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  1. - Top - End - #121
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    u-b's Avatar

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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.

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

    UPD: Any fuel left?
    Last edited by u-b; 2020-11-02 at 09:18 AM.

  2. - Top - End - #122
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    Shoot Da Moon's Avatar

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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  3. - Top - End - #123
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    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.

  4. - Top - End - #124
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.

  5. - Top - End - #125
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  6. - Top - End - #126
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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...
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  7. - Top - End - #127
    Orc in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    Quote Originally Posted by Volthawk View Post
    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!"
    Spoiler: OCC
    Show
    How many bullets can Tariq take?

  8. - Top - End - #128
    Orc in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

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

    Spoiler
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    Stealth roll 11 vs skill of 12, success by 1

  9. - Top - End - #129
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.

    Spoiler
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    12 on stealth (effective skill 10)

  10. - Top - End - #130
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.
    Last edited by Volthawk; 2020-11-04 at 06:19 AM.

  11. - Top - End - #131
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.)
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  12. - Top - End - #132
    Orc in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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."

  13. - Top - End - #133
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    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).
    Last edited by u-b; 2020-11-05 at 09:15 AM.

  14. - Top - End - #134
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.)
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  15. - Top - End - #135
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    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.
    Last edited by u-b; 2020-11-06 at 12:19 PM.

  16. - Top - End - #136
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Post Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.

  17. - Top - End - #137
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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?
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  18. - Top - End - #138
    Orc in the Playground
     
    AssassinGuy

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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.

  19. - Top - End - #139
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.)
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  20. - Top - End - #140
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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."

  21. - Top - End - #141
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.

  22. - Top - End - #142
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  23. - Top - End - #143
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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?"

  24. - Top - End - #144
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    Quote Originally Posted by Volthawk View Post
    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..."
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  25. - Top - End - #145
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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."

  26. - Top - End - #146
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    Quote Originally Posted by u-b View Post
    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."
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  27. - Top - End - #147
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.

  28. - Top - End - #148
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    Quote Originally Posted by u-b View Post
    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."
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  29. - Top - End - #149
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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?)
    Last edited by Shoot Da Moon; 2020-11-10 at 10:30 PM.
    Anachronism will never high-light the folly of my convictions!

  30. - Top - End - #150
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    Default Re: Worse Than the Disease IC

    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.

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