Archeotech 2 – Treasure Hunt (RPG IC)

[Petragor]

Helene

 

Seeing her companion's hand go for her blade, Helene intercepts it with her own hand, giving Aria's a calming rub as she does so. She subsequently turns to the newcomer and and straightens her posture, trying not to let her illness show.

"Greetings pilgrim. I am Helene, I serve as the..."

Realizing she doesn't have a true title, Helene pauses briefly as she tries to come up with one on the spot.

"Spiritual guardian of team Northeast. This is my companion Aria. I expect you to treat her with the same respect you would show me."

[TechCaptain]

Kazimir

 

He grunted as the officer type person just barged into their vehicle. Not much to do with the manners of the arrogant upper class. Kazimir mentally shrugged to himself as they had a few of that type of world view anyways. He looked to their team lead to radio command as he continued to their next point. His mind reviewing the equipment he bought earlier to improve his main weapon, the sword.  This reminded him, at some point he needed to get an actual armorer to update and fix up his laspistol. Further his mind drifts as memories surface of his time before being rebuilt, getting lost in how he learned and developed a style of combat for himself that isn't the norm for most Astra Militarum. 

[Lord_Ikka]

Ravia

 

Ravia sent a com-pulse to Expedition Command, requesting confirmation of the new member. She wasn't too worried about possible saboteurs, but as she sent her data-jack into the vox system her hand subtlety thumbed off her lascarbine's safety catch.

[Trokair]

The response was almost instantaneous.

 

++Status report team leader Ravia.++ 

 

There is a pause during which you can hear some muffled conversation in the vox operators background, no doubt reporting up the chain of comand that you are back in contact.

 

++So glad to hear from you, we were beginning to worry when several teams dropped out of contact, do you know where East Five or Six are?++

Edited February 26, 2023 by Trokair

[Lord_Ikka]

Ravia

 

++Negative, Command. Our team has not had contact with East Five or Six since we left their company, nor did we inquire about their destinations.++

 

Ravia looked at the new team member perched in the back of the Goliath.

 

++About my first inquiry, do we have confirmation?++

[Trokair]

++Acknowledged, if you make contact with either or come across any other information as to their whereabouts report in. Ariel Hu is known to the Archmagos, one of several scouts hired for the initial survey last year.++

 

The Vox operator also sent through a image file, the quality is not great, but it just about looks like your new passenger.     

[BadgersinHills]

Ariel had known a mission of this sort would have attracted a great variety of the denizens of the Imperium, the Mechanicus not caring for the volunteers' oddities if their skills were of use to their agenda. Her expectation was met as she saw the crew inside the Goliath, and a wry smile worked its way across her face. This would be interesting.

 

And it was indeed interesting, almost immediately, as a headless snake found its way to her lap. Its sender introduced himself as Varn, the group's tracker, and promised it was good eating. She was reminded of a campaign long ago, when supplies had dwindled and her regiment was forced to subsist on long, wriggling worm-like things that smelled as foul as the Orks they were fighting. Unpleasant as they were to eat, they were better than nothing, and she recalled the smell and sight of the soldiers charring the meat over fires carefully cloaked to avoid smoke revealing their location. It had been a gruelling conflict, but she missed that purpose she had when she fought for the Imperium.

 

"Thank you, Varn", she flashed a grin at the tracker as she held it in her hand. She wasn't hungry enough for raw snake, but she didnt have the heart for rebuffing the eager fellow.

 

She nodded in greeting as Helene introduced herself and Aria. 

 

"Hail and well met, Helene. It is good to travel with a servant of the Lord of Mankind." 

 

She looked around the rest of the group, assessing them internally. A soldier and a tech-adept would likely be useful in what was to come.

 

 

[A.T.]

Aria

 

At confirmation Aria seemed to lean back into the shadows, but something about her still felt off to Ariel. Not the familiar cold stare of a trained killer or fanatic, nor the faint static that seemed to linger around psykers, but something made more unsettling by lack of context. The others though seemed not to notice, or perhaps were accustomed.

[Trokair]

Day 5 – Nebulous Crossroad

 

The comradeship forged over four days was a little unyielding to a newcomer, but little by little, as the previous day turned into night, you got to know your new companion a bit better, and she in turn learned a little of each of you. It was not so long ago after all that you had all been strangers to each other, and perhaps still are.

 

While you had pushed on while the good weather held eventually it was too far into the night to drive further that day, a cleared area by the side of the road. One of the unofficial way stations such roads developed when the journey from one town to another was more than a day.  A little exploration had turned up a fire pit, cold ash at its heart. The nearby pile of firewood still had a few a marks of freshness; someone had stayed here the day or so before and spent some time chopping wood for future use. There was also a latrine some 30m from the road, but the odor emanated from it suggested that it was old and in need of moving on.  

 

Now it was morning, early but not unreasonably so according to the Goliaths chronometer. The world outside however was still steeped in white darkness. A heavy fog had arisen overnight, visibility was mere hand spans.

 

Having edged Goliath carefully back onto the road you presumed your journey northwards, and over the next hour the fog lightened as the sun crept skywards.

 

The fog however is not letting up, and only the sudden looming tree alerted you all that the road did not continue straight ahead, you are at a junction, you can go Northeast, East or Northwest.

 

[Lord_Ikka]

Ravia

 

"I believe North-East would be best, as that is where we need to eventually go, but am happy to hear if anyone has any insight into what direction we should take." 

 

Ravia was nonplused about the diversion, wishing to get to the site as quickly as possible and get to work exploring.

[Trokair]

Having come to a stop so as not to get to friendly with the tree several of you disembark. Kazimir inspects David’s front but finds no damage, he had stopped the goliath in time.

 

Varn and Ariel scout a little up each branch of the road. The Northwest track has an upwards incline while the other to remain level.

 

A broken sign lies half hidden in the roadside bushes, however the only direction that is still decipherable is Port Havamn, where you had just come from. Nearby you discover a marker for Estgord*, it is clear it was once attached to the sign, but you cannot determine at what angle and which direction it therefore indicated.

 

All the locals no doubt knew which road lead to where, and nobody had considered it a priority to get a new sing placed. Perhaps you should wait and ask the next traveler that comes along.

 

 

You can wait or pick one of the directions; if you wait the fog might also lift in time, though how much that will help is hard to say.   

   

 *Port town that’s most north east of all the marked settlements on the map.

[Petragor]

Helene

 

The Cleric, still feeling somewhat sick after having endured the particularly poor weather that plagued the team upon their arrival to Port Havamn, remains inside the Goliath as she rests. Seated in her usual spot near the drivers compartment, she follows the discussion regarding which path to take, and decides to provide her own input. 

"I agree with the Tech-Priest. The more direct the route, the surer is our swift... ACHOO... the direct route is best. North-East please..."

[A.T.]

Aria

 

Aria sat atop the goliath watchful while others scouted ahead. There were still many signs of life here and likely little that had not already been discovered by the locals, and so far the weather had proven to be their greatest and only advarsary beyond the reluctance of their vehicles machine spirit.

 

At this speed it would perhaps be wise for a dismounted scout to lead the vehicle, and as Varn and Ariel moved ahead she imagined they likely had similar thoughts.

[TechCaptain]

Kazimir

 

Kazimir grunted at the broken sign as he hopped back into the driver's seat and backed the vehicle up so it would be easier to go down any of the paths once it was decided. He did tilt it slightly to make going North-East the easiest because that was where the discussion was leaning. While the scouts did their job and he did that, his mind wondered over the details of yet another person for their expedition. Ariel seems to be an older lady with military background. This was all good in his mind, he tried to dredge up his knowledge of various Regimentums and Planetary Forces to match them to what little he could identify of her. His own uniform being from the Far East of the Galaxy and relatively back woods is rarely recognized unless they had been there. He was of the Cogger Hive Guard and he took pride in that fact.

Edited March 6, 2023 by TechCaptain

[BadgersinHills]

"We agree then that we go North East? ," Ariel said, as she looked around trying to discern anything in the fog. 

 

"We should check what lies ahead, though. One or two of us could walk ahead of the party to see if there are any more surprises ahead."

[Machine God]

Varn:

 

"Jer, I go look. David too smelly, need air!"

 

 

Varn jumped out of the Goliath, he went a couple of feet down the north-eastern roadway.

 

"You wait here for one hour. I scout onwards for half hour and then ret, come back."

 

 

Varn loped off...

[Trokair]

Varn

 

Within just a few hurried steps you are almost out of sight of the others, only David’s headlights cut through the fog. A little further and the voices of the others have been muffled into silence. While there was little to see other then the road under foot now that you were away from the growl of the goliath’s engines you could hear the forest wildlife to wither side.

 

While there were only a few bird calls, the fog was as much a hindrance to the ms it was to you, there as plenty of rustling in the undergrowth as small animals used the increased cover of the fog to go about their lives.   

 

Rest of Team, you can wait for Varn as he suggested (and perhaps exlore one of the other paths), or you can follow before the time is up, you do all have coms and with David fixed they will work just fine.

[Trokair]

Varn

 

You have been scouting ahead of the others for a while now. The fog was ever so gradually lifting but it still clung on even as the sun must now be well on its way into the sky. At the half hour mark the others had voxed that they would be following, having examined the other options at the junction and concluded that this was indeed the right path.

 

Even with the fog they would have soon caught up with you, but as you discovered the road took several sharp turns, and the right side forest fell away as the road wounds it way along the side of a steep hill. You could hear water bubbling along somewhere below; a large stream was somewhere nearby hidden by both trees and fog. Having relayed the turns and twists of the road you know that the others are taking it slow, a missed turn could be problematic, though still quicker than your walking pace and they therefore should catch with you in the next few minutes.

 

You pause, listen, something was not as before. The wildlife had fallen quite, something had disturbed them, and you knew it wasn’t your presences. A predator perhaps, on the prowl for easy prey.

 

The you catch sight of something ahead, a shape, or maybe two, in the fog ahead.

 

 

You can try and see what is ahead with an Ordinary (+10) Awareness Test.

You may do so from where you stopped, or you may get closer before doing so, every half move (2m) you take before the test will affect the outcome. Alternatively you can move of the road leftwards into the forest edge at the same half move rate before making the test. Lastly you can move back down the road and towards the others, If so state how many half moves you intend to make, then you can try for the Awareness Test if you want. Heading towards the others mean that you will be closer to them/it will take less time for them to reach you.  

[Machine God]

Varn:

 

Suddenly everything the wildlife about him hushed, it hadn't quietened due to his presence.

 

Instantly he froze where he was and tried to see what it was that stalked him. He didn't want to spook his quarry.

 

 

PER 33 +0 (Awareness) +10 (Ordinary difficulty) = 43. Result: 21, Pass 1DoS

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

Varn

 

While the veil of white make it difficult to make out you are confident that there are three distinct silhouettes in the road ahead of you, two close together in the same lane as you. The other is to the right, near the edge to the ravine if you have judged its distance correctly.  

 

Same choice as before, move closer, move left into forest or move back towards the others, you can make another Ordinary (+10) Awarnes test. Now that you have some idea where to look you can choose to focuse on the two shapes that are strightish ahead (+5 to the test) or the shape to the right (-5 to the test, as it is slightly further away).

[Machine God]

Varn:

 

Cautiously he moved forwards to get a better look at the figures on the road. There was one on the near the edge of the ravine, but he didn't want to go near that drop.

 

 

PER 33 +0 (Awareness) +10 (Ordinary difficulty) +5 = 48. Result: 08, Pass 3DoS

 

 

++Beware++ He silently whispered into the Vox.

 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

@Machine God How many half moves (2m) did you want to move closer?

[Trokair]

Varn

 

As you creep forward the shapes become clearer, head, arm, a person. Once you your realize that they are people the shape next to it makes sense, a mechanized steed* with a rider.

 

Glancing back down the road you see a brief glow of light reflected in the fog, the others were only one bend away and the Goliaths fog light would swing into view any moment now.

 

* for clarity something along the line of a civilian Atalan Wolfquad

Edited March 18, 2023 by Trokair

[Machine God]

Varn:

 

++Slow down, there is a rider approaching from the other direction!++ Varn urgently spoke into the Vox.

 

 

He brought his hand up and made himself known.

 

 

"Hello Rider, I is Varn. We" Varn pointed back to David's lights. "Is this the way to Estgord?"

 

 

 

[Trokair]

Varn

 

The rider’s head snaps up sharply at your call, he had not seen you approach.

 

“Ay, it will take you there eventualy , but you’ll wan’ the east road a’bout half a league back that way, the coastal road is quicker.” You can see him stand up in his seat point the way you just came.

 

“This road goes up the mountains and Rорgard.”

 

Ropgard is a small village near the PDF Base in the southern Mountians.