Thanks @patrace! You really did a great job leading us all in telling a fun and funny story. Every round had creative and entertaining plot twists and lots of hard choices to make. As to how you kept all the numbers straight, I can’t even guess. Bravo!
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Touching down at Ducks, the celebrations have already begun.
Browf: I think I’ve had enough of these close encounters of the death kind. I should clean up my debts here and mosey on to Kongakut-5. Heck, even resume the family snack delivery business sounds peaceful.
Dakota: Are you kidding? That was… amazing! We were all part of something more important than ourselves! Even if just for a moment. Did you not feel more alive when we were dodging and darting through the nose, picking off that metal mucus? I don’t think for a minute we’ll ever settle to going back to less than an adventure.
Browf: Maybe you’re right. maybe I just need a vacation. And I still have debtors back on Yukonia-6, but they’ve probably all finished the migration by now. I just need to make sure I have the cash when they catch me.
Dakota: About that… I was converting the starbits you paid me to Alcean credits. Now that 'bits have crashed and burned, “Alcoins” have boomed, and I now have a cosy cache of currency. And I know just the enterprise to invest in… Are you with me, partner?
[[ Thanks to all the players, especially @SteampunkBanana for our preliminary adventure, and to @patrace for running the vast numbers we threw at him.
I didn’t think for a minute I’d enjoy writing Browf’s (and Dakota’s) adventures as much as I have, nor did I think you would enjoy it so much that Browf would end up voted ‘best character’. Thank you so very much, it means a lot to me.
I really enjoyed drawing Browf and Dakota, but my IRL time became stretched and something had to move.
I can’t wait for Badass Tax Accountant Dragon or whatever, and hope to see you all there soon. ]]
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[The Didn’t See That Coming disgorges a payload of ecstatic Space Lobsters into Duck’s Pond. Each one appears to be eager to drink, gamble, and fight in precisely that order. With the destruction of the replicator ‘Bad Penny’ by the Duck’s Pond Gang, Captain Lazlo appears relieved. Yet a somber air still clings to him as he scuttles into the now familiar watering hole.]
“Spacers ahoy! I reckon we done been victorious after all, an’ not for lack of dyin’. We gave that replicator what for, but at the price of two seasoned captains. For the moment, the frontiers of Charybdis are secure - but fer how long is anybody’s guess. All I’m tryin’ ta say is remember to raise a glass or tip yer hat in remembrance of the brave captains Rkt88 Edmo (@rkt88edmo) an’ Captain Information (@uphill). In that final hour, these two sapients looked fate in the eyestalks and chose duty over self-preservation. From where I’m sittin’, that looks like true grit ta me.”
“An’ I speak for the crew when I say that ye be the finest captains we ever done had a chance to share a formation with. Oopf!”
[Briefly interrupted by a crewmember thrusting a Black Flag Special into his non-dominant claw, Lazlo continues]
“May each of ye enjoy a long life an’ remarkable adventures. But when th’ time comes, my fondest wish is that each of yer go out inna blaze of glory of yer respective choosin’. May th’ Tidewalker watch over yer until then, an’ th’ Clutchmother carry ya home afterwards.”
[Lazlo bows his eyestalks in a moment of solemn gravitas before raising his glass to the ever-diligent Duck, the assembled spacers, and finally to the void itself before draining the contents and joining the fracas himself.]
To @penguinchris @dreamboatskanky and @glutnix - thank you for your art. I have next to no skill in this domain, and your creations really brought this story to life in my mind.
To @agfish - your character concept rocked my world: I felt like a novel that I really wanted to read had wandered into the story.
To @Donald_Petersen from start to finish for the contributions of Sssir Galaxy and the unexpected laughs that came from the busking thread - thank you, Spazio Compangio.
To @bizmail_public - thank you for elucidating the finer points of the gamespace. As a new player, it helped me immensely. Not to mention that I suspect we had constructed remarkably similar spreadsheets for reference…
And because of the 10@ limitation per post: to all the happy mutants I’ve not already mentioned that helped create this story - what a memorable adventure. As a longtime BB lurker but a new voice, I felt very welcome at this gaming table. Thank you for that.
And last but not least to @patrace - thank you for your labor of love over these last three months. I’ve deeply enjoyed the hours spent in being a small part of this story and I am thankful for the hours I’ve spent exploring this gamespace in my imagination.
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[[ Seconded. I was intrigued by @Agfish’s Colour Bomb and its artist denizens, and felt it parted Charybdis far too early. ]]
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Fo’ shizzle.
You do realize that now you’ll have to play Badass HR Department of Miami Vice, or whatever it is that @funruly has planned?
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Now now. If you’re trying to scare me off, it’s not working. But if you’re trying to get me champing at the bit for the next installment? Mission accomplished - I’ll roll a lvl1 paperpusher with embarrassing alacrity. 
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Badass Rule Lawyers of the Knitting Circle, isn’t it?
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It’ll be quite the yarn.
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I can’t wait for your purls of wisdom when the time comes, @OtherMichael .
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Celebrourning.
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Yes, three cheers for the GM!
Hip Hip!
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This thread has gotten awfully difficult to follow.
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In an empty dive on the dark side of Sandfish IV, a thin lizard eyes a news holo crawling across the bar. He holds a drink in his good hand and speaks through cracked teeth and a twisted jaw,
Technically, a living being was killed. A child really, but let’s not talk about that. I mean, certainly, the sentient cryptocurrency had vast computing power and more intelligence than we can imagine but what experiences did it have, what true wisdom? I wonder what it felt.
Hello and goodbye, just like that. That’s life. You just hang on as long as you can.
Cutter rolls his drink, watching the thick Honeywine coat the sides of the glass.
And I ask you, who stands to benefit from the death of a currency? Perhaps someone who has invested wisely in commodities? If I were going to pull the lynchpin on our chief financial system, I’d certainly stock up on items of value. Fine spirits, rare hats… a few synergy crystals. The kind of things that might remain valuable despite a derailed public ledger.
Bzzt. Beep Boop. Would you like another drink?
I’m not saying ANYTHING about ANYONE. I’m just saying there are big people out there with big plans. I lost enough already, I know my size now… I’m a sandfish worm and I’m not sticking my neck out again.
Bzzt. Beep Boop. Would you like another drink?
At least we’re free of Unizone. I hear the regional headquarters was pulling out of Charybdis for good and they had a little problem along the way. Mutiny. I guess one of the clones took over. Sounded messy. Murder, cannibalism, that sort of thing. Not that Space Moose would taste bad, it’s just uncivilized to eat your boss.
Bzzt. Beep Boop. Would you like another drink?
You know what? Yeah. I think I’ll have another drink.
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In an astonishing turn of events, the sprinklers suddenly come on. Not in the entire bridge, mind you, the communications area continues to burn unabated. And about four hours late. But now Jacques is wet as well as sooty. The last operating resonance band rattles loosely as the Entropy crawls through space. But as the smoke clears, a familiar sight swims up onto the bridge display screen.
It’s not the old Pond, to be sure. But it’ll do. Some quick mental math on the empty berths and Jacques knows the cost.
Portside diagnostics suggest that he’ll have to spacewalk to the bar’s airlock. He gets up, limps over to the security station, and kicks in a small plexiglass panel. With the fire extinguisher in hand he feels prepared to hunt down a space suit from the equipment locker. Halfway down he suddenly makes a detour.
“Better get mon chapeau.”
"Captain" Jacques Malchance The Entropy
Thanks everyone!
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But you might have his boss, Nicholas Van Rijn to deal with.
or at least his Cyborg Accountants.
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Yeah, we’d be better off with Falkayn - he knew how to change with the times, a bit. He wouldn’t happen to have an identical cousin, would he? Once, after a particularly long night at Duck’s, I heard him mutter something about one in the Pateyia D’uk system.
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Or were they cloners in that system? Because there was that one time Duck had the identical cheese hostesses working here.
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I could play that. We all have to hire and discipline renegade cops to fight against the drug lords, but end up having to “distribute” the captured illicit materials in order to pay for obscene collateral damages our staff make.
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Huzzah!
