Relations with Factions and Individuals After Session 8

What Others Think of You (As Far As You Know)

Friendship for Peace and Progress, 1961

• The Gay Nazis consider you Der Feind, don’t expect mercy

• The buyers you ambushed in the Archaeology Lab are probably none too pleased that you crushed Professor Krikov’s skull and stole their shit, whoever they are

• Bozo is a little less than enthused with you

• Spartak is much loved in the New National Bolshevik Party, you can consider them allies

• Saving the founder and president of the Excavators goes a long way, consider them friends

• Slava speaks well of you in Mayami Import, consider them friendly 

• Vernisa was pretty pleased with your work, consider the Saburovs as amicable

• Dr Orlova and her staff at the Polyclinic look forward to future joint ventures, consider them allies

• The Psychometric Agronomy Study Group at VARANIL are pleased with the current arrangement

• Oksana’s ex-boyfriend Boris probably isn’t happy you burgled his nest

• The artists and activists of CounterDogma would be willing to work with you again

• The Toporika Bratva are happy to take their cut out of your hustles 

• The detente with the Gopniks holds firm

• You haven’t left much of an impression on the revolutionaries of the Krasnaya Zvezdna 

• Major Smirnov is easing the militsiya pressure on you lot

• Abram, the Israeli hippie, is a friend of Spartak

• You haven't encountered the Thanatologists directly, but you have know NeoNazbol spy named Gera has infiltrated them

• The Sisters of Tleechy Natcha don't leave the Parlor very often, so they have no quarrel with you

NPCs and Factions are in bold

Locations are underlined

Dispositions are in italics 

Some of these may be combined

Session 8 Prep

 

 News & Rumors 

Good evening Arkheologorodok! This is Lara Kiseleva broadcasting live from the Orbita News building on beautiful Elektricheskiy Prospekt, bringing you this week’s news round-up.

The top story of the week is the ongoing crackdown in Abattoir Town. The missing man has been identified as Boris Tarasov, a homeopathic doctor. Mr Tarasov is believed to be held in an apartment building on Sarnath Circle. The OMON has deployed in full force around the building and have been sieging it for a full day now. The general raids going on throughout Abattoir Town are continuing during the siege, and Commissioner Nikitan has declared that the militsiya are doing a clean sweep of the area, having arrested upwards to 100 terrorist suspects and seizing several weapons caches. There have been at least 5 different fire fights over the course of the crackdown. 

A massive funeral procession for the burial of Ludomir Malankhov, better known on the street as Numitist, so named for the role he played as the Derzhatel Obshack  for a group of local entrepreneurs. The procession made its way from the Cathedral of the Holy Transfiguration, where Metropolitan Grigori himself presided over the rites, to his notable cenotaph at the Southern Steppe Burial Ground. The cause of death has not been made known to the public, but it was known to have occured in the Koba Bath House in the river district of Old Downtown. The death was likely an accident, but if it wasn’t *sound of shuffling papers and voices in the background*  whoever did it ought to kill themselves while they still can before vengeance catches up to them.

Residents hoping to retreat from the sense of fear in the streets to the calm greenery of Zhdanov Park are sadly out of luck, as the Ministry of Outdoor Recreation have closed Zhdanov Park in Conjunction with the Ministry of Transit’s decision to close several large roads around the park.

And that was this week’s news round-up, brought to you by Tachanka brand Tushonka, a hearty meal of beef, pork, and now ostrich, all in a single can! You can’t beat the downhome taste of the steppe packed into each can of Tachanka brand Tushonka, by Steppak Meats. For Orbita News, this is Lara Kiseleva. Stay safe out there, Arkheologorodok. 

Off the Record:

The news ain't covering it, but the Gay Nazis have taken over the Little Azov neighborhood, just north of the marsh. They getting real handsy with people too, setting up inspection checkpoints, looking for any deformities or whatever. The cops have completely surrendered the neighborhood to them at this point, might as well be another country. 

Spartak: Comrade Party Leader Ervin Tsitrusovyye and the Commissar of Communications Petra Borodina have told you that they plan to introduce Comrade Gera, a party member who has infiltrated a group of obscurantist reactionaries calling themselves the Thanatologists. Comrade Tsitrusovyye has impressed upon you that Gera's mission is of great importance, and that you should assist him in whatever way you can.

You've mentioned meeting some members of Krasnaya Zvezdna, and your various party comrades have decried them as little more than cultists.

The Arachnophile Oksana has been perhaps the most supportive of all your party comrades, and she happily promoting your new means of capital accumulation on her instagram.

Aleksandr: You've almost finished setting up the first Mexican restaurant on the Steppe, you've worked out what percentage the Bratva take and they've helped you get the city approval. You've been able to get Mara to delay the expedition a week because you're in serious talks with Ornithologist over ending her "contract."

You're happy to be busy with this right now, the Bratva are on the warpath after one of the top Brigadiers got beheaded in the Banya last week. They're not letting on about who they think it is, but whoever it is, they must be in the Underground, because that's where most of the war parties are going.

You still feel eyes on you, but no one seems to be making a move.

Jobs:

Vernisa is offering $2,000 for a recovery job down in the Underground. She tells you to call her on a landline to set up a meet.

Commissar Petra Borodina says she has a way to hit the Gay Nazis that can be profitable to both the Party and to you and your friends

Chef Mosolov has announced a $300 reward to anyone who can bag him Vodyanoy. He's planning to make frog legs.

Session 5: Schnappi Cessation & Sluggish Schizophrenia

The Resolute Brothers by Alexander Aspit
1918

So all those dig applications Professor Semenov wrote while coked up paid off, as the University of the Steppe has approved funds and grad students for Semenov's excavation of the spinal catastrophism in the underground frontier near the near and under the Silent Homes. 

This brought along with it a complication. The dig site was in territory disputed between the Gay Nazis and the Gopniks, two gangs whose first impressions of the party were not good ones. In fact, they were quite lethal. Realizing that an agreement must be reached with one of them in opposition to other in order to provided security for the dig site. Knowing that Germanic conquest of the Rodina would have apocalyptic results in the Noosphere, Semenov elects to parlay with the Gopniks. 

Arkheologorodok in Focus: This Man is Your Friend, He Fights For...uhhhhh

The Neo-Nazbols 

Неонацболы

(Neonatsboly)

Session 7 Prep

   News & Rumors 

Good evening Arkheologorodok! This is Lara Kiseleva broadcasting live from the Orbita News building, bringing you this week’s news round-up.

Our top story is the violence on the evening of Ramon Mercader Day. Two Vos’moy convenience stores were destroyed, and an attempted robbery occurred at a third. Militsiya are currently investigating, and have reported the abandoned vehicle used in the ramming attack on one of the stores. Details are limited, the vehicle was apparently crashed into a tree near Gunig Marsh and contained evidence of violence.

Militsiya have released CCTV footage from the attempted robbery at the third store, and are currently on the look out for a bald man and a man with an eye patch. Commissioner Nikitan has announced a manhunt to find the terrorists, as they took a man hostage at the third location. 

In a bizarre policy decision, Governor Yevseyev has announced an act of mass clemency after a lengthy review of multiple cases of inmates at Dzerzhinsky Prison, saying that “it is critical that we reunite husbands with wives, fathers with children, sons with parents.” The office of the governor has released a series of photos of these “Re-union Ceremonies.” Commissioner Nikitan has assured that the public has nothing to fear from these pardons, and that claims of a sizeable number of them being associated with the so-called Gay Nazis are “baseless speculation.” 

A leaked report from the Ministry and Roads and Transit is making waves, with a 28% increase in traffic fatalities, apparently focused around the Old Downtown, particularly in the area around Zhdanov Park. The leaked report also cited Militsiya crime reports of a marked increase of illegal street races in the area. This comes on the heels of Commissioner Nikitan's "Make Arkheologorodok Beautiful Again" initiative last week, in which city militsiya were reported to have encountered unanticipated violent resistance to the beautification initiative.

In spookier news, sightings of the Silent Train have sky-rocketed, with even a handful of disappearances now being attributed to the phenomena. While Commissioner Nikitan has denounced such claims as "baseless hysteria," commuters have been reporting an notable increase in metro warden presence at night at both below and over-ground stations. We at Orbita News regret to inform you that we have been explicitly ordered by the city not to offer rewards for pictures. However, we are pleased to inform you that the ordinance said nothing about theories! Post your best theories as to the cause on Orbitanews.com and win cash prizes!

And that was this week's new round up, brought to you by the Auto Coachman's Combine, reminding you that it's just not safe to get in a car that doesn't bear the Combine's seal. For Orbita News, this is Lara Kiseleva, signing off.

And be careful out there, Arkheologorodok.

Personal Interactions and Interests

Spartak: After a great night catching up with Abram over what you can only describe as consumer grade hemp and some shrooms, you hit upon a brilliant idea for a means of capital accumulation for the party, and green grocers/juice bar/garden center/shroom distribution center/illegal beetle racing venue. You're gonna call it Gorilla Gardening, you just need to set up a supply chain with old Chernykov in the Underground.

Party leader Tsitrusovyye has signed off on it, but both he and Commissar of Communications Borodina would also like to introduce you to a mole they have in another organization first. Apparently he has big news.

Dr Galdikas: OH GOD, DO THEY KNOW? You've heard they're looking for a bald man, but there are lots of bald men,  you're a much respected pillar of the community, and Administrator Volya Saburov has been nicer than ever to you. You got a call from Vernisa to negotiate a couple small time rentals from the Monoilov Center, which is both comforting and concerning. 

That's probably why you hired La Mite, a taciturn French hitman with a penchant for kimonos. That thug you sent down to the Silo to collect more of that water hasn't returned, which is worrisome. And Dr. Orlova had to reschedule your meeting to tonight. It's all very vexing.  

Professor Semenov: This is why you never watch film, that silly Anglo tape has been bothering you all week. It's made concentrating on the dig more difficult, but it is coming along. However, apparently there have been some vandals over night, stealing tools or draining out the gas of the generator. In addition, Dima says he and his boys are expecting a scrap with the Pederast Third Positionists, to use your lingo. But these damn dreams keep you up all night, lots of none-sense about diamonds in the sky forcing humanity to retreat underwater in vast, golden submarines.

Aleksandr: These Toporika Bratva blatnoy are some of the craziest fuckers you've dealt with in a while. It's like they can't decide if it's 1993 or the height of the Bitch Wars, so they just act like it's both. And the Vor...he sounds almost like a parody but you're sure it's not an act, and a man that large should be able to move so easily. But they're true to their word. 

Mara won't talk about what her "penance" was and you won't ask, though the Ornithologist offered to give you the dvd. She's resilient, scarily so, and you think she'll take a boat down the underground river by herself if you let her. 

Gavril: These fucking assholes knocked over three different corner stores while you were puking up your guts from that Ramon Mercader Day street taco, the fucking skeleton Virgin Mary staring down at your from on top of the toilet the whole fucking time. You need to kill something, doesn't matter what and only minimally matters who. 

Session 4 (Week 3 Continued) 4D Chess, or The Gang's First Act of Political Sabotage

 

Chess and Checkers to the Masses! 
Soviet Uzbek Poster, 1934 

We deviate from our normal programming of moving forward a week in the game world between sessions this time, with the action picking up two days after last session. I dropped a line in the session 3 prep about a job that could have very serious consequences for Arkheologorodok as a whole and I figured I should at least give the players a chance to see if they want to take it or not. 

In the early hours of the morning, Aleksandr is awoken by call from Artyom, the teenage metro worker and member of the Excavators. There is angry shouting in the background, and Aleksandr can only barely hear Artyom as he apologetically explains that he's trapped in the bathroom by his drunken father demanding his paycheck, and that he's going to be late for his shift. Aleksandr sets out the apartment blocs immediately. 

Even had he not known the number, Aleksandr would have had no trouble finding apartment in question just by following the screams and shouts. Stepping over a few hypodermic needles as he crosses the threshold, Aleksandr see as bald fat man lifting Artyom by the throat as the strung out mother ineffectually pleads from the couch. Invoking the strength of Holy Death, Aleksandr commands the man to release the boy, and then makes it clear that Artyom is under protection to the stunned drunkard. Artyom thanks Aleksandr and quickly makes his way to the metro for his shift. 

"Alcoholism is the enemy of health, family, society"
1983

Session 6 Prep

 

 

News & Rumors

Good evening and a happy Ramon Mercader Day, Arkheologorodok! This is Lara Kiseleva broadcasting live from the Orbita News building, bringing you this week’s news round-up.

This afternoon's parade was a smash hit as usual, with a massive turnout. Governor Yevseyev marked the start of the parade with the ceremonial breaking of the Trotsky piñata with an oversized ice axe. His first attempt at a swing resulted in him falling backwards, to great laughter, but after being picked up by his guards and in good cheer, the Governor landed a mighty blow and candies were distributed among the children. 

The start of the parade also marked one of the few public appearances of both Dariy Belov and Vladimir Saburov, with the two looking notably icy towards one another. Rumors have it that they both sought to outdo one another in terms of funding Ramon Mercader Day celebrations. We can't say which of them lost, but we can say with great certainty that the citizens of Arkheologorodok won! 

In a rare joint statement, Metropolitan Grigori and Commissioner Nikitan are urging residents and citizens to exert some self control tonight and warned against the moral hazards of excessive drinking. 

And that was this week's news-roundup, brought to you by a charitable donation from the Railwayman's Union, reminding you that they keep the trains running on time. For Orbita News, this is Lara Kiseleva, signing off. 

Character Interactions & Interests:

Dr. Galidikas: The Sanitorium Administrator made a strange comment to you today, he said that Samarkand Meat Market the best kebabs in town, said you should stop by there soon.

Pierre has prepared a full report on his findings with the lambent water sample from the Silo, he seems quite excited about it. The dossier on Subject #86 has also made for interesting reading. 

Spartak: Party members have been very supportive over the week, Oksana has been babying you and this weeks edition of Nastuplenie! has Party Order 1099 at the top: Do not ask Comrade Spartak about the thing. 

Semenov: The dig is going slowly, but at the very least the area around the exposed spinal column is now looking like a proper dig site. You're main focus has been trying to find a means to break the curse on Spartak. You have a couple leads there, there are rumors of an old women living near the Gunig Marsh called Nochnaya Babushka, and there is supposedly network of shamans amongst the workers of the Abattoir. 

You have still yet to decode the teen hedge wizards grimoire you recovered from the abandoned school.