CHAPTER 10b: R&R at Hagalton III

[shaidar]

Silvestri

"Thanks, that's useful to know. When I return from my next journey I shall visit you first with what I have to offer"

[Yrkoon]

Farmanus

The big lug has not cried since his soft exile from Rodenbury, but learning of Belial's plans to leave, the waterworks start. Tears stream from his eyes. The filth on his face is washed away in vertical lines extending down to his jawline, giving him the appearance of a brawny, post-apocalyptic Tammy Faye Bakker. Fortunately, his nose has sufficiently healed that the majority of liquid flowing from it is no longer bloody.

"Good boy," he croaks, giving the mutated baboon a gentle pat on the head and one ear a scratch.

Following this Hagalton hallmark moment, he turns to Denslow with a despairing look. "Are you going to see the apple, too?"

[Urson]

Belial
Belial tolerates the big man's attention, knowing his thoughts are a bit scrambled.
Take it easy, my dude.

When the farewells are done, Belial knuckles away, still gnawing on his Giant Cricket leg.

[greyarea]

Denslow says, I have no need to visit the Big Apple. My family grows our own, and I have heard that those that live in the Big Apple look to use my people for their own benefit. No thank you. I prefer freedom.

I must rest some more. I care not for baubles and trinkets, but for adventure. With my new, thicker carapace, my bark should be as bad as the bite of my axe, if not worse. We can defeat even more roaches or piggmon. If I could figure out how to use them, I would take one of those weapons that shoots far distances, but alas I am but a tree and not very good at understanding such complex devices of the ancients.

Fare the well, Belial.

[Ardak2000]

Bruces' top priority is finding repair parts to fix his ruined vocal processor, and coordinates with his companions to trade whatever is necessary to affect those repairs.

Yar Burnblack can repair Bruce’s vocal processor. He doesn’t have the parts, but you may help get the required parts and pay for them at the same time. He operates a trawler inside the Crack in the Earth just to the east of town. Inside the Crack, time “winds” blow and carry detritus from epochs of this and parallel worlds. Yar has the “Power of the Observer” and is able to focus on specific items and they have a high probability to appear. The items need to be fished out of the stream and secured aboard the trawler. There is a danger of creatures appearing in the buoyancy zone of the stream and, that’s where you come in, they will need to be fought off!

He tells you these things presuming you know what he is talking about and describing.




Bruce accepts Yar's suggestion and begins preparations to travel to the Crack in the Earth. He pauses to give departing friend Belial a clasp of friendship.

[rossik]

"some depart, so some can join. may your journey be full of fun, my friend!"

MacMak will try to by some explosives, or grenades. if not available, or if he just dont have the money, he will chomp something and hang with his dudes

[Norjax]

...

Hagalton, 319D/81

After determining the value of your artifacts, you decide to try and figure out the workings of the metal goggles. Silvestri, with the assistance of Kurot and Bruce, spends a half hour tinkering and experimenting with the device. The psionist easily determines how to power-up the eye wear and straps them to his head and peers through the visors. He stands, astonished, and slowly turns to view the surrounds of Haglaton. He walks around and stops now and then to look at the ground before removing the head gear and outlining his observations.

• Wearing the goggles allows one to see infared heat sources up to 100ft distance and detect residual heat signatures and cold spots up to 30 minutes old. Each use lasts 10 minutes (1 turn) before it automatically shuts off.

OOC: These goggles are powered by a sealed internal chip that decays after every use. Like Silvestri’s blaster pistol, the device’s power usage is determined by a die roll, beginning with 1d8. If a ‘1’ is rolled, the next use requires a roll on the next lower die in the chain. Once a ‘1’ on 1d3 is rolled, the power source is exhausted after that use.

...

Bruce signals Kurot to help him negotiate with Yar Burnblack and arrange repair for his voice box and throat.



“Are you bringing any companions?” Yar asks. “The Crack is a dangerous and chaotic place....” The mechanic abruptly pauses as his wild eyes wander and drift. “The more swords the better!” He concludes, before letting out a primal ’YELP’ and disappearing into his maintenance shed. The eccentric returns laden with rope, metal cables, wire and three 10ft poles topped with sharp, nasty-looking hooks.

“Ready?” he asks.

...

MacMak inquires with Po Ellol about explosives or grenades. The arms dealer has a few fragmentation grenades available for 100gp each.



...

Silvestri returns to Obo Grittz and find that he still has a Pard horse available for sale.



”My friend, demand has increased and I don’t know when I’ll get more steeds,” he says. “This one I can let go for 150 coin (Gold Piece). Surely you will not let the same fate befall her as your previous purchase?”



Action Details:

Characters:
Artifact check: [1d20+11] = 20+11 = 31 +2 for Kurot and Bruce, -4 for Complexity Modifier = 29 + 7 Luck Points => 36

Monsters:

Actions?

Hit Points [Luck Points]:

Denslow –42/42 [16/16]
Silvestri – 60/60 [7/14]
MacMak – 68/68 [7/17]
Bruce – 50/50 [3/12]
Kurot – 50/50 [5/15]
Farmanus – 87/87 [13/13]

...

[rossik]

(OOC: is our money "collective"? or everyone have their single purse of coins?)

[Yrkoon]

Farmanus

"I'll come with ye, Bruisely. Just let me get a shield first. I was hit enough back in the tunnels," he says, pointing at his ruined nose.

OoC: Farmanus still doesn't have any actual coin in his possession, I do believe. I suggest we divvy up the proceedings from what we've sold so far, then Farmanus (and the rest of us) can kit ourselves out for a possible fight at Yar's.

[Norjax]

...

Hagalton, 319D/81

Silvestri makes his attempt to unravel the workings of the ancient pliable strips and their containers.

The bottom of the metal trays are thicker than the sides and top. A sealed power source radiates energy inside the container's base. The strips have a tingling sensation when first removed from the storage trays. Through experimentation (one strip consumed) Silvestri explains the workings and use for these strips:

• The strips are a special adhesive that bond any two solid surfaces together. They somehow fuse the parent surfaces at the microscopic level. The strips must be used within 10 minutes of removal from the tray or they become inert (placing them back into the tray before time expires will prevent their decay). It takes 20 minutes for a proper bond to be achieved.

Action Details:

Characters:
Artifact check: [1d20+11] = 15+11 = 26 26+2 (Kurot & Bruce) – 2 CM = 26 Total

Monsters:

Actions?

Hit Points [Luck Points]:

Denslow –42/42 [16/16]
Silvestri – 60/60 [7/14]
MacMak – 68/68 [7/17]
Bruce – 50/50 [3/12]
Kurot – 50/50 [5/15]
Farmanus – 87/87 [13/13]

...

[Zhym]

Kurot shops the stun rod around, mostly out of curiosity for what it would bring on the market.

[Norjax]

...

Kurot solicits the stun rod to the specialty merchants, but it is Plod Jakee who has the most interest. The artifacts dealer offers 125gp for the subdual weapon.



...

[Zhym]

Kurot thanks Plod for the offer but decides to keep the stun rod for now.

With his share of the group's funds, he goes shopping:

• Refill 11 shell casings (5 sp each. Total: 5 gp, 5 sp)
• Purchase 20 more rounds from Po Ellol) (1 gp each. Total: 20 gp)
• Purchase 3 more arrows (2.5 sp each. Total: 7.5 sp)
• Trade his hand axes in on a battle axe (4 gp, net)
• Purchase a bandolier for all those rifle rounds (8 sp)

Total cost: 31.05 gp

That should give him a total of 36 rounds of rifle ammo and 40 arrows.

[Norjax]

...

Hagalton and Area, 319D/81

OOC: Denslow has chosen to stay in the town and recover from his Glowburn. He will offer his services to create produce for the food vendors. I’ll post a resolution for his actions.

With supplies gathered, Yar leads you southeast and out of town towards the Crack in the Earth. The chasm is a mile away across a relatively flat, arid plain populated with isolated scrub brush. As you travel towards the gorge, you can see the metal monstrosity known as the Irunfoss Bridge out to the north, being rolled into position for a crossing.



To the south are miles and miles of arid rock and salt flats stretching to the horizon. The featureless plain is split by the Crack in the Earth, which runs north and south to the limits of sight. A half mile away, a dolmen comes into focus and breaks the monotony of the plain. Yar points at the rock structure and indicates it is your destination.



Upon reaching the rock pile, you can hear a haunting, howling wind along with strange sounds of metal chimes from the Crack in the Earth, still a half mile away. Occasionally, a flare of white light leaps up out of the chasm and arcs above ground level before it falls back into the depths of the fracture. The dolmen marks a tunnel that leads into the ground, sloping down towards the Crack. Yar walks over to what looks like a pile of junk and withdraws a metal pole topped with a pitch-soaked rag. He strikes this torch, looks to see if all are ready, and leads the way into the subterranean passage under the dolmen. Rough-hewn rock steps allow you to safely descend the 45-degree slope towards a day-lit opening far below. From the exit’s size, you estimate the trek down to cover over 1,200 yards.

You exit the tunnel onto a rock outcropping jutting out of the western precipice of the Crack in the Earth. Visibility is limited to 50 yards above and below this prominence. Beyond those limits is a maelstrom of clouds, mist and subdued warm colors illuminated by flickers of light. Oddly, there isn’t any sound discernible from the dock.

“You won’t hear anything outside the zone,” Yar says after noticing your observation. “When the beasts enter the zone, then you can hear their howls, wails, cries and babble. We must keep a sharp eye on the time storm in order to be able to react quick enough to their incursions.”



This jut serves as a dock for Yar’s aerial trawler, a metal and wood contraption that floats in mid-air within this 100-yard-high buoyancy zone. It is anchored to the dock with a retractable metal cable reeled out from the trawler.



OOC: Any final preparations before Yar reels the trawler into the zone?

Actions?

Hit Points [Luck Points]:

Denslow –42/42 [16/16]
Silvestri – 60/60 [7/14]
MacMak – 68/68 [7/17]
Bruce – 50/50 [3/12]
Kurot – 50/50 [5/15]
Farmanus – 87/87 [13/13]

...

[shaidar]

Silvestri will see if the goggles are any good at seeing through the clouds.

[Yrkoon]

Farmanus

Farmanus cleans and loads his rifle. His emotions are a mix of wonderment and dread.

"What is this place? We went down steps, but we are on the edge of the sky!"

[rossik]

After the "sharp eye" comentary, MacMak points to his cyclops like eye and nod "you can count on me!"

[Zhym]

Kurot's primary circuits are at full capacity processing the strange new information he's encountering, leaving no room for basic functions like speech. So he follows along silently.

[Norjax]

...

Hagalton and Area, 319D/81

Denslow spends his time browsing through the town while the others join Yar on his retrieval mission inside the Crack in the Earth. After some haggling and comparison, the plantient settles on a price for his orchard services from the snakemonn, Sig’Sayg’Ryth.

• 3sp/day for Denslow’s fruit bullets.
  
  An additional 5gp/day for the bounty from his Explosive Fruit mutation.
  NOTE: He must make a Mutation Roll and risk a natural ‘1’ to collect this.

---

Yar’s Trawler, the Crack in the Earth, 319D/81

Silvestri dons and powers-up the goggles to peer into the mist and clouds surrounding you. (Roll the usage die) The splotchy chaos of colors is replaced by more even zones of differentiating temperatures seen as shades of red through the viewing device. A few small, bright specks show up in the view screen but quickly vanish like sparks rising from a fire.

Farmanus checks the condition of his pigmonn rifle and MacMak assures every one of his “sharp-eye” mutation, pointing to his cyclopean eye.

Kurot focuses his processing functions of environmental input.

One by one, you ascend the gangplank and board the deck of the haphazard, floating contraption. Each step onto the vessel causes it to bounce slightly as it remains buoyant in this zone of stability. A thick cable, wrapped around a drum on the deck, anchors the craft to a wooden dock set into the rock face outcropping. Once everyone is on board, Yar hands out the three pole hooks for those volunteering to “fish” items out of the time winds.

OOC: High agility is desired.

Using a well-oiled hand crank, Yar withdraws the vessel slowly away from the dock and into the center of the buoyancy zone, 200 yards from the dock. The contraption bobs slightly up and down, but is otherwise stable. Silvestri keeps watch with the goggles and keeps a mental note of the duration. (Reminder, 1 turn (10 minutes) per charge)

Yar kneels to remove some deck boards and pulls a metal box top side. He opens the cover and withdraws a 1” thick, green polybone circle that is 2” in diameter. Placing the object onto a metal plate, Yar pulls a jagged golden rod from his overalls. The mechanic reaches into a deck crate and unfolds a bundle of thin metal bars into a pyramid frame. The eccentric places the 2” puck inside the pyramid frame and strikes the bars several times with the rod. His wild eyes go blank as he stares at the disc, his pupils disappearing. Purple lightning traces the air above the trawler. The deck vibrates rapidly and then stops.

“Get ready,” Yar drones with a slow monotone, pointing a finger down to the deck.



Looking over the sides of the trawler, you see a white vortex form below the vessel. Dark, tubular objects appear in the center and swirl out to the edge. Silvestri focuses on the objects and begins to detect heat sources. Six 5ft-long tubes are floating up towards the trawler.

Action Details:

Characters:

Monsters:

Actions?

Hit Points [Luck Points]:

Denslow –42/42 [16/16]
Silvestri – 60/60 [7/14]
MacMak – 68/68 [7/17]
Bruce – 50/50 [3/12]
Kurot – 50/50 [5/15]
Farmanus – 87/87 [13/13]

...

[greyarea]

Denslow sells an exploding fruit.

Denslow "Gala" explosive apple mutation check [1d20+1] = 9+1 = 10

He also does whatever a plantient does to best recover from glowburn.