Worse Than the Disease IC

[Shoot Da Moon]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Flag_of_Vermont.svg

“Freedom and Unity”
- Vermont State Motto

About two or three generations ago, the old world suffered a terrible plague that forced people to seek an extreme lockdown. Fortunately for humanity, one of their disaster preparations was a huge network of underground Shelters all across the nation. Your ancestors fled to one of these Shelters and escaped death from the RW11 Virus.

Up until a day ago, you lived your whole life in Shelter 44, an advanced and safe lockdown bunker in the state of Vermont. Overseer Mailer, the undisputed leader of Shelter 44, has declared you and the rest of your group outcast, and gave you all 48 hours to gather your severance package gear and say goodbye to your loved ones before you are escorted out of the bunker by security forces.

Overseer Mailer is the only person in the Shelter to sport a neck tattoo - a symbol of her office. Even after decades of hard administrative work, She has no lines or wrinkles in her face - you’ve never seen her worry or laugh. Everybody in the Shelter recognises her tall broad-shouldered stature and pale complexion from the vaguely foreboding photos, featured on the Shelter letterhead and posters. She keeps her shirt sleeves rolled up to her elbows and her raven dark hair is always casually styled. Her political mask is a constant half-smirk and the gaze from her bright green eyes never stays still when she is talking. You have never known Shelter life under any other Overseer, or learned information about the previous Overseer.

DAY 1

As the Shelter entrance closes up behind you and you ascend to the surface via an elevator, you see natural sunlight and feel natural cold in stark contrast to the artificial environment of the Shelter. It is morning, the sun a hand and a half high from the horizon. Ice and snow encrust the world around you as you head out of the man-made cave. Scattered dead bodies of human beings and animals are immediately outside the Shelter’s entrance, dead from severe lacerations or impalement. Further out from there are the rough remains of a road and buildings flanking it. Vermont roads in Winter were bad terrain even before the collapse of proper civilization - now they are barely better than mud and gravel in a straight line.

To the east of here, two hundred metres down hill, the road leads to a town which the road sign names “Springfield”. Going the opposite way, the road seems to lead west one hundred metres to some kind of fortified encampment and shanty town centred around a large sign on a pole - “Waffle House”. Directly across the road and 50 metres from where you are now, there is a imposing concrete entrance downstairs to an underground structure (looking eerily like some sort of gaping open jaws carved out of industrial rock and metal) in the middle of various wrecked roadside eateries, autoshops, truck stops and other gravestones of Old World highway travel.

[Shoot Da Moon]

OOC Thread: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?619698-GURPS-AtE-Worse-Than-the-Disease
Dice Rolls: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?619697-Worse-Than-the-Disease-DICE-ROLLS

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

Simone is conflicted.

She had always been curious about what was outside the Shelter, of course. She had even toyed with the idea of going outside to see for herself, maybe, if she could get permission; maybe join the security forces or something? On the other hand, that really was not her forté. She was so much better at fixing things than breaking things.

She never imagined this would be the way she'd finally get to see what was outside.

Simone is a young woman - practically still a girl, really - standing at a grand height of 5'4". She has a backpack on her back stuffed with what she thinks will be useful out here, including an obvious backpack rolled under the flap, and a canteen and a crowbar hanging off the side. In her hands is an old receiver radio, which she's currently fiddling with in order to keep her hands and mind busy.

She really doesn't want to think about how this is almost certainly the last time she'll ever see home again.

[GnomesofZurich]

Tariq Sandoval

It's clear enough to Tariq why he's been banished: he screwed up, and now pays the price for that. He greets his fate with trepidation - leaving what has been his world for his whole life and thrust into the unknown is not an easy experience for anyone. Using the time given to him, he gathers up what belongings he is allowed, and tearfully says goodbye to his family before finally being thrust out into the world.

Unprepared for how cold it is outside, Tariq digs his blanket out of his pack to wrap around himself. His skinny frame provides little insulation from the cold, so he's eager to get anywhere warm. Looking around at his fellow exiles, he says, "Where to? Springfield? Waffle House? I'd be happy anywhere that's not standing freezing in the snow!"

[u-b]

Sean Pires


https://i.postimg.cc/sXvJC0j3/Sean-Pires.png

Sean is a man in his early twenties, not tall or large, but in good physicall shape. He carries a backpack, probably of the like age, that is half as large as himself. He puts the backpack on the ground, along with a spear and a pair of skis.

"We stand and freeze. Just give me a moment. I have considered our route, and have my preferences, but I want to see if things have changed since I last was to the surface."

He takes a look around, seemingly not being in hurry anywhere, then proceeds to examine the bodies.

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: Sean Pires; see Dice Rolls thread for results.)

[Volthawk]

Richard Clark

Richard is on the taller side, his body in good shape from a life taking his training pretty seriously and black hair that had previously been regularly cut and keep short. In his past as a Shelter security officer, he'd tended towards a more welcoming expression, relying on charisma and diplomacy to resolve disputes, but as he leaves the Shelter to a scene of death, his expression is a little more on the grim determination side of things. His ill-informed foray into politics may have ended up in disaster for him, but he still had a responsibility towards the people he served, even if that just meant these people here now.

As Sean searches around, Richard draws his revolver and stands guard. The gun may not be anything like the pistols he'd trained with in the Shelter, and his leathers and small shield (currently wrapped in a blanket along with some food and water - apparently he'd been too concerned with physical protection to get away with grabbing a backpack too - weren't any match for the gear the security forces had access to when things got bad, but it would have to do and he felt better to have at least these at hand. At least the baton he carried on his belt was pretty much what he was used to

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The newly outcast adventurers stand on guard as Sean picks over the scene. He finds a small bottle of pills and bullets for both pistol and rifle among the dead people. The dead are stained with blood and baring defensive wounds - this was a fight they lost.

The silence is otherwise unbroken as no-one approaches the area.

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

Simone frowns as all she gets is static. She shuts the radio off, and stows it in her backpack, before bending down to pick up her walking stick. Well... it's a bit sturdier than most walking sticks. More of a staff than anything.

"We should get going. I... really don't want to be outside when the sun goes down, if it's already this cold," Simone says. "If we're voting, I say we go to... Waffle House. There's probably people there. People with stuff that might be broken." She pauses. "Look, that's all I really know how to do, okay? I dunno how else I can really contribute."

[u-b]

Sean pockets the rounds and the pills, inspecting the pills and the bottle containing them for any marks they might have and/or other distinctive features like a recognizable shape. He then takes some more time to examine the scene. "Somebody take the dogs. I would be overloaded if I had to carry them, but they are good to eat." He nods at Simone's suggestion. "Waffle House seems reasonable enough."

[GnomesofZurich]

With the suggestion from Simone and Sean backing her up, Tariq says, "Waffle House it is! Let's go!" He is eager to get on their way to somewhere warm. Viewing the bodies with distaste as they pass by them, he keeps his entrenching tool to hand, in case they run into trouble.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The road to the Waffle House is well-travelled and uneven. The Appalachians are an extremely old geological formation, and they have been weathered down in so many nooks and crannies that it's easy to get yourself turned around in the wilderness, or take a nasty fall in failing weather or the dark. Also, except when you get up north, the Green Mountains rarely break out above the treeline.

Thankfully, it’s still sunny out.

(OOC: The terrain is considered Bad. But it isn't snow or ice (yet), so the travel skill is Hiking. Anyone wanting to speed up the journey, see the rules on AtE2 page 31-32 and the Hiking rules on B351. Otherwise, the journey to the Waffle House depends on the slowest Move (encumbrance included) amongst the party, IIRC. It's 100 metres of distance to the destination.)

[GnomesofZurich]

Tariq is happy to be moving, and eyes the geological formations with interest as he walks, figuring out as a mental exercise where he would place explosives if he wanted to bring a particular feature down.



(OOC: The terrain is considered Bad. But it isn't snow or ice (yet), so the travel skill is Hiking. Anyone wanting to speed up the journey, see the rules on AtE2 page 31-32 and the Hiking rules on B351. Otherwise, the journey to the Waffle House depends on the slowest Move (encumbrance included) amongst the party, IIRC. It's 100 metres of distance to the destination.)[/I]

(OOC: Even for Bad terrain, it's probably overkill to use Hiking to speed up a journey of 100 metres (~110 yards or 6.25% of a mile). My character with Light encumbrance has Basic Move 4, which, using the rules on B351, would be 40 miles in an 8 hour day under ideal conditions, 20 miles for Bad terrain, so it would take 90 seconds, increasing to 2 minutes at Basic Move 3, 3 minutes at Basic Move 2, and a whopping 6 minutes at Basic Move 1).

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Your group has a short hike to the Waffle House, which is a layered encampment.
The outermost layer is a fenced-in shantytown of tents and campfires, guarded by armed men with dogs on leashes. A big sign displayed at the fence reads "Prove yourself trustworthy".
Beyond that is a more established encampment, complete with thick walls and richer residents. There, regular merchant caravans do their business and hostels operate for those needing better shelter. Gambling (prize fights and card games) and services are set up here.
The innermost part of the settlement(?) is the Waffle House building itself, fortified and off-limits to anyone not authorised by the encampment leadership. The guards there sport better armour and guns than anyone else here. A rifleman on the roof provides overwatch for the whole place.

Your group are obviously the cleanest and least prepared people here. The guard at the fence opening gently stops you all and asks you your business.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean takes some time to observe the encampment before approaching it. When he is up close and asked by the guard, Sean expresses the truth in just a few words, wondering if that would be enough. If not, he would be deferring to Richard to provide the details.

"Trade. Work for hire."

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

Simone seems to be far more interested in the fence - and peering through it to see the rest of the encampment - than the guards. People aren't really her forté.

"I fix stuff," Simone mumbles, not looking at the guards still. Mostly hoping someone else can do the talking, but wanting to provide what she's actually good for just in case the faceman forgets to.

[GnomesofZurich]

Doing his level best to look 'trustworthy', Tariq responds to the guard, "Work and a place to stay."

[Volthawk]

Richard Clark

Seeing how the others react, Richard gently lays the frozen dog down before stepping forward, revolver holstered and offering a friendly hand and a smile which he hoped put across how trustworthy he was.

"Hello! My name's Richard Clark, and our group come from a nearby Shelter. We're new out here, but I assure that you can trust us. I was a servant of law and order myself back in the Shelter, and the others have valuable skills I'm sure can be put to good use. I hope our visit will have a good outcome for all of us, if you'd let us in?"

He stays like that, open hand waiting for a handshake, until the guard reacts.

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: Very Good Reaction)

The guard does a double take.
"A SHELTER?! Did you just say a Shelter?"
The guard signals to his comrades and then turns back to you.
"Okay, you guys need to talk to the boss. I can take you there directly. Welcome to our town. If you're from a Shelter, we need to discuss all sort of matters with you guys..."

When other guards show up, one takes over for the greeter while the rest help escort your group inside the Waffle House. The people inside have almost completely refurbished the eatery to be a miniature bunker, with people gathered around a regional map.

One woman looks up as the guards present you to her, she shakes all your hands before she gets down to brass tacks.
"Now, what is this about a Shelter?"

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean did not even think about violating the Protocol before Richard spoke of the Shelter. He had not decided to stick to it, he just did not think otherwise. Now, though, as this topic was brought under review of his consciousness, four facts become apparent. The first was that they have not been instructed one way or another before being cast out. Sean definitely wasn't. The second was that the Overseer would be hard-pressed to enforce anything on the outcasts anyway. The third was that now, after the Shelter has been mentioned, it wouldn't be good for their future as the outcasts to withhold the details. And the fourth was that Sean's hope of eventually being cast back in was rapidly evaporating. With all this in mind, he lets Richard proceed with what he had started, taking notice of all the details being disclosed.

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

Simone is surprised by the guards' reaction, to say the least. What's the big deal about being from a Shelter?

She follows along through the encampment, curiously looking all about her as she goes, again far more interested in the things than the people. Are they using electricity out here...? She was pretty sure only Shelters would have working electricity, but then again generators weren't hard...

When they get into the main building, Simone's eyes suddenly widen. "Were we not supposed to tell..?" she whispers. "...They threw us out, so who cares I guess." Someone's surly.

[Volthawk]

As the group's escorted through the settlement, Richard's eyes don't stay still, looking at everything they pass with interest. Things here were a lot different from home, and very removed from the scattered stories of the old world his family had told him, but yet the people here were still people. He could live here, he supposed, if things went well.

There was a possibility that bringing up the Shelter wasn't the best idea, but Richard hadn't gone through life second-guessing his decisions, and apparently exile wasn't changing anything. He receives the handshake with a respectful nod, considering his words for a moment before speaking.

"Yes, we come from a Shelter - we each had our various run-ins with the Overseer, and so were exiled out here. I hope you'll understand if I don't divulge all the details right away - regardless of my views about the leadership, there are still people I care about there and, speaking completely honestly, I don't know you well enough yet to trust you with their safety yet." He pauses again, then smiles. "Still, if you're as trustworthy as your sign claims, I'm sure that can change soon. Now, the man who let us in said there were things we could do for you. Would you like to explain them, so we can see what we can do for each other?"

[Shoot Da Moon]

The woman chews over the group's response for a moment. She is not comforted by it. But she seems more anxious than angry or distrusting.
"Okay. Can you at least tell me what number Shelter you can from? Can you tell me the name of your Overseer?"

The woman pauses to mark down some things in her log before turning back to the group and explaining;
"You said you were all exiled from your Shelter? I've never heard of anyone getting exiled from a Shelter before. And...weren't Shelters supposed to end lockdown and open up 50 years ago? Why has your Shelter remained closed off? Shouldn't it let people come and go freely? That was the universal policy, right?"

The man besides the woman, who was working the radio and writing on the map until now, looks up and addresses you;
"The reason we're asking, is that we need Shelters online. They're the only places that are certain to have advanced technology. When you're in a war, you need every advantage you can get."

The woman nods. "And speaking of war, we were hoping you guys knew something about fighting the big stinking army attacking pretty much every good person in the state. We think the army came from a Shelter, you see..."

[Volthawk]

Richard raises an eyebrow at the response. "That's...not how things worked in our Shelter. Clearly, our Overseers decided their way was better for some reason. We've always only had very limited contact with the outside world -Sean knows more about that - and unless Mailer was even better at hiding things than anyone thought, we haven't been sending out troops, and you're the first living people we've come across." He pauses, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You've never heard of any exiles? It's never been a common punishment, but it has happened before. Surely one of them must have come past here at some point over the generations since the virus."

[Shoot Da Moon]

The woman shrugs. "The only Shelter people I've ever had a lot of contact with are from Bread Basket, Red Brick and Gunmetal." She points to large settlements marked on the regional map.
"No exiles."

"Well, if you're not with those psychos, maybe you can help us?" The man with the map asks you. "If you can get your Shelter to help the war effort, that would be great...but we'll settle for fighting the invaders with us."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Assuming the map they have here is not secret, Sean takes time to examine it.

"I'd rather not have our shelter involved in a war agains three other shelters. At least, not right away. No objections to getting personally involved though not all of us are exactly fighters. Can we have a brief intruduction into the subject, suitable for people who have just crawled out of a hidey-hole in the ground?"

[Shoot Da Moon]

The man with the map and radio points to red crosses scattered all over the map. "For the last 5 years, there's been regular attacks on peaceful settlements by some sort of gang of gangs - a coalition of gangs. According to reports, they're equipped with advanced technology - even robots!"

The man then pulls up some sketches on paper depicting symbols. "All the attackers have these pure black tattoos, mostly on the arms, the legs and the back. The mostly either kidnap people for some kind of slavery or steal anything valuable while killing anyone they can find."

The man puts the sketches back and continues; "We found people spying for the army all around the region. We've confirmed the army is made up of sub-factions, each with their own tattoos, names and uniforms. So far, we've got names for them; The Jackpots, The Jacks, The All-Blacks, 14 Words, Lucky Strikes, The Gamblers..."

The man looks up at you. "You sure none of this sounds familiar?" (It does not.)
"I don't think your Shelter has anything to do with this, but I have a hunch that, somewhere out there, a Shelter went rogue."

The woman coughs to get your attention. "As for work you can do, there is a radar station in the mountains we'd like someone to check out for us..."

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

"Fourteen words? ... I remember something about that from one of gramma's old books... About..." She frowns, looking at the ceiling. "...I don't remember." She shrugs her shoulders.

At the mention of the radar station she perks up considerably. "A radar station? Okay that sounds awesome we should totally go." Pause. "Whyyy do you want it checked out though?"

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"Have not heard any of those names." says Sean still looking at the map "So, they are fairly delocalized and have not been tracked to a lair... Are they using The Gutter to move around?" here Sean thinks some explanation should be in order "I was a scout for the shelter. Our scouting efforts were fairly limited, but I still know a bit more than nil."

As the radar station is mentioned, Sean nods. "Civilian or military? Show me where you expect it to be on your map. Any specifics you want to have done in there?"

If the expected location of the radar station is pointed to, Sean will estimate the distance, both in miles and in days of travel with current group, and take notice of anything noticeable near the route between here and there.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The man points to a place on the map, about 110 miles from your current location. It is on top of East Mountain, in the Essex County.
"The radar base was formerly military. We want you guys to check it out, scavenge what you find there if you can, and try to establish a Comms base. If there's an outside chance you can get the radio station working, we have to risk it."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"North along 91st and then some north-east? Can do. A long way to go, though. Do you know those controlling the territory we are to go through? Do you have relations with them? What deal would you propose to those who control the base now, if anyone does? How do we report the success? I mean, do you have a short wave transceiver? Receiver?"

What's Sean's estimate of the depth of the snow on 91st now? If it is generally raised above the surrounding terrain, might be not all that much because the wind would blow away the snow, but not sure.

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

Simone is practically bouncing on her feet. "If you don't have a transeiver radio I could probably make one. If you have electronic parts handy. They're not really that complicated. Just need an antenna, something to act as a microphone and speaker, an amplifier..." She pulls her transistor radio out of her pack. "I could probably turn this into a two-way radio with some fiddling and some parts, too! Like... a microphone, an oscilator..." She sighs. "Really wish I could've brought my tools. But nooo, 'they belong to the Shelter', even if I built half of them..."

[Shoot Da Moon]

"Yeah, we have a working radio. If you get the radar station up, we'll be able to make contact, no problem." The man points to his equipment. He gives you the frequency for the Waffle House radio.

The woman glances over the map. "The territory between here and there is pretty much a free-for-all. No-one really claims that turf as their own. We mostly deal with other settlements, especially the big cities. If the radar station is occupied, try to be diplomatic, okay? Unless the raiders are there, then get rid of them before they get rid of you. Fix up the station, and then use the equipment to call us when you are done."

(OOC: The terrain is probably Snow for the purposes of travel.)

[Volthawk]

Richard smiles as the others get a bit more vocal and show their specialities - this felt like a good group of people he'd found himself exiled with.

"Do the other settlements send people out into the area we're heading through? If we come across anyone who isn't one of these raiders, it would be useful to have an idea who we might be dealing with. Also, to your knowledge, is anyone else aware of this place? I presume it's not particularly well-known, if you think it's still untouched, but still, could anyone else you know of be sending people out there? Are you planning on sending more people out after we secure the base, or can you operate it remotely?"

[Shoot Da Moon]

The woman nods. "Yeah, lots of traffic through that area. The big cities have plenty to trade. You can tell who is from Red Brick pretty easily, they're all a bunch of street-rats and druggies. The boys from Gunmetal will have major league shooting irons. Bread Basket folks are pretty shy, they keep to themselves, they usually sell food to everyone."

The man speaks up. "We don't think anyone else knows about the radar station. It's pretty remote, most people don't wanna go up too far into the mountains. They think there's rocks that eat people there."

The man then receives another call on the radio, leaving the woman to explain. "Once you get the station working, we can send some more people there to take over. But you can stay there as long as you want, as a favour."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"One last thing. We are pretty low on equipment. I'm mostly concerned with the fact that or all four only I have the skis, and since we are planning a rather long trip... I understand it's not quite normal to just barge in and ask for gear, but if you would be willing to risk it, it would have greatly improved our chances."

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

Simone pulls her multitool out of her pocket and holds it up. "And unless you expect me to repair an entire radar station with this and a crowbar, I'd appreciate it if you'd lend me some extra gear too!"

She lets her hand drop again. "Also I am just realising I forgot to pack food."

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq Sandoval

Tariq is fine letting the others brief the guards on the Shelter. He is highly doubtful the Shelter would want to get involved in any war, much less on the say-so of four exiles. He does say, "I've had some training as a sapper, if that could help your war effort."

When Sean broaches the subject of gear, Tariq perks up. "If we're going to be trekking in the snow, I could use some winter gear...boots, gloves, hat, parka...", gesturing to his coveralls, "I don't think this will be sufficient."

[Shoot Da Moon]

The woman sighs a little, but she takes you all over to a line of storage lockers. "Okay, we can get equipped with snowshoes..."
She hands over three pairs of snowshoes (Sean has his skies).
(OOC: Each pair weighs 5 lbs.)

"As for food..." The woman opens an icebox and takes out 9 rations, giving them to Simone. "Pity we can't spare any toolkits. See if you can't find anything at the radar base. Or try scavenging in some ruins. If you have a lot of bullets, you could buy them from a trader, maybe?"
(OOC: 9 rations weighs 4.5 lbs.)

"And warmer clothing is no problem. We have plenty of fur outfits to go around." The woman cheerfully gives Tariq the stuff off a big rack of hangers.
(OOC: Only weighs 1 lbs.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

The woman sighs a little, but she takes you all over to a line of storage lockers. "Okay, we can get equipped with snowshoes..."
She hands over three pairs of snowshoes (Sean has his skies).
(OOC: Each pair weighs 5 lbs.)

"And warmer clothing is no problem. We have plenty of fur outfits to go around." The woman cheerfully gives Tariq the stuff off a big rack of hangers.
(OOC: Only weighs 1 lbs.)

Tariq eagerly takes the fur outfit, and somewhat more dubiously, the snowshoes. "Thanks! Can we overnight here before we set out? That's going to be quite the trek, better to get some rest and start early."

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

Simone chuckles in that way people do when they're anxious. "I'll pay you back for this," she says, taking the food gratefully and stuffing it in her backpack - this thing is getting pretty full! "Seriously, what was I thinking, I brought a tent and forgot to bring food..."

[Volthawk]

Richard takes his snowshoes and furs with a grateful smile, before pausing."I feel bad asking for this much already, but you wouldn't happen to have a spare backpack or bag or something in there, would you? They weren't exactly generous about what they let us leave the Shelter with, and I had to choose other things over a bag, if I'm to keep this lot safe."

[Shoot Da Moon]

The woman hands Richard a hessian sack with a rope and belt tie.

(OOC: The sack holds up to 40 lbs.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Since the rest of the group decided to postpone the departure until the morning, Sean thought he should also do something useful during what time remains of today. He left most of his heavy gear in town, taking only the empty backpack and the weapons, and went to retrieve two other dead dogs. The plan was to cook some stuff for today and tomorrow, prepare the rest of the meat for later use and barter what would remain for any profit at all.

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

Simone makes sure all of her new stuff is stashed away safely, before spending the rest of the day wandering around the encampment, introducing herself and offering her services for anyone who happens to have broken tech she has a chance of fixing. She likes to be helpful, after all - and hey, letting everyone know she can fix almost anything electronic is bound to help in the long run.

Probably.

Or it'll get her kidnapped by raiders. Whatever.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The workday and night at the encampment passes by peacefully. The group manages to tend to their business without incident and earns their keep. When night falls, they bunk down in the shantytown, surrounded by their fellow wastelanders.

DAY 2

The next morning, they are refreshed and eat their breakfasts.

[Volthawk]

Richard spends the free time until they set off within the settlement - his skills don't exactly lend themselves to hiring himself out for a few hours, so he focuses more on finding out about the settlement - if this radar station job goes well, they'll have a safe port of call here, and it'll pay to know who's here. If nothing else, it just felt nice to be walking the streets and talking to people again - sure, the Waffle House wasn't the Shelter, but it still reminded him of better times.

----------
As Richard finishes the last of his rations, he looks around at the shantytown they're in, before looking at the others with an expression of curiosity.

"So, what do you think? About the people here, about the world out here? They seem like good people, given the circumstances."

[Yuki Akuma]

Simone Sparks

"There's definitely far less psychotic murderers than Gramma lead me to believe there would be. So far, at least. The total lack of running water or an electricity grid is kinda starting to annoy me though..." Simone says over breakfast.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq Sandoval

Since it's only a short walk, before the party leaves Tariq is going to head back to the bodies they found to see if any of them might be wearing boots in his size - it would be better than the shoes he is wearing. He'll also take at look at their clothing to see if there's anything salvageable.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The dead men were picked over before the group found them (although not as much as they could have been).
The dead men are not wearing footwear or heavy clothing - they were probably taken off first by their killers. Only the lightest layers remain.

The rest of the stuff was either taken by the group, or by the killers.

[GnomesofZurich2]

In the morning, after breakfast, Tariq encourages his companions to get started on their journey. "I say we get started. This trip is going to take a while, may as well get some miles under our belts."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean nods, rearranges some of the load among the group to accomodate the windfall of rations without adversely affection the party's speed, and is good to go. He'll lead the group the most prudent route to road 91 with the intention to come along it northwards in the subsequent days.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The 110-mile journey to the radar base in the mountains will take the group through the snow, woodland, and ruined roads. For 8 hours, the group travels in hard conditions.

(OOC: The lowest effective Move in the party decides how many miles they move on the first day of travel - anyone with a higher effective Move can scout.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: Just in case it is not clear; I'm waiting on all the players to describe setting out, and any rolls they're making. Then I post again. Any problems, players?)

[Volthawk]

(OOC: Sorry, just been a little unwell and out of it for the last day or two.)

Sack full of food slung over his shoulder, Richard walks confidently across the snow (at least, once he figures out how to get around with snowshoes on). This wasn't anything he was used to, and life in the Shelter hadn't exactly equipped him with skills for being outdoors, but he wasn't going to let anything like that stop him approaching the situation with the surety that they'd figure it out well enough. So far, that seemed to be working, with Sean's help - they were definitely lucky to have been exiled with someone who'd been out here before. It wasn't comfortable, sure, no amount of overconfidence and fur clothing could deny that, but still.

He does still keep alert as best he can in the conditions, keeping a hand free if he can help it to quickly grab his weapon if someone dangerous appears in the snow or trees. He might be a trusting sort, but the conversation they'd had with the Waffle House's leadership had made it clear that there could be dangerous people out here, although part of him was still pretty sure he'd be able to talk out any problems they came across.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The group of former Sheltered move across the Vermont countryside for hours.
Just before the sun goes down, they stumble upon a ghastly sight; 5 dead people, all of them hanging from a covered bridge, joining the icicles in waving slightly in the wind.

The party's lookout spies no movement or life in the surrounding area. But should they disturb the dead?

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"People are usually hanged for a reason and by those able to actually do it. I wouldn't want to provoke consequences unless there is a reason to. Give me a moment." says Sean starting to examine the area, but not yet touching the dead.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"These don't seem to be thoroughly looted, so we have a reason right here. No traffic in last couple of days, so we can well get away with it even if someone cares about keeping them hanging. I say we give it a try. Objections?" says Sean getting ready to proceed.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq nods and eyes up the bodies, "Well, I could use a pair of boots..."

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: sorry if this is jumping the gun before the other players get a chance to post...)

Worse Than the Disease

Cutting down the bodies reveals something less than encouraging; the backpacks and jackets on the bodies are actually garbage bags and cloth sacks duct-taped together - until the bodies are cut loose and hit the ground. Then, the motley bags come apart, spilling their contents. And the snow below was hiding even more rudimentary bags. All of it seems to hold a lot of cloth patches, wires, cut-up plastic pieces, scrap metal, and animal bones.

Among the detritus, you can find interesting pieces of gear. One dead man is wearing a pair of gauntlets on his hands and a pair of sollerets on his feet. A small knife in good condition is embedded in his stomach, evidence of a nasty stabbing. An empty spare firearm magazine lies discarded on the ground nearby. Two whistles are found in the pants pockets of another dead man along with more junk. The biggest prize, however, is an abused and emptied rifle, an outdated make and model, buried under a metre of snow a dead man fell on.

The five dead people are all men, bullet holes in the back of their head. They all resemble each other, they were certainly all closely related. They were probably hanged after death, as a warning.

[Volthawk]

Disregarding the gathered supplies for a moment, Richard kneels by one of the corpses, examining the wound thoughtfully. He'd known that justice would be a little rougher out here, but...execution and hanging the bodies as a warning? He couldn't help but wonder what they did to deserve it...

Standing up, he walks over to pick up the rifle, looking it over and seeing how it felt to carry and aim. It still felt strange to scavenge off the dead, but he supposed that was the kind of world there were in now.

"Sean, any idea who these people were with, or who did this? If we're coming into the territory of the kind of people who deal with problems this way, we need to be cautious."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean thinks about Richard's question, then shakes his head. "Nah. Heard something strange, but nothing I can trust. That said, should we hang these people back in place? I guess, we are keeping good stuff."

[Volthawk]

Richard shakes his head. "No. The dead deserve better than that. But yes, take what we need, it's not like it will help them much." He holds out the rifle. "Any of you any good with this? I've got my revolver, and we need as many of us armed as possible, so someone else take it."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"As you can see, I have a spear and a crossbow. Mainly for hunting, but I can self-defend in a pinch. So, while I am good with rifles, I would prefer to arm Simone or Tariq, if they can use any weapon we have, noting that gauntlets are also a weapon, if one knows how to brawl. I'll haul everything not otherwise taken. At our current pace, I can keep up carrying more than would fit in the pack."

[GnomesofZurich2]

Sean Pires

"As yo can see, I have a spear and a crossbow. Mainly for hunting, but I can self-defend in a pinch. So, while I am good with rifles, I would prefer to arm Simone or Tariq, if they can use any weapon we have, noting that gauntlets are also a weapon, if one knows how to brawl. I'll haul everything not otherwise taken. At our current pace, I can keep up carrying more than would fit in the pack."

Tariq replies, "I know my way around a pistol, can't say I've ever used a rifle."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"Then I guess you take the pistol, Richard takes the rifle, and everyone is better off." Sean gets five rifle rounds from his pocket, gives them to Richard, and prepares to pack everyhing sans the rifle and junk "Anything else, anyone?"

[Volthawk]

Richard removes his revolver from his belt, then empties his pockets of the bullets brought from the Shelter, handing the lot over to Tariq and replacing the pocket bullets with the rifle rounds. There was never really that much call for rifles when policing an underground city, so Richard wasn't as good as it as he'd be with his pistol, but he was confident he'd do well enough. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he walks over to pick up the sack and tent before nodding at Sean.

"Let's go."

[GnomesofZurich2]

Richard removes his revolver from his belt, then empties his pockets of the bullets brought from the Shelter, handing the lot over to Tariq and replacing the pocket bullets with the rifle rounds. There was never really that much call for rifles when policing an underground city, so Richard wasn't as good as it as he'd be with his pistol, but he was confident he'd do well enough. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he walks over to pick up the sack and tent before nodding at Sean.

"Let's go."

"Hey, thanks!" Tariq is a bit surprised, but pleased with this generosity.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Having packed the gear, Sean leads the party onward for some short time until the group has to camp for the night. Sean chooses a spot under some pine trees some distance from the road, makes a fire to boil some snow and proceeds to set up the tents.

Suggested guard shifts, in hours: 2-2-4-2 which would give 8 hours of sleep for everyone and 6 hours for Sean. Sean will have the rifle with him on his shift in addition to the spear and the crossbow.

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: everyone mark off 3 rations for the day.)

When night falls, it is pitch black and even colder than before. Sean finds the campsite to be good for the group. All around the group is a blanket of snow covering thick trees and vast pastures, with the sounds of howling animals occasionally breaking the silence of the night.

During Sean's guard shift, the scout finds his vigil over his comrade's sleep to be interrupted by some lumbering mass of fur and muscle cooking out of the tree line!
He immediately identifies the beast as a bear...one that is suffering from dehydration as the foam around its mouth implies.

Wait, dehydration? How? There's plenty of snow around...
Unless the bear is rabid...
(OOC: welcome to another random encounter. If you managed to set up noise-maker traps, the sleeping party members won't be caught too off-guard...)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean lets the noise trap jingle. He remains silent and seated, but takes the rifle and aims.

A black bear or a brown bear? How far away? Also, what would be the darkness penalties at the moment? I suspect -9 would be for something one step above pitch black (like indoors on a moonless cloudy night), so it's probably brighter, but I'd like a number if possible.

I think I've described two rounds worth of actions, but expecting the bear to react to the trap and/or observe the area, not charging at Sean right away.

[Shoot Da Moon]

A black bear or a brown bear? How far away? Also, what would be the darkness penalties at the moment? I suspect -9 would be for something one step above pitch black (like indoors on a moonless cloudy night), so it's probably brighter, but I'd like a number if possible.

(OOC: Black bear. 15 yards away. -9 for darkness, except around the campfire (within 6 yards of it, no penalty) - any further out than the bear and it's the full -10. You get one second of Aim. The rest of the party will get a single second of action before I post again.)

[Volthawk]

Awakening to the sound of bells, something big, angry and furry isn't exactly the most pleasant thing to see first thing in the morning. Starting to rise, he glances over at Sean and sees the rifle trained on the animal - hopefully that would stop it, because Richard didn't relish the prospect of getting between the rest of the group and something that big. He would do it if he needed to, of course, but that didn't mean he liked it.

Change Posture from lying down to kneeling.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq jolts awake to the commotion, and scrambles for his entrenching tool when he sees the large silhouette in Richard's sights.

Tariq takes a Ready maneuver to grab his entrenching tool.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Seeing the furred horror shamble towards the campsite, Simone freaks out and grabs her quarterstaff.
(OOC: Simone Readies her weapon.)

Worse Than the Disease

The bear comes closer, its salvia reflecting the fire in the camp. It looks ready to kill the entire group just for the practice.

(OOC: The bears Moves 8 yards towards the campsite. Sean and Richard are next.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

*BANG* - There is a shot. Then there is a shout. - "One rabid black bear!"

I'm not sure if people use the tents and the sleeping bags. Judging from the actions, they probably don't, but Sean would.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean's bullet is on target, but the bear just barely manages to flinch out of the way.

The loud crack of the rifle almost seems to startle the beast, but not enough to get it to break off its attack.

(OOC: Bear Dodged. It'll take 3 Readies to reload the rifle.)

[Volthawk]

Richard grabs his shield as he stands up, getting a grip on it. The rifle missing wasn't a good sign - it looked like he was going to have to get in there.


Ready to prepare shield, using my step to move from kneeling to standing.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Although his hearing isn't great, the sharp "crack" of the rifle is still enough to make Tariq jump. He feels a sinking sensation in his stomach when he sees the round missed. Clutching his entrenching tool, he rises to his knees.

Tariq takes a Change Posture maneuver to go from lying down to kneeling.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The frightened tech leans on her quarterstaff as she scrambles upward.

(OOC: Simone Changes Posture from sitting to kneeling.)

Worse Than the Disease

The rabid bear rushes forward, closing in on Sean, eager to repay the threat of violence.

(OOC: The bear Moves 7 yards and enters close combat with Sean.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Oh my F***ING luck! "Shoot at it, Tariq!" shouts Sean as he stands up.

[Volthawk]

Seeing the bear close with Sean, Richard leaps into action, charging towards the bear and slamming his shield into its side. It didn't exactly put him in the best position, but it would get the beast's attention away from the others.


Gonna indulge Richard's protectiveness and be reckless with an All-Out Attack (Determined), moving to 1 yard away and bashing with his shield (Deceptive Attack -4 skill for -2 to its defence roll). Unsure if we're using tactical combat rules, but if so he's presumably attacking from the side for -2 defence.

It'll probably get him swiped for his troubles but hey.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Responding to Sean's shout, as he rises to stand Tariq will drop his entrenching tool and, with a shaking hand, ready the revolver instead.

Drop entrenching tool as a free action, Ready his revolver, use his Step to instead go from Kneeling to Standing.

[Shoot Da Moon]

As Richard's shield charge fails to connect, Simone straightens up and puts up her staff in defense, shaking with fear.

(OOC: Simone steps from kneeling to standing, and All-Out Defends with her quarterstaff.)

Worse Than the Disease

The bear does not seem to register Richard's aggression, and instead bites at Sean - CHOMPING DOWN HARD ON THE MAN'S BELLY AT LIGHTNING FAST SPEED!!

(OOC: The bear attacks Sean, roll your active defence if it hits.
EDIT/ADD: Never mind, the bear critically hits for 7 points of cutting damage on the torso. Any penetrating injury counts as a major wound!)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean ignores the wound and makes another step back from the bear, slightly to the side so that when Richard makes his step the bear would be straight in between. He also takes something small out of his pocket. "Defend yourself, man!"

Ready a rifle cartrige.

[Volthawk]

Stepping between Sean and the bear, Richard raises his shield, carefully watching the bear to anticipate it's next move.


Stepping into position and taking an Improved Defence (Double) action to take a Block and Dodge if the bear attacks Richard (working on the assumption a rabid bear will just go for the guy in front of it, hopefully it works out)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq levels the revolver at the bear and carefully squeezes the trigger.

All-Out Attack (Determined) to fire the revolver at the bear. Hit for 4 damage, pending defense rolls

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tariq's shot hits the flank of the rabid beast, causing a small squib of blood to hit the ground.

Simone furiously steps in and swipes at the bear from the other side with her staff. She hits home, whacking the monster but not killing it.

(OOC: Step, Attack, hit for 3 injury crushing.)

The bear, meanwhile, raises its claw at Richard and brings it down...but the stalwart defender avoids the savage onslaught!

(OOC: Step, Attack, potential hit, but Richard successfully defends.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean puts the cartridge into the chamber and steps further back, not staying directly behind Richard, but moving halfway to have the bear between him and Simone.

Ready the rifle.

[Volthawk]

It was working. Richard just had to hold the line against this thing until the others could put enough bullets into it to stop it from being a threat. So far, his defence was holding up - he just hoped it would keep being enough.

Same as last time, All-Out Defence (Double).

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq again takes a bead on the bear and squeezes the trigger.

All-Out Attack (Determined), hits on 14, measly 4 damage

[Shoot Da Moon]

The revolver bullet grazes the night bear's flank.

Simone finds her courage as she once again whacks the beast with her staff.

(OOC: The monster takes 1 injury and then 4 injury.)

The bear, however, still wants a piece of Richard. It swipes its claw again, hoping to disembowel the man. It is a clumsy strike, and Richard’s shield meets it without much difficulty.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean finally gets the rifle ready to fire. He keeps circling the fight to get in position two step behind the bear. To aim or not to aim? That is the question.

Ready the rifle.

[Volthawk]

It was tiring work, fending off a bear with a small shield just after waking up, but Richard had more left in him.

Keeping with the All-Out Defence (Double) so long as it keeps focusing on me.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Again, Tariq raises the revolver and looses a shot at the beast.

All-Out Attack (Determined), hits with a 12, damage a more impressive 8

[Shoot Da Moon]

The revolver bullet hits the beast dead-on.

Simone furiously sweeps at the rabid bear’s sides with her quarterstaff. She connects, but the swing is weak.

(OOC: The monster takes 5 injury and then 2 injury.)

The bear screeches from the pain. Richard keeps its attention, though. The rabid bear snarls and claws at the defender. Much to the beast’s frustration, Rcihard simply blocks the attack with his shield.

The monster is noticeably reeling from its wounds now.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Seeing the bear suffering some wounds already, Sean decides not to aim for vitals, hoping that another bullet would be about enough. Standing behind the bear, he raises the rifle and shoots.

Hopefully, no active defense for the bear.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The rifle shot blasts the beast right through - it wasn't a killshot, but the extreme damage from the round knocks it out. Gasping for air in shallow huffs and Sean's blood still dripping from its jaws, the mutated bear collapses and closes its eyes, unable to stay in the fight.

Suddenly, the night is quiet.

(OOC: Combat over. The bear is KO'd. Maybe coupe-de-grace the monster before it gets back up?)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean puts down the rifle, takes the spear and drives it through the beast's heart. Then he sits on the packed snow near the fire, takes a look at his wound and lies back, looking at the sky and contemplating the situation. "Medical skills or supplies, anyone?"

[GnomesofZurich2]

Seeing the sorry state Sean is in, Tariq pulls out his bandages and gets to work trying to patch him up...but fails miserably.

Tariq tries to treat Sean for shock, but the cold means he botches the job, instead costing Sean 2 additional HP. Kind of wish I'd saved my use of Luck...are we using Buying Success (B347)?

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tariq tries to treat Sean for shock, but the cold means he botches the job, instead costing Sean 2 additional HP. Kind of wish I'd saved my use of Luck...are we using Buying Success (B347)?

(OOC: Sorry, no. But do you wanna retcon the attempt as assistance for Simone?)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Simons quickly shoves Tariq and fixes his mistakes, fixing Sean in the process.

(OOC: Sean recovers 5 HP.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

After the wound is bandaged and Sean recovers from the initial shock, he thinks he could feel well enough to continue moving as soon as the very next morning. Which would be a good thng. "Thank you, friends. I'll be all right in no time." Sean does not think he'll have any more sleep tonight, nor does he really need any, so he keeps watch instead and patches his damaged jacket. He then prepares the breakfast and is ready to pack the camp and move on.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

(OOC: mark off another 2 rations. You travel for another 15 miles this day.)

The group continues their journey through the wastes. For hours, all they see is trees, snow, empty farmhouses and covered bridges. The sun is a welcome sight after that horrid nighttime encounter.

Just as the afternoon starts and lunch is eaten, the group’s scout reports seeing 3 wild boars resting in a pasture they were about to cross. They discuss what to do...

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq asks, "Should we try to catch one? Do we need the food? At the rate we're going, it could be a week until we reach the outpost. Some extra meat means we won't starve."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"A whole boar is probably more than we will be able to carry, but we will be able to take some of it, maybe most, and that's better than nothing. I wouldn't waste a bullet, though. Not because of it's greater trade value - the meat would worth more, but because of the opportunity costs of not having a bullet for the next rabid bear or what not. I'll try to take one with the crossbow, hopefully scaring the rest."

Sean leaves the backpack on the ground, loads the crossbow, then observes the boars for some time. After which he puts on the skis, takes a whistle out of a pocket and puts it in his mouth, takes the spear and the loaded crossbow and tries to sneak upon the boars to have a clear shot. He intends to put the spear down and shoot at the nearest boar if he can get close enough.

Sean would propose the others to cover him from some distance in case these boars turn out to be agressive only if they are expected to be unaffected by the snow.

[Volthawk]

Nodding in response to Sean's plan, Richard unslings the rifle and starts covering him - Sean might not want to waste the bullet, but Richard wanted to be ready in case he has no choice.


Richard's going to ready the rifle and start aiming at the boar Sean's going after, in case firing is necessary.

Does Richard still need to make a Stealth check, or is this far enough away?

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Sean takes a lot of time to sneak up on the animals through the snow. The indifferent sun shines down hard on the scene, making him sweat just a bit more than he is comfortable.

(OOC: Sean's current range penalty is -5.)

The boars spot him just as Sean comes as close as he was willing to. The bolt fired by the hunter is not properly aimed, and goes wild...Even with the boars clumped together, the wild shot hits none of them.

In response, the boars start running away.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean lets the boars run away, then moves to where the bolt went and tries to locate it. After that, the's ready to continue on.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The group sighs and moves on. They wisely tapper off their hike as the sun goes down, and start making camp for the night.

(OOC: mark off another ration, everyone. Roll Survival to set up camp for the night (choose benefits) and so on.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The group of exiles finds a comfortable spot in an old barn to bunk down for the night.
Sean fiddles with the noise-maker traps he tries to set up around the campsite for 2 hours. It does not seem to work out well.
The night goes quietly, if coldly. Only the blowing wind in the blackness reaches the ears of the survivor on guard duty.

DAY 4

The group wakes up the next morning relatively refreshed, although still colder than they’d like. They have another long day of forward momentum in the snow ahead of them.

(OOC: No random encounter tonight.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean leads the group further north. He remains some short distance in front and keeps looking for any dangers and opportunities. The wound does hurt, but not much. Sean wonders if it will heal with this marching regime though.

Do I roll to recover hp? A day has passed, but it's not a day of rest, so not sure.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Breakfast goes by without any hassle. The trip across the countryside is monotonous and barely worth mentioning, until...

(OOC: the group travels another 15 miles. Mark two more rations.)

A half buried boat is found on the side of what remains of a road. Perhaps it was being hauled by a car, and there was an accident?
It is still midday, with more hiking ahead.

(OOC: Random encounter. Anyone checking in and/or around the wreck? Make a roll...)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq will wander over and poke around the boat.

Scrounging success by 4, Tariq doesn't have Search, not sure if this can substitute.

[Volthawk]

Setting the sack down, Richard joins Tariq in investigating the wreck, the question of how it got there piquing his curiosity.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean stays guard while Tariq and Richard search the boat. After that, he takes a quick look into it to check if they have missed something of use.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Someone was using this ruined boat as a makeshift shelter. The tell-tale remains of a campfire lie cold in the shadow of the boat’s metal frame standing up. All around the site are the detritus of human works - food wrappers, bits of broken gear, rusted metals and faded cloth. A mountain of trash beneath the shadow of a ship.

(OOC: there is a lot of Junk here, $70 worth and weighing 700 lbs. in total. When you’re ready to move on, everyone mark off a ration and set up camp for the night by rolling Survival.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Surveying the ramshackle campsite, Tariq observes, "Nothing here worth taking. Do you think we should take advantage of this same shelter, or might who ever was using it come back?"

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"Nah, it's stil too early to camp. I'd rather spend the rest of the day walking." When there finally is time to camp, Sean chooses a good enough site and proceeds to set the camp as usual. He fumbles with the traps again, then curses and declares that the party'll have to live without them for yet another night.

The boat was encountered at midday and I'd rather not delay our progress without a good reason.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The group’s camp is nice enough, but the woods and the snow are still creepy and dangerous at night. In-between their turns at standing guard, everyone just tries to get some sleep.

(OOC: No random encounter tonight.)

DAY 5

Next morning, they eat breakfast. And then set out again, traversing some more mountainous terrain than before. By the time they have eaten lunch, they are already tired of the rough ground.

The only break in the routine comes when their scout reports an overturned car on the side of a broken, lonesome road.

(OOC: Everyone eats 2 rations. Random encounter.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean examines the car, not expecting to find much of anything besides the car itself. Still, the car might have a radio or other portable and detachable equipment even if it's otherwise empty, so it's worth a look.

Is the first ration eaten in #120 the same as one in #117?

UPD: Any fuel left?

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

(OOC: You’re right, Sean, don’t eat that ration yet. Or you ate it already...)

Sean crawls on his belly to search the overturned car. It seems like the car is years old and has gone through several cycles of looting and stashing already. Most of the parts, contents and engine were stripped by previous scavengers.

He eventually finds a small box of bullets laying in the back of the car skeleton, wrapped in dirty cloth. It looks like it was left there by someone who didn’t manage to retrieve it later. There are 10 rifle bullets and 16 pistol bullets in the box, worth $180 in all.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"Hey, people! Ammo! Take what fits your gun." Sean presents the box of bullets, expecting Tariq and Richard to happily grab what he's found.

[Volthawk]

Richard grins as he takes the bullets, adding them to the bullets already in his jacket pocket. "Nice find. Replaces those we had to use on the bear and then some.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

(OOC: Eat a ration for dinner. Roll Survival to set up the camp and choose benefits. The group has travelled 15 miles today.)

The bullets are easily taken from the cloth wrap and stashed in the usual pockets.
Moving on from the car wreck, the group hikes for several more hours until night falls and they are forced to bunk down for the night. To their pleasant surprise, they find the routine is now more familiar and comforting than it was when they first left the Shelter.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Sean manages to find a good spot to sleep, and sets up some camouflage to hide them in the snow. He has to keep working on the noise-maker traps, though, as the night grows colder. But he does complete the traps for the night’s rest.

The group does not dream that night, as they snuggle up in their tents for warmth.

DAY 6

(OOC: No random encounter tonight. Mark off another two rations.)
The next morning, they continue on their hike to the radar base after breakfast. They have finished off lunch when they hear the sound of multiple motorcycles approaching their position. They have only a small time to react...

[GnomesofZurich2]

Richard grins as he takes the bullets, adding them to the bullets already in his jacket pocket. "Nice find. Replaces those we had to use on the bear and then some.

"Hey, I want some of them, too!" How many bullets can Tariq take?

[GnomesofZurich2]

Hearing the approaching motorcycles, Tariq quickly tries to be quiet and get out of sight.

Stealth roll 11 vs skill of 12, success by 1

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean attempts to get lost, taking the gear with him so as to leave visible just an abandoned campsite. This does not go very well as the backpack is quite heavy and takes some effort to handle.

12 on stealth (effective skill 10)

[Volthawk]

Richard attempts to join the others in hiding, but it doesn't particularly go well - he's a man more used to finding people sneaking around and facing any problems that come up than sneaking around himself, and his lack of experience with this shows.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Ten seconds later, the men on motorcycles - 7 in total, 2 to 3 bikes with the remainder riding alone - pass the group. To no-one’s surprise, they notice the traveller who failed to hide. For a brief moment, the bikers size them up as they pass...but they soon turn back to the road, and continue onward, ignoring the travellers.

With that, the survivors are left to continue on their own journey. They eventually hike their way until night, and eat dinner. Now, they must get through the night and sleep.

(OOC: Neutral Reaction. The motorcycle gang ignores the party. The party travels 15 miles today. Eat another ration. Camp down for the night, roll Survival and choose benefits.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Seeing the motorcyclists passing them by, Tariq says, "Well, that could have gone worse. Say, Sean, how are we for food? I'm starting to run low on the rations I'm carrying. I've got another day's worth left, that's it."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"We've made about 75 miles by my count, so should have enough food to get us the rest of the way. Might spend some time hunting when we leave the road, or when we hit the goal, we'll see how it goes."

Having said that, Sean distributes 30 rations (take 10 rations each).

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Sean tries his best to set up the campsite, and has to fiddle for more than necessary with the noise-maker traps yet again. It is a pain in the rear, but it does eventually get done. Fortunately, the spot is good for rest. The group finds it warm and secure enough.

The peace of the night is broken by the arrival of a stagecoach pulled by four horses. There are four men inside the coach, counting the driver. They approach the camp cautiously, and with their hands shown. They seem quite peaceful. Even eager to talk. They introduce themselves as travelling merchants.

(OOC: Random encounter for the night.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean greets the merchants and leads them a way past the noise traps that would minimize the jiggling and re-trapping. Their wagon is shown a place nearby, but outside of the trapped area, in part because Sean does not feel like re-trapping it all over again. The merchants are offered a place near the fire and some hot water, but expected to bring their own food. Sean will eagerly chat with them, but more on the listening part, because he does not have much to tell. He would like to hear about nearby lands, settlements, inhabitants, supply, demand, and whatever they have to say, actually. At some point he would go to examine the goods and see if they have useful stuff of low enough value for the party to barter for.

[Volthawk]

Once Sean has lead the merchants to the fire, Richard greets them with a warm, welcoming smile, happy for talk. The last few days of travel was the longest he'd gone without meeting and talking to more than three people for a long time, so he was earnest to hear from someone new. He answers any questions about themselves honestly, but like Sean he mainly wants to hear from them - he was still very curious about how the world has turned out.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The merchants chat away as they eat their meals.

They comment that very few people cross the northern border into Canada. They theorise that the virus is still active in the Great White North. There’s an abundance of small hydro power plants scattered around the rural valleys, potentially leading to a number of towns being able to keep the lights on long after the apocalypse, provided they were looked after. They mention tourists from New York and Boston still take vacations in the Vermont countryside. The Long Trail is often traveled by some kind of cult on a constant pilgrimage. They tell tales of weird hippy communes in the deep woods, who they sell drugs to. Fort Ticonderoga is an old revolutionary war fort right on the border. It's VT claim to fame was that it was captured from the British by the Green Mountain Boys and its cannons were taken and used later on in the Revolutionary war. Nowadays, it is a bandit stronghold. One of the merchants waxes nostalgic about Jamaica State Park. According to him, there's an amazing waterfall called Hamilton Falls - it's about a 125' foot drop and has a top pool where you can literally swim right to the lip and look straight down when the flow is safe. Jamaica State Park was also the site of a massacre during King George's War in the 1740's.

The settlement named Bread Basket is the state’s main source of food. The settlement Gunmetal has a big factory that makes guns and ammo to trade with other people in the city. Both of those settlements were founded by a Shelter opening up to the outside world and setting their fancy technology to industry.
The city of Red Brick, meanwhile, is a mob town. You go there to gamble, drink, get high, hire hookers, kill people and do dirty deeds. On the plus side, they have the best doctors in the region.
The Gutter is a maze of underground tunnels that stretches all over the state. Scavengers who explore it do a lot of trading with merchants like them - one of the men claims he once got a tablet computer from a Gutter-runner. It cost him several rifles.

Heroin and opioid pills are their biggest sellers - although plenty of settlements technically ban the drugs (not that really discourages the rogues and addicts). They also have great success selling creemee and maple syrup. They also have bullets and food to barter with, of course. What are you looking for?

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq greets the merchants, and listens with rapt attention to their tales. "Man, I want to see these places!" He doesn't feel he's much to barter with, so for now he contents himself looking over there wares and listens to any other stories they care to share.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The group offers up things they can afford to part with, in order to purchase from the merchants. The merchant all agree this is a fair trade and agree.

DAY 7

The merchants spend the night at the camp and eat breakfast with the group before going their separate ways.

The party of exiles then turns back to the lonesome road and treks further north. By their estimate, they’re getting somewhat close to their destination (...in the bigger picture).

(OOC: Sold sollerets, cheap spear, 7 pills, and 14 pistol bullets. Bought cheap .45 cartridge rifle, cheap bayonet, 14 rations, and 7 rifle bullets. Eat another two rations for the day.)

They pick the nicest spot they can find for lunch, an weathered and empty barn, and wolf down the trail mix and drink boiled water from bottles just before they realise a bunch of people are hiding in the back of that barn. The seven people look tired, hurt, scared, dirty and hungry. They cautiously wield improvised weapons and a few small handguns, ready to see if the group means to attack...

(OOC: Random encounter.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean sits next to his rifle, eating, when he notices the people in the back of that barn. He takes a sip of water to wash down the dry stuff he was eating, then points at them. "See you there!" He makes a pause to show that he does not necessarily do anything about the people he sees. "If none of you is contagious, you can come over here to chat."

[Volthawk]

Leaving his rifle on the ground next to his sack, Richard gets up slowly when he spots the group, holding his hands open to show he's not hiding anything. "Hello? We mean you no harm. If you're peaceful, we're willing to share." The others may probably have preferred he didn't make the offer, but Richard couldn't help himself - he was never the type who was able to ignore someone who needed help.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The hungriest of the seven immediately approach the group to ask for a meal. The three with handguns, however, seem much more reluctant to trust anyone and stay where they are...

(OOC: Very Good Reaction.)

But Richard is very disarming in his kindness, quite literally in this case. The three men lower their guns and join the rest of their companions around the eating pot.

They gratefully offer to pay for the meals they eat with shotgun shells (they are firm about hanging onto their pistol bullets). One of the women, licking her lips, admits she has not eaten ever since they escaped from that slave pen four days ago...One of her fellows shushes her for that comment.

The seven are okay with talking about themselves and answer questions any of the exiles may have.

[Volthawk]

Happy to see them accept his offer, the woman's comment gets his attention. "Slave pens? There are slavers around here? Do you have any idea where you were held? We'd rather avoid anyone like that if we can help it." After a few moments, another question comes to mind. "Have you any idea what you're going to do from here?"

[Shoot Da Moon]

Happy to see them accept his offer, the woman's comment gets his attention. "Slave pens? There are slavers around here? Do you have any idea where you were held? We'd rather avoid anyone like that if we can help it." After a few moments, another question comes to mind. "Have you any idea what you're going to do from here?"

The former slaves do a double-take, as if such ignorance were outlandish.
"Yes. Slavers. Thousands of them, all moving in gangs all around the state. They kidnap people all the time, if they don't kill them."

One of the other women points to the south-east, "They had us in a pen about 50 miles that way. They have a whole little lair there, hidden under camouflage and dug in."

One of the men points to his neck, "They all have this black tattoo, right here. They're some kind of organisation."

"After we finish up here, we're going down to an old ski resort. There's a militia operating out of there, we can join up with them and fight back against those slavers." The man with the biggest handgun explains. "But first, we need to gather some food for the journey..."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

After a man mentions a black tattoos of the slavers, Sean becomes keenly interested in getting more details. He takes an old road atlas from his jacket's inner pocket. "Can you point exact location of the slavers' camp on the map? And ski resort's, for good measure. The information about slavers' camp is of value for our employers. What you have already told is enough to cover the food you are eating right now. We are willing to trade further, under similar terms. The size of the camp, number of slavers, number of slaves, camps's defenses, camp's customers and, basically, anything else you can tell us is of interest."

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean Pires

After a man mentions a black tattoos of the slavers, Sean becomes keenly interested in getting more details. He takes an old road atlas from his jacket's inner pocket. "Can you point exact location of the slavers' camp on the map? And ski resort's, for good measure. The information about slavers' camp is of value for our employers. What you have already told is enough to cover the food you are eating right now. We are willing to trade further, under similar terms. The size of the camp, number of slavers, number of slaves, camps's defenses, camp's customers and, basically, anything else you can tell us is of interest."

The former slaves nod and mark the map. The slaver hideout they escaped is just a little bit off a minor road to the south-east. The ski resort they’re heading to is far south of even Shelter 44, almost on the lower border of Vermont.

The man with the biggest handgun recalls what he can about the slavers. “They had a two-story building, about the area of a convenience store. They had 10 men armed with shotguns and stun batons, a rotating roster - every third week, half of them would leave and be replaced by fresh men from somewhere else. There were 26 men and women in the pens, no children. The camp had barricades, light body armour, locked metal doors, camo, 3 guard dogs and a sniper on overwatch hiding on the top floor. I never saw anyone exchange bullets or barter for the slaves. Four men just showed up in a reinforced truck every month and collected 8 slaves from the pen each time, drove off with them to Who-Knows-Where. The driver had the same tattoo as the slavers.”

One of the women nods, "It was one nutty operation. Two slavers went out on a motorcycle every week for a supply run."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean listens carefully. When he hears everything, he replays the words in his mind, forming a clear mental picture of the camp and its operation to better remember the details without writing anything down. Then he nods. "How did you get the guns and get away? A weakness in their procedures and defenses would be of marked interest." Whatever they answer, Sean then proposes a partial solution to the food problem. Namely, he volunteers to hunt something with the help of the lot.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean Pires

Sean listens carefully. When he hears everything, he replays the words in his mind, forming a clear mental picture of the camp and its operation to better remember the details without writing anything down. Then he nods. "How did you get the guns and get away? A weakness in their procedures and defenses would be of marked interest." Whatever they answer, Sean then proposes a partial solution to the food problem. Namely, he volunteers to hunt something with the help of the lot.

The man with the biggest handgun shifts in his seat. "One of them had a guitar he liked to play and he left it out just anywhere. So I stole the guitar strings from it. A few of his friends often got drunk instead of doing their jobs properly. We managed to sneak up on them when they came to check on us..."

He trails off as one of the women starts talking, "Yeah, we had to move fast after that. We took what we could, but it wasn't very much. We couldn't even free the slaves in the other pens, the guards we took out didn't have the keys for the other pens. We barely made it out, away from that damn place."

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The former slaves pay the group their shotgun shells for the meals. They help Sean hunt for one hour - the hunters eventually track down a wolf, who is distracted by eating a dead rabbit.

(OOC: The former slaves eat 7 rations and pay you 5 shotgun shells for them. Sean and the men go hunting. Take a shot now, or sneak closer?)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Not wanting to spook the prey like the last time, Sean does not move any closer. He borrows the better rifle for this shot, places his backpack on the ground, lies down, bracing the rifle on it, takes some time to aim, then shoots.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The crack of the rifle breaks the silence of the wilderness.
The shot flies true, and the wolf is dead as the bullet tears through its torso.
Looks like meat's back on the menu.

After the group is done cutting the meat off the dead animal, and dividing up the spoils, the group continues its hike, with the former slaves going south. The group hikes until nightfall.

(OOC: Butchering the wolf takes one hour and earns 60 meals worth of meat, each meal weighing 1 lb. How many meals are you taking? The group travelled another 15 miles today. Eat another ration for dinner. Roll Survival to set up camp and choose benefits.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The party sets up camp in a good spot and bunks down for the night. They settle for a shallow cave in the mountain side as they start hiking upward.

(OOC: How many rations from the wolf did the pay take again? No night encounter.)

DAY 8

The group wakes up to a gloomy morning, eats their breakfast, and starts hiking again. The woods are getting thicker as the group ascends the mountain, too.
The exiles eat their lunch on the walk, before turning another corner of the mountain trail to find the wreck of a small crashed airplane. It looks like it was here a while.

(OOC: Eat another 2 rations. Random encounter.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean approaches the airplane and starts to examine it all over, looking for things dangerous just as much as for things valuable.


(OOC: How many rations from the wolf did the pay take again? No night encounter.)
Well, let's call it 8 and move on. This will last us the dinner and the breakfast. As for the other bookkeeping, shared rations and received shotgun shells are all on Richard, the bullet spent hunding is on Sean (just mentioning because I don't want anything to get double-counted or missed).

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The plane has no corpses within it - perhaps the pilot and passengers survived the crash? Certainly, there are signs of activity in and around the plane wreck, with contents both looted or used up.

Among the mess are pieces of gear that survivors overlooked and left where it fell. The biggest find is probably a reloading press for bullets, along with 3 empty revolver speedloaders.
Hidden in the bend of a seat is a cigarette lighter, full of fluid.
A 10-yard coil of steel cable has been rolled up and left hanging off a door handle.
An empty thermos bottle and 10 preserved chicken jerkies are kept in the airplane’s unpowered mini fridge.

(OOC: Found; cigarette lighter, reloading press, 10 rations, thermos bottle, 10 yards of steel cable, 3 empty revolver speedloaders. A good haul! Want to move on?)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean packs the stuff into his backpack. The cable cannot be easily bended, so putting it there requires getting the other stuff out, then putting it back in after the cable is in. After all these manipulations there is still some space in the backpack for future finds and Sean is good to go.

Spending a character point on search, because that seems to be used a lot. Sean is taking everything, but can hand the speedloaders to Tariq and/or lighter to anyone on request. I have looked up everything, no problem.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Moving on from the wreckage, the group continues their trek through the mountains - judging by the map, they have less than a day’s travel to go by the time the sun dips below the horizon and they make camp.

(OOC: The group travelled another 15 miles today. Eat another ration for dinner. Roll Survival to set up camp and choose benefits.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The exiles camp down in the shadow of a rocky overhang. The night is cold and windy. From the elevated position, the group can truly see how dark the countryside is at night. No glint of fire or glimmer of movement can be seen with the naked eye. Even the animals are still.

(OOC: No random encounter tonight.)

DAY 9

The next morning, the exiles eat and prepare to hike the last 5 miles.

(OOC: Eat a ration for breakfast. You earn 3 Character Points for reaching the radar base!)

It takes only another 2 hours before the exiles finally reach their intended destination; the radar base at the top of the mountain. From the outside, it looks deserted but fortified. Someone has installed a new fence around the perimeter...over 6 months ago. A satellite is on the roof, casting a shadow over the valley below.

Decay has set in, and comprised the means used to keep people out, however.
The locking dock is relatively wide open, thanks to a break in the fence. A tunnel has been dug out around the east side from the outside, leading somewhere slightly below the main base. One part of the west side has been submerged in rain water to the point of looking like an old world swimming pool.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean takes a walk around the base, not in a hurry to get in. He looks for any signs of people's presence, any time this winter, at the state of the ways people normally use to get in, and at the base in general, as much as can be seen from the outside.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Dogging Sean's foot steps, Tariq examines the ground and fence near them, looking to see if there might be any traps.

Failed by 1, so even if there's something there, Tariq fails to see it.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Sean’s examination of the base reveals a few interesting details; the base is three stories tall, no new human tracks are anywhere around the outside of the base, there are no trees near the building or inside the fence, but there is one tree that is tall enough to host a climbing line over the fence and onto the second floor of the base, the fence is made of weak wires, the base is rather large, and quite a few doors in and out of the base are barred.

As he observes the driveway up to the loading dock, Tariq spots a strangely new-ish sign warning (in old world symbols) of a minefield ahead. It seems bombs have been buried all the way from the fence line to the garage door.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean spends some time trying to invent and/or evaluate ways to get in safely. He does not yet apply any of those ways, but mentiones them aloud for an open debate.

1. Is the wire fence is made of steel wire or aluminum wire? Does the wire seem to be strong enough to support a person if stretched more-or-less horizontally? If it's too thin, there is an option to twist several strands together, as long as the result could be handled without too much difficulty. If it's too rusty and fragile, well, too bad.
2. What is the distance between the tall tree and the building? What is the height of the tall tree?
3. Anything we can throw a wire loop over to make a climbing line? Failing that, there is an option to cut a young tree, make a long enough pole, tie a wire around the center, then somehow put/throw that pole into a window and pull the wire trying to get the pole not out of the window, but across it. Does this option seem viable considering what Sean can see?
4. Does the icy "swimming pool" extend all the way to the building?

[GnomesofZurich2]

Worse Than the Disease

As he observes the driveway up to the loading dock, Tariq spots a strangely new-ish sign warning (in old world symbols) of a minefield ahead. It seems bombs have been buried all the way from the fence line to the garage door.

Tariq warns Sean and Richard, "Careful, it's mined ahead. I can try to disarm them, or we can just try to avoid that area for now."

[Shoot Da Moon]

1. Is the wire fence is made of steel wire or aluminum wire? Does the wire seem to be strong enough to support a person if stretched more-or-less horizontally? If it's too thin, there is an option to twist several strands together, as long as the result could be handled without too much difficulty. If it's too rusty and fragile, well, too bad.
2. What is the distance between the tall tree and the building? What is the height of the tall tree?
3. Anything we can throw a wire loop over to make a climbing line? Failing that, there is an option to cut a young tree, make a long enough pole, tie a wire around the center, then somehow put/throw that pole into a window and pull the wire trying to get the pole not out of the window, but across it. Does this option seem viable considering what Sean can see?
4. Does the icy "swimming pool" extend all the way to the building?


(OOC: 1) the chain link fence is made of steel wire. Each individual length of wire is too thin by itself to be used as a rope. It is rusted, but not fragile. Wire cutters could make a hole in the fence.
2) 5 metres between the building and the tree. The tree is six metres high.
3) There are a few small metal “chimneys” on the roof of the base. Now, making a grapnel hook out of a short tree would take some doing, but there are pieces of wood strong enough for the job around here.
4) Yes, swimming under the surface and through some underwater open doors would lead inside the base.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"I find the presence of liquid water ontop of this mountain in the middle of the winter highly peculiar. Maybe we'll look into it later."

Sean takes a hatchet out of the backpack and starts to make a rope line to the building. He starts with evaluating whether the cable they found at the crashed plane would be fit for the task. It might be too thick, but if it is flexible enough, naybe it'll do. The cable might be replaced and/or supplemented by wires from the fence, which Sean tries to get in sufficient lengths and quantities by hitting the fastenings between them and the poles with the back of his hatchet until they give in. When he has enough wire that way, he uses the hatchet to hit the wire near the pole, until it gives in. He twists as much strands as needed and tests the result between a pair of trees to make sure it's enough. Adding some more wooden material to this contraption, he tries to establish a climbable line between the tree and the building.

UPD: Or maybe un-twisting the cable, if it seems more prudent.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The material gathering takes 3 hours, the hardest part being taking out the metal wires from the fence.
The resulting "rope" is strong enough, but the hardest part will be throwing it onto the roof and then climbing onto it without falling...

(OOC: You'll need to make a Throwing roll and then a Climbing roll.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean first tries to remember if he has recently passed an area where he can obtain a suitable pole - just long enough to avoid having to make the throw and just thin enough to be handled by two people. Failing that, he announces that he will make a throw, unless anyone else has a suitable training. Whatever way Sean gets the "rope" on-target, it is now the time to climb. He prepares one wire climbing harness to make sure the climbers do not fall from the rope onto the mine field. He considers the risk of falling down elsewhere, like off the tree, to be quite acceptable. Would be less than comfortable in summer, but over thick winter clothing should be about tolerable. Sean does not bother to test. One harness should be enough, because it can be thrown from the roof back to the people on the ground. He also readies a thin wire to pull people and backpacks along the main wire. He then puts on the harness, leaves the backpack on the ground, and starts to climb. It does not go well...

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

The good news is that Sean got over the fence. The bad news is that Sean got halfway to the roof before he lost his grip and fell.

Sean has enough time to scream before he impacts on the heavy snow on the ground with a meaty thud. Despite the cushion of the ice cold snow, Sean still lands hard and pain engulfs every part of his body...

(OOC: Sean, I believe your DR reduces the 12 crushing damage from the fall. But you’re still wounded from that bear attack, so you may be in the negatives.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"Oh my F***ING luck..." mutters Sean and passes out before he could tell anything of value to the friends watching the show.

-1 hit point, actually.

[Volthawk]

Swearing under his breath, Richard unslings his rifle and stands ready, waiting for a few moments to see if there was anyone inside who heard the screams and might be coming running.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The base is silent save the cold wind howling as Richard scans the area.

Nobody but Sean's comrades has noticed his fall.

The climbing line is still intact, but do any other of the exiles feel brave enough to risk it despite just seeing Sean fail?
Or should they get past the fence another way?

[GnomesofZurich2]

Having no experience climbing, Tariq doesn't feel like attempting the climbing line - if Sean failed, surely Tariq would too! He knows they need to get Sean help, he's just trying to figure out how.

(OOC: Since Tariq has Skinny, is there anywhere he might be able to slip through the fence to get to Sean? Failing that, he could try dynamiting his way through, but that will attract the attention of anyone in the area.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: Since Tariq has Skinny, is there anywhere he might be able to slip through the fence to get to Sean? Failing that, he could try dynamiting his way through, but that will attract the attention of anyone in the area.)

(OOC: Well, if you had any wire or bolt cutters, you could make a big enough clearing for it. Otherwise, it's climbing, or swimming, or traversing the minefield.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

(OOC: Well, if you had any wire or bolt cutters, you could make a big enough clearing for it. Otherwise, it's climbing, or swimming, or traversing the minefield.)

OOC: Tariq has a multi-tool. Any IRL multi-tool I've owned has had wire cutters. Can he use that?

Edit: Admittedly, I wouldn't want to try to cut through a chain-link fence with one, but in a pinch, worth a shot.

[Shoot Da Moon]

OOC: Tariq has a multi-tool. Any IRL multi-tool I've owned has had wire cutters. Can he use that?

Edit: Admittedly, I wouldn't want to try to cut through a chain-link fence with one, but in a pinch, worth a shot.

(OOC: Well, as a honourable compromise, roll the Forced Entry skill to cut through the fence.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

(OOC: Well, as a honourable compromise, roll the Forced Entry skill to cut through the fence.)

OOC: I don't seem to have taken that, so unless I can put an earned point into that skill now, I'll have to come up with something else.

"Richard, do you think you can get to him? I could blow the fence, but that's going to attract attention."

[Volthawk]

Richard frowns for a moment, before shrugging. "I'll have to go up there after him, then."

[Shoot Da Moon]

Richard frowns for a moment, before shrugging. "I'll have to go up there after him, then."

(OOC: You can make a Climbing roll to get across the roof and onto the roof without falling. From the roof, you may climb down a ladder to Sean.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Richard's attempt to rescue Sean does not go well. He only makes just a few metres after where Sean fell before the strain gets too much and gravity claims another victim.

Tariq watches in horror as another one of his comrades plummets onto the cold ground.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Worse Than the Disease

Richard's attempt to rescue Sean does not go well. He only makes just a few metres after where Sean fell before the strain gets too much and gravity claims another victim.

Tariq watches in horror as another one of his comrades plummets onto the cold ground.

"Crap! I've got to help them, but what do I have to make it through the fence!?" Tariq searches through his belongings for something to help them. (OOC: I have Gizmo, could I use this for a single use of wire cutters, as per the rules on AtE2, p. 42? I'm hoping that 'a single use' would be getting through the fence, not making one cut. If not, he'll use Gizmo to produce some dynamite to blow the fence, attention be damned!)

[Shoot Da Moon]

"Crap! I've got to help them, but what do I have to make it through the fence!?" Tariq searches through his belongings for something to help them. (OOC: I have Gizmo, could I use this for a single use of wire cutters, as per the rules on AtE2, p. 42? I'm hoping that 'a single use' would be getting through the fence, not making one cut. If not, he'll use Gizmo to produce some dynamite to blow the fence, attention be damned!)

(OOC: Sure, spend an use of Gizmo, you can cut through the fence. You'll have to wait a week (IIRC) of game-time before Gizmo recharges. You improvise a wire cutter from the piles of junk you encountered along the journey to the base, I guess. Too bad it breaks after you're done with the fence...)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq gets through the fence and hurries over to Richard and Sean. Starting with whoever looks more badly injured, in his inexpert opinion, he'll attempt bandaging on both (1 minute each), and then use treating shock to further repair their injuries (20 minutes each).

(OOC: His efforts allow Sean to recover a total of 1 hp, and Richard 3 hp. Can I use an earned point to boost First Aid? I fear this sort of thing may be needed frequently.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: His efforts allow Sean to recover a total of 1 hp, and Richard 3 hp. Can I use an earned point to boost First Aid? I fear this sort of thing may be needed frequently.)

(OOC: Yup. Spend that point or points.)

Worse Than the Disease

With his comrades cared for, albeit still badly hurt, Tariq looks around the base behind the fence.

From the outside grounds, he can climb to the roof of the base via a ladder, enter the parking garage, or try one of the doors.

The door to the base's infirmary is locked. The door to the mess hall is unlocked. The door to the front checkpoint is locked. The door to a ground floor office is unlocked.

Tariq can drag both his injured fellows and the group's equipment inside the base without much trouble...but with 5 minutes of time...

[GnomesofZurich2]

With his comrades cared for, albeit still badly hurt, Tariq looks around the base behind the fence.

From the outside grounds, he can climb to the roof of the base via a ladder, enter the parking garage, or try one of the doors.

The door to the base's infirmary is locked. The door to the mess hall is unlocked. The door to the front checkpoint is locked. The door to a ground floor office is unlocked.

Tariq can drag both his injured fellows and the group's equipment inside the base without much trouble...but with 5 minutes of time...

Although access to the infirmary is what they need, but now he just wants to get them inside. Tariq will drag both men into the ground floor office for now. Once he's got them settled there, he'll scout around a bit to try to confirm the base is abandoned. If it seems no one is within earshot, he then intends to get into the infirmary by whatever means necessary...which in his case, probably means explosives.

(OOC: I put 1 point into First Aid to raise it to 14.)

[Volthawk]

Having avoided passing out for now, Richard still doesn't want to push himself so he accepts Tariq's help in moving them inside, and then just does what he can for now, keeping an eye on outside while Tariq scouts around.

(OOC: The fall put Richard to -3, so with the first aid he's at exactly 0, so still needing to Do Nothing to avoid having to make HT rolls - given my luck on the last few rolls, I'm not going to push it until there's trouble)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

All the exiles find the inside of the base to be much more comfortable than the outside - even without a heater, it is still refreshingly warm compared to the harsh wilds.
Tariq quickly cottons onto why the office door was unlocked. Most of the place has been looted thoroughly, leaving behind trash, desk frames, and big heavy barricades on all the other doors (the ones leading further into the base). Someone probably left here in a hurry after taking whatever they could, months ago.

Tariq finds no sign of recent activity around the base (in the places he can access, at least).
The infirmary door is a locked, metal door that seems like it was maintained, but still rusted here and there.

(OOC: Picking the lock has a base -2 penalty. The security door has DR 30 and 47 HP (no exposed hardware). See AtE2, page 33-34. Cross your fingers...)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

When he eventually regains consciousness, Sean finds himself aching all over. No bones seemed to be broken, which was a good thing. Barely holding himself together against passing over again, Sean proposes that nobody does anything noisy or irreversible for the next couple of days. And meanwhile, Tariq and Simone can map the base for further planning and inspect the comm dish and where its cable goes.

0 hit points at the moment. Can we have a hand-drawn map or something?

[GnomesofZurich2]

Sean Pires

When he eventually regains consciousness, Sean finds himself aching all over. No bones seemed to be broken, which was a good thing. Barely holding himself together against passing over again, Sean proposes that nobody does anything noisy or irreversible for the next couple of days. And meanwhile, Tariq and Simone can map the base for further planning and inspect the comm dish and where its cable goes.

0 hit points at the moment. Can we have a hand-drawn map or something?

Well, if Sean wants us to avoid making noise (which blowing his way into the infirmary would certainly cause), Tariq is going to scout the base for anything with which he could make more explosives (and is contemplating seeing whether he could salvage anything from the mine field).

(OOC rolled against Scrounging on the dice roll thread, 11 against skill 13).

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Tariq scours the office where he secured his fellow exiles. The hour-long scraping turns up just 600 pounds of junk - mostly bits of metal.

He could try searching other areas of the base - but which ones? The garage? The mess hall? Some area accessed from the roof?

[GnomesofZurich2]

Worse Than the Disease

Tariq scours the office where he secured his fellow exiles. The hour-long scraping turns up just 600 pounds of junk - mostly bits of metal.

He could try searching other areas of the base - but which ones? The garage? The mess hall? Some area accessed from the roof?

While the other two are recovering, Tariq is going to continue his search in the garage.

(OOC: 12 against skill 13)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

As Tariq opens the door to the parking garage, he is met by the disconcerting sight of three cymbal-banging monkey dolls facing the entrance. The toys quickly sense the motion, their eyes lighting up red, and then rapidly clanging their clappers together again and again in a nerve-wracking cacophony. Tariq only gets them to stop when he smashes them to the ground.

A broken down car is parked in the loading dock, requiring repairs before it can run again. A mess of mechanical bits clusters all over the surfaces of the garage.

Tariq picks through the dock and the desks for an hour. He puts in his best efforts, but the complete disorder tires him out before he can find anything useful.

(OOC: the garage is semi-looted, so a -3 penalty to scavenging. Tariq fails. You can try again, taking extra time, if you like.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Worse Than the Disease

As Tariq opens the door to the parking garage, he is met by the disconcerting sight of three cymbal-banging monkey dolls facing the entrance. The toys quickly sense the motion, their eyes lighting up red, and then rapidly clanging their clappers together again and again in a nerve-wracking cacophony. Tariq only gets them to stop when he smashes them to the ground.

A broken down car is parked in the loading dock, requiring repairs before it can run again. A mess of mechanical bits clusters all over the surfaces of the garage.

Tariq picks through the dock and the desks for an hour. He puts in his best efforts, but the complete disorder tires him out before he can find anything useful.

(OOC: the garage is semi-looted, so a -3 penalty to scavenging. Tariq fails. You can try again, taking extra time, if you like.)

Tariq spends longer trying to find something of value in the garage, but after a while gets frustrated and decides to move his efforts to the mess hall.

(OOC: 12 on his scrounging roll in the garage, failing again, but 10 on his scrounging roll in the mess hall).

[Shoot Da Moon]

Worse Than the Disease

Another hour passes as Tariq tries to loot the garage, but does not manage to find anything.

When he opens the doors to the mess hall, he finds a haphazard collection of chairs and tables around a kitchen and an non-functioning fridge. More cymbal-banging monkey toys are here, too, but they’re already broken and missing batteries. This is a place where people were using after the old world, but not since a few months ago.

He gets to work scavenging the mess hall and manages to discover useful stuff this time, after an hour of work.
He finally catches a break as he moves a tipped over chair aside and drags a ragged cloth off 7 sticks of dynamite and a 30’ length of fuse cord.
Next to that and under a giant 900-pound pile of junk, is a footlocker containing a heroin pill, an empty plastic bottle, 7 rations, a multitool and a pair of wire cutters.

There are two different doors in the mess hall, not counting the ones he came in from. They lead further into the base, but are they safe?

(OOC: Good news, the mess hall has plenty of stuff in it. I believe the in-game time is approaching early afternoon? If Tariq wants to find a specific room within the base, he may need to roll Architecture. If he wants to find a specific item, he must roll Search.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

After checking in with the others, Tariq tries to scope out the rest of the building and see where else he might be able to salvage some equipment.

(OOC: Architecture roll 11 vs skill 13.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tariq discovers that there are a few different rooms he can get to from either the second floor roof or going in further from the first floor mess hall.

Two rooms just full of files and cabinets.
A barracks for soldiers living here decades ago. The lockers that the inhabitants would use to store their equipment are all locked.
A locked officer’s quarters.
The furnace in the basement, next to a flooded corridor. It is currently off.
The base’s generator, surrounded by various spilled chemicals and a weird liquid. It is turned off.
A lot of places in the basement are filled with water.
A very broken down radio room. A map of the region hanging on the wall is marked with weird military code and scientific jargon.
A locked down workshop, all ways inside are closed off. A notice nearby a locked metal door discusses the workshop.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq discovers that there are a few different rooms he can get to from either the second floor roof or going in further from the first floor mess hall.

Two rooms just full of files and cabinets.
A barracks for soldiers living here decades ago. The lockers that the inhabitants would use to store their equipment are all locked.
A locked officer’s quarters.
The furnace in the basement, next to a flooded corridor. It is currently off.
The base’s generator, surrounded by various spilled chemicals and a weird liquid. It is turned off.
A lot of places in the basement are filled with water.
A very broken down radio room. A map of the region hanging on the wall is marked with weird military code and scientific jargon.
A locked down workshop, all ways inside are closed off. A notice nearby a locked metal door discusses the workshop.

Tariq would love to get into the soldiers' lockers, but without lock picking skill or a crowbar, that would be difficult. For now he will look in the radio room and examine the notice outside the workshop.

(OOC: Got 12 against skill 12 for Search, 14 against skill 13 for Scrounging.)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tariq picks through the gutted and disassembled radio equipment for an hour, but to no avail. He grumbles in frustration before reading the notice next to the locked down workshop.

It seems the writing was done by the previous occupants of the base. The note says the repairs for the radio room stuff are being put on hold until “the other troubles” are dealt with, the workshop contains the necessary stuff for it. In the meantime, the workshop is locked down - all four entrances are inaccessible. One door is mechanically locked with a key (where that key is, the note does not say). Another door is electronically locked, only the base’s computer can undo it. A corridor into the workshop has been buried under rubble due to a minor structural collapse (perhaps explosives could clear it?). The only other corridor into the workshop is under water (swimming in from outside is possible).

The notice also informs the reader to be careful around the spilled chemicals.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq picks through the gutted and disassembled radio equipment for an hour, but to no avail. He grumbles in frustration before reading the notice next to the locked down workshop.

It seems the writing was done by the previous occupants of the base. The note says the repairs for the radio room stuff are being put on hold until “the other troubles” are dealt with, the workshop contains the necessary stuff for it. In the meantime, the workshop is locked down - all four entrances are inaccessible. One door is mechanically locked with a key (where that key is, the note does not say). Another door is electronically locked, only the base’s computer can undo it. A corridor into the workshop has been buried under rubble due to a minor structural collapse (perhaps explosives could clear it?). The only other corridor into the workshop is under water (swimming in from outside is possible).

The notice also informs the reader to be careful around the spilled chemicals.

Tariq will examine the collapsed corridor, and try to figure out how much explosives would be needed to clear it. If it is more than he has, he is going to take a look at the mine field to see whether he can salvage some explosives from there.

[Shoot Da Moon]

(OOC: It will take 4 sticks of dynamite to blow through the rubble and clear the way to the other side.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq will check in with Sean and Richard before embarking on his plan, and to check out how their respective recovery is going. "I think I can get into the workshop if I blow the rubble away. It'll be a bit noisy, but it doesn't seem like anyone has been here for a while. What do you think?"

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean shakes his head. "Nah. Normal noise is one thing, explosives is quite another. We still don't know why previous inhabitants have left, but I would not announce our presence too much while we are not fit to leave in a hurry. And even when we are fit, I would think twice. Check out the rooms where you have easy access, then let us camp."

I propose Tariq checks out two rooms full of files and cabinets (are these on the first or the second floor?) and the furnace in the basement (not trying to start it yet). If tariq gets lots of paper, we can read it while we camp. Also, it would be interesting to estimate the temperature of the water and whether it is going to freeze anywhere anytime soon (e.g. during our stay).

How many man-days to manually clear the corridor blocked by the rubble (upd: not all-clear sort of clear, more like a crawl-way under the ceiling or such)?

[Shoot Da Moon]

I propose Tariq checks out two rooms full of files and cabinets (are these on the first or the second floor?) and the furnace in the basement (not trying to start it yet). If tariq gets lots of paper, we can read it while we camp. Also, it would be interesting to estimate the temperature of the water and whether it is going to freeze anywhere anytime soon (e.g. during our stay).

How many man-days to manually clear the corridor blocked by the rubble (upd: not all-clear sort of clear, more like a crawl-way under the ceiling or such)?

(OOC: the file rooms are on the ground floor. The water is very cold and will probably freeze at night, melt during the day. Clearing the rubble by shovel would take 12 hours.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq leaves Richard and Sean to go check the rooms full of filing cabinets, grumbling to himself, "I totally could blow that corridor, and it wouldn't be that loud...I'm not going to be the one shoveling that out!"

(OOC: Search in room 1 succeeded by 7, Scrounging by 0; Search in 1 succeeded by 6, Scrounging by 1)

[Shoot Da Moon]

The file rooms are much less gutted than the rooms Tariq previously turned upside-down. They probably contain more bounty...but said treasures are likely worth less to the wandering exile...

Two hours later, Tariq has discovered stuff in the filing cabinets and the desk drawers of the rooms.
In the first room, he finds a 20-high stack of canned food alongside a small stash of booze and opioid pills.
In the second room, he finds 4 rifle bullets lying on the ground.
Not the best haul he's ever had, or as good as he was expecting, but still very useful.

[GnomesofZurich2]

The file rooms are much less gutted than the rooms Tariq previously turned upside-down. They probably contain more bounty...but said treasures are likely worth less to the wandering exile...

Two hours later, Tariq has discovered stuff in the filing cabinets and the desk drawers of the rooms.
In the first room, he finds a 20-high stack of canned food alongside a small stash of booze and opioid pills.
In the second room, he finds 4 rifle bullets lying on the ground.
Not the best haul he's ever had, or as good as he was expecting, but still very useful.

Pocketing the rifle bullets, he brings the canned food, booze and opioid pills back to the group. How late in the day is it? Is there light enough to explore any other rooms?

[Shoot Da Moon]

How late in the day is it? Is there light enough to explore any other rooms?

It is now the late afternoon. The sun is just about to go down. If you had a light source, or got the base lights working again, you could still walk around the base after dark.

[GnomesofZurich2]

It is now the late afternoon. The sun is just about to go down. If you had a light source, or got the base lights working again, you could still walk around the base after dark.

Well, since Richard and Sean will need several days to heal, I guess Tariq isn't in a particular rush. He'll go bunk down with his companions and resume his searching at dawn.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tariq and his fellow exiles eat dinner and go to sleep in the abandoned base.

They manage to shelter from the cold and whatever terrors lurk in the wild night. The injured men sleep fitfully as their wounds still ache.

(OOC: Every day of rest, everyone eats 3 rations, injured PCs may roll HT each day of rest, and recover 1 HP on a success. Mark off one ration for everyone for dinner.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

In the morning, Tariq will start by checking out the furnace room in the basement.

(OOC: failed Search, succeeded Scrounging by 3)

[Shoot Da Moon]

The furnace room is a rusted but relatively well-maintained place, full of mechanical bric-a-brac surrounding the heating machines and its labyrinth of pipes like cultists worshipping the statue of their saint. The previous occupant of this base did their best to keep the heat on, but the furnace now requires power and fuel before it will defrost the base.

Tariq checks the place over for a hour, hoping to find something that will make it all easier. He eventually finds two crowbars thoughtlessly discarded on the floor besides a few spare nuts and bolts. The crowbars look less than fresh, but are more than sturdy enough.

[GnomesofZurich2]

The furnace room is a rusted but relatively well-maintained place, full of mechanical bric-a-brac surrounding the heating machines and its labyrinth of pipes like cultists worshipping the statue of their saint. The previous occupant of this base did their best to keep the heat on, but the furnace now requires power and fuel before it will defrost the base.

Tariq checks the place over for a hour, hoping to find something that will make it all easier. He eventually finds two crowbars thoughtlessly discarded on the floor besides a few spare nuts and bolts. The crowbars look less than fresh, but are more than sturdy enough.

Excited by his find, Tariq grabs the crowbars to see if they could be used to pry open the lockers in the locker-room.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Excited by his find, Tariq grabs the crowbars to see if they could be used to pry open the lockers in the locker-room.

Tariq carries his new tools back to the lockers and cracks his neck in preparation for the effort.
There are eight lockers in the barracks.

(OOC: Roll a ST contest against the hardware's HP of 11 per locker you're forcing open. +2 for the crowbar, more bonuses for Forced Entry, add Lifting ST levels. Repeated attempts cost 1 FP and at a cumulative -1.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq carries his new tools back to the lockers and cracks his neck in preparation for the effort.
There are eight lockers in the barracks.

(OOC: Roll a ST contest against the hardware's HP of 11 per locker you're forcing open. +2 for the crowbar, more bonuses for Forced Entry, add Lifting ST levels. Repeated attempts cost 1 FP and at a cumulative -1.)

Tariq tries forcing a lock, fails, and then tries again.

(OOC: first roll failed by 1, second roll including the cumulative penalty succeeds by 1)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sweating and huffing, Tariq pries one of the lockers open.
Inside are sparse supplies - another bottle of heroin pills and a broken Colt Government .45 pistol.

Seven lockers remain unopened.

(OOC: There are 6+2d pills in the bottle. The firearm is broken, worth only 25% of its usual value, and can’t be used until repaired.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Emboldened by his success, Tariq continues his assault on the lockers.

(OOC: Succeeded by 2, 2, failed, 2 (for a cumulative attempt), 4, 3, 2, 4. There are 10 pills in the bottle)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tarif manages to muscle open 3 lockers but the rest are strong enough to resist his might.
The first locker he cracks open contains a small bottle of pills - heroin, again. Only three pills left in the plastic container, though.
The second locker he breaks open has a broken Colt .45 Single Action Army revolver.
The third locker contains two improvised grenades, made out of jam tins, nails, and packed-in gunpowder.

(OOC: The jam tin grenades are cheap TL 6 grenades, see High-Tech page 191.)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq will take a breather, and then try the remaining four.

(OOC: Locked 5: fail, repeated attempt critical failure; Locker 6: fail, repeated attempt success by 2; Locker 7: success by 4, repeated attempt success by 0; Locker 8: success by 3, repeated attempt fail).

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tarif hurts him a little in the process (and tires himself until he is sweating bullets), but he manages to open up two more lockers.

(OOC: Tariq loses 1 HP because of a critical failure. See Pulp Guns 1 page 27 or asked me for the found gun stats. The MREs are as per AtE 1 page 30.)

The new lockers he pries open are smaller than the others, but contain loot all the same.
Four high grade MREs have been stored in one locker, a working H&R Model 8 Standard 12G single shotgun is in the other.

Two lockers remain sealed.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Determined to get the remaining lockers open, Tariq again takes a 30 minute breather, and then goes at it again.

(OOC: success by 2, cumulative attempt success by 5; success by 6, cumulative attempt critical failure)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tariq gets another locker open after his first try.
The last locker is even more stubborn. Tariq hurts himself again when he tries to break it open, cutting his hand in the process.

The locker he DID manage to muscle open contains 6 pistol bullets and 2 shotgun shells.

(OOC: Tariq takes another 1 injury from the critical failure. One locker still to go...)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Tariq will rig the jam tin grenade to blow the last lock off. He then plans to carry all his finds back to the others.

(Demolitions roll succeeded)

[Shoot Da Moon]

The locker blows open with a satisfying explosion that rattles miscellaneous junk off the shelves. When the smoke clears, Tariq looks inside, and finds the key to the infirmary securely encased in a tiny metal box, and four small doses of a drug called crystal meth.

He returns to his fellow exiles with this loot, and settles in to rest. 3 days, both he and his injured comrades feel a little better.

[Shoot Da Moon]

DAY 13

After a few days of healing, Sean is ready to start contributing again.
Sean unlocks the infirmary and takes a look inside. From the doorway, he notices a working motion sensor operating in the middle of the infirmary, probably hooked up to an alarm and security system. He can’t find anything else until he deals with that.

There are a few beds in the infirmary and stacks of containers and cabinets. It is not very organised.

(OOC: You can spend a CP to learn Physician skill, but using the infirmary is risky without disabling that motion sensor.)

[u-b]

Sean does not open the door any further and does not move in, instead observing the sensor and any wires that might be running from it.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean takes a few steps back and narrates his findings to Tariq. He proposes Tariq to take a look for himself and try to make an educated guess where the wires might go from the box in the wall and where they might be intercepted.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Although Tariq doesn't know much electrical, he does know buildings, so he tries to figure out where would be a logical place to run the wiring.

(OOC: Architecture roll succeeds by 4)

[Shoot Da Moon]

Tariq traces the wires through some walls and one floor, eventually finding a big battery hooked up to multiple cables (each of which presumably poses some device or another) secured in a strongbox, hidden under a covered desk in a side room. A locked panel on the battery covers the wires' outlet - if you opened it up, you could simply pull the right wire to de-power the sensor. It looks like this is a mini-generator that the previous occupants of the radar base used to run their machines. The main generator in the basement may be too expensive to maintain on the regular.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"Woo! Great find, Tariq!" Sean observes the assembly to find out if it, itself, is trapped. Assuming it is not, he tries to pry the thing open using a crowbar, fails, and proposes Tariq to try for himself.

[GnomesofZurich2]

Sean Pires

"Woo! Great find, Tariq!" Sean observes the assembly to find out if it, itself, is trapped. Assuming it is not, he tries to pry the thing open using a crowbar, fails, and proposes Tariq to try for himself.

Tariq tries to pry open the strongbox, straining with the crowbar.

(OOC: With the +2 bonus from the crowbar I succeeded by 1, but I'm guessing that might still not be enough).

[Shoot Da Moon]

The panel cover creaks and cracks open, revealing the guts of the makeshift power supply - a mess of cables, plugs, slots and outlets.

All of it unlabeled. One of them powers the sensor in the infirmary, but which one?

(OOC: Anyone got Electrician or Electronics Operation skill?)

[GnomesofZurich2]

The panel cover creaks and cracks open, revealing the guts of the makeshift power supply - a mess of cables, plugs, slots and outlets.

All of it unlabeled. One of them powers the sensor in the infirmary, but which one?

(OOC: Anyone got Electrician or Electronics Operation skill?)

Standing back and surveying the electrical box Tariq comments to Sean, "Well, we could just unplug these one at a time and see what changes..."

(OOC: I guess that's one way of taking extra time.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean thinks about the proposal, then shakes his head. "Nah, I would not like to affect something we have no idea about. How about a non-destructive investigation instead? It seems you could follow these cables and see where they go. Just be wary of more sensors and such like."

Having made this proposal, Sean sits with Richard and enjoys the rest of the day trying to remember what he was taught about sprains, bruises, and medical massage as it applies to them, practicing on himself only for now, to see if it works.

[Shoot Da Moon]

DAY 14

The sun rises on the next day as the exiles rise from slumber. It appears nothing of note happened during the night, or or the group hoped.

(OOC: Eat 3 more rations.)

The injured among the group feel a little better, having rested enough to let their bodies heal.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Simone helps the men with the task of inspecting the cable and the battery.
It does not take her long before she manages to identify the right cable and outlet for the infirmary sensor.
With only a quick tug, the cable comes out, cutting off the power for the sensor and negating the threat of the alarm.

Checking out the infirmary confirms that the sensor has been shut down...and three doses of medical nanomachine injectors are sitting out in the open, on a desk. The labels on the meds all warn users "FOR EMERGENCY WOUND TREATMENT ONLY".

(OOC: Anyone wanna roll a medical skill to identify the meds' effects?)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean looks at the nanomachine injectors. The Shelter certainly had and used some, maybe some were issued to the scouts sometimes, but Sean was unable to remember the details of their working besides what was written on them already. Sean then does his best to search the room for anything else of interest. After it's done, he decides to go hunting. He does not intend to go far from the base and does not propose to take everyone with him, especially, not Richard, but one additional person might be useful, depending on what they would have to bring back. Sean takes a mostly empty backpack, a crossbow and a rifle.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean's hour of scavenging in the infirmary turns up only 600 pounds of broken and miscellaneous junk in chaotic piles. The infirmary was used extensively by the previous occupants, and left in a severely messy state.

The hunt after takes another hour and goes much better. Sean eventually spots a rabbit in the snow, hopping over to a plant to munch on it...

(OOC: The rabbit is SM -2, I believe.)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean tries to sneak up closer to the rabbit and shoot it with a crossbow, both because he does not want to waste a bullet on such a low-value target and because for such a small target a crossbow bolt should be sufficient. That said, he also expects his cheap crossbow to be more accurate then the - also cheap - rifle he had recently bought.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean's bolt flies through the air and buries itself in the rabbit's belly, knocking it out instantly and leaving it completely vulnerable to Sean's coup-de-grace.

The rabbit weighs (weighed?) about 4 pounds in total, so the butchered meat would be enough for 2 meals. Cutting the meat does not take very long, but that in itself is less than encouraging.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean recovers the meat, the bolt, and makes his way back to base, but goes the long way around, hoping to maybe get another rabbit or some large enough bird.

[Shoot Da Moon]

As Sean patrols the woods, he spots another animal to hunt; a wild dog.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean contemplates whether the dog deserves a bolt or a bullet, then proceeds to sneak up on it with a loaded crossbow.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The dog fails to notice Sean stalking it, and is punished for its ineptitude with a crossbow bolt straight through the heart, killing it almost immediately.

For the next 30 minutes, Sean cuts off another 40 pounds of meat from the dead dog, worth 40 meals. He leaves behind a grisly mess of fur and bones in the snow as he goes back inside with his bounty.

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Satisfied with the hunt's outcome, Sean goes back to base where he allocates the fresh meat to be cooked and/or frozen according to the group's needs. "Hey, people, fresh meat! I mean, it's meat again, but at least it is fresh! I also saw some tracks of bigger game. Somewhat dated, but it's just a matter of them being in the right place at the wrong time, and they are roast. So I'd say overall hunting prespects are quite satisfactory." Sean proposes to switch to this meat for the coming days, keeping more portable rations for when the party has to travel. He spends some time massaging Richard's sprains and bruises, but takes too much care not to make it any worse, so does not do any better either. Anyway, the outcome is not immediately apparent.

Sean spends the remaining part of the day starting to work on a way into the workshop, clearing a narrow path from the rubble in the corridor blocked by it.

I wrote 42 rations in group google sheet and, if nobody minds, will track all food income and expendure as long as we are on this meat menu.

Nanomachines are allocated for group gear, but divided for individual carry by Richard, Sean and Tariq, just in case it matters (again, see the sheet).

And I'd call it a day. Still waiting for Simone's findings, though.

As an aside - is it immediately apparent if all of the already accessible rooms have been completely searched or if some of them might benefit from some more attention?

[Shoot Da Moon]

Simone, meanwhile, has taken a closer look at the wires connected to the battery.
She reports that the cables connect to a few cameras in two corridors (which seem to connect to the base's computer), another motion sensor set up outside the locked down officer's quarters and some other device in a locked room that she didn't find.


As an aside - is it immediately apparent if all of the already accessible rooms have been completely searched or if some of them might benefit from some more attention?

(OOC: There are still rooms in the base that the group has not searched. What kind of room would you like to look for?)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

In the morning, Sean asks Simone to help him with clearing the way into the workshop. When this is done, Sean proceeds to methodically search the workshop all over. In between, he attempts to help Richard recovering, but is still unable to make a noticiable difference.

[Shoot Da Moon]

DAY 15

The exiles eat their meals and then get to work.

(OOC: Mark off another 3 meals, everyone. I'm not sure if the two people can clear the rubble from the workshop entrance in under a day - it may take multiple days. What time did I give before? Are you both digging with shovels?)

[GnomesofZurich2]

Sean Pires

In the morning, Sean asks Simone to help him with clearing the way into the workshop. When this is done, Sean proceeds to methodically search the workshop all over. In between, he attempts to help Richard recovering, but is still unable to make a noticiable difference.

Tariq pipes up, "I can clear our way in, no problem! It will just take a small explosion."

[u-b]

Sean Pires

"I believe you can. Not sure you should, though. Call me too greedy or too paranoid, but blowing up my rifle's worth of dynamite to find out we have triggered some kind of sensor in the workshop is not something I'm looking forward to. Not saying there is any sensor in there, it's mainly the thing of us not knowing the exact limits of our ignorance. That said, do you think we are pressed for time? I think, not really, but again, I don't know."

[Shoot Da Moon]

As Sean and his fellows start clearing away more debris from the way into the workshop, the sound of multiple footsteps from behind interrupts the calm. Turning around, the exiles see five men, all armed and ready, in heavy wraps that obscure their faces, approaching.

“Who the devil are you, and why are here?” The leading semi-mummy demands.

(OOC: Sean; I’m invoking your Unluckiness Disadvantage. I believe the cooldown is one in-game week for an “once a session” Trait?)

[u-b]

Sean Pires

Sean stands up, putting down a piece of rubble he was handling. He tries to remain calm and salvage the situation.

"Scavengers, huh? Clearing our way to what seems to be a workshop. Want your share of it?"

[Shoot Da Moon]

The face-covered man in rags bristles at Sean, "We are not scavengers! YOU ARE THE SCAVENGERS!"
The men behind him narrow their eyes, and bring their hands slightly closer to their holstered weapons...
"We have claimed this base as out own - our home, safe from the outside world, safe from the evil that you naturals inflict on us!" The leader continues.
"The workshop is not open to intruders. Explain yourselves!" Another one of the covered men demands from behind the leader.
At the back, one of the covered men looks over his shoulder, apparently concerned about something else. He taps his leader on the shoulder, signaling something. The leader ignores him, keeping his eyes on Sean.