Twilight Mirage 28: This Year of Ours: The Scoundrel

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Episode description[edit | edit source]

An excerpt from the journal of Grey Gloaming, Co-Owner of the Brink space station and clearing house, and former agent of the Rapid Evening.

I used to wonder if sometime, deep in the future, far away from the here and now, someone would look back from a more perfect world and write about this year we've had.

It has been 11 months since the Miracle of the Mirage.

11 months since the living world of Quire split itself eight ways and enveloped us in the Twilight. 11 months since millions disembarked from their generational homes in search of hope. 11 months since the secessionist ploy was foiled. 11 months since a man of great reach was forced to confront the limits of his grasp.

Once borne across the stars, the newly renamed Divine Free States now sprawl across three worlds: Thyrsus, Gift-3, Altar. Across three others, the New Earth Hegemony has colonized en masse: Tens of millions spread across Skein, Crown, and Moonlock. The pirate world Brighton recognizes no authority--not even its own. And on Seneschal the NEH and DFS live alongside each other in an experiment whose success is even more unlikely than the twisting of time, the distortion of space, and the horrors of Volition.

And between those worlds, things must move. People, supplies, contraband. They move in silent exchange, with lookouts and passwords and bribes. And that is how I know that whatever words are put to page, no one will ever really write about this year of ours.

Because this year was not only made by politicians and soldiers, by spies and scientists. It was built by the hands of those who came from little and those that fell from grace.

Those like...

This week on Twilight Mirage: This Year of Ours: The Scoundrel

I don't believe my hands are cleanly
Can't believe that you would let me touch your heart

Contents[edit | edit source]

Plot[edit | edit source]

Mechanics & Setup[edit | edit source]

Austin introduces a week-long series of vignettes as the group transitions from "The Veil" to "Scum and Villainy". As each character is remade for the new system, they'll receive a short scene of their life 11 months after the Miracle of the Mirage.

To start, Grand Magnificent switches playbooks to become The Scoundrel. This reflects Grand's change in demeanor as more low-key and world-weary. He gains the move "Never Tell Me The Odds" which allows him to earn a gambit if he rolls a 6 or critical during a risky action. He also takes "I Know a Guy" which allows him to seek out additional jobs from the GM when entering a new port. Grand's playbook also allows him to keep a Cascabel pistol carried over from the last mission.

Vignette[edit | edit source]

In the span of the past year, Grand has actually lived 3 to 5 years. The Twilight Mirage is shaped by his will and slows down around him. After running from Independence, he's unable to face his friends and takes the first job he could find moving boxes in a warehouse. He was able to rise to higher positions by isolating himself from the world around him, and by leaning on his previous mechanical knowledge. After a few months, he starts to open himself up to more social connections, and using his social currency to earn and use favors. Now working as a space trucker, he works a side hustle moving small amounts of contraband or other miscellaneous goods for a price.

At the Brink, Grand is getting a drink and a chicken club when a hologram of the Marquis of Transport and Fashion arrives. The Marquis tries to pressure Grand Magnificent to start designing mechs again so he can keep his investment. His lawyer, Dr. Milvert, is there to deliver the paperwork, detailing how Grand owes him roughly 11 months of work. Grand tells him that he's done as an artist, and that there's no way the contract that he got served is enforceable. Dr. Milvert relents, and leaves as Pure Cascara enters. She proposes the idea of the joining The Notion to Grand. She tells him that she needs someone who knows people, and who can get things done quietly if need be. To gauge his interest, she asks him what his vision for the new planetary system looks like, and he responds saying that he wants it to start looking like home and to stop looking like the consequences of his mistakes.

Cast[edit | edit source]