The Sorcerers' Revolution

"Don't worry. A roach or two won't harm me much" says Eruiel with a little smile, though she does almost jump in surprise as one of the bugs startles her by appearing out of nowhere.

Letting out a little breath to calm herself after that surprise, she fills her glass with water and drinks it slowly "You have a good place here"

"It's nothing compared to what, well, you know. What the humans have. I was able to pass off as a human being when I first rented this apartment room, but nobody got around to evicting me when they found out I had orcish blood. The humans certainly don't like seeing orcs in this neighborhood, so maybe I was allowed an exception for being a half-orc."

Derrick took a great big swig of some wine, and sighed.

"But every day, I see how poorly the full-blooded orcs are treated. They've all been forced into the less desirable parts of this city and are given jobs that pay so low they can barely afford one loaf a bread a day. It's just one damn parent that makes the difference between living modestly and living in hell, and I've already gotten my fare share of insults and accusations. The only reason I haven't gone out and scalped some potbellied human bastard is because my late mother told me that it would only make our race more despised. It isn't fair, but life never was for anybody, I guess."

"Wait, I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

"You're not. You are just expressing that which is the reality we live in. I certainly understand... we all need to let it out every once in a while" replied Eruiel with sympathy. She then turned and looked at the sword hung on the wall "That is an interesting decoration... your mother's?"

"Yes, that sword has been in my family's possession for generations. My great-grandfather dispatched over twenty armed men with that sword in just one battle. It's still as sharp as it was all those years ago, though I find it rather heavy."

Eruiel walked over to the blade in the wall and passed two fingers through the flat of it's blade, inspecting it with wonder in her eyes "Your great-grandfather must have been a very strong man. Thankfully, we have his legacy on our side" says the young elf, looking back at him with a sincere smile.

Taugyr motioned Jones over to a side alley across the street from the pub. After checking both sides of the alley, he turned to face Jones squarely.

"Look elf," He began gruffly. "You and me are apparently the only ones with any idea how to run this sorta thing. The elf girl can speak and make people listen, but that doesn't mean shit unless we can get a stable base established. I'm talking logistics: guns, money, food, organization, recruitment, bases, you know what I'm talking about."

He checked both sides of the alley again. "Now, I saw you organizing the crowd in there. You separated them into cells, broke them down, and established communication lines. I'm not gonna ask how you know these things, but it's pretty clear that you have some experience in these matters." He said, eying Illtyd gravely. "That's exactly what we need. Now, we're going to have to work together if this revolution is going to succeed. "

"I'm not talking about just the whole group," He said, waving his hand in the direction of the pub. "I mean you and me, we clearly have the most experience and know what to do for this sorta job, so we're going to have to do a lot of shit together, stuff the others can't do or aren't willing to do." He shook his muzzle slightly, before fixing his glare once again on Illtyd.

"Now from what I've seen, you can handle yourself, so I'm going to put my faith in you." He extended a massive hand towards the elf. "Do you trust me?"

edited 23rd Jun '12 11:37:40 PM by rabbitRider

Illtyd took the Minotaurs hand and gave it the firmest shake he could, though there was an obvious discrepency in strength, "Illtyd ap Gwythyr."

edited 23rd Jun '12 11:42:19 PM by Fauxlosophe

"Taugyr Westfall." The minotaur replied, taking care not to crush the elf's hand. Other races were so weak and squishy.

"Very well then." He said, nodding his head. "Well then, I suppose it's best to get it out now." He said straightening. "I'm a former solider of Unidos. I served in the First Minotaur Infantry. I ain't proud of what I done, but I can use my experience."

"I got contacts. I know a few gun runners who siphon their merch from army suppliers. I can get a hold of some former comrades of mine, and a few of them might be willing to join up. I can teach those greenhorns in there," He jerked his thumb at the pub. "how to fight. And I can shoot, stab, and strangle if it comes to that."

"Rhys Owen is another old name of mine," Illtyd said, "From a cell in Elvish Liberation Army army, and later Alwyn Davis from the Free Elvish Defence Movement, I suspect Rhys is the only one on file. When the chips were down, I fought for the side I liked more but you don't always get the choice. Both of us have done things we aren't proud of."

"Well then," Tauyr said, with some grudging newfound respect for the elf. "I suppose that's it for tonight, Illtyd ap Gwythyr." He grasped the elf by the shoulder. "Long live the resistance."

Releasing the elf, he nodded at him, and turned to leave, before stopping.

"Umm." He cleared his throat and scratched his head slightly. "Would you happen to know a place I could stay?" He asked, embarrassed.

"Ain't comfy," Illtyd said, "but my apartment is private. You'll be on a bedroll but a roof and walls beats a bridge. Food's sparse too but I'll give what I can."

Taugyr gave a gruff, rather embarrassed nod. "Thanks." He replied shortly. "Guess it'll be easier to plan this thing if we're under the same roof, heh." He gave a chuckle. "But maybe we should spread the brains around more, make sure the rest get some too." He gave another chuckle, before clapping Illtyd on the back.

"Alright, lead the way, comrade."

-Three Days Later-

Stuff happened! There was another meeting! People were introduced! Numbers grow! Warehouse is base! Rudolph has homework! Taugyr fell and hit his eye on a doorknob! A hobo died!

-One Week Later-

Saturn City's rapid growth and expansion had left many old abandon buildings in the wake of progressively larger skyscrapers. Far off from the hustle and bustle of the heart of the city sat a row of abandon warehouses that had originally been set up to store goods being shipped inland. A large sign had the area marked of for demolition. For one reason or another however, the knocking down of the buildings had yet to take place. That sign was over three years old.

With the warehouses locked up and not in use, and nothing of particular importance being in the surrounding neighborhood, nobody but the homeless occupied the area. Until someone had broken the heavy chains holding the doors shut to one of them that is. Now in the dark of the night that warehouse was a secret command center.

Or as close as a command center as the growing but still small revolutionary group had managed to put together. The fact that they had lasted a whole week was more a testament to the colonial government's inattentiveness then any skill the non-humans had at organizing in hiding. Even the veterans of failed uprisings in the past often seemed at odds with each other over how to runs things. At the very least, a perimeter and lookout system had been established, along with several escape routes. This was the only place among the revolutionaries where more then ten of them met at a time.

At the moment the soldiers, suppliers, and spies were gathered together with their sorcerer leader around a table. Next to Eru was a stack of spell books some rich human had managed to sneak out of some else's collection.

"Its not that we don't have willing fighters, its just we don't have enough weapons for them to fight with." A dwarf by the name of Auhsed Jones was explaining.

"He's right. Unidos doesn't make their weapons here. It's all shipped in from across the ocean." The old goblin from the pub said.

"What about the other colonies? Can't we get weapons from Capistrano, or Solaris, maybe?"

"I don't think the fenrir and unicorns are big on the gun black market." An older elf named Eidir said sarcastically.

A group of minotaurs who were inspecting the weapons the revolutionaries did have snickered at that.

"What about the human colonists themselves? Everyone knows Costa Mesa and Unidos don't like each other. If we could buy weapons from from them and funnel them from Capistrano to Saturn City - "

"Buy with what? We have no money!"

As had happened several times before, without a strong handing keeping order, the people fell into arguing in circles.

A certain elf felt a tug in his sleeve.

"Mr. Jones, here are those maps you wanted." A centaur girl handed the elf a collection of rolled up maps. Some detailed the dwarf and goblin constructed sewers under the city, some marked prominent landmarks of the city such as the police station and governor's mansion as well as banks, museums, and the trolly lines. Others had the railways leading out to other cities in the colony displayed.

"Appreciated," Illtyd responded, "Miss...?"

"Cazania"

"Appreciated Miss Cazania," Illtyd said he face became more serious as he looked towards the table, "Establishing a connection with Costa Mesa should be a high priority, they're a good bet for weapons but it does require money we don't have. In the short term, we're probably working through legitimate channels for weapons or small scale black market stuff. Both of those are limited, buying too much could lead to a ban or a sting and then a trickle will slow completely. Improvised weapons are certainly worth consideration as well. Homemade bombs should be effective for retaliatory strikes and shouldn't be hard to throw together, but guns are necessary for any kind of conventional fighting."

He looked around the room trying to size them up. If these looked like a core group of loyalists, he could break down plans for a heist or at least choosing a bank. But he didn't want to isolate a larger group of volunteers by openly plotting robbery. Not everyone was keen on petty thievery after all.

"However, in the immediate future, we need a more direct plan than simply speaking in abstracts. We need to give our selves some legitimate publicity and to those ends, I imagine creating two wings to our organization without an explicitly revolutionary aim; The Saturn Guard, where our younger more able volunteers will keep an eye on the streets, particularly towards human on native crimes and with the aim of rehabilitating and mediating disputes. This will give us knowledge and trust in the community, as well as offering further recruits. The second is refurbishing this place into a "Shelter". This allows the place to serve as a head quarters full time and creates a trust similar to the Watch without it necessarily arosing suspicion. Though have no doubt, these fronts will be in conflict with the police but on a more abstract level. This will also give us pretext should matters escalate so we don't appear as some group of thugs."

"All in favour?"

He'd need time to weed through the recruits, see who was willing to risk both life and reputation in crime and who prefered to stick within the bounds of the relatively legal action and who further wanted to serve in a strictly revolutionary capacity. The cells and wings he was organizing now should serve that purpose, though some might require suffling depending upon their dedication to the revolution.

edited 25th Jun '12 10:30:18 PM by Fauxlosophe

Tauyr gave a noncommittal grunt, rubbing his eye, still sore from the surprise encounter with a doorknob a few days before. He ran his hands down the stock and barrel of the enormous, minotaur-sized rifle they had liberated from a weapon shipment the day before, checking to make sure it was well oiled and maintained.

"I suppose it's a good idea." Tagury shrugged. "Get the populace on our side and all, organize them and gain goodwill. Sure, I'll support the Guard. Just don't ask me to run it, I can train the recruits, but for the most part I'm sticking to the fightin'."

He scratched his chin next. "And I do suppose we need to get this place fitted out." He said with an appraising glance around the factory. "Armor it up, fortify it, and soundproof it. We'll need to be able to train the recruits somewhere, and this is probably the place. Gonna need to make sure no one hears us trainin'." He cocked his head to the side, almost goring a nearby centaur. "Hell, if we can manage it we might as well move into this whole block. We got a bunch of ol' factories here with nobody usin' 'em. We get enough money, don't see any reason not to take over the lot of 'em."

edited 27th Jun '12 10:54:45 PM by rabbitRider

"As is his custom, Jones has very good ideas. I wholeheartedly support the establishment of the Saturn Guard and declare that I shall personally help its activities as much as I'm able to. A group looking over our people and protecting them from the casual harm they might come into in the very streets they walk everyday is sure to bring a bit of peace to the minds of every one us" said Eruiel smiling at Illtyd warmly before looking at everyone around her as she continued to speak.

"However, on the second issue of the shelter... There it seems like Tauyr and Jones' ideas collide. We cannot be an open widely known off Shelter and keep this place as our base of operations of the Revolution. We cannot show our people how to fight and defend themselves under the prying eyes that would surely come to judge our peaceful shelter. Nor could we expand ourselves into the empty spaces surrounding with the eyes the 'Shelter' would draw. We would be putting in jeopardy both those who come sorely looking for a safe haven and the secrecy we need to operate against the oppression"

"I might not be experienced enough to see it... and I surely hope to hear it if someone knows how those two ideas could reconcile themselves in the same place. For now I am inclined to support Tauyr. To bring about Jones idea we would first need a new place to relocate our secret operations and plans where the oppressors might not find us. For my part, I do believe and wish to open the 'Shelter'... but not here. Not right now. If possible I would search for a location closer to the city heart and those we will be helping"

"The two work together quite well," Illtyd replied looking at the table, "It takes time to expand. Further we don'thave to advertise but it offers a purpose to this warehouse. Initially it should be more of a cover than a full organization. During the very early stages, this can merely be the common excuse for gather here while occupants train. Just be a reason for us to meet here. All that entails is calling ourselves squatters. Once we get our hands on a new location we can repeat the process; keeping it to ourselves for a few months then opening it up to the public."

"As to storage, we can't afford a stockpile yet, certainly not in a place so public. If everyone keeps a small share, their own guns and so forth, then our stores are dispersed. Treating this as a warehouse is almost inviting the Police to raid it. Imagine loosing every weapon we had because a supervisor at the dock decided we looked suspicious? Plas are an issue but they too can be divided up amongst us. We aren't organized enough to protect ourselves if we put everything into a single building, if the police raid our guns and plans here, then we'll have lost everything. And without an excuse to be here, it would not take long either way."

edited 26th Jun '12 8:46:13 AM by Fauxlosophe

"My concern is thus. You plan to open this location as a 'Shelter'. You say not to give it much publicity but still, you wish it to be known that this place is a 'Shelter' to give us an excuse to be here. But Saturn city is filled to the brim with people in need. What will we do when they come to our doors looking for succor? I do believe most would sympathize with our cause, but not all. We cannot have fire practice on one half of the warehouse and feed our needy on the other. Word will come out of what we are doing sooner or later. And if we merely are a 'Shelter' in name but turn back those who come to our doors, then word will come out anyway. Thus are my concern with these plans. I do agree with spreading our weapons and such about... but still, there are some which present a risk. Pistols we can hide on our clothes, but rifles cannot be easily hidden. What will happen when our people are seen walking around with such weapons?"

"A shelter can be useful to us just as is. It can be used to funnel and launder the wealth of thoe who seek to salve their conciences to us. Not all of it of course. well managed we can support the needy, and salve our own conciences, and still send some of it our way. And the people we help can serve as eyes and ears. Noone pays attention to the homeless unless they draw attention to themselves."

Derrick Allister stood up from his chair, finding the moment to speak. "I say we extend the Saturn Guard to protecting the homeless people on the streets. It is a sad fact, but the humans are not the only ones harassing and assaulting the poor without reason."

"That's the idea," Illtyd said with a hint of irony, "Helping the helpless and all. We can even get it on calling cards."

"As to a location, we need to keep mobile. Stock piling weapons and plans isn't wise and training for regular combat isn't happening any time soon."

edited 26th Jun '12 7:36:14 PM by Fauxlosophe

Taugyr shrugged, resting his rifle on a nearby table. Slowly and methodically, he drew his revolvers, unloaded them, and began to clean them.

"Don't matter much to me." He said with another shrug. "Leave me the trainin' and the fightin', you lot handle the rest." He brushed the inside of the barrel slowly, then checked to make sure it was clear of blockage. "I know my job." He checked the sights of the pistol, then set it down.

He leaned lazily across the table, snatched several of the sewer maps from Illtyd, and began to study them in great detail.

"I've been getting a cozy profit gambling at the local Gentleman's club, so I have some money to spare to the mission. Nothing that can purchase us all firearms, though. But there ought to be somebody in this city who knows how to make weapons."

"We need weapons yes but we'll never win this in a straight up fight. We need to make enough of a nuisance of ourselves that thebosses will want to negotiate. For that we need to figure out what targets, material and human will give us the most bang for our coin."

Illtyd turned around and looked at the Goblin, "Did anyone here propose we just grab guns and march head on at them? You have any idea what we're planning? We're not going to grab rifles and charge off screaming "Remember Gwyndylln" at their machine guns."

"On the other hand we're not going to put salt in their tea until they decide to leave. There's a reason we're planning this all out. If you'd listened earlier, you'd know the plan in two priorities; Get weapons and get support. If we're hitting targets now, it's with a heavy thought of risk against rewards but we have to keep the goal in mind; We are the many and they are the few. Their guns aren't special anymore. Our magic remains so. All said, we have an edge, with technology and numbers. The only question is organization and for that all you need is time. Leave the rest to me."

"Political targets, namely assassinations of unpopular figures, which given our lack of publicity would jettison our unprepared asses into the spot light, with little more money or organization to show for it. Cause a build up of troops and eventually get dispersed or hung. Financial targets are needlessly devicive and make us look like little more than common crooks out for money."

"Let the money flow for now through legitimate means. Gambling is always rigged towards the house, making a living off of that means that the owners are probably relying on raking in money through other services or that they're going to go bankrupt soon. What we need is donations and volunteers. Once a guard is established, natives should if nothing else see us as a banner worth thinking about joining under. The police will then come to us through more typical means and give us popular support in our defence against them. A hell of a lot better than busting a few less popular faces and hoping they get bored of cracking our skulls in retaliation, isn't it?"

"That's what West here," He indicated Taugyr, "is for. The Guard's training should more than do for the purpose of street fighting when it comes to it. The Guard should serve as a simple military branch for us once the revolution becomes open. It's all just a matter of a name change."

edited 28th Jun '12 2:33:57 PM by Fauxlosophe