The Ides of March: To the Victors Go the Spoils

The Ides of March

The Ides of March is a long-standing Pureblood tradition of playing a game of bloody political chess. The leaders of Pureblood-led communities host a series of deadly competition ‘Games’ that anyone can enter to win a key that unlocks three potential prizes. This ‘holiday’ of sorts presents an opportunity to shape the political landscape of the Lakesea in the coming year, and has traditionally been held as a time for negotiation, contracts, settling debts… and revenge. 

The Winning Ticket

Upon winning any of the Ides Games, all victors will be granted a Black and Gold Card. This Card may be traded to another player or NPC, bought or sold. BGCs can be stolen or looted from you, so keep them safe if you have one!

Only one BGC can be turned in per player. If you win multiple Games and end up with multiple BGCs, you may wish to sell or trade your extras, or work with allies to hand in BGCs strategically to accomplish your goals - or use them to hamper your political enemies! 

To use a BGC, hand it to the leader of your chosen faction and declare which of the three options you want it used for. You can do this via mail or in person, from Saturday 8AM to Game Off Sunday.  

• Faction leaders cannot reject being presented with a BGC, but they can negotiate regarding the specific terms and applications of what you ask for them to do. 

• Remember: Face NPCs are living people in this world just like you are, with their own secrets, goals, motivations, and feelings. These negotiations will vary in scope by your pre-existing relationship with these NPCs. 

• If the Faction Leader is physically unable to accomplish or fulfill what they ask you to do, they can refuse your request and point you to another Face NPC who may be able to help you. Your BGC will not be expended if this happens. 

• Faction Leaders can set a price for the Favor you request from them, freely. For example, One BGC may be sufficient to ask the Fords for 200 Overs, but if you ask the Fords to eliminate a town law as your Favour, they have the right to request up to 10 BGCs to accomplish that goal.

• BGCs cannot be used to request any character commit suicidal or genocidal actions.

Overall, the Storytelling team will be working with you to realize your character’s goals and wants! We might have to adjust things to fit, but we would love for you to be creative here and see what you can accomplish. If you have any questions, please contact the Story Director!  

What You Can Win

Gain Favor

A favor is essentially a carte blanche for ‘anything you want’ from any Mourning Glory faction. You may simply ask for large sums of money or big-ticket items. You may ask for a monthly shipment of a resource you need. You may ask for financial support of a project. You may ask for a Faction to take political action against another. You may ask for a higher rank or position within a faction. You can ask for a record to be deleted or a historical record to be expunged. The possibilities are endless - hence why the Ides of March is so important to setting up the political landscape of Mourning Glory for the next year. 

You may not gain Favor on behalf of someone else, but multiple people can combine BGCs to ask for a larger Favor. Ask the Faction Leaders for their prices. 

Examples:

• Ask for classified information, documents or secrets. Factions must provide you with truthful information! 

• Ask for a cause or project of yours to be backed by a particular faction fiscally or politically. 

• Ask for monetary rewards of any kind. You may choose to, for example, turn in (item) to receive a series of augmented Master Weapons from the Bullet Bag Brothers, or financial payouts from Ford Industries. Whatever you can imagine, will be provided. (Note: Please be realistic and keep in mind everyone’s fun - we don’t have the physical resources to grant you a million Overs, for example.)

• Ask for changes to Town Laws, or the creation of a new role in town. 

Clear Debt

If you are in debt to any faction in Mourning Glory or the Greater Lakesea, a BGC can be used to clear that debt. Present the holder of your debt with a BGC, and they will be legally bound to cancel your debt. This debt does not have to be monetary in value. It can be a debt of Infection, allegiance, employment, and so on.  
You may clear debt on behalf of someone else.

Examples:

• Many people seem to owe SaintCorp an Infection for some of their restorative services…

• Plenty of local small businesses and individuals find themselves in debt to the Ford Family, and will be looking for competitors to help them clear this debt so they don’t go under.

• Some folks may have slighted a faction or cost them supplies. They may be looking for a way to call their attack dogs off.

• There are workers in the Mines, they say, who are still working off a debt their parents incurred before them. Injured or sick Miners might be looking for a way out of their contracts so they can recuperate.

Criminal Purposes

The Ides of March tends to attract the less than savory types in Mourning Glory who might be looking to expunge a record of past actions. A BGC can be used to clear your criminal record, so whatever Faction you have gotten in some hot water with over the past year will have to clear your slate with them and hold no bad blood… till you mess up again, of course. 

A BGC can also be used to further your criminal goals in creative ways. You may trade in BGCs to request hitmen and targeted killings. Be aware that if this is levied against a fellow Player Character, you will be opting into CvC - always be aware of your limits and what you’re willing to risk. 

You may clear a criminal record on behalf of someone else.

Examples:

• Been convicted of a crime? Arrested by the Neighbourly Association? Perhaps more than once, even? Well, all you have to do is turn in one (item) and every misdeed of the past year will be expunged. NPC groups will act as if you have never done anything wrong in their eyes, so you have a chance to start fresh.

• Currently on trial or in prison? Win a game, turn in a (item) and you’re a free man.

• Deal in illegal weapons or drugs? Win a game, turn in a (item), and maybe you can convince the Neighbourly Association to simply not look at your trade routes in the coming year.

• Are you one of those nasty little Crystal Candy dealers? Maybe you need your covert operation of turning in Aberrants to get a little easier with some help from a Faction…

What Happened Last Time: October 2022 Event Recap

The residents and travelers of Mourning Glory returned for the October trade, only to find the town overrun by Nemeses. From horrifying clowns to killer slashers, the townsfolk had more than enough to deal with. But Rogue’s Gallery didn’t think so, and re-introduced their Death Games. The prizes were items important to the town’s local factions, and thus were very valuable to the right people. Rogue’s Gallery was “kind” though, and gave each participant a ticket that could be exchanged for clues, help, or even a life. 

Friday night started off with a mystery- the kidnapping of Vic Ford! After leading blue bands into town, Vic and Mustang Ford were ambushed on the way home. Vic was Kidnapped, and Mustang led folks out to a Plot Hole- the entrance to a tunnel system used by Rogue’s Gallery. Unfortunately, exploring the tunnels proved too difficult, and the town had to retreat to think of another way to save Vic.

Later there were sightings of some creepy zed- Mannequins. Headless and silent, they only moved when their target looked away. Luckily folks were able to fend them off, but they persisted through the weekend. Then the first Death Games occurred- leading to violent deaths. More explosive deaths were threatened by the emergence of the Bomb Collar, a device created by Rogue Prime himself. The collar could be set off by Nemesi with a detonator, or as some found, by pulling their own collar’s chain.

During Friday night, the locals held a Graverobber meeting to discuss the urgency of the Dead Zones, during which they met Cancer and Canaan, representatives from the Zodiac Collective and the Arbiters of Aeternum respectively.

Saturday the local Darwinists established a radiation sink as a place to dispose of Dominion irradiated material, and doubled as their place of the local Darwin’s place of worship. The Nemesis games ran on, leading to death after death. Some in the town agreed to play along, while others wanted to fight back. A clue about a final confrontation was given, and the town quickly started preparations for this last deadly game.

Meanwhile, a man came into town begging for help. He claimed to have been on the run from a strange horde of zed for days, and was afflicted by a peculiar condition that caused him to drip and vomit black ichor. Unfortunately, when he was brought in for treatment, he suddenly turned into a zed that, while not strong, was extremely difficult to permanently put down. Other similarly affected victims and zed continued to appear and present dangers to the town.

After many games and Nemesis attacks, finally, the Rogue’s Gallery showdown occurred. The town met the group of anarchists on the edge of town, where they gave them a simple choice: unarm the detonators that would set off all the bomb collars, or fight the entire Rogue’s Gallery to save Vic Ford. The town quickly went to work disarming the detonators, but a few came back to bargain with Rogue Prime for Vic’s life. By turning in 10 tickets, the townsfolk was able to save their capitalist friend while sparing the life of those collared. The town was once again peaceful- or as much as a wasteland town could be.

Sunday ruined this peacefulness with the discovery that Daisy the bear was still being attacked viciously by an unknown menace. Said menace was sighted for the first time off in the woods- a creature with many eyes and glowing green claws. The town aims to hunt the creature so Daisy can finally hibernate in peace for the winter.

Now that the Nemeses are gone, what will winter bring?

A Mourner’s Guide to Rogue’s Gallery and the Nemesis Subsect

So, with the October event approaching and so many new faces in town, some of you might be asking– what the heck is “Nemesis month?” And what, for that matter, is a “Nemesis?” 

Put simply, the Nemesi are a controversial subsect of the Telling Visionist faith. Whether or not they’re officially considered heretics has been debated hotly over time– but regardless, the theme of the sect has largely stayed the same. Nemesi are TVs who dedicate themselves to villainous scripts, out of the belief that antagonists are a necessary part of progressing the ‘story’ as a whole. 

Both NPCs and PCs can be Nemesi (though acting as a Nemesi PC may involve CVC.) Some TVs even consider it a tradition to switch over to a villainous script during October, the holiest month for horror and frights. 

A few common types of Nemesis have become pretty notorious across the wastes (and for good reason!) Some– taking after the slasher villains of old– are simply strong, dangerous killers. Others adopt their roles with the explicit goal of pushing someone into becoming their ‘heroic’ counterpart. But in truth, just like any other person, Nemesi can have all kinds of agendas and goals. Some punish evildoers, “encouraging” them to mend their wicked ways. Others compete with fellow nemeses to see who can be the scariest TV on the block— without actually killing anyone! And still others might have their own messages they’re trying to convey. 

This brings us to Mourning Glory’s local faction of NPC Nemesi, the Rogue’s Gallery.

Anarchy in Arkham

You’ve probably encountered (or heard about) some pesky clowns who’ve been causing minor mischief in town. But Moxie and Mr. Jay are just two members of a much larger Main Cast, with much larger ambitions being planned backstage. Hopefully, you’ll get to meet some of the other members this month!

Led by an enigmatic Lascarian named Rogue Prime, the Gallery is a fanatical, anarchist group of Nemesi with scripts based loosely on the Batman canon. They fancy themselves at war against the ruling class– or as they call them, the “Owls.” Their tactics may seem vicious and manipulative– because they are– but it’s rarely without some hidden truth or lesson to be learned. 

More than anything, the Gallery wants the townsfolk of Mourning Glory to rise up and take action against elitist figures of authority like the Fords. The trouble with these TVs, however, is that they can’t just be straightforward and ask. Everything has to be veiled in theatrics and trickery, which may not earn them much love among the people they’re trying to liberate. Still, they’re surprisingly successful at recruiting converts from among the area’s more downtrodden populace– those with good reason to radicalize. 

Faction History

During the April 2020 Online Event, “Fox Hunt”, Rogue’s Gallery absconded with powerful Faith artifacts from across the Midwastes. After transforming the Fox Theatre into a booby-trapped labyrinth, they invited PCs to come participate in a gauntlet of sick death games, with these artifacts as the prize. In the end, it was a lesson on the nature of faith and greed– the dark lengths people are willing to go to, so long as something prestigious and powerful is promised at the finish line.

During the grand finale, players were forced to choose between several NPCs to sacrifice, and players chose to hand over Mustang Ford– exactly as the Gallery had planned. Mustang was later released to safety, but only after months of torture and degredation at his captors’ hands.

Interested in reading more about our local factions? You can check them out on our Faction Page!

What Happened Last Time: August 2022 Event Recap

After ousting the Dominion in June and blowing up the Observatory-- and thus the local morgue-- the townsfolk of Mourning Glory returned to rebuild the town. The trade started off with a bang when the Dominion showed up to intimidate and harass the settlement, claiming it was still their territory. Locals and travelers alike banded together to chase them off, and so started the weekend.

The main focus of the trade was to find Morgue Materials for a successful Morgue Sink- a process that creates a new Morgue, so those who’ve died have somewhere to return after being processed through the Mortis Amaranthine. Various obstacles stood in the way, including an epic ride fight against Raiders, an irradiated lab full of Glow Boys, multiple attacks by the Dominion with a recently “evolved” General Boscogn, and a surgery on a Doom Fog that attracted hordes of irradiated dead. Other notable encounters included St. Mary’s offering a suspicious life insurance, a “fun” Saturday Morning Cartoons hosted by a local Rogue’s Gallery face, many mine runs (sponsored by the Fords of course), and a brave contingent saving an endangered Cult of the Silent member from terrifying Echoes.

This all led up to the moment everyone was preparing for: the Morgue Sink. After choosing a new psionic user, a biogenetics user, a faithful psionics user, and a necrokinetics user, the town ventured into the mines to create a new space for the Gravemind. It was a long and hard fight, with many obstacles in the way. Artisans had to build, salvagers and foragers had to find materials, and four psionic users had to combine their strength to finish the job. All of this while hordes of zed attacked relentlessly, maiming some and unfortunately killing others. The Morgue was remade though, and with it a miraculous Unborn was created. The town once more has a place for the dead to return from, and possibly a new messiah of the local Cult of the Silent. Now the question is: who will be sent to the morgue next?