"It looks pretty deserted." Stanley remarks. He cautiously steps out of the Tardis, glancing around for any sign of dangerous animals. Spotting the figure in white, Stanley momentarily freezes. He had expected to maybe see the shadow of some beast or a pair of eyes lurking from somewhere, but not a humanoid figure.

"Smoke, there is someone standing over there. In the distance." Stanley points in the direction of the figure. "Maybe that is the local Trav was talking about?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:36, Thu 26 May 2016.

Smoke eyespied her. 'Must be an outlook.' she decided. 'Mayhaps. She would've been loitering there when Traveller came out. Let's go say how-you-do. Lock the door, outlook both ways.' While Stanley did that, she footed toward the woman in white.

Before Smoke Alarm can make more than a few steps, the figure lifts an arm, pointing directly to Stanley.

She just groaned. Why did this person have to make things so hard? Why couldn't she just tell her friends to stay where it was safe; and they get to the city with her ... well associates dinner?

She just sighed, pulled the wolf along briefly, and made it to cover.

"This won't work for long. You... you stand out. You can't kill here. It's not safe to do so." Blithely ignoring the fact that she had clearly killed the wolf.

"It...it looks like she is pointing at me. Why?" Stanley wonders out loud. Remembering all the warnings about dangerous animals, he turns around. Maybe the stranger isn't pointing at him, but at something behind him.

When Stanley looks back, the figure's outstretched arm is still pointed to him. But then she lifts the other, and gestures.

Come here.

To Trav it looks like the building they've entered is what remains of a little convenience store.  She's guessing this by the rows of rusting shelves, emptied of everything but a few empty cardboard cartons in once-bright colors, the broken light fixtures, the counter with what looks like it was a bulky cash register.

There's a doorway in the back of the space with bare hinges and no door, but with four planks nailed across it, two of which were broken.  This place has gone from being an everyday domestic grocery, to a refuge in a ruined world, to an incipient ruin.

Smoke Alarm squinted at the white-clad rezzie; her long-distance vision had been limited growing up to the length of a tower carrydoor. 'Are you sure she'd pointing at you? Most people point at me.' the Blue Kang reflected. 'Well, she wants us to foot over. She must be the one Trav got talky to.' Smoke started footing it again.

Stanley double-checks that the Tardis door is locked and then follows Smoke.

As Smoke Alarm and Stanley get closer to the figure in white, more details become apparent, although it would be a stretch to say that they make the figure's nature any clearer to either of them.

Each of the two realize that the figure's indistinct features are not just an artifact of clothing or distance.  Her head is covered by a wimple, but is not, in fact, veiled.  Instead, they can see that she seems to be shrouded all over by a kind of haze: the hanging drapery of her clothing flickers and shifts so neither of them can easily tell where it starts and stops.  And her face is much the same.  It goes from round and jovial, to a severe beauty with cheekbones you could cut yourself on; from young, to ancient, to all points between; and the Traveller's companions find that as one detail escapes their attention, it comes back with subtle changes as they pick it out again through the mist.

The figure speaks -- and when she does, it is not with one voice, but with a layered harmony, individual voices rising and falling through the mix.  Worse, the two can hear the voice saying different things at once, some separate part filtering through to each one's apprehension.  They're aware that something else is being said, but each presently understands only what is being said to them.

To Smoke Alarm:

"You need to be outgoing to find the Traveller, all speed.  She needs you, she needs the help of everyone who remembers who she is.  But you can't make to-dos.  The Traveller can't make to-dos.  No ball-games, no flyposts, no wipeouts. Because this is a place that can take the Kang in a person and do worse than make them unalive, it can make them unKang, if they forget even a little to be following the Kang way."

"Be brave and bold.  But always ask yourself what the Leg-it would do.  And 'ware kitacats."


To Stanley:

"The Traveller is in great danger," she says.  "Less in danger of losing her life than in danger of not being the Traveller.  You are needed.  You know her true self.  You know this true self of hers better than anyone does.  And you are a man of courage but not one of violence.  You will face the temptations this world sets out better than any.  And yet.  You are a... Doctor."

There is a bit of a pause and a smile at that. "You have the insight to know when drastic steps must be taken, and you have the discipline to take them with dispassion.  You may need it.  Look after Smoke Alarm.  Look after yourself.  And look after the Traveller.  She needs you more than she ever has."

Smoke Alarm outlooked in wonder and horror at the weird, ever-changing stranger. That must be hurty, with her face shifting about all the time. She couldn't know what she was outlooking at. And talking with so many mouths had to be confusing.

But she felt no stranger-danger here; she felt almost like she rememorised this person, or she would. Mayhaps Traveller could show-and-tell and introduce them later. And her words were good Kang words, mostly, and they sounded like good advice. Actually, it was all just what she all-ways did. Yet the warning about this place made her cold to the bones. What could make her unKang? 'Okay, I knowhow. I follow the Kang way, all-ways. We'll lost-and-find Traveller. But who are you?' she demanded.

"Mayhap I'm no one," is the answer.  "Mayhap you already know, but you can't rememorize me till later."

Stanley is surprised that, despite the stranger saying multiple things at the same time and constantly shifting how she looks, he is able to clearly understand her. However, he doesn't like what he is hearing. The warning is a bit vague, but Trav is in danger from something more dangerous than wild animals, something that threatens who she is. The temptations of this planet? Does it have something to do with this abandoned city?

"Where is Trav?" he asks.

The figure lifts an arm, pointing behind and to her her right, without shifting her stance or altering her gaze.  "The Traveller is across the city.  In the company of a person who is in as much danger, and is such a danger herself.  Go to her.  Remember what has been said... and make certain you are ready."

She turns away from Smoke Alarm and Stanley and starts to walk away.  She is not walking quickly, but she seems to diminish quickly, as if moving swiftly into the distance.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:53, Sun 29 May 2016.

Trav and Kalath, in the ruined shop, suddenly hear a creaking and footsteps from somewhere above them in the building.

Trav immediately slips into her gunfighter stance. Out comes her piece, the VHRM-HREEMMMM. Her eyes dart side to side. She gets in a back to back stance with Kalath.

"Your lead. What do we do next?"

"Well..." Stanley briefly watches the stranger disappear, reflecting on her warning. "That was strange, I have no idea who that was... Let's quickly regroup with Trav."

He sets of in the direction the stranger had indicated.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Sun 29 May 2016.

"Hide. IF we are found... I will deal with the intruder." There is absolutely no wavering in her conviction. She may have reacted badly to being called a hunter; but there was no doubt she was one.

Trav learned from a life on a ruined world to always trust the scout. She immediately looks for a defensible position that will offer both cover and concealment.

OOC: The Traveller rolled 16 using 4d6+5 with rolls of 1,3,5,2.  Trav scoots out to find cover and hide - 2d6+Perception 2+subterfuge 1+1 sp, down to 6.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:13, Sun 29 May 2016.

'Build high for happiness!' Smoke called out to the white rezzie, feeling like she ought to, anyhow. Smoke Alarm was mostly definitely confuzzled. She outlooked at the stranger outgoing, shrinking, fading away, too much like the Qplotl's rat-things to be normal. 'There's some weird people out there.' the Blue Kang commented to Stanley, turning away, now focused entirely on hunting for Traveller.

As she footed along, she kept close outlook for hazards; the Kang knew well the hide-ins there could be in a city, and the dangers that could be lurking in them. She also keep outlook for any sign or litter of Traveller, so she could track her down.

'Ware kitacats.' she warned Stanley. 'I dunno how a kitacat is different from a regular cat, but that's what that stranger said.' Smoke stopped and adjusted her packback, so Puddy's newly fixed head protruded above the zip, outlooking back. A second pair of eyespies, especially now he had a new one. Puddies would knowhow the cats lurked.


OOC: Tracking Traveller: 14
11:06, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 14 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 1,4. Awareness(4) + Ingenuity(3) + Keen Senses(2).

Outlook for dangers: 16
11:06, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 16 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 3,4. Awareness(4) + Ingenuity(3) + Keen Senses(2).

Once Traveller was hidden as well as she could be; Kalath herself looked for a place to hide; but also somewhere high. If they -were- spotted; she wanted the drop on their tracker.


OOC: 13:42, Today: Kalath rolled 16 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 6,2.  Awareness + Subterfuge + Keen Senses.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:43, Mon 30 May 2016.

"They are probably a lot bigger and meaner." Stanley replies, hoping that these creatures would be large but not too large. It would be a nightmare if the deadly predators here were as small as normal cats, but quicker. However, as he had experienced when he had gone on safari in Africa, even big cats aren't always easy to spot if they are in their natural habitat. He tries to keep a close eye on his surroundings, but he doesn't really know what he is looking for. In Africa there was a ranger to track and point out the lions, now he has Smoke Alarm.

OOC: Keeping an eye out for any big cats :).
18:52, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 15 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 4,3.  Keeping an eye out for danger.  Awareness(4)+Ingenuity(4). .

The overgrown streets aren't the most favorable environment for a Kang to be tracking a person in, as their talents have been honed in judging scuff-marks and smudges on concrete or tiling, or in understanding the length of time since a Cleaner has passed by the smell of their tread-track.

However, Smoke Alarm makes do: she finds the occasional feet-prints and broken plant-stem that indicate that someone Trav-sized and not being particularly careful about how they foot has passed. Starting in the direction indicated by the white apparition, she and Stanley proceed for several zigzagging blocks on the trail of the Traveller.

All the way, they keep their eyes open for danger.  Their efforts pay off.  Smoke Alarm catches a soft, perhaps involuntary hiss from an open and shadowed doorway.  At the same time, from the corner of his eye, Stanley spots motion: a form ducking down behind a low half-wall festooned with spilled fronds and wildflowers, perhaps an ornamental sidewalk planter at one time.  Their stalkers seem at once to realize that they've been seen, and come into clearer view.

Stanley's thoughts, inevitably, go back to Amanda Khabares and the other Khezhek-Americans that he met on Arden.  However, there are clear differences.  Amanda's people had more of the leonine or the pantherish look about them.  These catfolk have spotted pelts bringing to mind the cheetah; they're carrying long spears with rough-looking metal blades, and wearing brief outfits of fur and hide that look like they're meant more as harnesses for gear than protection from the elements.

As the pair come more clearly into the light, one glances across to the other and gives a brief warning snarl.  If the second took any message from that, it's not clear to Smoke or Stanley.  The one that "spoke" is slightly closer to them than the other.

OOC:

17:00, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Cheetah Person, rolled 13 using 2d6+7 with rolls of 3,3.  Stalking Smoke and Stanley: Coordination(5) + Subterfuge(2).
17:00, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Cheetah Person, rolled 11 using 2d6+7 with rolls of 1,3.  Stalking Smoke and Stanley: Coordination(5) + Subterfuge(2).

The nearer Cheetah Person is at a distance of 3 and the other is at a distance of 4.

Inside the shop, Kalath and Trav wait anxiously as the sounds of movement drift toward the back of the building, then stop, then sound as if they start to descend.  They lose track of it briefly -- then there is a sudden and sharp sniffing noise from behind the boarded passageway.

With the squeal of nails being pried free of wood, first one and then the other remaining bits of the barricade are levered free and a figure moves into the room.  Kalath recognizes at once the furred form of a Hunter, crouching with its spear at the ready.  But its attention seems fixed on the spine-wolf that Kalath left abandoned.  It moves forward, jabs experimentally at the carcass on its carrying-frame, studies the rig briefly.

Then it starts to turn.  Green eyes reflect weirdly around the shadowed space of the shop.

OOC:

17:26, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Cheetah Person, rolled 12 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 1,2.  Finding Kalath and Trav: Awareness(4) + Ingenuity(3) + Keen Senses(2).

Her kill! Hers! That would do quite a few members back home a meal. Sniffing. This... Traveller... was undoubtedly giving off the scent of fear to a Hunter. And there is no doubt that they'd know that her contraption was man-made as well.

She silently strung an arrow to her bow; then stood up; the bow levelled at the Hunter.

"There is easier prey, Hunter."