I’ve decided to beg the bursar to extend a modest line of credit. The stakes are simply too high; I must speak to the Governor.
Attend 1
Hire Furry little Surrey
Rent Fashionable Apartment (same one I had before, so no moving fees, please)
Buy Fashionable Outfit
St-Patrick-Hartbrooke arrives home after the duel and is helped to his writing-desk.
He will obviously be retaining his physician (who should be arriving to attend him later this evening, after seeing to the other participant of the duel). He currently feels worse than he ever did with that damnable infection, and he will not risk his condition deteriorating.
If he pinched every penny and took on a gratuitous line of credit, he is certain he can find himself at the Mayor’s table, but after the utterly revolting proposals that she had offered for the disposition of the medical supplies, he does not even want to look upon her countenance. Granted, they had been able to talk her into doing the right thing, but that there was a question of doing so… Far from having confidence that he wouldn’t say something untoward, he could practically guarantee that he would do so in her presence.
On the other hand, dining with Ms. Applethwaite was much more affordable, and much less likely to lead him into speaking out-of-turn. From reputation, she was very strict about etiquette and protocol, but such things had been drilled into him for years at Madam Scallopini’s, and he should not have any problem with that. He’d have to pay for a Hansom Cab, but he’d have hardly settled for a lesser conveyance than that in any case.
That doesn’t leave him enough cash for the best apparel, but his winning personality should be more than sufficient to make up for that small disadvantage.
His decisions made, he fills out his dance card (a much more difficult decision, with so many charming young Citizen-Pretenders to choose from), and sends a footman to fill out his entry in the Public Ledger for him.
Attend 3
Hire Hansom Cab
Buy Luxurious OptionATTEND 5
HIRE Pony and Trap 50
RENT fashionable apartment 700
BUY remarkable ornamentation 400
PRACTICE dance 1 moves
PRACTICE dance 2 moves
PRACTICE dance 3 moves
GIVE 80 to Walleye Crusher (@chewseen)
Here’s your annual leave stipend, Ensign. Don’t bet it all on the same langoderm.
Thank you, Commander.
As Cmmdr Piker leaves, Crusher struggles to focus, his thoughts cloudy like tidewater
Ensign Crusher somehow finds his way to the Window in South Framingham…
WAGER Troubador 10
WAGER Tumblemuffin 10
WAGER Spiny Echidna 10
WAGER Elbow Groom 10
WAGER Mind the Grease 10
WAGER Help Help 10
WAGER Saucebox 10
WAGER Captain Rocket 10
Oh my. I’ve been so busy getting ready for the ball i have completely ignored my newspaper business. Good thing I have so many freelancers in place the thing can basically run itself. And preparing for the governors ball I should not something to take lightly. This could determine my future here on Weatherby.
Hire sporty gig
Attend 5
Rent fashionable apartment
Buy remarkable ornamentation
Jean-Rhys paces the confines of her study, a sheaf of papers in one manipulator and a cheroot of hybrid whipweed in the other, ruminating on this past season.
Her vacation in the South of Weatherby was restful and rejuvenating, but too short, and when she returned to her duties, the sickness returned with her. This motif would wind and wend its way throughout the season, leaving her feeling somehow… unlucky was perhaps the best word for it.
For instance, Rumpthwait’s Specialty, while delectable, and an obvious boon to many others, left her feeling flat; and The Shimmer seems to have faded from Gooseberry’s Colloidal Seryl, for her, for some reason. Perhaps it’s this mechanical body, maybe her intake filters are too aggressive. Maybe.
She hasn’t picked a winner at the Lagoderm tracks, ever – literally not even once. And while her affairs are going well enough, in general, she’s watched many of her peers at the Leviathan seem to really hit their stride this season, demonstrating a certain inspiration she is, sadly, lacking herself.
But things have been different since the Karaoke Duel. The carnage she witnessed has imparted her with a certain sense of urgency. Her senses seem sharper, and she feels the world more keenly than before. She may have been in a slump recently, but now is the time to act, and with as much boldness as she may muster.
She’ll go all out for the Governor’s Ball, in both conveyance and attire. And if she presents herself just so, she’s certain she can finagle an invitation to Ms. Fangley’s, where, given her experience in the lecture halls of Weatherby U., it shouldn’t be too difficult to entertain the policy wonks and moneyed interests that tended to frequent her salon.
And finally, she’s going to move out of this blasted, spartan apartment! A change of scenery will do her good, of this she is confident, and she’s heard that the Dragoon Mews district has become quite fashionable, of late.
ATTEND 4
HIRE Proper Four-in-hand
BUY Remarkable Ornamentation
BUY Franklin Gooseberry's Remarkable Colloidal Seryl
RENT Fashionable apartment
WAGER Captain Rocket 101Eudaemonia smooths the skirts of her gown yet again, wishing she could smooth her nerves as easily. It goes against the grain to make such a spectacle of herself. Yet there comes a time when every young gentlesentient must set aside modesty and stride boldly forward, if they are to seize their destiny. And that time is now.
And, with all due humility, she makes this look good. Very good indeed.
Such a shame she doesn’t yet have the status in Society to attend the Applethwaite affair. But that day will come in its own time. Eudaemonia refuses to doubt that. And the knowledge and connections she might gain at Ms. Fangley’s table are not to be scoffed at, as one never knows when opportunity will knock.
She pauses at the mirror placed just before the door, making sure no trace of anxiety is visible in her demeanor. Meeting the eyes of her reflection, she projects serenity and confidence. ~You can do this,~ she thinks. ~Sides adsit amicum.~
With that thought, she sweeps through the doorway, prepared to chase her fate.
Attend 4
Hire Stylish Spider Phaeton
Buy Remarkable Ornamentation
Rent Proper Apartment
Buy Franklin Gooseberry’s Remarkable Colloidal Seryl
Wager Troubador 25
The forward thinking Founders of Weatherby always understood the importance of a stolid, impregnable house of business. This pays in dividends tonight as the the shields barely register a flicker of the shattering blow of another PERFECTLY NORMAL Capstanturnbuckle landing that registers squarely on the ledger.
It does have the unfortunate effect of a time-dilation that makes the good Commander, and sole survivor yet again, somewhat confused as to the current Weatherby Standard Time.
Attend 5
Hire Sporty Gig
Rent Modest Apartment
Wager 600 Troubadour
Orders for ‘Turn 6’ begin below.
Johann was a fine companion for the grand march. We have such common interests, but there is nothing common about this commoner. I must learn more!
write 1 Johann Wentworth
The Waltz is always the liveliest of moments. Perhaps that moment can be extended?
write 2 @liversnaps-grayson
It all begins with Literacy. We can’t have our Sandfish outsmarting our Sea-Peas!
Donate 1 500
A sketchy title is a sketchy title, whether or not it has passed into probate. Continue the current lawsuit that was filed last season before < pleasing hum > 's untimely singularity.
sue manwich Sketchy Sandfishery Rights | 290
Rent Spartan Apartment
Reinstate Ensign Hussars
Commission Space Dragoon Lieutenant
Donate 1 300
Write 1 Charlotte Branchwit
Wager Eggs and Beans 20
Crash Latest Ship walk away sole survivior
COMMISSION Captain Space Dragoons
WRITE 1 James Riptide
WRITE 2 Oblate Spheroid
I’m an idiot. Correction below.
Dear Public Ledger,
Secret orders are, like, for real secrets! All the cool Heroines go and enlist! You know to casually save the day, and for love and junk. And cough those space carbines are pretty sweet. Just look at my great Aunt! So cool~~~
She was a total bad-ass with that super sniper scope installed! Never did like to talk about it though!
Might as well take care of the bills. I guess this sweet pad is pretty expensive, but you gotta save some money for the little people. I’d like to give more, but you know that my investments aren’t liquid and unlike some donks, I’m not moving again right after I settled in!
Rent Fashionable apartment
Commission Ensign Space Dragoons
Donate 1 100
Oh yeah I should totally send out my mail too! 
Write 1 Mary Flowers
Heeeeyy Gurl! Slick dance moves! We should totally hang out sometime, and talk about that latest trashy novel! It was too good. You know what I’m talking about.
Write 2 @Tom_Ratchetcrank
Like before you get shipped out to war and junk, I gotta thank you in person for that can of beans. That was so sweet. It was the perfect gift. I bet you made all your friends super jealous at the ball, showing off your moves at the waltz!
My Dear Duchess,
It was not my moves that made all my friends super jealous, and you totes know what I’m getting at there.
Whatever drama that enfolds me at the front, I’ve now totally got something to lock away in the ol’ brain vault to carry with me. Besides, with you selflessly entering the Space Dragoons too, I know Gummibunns will be on life guard duty.
In the meantime, I’m usually hanging out in the side alley- if you still want to make that thank you in person.
-T.R.
COMMISSION Lieutenant Space Dragoons
WRITE 1 James Riptide
WRITE 2 Oblate Spheroid
Haha! There you are @old boy! We shall form a decent officer corps yet! With Brummell’s @daneel experience and steady hand, my impeccable sailing abilities, and young True Citizens like the Duchess @gwwar filling the ranks we shall surely drub those New Prussians.
Oh, to once again sail under the old Fighting Deviled Lobsters banner again!
So, give up the goods Doctor, what mad creations have you to strike terror into those New Goth hearts?
St-Patrick-Hartbrooke looks at the various pamphlets that have been dropped at his door; many are from the city, others are from the military.
The military ones he deals with first, by consigning them to their appropriate place in the dustbin. While he is certainly not opposed to the war with New Prussia now that they have initiated aggressions, he has neither the skill nor the temperament for military service, and especially not as an officer. Quite frankly, if he were to lead troops into combat, he would most likely be leading them to pointless deaths, and that would not be an acceptable loss of life. The military thinking that it was appropriate for commanders to be appointed by money instead of merit was, quite frankly, insane. St-Patrick-Hartbrooke prayed that this decision did not lose them the war, by leaving them with an aristocratic, inexperienced officer corps instead of a well-trained, veteran one.
In addition, he was experiencing feelings of EE’rrak, a Keeen’Arrr word which would translate roughly as “blood on the talons.” Admittedly, the only blood on his talons after the duel had been his own, but the phrase, generally applied to Space Griffins who had flown, hunted down, and killed and butchered their first kill, was appropriate nonetheless. He had killed — had not landed the fatal blow, but had killed nonetheless — someone who he had felt to be a threat to him and to society, and could not blot the hum-cube’s death from his conscience. He certainly didn’t trust himself to be in a position to take anyone else’s life right now.
As for the other missives, from Mayor Tidewell, asking for funds for various city projects, and promising to laud the names of the donors in the presses… It is yet more reason why is becoming increasingly disturbed by the Mayor’s actions. Does not the Good Book say,
Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
This situation and be contrasted with that of the plague relief (which, if anything, was a more appropriate situation for lauding the contributors). Those contributions were for a life-saving treatment, were made publicly because a certain threshold needed to be reached, and none of the contributors received so much as a “thank you” for their assistance. Which was as it should be. That the Mayor should promise otherwise for this… It rankles at him, just as the proposition that she had made after the rescue mission had.
With some hesitation, he bins these entreaties as well. He would rather these particular efforts fail entirely than have this kind of “Money for Social Standing” transaction become entrenched into society.
His letters already written, he commits two short lines to the Public Ledger, dons his hat and coat, and makes his way to Leviathan’s, to toast His Majesty the King, God rest his soul, and Her Majesty the Queen, long may she reign.
WRITE 1 Miss Rockingham
WRITE 2 Miss PenumbraThe ink was drying on the letters he written earlier in the day. Now he was stuck deciding how best to invest in not only Weatherby, but in himself. Oh the drums of war were beating and so many peers jumping to join up, but what had New Prussia actually done?
No, Hieron would focus his attention on the here and now. These city projects were interesting. A Trade School? Hmmm, no doubt a useful addition to the colony. I believe I have a check to write…
Donate 3 700
Write 1 Lizzy Heliotrope
Write 2 Richard Forester
Wager 30 Poseidon’s Noose
Dear Admiral Riptide,
Jamesway,
As you requested at the conclusion of The Ball, I related your request that the United Federation of Oceans and Seas designate a special attache to the Space Dragoons to consult regarding the New Prussian matter.
It appears the Joint Reefs Staff agree with your concerns. The ranks of Crimson Clupidae continue to swell allegiance to New Prussia. At rates of such astonishment, that the Federation is worried that some chemical agent is being used to brainair the clupidaents - some sort of clup drug, perhaps. After all, the New Prussians are hardly supportive of piscean suffrage.
I’ve been ordered to serve as the UFOs Attache to the Weatherby Dragoons. I’m at liberty to share what we know about the Crimson Clupidae forces, in return for any information the Dragoons discover about piscean trafficking in the W system.
Upon your signal, I shall meet you at the pre-arranged location.
Yours truly,
~Gil
William T. Piker
Commander, United Federation of Oceans and Seas
Attache (acting Ensign), Weatherby Space DragoonsPS- We should also share information related to the rapidly spreading seryloid dependence. We’ve documented hallucinogenic effects after exposure, as well as the much-publicized shimmer effect. We need to know if this is related to the clup drug that we suspect is affecting the New Prussian cupidaents, or if it’s just another red scare.
Commission Ensign Space Dragoons (pay 390£* processing fee)
Donate 3 200
Donate 4 300
Write 2 James Riptide
wager 20 Poseiden's Noose
Cmdr. Piker rubbed his temples. These process to register his existing Federation Commission here on Weatherby is byzantine and complex, rife with hidden processing fees and up-charges. It appears that if he files Forme 79 that his commission will be recognized by the local Army. He would like to complete Forme 80 in order to be recognized by the local Navy. Excepting, Forme 80 is only printed in limited batches every third year, with the next printing still 2 years from hence.
There is a workaround: Forme 3,402. Forme 3,402 will convert any Army Comission into a Navy Equivalent. For the low price of 78£ per letter of the last name of the officer. Times a multiplier for each rank in excess of O-1.
Unfortunately, funds being what they were, the processing fees to have his true rank recognized is impossible to achieve this season. Having his Attache status recognized as an O-1 will have to do for now.
Not letting go, Cmdr. Piker looks up the Secretary of Weatherby Safety who signed the order creating Form 3,402. Ah, a Mr. Martine Shelli, a Weatherbean Crustacean, and former CFO at Proctor & Landau. How unsurprising.
returning from the fisheries of Mr. Karekin and Dr. Franksenketchup, Ensign Crusher takes a detour to discreetly drop off a letter at the post office
write 1 Ssskidwish