(Read the previous chapter here.)
System: OmegaLite20
Tools: Gamemaster’s Apprentice Deck; Nine Steps and a Bloody Heart
Tools: Gamemaster’s Apprentice Deck; Nine Steps and a Bloody Heart
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[Scene 1, Tension Lvl:3]
<For the drive back to the Thompson’s hotel I rolled two encounter checks. One resulted in an encounter. GMA description: Actively Disruptive. Well, I can think of one event that can actively disrupt the current investigation . . .>
As we drove up to the hotel, we saw a large, blue pickup truck parked just inside the parking lot. Several hoops either stood next to it or were up in its bed. We turned off Old Valley School Road and the hoops stepped away from the truck and spread out across the pavement, blocking our way. Dale stopped about twenty feet in front of them and now we could see who they were: Kelli, Ernie, and the other two members of the MSF that Nate and I met when we first arrived in Mausdale.
<Randomly determined the number of hoops with Kelli. Also, I used the GMA difficulty generator to determine how aggressive the group is right out of the block, ranging from 1 for curious, 5 for threatening, and 10 for physically hostile. Draw: 5
As the conversation continues, I will make opposing MND Communication skill checks to see if the conversation calms or elevates.
Finally, I will draw another investigation card to be revealed during this exchange.>
“What’s this all about?” Dale asked, more to himself than us.
“If I had to guess, I would say they found out Nate and I were in town.” Dale glanced over at me with a questioning look. “We ran into Kelli and her goons on the way into town. Let’s just say they weren’t very inviting.”
“Maybe they just want to talk,” Nate suggested.
I scanned the group. Three of the four held weapons; Kelli a police baton, Ken’s brother a knife, and the other white male a length of pipe. The only one that wasn’t armed was the black-furred female. Thankfully, I didn’t see any firearms or crossbows.
“Yeah, it doesn’t look like they just want to talk,” I said. “I would suggest keeping our weapons within reach.” Turning to Nate in the back seat, I clarified, “Hand weapons. Firing upon the townsfolk with your sonic rifle might be heavily frowned upon, regardless of who started things.”
Dale, Nate, and I stepped out of the car.
“You’re blocking our way, Kelli,” Dale said.
“That’s kind of the point,” the white-furred leader replied. “We want to have a talk with your friends.”
“They’re guests of our hotel. Treat them with respect.”
Dismissing Dale, Kelli addressed Nate and me. “I thought we told you not to come back until we had a contract with that farmer. You got that deal?”
“Yeah,” Nate called back. “Right next to the paper declaring you town mayor.”
Unfazed, Kelli continued. “We hear you’ve been asking a lot of questions. What kind of trouble are you trying to stir up?”
“First of all,” I responded, “Clint, your boss, knows we’re in town and doesn’t have a problem with us being here. Second, we’re just curious about what happened to one of your residents. I would think that would be a concern of yours, as well. Being security and all.”
“You outsiders don’t need to concern yourself with Mausdale’s affairs. It was just a stupid accident. Ken and Alex should have known better than to go off into the woods with all these new mutant creatures around.”
“Intentionally leaving your girlfriend behind to fend for herself doesn’t sound like an accident to me.”
“Again, that’s none of your concern. We’ll determine what’s an accident and what isn’t.”
Ken’s brother Ernie broke in, “Let them think what they want. They have no proof that any of us is involved.” I think the comment was meant for Kelli, but he spoke loud enough for all of us to hear. Kelli jabbed the butt of her baton into his belly to shut him up.
“So you do know what happened,” Nate accused. “Did you want Alex dead?” He glared at Kelli as he said this.
Kelli tensed and gripped her weapon tighter. She nodded to the others and they all took a step closer.
<Alyssa lost the COM challenge against Kelli, 7 to 21, which means tensions rise. The investigation card was the 4 of Clubs, which eliminated the idea that Ken’s intention was only to scare Alex, not kill her. To that end, I used Ernie's comment to imply that Alex’s death was intentional.>
Before things went too far, I made one last effort to defuse the situation.
“Don’t be crazy, Kelli. We’ve done nothing but talk to people. Do you think Clint will stand for you attacking us for no reason?”
“You don’t know anything about Clint, but why don’t we just arrest you and find out what he thinks when we drag you into headquarters.”
<Alyssa fails the second COM challenge, 5 to 19. All negotiation is off.>
The hoops continued to approach and I retrieved my crowbar from where I laid it on the passenger seat. Dale grabbed a wooden baseball bat he kept tucked under the driver seat, Nate drew out his knife, and all three of us moved forward to engage the advancing hoops.
Dale grabbed a wooden baseball bat
<When the PCs pulled out their weapons, I made a roll on my reaction table to see how the MSF respond. In other words, what is the modifier to their morale roll? Apparently, the hoops are motivated by the thought of a fight because they get a +1 modifier to their MR value. Their base MR is 8 (based on similar MicroLite20 were-creatures). The +1 makes it 9. At appropriate times, each hoop will roll 2d6. If the number is equal to or less than their MR they stay and fight. If it is over, they flee or back-off.
All four make their first Morale rolls and continue to battle. >
We didn’t wait for them to attack but struck first. Dale hit the male hoop squarely in the side <6hp damage> Despite having no weapons, the female hoop reached for me first. I was more focused on Kelli, who was coming up behind her with her baton. This gave the black hoop an opportunity to throw a punch <Hit Alyssa for 2hp>. I responded by raking the spikes of my crowbar across her midsection <doing 10 hp of damage>.
The battle that was potentially the most deadly was Nate and Ernie. They each had blades and could easily slice or stab some vital vein or organ. The two squared off and cautiously swiped at each other, each getting nicked here and there. <Over the first two rounds Ernie takes 3 damage, Nate 6>
No longer obstructed by the other female, Kelli charged at me swinging. I ducked under her baton and hit her hard in the back as she passed. <11 h.p. damage>. She cursed, calling me a name that is more appropriate for an Ark. I moved to hit her again, but she surprised me with a quick flick to my shin. <hit A for 6 damage> Now it was my turn to call her some names.
Meanwhile, Dale was easily handling the pipe-carrying hoop who could barely even attempt to fight back. <Dale wears him down to 1 h.p. in the first 3 rounds while the hoop only gets in one hit for 3 h.p.>
<Between rounds 2 and 3 I made another morale check and all the enemies were successful. I checked to see if anyone from the hotel responded to the ruckus. (even) No. During round 3, the female hoop critically failed her attack. I played it as she decided to stay out of the fight due to not having a weapon.>
Unfortunately, Nate and I weren’t fairing quite as well against our opponents. Kelli actually has some fighting skills, for every strike I made on Kelli she countered and hit back. <A hits for 3, K hits for 4> Nate was having an equally rough time, fumbling and dropping his knife as he pulled it away to avoid a swipe by Ernie. <Nate rolled a natural 1>
Dale put his opponent down with a blow to the head. (Later, Dale told me he was aiming for the shoulder, but the guy ducked, leaving his head right in the bat’s path.) Dale turned to help the now defenseless Nate while the female ran to the downed hoop’s side, calling out “Peter”. Appropriate name, I thought.
<I felt that our PCs would prefer not to kill their opponents, despite being attacked for practically no reason. To account for this, I devised a “pull-your-punch” system. If an opponent is dropped below 0 hp but the intent is not to kill, then the attacker must make a straight DEX roll against DC10. If they succeed, they are able to intentionally strike in a manner meant only to incapacitate their enemy. If they fail, then the downed enemy is treated normally. In this battle, that would mean having to roll on my “death table”. Dale’s DEX check was 6, a failure. Peter will need to roll on the death table until the combat is over and someone can administer some aid. He is currently at -4.
Surprisingly, all three of the remaining hoops pass a morale check at -1 due to a member of their group being down and things are “gettin’ real”. The female hoop rolled especially low (2), which could be interpreted to mean she is really motivated to fight. Let’s find out why.>
Kelli was distracted by all the attention surrounding Peter and I saw my chance. Using the rounded end of my crowbar, I shoved it hard into her midsection. She double over as her breath audibly left her lungs. As she was gasping, I kicked her legs out from under her (probably not necessary, but it felt good) and she fell on her side struggling to breathe. <Alyssa hit and did enough damage to drop Kelli to exactly 0 h.p.>
Nate eyed his knife lying on the ground at Ernie’s feet. Ernie’s whiskers perked as he gave Nate an evil smile and tightened his grip on his blade, preparing for the kill. It was at that point that Dale brought his bat down across Ernie’s back. The knife flew from his hands and he collapsed to the ground unconscious. <0 h.p>
“You bastard! You hurt my boyfriend!”
We all turned to see the female hoop, Peter’s girlfriend apparently, charging Dale wielding Peter’s discarded pipe. She must have picked it up and now was intent on revenge. <With an 18 roll against a DC10 Dex check, she was able to pick up the pipe and attack in the same round.> Dale, caught off guard, tried to raise his paws and ward off the blow, but still took a sharp blow to his forearm <5 hp damage>
“Whoa, whoa! Think about this for a minute!” This was Nate. He had recovered his knife and was holding up his arm, palm out, in a stop gesture. “You’re pissed. Clearly. But there’s one of you and three of us. And your boyfriend over there looks like he really needs some medical attention.”
<Opposing Comm+MND skill checks. Nate: 19+2COM=21 Female: 11+3COM=14 Nate is able to convince her to stop. Meanwhile, Peter loses another hp, but the battle is over.>
The bunny paused midswing to listen to Nate. At the mention of Peter, she took a quick glance back at the unmoving hoop. She started to go to him, but then stopped and turned back to us, raising the pipe again.
“Yeah, that’s right!” I said, raising my weapon to counter her threat. “Keep coming! I’m ready!”
Nate grabbed the shoulder of my weapon arm and pressed down. To the bunny he said, “Go. Help Kelli with the other two and leave. You,” he said to me. “Get back in the car.”
By now, Kelli had gotten back on her feet, but her eyes were watery and she was still having trouble breathing. The female went to check on Peter as Ernie began to stir. Nate, followed after me to the car, but Dale was walking over to where Peter was laying on the ground.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Wendy’s going to need help getting Peter in the vehicle,” he said.
“No! They tried to kill us. Don’t you give them any help.”
“Get in the car,” Nate hissed, pushing me toward the back seat of the car.
Dale had bent down and was trying to rouse Peter.
“Traitor!” I yelled as Nate slammed the door shut.
[Scene 2: Tension Lvl: 4]
After a few minutes, Dale’s father Ross, and their guest Tyler ran up. They must’ve seen the commotion from the hotel and come over to investigate. They spoke with Dale, Nate, and the other hoops . . . I couldn’t hear a thing with the windows up . . . and then the men helped Kelli and her gang into their truck and made sure they drove off.
Dale never looked at me after he and Nate got back in the car. Instead, kept his head down except to watch the road as we drive the couple of hundred feet to the hotel’s front door. We all rode in silence.
“Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes,” Shannon, Tyler’s wife, announced as we entered the lobby.
“I’m not eating,” I stated, walking past her, heading for the stairwell.
Ten minutes later, I was up in my bed, covers pulled up to my neck. I’d had it with Mausdale and its hoops. I’d had it with lending a hand and trying to help. What was it all for? I was being threatened by a militant female hoop with delusions of self-importance. I was nearly killed by dog-men because another hormonally active hoop was more sentimental over a dead woman and her maybe baby than she was concerned about our safety. And so what if I find out why Alex, a woman I’ve never met before, was killed? Do I get any reward? Doubtful. Will anyone be punished for it? Who knows? Will her mother be comforted by that knowledge? She thinks so but I wouldn’t count on it.
Everything boiled down to this simple fact: All of this crap and hardship will lead to nothing but another day of simply surviving.
Well, screw ‘em! Mausdale can just take their problems and fuh . . .
Suddenly, something caught the corner of my eye and I looked up. On the ceiling, near one of the room’s corners, was what appeared to be a brown, oblong spot. However, in the orange light of dusk, this spot cast a small shadow. Looking closer, I realized it wasn’t a spot, but a cockroach. It clung there, watching me. I watched it back.
I watched it back
I’d heard it said, after all the wars and disasters, the only creatures that will survive are the cockroaches. Our world ended. Here is this cockroach. Somehow, that thought gave me comfort. There were no surprises with a roach. It wasn’t a rabbit-roach or a dog-roach. It couldn’t betray you or run you out of town. A roach asks nothing of the humans it lives with. Its only purpose is to crawl, eat trash, and be disgusting. In the end, one knew what to expect from a roach.
Our world ended. This roach is still here.
And so am I.
There was a gentle knock on my door. When I didn’t answer, whoever it was just came in.
“I brought you some dinner.” It was Nate. “How you doing?”
“I think I’m a bug.”
“Yeah, that meeting with Kelli and her gang really bugged me, too.”
I didn’t correct him. “What are we doing here?”
“In Mausdale? We’re getting tractor parts for Sean, helping Joann find out what happened to Alex.”
“But why?”
“Because . . . it’s the right thing to do?”
“So what?” I sat up so I could look Nate in the eye. “Joann and Sean will probably still be alone after this. Mausdale will still be dealing with the fallout of the attack. And all we have to show for it is a delay of several days.”
Nate put the plate of food down on the nightstand and sat at the foot of the bed. “Listen. Doing the right thing is part of your nature. I know, because it’s had an effect on me. Do you remember when we first met? How I wanted nothing to do with you?”
“Yeah. You shot a car.” I felt a grin cross my face at the memory.
“That was because I forgot how to trust. I told you that I parted ways with the group from the airport. What I didn’t tell you was that a couple of them raided my supplies and left in the night. After that, whenever I did try to meet up with survivors along the way I was met with a lot of resistance. They either shooed me off or were more interested in what I had for them instead of how we could work together. In the end, I said Screw ‘Em. I was doing this on my own.
“Then I ran into you and you were determined to follow me. You saved me from the land shark and didn’t ask for anything in return. You were interested in me and not what I had. After Sean told us his story, you genuinely wanted to help. After Alex was killed you could have walked away but you didn’t. Something didn’t seem right and you wanted to find out what. You made me believe that there are still good people in this world and we still need to be . . . be . . . human! Even if you’re a hoop.”
He added that last bit after seeing me struggle to hold back a chuckle.
“But what about your family?” I asked. “All my ‘compassion’ has really delayed you.”
“Let’s be honest, Alyssa. Does it really matter if I get there next week or next month? Either their town wasn’t attacked and they’re okay, it was and they have found a way to survive, or they're dead.”
“If they were attacked and are living like this . . . “ I waved my hand around to indicate the world outside our walls. “Then they will need you to gather food or protect them.”
“If they survived they’ve already found a way to eat and protect themselves. I’ll get there when I get there. But you’re right. That’s unlikely for an older couple. While I hold out hope, I believe I’ve made peace with the possibility that they are gone.”
I gave Nate a moment before continuing. “So why go home if you think there’s nothing there?”
“Are you familiar with Jeremiah? The prophet from the Bible? No? Well, he lived in Jerusalem and God told him to tell the people about impending doom. Because of their disobedience to God’s laws, God was going to allow Babylon to capture the city and take the Israelites captive. However, while Jerusalem was under siege, God instructed Jeremiah to buy a field, put the deed in clay jar, and bury it in a safe place. Admittedly, that seemed like a foolish thing to do, especially knowing that everything was about to be taken from them. But God assured Jeremiah that one day the Israelites would be freed and allowed to return. When that happened, Jeremiah or his descendants could recover the deed and reclaim what was legally theirs.
“I think I feel a little like that. My homeland has been attacked and practically destroyed. Now, I’m returning home to claim what is rightfully mine. Salvage whatever I can of my past.”
Nate finished and I let the silence hang a moment before leaning over and picking up the plate of food. It had a pile of dark shredded meat covered by a brownish sauce and a baked potato.
“I’m famished,” I admitted as I put a fork-full of meat in my mouth. The sauce was clearly a tangy bar-b-que, but the meat was unfamiliar. It had a definite poultry quality, but mixed with something else. “This is good. What is it?”
“You probably don’t want to know.”
My first thought was rat. When you think apocalypse and food shortage, you naturally think rat. Next was horse . . . or possibly dog. Whatever it was, it was food and it was good so I didn’t mind. “Tell me. What is it?”
Nate hesitated, then relented. “It’s choad.” I gave him a questioning look, so he tried to explain. “Part chicken. Part toad. Some kind of mutation from the fallout. Apparently, they’re all over the place in the woods.”
“Whatever,” I shrugged. “Food is food,” and I took another bite.
“Joann left a message for us with Ross while we were gone. She doesn’t believe Ken wanted Alex dead.”
“Why does she think that?”
“It all has to do with the fact that he left her in the cabin. Joann has heard that Ken is rather stubborn and set in his decision. So much so, that if it was his intention to kill Alex he would have done it and not changed his mind. She’s convinced something happened to him as well, or he took a walk and just got lost.”
“What do you think?”
“I think Joann wants to give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps she liked the guy or thought he and his daughter were good together. Regardless of what she thinks, I’m thinking our best bet is to speak with some of Alex’s and Ken’s friends. If there were any problems or concerns, they are the ones that would most likely have heard about it. Dale has agreed to introduce us in the morning.
“Speaking of Dale, you were rather hard on him back there.”
“Of course I was. He was helping the people who were trying to hurt us, more likely, trying to kill us.”
“And they’re people he has grown up with and known for a long time, not to mention has to live with after we’re gone. He said that Peter and Billie-Jo, his girlfriend, aren’t really that bad. They tend to be followers and just do as their told. Get them away from Kellie and Ernie and they’re fun couple to hang out with. At least that’s his opinion.”
“Whatever.”
“You know he likes you.”
I gnaw a bit on a piece of potato skin before responding. “Yeah. I know.”
“He’s taking it pretty hard. He didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Perhaps.”
Nate waited for me to say more.
“You should talk to him. Let him know you’re not mad at him.”
“But I am!”
“No, you’re not. You’re just frustrated.”
I looked up at the ceiling. To Nate, it probably looked like I was deep in thought. What I was doing was checking on my roach. Still there. Predictable.
I wasn’t predictable
“I guess you’re right,” I sighed, picking up the last bits of choad with my fork. “Maybe I was a bit harsh. I’ll talk to him in the morning.”
“It’ll be better if you do it tonight. Don’t let him suffer overnight.”
“Okay. Okay. I’ll come down in a bit. Maybe we can even play some cards,” First, I wanted to squash that bug. “Slapjack, perhaps.”
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Jer. 31:1-15
(Read the next chapter here.)
