Recyclers Fix-it Thread

[Diamond]

At Ironside's request, this thread is for helping to 'de-wankify' the Recyclers and the Circuit. All suggestions, comments, and criticisms are welcome as long as they are polite and helpful.

[GBW]

I say stick with the gypsy wagons with the ducted fan drones - I think Sir Ironside has named them Guardian drones - and write out the Myrmidons. Write out the nano-fog facility in Aree. Let them use messenger pigeons disguised as part of their Circuit troupes' animal acts to relay messages. Let them have their HQ in Shie-Town, but make it explicit that they're paying rent in artifacts they've recovered to the AIs in charge. Also make it explicit that there are members of the Circuit that aren't members of the Recyclers, and vice versa.

Let the Circuit troupes' route be through the land east of the Mississippi - except for obvious portions - and only along the Great Skag Way going west. Keep the contacts at the various great libraries, but tone down greatly any members in various governments. Let them pull off the occasional coup like stealing the tech from Ardo Kellan, but that sort of thing is rare and by the skin of their teeth, making it all the more notable.

The Circuit is an established merchant house in the Usa Nation, and buys off any official notice of their 'extracurricular activities' from the Sekhruhtarry of Commerce with bribes. Have some merchant houses notice little details of the Circuit's activities, but just enough to be suspicious. The Recyclers are an open secret in the high echelons of the governments of the countries of Nourika where the Circuit travels extensively, but the connection to the Circuit is either not realized or is just a far-fetched rumor.

Marmon Trooby still underwent the medical treatment that gave him his quasi-immortality, but that was one of only, say, three or four doses worth. Archimedes can remain the same, and is able to act as a database but not as a communications network.

The Recyclers regularly barter dusty old artifacts they've collected in the past for new artifacts they've discovered in someone else's possession, largely through agents using connections to some great library or another as a cover.

[Diamond]

One thing I'm unclear on regarding the Circuit: are they merchants, travelling performers, or both? :confused:

One thing I remember from the original entry on them is that something like 'three quarters of all entertainers' are Circuit members. That seems rather... steep. I would seriously tone down those numbers. Maybe make it one out of forty or fifty is a member. That's still a LOT of members, but more believable than 75%. With fully 75% of all Nourikan entertainers as Circuit members, someone would have spilled the beans about their activities long ago. That's just too many people.

Also, why would the various nations trust these guys to carry their correspondence? They're obviously a secretive bunch; why would anyone, from the Sayedid Caliph to the Usa Prezident, want sneaky, suspicious minstrels carrying messages of state back and forth?

[Bruno]

The Recyclers are an open secret in the high echelons of the governments of the countries of Nourika where the Circuit travels extensively, but the connection to the Circuit is either not realized or is just a far-fetched rumor.

I would also add that they are an open secret among some of the other 'secret societies' mentioned, like the Spiral Brotherhood. In fact, there's a lot of bad blood between the two because the Spiral Brotherhood resents them muscling in 'their turf'. The fact that some of the Recyclers are also mutants or at least mutant sympatizers is just a bonus reason to hate them.

Also--despite their best efforts - some information have spilled out over the years about the existence of the Recyclers to the general population -- or at least the well-read or well-educated parts of the general population, at any rate. It's mostly just weird little stories, rumours, exaggerated tales and so forth but enough exists that those who've heard the stories have all kinds of wild theories about them. Some see them as just plunderers of ruins, albeit very successful ones. Others see them as 'Shining Beacons who are dedicated to bringing us out of the Dark Ages'. A few have weird ideas of them being like the Illuminati or the Masons (i.e. 'They control everything!'). Initially annoyed by this, the Recyclers have started actively encouraging these stories instead and occasionally use them to their advantage. For example, they have a few third-party agents, suppliers and contacts who actually believe some of the more wilder stories and are working for the Recyclers precisely because of the perceived thrill of working for the 25th century version of the Illuminati.


Also, why would the various nations trust these guys to carry their correspondence? They're obviously a secretive bunch; why would anyone, from the Sayedid Caliph to the Usa Prezident, want sneaky, suspicious minstrels carrying messages of state back and forth?

I wouldn't have them actively carrying messages but because of their intense travels and the fact that they tend to stop in some of the more out of the way places, they are seen as a source of news about the outside world, sort of how the people looked forward to hearing news whenever a caravan ended up in their town. The Circuit, in fact, can cultivate that to their advantage, for example, by printing up a crude newspaper/flyer or having a town crier spread the news, so that people actively look forward to seeing the Circuit come to town.

"Of course , now that they have done this wonderful service for the community, wouldn't you be kind enough to come down and see the entertainers...?"

[Gulag]

I'd definitely like to hear how the Recyclers are able to use so much Old Tech.

How do they keep it working? How do they get broken stuff to work again? How do they make NEW stuff?

I really don't want the answer to be the Aree nano-fog thing. That's not cool.

I'd be more comfortable with half-ass cannibalizing other artifacts for parts or old stashes of combat drones that never got delivered to the Army (these old stashes would be rapidly diminishing due to lack of spare parts).

[Straha]

Remove the recyclers entirely and retcon them into being a myth of some sort.

[Straha]

basically the recyclers are the absolute worst part of EPA, they make even the caliphate, the moremen, the carolina wastes, etc look good hope this helps

[Sir Ironside]

Now I don't feel like I have been piled upon.

Before I created the Circuit I was playing around with the idea that there was more then one group of wanderers. There was the Circuit, a group of wandering scholars, and a group of wandering smith/machinists.

Not all members of the Circuit are Recyclers, nor all of Recyclers members of the Circuit.

East of the Mississppii(Great River) the Circuit is more like Vaudeville where they travel from Chapter House to Chapter House, and west of the Great River, they are more like traveling circuses/carnivals. Where there are no Chapter Houses, in the East, they use the wagons. Where they need to, they have taken care of what ever legal matters that are need for them to work.

I think the correspondence thing happens within the City States along the Great and Illini Rivers, and usually only between private parties.

The idea of the nano-fog is something that I mis-remembered from the last version of Gamma World. It is a facility where nano-tech breaks broken stuff down into component parts to be used to rebuild things.

On the keeping up the tech, trial an error, and they have huge amounts of junk that will never work again. The drones are one of the only things to come out of this, and the means to power them.

Diamond, they are wandering entertainers, and only mechants when they are selling their skills.

[GBW]

What do you say for what we've mentioned here?

[Sir Ironside]

Trooby, because of his ancestry, took to the regen therapy. Each of those doses will give him about a century. His ancestry is that of being the child to two Transgees of different strains. His father was a Canine Transgee and his mother a Feline Transgee.

They are paying "rent" to the AI's of Shie-Town, and I think the Myrmidons where the guards of the facility where Trooby found Archimedes. I think that they have only been used once, in Chatanoogaland. Usually they just sit there and look menacing, in stanby mode.

Only about 45% of entertainers of Nourika are members.

I think Shie-Town might be a bit of a Potempkin Village.

[GBW]

Trooby, because of his ancestry, took to the regen therapy. Each of those doses will give him about a century. His ancestry is that of being the child to two Transgees of different strains. His father was a Canine Transgee and his mother a Feline Transgee.

They are paying "rent" to the AI's of Shie-Town, and I think the Myrmidons where the guards of the facility where Trooby found Archimedes. I think that they have only been used once, in Chatanoogaland. Usually they just sit there and look menacing, in stanby mode.

Only about 45% of entertainers of Nourika are members.

I think Shie-Town might be a bit of a Potempkin Village.
You never mentioned that about Trooby, or is this something you're coming up with now?

So you're just going to have the Myrmidons as statues then? They'll have the Guardian drones on their travels?

What's this about Shie-Town? If it's being maintained, then there's power there. I'm just saying have the AIs concerned only with their own affairs in the Shie-Town area, and have the Recyclers paying them rent.

Are you going to go back and edit your entries?

[Sir Ironside]

You never mentioned that about Trooby, or is this something you're coming up with now?

I did mention that he came from the Shie-Town area, and I think that I did mention that he is the child of Transgees. If not, I will fix that, or do an update about him.

So you're just going to have the Myrmidons as statues then? They'll have the Guardian drones on their travels?

Archimedes over reacted with the incident in Chatanoogaland, and maybe with the Spirals. The drones are used in the areas where they have to use the wagons, and more on the western side of the Great River then the Eastern. Pigeons are used to take info to the Chapter Houses. Yeah, the Myrmidons might be hardshells that Archimedes uses to interact with humans.

What's this about Shie-Town? If it's being maintained, then there's power there. I'm just saying have the AIs concerned only with their own affairs in the Shie-Town area, and have the Recyclers paying them rent.

There are sections of Shie-Town were the buildings are just power generators full of photovoltaic windows. Inside, everything that can be removed, and not hurt the building's structural integerity, has been.

Are you going to go back and edit your entries?

When everything is addressed.

[Diamond]

Also Ironside, I don't want you to get the idea that we want you to make the Recyclers/Circuit completely toothless, some kind of paper tiger. We just want you to tone it down quite a bit; take into consideration that this is for all intents and purposes the Dark Ages, with all that implies: extremely dangerous travel outside of well-built-up places like the Great River and Michigan, xenophobic insular peoples who won't automatically take kindly to outsiders no matter what they've got going for them, competition in the form of other societies (like the Spiral/Shining Way, the Cantos, the AIs of Chilango, and various other private spy rings/info networks), etc, etc.

basically the recyclers are the absolute worst part of EPA, they make even the caliphate, the moremen, the carolina wastes, etc look good hope this helps

No. It doesn't. GTFO.

[Sir Ironside]

Also Ironside, I don't want you to get the idea that we want you to make the Recyclers/Circuit completely toothless, some kind of paper tiger. We just want you to tone it down quite a bit; take into consideration that this is for all intents and purposes the Dark Ages, with all that implies: extremely dangerous travel outside of well-built-up places like the Great River and Michigan, xenophobic insular peoples who won't automatically take kindly to outsiders no matter what they've got going for them, competition in the form of other societies (like the Spiral/Shining Way, the Cantos, the AIs of Chilango, and various other private spy rings/info networks), etc, etc.

They are allies of the Cantos. What about the wandering scholars, and the smith/machinists?

No. It doesn't. GTFO.

Thank you.

[Diamond]

They are allies of the Cantos.
:confused: Huh? I thought you said that after the Cantos declined to help Kellan, the Recyclers tried to step in (something that conflicts with what I've already written in Kellan's bio, BTW) and failed to bring him down/help him (I was unclear about what exactly you meant there.).

What about the wandering scholars, and the smith/machinists?
What about them?

Thank you.
You're welcome. Straha, seriously, unless you have something useful to contribute, shut the fuck up.

[Sir Ironside]

:confused: Huh? I thought you said that after the Cantos declined to help Kellan, the Recyclers tried to step in (something that conflicts with what I've already written in Kellan's bio, BTW) and failed to bring him down/help him (I was unclear about what exactly you meant there.).

I guess I mistyped, I meant to say that when the Cantos stayed out of Kellan's take over of Memfis, they asked the Recyclers to stay out also. Both groups did not know that Kellan was part of the Spirals/Shining Way.

[Diamond]

I guess I mistyped, I meant to say that when the Cantos stayed out of Kellan's take over of Memfis, they asked the Recyclers to stay out also. Both groups did not know that Kellan was part of the Spirals/Shining Way.

Ah, okay, gotcha.

[RCAF Brat]

Trooby, because of his ancestry, took to the regen therapy. Each of those doses will give him about a century. His ancestry is that of being the child to two Transgees of different strains. His father was a Canine Transgee and his mother a Feline Transgee.

You could have it so that there are only another two or three doses left, and that Trooby doesn't really want another one, as immortality comes with too high of a price...

They are paying "rent" to the AI's of Shie-Town, and I think the Myrmidons where the guards of the facility where Trooby found Archimedes. I think that they have only been used once, in Chatanoogaland. Usually they just sit there and look menacing, in stanby mode.

why not have it be that most of them were cannibalized for parts to keep just three or four of them going. And that the one real use was realized to have been a bad idea. The remaining ones are permanent guards at wherever the Recyclers are based now. And it could be that the number is about to fall again due to the continuing lack of spare parts.

Only about 45% of entertainers of Nourika are members.

Drop it to <10% and have it so that each group of Recyclers in the Circuit is sure/told that they are the only group that is using that organization for cover. That way they'd be far less likely to run off at the mouth or to get careless. Compartmentalizing the organization into a classic "cell" structure might be one way to ensure that they don't get wiped out if/when somebody screws up. Archimedes has a massive historical database, and may have decided that setting the group up in the manner of a terrorist organization might be the best (or only) way to keep them from being destroyed by a single failure. It is also possible and likely that Trooby would not have been told where the AI got the idea from.

I think Shie-Town might be a bit of a Potemkin Village.

That would make it fit right in. The place is not what it seems, nor are its masters half as powerful as they try to look.

[Sir Ironside]

You could have it so that there are only another two or three doses left, and that Trooby doesn't really want another one, as immortality comes with too high of a price...

Actually, they are a stablizer for a type of regeneration treatment. With Trooby, it is crashing bordom, and the fact that he has outlived his family.


why not have it be that most of them were cannibalized for parts to keep just three or four of them going. And that the one real use was realized to have been a bad idea. The remaining ones are permanent guards at wherever the Recyclers are based now. And it could be that the number is about to fall again due to the continuing lack of spare parts.

United Center, and there are Seven, there were thirteen at one time, but six failed to reactivate when Archimedes resting place came on line.


Drop it to <10% and have it so that each group of Recyclers in the Circuit is sure/told that they are the only group that is using that organization for cover. That way they'd be far less likely to run off at the mouth or to get careless. Compartmentalizing the organization into a classic "cell" structure might be one way to ensure that they don't get wiped out if/when somebody screws up. Archimedes has a massive historical database, and may have decided that setting the group up in the manner of a terrorist organization might be the best (or only) way to keep them from being destroyed by a single failure. It is also possible and likely that Trooby would not have been told where the AI got the idea from.

I might use part of this.


That would make it fit right in. The place is not what it seems, nor are its masters half as powerful as they try to look.

They are all bonkers, in a sense

[Sir Ironside]

Please check the Recycler (#16), Circuit (#23), and Shie-Town (#46) entries.

[Sir Ironside]

So, are they any better? (RCAF has already told me his opinion.)

[GBW]

So, are they any better? (RCAF has already told me his opinion.)
They look to be, yes. You might want to take a look at the warehouse inventory entry as well.