Starfield:We Tried
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| ID | xx007773 | ||
| Editor ID | SFBGS001_DazraChunksSlate_WeTried | ||
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| Type | Slate | ||
It's finally happening. In a few days, a ship will come to take me home. They told me to lock the doors before I go, but what's the point? We're never coming back here.
Since I have a little time to kill before closing up shop, I figured I'd write down the story of the most unique Chunks location ever. Why? It's something to do. And who knows, maybe someday House Va'ruun will open up their society and welcome visitors to their planet. Someone will stumble across this place and wonder how in the hell Chunks managed to pull it off.
Yeah, right.
I wasn't in the room when the deal was made, but I know some of the terms. The location wouldn't be allowed in the city, and the company had to keep the planet's existence a very-closely-guarded secret. I guess some hotshot exec was trying to make a name for himself by establishing the most remarkable location in Chunks history. And to be fair, it really was. We had no outside competition here.
As for me? I'm the fool who was cocky enough to think I could make this place work. And I was very, very wrong.
We had issues almost from the start. It seemed like half the people came just to let me know how much they didn't want this place to be here, and the other half were afraid to come near the place at all. I guess they thought their Great Serpent would frown upon any sign of embracing it. The way these people think is totally foreign to me.
Getting supplies was a nightmare. In order to preserve the secrecy of the planet's location, the company employed a long, roundabout chain of third-party merchants. Even something as simple as replacing a chair for the dining room could take weeks, or even months.
When it was clear that sales were way below targets, I tried to hire a couple of locals. My thinking was, it might serve as a bridge to make people feel less wary of coming in. All that did was drain the proverbial coffers even faster.
The corporate marketing team tried to come up with ideas for promotions, but they ranged from laughable ("Groatfest"? Really?) to heretical (Get a discount if you dress up like the Great Serpent! Were they TRYING to get me killed?)
The original plan had been to give it five years, at least. But things started to change around here, and not in a good way. People started carrying weapons pretty much all the time. I heard stories about martial drills and fiery speeches in Jinan Plaza. I was getting a lot of dirty looks, more than usual.
I sent message after message asking for an extraction, and finally the top brass agreed it was time to end the experiment. I don't think I've ever felt so relieved.
So what have I learned? That the people of House Va'ruun scare the hell out of me, basically. And that sometimes, our reach exceeds our grasp here at Chunks.
Probably best if we stick to what we know.
Guess I'll wrap it up here. Part of me can't help but wonder what'll become of this place. I like to think some herd of wild groats will move in. Then it'll really be a groatfest.
D. Conley, (Former) Manager October 6, 2239
