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Ravenwing
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 Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:17 am Post subject: |
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I broke the tie, DReg. So start ur writing. 
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Starwalker
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| Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:39 am Post subject: |
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| I'm partial to the concept of "dumb luck"
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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Poll is closed. I'll start writing the next chapter.
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Tempting Fate
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 10:30 pm Post subject: |
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It took a while to get this written because it's a bit longer than the first 2 instalments. At the rate I was going, the story was going to take too many chapters for anything to happen, so I decided to put a bit more in this time.
You have chosen for Jake to stay in the alley, while dogs come out and attack the thugs.
Tempting Fate: Chapter 2
Jake looked around indecisively. He didn't have time to think this through! He considered climbing the fence, but he could hear the dogs coming steadily closer, sounding bigger and meaner as they neared where the fence met the alley.
Jake faced the thugs, who had slowed to a smug walk as they entered the alley and saw that he was trapped. Jake decided right then and there that he would meet his fate with dignity. He squared his shoulders and stood in the middle of the alley, facing the men.
There was a loud crash from the direction of the rubbish heap, and Jake screamed and stumbled around to face the huge, slavering canines that had burst through a gap in the fence, concealed no more by the pile of crates and rubbish that had covered it before. One of the 5 huge dogs bowled Jake off his feet, and he lay flailing around, trying to get it off him. No doubt embarrassed at Jakes display, and figuring he had enough problems already, the dog spared him merely a growl as it ran off to latch onto the leg of a thug that was shooting wildly into the approaching animals.
Jake shakily got to his feet and looked around frantically. He decided not to go through the fence, into the domain of someone crazy enough to keep that many huge vicious dogs. Instead, his mind putting the whole scene into surreal slow motion, Jake edged his way past the brawl between the wild, vicious, hairy creatures and their four-pawed, canine assailants.
Jake made it out of the alley, and started jogging back the way he had originally come. He heard some final shots and the last dog gave a final yelp of pain, just as he dived into a ditch and lay still.
Half an hour later, stiff and cramped from the cold and damp, Jake was finally satisfied that the men were gone. He had been thinking of how he would find Willace, but he was tired of such serious thoughts. He didn't know why, but he was feeling strangely elated after surviving certain death.
---
Jake walked through the side door of a pub, giggling in a very macho manner. He was still on a nervous high from his near escape earlier. He noticed the stern look being directed at him by a bouncer. Jake walked up face to face with the man and looked solemnly into his eyes.
"I'm Henry Willace." Jake mocked, in a particularly bad yorkshire accent, "I will bring back your luck! Well ok, I can't do that but I will give your life meaning! It's a pity I can't be found, because I haven't given you any contact details!"
The bouncer looked at him critically. "Look, I don't care who you are, but you better not start no trouble, right?"
Jake just smiled at him and walked on. He didn't feel quite right. Being tipsy without drinking anything just wasn't natural. He came to the comforting conclusion that becoming royally, staggeringly drunk would fix this tear in the fabric of his universe. He just hoped that he could start a tab when his five quid ran out.
On a whim, Jake stopped at a poker machine he was passing. He put a coin, that he noticed on the floor, in the slot, and pressed the button. Not really expecting anything, he just stood and stared as the machine congratulated him on his win and poured coins into the tray. Slowly a smile formed on his face.
"Damn, Henry, you are lucky tonight." Jake quipped to himself, as he gathered his winnings and headed towards the bar.
---
Jake woke up to a world of pain and piercing bright light. He lay holding his head for about half an hour, before finally dragging himself out of bed. Little did he know that his morning would play out like a computer game mystery.
For a start, Jake was in an familiar yet unfamiliar setting. He was in what appeared to be a generic but fancy hotel room. Jake had very little idea of how he had got here, apart from some scetchy memories of his own history.
Jake looked in the bathroom mirror and noticed smudges of what looked like silver paint on his upper lip. He walked from place to place, examining other obvious clues, like the trenchcoat that was lying on the ground, and a hasty note from "Kate Bush  " thanking "Henry Willace" for a great night, and saying to call her some time on a certain number.
At times, Jake would have flashbacks; memories of speaking in a bad accent as he won against all the odds at some of his favourite casinos, or giving people a hundred pounds to carry another hundred pounds to "that pretty lady" or "that man with the funny hat".
By the time he had had breakfast, Jake was chuckling at how well he had done in the "I am Henry Willace!" game. He had found his wallet and given a double take at how much money was in it. It was literally bulging with hundreds.
Jake had no idea how he had any money left in the state he had been in, but this meant he could pay back that crazy Russian, Jermija. Hopefully 10% interest would slake his blood lust, if Jake was eloquent enough.
---
Willace stepped out of his front door and snatched the morning paper from it's whistling flight towards his head. The paper boy rode on, his eyes focused straight ahead, with the stiff look of someone who was avoiding being scolded by a large walrus-man, through the clever ruse of not acknowledging that anything had happened.
Willace turned around, and was about to re-enter his run-down terrace house when he heard his name. Looking around, Willace listened for a moment to the conversation between 2 passing young women, who looked like they were just coming home after a big night out.
"He was obviously imitating some movie star or something, but I didn't know who Henry Willace was. I had a look through his wallet..."
"Katie!"
"Annie! I didn't steal anything! What do you take me for? Anyway his real name is Jacob Summers, and he's really handsome, and he seemed really nice. He made me laugh. The hurt look he gave me when I told him to take off the moustache and quit the bad northern accent just made it funnier. I really hope he calls me."
"Wow, this is so exciting! You've been single for too long! So what was it like staying at Claridge's? That place is so expensive! And why did he insist on a room with 13 in the number? It sounds a bit..."
Henry looked at his wristwatch. It was 6:30am. He should have time to find out what was going on before his appointment.
---
"Hello, my name is Henry Willace. I'd like to speak to a guest of yours named Henry Willace. I'm not sure of the room number, but it will have a 13 in it. It is a business matter."
Willace looked at his watch and then started tapping his fingers gently on the counter.
Without missing a beat, the receptionist typed the details into a computer terminal, before saying:
"Room 613, sir. I'll just call and tell him that..."
"That Jake Summers is here to see him. That should keep him guessing."
"... Ok, Mr Summers? Please wait a moment while I call him."
The doors of the elevator opened, and Jake stepped out. He was just walking over to sign out of his room, when he noticed Willace. He paused, before continuing over. Willace saw him and nodded. Just as Willace opened his mouth to tell the receptionist not to worry, a man who was 7 feet tall if an inch put a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"So you are Jake Summers." said the man in a menacing Russian accent. "Jermija said someone saw you here. Now I wouldn't want to cause a scene in a nice place like this. I'd like you to come with me, and show you what happens when you don't pay your debts."
Willace replied casually, without so much as looking at the man:
"And I'd like to eat candy and shit diamonds. The difference is I'm going to get half of what I want."
He smiled at the receptionist.
"Thank you, I won't need you to make that call. My associate is here. Come along Mr Summers."
With that Willace casually turned his ample body and stepped under the arm of the huge man, who stumbled, momentarily taken back by the ease with which Willace had walked away from him. As Jake nervously followed, the large man took several large strides and grabbed Jake and Willace by one shoulder each, and gripped hard.
"I don't know which of you is Jake Summers, but I'm going to find out. If you aren't him, and you want to avoid a lot of pain, you leave now. If you are... well its a bit late for you but you can save your friend the trouble. Now who is it then?"
---
Jake broke into a half-jog as he looked back at the large doors of the hotel.
"You are a psychopath. You should have stalled and let hotel security or the police deal with him, instead of..."
"No, you should have spent half an hour letting security and the police deal with him. I should be on my way to a meeting! Now quickly, why have you been using my name? I don't want to have every tough from every gang in town knocking on my door looking for Jake Summers a.k.a. Henry Willace."
Jake winced.
"It was just last night I swear. I was looking for you to take you up on your offer, but your card didn't have contact details. It started as a joke, and then I got carried away as my luck came back. By the way, I don't know how you found me or what you wanted to talk to me about, but I'm not interested any more. If I have my luck back, everything is ok."
"You aren't interested because your luck came back? And you don't think that you will have another bad run, worse than before? I'm not going to force you, but if you don't come with me now, I don't expect I'll see you again until I trip over your corpse one night."
Willace stopped by a parked car and turned to Jake, as an Ambulance, sirens blaring, sped past them towards the hotel entrance. Police sirens could be heard in the distance too.
Jake hesitated, but decided that a ride with Willace was better than a ride in a Police car. He got into the car and buckled his seatbelt.
"That's what I don't understand about you Willace! You obviously believe in luck, and yet you morbidly assume that everything will go wrong for me."
Willace started the engine and pulled away from the kerb.
"There's good luck and bad luck, Summers. I can see you've had good luck recently, but the bad luck... it's just waiting for the worst possible time to kick you in the teeth."
"Hang on, hang on... you said months ago that you couldn't change my luck, but you could give my life meaning until bad luck got the best of me. But now you're doing a one-eighty on me and saying that going with you will keep me safe from bad luck!"
Willace pursed his lips.
"I may have mislead you. Why does a casino win, Summers, even in games where the odds are close enough to even to make no difference?"
"It's because people always let it go to their head, and don't cut their losses when their winning streak ends. Except for the few people who are level headed enough to become professional gamblers."
Willace snorted.
"You are part right. Professional gamblers win because they cheat. Otherwise you are correct, normal people lose because no matter how big their winning streak is, they will keep playing, and eventually lose it all again. It doesn't work the other way around though.
"If they get a losing streak, and run out of money, its game over. No chance of getting it back. The ebb and flow of luck always terminates suddenly somewhere in the negative, when you run out of resources to deal with the bad run. That's exactly how your luck will suddenly stop; when you die during a losing streak. You can't afford to let it get out of hand like that again.
"If you come with me, we will teach you to manage situations and risks. We will teach you to constantly give fate the opportunity to have something bad happen to you. That way when you give it an opportunity to have something really lucky happen in your favour, it will flow more easily."
Jake sat, with knitted eyebrows, as he digested this.
"So what is the catch? This won't be a free service."
"Of course not. I can't give you too much information, but I can tell you two things. One, you will be under a military chain of command. You are told to do something, you do it, or your life, or at least liberty, are forfeit. Two, you will be part of a team whose motto is "Better lucky than good", and your assignments will reflect this. Are you in or out? You have three city blocks to decide."
Jake looked at him suspiciously.
"It seems weird that you are coming to me, asking me to join, rather than the other way around."
"We've learnt the hard way not to be obtuse when fate brings us new members. If it has to chase us down and force recruits or other lucky events down our throats, it usually brings some very bad times with it."
"I don't fully understand."
"You'd be an idiot if you thought you did."
Jake took a beep breath, as he made his decision.
"Ok. If fate wants me here, and since I have nothing really to lose, I'm in."
"That's good. I'll introduce you to some people who I just happen to be late for an important meeting with, and who just happen to be the same people who will be explaining everything to you."
Willace pulled the car over, and parked it. He paused in taking off his seatbelt and looked at Jake, who seemed uneasy.
"Look Summers, despite what I said before, you will have the chance to walk away before fully committing yourself. We don't want resentful, half-arsed people on the team. If you are one of us, it will be because we know you are good enough to handle it, and because you choose to be part of it."
"Thanks."
---
Jake's heart was pounding as he entered the building. He was introduced to several hard, dangerous looking men, and a pretty middle-aged woman who seemed to make the men wish they were somewhere else.
Jake soon realised why, as the woman, Ms Susan Rawson, led the interview. To her left sat a man named Robert Parker, who would no doubt have been very handsome, before he developed the disfiguring scar and cold, dangerous stare. To Rawson's right sat Willace, who seemed friendly and familiar in comparison to the others. There were a couple of other men there as well, but Jake wasn't introduced to them. They seemed to be serving in a secretarial capacity at the moment.
It felt like the hours of interviewing went on for days. With a cutting tongue and unwavering stare, Rawson questioned Jakes activities, from childhood to the present. She ordered the men to check out things he had said, and then looked at him to see if he would object. She gave descriptions of the particular special force he was to be part of, watching closely to see if he didn't respond well to any particular part of it.
After a brief lunch adjournment, in which Jake wasn't offered anything to eat, Rawson asked why he had been discharged from the army years before, insinuating as heavily as possible that it was because of some shortcomings on his part. She ordered the men to take detailed notes of his experiences with luck and circumstance, snorting in contempt when he told of how he had gotten into gambling debt while waiting for his luck to come back. Overall, she went out of her way to make him uncomfortable.
At the end of it all, Jake felt like he had been put through a full spin cycle, and left to dry in the sun. But he was in. They had accepted him. He was given training times and contact details and orders regarding secrecy, and then Willace offered him a lift home.
---
Jake got out of the car, and walked wearily over to the hall door of his block of flats. He noticed with a sinking feeling that the door was ajar. He cautiously pushed the door fully open, and peered inside. He saw a shadow invade the afternoon sun shining on the wall beside him, and ducked back and to the side. The weighted fist that had been swinging towards the back of his head whistled by him.
Jake managed to get inside the guard of his assailant before he could make use of the lead weight in his fist, and pushed him as hard as he could. The man staggered and tripped backwards down the steps.
"Get in Summers!" yelled Willace from his car. He had noticed the commotion just as he was about to leave.
Jake desperately ran over and climbed in, just as a car screeched to a halt beside them and blocked them from leaving. Willace swore.
"Goddamit! These are Jermija Drygin's toughs, right?"
"Yes! Oh god... what are we going to do? They're all be armed to the teeth. I can't believe daylight isn't worrying him anymore!"
"We could talk to them. Have a cup of tea and a biscuit, perhaps."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course not! I can't stand tea. However; they are determined to get you, but didn't start shooting. Which means they want you alive for the moment. It might be time to cut our losses, particularly since I left my Glock at home today."
---
"So, Mr Summers. I see you have brought a friend. And my money! This is a nice surprise. I got the impression, after the way you treated Stefan's boys and Yuri, that you didn't want to speak with me."
"Yeah, look, you know how it is, you didn't have time to explain all the... details... of the situation to them, and they wouldn't listen to me, because they are such loyal men, and everything. I had to look after myself, until I had a chance to get here with your money, and explain everything."
Jermija paced around the desk to the chair where Jake was sitting, handcuffed, and barely spared a glance for the rotund man in the second chair nearby. His four armed henchmen stood around the room, looking bored.
"So it's a good thing I sent out the welcoming party, no?"
"Yeah. Good thing."
"Yes, with all your good luck with the roulette last night, I wouldn't have wanted you to get lost on your way here."
"Yeah. That's right."
Jermija walked around and sat in his high-backed leather chair, and pulled a revolver out of one of it's drawers.
"We play roulette in Russia as well. But we play it... differently."
He loaded a single round into the gun and snapped it closed. He spun the cylinder, put the gun to his head, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. There was a loud click. Everyone in the room gave a sigh of relief, even Jake and Willace. Jerimija smiled.
"It is a wonderful feeling, this. Better than getting marble in numbered wheel, no?"
Jermija spun the cylinder of the gun again, and slid it across the table towards Jake. He nodded to one of his thugs, who pulled out a set of keys and undid Jake's handcuffs.
"I hear you are very lucky man. Perhaps you show us how the game is played."
Jake looked at the gun uneasily. Then he looked at Willace. Willace shrugged.
Jake picked up the gun, put it to his head, closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. The click it made was the most wonderful sound Jake had ever heard in his life.
Jake smiled and put the pistol down on the desk again, sliding it back over to Jermija.
"Wow, you are right. It's a good feeling. So how about you let my friend here out of his cuffs? I'm sure we can put this whole thing behind us, now that we've played your game."
"Oh, but Mr Summers! You are very lucky man! This one bullet was no worry for you!"
Jermija opened the revolver and placed 4 additional rounds in the cylinder. He closed it, spun the cylinder and slid the gun over towards Jake.
"Now this, Mr Summers is fun for you, no? I think if you win this one time, your friend here can go, but we kill him if we ever see him again. If you win this two times, your friend is our friend. If you win this three times, you both go, but you, Mr Summers, die if I see you again. If you win 4 times, you are both my friends. If you refuse, you both die here now."
He pulled out another gun and loaded it. He looked coldly at Jake.
Jake had heard a lot about Jermija's eccentricities. He had a feeling that Jermija would keep his word, but even Willace had winced at the odds of that many shots without firing a bullet. It wasn't money at stake here. On the other hand, there were 4 armed men and Jermija, who would be shooting him full of holes if he tried anything, or refused.
---
What should Jake do?
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Last edited by DukeReg on Sat Jul 01, 2006 2:54 am; edited 1 time in total
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Chinaren
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 12:46 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Jake faced the thugs, who had slowed to a smug walk as they entered the alley and saw that Jake was trapped. Jake decided right |
A couple to many 'Jakes' here I think Duke! Try replacing one of them with 'he' maybe.
| Quote: | | Why does a casino win, Summers, even in games where the odds are close enough to even to make no difference?" |
The odds are quite firmly in a casino's favor actually. Zero on it's own accounts for about 10% of the profits. (Roulette) All other games also favor the casino. Not by much sometimes, but by enough.
Anyway, enough of that.
Great chapter Duke!
He has the luck doesn't he? Use it! 4 times is the charm! He should try and get the boss to play as well though, maybe suggest he is a coward if he doesn't. Hehe.
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 3:34 am Post subject: |
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| chinaren wrote: | | Quote: | | Why does a casino win, Summers, even in games where the odds are close enough to even to make no difference?" |
The odds are quite firmly in a casino's favor actually. Zero on it's own accounts for about 10% of the profits. (Roulette) All other games also favor the casino. Not by much sometimes, but by enough. |
Yes, what you say is quite true.
*Rapidly presses red button under desk.*
...
*Presses again.*
...
Stupid guards, what do I pay them for?
Seriously though China, it was simply a matter of needing an example that sounds reasonable if you aren't familiar with exact odds, or casino income, or what have you.
Since luck and probability are not the normal or garden variety in this story, consider this an insight into how chance and probability work in my game world.
All that is really being said is that, given alternating runs of good and bad luck of enough magnitude, the game will eventually end with the losing streak matching the limit of the player's bank account.
As long as the point is made, I am content with the way it is written.
Thanks for the input though!
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Smee
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 3:48 am Post subject: |
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Excellent Chapter Duke - I enjoyed it.
This is a refreshing storygame, and interesting decision points.
If we're still allowed to toy with the luck it might be fun for the gun to 'luckily' fall apart apart after 3 rounds.
Personally I don't see the need to go to all 4 rounds - I don't think we have any intention of seeing this guy again and he's probably not much nicer as a friend than an enemy.
Do the minimum to get out of there as soon as possible.
Happy Writing
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Shady Stoat
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:43 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, I'm enjoying this storygame too. I'm not sure about trusting Fate though - she's a mean old biddy.
Jake's a gambler. He'll probably go for it - one shot at a time, more convinced each time that his luck isn't going to run out.
If you were asking us for a twist of luck, though, I'd say that each time he's about to pull the trigger, something happens to interrupt the shot. Jermija's phone rings. A gunshot fires from somewhere else in the building. A soot-covered bird lands down the chimney and starts fluttering madly around the room... the more bizarre the better.
But, since you're not, I'd say Jake should go ahead and trust his luck.
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Starwalker
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:55 am Post subject: |
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I like this ... now about playing with luck.
Let's go for it, 4 shots huuu; 6 round revolver, 5 bullets, sooooo; we get one empty chamber, 2 misfires due to dud bullets and the firing pin breaks off on the 4th try.
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LordoftheNight
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:15 am Post subject: |
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He's being handed a gun with 5 bullets. There are five people in the room who want him dead. Hmm.
How about instead of shooting himself, he single-handedly trys to take all of them on. Of course, as he fires the first shot, the recoil knocks him from his feet, and the guards returning fire flies over his head, and into their opposite numbers.
Just lucky of course.
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:21 am Post subject: |
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| Hmmm, that sounds like a good idea too.
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| lordofthenight wrote: | He's being handed a gun with 5 bullets. There are five people in the room who want him dead. Hmm.
How about instead of shooting himself, he single-handedly trys to take all of them on. Of course, as he fires the first shot, the recoil knocks him from his feet, and the guards returning fire flies over his head, and into their opposite numbers.
Just lucky of course. |
The recoil of the gun is nowhere near enough to knock him from his feet, even with fate pushing. Remember he has been in the military, so recoil is not going to surprise him. He'd have to dive deliberately or fall off his chair or something easier for his luck to help with.
Otherwise this is a good idea, I deliberately put 5 gangsters in the room so that shootout was an option.
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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Well, it could explosively mis-fire (though he isn't hurt of course), making him duck and the guards let loose instinctively.
Or, as the gun is being passed to him, it goes off by accident, shooting the boss and again, making the guards all shoot at him, he ducks, they shoot at each other.
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| Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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Ok, good suggestions everyone.
The poll is going up now. The many suggestions given boiled down to the 4 basic options in the poll.
By the way, feel free to assume in this storygame that any decision point can involve twists of luck.
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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I'll wait a couple more days and then close the poll.
By the way, did anyone find Chapter 2 too long?
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 4:47 pm Post subject: |
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Ok, poll deleted.
"Accidental discharge kills boss. Guards shoot each other in crossfire." won it.
New chapter soon.
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Shady Stoat
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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I just came across this one as I was scrolling down the humour section.
How's the new chapter going, Duke?
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Shady Stoat wrote: | | How's the new chapter going, Duke? |
Eek! its been almost a month since I did a chapter! 
I ran into a blank about what to do next, and then got sidetracked with other things. I will get writing, once I have finished my first stupid Integral Calculus assignment for the semester. 
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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Tempting Fate Summary
Reading the whole thing is best, but this will serve if you don't have the time or inclination to read it all, or need to refresh your memory.
Prologue
Jake Summers is on a winning streak in a Casino in the US when he chances across Henry Willace, an old associate from London. Jake thinks Willace is there to get him, but Willace is resignedly uninterested in causing trouble. Instead trouble comes and gets Jake in the form of a stray bullet from America's most wanted man, who was in the Casino by chance.
Willace subdues the wanted man, and after the police have recieved a few phone calls, he is driven back to his hotel. The hotel is on fire. Willace knows in some cynical way that it was in his room, the thirteenth room, that the fire started. He goes to his car, but finds it wont start. Depressed and frustrated, Willace thinks back to his past history with Jake.
Chapter 1
(The winning vote was that Jake and Willace should have met by killing each others rivals by chance in unrelated accidents.)
It turned out that while driving at high speed to escape a van carrying some unnamed enemies, Willace was involved in a crash with a car that was driving at high speed in the opposite direction. that took him off a bridge into a river, along with the other car.
Willace was put next to Jake in a hospital ward. It turned out that the other car in the crash was carrying Jake's jealous and armed ex-lover, now deceased. Jake had caused the van chasing Willace to crash into a tree.
After a rather cryptic and strange conversation, they are both released the next day. Outside the hospital, Willace insists on giving Jake his card, saying that Jake has a relationship with luck that will eventually kill him, and that Willace can help him take control of his life. Jake finds later that there is no contact information on Willace's card, and forgets about it.
Months later, Jake is running from the henchman of an eccentric Russian gangster and loan shark named Jermija. He has been borrowing money and losing it all gambling for months. Now he is cornered in an alley by the thugs. He finds Willace's business card, which he had forgotten all about, and decides on whim that if he survives this situation, he needs to find Willace somehow and talk to him more about his offer.
Chapter 2
(The winning vote dictated that some large, angry dogs burst into the alley and attack the thugs.)
While the thugs are occupied, Jake manages to slip away and hide in a ditch for half an hour, until the thugs have given up on him.
Jake goes to a bar to have a drink, and jokingly starts pretending he is Henry Willace. He discovers over the course of the night that he is suddenly having a good run of luck, and makes a massive amount of money, and takes the game "I am Henry Willace, who cant be found" to extremes.
The next morning, somewhere in London, Willace walks out his front door to get his morning paper, when he overhears a young lady talking about staying at a hotel that night with a man named Jake Summers who was calling himself Henry Willace. Willace goes immediately to the hotel to find out what the deal is.
In the lobby, Willace wryly says he is Jake Summers, looking for Henry Willace who is staying at the hotel. Jake happens to be entering the lobby to leave the hotel at that moment. A large Russian tough grabs Willace and Jake and says he is going to cause pain to whichever one is Jake Summers. Willace summararily deals with the tough and he and Jake leave and walk to Willace's car before the police arrive.
Willace tells Jake that his run of good luck wont stop his life falling apart. He uses the gambling analogy of how a run of good luck will eventually be lost again, but large runs of bad luck bankrupt the player, and can never recover into a winning streak. He explains that it is in such a losing streak in his life that Jake will eventually have too much bad luck to handle and will be killed or otherwise crippled by it.
Willace offers Jake a top-secret job with others who have a strange relationship with luck. Jake accepts and they go to a headquarters where Jake is grilled by a hard lady named Susan Rawson, who appears to be in charge, assisted nearly silently by a scarred man named Robert Parker, and Willace. Eventually they decide to accept Jake.
Willace gives Jake a lift home, but Jake is attacked outside his flat in broad daylight by Jerimija's gangsters. He and Willace decide to surrender to avoid being killed, and they are taken to Jermija's headquarters. Jermija sits them handcuffed in a room full of armed men, and forces Jake to play a round of Russian roulette with him. Then he promises to let them both go safely if Jake can avoid shooting himself in a similar fashion 3 or 4 times with 5 bullets in the revolver.
-----
Chapter 3 will be posted tomorrow or the next day. Thanks to the mods for not deleting this for so long. It seems whenever I am not studying I am working all night these days!
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Chinaren
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| Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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Looking forward to it Duke! I was enjoying this one before your break. Happy to hear of the imminent return!
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Masterweaver
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| Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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Have you read ringworld? It deals with a simaler concept...
No really, it does!
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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Ringworld? Not familiar with it... is it a published story, or a storygame? Who is the author?
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Masterweaver
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| Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 6:55 am Post subject: |
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Larry Niven. I think. It's published and famous.
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Masterweaver
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| Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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One of the characters has a simaler fate.
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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Neat. I will have to see if I can find them at the library some time.
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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You have chosen a misfire leading to crossfire.
Tempting Fate: Chapter 3
Jake swallowed hard and made to pick up the gun, still unsure what to do. As his hand closed around the handle of the gun, there was a barely perceptible click and the revolver discharged. Jake instinctively ducked to the side, and slid out of his chair. As he dropped, he noticed Jermija clutching at his chest and crumpling to the ground.
Another shot rang out and Jake felt something pass his head. One of the four men guarding him had fired at him, but the bullet had gone straight past Jake, to hit another in the leg.
Several more shots were fired, and two more yells of pain could be heard among the general uproar in the room. The chair that Jake had been sitting in was kicked out of the way, and one of the gangsters leveled a gun at him.
There was a blur of movement, and just as the thug was about to pull the trigger, Willace crashed headfirst into the man's ribs, with force that Jake would not have believed had he not just witnessed it. The sound of a cracking rib could be barely heard through the sound of the gunshot.
The gun flew out of the man's hand as he fell to the ground with Willace on top of him. The man soon recovered from the shock and started using his hands to push Willace off him. He rolled on top of Willace with his hands gripping his neck in a strangle-hold, while Willace lashed around like a fish out of water, trying to buck him off.
All this had happened in the space of a few seconds. Jake got up off the ground as a shot was fired at where he had been by one of the wounded gansters. He felt a kind of adrenaline-filled disconnection as he leveled his shaky gun hand at the gangster and shot him. He did the same for the 2 others, before taking a step and putting the gun to the head of the man who had barely managed to keep Willace pinned. He pulled the trigger, before releasing the gun and dropping to his knees next to Willace.
"For god's sake Jake! Don't crash on me yet! Get the keys and uncuff me!" puffed Willace.
Jake did as he was told, mechanically. He had never killed anyone before. Army training hadn't prepared him for it. He felt like he would pass out. He had to try 3 times to get the key into the lock of the cuffs.
As soon as one wrist was free, Willace took the keys from Jake and undid the cuff on the other wrist on his own. Willace surveyed the scene, and Jake, critically.
"You didn't have much choice. I wouldn't have done anything differently. That probably doesn't make it easier now, but it will later."
Willace made some calls and soon there were armed men in black escorting them to a van. It drove away, leaving the scene silent and calm.
---
Days later, Jake showed up at his first scheduled training session. He had pulled himself together a bit, since the shock of killing and the stress of being roasted over a slow fire by Susan Rawson over the vitally-challenged Russian and his henchmen. Eventually, the Agency had agreed to accept him on a strict probation. Jake suspected Willace had something to do with that.
Training was nothing to write home about, for secrecy's sake and because it was rather uninteresting anyway. But Jake learnt a lot about the other agents. The one who made the biggest impression on Jake, other than Henry Willace himself, was Robert Parker.
---
Willace told Jake about Robert Parker, who was a cold and lifeless man, who performed tasks efficiently and with no wasted words. Talking to Willace, Jake learned that years before, when his parents were alive, Robert had been much different.
Back in those days, there had been 2 star agents in the group, Marcus and Sandra Parker. They were famous, or infamous, for being lucky in every way. They were both attractive, intelligent people, with money and power within and outside the agency. They gave birth to a gifted and handsome son, who was the pride and joy of his parents. He grew up and it was clear that he too was as lucky as a man could be. Women were putty in Robert's hands. He was rich, he made friends everywhere, and he was a kind and good natured man.
Then one night, after Robert graduated from university, the brakes failed on his car and it crashed into a tree. The crash was relatively minor, but both of his parents were dead when the ambulance arrived. Robert was taken to hospital and barely survived emergency brain surgery, leaving the operating room a changed man.
The whole time Willace was telling the story, he was giving Jake looks to hint that maybe he could learn from this. Jake noticed, but wasn't convinced.
"I know you want me to be careful, but what can I do? You have said over and over that luck runs good and bad and we cant control it... I might as well make the most of it, right? Thats what we do in this job, for crying out loud!"
"Summers, you have to stop abusing the luck. You twist and writhe to avoid your bad luck, and then jump on the good luck train and ride it until it derails. You and I are doomed, like all people, to die before we want to. But you can have a good life, and even extend it a little by playing your cards right. Think about it."
Willace looked at his wristwatch and stood up from the bar where they had been having some stiff drinks. "Anyway, are you 'calm' enough for your first operation now? We have to go."
"Yeah I think so. I'll be right with you." Jake said, swaying slightly as he walked towards the Men's Room.
---
Ok people, the chapter is rather short today. I tried to replace long confusing dialogue with paraphrased/summarised paragraphs. See what you think.
The DP is, what should the first operation be? Who and where? What's the weather like? Is it day or night? What scale is the operation on? Is it stealthy or guns blazing?
I basically want you to set the scene as they imagine it (in point form, I don't expect you to write it for me!) and the eventual poll will have options: "X's scene", "Y's scene" and so forth.
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Chinaren
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| Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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Glad to see this one back Duke!
Hmmm. I can't think of anything just now, but I will go away and ponder it.
Not sure if having a few stiff drinks before a mission is a really good idea though!
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 3:59 am Post subject: |
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| chinaren wrote: | | Not sure if having a few stiff drinks before a mission is a really good idea though! |
I thought you of all people would approve.
The people in this story are slightly unconventional folk I'm afraid, and see things in a slightly different way to the average sensible person.
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Chinaren
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Masterweaver
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 6:38 am Post subject: |
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His first operation is to rob an old-style bank across the country and be back by midnight. It is a bright and sunny day when he does this.
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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I was hoping for more than one suggestion. 
Oh well, if I don't get any more in the next few days, I will use Masterweaver's suggestion by default.
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LordoftheNight
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| Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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OK then - they've learnt that a terrorist organisation of some variety is planning to assassinate the town mayor (or something to that effect).
The mayor is refusing to cancel the (very) public speech he had planned, over some unimportant detail like concreting the park. The speech is planned in the park itself, at around 2.00.
It's a nice sunny day - not a cloud in the sky. And they have to prevent pretty much all gunfire, due to the presence of many civilians.
That should do it.
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| Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Masterweaver wrote: | | If I say YAY!, will my post be deleted? |
Yes.
A mission ummm. To rescue a hostage from a rival organization. The rival org has people who's powers confer bad luck on others.
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Masterweaver
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| Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:02 am Post subject: |
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And they have a fortres and lazers and yada yada yada...
I say it should involve stealing, though bad luck men are cool too.
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 1:00 am Post subject: |
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Poll is up.
I have to think further about whether conferring bad luck will work with my ideas of fate in this game, but good suggestion China! I knew there was a reason we kept you around. 
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| Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 2:49 am Post subject: |
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| DukeReg wrote: | | I knew there was a reason we kept you around. |
I have my uses. Not many, and most of them are peverse, but some. 
'ted for the option like what I said.
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Masterweaver
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| Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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Voted for mine!
On a dark and stormy night, eh? Hahaha...
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