Number 200

Welcome to the 200th post!

This snuck up on me.  The time just flew and only after scheduling the last commentary did I notice that it was the 199th.  If this post seems impromptu, it was.

Since I have nothing planned for the occasion, I figure, why not show how things work?  What goes into making a post here?

First off, words.  Lots of them.  And each word is made out of letters.  At some point, I combine the words to form sentences.  The sentences arrange themselves through magic in to paragraphs.  It's amazing to watch, really.

On a less flippant note, my posts fall under a few different categories.  First, there's the Friday serial.  With Subject 13 and Lethal Ladies, the chapters were already written, making scheduling easy.  The commentary tracks, though, are new and tend to be done the week after the chapter is posted.  The delays that have happened were from not getting the commentary done in time, either through a busy week or not finding something to say until after the last minute.  I do plan on keeping the Friday serial happening once Lethal Ladies is done and have started the replacement series.

The gaming posts are a broad second category.  It gives me a chance to have fun with various systems, though I've mainly done Traveller.  The results are fun and let me delve into the characters' minds a bit more.  I hope that the people reading those posts are enjoying the insights.  One thing that the gaming posts help with, at least for me, is character development for my writing.  I've probably mentioned this before, but my approach to writing is my own.  Other people can write up detailed descriptions, draw character portraits, do psychological studies, even keep character diaries.  Me, I create the character in an appropriate game to make sure I have the right feel.  During the character creation process, I make sure to place in the character's personality, from skills and traits to choosing equipment.  To get specific, when creating Nasty, I kept in mind suggestions from Champions.  Nasty, as herself, is underpowered in the game, but as Peregrine, she is a far more rounded character in terms of capability, thanks to details like the Peregrine-cycle and the armoured costume.

The last big category are the "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" entries.  Entries that go for the weird.  The first was the "Girls as Cars" story idea that grew out of an AIM conversation.  These entries are seldom planned.  They can't be, really.  They come from a mind that likes to warp things, twist them about, and drop the result out fully formed with a "ta-daa" while everyone and everything else around backs away slowly, nodding and

Ta-daa!

smiling.




There are other posts that don't fit under any of the above.  It happens.  The blog started because I wanted to see if I could blog and has slowly evolved to what it is now.  It will continue to evolve, too.  That is the nature of the Chaos Beast, to change.

Thank you to everyone following the blog.  It feels good to see that there are people who want to read what I type.

Lethal Ladies #28 - 256 Suburban Avenue

St. Louis, Missouri
256 Suburban Avenue
30-JUN-2007  1114

    Rose got out of Elena's Mercedes C230.  She closed the door behind her.  Inside, Allison glared at the older woman.  "What was that for?" Allison asked.

    "You're staying here," Rose answered.

    Elena closed the driver's door.  "She's right.  Sexton's wounded.  He's unpredictable right now.  He might give up.  He might come out shooting.  Think of him as a wild animal that has been injured."

    "That dangerous?" Allison asked.

    "That dangerous," Rose confirmed.  "We won't be long.  If you think something is wrong, leave."  She drew her Colt M1911 pistol and verified that its clip was full.

Lethal Ladies #27 - Commentary

Please read the chapter before continuing.  Thanks.

It's probably long past time to note the influences on the story.  Sure, Shadowrun has been mentioned, but it's not the only influence.  My reading and TV watching habits were cast wide over a number of genres, from science fiction of all sorts to fantasy, from Westerns to mysteries, and, naturally, spy thrillers.  Ian Fleming, of 007 fame, and Alistair MacLean were early influences, but one TV series that sort of crept in to the writing of Lethal Ladies was Adderly.  I'll be impressed if anyone outside Canada has heard of it.

For those who haven't seen the show, Adderly followed the adventures of V.H. Adderly, played by Winston Rekert, who was transferred from active duty as a field agent for International Security and Intelligence to Miscellaneous Affairs after losing the use of his left hand on an assignment.  Miscellaneous Affairs handled anything that the other departments didn't want, mostly administrivia, and was hidden away in the basement at I.S.I.'s headquarters.  With the series being made near the end of the Cold War, the Soviet KGB thought Miscellaneous Affairs was an important department because a) it was out of sight in the basement and b) Adderly was transferred to it.  Elena's control room back in Chapter 7 was a windowless basement room in my head when I wrote the chapter.  It just never got properly described in the text.

The importance of admin assistants not only comes from working with them in various jobs I've had, but also from the character of Mona.  In the show, Mona was portrayed as being more astute than her boss, Melville.  Mona also had a love for spy thrillers and romance novels, and helped Adderly in his off-the-record investigations.  All the admins in the story, from Tyler to Donna Lund to Elaine Malcolm, owe a lot to Mona and to the real admins I've met.

Oh, and the "miscellaneous expenses" may have been influenced by Adderly, too.

Amber's search, which isn't influenced by Adderly, uses a few techniques I've picked up in my own searches.  Finding addresses gets interesting.  Having a full first and last name may not work, though it's a good first step.  In public databases, like phone listings, you have people who just use their first initial.  The reasons are many; for women, it's one way to prevent annoying, obnoxious, or obscene phone calls.  Initials don't give away gender.  On the searcher's end, the time needed to find someone increases; each hit needs to be checked for further details.  Given how long Donna has worked for Sexton, there's enough time that, sure, Elaine could have had a sex change, if one wants to indulge Amber.  Rose didn't want to indulge her.  The second browser, since this was written prior to tabbed browsing being available in Internet Explorer, was used for cross-referencing.  Amber took the data from one seaerch result and tried a new search with it.  Again, labour intensive but likely to find a different publically available listing that has expanded results.  It's not that exciting to read in fiction.  Very few people can make web searches riveting.

I have no idea how effective the bombshell of Sexton's living arrangements was.  I was back to writing by the seat of my pants, this time with a very new end goal in mind after the car chase happened too soon.  The revelation does give Donna a good reason to turn on her boss, and was the best motivation I could think of at the time.  Today, I would probably have had the antagonists' motives and relationships already worked out somewhat, and could set up the betrayal a lot better.

The comparison between how a small business office is run versus in a government office is difficult.  Small businesses tend to keep all purchases together, instead of allocating a budget for every cost centre, mainly because there's just one cost centre.  In the government, each department gets a budget, then each division, section, and unit gets a budget based on the overall budget.  In some cases, part of the budget is allocated to "pay" other units for services*.  Audits in the government mean making sure that the money in the budget was spent and spent properly, with everything enumerated.  "Office supplies" is a broad category, covering everything from pens and note pads to paper and printer toner.  Sexton and Lund's supplies should have come under scrutiny at some point, though there are ways to stall.

Tomorrow, the Ladies go to Elaine Malcolm's home.
Saturday, over at MuseHack, the February adaptational news round up.
Coming soon, unruliness.


* No, it doesn't make sense, but that got imposed from the elected types instead of coming from within.

NaNoPrep 2014 - Stories Ahoy!

Ah, November, the time of year when I disappear to write--  Wait, it's February?  Explains the cold and snow.

Okay, it may be a bit early to start developing ideas for November, but now is as good a time as any to jot down some ideas, general concepts.  At the very least, I may get feedback on what might be popular.  Or, I could finish a few works left unfinished from previous years and be a NaNo Rebel*.

Pale Horse
This idea is a little more fleshed out; it started as a potential role-playing campaign involving a cursed town along the Pacific Coast of British Columbia.  The core concept was that anyone who lived in the town who left for long enough, with the time undefined, died.  People could leave and return with no fatal effects, though gone long enough and lethargy settled in.  The main character for the story is Janet, the owner and sole pilot of Pale Horse Charter Flights, inheriting the business from her late father.  Other characters include her ex (who was played by another player) and researchers.  The story would involve discovering the curse and trying to end it.

The Clockwork Avenger
Essentially, the same idea as before.  Split into two time periods: Victorian, to get some steampunk going, and modern, the Clockwork Avenger takes on a mad wizard.  Being essentially a superhero story, the story will fall into the Subject 13-verse.

The Unruly Girls
An idea I've been playing with, based on the RPG Hellcats & Hockeysticks.  A private school for girls who are trouble, as opposed to troubled girls.  The core cast has been worked out, as have the setting, the school itself, though I need to create maps, the rival school, the coat of arms, and some of the supporting cast.  I even had the motto translated into Latin, thanks to my very smart and wonderful Classics instructor cousin.  The main issue with this idea is that I keep seeing it as something else - a comic of some sort** instead of a proper novel.  Of course, scripting a comic falls under Script Frenzy and, thus, turns me into a NaNo Rebel.  Or, I could get over myself and see how it works out as prose.

The Threefold
Like the Clockwork Avenger above, the Threefold are in the running again.  What held them from being used last year was a lack of plot.  If I can work out a plot and not just antagonists and scenes, they may get worked on.

Since it's still early, 8.5 months early, more ideas can come and go and the above will get fleshed out more.  Thinking about this early gives me a chance to get details locked down and to get artwork ready.


* I'm still going to aim for 50 000 words.  Between the at least two works, that should be enough to keep me going.

Lethal Ladies #27 - 41 2nd Avenue

St. Louis, Missouri
41 2nd Avenue
30-JUN-2007  1107

    The group of women arrived at the National Security Agency's floor in the office building.  Lund led the the way through the reception area to her cubicle.  Elena stayed out of the cube, keeping watch.  Rose forced Lund to sit down at her workstation.  The NSA employee logged into her computer.  "It'll take a minute to get through all the scripts," Lund said.

    Allison watched the process.  "Looks clean, Rose.  Doing far too much at start up, really.  The roll-out and version control people need to find a way to get applications to land at night."

    "We're not here to evaluate the NSA's network, Allie," Rose said.  "Ms Lund, find me the purchase orders, or I'll have Allison here do it for me.  Trust me, it won't look good for you to have files labelled Secret or higher accessed from your workstation under your login ID."

Lethal Ladies #26 - Commentary

As usual, please read the chapter first.

The investigation is back.  The story has a direction.  This isn't filler.  Rose and Elena have a lead - one Donna Lund.  So, where is she?  Or, to phrase it better, why did I send Donna to church?  I had remembered that the US is, overall, more faith-based than Soviet Canuckistan, with a higher percentage of church attendees.  Plus, and this is more retroactive than anything else, it hints that Lund might not be 100% on board with Sexton's plot.

The one-sided telephone conversation was me playing around with the scene.  I wanted to see if I could write a phone conversation where only half could be heard while still providing the information I wanted to the reader.  Only you, the reader, can tell me if I was successful.  The trick, if successful, can really only be used once in a story.  More often, and it becomes noticeable and gimmicky.  I tried this because of too many TV shows where the on screen character would just repeat what the other person on the phone said.  That's not a conversation.

For the record, Amber's end is essentially her catching Rose up on the online searches. then throwing odd ideas out.  One that Rose comments on was the idea of Sexton hiding at a store's grand opening sale.  Amber's logic was that no one would expect him to hide at one.  It is hard to argue with that sort of leap in logic.

Back to finding Lund, Rose has no problems lying to the church volunteer.  Rose was a spy; to paraphrase Tony Stark in Marvel's The Avengers, "[S]he lies.  [S]he gets paid to lie."  She wouldn't have been a good spy if she had problems lying.  At the same time, she is religious, at least enough to pay homage on entering the church.  Lund isn't expecting anything - she is out of the loop - and is surprised by Rose, who might not want to kill her, but is more than willing to shoot Donna in the leg if necessary.

Amber, meanwhile, has cabin fever.  She really hates being cooped up.  She also really hates not having her morning coffee, her breakfast coffee, her morning break coffee, her second breakfast coffee; Hobbits don't eat as much as Amber drinks coffee.  Allison really does need to get away from Amber.

The last scene, I managed to work in a title drop.  Elena's explanation, the snake eating its tail, is accurate enough.  It's a remnant of the story's origin as a Shadowrun idea.  An ouroboros run, also known as a tail-chaser, is meant to show that a document is important enough for someone to steal by having a shadowrunning team steal it.  The goal is to prove a document is real, especially when it isn't.

The HMCS Ottawa was in the Middle East at the time of writing.  The ship was once involved in Operation APOLLO and may have been there in support of Operation ATHENA.  Please note that I did not use either operation name in the story; I was on contract at the Department of National Defense in 2006 and made sure to separate what I could find through public searches from what I knew from work.  The Ottawa's location was up on a publically available site, though lacking details, but photos were available.  The Canadian appetite for supporting ongoing operations in Khandahar, Afghanistan, was souring.  The Canadian public does support the Canadian Forces, but some of that support is making sure that the troops are making a positive difference for the sacrifices.  A friendly fire incident known as the Tamak Farm incident didn't help; an American Air Force pilot dropped a bomb on soldiers with the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry on a night firing exercise, killing four and wounding eight more.  Elena is referring to this incident.

Tomorrow, digging into expense reports.
Saturday, at Musehack, Smokey and the Bandit.
Coming soon, some more gaming material and NaNo Prep 2014.  (What?)

Fun with Traveller - The Darrian Entertainer

Just for fun, I created Miryim's younger sibling, the one with the well-publicized addiction.  A few items are already set thanks to Miryim - homeworld, starting Social Standing, and family.  As Miryim's sibling is younger, I'll only go four terms.  First up, the general information.  Since I have no idea what gender the sibling is, I'll leave it to a die roll - odd male, even female.  The d6 roll is a 1. 

Name: Mattizus Iarond
Species: Darrian
Homeworld: Jacent/Darrian/Spinward Marches (A333744-D Ht Na Ni Po)

Age and rank will be filled out once chargen is done.  I've dropped the given name, just leaving the taken and family names.  Next step, the characteristics, taken in order, with Strength and Endurance being 1d6+3 and Education being 2d6+1.

Characteristics
  Str 7/+0
  Dex 10/+1
  End 4/-1
  Int 10/+1
  Edu 7/+0
  Soc 7/+0

Compared to Miryim, Mattizus is stronger, far more agile, not as hardy, as intelligent, and not as well educated.  Compared to the average human (stats of 7 across the board), Mattizus is less hardy and more intelligent.  The Iaronds are an intelligent family.

Speaking of family, Miryim's grandparents and parents remain the same.  A grandparent made an important scientific breakthrough and Mattizus's mother thwarted a Zhodani plot.  That leaves the sibling.  The random 2d6 roll is 8, getting "Relative was lampooned Confederation-wide for precipitating an infamous accident", which never came up when creating Miryim.  However, a 7 gets "Relative has travelled extensively outside the Confederation", which suits her perfectly.

Family:
 Grandparents - both alive; important scientific breakthrough of great benefit
 Parents - father alive; mother a lauded hero for discovering Zhodani plot
 Siblings - older sibling; has travelled extensively outside the Confederation

Mattizus gets three background skills plus an extra in a science.  Being from a high tech world gets Computers 0, leaving the other two as free choice.  Mattizus takes Language and Carouse both at 0.  For the science, he takes Social Science.

All Darrians must spend a term either in the military or in education.  Mattizus heard about Miryim's time in the Confederation Navy and her secondment to the Imperial Navy and decided that military life has too much excitement and near-death experience for his taste.  He tries to enroll as a Scholar instead, needing a 7 or better to succeed.  The 2d6 roll is 5.  Time for the draft.  A roll of 6 puts him into Agent (Police).  He gets the Service Skills all at 0 before rolling for a new one.  He takes his skill roll on the Specialist: Police and gets Drive; Mattizus takes the specialization of Wheeled.  Survival is based on Endurance, so that's a -1 to the roll, but he only needs a 6 or higher to avoid a mishap.  He rolls a 7, modified to a 6.  Close, but he makes it through.  For the event, he gets a 6; an investigation takes him outside of the Confederation, with a choice of skills.  Mattizus adds Streetwise 1 to his skill list.  He now checks for a promotion, needing 6 or better and gets to add his Intelligence modifier; the roll is 10, modified to 11, and gets promoted to Officer.

Mattizus, however, wants to entertain, not serve and protect.  He tries to enter the Entertainer career, needin a 5 or better before adding his Int bonus.  He rolls 7, plus 1 from Int, for 8 and gets in without a problem.  He musters out of the police force after one term with two rolls.  First roll will be for cash; a 1 means just Cr2000.  The second is under other benefits; a 3 gets him +1 Edu.  He learned on the job.  Back to the Entertainer career, he takes the Performer specialty.  He gets one of the Service Skills at 0; he chooses Persuade.  He takes his skill roll on the Specialist: Performer table and rolls a 3, Carouse.  Survival is based on Social Standing; he needs a 5 or better and can't modify his roll.  The result is 6; Mattizus makes it.  He now checks the event; the roll is 5.  Mattizus is given a challenging task and needs to roll 8 or higher on one of three skills.  Fortunately for him, he has two of them and picks Investigate.  The roll is 7, but Mattizus uses his Int to bump it to 8, a success!  He now has a +2 on his next advancement roll.  For advancement, he needs a 7 or higher, modified by Int.  He rolls 10, plus 1 for Int, plus 2 for the success and becomes an Acolyte with a 13.  He rolls again on the Specialist: Performer table, getting a 4, Deception.  I was expecting a rock star; instead, Mattizus might be an actor.

The third term comes and Mattizus stays in his career.  The skill roll is again on the Specialist: Performer table; a 1 gets him Art (Performance).  Actual Art skill!  The survival roll is a straight up 2.  Oops, mishap.  Rolling on the mishap table, a five means he was forced out due to censorship or controversy.  His entertainment career ends, but a +2 on his next enlistment roll means he will continue.  He does get to muster out first, though.  One term, with one promotion, gets him two roll.  First is again on cash; he gets Cr50 000.  On the other benefits table, he gets +1 Int, giving him a slight edge over Miryim now.

At the start of his fourth term, Mattizus wants to try his hand at being an Envoy.  He needs a 7 or better, and his Education doesn't provide a bonus.  He rolls 10, plus 2 from the previous mishap, for a 12.  Mattizus is now a diplomat.  He takes Diplomat at 0 from the service skill table, then rolls on the Specialist: Diplomat table, getting Diplomat.  Mattizus is a natural at his new job.  Survival is Soc based this time, so no modifier, just a straight up roll to beat 6; he gets 9.  For the event, the roll is 8; Mattizus spent time in diplomatic circles and now needs to make a Carouse or Persuade roll.  He rolls 7, adds 1 from Carouse and 1 from his Int bonus to get 9 total.  Mattizus now has an Ally.  The advancement roll needs to beat 6 and he gets his Int bonus on top; the roll is 6, modifed to 7, and Mattizus is now a Junior Envoy.

Since Mattizus is still in his career, I won't bother with a final mustering out.  The chargen went a different route than I expected, but the mishap works for Miryim; the controversy could easily be an addiction.

Skills
  Art 0
    Performance 1
  Athletics 0
  Carouse 1
  Computers 0
  Deception 1
  Diplomat 1
  Drive 0
    Wheeled 1
  Gun Combat 0
  Investigate 0
  Language 0
  Persuade 0
  Social Science 0
  Stealth 0
  Streetwise 1

Mattizus's skill set is interesting, to say the least.  Nothing outstanding like Miryim's smallcraft piloting or mechanics, but Mattizus does have people skills.  Law enforcement and acting may have just been stepping stones to a long career as a diplomat, giving him a broad base allowing him to relate to people.  I should keep Mattizus in mind for the serial.  Having him appear should be both a delight and an annoyance for Miryim.

The final character sheet:

Name: Mattizus Iarond
Age:
Species: Darrian
Homeworld: Jacent/Darrian/Spinward Marches (A333744-D Ht Na Ni Po)
Rank: Officer (1)/Acolyte (1)/Junior Envoy (1)

Characteristics
  Str 7/+0
  Dex 10/+1
  End 4/-1
  Int 11/+1
  Edu 8/+0
  Soc 7/+0

Family:
 Grandparents - both alive; important scientific breakthrough of great benefit
 Parents - father alive; mother a lauded hero for discovering Zhodani plot
 Siblings - younger sibling; well publicized addiction

Skills
  Art 0
    Performance 1
  Athletics 0
  Carouse 1
  Computers 0
  Deception 1
  Diplomat 1
  Drive 0
    Wheeled 1
  Gun Combat 0
  Investigate 0
  Language 0
  Persuade 0
  Social Science 0
  Stealth 0
  Streetwise 1

Career - Agent (Police); 2-Entertainer (Performer), 4-Envoy (Diplomat)
Term 1: Investigation takes him outside the Confederation; promoted.
Term 2: Given a challenging task and succeeds; promoted.
Term 3: Mishap; pushed out due to controversy.
Term 4: Spent time in diplomatic circles and gained an ally;

Cr 52 000
Medical Expenses:
Ship Shares:
Contacts:
Allies: Diplomat
Enemies:
Rivals:
Gear:

If you wind up playing him, let me know!