Inn Too Deep

A Manifold Sky Adventure for 5th Level BCGR Characters

Hello, ladies and gentlemen of The Breadbasket Cubes. You don't know my face, but perhaps you know my deeds - and, if you're a ne'erdowell of Commonwealth extraction, you'll be hearing from my loyal servants soon enough. In any case, whether you have a desire to see justice done or simply find a fresh packet of 5,000 NGC in your pocket, I have a proposal which may interest those of you with the freedom to travel and a penchant for discretion.
An important item has been lost - an item which will be of no value to you, but is of extreme importance to the course of justice. If a small quest to recover this item piques your interest, you need only reply to this advertisement in the personals section; after a period of observation, I will arrange to deliver the details to you.
Stay vigilant, friends!

— "D.D.", in an ad taken out in The Guild Gazette.

Structure

Exposition

Adventuring parties in the Manifold Sky setting have a variety of reasons for travelling and undertaking missions, including a sense of justice, a desire to carry out their duties in the service of their nations or organizations, for the promise of coin and glory, or even for the simple excitement and joy of doing something new and dangerous. The party should work with the Game Master before this adventure begins to determine which in-world faction or factions they align with, if any, as this will be an important factor in how this adventure plays out (see Climax for details).
Whatever the case may be, one member of your party has noticed an add from a certain individual regarding the recovery of a lost item. After responding to the mysterious employer's call for assistance, you only had to wait two days before you found a letter with no return address delivered to your party's doorstep:

The package is in the Vestra Inn in the town of the same name. Tell the lady at the front desk that you are picking up a package from "Mrs. Chamberlain." They will take you beneath the wine cellar. Once below, ask the attendant for "His Grace's ledger." They will give you a small dieseltech computer programming gasket rolled onto a feeding cylinder. Do not attempt to read this; it is encrypted and you will not be paid for an opened package. Do not speak to anyone about the cylinder or its contents; indiscretion will result in a lack of compensation.
Return to Vivaldi Peak and slip the cylinder beneath the seat of the third snug on the left at Club 105, then leave. Return to the snug no less than 24 hours and no more than 48 hours later. You will find a sealed envelope containing your payment in the place of the cylinder.
Happy Hunting, friends!

— "D.D.", in a note delivered to the party.

If a member of the party rolls at least a 15 with your General Knowledge, Manipulate Mechanism, or Control Skill, they are able to identify the initials, location refferences, and unusual mannerisms as possibly identifying the employer as the Duke of Drones, a drone-flying, criminal-extorting vigilante from the Commonwealth of C.
In any event, the party has decided (or has been told by its true employers) that it will undertake the mysterious "D.D."'s task. Soon enough, the party members find themselves disembarking at the airship landing pad in Vestra, a sleepy community of fewer than 2,000 people high in the wooded mountains of Medial G6 across from the famously dangerous Booming Hills Range.

Conflict

The airship pad is a short distance away from the town proper, which is nestled between the contours of the pine-wooded alpine mountain range in which it has been built. The party must walk down a short, winding path from the plaform down towards the town, as there are no taxis or coaches to ferry them into town and towards their ultimate destination.. Only a few airship ground crewmen around to ask for directions, but with an appropriately low (minimum 7) roll in any of the social skills, party members may inquire about the town and where they might find the Vestra Inn.
The Game Master should use this short walk down towards the town to build up suspense, noting that there is an eerie silence only broken by what sounds like the occasional fall of an axe or some mining equiment echoing through the mountain valleys. Once the party reaches the end of the path from the landing pad (about five minutes), a Perception or Social Awareness roll (minimum 10) indicates that something is amiss. The streets are curiously devoid of pedestrian traffic, with a car in front of the small a-frame cabins on the right left idling and with the door wide open. If the party decides to knock on doors or otherwise attempts to contact any residents, they are met with silence, but have the sense that they are being nervously watched from behind drawn curtains and cracked shutters.
A further Perception roll (minimum 15) at this point indicates that the sound echoing though the mountains is actuall distant automatic gunfire; the minimum value of this roll is reduced by five for every quarter mile the party travels down the road towards the inn. Eventually, when the party has reached the midpoint of the town and makes it past the local fuel biosynthesis facility, they no longer need to make Perception rolls - they can see the Vestra Inn under siege, with one faction outside the building laying siege on another barricaded within the building.

Rising Action

At the Inn, the plot of the adventure diverges based on a number of factors; no two playthroughs of Inn Too Deep need have the same outcome. In every circumstance, an armored unit from the Grand Army of Voxelia, a finger of the 125 Hands, or both are fighting over the Inn. The important part to bear in mind is that, unless the party is very stealthy, the building cannot be entered - and the spool cannot be recovered - without coming into conflict with one of the two possible factions.
When the party reaches a vantage point where they can see the Vestra Inn, the Game Master rolls a single dice. If the resulting roll is 1, 2, or 3, go to Scenario I. if the resulting roll is a 4, 5, or 6, go to Scenario II.

Climax

Scenario I: The GAV Arrived First

In Scenario I, the Grand Army of Voxelia had arrived at the Vestra Inn first. The current disposition of the war is such that Vestra falls within Voxelian territory, and the small armored unit was intending to quarter in the Inn insead of bivouacking for the evening before heading to the front. At some point in the early morning hours, a group of 125 Hands agents set up a concealed crew-served weapon emplacement on the hill across the street, planning to mow down the soldiers with surprise when they decamped. Unfortunately for them, a Voxelian sentry noticed the unusual activities on the adjacent hilltop and alerted his fellows. The GAV unit shooed the staff and guests at the inn into the basement while they overturned tables and set up their own fortifications within the Inn, leading to a standoff. A few agents of the 125 Hands already at the Inn tried to attack the Voxelian position from the inside, but were soon slain or captured. When the party arrives, they (and the Voxelians) are unaware that the 125 Hands on the hill are fighting a holding action so that their fellow finger members can escape into the woods.
Because the 125 Hands are not a uniformed force, the Voxelian defenders will actively fight anyone - the party included - who attempts to enter the building directly unless they are also showing signs of Voxelian affiliation or of attacking the 125 Hands position. If the party is manifestly hostile to the Voxelian cause (i.e. as members of the Free Faces League armed forces), then the only way to get in and retrieve the cylinder will be through combat.
Should the party manage to fight off the 125 Hands or indicate that they are on the side of the Voxelians, they can enter the structure and, if the 125 Hands are not yet defeated, help the GAV unit fight off the attackers. At this point, the unit's commanding officer will speak to the party and thank them for the assistance. He will then inquire as to why the party is there:

GAV Seal by BCGR_Wurth

• If the party admits that they are looking for the cylinder or that they are working with "D.D.", the commander will balk at the notion of allowing the party to leave with it, but his second in command tells him that the party must be on some sort of mission for the Voxelia College of Bards and should not be distracted from their jobs. The commander will scoff at this, but acknowledge that it's possible and allow the party to continue. A successful Social Awareness roll against the commander indicates that he is not entirely sincere about his displeasure at this turn of events, but not why that might be the case (see Falling Action for details).
• If the party doesn't disclose the nature of their mission, they may have to figure out another excuse for why they want to go into the basement and interact with the staff. At the Game Master's discretion, the party failing more than a few social skills rolls in this situation will not cause the Voxelian soldiers to attack, but may rouse their suspicion; in this case, the party will not be allowed to speak to the staff unattended (see Falling Action for details).
• If the party indicates that they are working for a hostile faction or otherwise shows hostile intent, they may have to fight the Voxelians to the last man to be allowed into the wine cellar.

Scenario II: The 125 Hands Arrived First

In Scenario II, a finger of the 125 Hands operating in the region entered the Vestra Inn looking for something: a piece of useful Voxelian military intelligence which, if delivered to the Coalition, would further the 125 Hands' overall goals of destabilizing the already tenuous governance of the region by the Medial powers. They took the staff hostage when they would not cooperate, secreting these hostages in the basement and threatening them with nonspecific tortures or execution should they not give up the information or attempt to escape. The 125 Hands agents set about fortifying the Inn on the assumption that local law enforcement (or at least curious locals) would come soon, but none ever came. Unbeknownst to the 125 Hands, however, the owners overheard the commotion via a sound tube leading from the reception desk to their room in the Vestra Inn's tower and put out a call via short-wave radio for assistance. A nearby armored unit of Voxelian soldiers heard the call and worked their way towards the town with as much stealth as men in dieseltech auto-armor could muster, but were detected by members of the 125 Hands left outside as spotters. This created the situation upon which the party stumbles when they first lay eyes on the Inn, with the Voxelians' approach slowed to a crawl by the fire of an entrenched 20mm grease gun nest.

Because the 125 Hands are almost universally reviled, the Voxelians will not attack the party when they first arrive even if they are manifestly from an opposing faction. The 125 Hands, however, are still searching for the intelligence cache with the captives in the basement, and the men upstairs will fight almost anyone approaching armed from the front to buy their compatriots downstairs more time.
Should the party attempt to intervene in the manner of crisis negotiators, they must first approach the Voxelians and make a successful Negotiate or other social skill roll to convince them that the tactic might work. They must then approach the Inn and make similar Negotiate or similar social skill rolls with them. The 125 Hands agents are not ultimately able to be convinced to leave the building without assurances that the GAV will not attack them on the way out, but a persuasive enough party may be able to convince them to let the party in for in-person negotiations. Once inside, the party may chose to attack the agents, ingratiate themselves to them (see below), or buy time for more stealthy party members to infiltrate the building. In the first and third cases, proceed to the part below about helping the Voxelians attack the buildind. Should the party prove successful in their social skills rolls, however, they may return to the GAV unit and deliver terms of a cease-fire. During the period between when the 125 Hands are leaving the building and when the Voxelian soldiers move in to sweep the building is one of the most optimal times for the party to ask the staff about the cylinder.

125 Hands Deedmark by BCGR_Wurth

Should the party opt to assist the Voxelians by attacking the fortified Inn, the GAV unit will provide covering fire but will not advance until there are clear signs that the party has cleared the ground floor of hostiles. The unit will then sweep in and secure the first floor while the party clears out any further hostiles within the building. At this point, if the party completely clears the 125 Hands from the building, go to the part in Scenario I where the commander thanks the party for their assistance and follow all the plot points thereafter.
In the rare event that the party attacks the Voxelians or otherwise indicates affiliation with or support of the 125 Hands, the boss of the 125 Hands group will let the party enter and move freely within the building on the condition that they help find the intelligence packet. There is no intelligence packet to be found - the cylinder's presence, coupled with the Sorority of Solace's nocturnal activities in and around the Vestra Inn, have generated rumors of such a prize - but the 125 Hands do not know this to be the case. A successful Bluff against the boss might help the party move more freely or make good on an escape, but it might also lead to the deaths of the Inn's staff should they no longer prove useful in finding the non-existent intelligence packet. The party must exercise caution in this regard.
From here, several outcomes are possible:

• If the party indicates that they are actually looking for the cylinder or otherwise lets on that they are working for "D.D.", the 125 Hands boss must be further persuaded (via social skills) that allowing the party to leave with the cylinder will somehow benefit the cause of spreading chaos for the Medial powers. Failing this will result in the 125 Hands turning on the party should they persist in attempting to access the Vestra Inn staff, causing the events below to occur.
• If the party indicates hostility towards the 125 Hands agents or fails too many social skill rolls (making the 125 Hands suspicious at the Game Master's discretion), then the 125 Hands will not hesitate to attack the party. In this circumstance, return to the part above where the party assists the Voxelians in clearing the building.

Vestra Inn

Open full size

Map by BCGR_Wurth

Voxelian Units

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Voxelian Soldier

S: 2 | D: 2 | E: 2 | I: 1 | P: 1 | C: 1 | T: 1
HP: 24 | PD: 2 (3) | TD: 1
MA: 2 (4/2) | RA: 2 (4, 6 if crew-served)(sweep 2)
Skills: Speed 1, Presence 1, (Grapple/Trip 6/0)
CF: Special Training (Blast 1)
Syn: none

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Equipment

Neo-gambeson (basic), grease gun (basic), grease gun magazine (x2), 5 days' rations, grenade (consumable, Blast 5/2), elledjet

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Tactics

Voxelian Soldiers are bold, highly moble, and better on attack than defense. They tend to make heavy use of hit-and-fade tactics, moving from cover to cover to confound the enemy.

Voxelian Commander

S: 1 | D: 1 | E: 1 | I: 2 | P: 2 | C: 3 | T: 2
HP: 15 | PD: 1 (5/2) | TD: 2
MA: 1 (2) | RA: 1 (2)(sweep 2)
Skills: Influence 1 (7/2), Social Awareness 1, Presence 1, (Grapple/Trip 4/0)
CF: Special Training (Intimidate 1)
Syn: C

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Equipment

Communications pack (tool, hardness 3, Influence 2/1), elledjet, 5 days' rations, grease gun (basic), grease gun magazine (x2), neo-gambeson (trauma plate/improved helmet)

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Tactics

Voxelian field commanders are wily leaders of men. They generally remain behind cover when possible; this is done not as a sign of cowardice but as a measure against Coalition marksmen. Voxelian Commanders give themselves and all their allies Influence pools early and often; if alerted, they will do this even before combat is joined, making it essential to fight them with the element of surprise.

Voxelian Knave

S: 1 (3) | D: 2 (3) | E: 2 (5) | I: 2 | P: 1 | C: 1 | T: 2
HP: 26 (+80) | PD: 2 (4) | TD: 2
MA: 1 (7) | RA: 2 (9)(sweep 2)
Skills: Manipulate Mechanism 1, Assemble 1, (Speed 8/2), (Teleport 5/2), (Grapple/Trip 7/0)
CF: Special Training (Blast 1 (Size up x1)
Syn: (D) (E) (T)

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Equipment

Knave (auto-armor), neo-gambeson (basic, size up x1), djet, grease gun (basic), auto-stilts (trigger)(hard 3, teleport 2/1, size up 1)

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Tactics

Voxelian soldiers which pilot the Knave class auto-armor are extremely fleet-of-foot raiders, using their exceptional speed and maneuverability to outflank enemies and batter them from multiple directions at once before fading away just as quickly. Though fast, they are poorly armored; a cornered Knave operator fights for his freedom of movement with abandon.

Voxelian Bard-Recursant

S: 1 | D: 1 | E: 2 | I: 1 | P: 2 | C: 3 | T: 1
HP: 30 | PD: 1 | TD: 1
MA: 1 (4) | RA: 1 (4)
Skills: Stealth 1 (5/2), Social Awareness 1, Charm 1, Disguse 1 (7/2), (Intimidate 6/0)
CF: Special Training (Bluff 1, Perform 1)
Syn: P C

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Equipment

Hidden knives (hard 3, melee S/C, throwing, intimidate 2/1)(x3), falsified credentials (hard 2, disguise 2/1), soft-soled shoes (hard 3, stealth 2/1), 500 NCG

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Tactics

Bards-Recursant are well-trained and extremely dedicated spies, with some passing among foreign populations for years or even decades without discovery. A Bard-Recursant never willfully reveals their true identity, as doing so even once permanently removes their right to serve in this capacity. Bards are selected for a combination of acting talent, devotion to Voxelia, and (often) an utter lack of moral scruples when the mission is on the line.

125 Hands Units

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125 Hands Agent

S: 1 | D: 2 | E: 2 | I: 1 | P: 2 | C: 1 | T: 2
HP: 24 | PD: 2 (6) | TD: 2
MA: 1 (2) | RA: 2 (4)(sweep 2)
Skills: Stealth 1, (Break 4/0)
CF: none
Syn: none

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Equipment

Neo-gambeson (trauma plate), grease gun, grease gun magazine (x2), incendiary grenade (Blast 5/5, +1/0 vs. living, -1/0 vs. machinery), monkey wrench (pry bar), 3 days' rations

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Tactics

125 Hands Agents may be anarchists, but their small numbers mean they must be subtle. They tend to utilize guerilla tactics, striking from concealment before moving to another hidden location. 125 Hands Agents strike, but never stand to give fight, prefering to make the enemy approach them when possible to best conserve their own numbers.

125 Hands Boss

S: 2 | D: 2 | E: 1 | I: 1 | P: 2 | C: 3 | T: 3
HP: 17 | PD: 2 (6/2) | TD: 3
MA: 2 (3) | RA: 2 (3)(sweep 2)
Skills: Presence 1, Intimidate 1, Influence 1 (8/2), (Break 5/0)
CF: Special Training (Stealth 1, Charm 1)
Syn: C

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Equipment

Communications pack (tool, hardness 3, Influence 2/1), neo-gambeson (helmet/trauma plate), grease gun, grease gun magazine (x2), monkey wrench (prybar), 3 days' rations

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Tactics

The 125 Hands Boss is equal parts frightful and inspiring, full of the religious zeal of one who fervently believes in (and despises) the Forgist Creator. He engages in psychological warfare when possible, taunting and nettling his opponents to either shake their resolve or goad them into attacking out of outrage rather than strategic sense. He uses his Influence skill to keep his crew motivated, but he may also attempt to demoralize opponents with it.

125 Hands Hellion

S: 1(5) | D: 3 | E: 2(5) | I: 1 | P: 2 | C: 1 | T: 2
HP: 26 (+95) | PD: 3 (9)| TD: 2
MA: 1 (8, 10/living)(sweep 2) | RA: 3 (8)(sweep 2)
Skills: Manipulate Mechanism 1, (Speed 1), (Assemble 8/0)
CF: (Size up x1), (Hardness 1), (Hyb. Phys. Def (E/D))
Syn: (S) (S) (D) (D) (E) (E) (T) (T)

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Equipment

Pioneer (auto-armor), exhaust whip, grease gun, 3 days' rations, monkey wrench (improved tool surface)

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Tactics

The 125 Hands Hellion is an uncomplicated bruiser, a tanky grunt that lies in wait for the party before lashing out at them at long distances with his exhaust whip. He may close with the party in an attempt to make escaping his reach that much more difficult, but generally moves but little.

Other NPCs

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Inn Staff Member/Female Guest

S: 1 | D: 1 | E: 2 | I: 1 | P: 2 | C: 1 | T: 1
HP: 22 | PD: 0 | TD: 0
MA: 1 | RA: 1
Skills: Charm 1, Social Awareness 1
CF: none
Syn: none

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Equipment

none

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Tactics

The staff of the Vestra Inn are local civilians with no interest in fighting. Their long residence under the ever-shifting allegiance of Vestra means that they are adept at navigating delicate conversations around the topic of the War.

Inn Owner

S: 1 | D: 1 | E: 2 | I: 2 | P: 2 | C: 2 | T: 1
HP: 26 | PD: 1 | TD: 1
MA: 1 | RA: 1
Skills: Navigate 1 (6/2), Social Awareness 1, (Negotiate (6/0)
CF: Special Training (Negotiate 1, Barter 1)
Syn: none

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Equipment

Stargazer's journal (tool, hard 3, Navigate 2/1), Vestra Inn ledger (tool, hard 3, Negotiate 2/1)

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Tactics

The owners of the Vestra Inn are a kindly middle-aged couple who generally prefer to mediate rather than directly engage in conflict; they are not combatants. They are more socially acute and perceptive than most owing to both their profession and their Eyes of the Void faith.

Sorority Nurse/Male Guest

S: 1 | D: 2 | E: 1 | I: 2 | P: 2 | C: 1 | T: 1
HP: 12 | PD: 0 | TD: 0
MA: 1 | RA: 2
Skills: Heal 1 (6/2), Diagnose 1 (6/2)
CF: none
Syn: none

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Equipment

Medical bag (tool, hard 3, Heal 2/1), checkup gear (tool, hard 3, Diagnose 2/1)

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Tactics

Sorority Nurses are non-combattant civilians who have dedicated their lives to the healing arts. If not endangered, they may attempt to render aid to non-hostiles - especially those who seem to be fighting the 125 Hands.

Sorority Attendant

S: 1 (2) | D: 2 | E: 1(2) | I: 3 | P: 2 | C: 1 | T: 2
HP: 16 (+28) | PD: 0 | TD: 2
MA: 1 (2) | RA: 2
Skills: Heal 1 (7/2), Diagnose 1 (7/2), Reinforce 1 (5/2), Applied Science 1, (Speed 1), (Transmute 1 (immune to poison)), (Navigate 1)
CF: Special Training (Manipulate Mechanism 1), (Size up x1)
Syn: I

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Equipment

Meantwig (auto armor), medical bag (tool, hard 3, Heal 2/1), checkup gear (tool, hard 3, Diagnose 2/1), stimulant injector (tool, hard 2, Reinforce 2/1), DCStim

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Tactics

In addition to being a competent doctor, the Sorority Attendant is a capable auto-armor pilot. Due to long experience witnessing the horrors of the War firsthand, the Attendant is not affraid to offer a fight to those who threaten her allies. She will boost herself with stimulants and attempt to keep the Sorority Nurses healthy if possible. She will attempt to render aid to non-hostiles, but will also fight with Meantwig's fists if required.

Falling Action

In the end of both scenarios, the surviving faction(s) depart from the the inn around 12 hours after the fighting stops. If the party does not intervene, then the stalemate persists for up to a day, at which point the GAV begins a push which ultimately results in the demise of the 125 hands; should this occur, the party must wait another 12 hours for the Voxelian soldiers to leave, as any other visitors will be treated as possible 125 Hands insurgents in disguise (see Scenario I).
If the party does intervene, the staff of the inn (5 people, including a male Rostran cook, a female Verdial receptionist, a female Human housekeeper, and the male and female human couple who own the establishment) and three guests (a human male and two human females) can be found in the Inn's wine cellar. In the Scenario I, these people are grateful for the party's intervention and are simply holed up down there for their own protection until the situation is resolved. In Scenario II, the people are tied to the support beams and being held hostage in the basement.
The receptionist will not speak to the party about the cylinder if asked directly and will only willingly speak about "Mrs. Chamberlain" if no members of either faction are within earshot. An Intimidate roll which doubles the receptionist's Presence roll may cause her to break under pressure. In any case, if the party manages to convince the receptionist to show them the way, she will take the party to a hidden passage leading into the lower basement where a secret Sorority of Solace medical facility is located. Here, a Sorority facility manager in auto-armor and her two nurses tend to two Coalition soldiers and a 125 Hands agent, all injured, in separate wards. The cylinder is hidden in the nurses' station in a drawer, but the faclity manager will give the cylinder to the party if they ask for "His Grace's ledger" with no Voxelians or 125 Hands present. She will, however, fight to defend the station from being searched or to prevent intruders from either faction from getting at the patients (who would suffer at the hands of such invaders).
In Scenario II or in any case where the party lets on that they are looking for the cylinder, one of the female guests indicates that she is from Vivaldi Peak and says that she would feel safer if the party took her home with them. She is very persistent and makes a show of being shaken by the whole affair and impressed with the party's capabilities. This woman is actually a Bard-Recursant - an enormously talented Voxelian spy looking to acquire the cylinder because it might lead her to the Duke of Drones' true identity - and she suspects that the party may have something useful for her mission based on discussions she has overheard. She will not let on to her intentions in any case, persisting in her act even if caught out. The party may sus this spy out with social skills, but if they fail to do so, she will attempt to steal the cylinder either when the party is on the way back to the airship landing pad or en route back to Vivaldi Peak; if she is taken along with the party, the Game Master should assume she succeeded unless the party takes special precautions to secure the cylinder from such threats. If discovered during her theft attempt, the woman continues to feign ignorance and makes later attempts until somehow permanently thwarted.
The cylinder is roughly the size of a human fist and is comprised of punched programming gasket material rolled up in a protective brass canister; it has Hardness 3 and 18 Hit Points. If the party attempts to read the cylinder, they must make a successful Search and Manipulate Mechanism (both minimum 20) with the aid of a dieseltech computer to decrypt it. If they do, they discover that it contains banking records for a prominent government official in Vivaldi Peak; the official has been embezzling large amounts of state funds from public services, directly harming the working poor in the city. The official is connected with the Commonwealth Parliament, specifically with regards to economic policy, making him otherwise almost impossible to touch with such information. This voids the bounty they would recieve from D.D., but it also sets up a possible future endeavor where in they attempt to prosecute (or blackmail) this official for his malfeasance.

Resolution

Should the party fail on any count as a result of indiscretion, when they arrive at the drop-off point to pick up their pay, they are instead met with one of the Duke of Drones' calling cards in an envelope - along with pictures of their main mode of transportation, main base of operations, and pictures of each of their faces as they disembarked at the Vivaldi Peak skyport, even if any one of these facts are ostensibly kept secret.
This indicates that the Duke of Drones will be a thorn in the party's side at some later date, as losing the cylinder to one of the other factions will lead to innocent people being hurt. If the party intends to continue adventuring together after their adventure at the Vestra Inn, the Game Master should consider further aligning them against the interests of the Duke of Drones and his home nation of the Commonwealth of C - or even the Coalition as a whole - especially if they decided to aid Voxelia.

Duke of Drones Calling Card by BCGR_Wurth

If the party fails through simple happenstance (i.e. via a slip of the tongue, a particularly violent resolution, or the loss of the cylinder in other neglegent circumstances) they will not be paid, but the Duke's attitude towards the party will not change and there may be further opportunities to reacquire the cylinder depending on the circumstances.

Otherwise, if the party successfully retrieves the cylinder, does not attempt to read or decipher it, and does not allow either faction to know that it existed in the first place, they find an envelope containing 5,000 NGC and a thank you note:

I admire your discretion and professionalism. Your efforts will prove frustrating for a local rapscallion in the near future; please watch the newspaper for my 'performance.' Take this payment with my sincerest thanks - I look forward to further lucrative arrangements with you in the future.
Remain ever vigilant, friends!

— D.D.

Backdrops

Locations

A Heal or General Knowledge roll of at least 15 reveals that, sleepy as it is, the town of Vestra is only really known for two things:

• The town, being on the Medial-Ventral front of the War of Reunification, has no consistent loyalties or alignment with either Voxelia or the Coalition of Breakaway Colonies, instead merely accepting whichever faction holds the surrounding territory as their erstwhile tax collectors.
• The town's real governing power is the Sorority of Solace, a charitable organization originally based in the Manifold Conservation Society which provides medical care and other disaster relief on a non-partisan basis.

A Heal or General Knowledge roll of at least 20 reveals that the town is rumored to conceal injured soldiers from either faction of the War, where the Sorority treats these soldiers on the condition that they do not speak of this fact, commit no violence in town, and do not attempt to identify any other patients there.

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Achievements

• Velvet Gloves - Retrieve the cylinder without being detected.
• Honorary Sister - Complete the mission though total non-violence and without losing any guests or staff members.
• Jester's Job - Complete the mission by working alongside the Grand Army of Voxelia and letting them take the cylinder.
• Crumbling Pillars - Complete the mission by working alongside the 125 Hands and letting them take the cylinder.
• Midnight - Complete the mission with no survivors.
• Botched Bounty - Fail to conceal the cylinder's presence from witnesses until it can be retrieved from Club 105.
• Hero of the Vestrai - In Scenario II, enter the Upper Basement undetected and safely extract the staff and guests from the Inn.
• Duke's Due - Complete the mission by recovering the cylinder and stashing it at Club 105, per instructions.