Tuesday Lunch and the Price of Memory
Matt reflects on food, friendship, and the cost of abundance in a post-collapse world where zebra pastrami belongs in school lunches—and personal history still comes with boundaries.
Side Quest
Freehold
Side Quest
More Than a Park, Less Than a Throne
Lord Marmaduke answers a pointed question about identity, leadership, and legacy with a story that spans generations, reminding us that civilization isn’t built by governments—but by those who choose to stay.
Main Story
Lessons in Power, Dresses, and Thrones
In a rare private audience, High Lord Matt Marmaduke counsels T’monn and L’tani on trust, alliances, and the power of perception in their new world.
Main Story
What Is a Freeholder, Anyway?
Matt Marmaduke explains the true meaning of Freehold law, its history, and why reputation matters more than force in the Missouri heartland.
Main Story
Mobilization
Matt Marmaduke only has hours to scale Missouri’s capacity for one hundred twenty thousand V’ren refugees. In a tense holotank briefing, he and General Leonard Wood trade requests, concessions, and political jabs—balancing construction gear, medical personnel, and the delicate power game that comes with being a legally neutral Freeholder.
Main Story
Dispatches from the Farm: First Contact Protocols
As first contact unfolds at the Freehold, Matt fires off a series of terse dispatches—balancing family safety, corporate authority, and legal contingencies. From keeping his daughters out of harm’s way to activating formal protocols, these messages reveal the immediate, calculated moves behind Missouri’s first encounter with the V’ren.
Main Story
Media Access and First Impressions
Matt pushes for a limited media tour of the V’ren ship to build public trust, navigating cultural protocol, security concerns, and a moment of unexpected personal rapport with T’mari. Cameras roll as Missouri’s first steps toward the stars take shape—measured, cautious, and just irreverent enough to stay human.
Main Story
Logistics, Medicine, and Mutual Trust
With wounded V’ren in need of urgent care, Matt Marmaduke turns diplomacy into action. Clinics are opened, quarantine zones established, and medical teams coordinated between species. Trust is built in real time as Missouri’s infrastructure shifts into high gear—fast enough to impress even the alien doctors.
Main Story
Diplomacy and Negotiation
In the shadow of the landed V’ren ship, Matt Marmaduke meets the alien delegation on scorched Missouri ground. What begins as formal posturing shifts to mutual trust, ending in a decisive agreement—refuge for the V’ren under his charter, and a direct line of truth between him and their chosen ambassador.
Main Story
Shadow Over Missouri
When the V’ren ship settles across Matt Marmaduke’s northern fields, it flattens nearly two hundred acres of prime crop. The ramp lowers, and Missouri’s first alien visitor walks into the sunlight. In measured words, Matt greets her—balancing local pride, corporate authority, and a farmer’s blunt pragmatism.
Main Story
Touchdown at the Freehold
An alien ship settles into Matt Marmaduke’s front field, cradled down by mysterious Beacon beams. With a bet paid and a motley crew ready to work, Matt keeps his calm—and his claim—while General Leonard Wood watches through drone feeds from hundreds of miles away. Missouri’s First Contact is in local hands.