Post date: Jan 11, 2010 11:9:51 PM
The Next session starts on morning of 3/24.
Morning of 3/24 found the group loading up Bessie 3 and heading to Railyard with the crate of drugs and caps that was to be delivered.
En route the party partook in some scavenging in a previously unnoticed cave. Here they discovered an incomplete shelter and down one incomplete branch found a disorganized storage room and netted an ax, a robco protectron users manual, a utility belt, some insta-mash and water. Doc got a unique item, a C-U Detector upgrade for his Pip Boy (adventure card that will gave a minor relic when he drew it gave a +2 to his perception checks). Grim on over watch was able to spot a pair of Yao Guai sniffing their way into the cave and she avoided detection as the pair of bruisers went down a different passage way. Grim then quickly called the others to leave right away. They counted their blessings that Bessie 3 did not get mauled as it was hidden a ways from the cave. (Next time I will need to ask what they are doing with Bessie when scavenging.)
A long the way the route was blocked by a what appeared to be a tangle of thorny bushes (Interlude card by BW) , as Doc touched one to identify the danger he got a dose of Neuro-toxin which proceeded to paralyze half of his face and give a burning sensation in his finger tips (1 un-treatable wound-Doc's Interlude card) (It was a mutant version of Jimsonweed). So cutting around through an aqueduct they encountered some raiders giving a scavenger a hard time, but the group was spotted and the raiders ran away, as Rick the scavenger was rescued. Unfortunately Rick proved to be a strain on ACE as his constant prattle and punning wore on her nerves (1 pt of Fatigue as this was ACEs interlude card). But as they cut across country to save some time they came across a previously undiscovered Bait and Boat shop, inside sat the hull of what was once a beautiful boat, now with a hole in its hull and the engine missing, but it was still a thing of beauty to Grim whose fascination with Boats continues to grow each day.
Arriving in Railyard they met with Yard Boss, Bill Terra and deliver the goods. Bill thanks them and taking the caps sends the drugs to Doc Talbot. The players go and hang out in the caboose where Rich Pullman greets them like old friends. Then across the Jukebox in the corner comes the voice of Corey Vegas with the news....
"Well folks, the scourge of Salem, the most rancid of raiders, the man who put anger in anger management, the plague against the ranchers and servant of slavers, RAAAGGGEEEE is no more. Thanks to a plucky crew of scavengers, RAAAGGGEEE reign of terror has come to an end. So a big thank you to the Gotham Knights. On an interesting note it appears that Rage was responsible for the recent tensions between Railyard and Corvallis. Or course any official statement is yet to be issued, but let us hope for some new level of working together! Now back to some music."
To which Wayne confirms with Rich that they are indeed the Gotham Knights that Corey mentioned. So over the span of an hour or so Wayne regals the tale to a gathering crowd. As the tale is told and the room begins to get crowded, Grim lurking in the back notices one man sitting in the corner of the caboose is clearly not so thrilled with the tale. Sitting and clenching and unclenching his fists through out the tale and after hearing that the slaver lead was buried beneath the rubble gets up and leaves through the back door. As he rose to leave Grim noticed a heavy chain bracelet slip down onto his wrist. Grim observed him leave through the city gates.
After several more drinks are bought for the party, the players are invited to regale the tale to Bill Terra by Shane Smith (along with his son Peter Smith) over dinner at the Dining Car.
So after a great meal of Brahmin Flank steaks with insta-mash potatoes with gravy and Fancy Lad snack cakes for desert and Seattle Stout to drink and Wayne putting on another great performance of the adventure (but cutting down the carnage factor), Bill thanks them for their work and while was able to locate 3 empty bunks for the group, two will still need to sleep out in the Hobo Car. He explained the lack of space was due to the fact that several scavenge teams are recuperating due to a sudden upswing of violence in the Eugene area thanks to the recent split between Shadow Man and Coal over a woman named Ice.
So Wayne and Grim take on the external lodgings. Meanwhile Doc, BW, and ACE enjoy the hospitality of several families.
ACE observed Kara (a V33 slave who works in the dining car) getting chewed out by the cook, apparently over a broken dish, causing her to almost drop another.
Meanwhile in the Hobo Car - Wayne meets the town drunk James Wilcox, who regaled Wayne with a tale of his youth when he once was a successful scavenger and had made the largest score ever and lost it all to save his own life. He told that he was working with a Ghoul Scavenger named Jim who was willing to take great risks. They had discovered a factory filled with riches beyond measure, protected by dozens of deadly defenders, but with guile and luck they were about to make their escape when ill-fortune and a weak floor caused James to plummet into a vat of sticky sweet treasure just as the defenses all came back online and gunned down Jim. Having to abandon his riches or drown, Jim was sucked through a pipe and dumped into the river with a broken arm and broken leg. Wayne tried to get some more details from the man but found the cagey drunk would not give up anything without something in return, something stronger than water, nuka-cola, and better than the piss served in the caboose, he wanted something from the cooks private reserve.
Other than that, the night went uneventfully.
3/25
Met with Bill Terra who passed over his Holo-tape and assured them it was "civil."
Went to do some business and ran across the Armor merchant Diecast. In talking with him they learned that the Shadow Man is the raider power in Eugene and sits upon Skinners Butte and has a deep belief in Voodoo and recently there had been a split between him and his son, Coal, over a woman named Ice, that had been Shadow Man's but was now Coals. Details are sketchy, but Coal's influence has drawn many raiders to his banner and as such more raider activity has been plaguing the scavenger teams down there. They did learn that Diecast does sell to raiders, but limits what he sells to only the lowest grade armor.
Meanwhile Grim tried tracking down the mysterious man in the bar by talking to Rich Pullman, who mentioned this man comes into town intermittently trading items, spends his caps in the brothel and leaves.
(Description: Male, 30's, long greasy brown hair, wears reinforced leather armor, has a pair of scoped .44 magnums, has special braces on his arms).
Wayne speaks to the brothel owner - a very dapper man, who will not give names, but did remember the man in question. With the proper compliments from Wayne, the owner did say he had no favorite girl and said the man in question was a very cagey cat with amazing reflexes and senses. The Brothel owner related a tale where one time he was going in to check on his girls as it was too quiet for the normal sounds that should be made during such a transaction and when he had opened the door the man was out of a set of hand-cuffs had both pistols drawn and was at the door by the time the owner had opened the door and had both barrels touching his forehead. That and he sometimes pays in radiation free gold.
ACE, Doc, and BW went to speak with James at the Gold Spike Smithy. BW was able to distract Fast Gary by looking at a prototype Railway Rifle that had a scope mounted on it, learning that the scope had come from a Sniper Rifle, but had some draw backs (like a burnt face after the first round is fired), but still more could be made from fine optics from a RoboCo Protectron, that the ones from Mr Handy/Gutsy would not work.
ACE and Doc warned James not to leave town after freedom day without some sort of escourt to Vault 33, as the slavers apparently wait around town and recapture some slaves and sell them back. James had heard that rumor but was glad to hear some confirmation. He confessed that he intends to marry Kara and has started building a ring out of some scrap items around the shop, he just needs to find a small gem to put into the setting he is working on.
The group went to breakfast and found that Kara was not working, Head Chef Tim Blake served them cream of wheat and water. When told he should give Kara some slack, and that Yelling at her did not help, he said that with the amount of dishes she has broken and he had to repair she was not going to be leaving on Freedom Day and at the current rate she would need to serve an additional 6 months (which is about 180 caps).
On their way out of Railyard, Wayne was stopped by Peter Smith, son of the Engineer Shane Smith. Peter explains he was out hunting Geckos to the east of Railyard with his sling shot at a place he called Indian Head, and he and his dog got separated and he fears his dog is now trapped near the Gecko Cave, where he is not allowed to go, and was wondering if Wayne could save his dog named Scrappers.
Being the Hero, Wayne could not say no. So leaving Betsie in the care of the tender at Railyard, the group traveled East to the Indian Head, arriving an hour after following the vague directions of Peter they came upon an old paved road pocked with age and disuse, along the way they found signs along side the road warning against trespassing and that they were nearing the Indian Head Nuclear Disposal Site. So after popping some Rad-X the group came upon the following scene. A long road leading into the side of a mountain where a dark tunnel continued on. A pair of trucks sat behind some chainlink fences as a single cargo container (so not with a US Flag but a normal cargo container) sat across from them. A strange pool of liquid sat in a crater that appears to have been a sinkhole. A ramshackle shack of scrap and debris stood not far away and a few lonely trees and scrub brush gave any signs of shade. Sunning themselves on the rock were a collection of what could be best described as giant banded geckos. Measuring at least 4 feet tall and moving about in a loping walk on the two hind legs before dropping to a crouch to nibble on something or aimless look around. The sounds of barking could be heard from a space between the two trucks.
So it was decided a pincher maneuver would be best with Grim working through the trees and BW taking the shed as the rest of the group advanced on the site to call out to Scrappy.
As BW moved through the shed opening closest he stumbled upon a single Gecko in the shade of the shack, both BW and the Gecko were surprised to see each other and BW snap fired the hunting rifle into the skull of the beast. The sounds of gun-fire caused the remaining geckos to begin to assault the group. Incredibly quick they closed the distance much to the surprise and dismay of Doc who had to fend off not one, not two, but three geckos. Fortunately for him Grim, Wayne and ACE were adept at picking off any of the assailants. Meanwhile BW kept those that had taken an interest in his hide at bay long enough to draw his much beloved Shishkabob as flame and fury (and bullets) put the end to the initial menace. During the assault the group noticed two kinds of Geckos, those of a normal brown and tan striped hue, and a couple that were stronger that had a more golden hue.
Wayne and BW both recalled hearing that the hides of the Golden Gecko were much prized in the wastelands and so vowed to make sure those were skinned.
Wayne closed some of the distance and tried to call out to the dog, but while the dog came to the edge of the truck and barked at the party in a friendly manner, when it looked into the dark shadows of the tunnel, Scrappy tucked in its tail and whimpered back between the trucks.
This gave Grim pause, as she sought in the darkness the face of a foe and saw that the shadows moved and undulated with dark menace. Fearing nothing, ACE approached and entered the fenced area to get the dog. As she did 4 quick shadows detached themselves from the tunnel entrance. These were Black and red skinned geckos that when moved began to take on the coloration of their background, making them very hard to hit from range, but that was not all. As the first one took cover behind the cargo container, it crouched down and exhaled a cone of fire that almost engulfed ACE, but quick reflexes took her out of harms way, until a second one came to take cover behind the truck and repeat the blasting process. This time, ACE was shaken by the sudden attack, but fate would see her through. Two other shadows moved to the flanks. BW and Grim moved into help ACE out as Doc and Wayne remained on hold to deal with the flanking Fire-breathing Chameleons. As Grim and BW moved in, ACE killed on with her railway rifle and climbed upon the Cargo container to rain death down on the remaining foes. BW and Grim disabled another while overwatch from Doc and Wayne fire smoked a third. The last one doubled back and after setting BW and Grim on fire fled down the tunnel barking and hissing.
Wayne got to Scrappers and calmed the dog down while Grim (with Doc on overwatch) laid a chain of mines across the tunnel entrance and to the cargo trucks such that when the Geckos returned they would be in for a big surprise. ACE quickly searched the trucks with BW gathering Geckos for skinning. ACE was able to recover an ID badge for the Green Range Power Plant. She also found Volume 4 of Encyclopedia Atomica covering topic ranging from Don-Fel beneath the seat of one of the trucks.
From here the group retreated to a safe distance and skinned their prizes netting 4 regular gecko pelts, 2 golden gecko pelts and 1 fully intact Black and Red Gecko pelt with parts of another for personal trophy sake. Not long after, the all too familiar mushroom cloud of a fission reactor of a truck blossomed on the horizon where the Indian Head Disposal Site was. With smiles on their faces, the group returned to Railyard and traded their regular and golden hides to Diecast who was very busy organizing a larger caravan. Peter was very pleased to see his dog and his father was very grateful as well.
From here the group returned to Corvallis with no further incident and stopped by the Bombs Away Cafe to check in with Jim/Jangles. They were pleased to find that Jim and Steve had been very successful in the couple of days they had been gone, obtaining the freedom of 8 slave so far, but word had gotten around about the "buy-back" and there were some nervous slave owner who were leery of selling them back now that so many were free. But Doc assured Jim that there would be no revenge or revolt, and that these slaves were going to be leaving soon. They also thanked Corey for his rousing News announcement. Steve pulled Wayne aside and mentioned that Nancy has been keeping busy but really missed him.
Wayne talked to Jim about what the drunk had said in the Hobo Car, which lead to an interesting discussion with Jim, where he did confirm that he did find much of his wealth there, but was reluctant to reveal the location for a multitude of reasons: First he does not want to destabilize the economy with a sudden influx of caps. Second he is worried that the introduction of that much nuka cola could create an arms race for anyone who knew of its location. Jim was surprised to hear that James was still alive, but acknowledged that James had amazing runs of luck, good and bad, but would probably travel to Railyard to see his old friend. Jim also mentioned that they did track down one more of Nancy's Brahmin and a finders fee was paid, but otherwise no word about the rest of her missing herd, but it was still good news as now the minimum of 6 to have a stable herd had been reached.
Back inside Corvallis they dropped their stuff off at their apartment and were totally surprised on how good the apartment looked. Nancy was there with some of the other freed citizens of Vault 33. The walls were patched, the wallpaper re-glued and 3 bunk beds had been built out of scraps of wood. The group was currently repairing mattresses that they had obtained. When questioned, Nancy explained that she sold a bunch of love notes she had found and was surprised how much she got paid for them all. She had used the money to get the mattresses and wood. She and the slaves were going to surprise them all with what they had done but the group had returned a day earlier than expected.
Thanking Nancy, the group then went to see the Dean and deliver the Yard Boss's message. Dean Caster was pleased to see the group and invited them to tell him what happened and to listen to the Holo-tape from Bill Terra. After getting a brief update the Dean put the Holotape into his player and listened to the message.."Dean Caster you Son of a Bitch, next time don't leap to conclusions and let us talk. Lets put this whole train wreck get behind us. Now its time to get this boiler cooking to building a better tomorrow and kick some raider caboose."
Getting a pass from the Dean the group went to see Professor O'Dee in the labs building. Here they encountered frantic activity as many interns and slaves were hurrying around as preparations were underway for the caravan to leave tomorrow. They first met with Doctor Teresa where they negotiated the sale of the Black & Red Gecko hide, delivered the organs of the beast that might be responsible for the the ability to breath fire, as well as delivered some samples of the plant that caused so much trouble with Doc. They also inquired to what it would take obtain the freedom of some of the slaves from the Labs. She pondered the question and said it would take a majority vote of the various Faculty, so Dr. Theresa (Medicine), Dr. Donald (Biology), Dr. Preacher (Chemistry), Dr. Tran (Computers and Robotics), Professor O'Dee (Teslonics), Professor Preston (Energy Physics - weapons and radiation). If enough caps were put into place to undo the dependency on the help the slaves provided it was most certainly possible. But some Professors would be hard to spare their "assistants" due to their dependency on them. Right now Dr. Preacher is dependent on two such "assistants" to help keep up with the manufacturing of medicines, but if some alternative help was found he might be persuaded to let them go. Dr. Tran is dependent on his one assistant due to the constant needs to send data updates to Tesla, especially since the death of his previous assistant Dave, still enough caps can probably earn his vote. Then there is the special relationship between O'Dee and his group of 3 slaves, he has particularly taken a liking to Philip, which can be both a good and bad things, Philip would have to probably die to have any rest from O'Dees enthusiastic mannerisms.
Crossing the hall they met with Professor O'Dee they and delivered the news that they needed to delay the trip by two days to enable Doc to fully recover from his exposure to Neuro-toxin. Professor O'Dee lamented about the delay and the additional costs of the Brahmin Drivers, but Doc promised to cover the costs (of 60 caps), so O'Dee relented and did give the group three additional Pulse Grenades (so 4 total in the group), saying he got them on special order from the weapons lab.
On the way out of the lab Phillip stopped them and confirmed that his "tracker/killer" box had been removed and was curious if he should start saving his small ration of tomato juice so as to look likes he dies while on the mission, because it is clear to Phillip that O'Dee will never let him go. Doc assured him that all would be well and to trust him.
3/26-3/27
In the two days of rest ACE fashioned another Railway rifle for Wayne and also developed the ability to speed the recharging of all her weapons. (New Edge - Rapid recharge, now recharge 1 PP/10minutes).
Doc rested and recuperated. Grim and BW reported the arrival of Diecast and a multi-brahmin caravan full of metal armor as payment for the medicine shipment to Railyard. Grim did ask around at the BAC if they had ever seen a man matching the description of the one she had spotted in Railyard, and Mike Fleer said yes, that he had stopped by a couple of time in the past but the only reason he stood out was the fact that few people own two, let alone one scoped .44 magnum. But he hasn't been by for some time.
Departure on morning of 3/28
Gathered around the pack of Brahmin, the group made its way out of town, when Doc noticed at Professor O'Dees him a strange contraption that looked like a cross between a flare-gun and a radio. O'Dee was very proud of his invention the Tesla-Magento-disruptor. After some conversation it was explained that in the interest of safety it might be best that someone else use the gun. The group also explained that there was a need for a slight diversion of their initial plan, but it would pay back huge dividends. That there were a couple of trucks that needed to be searched at exit 248, just south of Salem, that would make excellent substitutions for the sledges the Brahmin are currently carrying. With a bit of work they could be converted and the time lost would actually be made up two fold.
Thus ended Session 10.