midpointsaloon | Another Day, Another Dollar (post-round mingle)

PLAYERS: Everyone!
LOCATION: Midpoint, and anywhere else people want to explore
GOAL: Time to relax after some hard-won rounds.
WARNINGS: None
OTHER: The setting post for those who want to explore

The stagecoach reaches the Ranch... and the cargo isn’t with it. A large, feathery dinosaur reaches the Ranch a little later, with only some of their cargo, having been hit mid-route and between transformations by the bandits.

“Well, we’ll take what we can get,” Lee says sourly at what’s left after the bandits’ raiding - maybe half of the empty crates. He hollers at his ranch hands, “Come get 'em, boys!” Between him and the other workers, and any of the remaining driver team able to be pressed into service (which is mostly just Groot), the crates are unloaded and stacked and filled with supplies for the next train out. Looks like they were useful, after all.

At the end of the day, Lee sends the drivers on their way back to Midpoint, and the bandits can do what they will with their portion of the cargo. Got any use for sturdy wooden crates, friends?

In Tycoon Depot, Tiffany Jamesson has spent a(n enjoyable) day and a half in hiding with Inara, Daylight, and Irene, peppering Daylight with questions and flirting demurely with Inara and Irene, presumably out of boredom. The hand-off with her father goes pretty smoothly, with only Fuwa on the outside - he might be furious, but he's not willing to interrupt and risk the target’s life in a firefight.

Exchange made, kidnappers and bodyguards are free to head back to Midpoint.

In the saloon, North has laid out a buffet of everyone’s favorite foods to choose from, with beer and wine on the house for two days only: the traditional post-round congratulations-or-consolations feast. There’s someone on the piano almost all night providing music, and extra hot water for baths whenever people finally retires to their rooms. Most Players make good use of the additional free food and drink for as long as it lasts; whether for enjoyment, self-medication, or to stave off boredom is their own call.

The dead don't remain so for long, and wake up in jail cells - the same ones they started their round at - at the edges of the game arena around the same time as the round ends, ready to be collected by friends - if there’s anyone who wants to come get them.

The next week and a half belong to the Players to do with what they please, be it sleep all day, spend their hard-earned points on more alcohol, ask lots of questions, or explore the arena. There are no events planned, nothing to steal, no one to murder (unless you really want to, anyway), and plenty of things to learn about and try to get to the bottom of, for any Players not too jaded to try and search. Good luck with that, anyway.

Oh - did you want to know if you won, or how badly you lost? Gonna have to ask North or Booker for your points totals, because there’s nobody who actually announces whether you won or lost...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I. Heading Home (anyone heading back from Tycoon Depot)

It's a strange atmosphere as they prepare to return to town after the mission. They may have (at least nominally) won the day, but two people are dead and it's difficult to be too pleased about that even if it isn't permanent.

The mood can't stay too sombre all the time, though, not with the memory of Daylight’s interesting acting choices so fresh and Aethon chewing everything he can get his teeth on, from hair to clothing to other horses’ tails.

II. Return

Inara has more equestrian experience than many of the other newcomers, but not in this position or for this distance on this kind of terrain, so she's still tired and aching by the time they get back to Midpoint. The warm water is greatly appreciated, and when Inara returns to the saloon she's wearing a (dusty but still cleaner) dress and her partially-dried hair is tied back in a complex knot that lets her carry her hairpins just in case.

She sticks around in the common area that first evening for longer than she’d intended. The lively atmosphere reminds her of some of the things that she misses from home, so the impulse is part strategy and part loneliness.

III. Around Town

One of the first things that Inara does the next morning is stop by the General Store and check her balance. Not that she doesn't appreciate what's been done for her, but owing favours here seems like a bit of a tricky situation and she isn't all that keen on having men buy her things anymore, anyway.

After that, she's around - in the stables, at the library, outside and torn between enjoying the sun and melting like an ice cube in the hot weather. It's a little easier talking to people with more time between the conversation and the next time they might have to try and kill one another.

[Jo didn't arrive dressed for the summer. In this heat, she would rather have shorts and air conditioning, but she's making do with the camisole she was wearing under all her layers and her jeans.

Still, it's hot, and even if she doesn't think she's going to be here long, she has to make a plan. And to plan, she needs more information. As she heads into the library she is planning her research instead of paying attention to the door, which means, unfortunately, she runs right into Inara.

She stumbles back, looking rather apologetic before she can even regain her footing.]

Sorry! Sorry. Are you okay?

[This is the first time in her life that Inara has worn jeans. Consequently, she's been walking around town a bit like a person who has only just now discovered that she has legs, which certainly contributed to the collision.]

Oh, no, don't apologize! I wasn't paying attention. I'm fine.

Are you here to check out the books?

[It's okay, Inara. You'll adjust.

At the question, Jo lets out a quick giggle.]

That's what most people do in libraries, isn't it?

The selection isn't bad, though it's as dated as you'd expect. There are also some histories of the game itself if you're keen on reading about faeries robbing banks.

[That's interesting. Jo glances behind Inara and tilts her head thoughtfully.]

I hope we don't have to go up against any. [She's never run into fairies, but myths have a basis in truth. The stories are worrying.

She doesn't want to deal with that alone.]

Anything about the people running the show?

Not really, unfortunately. They're more like episode recaps.

Ah, shit. [Recaps don't help. She needs actual history. Things to look at.]

What else is there?

Reference books that are presumably helpful on missions. Poetry. Terrible looking adventure serials.

You can learn how to make a bomb, but not who you'd want to throw it at.

Yeah? Shitty novels are great. [It'll be something to pass the time, maybe.

She hasn't seen any televisions or arcade games...]

Throwing bombs isn't always practical. Sometimes it's better to set them in place. [Most of the time.

Her voice when she dispenses that advice is pretty calm for someone as young and blonde as she is.]

Another Day, Another Dollar (post-round mingle)

Inara | OTA

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