May the odds be ever in your favor...Well this very well may have been the shortest game I've played on here, that didn't dissolve before it started.


09:22, Today: Ordus F. Rattus rolled 18 using 1d20+7. Getting battered again 1d20+7 Please low.
09:21, Today: Ordus F. Rattus rolled 23 using 1d20+6. Getting battered 1d20 + 6.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:24, Tue 16 Apr 2013.

Two fails means you are Weakened and Slowed. Don't worry, you're not dead yet but you'll need a weeks rest to remove the conditions.

Tom is greatly relieved that the others seem to be recovering.  Ordus doesn't seem to be too flash, however.  Tom doesn't really understand the swarm's physiology but something about the rats' movements appears less coordinated than usual.

"What do we do now?  We've got some pretty good salvage in these guard constructs and the war 'bot outside.  We could just collect what we can and leg it, in case the cook has more friends about.  Or we could search the place and see if there's anything else worth taking.  Either way, once we're done here I'd suggest heading for home."

Bedlam nods to Tom. "Work fast to grab the swag. I'm not in the mood to find out who the cook called for backup. Check that armor of his first."

Looking at Flora and Ordus he asks: "How's everyone feeling? Can you tell if the cook's stew is still messing with your head, er... heads?"

"Hey, bugsy," the giant turns to Roach Coach. "What's your name? Were you the one who let us in or is there someone else trapped here?"

OOC:
Bedlam Jones rolled 19 using 1d20+5. Injury Roll.
Against a Fort Save of 18.
Weird. Coulda sworn I read that as 14. Ah well... Bedlam's ready to head for home. Well, maybe after a nap.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:14, Sun 21 Apr 2013.

Roach pulled himself up off the floor " Call me Roach not sure about letting you in definitely wasn't me. That pile of filth caught me and froze me before I could fight back"

He looked at the broken freezer that nearly became his coffin "your fight turned the power off giving me the chance to explode out of it" whith a chuckle " literally" he replied.

"Not you, huh?" Bedlam looks around the trashed kitchen, a puzzled look on his face. "Means someone else is here."

The giant takes a deep breath, focusing his wearied thoughts. ~By the way, Roach, since you're likely to be traveling with us for a bit, this is my voice in your head. Now everyone be quiet. Let me see if I can contact our benefactor.~

While the others pull themselves together and start looting, Bedlam spends a moment searching for the psychic voice he had heard in the alley...

With a bit of a weakened swagger not unlike an inebriated university student, Ordus pulls himself together. The swarm attempts to reply to Bedlam, but nothing comes out but some awkward squeaks and grunts.

The swarm morphs disgustingly into a shrug and resigned face, as it will take a bit to get back to their old selves.

They go about doing what rats to best....scavenging. Which seems more coordinated than most of it's movements. Old habits die hard.

There is no answer to Bedlam's psychic inquiry, so you get down to the serious business of looting. Soon you discover something interesting in the room the cook was fleeing to (top right on the map). The walls are covered with screens showing various camera feeds, and there are benches piles with complicated looking computer gear. Lying on the floor next to a sleek looking chair is a half-starved badder, comatose with blood coming from its nose. The badder wears a harness covered with all sorts of tools, electronic gizmos and assorted spare parts and is wearing a very hefty pair of glasses.

You also notice a hole in the wall around a metre in diameter (at I14). A bundle of heavy duty cables snakes into the hole.

"Woah, check out all this stuff!  If we could get all this lot out in working order, we'd be rich."

"And then there's that guy.  Reckon it might be our contact?"

Tom looks around the room with an expression of mixed greed and disgust.  Greed at the obvious value of the equipment arrayed on the benches and walls (the cabling alone would make valuable salvage); disgust at the difficulty of safely dismantling and transporting the equipment - and the fate of the unfortunate badder.

The badder appears to be still breathing. It's alive!

Bedlam silently nods his head as he gazes around the room.

"A Badder?" he suspiciously eyes the prone figure. "Well, they are known to have some psionic capabilities. Unfortunately they are also known for being vicious, treacherous, and really smelly."

"But, yeah," the giant shrugs. "That's probably our guy. Help him out. Cookie obviously had a lot more on his plate than cannibal stew. Let's see if we can find out what's been going on."

Roach felt sorry for the Badder having been held by the cook he knew a little of what the guy must have been through. Looking round the room he found what he was looking for amongst all the crap on the shelves he located all his personal crap.

Retrieving his equipment he felt a whole lot better with his crossbow in his hands. " You lot do what you need to do down here I'll go back up and keep an eye out for unwanted company and give you a shout if any come" He said moving towards the stairs

Once up in the main cafe area Roach scuttled up the wall and onto the ceiling finding a nice corner in the high shadows from where he could see the kitchen door, the front door and out the main window into the street beyond. Crossbow in hand he settled in to wait
This message was last edited by the player at 08:44, Thu 02 May 2013.

Tom stoops over the badder.  He means well enough, but the situation lacks the personal connection that made Tom's efforts at reviving his friends both urgent and effective.  In this case, he really doesn't know what to do.  Unless...

OOC: Nature check = 6 on d20+5.  Let's just hope Tom doesn't make it worse.

Bedlam has been looking around the room at the various monitors trying to determine what the cook was up to. He notices that Tom is having trouble with the badder. Wrinkling his nose, the giant crouches down next to the fallen creature to see what he can do.

OOC: Bedlam Jones rolled 14 using 1d20+3. Nature roll to revive badder.

Bedlam and Tom try to revive the badder. Luckily he is merely unconscious and not at death's door, otherwise Tom's inexpert ministrations would have pushed him over the edge!

Eventually the badder gives a low groan and opens his eyes. As he takes in his surroundings an expressions of fear, hope and gratitude pass over his face in rapid succession.

"I can't hear him. Is he really dead?" he asks in a low croak.

Bedlam cocks an eyebrow and tilts his head in a doubtful attitude. Considering himself no small expert at reading emotions he still found them vaguely disquieting when expressed on animal faces.

"Yep," he jerks a thumb toward the doorway. "He's laying out in the kitchen as we speak. You the one let us in?"

"That's right! So... you gonna let me live" he asks hopefully.

"I guess so." Tom doesn't really care one way or the other for the badder but he can't see any reason to kill it.

"We might be the least of your problems, though.  The cook's death is going to stir things up around here.  I'm sure the locals would happily kill to get their hands on some of this stuff.  You may just find you've hopped out of the frying pan and into the fire."

The badder looks concerned, then hopeful. "I could fix the bot up in no time if you folks can guard the place until then. You could move in and live here! I could help you with tech and you can keep the locals at bay. Just think, your own base in the Sprawl with power and everything! Wadder you say?"

Bedlam glares suspiciously at the badder while he ponders its suggestion.

"The idea might have some merit," he says, finally breaking his gaze and looking around at the tech. "Tell me more about what the cook was doing. Is this all his little kingdom or was he working with someone else? Did he have allies or regular customers who might object to a change in the order of things? And what about the others he played his mind-games on?"

"Can't tell you much about where he came from, or even what he is. But this is what I know. The Cook was very picky about his food; he could only eat the flesh of something that had eaten its own kind... a diet of cannibals. Once you'd eaten his soup, that made you potential food, and also gave a him psychic connection to you. There were dozens, hundreds even under his control. And now you've taken him out they're all free like me. Half the Sprawl is going to want to shake your hand" answers the Badder. He seems sincere. "My name's Socket" he concludes, tentatively holding out his paw.

Bedlam gives the badder's paw a terse shake. "Bedlam."

"This is the crew," he says, gesturing to each in turn. "Flora, Ordus, and Crusty Tom."

"We lost Shreek to that warbot," the giant frowns at the thought. "And there's another of the cook's former prisoners standing guard upstairs - fiery bug sort. Forget his name."

Bedlam looks around at the crew. "Seems to me some of those newly released minions might come knocking pretty soon. Just to find out why the cook's not in their head anymore. If we try to scramble before they get here it's unlikely we'll have time to salvage much of this gear. What do you think about tidying up as best we can to put on a nice, by which I mean, strong, face for our visitors?"

"And what about the other half?" Tom mutters under his breath.

"I won't deny it's an attractive idea.  The cook had a real sweet hidey-hole here.  The amount of tech is just mind-blowing.  But I have to tell you, Bedlam, if you're seriously thinking about trying this.  I'll stay and help you set up but I'll be off after that.  I signed on for a delve not to be the newest Sprawl underboss."

To Sprocket, Tom adds, "Do you really think you can fix the bot?  We had to wreck it pretty good to stop it killing us."

"Oh, no worries there, Tom," Bedlam reassures the rocky humanoid. "We'll still be delving and collecting swag. But a safe base of operations here means we won't have to spend so much time running back to Compton for supplies. We get this area scouted out real good - find a clean water supply - there's a lot to be said for sleeping well the night before a delve. At least for those of us who like soft beds..."

"And we're a lot closer to the Lightin zone where the tech is just lying around waiting for someone to pick it up."

Roach kept his position on the ceiling in the shadows and watched the front doors for any intruders