Moolah Boolah

Roleplay Library
1

http://theeastpacific.com/topic/5231486/1/

— Begin quote from ____


From the Desk of
Gen. Akyola Bikongi
President of Shango

Yo,

I am Akyola Bikongi, the President of Shango. I am writing to all large companies in Urth with a mondo proposition. We have detected some gold dust in the northern part of the great ridge that runs vertically along the center of our main island. It looks like there is deffo some gold, but it is too deep for us and our limited equipment. We would like to dig it up and get some dough.

Therefore, we would like any interested companies be coming over to Shango and be helping us dig for a cut of the profit. We will dig for a short period of time. If at the end of the digging period we happen on some gold, we will give a cut of the profits. This could be big bucks. Big bucks.

Any company that wants to help must be hiring on Shangoese workers to dig. We will provide workers that are used to working under the hot sun. This will really cut the cost.

All soil and rock that are dug up will need to be sifted. We have that capability, so all debris will be transported to the nearby sorter. We will report on any gold that is detected.

We will also be needing some cash to start up this dig. Each corporation must provide 45 million Shangoese Assay, which is about 5 million of those Veskonos from Vekaiyu.

If there is gold, we will give a cut and give your startup money back. If there is no gold found, we will let you know and you will get your startup cash back in full within one year’s time. Aside from some time and transport, this is a no-lose situation. If you are interested, zoom over an email and I be reading it to let you know.

Bye,
Gen. Akyola Bikongi
President of Shango

— End quote

After submitting the email, Akyola shut the window to her office - third story atop the governmental assembly building in the capitol, Wombo Lombo. The eastery breeze was nice, but it hadn’t rained yet today and the humidity was getting to be a pain. “When dis rain be comin?” she said to herself. “Needs be mad raining pronto.”

2

Val stood there in his Company Office. Officially he was no longer CEO of Wey-Yu Industries. Unofficially, that statement couldn’t be any further from the truth. His eyes were busy reading the transcript that was printed out. Paper folding between his large fingers. He remained standing for a few minutes, a face of slight confusion and humor was present. One could almost mistake it for disbelief.

“How the hell does the leader of a country write like that?” he asked aloud. Continuing to talk to himself, “Must be a dump, or an opportunity to exploit.”

He walked over to his expensive Claro Walnut desk. Easily worth well into the tens of thousands of dollars worth. He picked up the phone and dialed one of the board members. “Jessica, you there?” he asked.

“Yes Val?” replied a rather husky sounding woman.

“Oh God, did I call at the wrong time?” he said, rolling his eyes in disgust. He knew what exactly was going on with Jess.

“Hun,” Jessica said half laughing while still maintaining a rather deep voice, “You know there ain’t no wrong time for you to call.”

Val grunted a little, “Dammit, I’ll fill you in when you get to work. Later.” He hung up the phone and then picked it up. A finger traveled over to the numbers and began punching in the string.

After a minute of dull tones, a man at the other end of the line picked up, “Yes Val?”

“Peterson, you read the email from the leader of Shango?”

“Yes Indeedy,” said the man, with a rather Texas-like drawl. “You thinking what I’m thinking son?”

“Oh yeah, we did acquire Genaldo Incorporated a month or two ago, no?”

“Yep, we were gonna put them to use to you know where. You want them at Shango?”

“Yes Peterson, although we will just be keeping supervisors and the necessary people. Most of the work will be relegated to the locals. I’ll also need you to send an official letter along with the necessary funds to set up the operation.”

“Sure thing! Would you like it official or unofficial?”

“Lets go with official. Tax agents are in the middle of trying to sift through our records. We need a source to try and compensate for the mass influx of funds from the black market.”

“Alrighty then, I’ll hang up and get the wheels spinning.”

A click was heard on Saar’bac’s end. He put down the phone and sat down in his custom made leather chair. The chair being made of furs from elephants. Leaning back and relaxing, it was finally nice to get a week long vacation from the Vice Presidential duties.

[hr]

— Begin quote from ____

To the Esteemed General Akyola Bikongi, President of Shango,

Genaldo Incorporated, a subsidiary of Wey-Yu Industries, has expressed interest in starting a venture in Shango. We are willing to invest Five Million South Hills Dollars, along with the necessary equipment and supervisors. We do support local workforces to provide a large impact on the economy, resulting in a very profitable venture for the host. However, we must remain firm on using supervisors, consultants, and trainers from Genaldo Inc.

With your permission, we can begin sending over legal representatives and all the neccessary equipment and aforementioned manpower to begin operations. We are looking forward towards hearing from you.

Global Outreach Solutions
Genaldo Incorporated

— End quote

3

— Begin quote from ____

President Akyola Bikongi,

We sympathize with your nation’s desire to unearth precious metals from the mountainous ridge of your nation. Our company, Sevinirewerks, is among the world leaders in mining iron ore, copper, and Coek from the mighty Ta’lavero Mountains in Vekaiyu. Consequently, we have the equipment and the engineering necessary to mine in your nation.

Your desires are sound and we plan to adhere to them. We will gladly accept Shangoese workers, but we will require a team of our own workers from Vekaiyu in order to efficiently work and dig in optimal locations that are both facile and safe to work through.

I ask you to please provide general locations of this gold dust you have discovered. Our surveyors will work quickly on site to survey the landscape and select areas to begin our work.

With best,
Seri Rekastroviyey
COO of Sevinirewerks, local chapter

— End quote

4

The email from Shango was plastered on the screen in front of Thomas Fletcher. Next to him sat Andrew Fletcher, his younger brother and fellow business partner. Being owners of one of the largest mining companies in Fortuna, Fletcher Mining, the email grabbed their attention quickly. The iron deposits in Fortuna have been highly profitable, but lately they have been on a decline due to lack of ore. This invitation though was exactly what Thomas was looking for, hopefully keep the company afloat until they find something else to tap into.

“I say we go for it,” Andrew said, throwing his hands up. “I mean what is there to lose, well money of course. This is a risk we are going have to take though, or else we will crash and burn.”

Thomas shook his head in agreement, but he was still a little hesitant. “I couldn’t agree more. Its just that this place, well, seems a bit…”

“Wacky.” Andrew chuckled, taking another look at the email. “So what they talk, and write, differently from us. We aren’t going there to party all night, its all about the gold and,” pointing at the screen, " ‘big bucks’. I bet they are fun to hang out with though."

“Your right, its just about making money. But what about our government, will they approve?”

“Are you serious? They’ll be supporting us the whole way once the dough begins rolling in.”

“Alright, I’ll send an email showing our interest.” Thomas sat up in his chair and started typing a reply. “How about I send you to help oversee things? You could also go see if they actually are fun to hang out with.”

“I’m down with that!” Andrew stood up and headed to the door. “Just tell me if we get approved so I can begin packing my bags.”

“Yeah, yeah.” After his brother left the room, the only sound was the tapping of keys as Thomas wrote. He slowly sighed, having a good feeling about this whole thing.

— Begin quote from ____


To General Akyola Bikongi
President of Shango

We here at Fletcher Mining have taken an interest in helping of the extraction of gold in your nation. We have the needed equipment and experience and are willing to help in your endeavor. We also are willing to hire local workers, but require for a few of our own workers and supervisors to see that the mining goes smoothly.

Accompanying you will also be Andrew Fletcher, co-owner of Fletcher Mining. He will be there to help oversee that everything goes well. We hope that we will both benefit from this.

With Best Regards,
Fletcher Mining

— End quote

5

— Begin quote from ____

President Akyola Bikongi,

We at Dobycha International share your desire to take advantage of the various resources the Urth has to offer hidden just below the surface. We are one of the world leaders in mining coal and precious metals, and have been one of the largest mining corporation in the Laiatanese Federation since 2009. We have all the necessary equipment to begin operations in your country at your approval.

We operate mines across the northern stretches of the Laiatanese Federation that have been in compliance with federal environmental and mining laws and regulations since their beginning. A few years back we were subject to federal investigation for alleged environmental law violations, but the allegations were never substantiated and charges were never filed.

We take pride in our assistance to local economies by employing local and native workers, using only Laiatanese employees for supervisory and various other positions. Shango locals will be hired for digging jobs.

We are prepared to invest the five million rublas (or veskonos, it all roughly translates into the same amount) and are excited to begin working with you. I hope to hear back from you soon.

Tatiana Vladimirovana Mamonov
Chief Operating Officer, Dobycha Mining Corporation International

— End quote

6

— Begin quote from ____

To:
General Akyola Bikongi
President of Shango

I would like to personally thank you for the opportunity this would have brought this company. However, at this time, the subsidiary of Dreanor Incorporated, Dreanor Mining, can not help your country’s mining problem. While we do have equipment for above ground mining, the majority of our equipment is specialized with underwater mining and both are currently tied up mining elsewhere.

Regards,
Xoel Nicolau Dreanor
CEO, Dreanor Incorporated

— End quote

7

“Yo, President Bikongi!”

“Yo yourself!” she barked back after walking down one of the open hallways to the Governmental Assembly building. It was another hot day in Wombo Lombo, as it didn’t rain yesterday. “What be the update of the shin-dig?”

“Four companies from all around da globe! They have logos!”

“Four? If it be only four, we won’t have the smackeroons we need.”

“There is another, but they want to do it with the bubbles.”

“Too much moolah! Land only. And it is hotter than hot. Good Lord knows it!” She continued to walk as another staffer caught up with several maps. “Be givin’ those to da companies, zoom-style!”

“They need verification though!”

She paused as the map was unfurled. “The x?” She watched as the staffer nodded. “Then good time. Let them know those plottos or y’both be banishmentised!”

“On top of it!” the staffer holding the maps said.

She continued to walk and was approached by another individual. “Who dis?” she asked.

“He be staffin the down-miners!”

“And the up-miners?”

“They come down, they come up!”

He interrupted her staffer. “We sent out work programs in major cities and have our crews on the down-low!”

“Very sweet. Bye.”

8

“Minister Yombosa! Cease yo sky-braining and give me an update!”

The Minister of Finance, Reko Yombosa, leaned back in his chair a bit too far and had to grip the desk with his hands in order to keep himself from falling backwards. It was the end of another rather slow work day, but such was life in Shango - live before work. “Yo! President Bikongi! We’ve had four companies commit to the job. They be bringing in the big rigs and be mining.”

“On th’ level?”

“Aye, on th’ level.”

“Very sweet, very sweet. It should be enough moolah for the side project.”

“Air conditioning!” the minister shouted.

“Only the bestimest,” she acknowledged. “Why we couldn’t up it in the budget is insano. It is 2016 and our Governmental Assembly building is outdated and without the A of C. Put the money in the bankaroo and use the proposisted interest to get some cool bros in here toot sweet!”

“We give the money back after getting interest?”

“Jah. It be good. We have money alloticated to the sifter and the miners already. It be good times all around. I will respond to the compos and give them a round-a-boos and a time.”

“And look!” the minister said as he pointed to the window. “It be rain-makin’ soon!”

She removed her aviator shades, revealing her yellow-colored eyes. “Yus. It be rainin’ rain and moolah.”

9

— Begin quote from ____


From the Desk of
Gen. Akyola Bikongi
President of Shango

Yo,

Much thanks for replying to our request. We be setting up some plots in the Kuligaso Mountains near the Batongan Plateau, near where the gold dust was first found. But be advised, the premises is not hospitable for you. It be very rocky with lots of sun and dry as the back of a runga. The Gub River starts nearby but be-waring of the bushnus since they like the mud. They are humungo things that eat yo and think nothing of such.

http://i65.tinypic.com/23m0oya.png
Above be the topographical image of Shango. It is a nice place. Pay close heed to the red speck. That is where we be digging.

http://i65.tinypic.com/16bastf.png
This be the site blown-up but not really blown-up. Plots 1-6 have been set up. Gold dust be found nearest to plots 3 and 4 but other plots have strong indication from local peeps and small digs.

As we said earlier, you probably won’t be seeing no gold. We be loading all digging debris and shipping it over to our sifting facility. There we will find gold and let you know of the results.

We will be meeting at the site in one week to get you all acclimated and meet your crew. My bros will be giving you the plans to get over here.

Bye,
Gen. Akyola Bikongi
President of Shango

— End quote

10

Oshar Abadi was standing guard over a His massive Panthera Leo torso hugged by a bullet resistant vest. His mane that only occupied his head and nape of the neck flowed like dreadlocks over his back. A wraparound pair of sunglasses covered his eyes from the hot sun above. While it rained in the southern parts of Shango, it was dry and unforgiving where the dig sites were. Thankfully he had a camel sack on the back of his vest, recently filled with ice and water to prevent dehydration.

If his 7’2" tall muscular frame wasn’t scary enough, a M60 belt fed machine gun was slung around his neck, hand on the grip. His kind, the Panthera Leo, were sought after in the Private Security business. Their natural height and muscular frame gave them a serious edge, but not without them being a little dumber than the average human. Years of military service and private contracting easily negated that for Oshar.

Over his right he looked at the digging equipment being set up at Dig Site 4 as the human supervisor was training the local miners on how to operate them properly. The lemur-like people were a curious bunch.

Over to his left a dead Bushnu was seen on the ground a few yards away. Carnivorous elephant noted by their distinct and smaller shaped ears than their cousins. A reminder of the incident that Oshar had last night when it sneaked up on him. His M60 chambered in 338 Federal on full auto was enough of a match against the large creature. Flies were crawling in and out of it’s ears, along with the multitude of bullet entry holes on the front of it’s face.

“Protected Species my ass, f***er would have eaten me if I hadn’t done anything about it,” he muttered to himself. He continued walking the perimeter of the dig site. As a result of the incident, one man patrols were boosted up to three man patrols, as Abadi noted with his two other squad mates carrying G3 rifles chambered in 338 Federal. An unorthodox cartridge by modern standards, but a strong cartridge for dealing with dangerous game and combatants.

(For those that miss it, Dig Site 4 is claimed as mine! :P)

11

Sergei Mikheyev wiped the sweat from his brow as he looked over the dig site - Dig Site 3 according to the Shango government - Searchlight Mine according to Dobycha International. He looked over a map with several supervisors, nodding along as they went over the plans for the equipment and digging plans. He lit a cigarette and peered down at the moving equipment and various lupine trainers working with the new lemur miners. They seemed to be receiving the training well, so hopefully digging could begin rather soon.

He wiped his brow again as sweat built up, placing his bandanna into his back pocket. “This place is too damn hot.” He muttered, blowing smoke away from the other supervisors. They muttered in agreement, occasionally wiping their foreheads. There was a reason the lupine flourished in a place like Laiatan, and not here. “How do they survive here?” He thought to himself, scratching his chin. He pulled a bottle from a pocket in his cargo shorts, drinking down nearly half of it before returning it to his pocket.

“We should have the site finished in a couple of days, and finish training the miners a few days after that,” one of the smaller lupine supervisors in charge of operations said, also clearly being affected by the heat. Anastasia Dragunova was her name. She was wearing a boonie hat like the rest of the crew, eyes hidden by a pair of dark sunglasses. Her shirt was drenched in sweat, just like everyone else’s. Sergei nodded, taking another drag from his cigarette. “Good, good. How’s security?”

The security supervisor, Markian Popov - a veteran of the Laiatanese Defense Forces - turned his glance to Sergei. On his hip was a P86 .40 caliber pistol, one of the main service pistols in use with the LDF. It also happened to be the main service pistol of Dobycha Security Inc. “We’re pretty secure overall, I would say. We’ve got neighbors to the south, but we should be okay. Patrols haven’t had to deal with any wildlife yet, either. Seems us and those Genaldo guys are the first ones here.”

“Good, good. We’ll have a head start on the others, then.” Sergei replied, snuffing his cigarette on the heel of his boot and tossing it towards a trash bin. “You guys know what we’re doing, so I’ll leave you to it. Keep me updated on everything.” He commanded, giving a small nod as the group dispersed. He continued looking down at the bustling site - temporary housing and administrative buildings were going up, lemurs were getting trained on equipment, and some of the security forces were off to the side, using old cans as target practice to fill the downtime.

12

As soon as Andrew Fletcher stepped out of the vehicle, he was suddenly hit with overwhelming heat. Even though he was used to feeling high temperatures back home, the sticky humid air that he was familiar with was replaced with a dry sun that burned any skin that was not covered. Around him workers were busy setting up the equipment on what was labeled as Dig Site 5, according to the Shango government. Not wanting to linger to long in the sun, Andrew moved with a quick pace towards a nearby canopy where head supervisor Madeline Odalis was waiting.

“Mr. Fletcher, it’s a pleasure to have you with us,” Madeline said with an outstretched hand, “If you would like I can show what we have at the moment.” As Andrew shook her hand, he couldn’t help but find how amusing she appeared. Back home she always appeared proper, yet here her auburn hair was a mess, her clothes drenched in sweat, and much of her skin red due to sunburns. Madeline seemed to have known what Andrew was thinking, glaring at him until he finally looked away. “I want to see you working out here for hours, and then we’ll see whose laughing.”

“Hah! Don’t worry; I’ll be here for a few days until everything is ready to begin digging. I’m so ready for a tan.” Madeline stood there for a few seconds trying to ponder his answer until turning around to face a small table. As Andrew got closer to it, he noticed an enlarged map of the dig site and a few reports of the land by the surveyors.

“Our surveyors have confirmed gold dust in this dig site,” gesturing to a few red dots on the map, “these areas seem to hold the largest amount and is where we will begin digging.” Andrew studied the map a bit when an area caught his attention. “What’s this area over here?” he asked while pointing to a marked area to the north of their dig site. “That is Dig Site 4, being occupied by Genaldo Inc. Not exactly sure who they are,” she replied. “They shouldn’t be a problem to us unless we provoke them or something.”

He slowly shook his head in understanding while wiping some sweat already forming on his neck. “When will we begin digging then?”

“Well much of our equipment is ready to go; training should also be finished in a few days,” she answered, grabbing a nearby bottle and gulping down most of its contents. “Unless we have any issues, we will be able to begin digging by the end of the week.”

“Good. Since you have everything under control, I’ll just step back and let you work.” He answered, taking another glance at the map. Even with the heat and unknown dangers, Andrew was very hopeful of this gold dig.

13

The crystal-clear skies of Shango were a sharp contrast to the beautiful skies of soot and clay that were of the western half of Sevinire, Vekaiyu, where the smokestacks reached like the arms of God and the lights of the factories were always glowing. Iron Ore was the choice deposit for Sevinirewerks, fueling the steel mills that built the nation’s tanks, planes, and ships that won the 2010 civil war, 2012 Listonian war, and 2014 Dverian war. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was honest, tough, and, in it’s own way, beautiful. The men and women who made it possible, whether they cared or not, were but a cog in the great machine that fueled modern Vekaiyu.

“No, no!” shouted foreman Yiisu Ulikare. “Stop! You’re going to hurt yourself!” He grabbed the hand of a lemur and cursed at him in Unonian. To the Shangoese, Unonian was a language they spoke, but from a Vekaiyun, it sounded different. More direct. “Take that equipment and push it over there! Now!” The foreman wiped his brow with a damp cloth. Of course it had to be the vulpine way to be born without a subcutaneous layer, lacking sweat glands, and therefore burning in the hot sun. It wasn’t as bad as the cold, however. But it was the cold that toughened a southern variant vulpine up.

He walked over to a crowd of Vekaiyun miners, brought over to help teach the Shangoese how to mine properly, a technique perfected over thousands of years to the mighty and unforgiving Ta’lavero Mountains. “Status?” he asked.

“We’re moving along well,” an employee replied. “We should be in operation by evening, ready for President Bikongi’s announcement.”

“Great.”

“The Shangoese workers are lazy, but we will work them well. We’re supplying them plenty of beer. Koofla, they call it. Tastes like pure motor oil. But the alcohol seems to subdue them and mellow them out.”

“Then keep it up. But limit their consumption to evenings only. Don’t want any accidents.”

“Of course.”

He walked away from the small meeting as the rest scattered. He managed to walk past a hanging icon of St. Ikuvi, the patron saint of Vekaiyun miners, blacksmiths, and factory workers. Legend had it that the tough-as-nails Vekaiyun felt he was not good enough for heaven and instead wanted to do what he did best - smithing, stoking the fires of hell and purifying wandering thoughts through the fires of goodness.

14

Jase Tusumbo was overlooking the dig, a few hours ago they broke ground with a excavator. The Mine Boss had a cigar in his mouth and a mason jar of lemonade. A massive man-made depression could be seen as dump trucks were going in and out. The first few levels would be nothing more than dirt and rocks, but when the pit gets deeper, the real money making comes in.

Instead of digging tunnels, over fears of the dry soil and the rare rain, it was decided that an open pit mine was the better option. The odds of striking gold were low to the analysts. The open pit mine would allow Genaldo Inc. to make their money a different way, if Lady Luck wasn’t on their side. One hidden fact that people know little about, is the abundence of heavy mafic. Mafic is a silicate that is rich in iron and magnesium, such examples of Mafic would be Basalt and Gabbro. Basalt being found in architecture commonly, but Gabbro had valuable amounts of chromium, nickel, cobalt, gold, silver, platinum, and copper sulfides.

Not only would the Iron and Magnesium help the Shango economy in the long run with their industrial base. The valuable amount of minerals found in Gabbro would help achiever the original goal of striking gold.

Jase took a sip from his lemonade and just continued watching. Soon Genaldo Inc. and it’s parent company would be far more useful than it’s competitors, who by now started their tunnel mines, missing out on the good stuff.

15

After the parties looked to be setting up for the dig in order to find Shangoese gold among other precious objects, an all-terrain vehicle appeared along the horizon, followed by an entourage of other vehicles. The vehicles increased in size as they neared the encampments. Eventually, the vehicles stopped and the Shangoese workers looked up and stood to attention. Clearly, they knew who was in one of the vehicles. The lead vehicle stopped and the driver opened the rear set. Out stepped Akyola Bikongi.

She wasn’t really much of a sight to be seen. The aviator shades hid her yellow eyes so common among her people, the Lemurs. Her general uniform of green with yellow accents were a sharp contrast to the wasteland behind her, and the various medals she won for who-knows-what must have displayed some kind of prominence among the Shangoese populace. As she stepped forward, a governmental worker set a box down while another held an umbrella to protect her from the blistering sun. She stood on the box as it made a soft sigh, but she kept her gaze forward, unflinching, because that’s the type of person she was.

“Yo. Dis be da diggin time. I am Akyolo Bikongi, and I zoomed you all e-mails to be diggin’ up our moolah boolah. So sit for a mo’. Imma tell you what we expect. Be diggin however ya please. But scoop and drop in peace. Don’t be treatin’ my peeps like fools. All Shangoese are good peeps, yo, but they work like the sun - start slow then be goin’ fast until evening.”

She wiped her forehead with a rag. "Good Lord knows it be hot. So water the fools! And be putting all the diggings in the trucks. They driving to the sifting plants, but they not be plants they be buildings yo. All stuff goes to sifting for sifting. There we determine what be good and what be rubbish. Don’t be shouting all up and down like a puppet on a string saying you got the shiny! Our science-brains will figure all that out. That’s how it works over here. You dig, we analyze. If we be braining that you took some of the shiny, we kick ya out. Easy as simple.

“Our workers are good peeps. They be knowing Codexian, Bakongan, and some Unonian. Yo don’t be braining Bakongan. It be beautiful and only the beautiful people be speaking it. At least that’s what we tell the tourist boat people. You boat people? No, you be miners. So keep with the dig-digging! Be movin the Urth and pushin the dirt!”

She looked around again after wiping her forehead once more. “Be any questions from yo?”

16

“Can’t argue with that,” exclaimed Jase Tusumbo in his rather Texas-like drawl before continuing, “As you can see, we have good accommodations set aside for the workers that work on site. Even extra beds for the drivers when they take a break.”

After pointed to a complex just off in the distance, he added, “We’ve even gone so far as to recruit local cooks to prepare the meals and drinks. We don’t do alcohol though. Too dangerous with the machinery and we don’t want hangovers the following day.”

“Now as you can see,” Jase spoke, “unlike the others, we are doing an open pit mine. It’s safer considering the ground we are digging into. And if any landslides happen due to weather, that just means the Urth is giving us more minerals! Now I understand that the goal is gold, which is a decent goal. But that’s rather short term thinking. What’s gonna end up more valuable in the long term is the Mafic being dug up too.”

The open pit mine by now was deep. Trucks were going up and down the inclines loaded with ores and to the sifting sites.

“Good thing about Mafic, which is found commonly with gold deposits, is that it’s rich in Iron and Magnesium. Great for your industry. You want Shango to be strong, no? You want your industry to churn out the finest hardware, no? This here, is the future of Shango and it’s people.”

Jase motioned over to the company men holding a rather large briefcase. Taking the signal, they strolled to the group. Tusumbo then said, “And as thanks for being such a generous host, my boss, wants to give you this gift.”

http://i.azcentral.com/commphoto_images/commphotos/2/6/9/269320.jpg
(OOC: The Ellis Island Typewriter reference)

The men were standing just several feet away, they opened the case, revealing a ornately carved, gold plated Thompson Submachine gun. The lining of the case was made from the finest silk. Next to the Thompson gun were two complimentary gold plated, 50 round drum magazines. The texas-sounding man then remarked, “Here is the Thompson Submachine gun, or more commonly known as, the Ellis Island Typewriter. Made famous by the gangsters that used to run that island.”

17

Ankyola Bikongi looked at her aid, exasperated. “Who dis?” she whispered.

“Genaldo Incorporated,” her aid whispered. “I be thinkin’ Jase Tusumbo was the name.”

“Not as annoying as the fox-peeps.” Bikongi turned to the businessman. “Well thanks for the mondo gifto.” She handed it to one of her staff before looking around the area. “As long as the diggings be going to the sifting facilimentist, I got no probs. I be surprising that the workers are not into the drinky-drunky.” She scoffed. “I would watch out for fist-pows.”

18

Scenarios - Overview (Week 1)
Weather report: no rain. It is unusually hot for this time of the year in Shango, especially in this particular area of the nation. 109 F average high during the day, lows dip for an average of 62 F.

General Stuff (for all claims) Despite the overbearing presence of the Shangoese government, digging commences for most teams. All samples are monitored and transported to sifting facilities at lower elevations in order to monitor samples and types of precious gems. Thus far… no signs of gold or mafic have been detected. Iron ore has been detected in all dig sites except for those claimed by Dobycha. Copper has been found in Genaldo’s claim, but it doesn’t appear to be anything significant.

Individual Claims

Sevinirewerks
Vulpines are having a difficult time adjusting to the intense heat. Consequently, operations have shifted to night digs. This leaves workers fatigued and cranky, and drives up cost for the Vekaiyuns since they need to spend capital on lighting. In addition, the cheap beer (Koofla) is consumed during the day, rendering roughly one dozen works incapacitated due to heatstroke and lack of hydration. That, and due to the past relations with Vekaiyu and Shango, the working populace just doesn’t trust you - but they can speak Unonian, for the most part, and many are Vayan Catholics. Many, not all. For those who are far from the colonial culture, deep wounds are beginning to fester…

Genaldo
Despite getting a lot of digging done via the open pit method, cracking the dry and tough Shangoese bedrock remains a difficult endeavor. Workers are clamoring for more breaks and simply are starting to have enough. There’s no alcohol for the workers, one of the ‘designated’ spokespersons for the Shangoese help proclaims. Others start to rally behind that thought and morale decreases. Workers also demand less hours in the sun, saying the Vekaiyun camp works during the night.

Dobycha
Is it the fact the workers are working with lupine individuals used to the cold? The fact that their dialects are just too thick when it comes to Codexian language? Perhaps it’s the pervasive security forces? Either way, the Shangoese workers just… don’t get your people. They speak in Bakongan to one another, avoiding common speak when possible. Sneers and shifty eye-movement between the working populace grows with each day as no findings are reported back to the camp. Are the workers… planning something? It’s difficult to tell. But, you’ve recently learned most of the workers from your camp have come from southern Shango and aren’t used to working in such conditions. They clearly need some kind of a boost, but nothing too drastic, probably, or they might… revolt?

Fletcher Mining
A guttural noise is heard in the distance, and your workers from around the area know that noise all to well… Bushnus. A lemurian’s worst nightmare. Bullets from their guns do not penetrate their thick skins, so they are worried, and rightfully so. They ask for more protection, and those whose job it is to fetch water from the Gub River are getting nervous. It sounds like there’s a lot of them, but they’re not entirely sure where they’re coming from. Perhaps they’re just hearing things because it’s so hot out? At any rate, mica has been found in the extreme southwest of the dig. Shangoese governmental officials are interested, but as it is a health hazard, they advise your crew to not dig in that area.

19

Jase, the Pit Boss, stood sat at a table with some of the managers. It was the end of the day and the sun kissed the horizon just outside the windows. Some of the attendees were a bit dirty from the dust and dirt kicked up. They sat in rather basic chairs inside of a office trailer.

“Let’s use explosives, crack open the earth to get to the ores,” he said in a booming voice.

“We could, but then that would raise concerns of the earth shifting and covering up the pathway down,” commented an engineer, with his laptop closed in front of him. A hand went over his still caekd face in an effort to clean up.

A manager chipped in, “We can easily move any equipment in the pit out. Any dirt that gets moved will just be sifted at where the trucks are suppose to dump as per the agreement. The main concern would be the buildings, which has been avoided by placing them far enough. If the ground shifts, the structures are already clear. No worries of the soil swallowing buildings whole.”

Jase spoke, “Good, good. Let’s make sure preparations are underway and we set the explosives off. I’m guessing it might be a day or two until everything is clear and the dust settles. But lets get to the crux of our problems, morale.”

One of the supervisors at the table looked to his boss and gave a stance, “There has been complaints of the ‘No Alcohol’ policy, but we have been very generous with water for hydration. We’ve even have a few water purifiers churning out fresh and sanitary water for consumption. It’s the same stuff our security guys drink in their camels. If that ain’t enough, we also have small motivational posters about drinking lots of water posted throughout the grounds.”

The pit boss sat for a few seconds in silence, before opening his mouth, “How about throwing a party after the explosives are set? We do need to give it a day until the ground fully settles, that way we can play it safe. We can get a shipment of alcohol in just for that day. Also, I need someone to get in touch with the spokespersons of our workers who feel so ‘impoverished’. We will be needing a sit-down talk so we can hash out the details. I don’t want this unrest getting out of hand, no matter how small.”

The supervisor then asked, “What about working at night? There has been a few workers talking about this.”

Before Jase could respond, the manager chipped in, “I’ve heard enough word from those working at Sevinirewerks’ joint. Trust me when I say it, the costs associated with having to feed the lighting equipment, along with the fatigued and cranky bastards, it just ain’t worth it.”

Jase finally manged to edge a word in at the end of his underling’s comment, “I was just about to say something like that. Which is why I need to talk to their spokesperson, this whole silly notion of working at night needs a pin put in it, immediately through the most effective way. And that way is through convincing them with words. They may not be the brightest folks out there, but they are good folks nonetheless and they will come around.”

After a minute of silence since the last word was spoken, the Pit Boss gave an order, “Well, you boys know what to do. This meeting is dismissed. Have a great night.”

20

Madaline Odalis, the head supervisor, suddenly looked up from her work after hearing another groan from the infamous bushnus. The other managers and supervisors huddled around her also noticed, giving each other nervous looks. Even though the sun was about gone, much of them were still sweating, and it wasn’t just from the leftover heat.

“As I was saying, we need to boost up security before a random bushnus gets into the camp. I also request some a more powerful weaponry so that we can actually kill those damn beasts,” Gerald Berdali, head of security, said to the group. “We would also need to provide a security escort for those that retrieve water from the river. Been getting info that a herd of those beasts were nearby where we collect our water.”

“Agreed, if we don’t do something about protection then the workers would slow down in production, maybe even go on strike,” a nearby supervisor added in.

Madeline shook her head in agreement, “So we need more security. We’ll contact Mr. Fletcher about sending more men and bigger guns. For the needed equipment to arrive to us it would be about another week, two weeks max. Until then have a majority of the present security to act as escorts for the water retrieval. Any questions?”

“I have no problem with that,” Gerald proclaimed, slamming the table in agreement causing a few of the supervisors to jump, thinking it was another bushnus.

“Well, since we have that taken care of, how about we discuss about the recent discovery of mica?” A startled supervisor added. “As we all know, this could be highly profitable for everyone. If we wanted to we could go and begin digging right now, but the Shangoese government might not be happy if we do that due to health reasons.”

“There must be a way to dig it up, right?” another one asked, “We can’t just neglect something like that.”

The head supervisor responded, closing the file in front of her, “How about we just stay away from that area. Until then we’ll just keep digging elsewhere and also look for ways to allow us to dig up the mica safely. Endangering the lives of the workers would be wrong and not look good for us. Gold hasn’t been found yet though, but the iron ore that we find can be quite profitable. We can’t give up on looking for gold, so have the surveyors relook the plot for other potential areas.”

Over the horizon the sound of a bushnus could be heard, reminding Madeline to provide some encouragement for the bewildered workers. “How about we all go rest for the night, you deserve it. I’m sure tomorrow will bring us fortune, and gold.”