Leif's DISCONTINUED GURPS Traveller Game -- IC01

[Leif]

(OOC - As I understand it, any transaction using Imperial Credits can be undertaken whether there's a local account on that particular world or not (so long as it's an Imperium planet). So say the Zax has a ship account based on the Imperium world it was registered in the Imperium at...we'll say Formulhaut or something. They then travel half a sector away to Rigil and incur 700 credits of fees, and sell a cargo for 5000 credits. Well, their account isn't on Rigil, but because it's Imperial credits, the merchants don't really care. The account adjustments will be X-boated back to Formulhaut within a few weeks. If there's been any funny business, the Imperium will cover the transaction (they basically insure their own currency in this way), and then go after the Zax for fraud. This kind of thing is necessary, since merely having a local account active wouldn't really help protect the starport, and it would mean an incredible hassle for the starship, as their funds would be dispersed over potentially hundreds of different planets. If they wanted to pay their refit fees, they might have to do dozens of account transfer orders...all of which would take a different amount to complete because they'd all be varying distances from the refitter's world.)

OOC: The only problem with that, Shayuri, is that interstellar transfers like the ones you describe will be limited by light-speed, unless the records are uploaded to an x-boat computer, of course. Even then, the transfers could take weeks or even months if there was a great distance involved, say, across two or more subsectors. To me, it would seem, at first anyway, to make more sense for the account information to be stored on the computers of individual ships so that your income and debts follow you along your route across the galaxy, with the financial institutions encrypting the information suitably, of course, so that people can't mess around with their bank balances.

 

[Shayuri]

(OOC - That's right. The ships, and even individual accounts, have their information encoded on secured computers. However, the transaction data is still x-boated for comparison sake, in case the local computers were tampered with, or an error is made. And yes, it takes weeks or months. That's why the Imperium's currency is insured by the Imperium, so that faith in it can be maintained. A local merchant knows that even if he's paid with credits that come from an account that is already empty, he won't get the short end of the stick. But you're right in that the Zax has a "black box" computer who's sole purpose is to track its finances, and was inspected and sealed by financial officers trained to do so. Every time the ship undergoes a refit or major servicing, the computer is checked again and resealed. Similarly, Zoe, and each of us, have an official issue Imperium credit chit, or card, that tracks our finances. Tampering with it isn't impossible, but it's highly illegal, and the data is heavily encrypted. And so on...)

 

[Leif]

(OOC - That's right. The ships, and even individual accounts, have their information encoded on secured computers. However, the transaction data is still x-boated for comparison sake, in case the local computers were tampered with, or an error is made. And yes, it takes weeks or months. That's why the Imperium's currency is insured by the Imperium, so that faith in it can be maintained. A local merchant knows that even if he's paid with credits that come from an account that is already empty, he won't get the short end of the stick. But you're right in that the Zax has a "black box" computer who's sole purpose is to track its finances, and was inspected and sealed by financial officers trained to do so. Every time the ship undergoes a refit or major servicing, the computer is checked again and resealed. Similarly, Zoe, and each of us, have an official issue Imperium credit chit, or card, that tracks our finances. Tampering with it isn't impossible, but it's highly illegal, and the data is heavily encrypted. And so on...)

OOC: Wow! I got one sorta right for once! Must have gotten lucky....

 

[Leif]

OOC: Syke, you're lounging in a bar in the Starport of Centry (Glisten 0502) wondering why, by the Empress's Orange Bloomers, you ever came to this Forerunner-Forsaken rock. You see in the bar with you a few unremarkable locals and a group of individuals that looks distinctly out of place here, much to sophisticated to be in here, by your estimation. They are a Vargr, a Zhodani, a striking woman (she was Zhodani, but now, eh, maybe so, maybe not -- a little help here, Shayuri?), and a second, even more striking, Imperial-looking woman, judging by her (slightly too-revealing) clothes and her palpable attitude. You have a hunch that this must be the crew of the very-fast-looking Zhodani Yetsabl Class Courier that you noticed when you got to the Starport. Zax Hakjohn Quik was the name emblazoned on the side of the sleek craft.

[sblock=totally non sequitur query?]Are there "Imperial Wizards" in Traveller?? [/sblock]

 

[kookalouris]

(OOC: Here I go... What color do you want Syke's words to be in? And how do we do sent thoughts? A really brief post as I dip Syke's toe in the water...)

Skye tries to make himself as unnoticed as possible. His corney Cornie accent identifies him as a mudhugger, someone who spent the greater part of his youth in one place, probably a planet (OOC: I would imagine that any accent would mark you as a provinicial as starfaring folk most likely have a single accent from blending over the millennia).

He speaks as little as possible. Fortunately, his clothes are non-descript and he has taken pains to make his features as bland as possible.

He scans nearby displays and people looking for another way to another system, staying one place too long he might slip, he might...

As his head turns, Syke notices the Zhodani ship and its memorable crew. He has miscalculated, his route in this unfamiliar starport was meant to avoid this ship and crew.

The shock and surprise of the sudden realization forced several unwanted thoughts to Syke's consciousness all at once.

First, they were probably working with the Zhodani, if not actually some of those filthy mind-rapists. The war, his dead siblings, the deathscream that awoke him; all those flashbacks flooded in.

Skye tried to use his pitiful training, to redirect his thoughts. The first escape his adolescent male brain took was to notice just how beautiful and desirable the two women were, Zhodani or otherwise.

And, finally, the terrible and shameful realization that his most hated enemies might be the only people who understood, who knew what it meant to be awakened.

These thoughts, hatred, attraction, doubt and then self-hatred cycled in Skye's mind, too much for just one mind to bear...

He realized he was about to send all those thoughts outward. In desparation, Skye reached down to his duffle bag and pressed a button through the fabric. The battered psi helmet within was never meant to inhibit someone next to it but maybe Syke's modifications would do something to stop the sending...

(OOC: It's up to y'all. Does the entire starport get a psychic shoutout, or just the trained Zhodani? If no one does, I'll try and find another hook for the reluctant Syke to hook up with the crew...)

 

[Leif]

OOC: Choose any color you want for Syke's speech that is not already being used by another pc. Please put telepathic words (and other thoughts) in italics, to keep it straight, and put them in the same color chosen for speech, please. Your other questions will be answered by experience, or by asking other characters IC.

 

[Scotley]

Spider

The tall Zhodani jerks as if stabbed in the kidneys and once again bangs into the just righted goblet as he reaches for his sidearm, which is unfortunately back on the Zax. Damn local gun laws! He looks about for the source of the psychic outburst so filled with hate for his kind.

 

[Shayuri]

Zoe felt the mental...contact? No, that was too gentle a word. It was more like a psychic wave, rolling into the beach of her own mind. She got the feeling that her own telepathic defenses had helped turn down its volume. Spider's reaction reinforced that feeling.

Her eyes narrowed, and she scanned the people in the port, trying to judge where the pulse had come from, as well as for signs that other people were reacting. If the mindblind could detect that surge, then it was probably a prudent idea to get back to the Zax.

(OOC - Sorry, I need to post a better description on my sheet, but Zoe doesn't really look Zhodani. She favors her Imperial father heavily. She's also attractive, but nowhere near the looker Insight's character is. )

 

[kookalouris]

Seeing the tall man startled, Syke knows he has caused some kind of reaction. It was time to leave, make himself scarce. Syke looks around quickly, then stops as he realizes (too late) that would draw attention to anyone looking for the source of the psychic sending.

He scans for the nearest and cheapest lounge where a person could lurk for a time without so obviously lurking for a time. Seeing an appropriate dive, Syke heads for it.

Ordering the cheapest legal narcotic to dull his nervous mind and maybe his power, Skye cannot resist one last look at the Zhodani, especially the women.

Thinking to himself, Syke realizes he is grateful that if he was detected, he was glad it was by the Zhodani. Fellow Imperials could lynch a filthy psionic but no one would believe a former enemy. They would probably wonder why the Zhodani were this deep out of their territory

That question suddenly occurs to him and he sends without thinking...

Why are you here, Zhodani?

(OOC: Syke has automatically assumed all the crew aboard the Zax are Zhodani, or at least allied with them. If they look Imperial, that just confirms his paranoid theories. Near as I can tell, no one is using red for quotes.)

 

[Scotley]

His Zhodani nature triggered by the psychic contact, Spider answers openly and honestly, We are here on a mission of mercy delivering much needed medical supplies.

He continues to try and figure out the source of the contact.