Outside 50: Meeting nature halfway

[Rebonack]

[Wrecked Motorway]

Haha, cattle-lights?
The heck is he talking about?
O-oh! Satellites!

"Satellites," Tristan corrects. "Artificial stars people put up in the sky around the planet. It's getting dark pretty quick, so we're probably going to want to camp out unless you guys feel like walking through the night. I can probably point out some satellites if we DO camp. They look like little stars that scoot across the sky instead of staying still."

Tristan is helping!

"It sounds like no one was totally sure what happened. Except that shooting stars were involved. It's kind of Day of the Triffids-y."

Killer plants attack!

"The City is going to be full of TONS of stuff you aren't familiar with, Endurance. Hopefully it won't be too overwhelming," Tristan says before turning to Green. "So what are you doing out here, anyway? It sounds like you're more suited for domestic life? Like you're a companion and a helper. How did you end up in the middle of an apocalyptic spur like this?"


[Thermal Lake]

Down Kothar goes!

The chamber beyond the door isn't very large, but it IS way more complicated than it needs to be. As soon as Kothar enters the room the sliding door seals behind him and the water drains out of the chamber. In the center of the room is a pillar with four levers on it, each topped with a different kind of skull. A bird, a human, a lizard, and a fish. Should Kothar fiddle with the pillar, he'll find that it can freely rotate. One the walls are carved depictions of men building a city, fish swimming in the sea, birds wheeling through the sky, and lizards basking on stones.

Opposite the entrance is a huge, looming set of double doors made of solid brass. They look incredibly heavy.

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

Kothar looks around the room. There's an easy way to progress here. He tries the door.
Sure, they're really heavy, but he's really strong. He can probably open this without too much trouble.

[Rebonack]

[Thermal Lake]

Kothar discovers that the doors aren't locked at all!

They're just very, very heavy.

Kothar, however, is very strong.

It takes some effort, but he manages to shove the door open with some grunting.

The levers are no doubt there only to trigger a trap.

Anywho, onward!

Beyond the huge double doors is another unflooded room with a single large lever in the center of it. The lever is currently pulled down. Next to its pedestal is a little picture showing a room with less water in the down position and a room with more water in the up position. No doubt this is the control for the water level back in the main chamber.

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

Kothar pulls the lever to the up position. With the first chamber filled, he'll be able to swim up to the upper level. Hopefully, that's where the amulet key will be.

[Earl of Purple]

Wrecked Motorway

"Yeah, I got stuff to camp with. These cars should be secure enough from any that turn up in the night. They can't see through stuff like we can, if there's glass or such in the way they'll walk past. 'Less you make a noise. You don't snore, do you?" Heat-sensing, rather than vision likely. Might be why that group were on the motorway; lots of black tarmac and metal cars absorbing the heat of the sun and radiating it back out. "Oh, I only got one sleeper bag. You'll have to do without, 'less you find a blanket or somethin' in a car. Or you want my lice." Endurance probably has lice. His hygiene isn't as good as he'd like it to be, though he does his best.

Endurance rattles car door handles until he finds one left unlocked, which doesn't take too long. Some of the cars look as though they were abandoned whilst the drivers fled, others have corpses in and some have been thoroughly looted or burnt out.

[Morty]

[Wasteland]

Since they're undetected and the soldiers aren't attacking Frigate, the goblins stay put. They'll discuss how to proceed once they can emerge safely.

[Ironsmith]

[Wrecked Motorway]

Haha, cattle-lights?
The heck is he talking about?
O-oh! Satellites!

"Satellites," Tristan corrects. "Artificial stars people put up in the sky around the planet. It's getting dark pretty quick, so we're probably going to want to camp out unless you guys feel like walking through the night. I can probably point out some satellites if we DO camp. They look like little stars that scoot across the sky instead of staying still."

Tristan is helping!

"It sounds like no one was totally sure what happened. Except that shooting stars were involved. It's kind of Day of the Triffids-y."

Killer plants attack!

"The City is going to be full of TONS of stuff you aren't familiar with, Endurance. Hopefully it won't be too overwhelming," Tristan says before turning to Green. "So what are you doing out here, anyway? It sounds like you're more suited for domestic life? Like you're a companion and a helper. How did you end up in the middle of an apocalyptic spur like this?"

Wrecked Motorway

"Yeah, I got stuff to camp with. These cars should be secure enough from any that turn up in the night. They can't see through stuff like we can, if there's glass or such in the way they'll walk past. 'Less you make a noise. You don't snore, do you?" Heat-sensing, rather than vision likely. Might be why that group were on the motorway; lots of black tarmac and metal cars absorbing the heat of the sun and radiating it back out. "Oh, I only got one sleeper bag. You'll have to do without, 'less you find a blanket or somethin' in a car. Or you want my lice." Endurance probably has lice. His hygiene isn't as good as he'd like it to be, though he does his best.

Endurance rattles car door handles until he finds one left unlocked, which doesn't take too long. Some of the cars look as though they were abandoned whilst the drivers fled, others have corpses in and some have been thoroughly looted or burnt out.

[Wrecked Motorway]

"I... I do not know." Green replies.

>DATA CORRUPTED. ARCHIVE FOOTAGE UNAVAILABLE.

"I can not remember anything that happened within the past three days. My last clear memory was weeding the courtyard of the Everclear estate. After that, all of my memory is corrupted."

She turns as Endurance speaks. "I do not require sleep. I can keep watch while the two of you rest." And obviously, she doesn't snore or worry about lice, either. As soon as Endurance has found a car to sleep in, Green reclines against it, dropping her cloak to save power as her gaze sweeps the area, ensuring nothing gets close without her noticing.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dimensional Troubles]

That was quite an enticing trade offer there. "Transdi- Ahem. Yes, I am familiar with the subject though most applications I have employed are, ah, in microscale. Still, there are multiple engines for this sort of action and I cannot guarantee at this moment that my methods are congruent with your system without more information. Not to say I will not try, of course." she said, the 'upper' pair of arms unclasping from the rest stance to gently steeple in front of her. It was easy to see that both her attention and interest had been garnered. She pondered asking if perhaps Thariza might be more learned in this particular application of bending space and time but held back due to a mix of avoiding an interruption as per the unwritten rules of conversational compact and, well, her own issues with being 'socially clumsy.'

"To answer the other question: I am not officially allied with any of the notable organizations beyond my own given the scopes of our aims being irrelevant to each other. However, depending on the need behind that question, it may be unnecessary to make contact." she added, polished metal fingertips glittering as they tapped against each other.

[Dimensional Troubles]

Perhaps understanding Ambrosia's unspoken concern, Thariza gives a shrug.

"I didn't expect this to be easy, but I didn't expect us to land in such a mess, either. At least it looks like I'll be free soon enough."

[Dimensional Troubles]

"A good aim. No middlemen or restrictive practices." Jaccal comments thoughtfully before turning to Thariza. "We are ready for you now. If you would please follow this drone, they shall perform the surgery and remove your apparatus. We will discuss matters with, ah, Riss now. In private. Thus, you shall attend to your friend now, Ambrosia." They gesture at the scholar now exchanges a glance with Thariza before nodding.

"Very well." She turns to Riss. "If you're alright with that...?"

One of the drones seem to be waiting expectingly for Thariza and Ambrosia to follow them.

- - - Updated - - -

[A Hunter must Hunt]

"I dunno. Just one pretty sure." Mimi shrugs as she seats herself on a nearby branch. "It's not very friendly, though."

[A Hunter must Hunt]

"A loner? Huh." Anika scratches her head. "I had hoped to get cubs or something. But I've seen hunters, they can tame just about anything so it shouldn't be a huge issue." If you had ever asking if Blanche actually was that kind of hunter perhaps, Anika...

"You just watch me wrestle that cat into submission, Mimi. I've done it plenty of times before!" Then she will turn back into a Saber and head straight for the opening!

[Rebonack]

[Thermal Lake]

The chamber is REALLY filling up with water now!

Should Kothar swim back out into the main chamber, he'll find that the water level has risen to the upper ledge, granting him access to a rather large, ornate archway. It's definitely the sort of archway that leads to some kind of boss chamber.

Also?

There are more fish men swimming around out in the main chamber.

Six of them now!

They still don't look happy about Kothar being here by they are also leery of that axe. Thing is, though, swinging an axe is hard under water.

While thrusting with a spear?

Fishmen descend upon the paladin and begin making probing jabs at him to see if they can overwhelm him.


[Wrecked Motorway]

Oh gross lice.

Thankfully Tristan has some pretty great ways to get rid of lice. Namely the fact that he's fire-proof and lice are not.

"Okay first thing we're doing when we get back to the City is buying some lice shampoo and getting you de-infested," Tristan says with a shudder.

Ugh.

Lice.

They're so creepy.

He'll lean his bike up against the outside of the car once they find a good one. A really good one! It's got a skylight. That should allow s

"I take it a camp fire is out of the question, then?" he asks with a sigh. "That probably attracts the zombies."

[Deathkeeper]

Sunny Orchard

Working in the summer is pretty awful. It's like, a hundred degrees (or at least over 25*C) or something and yet you still have to get work done. The peaches aren't going to pick themselves. Or at least, they're not going to water themselves. And someone decided to put the well on the opposite side of the orchard. Who's in charge of well distribution, anyway?
And that's why this particular sandy-haired summer intern is wandering aaaaaall the way through the orchard, drenched in sweat, trying desperately to keep cool with a small bowl of chilled berries from the fruit.
At least this job keeps him away from Inside and all the craziness going on over there.
(closed)

[Rebonack]

[Sunny Orchard]

It's gotta be those ponies.

The ones from Roseluck Agricorp.

They just go and stomp the water out of the wells to turn it into clouds and rain on the trees. They have a really easy time with this sort of stuff, the awful little colorful horses. It doesn't help that they're so insufferably friendly, either. The ponies aren't here today, though. They have the day off. Some sort of union thing or whatever. So our hero has to walk to the well instead.

Terrible.

Now, he may remember something from chatting with an arion mare named Shady Blossom. She had been talking about how the soil felt weird near the well. That there was too much magic there. It made her uneasy. She had warned everyone, our hero included, to be careful around that well. She wasn't sure what the cause was or what might upset the magic, but being cautious was definitely a good idea.

He's probably not being careful right now, though.

No, he's just walking along snacking on strawberries and wishing he was somewhere else right now. Anywhere else, really. Except maybe Inside since it's so weird.

As he nears the well he may notice something very, very strange. It looks like bright sunlight is shining out of the well. Even more odd, its covered in strawberry vines. Some are festooned with bright white flowers while others are heavy with luscious red strawberries. The bright, rippling water is nearly overflowing from the well.

[Deathkeeper]

Sunny Orchard

Cursed super nice ponies! Making you feel like a jerk for existing and not being chipper about awful things like heat so much you're covered in sweat in a minute. Well, it's too late now. He can shower when his shift is done.
Huh the well is being weird again. Well, the pony said it was magic around there, right? So fruits growing sounds about right? She said to be careful around it so he's just going to get the water and go. Besides, if it's magic fruit-growing water that's what they want, right?
"Hello. You're looking nice today." he tells the magic well just in case it's the kind of magic thing that listens to you as he draws water with the sturdy bucket that's always sitting next to it.

[Rebonack]

[Sunny Orchard]

The well doesn't reply to the kind words.

Which is normal.

It would be weird if it replied, right?

So it definitely doesn't do that. Just a normal well full of overflowing sunshine water and berries.

Just pick up that bucket and dunk it in the well.

Our hero quickly encounters a problem, though.

As soon as the bucket dips into the water it starts getting heavier. Much, much heavier. Like some massive weight is pulling it down. It really doesn't help even a little bit that strawberry vines just grew from the bucket and entangled our hero's hands, either.

He can't let go.

And the bucket is trying to pull him into the well.

That's probably not great.

[Deathkeeper]

Sunny Orchard

Well.
Our hapless intern gets dragged into the well.
That's bad. Because despite having some non-human heritage to his name (though no one seems to be able to identify what) that heritage is definitely not anything with gills.
Hopefully he doesn't drown because he can only hold his breath for around fifteen seconds.

[Rebonack]

[Sunny Orchard]

Thankfully our hero is released moments after he plunges below the surface, allowing him to easily climb back out of the well.

So!

He's very wet now.

Which isn't so terrible considering how hot it is.

Just give him some time and the heat will dry him out again.

Should he have the wherewithal to notice, our hero might spy a few unusual things about the orchard all of a sudden. Most notably, the ground is completely covered in strawberry vines. Like the ones of the well, they appear to be wild strawberries. Little blueberry sized fruits that are intensely flavorful compared to the great big strawberries one usually buys at a market. The air is also thick with summer haze, giving the whole orchard a shimmering, almost surreal air. Everything else is basically the same, right? The cicadas are still screaming everywhere, though among their songs is the sound of reedy pipes. There's plenty of pollen drifting in the air, but so too are wisps of eldritch light. Here and there stones stick out of the earth, etched with abstract symbols that draw the eye.

Hmm...

It LOOKS like the same orchard.

But...

Something is off.

What's our hero going to do? He lost the buc-

Oh.

Wait.

No, there's the bucket right there floating on the water just like wooden buckets should.

[Deathkeeper]

Sunny Orchard

Oh boy now he's stuck in a mirror world or something.
Mirror world? Dark world? Distortion world? You never know with these things.
He grabs the bucket but this one does not take him back. How unfortunate.

Still, he takes the bucket and the water in it with him as he cautiously heads back to the farmhouse. He's not going to wander further into the woods, that's for sure. Why the bucket? In case he needs to do a task or something. Everyone knows if you get stuck in a fairy tale and something asks you to do a task you have to do it, or at least decline politely.

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

If Kothar was less experienced at fighting underwater, the fishmen might be a problem for him. But he's fought much worse than this below the surface. As they use their spears, he swims towards them. Let's see them attack him when he's too close for their long weapons.
And now, he can do some damage. Not with the axe, which is hanging at his side again, but with his teeth.
They're sharp, numerous, and rimmed in holy energy, perfect for tearing into unarmored fishy flesh.

[Earl of Purple]

Wastelands

"So ye be Lady Skuld. Pleased t' meet ye, Milady. Do ye know where we be? I, as mentioned, be lost. If'n ye be willin', I could travel with ye t' civilisation. I do be a sailor, aye, but I be built for defendin' a ship as well as sailin' her. It why I be so bulky, an' so well armed." Frigate's more of a marine than a true sailor, but from a time where marine corps were in their infancy or yet to be developed as a specific thing, seperate from land-based infantry. Frigate's hoping he'll be able to infiltrate the caravan this way, and maybe talk to some of the possible slaves and find out what's going on that way.

Wrecked Motorway

Endurance shakes his head as Tristan asks about a campfire, just before he gets in the car he's chosen. "My lighter's out of fuel. But, uh, you don't need a lighter, do you? Sure, we can have a fire if you make it. Been three days since I had a hot meal." He'll pull a bowl and a tin with the paper wrapper missing out of his trolley, followed by a tin opener. He'll open the tin and frown. "Gits. They said it was all tomato soup. This is milk." He'll put the tin to one side and pull out another, shaking it next to his ear before opening it and pouring half into the bowl. This time it is, in fact, oxtail soup, and he'll offer the bowl to Tristan. "Not tomato, but probably nicer. The milk's maybe a dessert. Don't think I've got anything to eat with it, though." He's not found any decent fruit whilst scavenging.

[Ironsmith]

[Wrecked Motorway]

Oh gross lice.

Thankfully Tristan has some pretty great ways to get rid of lice. Namely the fact that he's fire-proof and lice are not.

"Okay first thing we're doing when we get back to the City is buying some lice shampoo and getting you de-infested," Tristan says with a shudder.

Ugh.

Lice.

They're so creepy.

He'll lean his bike up against the outside of the car once they find a good one. A really good one! It's got a skylight. That should allow s

"I take it a camp fire is out of the question, then?" he asks with a sigh. "That probably attracts the zombies."

Wrecked Motorway

Endurance shakes his head as Tristan asks about a campfire, just before he gets in the car he's chosen. "My lighter's out of fuel. But, uh, you don't need a lighter, do you? Sure, we can have a fire if you make it. Been three days since I had a hot meal." He'll pull a bowl and a tin with the paper wrapper missing out of his trolley, followed by a tin opener. He'll open the tin and frown. "Gits. They said it was all tomato soup. This is milk." He'll put the tin to one side and pull out another, shaking it next to his ear before opening it and pouring half into the bowl. This time it is, in fact, oxtail soup, and he'll offer the bowl to Tristan. "Not tomato, but probably nicer. The milk's maybe a dessert. Don't think I've got anything to eat with it, though." He's not found any decent fruit whilst scavenging.

[Wrecked Motorway]

Green does not participate in the meal, for obvious reasons. If Tristan has the fire angle covered, she doesn't bother helping with that, either. Had Endurance asked, she gladly would have helped serve the meal, but she could tell from here she would only be underfoot if she did. As such, she could really only idle nearby, waiting for something to do.

...No, that wasn't right. Idling was wasting time. She should always be doing something productive. Her nueral net was telling her to clean if she didn't have anything else to do, so that's exactly what she starts doing; going over the car Endurance had picked with a proverbial fine-tooth comb, meticulously plucking off every speck of dirt or grime she could find. When she's done with that... she does it all over again, seemingly never quite satisfied with her work.

[Wasteland]

Since they're undetected and the soldiers aren't attacking Frigate, the goblins stay put. They'll discuss how to proceed once they can emerge safely.

Wastelands

"So ye be Lady Skuld. Pleased t' meet ye, Milady. Do ye know where we be? I, as mentioned, be lost. If'n ye be willin', I could travel with ye t' civilisation. I do be a sailor, aye, but I be built for defendin' a ship as well as sailin' her. It why I be so bulky, an' so well armed." Frigate's more of a marine than a true sailor, but from a time where marine corps were in their infancy or yet to be developed as a specific thing, seperate from land-based infantry. Frigate's hoping he'll be able to infiltrate the caravan this way, and maybe talk to some of the possible slaves and find out what's going on that way.

[Wastelands]

"Infiltrate" is maybe a strong word for it. Even now, Skuld is giving Frigate a suspicious look, and if she accepts, it's unlikely she'll trust him outside of her eyesight.

By now, the soldiers return. "No sign of any others, my Lady." One of them says. "The automaton is alone, as he said."

Skuld scowls, tapping a scaled finger against her chin in thought. "Master Frigate wishes to join our pilgrimage. What say you on the matter?"

"Not bloody likely. We don't know this man, and just as imlortantly, he doesn't know us. We can't trust him on a mission like this."

"I was unaware we were even considering extra members in the first place."

"He might be an exception. An automaton won't cost us any rations, and if he's dependable, we could use the extra hands."

"Agreed. Under the circumstances... perhaps this is a blessing? A sign of favor, from Lord Absum? If so, it may be imprudent to refuse..."

Skuld nods slowly, seeming swayed by that last one. "...Very well. You may join our company, as far as the next town, master Frigate." She turns in the direction the rest of the procession went and raises a hand. "March!"

The soldiers begin their rhythmic march forward again, with Skuld once again bringing up the rear, beckoning Frigate to follow.

[Rebonack]

[Thermal Lake]

Dart in and CHOMP!

The fish men do not like getting chomped.

They do not like it one bit.

It quickly becomes clear to them that this probably isn't a good plan and they should probably not be harassing the lizard paladin.

So they retreat again! Pretty clear to them that they're out-classed even with their superior numbers.

Probably nice fighting enemies that have some sense of self preservation. That way you don't have to kill as many to complete your question.

So!

Onward!

Through those big fancy doors into the obvious boss room!

Kothar will find another flooded room, though the sloshing water only comes up to his waste. He'll likely notice quite a few interesting things down here. For one? There are a bunch of big jelly-filled spheres each the size of a beach ball. Each has a large purplish black lump of flesh in the center of it. Like frog eggs, just much larger. In the center of the room stands a pedestal with a pendant sitting atop it! The pedestal is surrounded by stone vines blocking access.


[Wrecked Motorway]

Tristan brightens considerably at the news that it is alright to make a camp fire.

"Oh great! That'll make this all a bit more fun. I brought some camping food with me since I was expecting to spend some time out under the stars tonight. Just... wasn't counting on company. Or zombies," he says as he begins gather wood from some scraggly looking pine trees. Thankfully there are a few dead ones nearby and they provide ample fuel. Once he's got enough stacked up he'll take a deep breath and-

FWOOSH!

Fire started!

He'll dig into the bag on his bike and pull out...

Hot dogs!

He cuts the sealed plastic bag open with his knife and pulls a collapsible hotdog fork out of the pack. The hotdog is speared and roasted.

"I'm going to guess you probably haven't ever had a reasonably fresh hotdog before?" he inquires of Endurance. "I usually like mine with mustard and sweet relish. Do you want one?"

The hotdog will probably be ready quite a bit faster than the soup.

"There are a few robotics shops in some parts of the City, Green," Tristan calls out to the robot. "We can probably see about having someone get that memory of yours checked out. Is that okay?"

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

That seems like a boss room all right. Not that Kothar would know to call it one, but he's seen similar chambers before. The large orbs... Eggs? Might be dangerous. He won't touch them as he approaches the pedestal to see if how it can be opened. The last one required the weapon of its guardian. Is there a guardian here?

[Rebonack]

[Thermal Lake]

Kothar steps forward to examine the cage around the pedestal. Unlike the previous one it doesn't appear as though there's a slot for a weapon. But there IS a slot for something. It isn't immediately clear what. As Kothar is considering these things something drips from the ceiling above and splashes on the stone.

There's immediately a hiss and a caustic smell as the violently green fluid begin eating into the rock.

Hmm.

That seems bad.

Should Kothar look up he'll spy a huge creature clinging high above him! Like someone cross a salamander with a frog and a human and tripled its size, the monster is covered in slick hide the colored of bruised flesh and dotted with pores oozing toxic sludge. With padded toes like a tree frog it grips to the stone, glaring balefully down at our hero. The monster gives a sputtering hiss and leaps free, landing nearby with a tremendous splash and a spray of acid!

This is about where the boss battle music-

Oh wait!

Tarichatorosa

Toxic Elemental Amphibian

There goes the boss music.

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

Oh.
There's the guardian.
Kothar rolls out of the way and takes cover behind one of the eggs. This thing is big and powerful, but he's sure he can take it if he can avoid its attacks long enough. If those are its eggs, it will probably be reluctant to damage them. That can protect him at least somewhat.

[Rebonack]

[Thermal Lake]

The monster won't want to damage her eggs.

That's a pretty good guess.

With a grotesque retching noise the huge beast inflates her chest and throat before spewing a wide spray of acidic, toxic bile all over the general area that Kothar is hiding in.

The goop that splashes on the eggs will not cause them to smoke and dissolve.

Apparently whatever the eggs are coated in is resistant to the caustic effects of the monster's spit.

Which...

Probably shouldn't come as too much of a shock.

Look out!

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

That didn't go as planned. Kothar gets a bit splattered, but he's survived worse. He stands up and rushes towards the amphibian, stopping to duck behind one of the eggs again. He isn't sure whether it's smart enough to understand if he threatens its babies, or whether doing so would enrage it further, so he won't bother. He'll keep trying to move from cover to cover to get closer to it so he can bring his axe to bear.

[Rebonack]

[Thermal Lake]

Thankfully the monster doesn't appear to have an infinite supply of acid since it isn't just barfing it everywhere.

It does, however, have a bunch.

It spews another gout of caustic slime at the paladin as he leaves his cover before giving a bellowing roar and charging toward him!

Looks like he'll get to use that axe after all.

Though...

He'll probably need to avoid those huge acidic green claws that just SHLORK!'ed out of its fingers as it got close to him.

Getting gutted by acid-coated claws is probably bad.

Don't let that happen, Kothar!

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

Kothar ducks and weaves under the blast of acid and comes up close to the salamander's claws. For most, this would be a precarious position. For Kothar, it's an advantage. He raises his shield to block the incoming swipe, the enchanted surface of with its lightning bolt device easily resisting the acid. The paladin then hacks with his axe at the joints of that limb, the head bursting again into arcane and divine flame as he swings.

[Rebonack]

[Thermal Lake]

POW!

Block that claw attack!

Kothar strikes the monster's rubbery skin, flames hissing on the wet surface. The creature's hide is surprisingly resilient, though Kothar does manage to gash the creature.

This results in an explosive spray of poisonous blood.

Because of course it does.

With a gurgling bellow it lunges forward and attempts to chomp down on Kothar with its vile maw!

Considering all the acid and toxins dripping from its teeth getting bit is probably ill advised.

How shall our hero respond?

[Earl of Purple]

Wrecked Motorway

The cars are very dirty. The one Endurance had picked has no body in it, but the paint's faded and peeling, and covered in dust and grime. Moss is growing in the rubber of the window seals, and the car leaks a little so the pleather upholstery is also soggy and slightly mildewed. If she opens the car's boot, there's a rotting suitcase inside. In the engine, there's an old wasp nest, though fortunately no wasps are using it at the moment. This vehicle has been abandoned a long time.

"Yes, please. I've had fresh sausages, but not a hot dog." Endurance still puts the tin of soup near the fire, where hopefully it will heat up. It's been pre-prepared, so it's safe to eat straight out of the can, but it's nicer warm. And of indeterminate age, so cooking it again is probably a good idea to make sure it's not gone off. "Don't have any mustard. I traded my last sachet for the tins of soup and milk. That'll be pudding. It's not a great thing to have opened in the expectation of a meal." Endurance doesn't want to waste it, though. So he's planning on drinking it even if nobody else wants any.

[bc56]

Thermal Lake

Kothar sidesteps away from the bite and uses his angle to aim another slash at the beast's neck. It's big and strong. He'll need to keep dodging and wearing it down before he can finish it off. All the poison isn't helpful either. The faster he finishes this, the better. With a gesture and a quick prayer, he intones a ward against poisons into being around himself. That should lessen the impact of anything that gets through to him.