Post date: Dec 19, 2011 6:2:1 PM
[6/11 cont.]
(Watched Nuka Break Ep 2, ACE gave the recap, the group agreed to the new Weird Science items, and they were okay with Wayne getting access to Beast Master Edge)
A map of the region dotted with red, yellow, green and white push-pins.
“First let me thank you, Gotham Knights, for coming.
In speaking with Tom of the Bulls you brought, I believe you are the much needed tactical force to turn this battle around. The Band will incorporate the Bulls training and the Railyard equipment to be force multipliers. Now, if I could get your attention to the Map.
The red pins represent verified Giant encampments with eyes on the enemy.
The yellow ones represent locations where either firelight has been seen at night, or smoke seen during the day, but no eyes on the campsite. The reason for so many of these pins is the locations of these sightings are in difficult to access places, either due to the terrain or the fact that there was no higher elevation location to do visual recon.
The green ones represent key passes that at the last recon were not held by enemy forces.
The white ones are yellow, because I ran out of Yellow Pins.
At the present our greatest concern is keeping our supply lines to the north open, as such the Super Mutant encampment in Old Town, just north of Sutherlin is our top priority. After that its re-establishing contact with Coos Bay, to see if the Super Mutants have been moving not only north through the passes, but also North along the coast.
At this point, The Band has been primarily concerned with the defense of Thorn and will continue to do so, but we can certainly dedicate more sources to the task of destroying the enemy once we know we are not surrounded.”
To which Mark Titan turned the conversation over to his assistant Benji, a younger man who looked eager to please. As Doc observed him giving additional details about some of the locations, Doc was pretty sure he was showing signs of a Mentat addict, the fruity breath and the excitable eyes were pretty sure signs.
Benji went on to detail a few odd camps.
Canyon Creek Pass, a band of Super Mutants has been seen assembling a fort using the wreckage of cars on the freeway.
Grants Pass, where a military installation was once was also holds a concentration of Super Mutants around the facility that is there.
Lastly, recon of the Wilderville showed the Super Mutants were using the old Internment camp as a base of operations. There are rumors of a Giant among Giants, or what they are calling a Behemoth lives there.
The rest seem to be campsites chosen for either their tactical advantage, such as a narrow pass or high elevation, or a resource like water.
At this point Mark excused himself from the conversation as he had an early morning patrol.
Then Mayor Jennings the 6th stood up and addressed the gathered.
“I too extend my gratitude,” then looking at Doc “Keith has passed to me your desire to obtain .308 ammo for your rifle, perhaps we can come to an arrangement, for each Super Mutant ear you bring me, I will give you a bullet.
As for your other specialized ammunition, I will be granting you access to our warehouse, though I do want to make it clear that not everyone here has that privilege so do not bring stragglers. Inside the warehouse there is a reloading bench that you may use and Keith does sell gunpowder and lead, if you need brass catchers I am sure Keith can set you up.
Lastly, many of our trappers have gone missing during this time of war, some may have fled to easier hunting grounds, but others may have been captured or killed. Please keep your eyes open and help them from their predicament, one way or another.
Now if you will excuse me, I too must retire, there is much to do with the supplies you brought in and I must coordinate those getting out.”
As the Mayor left, those observant enough noticed her being stopped by a couple trappers outside where an excited conversation was started, but once the door was closed the man in the Purple robe with Yellow trim stood up and spoke.
“I am Steve Dow, and I too am glad you are here, but while Titan and Jennings have the best interests of Thorn at heart, I am hoping that those who are still here may still seek a peaceful resolution to this matter. Let us entreat them under a flag of truce and seek perhaps a unity with them.”
To which the conversation quickly became a bantering of wits where the Gotham Knight made it pretty clear that they were not here for “talking” and that Steve Dow would not find an ally here. To which the Priest of the Children of Cathedral excused himself as he had to prepare bread for the Tribals and make ready for his Noon service tomorrow.
Dr. Hardy also excused himself at this time along with Benji. Keri and Cheryl moved themselves to the bar and cracked open a bottle of whiskey and asked if anyone of them would like join them and catch up on any of the dirt around town. But having had their fill of words and talk, the group passed and promised to do so another time.
The Knights then decided that instead of approaching the problem in Old Town during the day, they would leave right now and do the recon at night with Grim ranging ahead, under the strict rule of see do not engage.
It was a few hours north that as they approached the ruins of Sutherlin (south of Old Town) that Grim spotted the flicker of firelight back in the ruins of this small town and went to investigate. Here she spotted four Super Mutants encamped around a large bon-fire. They appeared to be cooking something and one seemed to be sharpening something, but what it was she could not see. Pulling back she awaited the rest of the Knights and gave her report. The group decided to split the party and attack from two opposite directions at once, keeping an eye out for any patrols. So Doc carefully and stealthily climbed a nearby wind vane to get a sniper position, while Grim and BW took the far flank as ACE and Wayne hunkered down next to a rusty old grain silo.
Once the party was in position they observed for a bit more, that those cooking were basically cooking/burning geckos, then “salting” them with detergent, and packing the meat in barrels. It was at this point that a horrible slapping sound of flesh on stone reached their ears and coming from the shadows a patrol came onto the scene, lead by an abomination with 6 “legs” and a head with tentacles writhing around its mouth, followed by its handler. It seemed to sense the Knights and as it sniffed and searched for them, the handler gave warning to the rest of the camp.
The abomination then locked onto the scent of Wayne and charged, thus the battle was joined. Things initially went well for the Knights as the abomination and its handler were quickly disposed by ACE dissolving them with her Nuka Sprayer. Another was blinded by debris and set on fire by BW’s lead spewing Mini-gun.
But a couple more super mutants with assault rifles and their innate toughness soon turned the battle to a level field as Wayne and ACE broke cover to move the camp’s center while BW and Grim were pinned to their starting position as the Super Mutants took the battle to them.
Those with the Assault rifle recognized the threat of the Sniper Rifle and made a concerted effort to attempt to take Doc out. BW then recognized his true talent did not lie with the Mini-gun as his two blades of fire came out as he dealt with the two Super Mutants around him while Grim tried to help Doc out of his situation.
But once the Super Mutants were down to just a few left, one of them called out to another to “set the signal” to which he came out of cover to kick a box of something onto the fire, to only be turned into a plasma pile thanks to Wayne after doing so.
Not wanting to find out what the signal was, ACE sprayed the bonfire down with the Nuka Sprayer and put it out almost immediately.
The last two Super Mutants still struggled valiantly as one of them tried to make its escape and then suddenly remembered something and tried to make a dash to the Super Mutant tin-shed where was gunned down by Grim. The other one, BW disarmed and then grappled into unconsciousness.
As the post-battle silence settled over the ruins of Sutherlin the group began a cautious exploration. First, they secured a length of chain to bind their unconscious prize.
Then, they overheard cries of help and inside the Dots Diner found a pair of trappers trapped in a floor storage cage (Floor Storage – imagine an elevator like device that allows you to store stuff below ground, to create more floor space around you.) to which the access hatch had been “tied” shut with rebar. Large chains were attached to the roof and ACE devised that the Super Mutants were, with their strength, able to raise and lower the elevator. Taking her time she was able to rig up a series of pullies and levers to enable the group to make an effort to free the trapped souls within.
Inside they found Pete and Jack, Jack was missing most of his lower right leg. While Doc tended to Jack, Pete explained they were Trapper/Scouts from Thorn and were checking out Old Town and found the location abandoned, but followed the tracks back to here until Jack stepped into a bear trap and they were captured.
This comment about the bear trap had Grim scout about in the dark and disarm the bear trap zones she could find and was able to recover another “zone” of bear traps.
The Knights then launched into talking to their Prisoner “Barry.” Barry proved to be not the brightest of those who walk the wastelands and answered simply, like pre-schooler. The learned that he served “The Master” and was from “Pasadena” and they were up here hunting Geckos, as they were “all so hungry” and to take food from “puny humans.” So they rigged up a pain bar and restraints and planned on taking Barry with them back to Thorn for further questioning and research.
But before that the Knights took the time and with Barry being motivated by food, paid him in Gecko meet to help heft the bodies of their kills, branded with the Gotham brand, upon chains to dangle around the campsite as both a warning and a promise of what would come.
[6/12]
Returning to Thorn at Noon, the group was definitely the center of attention with the super mutant prisoner in tow.
Dr. Hardy took Pete and Jack to get care, while Wayne gave a rousing speech about how this was only the beginning, of how the oppressors could be killed, and broken. The crowd of tribals, townfolk, and slaves went wild, and began to chant “hang him” when Wayne said no, then the group cried out for the beast to be “crucified” to which the calmer voice of Steve Dow called out from the midst of the crowd instead for a dialog with the creature. This enabled Doc to enter a discussion with Dow.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Grim and BW snuck away to the shack the Children of Cathedral were using as their base of operations, while the attentions of the crowd were on Barry and the dialog between Doc and Dow. Once there they were surprised to be greeted inside by two more individuals in Purple robes. The first was a woman in her 30’s with a serene look and a voice to match “Welcome to the Children of the Cathedral, I am Caroline, this is Conner, how may we help you?” The second, a man in his 30’s who looked calmed, said nothing. Attempting to blather his way around the place he saw the layout of the shack, it was a large room with ovens along one wall, bread making supplies, on shelves, rows of pews perpendicular to the entrance all facing a tattered tapestry of purple with a yellow flame stitched upon it. There was a door to another room that, from his reckoning, would not be very big. As he BW wandered around making a fuss, the silent one’s calm gaze turned “predatory” as it was clear he was less than pleased with their presence and clearly saw that they were up to “something.”
Once Dow realized that Doc was trying to bait him, he simply left and in doing so many of the Tribals left as well to return to their service.
BW and Grim, thanking Caroline, left the shack meeting Dow coming in, pushing their way through the tribals, and before they got too far out of ear-shot BW called back and said “It is shame that some enslave themselves for protection and food, rather than be men and fight for it themselves” (Or something like that).
Back at the Diner turned Stables Keri showed up out of breath and very excited and proceeded to get permission to question “Barry” her constant barrage of words and general excitability quickly overwhelmed the mind of Barry as she learned he was from “California” and that were lots of them and were coming north for “the Master” and they were really hungry and he likes Gecko meat.
Then Mayor Jennings the 6th showed up and made it clear that this beast could not be allowed to live and expect her to keep social order here. She would give the Gotham Knights 4 days with the beast before it must be executed in public, there was too much pent up outrage and anger and fear. Until then she would let them use one of the barns in the orchards to keep it out of sight and out of the way. She then took the ears from Doc and gave him a note to give to Keith for the Bullets he wanted. When told that the Super Mutants were found not in Old Town, but in Sutherlin her eyes widened briefly and a grimace of concern appeared on her lips, but did not pursue the matter further.
BW then located Tom, of the Bulls, and found them giving instruction to members of The Band on how to use the railway rifle and fitting some of them in Metal armor. Taking Tom aside he asked a favor of them, to keep guard on a Barn and to keep the contents within safe from harm without risking their own lives.
So with that the group went to the Barn indicated by the Mayor and discovered the word “Barn” in Thorn meant slave housing as this single story structure could house 40 slaves in bunk beds, the accommodations were not bad but not the most exciting either. Only a few slaves were there when the Knights, Barry, and the Bulls arrived, pushing beds against the walls to make room in the center.
Chaining Barry to the floor and after instructing Tom on the controls of the pain stick (which he took to quickly – which Doc had to explain to BW before he got too curious that it is not surprising that Tom would understand the device as it was only recently that Railyard had a large slave population.)
With that the Knights got a quick rest before pulling a long patrol to the “edge of the map” to confirm there was no super mutant camps between Thorn and the Hunting grounds.
They spent some time at Old Town, verifying what Pete had told them, but did discover that there was an area where they had a bunch of “something heavy” that was cleared specifically for a purpose. They also found more evidence of their cooking techniques. They also noticed that to the southeast great clouds had formed with strange purple lightning flickering in the midst of it all.
[6/13]
This 12 hour hike, made only a bit more dangerous by the fact that they did a lot of it at night and a chunk of it done in a warm rain got them back to Thorn around 3am. But it enabled the group to hash out some of their plans. At this point ACE would continue to integrate herself with Keri and Dr. Hardy. Wayne would continue his relationship with the Mayor. BW would work his way into the good graces of the Trappers and folks at the Rosebud (which includes Cheryl), Grim decided to try to get herself aligned with the Band, while Doc decided to take on the challenge of becoming part of the unity of the Children of the Cathedral.
When they stopped by the Barn, Tom was very glad to see them. Tom then told them that, sure enough, as they suspected, a group of tribals showed up with spears and torches demanding the Super Mutant to be dealt with right then. Fortunately as the crowd began to grow in both size and in anger the rain came and doused their enthusiastic cries for frontier justice. Since then it has been real quiet and the Super Mutant has been sleeping like a baby.
This caused a certain alarm in the Knights who then entered the Barn and found Barry dead, Doc and ACE did a quick check and determined Bary was both poisoned by the toxin of Mute Thorn, something they had run into earlier on in their adventures, thus rendering Barry mute, and Barry’s throat was slit with a surgical scalpel, something they found under one of the bunk beds. It was determined also by a dripping pool of water that the assassin entered through the roof by sliding aside a part of the scrap tin sometime during the commotion, but before the rain as there were not wet foot prints and got here by brachiating through the overhanging mutfruit trees.
Now the Knight not only have a war on their hands, they also have a Murder.
The group earned 2XP and +1 Fame.