Date: Thu, June 23 2011
Players: Jenny, Jered, Martin

Our issues: Intellectual property, oppression of native populations, collapse of communities

The Shock: Nuclear war has rendered the surface of the Earth uninhabitable, forcing the surviving humans to move into a system of underground tunnels. The tunnels were, of course, already inhabited, by a species of creatures technically called Diggers but often contemptuously referred to as Mole People. For centuries, humans ran the show from the surface and Diggers were a literal underclass- but now the war has forced them down below to join their subordinates, even as their own society collapses.

Twenty years later, there is an uneasy balance of power: humans outnumber diggers and have most of the weapons, scientific and medical knowledge, and control of the resources, but diggers have the knowledge necessary to survive underground, are the only ones able to operate their own specialized tunneling equipment, and ensuring that they have a monopoly on construction and transportation.

Act 1: The New Boston colony has a famously unsteady dome roof, which has required expensive repairs by the digger Engineer's Guild more and more frequently in recent years. The mushroom farmers of New Boston are worried that eventually the ceiling will collapse while they're negotiating with the Guild to fix it, so they send brash young fungus trader Kathy to convince the Guild to teach them to fix it themselves. The Guildmaster initially refused to even discuss the matter, but caved in (ha) when she threatened a general boycott. He also lodged a formal complaint with New Boston's draconian mayor, however.

Human mineral prospector Boris has made a fortune exploiting his ties with the Digger community to get choice mining rights, and now he's looking to make a second fortune. He's identified a particularly rich vein which has gone unnoticed by previous surveyors, and he's looking to buy it on the cheap. He spreads rumors that the mine is worthless, hoping to drive down the price, but the mole who owns it is having none of it. These mines have been in his family for generations, and they won't be sold to outsiders. If Boris wants this mine so badly, though, he could marry into the family.... Boris agrees, with considerable trepidation.

Clarke was a journalist before the war, and during the evacuation he got separated from his friends and was taken in by a digger community. He has spent the years since training as a rock breaking specialist, but has never given up the dream of being reunited with the people he cares about. He carries his photo album with him at all times, and asks everyone he meets if they recognize the people in it. The Foremole is unamused by this behavior: Clarke has been taught Digger secrets, and if he leaves the community, he might betray them. She offers a deal: if Clarke abandons his own efforts to find his friends, she'll send out a message asking them to come to him. Clarke agrees, but doesn't actually abandon his own efforts.

Act 2: Kathy and her tech wiz friends now have the digger Reinforcer machine and are learning how to use it. The Mayor is annoyed, because he is on record as saying that the collapsing roof is no big deal, and this project is making him look bad. He and his goons confiscate the Reinforcer, but not before Kathy catches him on record making some fairly incendiary statements. She organizes a mob of her fellow fungus farmers, who show up with pitchforks and fairly incendiary torches.

Boris is unhappy in his marriage to the moles, and impatient to get his hands on sole access to his prize mines. He hires some local thugs to kidnap his brother in law and speed things along, but the plan falls through; not only is his target not kidnapped, but he himself is arrested by the Digger authorities.

Clarke's investigations have payed off- his friends are barely five miles away, in New Boston. To get there all he needs is some spelunking equipment and a tunnel map. However, the dastardly foremole has placed a hold on his credit at the company store, preventing him from getting either. He manages to win over Murf the store clerk due to his strong relationship with the digger community, though, and the two of them set out secretly for New Boston.

Act 3: The fungus farmers force the mayor to hand over the Reinforcer at pitchfork point, and generously decide not to lynch him. They repair the ceiling once more, and the town is saved!

Boris' thugs attempt to break him out of prison, but he is killed in the attempt. It turns out that mole bites are venomous.

Clarke is confronted by the irate Foremole in the tunnels outside town. She threatens to shoot him for defying her orders, but is persuaded that allowing him to visit his friends might improve trade relations. She agrees that he can go, as long as she follows him there with pistol cocked. At long last Clarke sees his old friends again, but the nervous Foremole becomes convinced the friends are planning to ambush her, and shoots him dead in her attempt to escape.

(Martin I changed the title to use parenthesis instead of brackets, because the system interprets brackets as formatting which hides the words)