After taking the newly acquired Armored Van back to the Hope Settlement, the party now has the chance to buy and sell items with the merchant Naïstacia.

While this is going on Alex (the reformed bandit) approaches the group and informs them that an individual who has introduced himself as Gwydion has approached the front gate of the settlement and wishes to speak with those in charge. From Alex's description of Gwydion, the party knows he is a human male named wearing a haversack, a hooded long-rider coat, what Katy quickly recognizes as Technomagic gloves, and a staff.

After the party finishes with the current endeavors (dealing with the merchant, and the traveler at the gates) it will need to decide if or when to head to Scrap Valley to check out what has prevented the Gnomes from contacting the Halflings.

OOC: Collected items that the party can sell and the inventory Naïstacia offers are listed in the Wasteland Campaign House Rules, Edits, and Group Notes thread and also in notes in the Roll20 game room. Can handle the shopping stuff in OOC sections of posts while posting what your characters do in regards to being informed of Gwydion and any interactions with the man.

Katy goes to see Gwydion herself and asks, "Hello, Gwydion? What is it you need?"

On one hand, she didn't SAY she's the boss of the group. And with how she looks up to Matt and with how the spaceship is Sam's, she kind of assumes either one or both of those guys are the boss. But that doesn't mean she can't play leader with a stranger visiting for mysterious purposes.

She's a little girl, sure, but she's also a talking anthropomorphic raccoon, indicating her mutant status. In this post-apocolyptic setting, she COULD be the leader of an establishment for all any outside would know.

Miku will follow along with Katy to make sure she will be safe and healthy. ^^
This message was last edited by the player at 21:58, Wed 03 July 2019.

"Considering the rare politeness of announcing himself, I'm optimistic that this guy isn't here to threaten us."

Pyrus joins in going to the entrance to welcome Gwydion.

"Welcome to Hope, Gwydion.  I am Pyrus."

  Queen of the wasteland Katy is a wonderful idea, clearly because of logic and not because Mike is biased.

  "People I meet for the first time are usually only polite to me when they need something.  But if we're lucky, it's something that would be on our to do list anyways."  Though it would be convenient of it also involved scrap valley to save them a trip.

Matthew follows along with several others towards the gate and after Mike speaks up, Matthew says, “Hello, I'm Matthew.”

Matthew is curious to know what has brought Gwydion to this settlement but is willing to give the man a chance to volunteer the information before asking the stranger.

Samuel doesn't head towards the gate.
Instead, he stays near Mr. and Mrs. Naïstacia as he discusses what sort of materials, supplies, and equipment they might be able to acquire. Samuel does this without directly saying what he'd need it for since he is looking to buy items that will expedite the repairs of the shuttle. Samuel also sorts through the items the group has acquired to find what they can sell to the merchants for funds to either buy better gear or other items the group may want.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:35, Tue 09 July 2019.

Sevro assists Samuel while keeping an eye on the gate with rifle at the ready in case the newcomer tries anything funny.  He turns to Samuel and says, "Hey, need a hand going through this stuff?"

Meanwhile, Sevro sends one of his owl drone overhead as additional observation for what is transpiring at the gate (at a safe altitude).

OOC: This gives Sevro an excuse not to go to the gate but is keeping an eye on what is going on just in case.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:56, Sun 21 July 2019.

Gwydion nods to Katy and the others who have approached him and says, "Recently I saw an omen of a shooting star heading towards this area but I figure the small meteorite burned up before hitting the ground as I haven't seen a sign of it. But I did come across a shelter settlement a few days ago and they told me of this new settlement at the old mines so I figured I would check things out."

It is obvious from Gwydion's statement that it's Katy's and Matthew's old shelter that Gwydion came across.

Katy steps forward and offers her hand as she says, "The Middletown Settlement? I'm from there originally... but you're here for more than just curiosity, right? You said you wanted to speak with the leader. Technically, we don't have one; we kinda have six. But for your purposes, I'll be the leader of Hope Settlement. So tell me what you want."

It is true that the group never fully established a single leader. But Katy likes it that way. She is highly independent due to how her life turned out and doesn't like being bossed around. Despite this, she doesn't like the idea of being in charge of the grownups for longer than a few moments at a time... maybe.

  Yes, multi pronged vague leadership is important for keeping ideas like 'The murderous plants that went out of control and overran that place will totally be safe and practical if we use them!' from getting out of hand.  While also leaving most of the boring but important bookkeeping to those who love it.

  "Katy has done wonders for weeding out people not actually serious about their visit." Okay probably not YET.  But Mike gets the feeling 'How dare you make me speak to a mere child!' reactions are going to cut out a lot of useless visitors from the waiting list.

  He also expects the "omen" to just be a fancy way of claiming 'Going that way seemed like a good idea at the time'.  But that's a course his own life has followed often enough, if with less melodrama about it.

OOC; Days Later Looting Edit:

Unclaimed but accessible loot pile.

  *I don't own studded leather. So I'll take a freebie as a backup for Out Of Frame.
  *Iodine pills; handfull of em.  While I can drink radioactive water, it's nice to be able to secure/provide clean water for others.
  *Batteries. Handfull of em.
  *Medispray. Two unclaimed? Grab 1 just in case, unless other party members go "Oh, actually I want/need that".
  *Mike already owns a Geiger counter. But won't let people sell our spare.
  *1 lead lined copper mesh pouch I will promptly forget I have.
  *It's a given the party will be hanging onto the emergency shelter, laser forge, and hazmat suit.  But if not, Mike will "Call dibs" then throw em back on the community pile.

For Sale.

Mike can't justify the cost of a 1,000 Vanilla Laser rifle. While the """Cheaper""" combat pistol is a trap at this point that would either sit unused for having a worse single fire than my Sling, or end up costing me more than buying laser weapons at 5/10 gold per "Only reason I'd even equip it" trigger pull.

But by now the party probably had more than enough time to work on further custom weapons.  While lacking in special property options at prof +2, a DiY Slow Fire (to make up for the reduced damage step) Laser Rifle would be dirt cheap, even considering initial ammo pack costs.

So getting started on DiY Slow Fire Laser Rifle would be Mike's only resource expenditure so far.  Might as well put my class features to some use.

This message was last edited by the player at 08:14, Thu 25 July 2019.

Matthew glances at Gwydion warily and knows that the Middletown settlement would be wary of strangers given that there is the chance that a stranger is working with of for the former leaders of the settlement that were driven out to stop the experiments and cruelty being inflicted upon the inhabitants of Middletown.

Matthew speaks up as he asks the question on his mind, “I'm also from Middletown, so I am familiar with those living there. I'm guessing you performed some service or task for Middletown before they told you about the Hope settlement. May I ask what was it?”

Samuel figures if his help is needed to deal with the stranger at the gate then Sevro will let him know. After viewing the current inventory that the Naïstacia merchants have, he figures that the party could use, in no particular order, the Hand Tazer, the Taser Rifle, the Laser Beam Rifle, the Molecular Whip, the two Combat Pistols, the two Wasteland Emergency Shelters, some more grenades and several other minor items like pullets or the Night Vision Goggles and the Sharp Eye Goggles... however Samuel knows that even with trading all the spare stuff they have that the group doesn't need they can only scrounge up a total 2,812 gold pieces and 9 silver pieces of trading value for the party, which is far less than everything the group could use so items should be prioritized... For necessities, Samuel thinks that getting the two Wasteland Emergency Shelters mean that everyone in the group could hide out in them when having to camp outside of the settlement. Samuel figures that this will have to be a group decision on what to get but he has an idea on what he'd prefer if it was just up to him but he knows it isn't.

Samuel turns to Sevro and replies, “Sure that would speed things up.” before Samuel mutters to himself about how the Taser Rifle would be better against Robots and can knock people out at a distance with its lightning/electric damage, but the Laser Beam Rifle has a significantly longer range and tends to be better against the undead with its radiant damage.

OOC: OOC If anyone sees anything in the 'Naïstacia's Current Merchant Inventory' post in the 'Wasteland Campaign House Rules, Edits, and Group Notes' thread please include them as an OOC comment or let me know outside of the game so I can get an idea of what the party is interested in and we can hash out what the party trades for.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:40, Thu 25 July 2019.

Pyrus skews his lips at the idea of Katy claiming to be the spokesperson for the group.  He'd think Miku would be a much better pick for diplomacy.  But Mike does make an interesting point.  Putting your most prickly member forward could make for a wonderful test for whether any newcomers can can handle sticking around for more than a few moments, filtering out the easily offended or overly prideful.

"Haven't really told us a thing about yourself.  Where you're from.  What interest you have in meteors.  Whether you represent a community or are a loner.  What you or your people are looking to buy or sell.  Those would be good starters in most places.  In some cultures, they won't even give you the time of day if you didn't show up with at least a token gift and a lengthy exposition of your history."

(( OOC: Do we have a way to test for those brain slugs or whatever parasite thing i vaguely recall being mentioned as a REALLY bad thing to allow to infest your town?  If so, Pyrus asks that this guy be scanned for stuff like that. ))

((OOC: Can you do a roll for me to see if I pass whatever check is necessary to spot something in the inventory that would benefit the repairs on the ship or will benefit the settlement (i.e. for the Radio Tower)?))

Sevro stands next to Samuel to scan the inventory of items, also noting the rifles but locks his attention onto the C-4 explosives. While keeping his eyes on the wares, he says "Hey Samuel, looks like a lot of stuff but might have to dig through this all in more depth later.  Not exactly sure what is going on up-front yet, but it looks like Katy has taken point so just be ready.  Ready for action or snacks, I am not sure."

After stating what may be the obvious, Sevro drifts his thoughts to the fun... uhhh... uses the group may have for the C-4 explosives.

Sevro manages to get somewhat lucky in that he finds spools of copper wire along with other components which will cost a total of 400gp which the party can easily afford. With those items combined with the LaserForge and the materials the settlement has gained from the mines will enable Sevro and Samuel to repair and patch some parts of the shuttles hull and infrastructure in addition to linking the shuttle's damaged short ranged radio to the settlement's radio tower which will boost the range of the radio tower from 15 miles to 20 miles.

Meanwhile back near the gate, Gwydion nods to Katy and asks, "Since you've set up a settlement at the old mine's entrance, I'm guessing the mine is still operational and mining has resumed or will resume in the near future? Among other things, I do have experience with mines so could help with the operation of the mine in exchange for being able to live here since wandering around is not exactly safe especially with several hostile factions trying to expand the area they control."

Gwydion then turns to Matthew and nods in reply, "Yes I helped repair several items with my abilities, I have some spellcasting capabilities and I do know the mending cantrip. SO I was liberally using it to repair damage to various items."

Gwydion then replies to Pyrus with, "My interest with meteors is the same as my interest in the mines, geology and using the minerals I find along with my magic to try and find ways to mitigate or remove lingering radiation and pollution. In short, I want to heal the planet. In doing so, plants and animals will heal and society can be restored. The only other major goal I have is the destruction of any undead I find for the restless dead preys on the living and frankly I don't want to be food for a corpse."

Matthew listens to what Gwydion and speaks up, “Before residence can be considered we'll need to have you tested with a Terrestrial Diagnosticator to make sure you aren't infested with a brain slug or some communicable disease that would need to be cured first. Miku has the device, would you be willing to submit to being tested?”

Gwydion arches an eyebrow at the mention of the rumored brain slugs, but then again Gwydion knows rumors tend to be based on some fact so odds are there is some sort of parasite that causes trouble... after all those in the Bureau often rant about Brain Slugs and other alien threats. "I reasonable request to which I have no objections."

Samuel goes through the items Sevro discovers in the merchant's stash of items for sale and checks to see if there is anything else the group could use as he pulls a few items that he knows would be useful like the Sharp-Eye goggles and the Bulletproof Vest that he knows Matthew has expressed interest in the past, along with the Hand Taser for Katy.

Katy was all ready to be stern and tough with this stranger to look cool in front of her friends when Gwydion disarms her with being candid and having ready answers. One of which involved healing the planet. Somewhere inside her, the little influence of Gaia that imbued her with natural fire powers is pleased and it spills over into Katy's own mood.

Then the guy agrees to a test from Miku on top of all that.

Katy gives Gwydion a curious look... that adorable head-tilt that dogs give sometimes. Her eyes quickly go from aggressive to soft. "Alright, Miku. Give him the test."

Miku nodnods and smiles brightly at Gwydion. "Hello, I'm Miku. Pleased to meet you, Gwydion. I'm a doctor and a professional, so please don't worry about a thing!"

Miku pulls out the Terrestrial Diagnosticator and tests Gwydion for any brain slugs. Something she is becoming very accustomed to doing as she would have performed the test on every single member of the Hope Settlement.

If Katy knew what Sevro had said... oh who are we kidding? She's gonna ask for snacks whether she knew or not.

But she is super pleased with how her friends took initiative while still technically letting her handle the guy. At least, that's how she sees it.

All the same, Katy does NOT take her eyes of the new guy yet. Until he is proven to be slugless, that is.

EDIT (GM-approved update):
Miku says, "Well you check out, Mister Gwydion Sir! You're in good health and not infected with any parasites!"

Katy ohs and says, "Come on in and meet the others then."

She indicates for Gwydion to follow her and heads over to Samuel and Sevro. "Hey guys! Got a new recruit. His name's Gwydion. Says he knows magic like mending and is familiar with mining."

Miku says, "In addition, he said, and I quote;" and then in a PERFECT imitation of Gwydion's voice, "My interest with meteors is the same as my interest in the mines, geology and using the minerals I find along with my magic to try and find ways to mitigate or remove lingering radiation and pollution. In short, I want to heal the planet. In doing so, plants and animals will heal and society can be restored. The only other major goal I have is the destruction of any undead I find for the restless dead preys on the living and frankly I don't want to be food for a corpse."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:27, Thu 08 Aug 2019.

  See, this is why Mike always thought everyone already knew Miku was a robot. It's just so obvious right, so why even mention it?

  "Reducing the amount of Mindless zombies does tend to make life more convenient even for the non-living, yeah.  Also, yes Brain Slugs are real.  No, over excitable men in suits screaming about them constantly don't do much to actually deal with them."

  We suppose if any such organization was actually effective, that wouldn't leave things horrible enough for player characters to need to solve for them.

Like Katy, Pyrus is disarmed by Gwydion's candidness, stated intentions, and willingness to submit to an exam.  Though any sane person would be eager to be scanned if they knew the dangers of brain slugs...

"Looks pretty unanimous.  Welcome to the team.  You should probably familiarize yourself with what's been going on so far.  We found undead in the mine, for example."

Pyrus does a double-take upon hearing Miku's perfect imitation of Gwydion's voice.  "Wow.  How'd you do that?  Ghost Sound magic?"

It sure didn't look like she was casting a spell.

OOC:   *Barbara swoops in*  "100% effective organizations exist only in fiction.  There's always room for heroes to be heroic."

Putting down the items he was sorting through with Samuel, Sevro turns to face Miku and the newcomer.

"Hi, Gwydion... My name is Sevro.  Going off what Miku just shared with us, I cannot help but ask if you have seen any other mines, minerals, meteors or undead nearby."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:02, Sun 08 Sept 2019.

(This occurs during Katy's GM-approved update, just from Gwydion's perspective.)

Gwydion nods and says to Miku, "Go ahead and use the Terrestial Diagnosticator," as he rolls up his sleeve so Miku can access his arm.

It doesn't take Miku long to get the results and finds out that Gwydion is human and is not infested with a brain slug...
(End of Gwydion's perspective for that update.)

Gwydion is rather surprised that Miku is able to mimic his voice so perfectly and asks, "How did you mimic my voice like that? I didn't notice any spellcasting." Next Gwydion hears that he's being welcomed to the team and replies, "Thank you," and upon meeting Samuel and Sevro, Gwydion replies, "Actually  I have seen what could have been a meteor a few years ago towards the east in Scrap Valley, but the Gnomes that live nearby said that while something fell from the sky, but I haven't been able to get near it as a clan of kobolds have taken residence in and around that site. And I only know of one other mine in the area, but that is several miles to the east and the Everhammer clan of dwarves currently live in it. They might be amicable to trade and bartering, but they take it seriously so they view gifts of friendship or poor negotiations as a lack of respect or a sign of foolishness...but they live several miles down the road beyond scrap valley."

Also the supplies Naïstacia has for sale, Sevro finds a large supply of copper wiring and other materials that can be used to patch damage to the hull and infrastructure of the shuttle that collectively would cost 400gp. Such repairs would take 2 days and partially repair the communication system in the shuttle which could with those same supplies be linked up to the radio tower to boost the tower's range to 20 miles.

OOC: Also a reminder that Matthew has converted the Brain slug corpse into Slaarsh Powder using his Chemistry Kit.
Current items the party is purchasing along with slush funds remaining after vendering the 'party loot':
Selling: 8 Light Crossbows, 3 sets of common clothes, Bent Pipe, 2 Auto-slingshots, 6 Rapiers, 32 leather armors, gaxian locator beacon, 9 maces, 3 studded leather uniforms, chain shirt, 2 knifes, Warhammer, Greatsword, longsword, 6 heavy crossbows, 360 crossbow bolts, 15 light crossbows, 22 scimitars, 2 bullet casings, the Tazer, and 5 Beatup Revolvers
Total 849 lbs, and 2,812.9gp bartering value (70% value)
Leaves 281.6lbs on the Gravwagon after offloading radio tower and Isomogrifier
Acquiring:
Katy is getting the Hand Taser (100gp), 2712.9gp left to barter with after trading in her old Studded Leather armor (31.5) since she now has a Breastplate.
The Party will get both Wasteland Emergency Shelters at 86gp each (172gp total so 2,540.9gp left to trade)
Matthew will want a Sharp-eye Goggles at 150gp and a Bulletproof Vest at 250gp (2,140.9gp left)
Mike is keeping a Studded Leather armor as a backup armor (31.5gp so 2,109.4gp left) and the creation of a Thermal Laser Blaster/Cannon? (Slow-firing & Two-Handed will cost 20gp and take 2 days) (Can't remember if you wanted it to be two-handed or not, the two-handed version has longer range and 3d4 fire damage, one-handed version does 2d6 damage both have the same cost and time to craft)
Samuel will want the Nightvision Goggles (250gp) and to craft a Thermal Laser Blaster (Two-handed, Slow-firing with Fire damage type [3d4 Fire damage as Samuel will have his mounted on a sub arm of his mecharmor)] and uses a Laser Cartridge for ammo clip, will cost 20gp and take two days and would sell his needles+gauss rifle for 58.5gp which would pay for the newly crafted weapon and then some!)
1,857.9gp left after Mike and Samuel craft Thermal Laser Blasters and buy a single Laser Cartridge for the ammo supply (only 10/10 with these weapons at the moment)
800gp for the 16 ounces of C4 (50gp/oz) along with 400gp of materials to repair the shuttle would leave 657.9gp (Radio in the shuttle will be partially repaired and linked up to the radio tower which boosts the tower’s range to 20 miles.)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:19, Sun 05 Jan 2020.

Miku answers Gwydion and Pyrus, "I'm a talented vocalist! Thank you for comparing my natural ability to magic! I do sound effects too! But mostly, I just do music."

She pulls out her keytar and begins playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKQxE6hSo_k

Miku asks, "Why would someone be offended by a gift?"

Katy has a smile on her face and a happy wag to her tail as she stares at the nearest snack like the others predicted. She takes it, but turns to look at Gwydian as he talks about the two potential locations. "Both sound worth checking out. I wonder if the kobolds will also be willing to trade..."

She then looks at Miku. "I guess it depends on the gift; one person's trash is another's treasure after all. But any of you can feel free to give me gifts anytime!"