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No Tresspassing
After comparing notes on the entity known as “Chort” The 1st SET settles into watches. Steelbrok uses the downtime to examine the night sky. While he has no idea where they are he pinpoints enough markers in the sky to know they are still on earth and in a similar time frame to when they left. All the stars in the sky are odd and out of position, leaving him to believe they are in the Eastern Hemisphere.

In the morning, the radio antenna comes to life, and the team can quickly pinpoint the source of the transmission. A group of hover cycles are speeding along the snow in front of a column of large tracked vehicles. It is a sizable armored force similar to a small mercenary outfit or Coalition platoon.

The farmhouse door opens and the man comes out, along with what appears to be his large extended family. Some of the children stare agape at the marvelous Glitter Boy and the ferocious dragon. The man speaks, and after some magic from the group, they can understand him.

”There are the Warlords men. Warlord Sokolov protects us but he is also a danger,” when he says this his wife shushings him as if someone will hear and harm them. ”They will suspect you are spies. I have already said that you saved me from a demon intruder, this means they will not kill you where you stand - unless you provoke them.”
The hover cycles - obviously unfamiliar with the striking distance of a Glitter Boy - hold up at ways out. The farmer comes out of the house again and gives you a radio frequency. The voice on the radio offers an ultimatum, ”You are trespassing on the lands of Grigori Levka Sokolov the Demonfist. We forgive this first offense as you have assisted the great people of the motherland. State your intentions for treading uninvited on the ground where our ancestors have bled and froze.”

---

Damien maintains the magic to enable talking with those at the house and for on the radio.

Prior to the farmer bringing out the radio Damien suggests that they be ready but not guns out. Point the Glitter Boy the right direction. Dig in. But try to look peaceful. Beyond that he sees the others all know what they are doing.

Well...

”Thursday! Hey buddy. We are going to try to be friends with these people. Okay.”

All bases covered. Hopefully.

When the voice on the other side of the radio asks the First to explain why they are there the Momano says to the First.

”Motherland? Where are we? We could try the truth. We were hunting down a terrible monster and it Rifted us here. It’s gone now. We have no way home. Could we be friends please. See how that goes? Whatcha say?”

Par looks around as the men arrive. Their dress and appearance looked very strange, and the presence of the leader was of a man who expected to be obeyed. "We meant no harm to your people, and no disrespect to you Sir." Indicating Damian he finishes. "But it is as Damian here says, where where hunting a monster and ended up here. We do not wish to offend or trespass your land."

Steelbrok moves slightly to the side. ready to take cover at the side of the farmhouse but keeping his railgun pointed away from the hovercycles...for now...

"Guys, we're not near Kansas anymore, going by last night's stars I'd say we're back in the eastern hemisphere. Let's try friendly and maybe play up the danger this thief could be to them too."

Seeing Par handling things over the radio, Makenna begins to look around at the situation. If things went bad with negotiations, they would probably need to fight their way out. Or, she thinks as she looks at the sizeable force in the distance, probably run for their lives. Neither situation looks very promising, honestly, but she'd been in impossible situations before and gotten out just fine. She tries to act casual as she glances around, looking for advantageous positions for her and her team.

---

---

Don moves his armor away from the fragile buildings and takes up a central position to command attention from the soldiers and draw fire away from his more fragile companions. Once in place he settles his pylons into the earth, but does not yet bring the massive railgun to bear.

Content to let Damien handle the discussions he turns his attention to his sensors, checking to make sure the small farm is not being surrounded.

"Ooh! I like making friends!" Thursday says as he perks up. "Are they bringing gifts?" Thursday positions himself next to the rest of the group.

Bryan let's his particle beam rifle rest on its sling, and finds a place to get warm. A veteran of the frozen north, he does his best to avoid wasting his energy, and takes a nip of good canadian whiskey from his hip flask.

Feeling the tension building in the air Par starts to get a little worried. Reaching out with his mind he reminds the others. 'Please, lets not make trouble these farmers cannot defend from.'

Steelbrok nods agreement with Par, he'd just said "Let's try friendly" after all.

He sighed, just because you've got metal skin everyone thinks you're thick skinned too. And he hadn't been pointing his railgun at anyone!
(although that could quickly change if needed)

Motherland
Tensing up for the worst, the group hope’s for the best and Par relays their story to the voice on the other end of the radio, ”Yes. The peasant family that maintains our relay station has told us you drove off evil spirits from their barn and fought the Leshy without paying his toll. This is why you are still breathing, despite the monster in your company.” It can only be presumed he means Thursday.

The bikes close in and two massive cyborgs dismount, each one half-again-as-big as Steelcreek, their design is very clunky but also extremely heavy duty. They look ready for anything, behind them the land vehicles are slowly catching up. They are great tracked vehicles with a very boxy utilitarian design.

”The demon you followed here is of great concern to Warlord Sokolov. He believes our enemies sent it into our midst to sow discord and fear. And you may be a part of that plot.” The cyborg points to each of the group in turn, ”You will accompany us to the Warcamp and meet Sokolov and tell him your tall tales. If he is satisfied of your intentions he may grant you passage through his territory for your endeavours. If he is not satisfied you will be executed.”

The big borg lifts his face plate and grins, ”You are guests and granted hospitality. For now!”

Par listens to the men speak and then looks to the others. Mentally he says to the party. 'I am willing to go with them. We may be able to get more information from them of where we are and what all is going on. To reply all you need do is think to us, as I am doing to you now.'

To the gathered military force he says. "Thank you, let us confer with each other for just a moment."

Damien nods at both the big cyborgs and at Par. Moving closer to the First SET he says, “I’d like to met this Warlord Sokolov. Either he is a means to new friendships between him and the Legion or he could be something we need to tell the Legion about. If he does have some connections with the Thief, if it was sent here to harass him, we may learn something from this meeting on that too. My thoughts are go with them. Obviously on guard but under friendly term. Am I missing something? A possible reason we shouldn’t?”

"I agree, we should go with them. They seem to have the upper hand if we were to try and fight them, or run. Let's not anger them while we're in their good graces." Makenna says through the mental link Par has set up.

Steelbrok nods agreement, but says quietly, "Just a bit worried about Thursday. Not so happy with him being described as a monster. We should make sure he's going to be ok at their camp, base, whatever"

Don retracts his armor's pitons, and gently shakes the armors feet to shake off the snow he had sunk into.

Once cleaned that is settled he turns to directly face the cyborg that was speaking and thumbs the armor's external sound system, "While we will be happy to speak to your Warlord, I would ask that you desist calling the child traveling with us a monster. Feelings are very easy to hurt, yes?"

Bryan just nods, happy to stay or go, whatever the party decides. You sort of get the impression that he's very laid back, until it's time to blow something up and then he's all business.

"Monster? - Oh! You probably mean Steelbrok. He's pretty scary and a little weird, but rest assured we are the Good Guys. You have no need to fear." Thursday says aloud.

"I can't believe they'd call Steelbrok such a terrible name! Oh well, if they can be of help in some way we can at least follow them." Thursday says using the telepathic link. ... WAIT!! I'M THE MONSTER! UNBELIEVABLE!!! I'll have you know that I have feelings, too.

As the group travels Damien makes idle conversation with the cyborgs. Their cybernetics are interesting to the mystic partial cyborg. As friendly as he can he spares some details on the SET and then asks questions about this group, where they are, and about the warlord. At first it seems like he gets nowhere but he keeps trying. Showing off a little on how his cybernetics works, warms the Borgs up and they start paying attention to Damien.

pd00201d600210021d00201d6002100211d6!!HdF1d6!!

Warcamp
Agreeing to go see the Warlord, the 1st SET joins the small band of powerful soldiers that came to greet them. It soon becomes obvious that this is some sort of loosely aligned military unit, not unlike the Legion’s SETs. There is a command structure and they seem to be part of a larger force of some sort.

While the outriders use hovercycles the main troops travel in bulky tracked snow vehicles. The members of the first are given a spot in one of these boxy transports, which feels a little bit like a prison. No one is sure what to do with Thursday and the dragon or Dom’s Glitterboy, so they simply are left to travel on their own.

Two well armed cyborgs “accompany” the group inside the tracked vehicle. They are equipped with language translators that help facilitate interaction. During the long boring ride it soon comes out that their names are Slava and Pavel. Damien is able to strike up a somewhat pleasant conversation, for their part they are somewhat amused by the novelty of the group and keep calling them “the Americans”.

”You are far from home Americans,” Pavel says with a laugh. ”You have landed yourselves in the heart of Mother Russia. After your ancestors ended the world this area suffered almost one hundred years of winter. Yet, we are a strong people, we survived and emerged stronger.”

Slava continues, it sounds like they are reciting a common oral history shared in homesteads and around campfires, ”Yet winter was not the deadliest thing out there. Demons, scores and scores of them, prowled about the land seeking the ruin of souls. Many more perished by claw and tooth.”

”To survive we encamped together, and the Warlords emerged. As their warcamps grew they offered protection the people - in exchange we take what we need from them to stay strong and fight what comes to protect our motherland.”

Both cyborgs make a sort of salute at the mention of protecting the motherland then Pavel picks it up again, ”Our warcamp is mighty and our leader is Grigori Levka Sokolov, the “Demonfist”. He will not treat you lightly as you arrived via suspicious means and consort with a dragon.”

It soon becomes apparent that warcamp can be more roughly translated to “army”. Although more accurately it sounds like organized bands of brigands who are led by a single powerful figure. The territory of Warlord Sokolov sounds a lot like the so-called Pecos empire in Lone Star. It sounds like there are other Warlords and camps that claim to protect different areas - whether they are all like this group is not clear.

Sokolov
After a couple of days riding in the tracked vehicle the group arrives at the mobile headquarters of Warlord Sokolov. It looks like an entire division of troops made up of cyborgs, vehicles, and foot soldiers. While more rag-tag than the Coalition such a force would easily roll over most independent kingdoms in North America. Sokolov is a heavy cyborg and looks like he has been through many wars. He is seated inside a large tent, surrounded by his War Chiefs. Everyone speaks through translators making their voices cold and electronic.

”Spies deserve death,” he begins auspiciously. ”Thieves deserve death,” he says again, perhaps in reference to some dead farm animals. ”Monsters deserve death,” he continues - obviously he didn’t get the memo from Don about not calling Thursday a monster. A murmur of agreement goes up through the Warchiefs, he raises a bionic hand to silence them.

”You are all of these, and yet by my whim you still live,” he pauses for a moment. ”Tell me why my mercy should extend any further.”

Ok, check the rules in SWADE for social conflict. Your goal here is to convince him (minimally) to let you live, even better to let you go, and best give you some support. It will be Persuasion at -2 (or another skill you can convince me of) opposed by his Spirit. Conversation will go over three rounds. Everyone can Support with any justifiable skill, max support is +4 with a maximum of +2 from any given person.

During the journey Par is caught up in chatter. He finds the Russians more interesting than anything else. They are humans like him and his people, and yet they are from a whole new part of the planet he was not familiar with. Every word they share of their experience makes them more interesting to him. But to make it better Par found they were completely willing to sing him songs, or speak the stories of their culture. These Russians where much prouder of their heritage than the people from where he was from.

Venatus Vinco wrote: ↑Sat May 23, 2020 4:22 am Sokolov
After a couple of days riding in the tracked vehicle the group arrives at the mobile headquarters of Warlord Sokolov. It looks like an entire division of troops made up of cyborgs, vehicles, and foot soldiers. While more rag-tag than the Coalition such a force would easily roll over most independent kingdoms in North America. Sokolov is a heavy cyborg and looks like he has been through many wars. He is seated inside a large tent, surrounded by his War Chiefs. Everyone speaks through translators making their voices cold and electronic.

”Spies deserve death,” he begins auspiciously. ”Thieves deserve death,” he says again, perhaps in reference to some dead farm animals. ”Monsters deserve death,” he continues - obviously he didn’t get the memo from Don about not calling Thursday a monster. A murmur of agreement goes up through the Warchiefs, he raises a bionic hand to silence them.

”You are all of these, and yet by my whim you still live,” he pauses for a moment. ”Tell me why my mercy should extend any further.”

Ok, check the rules in SWADE for social conflict. Your goal here is to convince him (minimally) to let you live, even better to let you go, and best give you some support. It will be Persuasion at -2 (or another skill you can convince me of) opposed by his Spirit. Conversation will go over three rounds. Everyone can Support with any justifiable skill, max support is +4 with a maximum of +2 from any given person.

Par looks around trying to identify the make up and nature of this band. There are far to many to fight their way free of, let alone for the team to dominate. "We hunt the thief and the monsters. We did not intend or want to take anything from your people. Releasing us would cause frustration to your enemies because once we catch the thief and the demon he works for we will bring them both to justice." Par continues on his words comparing some of the stories he heard on the way here and trying to convey some of what he learned of their culture from the others. Above all, Par knew how important respect was to the War Lord and ensured that both himself and the others knew not to threaten or try to intimidate him.

Persuasion d10
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Trying again via the edit feature.
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Benny to Reroll
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Benny to Reroll
dp1d10!!Ld1d6!!
Last Benny to Reroll, I really wanted that raise.
HddFLp1d10!!Ld1d6!!

Steelbrok stands forward, looking boldly at the Warlord.

“You are right, Warlord Sokolov!
Spies, Thieves and Monsters DO deserve death.
A spy is one who creeps in unannounced looking for secrets. We have not done that. We found ourselves in your territory through no fault of our own. And we went openly to the front door of those who look after your relay station both to greet them and to warn them of the demon in their barn.

And thieves? We are none! What have we taken? Even of your lands we have only used the length of our strides, the width of our shoulders. If we have damaged the snows then we apologise – but there seems to be no lack of snow here!

As for being monsters, monstrosity comes from the heart, not from outward appearance.

Some say I look like a monster, but I am none, my heart stands to protect others not devour them”

Steelbrok slams his fist against his chest and then points to Sokolov,

“Nor are you a monster, Warlord, we may have hides of steel but we stand in defiance against the real monsters, those who would destroy those we protect.”

He turns to indicate Thursday, “Our friend here may look strange, but he is no monster, his heart is noble and pure.”

Facing the Warlord square on, Steelbrok continues,

“But what of he we pursued? He is a spy, for he spied out our land. He is a thief for he stole something of great power. And he is a monster, I faced his foul magics and I name so.
Spy, thief, monster, aye, he we pursue is indeed deserving of death. We stand with you on this Warlord Sokolov. It is not mercy you should extend to us but comradeship!”

Wild die 1d600210021 Persuasion die 1d400210021

On the first night, the Cyborgs get bored. So bored, that they russle up an industrial grade solvent, which happens to have so much alcohol in it that they drink this instead of the traditional vodka. After a few hours of storytelling and drinking the solvent, one by one the borgs drop out, passed out drunk. It just so happens that a few bandits consider this to be the ideal time for an ambush. Bryan quickly dispatches the half a dozen raiders just in time for one of the borgs, Pavel, to wake up. Pavel is so impressed by Bryan's shooting that they quickly strike up a friendship. Pavel makes sure to tell the warlord what brave people these are, and how they are very Russian, in a lot of ways.

---

Utilizing the TW Communication band Damien speaks clearly to the Warlord and those with him. All hear him in their native language.

The Momano, psychic partial cyborg, chuckles.

”I would appreciate your mercy Warlord Sokolov as I’d greatly be interested in continuing my life’s work. I am a monster hunter and slayer of beasts. I signed on with these other Americans do carry out that work. We have a lot of work ahead of us still Sir. I bow to your knowledge of history. I wish I were as learned. You say we started the end of the world? We should then be responsible for helping fix it. I very much so want to crush every evil thing out there. In America. Here in Russia. I will gladly hunt down every evil we encounter from here to our home. We came here attempting to stop a demonic force and tried to help the Russian farmers it terrorized.

I am reminded of a time when I was young. My parents told me our clan were hunting a Vedma. A vile witch that had traveled down from Siberia and made her way across the old America wastelands. She brought illness to all she touched and death to crops and livestock. My clan of Momano tracked the Vedma for days. My uncle died killing the abomination as the rest of the clan destroyed it.”

Damien talks a little more about Slavic demonology and the difficulty faced by the Warlords people and the similarities faced by those in America with their demons.

”Unlike the Vedma, who came to a new land to bring sorrow - we are not here to do that. Please let us work alongside you in bringing the world back to order. As I said, from here to our home, every evil we encounter we will face, if you let us.”

"As my companions have said, we didn't mean to come in to your territory intentionally. But this thief that we're chasing has been causing all of the trouble so far, and we only want to stop him before he causes more trouble. But if you feel that we are to blame for anything, then perhaps we can prove ourselves useful to you in some way. I'm skilled in finding valuable items, and negotiating deals, and each of my friends has other things that they are good at. Surely we can work to repay you for the generosity you've shown us."

Thursday tilts his head around, looking at the place they're in. Save a farm from demons and you're a hero for a couple of minutes, eat a dead chicken and you're a monster for life. Why do people insist on me being a monster when I have done nothing wrong? It's hard to be one of the Good Guys...

Thursday speaks up for a moment sounding a bit confused at the humbleness of everyone else and unsure about the weight of the room "Well... we are the Good Guys? And we, as the Good Guys, do good things for the sake of... being good?" Still trying to grasp the concept of what being a "Good Guy" is or even what it consists of, he feels that it may somehow make them sound better than being spies, thieves, or monsters. He looks to his companions for some form of praise in what he said as he thinks he has done a good job.

Why do they live in tents? Normal people houses are bigger and much comfier than these cramped huts made of animal skin. Then again... living in a house made out of the corpses of your enemies sounds pretty cool.

Détente

Par, assisted by the rest of the group, outlines their story so far and makes a case for their presence in the old Warlord’s territory.

Per discord; 4 vs. 10 = Raise

For his part Sokolov seems to relax a little, as if taking a perverse pleasure in watching these foreigners dance a little. Kind of sadistic, but at least he isn’t executing anyone at the moment. He waves a dismissive hand, as if he has heard enough of a child’s story.

’Very well. You are here by accident and chase a thief. You still keep bad company but your pet lizard seems to be fairly tame. This is good thing.”

He shrugs, ”Tell me more of this thief who has come to my homeland. He has stolen nothing from me, but has harmed my people. Only I decide who harms my people.”

Round 1: 2 Influence Tokens

Your goal here is to convince him (minimally) to let you live, even better to let you go, and best give you some support. It will be Persuasion at -2 (or another skill you can convince me of) opposed by his Spirit. Conversation will go over three rounds. Everyone can Support with any justifiable skill, max support is +4 with a maximum of +2 from any given person.

---

Damien makes a point of catching Thursday’s eye and smiles at the dragon.

Then Damien eyes the Warlord after his distasteful joke about only he can hurt his people. Still using his TW communication band the Momano says in a neutral tone:

“Voyenachal'nik Solokov this demon vor, thief, is supernatural in nature. It’s like a prizrak, a ghost, figuratively speaking. Our belief is it’s still here in your land. Beyond that. Maybe you can shed some light on it for us... Chort. It said Chort. What do you think Warlord?”

---

p21d6!!
Ldd21d6!!

Gahhhhh bennie ...
p1d6!!
d1d6!!
At -2 my best Roll after all that is a 3

Steelbrok decides that despite his best efforts and fitting in with the Cyborg crowd, he really isn't cut out for the diplomacy stuff. Instead he decides to discretely make use of his sensors and look hard and listen hard to see in there are any cues that might be helpful for some one with a prettier face than his to do the talking

"Personally, I believe that Chort is some kind of drug he's using. Maybe it's some kind of supernatural booster or something, which is making him even more dangerous to everyone around him." Makenna pipes in, after hearing Damien mention the odd word.

Par patiently waits listening, sensing and observing. Not wanting to disrupt the apparently good rapport the two had developed.

There where so many cyborgs, and people with cybernetics, it was like everyone here had suffered accidents like his, but without a powerful mother like his they were forced to sacrifice some of their humanity. Par for bad for them, their loss of humanity seems to have affected their empathy as well, as the War Lord treated those around him like they were not even real people.

These people respected stoicism and aggression and Par knew that was not his strongest trait. But he was willing to stand as needed and lend his support by keeping his back straight next to the cyborg.

Looking at the movement in the back, Par wondered who it was coming forward.

p1d10!!
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p1d10!!/1d6!!

Détente

The mention of Chort causes all levity to drain from the room, a number of cyborgs make unusual hand gestures, drawing the shape of the cross across their bodies, as if to ward off an evil spirit. If Sokolov had human eyes they would no doubt be narrowed as his voice drops very low, ”Chort is no drug. He is evil, the lord of the demons who infest our homeland. If your thief is in league with Chort then he is my enemy. However, that does not necessarily make you my friends.”

He looks to some of his cyborg troops, ”Bring me Romani.

An awkward time passes while Sokolov stews and the cyborgs arrive with a prisoner. ”I have recently found this unpleasant person lurking about my camp. His people know of evil spirits, and their witch.” He pauses to make a spitting sound at the word witch, followed in unison by everyone else in the room, ”She knows about such things.”

Sokolov fixes his gaze on @Angelo Roamni, ”I was planning to kill you, but will you take these foreigners to see your hag?”

Then, he looks back to the members of the 1st SET, ”If you find this thief, you will bring him to me, da?”

Round 1: 2 Influence Tokens
Round 2: 2 Influence Tokens

This is the last round: Sokolov has let you live and given you a local guide now’s the chance to push for more, or make him mad. Two more tokens means more help, losing a Token (crit fail) means getting less help and barely escaping with your lives.

Your goal here is to convince him (minimally) to let you live, even better to let you go, and best give you some support. It will be Persuasion at -2 (or another skill you can convince me of) opposed by his Spirit. Conversation will go over three rounds. Everyone can Support with any justifiable skill, max support is +4 with a maximum of +2 from any given person.

Par nods, perhaps it was fate that allowed them to come in time before the man could be killed. But the last thief they dealt with turned out to be a sorcerer and murderer. His own nature of wanting to help felt conflicted with the experiences he is having in this land. Of course than is why his father wanted him to experience more of the world, but sometimes those experiences can be hard to accept.

Venatus Vinco wrote: ↑Sun Jun 07, 2020 11:59 am Then, he looks back to the members of the 1st SET, ”If you find this thief, you will bring him to me, da?”

The bargain seems a reasonable one. "If he lives we will bring him to you. But as things have gone so far, I think it is possible he will be dead when we finally capture him.

"If that still works for your need then we have a bargain. Thank you for allowing us through your lands, we regret not being able to save all of your live stock. But are happy to have saved your men."

Persuasion 1d10!! does not include support coming from others
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-2 = 2

1d6!!-2
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Nodding at Par’s words and watching the warlord Damien places his cybernetic hand on Par’s shoulder.

“Agree. We will deliver the thief’s body to you. Trying for alive.”

Then, he looks back to the members of the 1st SET, ”If you find this thief, you will bring him to me, da?”

The bargain seems a reasonable one. "If he lives we will bring him to you. But as things have gone so far, I think it is possible he will be dead when we finally capture him.

"If that still works for your need then we have a bargain. Thank you for allowing us through your lands, we regret not being able to save all of your live stock. But are happy to have saved your men."

“Thank you, great war chief Sokolov. It would be my honor to escort these fine warriors to speak with the Elder”.

As he turns to look at the group, taking a moment to meet each one's eyes trying to size up if this is a case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire or if the great watcher is looking out for him....again! Either way it's bound to be an adventure. Angelo smiles one of his most honest smiles, trying set to ease some of the groups fears and says

“Hello, my newfound companies. I am Angelo Roamni and I have been given a fantastic opportunity to be your humble guide for the near future. Please we should make haste, we have small journey ahead to meet the Elder, come come let us be off”.

Angelo starts for the exit, pauses looking back at the war chief and asks “ War chief to help us on this hunt for the thief and Chort may we have accses to some supplies?” after hearing the answer he gives one last bow to the war chief.

1d10!!
Ld1d6!!


p1d12!!+2
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FpLL1d12!!+2
LLLd1d6!!+2

Steelbrok stands, looking around and giving everyone his best smile >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Angelo starts for the exit, pauses looking back at the war chief and asks “ War chief to help us on this hunt for the thief and Chort may we have accses to some supplies?” after hearing the answer he gives one last bow to the war chief.

Makenna's face goes a bit pale at hearing that "chort" is, in fact, far worse than she thought it was. A demon lord? For real?! She tries to speak, but finds that her throat has gone a bit dry at the news. She coughs, then tries again. "Yes, supplies would be most appreciated, if you have any to spare."

Vassals
Having arrived in, what turns out to be, Russia with nothing but their wits and their guns the 1st SET finishes a dangerous negotiation with a crazed Russian Warlord, Gregorivich Sokolov. Having negotiated for their lives, in exchange for the promise to kill the thief or return him to Sokolov so the warlord can do the job himself, they take one more step and ask for supplies.

Surprisingly the temperamental Russian is agreeable.

"Da. While you this this job for me you are part of my war camp. I give you vehicle, and will send five of my war knights to accompany you. They are my hands and feet and will crush anyone who opposes my will in my territory and beyond. The Romani will be your guide."

Dismissed from their audience the team meets their new friends.
There are five Russians assigned to babysit the group, each one looks formidable in his own right. For their cool demeanour and stoic bearing it is hard to tell if they are protective detail or a prison escort. One of them is Pavel who accompanied the group from the homestead. He seems to be the least icy. He introduces the others as: the Professor, the Bear, the Hotshot, and the Impaler. Those obviously are monikers, and before too long you realize they also have names: Igor, Slava, Sergei, and Vladimir. Pavel also shows you to a vehicle, a large tracked "truck" with a flat bed. A crews is working on bolting a basic accomodations trailer to the back. It'll be heated, have some bunks, and seats for the group but not luxurious in any sense.

---

As the big vehicle rumbles across the snow and Russian landscape Damien takes time to spend a few minutes trying to chat friendly with the Russian escort members.

Settling down by Angelo, the partial cyborg and psychic, Damien, nods at the man.

“I appreciate your assistance. I’m Damien Frost of the Momano clan.”

Offering a metal hand to shake Damien smiles.

”I think that was the closest I’ve come to death back in the war camp - hehe - man. So, anything we need to know interacting with the Elders? I’m more comfortable ripping monsters up than ... politics.”

After leaving the tent Angelo couldn't help but to smile to himself, yesterday he was slated to be thrown in the pits to fight for being Romani and in the wrong place at the wrong time. Today, the same man that was going to murder him for fun, is giving him supplies, a vehicle, an escort and a new group of friends (for that is the way he is going to choose to look at them until they show themselves different). Of course the escort is a group of sadistic killers that would just as soon beat me and everyone else to death for some after dinner entertainment and then go to sleep covered in our blood but....hopefully they can hold off long enough to make thru The Beasts territory.

After our gear and supplies have been gathered and the trip has started Angelo address the group
"Friend as i said before this will take a some time to reach the Elder we are going to be traveling thru Sokolov's and Orloff territory's to the tip of Warlord Romanov's. From there we will have to do some tracking. But until we get there let me tell you a little about myself ".
Angelo turns and pulls a bottle of Vodka from his pack, " but first a toast. To the start of a great adventure and new friendships". After the toast Angelo begins his introduction "I was born in these lands and have traveled them with my clans all my life for no Romani calls one place home. The world is ours to explore and live. I, myself am a collector of tales, story's and try to live each day to the fullest. Now this makes me a descent entertainer, i am, sadly to say not much good in a fighter".
Angelo glances away at this admission. He continues, "by telling you this, i'm not saying i wont or dont fight, just that my skills lye elsewhere. I believe it is important for those we chose to travel with to know our strengths and weaknesses. For tho this is a beautiful and magical land, it is full of danger and hardships".

After this he goes to sit down.

Settling down by Angelo, the partial cyborg and psychic, Damien, nods at the man.

“I appreciate your assistance. I’m Damien Frost of the Momano clan.”

Offering a metal hand to shake Damien smiles.

”I think that was the closest I’ve come to death back in the war camp - hehe - man. So, anything we need to know interacting with the Elders? I’m more comfortable ripping monsters up than ... politics.”

Taking Damien's hand and giving him a smile in return.

Angelo answers, "I appreciate your groups timely appearance, it could have been a bad day otherwise". He says with a wink.

Angelo continues, "it helps to show up with a small gift when seeking something from the Elder but you guys saved me, intentionally or not that should be enough. As for interacting as long as no hostility is show non shall be given. My people in general are a welcoming and friendly bunch, judging those we meet or travel with by there actions and intentions and by where they come from or what they look like".

Waiting for the man to share his explanation Par asks his next question. "So, do you think you could help us pick up on some Russian as we travel? I am a really fast study." Then hedging his bets a bit he adds. "Though sometimes I forget with time."
"So we are all from America as you may have guessed. From a place called Castle Refuge in Arkansas, but we just call it Refuge..." The strange little wooden man seems to enjoy the sound of his own voice as he continues chatting and trying to get to know Angelo.

Angelo looks toward Par and smiles "O, even though its rare, travelers such as yours do manage to show up here. When i was a boy one of these turned out to be family from Free Quebec, he decided to stay with us for a few years and during that time he taught me English and told me stories of his adventures". As for your request to learn Russian, it would be my pleasure to help you in this. Thou i must admit im not the greatest teacher but i will do my best.

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Happy to be away from the cyborgs Par is finally able to relax a bit. Listening to the new guy Par is happy to see another person who prefers to solve problems without violence, but one thing nags him a little. "How do you speak English? I mean, I do not know how far this is from America, but I did not know others on this planet also spoke English."

Waiting for the man to share his explanation Par asks his next question. "So, do you think you could help us pick up on some Russian as we travel? I am a really fast study." Then hedging his bets a bit he adds. "Though sometimes I forget with time."

"So we are all from America as you may have guessed. From a place called Castle Refuge in Arkansas, but we just call it Refuge..." The strange little wooden man seems to enjoy the sound of his own voice as he continues chatting and trying to get to know Angelo.

Steelbrok shuffles himself into a more comfortable position and leans his railgun across his knees as he checks it over. With his 360 keeping a watch on the 4 walorders and Angelo (and 3 of the warlorders in LOS) has asks:

"Hey, Angelo, we seem to be in Russia but that's a pretty big place. Are we still in Europe, over towards Vladivostok, north, south?"

Makenna spends the time taking in the surroundings as they drive along, keeping an eye out for any interesting sights. She knows that she'll probably never have time to actually go to any places she sees along the way, but the habit to look for valuable salvage locations is hard to break. Eventually, she finally turns away from the outside world and focuses on the conversations happening inside the vehicle. It was nice of the warlord to provide supplies and additional assistance, but could they trust Angelo? Then again, did they even have a choice? She focuses on him as he chats with the others, looking for any indication that he could be hiding something.