll out whenever anyone has a lead about some lost temple or uncovered artefact. She wants to know everything she can about the Neverborn and the only way to do that is to go where they are. Santiago's noticed that little Nino always volunteers to be on guard duty with her but, as of yet, has only teased him a little. If she's noticed, she's yet to say anything.

((More here after work tonight, but anyone else should feel free to toss in some of their own.))

Unless there's a Penny Dreadful that I've missed (entirely possible, that!), we know OF the Latigo Compound but not much ABOUT it. Some of teh basics that we know: It's effectively the southernmost reach of the Guild, but isn't terribly Guild-y, if you know what I mean. There are homesteads, farms, and ranches around it, mostly north, where the compound can stand between the Neverborn of the Badlands and the ranches, but not entirely as the Ortegas have been SO GOOD at driving the Neverborn away that the area is nearly pacified, allowing for more expansion. It's fortified. And ... that's about it. SO! I wanted to dig in and both lay out the place a bit and fill it with some people beyond the Ortegas that we know about. THE COMPOUND The core of the Latigo Compound wasn't built by the Ortegas but was discovered in Perdita's early work, even before she brought her family over. It was a walled church and yard, akin to Spanish missions of the American Southwest and California that she was familiar with it. She took it as a sign that the place was safe and it gave her a central base from which to engage in her Neverborn hunts. It has a water supply from a well, the walls were mostly intact, the buildings abandoned but empty of theats, and the bell tower in the church gave a commanding view over the surrounding area, allowing her to easily spot threats. Once her family arrived, they were able to shore up teh walls, get better defenses in place, and repair some of the on-site buildings, like the stable and a small blacksmith's shop. The First Expansion As Perdita brought in her family, space became a premium. It was one thing for them to live together, they were a family after all, but old tempers would flare and they needed to work together to survive. They used the materials on hand to expand the compound's walls, effectively doubling the safe space, building several small homes in the expanded area while keeping the original compound's buildings available as workspaces and for meetings. The old church, where they'd been forced to bunk, would be used to house the refugees that they were finding as they continued to patrol the region, pushing the Neverborn back and rescuing survivors from wagon trains and homesteads that were raided. Most of the survivors, once recovered from the shock, were happy to go back to Malifaux; some chose to strike out and try to settle again, while a few stayed on at the Latigo Compound itself, joining the extended family in a way and providing support when the Ortegas themselves were away. The Second Expansion Soon, the numbers had gotten too large again. The walled compound was once more expanded, doubling the space again, with the newer buildings intended for civilian housing, while farming was started outside the walls... previously, a small garden was kept beside the church, mostly of root vegetables, but with the large population, they branched into wheat and corn, and large fields at that, the Neverborn being driven far enough back that there was worry enough that they needed to stay inside the walls at night, but that the fields would be safe in the day. The Third Expansion The Third, and thusfar last, expansion turned the compound into a small town, the local Neverborn driven so far away that they were no longer a threat, which allowed the construction of more buildings outside of the wall. Small shops, tradesman, and more all came to settle in safety, first hugging the walls of the Latigo Compound proper, but soon stretching out further. Now a thousand people live under the protective wings of Perdita and the Ortegas, and while more arrive every week, just as many leave, now confident enough to strike out into the land that they've made safe. *** DOCTOR AZUL One of the first rescues, Brian Jefferson was also one of the most contreversial. He wagon train had been ambushed and eradicated when the Ortegas came upon it, with Brian the lone survivor, covered by the body of the train captain. He wailed over the loss of his savior, but they couldn't tarry, so he gathered up a few of his belongings and rode with them back to the compound. There, they discovered that he'd been infected by Black Blood, and was transforming. They'd encountered the condition before and had put down the maddened victims, but Brian was a doctor, which they needed, and was in the earliest stages. Instead, they jailed him in a small enclosure in the church, where he volunteered to suffer the curse and take notes on it... they could kill him once his mind was gone, but until then, he wanted to document the changes, so that those who came after him could possibly find a cure. It was a long, hard week, and his pained screams nearly drove Francisco to end his misery, but Perdita stayed his hand. Much to everyone's shock, while Dr. Jeffesron transformed into a halfblood, he didn't go feral. He emerged with his mind intact, even if his body was different, and after a few more weeks of testing, they trusted him enough to let him out of the cage. He took a new name for himself, casting aside who he was for "Azul", or blue, to reflect his new look. Dr. Azul continues to shock new arrivals who thnk him a Nerverborn, not an infected human, but he takes it in stride; after all, he'd had the same reaction when he first saw his reflection! Dr. Azul is the top medical practitioner at the compound and has further acted as a father figure for others who have been infected; he can't save everyone, but being infected is no longer cured by a bullet to the brain for each victim. The Ortegas trust him to make the call on who can be saved and who cannot and, otherwise, he takes care of the wounded selflessly. He's also adopted each of the infected children that survive the transformation, as they're inevitably the sole-survivors of slaughters like he himself survived, and teh Azul "family" is second only to the Ortega's own in terms of size. Several of the children have tried to set him up with the single women of the compound but he's demured, saying that the adopted Azuls are the only family that he needs. He does wear a locket that contains the burnt remains of his wagon train's captain's photo, a keepsake of "the man who changed his life", but otherwise keeps little more than his medical supplies and books in a small library in his home. PABLO RAMIEREZ The tubbiest fellow in the Compound, Pablo joined during the Thrid Expansion as a technician, sent by the Guild to man the telegraph office added at that time. By far the most technically-skilled member of the compound, he also dabbles in aethervox technology and has even set up a small electric lamp at his office, an object of much oooh-ing and ahh-ing when it was first installed. He's rarely seen outside as he doesn't take the heat well, but he's fine with that as it keeps him near the equipment. Pablo also serves as a postmaster, since he's already in charge of communications, keeping letters and packages stored in his office until someone comes by to pick it up. DANIEL WONG Teh Latigo Stablemaster, Wong's in charge of the Latigo horses, both caring for them (with the help of several stablehands, keeping the kids busy) and breeding new ones. he's yet to figure out why some foals are born Twisted and others aren't, but, as there's nothing to be done about it, he continues to rear them ... horses are too valuable to destroy just because one's born with cloven hooves or fangs. Wong's name gives people an impression of a quiet, slender fellow of neat appearence, but nothing could be further form the truth. Broad, squat, deeply tanned, Wong's quite proud of his Mongolian heritage and not the least bit afraid to let loose with a booming laugh at mealtime with other Compound members.

Not neccessarily whole sheets of master villains or the like, but just characters that pop up in your game. Gus the bartender, Lady Pitchworth the Art Matron, Chris and the Bowling Street hooligans, Jeb the Gremlin, Carol the nice Guild Guard, etc. People, in short, that help bring your world to life.

Well, the Ten Thunders book hasn't been created yet, nor the Adventurer's Guild (if that becomes a thing) or a more solid Outsiders book (combined with the Explorer's Guild?) ... there was also to be a Masters-level book, but I think that one's been set aside. So, one, two, MAYBE three books left before the line's wrapped up, I think? That said, plenty of room to add more stuff. Locations, a focus on NPCs, new Talents, adventurers, storylines ... you could keep it going for a decade, honestly. Not sure if they *want* to since I don't think the income's very strong on the line, but the potential's there. Who knows? They might join the groups like the Infiniverse that allow fanpublished works on DriveThru, taking a cut of the sales and letting anyone create things. Lord knows I've got probably a book's worth of STUFF in my head, but the biggest holdup for that kind of thing is always art. Malifaux art is pretty unique, rubbing up against Victorian and Steampunk, but ... hrm. Splatterpunk I think it was called once? The "Alice in Wonderland... but crazy!" stuff, topped off with cowboys and undead. Pretty broad, yet very specific, niche that's real, REAL hard to get more art for. But now we have new management. We'll see where it goes from here! I hope for the best. (That said, if anybody wants to hire me, hey, I work cheap.)

I knew the Titania stuff, but teh rest, especially the Justice Nicodem duel, I missed. Still not sure what's up with Pandora tho. But man, that's a LOT of help. Thank you!

The tabletop game withered and died here years ago, but I still enjoy the RPG (Through the Breach) and have been waiting to pick up the newest book, which is now out. (Yay!) ... in it, there are some bits that left me terribly confused and I was wondering if anyone could point me towards some of these. WARNING! Spoilers will follow. Well. Maybe spoilers. Some of this might be old news for y'all... I'm WAY behind the curve. But, you know, just in case? POTENTIAL SPOILERS. If you anyone could A) give a short layout of what happened or B) tell me what books (and possibly the page numbers!) to dig out the details, I'd be ever so grateful. 1) They did WHAT to Lilith?! Lilith go down the hoooole. Looks like Lord Chompy Bits tricked Zorida into doing Lil dirty and, in the process, he showed a bit of his hidden face. 1B) How'd she get hurt again? How did Lilith get hurt so bad to be in that position anyway? Her sister I think, but where did the fight happen? 2) Pandora and the Box Mention of *something* having gone down between Pandora and one of the cityfolk (Colette I *think* but possibly the Honeypot instead?) and possibly the Box taking over? 2B) I recall baby Candy became Teen Candy during the Avatar phase a while back. The Avatars are gone now, but did Candy go back or is she still tall? 3) What's up with the Ressers? When last I saw (Again, I fell off during the Avatar saga), Seamus had a soulstone lodged in his head, Nic had died and come back, and McMorning was getting exposed. I figure the not-so-good Doctor is on the run and Seamus is back to murderin' people, but I didn't see a mention of Nicodem anywhere. What happened to him, if anything, since his death and rebirth? 4) What's up with the Arcanists? I saw that Dr. Ramos had stepped down from both of his positions. Why? Ironsides is running the MS&U now, and Kaeris is running the rebellion, but what's Ramos doing? What about Rasputina and Marcos? 5) Who are the Explorer's Guild? It sounds like a new faction, alongside the Ten Thunders and Gremlins, but I'm not certain? 6) What happened to Von Schill? It seems that he fought Rasputina at some point and got frozen, then lost limbs to frostbite when thawed out, so now has mechanical parts. The Korps has apparently left powderberg... where's their main base located now, if anywhere? 7) What about the other outsiders? Tara exists, and is doing ... something? I know Hamlin made a big play in teh Avatar runup, which failed. Has hedone anything since? What about Rusty Alice and her partner? The "Sisters"? A lot of questions, I know but it looks like I've been gone for a few years and, in that time, Things Happened, probably during the last edition change, and I'm way behind. Anybody can help me out on teh storyline, I'd be ever so grateful. (The last thing I saw before poofing was the Burning man's creation, the new Governor General, and the Other Side being launched. Anything after that's a total mystery, so, feel free to toss in things that I don't know that I don't know. (Oh man, you missed the whole thing with Lady Justice getting her head sewn onto the Rail Golem, then wrestling Killjoy through the middle of the Governor's Mansion? It was epic! SHE HIT HIM WITH JACK DAW'S TREE!) ((Probably didn't happen but I'm so far behind that it could have!))

Ooo, I'd missed the Latigo notation! I'll have to adjust. These are mostly on-the-fly numbers, so can certainly be fiddled with as needed. For Malifaux Station, I know the big three, but I'd be darned curious to know where the others run. If all else fails? Call it 13 lines. Handy number, that.

Back on the train front, a standard locomotive of the era could pull 160 cars over relatively flat land, but if those cars are 60' long each, you're looking at 9600' long, or 1.8 miles. The distance between the Breach and the station is, IIRC, two miles, so that ... wouldn't work. Now, I could sit down and do some research and find out some numbers but, instead, we're gonna game this thing. Trains that travel through the Breach are 26 cars long. There are several trips made a day. For when the Iron Ram needs repairs, there's a second train, the Iron Crow, but it's smaller and can only pull 13 cars safely. Trains that go to and from Malifaux City from the Breach are 26 cars long, This gives you time to recover from the Breach trip before the city train has cars hooked up for the trip to the city while other cars are moved around the trainyard for the proper destination. There are three trips made a day (the first Six, the Noon, and the second Six.) ... once a month or so, there's also "The Midnight Express", a Guild special. No one knows what that one's about (or, rather, those who DO know know better than to tell!) Trains that go from Malifaux Station to Ridley are 52 cars long but travel less frequently. (Once per day) Trains that go from Malifaux Station to Fortune Falls are 26 cars long and even less frequently (once a week). Trains that go from Malifaux Station to Edge Point are 13 cars long and travel the least frequently. (once a month?) Trains that go from Edge Point to Latigo exist, but only go once a year or so. For the most part, the Ortegas just ride into town when they need things, taling a wagon for larger loads. The annual train is treated like a holiday (Latigo Christmas) and the entire compound turns out for a big party when it arrives. The Latigo Compound is mostly self-sufficient, but a handful of goods, like sweets and fancy fabrics just aren't craftable there, so get the annual import. Trains from Ridley to the Hollow Point Pumping Station are 13 cars long and travel four times a day (The morning ride (6 AM), the Tenner, the Deuce, and the evening ride (6 PM) ... mostly workers on the morning and evening, while freight, especially ore, moves on the Tennner and the Deuce. Trains from Ridley to the smaller towns happens on a weekly circuit, with small engines pulling just 4 cars. This is due to freight and passengers being minor (one passenger car, three freight), the rough terrain of the hills making larger engines have to work too hard to pull more, and because light loads are faster, letting the trains speed away from bandit raids and attempted train robberies. This "Major spokes, minor spokes" system keeps supplies running efficiently, with some timetables being more accurate than others. Dr Ramos, for instance, insists that the Ridley-Hollow Point runs be as precise as his machines, and teh Guild leans heavily on Malifaux Station to be on time to set a good example for visitors, but the others aren't as tight. The non-daily runs, in particular, are often moved up or down as needed... when there's not enough freight or people to make the trip worthwile, the engines stay idle until it's time to go, so Fortune Falls might go ten days, or even two weeks, between runs. Considering how frazzled the nerves are from the people there, due to Neverborn pushes in the Knotwoods, these delays can be alarming and an arriving train can be greeted like a hero... or condemneds if, say, medicine arrived too late to save several people. Inside Malifaux City, there are several passenger lines that shuttle people around, but these all use small engines and are short trains of 4 cars long. They're notoriously off the timetables by as much as half an hour, but they're cheaper than using carriages, so are used by the common people despite the frustration. The trains that go between the slums and the industrial section are the few that are reliably on-time. Mail's commonly sent on the trains, with the smaller runs storing it in the caboose while larger ones have a dedicated mail car. There've been a few stabs at telegraph lines, but for most, the cost outweighs the advantages. Ridley's the hub for the telegraph lines through the hills, including to Hollow Point, but radio communication between the two is common thanks to Dr. Ramos. Telegraph lines run from Ridley to Malifaux City, and from MC to Edge Point, mainly because there's one from Edge Point to the Latigo Compound. The Ortegas don't like it, but the Governor-General insisted in case they were needed to be called up for emergencies. Speaking of emergencies, there is a small engine with 4 cars, used when the need is truly dire. If the Governor General *needs* something, and needs it now, they can be dispatched at a high-burn to get to far-flung areas at impressive speeds. When these runs are enacted, warnings are sent down the lines by both telegraph and lights, to keep the rails clear. These emergency runs can make it from Malifaux City to any other location in 24 hours or less, but such speeds are greatly taxing on the machine, so are done VERY rarely. (Rumor has it that Dr. Ramos has an engine that can do the trip in half the time or less but has never deployed it for reasons known only to him. True? Not true? It's yammered about regardless.) *** So, why some of these numbers? Well, the deck of cards. If you want events to happen, it's easy to do things with a flip... 4 car trains means one car per suit. 13 car trains means 1-13 (ignore suit) with jokers being the engine (red) or caboose (black). 26 is the same, but with red cars (the first 13) and black cars (the rear 13). The big 52 car trains get four sections (Rams, tomes, crows, masks) of 13 each. Taa daa! The frequency is chosen to make life easy and to reflect how important certain areas are. The main city gets the most traffic, moving people and freight like crazy, while Ridley, the main outlying town (Breachside's second city, honestly) getting the next heaviest traffic. Tons of trips from Ridley to Hollow Point and back, moving workers, but also freight as the mines at Hollow Point send materials back. The other locations get less-frequent trains, so it's perfectly fine for a group to crawl into some small town in the hills, look for a way home, and be told, "Train comes on Thursdays. Feel free to get a room until then." Hiring stagecoaches is an option (but one mostly from a hub, like Ridley, to a small town, rather than the reverse, but planning ahead can arrange things. (We'll need a coach to pick us up at Sulphur Gulch on the 14th.// Yessir. We'll be there. The coach will wait for 24 hours.// Can you make it 48? // For a small fee, of course. // *sigh* Of course.)

True, but I don't think Malifaux has skyscrapers, more that there's some Victorian, some Aztec, some Maori, etc, designs in the mix and, fo cruose, much of the city's since been rebuilt by humans once they came in, and they're far more limited in tech. The clocktower, which last I saw was still sealed tight, was the tallest building in the city by a big margin. Not sure how tall it is tho. There was a big duel there at one point between a big hero and his main villain (a former buddy, they split over a woman, IIRC) and, since that fight, the tower's been silent as well as unopenable. Lots of little city tidbits hidden here and there. It's neat! But tracking some of this info down is a struggle.

The river got hit at some point by some kind of volcanic disturbance. Not sure on the deets, but regardless *something* bubbled up under the city and, when it did, it screwed up the water table and the river. The water has to be boiled, and even then it's not perfect, so finding a better source of water was a huge priority. That's beyond the toxic water from fumigation, which is party of the anti-mosquito (and other bugs) issue. I'd have to dig in to see where that info was ... 1st ed book or Under Quarantine would make the most sense, but I'd have to go a-diggin'. Slot that in as a project for when I get off work tonight.

There are, yes. We're not sure how many, and we know that the livestock end up Twisted. i don't think that the flora wind up thus, but it might be a matter of time ... with only a few months of growth before being harvested, they might not have time to absorb ambient magical energy. That's just speculation, mind you, and the livestock don't universally go Twisted, just some. It remains to be seen if the meat's tainted and, if so, what effect that, and the water issues, cause on the population. There's a lot of appeal in farming in one of the safe-ish areas near the city but not inside it proper ... less control from the Guild, and lots of people value freedom more than (relative) safety. It falls in the skillset of many people more than the more skilled trades of the city, and depending on where they're from, it can be a less-dangerous occupation ... convict miners who pay off their time but can't afford the ticket back to Earth could go do farm labor and, yeah, some Twisted wolf runnig out to snatch you up in the middle of the night is bad, but compared to cave-ins, drowning, gas leaks, and worse? It's a friggin' paradise. Using the rough number of 10 acres of farm per person per year, we need 50 million acres to feed the population of Malifaux (city and not), and there are 640 acres in a mile (an apology, here, for the Euro-people reading this and staring in horror at non-Metric measures), which would need around 78,125 square miles of farms to feed the entire population at US levels of chow. The Iron Ram, and by extension the Guild, is the only source of seed to start farms, which puts people under the thumb of teh Guild to get started and the costs are, obviously, going to be inflated, but since the Guild NEEDS food, it's probably paid off with some REALLY harsh tax rates. That means that there'll be a black market both for seed and for produce. Easy to get assorted root veggies, like potatoes or turnips, but fruit probably costs so much that it's a rare treat and a sign of wealth. Wealthy people taking a bite out of an apple while poor people watch through glass windows and drool before being run off from the restaurant by the owner shaking a broom. Criminals being hired to steal a crate of oranges. Arcanists having a small PR arm that distirbutes food and clean water to the slums to win hearts and minds. Small stores tucked into the shadows of the Little Kingdom that sell traditional food imported from *somewhere*, and rice farms along the edge of the Bayou that are a major food source that most of Malifaux City doesn't really know about. Plot hooks!