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[Scene 1, Tension Lvl:5]
By the next morning, we had heard nothing from Lucas Murphy. <Does Lucas send word to the hotel? (Bad) No.> Dale -- the two of us having talked the previous night and patched up any wounds -- drove us down to the service station to check in with Jesse and he let us know that Lucas stopped by.
<Any word from Lucas? (even) Yes. What is it (per GMA): Punishingly Treacherous>
Lucas made it perfectly clear that he had no interest in talking to us and even less desire to return to his father’s farm. In fact, his version of events was somewhat different than what Sean told us. According to Lucas, it was his father who ultimately kicked him off the farm. Sean was never satisfied with the work he did. Furthermore, Lucas got the impression his father was disgusted at the transformation his son had gone through.
“‘Maybe he should have thought about how difficult it would be to run the farm alone before he criticized everything I did,’” Jessie said, quoting the younger Murphy.
Everyone paints themselves in the best light. Sean seemed nice enough to me and even helped by giving us Nate’s armor and trade supplies. Based on that, I tend to believe him, however, who really knows which version is more accurate? Regardless, we wouldn’t be convincing Lucas to come home with us. We made plans with Jesse to leave for the farm the next day, which gave Nate and me one last day to investigate the mystery surrounding Alex’s death.
Our next stop was to meet up with a couple of Dale’s friends who hung out with Alex and Ken. Both were hoops. Dorothy’s long fur was reddish-brown with white patches and she wore a blue windbreaker over a blue shirt and khakis. Steve was white and, like Dale, wore only a pair of jeans. They weren’t a couple, just friends.
“If it was Ken’s intention to harm Alex, I doubt it was originally his idea,” Steve said with confidence.
“Why do you say that?” Nate asked.
<Investigation card draw: 4 of spades, eliminates Ken as the initiator of Alex’s murder. Why? (Per GMA): Follow Slovenly, or in other words, he’s more of a follower than a leader/initiator.>
“He has to be one of the worst planners I know. Even when he’s interested in something, he rarely ever follows through. I remember all he talked about throughout our freshman year in high school was trying out for the basketball team the next year. He bought a ball and erected a hoop over his garage to practice, but I rarely ever saw him out there. The day of the try-outs he was sitting at home watching holo-vids. I asked him ‘what’s up’. He said it was too much trouble to go to the gym and try out.”
“Oh, and do you remember that boat he wanted to build?” Dorothy asked.
“It was a canoe or something,” Dale remembered. “He wanted to use it to fish on the creeks and rivers in the area. Right?”
“Yes,” Dorothy agreed. “First of all, he had no plans. He didn’t know what he was doing. He did finish half the frame, but then just let it sit unfinished in his backyard.”
“That’s right,” Steve laughed. “His parents wouldn’t let him bring it into the garage because they knew it would take up space indefinitely. No. Leading Alex out to the woods and abandoning her so a wild animal can kill her so he can claim it was an accident? That’s just too advanced for Ken’s I.Q..”
“The most Ken would think of was to hit her with a baseball bat and shove her behind a bush,” Dorothy said, laughing along with Steve. A dark group, these friends of Alex. “More likely, someone worked really hard to motivate Ken to do it and then gave him very specific instructions for him to follow. That is, of course, if it wasn’t an accident.”
<Alyssa fails the last roll for an additional investigation clue. So our PCs only have one more card they can draw.>
Nate summarized what we knew so far. “So, while not absolved of all wrongdoing, the one thing everyone seems to agree upon is that Ken wasn’t solely responsible for Alex’s death. We’ve heard everything from he loved Alex and would never harm her to he was a pawn in someone else plan. Unfortunately, we can’t question him, so how do we proceed?”
“Maybe there’s some clue at the cabin?” Dale suggested.
“Would you even remember how to get there?” Dorothy asked. “We were only there that one time.”
“I still have the map.”
“Ok, but is going to the cabin a smart idea?” Steve asked. “I mean, Alex was killed by some wild creature. What happens if you run into that?”
“Nate and I survived a warehouse full of security robots programmed to kill,” I said. “I think we can handle some dumb animals.”
“But if you don’t feel comfortable going, we understand,” Nate assured the three hoops.
<Do the friends join the mission? (even) Yes + Special event>
“I’m in,” Dale announced without hesitation.
Dorothy and Steve took a bit longer to respond but eventually agreed. However, they wanted to stop by their homes and get some things to protect themselves with.
<Special Event: Norse Rune - Ingwaz 
Description: An absolute ruler gets involved, possibly causing problems. Tension resets.>
As we were getting into Dale’s car, Clint Morrow pulled up in his small electric MSF patrol car.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said as he stepped out. “I heard there was a bit of a tussle at the hotel last night. You left some of my team pretty beat up.”
“They started it,” I said.
“Maybe they did. Maybe they didn’t. However, it’s been rather peaceful around here until you two showed up. You’ve been snoopin’ around and askin’ questions. My people don’t like it.”
“Mr. Morrow,” Nate began. “You told us the other day that you weren’t an investigative force. We’re just trying to fill in. Help Joann get some answers.”
“Well, I never asked for your help. Besides, investigation is one thing, but fisticuffs, that’s another.”
“C’mon, Clint,” Dale jumped in. “I was there. Alyssa and Nate did nothing. In fact, they tried to avoid the fight.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Clint cut him off. “If they weren’t here, it wouldn’t have happened. The best thing you two can do now is gather your things and get out of town.”
“They're our guests, Clint,” Dale argued. “We’re not kicking them out.”
I was about to give this rent-a-cop a piece of my mind when Nate spoke.
“It’s okay, Dale. We were leaving anyway. In fact, Dale was just about to drive us out of town. We’ll be on our way and he can tell Jesse to head out to Sean Murphy’s farm whenever he’s ready.”
I opened my mouth to protest but Nate held up a hand to stop me.
Clint’s eyes shifted from me to Nate and back again. He spit before responding. “No funny business, you two. You leave, you don’t come back, and we’ll be fine.” He stepped back to his car. Before getting in he addressed Dale, Dorothy, and Steve. “And the rest of you have a good day. Keep your noses clean.”
And with that, he drove off.
Before I could complain Nate quickly explained that he was just pacifying the chief. We weren’t leaving until we made sure Sean was taken care of. In the meantime, we still had to try and figure out this mystery. To that end, we stopped by Steve and Dorothy’s houses to pick up some weapons. Steve grabbed a long knife and Dorothy got back in the car with a standard rifle. Dale had his bat and Nate and I were fully packing.
[Scene 2: Tension Lvl: 1 <I’m not advancing the tension because the special event reveal was literally the last thing I did in the previous scene.>]
<Two encounter rolls were made for the drive up to the cabin, both uneventful.>
On the drive up I wanted to find out more about what Steve and Dorothy knew about Ken and Alex.
“So, let’s assume someone put Ken up to this. Do you know anyone that would want Alex dead?”
“What about her mother’s boyfriend?” Nate suggested. “I hear they didn’t get along.”
“It’s not so much that they didn’t get along but that Alex was very protective about her mother and their relationship,” Dorothy explained. “In the end, it was her mother that broke off the relationship. If Eric was upset with anyone, I think it would be Joann.”
“Kelli and Alex were not on the best of terms lately,” Steve informed us.
“Heck, yeah,” Dale agreed. “You did not want to be in the same room with those two.”
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“Not completely sure,” Steve admitted, “But I think it had something to do with a guy they both liked.”
“Charlie Gilbert,” Dorothy said. “He and Kelli dated a little over a year ago, right before he started seeing Alex.”
“Charlie left Kelli for Alex?” Nate asked.
“Possibly,” Steve said. “I don’t know the details. I was never in Kelli’s circle of friends and Alex and I didn’t hang out back then.”
“Whether or not he did, Alex was on Kelli’s Spit-List ever since then,” Dorothy explained.
“If Kelli is involved,” I said, “That would explain why she’s so against us asking questions and trying to find out what happened.”
Dale drove several yards beyond the point that Nate and I stopped earlier in the week before pulling off the side of the road. With the map in Dale’s hands, we left the road and headed into the woods.
<It will take three turns to reach the cabin. Once per turn, I made an encounter roll and a MND Survival skill check (DC10 target, using the best total modifier for the group which was Alyssa with a +3) to determine how well they read the map and stay on track. Each failed survival roll adds another turn to the trip.>
We did our best to watch our steps, not make a lot of noise, and keep conversation to a minimum. After about five minutes we heard some rustling ahead of us and some guttural beast noises. I pointed in a direction away from the sounds and we detoured to avoid an encounter. I didn’t want to run into whatever attacked Alex if we could help it. Dorothy didn’t think it sounded that large, perhaps a boar or a large dog. Steve suggested everything from Arks to werewolves.
“What are you talking about?” Dorothy whispered. “It’s the middle of the day.”
“Get your mind out of the movies,” he snapped back. “Who knows what those Tech-West mad scientists can come up with.”
<Travel turn 1 was a failed navigation check. To determine what threw them off, I used GMA’s random sensory perception generator. Sound: growing rumble of hooves (which I interpreted as random animal sounds) Sight: full moon (which I used to shape Steve’s comments).
The next three turns passed both the encounter and survival checks>
Thankfully, we reached the cabin without meeting up with any other creatures, normal or mutated. The cabin was a small structure with wide steps leading up to a porch. It was a bit run-down, yet still seemed sturdy.
<A few more sensory draws for the inside of the cabin. Sight: Gaudy ornaments Hear: Something slithering Smell: trace of spice>
Inside the cabin, it was obvious that no one lived there. The furniture was sparse, only a couple of rickety wooden chairs, a table that had lost most of its finish, and a ragged and torn couch. Empty soda and beer cans littered the floor, as well as a few empty potato chip bags. I even spotted a roach on the table. Not a bug like in my hotel room. Drugs.
As we entered, I heard a faint jingling sound coming from across the room. I glanced over in the direction of the sound and was not prepared for what I saw: a five-foot-tall green artificial Christmas tree all decked out in ornaments and unlit lights. A few of the branches were wavering, from some small woodland creature that was living in the tree, I supposed. It must have been started by us and ran.
“Last time we were here, the only time really, was around Christmas,” Steve explained.
“Yeah,” Dorothy continued. “Ken found this place. Gave us all maps and told us to meet him out here for a holiday party. When we arrived he had the tree up and decorated and Christmas music playing from his PEECE.”
“Is that cinnamon and vanilla I smell?” Nate asked.
Dorothy took a sniff they laughed. “I forgot. Ken had that can of Christmas air freshener that he sprayed all over the tree to give the room more of a down-home Christmas feel. I can’t believe you can still smell it.”
“I can,” Dale said. “It was so much.”
“Who cares what it smelled like?” Steve said. “We just opened the windows, passed around the beers and joints, and had a blast.”
“Let’s look around and see if we can find anything that will give us a clue to what happened to Alex and Ken.”
<At this point, I drew the final clue card for the investigation. My first draw was the Ace of Hearts, or the Bloody Heart. That meant my second surprise will occur and I drew another card for the clue.>
The room we were in had a small kitchenette in the corner. While the appliances remained, it appeared as though they hadn’t been used in ages. The stove most likely was fed from an exterior propane tank and the fridge probably was powered by a generator, both of which had probably either been scavenged long ago or fallen into disrepair. Nate helped Dorothy search through the cabinets that flanked the dilapidated appliances and Steve rummaged through the trash on the table and floors.
I spotted an open door on the far wall next to where the Christmas tree stood. Stepping through, I found myself in a small bedroom. Like the main living area, it was sparse on furniture, only sporting a full-sized bed and an end table. Like the items in the rest of the cabin, they were old, damaged, and dusty. The only exception was a rather clean set of sheets that had been draped across the bed. Clearly, Ken wanted a clean place for him and Alex to spend the night. An empty bottle of shiraz stood on the nightstand along with two wine glasses, one on its side, the nightstand stained purple near the rim. A little wine and romance perhaps, before leaving Alex for the proverbial wolves? Ken, you are such a piece of work. Unfortunately, a search of the room revealed nothing that brought us any closer to finding out why Alex had to die.
Back in the main room, the others were wrapping up their searches. “Anything?” I asked.
“Nope,” Nathan said, walking away from the kitchenette. “I guess this was a wasted . . . “
Suddenly, there was a crack from outside, the sound of breaking glass, and Nathan fell to the ground with a cry of pain. I stood still, uncomprehending, when another crack rang out. A second pane of glass shattered and I felt something whiz by my head.
“Down!” I cried. “Someone’s shooting at us.”
<The second investigation surprise was that the PCs would be attacked by an accomplice. Using the oracle, I determined that the attacker would be armed with a standard rifle. Nate was a random target (out of only Alyssa and he) and since the shot was a surprise, I reduced his AC by his DEX bonus. The attacker rolled a 19 and Nate was hit for 9 hp. Alyssa failed a Physical challenge to react before another shot was fired, however, the attacker missed. All the characters roll initiative.
Each character on their turn will make a MND Subterfuge challenge against the attacker for a chance to spot who it is.>
While the rest of us took cover, Nate rolled onto all fours and crawled to the window. He peeked over the sill, hoping to see the shooter.
“Who’s there? What do you want?” Nate asked with no response. <Does the attacker respond? (bad) No . . . but. They will definitely speak next round if no one else calls out to them first.>
I stayed away from the windows <Nat 1 Spot Check> but Dale and Dorothy both peeked out, hoping to locate our attacker.
“Do you see anyone?” Dale asked. <failed spot check>
“I think so,” she responded, raising her rifle. “Oh my goodness! I think it’s Ernie!” She narrowed her eyes, sighting down the barrel. <Does Dorothy shoot? (even) Yes . . .but. She aims high only to scare him.>
“What are you doing?” Dale asked, shocked.
“Just firing a warning shot.” She pulled the trigger and fired. A split second later a yelp is heard from outside. “Oops.” <Made an attack roll only to check for a critical fail, which would mean she does accidentally shoot Ernie. Yep. She rolled a 1.>
Another shot was heard from outside and the window frame splintered near Dorothy’s head. <Everyone, including Ernie, has +4 to AC due to being under cover, either in the cabin or behind a tree in Ernie’s case. Ernie rolled an 11 against an AC of 17.>
Ernie? Ken’s brother and Kelli’s flunkie was firing at us?! Hell no. That’s not gonna stand. I pulled out my pistol and stormed to the window, pushing Nate out of the way. I could see Ernie’s grey backside sticking out from behind a tree and I shot, hitting the tree instead of him.
“Keep him busy,” Dale called out. “I’ll get behind him.”
“What?” I ask as I turned to him. “Where are you . . .” But he had already disappeared through the door to the bedroom.
<I won’t bother you with all the mechanics, except to say it will take Dale three turns to leave out a back door and reach Ernie. He will need to make a sneak check each turn, with the chance of being seen increasing as he gets closer to his target.>
“Ernie,” Dorothy calls out the window. “Why are you doing this?” <Conversations are a series of Comm Challenges to determine whether Ernie gives up any information.>
“They’re outsiders! Don’t trust ‘em, Dorothy,” he responded, deflecting the question. <Ernie rolls a 1 on his attack roll. PCs don’t know this, but his gun jams and it takes him a turn to fix it.>
“This is silly,” Steve chimes in, keeping the conversation going to give Dale time. “You are outnumbered. Come out and we won't hurt you.”
“I thought you were Ken’s friend, Steve?” Ernie calls back. “Are you going to let them put these lies in your head, that he was some cold-blooded murderer? That Alexandria was innocent? You wanna know what the truth is? She wasn’t as sweet as everyone thought. She did some horrible things. Ken told me so. He was hired to see that justice was done.” <Ernie lost the Comm Challenge with Steve 22 vs. 19>
“There are laws,” Nate said. “If she really did something wrong, why didn’t Ken just tell Clint and let him handle it?
“There’s no real laws anymore. Clint’s only concern is keeping things in order. He wouldn’t want to get involved. Besides, it was personal and had to be taken care of outside the law.” <Ernie lost the Comm Challenge with Nate 17 vs. 15>
<This conversation with Ernie is playing out the last investigation draw. 4 of diamonds, which eliminates “Alex was in the way of something being accomplished”. The only remaining motive is “Revenge”. The only thing we don’t know for sure is who is ultimately responsible for Alex’s death, so while Ernie knows a little bit about “why”, he won’t be able to reveal “who”. By the way, the PC involved in each conversation was randomly determined each turn.>
Engaged in the conversation, Nate was unaware he was gradually, subconsciously moving out of cover and into view through the window. Ernie took his lapse in judgment as an opportunity to fire another shot, one that hit Nate right in the chest, knocking him back. The flex armor protected him from what should have been a fatal shot but didn’t stop him from the pain of the blow.
“Son of a hare!” he cursed, sitting up and feeling where the bullet hit him.
“Really?” I asked. “Son of a hare?”
“Yeah. He’s a hoop. Not an Ark.”
Well, it’s good to see Nate still had his sense of humor. <Nate took 6 h.p. damage. He is currently at 6hp>
“Can anyone see Dale?” I asked.
“He’s getting close, but he needs another minute or so,” Dorothy responded.
Okay. It was my turn to talk to the mad bunnyman. <Comm Challenge: A=23 E=14>
“Ernie!” I called out, my body pressed against the wall just inside the window. “You know I’m going to kill you! Tell us who hired your brother or else, when your dead, we’ll tell everyone it was your idea.”
“That’s a lie! I told him no such thing!”
“Then tell us who.”
There was no response for several seconds.
“I don’t know who. He wouldn’t tell me. <Was Ken struggling with the decision? (even) Yes> In fact, I think the only reason he told me any of this was because he was having a hard time deciding whether or not to go through with it. He needed to talk to someone about it, but wouldn’t betray the person who wanted him to . . . Hey!”
Ernie stopped in mid-sentence and we all heard a shot.
“Crap!” Dorothy cried out. “He saw Dale.” She lifted her rifle and shot. <misses>
<Ernie rolled a Nat 20 for the final stealth check, which meant that not only did Dale lose the chance to surprise him, but Ernie gets a chance to attack Dale. He hit for 4hp and Dale rolled a Nat 1 on his attack. He falls back from Ernie’s attack and drops his bat.>
Steve led the charge out of the cabin with the rest of us following behind. <Each character needs 1 turn to reach Ernie. Steve will arrive first with the rest following on the next turn.> I could see Ernie aim at the ground and take another shot, however, I couldn't tell if Dale was hit a he was hidden from view by the undergrowth. <Does Ernie shoot again at Dale? (good) Yes. Rolls a 5 and misses.>
Hearing Steve approach, Ernie turned to face him. Steve reached out to grab him. Ernie sidestepped. As Steve passed, Ernie swung at him with the butt of his gun but missed. However, that put Ernie’s back to Nate and me, making it easy for us to double-team him and take him down. <Opposing Physical Challenge based on DEX to tackle Ernie. Use Nate skill with Advantage (due to Alyssa’s assistance): N: 23 or Nat 1 E: 14 Another roll with Advantage is necessary to completely restrain Ernie. Nate rolls a Nat 20. No need to roll for Ernie, because even if matched, the bonuses give Nate the win.> Ernie struggled but to no avail as Nate and I held him down. Still, for good measure, I gave him a hard knee to the gut. He pretty much went limp after that.
“Does anyone have any rope?” Nate asked.
“I’ll go check in the cabin,” Dorothy said and ran back.
“Dale!” I called out. “Steve, check on Dale.”
Steve ran over to where Dale lay on the ground. The young hoop, however, was already sitting up.
“I’m okay,” he assured us. “He shot me in the thigh, but that’s all.”
Minutes passed. Every now and then Ernie would try to push back, but Nate just leaned on him harder until he relented.
“Where’s that rope!” I called out impatiently.
“Coming,” Dorothy called back from the cabin. “Just give me another minute.”
What is taking her so long? Eventually, she returned.
“I couldn’t find any rope, but I do have this.”
In her hand, Dorothy held up the coil of Christmas lights taken from the tree.
I couldn’t find any rope, but I do have this.
(Read the next chapter here.)
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Psalm 55 (Relevance hint: Read in The Message)
