Tasmanian Droughts (Game 1)

Character
Name: Samuel Johnson

Class: Barbarian


 * Agility: 19
 * Charisma: 93
 * Endurance: 33
 * Intelligence: 67
 * Strength: 85
 * Wisdom: 72

Abilities: Valentine's Charm (romantic). One use ability.

Level 1

 * Met clerk:
 * Met english applicant
 * Met Victor
 * Met other

9/10 exp

Quests completed:


 * New Waters (join the Southern Observatory Base)

Inventory
Wallet: 67

Reputation
Royal Society: 14. Known.

Characters

 * Sydney Collins - Clerk, friendly and polite. Slightly flirty with Samuel.
 * Bertrand Greenwidow - Another new applicant from England to the society. - Scholarly, forgetful, disputatious
 * Victor Staufman - Samuel's former college professor, who is now an advisor at the base. He put in a good word for Sam. Rowdy, steady, profound
 * Alice Osseau - One of Victor's associates. Impulsive, stiff, faithful.
 * Benny - A maintenace worker and one of Bertrand's friends. He was demoted after being found drinking on the job. Monstrous, envious, apathetic
 * Ron - Another England native and friend of Bertrand's. Responsible, cankerous, opportunistic
 * Benny - A maintenace worker and one of Bertrand's friends. He was demoted after being found drinking on the job. Monstrous, envious, apathetic
 * Ron - Another England native and friend of Bertrand's. Responsible, cankerous, opportunistic

Transcript
Your name is Samuel Johnson, a British scientist applying for a leadership role in the Ocean Watch division of the Southern Observatory Base in Tasmania. The Ocean Watch project is responsible for surveying conditions in the Southern Ocean and determining if they have anything to do with the drought crisis in Tasmania. You are neutral about the job.

You are a member of the Royal Society. You are tall, thin, and clean-shaven.

You stride into the office building, confident about your interview. The weather outside is a bit dusty, and that has become the usual in Tasmania ever since the droughts began. You slightly miss the weather back in England, but you moved here for this job under the recommendation of your supervisor and you can't turn back now. Inside the reception area are a few groups of idle people chit chatting, they make brief glances towards you as you walk in.

As you enter the reception area, you see a woman waiting behind the desk. She looks up as she sees you approach. Her eyes widen when she recognizes you. "Oh my! Mr Johnson!"

"We weren't expecting you here so early. How was your flight from England?" she asks. You smile and shrug your shoulders, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Twas okay I suppose, I wasn't really expecting the weather to truly be this awful. I should have listened to my associates here more." you say with a hearty laugh.

"Why of course, that seems only natural to someone just arriving here." she says. "So you'll be filling out a few forms before your interview. You can put your bag over there."

You take the form and thank her. "I guess Australia is a direct competitor against the UK for country with the worst weather now, huh?" you joke to her.

The woman looks at you blankly for a few seconds, then a smile cracks on her face.

"Yes, seems so." she says, laughing. The two of you share a laugh before you find a seat to fill out the forms. There are multiple forms, and you fill in answers to questions such as "

Where would you like to see the Observatory expand to?" and "What are your views on the climate crisis?" "Do you believe the federal government is doing enough in its response?" You answer these elaborate questions, and move on to the next form which is about your own personal history and education. After half an hour filling out the forms, you hand the filled-out forms to the woman at the desk.

> You say "That was a mountain of preliminary paperwork there."

"Thank you, Mr Johnson." the woman replies. She looks at your forms, and begins typing onto her keyboard. She begins cross referencing your answers with some basic info in the base's open access database. She looks back and forth between the computer and her notes.

"How long have you been working with the Royal Society, Mr. Johnson?" she asks.

"Fairly recently, about two years now."

"And your work there was as a scientist?"

You nod. "A meteorologist, yes."

She begins typing onto the computer again.

"A lot of people have been excited about your arrival, heard someone yesterday at break say that your theories could revolutionize the Ocean Watch sector." she says, smiling.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that yet, they're still just theories." you say humbly.

"Whatever the case, you seem to have fans." she says.

"Sounds like you're one of them." you say.

"I wouldn't say I'm a 'fan', but I think it's great that you've come all the way from England to help us." she says.

"Now the only thing I have left is for you to be called in for the interview. When you are, I'll hand over these forms." she says, her eyes flickering down to the computer screen.

"Sounds pretty straightforward." you say.

You look around the room at the dozens of people still waiting in the room.

> You say "How long do you expect the wait to be?"

"That really just depends. On a day like this, with so many people waiting, you could be here for hours. If they call you in right now, then you'll probably be done in less than ten minutes."

> You say "Is everyone here being interviewed for the Ocean Watch division, or are these applicants applying for all the different projects?"

"There's people here for other projects, the vast majority are applying for Drought Analysis positions. That's what the base is most famous for, after all."

"I see.

A man pokes you on the shoulder. "Excuse me? I'm waiting in line." he asks politely.

"Oh! Sorry." you say, moving aside to let him through.

You walk to one of the chairs and sit down, waiting to be called up. There's no telling how long it will take.

Beside you a man is awkwardly looking at his watch. Outside the windows, the dust storm is becoming increasingly tedious out there. "Dreadful weather today, isn't it?" you say, trying to make smalltalk. The man nods, and replies, "I suppose so." He seems to be from England, like you. "Are you here for the Ocean Watch position as well?" you ask him.

"I am."

> You say "What a coincidence, Royal Society member?"

He smiles. "Yes, indeed. How did you know?" he asks.

"Well, if you're at this base and if you're English, it's only obvious." you say, chuckling. He laughs too, and nods in agreement. "I'm here for the Ocean Watch project. I'm supposed to be meeting an associate here as per recommendation. Though in reality, I would have volunteered to come here myself" he says.

You nod in understanding, and look out the window at the dust bowl that's been created. "Myself as well. I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end."

"Hope so."

> You say "Seeing it on the telly is something, but seeing it in person truly is something else."

"Indeed." He suddenly pulls out a notepad and a pen, and for a moment you think he's going to ask you to sign something. Instead, he pulls up his sleeve and begins to write.

> You say "So what area do you work in at the Royal Society?"

"Research and development. I work with our scientists to try to find new and better ways of doing things, new inventions that can help us all." He tucks the notepad and pen back into his labcoat.

> You say "Will you be doing similar here?"

He nods.

> You say "What part of England are you from?"

"I'm from London."

He seems nice enough.

> You say "London? What part?"

"The suburbs. Nothing special."

You end up talking with the man for a good while, and before you know it, your number is being called. You've been called to room C-14.

You walk up to the desk, "guess it's my turn, huh?" you say cheerfully to the woman at the desk.

She smiles, "yep! Good luck Mr. Johnson."

You walk into the room, and see an older man sitting at a desk. "Ah! Mr. Johnson, you're here!"

You walk up to the old man and enthusiastically shake his hand, you recognize him as an old associate of yours from your days in college. "Victor! It's great to see you!" you say.

"Oh! It's my pleasure, I assure you!" he replies.

"So... what have I come here for? What research are you doing? I know of the droughts, of course. But what are you yourself specifically working on?"

"Oh, I'm not working on anything of importance. I'm just an advisor here! I oversee things and provide advice to project managers. Make sure they're doing things right. Really, I'm just another eyes and ears for the Royal Society. But enough about me, what about you? I see you've finally decided to come and lend us your talents."

You nod, "Yes, and at your recommendation, dear fellow. I can say that I am grateful, this undoubtedly will be a good opportunity for my career. I've heard good things about the base here from other members of the Royal Society."

He smiles, "I'm glad you think so."

He shuffles some papers about and hands you a few.

You look over the papers, they are guidelines, handbooks, and an overview of the position you are applying for. One of the papers is stapled together and reads "OCEAN WATCH HANDBOOK" in giant blue letters. There's a few other forms, mostly concerning your health and other general information.

You begin reading over the papers to refresh your memory about the details of the project, and your responsibilities in it.

If you're accepted, you will be hired as a new project leader for the Ocean Watch's endeavors to maintain a watch on meteorological conditions in the Southern Ocean. There are other project leaders you will be working alongside, and together you will report directly to the project's chair.

As you read, the door opens and a young woman wearing black-rimmed glasses and a white lab coat walks in. "Victor, we need you down in the second wing. Some workers are confused regarding regulations concerning foreign satelite readings." she says.

"Coming, Alice." Victor replies, standing from the desk. "Samuel, we'll continue this later then. I will be back in good time, just stay there."

"Definitely."

"Good luck!"

You sit there awkwardly and smile at Alice, she gives you a courteous smile and stands by the door with her notepad."It's company policy, we can't leave unregistered visitors unattended." she says, explaining why she hasn't left the door.

You nod, and she closes the door.

You read over the handbook yet again, and wait patiently.

After about a half an hour, Victor enters.

"I'm so sorry about that, my boy." he says, falling into his chair and regathering his notes.

"No problem at all." you reply.

> You say "Was everything alright?"

"Oh yes, just the workers being the workers. You know how they can be, always complaining about something or other." says Victor.

"Now, where were we?" asks Victor as he puts on his glasses.

You and Victor return to your interview for the next half an hour. He asks you various questions about your schooling, your career, and other minor questions. All of which you answer to the best of your ability.

"Now Sam, what do you think you can bring to the table that other Royal Society members wouldn't be able to?" asks Victor, folding his hands together and expecting a good answer.

"I, um, don't really know." you reply, as honestly as you can.

"Please, just guess."

You think for a moment.

> You say "I understand the severity of the drought, and of the peculiarities associated with it. I would try to look at things with an open mind, and try to distance myself from the potentially false dogmas of the past. I would work together collaboratively with other projects, and try to find theories as expansive as the very conditions of this drought."

"I like your thinking." says Victor with a nod.

"However, while your thought process is good and all, we are not currently in need of any more scientists."

You're surprised to hear that.

"We need good leaders, boy. That is what we need. People who can herd the lemmings together and get them working." says Victor.

"But, you're a scientist. Shouldn't you be able to...?"

"It's not that easy, boy. In a crisis like this, people are holding in themselves a flurry of emotions. Everyone thinks they each have the brilliant idea. It's hard to get people to actually work together" sighs Victor.

"Is that why you put out a good word for me? Because you think I'm a good leader? Honestly, Victor. I've barely led anything in my life!" you say.

"Well, there's always potential in everyone. I remember how you were back in your days as a student. You prefered working alone, but you saw details the others didn't, and you were always very persuasive when it came to explaining your arguments. You're a logical and intelligent person, and with your respectable standing in the Royal Society, I think leading our less organized folks would be a good role for you. I had to push a lot of buttons to approve of you coming here. It's not just you, I'm trying to get a team of the best and brightest together."

Victor pauses for a moment to look out the window behind his desk.

"I feel like we've hit a dead end. We've made no progress in the past year, and the drought only gets worse. We need restructuring Sam, or I fear they'll shut us all down. The people are already seeing this base as an elaborate waste of money." sighs Victor, looking out the window behind his desk.

Victor raises his head and makes eye contact with you.

"So Sam, do you accept this mission? Do you accept the challenge of being a leader?"

> You say "I've already come this far. I suppose I'll give it a shot."

"Very good. You'll be working with team of the best and the brightest. I don't think you'll have any problems with them, but if you do, come to me immediately."

> You say "When do I start?"

"You can start tomorrow morning, where are you currently staying?" asks Victor.

"I'm planning on renting a room in town." you say.

"In that case, you can stay here at the base. We have enough empty bunks for new staff. We have a part of the base called the Residential Wing, which is a small cluster of rooms for employees who choose to live on site. We don't have many rooms, but most employees don't choose to live here so a good number of them are still vacant. They're not half bad, and it's quite nice being able to fall asleep listening to the sound of great minds at work.

I think you'll make a great addition to the team."

"Thanks Victor, this all sounds...well just great. So I'll sleep here tonight?""Well, not right away. It'll be a couple days until we can set that up for you, we need to put you through orientation first. But come back tomorrow morning, and we'll get started on that right away."