Play date: September 6, 2014
Game date: November 14, EY218
Location: Bashois, Nodapar system
Previous events: Volkova gets squished, a flight from Carerra
Jillian and Malcolm head off in the boat to the Steel Hummingbird. They've already know the general way and with a motorized boat it takes them less than a day to get back to the ship.
November 15, EY218
To their relief, the ship is still where they left it and Samiksha's still there too. As is Ghost! Samiksha's been playing a lot of cards and seems to be just fine with having been left alone. Not being the social type, she's also fine with being left alone for much longer. Not knowing when Mi Kyong Choi will be found they don't have a deadline for her to wait until; she should just sit tight until they come back.
Minty Alley has lots of biodiesel that they can use for the boat but if they're going to ask for that they should give something in return. Off-world vodka, cigarettes, some tools and parts, and food will go over well. Jillian and Malcolm spend the rest of the day figuring out what to bring and packing it up.
November 16, EY218
The boat gets loaded up with all the gear first thing after waking up and Samiksha's given less of a farewell than Ghost. Not that she seems to mind overmuch. Then it's a day of chugging back to Minty Alley. The boat is run up a riverbank into a thick patch of the stalklike plants that grow near the settlement and hidden pretty well.
When they're inside Minty Alley's walls they find Volkova's regained consciousness. A tough bird, that one. They also find that Bishop, in addition to sleeping with Ella again, has managed to convince the good people of Minty Alley that everyone's shorn head is due to a lice outbreak just after they left Minty Alley the last time but before they met Shiv. He's also asked them not to tell the Gandhis about this; they're unlikely to understand. He has told Shiv more of the truth, leaving out the Black Rose, and Shiv is up to accompanying them on their trip to the delta; he hasn't seen much of the world and is up for seeing more of it.
Negotiations for biodiesel go pretty well. The food, vodka, and cigarettes are gratefully accepted and the boat gets completely refilled and empty barrels from the Steel Hummingbird are also topped up with the equivalent of another full tank. In total this will give them enough range to get to the delta, muck about in it a while, and get back. It will be a bit tight but as long as Malcolm doesn't try any racing it should be enough. Of course, the Minty Alleyans think that the rowboat's still in use, so the biodiesel is claimed as superior trade goods to what's being exchanged for it. There is a party that night, with the vodka, cigarettes, and much of the foreign food devoured.
Volkova won't be on her feet for another week or so, which gives everyone else time to make some new friends. Jillian tries to work with one of the two artists here, but sculptor Alice Rouse is best described as "prickly" and doesn't like anyone touching her things. Or getting too close to them. Jillian's sculpture of Ghost, rendered in Marrella carapace, is one of her better works but fails to completely win over Ms. Rouse and is still kind of disturbing.
When Jillian finds out that one of the residents here, a McCarthy Benoit, was off the island and traveled a bit when younger, she proceeds to try to get some information about the delta from him. His alcoholism -- based on bathtub booze, no less -- makes his stories unreliable and they're decades old. Still, he warns her of the large aquatic Anomalocarids that can devour entire boats in the open ocean, especially metal ones, and of the ghosts. They're more legends than anything else, tall, thin creatures that click a lot and are dangerous for reasons that currently elude his pickled brain. Back when he was near the delta it was unoccupied, but it's a big place and wasn't very well explored. This information is not particularly helpful, but it's better than nothing, probably.
Malcolm spends his time finding someone to sleep with, a young man named Daffyd who claims to be "the only gay in the village".
November 18, EY218
Things get frightening when a group of Gandhis show up at the gate and demand admittance. They're looking for some people who caused trouble in Carerra and aren't in a friendly mood. Having grown fond of the Hummingbird's crew the villagers help them to hide and do their best to subtly direct the Gandhis astray. Most everyone can scramble into cubbyholes and clamber under planks but Volkova's not yet mobile and has to be zipped up in a body bag and tucked under a pile of Marrella carapaces in the garbage heap. It's a fragrant hiding spot but the Gandhis aren't too keen on thoroughly rooting through it and after a few hours the goons leave.
Once everyone's out of their hiding holes and Volkova's being given a sponge bath Ella asks what exactly they did in Carerra to annoy the Gandhis. Bishop manages to give a rambling non-answer that doesn't really apply but makes the villagers give up trying out of confusion and boredom.
November 21, EY218
Volkova's finally given the all-clear to get out of bed. She's still limping and has a mass of bandages but she's functional. Farewells are brief and everyone, including Ester and Shiv, clamber onto the boat and head off to the delta. A few hours into the trip, a large shape appears under the boat, seeming to be much larger than the boat itself! Probably the Anomalocaris that McCarthy Benoit warned them about. Malcolm tries to outrun it but to no effect, and Volkova's attempt to use the xenotech "branch" to control it also fails.
Things look grim when a giant articulated appendage, festooned with smaller limbs, reaches out of the water and makes an attempt to grab something out of the boat! The blind grasping leads to the appendage reaching into the cabin where Jillian is hiding and she screams as it narrowly misses her, fastening onto the small metal table and pulling it out of the floor! Ester unloads a long burst of rifle fire into the thing's limb but another appendage joins it. Volkova's Irina could probably convince the beast to leave them alone but it's well within the minimum arming range of her grenades and in desperation she plants her feet firmly on the deck and fires the grenade launcher almost completely vertically. She hopes that the grenade won't land back on the boat and it doesn't; it instead arcs just enough to land on part of the main body of the Anomalocaris, just breaking the surface of the water, and explodes, sending a welter of exoskeleton and crustacean flesh flying everywhere. It's not enough to kill the thing but it does pull its parts back into the water and slides into the water, taking the table with it.
Everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Volkova sadly comments that she's only got one grenade left... next time she'll bring a bandolier of them!
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Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: 1 (running total: 20)
Jillian's Bedpost Notch Count: 0
Malcolm's Bedpost Notch Count: 1 (running total: 8)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 4)