1. Plans Within Plans

In the dusty streets of Carthag, much trade is done under the watchful eyes of the Harkonnen, and much more away from their agents. It is here that we find Nascent House Heslin, elevated recently for service to the Emperor of the Known Universe, but not yet given control of a moon or planet. Sina Heslin has aspirations to set up her own trading bazaar in Carthag, to rival the Grand Emporium in Arrakeen. Is she simply an entrepreneur with a vision, or is this a guise for a secretive spice smuggling operation?

Few want her to succeed.

Arrakis, Carthag, Parato Parlor

Named after the famously luxurious Parato Silk, Carthag’s Parato Parlor caters to the wealthy cheops and card players of the city. To allay suspicion, Sina Heslin has set up in the Parato Parlor, creating the illusion of a carefree aristocrat with a preference for playing gambling games rather than political ones.

If one needs to find Sina for any reason, she’ll most likely be in a corner table of the back room with a cheops board in front of her. She explains away all her visitors with a tired, dismissive handwave, telling the curious that she’s remodeling part of the Heslin estate and requires more workers than she ever thought she would have to deal with. Contrary to appearances, she’s in the process of building a small empire. For that to work, she's quite interested in the Fremen. Why? You suspect she will tell you the full plans soon.

Of course, the Harkonnen mistrust Sina for good reason. As a nascent house beholden to House Richese, they've long suspected Heslin of secretly undermining the Harkonnen affairs in Arrakis. In particular, Glossu "The Beast" Rabban, in situ governor of Arrakis, thinks she is up to something: just what that is, he hasn't decided.

You've just arrived at the Parato Parlor, the door to your limocar hasn't yet been opened by a footman from the Parlor. Sina is supposed to join you in the car and then you will drive to ... she hasn't told you where yet, only that "It's time to act, and for Heslin to make the first move."

Suddenly, the sound of lasgun fire lights up the sky, and a chunk of masonry from the Parlor falls to the ground before you, crushing a beggar who rests in the shade.

A quartet of Fremen across the street exchange fire with three mercenaries, who dash inside the Parato Parlor ahead of you, firing back at the Fremen over their shoulders.

---

Describe your characters and what you hope to achieve in this meeting with Sina Heslin. Do you suspect what her true plans might be? Have you discussed it among yourselves?

Then, how do you react to the sudden violence around you?

Shadran was glad he'd had the foresight to have hidden pockets sewn into his better robe that was reserved for occasions such as this. He couldn't very well wear his tattered clothing to meeting with the ruler of his house. Concealed within such pockets was his small poison dagger. He had debated whether he'd be searched, but decided to take a chance anyway because he felt naked without a weapon and it was why he still lived. It had saved him from many a close call.

Pareto Parlor was the kind of place he hoped to control one day. This one and many more he thought, as he took in the opulent colors and the rich smells of wealth. He hoped that Sina had a lucrative job proposition for him, whether it was a part to play here at the Parlor or some other task within the city. The Mentat and the Sister he had only dealt with one on one. They had given him missions, he completed them, got paid and that was the end of it. This felt different. Together they were invited to be a part of what sounded like House Helsin making a move in its advancement.

His musings were cut short when a laserfire fight broke out. He withdrew his knife and found a place to hide from the laserfire while he figured out what exactly was going on.

Marya calmly takes in the violence unfolding around them - registering responses within the crowd, urgency fear and coordination from the mercenaries, harsh devastating intensity from the Fremen.

She is dressed practically in a breathable, temperature-regulating bodysuit - offering comfort in Arrakis's heat, flexibility and durability for situations (perhaps like this) where speed and precise nuanced action are at a premium, opportunity for style fashion and ornament, but without the more fragrant aspects of a stillsuit. Middle-aged, middle-weight, middle-height, she exudes an aura of charisma and competence.

She's here to meet Sina, Marya presumes, in her role as advisor to the house ruler - Sina sometimes looks to Marya for insight and support in understanding the motives, needs, drives, and urges of both her allies and her enemies. Marya, though, is keen to change "sometimes" into "often" or even "constantly" - to have more influence on the activities of House Heslin, to have more access to the secrets of the House... Partly because she knows she can help House Henlin be more successful with such access. Partly to help better serve the Bene Gesserit sisterhood. Partly to have more access herself to personal power and influence. Because, you know, it's important to have someone competent at the reins of this kind of thing...

She's hoping that this meeting with Sina will be an opportunity to raise her profile with the House Ruler, to impress her yet further with her insight and competence. From small subtle recent indications, she suspects Sina may have some plans of intrigue that she wants this team to work on together...

Having quickly taken in the emerging situation around them, Marya bursts out of the car and rushes into Parato Parlor - if Sina is endangered, this could be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate her worth not just as an advisor, but as a field operative, as a precise powerful instrument of House Heslin...

As they rode to the Parato, Marcus kept watch through the windows of the limocar at the passersby on the street. While the vehicle was undoubtedly armored against small arms fire, heavier munitions would likely be able to tear it apart. But there was no suspicious activity in the crowd. Sitting idly parked in the street while waiting for Lady Sina to arrive made Marcus nervous. While one could not force the head of a house to make haste, he wished that someone of sufficient rank would do just that.

The firing of the lasguns confirmed his fears, and the sight of mercenaries entering the Palato while Fremen shot at them was a bad sign. Why were they here? Are they friends or foes of Lady Sina? And is Hannah inside to protect Lady Sina?

He had to find out what was going on.

Hural carries himself straight as an arrow, as unerring with his stride as he is with his punctuality. As typical, he arrives a few moments early and is waiting outside the door for the appointed time. He sticks out to casual observers - too wiry to be a typical bouncer or guard, older too. The longblade at his hip still yet announces him as someone that could be dangerous, but his stance is calm and his breathing measured.

He had chosen not to go inside early - a mentat in a house of chance was like a spider in an aphid colony, and it would not do to make anyone uncomfortable.

Suddenly lasgun fire erupts around them. In the immediate chaos, Hural turns to look at the unfolding violence - fremen, four of them, against three mercenaries, being routed? chased? or leading the Fremen inside? Hural's hand sits casually on the hilt of his sword as he considers the possibilities in the blink of an eye.

Almost as quick as the computations are complete, he begins a heavy jog in the direction of the Parato Parlor, drawing his sword as he goes. Not too fast so as to elevate his heart rate too much before the first swing of his sword, but enough to close the distance and operate within the scope of the adrenaline pumping into his body.

This would not be the first time he draws steel for Sina Heslin, and he hopes it will not be his last. The odds were good.

You're uncertain who the mercenaries are, but one thing that's for certain is that the Fremen aren't know to have lasguns -- these weapons are almost solely used by the great houses.

Marya and Hural run from the limocar and into the building, crowding past the mercenaries in the doorway, while Rook ducks low behind the seats, and Marcus watches, waiting to find out more.

The Fremen see the additional support and fire a devastating series of shots at the front of the building. One of the mercenaries takes a shot to the chest and falls behind Hural's feet. The Fremen run, disappearing around a corner into an alley.

This isn't intended to be a combat scene, but it's yours to make of it what you will. Let's make some quick tests, get the dice rolling, then we can get on with the scene inside the Parato Parlor. Make a roll of your choice. Choose a Drive and a Skill, and roll 2d20. You want to roll under Drive+Skill, and you get double successes for a natural 1, or for rolling under your Skill if you have an appropriate Focus in that Skill.

Inside the Limocar
Rook, low behind a door panel, watches the Fremen lay down cover fire before retreating. If you want to follow them, then a Move (Stealth) roll. If you want to work out the danger, then perhaps Understand (Danger Sense).

Marcus watches, his eyes seeking motive in their movements and decisions. Battle(Strategy) might be a good pick to work out their tactics.

Inside the Parlor
Marya runs into the Parlor, the presence of a Bene Geserit sister immediately clearing space in the entrance. Perhaps Undertand (Body Language) if you want to size up the mercenaries.

Hural is cool under fire, stepping inside just as the Fremen open fire. He sees the three, then only two mercenaries, take defensive postures by the door. Hural, similar to Marcus might choose a Battle(Strategy) test to learn more about the mercernaries, or Communicate (Innuendo) test to try and open a dialog with the embattled mercenaries.

Hural stops amidst the chaos, taking in the scene and analyzing the movements and strategies of the mercenaries to better understand what their intentions are.

Marya moves, cat-like, into the Parlor - her external awareness flowing up and around the space. She senses no immediate, environmental, non-human, hazards. Simultaneously she scans for signals and indications from the people surrounding her.

In particular, she assess the space for the presence of Sina - if she's anywhere to be seen, or if there are any cues or other indications suggesting where she might be found.

She also focuses on the mercenaries, to sense their intent, their motivations, their likely next actions.

While also checking for anything else out-of-the-ordinary in the manner and behaviour of other people around her.

Rook's mind burns with curiosity. Why were those mercs going into the parlor? It couldn't be good no matter the reason. Was the game up? Literally? Had Sina's latest scheme, whatever that might be, been discovered? And the Fremen. What were they doing here?

He sees Marya slip in, waits a few seconds, then attempts to sneak in himself.

Marcus was puzzled. Fremen using lasguns? That was odd. It seemed more likely that these people were of a rival house disguised as Fremen.

Successes:
- Hural, 2. "Choosing Truth (to learn...) and Battle/Strategy (...their <the Mercenaries> strategy and maybe their goals here)."
- Marya, 3. "In particular, she assess the space for the presence of Sina - if she's anywhere to be seen, or if there are any cues or other indications suggesting where she might be found. She also focuses on the mercenaries, to sense their intent, their motivations, their likely next actions."
- Rook, 1. "He sees Marya slip in, waits a few seconds, then attempts to sneak in himself."
- Marcus, 3. "Going with Truth + Battle (Strategy) to figure out these Fremen attackers."

As I didn't specify the difficulty, the default is 1, which means that 1 success was required. Marya used a Trait to reduce her difficulty by 1, to 0. You need that many successes to succeed, and any excess successes can be used or stored in Momentum. I'll use one of Marya's successes to answer her second question, and store the rest in the group pool. They will last for the scene, then begin to fade.

Momentum Pool: 5


Hural, Marya, and then Rook pile into the besieged Parato Parlour. Screams begin to echo, the music stopping, as folks duck under tables or flee for the back doors. More than one small arm gets pulled out, more than a few blades.

Hural's eyes are on the mercenaries, and they are surprised no doubt to see a mentat, his lips marked with the the Juice of Sapho. One of them nods in greeting even as they duck under the withering fire that tears up the front of the parlour. He can tell by their posture that they are looking for somewhere to hide, but that they were coming here anyway. That's odd, as they're not dressed to fit into this crowd. They're not looking to attack the Fremen.

Marya's eyes scan the crowd calmly, seeing Sina Heslin at a back corner, a multi-level cheops board in front of her. The intense strategy game is part of her cover as a bored socialite. Her eyes flash once, and Marya can see that Sina was not expecting this kind of entrance, but was expecting the mercenaries. Marya then looks at those mercenaries and sees that they're resting inside, firing a couple shots to keep the Fremen honest but not aiming, and not threatening the crowd. She also sees that one of them has a blade marked with a signet from the rival House Bakhtiar. Elara's house.

Rook waits for the other two to clamber into the parlour, and then sneaks in behind them. His approach is such that they block his movements, and he's then into the crowd as if he'd been there the whole time. Someone hands them her drink saying, "I'm feeling faint, Charlo," before sighing and falling senseless into his free arm. She's a merchant of some kind, he can see, out for a day of revelry not violence. She wakes immediately and whispers, "Thank you, but you're not Charlo. I'm Fayl." Fayl - a name common on Geidi Prime, home of House Harkonnen.

Marcus sits in the car, his eyes watching the movements of the Fremen carefully. There is something wrong. He's already noted the lasguns. These powerful weapons are incredibly dangerous. The interplay between las fire and shields are as devastating as atomics. As such, only the most highly trained soldiers in the largest houses routinely use them. Anyone who sets off an atomic, or even inadvertently causes a similarly powerful lasgun/shield explosion would be expelled from the landsraad. So where did the Fremen get these weapons? Still, what's wrong is that the Fremen aren't as competent as he'd expect. Their footsteps are heavy and plodding, not the careful placements of people used to walking without rhythm on shifting stands. No, those aren't Fremen, despite their Fremen style stilsuits and blue within blue eyes of spice saturation.

Balancing the woman's drink in one hand while preventing her from collapsing on the floor with the other, Rook stares into the eyes of a thankful Fayl.

"Hello, Fayl. You're right. I'm not Charlo." Rook doesn't offer his name while his eyes scan the room, noting the mercs within. "Who is Charlo?"

Marcus gets out of the car and jogs over to the corner where the fake Fremen disappeared. He peeks into the alley to see if there's any further sign of them. Afterwards, he returns to the Parato to check on the fate of the fallen mercenary.

Inside the Parlor
She looks at Rook and stands on her own, reclaiming her drink. "Oh, um, no one just my ... friend." She primps her hair and Rook likely suspects "friend" really means "jealous boyfriend."

Outside the ClubMarcus gets to the alleyway and sees the "Fremen" at the far end turn another corner, on a busy street farther down. They're likely gone. The streets are narrow and the blocks small, so there are a myriad of places to hide or confuse pursuit.

Seeing Sina at the back of the space, Marya moves directly towards the ruler of House Heslin, aiming to protect Sina from possible harm, and perhaps respond to any orders or information Sina shares with her.

As she moves towards Sina, Marya is also is keeping her eyes open for any imminent threats to herself, and to Sina - which she will tackle if she notices them.

Hural keeps his hand on his blade and moves briskly to the mercenaries, watching them for signs of attack - they seemed poised to defend and hide, however, and he judged the odds of them suddenly turning fire upon him to be low enough to be safe. "What is going on here?" he asks with authority, "by what right do you draw fire upon this place?"

Inside the Parato Parlour
Marya finds Sina of course, and she gets up, leaving payment on the table for her time and drinks. With a nod, she only asks, "Is the limocar intact? If so, we should go now and speak quickly. The City Guard will be here soon, and I do not wish to be detained by them."

For Hural, the friendlier of the mercenaries, watches the bene geserit sister walk away and then stands up to the mentat. "We were coming here and were attacked. The rest is not your business, sir." He looks around as if looking for someone, but doesn't turn much away from Hural, who with naked steel in his hand, is clearly a threat.

Relieved to see Sina well and safe - or, well, as safe as anyone ever is on this planet, in this society, thinks Marya - Marya replies to her ruler:

"When I left it a few seconds ago the vehicle was still in one piece. If you will it, I'll accompany you to the limocar just in case there are some more unpleasant... surprises...?" (Marya is curious about how expected or unexpected the recent violence is to Sina).

Assuming Sina is good with that, Marya walks out with Sina to the limocar and gets back inside with her.

"That most certainly depends on why you were coming here," the mentat responds to the mercenary, "whether it is my business. I serve House Heslin, as you likely know. Our Lady, Sina, is within - as you also likely know. I will not allow harm to come to her." He pulls the sword halfway from its sheath, his words and tone is measured - not overly threatening but also clear in intent. "Why are the fremen attacking you?"