Session 4:
Add Thread: Investigate Abandoned Trading Post
Add Thread: Find Evidence of Mishindi Trefolk
Add Characters: Henry Jones, Manfred Sternwald, Dr Ju
Immersion: Feel something engraved
Ep 4: Naeva 5th: VTOL
Chaos Factor: 4
“How long till we reach the target?” I ask from the back.
“Two hours,” Sternwald replies as he heads out from the airfield, across open water and turning us north, parallel to the mountains on the coast. We fly low, and leave a wake beneath us as our rotors spin fast, driving us ever forward.
I fish out the Founder’s Relic that I bought on Kelstar Station, run my fingers across the unusual characters etched upon it while Lysa and Henry both look at it in confusion. Then I pass it forward “Hey, Dr Ju? Have you ever seen anything like this before? The person I bought it from says she found it Clack, but it doesn’t look Spug to me”
(Difficult task Effect -2) Q: Does he make an offer? Likely Exceptional Yes
Dr Ju furrows his brow as he examines the artifact, turning it over in his hands, “I’ve never seen anything like it, but no, it is not Spug. 1,000 Credits?”
I blink in surprise, “Um, well…I wasn’t really planning on selling it. I though the CSS might be interested in it.”
“University of Moksong is interested, and I can pay you for it right now,” he presses his offer.
I sigh, “I…don’t think so. Not right now anyway, but if I decide to sell it, I’ll let you know.”
Q: Does he take no for an answer? Likely Yes
“If you decide later, the offer drops, but I understand your reluctance to part with such a mysterious artifact. People who seek knowledge are often loathe to part with a clue to the greater mysteries of the universe,” he smiles, taking one more look at it, and then passing back to me.
(Target 12 for Lysa or Henry to have seen such a thing before, both fail)
Lysa eagerly reaches for it, and I let her take a look, then we hand it over to Henry who also wishes to check out the strangely marked orb.
“Very beautiful, but very strange,” Lysa observes.
-Henry is Int 7, but military trained-
“Well, it’s not a weapon. Too much much written on it. Those rivet looking pieces could be buttons, but they don’t move at all,” Henry observes, prompting Lysa to grab it back from him and study it further.
-Lysa is Int 10 Q: Does Lysa get a theory? Likely No
“I wonder if this circle here is a like a compass rose?” Lysa speculates.
I take it from her, and begin looking it over, “If that might be a compass rose, then could this be some sort of planetary map? Maybe these symbols discuss resources or legends. I bet…I bet we can figure something out by jotting down repeating symbols and look for patterns,” I muse.
-Encounter-Nothing of note-
After an hour, we are clear of the coastal mountains and break west, flying low over the thick jungle canopy below. Henry opens the bay door so we can get a better look. “There’re some big nasties down below us! Things bigger than this chopper that swing through the trees like they were nothing, if you believe me!,” he smiles his toothless grin.
I peer at the ocean of green leaves whizzing by beneath us. The hot air blasting the sweat from my skin. “Close it up!” I yell, and Henry eagerly does so, allowing us to cool off a bit before we land.
-Encounter-Event-Meteorite-
“Nine O Clock!” shouts Sternwald, and we all look out the window and see a streak of light coming down and slamming into the forest some 10 kilometers away by my guess.
“Meteorite?” Lysa asks.
“That or somebody’s thrusters failed on landing,” Henry replies.
“Yes! Meteorite! Circle around,” Dr Ju commands, and Sternwald loops back towards the site of the crash.
-Sternwald Recon Effect 0-
“Odds of finding a fallen rock through this foliage is pretty slim, Doc,” Sternward warns, but his eye is good, and soon we spot a gap in the canopy where a plume of smoke begins to drift upward.
“Box four!” Dr Ju commands, and I reach back into cargo and pull out the box, opening it for him. He pulls out a Geiger counter and opening his window, begins taking readings.
Q: Any radiation? Very Unlikely Yes (d10 for severity-9! I’ll treat as a major reactor leak and roll 2d6 for number of rads during their brief exposure, and half it from the vehicle protection, 5 rads each)
“Get us out of here, now!” Dr Ju warns, pulling the window shut. He purses his lips, “If that landed near a settlement, we might be able to investigate after a few days, find remains. Natives may sicken and withdraw.”
“We might sicken? Do you have any radiation suits in these cases?” I ask.
“Unfortunately, no. But we must note the location and return after we investigate the Hydrissian outpost” Dr Ju suggests.
“You provide the gear and the paycheck, and we’re in,” Sternhold responds, getting us back to our original course while Dr Ju nods in agreement.
-Add Thread-Investigate radioactive meteor site-
-Immersion-see a strangely lit shadow-
Ep 4: Landing Zone: Naeva 5th-Alter remove an activity, increase an activity
Chaos Factor: 4
Skimming treetops, we close on our target and circle back, looking for the best place to land, and in the rare spots where there is break in the canopy, as I peer down, I see the shadows of the great trees seemingly dancing on an ocean of golden motes of light below us.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“No idea, lass,” Henry shakes his head while Lysa peers out her window.
“Mushroom and pollen spores,” Dr Ju announces. “It hardly ever rains on this world, yes? There are likely a great many plants that release spores after a rain.”
Suddenly, the whirring blades overhead seem to suck the spores up into the air towards us, and Sternwald pulls the chopper clear of the clearing he checking. “We’re going to have a hard time finding a good place to land with this crap in the air,” the pilot scowls.
Q: Does everyone have their own mask? Likely No
“There are filter masks in case number one, with the other medical supplies,” Dr Ju advises us. I pull my own mask out of my kit. While Lysa dons one from case one, and then passes Dr Ju his while Henry and Sternwald pulls a mask from beneath his pilot seat, and passes Henry’s back from beneath the copilot seat where Dr Ju is seated.
-Recon Effect 5 to check and see if the target zone is occupied-Q: Any sign the base is occupied? Very Unlikely (encounter, whatever passes for quail on this world land overhead) Q: Is the landing pad clear? 50/50 Q: Do they get in the rotars? Very Unlikely No (random event Use Surprise)
“Well, that looks like our target,” Sternwald notes, tipping the flight so we can all get a look and gesturing towards the coordinates. There is a large, domelike lattice of iron or steal encasing a cluster of odd looking buildings below, and a landing pad large enough to accommodate a Fat Trader if it were clear, but it isn’t! The site has been abandoned long enough that great tendrils of vines have threaded their way through the lattice and trees have started growing up between cracks in the landing pad. We can’t even find enough clear space to set our own tiny VTOL down on it! As we drop closer for a better look, scores of birds take flight and then…something in the lattice snatches several from the air! Scores of thin tendrils ensnare one of the little horned birds as the flock takes flight.
-Henry Survival Effect 5-
Henry pulls a rifle down from the rack, “We have to secure this site? We need to clear the barkstrider! I’d rather do it from here than from below them.”
“Take the shot!” Sternwald orders and tries to hold the copter steady.
-Burst Fire for +2, hits with Effect 4, so total +6 damage, rolled 15, so 21 points on a 17 hit point bark strider-
I don’t even see what he’s shooting at until a clump of leaves falls from the lattice and hits the ground below, kicking up more spores. “Cleared!” Henry calls up to Sternwald.
“Good shooting! Let’s find a place to set down,” the pilot responds while Henry closes the bay door, pops out the magazine and replaces the three spent rounds, readying the weapon for use once more.
“You…know the area?” I raise an eyebrow as he grins at me.
Q: Is Sternwald from RimCon? 50/50 Yes
“Maggie said these two were solid hunters. Know all the local dangers,” Lysa explains.
Henry shrugs. Sternwald chuckles and explains, “We’ve been on safari on a few different worlds, but yes, we’ve been making the Loom our home for the last couple of years.”
-Recon Effect 6- (distance d6 km, 3 km, about an hour on foot, probably 1000 right now if left home 0800, then 2 hour flight)) Pilot Effect 2- -encounter-white stallions wander by? I really need a sci fi version of Raging Swan’s books-
Sternwald flies us away from the Hydrissian outpost and spots a clearing made by a recent deadfall, carefully setting us down, warily eyeing the trees around us. “Look! Up there!” he points out. We all peer out the window, and I can just make out the movement.
“Yeah, I see’em,” Henry responds, “Shroud herd.” He points out to me, “They travel in huge herds. Carry their young with ’em. Eat’em and they’ll kill ye if you don’t know how to fix ’em right.” Then he grins and me, “And I ain’t got the guts to believe any chef can cook ’em up right!”
Sternwald shuts off the engine, pulls on his overshirt, as does Henry, then pulls down his rifle and both of our guides gear up for a march.
“How far away are we?” Dr Ju asks.
“3 klicks. A good hour through the forest floor, if nothing bad happens,” Sternwald replies. “How much of that gear do you need to take with you?” He ask as he slides the bay door open for us to disembark. The VTOL is soon full of spores that whoosh in from outside as our guides step out into the forest.
Q: Does he want to set sensors here? 50/50 Yes
“Can we set a camp here, by the chopper? I need sensors up in the canopy, and we can set some up here, and then take the rest and investigate the Hydrissian site tomorrow, set up sensors there. I am not sure I want to be away from the chopper at night,” Dr Ju explains.
Q: Does Sternwald approve? Likely Yes
“It’s your credits paying the bills. I’d want to be back here well before nightfall anyway, so you and your team can get to work here.” Sternwald agrees. “Let’s take a look around,” he tells Henry.
Lysa and I look at Dr Ju, as he explains, “Climbing gear is in Case two. Ms Kalil? I hope you are good at climbing,” he grins and I look up at the trees that tower around us. “They say the trefolk live high up in the canopy. I need you to climb up and set the sensors in place. I will prepare them, and you will nail them to the trees in position. Understood?”
I look to Lysa, “Um…how much is he paying…”
“5000 for a week’s work,” Lysa interrupts. “This is your part. You mentioned working with sensors with your boyfriend on Pikwaru, so I told him you know how to set up sensors.”
I sigh, “I need to be more careful about what I tell you in the future.” Lysa laughs while Dr Ju starts pulling sensors out of another case. I recognize the equipment, and know how they work. He’s got cameras and audio recorders, all of which he will uplink to satellite so he can record and monitor data remotely. “Nice kit,” I note.
He grins, “Yes! Only the best for such critical work.”
I strap on a safety harness, and climbing claws onto my boots, a couple of shorter ropes, and a satchel with a hammer and a number of pitons, then with Lysa’s help, get a rope stretched around the smallest of the nearby trees I can find.
-Encounter-fast aging tree-
As I wait for Dr Ju, I study the ground around me. Most of the tall vegetation are ferns, but there is a wide range of fungal growth, and flowers blooming everywhere. And as I watch, I see a spore land on the earth, quickly sprout, grow up, and then burst out again, releaseing another cloud of spores. And I watch this cycle repeat time and again before Dr Ju hands me a tether. “When you get to the third layer of branches, secure yourself and then pull up the sensor. Be very careful! This is delicate equipment! Once it is secure though, you can just drop the case down to us. Call out though, I don’t want it to land on my head!” I laugh, then taking the tether, begin my ascent.
-Athletics-Effect 4-
It is slow and painstaking, but I eventually make my way up the tree. Arriving at the first branch, I realize, that I can make no further progress with the safety rope wrapped around the main trunk! So I uncoil a second rope, set pitons into the tree and a safety line for myself. Then I yell down “Rope coming down! Clear!” And after their reply, I release the climbing rope while perched on the first branch.
-Athletics Effect 4-
From here, I try to throw my third rope around the next branch above me so I can climb up. I get it looped around successfully, then climb up the rope to the next branch. I pull myself onto it, and wipe the sweat from my brow, and then secure a piton to this one as well for another failsafe. Then look up once more.
-Athletics Effect 5-
Another throw of the third rope, and I climb up to the third bow, secure another piton, then lean against the main trunk for a breather, taking a sip from my canteen. “Third bough!” I call down. Then tug the rope.
-Electronics Effect 1-
Dr Ju answers back that the sensor is loaded, and I slowly, carefully pull he equipment up to me. Then I start securing it to the tree bough, camouflaging it and verifying it is working properly.
-Athletics Effect 1-
“Signal confirmed!” Dr Ju yells back up to me. I then unloop the topmost Piton, and lower myself down to the second bough.
“Don’t come back down! Can you rope your way to another tree?” Dr Ju asks.
“Are you insane?” I call back down to him.
Lysa calls up, “You can do it! I have faith in you!”
I sigh and look to see if I can get at another tree.
-Encounter-Corporate Lumber Crew- reaction Guarded Q: Do they set down? Unlikely No Q: Is another good bough in range? Very Likely No
I am distracted by the sound of another VTOL passing overhead with a Jencorp logo emblazoned on the side. It circles our clearing, then moves on. I shake my head…somebody knows we are out here, but I figure either they are unauthorized too, or we are in an area where people are allowed to be.
-Athletics Effect-1-Athletics Effect 2-
I look around, and realize, there is nothing close enough that I can get a loop around at this level, so I decide to climb back up to the third bough again, but I slip as I try to clamber up, scraping my arms on the rope as I slide partway back down. Then I refocus, and pull myself back up onto the third bough, then check out the abrasions on my arm. “This job sucks!” I call down to them.
Lysa laughs up at me, “That is why I am not the one doing it!”
Q: Is there a branch within reach? Very Likely Yes -Athletics Effect -3-Athletics effect 0–Climb up, Effect 0-
I secure the piton to the third branch, then spotting a likely target, try to loop onto another tree, but I miss the throw. So I coil the rope again and try a second time, looping around a sturdy branch, then I take the step off the branch, swinging below the one on the neighboring tree and hoping to pull myself up! It is hard going, but I just manage to climb up, and sprawl, exhausted across the new treelimb.
I take a few minutes to catch my breath, then start crawling towards this tree’s trunk. I eventually have to release the safety tethers to the first tree, so I secure a piton to this branch, loop my climbing rope through my safety harness, and let the first safety rope fall behind me. I hate leaving gear behind! I make my way to the trunk, then lower the retrieval line once more, “Send up another sensor!” I call down.
-Electronics Effect 3-
A few minute later, I am securing the second sensor array, and Dr Ju confirms that he is getting a good, solid signal from it. “Can you reach a third tree?”
-Athletics Effect -1-(1d6 damage, 1 pt) -Athletics Effect 2-
“Not on your life! I have to come down!” I call back to him, as I lean against the trunk and drink some more water. “Hey! Send up another rope via tether!” I call down, and soon have another rope to use. I secure it to the branch, then rappel down to the forest floor, but I slip partway down, and slam into the tree trunk with a thud, bashing my shoulder hard.
I collect myself, then finish climbing down, and on reaching the forest floor, I rip off the safety gear and collapse into a bed of lichen and mushroom, which is a cool contrast to the heat and humidity of the forest in general.
-Medic Effect 4-
“You’re hurt!” Lysa exclaims, seeing the scrapes across my forearm and the bruising starting to form where I slammed into the tree. She gives me and anti contusion pill and then begins cleaning and bandaging the abrasions.
“You did great work!” Dr Ju beams. “Perfect signal reception, and good, wide angle view!”
I gesture for him to show me and he eagerly shares the feed from his dataslate.
“Damn! Those are…really good cameras!” I observe. He smiles, proudly, just as our two guides return from their sweep of the area.
Q: Are they comfortable here? Very Likely Yes
Sternwald looks at me, with the bandages now on my arm, then over at the doctor, “We’re okay to camp here for the night. We set up motion sensors on ground level. The real danger is up in the trees, but if we stay in the center of the clearing, not much that hunts up there is willing to come down here.”
“Very good!” Dr Ju replies. “I am pleased with what we have set up here. In the morning, we will go to the facility and see what we can find out, maybe set some more sensors if my assistant is up for it.” He looks down at me.
“Ask me in the morning,” I reply, poking at one of the bandages. “Maybe someone else will volunteer,” I wink at Lysa.
“Oh no! I don’t do that sort of work! I’m just the friendly face! You the kind who makes things happen!’ Lysa teases me.
Q: Does this provoke general laughter? Likely No
Henry and Sternwalk glance at each other, shaking their heads, but I chuckle at Lysa’s objections.
“I seem to remember you being the one who made this happen,” I point out to her.
“No. This is my project!” Dr Ju interjects. “She is just my assistant. As are you. I am making this happen!”
-Persuasion Effect 1-
“Well, if you find what you are looking for, will you credit us in your papers?” I tease him.
Dr Ju considers a moment, then agrees, “Of course. That is the correct thing to do.”
“Nice!” Henry smiles. Then he and Sternwald begin setting up tents and Lysa begins cooking dinner for us from the supplies Dr Ju brought along.
-No Encounter-
After dinner, we turn in for bed, while Henry and Sternwald take turns keeping watch. I am comforted to know that I have two experienced, well armed men watching over us.
Naeva 6th
Warm, No Precipitation
-Smell of Sour Milk-
Ep 4: The Trek: Naeva 6th
Chaos Factor: 4
I wake up beside Lysa in our tent and we each quickly pull back on the clothes we shed overnight for comfort from the heat. On climbing out into the morning light, I am greeted by the pungent smell of whatever it is that Henry is cooking.
“Here, have a bowl,” he offers us, but I wince at the sight and aroma.
“Is this…soured milk? What are those chunks floating in it?” I grimace.
Henry and Sternwald laugh, then Henry explains, “It’s Buzshoot. The cylindrical bits are diced tubeshoot, and the chunks of meat are braised hornebuzzer, dized and tossed in after the toxins have been….mostly cooked out. It will sting the tongue a little, but that’s good! Builds up tolerance for the venom.”
“Alright,” I agree as I take a tentative spoonful and try it.
Q: Does Lysa eat it? 50/50 Exceptional No Q: Does Dr Ju? Unlikely Exceptional No
Lysa looks at the dish uncertainly, and shakes her head. Then she spots Dr Ju tearing open a small package of food he has, “Is that…taglock?” Lysa asks excitedly.
Dr Ju looks from her to the package, then back at her and shrugs, “Yes. Want some? This has trifruit creme filling.” He extends the pouch to her and she beams like a little girl, drawing out the tube of salted rice and dried fruit with a creamy pink filling.
“I haven’t had taglock in ages!” she beams, savoring the treat.
Dr Ju laughs, “Yes! I’d imagined it would be hard to find this far from home, so I brought a few cases to tide me over. Here, have a pack,” he pulls a second pouch from his backpack, and the two quickly devour the meal.
Q: Do I like Buzshoot? 50/50 Exceptional No Endurance Effect 3- Q: Do they tease me? Likely Yes
For my part, I find the buzshoot absolutely disgusting, but easily keep it down.
“She doesn’t like your cooking,” Sternwald chuckles while Henry grins at me.
“Nah, she doesn’t. Want to know the secret to enjoying buzhoot?” he asks with a toothless grin.
“Being so drunk you can’t even taste it?” I mumble.
“Damned straight!” Henry replies and passes me a hipflask that he pulls from his jacket pocket.
I eagerly take the flask, and whatever is in it burns my throat going down, but after getting a slight buzz, the rest of the meal isn’t so bad.
“Then once you get the buzz, you guzzle it fast…let it shoot down your throat before your tongue tastes it! That’s the trick!” Henry laughs.
“Buzz, then Shoot! Buzshoot!” Sternhold laughs.
I shake my head, then try it, and…they’re right. It is far less nasty this way, and my belly is full. For a second, I feel like it is about to empty itself, but then…it settles down.
After we finish eating, we pack up for the trek to the old Hydrissian outpost.
“Nise, Lysa, carry these two crates of sensors. I’ll take my control unit,” Dr Ju commands.
Lysa picks up her sensor crate, “This is too heavy!”
I pass her my duffel, “You carry my bag, I’ll carry both cases.”
Lysa readily agrees, and we fall in behind Sternwald and Dr Ju. Henry brings up the rear, but as soon as we leave the clearing with the deadfall and our chopper, the heat fades. Beneath the canopy, the temperature must drop at least ten degrees and I suddenly realize how our guides were able to endure wearing their overshirts yesterday…they kept ducking out of the heat!
“Three klicks, follow my footsteps, don’t stray from the path, and watch your step. Henry and I have eyes up and forward, you…watch your steps,” Sternhold commands, and we do our best to follow.
-Encounter-Nothing of Note-
We follow Sternhold through the wilds, carefully watching our step, but occasionally pausing while he kneels down and checks the path ahead, or looks up, rifle raised, checking the canopy through his scope. Occasionally, he’ll say something like “shroudherd” or “hornbuzzers”, and once or twice, Henry will point out the creatures in question and remind us that they aren’t aggressive if we don’t get too close, but mostly, we just walk. And I realize, none of us have donned our filter masks, as the spores that were everywhere yesterday are nowhere to be seen. Henry says that’s because a lot of things blossom and burst within hours of rainfall, but are dormant the rest of the year, and…it rarely rains. Such is life on an arid world.
“These trees? You don’t expect trees this large on a world with little rain do you?” Henry observes, “What you can’t see, is their massive long tap roots twice as long as the tree is tall reaching down to the water table below. Hell, men don’t even dig wells that deep! Instead, Humanis built its colony on the coast, and those massive desalination pants we flow over right after leaving the airfield. Otherwise, hard to find water on this world.”
I nod in agreement, but Dr Ju was already aware of this fact, and talks about some prior survey of the world he’d read from ninety years ago. “Have you ever seen the Trefolk?” he asks Sternwald up ahead of us.
Q: Have they? Unlikely No Q: Do they beleave in them? Unlikely Yes
“Nope,” Sternwald replies, “But that doesn’t mean they aren’t out here. There’s a lot of space between the low boughs we can see, and the top of that canopy. There are creatures as big as our VTOL that swing from branch to branch, and you’d never know it if not for the occasional sound of their calls. People who work out here say they’ve seen ’em, and I’m not inclined to doubt them.”
“I hear that!” agrees Henry,”But you gotta figure, anything up there has got to be good at hiding, and if they don’t want to be found, you’ll never find them.”
“What about the cameras? Think we’ll see any?” I ask.
Henry shrugs, “Maybe. But you might not notice even if one was right in front of it. Like that Barkstrider. It can be right in front of you and you not see it until it strikes. Their skin matches the tree it rests on. If the Trefolk are like that, they’re basically invisible. So good luck.”
“We’ll find them!” Dr Ju boasts. “Hydrisians built a post here for a reason, and it wasn’t lumber, and it wasn’t mining…it had to be Trefolk!”
Q: Is the Outpost visibly occupied? Very Unlikely No
“Well, here’s that post,” Sternhold announces as we reach the forest’s edge outside of the great steel lattice surrounding the abandoned buildings. “Maybe you’ll find some clues inside.”
“Excellent!” Dr Ju exclaims, then starts looking around, “Nise! Climb up the lattice, and set up the first camera with the main lens covering the canopy along the path we just followed, and a secondary lens covering the post below, to see whether any curious interlopers ever go for a visit.
I sigh and look at the lattice, then realize, it is built for climbing…by Hydrissians! I pull out the climbing gear from Henry’s pack while Dr Ju sets up the camera and Sternwald studies the area, then I start my ascent.
Q: Is the trading post mined? 50/50 No (Sternwald Recon Effect 0) -Encounter-Sparrows- (Climb DC is only a 2 for Hydrissian ladders)
As I notice swarms of bizarre looking, ratlike creatures resting on the branches of the nearby trees that reach out and intertwine the latticework. “Hey, Henry?” I call down, “What are these things?”
He sights me through his scope and then angles to follow my gesture. Then he lowers his weapon, “Just ignore them. But if they swarm you, pull that jacket up over you and hold on tight, they’ve got nasty little tail spikes if they get mad.”
-Climb Effect 9-
“Right!” I call back down just as the swarm suddenly takes flight. I cling to the lattice and duck down as several slam into me as the swarm flies past.
“You alright up there?” calls out Henry.
“Yeah! Are they gone?” I ask.
“Clear!” calls up Sternwald, “Someone must be having a bad day.”
“What’s that mean?” I call down.
“Oh, they can smell a corpse from miles away. If a swarm takes off like that, it means something just died and they want a piece of it. These guys probably came after I shot that Barkstrider yesterday. If we find it’s remains, they’ll be nothing but bones with a swarm that size.”
-Electronics Effect -2-
I shudder, then resume my climb, grateful that it is much cooler and less humid today. Then I set up the camera.
“No! No good!” calls up Dr Ju. “The signal’s no good! Retry!”
-Electronics Effect 0-
Bracing myself against the ladder, I start tinkering with the transmitter and the camera angles, then set it back in place, “Now?”
“Yes! Clear signal, good angles. Now, set the other one on the other side of the compound!” Dr Ju insists.
“Are you okay up there?” Lysa calls up.
“Yes! I’ve got this! There’s a walkway up here to get around the perimeter,” I call down then start pulling up the second camera array after Dr Ju gets it set for me.
“We’ll go around the other side. Watch yourself up there!” Sternwald calls up.
I check the camera then follow the catwalk around.
-Encounter-Poachers-Friendly-Q: Are they on foot? 50/50 No (can I hear him? Int Effect +2) (generate the poacher leader)
While I am walking, a VTOL with no commercial or military markings buzzes us, then comes back around and hovers nearby, slowly drifting steadily closer to my position. Then, the bay door opens and I see a couple of men with rifles inside, not pointing them at me, but just watching. “What are you doing?” one of them calls out over the whisper of their rotors.
“Setting cameras for a research project!” I call back.
“Cameras?” one calls back, then signals the VTOL to move up over me. He then rappels down to the lattice work with his rifle slung behind. As he gets close, I reach out to give him a hand and he soon joins me, releasing his rope as the chopper moves off a bit.
“Cameras? Where at? Covering what?” he asks.
“This is a University research project. Searching for Trefolk. We’ve got cameras here, and at a deadfall site three klicks away, watching the canopy and this post here,” I indicate.
“So, no ground coverage, except here?” he clarifies.
Q: Does Sternwald know this guy? Likely No
“Correct,” I nod.
“Your man down there drew a bead on me,” the man notes. I glance back down and both Henry and Sternwald have their rifles lowered.
-Persuade Effect -3-
“Did you draw a bead on me when you first saw me? I mean, everyone’s scopes are on their rifles,” I shrug.
“Don’t aim at someone if you don’t intend to shoot,” the man warns.
-Persuade Effect 1-
“My side arm is holstered,” I turn so he can see that I too, am armed. “And I helped you climb down from the rope. Name’s Nise Kalil. I’m from Pinter Patel and fly on the Wayward Lark. Last thing I want is a fight…with anyone.”
He reaches out and brushes some hair from my face. Then chuckles, “I’m Enku Taye. I don’t want to fight either. I’m just a simple hunter. That is all. What is this university project?”
“Dr Ju down there,” I point towards my benefactor, “Is searching for Trefolk. Ever seen any?”
Q: Has he? 50/50 Yes Q: Does he have a relic? Unlikely Yes
“Trefolk? Nobody believes in Trefolk. What’s he want with them?” Enku asks.
“He’s a researcher from Treborn, trying to prove they exist,” I shrug.
“And if they do? Then what?” Enku asks.
“He writes a paper, and we know of yet another intelligent race in this galaxy. One that causes no harm and is not in anyone’s way,” I shrug.
Q: Does he want a deal? Likely Yes
“What if I had some proof? How much is that worth to him?” he asks.
“Proof? Like a physical artifact? Or a corpse? He offered me a thousand for a physical artifact once, not for Trefolk, but for something else,” I shrug.
“Hey Mister Researcher man!” Enku calls down, so I remind him the name, “Dr Ju! I’ve got a Treborn funeral charm. This girl says you give a thousand for it! That true?”
Q: Will Dr Ju give a thousand? Likely Yes
“If you do! I want to see it first,” Dr Ju calls back up.
-Electronics Effect 4-
“Wait there!” Enku replies and starts climbing down. I go on about my business, getting the second camera into position so I can set it up too. As I finish it up, I look down to verify it is working and see that Enku, Sternwald and Dr Ju are all talking together.
“Does the camera feed work?” I call down.
Lysa takes a peak at Dr Ju’s setup while he is busy examining some small object, she calls up, “Clear signal!” So i head back and join the people on the ground just as Enku starts to climb back up.
“A nice profit for a morning stop,” he grins as he passes me by.
“Good to meet you, Enku,” I nod, climbing past.
He takes a harness lowered by his chopper, then gets pulled back aboard, and his craft heads off to the north, and I am relieved it isn’t heading towards where our vehicle is parked. “What did you get?” I ask Dr Ju.
He holds up a carefully carved wooden disk etched with scores of unfamiliar markings, and also a barbed wooden arrowhead, snapped from a larger piece and bloodstained. “Evidence! Not proof, but evidence” Dr Ju grins. Then he looks to the camera feeds, nods his approval, and then to the Hydrisian post. “I wonder if there is even more certain proof inside?”
“Let’s go find out!” urges Lysa, “And get out of the sun for a bit!”
Sternwald and Henry glance at each other, then lead the way through the lattice frame and towards the door of the nearest building. “Watch yourselves,” Sternwald warns once more as a reminder.
-Immersion-Extreme Heat-
Ep 4: The Outpost: Naeva 6th-
Chaos Factor: 4 Altered Scene: Reduce or remove an activity (ensuring my weapon is accessible), increase an activity (dash instead of walk to the door)
Suddenly, it hits me how hot it is again. I had been distracted by the excitement of reaching the base and setting up the sensors, but now that Lysa reminds me, I feel the heat again. I pull off my overshirt and tie it around my waist.
“Yes, let’s go!” Dr Ju agrees.
Sternwald and Henry both dash towards the main structure, taking position on either side of the door. Following their lead, Lysa, Dr Ju and I also make a dash for it.
“What are are we running for?” I ask Henry.
“It’s not good to stand out in the open, even beneath the lattice. I didn’t see one, but a tendrilskyre couple be up there, best not to let the get a clean drop on you,” he warns.
“And…I was climbing around the lattice without that warning?” I ask.
“Would you have done any different?” Henry asks. I sigh.
“Dr Ju?” Sternwald asks, nodding towards the door.
“Oh yes, I need to get us in,” Dr Ju agrees, and moves over to the door.
Q: Is the door secure? Likely No (generate room contents-Clue!)
Dr Ju looks at the control panel, clearly designed for non human hands, but then, realizing it isn’t lit up, pushed against the door…and it gives! With a grunt, he pushes it the rest of the way open. I fumble with my belt, and pull out out a flashlight, as does Lysa, and soon twin beams of light pierce the gloom inside.
“Bodies!” gasps Lysa.
I follow the beam of her light, “Human, and abandoned? That’s not right,” I step inside and kneel down beside the skeletal remains of a trooper wearing what’s left of a Humanis Prime uniform. Three holes clean through his breastplate near the collarbone, and his jaw half gone.
“Someone stitched him up with a heavy rifle,” Sternwald notes.
“HP don’t abandon their dead,” I note.
“The rest of the squad must be here then….or there,” Henry agrees, panning his light to two more bodies, rusting rifles laying nearby.
“I don’t want to be here!” Lysa exclaims.
“Nonsense! This happened decades ago, there should be nothing to worry about,” Dr Ju assures her while I lift the dogtags off the dead men and stuff them him my pocket.
The scientist leads the way, while I follow behind, trailed by Henry and Sterwald, who are as wary as Dr Ju is eager. Lysa lingers behind, following us slowly, panning her light back and forth.
Q: Is the next door open? Likely Exceptional Yes (Next Room, Threat and clue)
Where there was once a door out of this room is now and empty frame, the door way shattered and blown from its hinges by an ancient explostion. As Dr Ju steps through, there is a loud whirring sound.
“What’s that?” yell’s Lysa.
“Mines!” yells Henry, yanking Lysa off her feet and throwing himself on top of her. Dr Ju races past and out of the corridor and Sternwald yells for me to move! I follow him out and dive to the round around the corner from the entrance while Sternwald and Ju count on straight distance. There is a blast.
“Clear!” Henry calls out, climbing up off a shaken Lysa.
“Watch what you step on, Doctor. This is a restricted area, remember?” Sternwald scowls.
Q: Is Dr Ju rattled? Likely Exceptional No
Dr Ju replies, “Yes, of course. I just didn’t see it.”
“Take my flashlight,” Lysa offers, and then sits down inside the entrance.
“You okay?” asks Henry as he and I kneel down beside her.
Q: Does she drink? Likely Yes (Carouse Effect-1)
“She can wait here. You wait with her,” Sternwald tells Henry. The Esperan nods then hands Lysa his flask, and she eagerly takes a sip. It hits harder than she expected and she coughs a bit.
“I’ll be back soon,” I smile and punch her shoulder lightly.
“Be safe! We just got ourselves a new astrogator. Finding good people is a pain!” she warns me, trying to grin.
I laugh, and follow Dr Ju and Sternwald though the collapsed door…where we find the remains of two more Humanis soldiers, whose tags I take.
“So what? Did these guys set the mines?” Sternwald asks, and I kneel down to examine the remains of their armor.
Q: Did they die by gunfire? Likely No Q: Arrows? Likely Yes
I pull the tip of a barbed arrow from the collarbone of one of the men, “Dr Ju?” I hold it up.
His eyes light up in delight, “Trefolk did this? Trefolk did this! They came down from the trees, and hunted these men!”
Q: Do I find more arrow heads? Likely No
I check the other bodies, but that is the only arrowhead I find. “So, they don’t just stay in the canopy,” I note dourly.
(d6 for direction)
There is an open hall ahead of us and doors on either side. “Forward,” Dr Ju instructs. The hall is narrow, and Sternwald and I look at each other, neither wanting to go second. I sigh, then follow Dr Ju with Sternwald bringing up the rear.
I notice a large amount of fungus growing along the walls, and the corners of the floor. Small insects feast upon it.
Q: Is the next door secure? 50/50 No (webweaver grazer)
The hallway opens into a larger conference room the windows of which are long gone, and vegetation grows throughout. The entire room seems to be covered in spider webs.
“What is…this?” Dr Ju asks.
Sternwald looks up, “Webweavers. Sharp teeth, little things, generally harmless if you just want to push through. Unless they got pups, then…best to steer clear.”
Dr Ju nods, then pushes through the mass of webs.
“How big are they?” I ask warily, drawing my sidearm.
“About as big as a cat,” Sternwald replies.
There is a screech and Dr Ju yells as a large, rat looking lizard leaps at him.
“They’ve got pups!” Sternwald announces, raising his rifle. Dr Ju screams as several more pounce on him, and I shoot one bounding towards me. Then Sternwald pushes past and his rifle thunders in my ear, blasting two more to pieces while Dr Ju screams for help.
I pull one off him and stomp it hard, apparently breaking it’s neck. And Sternwald draws a large knife, and spits another through it’s heart. Henry comes racing into the room and shoots one nipping at Dr Ju’s feet while Sternwald kills the other two with his knife.
I look at Dr Ju, his is bloodied and breathing rapidly, “I thought you said they were harmless!”
“I did, harmless unless they are defending their pups!” Sternwald points out the clusters of small, wormlike creatures in a couple of nests near the corner.
“Let me look at that,” I suggest, “Lysa!” I call down the hallway, and Lysa soon joins us, a worrid look on her face.
“Is everyone…okay?” she asks.
-Medic Effect -3, no healing-
“Dr Ju got scratched up a bit,” I step aside and shine my light while she pulls out her medical kit to start treating the injuries. Our guides reload their weapons. I don’t bother.
“They bit you up pretty good! You should be more careful, Dr Ju!” Lysa warns, “Get this looked at in town!”
Q: Does he want to press on? Likely No
“I’m alright,” Dr Ju scowls, “but, I think it is best if we call it a day.”
I look over and see Sternwald dropping the Webweaver pups into a canvas bag he pulled from his kit. “Are those worth money?” I ask him.
Sternwald shrugs, “Not particularly, but I’m not going to leave them here with a broken web. They won’t last. If we see another nest, maybe I’ll drop them off, maybe they won’t get killed. Or maybe I’ll sell them. Can always use ’em as bait too.” He shrugs.
“Not much meat on ’em, so they won’t be in the pot tonigh,” Henry grins, but picks up one of the adults Sternwald stabbed, “This feller though, maybe him.” Then he takes a second one for good measure.
“Back to base camp,” Sternwald commands, and I follow him towards the mine room.
Q: Does the door open? Likely Yes (Detritus) (Electronces Effect 0, DC 8 for alien tech)
“Just a second,” I suggest, and I try one of the side doors, remembering the exterior layout and see rows upon rows of empty warehouse shelving with just a few boxes still remaining. I start walking through the huge storage room my light shining on ancient labels written in Hydrissian. Then…I see something on the ground, and pick it up, examining it. “A walking stick?” I pick it up and run my hands along the haft, etched with Hydrissian symbols, and up to the globe at the end. I fiddle with it a bit and suddenly, the globe glows a bright blue. “Nice!” I hold out the staff and wave it towards the walls, and finish checking out the room.
“What is that?” Sternwald asks.
Q: Is the other door open? Likely No
“Hydrissian walking stick,” replies Dr Ju. “Their elders use them in ceremonial rituals, and, of course, for illumination…and walking.” I turn off the light, and hand it to Lysa, who is fascinated by it. Then I try the other door, but it doesn’t give.
(Strength Effect -4)
“Sternwald?” I ask, and he attempts to force it for me, but he can’t. “Needs power to open the lock,” I observe.
“Then let’s go,” Sternwald advises, and we head back outside, closing the door behind us, not that it matters terribly much, and he leads us back towards the base camp.
-Encounter-Nothing of note-
We follow Sternwald back towards our landing zone, I carry my new walking stick, and my pack, as Lysa skips along behind me, “So much easier without those cases!” she chirps. I nod in agreement. “What are you doing with the walking stick?”
“I guess we hand it over to Dr Ju,” I shrug.
Q: Does Dr Ju claim it? Likely Yes (Random Event-Tension Fail)
“Yes, that is university property since we found it on a university expedition,” Dr Ju asserts.
“Want some webweaver pups then?” Sternwald laughs.
“Or webweaver stew? How ’bout a big pot of Buzzshoot! University want that too?” Henry chimes in.
We all laugh at a flustered Dr Ju, but I hand him the staff, “There’s no room for this in my locker anyway. Travel light!” I wink at Lysa.
She nods, “Travel light! But bring snacks!” she pulls out the half eaten pack of Taglock Dr Ju gave her this morning and offers me a piece. I take it and…immediately fall in love with it. She then offers a piece to Henry.
Henry points to his teeth and shakes his head, “Looks crunchy. I don’t do crunchy.”
Lysa shrugs, and Sternwald waits for her to catch up and accepts the piece that Henry turned down, “Thanks, miss.” He winks, and he too, enjoys the treat.
“Maybe I should just bring cases of taglock to pay people with,” Dr Ju laughs. We all chuckle at that.
-Encounter Tendril Skyre, flees-
Arriving at the VTOL and camp, a nearly human sized bird swoops across the clearing. “Tendril Skyre,” Sternwald shouts, his weapon up and a single shot taking the beast straight through the head. It plummets to the ground.
“Nice shot!” Henry lauds him, quickly rushing over. “Female! Empty pouch.”
I walk over and check out the creature, it isn’t really a bird, so much as a giant lizard with wings and a mess of tentacles instead of a face with some sort of beak in the center.
Henry sprays some sort of aerosol around, “Scourgeblight,” he says, “don’t want the smell of death around our camp or you’ll get a swarm of those things around here. Help me gut the thing!”
“I don’t even know where to start,” I shake my head.
-Animal effect 3-
“I’ll show you!” he says. I strip off overshirt as I don’t really want to get it bloody, and get a quick lesson in dressing Tendrilskyres and Webweavers. “Sure you haven’t done this before?” Henry asks.
“My father owns a cattle ranch, so…I’ve butchered my share growing up,” I shrug.
He grins, “So…I bet you know how to cook a steak so tender it falls off the bone.”
“Damn straight,” I laugh, “But we don’t have a smoker.”
He nods, and we skewer the webweaver, and stick the Tendrilskyre cuts in the cooling units of the VTOL. He also secures the pups in the vehicle, with a big mess of leaves for them to graze on while everyone else relaxes or tends to other camp duties.
Q: Has our camp been visited? Very Unlikely Yes Q: Trefolk? Likely Yes Q: Sensors removed? 50/50 No
“Something was in our tent!” Lysa exclaims. “Our bed rolls are gone!”
I furrow my brow, then I spot the ropes I’d left up in the canopy yesterday have fallen in a pile beneath the tree where I abandoned them. I head over, and see that they have been cut. “Yeah, we…aren’t alone.”
-Hypothetical Trefolk rolls a 9 on stealth vs Sternwald’s 8 on Recon, and Dr Ju’s 13 on Electronics-Q: Is the camera on a Trefolk righ now? 50/50-Yes (Attitude, Guarded, 7 hunters)
Sternwald lifts his rifle and begins scanning the canopy while Dr Ju activates his cameras.
“Lower your weapon, Sternwald,” Dr Ju instructs, calmly, “We are most definitely being watched.”
I glance over at his display, and see he has one of the camera angles enlarged, and there is a smallish, beakfaced green humanoid on a treebranch a few meters in front of the lens, staring down at us. Hit has a bow in its hand, an arrow nocked, but not drawn. It wears some sort of rope garment and a small quiver. “Is that the first camera or the second?” I ask.
“It is directly above where you gathered the rope just now,” Dr Ju warns. I shudder. I pull my overshirt back on, any sort of protection I can get against those arrows.
“Henry? Best cook up some food for our guests,” I suggest. Lysa and I both look up into the trees, as we all do. “So…how do we make peaceful contact?”
“I…am not sure,” Dr Ju replies, wonder and excitement in his voice. He then pulls out the wooden disk he bought from Enku and walks over to where the rope fell, holds it up, and then sets it down on the ground. Then he lights up the Hydrissian staff, during it on and off three times, before setting it down as well, then stepping away.
Lysa pulls out the last of her taglock, takes one bite of the final piece, then sets the rest of it next to our offerings.
“This is foolish,” Sternwald scowls, then grabs the pack with the webweaver pups in them, “If they live in trees, they don’t get these often,” showing the contents of the pouch, he then lays it down next to the rest of it, then we all back towards Henry’s fire to wait, Dr Ju monitoring his cameras as he retreats.
-Persuade-Very Difficult DC 12 Effect -5- Q: Do they retreat into the canopy? Likely Yes
“They’re leaving” Dr Ju notes, the one in his frame suddenly turns to leave, and two more pass by the frame.
“How many were there?” Sternwald asks as Henry raises his rifle to see if he can scope any.
“At least the three,” Dr Ju suggests.
-Recon Effect -3-
“Couldn’t spot a damned one,” Henry notes.
“You weren’t going to shoot, were you?” I ask.
“No, of course not,” Henry replies.
-Recon Effect +2- Q: Are some still watching? Likely Yes
“Invest in some binoculars then. They know what a rifle is. Humanis taught them that,” I explain, looking back up. Henry nods, and pulls a pair from the VTOL, handing it to Sternwald, who then looks up in the canopy as well.
“Got one,” Sternwald says.”This could be an interesting night. Maybe we should head back?”
Q: Does Dr Ju want to head back? Very Unlikely No
“Absolutely not!” Dr Ju replies, excitement rising in his voice. “We could make first contact tonight!”
“Second contact,” Henry corrects him walking over to me. I pull out the arrow head. “Those HP guys made first contact some fifty years ago or more.”
“Yeah, any of you know how to use a rifle? Double watch tonight,” Sternwald suggests.
“Yeah, I know how. I’ll watch with Henry,” I volunteer.
“Lysa, you are with me,” Sternwald suggests. She cringes a bit, but agrees.
“You can wear my jacket. Anti ballistic weave, standard scout issue,” I offer.
“Thanks,” Lysa replies, a little less enthusiastic than she was earlier in the day.
After this bit of excitement, Sternwald cinches up his bag of webweaver pups and leaves them alongside the rest of our offerings and we all sit down to enjoy the stew that Henry boiled up from soft a package of softnoodles and webweaver meat. Thankfully, it tastes much better than the morning’s meal.
-How big is the community? d10X5=15, X d6=90, distance from locale=2d6=8 km-
-Immersion-See something tiny that saddens me-
Ep4: The Restless Night-Naeva 6th
Chaos Factor: 4-Altered Scene Remove object (the camera monitors)
Henry and I stand watch together while Sternwald, at Henry’s suggestion, sleeps inside the VTOL at the pilot’s seat. Following his lead, Lysa sleeps on one of the passenger benches in the rear. Dr Ju is in his tent, but his camera monitors are near us. Henry has IR goggles on, and keeps scanning the canopy and the ground approaches, while i have a second set, borrowed from Dr Ju’s kit, and Sternwald’s rifle slung over my shoulder.
I wanted to have access to Dr Ju’s cameras, but he pulled the monitoring case into his tent with him, and he’s probably gone to sleep already.
Then I notice one of the Webweaver pups crawl out fo the satchel where they were bundled together. I sigh, and walk over to the parcel, and carefully pull them out, letting them out near the edge of the clearing.
“What are you doing that for?” Henry asks.
“Giving them a chance,” I shrug. “Yeah, they’ll probably get eaten, but maybe they’ll live.
Then, I hear the whistling in the trees above. Henry and I look up. “Trefolk?” I ask.
“Yeah…maybe. I don’t recognize the sound,” Henry replies as we hear responses to the calls all around us.
Q: Have the tribe’s warriors mustered around us? 50/50 No (Recon -2 effect)
“How many do you think there are?” I ask Henry.
“Not a clue,” Henry replies. “I know we are surrounded, but I can’t tell…quite how many. Some seem to be moving as they call out.”
-Encounter-Ambient critters- (Learn Effect 2 vs DC 8)
As I watch the canopy, a swarm of bioluminescent insects flutter through the clearing around us. “Harmless”, Henry says, “Fireflies”. I nod, then turn my attention back to the canopy. Then…I whistle! Trying to mimic the pattern of he last whistle I heard.
Q: Does the Trefolk answer back? 50/50 No
The forest goes silent. “I don’t think they liked that,” Henry worries.
“No…I think I surprised them. Let’s try something else,” I suggest, then considering a moment, I pass Henry Sternwald’s rifle, which he slings around his shoulder so he can keep his at the ready, and begin whistling one of my favorite songs by Disaster Area and then, taking off my goggles, start dancing to it as well, clapping my hands, and occasionally singing the lines, “And what you don’t know, you’ll never let go, cause it’s the black current that won’t let you go!”
Q: Does Henry laugh? Likely No (Persuasion Effect -2)
Henry looks at me, and I hear him mutter, “Nut,” then he turns his attention back up to the canopy. Whether those in the canopy are watching, I cannot tell, but they certainly don’t mimic the tune.
Q: Do they attack? Very Unlikely No Q: Do they attempt to communicate? Very Unlikely No
I probably dance for fifteen minutes, going through one song after another, trying different tunes and tempos until I run out of ideas. Eventually, I give up with a sigh.
Q: Does Henry ask me out? Likely No
“I take it you go clubbing a lot,” Henry observes wryly.
“Not as much as I’d like,” I laugh. He nods and turns his eyes upward again.
Eventually, our shift passes and he swaps out with Sternwald. I wake Lysa and pass her my jacket and she takes Henry’s rifle. “They’ve been watching us all night,” I tell her as she puts the goggles on. “They talk by whistling.” I explain.
“Great,” she whispers, looking up into the trees, as I climb into the VTOL and lay down on the bench. Soon, I drift off to sleep.
-No late night encounter-
-Immersion-hear hammering sounds-
Ep 4: Eyes above-Naeva 7th-Interrupt-New NPC
Chaos Factor: 4
While Henry cooks us breakfast, and Dr Ju studies video from last night’s recordings, I look around in the canopy above us.
“Let me check your wounds! I need to change out the bandages,” Lysa urges the doctor who keeps brushing her away.
“We need to leave,” Sternwald worries.
“Yeah, these guys give me the creeps. How long are they going to keep watching us?” Henry replies, looking up from the stewpot.
Then the knocking starts, echoing through the forest. “Great. That’ll carry,” Sternwald scowls.
“It’s tremendous! They are using clubs to knock out a pattern,” Dr Ju beams excitedly pointing at his monitor.
“Great. They have clubs. Who the fuck hunts game with clubs?” Henry shakes looks ascance at the trees.
Then I see him! One of the trefolk drops down to the lowermost bow, where I first climbed up yesterday and had to rest before I could head up to attach the cameras. It stands there in plain view, and whistles.
I whistle back, then walk over and grab the climbing harness. “I’m going up to talk.”
Q: Do the rational team members object? Likely No
“Careful, Lass,” Henry suggest.
“Yes! This is a very critical moment. What you do may determine whether we can communicate with these creatures or not,” Dr Ju exclaims, giddy as can be.
As I collect the climbing harness, and tie back up the damaged portion, I also examine our gift offerings, place the wooden disk in the satchel from which I freed the Webweaver pups. “I need your knife, Sternwald, sheath too. Some of that Taglock, if you have a couple more packets, and…do we have a spare canteen? Maybe your flask?” I ask Henry.
Q: Does my team give me what I ask for? Likely Yes
They quickly equip my offerings bag, which I sling over my shoulder, along with another rope to climb down with, fix the climbing claws to my boots, then I swing the harness around the tree trunk and start climbing up, pausing to remind them, “Binoculars! No rifle scopes!” Then I work my way up the tree.
Q: Do they seem to encourage me? 50/50 No Q: Does he wait? Likely Yes (Athletics Effect 0)
There is whistling overhead as I start my ascent, occasional knocks of the clubs, but nothing gets thrown down at me as I gradually make my way up. Eventually, I reach the first bough and swing my spare rope around it, hold it tight, release the climbing harness and clamber up onto the tree bough, leaning against the trunk to catch my breath.
The creature stands a few meters away from me. A pale green creature, maybe half a meter shorter than me, wearing some sort of hemp cord to which is lashed a quiver of arrows, each of which is looped into his “belt” with a thin cord. It wears a number of colorful feathers woven into it’s “clothing”. It has big eyes, dark as the void of space, a fleshy, beaklike face, pointed ears that tend to turn towards each knock from its fellow’s clubs. And three fingers on its hand, three on its…foot hands, and long claws.
-Persuade -3 vs DC 10-
After I catch my breath, I whistle, mimicking one of the patterns I heard last night. The creature cocks its head to one side, but does not reply.
-Persuade Effect (with boon for having food) +1 vs DC 10-
So, straddling the tree bough, I lean forward and pull off the satchel of gifts. I pull out one of the packages of taglock, tear it open, pull out a piece and take a bit from it. Then I set the pouch in front of me as far forward as I can place it. I take another bite of my piece, and nod towards it again.
The creature slowly approaches, and I see the insides of his fingers and toes are covered in tiny little claws as it reaches out and snatches the pouch, then jumps back with confident ease I couldn’t possibly repeat. It pulls out a piece of taglock and takes a tentative bite.
Q: Does it like taglock? 50/50 No
The creature spits it out, and tosses the pouch down. I grimace, knowing that Lysa is going to kill me for losing a pouch of her favorite snack. I shrug, and finish my piece.
-Persuade DC 8, Effect +2-
Then I pull out Sternwald’s knife, in its sheaf, pressed against my arm. I slowly draw the knife to show the blade, then slide it back in, and lay it between my legs. Then I start braiding up some of my hair, tying it. Then I draw the knife, cut off the lock of hair, stab the knife into the tree and tie up the looses strands. I then rub the lock of hair against my chest, and point towards the feathers in his own garment. I thread the lock through the strap in my undershirt (as Lysa is still wearing my overshirt), then point to his feathers again as I pull it back out. I then wrap the braid around the knife handle, and slide the sheathed knife and the braid towards the creature.
Q: Does it accept the hair? Very Likely No Q: The Knife? Very Likely Yes
The creature comes forward, and picks up the knife, letting my lock of hair flutter down to the ground below. It draws the knife from the blade, and kneels down, using it to etch something into the tree. Then it etches something with one of its foreclaws, and seems to compare the two marks. I take the chance and crawl towards it to see what he has marked.
Q: Does he retreat? Very Unlikely Exceptional No
It sits and waits for me, and I sit back up, less than a meter away from it, lean forward, and trace the marks he’s made with my own fingers. Then I reach into my pouch, and pull out the wooden disk, and hand it towards him.
Q: Does he take the disk? Very Likely Yes
He reaches out and takes the disk from my hand. I smile, close mouthed, as I’d rather not show fangs in case that is offensive. I read once that some animals consider that a challenge.
Q: Does it take a sip? Very Likely Yes Q: Does it like it? Likely No
Then I pull out Henry’s flask, and take a sip. I wince at how it burns, but offer it anyway.
Q: Does it give the flask back to me? 50/50 Exceptional No
It takes a sip, swallows, and shakes its head, pours out the liquid, but then…tucks the flask into it’s harness. I can’t help but laugh. So I pull out the canteen, and take a long draft from it, and pass it over. The creature drinks that as well, and slings the canteen around its slight frame. I then show that my pouch of gifts is empty, but point towards the creature then show my empty hands.
Q: Does he offers something in return? 50/50 Yes
The creature reaches around and pulls a small gourd from its belt with a wooden cap. It take a sip of whatever is in it, then passes it to me. I take a sip too, wary as it didn’t like anything I offered but the water.
Q: Is it good? Likely No
I grimace at the flavor, but it is clearly alcohol…some sort of leafy tasting concoction that tastes like green hay. I laugh, “This tastes like the crap Henry gave me,” I tell the creature.
It whistles and whoots. I try to whoot in reply. Then I point to myself and say, “Nise”. I point to it.
Q: Does it give it’s name? Likely No
It cocks its head to one side, seemingly confused.
-Intelligence Effect +1-
I nod, then tug at my shirt “clothes”. I tap the tree, “Tree” I point to me again, “Nise”. Then I point to him.
Q: Does he respond this time? 50/50 No Q: Does he break contact? 50/50 Yes Q: Does another come over? Unlikely No (Athletics Effect 1)
He looks at me, and then…leaps up, catching hold of the bough above us to the left, where two of his fellows were watching close by. I give a gentle wave and tuck the gourd I was given into my bag, and scoot back closer to the trunk, where I lash the rope around the bough, tie it secure, and then start rappelling my way back down soon joining the others. I hand the gourd to Henry, “Tastes like shit. You might like it.”
Q: Does Henry like it? Very Likely No Q: Does anyone like it? Very Unlikely No
“Damn! That’s…nasty,” he grimaces and hands it to Dr Lu. He makes a face too, as do Sternwald and Lysa when they each try it.
“I will analyze this when I get back to Accra,” Dr Lu notes. “What else? You had a very good interaction.”
“Yeah, but I gave him a lot for some crap booze. And you owe Sternwald a new knife, and Henry a flask.”
“Did it like the whiskey?” Henry asks.
“Nope. Dumped it out,” I shrug.
“I thought one of them was taking a piss at us,” Sternwald replies. I laugh, then take a deep sigh.
“What now, boss?” I shrug.
Q: Is Dr Lu satisfied? 50/50 Exceptional No Q: Back to the trading post? 50/50 Yes
“We go back to the outpost, see what else we can learn there,” Dr Lu decides.
“Alright, secure everything into the VTOL. They already stole bedding from the tents, I don’t want to lose any more gear,” Sternwald instructs and we do as he says.
Q: Is Lysa impressed? Very Likely Yes
“You were…amazing up there! I watched the whole thing on the cameras,” Lysa gushes.
“Yeah, that was pretty cool getting…peaceful, second contact. Never thought I’d end up on that kind of mission,” I beam as I help pack things in. Soon, we are trekking back to the trading post.
-Immersion-sense of lucidity-
Ep 4: Back to the Outpost, Naeva 7th-Interupt
Chaos Factor: 4-Interupt, add a character, remove object (generate character)
As I we head back towards the trading post, I wonder at the wisdom of doing so.
“Dr Lu? Are you sure we need to go back? We have first contact, and nothing else to trade should they come back. And we encountered a mine? I say, if we do go back, we recover the dead to return them to the embassy, then bug out, and you can come back with more trade goods on a later expedition,” I suggest, hopefully.
I notice Sternwalk pause and look back, eager for Dr Ju’s answer. “What the hell?” I hear him exclaim, so I look behind us, past Lysa and Henry and see the second camera I had installed in the trees crash to the ground next to the first.
I look up, and see a Trefolk watching us…almost as though taunting us. “Not very nice of you!” I yell up at him.
Q: Does this make Dr Ju mad? Likely No
“Fascinating! They didn’t tear down the cameras at first, but now…they do,” Dr Ju muses.
“And the reason for your expedition,” Sternwald scowls.
“No. I meant to prove they exist, and now I know that they do,” Dr Ju corrects the guide.
I start walking back towards the camp watching the Trefolk as I head over to examine the fallen camera.
Q: Does he stand and watch me? Likely Exceptional Yes
The Trefolk stands tall on the lowest bough, studying me as I approach. Realizing this is a different one than before, I stop short. “Henry! I need your knife.”
Q: Will Henry give me his knife? 50/50 No
“No dice, honey. He just trashed the cameras. I don’t think he’s friendly,” Henry objects.
Q: Did the cameras survive? Nearly Impossible No Q: Does he whistle back? 50/50 No Q: Does he threaten me? Very Unlikely Exceptional No Q: Did he cut the rope from earlier? Unlikely No (Athletics Effect 0)
I glance at the shattered cameras, then look back up at the Trefolk. I whistle at him, trying to mimic a call from before. It stares down at me, but his bow is slung behind him, and he carries no club. So I head over to the VTOL to see what else might be left to trade. I pull out a spare canteen, fill it with water, and sling it over my shoulder with my own, then clamp back on the foot claws, pull out the climbing harness and spare rope, and then…I realize he hasn’t cut the rope from my venture a half an hour earlier. I stow the harness, then secure a safety clamp to the rope I left tied up into the tree, and climb my way back up.
Q: Does he wait? Very Likely No Q: Is he at the neighboring bough? Likely No Q: Can I see him at all? Unlikely No
By the time I reach the bough, he is gone. I look around, and seem to be alone in the tree. I call down to my companions, “I’m just going to wait up here for a bit. You go on to the trading post without me. If this guy wants to come back and talk, he can. Otherwise, I’ll climb down when you return and maybe we can leave this place!”
Q: Is Dr Ju cool with this plan? 50/50 Yes
“Very good! You stay here and make contact. We will investigate the hydrissian site,” Dr Ju shouts back up to me.
Q: Does anyone object? Likely No
“Be careful!” Lysa calls up, “We’ll be back soon!”
Then I watch as Sternwald leads the others back towards the trading post. I take a sip from my canteen, and start to wait, but then my eyes fall on the marks left by the trefolf from before. I crawl over and take a an image of the markings with my comms unit, then lean back up against the trunk of the tree, taking the time to secure a second line for safety.
-Expedition-No Encounter-
-Nise-Webweavers at long range-
As I sit up on the tree, I look down at the forest floor and spot a small cluster of shrubs that seem to be covered in webs. I see a webweaver dash out, and grab a pup that had wandered out from under the webbing, or perhaps it is one that I released in the morning. It is hard to say. I didn’t notice the nest yesterday as my attention was on setting the cameras, and earlier, my eyes were on the trefolk, but now…just sitting her waiting, I can see other clumps of webing beyond the clearing, sheltered by the forest canopy above.
-The Expedition-
Q: Is the next door secure? 50/50 Exceptional No Q: Hydrissian? Likely Yes (Random Event NPC Negative Captain Apfi Control Elements-Captain Apfi is called upon to suppress a group of insurrectionists, but is accused of heavy handedness in his team’s response)
Dr Ju’s team eventually reaches the webweaver nest inside the outpost, and Sternwald pushes open the door beyond, which falls from hinge as he shoves his rifle butt against it. Beyond is a hallway with a cross intersection, and a discarded case of preserved food.
The expedition collects the food, then turns to the left, entering the laboratory section, and in the first room, find two gourds of Mishindi alcohol. In the second, they recover a Hydrissian microscope. In the third, they find an x ray machine, but cannot take it with them. The fourth room, like many others, is full of fungus, but the sudden entrance of a human causes the spores to burst out, spilling the air. Dr Ju and Sternwald quickly cover their faces and withdraw, then everyone dons their filter masks. After a few minutes, the two head inside and recover some dried food of unknown age and origin wrapped in upper canopy leaves. The next room contains neurophysiology analysis equipment, and Dr Ju spends a great deal of time studying the settings, adding to his photo catalog of this hydrissian site.
Q: is the door to the specimen area secure? 50/50 Yes (Sternwald Str Effect -2, cannot breach)(Dr Ju Electronics Effect -1)
They scare off a pair of Glowspike Scalers (which would be stupid to attack anyway given the size differential) and then locate a DNA sequencer. Dr Ju can’t get the tool powered up long enough to download data from the alien device.
Q: Is the power on for the charged floor? Very Unlikely No
In the crew area, they find some hydrissian exercise equipment, and then feel a slight tingle as spent security batteries fail to electrify the floor beneath them. But along the walls in this hallway are photographic images. One of Hydrissian traders and Trefolk hunters, on ground level, and a second of a Trefolk village up in the canopy. They scare off a groundlancer, which decides something 15 times its size is a poor choice of prey. They encounter another spore bloom in the medical labs, but it doesn’t matter with the filter masks on. The find a set of hand written (in Hydrissian) trade records for the base, which Dr Ju’s translator helps him interpret. Then they find and old biometric scanner that is designed to be installed into a door, along with a variety of other tools in the facility maintenance workshop, and they frighten off another groundlancer that had hoped to feed on rats or other small vermin they see throughout the base.
Q: Is Research Dome Beta open? 50/50 No (Strenght Effect -1) Q: Does Dr Ju decide he’s found enough? Very Likely Exceptional Yes
Sternwald finds another door he cannot force open, but on a room to the side of the main hall, he finds a bandolier full of hydrissian slugs, and a hydrissian breathing mask, a box of O-rings that they leave behind. They encounter more spore blooms, but recover three more good photo images of Trefolk, tending some sort of larvae, and some malformed trefolk, then some adults. They scare off another ground lancer, and find even more images! Then they encounter a section blocked off by more webweaver nest, and this time, Dr Ju decides he has found plenty of documentation and material to analyze between what he has recovered from the Hydrissian outpost and the video of my interaction this morning.
-Expedition return trip, no encounter-
-While they are exploring-Encounter-Ambient critters-Immersion, smell excrement-
Ep 4: Alone in a tree, Naeva 7th-Interupt scene-New NPC (generate character)
Chaos Factor: 4
I sit up in the tree, waiting alone in my perch, watching the trees around me, sure that I am being watched, but unsure what to really do to initiate contact. I occasionally whistle out, mimicking what I heard earlier, but also just singing to myself. I’m not really hunting. They know I’m here.
Then I notice some small insects swarming some sort of hive in a neighboring bough, too far for me to reach. Then, I smell…crap. And see some white goo dripping from a leaf above onto my own bough some iddistance away. And looking up, I see it dripping from one leaf, and from the one above it, and I wonder how big whatever it is that made that mess must be, and how many meters above me it is. I stop whistling.
Suddenly, one of the Trefolk swings quickly from one bough to another, and then drops down in front of me!
Q: Does he attack? Very Unlikely Exceptional No
This one is neither the one from this morning, nor the one with the sensors. He has some nasty scars on his arm and he lowers himself down, opening up his palms for me to see his hands are empty. His bow is slung across his back, and of course, he has arrows, and a few gourds and other things lashed to his garments. I open up my palms and lower my shoulders as well, nearly bowing as much as I can while straddling a massive tree limb. Then I sit back up, to observe him.
Q: Does he approach? Very Likely No (His int Effect 4)
He stays where he is at, and seems to be studying me as I am studying him. I smile, and point to myself and say “Nise” at the tree and say “Tree”.
Q: Does he offer his name? 50/50 No
The creature studies me, but makes no effort to respond. So I unsling my second canteen, take a sip, then lean forward and set it between us.
Q: Does he take the canteen? Very Likely Yes Q: Does he offer trade? Very Likely No
The creature steps forward, takes the canteen, drinks from it, then slings it around his shoulder. Then looks at me once more, expectantly.
I pull the flashlight from my toolbelt. I turn it on, and shine it against the underside of a leaf above us, then cover it in the shade of my hand. Then turn it off, setting it between my legs as I pull off my undershirt and use that to drape it in shadow to show better that can shine in the dark. I then demonstrate turning the light off an on before setting it on the branch once more and donning my shirt again before pushing the flashlight forward, carefully setting it on the bough between us.
Q: Does he take the flashlight? Very Likely Yes (Intelligence Effect 3)
The creature grabs the flashlight, then studying it, turns it off and on multiple times, covering it in his hand for shadow, then pointing it in his eyes and wincing before looking away. Then it turns the light off.
Q: Does it offer trade? Very Likely Yes (Wooden disks)
The creature pulls from around his neck a wooden disk, etched with several markings and sets it on the branch between us. I pick it up, and examine it. It looks similar to the one that Enku had sold us, but with different markings. I smile and put it around my neck.
Q: Does it want my dogtags? 50/50 Yes (Random Event, Deposit Enemy)
It points at me, then gestures at the base of its neck, and I realize it saw my dogtags when I pulled off my shirt. I pull them out, unclip one to keep, sliding it into my pocket, but then hand the chain and the other to him. He takes it and puts the chain around his neck. Then from another satchel, he pulls out a small, squirming winged mess of tentacles that I realize must be a young Tendrilskyre. He then smashes its skull with his club a couple of times until it stops moving. Afterwards, he begins cutting strips of flesh from it with his thumbclaw while I watch in apprehension as he swallows one strip, then offers the other to me.
Q: Is raw Tendrilskyre any good? Unlikely No (Endurance Effect -2)
I wince at the notion, but accept the offering, and try to swallow it in one go as he did. It goes down, then comes right back up, and I quickly open my canteen and take a swallow. Then I shake my head.
Q: Is it amused? Very Likely No
It looks at me, but I don’t understand what it is thinking. It continues to eat, but it does not offer me anymore.
I point at the tendrilskyre and say “Tendrilskyre”, then at the tree, then at me, repeating the words. Then at the disk he gave me and say “disk”.
Q: Does he respond this time? Unlikely Exceptional Yes
Suddenly, he points to the tendrilskyre and makes a whistle, then at the tree, and makes a couple of clicks, then at me and makes a wheezing sound, then at himself and makes a couple of whook sounds. I repeat each sound in turn, pointing at the object and mimicking him as best I can. We go back and forth several times as Whook Whook takes to calling me Wheese Ka, after I add my last name, as apparently, it cannot make an N sound. But I cannot match its whistles either.
Q: Does he tell me what happened? 50/50 No Q: Does he offer booze? 50/50 No Q: Does the ammo interest him? Very Likely Exceptional No Q: Does he hang out until my companions return? Likely No
I point to his shoulder and mimic making the scars on my shoulder, but this does not seem to provoke any sort of explanation, not that I could understand him anyway. We take turns pointing things out, and making sounds for them. I indicate articles of clothing, most of which he has no corresponding sound for, but I learn what his clothes harness is, but he doesn’t use the same sounds for my shirt, instead seeming to agree when I briefly pull my undershirt off once more and use his word for his harness to refer to my bra. We also work on body parts generally, learning arm, eyes, ears, legs, hand, finger, foot..but his word for hand and foot are the same. When he gets to bow and arrow, I pull out my sidearm and use the same terms for my weapon, and my words. We must chat for about an hour before running out of things in my line of sight to teach each other.
Q: Does he respond? Very Likely No
Then he stands up, and leaps to another branch. I call out “Whook Wook! Travel well”.
He glances back at me one last time, then vanishes into the canopy above. I then sit back down and wait for my companion’s return, hoping they are safe.
-Encounter-Colonists-Long range-Neutral
While I relax in the tree, I hear a VTOL pass overhead. It briefly circles the clearing, then moves off once more. No idea who they were as I don’t recognize the markings.
Eventually, Dr Ju’s party returns to the clearing below. Lysa calls out “Nise! Are you out there?”
“Yes! I’m up here still, safe and sound,” I holler back.
“Get down here! We’re heading back to Accra!” Sternhold calls up to me.
-Athletic Effect 3-
I breathe a deep sigh of relief, then lower myself over the edge of the tree bough with my safety hook carefully secured, and rappel down to the forest floor, the sound for which is a long, slow inhalation and then a sudden cough. As though someone was falling and suddenly hit the ground.
“What’d you find?” I ask my companions.
“A great deal of photo evidence and some trade records to translate,” Dr Ju replies, then his eyes fix on the disk around my neck. “Where did you get that?”
“Whook Whook gave it to me in exchange for one of my dogtags, and also my flashlight. I really need to learn to trade better. He gave me some raw Tendrilskyre, but I spat it out. It was…nasty!” I explain.
“Whook whook?” Dr Ju asks skeptically.
“I think so. I’m Wheese Ka, so…we might not be getting each other’s names right. Maybe he thinks humans are Wheeze Ka and was saying that Trefolk are Whook Whook. No idea. But a VTOL flew by about half an hour ago, that’s the third one we’ve seen…the Jencorp, Enku’s and now another. A lot of traffic so far out for a restricted area.”
“Restricted doesn’t mean off unoccupied. It just means we aren’t allowed here,” Sternwald points out and Henry nods agreement.
“Well, then let’s leave then! I could use a cold shower!” Lysa suggests, “And Dr Ju needs some rest. Those bites and scratches from yesterday won’t heal themselves while he’s out running around all day. Let’s go!”
So, we pile into the VTOL, and soon, Sternwald has us underway. Henry is in the copilot seat and Dr Ju is in back with us, checking the feed for his cameras at the Hydrissian outpost, showing me the photos he found and carefully recording my efforts to share what little I learned of the Trefolk language and my attempts to mimic the sound.
-No Encounter on the flight back-
We touch down in the Accra airfield shortly after dark. Lysa and I unload our duffels, and I exchange comms information with Henry and Sternwald while Dr Ju settles up his payment with them and compensates for gear they lost in trade. Then, he transfers funds to Lysa and I, 5000Cr each! Nearly a month’s pay for me, and more than a month’s worth for most ship’s stewards! We ride a cab to Hotel Akwaaba with Dr Ju, where he has a bellhop help carry up his mostly empty cases, and he promises to let us know about the outcome of his research. We then take the cab the rest of the way to the spaceport, stopping briefly to pick up some soft noodles from a street cart and eating them during the rest of the drive. Then we arrive at the berth, and climb aboard the Wayward Lark.
Jax’s things are no longer in my stateroom, but Lysa’s possessions are boxed up and set just inside. “I get the bottom bunk now, right?”
“Well, how about we take care of moving my stuff to the top bunk in the morning? I just want to crash!” I yawn.
“Good idea,” she agrees, then steps into the shower to wash up. I start taking down my things from the bottom bunk wall while she cleans up, so it is pretty much ready for her anyway, and by the time I am done with my shower, she’s already set up down below. So I climb up to the top bunk, and we kill the lights.
“Lysa? Thanks for letting me tag along,” I yawn.
Q: Is Lysa happy? Very Likely No
“Goodnight, Nise,” she replies, and I curl up, and soon fall asleep.
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