Re: The Boise Horror
That day, the bodies of the three Templars recovered from the Cursed Orchard (including that of Aaron McConnel) were cremated. By sundown, their ashes were cool enough to be processed and then put into "urns" (although at this point these consisted of a mason jar, coffee can and suitcase. There was a simple ceremony afterwards (closed to all but Templars) in the "Hall of Heroes", a small church on a hill beside the Temple itself.
Everyone got a hot meal, even a bath (when hot water was made available). Rooms in the Barracks (an old apartment hotel) were assigned for the Posse members (who were all either Companions or Templars). It was extremely basic accommodation, with a shared washroom, no working elevator, and no electricity until the morning, but the old army cots and sheets were clean and vermin-free, and it was very much the best place to sleep any one of them had seen in a long time! The Barracks were usually home to far more Templars, but was virtually empty at the moment.
Due to their priority, those of the Posse that were still injured were healed by the handful of Templars and Convoy medics still in the city. They were treated in the field hospital that took up the ground floor of the Hostel, then released. It was still overrun by dozens of casualties and some more-heavily injured casualties were kept in the rooms for longer-term care.
The area inside most Ghost storms was usually insanely dangerous but that didn't seem to be the case in Boise. During supper, a few inhabitants cautioned the Posse to stay indoors, presumably because of the chance of Destroyer stragglers that might remain in the ruins. Most people were too worn out from the day's fighting to sit and gossip and the canteen tent cleared out quickly.
After needed vehicle and weapons checks and maintenance, they settled in for the night. Despite the better weather in the day, the night was cold and a full moon shed harsh white light on the ruins. Not too surprisingly, the market square and streets around the tent city where most of the downtowners lived were soon emptied with the coming of darkness. A few fires burned in oil drums on street corners and around the tent city, but as electricity was limited to solar cells and a jury-rigged wind turbine there were few other lights.
Sometime around 0230, a blood-curdling scream was heard throughout the makeshift community around the Temple in Boise...
Marshall's Note: everyone make Onerous (TN 7) Cognition checks!