After a lively and relaxing morning at the First Call, you're called to your initial briefing for the 8th Special Exploratory Team. Clint "Hawkeye" Brock has a reputation for success against overwhelming odds through sheer guts and maybe a sprinkling of borderline crazy risk-taking. His last field mission cost him his eye but he still managed to take out some nearly mountain-sized Thing-That-Should-Not-Be in the middle of its meal (which consisted of a sizable village, land and all) with a suicidal charge on a mountaineer rigged with a huge arcane-explosive. How he escaped the blast radius is the topic of much debate; he has never weighed in. Word has it that he refused both arcane and cybernetic assistance to repair or replace his eye. "Badge of honor" he calls it.
You each find an appropriate seat in a small briefing room. The man stands at the head of the room in front of a large projection monitor with a map of the nearby region displayed. "Morning. Smells like you've been at Ricky's. Don't blame you." He lifts a mug to his lips and takes a sip. FIRST CALL is emblazoned on the front.
Setting the mug down, the veteran warrior begins explaining the purpose of your team. His voice carries a deep tone with a hint of grit and enough character to keep you listening. "Highups have need for a crew to run remote explorations. We know the territory near the castle well enough but further out is foggy. Even when we map something, some damned rift pops in and gives us new terrain or new critters to worry about." He murmurs a little bit of disgust at the idea. "Expect not to make regular stops at home. Expect to handle your business while you're out by any means necessary. The Legion's mission is a noble one. Act like it. But we'd just as soon have you make it back alive if you got a choice."
He turns back towards the map on the wall. "Need you to head out south-southwest. This region here -" He punctuates the location with a finger against the wall monitor. "- needs a fresh walkthrough. Some of the seers are getting some funny vibes out that way. Maybe go give it a look, see what you can see, check it against our existing maps. You're a multi-tool team. Meet people, reach out and make positive contact. Meet critters, make sure they're not hungry for our kind. Don't start fights, but end them if you need to. Once you've got it mapped out, bring it back. Easy enough. Motor pool is loading some mapping software into your ride. No muss, no fuss. Just make sure it's on." He picks up his FIRST CALL mug and takes another sip. "Questions?"
Instructions
Fire off any questions and RP with Hawkeye and/or your team you think are pertinent, but the mission is simple enough. We will run the next couple weeks in-game as a Quick Encounter / Travel hybrid. Roll 1d4 to draw a situation. (1=Enemies, 2=Strangers, 3=Treasure, 4=Obstacle) Pick a skill that comes into play for your character and describe a situation your team runs into that you can contribute to using primarily that skill. If the team earns 8 tokens, we move on to the next situation with no hindrances. Fall short and you'll pickup a handicap for the next scene. Score 12+ tokens as a crew and the GM will find something nice to throw your way as a bonus somewhere along the way.
(note: nobody's picking up a Battle Fury Blade or anything similarly ridiculous for drawing a 3 and succeeding on their roll)
“Guuh… Turns out it wasn’t infinity set after all…” Klaxie says dejectedly as she sees all of the familiar faces from the First Call in the room with her, at some point coming to the conclusion that her communications pad had indeed been tilted sideways. Well, she supposed it wasn’t all bad. They seemed a decent bunch even if they were kind of teetotaler. Not that it mattered all that much since it wasn’t like there was usually a lot of opportunity to get drunk during a mission regardless.
As they were presented with the various seats in the room, Klaxie stubbornly decided to sit on one. Resting her lower half on the biped shaped device, as the thing creaked backwards and bent in half, resulting in her hind legs pointing upwards and back in what looked to be a very awkward position. The entire time she did this she made eye contact with Clint, as if confirming that -yes- she was really doing this.
“Look at you calling us a buncha tools. Well I guess it’s not any worse than calling us Juments I guess.” Klaxie said after thinking about their assignment for a few moments. “Sounds easy enough to me. Until something goes wrong that is, but that’s how it always goes right? How long will it take to get there? Can we get some MREs for the trip from supply before heading out?”
The mechanical centaur glanced over to her companions seated next to her. Two elves, a cactus, the nice mons bons guy and the super ugly guy from Madhaven (who was also a nice guy) - guess it turns out he ended up here as well. Poor guy didn’t have any luck at all, did he?
At the very least they seemed to be an interesting bunch, so at least she wouldn’t be bored during the trip. A few minutes later…
“Auuuugh! I’m so god damned bored!” Came a scream from the rear of the Mountaineer Mk2. The rugged terrain vehicle was thankfully large enough to fit Klaxie, but she had to enter from the rear cargo hatch and it was still a relatively tight fit for her. Not to mention when the thing had the ECC enabled, it was extremely stuffy. Her less cybernetic brethren probably would have died by now due to the intense agony of being cooped up inside.
“Stop the thing right now! I gotta get out, I gotta get out, I gotta get out I’m so bored! let me out, I gotta pee, let me out or I’m gonna pee in the truck!” Came a sudden rapid fire succession of demands from the back, which seemed to be a cascading flow of nonsense. But still, it was likely that Murpf and whoever he had designated as his assistant driver would abruptly slam on the brakes and open the rear hatch, as the pouring rain from outside immediately splattered those close to the back of the vehicle.
Without any hesitation, Klaxie sprung to her legs and bolted outside, galloping away several yards in order to clear her head. Of course she hadn’t really needed to leave that urgently, but it was definitely time for a breather. And while it seemed like they had been traveling for days at this point, her watch only showed that they had been gone for 45 minutes. One could actually still see Castle Refuge off in the distance amidst the clouds and falling rain.
As the centaur kicked a clomp of mud in frustration, there was a series of surprised shouting's up ahead from above a ridge where the trail dipped between two large rocky outcrops. What would have been a perfect ambush spot for a large set of bandits, who had their eye on acquiring a partially damaged Mountaineer Mk2 for a very reasonable price. But by sheer dumb luck, Klaxie had halted the vehicle early and foiled their plans for a perfect ambush, as they took the delay to mean that they had been spotted. Several of them scrambling to change their tactics and reorganize, while others among them fled as they assessed the situation to be too dangerous.
Thankfully their would be ambushers hadn’t been the incredibly disciplined and organized types, as Klaxie sprung into action, as all four of her arms extended with a different ranged weapon in hand. Strafing her piston legs in a zig zag motion as a massive hail of laser blasts, plasma and launched grenades came from her all at once, peppering the entire ridge with a near endless supply of suppressive fire.
Hitting them and ending the threat immediately wasn’t her immediate goal, but keeping them panicked and on edge for long enough for her teammates to realize what was going on was. Proving to be effective enough that they were able to do just that.
“We get scabs lookin to bone without buying us dinner first! Get out get out get out get out!” Klaxie yelled into her headset, a stray blast from above hitting her in the shoulder, but thankfully not being enough to penetrate her armor.
Once the others of her group were able to respond, they were able to thankfully make short work of them. But unfortunately the ridge up ahead had collapsed during the fire fight, and more than likely due to Klaxie’s overzealous use of grenades from her launcher. The resultant landside causing the team to slow down somewhat as they had to find a way to circumvent the rubble and use an alternate route to continue onwards.
When the fight had finally ended and they had all loaded back up into the Mountaineer, Klaxie admitted to the others at that moment. “I didn’t really have to pee back then just so you know. I was just using my warriors intuition and such, cause I felt in the back of my neck that those guys were there and had to do something about it. She finished, jerking a thumb towards her chest as she offered them a big grin.
“Also… I actually do gotta go now. Can you pull over again?” Came a sudden ask not 5 minutes later.
Break ground and blazing trials is second nature to Gangleri who moves through the rugged wilderness with a grace that belies his physical mutations. Although the Mountaineer is an all terrain beast it still makes slow going off road. Whenever the going gets slow, Gangleri dismounts and creeps forward to scout a better route or look out for trouble. And, as it often does, trouble finds him. Moving from the trees to what looks like a clear pathway he finds a group of bandits lying in wait. Seeing a lone traveller they strike quickly for easy pickings.
"Gives us everything you got!"
Raising his hands slowly Gangleri pulls back his hood revealing his mangled visage.
"You don't want what I got. Wasting disease, pretty contagious from touching. Even my own family cast me out. Catch it and your pricks will fall right off!"
The bandit leader takes a few horrified steps back before signalling to the others, "Come on, this freak doesn't have anything worth taking anyway."
Shrugging Gangleri raises his hood gain and gives a crooked smile as he waits for the Mountaineer to catch up.
Snake Eyes wrote: ↑Fri Jun 28, 2024 8:47 pm
He turns back towards the map on the wall. "Need you to head out south-southwest. This region here -" He punctuates the location with a finger against the wall monitor. "- needs a fresh walkthrough. Some of the seers are getting some funny vibes out that way. Maybe go give it a look, see what you can see, check it against our existing maps. You're a multi-tool team. Meet people, reach out and make positive contact. Meet critters, make sure they're not hungry for our kind. Don't start fights, but end them if you need to. Once you've got it mapped out, bring it back. Easy enough. Motor pool is loading some mapping software into your ride. No muss, no fuss. Just make sure it's on." He picks up his FIRST CALL mug and takes another sip. "Questions?"
Murpf raises a hand, "I don't suppose while the tools jockeys are fiddling with Zazie's code they could stick a gun on her? A nice rail gun maybe, or even a little AP laser?? No? I promise there won't be another "misfire" incident. To be fair, who parks a sewage trunk next to a parade route anyway?" The look from their new CO leaves him doubting he'll receive the weaponry.
"Speaking" over Zazie's internal speakers Murpf addresses the latest request from @Klaxie to pull over. I would but your friends from earlier are back for more. Everyone hold on tight, time for some defensive driving." Pulling into a section of forest with thick scrub growth but few large trees Murpf puts the hammer down and slaloms through the obstructions losing a few mercs on bike but a buggy looks to not only keep up but is closing until the cactus man deliberately clips a small tree and with a quick burnout of the rear tires, sends it like a missile through the smaller vehicles grill.
Having evaded the various attackers (during which fights he stayed safely in the vehicle, though he was ready to have the lwa mess with anyone foolish enough to attempt a boarding action), the 8th goes through a relatively dull patch of Arkansas landscape. After attempting to flirt with Klaxie, who seems to think most of his terms of casual affection are culinary descriptors, he looks over the map while sitting in the Mountaineer. After a bit, Raphael gives a hearty chuckle. "Hey, mon ami, if you think we can bank a little further to the West, along the ruins of the old highway there, I think I might be able to be of some use to the group."
As they run along the long-destroyed roadway, they see a battered green sign covered with bushes, with the letters "P-A-R-T" being the only ones peeking out from behind the greenery. "Here, it is grand fortune we are passing this way!" His exuberance only grows as they come into a sight arguably more incongruous than Castle Refuge in the Arkansas landscape--a large Greek ruin, sitting on a torn up base of marble tiles! A relatively minor Ley Line runs overhead.
"Here, pull over about 100 yards from the ruin. Let me go alone, but I would greatly appreciate if a few gun-tips were pointing out from the hatch as I get close; sometimes having camarades bien armés helps to make a transaction go smoothly." With that, he hops out and strolls towards the impressive edifice, holding his staff in his good arm and calling out, "Ah, it is your old friend, Raphael, here to finish notre accord, yes?" A somewhat dodgy-looking human steps out from the pillars, carrying a small box, and hands it over to Raphe.
The houngan uses the strap on his staff to sling it over his shoulder, then looks into the box for a moment, smiling broadly. He says something quietly to the man (the Mountaineer's SRS picks up him saying, "A bit light, it seems? Ah, well, no matter, I think this will still suffice."). The man he's speaking to actually seems a bit disgruntled about how jovial Raphael is, but, noting the vehicle in the distance, just steps back into the pillars, while Raphe turns around and walks back to the vehicle, hopping in.
If anyone asks, he explains, "Oh, that is just a man who will do a thing for a price, but usually manages to find a way to make more than he charges; still, he can be dealt with, if you know ahead of time to include his overhead. Now, let us see...."
He opens the box again, revealing a motley assortments of random wearable trinkets. He gives his trademark grin. "Belle chance! As I said,I think I am now establishing my usefulness. Everyone, please, take the item you think best suits you!" He drops the box on the seat next to himself, and plucks out a skull-faced silver ring, slipping it onto his index finger, using his thumb and middle finger, with only a little difficulty.
What's all this then?
Describe the item you got. Should fit the description of a small, wearable bauble, no larger than a hat. It bestows a +1 to one particular Skill of your choice when worn, as an Enchanted item. (So it's worth about 10K Cr.) Enjoy!
I suggest both a post here describing the item you pick, and a write-up of the game mechanics in the group forum.
She nods at the instructions they are given and has no questions. She makes her way to the front seat of the vehicle as if it were a given she'd sit there. When they are ambushed, she sighs. She is about to get out to help with the situation but finds that they are already scrambling away from her deformed companion. She smirks at the story he gives them and the fact that they believe him so readily. When Raphael finds a person he knows on the road, even just as a procurer of goods she takes note. Best to befriend this one. He could be incredibly...oh! That necklace is LOVELY. She reaches out and picks up the chain and examines the pendant. It is a lovely celtic harp worked in an unusual green stone or mineral of some sort. Along the body of the harp is intricately detailed knotwork and the word "Baird" in a stylized calligraphy. The puts the necklace on and looks at it on then nods. This is the one she will take. She hums to herself afterward and the sound is rich and full. (+1 Performance)
Afterward she starts back for the truck and spies something on the ground. She picks it up and dusts it off then pulls out a cloth it give it a more thorough cleaning. It's a periapt with a dangling pendant of that same green stone though this one carved into just a standard square celtic knot. Perhaps dropped by someone. Or maybe her luck just makes it a matching set. Either way it draws a bit of a smile to her lips. She winds it into her hair and gets in the truck, ready to head out when the others do are also ready. (+1 Research)
As the truck takes off again, she keeps her eyes open on the landscape around them watching for further ambushes or other dangers that could pose a problem for them. She also suggests course corrections here and there if they are getting too far away from whatever it is she senses up ahead.
roll-treasure||Notice 5
1d4: [3] = 3
Notice 1d6!!: [5] = 5
Wild Notice 1d6!!: [5] = 5
Last edited by Eldariel on Sun Sep 29, 2024 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The trip into the wild is not short on adventure. Dodging ambushes, meeting mysterious contacts, and scoring treasures mix in with days of boredom and exploring the topography of a region prone to importing new topography from other worlds and dimensions. Two weeks of exploration later and, noticing the state of your ration stores, you opt to return with a geolocator full of data.
The terrain in southern Missouri on your way back to the castle is hilly and the forests are thick. Even with the skillful driving of Murpf and the navigational assistance of Eldariel, the going is very slow. Adding to the complication now is the path you've been following opens up to a clearing in the forest approaching a significant river. You hope to strike a little bit of luck with a bridge.
Eldariel
Your sense for the magic radiating from ley lines alerts you to the presence of a line running east and west about a mile north of here. The line runs into a nexus about two miles further west/northwest from where you would reach the line heading due north.
But before you can begin a scan for such a thing, the vehicle's sensors pick up a high-pitched voice screaming in distress! Off to your right, your hoped-for bridge spans the river, across which you see a young humanoid. The humanoid is running in a panic. A moment later, you see why. Several (6) large red-skinned humanoids are chasing him at a pace which will overtake him in mere moments!
Notice
A successful notice finds that the youth is a d-bee, human-looking but with pointed ears and bright, jewel-colored eyes.
You would guess him at 12 years of age if he ages at a similar rate to humans.
The several humanoids behind him are very obviously bionically enhanced and are all carrying laser rifles and other heavy weaponry but they are not shooting at him.
Also, you are not confident that the bridge will hold your laden vehicle.
There is a sketchy bit of debris in the river across which you could make a direct walk/run towards the boy. There is no chance of driving the vehicle across here.
The group of red-skinned brutes are howling at the boy. "NO WITNESSES!" the largest one shouts.
Occult or Common Knowledge
These are brodkil, a particularly violent kind of demon known for a lust for combat and a penchant for taking cybernetic enhancements.
The large humanoids haven't noticed you yet but you don't blend in, having pulled up out of the forest into a clearing. What are you doing?
Setup
The bridge is approximately 6" across, wide enough for the mountaineer to fit, barely. It runs northwest across the river from your side. You are 2" from the southern edge of the bridge. The boy is about 6" east of the bridge and his pursuers are 6" behind him. As the crow flies or the laser shoots, you're 10" from the boy and 16" from the aggressors.
She doesn't Notice anything special about the kid. Heck she barely notices him at all.
Professor if Brodkil Studies
Occult 1d8!!: [13!!] = 13
Wild 1d6!!: [5] = 5
However, she begins to rattle off important details about the demons weaknesses, etc in that posh English voice before leaning out of the window. Based on her knowledge of these things and that No Witnesses scream her target is clear. She focuses on the one who screamed first, sending a bolt of holy energy directly at him.
Greater Bolt with Extra damage, with onslaught and AP 6, 26 MegaDamage and AP 6 21 MegaDamage on a second
Oh these guys. Gangleri thinks to himself as he sees Brodkil chasing after a small child. He is not typically one to shoot first, but he has seen this type before and knows there is little hope for a peaceful resolution. Already ahead of the Mountaineer in his scouting role, he takes a shooting position and fires at the first Brodkil to step on the bridge, then hustles toward the boy (moving Pace 8).
Surveying the scene, he calls out, "We probably need to keep that bridge—and boy— in tact easy on the heavy stuff."
Failure! (3)
Common Knowledge 1d4!: [3] = 3
Wild Die 1d6!: [1] = 1
“Woah, if we ain’t looking at the same bridge there guys. This things a rotten piece of shit that we’re not driving across unless you wanna get us nose first into the drink. You’re gonna get my mons bons all wet if we do that and I really hate it when my mons bons gets wet when I’m not in the mood for it!” Klaxie blurted out as she looked through the STS and scanned the general area.
“Check out that pile a’ slag at the bottom of the slope there though. I betcha I could hoof it across there real quick and maybe get there before they do. I think it’s pretty clear what's going on here.” The centaur explained as she let go of the scope and pressed the button which raised the viewer port back upwards. As tall as she was, she had to kneel down on all fours to ensure that she didn’t hit her head on the top of the vehicle.
“Obviously these guys were out getting tans, and turned all red cause they were baking out in the light for too long. Then this little shit shows up and starts laughing at them, probably called them sun dried tomatoes or something and then maybe threw some clay at them. Now they got it in their heads to kill em to avoid embarrassment, because you just don’t live that one down when it gets out.” It becoming abundantly clear that the smug head-hunter who still was taking several ineffective swings at figuring out Creole lingo, also amazingly had no idea what a brodkil was. Perhaps she really was from far away.
“Look, the point is, I got new turbo boosters installed on my legs a little bit ago and I’m itchin to try em out. So I’m gonna run over there quick as a bird and try to get em out of there. Or at least get in front and make an ass of myself so they hit me and not the goober. The rest of you pick em off while I try to get him away from the fray. Sound good? Great!”
Then without waiting for an answer, Klaxie popped open the rear hatch of the ATV with intent to bolt towards that area of fallen rubble in the river. Halting briefly before she looked at the distance across the entire thing. Then looking back at her hind legs for a moment and squinting her eyes once more at the ledge. "Wait... I got a better idea..."
Common Knowledge d8!!: [3] = 3
Common Knowledge Wild d6!!: [3] = 3
of who or what is chasing the kid is non existent. He can see the cybernetics festooning the creatures though so after Klaxie and Raphael hop out he guns the engine and pulls up next to the bridge, leaving the open back door near Gangleri. Talking through the moutaineers speakers he calls you to the mutant "Hey G-man, Zazie's back door will cover you better than that shitbox of a bridge." Then he gets ready to jam any calls for support the hostiles may make.
Raphael, seeing the situation--and in particular, the Brodkil--mutters something under his breath, then puts a hand on Klaxie's shoulder as she's about to get out of the vehicle. "Mon Chere! Can you get me across the river? I can shield the boy while the rest of you deal with les monstres rouges!" If she accepts, he moves to get upon her powerful back and cling for dear life as she makes to cross the river.
Klaxie stares blankly at Raphael for a few moments as he speaks. After a few moments she would look over her shoulder to see who he was talking to, eventually just shaking her head at him. “Sorry guy, I don’t think Chere is here. But I’m gonna try and do a jump, so if you wanna go with me instead you can. Don’t worry, nothing could possibly go wrong! I’ve practiced this lots of times in my head with shorter distances.” She says reassuringly, hoping that she’d be a sufficient substitute for whomever the man had in mind.
“But it’s a good plan!” Klaxie adds, helping Raphael up onto her metallic frame. The priest would find himself somewhat uncomfortable and pinched in various spots however as he would have to find a spot amid the vast arsenal the centaur carried strapped to her back. “I don’t know much about what these things like, but it’s probably a little early to assume they’re all les rouge, I made that mistake with you and Ricky back at the First Call. Though you probably know more about these things than me, I couldn’t even tell they were female from here. How many times have you tangled with the likes of them?” She’d ask, cracking the knuckles of all four of her hands (including the metal ones for some reason) and her neck in preparation for the jump.
“Hold on or you’re gonna get your mons bons wet as well!”
Murph turns his attention to Zazee's comm suite, quickly channel surfing through frequencies to lock in on the ones being used by the hostile cyberdemons. Once he has them the technopath then
their comms to keep them from calling for reinforcements. "I'm trashing their comm channels, unless you like headaches avoid the frequencies between 6 and 7 hundred killowats. Particularly the 660s for some reason."
The 8th SET wastes little time springing to the aid of the innocent against the demonic. The brodkil are immediately alerted to your presence just in time for the one that looks (and sounds) like the leader to catch a holy magical bolt to the chest from the direction of Eldariel. The blast sizzles with radiant energy and the leader screams as his unholy existence is ended. The second blast, too, finds a similarly damaging mark on a second demon.
Gangleri takes aim and firers a blast from his JA-11, striking one of the nearest brodkil. The demon manages to shrug off the attack, none the worse for wear but now driven to rage.
Murpf wisely uses his electronics onboard Zazee to prevent the brodkil from transmitting an alert to any of their associates. Now their only hope for reinforcement is to yell really loud.
Brodkil 1 returns fire at @Gangleri,
Brod 1 Smarts: 1d4!!: [1] = 1
Brod 1 ROF 3 Shooting Gangleri: 1d8!!+2: [11!!]+2 = 13
Damage Gangleri raise AP 2: 5d6!!: [16!!, 2, 2, 1, 9!!] = 30
in retaliation. Not the brightest bulb, he also
Brod 1 ROF 3 Shooting Klaxie: 1d8!!+2: [2]+2 = 4
Brod 1 ROF 3 Shooting Klaxie: 1d8!!+2: [6]+2 = 8
at the heavily armored @Klaxie. The laser blasts bounce predictably off the cyber armor.
Brodkil 2 remains on task,
Brod 2 Grapple Von: 1d8!!: [12!!] = 12
in his cybernetic arms. With the other pair of arms, he points the rifle at the child and turns to face the 8th SET!
Brodkil 3 takes an ill-advised pop shot at the mountaineer. Zazee
and gives @Murpf a little bit of a start.
Brodkil 4
Brod 4 run: 1d8: [8] = 8
now held by the 2nd brodkil and prepares to rush away from the fight with his precious cargo in hand!
The rest of the 8th makes their moves to stop the escaping demons!
3 Actions (map reduced to 0 due to cybernetics, two gun kid and two fisted)
Action 1: Athletics for jumping 6 inches across the river. Raise required.
Raise (9)
Athletics d10!: [9] = 9
Wild die d6!: [3] = 3
Action 2: Moving remaining 4 inches and using Improved Sweep with Giant Vibro Sword
(hits all enemy targets in Reach 2 circle. Friendlies unaffected.)
Damage to brodkil 2: 21(23 if a raise) AP 16
Damage to brodkil 4: 15(16 if a raise) AP 16
Action 3: Offhand shot with BB-6 Revolver At brodkil 1
Raise 8 (5+2+1 from shotgun effect and multi optics helmet)
Damage to Brodkil 1: 15 AP 3 damage (if short range)
5 AP 3 damage ( if target is > 6 inches away at medium. Raise no longer applied and damage reduced 1 die)
Brodkil 1 is now Distracted and must roll strength to avoid getting pushed 2d6 inches back.
2d6: [3, 3] = 6
Klaxie is now Vulnerable for shooting a target outside of Melee if any of the brodkil survived Action 2
"Huh??" Klaxie said with surprise as she was hit in the chest with a barage of laser fire that plinked off of her Titan Plate armor. It wasn't easy finding something large and durable that fit her frame in such a way in a world dominated by human manufacturers. But it seemed as though she was able to find something reasonably affordable given the niche desire for oversized juicers needing protection, and the subsequent oversized d-bee aftermarket that existed from that. That, mixed with her cybernetic plating seemed to do the job of having the blast bounce off harmlessly from her frame.
Still, she wasn't the issue here as it looked as though the red skinned figures had grabbed the fleeing child and was about to shoot it in the head! With a huff, Klaxie sprinted into action as she charged towards the edge of the river with Raphie in tow.
"Hang on to my mons bons or you're gonna hit the drink!" The centaur yelled back at the man sitting on her rump between the large arsenel she carried with her. In what seemed like an unlikey chance of success, Klaxies rocket boosters kicked in and helped propel all four legs into the air as she landed with a thud, just barely making it across.
Without missing a beat, Klaxie continued to charge forward in what looked like a terrifying mechanical horror of limbs, as she held aloft a massive vibro sword over head, while simultaneously brandishing a riot shield and a revolver that was so absurdly massive that it could only be called that by technicality only.
Thankfully the hand to hand reaction wiring embedded into her limbs seemed to be much smarter than her, as it seemed to understand that swinging a massive sword wildly while someone sat on your back, and while an innocent bystander was being grappled was not the best of ideas. It seemed to compensate for her reckless movements, raising itself to the exact height to strike at the brodkil's necks while narrowly avoiding the head of the much shorter child being held by it. The giant cleaver striking flesh and metal, though little attention was paid to the result of such as her lower arm used the large revolver to take a shot at the creature that had shot at Gangleri and herself.
The concussive blast that seemed to explode out the end of the barrel was awkward and barely did a superficial amount of hurt to the more distant target, but it seemed as though this was a secondary intent of the infamous big bore series of guns that seemed designed to knock over stubborn targets rather than taking them out completely.
"You wanna shoot at ugly guy you gotta get through me first!" Came a sudden defiant shout at the farther away brodkil. "You think he cares about wounds? Do ya? Look at him! He's already mulched up to hell and back, he's so badass and doesn't give a shit about nothin!" Came the well meaning praise of her ally who had taken the other blast from the series of shots that had headed their way earlier.
"You're up Raph!" Klaxie then shouted out... Without even checking to see if the man had even made it across the river with her first. The situation might potentially be an awkward one for certain.
Last edited by Klaxie on Tue Oct 01, 2024 9:33 am, edited 33 times in total.
30 AP 2 = 4 wounds.
Benny to Soak 1d12!: [11] = 11
Soak Wild Die 1d6!: [4] = 4
Soaked 3 wounds, takes 1
Rewarded with a hail of laser fire for his heroic Gangleri lets the intense heat of the blasts scorch his skin making it look even more pock marked than normal. Almost immediately, however, the burns begin to bubble over and scar. "Damnit that's itchy," he remarks as the last few laser holes take a moment to adjust.
Seeing the boy held in the Brodkil's arms gives the mutant pause, unsure what to do he takes a bead at the Brodkil's head but holds fire waiting for an opportunity (holding for a called shot to Brodkil head).
Slinging his staff over his shoulder, Raphe does his best to follow Klaxie's instructions as she prepares to make the leap, looping his hand through one of the straps on the harness holding her arsenal. Murmuring a prayer to the loa as they begin to move, he grips for dear life as Klaxie charges the riverbank. It's possible his voice went up a few octaves as they sailed through the air, but fortunately,
to keep his grip on the harness, sliding off just as she touches down on the far bank.
No time for celebration, however--once Klaxie has eviscerated the Brodkil who had the temerity to lay its bestial claws on the boy, he immediately reaches into his pouch and pulls out a cigar, which he places into a small holder on the side of his staff, making it easier to hold it while letting the built-in lighter ignite the tip, and blows smoke at the boy, while calling for Mama Bridgette to keep the child safe. For a moment, anyone paying close attention might notice the smoke resembling a pair of matronly arms embracing the boy before dissipating.
Rebuking the Brodkil
Casting Rebuke: 2 PPE, Greater +1, Strong +1, Total 4 PPE
Faith d12!!+1: [6]+1 = 7
Wild Faith d6!!+1: [11!!]+1 = 12
Raise! Any Brodkil attempting to directly affect the boy in a negative fashion must roll Spirit at -4. On a Failure, they lose that action and are Distracted; a Spirit critfail causes them to be Stunned, instead.
He then looks at the boy. "Okay, you as safe as you gonna get. Mama Bridgette can fend off the nasties. Now, run!! Run home and tell them what you see here!" Hoping that the boy has the sense to follow that instruction, he stands and turns to face the Brodkil that have survived his teammates' onslaught.
of @Klaxie's Big Bore blast. Brodkils 2 and 4, however, discover that life is difficult when vital parts of your demonic anatomy are surgically removed by a giant vibrosword. The brodkil drop their cargo from their lifeless arms and their husks fall to the ground.
The young child, however, appears to be overwhelmed with excitement and his only response to @Raphael Bachelier's command is to shout with joy at @Klaxie. "What a swing! You're so strong! You showed 'em who's boss!" In a bit of help, he points at the last two brodkil. "There's more! Come on, you guys can take 'em down!" He pantomimes slicing the demons with an imaginary sword, heedless of the danger he's still in.
Still smarting from his burning skin Gangleri is visibly relieved that the boy seems unscathed. Shifting his fire, he lays down clean, accurate shots to keep the Brodkil back before lurching forward from his position to try and put himself between the boy and the rest of the monsters.
Shooting (21, AP 4)
Shooting 1d8!!: [6] = 6
Wild 1d6!!: [11!!] = 11
Damage AP 4 4d6!!: [4, 4, 7!!, 1] = 16
Raise 1d6!!: [5] = 5
Moving max Pace to position between the boy and any remaining Brodkil.
Moving up 3 inches into melee with remaining 2 brodkil and performing 3 actions (MAP negated) Action 1 - Improved Sweep with Wild Attack on Brodkil 1 and 2
Improved Sweep Wild Attack 1d12!+4: [2]+4 = 6
Wild Die 1d6!+4: [2]+4 = 6
If Brodkil have a Parry of 6 or less:
Damage 1d12!+2d8!: [2]+[2, 2] = 6 AP 16 vs Brodkil 1
Damage 1d12!+2d8!: [5]+[8!, 3, 1] = 17 AP 16 vs Brodkil 2
Action 2 - Wild Attack on Brodkil 1
Wild Attack 1d12!+4: [1]+4 = 5
Wild Die 1d6!+4: [2]+4 = 6
If Brodkil have a Parry of 6 or less:
Damage 1d12!+2d8!: [1]+[1, 2] = 4 AP 16
Action 3 - Shooting BB-6 Revolver in Melee vs Brodkil 1
Offhand Shooting Pistol vs Parry 1d12!+3: [3]+3 = 6
If Brodkil have a Parry of 6 or less:
BB-6 Damage 3d6!+1: [4, 3, 2]+1 = 10 AP 3 - Brodkil 1 is now Distracted and must roll Strength to avoid getting knocked back (
Knockback 2d6: [5, 6] = 11) inches.
shooting is d12 not d10 - rerolling
Offhand Shooting Pistol vs Parry 1d10!: [3] = 3
Klaxie is Vulnerable
“See this guy? He gets it. I like this kid, he’s gonna go far.” The centaur said with a grin of approval as she charged forward, swinging recklessly and blasting away as she had before. Perhaps with a little too much eagerness to please the audience of one she had gathered as her next round of spins, strikes and gun blasts went far more awkwardly than the last, in fact they were downright clumsy as she tried to make up with raw fury what she lacked in technique, hoping that it would be enough! The gangly movements leaving her wide open for a counter attack from the creatures should they prove to be even moderately skilled enough in simply stepping back from the onslaught.
Raphael sighs at the boy, and shakes his head a bit. "Good thing Mamam Bridgette got a love for foolish enfants." Seeing that the swarm of Brodkil have been drastically thinned, he smiles grimly at the last of the sub-demons. "Time for you to get some rest, grand et laid." As he speaks, he raises his staff to his lips, and blows through a hole in the back of the skull; the mouth spews forth dust, a mix of bone and powdered mushrooms, carried by the Loa
The subdemon's head is swarmed by the powder, not only getting in its mouth, but its nose, eyes and even ears; some seems to seep into its very pores. And with it, there is an
Slumber w/Strong, Raise, and it's Distracted: -6 to Spirit roll to try to not succumb
The brodkil's rage to fight, rend, and kill takes a backseat to the desire to
Spirit: 1d6!!-6: [7!!]-6 = 1
. He obliges his somnolent urges quite instantly, collapsing in a heap.
Devoid of additional threats, the young boy shouts out: "WOW, WAY TO GO! You guys are so amazing! POW! POW!" He mimics the laser and gunblasts, switching to his imaginary sword again to hack the snoring brodkil to bits. Only after some near-panicked urging to silence does he realize that the last foe is merely asleep.
For his part, the last brodkil appears to notice nothing except the inside of his flesh-and-cybernetic eyelids, and continues slumbering peacefully.
After the brodkil's fate is decided, the young boy speaks. "I'm glad you showed up when you did. You totally saved me. I don't know what they would'a done to me." He shudders, then continues. "My name is Von. I live in a village that way -" he points north "- not very far. It's called Garnet Town. These bad guys have been attacking us for awhile now. They said they're with the Black Market." He chokes up just a little. "A lot of our people went missing after these guys showed up." Sticking out his jaw and straightening his shoulders, he extends a hand to you. "Come with me! My mother is the mayor of Garnet Town. I bet she would want to say thank you in person!"
instructions
Quick decision on what to do with the sleeping brodkil will fit in between the conversation as above. If you opt to keep him alive for questioning, let me know.
Looting the bodies yields 6 good condition L-20 pulse rifles and 2 vibroswords. If you want to salvage cyber, roll the lower of your electronics or repair skills, -2 without facilities, additional -2 with no suitable equipment for such things.
You're welcome to interact with Von. Ask questions. Saddle up and go with him. Decline his invite, send him into the woods alone. Up to you.[/b]
She lets someone else talk to the kid. Instead she gets out of the vehicle finally and begins making a pile of items pulled off of the brodkil. If someone wants their cyberparts she'll let them remove them but anything loose goes into the pile unless it is gross or obviously trash. If she doesn't know what it is, and it is not gross it goes into the pile.
"Alright, I figure this guy has some explainin to do." Klaxie said as she motioned to the sleeping brodkil on the ground. "First thing we gotta do is tie him up so he doesn't get any funny ideas, then we give em the pinch till he talks. Eldariel looks like the type that's secretly got bondage gear squirreled away somewhere, so we'll get her to use it to keep the red guy in place." The centaur nodded as she hoisted the giant sword she was carrying over her shoulder, her matter of factily tone of voice suggesting that rather than being insulting that this was just a given state of affairs that was obvious to everyone.
"Then, when she's got him all tied up... But not with a ball gag, we gotta make sure he can talk... Once she's got all that done, we get Ralph here to say a prayer over my canteen of water to make it all pure and stuff. We'll drip drop it all over this guys head till he squeeks and tells us whats going on. Best part is if we run outta water, we got a whole river right here we can use!" Came a whole detailed plan from the headhunter, her rear cybernetic hooves shuffling with clear excitement over her plan, the more needlessly complicated it got. "I know what you're all saying without sayin it. He's a vampire, and we gotta handle the bloodsucker as best we know how. Lots of sparkling water on the noggin. Blam, checkmate, morality against torture clause! Vampires don't count!"
The confidently incorrect statements of Klaxie aside, she then turned towards Von and gave him a thumbs up of approval, even going so far as to grin and stand up straighter at the heeps of praise that the child was laying on the group. (But mostly on her in her mind). "Of course you're the kid of the mayor. I could tell right away you're a smart cookie. Probably learned how to eye people up all smart like, like your mom did. You bet we wanna go see her!" Came overly excited comments from the heavily armed figure, perhaps even a little too excited for the purposes of letting sleeping demons sleep peacefully.
"Uh, that is if the others think thats a good idea too I mean." She added after, as if the idea that not everyone might not immediately agree with her would be an odd thing to consider... But there was the slightlest, most remote of possibilities that this would be the case.
The elf is positively nonplussed. "Bondage equipment? What part of elf from half a world away, screams I carry manacles? Seriously child?" Yes, she is calling Klaxie a child here. "I have some climbing rope in my pack but that's about it. My specialty is ley lines and nexus. I generally am not a people person." She says drily.
“… Because you’re an elf from half a world away.” Klaxie answered Eldariel with almost equal perplexity, with a look of clear confusion on her face. The centaur wasn’t sure what the leyline walker was getting at, as everyone knew that elf types were always into that sort of thing. She was even attempting some soft dom stuff during their conversation by establishing herself as a maternal figure in comparison to Klaxie.
A sage nod however followed this, of course Eldariel was embarrassed right now. Sure, Klaxie didn’t judge her for her particular tastes, but people in general didn’t like to have their dirty laundry aired and it was clear that she had committed a faux pas by just blurting it out in front of everyone. She made a mental note to take better regard over the elfs feelings going forward.
“I mean… Ah yeah you’re right, what was I thinkin when I said all that? There’s no way that’s true, am I right?” Klaxie gave her a reassuring thumbs up at that moment. “What I meant to say was, you should tie him up with that bonda–” She halted with a sudden pause before clearing her throat. “…Climbing rope, that you use for climbing stuff.” Came another pause as Klaxie gave Eldariel a knowing wink and another thumbs up, this time from her mechanical arms. “And then we’ll make with the questions. But we’re gonna need to be quick as these guys are strong and it won’t take him long to get outta it. He took a big bore shell to the face and stayed on his feet. Not many got the muscle to do that without some big armor plating in the way.” As if to demonstrate, the centaur then banged on her rump with a fist as it responding with a metallic clang.
When young Von mentions the black market and disappearances a quick flash of cold rage is felt by everyone near Murph before it is suppressed. "So, Von. These bad guys, did they happen to mention the words El Occulta? Being the biggest damn heroes around we'll help you either way, I'm just curious." The emoji face on the screen of his comm unit gives the kid a smile and thumbs up. He turns to head back to Zazee but stops at Klaxie, Eldariel, and the loot pile.
"Klaxie, it sounds like you sure want her to be into that, no judgement." His "eye" gives what could be a wink. He then scoops up one of the rifles. "I'm gonna use this for now at least, doubt my Wilk's has much chance against these techno demon guys."
Von hops around in excitement as @Klaxie volunteers the group to go to the town. His excitement wanes a little when @Murpf asks regarding El Occulta. "I don't remember anything about any Occulta. They just shouted alot about 'no witnesses' and chased me." He shuffles his feet some, eventually moving away from the slumbering brodkil, putting Klaxie between himself and the demon.
She shakes her head at Klaxie but goes to pull out the rope. "I am sure it can be replaced if necessary. I doubt it will hold him for very long though." She offers it to someone who would like to tie the unconscious being up.
Gangleri frowns slightly, Von's reaction is one of a kid who has seen too much. *At least my face won't freak him out after seeing these guys*. "We should question these ones. Or even better, release them and follow them back to their masters. Does anyone have the capacity to tag them? If not, i am sure I can pick up the trail."
In the below post Klaxie was extremely impressed with Gangleri's idea, and approved of his out of the box thinking style. She praised him for his intelligence, while simultaneously comparing his appearance to a rotten butternut squash that had been stepped on in overly descriptive terms. Her tone the entire time was excitable, while conveying a lesson to the others: That you can't judge a book by its cover. Some people had hidden depths, and were vastly intelligent.
She then proceeded to lean on her vibro great sword, pointy end down to take a break. Accidentally killing the Brodkil that was at her feet.
While Eldariel held out the rope next to the fallen creature with Klaxie maintaining guard duty with her oversized vibro sword, the two of them prepared to secure the sleeping figure for questioning. However, the moment @Gangleri came up with another viable idea, she snapped her fingers on her two left arms and pointed with both towards him, a large grin on her face.
“Now that there is the sort of out of the box thinking we need in this situation.” Klaxie motioned towards the mutant with obvious praise. “Gangleri may be ugly, and he might look kinda like a butternut squash that got stepped on by a real big boot after it had gone soft. Like, you know when you buy a butternut squash at the market and you’re all like ‘ah yeah I’m gonna eat this thing, cause its healthy and I need to eat better’ but then you get home with it and you’re all like that you’re gonna eat it some other day because it takes so long to bake and hurts your fingers if you try to peel the skin off after its all hot from the oven? But then you wait too long and some sorta fungal growth gets on it and it gets soft and squishy on the shell in ways that no squash should ever rightly get. So you throw it out and hope that none of your friends find out about it, cause you last week told them how proud of yourself you were for buying that butternut squash?” Came the rambling tangent from the cybernetic horse figure that seemed to eventually be leading up to some sort of point.
“And yeah, sure, maybe his sunken in eyes got a sort of uncanny valley look to em, where you’re wondering if his tear ducts are producing anything like saline or maybe its more like that goopy stuff they make eye drops outta now that they say works better, but all it does is make them a stingy mess when you use em.” Klaxie explained further with a shake of her head. “Does the side of his face and mouth look like he’s currently in the middle of a stroke? You betcha, but whether he’s having a stroke right now or not, this guy is on the ball!” Came a confident retort to her own tirade of overly long build up.
“This guy.” Klaxie once again motioned to Gangleri as she hoisted her giant vibro sword up from her shoulders dramatically. “Takes the box that we’re all in and thinking in, and stands next to it and pisses all over it. He says ‘I piss on your stupid box and I up your terrible ideas with something that's so genius it makes you all look like a buncha inbred rhino beetles trying to lick a tree!’. Cause I use my fucking brain that's way smarter than your guyses[sic]’.” It was clear that her excitement was rising from the momentum she was building now with this wonderful idea that the overly focused figure had.
“What I mean to say with all that is, that he’s got a real good idea and I think we should go with it. First thing is we gotta be careful with how we handle this and probably vacate the area a bit so he doesn’t know that we’re on his tail when he wakes up all confused. Then when our lookout gives the signal, Gangleri the gods damned genius gets on his tail and finds these black market dickheads who are running the show. Then, after he secures a good deal from them on a few stolen grenades that I wanna buy at less than market price, we shut down their skeezy operation and tell them that there’s no room for their kinda shit here!”
With that settled, Klaxie gives a firm yet satisfied nod at the amazing plan as she lowered the end of her giant vibro blade onto the ground to lean against the hilt. “But I tell ya, that battle sure wa–” Her next phrase suddenly cut short as the sound of a sickening crunch followed by a sudden gurgle and gasp from the ground could be heard. A long pause followed as the centaur stood perfectly still with her grin suddenly frozen upon her face whilst she leaned on the hilt of that vibrating blade.
The headhunters expression turned into a slow awkward grimace, as she kept looking straight ahead at Gangleri in a stubborn refusal to look downwards at the brodkil at her feet.
“I uh… Forgot to turn off my vibro sword…” There was another awkward pause before she finally added. “I jus’ stabbed him in the chest didn’t I?” Came a sheepish question, while still keeping her eyes off of the now likely mess at her feet.
Last edited by Klaxie on Mon Nov 11, 2024 6:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
The brodkil wakes just in time to find a giant vibrosword has been newly introduced into his chest. He howls in pain and prepares to lash out. A faint "thump" is heard from the direction of the demon's head and his dying screams cease immediately. A few moments later, demon blood begins to ooze out of its ears and nose.
Von's mouth drops open a little at the execution of the brodkil, then he lets out another cheer. "That was AWESOME! Your sword just went right through him! Those things are tough, but you guys are tougher!" He mimics the stabbing of a downed foe with his own imaginary sword, lifts his arms in triumph, and resumes his eager invitation. "So will you come back home with me? Mother would love to meet you!"
She started to go back to gathering things while Klaxie went on her verbal ramble. She looked back in time to just open her mouth to say something but not in time to save the brodkil. She lowers her head and covers her face. After a moment her shoulders start shaking though no noise comes out yet. A normal person would hope she's not crying over the Brodkil.
Raphe blinks in surprise at the sudden evisceration, then gives Klaxie a ghoulish smile. "Ah, mon ami, you have cut to the heart of the matter as always! I think this young lad's suggestion is an excellent one; we should offer him a ride in our vehicle and go to see his mother." He tries steering the boy back to the MarkII, hoping that such an impressive vehicle will draw the child's obviously violent nature.
As they go, he thinks to himself, Hopefully, we can also learn more about these abductions.... Not many of the Factions would employ Brodkil for any purpose. I do hope this is not a La Occulta operation. Those hommes vils are not to be trifled with....
The dead Brodkil ends Gangleri's idea of backtracking them t their nest. Instead, the group opted for a social encounter with the boy's mother. If horse-girl thinks he looks like a rotten squash, imagine with the mother of the elf-child will think.
Chuckling, he stands to go taking a moment to shake his head at the death of the Brodkil.
"While this opportunity has passed, I feel like this won't be our last dealing with these things. And whatever is bossing them around. Infernal weaklings and bullies."
After the crew loaded back into Murphs ATV (With Klaxie trotting in from the rear hatch as usual), the centaur headhunter lowered herself down on all fours to let out a long sigh. “I can’t believe I just did that.” She said with frustration in reference to the summary accidental execution she had performed only moments ago. “We coulda found out the what's what on this whole thing and been done with it. Now you just know we’re gonna do this the hard way.”
Klaxie’s expression turned to a slow grin then as she pointed a finger at Gangleri again. It seeming like she was about to enter into another long tirade over his appearance once more. Though perhaps surprising the others when it seems to be out of concern instead. “Hey I don’t know if that's normal or whatnot, but do you normally just bleed around like that? Does anyone got any shoe polish or something they can put into his guts so he doesn’t die on us?”
Once Eldariel stopped laughing and composed herself again, she got into the vehicle in the front as usual. When Klaxie pointed out that Gangleri was bleeding, she looked back. "Hmm, I have mentioned that I am not good with people but she is right, you aren't looking great. I can try my best if no one is skilled in such things."
Klaxie wrote: ↑Mon Nov 11, 2024 8:35 pm
After the crew loaded back into Murphs ATV (With Klaxie trotting in from the rear hatch as usual), the centaur headhunter lowered herself down on all fours to let out a long sigh. “I can’t believe I just did that.” She said with frustration in reference to the summary accidental execution she had performed only moments ago. “We coulda found out the what's what on this whole thing and been done with it. Now you just know we’re gonna do this the hard way.”
Klaxie’s expression turned to a slow grin then as she pointed a finger at Gangleri again. It seeming like she was about to enter into another long tirade over his appearance once more. Though perhaps surprising the others when it seems to be out of concern instead. “Hey I don’t know if that's normal or whatnot, but do you normally just bleed around like that? Does anyone got any shoe polish or something they can put into his guts so he doesn’t die on us?”
After everyone is loaded in Murph reassures Klaxie a bit over Zazzies internal speaker, "Look at those guys Klaxie, if you were an evil overlord would you tell them your plans? And while I could fix your cyber bits if they get busted meat doctoring is out of my wheelhouse. Everyone strap in, there may be some turbulance.." The mountaineers engines roar and Murph gives Von a thumbs up before he pops the clutch and splashes into the river.
“Yeah I guess…” Klaxie grumbled in reply to Murpf. “Gangey still coulda followed them though all sneaky-like. You know, if he doesn’t bleed to death on us first.”
It didn’t take long before the centaur became bored inside of the vehicle, looking around at various things before her eyes lit up on looking at the d-bee child and remembering his various interests. “Hey Von! You ever held an NG-E15 Pulse Ejector?” She said as she handed over the massive metallic rifle to the kid, the weight of the thing nearly causing him to barrel over as the youth took it excitedly.
“This here’s the most powerful plasma gun on the market! In the right hands it fires 20 blasts a second of super heated fire good enough to rain hot melty death on all your enemies! Sure yeah, the Naruni say theirs is better. But for my money nothing beats the reliability of Northern Gun, plus its compatible with a hooked in nuclear core so it doesn’t run out of charge!”
Klaxie smiled proudly as she closed her eyes. “Yessir, with this puppy you could unload inside this ATV right here and it’d get so damn hot that you’d turn all of us into particle matter. We’d stop bein’ biology and turn into physics!”
A small pause followed this as she scratched the back of her head and opened one eye at the excitable child. “Ah whups! Guess I should turn on the safety first. That coulda been bad.” Klaxie finished awkwardly as she reached over and flipped a button on the side.
As they roll, the houngan takes a seat adjacent to Gangleri. "Here, mon ami, Papa Loko will get you fixed right as rain." He opens the case he stocked in the bar, and pulls out two ribbons, a small pouch and a flask. He loosely wraps the ribbons around the worst of the burn, then reaches into the pouch and sprinkles some green leaves over them--the smell of mint is quite clear. Finally, he takes the flask, and pours it, not on the burns, but on the floor of the vehicle, before capping it again, and calling in dense and melodic creole, almost impossible to follow. As he chants,
, the mutant's injuries fade to nothing. After a moment, he stops, examines the injury and nods. "There, see, like it never happened. Next time, you refugiarse, yes?"
All this done, he puts away the mint, the ribbons and perhaps most significantly for at least one occupant in the back, the rum.
*She glances down at the alcohol on the floor then back up. Sure, he may have made a mess but the results speak for themselves. She shrugs and focuses on the route ahead, more specifically on the ley lines they are tracking.*
“Woah woah woah! Do not do that in the car. If you feel like you gotta refugiarse you get Murpf to pull over first! We’ll never get the smell out no matter how much we clean it up and we got a long way to go still.” The four legged cyborg yelled out as she waved her hands frantically, backing away from Gangleri just in case it looked like he was about to vomit all over the place.
Still, the rising panic did not stop Klaxie from noticing something she considered to be far more important. “Hey uh, I think I got an internal stomach injury or something during that fight too. Better pass that bottle over here so Papa Loko can fix me right up too. I’d better finish off the rest of the bottle just in case, it could be pretty bad in there.” Klaxie suggests helpfully as she eyes Raph putting away the bottle of rum.
Raphe chuckles at Klaxie. "First, don't worry about the smell none, it'll be gone by morn'time, you'll see. Now, dama exquisita, I fear that Papa Loko prefers his rum delivered direct, rather than by an intermediary, no matter how lovely a barriga it might be. So's I'd just be pouring more rum on the floor, you see? But don't you worry, I'll buy you a drink when we get someplace suitable to make up for it."
As soon as it appears everyone is leaning towards going with him, Von leaps into the vehicle and heads directly for the cockpit, taking a seat at shotgun next to @Murpf. He gawks a little at the cactus man, lets out an "Oh, you're SO COOL!" and then begins pointing out the best way to make the trip. The mountaineer splashes into the river. The current is swift and the river is deeper than it looks, though Zazie fords it with only a little bit of a sweat.
The trip is short, only a mile from the sight of the fight. The last run heads up a ridge. At the peak, you look out and see a town built along the banks of the river. The settlement is composed of several wooden buildings in an almost faerie, old-world style. The town takes advantage of the river with a water-wheel mill. The town is not all old-world, though. Signs of modern technology include what looks like a generator building near the center of town, with power lines run between some of the buildings. Garnet Town looks generally prosperous, all things considered, and quite picturesque.
The edge of town, though, boasts a newer addition that is less endearing. A 4-foot tall wall surrounds the settlement, composed primarily of sandbags and mud. Looking closely, you see two men standing watch near a makeshift gate. The men look more like farmers than soldiers.
Notice Success
The men don't look like they know what they're doing. One rifle doesn't appear to have a magazine loaded in. The other man appears to be muzzling (inadvertently pointing the barrel) his guard-mate and several other nearby bystanders as he walks his paces with his finger on the trigger.
Notice Raise
There was a recent firefight here. Some of the laser burns on the buildings at the edge of town are still faintly smoking. The damage isn't severe.
As the mountaineer approaches the gate, the two men turn to face you and hold out their hands encouraging you to stop. Von doesn't wait and finds the window controls. "Hi Mr. Willem! Hi Mr. Walter! These are the heroes who saved me after that last Black Market attack! I'm taking them to meet mother!" The men smile at the youth, offer greetings, and wave you through. They do their best to look at the occupants as they pass, but either don't notice or don't care about the mixed bag of d-bees within. Von guides the group towards the building at the center of town. The mountaineer draws concerned looks from some of the townsfolk until they see the boy hanging out the window and waving.
Eldariel
The ley line you sensed at the battle is very nearby, but does not appear to run directly through the town. There is a nexus point to the very near northwest. You are within a mile of the nexus point while you are in town, and can act as if on a ley line.
Any magic or psionics users with a successful Notice
There is a ley line running near the town. Once you enter, you feel the surge and can act as if you are on a ley line.
As you approach the center of town, a woman on a single crutch limps swiftly towards you. She appears to be in her late 30s with wavy brown hair and striking sapphire-colored eyes. Her pointed ears, gleaming blue eyes, and facial features bear a striking resemblance to Von. Her leg is bandaged, though poorly. "Von!" She almost stumbles in her speed. Von leaps out of the window of the mountaineer and runs to the woman. "You're safe! I was so worried when we couldn't find you during the attack!"
The boy clutches onto the woman for a moment before tearing himself away. "Mother! This group of incredible heroes saved me from those Black Market thugs! You should'a seen it! They could'a fought off a whole army of those things!" He gestures eagerly for you to come out.
The woman looks at you all as you exit. Through a shaky voice and tears streaming down her face, she smiles and thanks you. "My name is Lithari, and I owe you my deepest gratitude. You saved my dear Von." She kisses him on the head. "I am the mayor of Garnet Town. You are our honored guests, and you are welcome to stay."
She turns to Von, then to you all. "Tell me, what happened?"
As they approach the town walls, Raphe can't help but see the rather lackluster performance of the guards. "If these gentlemen be the garde de la ville, no wonder the mano inmaterial been having the run of the place...." As they pass through the gate, he chuffs even more at how easily they are allowed entrance just because of the boy's word. He almost wants to stop to correct them, but decides against suggesting it--telling them all the ways the boy could have been letting in dangerous types would, sadly, likely result in them overcompensating in the other direction--which leads him to realize the danger and try to head it off.
"You know, Miss Klaxie, I just remembered, while the rum is for Papa Loko, I do have a flask here of tequila, if you'd like to wash the road-dust down your throat, eh?" He proffers a small flask--not enough to give her a buzz, given her body mass, let alone let her get drunk, but hopefully enough of a distraction that she won't try to 'help' the guardsmen.
Once they are through the gate, he blinks, sniffing the air. "We got a Ley Line nearby, I think. Lots of spiritual energy to draw on." As they come to a stop, and introductions are made, he smilingly steps forward and gives an almost courtly dip of the head to the boy's mother.
"Our pleasure, Señora Alcaldesa. In truth it was not so dramatic as your fils courageux would suggest. We saw him, being pursued by a group of the Brodkil, making threats about not allowing witnesses." Here, he turns to the boy. "We have not yet had time to learn what it was that Von witnessed that had them in such an uproar, mind you. In any case, we were able to put down the creatures, though sadly not gently enough to leave one to interrogate." His tone as he says this suggests strongly that he has no real remorse over the demons' deaths.
"Senor Von did mention there have been some kidnappings of late?"
"Oof!" comes the exclamation, when Von jumps into the seat she is already sitting in. She blinks at him several times before speaking. "There appears to be a child in my lap."
Dice Roll
Notice 1d6!!: [1] = 1
Wild 1d6!!: [2] = 2
Which likely is the reason she doesn't actually notice anything strange about the guards at the gate. When Raph mentions the ley line she points. "There is a nexus about a mile as the crow flies in that direction. Once things are settled here, we will need to go check it and depending on where it leads, possibly see if I can close it."
“Hey, get a load of these dumbasses here. That guy over there looks like he’s gonna blow a hole in the head of his buddy.” Klaxie said with a laugh as she looked through the rear porthole of the vehicle. “I’d better go help em out before they get into too much trouble. Wait here for a– Hey whats this?”
The centaurs attention suddenly shifted as the priest that spoke in the strange way offered her a tantalizing looking flask at that precise moment. “I think Papa Loko and I are gonna get along just fine.” Klaxie offered a grin to Raph as she took the flask of tequila from him, downing it in one immediate long horrifying chug. She did so with a practiced vigor which suggested that she had spent many a bet or dare on the very same activity while already under the influence of such things.
“Now what was I talking about again? Leylines and shit? How’d that come up?” Klaxie suddenly added with a confused tone as she tried to get back into the conversation after downing the flask and wiping her lips. Only then realizing that they had long since passed the poorly performing guards and had found their way to the mayor of the town, who was thankfully being debriefed by Raphael.
“What he said.” Klaxie nodded along with the news. “It was a brutal fight, in which all of the combatants died in the battle, with none of them dying by accident afterwards.” Came a point of clarification as she shuffled her back hooves somewhat excitedly while looking downwards at the major, happy to be free from the vehicle once more.
“I totally didn’t hear that part about not having any witnesses. Hey Von! Watcha see that they were doing that they don’t want you yappin about? Sounds like its important stuff!” Klaxie would suddenly call over to the kid they had journeyed with.
She looks over at Klaxie while Von bounds out of her lap. "I see you've forgotten why we started this Journey in the first place. Finding the boy and the Brodkil chasing him was a....happy accident?" She looks over at the mother as she says the last part. It's in bits and pieces but the relevant information is making its way to her.
Last edited by Eldariel on Mon Dec 09, 2024 4:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Rolling into the town Murpf also can't help but notice the poor weapon discipline of the guards. Replying to @Raphael and @Klaxie's observations "They really do suck, makes you wonder who fought off the attack." As they move to the town center he brings up the map of the region and compares it to the journey looking for the village and comparing their journey data to the map.
Eldariel wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2024 8:59 am
She looks over at Klaxie while Von bounds out of her lap. "I see you've forgotten why we started this Journey in the first place. Finding the boy and the Brodkil chasing him was a....happy accident?" She looks over at the mother as she says the last part. It's in bits and pieces but the relevant information is making its way to her.
"Our mandate was annoyingly broad; scout the region, make friends, squish naughty things if we need to, and see what's got the seers weirded out."
GM bennies
Characters Imperator (GM account)Action Stan, Antipas, Xiang,
