Chapter One From Russia With Love

[Kesslan]

Kesslan just stands there in awkward silence for a little bit, looking between the hole, the house, barn, all the damage done and everything else going on. Letting out a soft whine he eventually pipes up with "Well, that could have gone better..." items being left outside the door for them though gave him some hope at least. Clearly these were decent people, the team had just botched things very... badly. He also felt a bit of an onus to pay back the family for their hospitality that was clearly extended all the same, not to mention that they had left food and drink along with blankets for those that needed them. With the fact that they spoke a very strange language he didn't even begin to understand, the dogboy decides that barter is the way to go, though his own supplies are quite limited.

Still, he had a few things to spare that he leaves by the door in exchange as he fetches the items and helps distribute them accordingly. In the place of the food, drink and blankets he leaves one of his tool kits, his spare hammer and two bars of soap. The toolkit was worth a fair bit, and more importantly, it was full of handy things a family like them could use, or at least trade with someone else that did. That at least made him feel a little bit better about the losses they'd suffered because of the team's arrival and the mayhem with the livestock.... a little... but not much.

OOC note: Leaving 1 Tool Kit, 1 Hammer & 2 bars of soap at the door for the peasant family, items removed from sheet.

[steelbrok]

Later on as he takes his turn on sentry duty (because we WILL have sentries out (right?), Steelbrok is again glad of his 360 vision.

OOC Comments

Notice d6+4 visual, no light penalties)
Notice die [dice:1vcoa12e]66269:0[/dice:1vcoa12e]
Wild die [dice:1vcoa12e]66269:1[/dice:1vcoa12e]
Just relaised I wrote d6+4 then put d6+2 in the dice roller so final results should be 5 and 6

He also uses his built in radio to scan through the frequency spectrum, looking for strength, direction and frequency (as in how often, not what setting) and whether they are scrambled). He is looking for casual chatter between settlements, commercial broadcasts, possible military comms.

OOC Comments

Notice or electronics? VV Please choose
If Notice d6+2, if Electronics d4
Notice die [dice:1vcoa12e]66269:2[/dice:1vcoa12e]
Notice Wild die [dice:1vcoa12e]66269:3[/dice:1vcoa12e]
Electronics die [dice:1vcoa12e]66269:4[/dice:1vcoa12e]
Exploding d4 [dice:1vcoa12e]66269:6[/dice:1vcoa12e]
Electronics Wild die [dice:1vcoa12e]66269:5[/dice:1vcoa12e]

So Electronics total is 4+3+2 = 9

[Makenna Griggs]

Makenna just hangs her head in defeat for a moment before grabbing some supplies for herself and heading toward the barn. "I heard the thief say something earlier, before he vanished on us. He said "chort." Does that mean anything to anyone? Oh, and also, I call this pile of hay." She practically faceplants into said pile of hay, just glad that they finally have a moment to rest.

[Don Carnage]

---

Actions

Notice: [dice:1pmhp1bz]66274:0[/dice:1pmhp1bz]
Wild Die: [dice:1pmhp1bz]66274:1[/dice:1pmhp1bz]

Electronics: [dice:1pmhp1bz]66274:2[/dice:1pmhp1bz]
Wild Die: [dice:1pmhp1bz]66274:3[/dice:1pmhp1bz]

While Steelbrok settles in to work on repairs Don buttons up his armor and thinks to himself, " We'd better make sure these people don't bring this "warlord" down on our heads while we sleep".

And with that he makes a pass of walking the perimeter looking for any signs of trouble, and scanning the radio waves for any emissions not emanating from the 1st.

[Jackal]

---

Damien rolls over into his back. Looking up at Thursday he groans and says:

”Hey big guy. Come to help me up? These damn dead chickens are slippery.”

Once back top side the cybernetic psychic looks around.

Guess we’re calling it quits until the Warlord arrives? Hmm. Seeing some of the team are resting and others set up a perimeter Damien just squats down and tosses some snow around thinking. A few moments later he frowns.

Using a combination of skill, cybernetics and Psionics the Momano searches the area. In particular he’s skeptical the Thief is actually gone. He will start at the barn and in a grid pattern expand the search - willing to do so for a few hours. If he gets nothing. He will eat and hydrate.

What Damien does

Notice [dice:1v1wy8an]66282:0[/dice:1v1wy8an]
Wild [dice:1v1wy8an]66282:1[/dice:1v1wy8an]

Cybernetics:
Expanded Detection and Security Array 360 degree radar +2 notice rolls.

Psionics

Psi [dice:1v1wy8an]66282:2[/dice:1v1wy8an]
Wild [dice:1v1wy8an]66282:3[/dice:1v1wy8an]

Total 5 ISP spent to:
Exalted Detect Arcana (+2): Detect arcana is greatly enhanced, giving it expanded analytical effects. With a successful Arcane Skill check on a particular magical effect or supernatural entity or phenomena, the caster can learn the following: Active powers and arcane abilities. „Type of supernatural creature (vampire, werewolf, dragon, etc.). Enchantments present on an item. „ The PPE or ISP possessed by a target. „ Other information the GM allows.

When used on a supernatural creature, a raise on the Arcane Skill check reveals any susceptibilities, Weaknesses, and ways to bypass Invulnerability.

Presence Sense (+1): The caster is able to sense the presence and exact location of living beings within range like a radar; detect arcana activated with Presence Sense no longer requires line of sight to locate living beings.

ISP down to: 5 of 20

[Thursday]

Thursday, unsure about his hiding skills, is wondering if the man saw him. As he peeks over the edge very stealthy-like, he waits until the man is gone before he leaps out of his hiding spot. The man seemed pretty scared. I don't think he saw me... must've been Damien's yelling when he went to hide that probably frightened him. I should probably go somewhere else to hide so that he doesn't get even more terrified by seeing me.

"I can move some of these chickens out of the way so that they don't pose a threat to anyone." Thursday looks around at the people patrolling and resting and grabs himself what's left of a few burnt chickens. "Oh, next time you go to hide, Damien, be sure not to scream. I'm not quite sure but I think it may have scared the man off."

He then makes his way to the barn where he claims a corner of his own for the time being and puts some of the crispy chickens there.

[Par]

Par understands the man's reaction and does not wish to further disturb him. Reaching out with his senses one more time looking for the thief and ensuring the house is safe from the supernatural Par joins the others. "Wow, well that normally does not happen. We had some real bad luck."

Looking over to Don he asks the only questions he can really think of. "So, do we have time, I can ask the spirits which way he went, and then rest?"

OOC Comments

EDA, Presence Sense, range x3
Faith [dice:t07thlqb]66427:0[/dice:t07thlqb]
Wild [dice:t07thlqb]66427:1[/dice:t07thlqb] ace [dice:t07thlqb]66427:2[/dice:t07thlqb] Ace, aced [dice:t07thlqb]66427:3[/dice:t07thlqb]

Assuming there is enough time for divination
"Where is the thief going?" and "which direction is he now"
Faith [dice:t07thlqb]66427:4[/dice:t07thlqb]
Wild [dice:t07thlqb]66427:5[/dice:t07thlqb]

mandatory vigor roll
Vigor [dice:t07thlqb]66427:6[/dice:t07thlqb]
Wild [dice:t07thlqb]66427:7[/dice:t07thlqb]

[Venatus Vinco]

Regrouping
With some basic supplies and no communication with the people inside the homestead, the group sets about securing the area for the night. Kesslan leaves some token supplies for the people, while Steelbrok greedily snaps up the bottle of vodka. Damien scours the property with his mystic sense while others use electronic means. It quickly becomes apparent that they are very, very, isolated. No ambient signals, no light or heat sources, just this isolated home. If there is any one else in the area they are miles away. The team does spot a large radio antenna on top of the house. Likely used for long range communications, so there must be someone on the other end.

Mystic investigation inside the barn reveals the thief is indeed gone. The various wards and symbols, drawn in the blood of farm animals, indicates a teleportation ritual. The possession of the animals was obviously just a quick spell to keep the group busy and prevent being followed. The only clue about a destination is the last word Makenna heard when she opened the barn door: Chort.

Occult

Occult roll at -2 to learn something about Chort. It is not the standard North American lexicon.

As things settle down, Par takes a moment to commune seek divine guidance. The vision he receives is frightening and disturbing. A demon lord with hooves and horns sits on a throne holding a globe of the earth in his hands. On is hands are three glowing rings, Rings of the Elder, licking the globe with flames. The thief, a shadowy figure that cannot be scryed, approaches with seven more rings - those stolen from Tolkien. As rings are adding to the demon's hands the flames grow in intensity. By the time the the tenth ring is placed the flames consume the entire globe and the demon lord chortles with laughter. The flames spread and expand until Par can see nothing but fire bringing his vision to an end.

[Makenna Griggs]

Occult roll

Occult (-2 for untrained, -2 from GM): -3
Wild die: -3

Makenna takes some time to inspect her weapons and equipment as she ponders over the strange word she had heard earlier. Chort... I think I've heard that word before. But where...? She wonders, muttering to herself as she cleans her rifle.

After some time, she finally speaks up to the group. "Ok, I think I have a pretty solid idea of what's going on here. A few years back, I had to go in to this little town to gather parts. This town was full of gangs, drug addicts, you name it. Well, I kept overhearing them talking about this new drug that, if I remember correctly, they called it Chort. I didn't really look in to it at the time, so I don't know what kind of drug it was or what it did to people. But that's what I heard the thief say right when he vanished. So I'm thinking he drugged these animals and that's why they went crazy." She tries to not look too impressed with herself at her obviously flawless reasoning.

[Par]

Par comes out of the vision mentality shaken. Normally his communions go very differently. Sitting down to rest with the others as he tries to clear his mind Par feels like he is missing something very important. "The legion should have sent someone more skilled. I don't think I know what is going on here." He mumbles to himself, discouraged at how things turned out for the farmers, and that the team failed to stop the thief.

Occult, what is Chort, success

Occult 6
Wild 2

[Jackal]

---

Dropping down next to Par, Damien remarks:

”Get some rest. We’ll be fine. Rest till morning. Hopefully we can get more information from this Warlord that’s coming this way.”

Leaning against the barn wall the Momano try’s to sleep.

”Wake me when it’s my watch.”

OOC Comments

How many hours pass for regen?

[steelbrok]

Steelbrok muses on this puzzler, in fact he starts to scratch his head but desists quickly (metal finger nails on a metal skull do not make a pleasant sound). He tries to remember if he's ever heard of the word "chort" before and what language it might be.

OOC Comments

Occult -2
Wild die 0

Nothing comes to mind.
He considers the antenna: nothing outgoing at the moment. Possible a signal's incoming that big antenna can pick up that our smaller systems can't. Though if a force was closing in and using the same strength of comms they'd have to be REALLY good with their radio power discipline to avoid detection. He lays out his thoughts as he cleans his weapons. We surprised the farmer but a good chance the family sent of a signal while in the cellar. They haven't sent a follow up because we've been scanning and we'd have picked it up. Which is odd....

Shakes his head and tries to be more practical, Looking at the types of tree, bearing in mind the weather....and... dusk was then and back at the Tomorrow Legion base it was at then. Now people tell me you don't always travel in time through these Rifts thingies so....

OOC Comments

Survival 3
Wild die4
So, final result = 4 (d6 skill +2 cyber -2 difficulty DM)

[Thursday]

Thursday lies down relaxed (or what you assume is relaxed for a dragon) in the corner area that he claimed for himself.

Whatever this 'Chort' thing is, I'd rather not go near it. I don't want to end up like those animals... now that I think about it, where are we anyway?

[Don Carnage]

Don finishes up his circuit of the farm, starting to yawn after the first couple hours with no excitement, Towards the end of his watch he enters the barn, and powers down his armor.

Upon exiting the behemoth he spends a few seconds to get his legs back under him after the long day before heading over to wake up Damien.

“Mon ami, it ees much to quiet out there. My gut tells me the thieves friends will send back something stronger than a chicken to cover his trail.”

With that the soldier drags together a “comfy” mound of straw and throws his bedroll on top of it, he wolfs down some rations and crashes for the night.

[Jackal]

---

Yawning Damien nods at Don.

“Thanks for taking first watch. I’m up. We will see what morning brings.”

The Momano utilities cybernetics and psychic abilities to watch out for the group.

[Kesslan]

Left tired and worn out after the day's events, and now fed and such, Kesslan just pulls out his blanket and then pauses a moment as he regards the current situation in the barn as people start going to get some shut eye. After a few moments of indecision, the dogboy decides to just blatantly and brazenly snuggle up to Thursday for some added warmth in the cold environment.

[Venatus Vinco]

Continued Here: https://savagerifts.com/sr/viewtopic.php?p=66668#p66668