Scrounge follows Forim into the Vale.  He is quickly distracted as he searches the rocks nearby for signs of disturbance and any likely hidden caches that may have been stashed there.

He turns up the river staying in the shallows and walks along it checking rock formations as he goes.  He's like some strange insect on Booster Blue as he quickly scurries over and around the nooks and cranies checking for anything useful.

OOC:
Scrounge rolled no successes, 2 advantages using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1B 1S 3A 2D ((6(B), 3(S), 2(A), 6(A), 5(A), 6(D), 1(D))).  Survival.

He wants to search the following J7 J8 H5 G3.5 E2.5 E3.5 on his way to Starting Point E3.5.

2 successes (survival)

It is just me and Sawalim. You seen to be a little more comfortable than me in this environment, so I will follow you. Take us to where you think we will find resources. I will follow you and try to make it harder for them to track us. 

I make fake trails that seem to vanish by walking in random directions and then walking back in those foot prints. I also find a stick with leaves on it and use that to cover up our footprints. I am constantly on the lookout for enemies.

Sawalim leads Onyx to what appears to be an open clearing in H4, with the intention of crossing over to H5 and eventually heading up onto the hill. As she walks, she watches for animal behavior - what the insects are feeding on, whether scavengers or fliers grow silent in the presence of unusual interlopers, and so forth.

While studying the forest she talks strategy. "The hill is a good place to start, I think. We can scope out the vale that way. But if I were the droids, I'd start any search from there; I think it's dangerous to stay up there for too long."

I nod my head in agreement.

OOC: I'm gonna make a Survival 2 difficulty check to cover our tracks. Onyx rolled 3 successes using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 2a 1p 2d with rolls of 4(A), 8(A), 3(P), 4(D), 6(D).  Survival to cover my tracks.

My extra successes make it so that one of the fake trails I have made throws off the robots sending them in the wrong direction for a little bit.

What is the difficulty going to be for our perception check on top of the hill?

The sun remains only a faint glimmer when the new rebels set out into the forest.

The beige-trunked trees have brightly coloured foliage. The tall hardwoods remind Sawalim of the degura tree of the Mother Jungle. It's a comforting thought.

Sawalim and Onyx make their way to a clearing south of the hill (H4)

(Xenobiology will have a difficulty of 2. 1 extra Boost for the Ithorian)

Scrounge thinks over what he has learned. The droids were customized somewhat, but were still recognizable as their original models:

Bubbles was obviously a T-series "Dependable," a droid used in firefighting. Its unbreakable chassis and great strength allowed it to push through collapsing buildings. Normally it carries a water reservoir in its torso.

Skinny is a Cybot-Galactica "Wild Rescue" droid. Designed for search-and-rescue in extreme conditions such as avalanches and forest fires. Its hydralic 'muscles' allow it to move unhindered by terrain. It also has an infrared sensor to detect trapped people.

Scrounge and Tuhr make their way to the rocks at the top of the hill. These silvery rocks are covered with moss and mold, giving them a rich, heady scent. This is probably the biggest rock pile on the hill. (G6.5)

(Searching Difficulty depends on where you are searching. Searching the field is 1. Searching the trees is 2. Searching the rocks is 3. Searching the river is 4.

A good search takes about 15 minutes. A hurried search imposes 2 Setbacks.)


Ikki lurks near the starting point, taking good cover and keeping low (I-9).


(Perception to locating the droids is difficulty 3. 1 boost for using the high ground. 1 boost for locating Bubbles specifically. 2 Setbacks for locating Skinny)

Swalim & Onyx are at H4.

Forim, Scrounge, and Tuhr are at G6.5

Ikki is at I9.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:01, Thu 29 Oct 2015.

As she walks, she begins to make connections. With a tone of unmistakable delight, she begins to talk. "This is an old-growth forest. Haven't seen too many of these, but the signs are there. Wood debris, gaps in the canopy; it should boast a lot of biodiversity, both plant and animal. There's at least eight different species of tree."

She reaches down and carefully trims a long stalk of thin jade grass and splits it in the middle. She holds it up to the side of her neck and experimentally takes a bite. "Oh! High sugar content. Sap is sweet - vaguely like sorghum?" She quickly trims a few more off and stows them in her satchel. There doesn't appear to be much growth in this clearing. "We need more than this, but it should help for the beginning of the night."

"There's the sound of running water. Let's take a look at it and then regroup with the rest; we'll need to stay in motion tonight."

Forgot to note, got two successes and one advantage on that Xenology check.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:29, Thu 29 Oct 2015.

Onyx goes up and mimics what Sawalim did.

Not bad. This should do.

Onyx is on the lookout for flexible vines.  He plans on using those to make traps.

Forim says "Let's search this quick, and work together.  Then the droids should be out, so let's look for them on our way down"

ooc: 1A 1P perception - probably just adding 1 boost dice to Tuhr's roll
This message was last edited by the player at 19:26, Thu 29 Oct 2015.

Sawalim quickly notes a weird-looking root that is edible and a bush that can be made into tea. Some of the berries that she sees are poisonous to mammals, so she advises Onyx not to bother collecting them. Pretty soon they have an armload of delicious vegan food.

Scrounge nods approval at Forim's statement.  He starts to go over the large rock pile seeking for any recently moved rocks, the scent of hardware, the imperceptible buzz of a power core, anything that indicates something was hidden here.  He rushes

OOC: Scrounge rolled 2 successes, 3 threats using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1P 2A 3D.  Search.  Utinni(2 ranks) cancels the 2 setback dice for hurried and takes 1/2 time.

He can move on to another spot if you allow.  I'm guessing about 3 hexes searched in 15min   I have no problem with GM making incidental rolls as needed.  His perception is PAA with Utinni to cancel setbacks.

In the rocks near the stream's split, at the west side of the hill's base, Scrounge finds something. Tucked into a hollow, he finds an electronic thermometer.

Ikki lurked silently in the shadows as he kept his keen eyes, watching as he chewed on the top of his heavy leather jacket. He knew that he wasn't as well hidden as he possible could be so close to the start but locating the enemy took priority in his head as he searched for the tracker of the two droids. If he could track that one and with help take it down or at least pin it down for a while, that would make hiding that much easier.

Which almost statue like stillness, Ikki remained still apart from the movements that came from readjusted his stance due to comfort.


Looking for the Skinny one.

00:35, Today: Ikki Sorlock rolled 2 successes using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1P 2A 1B 3D 2S with rolls of 11(P), 3(A), 4(A), 1(B), 5(D), 6(D), 1(D), 4(S), 1(S).  Perception - Last one was wrong.

"Oooooo."  Scrounge coo's at his find.  This certainly wasn't natural to the area and likely planted.  He turned it around in his hands and thought of all the ups and downs of the device.  He muttered to himself in jawa and after showing anyone nearby pocketed the treasure.  He then continued his searching seeking more mysteries.

As he is walking Onyx suddenly comes to a thought.

Sawalim those berries is there anthing we can do to them to get say another mammel that we want to eat to eat them?  Wait if the animal ate the berries would it be fine for us to eat to eat them?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:59, Fri 30 Oct 2015.

As you all search around and find a good position for yourselves, an hour passes. Then you hear the crackling discharge of a blaster, off to the south. Apparently the game is on.

When Onyx here's the gun go off he turns to Sawalim

Lets go catch up to the rest of the group.

OOC: I am an expert tracker, so tracking them takes half the time.

I figure it's an average check with 2 setbacks due to trying to do it while being stealthy and fast. I also am gonna give myself a boost because we did know that they were heading to G6.5. Btw one setback cancels out because I am an expert tracker,

Onyx rolled 1 success, 1 threat using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1b 1s 2a 1p 2d with rolls of 2(B), 4(S), 4(A), 6(A), 3(P), 8(D), 4(D) Tracking (survival).

Threat will be that while tracking his group Onyx gets down on my hands and find one of there tracks. In his excitement on finding there trail he remembers to cover his track, but not his own.

It only takes a minute or two for Onyx to locate Forim and Scrounge on the hill. They have ensconced themselves in good cover in the rocks. Scrounge is happily cradling his new treasure. Apparently the temperature is fine and the humidity is falling.

Onyx is instantly cautious of the thermometer.

Scrounge make sure that thing isn't bugged.

As Onyx walks around trying to decide what to do next he realizes that whatever happens he needs a weapon. Onyx walks over to someone who has a knife. He asks to borrow it to make himself a weapon. If he can find the materials he makes spiky brass knuckles, and a spear for throwing. If he can't make either of those he begins sharpening twigs that he can find into sharp points.
if he hears any noise from the woods he drops instantly silent.

Overall Onyx is pleased with the group. Sawalim is much more of an asset to this team than Onyx first anticipated. Onyx won't admit it, but without Sawalim Onyx would be dead from eating the poisonous berries. So far the only disappointment is Ikki. Onyx hopes the kid is alright, but he knows from experience that you never want to be alone at night. That's when death feels a whole lot closer than life.

As they head back to the group, Sawalim bobs her head. "Theoretically. But I imagine there are easier ways to incapacitate an animal than feeding it a poison it's probably already familiar with. The poison isn't likely to be deadly, but it all depends on who is doing the eating."

"Scrounge could probably eat it and be fine; those berries probably disseminate seeds via the digestive tract of avian mammals or reptiles, and jawas process food at similar rates. Forim's reptilian physiology might be able to handle it, but there's no reason to risk it tonight."

Sawalim happily greets Forim, Scrounge and Tuhr. "We have already found suitable foodstuffs for our diverse squad! Scrounge - Onyx has a berry appetizer for you. For the rest of us, I have a lovely, raw sapgrass and root dish."

The Jawa was chatting with the Duros and wondering where Tuhr had ended up.  He was checking out the rocks as they conversed.  "Find blaster.  Pew.  Pew."  He made a finger gun and pretended to shoot.  He was talking about theoreticals of what could be hidden in the vale.  "Ship.  Pew.  Pew."  This time he made both hands shoot.  "Grenade.  Boom."  His hands expanded out to simulate the explosion.  Of course all he had so far was a thermometer, but it was a good start.  Maybe there is a Sand Crawler buried beneath this hill!!!  Fix it up.  Drive it out.  That would impress the Boss!

Scrounge looked quizzically at Onyx's statement when they arrived.  "No bugs."  The mention of food did bring his mind around to the last time he ate and that they had to scrape out their own from the vale.  He wasn't sure what he would find or if it would be edible, but he certain wouldn't go hungry.

At Sawalim's mention of a appetizer, he perked up and started examining Onyx's hands for the treat.  He chittered something that sounded upbeat that might have been a thank you.

OOC:  Hurried Search of G6.5.  Scrounge rolled 1 success using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1P 2A 3D.  Hurried Search G6.5.

18:54, Today: Forim Luk rolled no successes using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire with a dice pool of 1b.  Assist search.

Forim assists Scrounge on his search

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anything of interest at that specific point. While searching, however, you see something else nearby.

Nestled in the trees at the edge of the hill is something shiny, like polished tin.

Ikki watched the droid in the tree, slightly odd for him to witness as he didn't encounter a lot of mechanical beings in his adventures. But to act now would be foolish, he should get the lay of the land a little better, maybe search for some fauna or game to eat. If he got lucky he would even find something useful but night was approaching so he should hurry before the long dark settled in.

Checking his equipment, he decided to scout a little more and then hunt down the others and regroup before the droids found them. Looking north, Sorlock started making his way to other stack of rocks before heading even further north. Hopefully he'd find something.

Ikki is heading E8.5 via G9.5 so he's not taking the elevation for speed.