Archeotech 2 – Treasure Hunt (RPG IC)

[Trokair]

 

Ariel, Helene, Ravia, Varn

 

As the four of you make your way through the undergrowth, guided by Varn as best he can, you hear the occasional burst of noise, from gunfire to creams, moans and engines.  With time these lessened, but not before you had gotten a good sense as to the direction of their origin.

 

Progress in the dark is slow, and tricky at times, relaying on starlight as none of you dare to use a light, least you give your position away. After what felt like miles and miles and untold hours, though in truth it was far less of both, you begin to see some lights ahead of you. As you draw closer you can begin to make out some details.

 

The glowing embers of the remains of a campfire, cast by its shadow you can just about make out what might be a person sitting with their back against the side of a truck. A little further to the north there is the flicker of fire amongst the wreck of the other truck.

 

You pause in the cover behind some bushes and consider your next moves.

 

We are now in Structured time.

No need for Initiative yet, you can presume all your actions are taking place at the same time.

Map

 

Spoiler

 

[Machine God]

Varn:

 

Suddenly he was not there.

 

 

He slipped away in the grey of dawn's early light, navigating through the shadows.

 

To observe the figure next to the campfire backed up against a truck.

 

Wait.

 

Observe.

 

Listen.

 

Be Not Seen.

 

 

 

 

INT 37 +0 (Navigation) = 37. Result: 01, Pass  3DoS

 

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Machine God
typo

[Trokair]

Varn

 

The figure continues to just sit there, utterly still. No wait, was that a shallow breath, indeed, and another, but drawn out. The cloths were dirty, scuffed, but you could tell they were well made. The face is hidden in shadow by a hat, sitting slightly ajar. The more you stare at the figure the more you feel like you have seen this person before, but you can’t quite place it.

 

Your navigation and observation have allowed you to plot a way through the terrain while remaining hidden. Your first move action in a subsequent round (unless you run or charge) will give you +30 to any Concealment Test you may be called on to make.

 

 

Aria [ ]

Helene [ ]

Ravia [ ]

Varn [x]

 

[Lord_Ikka]

Ravia

 

Ravia flicked her lascarbine to active, the slight hum unnoticeable beyond a few feet. She couldn't identify the figure yet, so any deadly action would be unwise. It wouldn't due to attack those loyal to the Arch-Magos, but with all the uncertainty she wanted to be prepared for battle.

[Trokair]

Ravia

I guess that’s a Aim action.

 

As you ready your lascarbine and observe you monitor the irregular rugged breathing, was the figure injured perhaps?

 

 

Aria [ ]

Helene [ ]

Ravia [x]

Varn [x]

[A.T.]

Aria

 

Aria made silent motion to Helene and then to the trees that flanked them, and then to her silenced rifle.

 

Should this be an ambush then perhaps best that one of them sprung the trap without revealing the position of the rest. It would seem that Varn had similar thoughts.

 

Awareness: Roll 32 vs target 44 - listen - pass with one extra DoS

[Petragor]

Helene

Helene nodded in Aria's direction, hoping that she had understood the meaning of the hand signals correctly. Tightened the straps of her flak helm, she began to approach the body. Her squinting eyes would flick between the figure and the treeline, wary for an ambush, or some other hidden danger.

 

Spoiler

Awareness: 34 (No modifiers...?)

Roll: 66, 4 DoF

 

[Trokair]

Ariel

 

It takes a long moment of concentration to isolate and focus on the faltering breathing. There, rustling of leaves to the left of the figure she could see, just wind blowing through the ferns and grasses, perhaps, but not quite.    The crackling and stead whoosh of a fanning fire in the truck to the north drowns out more and more.  

 

Helene

 

So focused on finding a way forwards, moving with care, glancing back to the others every few steps, fading into darkness. A sudden dip under you left foot, you misjudged the ground. Of balance you take a hasty step, least you fall and make a racket. You catch yourself, balanced again, but even though you had disturbed the bush. Leaves and brunches brushed aside by the sudden movement.

 

You pause, wait, at first there is no apparent reaction, 10 seconds, 20. Just as you are about to think that maybe your slip up had not been notice the head of the figure by the truck jerked up. With the eyes hidden by the others hat it is hard tell where the figures gaze is focused, but you suspect it is right at you.

 

 

Round 2 Map

I have adjusted your positions slight based on what I think your intent is, but if you want to move significant distance you will have to make movement actions.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Aria [ ]

Helene [ ]

Ravia [ ]

Varn [ ]

Edited November 6, 2023 by Trokair

[A.T.]

Aria

 

Best to stay out of the trees. If there were any hidden within they would reveal themselves when they moved, and in the darkness she was well concealed from those without - attempting concealment in the brush in such low light would do nothing but make noise and slow her down.

 

Moving north along the treeline

[Lord_Ikka]

Ravia

Ravia stayed in place, watching her teammates move up and keeping an overwatch on the unknown parties.

[Trokair]

 

Helene and Aria

 

You both move with caution, as Helene spots the edge of the down slope into the river bed come into sight and she turns to signal Aria there is a cough from ahead.

 

The figure’s head moves again.

 

“..el…”

 

He is looking right at Helene, coughs, blood sputters over his chest.

 

“Help” he manages.

 

 

Ravia

 

As you keep a careful eye on the entire team your attention flickers to the truck further along and half way up the riverbank, the flames there are growing more intense. Light spilling out and flickering through the undergrowth as the first flames began to rise into sight over the vegetation.   

 

The call for help draws your attention back to the campsite ahead.

 

 

Aria [x]

Helene [x]

Ravia [x]

Varn [ ]

[Machine God]

Varn:

 

Where do I know him from? Mused Varn as he watched the wounded man.

 

Ambush or in the Town?

 

 

He heard the cry for help. 

 

He crept forwards cautiously.

 

 

Others could have left him as trap bait. Others sly, Others crafty!

 

 

 

INT 37 =37. Result: 24, Pass 1DoS Memory Check

 

INT 37 +0 (Navigation) + 30 (Bonus) = 67. Result: 02, Pass  6DoS

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

Varn

 

The call for help was the final puzzle piece, even week as the call had been you could just about discern a trace of an accent. The vernacular of the south eastern coast, and Port Havamn in particular.

 

Colm the trader, form the supply store.

[Machine God]

Varn:

 

Varn hurried his pace to help Colm.

[A.T.]

Aria

 

Aria froze as Varn began to move, straining to hear any movement in the treeline or catch any flash of a scope in the darkness.

[Trokair]

Round 3

 

Aria [ ]

Helene [ ]

Ravia [ ]

Varn [ ]

 

As you get closer, the extend of the carnage becomes more apparent.  What had looked like smudges or shadows on the side of the truck were battle scars, bullet hols and grazes. The air was a mix of gunpowder from auto weapon discharge, the biting smell of the fire to the north as it burned paint and plastic from that other trucks interior. Was that flesh mixed in as well.

 

 Colm had been hit to; badly it seemed, from the stain and dark puddle, still seeping into the ground from where he sat.

 

The wind shift subtly and then there was the weft of fresh blood. Varn paused, there, almost in front of him. A body, face down, the back a mess of blood. A burst of full auto fire had caught that person as they tried to scramble for cover.   

 

Map

 

Spoiler

 

[Machine God]

Varn:

 

Varn hurried past on his way to Colm.

 

The body was dead, Colm was injured.

 

 

What did the Wise Mother say?

 

Something about Three Ages - 'Urt, Dying and Dead, stop first two being third.

 

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

Varn

 

“Thank you stranger.” He manages weekly.

 

“Go help the..” he stops as you approach and step into the light of the remains of the camp fire.

 

“I know you?”

 

Colm focuses on Helene with some effort.

 

“and you.” He shifts slightly, and then groans in pain.

 

“I guess you all did travel out into the hinterland.”

 

Wincing he points to the right of him.

 

“Go help the others.” He coughs then smiles weekly. “I’ll last a little longer.”

[Machine God]

Varn:

 

He motioned for the others to help out the other truck as Colm had asked.

 

Opening his satchel he applied bandages and curatives to Colm, whilst he chatted.

 

 

 

INT 37 +0 (Medicae) =37, Result: 25, Pass 1DoS

 

 

 

"Why you here? Trekkin' for Scherrin Furrier, no doubt" Varn chatted whilst he worked. He told of their adventure. Bandits, PDF, Dig, but kept it vague. Bandits had chased them away.

 

"We go Mountains now, then see two Trucks who skarpered. Then heard combat, we Look See! These clothes you made plenty warm, good quality nice Usarchus Fur. Din't meet no bears, only chased by big Gramin Jackals!"

 

"Why you leave Gammer Shivon all alone?"

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

We are now in Narrative time, so I am going to drop the darkness from the last map, you can assume that it is that pre-dawn time when it is just about getting light enough to see shapes and outlines but not enough to discern details more than an arm’s length away.  I’ll do a story update with Colm in a little while, but wanted the rest of you to have a chance to take any action at transition from structured time to narrative.

 

Map as per start of round 3 witout darkness:

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Lord_Ikka]

Ravia

 

Motioning to the other members of the team, Ravia moves towards the wounded.

 

"Check their wounds, see if we can do anything."

[Trokair]

Colm

 

As Varn ministered to him Colm tried to speak from time to time, but he was weak, slipping in and out of consciousness, and thus could only listen to the tale as it unfolded. With wounds washed and bandaged there was little more the Tribesman could do. The shopkeeper’s breathing had developed a rasp, and with injuries to the upper torso, left hip and right leg it would be a long road to recovery.

 

After a little rest and some sips of water from a bottle Varn retrieved from the wrecked truck Colm looked a little less pale and slowly begun to answer the earlier questions.

 

“No, not for the shop or any business am I so far from home, I had no choice. They broke into the shop at night, days and days ago, took all the supplies. We heard the disturbance from upstairs and when I went to investigate they took me, thought I would be of use as a guide. As they dragged me out of the shop I saw Siobhán with great great uncle Pádraic’s plasmbuss enter from the back. I did not know there was anything left in the tank, just a relic. Siobhán made them pay, alas the shop stand no more.”

 

“In the morning I discovered that they had stolen supplies from all over town and taken anybody who they thought might have knowledge of the hinterland. I recognized a few of the others held captives, in the fleeing moments here and there. Mostly they kept us captive, loaded into different vehicles, for days and days.”

 

“In the dark of night an explosion woke me, and then there was another. They left us unguarded, as the chaos increased a few of us managed to get free and band together, grabbing supplies and making a run for it. We soon noticed they were chasing us. Here they caught us.”

 

After that he was silent for a while, slipping into an exhausted uneasy sleep.

 

 

The rest of the Camp

 

As you seek out the others with care you only come across the dead. There was a brief moment of hope, a fallen by a clump of bushed to the north is alive. But even as the one of you that found her calls the other for help she slips away to join the Emperor by his Throne.

 

At the other truck, with the fire steadily gaining strength as it consumes all that burns in the vehicle, when you investigate you find one more, breathing but barley. The injured will not wake, from either your shouts or the heat, unconscious perhaps. There is not much time to safe this one, perhaps only one chance.    

 

One of you may make one attempt to safe this person, to do so requires a Challenging (+0) strength test (unconscious bodies are heavy). The player attempting this can get a +15 bonus to the Strength test by climbing into the burning truck to get into a better position, but must pass a Difficult (-10) Agility test to do so, failure on the Agility test buts you are risk of from the fire or worse.

 One other player can assist with one of those test, either a Challenging (+0) strength test to help take to load off the injured, or a Challenging (+0) agility test to assist the first player to climb in/maneuver or such. Either way each DoS on the chose test ads +5 to the corresponding test of the player attempting the retrieval.  You all can also choose not to attempt to help this person on account of the danger.   Chose wisely. Discuss in OCC if needed.  

[A.T.]

Aria

 

As the others moved in Aria circled the location, but whoever brought this ruin down seemed gone now. Closing on the burning truck she turned to Helene to see which if any of them were to be volunteered to check upon the wounded.

[Petragor]

Helene

The Cleric rushed into the fray, determined to save the (presumably) innocent soul before the flames consume them, and having faith that the Master would shield her in this righteous cause.

 

Spoiler

AG 35 -10 difficulty = 25

 

1d100 = 56, 4DoF
 

Fate Reroll: 1d100 = 32, 1DoF (Assist?)

S 33 +15 modifier = 48

 

1d100 = 86, 4DoF

 

Fate Reroll: 1d100 = 96, 5 DoF (Welp...)

 

[A.T.]

Aria

 

It seemed a futile effort given the flames but as her ward had chosen to assist she also stepped forward. Barely had Helene reached into the cab than her own clothing had begun to smoke and burn as she pulled at the man without effect, perhaps he was still strapped to his seat by a restraining device. Whatever the case Aria moved not to aid him but to try and blanket the flames on Helenes back, given her stubbornness she might need to be pulled from this task before it killed her.

 

Agility roll: 41 - pass with no extra DoS