VWORP
VWORP
KCHUNK!

creeeeak

The crew of the TARDIS step out into a green, tropical world beneath a brilliant blue sky and a blazing sun.  There are towering, leafy trees all around the ship, and they seem to be in a shallow valley running east and west.  The buzzing and chirruping of insects can be heard all around.  Despite a bit of a breeze, the day is hot and humid.  There's a salt smell in the air, the faint hint of swamp gas, and an odd tang on top of those that reminds Stanley of working in a hyperbaric chamber.  Trav's readings show that the air is safe enough for everyone, although it would be best to be careful of fires.

Trav's temporal trace of the Mailman's warning signal to ancient Earth has led them here: it's near the west coast of the continent that will one day be Australia.  Here and now the planet is on the up-slope of a greenhouse cycle, hotter than Stanley's 21st Century, and although the sun isn't high in the sky the temperature must not be much shy of 35C.  Sereth finds this relatively comfortable, temperate by the standards of Draconia.  Smoke Alarm doesn't notice the heat yet so much as the open space and all the green -- the Traveller's talkiphone box is the only made thing she can see in any direction.

As they start to poke around their immediate surroundings, the four travellers can hear a distant series of hooting sounds coming from eastward: it seems like a horn-call with a definite pattern in it, though with a distinctly organic feel to it.

Trav comes out in comfortable khakis, hiking boots and a black T shirt with this logo -



"Wow, makes me nostalgic for Dinosaur Swamp back other home. All that's missing are the ley lines. It's been -so long- since I've seen dinosaurs. It's a bit late for that, but we are in the stage for mammalian megafauna - giant tapirs, the dawn horse, all sorts of interesting stuff. We should also may be running into some Homo Sapien Eocene folk - the reptilian sophonts later referred to as Silurians.  They are a great people, referred to as "the elder great sibling" of terra during the Great and Bountiful Human Empires. The Eocenes whom I met held the Draconian cultures in high regard, taking cultural inspiration from your people at times, Sereth - and I think your folk at various times had some of your art, politics and poetry in conversation with Silurian work, which got passed onto mammalian terrans. Eocene Terrans helped stop the potential wars between Earth humans and Draconians at some critical junctures - that's why Boobie and I got drawn into some Dalek attacks on their history at various points. But I've never been here before. This is new to me!" She smiles brightly at that, as old Rogue Scientist Louise came out as teacher for a bit.

Blissfully not caring about danger, Trav heads towards the horn calling, wanting to meet the natives.

Smoke Alarm burst through the doors of the talkiphone box, eager and ready to explore...

...then over a few steps slowed to a halt as she took in the vast green world around her. She outlooked but did not eyespy, did not have the knowhow of it. 'Where—?' Smoke Alarm was a creature of the urban jungle, not this living jungle. The closest she knew were the overgrown parks and gardens outside the Towers, green and dense with long grass and thick bushes, through which dogs and cats prowled. But even there, there'd been hard footpaths to guide a Kang, to let her trackback, and electricky lights and park benches and fountains and playgrounds and walls to show places and keep the gardens at bay, to reassure a Kang of home-sweet-home.

But here, there were no towers in the sky, no safe walls at your back, no streetlights, no bins or benches, nothing made by person or cleaner. The floor was just dirt and grass and leaves and bugs, and it squished beneath her shoes. Nothing followed straight lines and corners, it all lay higgledy-piggledy all over. Smoke Alarm could not name or knowhow half of what she eyespied. Even eyespying to the horizon was bewildering; raised in a close urban environment, she could not get high resolution on something so far away.

And it was hot and wet and sticky, and soon Smoke's long blue hair and shabby clothes, of pants and jacket and shirts and the rags tying them together, just clung right to her. It made her dog-bite itch and her eyes sting. She groaned under the oppressive heat and glared at the blazing sun. Where was the hair-conditioning? Where was the ceiling?

It hit her with a primal fear. This was no home-sweet-home, no place for a Kang. This was all just parks and gardens, green and random and dangerous, that went on and on and on, forever and ever.

As Trav strides a few steps away and Smoke Alarm worriedly orbits the TARDIS, there's a cavalcade of rustles and yips and yeeks that converge toward the travellers.  The undergrowth is more than knee-high on the Kang, and she's startled to see a half-dozen trails cut through it by a pack of somethings that swarm through in her direction.

Just.  Like.  Dogs.

She only sees an occasional flash of scales and colored feathers poke above the leafy greenery as the trails split to either side of her, arrowing past her and the others and past the talkiphone box, and off to vanish again into the green.

OOC: Now it's Past Trauma.

Smoke can add a Story Point.  And just to remind everyone, you're back to your starting SP total (so Smoke has 1 more than that now.)

'Trav!' Smoke cried in Alarm as she eyespied the dogs— birds— bird-dogs! running right for them. She turned and ran; the unbraveness was like cold knifes, like dog fangs and claws down her back. She could almost feel them on her, biting her and eating her. The Kang scrambled right up the side of the talkiphone box, and whipped out her arrowgun. She knewhow handle to birds and dogs and bird-dogs. From her perch, breathing hard, she outlooked bewildered as they ran on, but didn't stop to question it. They were outgoing to trackback, she knew. 'Trav! Trackback talki-box all-speed!'


OOC: Okay, −2 to all rolls.

Trav has braved the famous Dinosaur swamp on Rifts Earth, and has befriended various kinds of non-humans from all over time and space. "Relax, Smoke, no fear." Comfortably, strides back to the TARDIS. She aims her sonic back at Sweet Boy, and the force fields come to life, invisibly protecting the team. "Think of them as another gang of Kangs, but with different rules. We just came into their territory. They're more likely scared of us than we are of them."

Trav digs into her bag - she has a few wrapped up overstuffed ham sandwichs (lunch for today), some fruit and other edibles, wrapped up in some paper. Lowering the forcefield for just a moment, she also spreads out a gingham picnic cloth and unwraps the food. She steps back and reactivates the forcefield, leaving the food out as an offering. Beckoning the team to sit and join her, she sits on the ground crosslegged, and waits. Whoever the locals are should get the scent of the peace offering.

OOC: Spending 1 SP to use Resourceful Pockets

The air tastes a bit unusual and it is quite hot, but apart from that the place looks nice. Having spent some time in Africa, Stanley is no stranger to hot weather. It still takes some getting used to, especially because just stepping out of the Tardis into a completely different climate is a rather sudden transition.

Stanley is just looking at the scenery when he hears Smoke cry out and sees her run back to the Tardis. He looks at what it is she is running from, but can't identify the creatures moving through the undergrowth. It is only because Trav acts completely calm, that he doesn't follow Smoke's advice to run back to the Tardis, even though the things seem to be coming straight at them. He feels a bit safer, when Trav activates the forcefield.



He hesitantly sits down, being reminded of all the times he was warned not to feed wild animals. "I don't know if feeding them is the best thing to do...they might attack us later to get more."

Smoke stayed uptop the talkiphone box, keeping outlook for the bird-dogs for when they cameout back. An arrow in the tummy would make the rest scaredy-cats. 'They're animals, not Kangs. And they're not unbrave when they get bitey!'

And what were Traveller and Stan doing? 'What are you doing? It's not time for nickpicking!' Then: 'You're feeding them? Let them eat each other. Dog eat dog!'

"Always make friends before making enemies, Smoke. Don't worry, Sweet Boy here is keeping us safe with invisible walls." She tosses a rock at the nearby forcefield.  "You can go inside if you want. I want to see who these guys are."

"Stan, why are you automatically assuming what we're dealing with are animals? Geez Louize, it's not like we're not armed. Also, remember, we're tens of millions of years in Earth's past from your time, I don't want to teach the local fauna to be scared of hominids yet. You heard the horns, didn't you? These might not be animals - they might be the natives, or their hunters. Don't be so quick to judge. Be friendly, and see what happens. This forcefield held back the king of the Gargoyles and his army, 10,000 strong, it can deal with local hunters."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:42, Sat 25 Oct 2014.

It takes perhaps ten or fifteen of waiting, but the creatures -- or ones that skulk through the brush in a remarkably similar way -- do eventually come circling back.  The travellers continue to hear the occasional horn-noises from off to the east, growing neither louder nor softer.

The creatures move much more slowly and cautiously this time.  They poke little feathered snouts out from the greenery, and then come stalking forward with wary glances toward Trav and the others, snuffling toward the food Trav has set out and occasionally giving little staccato chirrups to each other.

They're little more than knee-high to a Kang, maybe a little bigger overall than peacocks.  Their attention seems much more on the food than the people near the TARDIS.

Smoke Alarm wasn't reassured by either invisible walls or Traveller's words, especially since she knew there were dangerous bird-dog animals, and not funny-looking alien people. Seeing them with their big and sharp claws and teeths only confirmed her wariness. She wanted to go back inside the talkiphone box, but wasn't about to leave her friends un-outlooked over.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:53, Sun 26 Oct 2014.

Trav makes a weird trill-hoot at the things. She squats, making weird noises at them. Trrrrirrrrrl-VVREE VREE KRROOT KRROOT ZEE ZEEE. She smiles, and narrows her eyes.

"I learned how to speak Velicoraptor, back when I had glasses. Let's see what these little guys have to say."

OOC: Yeah, I know I am burning SPs, but I'd like to burn another SP to use Telepathy to chat with these beasties. If the Doctor can speak Horse and Dinosaur, I think it's fair that Trav can speak Raptor.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:18, Sat 25 Oct 2014.

The velociraptors all look up, startled at being addressed with their own mode of communication.  One of them obviously gets flustered, enough that he charges forward, but after head-butting the force field falls back on his rump.

The others all chatter among themselves.  Trav, her rusty command of Raptor slowly coming back to her, starts to pick up the gist although it's all impenetrable chirping, whistling and clicking to the others.

Two-Legs speak?

Trick! Danger! Flee!

No! Food!

Food trick!  Hurt Two-Legs!

No!  Two-Legs foot-crush!  Two-Legs sharp-hurt!  Two-Legs head-burn!  Flee!

Some of the raptors start snatching up ham sandwiches in their claws.


***

OOC: Well, Trav doesn't have Telepathy, but she does have insane levels of Ingenuity and Knowledge.  She may just plain know how to speak to velociraptors in their own particular idiom.

So if that Story Point just gets used for a roll, let's see what you get.  Heck, I'll even give you Charming.

The Guardian, on behalf of The Traveller, rolled 28 using 4d6+16 with rolls of 3,1,4,4. Rappin' with the raptors: Ingenuity(8) + Knowledge(6) + Charming(2) + 4d6.

OOC: Trav has Psychic, but whatever you says goes, boss.

Trav's eyes light up. "Vrrrt choo choo cht ccht VEEEM cht cht!" "I don't want to hurt you or capture you. I'm from far away, and I'd just like to know some things about this place. I'm called The Traveller. What's your name? I love the way your plumage looks today."

Trav scowls at that. "Tell me about these other two legs who would hurt you. I'll make them stop." She shoots a look at Smoke to put the arrowgun away.

She makes sure that the mic in her Ipad can pick this up, and send a text feed to her friends in english.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:11, Sat 25 Oct 2014.

As Trav starts to try to converse with the raptors, her program does start to give some fragmentary translation to her friends, but it's very disjointed and interjected with words for things in the surroundings; e.g., SQUIRREL!

With her direct knowledge and the hints that she is picking up from their mental state, Trav is doing better.  Several of them tear into the sandwiches and the fruit and become a little more calm and coherent.  But she completely loses them with the compliment of their feathers and the idea of a name, for instance.  It becomes clear that these are animals: semi-sentient, on the level of dogs, perhaps.  (The omniscient observer would note that they don't seem to have the same level of consciousness as the Us.)


Over hill!  Bad!  Hurt!

Two-Legs all around Giant Ones!

Two-Legs on Giant Ones!

Chase from berries!

Chase from little-foods!


Trav slowly starts to put together a picture of cleared and managed farms, sapient bipeds, huge herd beasts and mounted herdsfolk.  Some of the raptors have memories of a herder just looking at them and inflicting severe pain all over.  They tend to steer clear of that area except when they get really hungry and wander into the managed area.

OOC: My bad on Psychic.  I was looking for Telepathy specifically in your list of a zillion Traits after you mentioned it.  Psychic is helping you here.

"Thank you, that's what I need to know. Take that food, it's yours. Can you tell me where these bad two legs are?" Trav hoots this reassuringly to the raptors.

"These guys are animals, it sounds like they're being pushed out of their native habitat by settlers, most likely Eocones. They don't sound Dalek influenced, thank heavens."

"Okay, okay...it's just because of the height of the undergrowth and the speed with which they move that I assumed that we were dealing with animals. For the record, I was not suggesting to scare them, but questioning the decision to feed wild animals. That's just something people warned me not to do, but maybe you are right about them being hunters or natives and in that case being friendly seems like a good starting point." He says, looking for any movement in the tall grass near the food.

"They certainly look like animals to me." Stanley mutters under his breath, when the creatures finally show themselves and start to investigate the food. It is really weird, maybe even weirder than meeting aliens, to see living, real animals straight out of Walking With Dinosaurs.



"Do you think that the Eocones are the ones making those horn sounds?"

Trav stands up, and deactivates the force field. "You can come down, Smoke. It's safe."

Answering Stanley's question, Trav opines: "Dunno. The earliest ancestors of humankind are still mammals up in trees - this is too early for the likes for any hominids. It could be Eocenes, visitors from  Mars, aliens, who knows. 55 Million years is a long time. I'm fine with people being here as long as it's part of history, but we have to walk carefully here. Time is pretty flexible, but we still have a responsibility to the future." With that, she makes her way towards the hill that the Raptors indicated.

OOC: Hey Gary, what were the Ice Warriors up to around now? Were they around yet?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:33, Sat 25 Oct 2014.

From ontop the talkiphone box, Smoke kept eyespying the nasty bird-dogs, surprised that Traveller was making all their noises right back at them. Still, she had her arrowgun aimed and ready for when they attacked, and a few times she almost fired as they rushed the unseen wall. She lowered it a little at Traveller's warning outlook, but didn't put it away, and hardly inlooked at the text that came through her talkiphone.

Then Traveller switched off the unseen wall. Was she mad?! 'Put the wall back up!' she urged. 'Into the talkiphone box! All speed!'

Trav continues to head towards that hill, as the Raptors play and fight over the food. She turns and looks up at Smoke. Smoke alarm doesn't scare easily. Maybe she had a bad experience with animals? "Smoke, sweety, I talked to them. All they care about is small-food - rodents, berries. They're like kitty-cats. All they care about is running around and not bothering anyone. Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. Come on down, I won't let any of them hurt you." She pats a turbpistol. "You and the leg-it have taken on spider-cleaners, don't be afraid of kitty cats with feathers. They're scared of us two legs, they told me so. Walk here, by me." She points to her right, where she would be between the Raptors and her.

"They like sammiches, not Kangs, see?" She takes the last sandwich, and trill-hoots. Here's one more! Smell it, see, see! Run, get it! She tosses it far into the underbush, far away from the TARDIS and the group. Hopefully, it will draw enough of them off to make Smoke comfortable.

When Trav asks for directions to the problem area, most of the raptors look up toward the east end of the valley although they don't give her a direct answer.

Several of the raptors go off after the tossed sandwich, although many of the others simply scamper off with the ones they've already picked up.  A few of them are still hanging around the TARDIS, but even these are giving Trav a wide berth. as she starts up in the direction they were looking.

'I'm not being a scaredy-cat!' she declared defensively. 'Upgoing high is a totally legit tacktick against animals with big knifey stabby claws like that.' Still wary and eyespying Traveller and the bird-dogs dubiously — kitty-cats? — Smoke jumped down off the talkiphone box, landing in a crouch, her shoes slipping in the loose dirt and leaf litter that made her cringe. She anxiously rubbed her left calf, itchy where the dog-bite was, then stood and footed a little closer to Traveller, then stopped.

'Mayhaps we can outgo back into the talkiphone box now? Trackback to a city?' she suggested hopefully.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:14, Sun 26 Oct 2014.

"There are people towards the east, Smoke. Don't worry, you're brave, you can make for a walk through some jungle. Come on, it'll be fun!"

Trav starts tramping through the growth, towards the east.

It takes Trav, and those who accompany her, maybe twenty minutes to reach the top of a rise that looks down upon the eastern end of the valley.  They can tell, as they come near the top, that the area has been cleared of the tropical growth.

Looking cautiously over the rise from the cover of the brush, they see a wide open area centered around what looks like a multi-leveled stone fortress.  Tilled and fenced fields spread around it and up the terrace-cut slopes of the valley.  Bipedal figures wearing loose vests can be seen working in those fields.

There is also an expanse of pasture dotted with leafy shrubs where they can see huge animals grazing.  There are at least two clearly distinguishable types, both quadrupedal: large, broad-backed animals with wedge-shaped heads and thick tails, that seem to have some kind of ridged carapace covering their backs, and smaller, leaner animals with extended necks and tails.  Ranging around these Trav and the others can see a number of the latter type that are harnessed and carry riders: these riders carry long gleaming lances, and there is the occasional glint of silver and gold from their accoutrements.

Entirely against her better judgement and the wisdom of the Kangs, Smoke followed after Traveller and the others, deciding the safest place in this whole smelly not-city was right with them. Besides, they would need a Kang to rescue them when it all went wrong. She footed close behind Traveller, and kept a constant outlook for the savage sandwidges-eating bird-dogs. Now we don't have any lunch.

She found the outgoing really hard, as the floor was no floor but all dirt and leaves and sticks, and they slid and crunched beneath her shoes. The unfamiliar effort of footing over the strange new terrain made her legs hurt, and the heavy sticky hotness of the broken hair-conditioning left her sleepy and exhausted. Without walls behind or beside her, she could be chased from any direction, so she could never feel sound and safe. Those bird-dogs were following them for more sandwidges, she was sure.

More, she was lost, she was sure of it. The trees and bushes all outlooked the same and outwent for ever and ever, and there were no footpaths or signposts for her to trackback to the talkiphone box. The floor was not flat either, it sloped and curved, and what was floor became almost a wall. Her whole sense of direction and navigation, of rooms and spaces connected by carrydoors in ordinary geometry, her whole knowhow of the world around her, was lost and not found to Smoke Alarm. I want to outgo home-sweet-home! Talkiphone box! she thought in despair. A Kang could almost become a crybaby. Only one thought kept outgoing with her friends, to keep them safe. Brave and bold as a Kang could be. So she stubbornly footed on, sullen and grumbly.

She perked up a little to see some kind of big stone tower and the straight lines of the fenced fields, but the wide open spaces to get there filled her with unbraveness. 'Welp, there's nothing here. Mayhaps we outgo back now?' she asked hopefully.

"Amazing...they know how to build stone buildings." Stanley says with as he reaches the top and gets a look at the fortress. He had been expecting structures built with mud or wood, something more primitive than stone. "I wouldn't call that nothing, Smoke. They also seem to have managed to tame some dinosaurs."

He gave Stanley a quiet look.

"What's so amazing about it? Do you think your species is the only one to accomplish such a basic skill?" It was taking every ounce of tact he possessed not to be openly scornful of him at this point.

He then turned to Smoke Alarm.

"Do not fear. By all accounts, the natives are a civilised race. Possibly more so than early humanity."

Sereth had had little to do with the erroneously named Silurians - they rarely left Earth; and even when there wasn't open warfare between Draconia and Terra; relations were tense between them.

He turned quietly to Traveller.

"What's the plan? Have they ever, by this time period, met anything remotely like what you people look like?"

He was not overly concerned about himself - he fit in the best out of all of them.

OOC: Luckily, this is before they started keeping apes as pets...

OOC: Trav's general understanding would be that the Silurians developed following the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.  From the look of what they have here, they are probably not far into an Iron Age level of development, and it's fairly unlikely they would have had any contact with extraterrestrials.

'But outlook, there's no power-points, no lamp-posts. So there's no cleaners, no picture-spouts, no puters. No ball-games, no fly-posts, no hair-conditioning.' Smoke counted off with growing frustration all that was wrong and missing with his no-place, insisting 'There is no thing here. The spider-cleaners' signal can't have comeout here, to nowhere. There's no TV ant-enner or dish to pick it up.' Mayhaps that would put an end to this silly foot-about to nowhere.


OOC: 3000th post!

"What's not home to you, Smoke, is home to them. They play ball and have pictures and play games and have cleaners, they're just different is all. If you want to go back to the TARDIS, Smoke, then that's fine, but I need to find out whether or not the secrets of the war got sent here, and if they're safe. I need to keep everyone safe, those people, and you. Are you saying those people are nothing, Smoke? That the Towers and what Kangs know is the only something? Come on, you're at least as brave and bold as me, moreso even."

Trav double checks the coordinates on her IPad. "The plan is to check around and see if there are any signs of high tech. That Dalek factory transmitted here for a reason. If there's another Dalek station here, then these people can be in terrible danger. It might be buried underground or elsewhere around here and these folks might not even know it. I don't want to see what happened to Kuvas happen to anyone else. The Time War is my problem. I'm checking it out. As for what we say to them - we can say we're from somewhere else and that we want to make new friends. That's true, isn't it?" With that, Trav makes her way down the slope of the hill.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:08, Tue 28 Oct 2014.

"I...er...that's not what I meant. I didn't mean to insult anyone." Stanley quickly tries to clarify. "Yeah, I admit that I was under the impression that only humans were able to build stone buildings and tame animals...obviously a lot of alien species also developed those skills, but I thought humans were the first intelligent species on Earth. In my time we know absolutely nothing about these people, so it was a bit of a surprise to see such an advanced culture so far back in the past."

"I am sure they are nice people." Stan says to Sereth,  as Trav begins to make her way down the hill.

Trav's readings aren't terribly easy for her to interpret.  She did get some low-output power sources registering in the area from the TARDIS, but she hadn't been able to pinpoint them very well.  Perhaps talking with the locals will lead to some other ideas.

As Trav starts to make her way down the hill, the big herd animals are the first to react,and they do it with a set of raucous honks as they shy away from Trav's approach.  The mounted riders are the first to react, sending up some more of the horn-calls that the group heard earlier.  Three of them rein their lanky mounts in Trav's direction, with their lances leveled toward her, though they're merely approaching at a cautious trot, not charging her.

As they come closer to her, she can see that they're wearing beaten metal masks as well as their shining bangles, and they and look something like this:



As the big animals amble away from Trav, she sees that several individuals on foot are walking out in the direction of those creatures, and those have a different appearance:



As the masked riders come nearer, they look at each other.

"What iss it?" one asks the others.  "Have you sseen the likess of these creaturess before?"

The Draconian steps forward, his hands extended in a peace offering.

"We offer greetings; and do wish to talk."

He subtly stood between the lances and the others - making sure they were -not- going to attack before he lets the others approach too closely.

"Hello. I'm called The Traveller, these are my companions - Stanley, Sereth and Smoke Alarm. We mean you and your people no harm. We're a bit lost - who are you, and what is the name of this settlement?" She raises her arms as well, indicating that she peaceful intent.

Her hearts beat with excitement - Ancient Silurians. This is one of the first civilizations on planet Earth!

Smoke Alarm outlooked pained at Traveller's words, face twisted in despair, but she was unable to put words to what so disturbed her about this not-place, where she could not be brave and bold. She had no knowhow of any of this. She spun, turning her back on the unwalled space, crossing her arms and trying to lock out the world. But she only outlooked upon the huge gardens where bird-dogs had hide-ins under the bushes. Mayhaps she could trackback to the talkiphone box, if she was quick, brave and bold and didn't get lost-and-found by the bird-dogs.

Eventually, she turned back and eyespied the others outgoing to meet the lizard people (but not egghead Dragonians like Sereth) on giant lizards, who cameout to them with big sticks. Do I need to save them from everything? Smoke loitered sullenly at the top of the slope, eyespying what happened next.

Stanley smiles politely as he leaves the talking to Sereth and Trav.

The riders rein back, startled.

"They're speaking!" one says.

"That is not possible," replies another.  "They are plainly no sort of People we know!  That one, perhaps," she says, pointing her spear in Sereth's direction, "but even he is not.  Not even one of the Deep People."

"We should drive them off, or slay them," says the first.  "Lest they sicken the herd."

"Creatures such as this, trouble the kylo?  They are far too puny for that."

"Silence, both of you," snaps the final Silurian.  She frowns down at Sereth, Trav and Stanley.  Addressing Sereth, she says, "This is the domain of Resvatossk, and it bows to the will of Zhethvaton.  You will come with us, and bring your creatures with you.  At the court of our lord there is a, a philosopher who may know of your People.  We will see what he makes of you."

Pointing in Smoke Alarm's direction with the spear, she speaks to the first rider.  "Go and fetch that one down.  It looks small, perhaps it is the whelp of these two.  Ensaven will be displeased if you harm it: if he is displeased, Zhethvaton will; and then I will be displeased.  Is that clear?"

"Lance-bearer," answers the first Silurian, ducking his head.  It seems to be a kind of title.  He spurs his gangly mount up in Smoke Alarm's direction.

Meanwhile, the "lance-bearer" and the other rider spread out to flank the group between them.  Their spears are held angled, not directly threatening but ready.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:57, Thu 30 Oct 2014.

She couldn't hear all the talk, but they didn't sound friendly. The lizard-people on their lizard-bikes were moving to catch if they can. And now one was outcoming right for her! 'Trav!' Smoke called for guidance, but she was ready to run.


OOC: Movers phase. Run!

Sereth spoke very quickly.

"Smoke! Stop! This is not the time for running, hiding or fighting. Now is the time for talk. Come down - you know I'll protect you."

She outlooked unbravely at the wild gardens behind them, trying to eyespy the talkiphone box. Mayhaps she could make it. Mayhaps Traveller and Sereth and Stan could even keep up, and the lizard-bikes wouldn't catch them. Mayhaps. She loitered, unbold and unbrave, but Sereth's words finally decided her. Whatever happened, she couldn't leave them behind. Brave and bold as a Kang could be... in a not-city like this.

She started to foot it down the hill, joining her friends, but made sure to evade the lizards outcoming for her.


OOC: Courage check: 14, a "No, but" Failure. Scared but staying to help.
11:38, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 14 using 2d6+7 with rolls of 1,6. resolve(3) + presence(2) + Brave(2) + Trauma(-2) + encourage(2)
This message was last edited by the player at 03:53, Thu 30 Oct 2014.

The lizard and its snorting, smelly bike gives Smoke Alarm room without running her down.  It loops in behind her and lopes down the hill after her, down to where her friends are waiting.

Trav holds out her hand. "Take my hand, Smoke. It'll be OK. Come on, brave and bold. Think of the stories you'll have for your Kang sisters." She defers to Sereth - he's the diplomat here, and more familiar. "You're brave enough for a place like this. It's not bigger than you."

She gets herself behind Sereth, and next to Stan, urging Smoke to join her.

OOC: This is my 3rd Story Point but hey what are Companions for - I want to give Smoke an SP for that Courage roll, and add in my own Charming and Voice of Authority - like how the Doctor encourages the best in his Companions.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:39, Thu 30 Oct 2014.

Smoke footed down the slope to Traveller, but didn't take her hand, mayhaps in some lingering resentment for getting her in this to-do. 'This place is bigger than me.' Smoke returned firmly. Then she finally said what was so disturbing her. 'There's. No. Walls.'

Trav trots up to Smoke's hill. "Think of Sweet Boy. He's small on the outside, but what is he on the inside? He's enormous and brave, and he runs through time and space, just like you! Be like Sweet Boy! Do you think Sweet Boy is scared of the big old cosmos? No, he runs and leaps and jumps through it, just like you! You're bigger on the inside! Now, come on down! There are cool things to see! Hm, hm?" She holds up her hand to Smoke. "No walls, but mountains and trees and streams. Look. Look! Scary, yeah, but beautiful, yes. Like when I was 8, when they brought me to the Schism. Like a big pool."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:31, Thu 30 Oct 2014.

Stanley stops smiling politely when he hears the lizard-people talk about slaying them. Not really the friendly welcome he was hoping for. Sereth or Trav could find or make a way for them to escape, but luckily that does not seem to be necessary. The riders are going to take them to see some philosopher first.

"In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that we are carrying pathogens that could jump over to their herd animals." he whispers to Trav and Sereth.

Sereth glances at Stanley, with a brief nod. He doesn't discuss it right now, not till they had things a bit... safer.

The Silurians fall into a triangle around the group -- one ahead, two behind -- and indicate that they should start moving toward the fortress.

As they proceed, they all draw a collection of stares from the various Silurians out and watching the herds and working in the fields.  The leader of the trio names herself as Tchezari, and Sereth and the others gather from what little she tells them that "lance-bearer" is a fairly low rank that melds together authority and profession.

It takes a little under a half hour to reach the fortress.  There are massive reinforced wooden gates at the front of it, but the travelers are taken in through a smaller portcullis not far from it.  Once inside, they can see that the fortress encloses both a main keep and a number of smaller stone structures.  They notice that the majority of the locals outside the walls are of the two-eyed variety, but the balance goes the other way inside.  There are Silurians of various apparent ages, and the genders are discernible.

Tchezari and her subordinates escort the four TARDIS crew to one of the smaller structures.  Tchezari precedes them, and calls ahead: "Learned Ensaven!  I have... curiosities discovered beyond the walls for your inspection.  I am leaving my troopers to guard them for you while I report this to Lord Zhethvaton.  I do not doubt that he will wish a report of what you learn of them."

Then Trav and Sereth, Stanley and Smoke Alarm are led into an expansive area with a large number of fascinating items and apparatuses, most on long benches.  In this place is one large and thick-build three-eye Silurian, and a pair of smaller, probably juvenile two-eyes.  One of the latter is stirring a large pot of a gloopy, sour-smelling substance the basic color and consistency of cheese dip as it cooks over glowing coals.  The other small creature is hunched over a collection of small pots that contain liquids and colored powders.

The big Silurian -- Ensaven, evidently -- stares wide-eyed at the four travelers.  "These are a strange collection of creatures...."

Tchezari eyes Trav and the others.  "They may not be simple creatures, Learned," she says.  "They speak."

OOC: I leave it up to Smoke Alarm: you can respond to this and eliminate your penalty or not.  If not, Trav doesn't lose her Story Point.

OOC: Thanks, but I have lots of SPs right now and Trav has so few. :) I'll keep this state and penalty and see where it goes. We don't solve our problems right out of the gate. :)


Still struggling with the existential horror of the great outdoors, Smoke Alarm hardly needed to be remembered of the bigger-on-the-insideness of the talkiphone box. It's bigger on the outside... 'I spose.' she said, mostly to get Traveller to be done with it. But she allowed Traveller's encouragement and coaxing to slowly work on her as she footed down the slope with the others. Mayhaps it was so, but she needed ticktocks not space. Ticks to be outgoing and track back, tocks to get lost-and-found, to get the knowhow of the floorplan. A little rat didn't like to run across an open floor, but to have a wall at her side or a ceiling overhead.

Focusing on the dirty floor beneath her shoes, Smoke footed across the wide open un-walled park, outlooking at the people and animals close-by, not the end of the world where the floor ran into the ceiling. Outgoing across that park made her all unbrave and unbold, feeling a bird-dog could run right out at her or fly down from the ceiling. Nothing to jump on or crawl under. And it was so hot! She felt all burning and wet and sticky and wanted to get her fabshion off and find some hair-conditioning.

Smoke Alarm perked up as they cameout to the big stone towers and became visitors inside. A city at last! Walls and ceilings and rooms and carrydoors, places to hide and jump and climb, where a Kang could feel sound and safe.

They came to a kitchen and met some lizard people. Some had two eyes and some had three eyes and were very frilly. Mayhaps they were divided like Kangs or something. 'We talk.' Smoke Alarm said at last, but wasn't sure if she should how-you-do yet.

Ensaven bends forward, peering closely at Smoke Alarm with big, bulbous eyes.  "So you do," he says.  He reaches out with a scaly finger, holds it questioningly in front of Smoke's forehead, and (if she does not protest or recoil) gently pokes her skin.  "Not like we creatures of the Before Time," he says, "but more like those of the After Time.  Curious.  Curious."

He speaks slowly and clearly to Smoke.  "Where Do You Come From?  Far Away, Or Near?"

Smoke stiffened but stayed steady as the lizard-man poked her, though she went cross-eyed watching that clawed finger approach. 'I Comeout From Very Faraway.' she answered in kind.

It was at this point that Sereth stepped forward.

"My apologies. My friend doesn't always deal well with new situations, and new people." He looked intensely curious. "Before Time? After Time?"

OOC: Not making rolls until I need to. I think there's a dangerous habit to just let diplomacy come down to rolling, especially if you have a character specialised in it, so trying to RP it out as much as I can first.

Ensaven looks at Sereth.  "Do they not tell of the Great Dying, where you come from?" he says.  "You do not have the look of the High People, nor the Young People.  Yet I have never heard of a tribe or a land where the Dying was not known.  Our legends say that long ago, out of the memory of all the People, the land was gripped by cold and locked in place, in white and death.  Before the Dying, in the Before Time, there were said to be many great and wonderful beasts that served the High People.  What we have today is only the fragment of a fragment of those creatures; other sorts live today, but they are not so great as the dragons of old.  And some are small and white and pink and have..."  He gestures with his fingers in a throwing-away motion from his head, and it takes a moment to figure out that he's miming hair.

"Like your... friend?  These truly are other sorts of People, then, and not your chattel?  Forgive me if the question offends: I have not seen their like.  And I have certainly not seen one with a pelt of blue before; I have only seen blue in the feathered flyers and a few of the small scaly animals."

OOC: You shouldn't need to make a roll at this point unless you're trying to figure out something he's not saying.  You've happened upon a reasonably amiable person, or at least his curiosity is stomping all over any other attitudes he might have now, don't worry about a roll unless something starts to seem confrontational.

Trav finds herself performing an old, old habit - hopping on the balls of her feet. She was grinning from side to side, her hands were clenched into what Minmei would call 'happy fists', she was clearly excited. This was why she travelled - she was seeing things she had never seen before - people and things that were wondrous and new! She had to stop herself from reaching into her bag to find and clean non-existent glasses, so as to see everything better. This was so cool and amazing.

She had to bit her tongue to not pour fourth with a torrent of questions - who are the dragons? The before and after and dying times? "You mean hair, like this? The high people? Who are they? And the dragons? Maybe that was when this Earth had magic? I always suspected than this planet had magic too and we're another kind of People and we come from the Stars and oh gosh I have so many questions! This is amazing and you people are amazing and you all go on to do so many amazing things and you should be so proud of the history that you're going to create and..." That was the second Traveller shining true - your current blond hardly ever uses gosh. "Um, Hi, I'm called the Traveller. Sorry for interrupting, shutting up now." She slinks back behind Sereth.

OOC: Don't know if that qualifies for an SP but RPing Impulsive and Curiosity.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:55, Fri 31 Oct 2014.

Ensaven stares while Trav's epic spaz-fest rolls on and on.

He glances at Sereth.  "Is this one quite... well?  Stars?  'Magic'?"


OOC: Oh, yeah, you've completely destroyed your credibility with him (:D) so take a point.

You probably came really close to having him ZOT you with his eye....

Stanley tries his best not to laugh when Ensaven questions Trav's sanity. He can certainly see where Ensaven is coming from: they were talking about serious things like the Great Dying and then suddenly she starts mentioning magic.

A shake of his head, ushering Traveller away.

"She has odd... fantasies sometimes. She is harmless for the most part though."

Whilst he was no expert at recognising different levels of tech; he had quickly picked up that space travellers were not known yet. And as for magic... well, that was more something that various people believed early in their histories. If anything, he was even more dismissive of that then Ensaven.

"We do indeed come from a very long way away. They are not my chattel, but my friends." He frowns. "Of a sort. It is certainly true that they are -lesser- beings."

Sereth wasn't -exactly- being purely arrogant here. Sereth looked similar -enough-; that he might be able to pass, and rather than going into, with a primitive culture, the value of all peoples, it might be best if he took on a role which they might more easily understand, that of their Leader, their Protector.

"I am Sereth, of the Draconian tribe. These are my ... friends, Smoke, Stanley Newton, and one whom is simply known as the Traveller."

He glanced quickly at Stanley - he wasn't sure if the term 'doctor' would be understood. His gaze held his - he meant no disrespect, by any of this.

Though she was not as excited as Traveller after acrossing the unwalled park outside, Smoke Alarm was also interested by the Ensaven's tales of a Great Dying, of a Before Time and After Time. Mayhaps High People were their Inbetweens, or mayhaps upper-floor Rezzies, and the Young People had to be youngsters, the unold. 'You have a before time start too.' she observed.

'I'm a Blue Kang.' Smoke Alarm introduced herself. 'Blue Kangs are best.' It seemed Ensaven had not eyespied Blue Kangs before, so she wanted to tell him they were best, first.

"Ah," Ensaven replies.  "Yes, I am certain that they must be."  He gives an odd little nod / bow to each of the travelers.

"I am Ensaven.  You must forgive my inquisitive nature: the task I perform for Resvatossk is to oversee the making of remedies and the treating of hurts for People and beasts alike; but my vocation is the collection and the discovery of knowledge of all kinds.  I try to exercise the learnings I uncover for the good of all the domain, but if I am honest I must admit that it is mostly for my own satisfaction that I follow this calling."  He indicates the smaller Silurians working behind him.  "These are Belezzen, and Vorvask; they are my apprentices and assistants."

He hesitates.  "I should tell you that I am not certain I will have a great deal of time to look after you while you are here.  But I would very much like to learn as much as I can about the lands that you hail from and what the People dwelling there are like.  I hold my position by the will of Zhethvaton, and he will want to know if there is anything this domain has to fear from your People, of a deliberate or an incidental nature."

Stanley looks up when Ensaven tells them what his role in this community is. He takes another look at the "laboratory" and the collection of pots and potions. It all looks a bit primitive, especially compared to what he has seen in the future. "That is sort of the same as what I do. I don't look after animals and actually making the remedies isn't really part of my job, but I also treat injuries and try to keep people healthy."

Stanley doesn't have the greatest amount of context for reading Ensaven's expression, but the "doctor" seems to have a similar (if more subdued) reaction to Trav's to this news.  "Truly?" he says.  "That is... if your People are so different to ours, there must be different creatures, plants, all sorts of features in nature where you come from.  We could learn so much from each other!"

OOC: You can roll Awareness + Science for your look over the laboratory, to see what that tells you.

Trav has been keeping her mouth shut for now, letting Sereth handle things after that faux pax about Rifts Earth. She's been keeping her eyes and ears open - she's resisting hard the urge to whip out the sonic and take a scan.

As they got talky, Smoke got walky, and footed there and here about the kitchen, outlooking all around. She eyespied all the weird things on the tables and sniffed the funny smells they made, and, where she dared and she dared often, poked them to eyespy what they did. Finally, she'd comeout to the prentice stirring the big cookpot, eyespying inside at the cheesy slime and wrinkling her nose at the smell. She wondered what it tasted like...


OOC: I remembered its a lab, so it's perfect for Impulsive and Insatiable Curiosity. :D

Awareness + Science, I'll take that as a challenge! 11.
14:36, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 11 using 2d6+4 with rolls of 4,3. awareness(4) + science(0) + keen senses(2) + trauma(-2)
(Corrected to include trauma penalty)

"Yeah...we could learn a lot." Stanley hesitates. "Things are very different here, though. Like you said: different plants and creatures so I don't know how useful my knowledge will be."

OOC:
And the awareness + science roll (only slightly better than Smoke's):
15:42, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 13 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 5,2. Awareness (4) + Science (2).

As Stanley looks over Ensaven's collection of equipment and specimens, it becomes clear to him that the researcher's interests range over a broad spectrum.  Medicine might be the discipline that supports Ensaven's work, but he obviously delves into chemistry and metallurgy -- there are containers and open concoctions with metallic powders and other plainly inorganic reagents.  It's noteworthy that he seems to be applying decent methodology: he has carefully calibrated measuring instruments, and there are pieces of parchment lying open with recorded readings.  It's all barely at what Stanley would consider a high school level, but it's not being done badly.

Smoke Alarm's context for this is not quite the match of Stanley's, though she does note the variety of materials.  When she gets to the big pot, she notes that there's a underlying bitter smell, but with a weird mix of tangy and minty on top of it.  She just makes the slightest motion like she's going to dip a finger into it -- and the young Silurian stirring notices her, and makes a skree! noise.  His eyes widen and he shakes his head.  "Don't!" he emphasizes.

When the attention of the others is drawn by this, Ensaven looks alarmed.  "Ah, no, you really would not want to taste that," he explains.  "I don't think it would harm you... exactly... It's a, hm, digestive purgative for the kylo, and a little of it goes a long way, so to speak.  The results can be.... explosive."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:46, Sun 02 Nov 2014.

Smoke Alarm didn't know what a "digestive purgative" was, but she knew about splosives and didn't want to be a sploding Kang. She retracted her finger and tongue and closed her mouth. 'Okay. It's not fon-doo.'

Now she footed off to the other prentice, and eyespied in all the little pots at the liquids and powders inside. 'What are these?' she asked first this time.

The Silurian apprentice, Vorvask, starts to explain the different compounds to Smoke Alarm, but it gets very yawny, very quickly.  Sensing that he's losing his audience, Vorvask shows her how he can dissolve one of the powders in water to make a clear solution, do the same to make a second clear solution, and then mix them together in a white glazed pot to produce a liquid that's blue.

"Are lotss of thingss like that, that crafty People would sshow off and pretend that they knew magic ssecretss," he says.  (Vorvask's diction isn't quite as clear to Smoke Alarm's ears as Ensaven's is.)  "Masster Enssaven iss trying to record all the trickss that there are to know.  Sso no one will be able to fool People in ssuch wayss, and sso we can make usseful thingss like the curess and mediciness."

Smoke Alarm has noticed that as Vorvask was picking out the right chemicals for his trick, he jarred the lids loose from a few of the pots in a sizable basket.  She caught a glimpse inside those pots of what looked like grainy powdered copper, and gold, and several sorts of silver metal too.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:27, Mon 03 Nov 2014.

At roughly the same time as Vorvask is making his explanation to Smoke Alarm, there's a sound of approaching figures from outside Ensaven's building.  Lance-bearer Tchezari appears at the door, and everyone can see several more Silurians behind her, wearing light armor and carrying spears.

"Learned Ensaven," she says, "Lord Zhethvaton commands that the strangers be brought before him for his inspection.  You may accompany us to present your findings, if you will."

"But I have scarcely had time to learn very much of these Peoples' story at all," he protests.   Tchezari seems unimpressed by his reluctance, but he shrugs apologetically to the travelers.  "I will come.  It should be all right.  Lord Zhethvaton is... usually... supportive of my work."

The Draconian watched Smoke Alarm quite carefully.

"Smoke, be a dear and don't touch anything. We're trying to make a good impression, yes?"

A nod towards Ensaven as the other figures approach.

"We all must do our duty." Spoken as one who knows.

'I know, I know: no ball-games, fly-posts, no touching.' Smoke insisted in the tired, well-worn tone of one right before they go ahead and touch something they shouldn't. But she didn't; the Kang was still rather subdued after the terrors of the outside.

But she eyespied Vorvask make colours with rapt fascination, eyespying blue comeout of clear. Like Traveller's science, there was a special knowhow to all this that awed her. 'It's a science, the knowhow of these chemicals. For making splosives and paints and medicines.' She pointed into the basket. 'Those lids came off.'

As the other Silurians came back, Smoke Alarm footed away from the pots with a resigned air. 'Build high for happiness.' she told the prentices.

Trav was already getting ready to stick her nose into a few pots and look into a few cupboards herself - already it was "take me to your leader" time. "Mister Ensaven, this reminds me of my laboratory so much. When we have some time, maybe I can show you mine. I'm a scholar, too!" This is all so cool! I'm what some unenlightened people would call a Rogue Scientist. If you're great leader supports your work I'm certain he's quite wise and enlightened! We're actually here looking for a great threat that can harm your people - we're here to warn all of you. I wander from place to place, learning and seeing new things, and I meet and make friends with new people. I'm actually a Celestiagropher by trade. Pleased to meet you!"

Trav makes a funny face behind Sereth as he makes his speech, imitating Sereth's we must all do our duty talk, playfully. If Sereth turns, Trav is innocent, innocent I tell you, all smiles, and follows dutifully.

He just eyed Traveller.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing."

OOC: .... we are not amused. I'm getting flashbacks of Tooth and Claw here.

Ensaven looks troubled at Trav's talk of a threat and a warning.  But he says nothing, as Tchezari and her soldiers are already bundling everyone out the door.

Under escort, the travelers are led into the central keep of the fortress.  The construction and ornamentation of the stonework within is a bit fancier than the other buildings: the walls and archways are trimmed in an opalescent green stone.

At last they're brought into a large central chamber, supported by sturdy stone pillars.  Several arched entrances around the area allow for a flow of people in and out, and each is covered by a pair of armed and armored guards.  The center of the room is dominated by a raised dais where an elaborate seat of the same green stone is placed.

Seated on the throne is a lean, three-eyed Silurian whose dark scales are tending to brown; there are three females of the two-eyed species decked with silver and gems, sitting placidly at the feet of the throne, as well as several obvious servants carrying trays of fruit and meat circling around.  Kneeling on the floor before the dais is a muscular female with a heavy, long-bladed spear resting in her arms, and a short distance away are a few more slender Silurians of different types and genders, also kneeling.  There are a few additional guards around the place and more seated Silurians farther away, perhaps courtiers in attendance.

Tchezari and the other escorts kneel as they come to a halt before the throne, and Ensaven, out in front, does the same -- the Silurians will tug at the travelers' arms to try to get them to make some similar show of respect.

The Silurian on the throne -- Zhethvaton, evidently -- speaks in a resonant voice with just a hint of a buzzing edge to it.  "Ensaven," he says.  "These are the strange visitor, and his curious speaking beasts?"

"With respect, Lord Zhethvaton," Ensaven answers, looking up, "it is my conclusion that they are from as yet unknown breeds of People, who have come here from a far distant land."

"Indeed?" Zhethvaton replies.  "Well.  Declare yourselves, strangers, and declare your intentions in my land.  Do you come bearing tribute?  Perhaps to carry petitions or messages from your lords?  I should hope that you have not come with ill intent in your hearts."

OOC: A roll for the quality of your response is probably called for here, just to see what foot things start off on.  Traits like Noble, possibly Charming, Brave or Voice of Authority might be appropriate depending on the tack you take.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:25, Tue 04 Nov 2014.

He steps forward quietly, and makes a bow - not the bow he would give to his Emperor, but also clearly one of respect, from a lesser noble to a greater.

"I am Sereth, Legate of the Draconian Empire. We bear no ill in our hearts, but we instead chase those that may. I am a Knight of my Emperor; and part of my duties are to ensure that other great Peoples are left unmolested, when it is in my power to stop it." He drops to one knee here. "Whilst we expect nothing from you, we do request permission to seek these... evils upon your lands." He then points at the other three in turn.

"Smoke; a scout of unparalleled skill. Stanley, healer of our ills. And the Traveller, my advisor in what to look for. THey each bring their own set of skills, so they are treated more as allies, than servants."

Whilst respectful, and honoring the station of Zhethvaton, he is clearly not -subservient-. Not to anyone.

OOC: Oh for crying out loud. THank goodness I have good modifiers...
13:44, Today: Sereth rolled 15 using 2d6+12 with rolls of 1,2. Presence + Convince + VoA + Noble.

Zhethvaton eyes Sereth skeptically.  He doesn't seem particularly impressed or pleased by Sereth's show of respect, merely... satisfied.  "An Empire?  Empires are greedy things, in my understanding.  I have not heard of the land of the Draconians, and I have entertained emissaries from as far as the seas in the south and the north, so it follows that you must have traveled far indeed."

His eyes flick to Ensaven, then back to Sereth.  "Speak to me of these evils.  Explain how they threaten Resvatossk.  My will is ill inclined to allow anyone to travel freely in the land I watch over, unless I understand their purposes and agree that they have merit."

As they footed down the carrydoors of the lizard-people's towers, Smoke Alarm eyespied all around, curious as a cat. She wondered if Sereth lived in a tower like this. It was all very grand and spacious and architectural, but she thought the blank walls could do with some wallscrawls. Mayhaps later.

Then they came to a meeting place, where one of the Silurians sat in a big chair, which Smoke thought very odd. Why did he need such a big chair? He wasn't any bigger than the others, who didn't even get chairs. Mayhaps he was a lazybones. Then she found one of the Silurians tugging her arm down, and he thought he was starting a to-do. Smoke Alarm didn't have the knowhow of kneeling and bowing and scraping like the others, and wasn't about to anyway. With a twist and a bend, she was away from the annoying Silurian.

Smoke eyespied the big lizard-girl with the big stick. Clearly she was the leader here, like Drinking Fountain was, whatever they said to the lazybones in the big chair. Since this was like a meeting of Kangs, Smoke began the how-you-do, a ritual greeting to stop to-dos and make nice. Smoke Alarm advanced on the lizard-girl with intent, her face set hard and fierce, her movements slow but strong. Stepping forward, making a fist, her right arm came up and across, somewhere between a punch and a block. But her left hand brought it down, the fist released with an open palm. Then she stepped forward again and did the same with her left. Next, she brought both hands up and clapped. She held both hands up, palms forward to the girl, inviting her to place her hands on them, but not insisting on it. Finally, she stepped back and bobbed in a curtsey. Given the angle, it could have been before the lazybones on the chair as much as the strong stick-swinging girl.


OOC: Performing a how-you-do to demonstrate a ritual greeting. Am I still traumatised, even indoors? 11, sigh.
12:25, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 11 using 2d6+5 with rolls of 1,5. resolve(3) + presence(2) + Brave(2) + Trauma(-2).

When Smoke Alarm evades the guard and advances, to give her salute, there's a general hubbub of consternation.  The big bodyguard uncoils from from her seated position, whip-quick, to bar her way toward the throne, mistakenly interpreting her goal as most of the observers do.  Once she's standing, it's clear that she's as tall as Sereth or perhaps a bit taller, and probably matches him for muscle.

Once Smoke's display is over, the alarm breaks up into something more like disbelief.  However, the bodyguard's only reaction is a slight smile.  She makes a bold step forward like Smoke's, with her chopping-spear in one hand.  With her second step she whips the spear to the opposite hand with a flourish, and with the third, she spins it before her and grounds it point-down, giving a slight bow back to Smoke Alarm.  Her grin shows sharp fangs as she meets Smoke Alarm's eyes.

Zhethvaton likewise seems more bemused than offended at Smoke Alarm's singular show of protocol.  "Have a care for the safety of our person, Neratra," he booms.  "Legate Sereth has brought the fiercest of warriors to our court."

"Quite," replies the guard.  She gives Sereth a look of amusement.  "It is all I can do to stand before her, but she shall not pass while I draw breath."

Trav, for her part, is keeping her mouth shut, waiting for Sereth to introduce her at the right moment. Sereth is the lead lizard in this fiasco, so he has the job of wrangling Smoke.

It seems as if there is a universal language between warriors. "Bon weep gronna weep nini bon! One amongst several universal greetings amongst warriors." Stanley might catch the Transformers reference.

Sereth's eyes look upon Smoke, hiding the barest flicker of amusement.

"All need their bodyguards." He then gave Smoke a longer look. "There will time enough for longer greetings and performances later."

He then frowned, and gestured to Traveller.

"She can explain the nature of the evil better than I can." His eyes contained a trace of warning - they're skittish, nervous. Don't confuse them with talks of wide-ranging empires from beyond the stars....

It annoys Stanley a bit, that they expect him to kneel for their leader, but he doesn't show it and tries to kneel in the same way as the Silurians. He understands that these Silurians have never seen humans before, but another thing he doesn't like is being called a talking beast. Especially not since humans will be the ones to rule the world in the future.

Stanley nods when Sereth introduces him.

Smoke loitered patiently through Neratra's how-you-do, eyespying her show-and-tell with respect. Then she and the one chair talked. Standing where she was, Smoke Alarm had the empty, frozen smile of one who knew there was joke, didn't know what it was about, but suspected it was about her. But  she eyespied a game of keep-away in Neratra's words. 'Is that a dare?' she asked at last, faintly teasing and challenging the stick-swinger.

But at Sereth's words, Smoke Alarm smiled and skipped back to the group.

Trav steps forward, takes off her hat, and bows, stepping down to one knee. She keeps her head down until given leave to raise it up, having presented herself to literally thousands of potentates during her long life.

"Your majesty, thank you for receiving us. I'll try to put this as simply as I can. We're from far away. My people, and a... misguided people, were engaged in a horrible war which not only destroyed both of us, but also many of the surrounding nations and peoples surrounding us. It caused horrible damage.  Such was our learning and lore that such knowledge needs be sealed away, weapons and sciences of such intent that they should never again be used. So horrid was this was war that I am the only one of my people left. In my time, your majesty, I was a general, and did many things that I now regret in the defense of my people. Now, I am condemned to be a vagabond, going from place to place. I must repay these vile deeds by seeing to it that the war machines and mechanisms of my people and their enemies harm no one else. Our wars and crimes must be sealed away, and forgotten."

Every time she thinks she has it licked, the memories of the Time War flood back. She purses her lips, clutching her fedora. "I and my companions were rescuing a fellow who had become caught in a... factory, for lack of a better word, of our enemy, a species of being called Dalek, terrible creatures devoted to the conquest of all life. We found that one of their signal-fire towers lead here. We don't want anyone else to be hurt like the fellow we found. With your permission, we'd like to make certain that none of the detrius from my people's war with these creatures lies anywhere in your beautiful realm where your people might stumble upon it. My people and their war is done, oh wise lord. The future belongs to you and your noble people, who I am certain will make wiser decisions than we did."

<ooc>20:57, Today: The Traveller rolled 23 using 4d6+8 with rolls of 3,3,4,5. Trav works to convince the King - 2d6+Presence 4+Convince 2+Charming+2+SP.1 SP left, story of my Time Lord life.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:00, Wed 05 Nov 2014.

"Little one," says Neratra, "it is quite serious.  But if, at such a time as my lord allows, you would like to test yourself against me, it would be petty of me to deny you that challenge."

Zhethvaton looks impassively at Trav for what seems like a very long time.  He gestures to one of the Silurians sitting near the foot of the throne, and the spindly fellow climbs up next to the lord, where they whisper briefly.

At last Zhethvaton says, "Legate Sereth, I will give your group leave to investigate these matters within the bounds of Resvatossk.  I will set three conditions for you.

"First, you will all go escorted, under the watch of Lance-bearer Tchezari and her rideclaw.  If possible, you will gain Tchezari's approval for any actions you take to resolve these matters.

"Second, Tchezari and the Learned Ensaven will bear the responsibility for your conduct, and any penalty that may accrue to you by your actions will be meted to them as well.

"Third, you will make a report of your findings before you finally depart this country.

"Are these terms that you can swear to follow?"

OOC: The Guardian, for the NPC Zhethvaton, rolled 17 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 5,3. Opposing Trav's Convince: Resolve(5) + Convince(4).

I make Trav's current SPs at 4.  You've had two added to your base over the course of play, one on Arden, and one added to your base (now 6) at the end of the Mailman episode and then everyone's reset.  You spent two, on Resourceful Pockets and on Psychic.  The one you wanted to spend for Smoke Alarm was declined, you got one for your interaction with Ensaven, and you just spent one.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:16, Wed 05 Nov 2014.

The Draconian raised his eyes and looked directly at Zhethvaton, and bows in acknowledgement.

"I swear to follow  these conditions." He gave Traveller and Smoke a quiet look, before returning his gaze. "My honor is yours, whilst I travel in these lands."

The Traveller, at least, would likely understand the importance of what Sereth had just sworn.

OOC: Damnnit. Got me coming and going.

'Okay.' Smoke Alarm said to Neratra, showing her understanding though not necessarily accepting the dare. The Kang had grown... dare-y since her to-dos with the Fists on Asuran, but she wasn't hide-and-seeking a to-do. But if a to-do was the comeout, then she wanted to knowhow these lizard-people fought and ran.

As Traveller show-and-telled her story to the one on the chair, Smoke Alarm drifted off, one ear on the talk as always even if she didn't outlook like she was paying a tention. She outlooked around the meeting-room; there were the pillars and the big chair, but not a lot else to jump on and off if it came to it. It would be all carrydoor running, at least until she was outgoing outside. She could run the rooftops, but the walls were high. And then she had to face the outside.

She cameout to one of the lizard-people carrying plates of food. She didn't knowhow any of the vegs-and-fruits, but pointed to one that outlooked mayhaps a bit yummier than the rest. 'Can I have one?' The long hot footing here and the kitchen that was not a kitchen had made her tummy hungry, and the tragic loss of the ham sandwiches had been disappointing.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:24, Wed 05 Nov 2014.

"Of coursse.  You are resspected guesstss."  The serving-person offers Smoke Alarm one the broad, stiff leaves piled with bright red berries.  Then Smoke Alarm catches the scents from one of the platters of meat being carried past: it smells just like roast dog, and gives her a wistful homey feeling.

"Thank you, your majesty. You have my word as well."

It seems as if the memories of the Time War and why they were here sobered up Trav right quick.

Stanley follows the others and agrees to the conditions.  "I also swear to follow these conditions."

'Oooh! Ta.' Smoke Alarm gratefully received the berries, but because she was a wise rat who didn't scoff strange food right off in case it gave her a tummy-ache, she ate one berry, then folded the rest inside the leaf to have them for ron. Then, sniffing fresh roast dog, she trailed after the meat plate.

Notably, she had not yet sworn to follow any rules or anything.

The Draconian frowned quietly, before moving to track down Smoke, and knelt in front of her.

"Smoke. Please listen to me. I... need you to do me a favor. Follow these rules. If you do this... I'll owe you a favor." His eyes quite intent, and solemn. He couldn't speak like a Kang, he wasn't adaptable like that. What he could do though, is -trust-.

Smoke Alarm stopped short as Sereth cameout before her, a little surprised as he'd interrupted her food-hunt. Did he want a berry too? 'What? I have to swearword too?' she asked, disturbed by the request. This place was all strange again, and the Kang felt caught in a mouse-trap. 'But I don't follow rules. I outgo where I go, do what I do. I don't want Mister Ensaven to get in a to-do coz of me. What if I wallscrawl? Or loiter? Or outgo some place off-limits? That's for me to run away from, not anyone else.' she declared with all of a Kang's independent spirit. 'And I don't want favourites.'

Trav is working with her Ipad, pinging back to the TARDIS, using it's sensor's remotely. "If you want to make friends with people, Smoke, sometimes you have to follow their rules. When you play ball with another gang of Kangs on their territory, don't you agree to rules? I know you don't want to be here, but I don't want another factory-place to hurt anyone like it did Kuvas. Sometimes, you have to play by other people's rules. It's a sign you're strong and brave. I won't make you and I don't think Sereth will either. But this place isn't ours - it belongs to these people. We just showed up and we're scary, talking scary words. We need to earn their trust. When you first met the Doctor, wasn't he willing top play by your rules? Did he learn how to make a how-do-you-do? But, if you'd rather not give your word, you can always go back to the the Talkiphone box. Pretend you're not you and you're them. Think like them for a moment. Understand why they're asking for this. Also, you're not just by yourself anymore. You're with us. You stand with and are part of us."

OOC: Can I run TARDIS sensors remotely enough to isolate where likely places to look for where the factory was transmitting to are?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:07, Wed 05 Nov 2014.

OOC: I'll say you can, insofar as you can use its Awareness and Scan, as long as you have your iPad available.  You will need to be more specific about what your Awareness + Science roll is looking for.  The transmission was being broadcast at a wide physical and temporal area, such that it's probably somewhere in this region, but that trace did not have an obvious endpoint.

Stanley tastes a piece of exotic-looking fruit that one of the serving Silurians has offered him. The plant it came from is probably extinct in his time and that this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to taste it, so why not? Instead of disposing of the leftover seeds, he puts them in his pocket.

He has also been listening to Sereth and Trav trying to convince Smoke to follow the rules. The king won't accept one of the "talking beast" not accepting his conditions.

"Mister Ensaven won't get in a to-do if we follow the rules." Stanley adds. "I am sure that, if you try, you'll be able to follow the rules. I mean, you already gave wallscrawling and loitering as examples of things that could get you in trouble. You know that those things are against the rules. It is simple; don't wallscrawl, don't loiter, don't do things you know are wrong."

'No ball-games!' Smoke Alarm exclaimed in dismay, finding Traveller's example to be very poorly chosen. Kangs all had the same rules anyway, few of them but most important: no ball-games, no fly-posts, no making unalive. But she listened through Traveller's and Stanley's words, frustrated and unbold, but listening. 'Wallscrawling and loitering and trespassing aren't wrong, that's just a thing caretakers say to be unfun, to be meanieheads and lazybones in big chairs.'

But at last she gave up, not for the silly meaniehead rules but for her friends, her gang. She wasn't sure how the Us were involved though. 'Okay, okay, I'll play their game by their rules, for you and for Us and to stop the cleaners. More, I'll be a good girl with butter in my mouth. Shape-ship and sound?'

Another Silurian stands up and starts making another petition to Zhethvaton, and after making parting obeisances to the ruler, Tchezari pulls the travelers aside, along Ensaven and her subordinates.  She doesn't look particularly happy to have been given this assignment, but she does appear determined and resigned.

"So," she says.  "Should I take it that you have some idea of where you need to begin your search?  If you mean to travel far within the domain, I must arrange for talo as transport to bear us."

Smoke Alarm outlooked to Tchezari and Ensaven. She'd missed the chance to make her swearwords earlier, and decided to do it now. And mayhaps it was better to say it now, than to the one in the big chair. Smoke stood tall and said her swearwords solemnly. 'No ball-games, no fly-posts, no doing anything or outgoing anywhere without Tchezari's or my friends' say-so. You have my swearword.'

'Cruk.'
This message was last edited by the player at 03:54, Thu 06 Nov 2014.

"Thank you, Smoke, I know that means a lot, coming from you." She turns to the King. "Your majesty, Blue Kangs always, always keep their word. She's more than good for it."

Trav looks back at her Ipad. "Cruk is right. That transmission was spread out over a wide area. I might need to go back to the TARDIS and do some work to pin it down. But let's see how much I can narrow it down here." Trav works furiously with her tablet, working to correlate the Dalek temporal transmission which brought them here with local vortex readings. One thing working in their favor - this time period didn't have much time travel. The Time Vortex is much more clear than the riddled, stormy Time Vortex of 20th century Earth Britain, for example.

00:34, Today: The Traveller rolled 20 using 2d6+14 with rolls of 2,4. Trav tracks down Dalek temporal transmission - Tardis Awareness 3+Science 6+Res Capsule 2+Scan 3.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:38, Thu 06 Nov 2014.

After chewing over the readings for some time, Trav is forced to admit defeat, at least along the investigative tack she's been taking.  There are some tracks crossing this epistopic interface to be found through the Vortex, but unfortunately tracing them with any precision seems have been swamped by the arrival footprint of the TARDIS itself.  It's like trying to trace the ripples from a few tiny pebbles tossed into a pond after some clown has just chucked a whacking great brick into it.

Still, that does at least tell her that if there is a presence here, it's a small one.  No one is hiding a temporal Dreadnaught Station in the local space/time neighborhood.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:35, Fri 07 Nov 2014.

Having a puter work it all out for them seemed like unfun to Smoke Alarm, even if that puter was in the talkiphone box. No, she could think of much more fun ways to lost-and-find what they were outlooking for. She could puzzle it out before the slowpokes, and the sooner she did that then the sooner they could be outgoing somewhere without great outdoors. Not wanting to face the no-place made her focus on the towers, where everything in the world had to be. 'The signal cameout roundabout here, right? And it has to outgo to a dish or antenna, and to be shape-ship and sound on a picturespout it should be way high up somewhere. The cleaners wouldn't leave it outside so it must be in these towers. They don't have electricky or puters or mechinery, but mayhaps they're in a hide-in some place. We can eyespy them easy-peasy.' Smoke theorised, pleased to be a clever-clogs.

She clapped her hands. 'Let's be outgoing to the top floors of the towers and trackback down. It's a scavenging hunt! Lost-and-found! Eyespy something beginning with D!'

She outlooked to Tchezari, bouncing up and down with permission to run off with all speed.

Trav runs her hand through blond locks and shrugs. Sometimes, you gotta turn over rocks. She sticks her Ipad back into her bag.

"Yeah, looks like we lost the the trail in Sweet Boy's wake. Smoke, you just want to get back inside, I see your game, but that sounds as good a place to start as any. But let's not tear apart these people's homes. Can't go scaring the rezzies." She smiles apolgetically to Tchezari. "Hey Smoke, maybe you'll find around here some scaled Kangs!"

"So, what around here begins with a D?"

Smoke Alarm was a little alarmed to hear there would mayhaps be scaly rezzies here, and made bold again by the possibility of scaled Kangs. Mayhaps like Fadreen. How did they run here? How did they outgo outside? 'Well, mayhaps we should how-you-do more Silurians first. Talk and play and friend. Eat food. Get the knowhow of these towers and learn if there are cleaners here.'

She started counting off things to eyespy beginning with D. 'Well, dishes, dogs, dog-dishes, Daleks, doors, ducks...'

Tchezari begins to turn to one of her riders.  "Lerssek--" she begins, pointing at Smoke Alarm.  Then she sees Smoke and Trav start to plot out a plan amongst themselves and she stops, hesitating while they work toward a conclusion.

While this is going on, Ensaven's assistant Vorvask comes scurrying into the big room.  He gives a fearful glance toward the throne area, but no one there pays any attention to him, so he hurriedly whispers something to Ensaven, who gets a troubled expression.

"I have been summoned," he tells the travelers.  "A small group from one of the southern fisher-villages came seeking my help.  There is sickness in the village, something that the local elders say that have not seen before."

"Hmmm...be sure to quarantine the sick. That's the first thing you should do. Also try to minimize contact between caretakers and patients, at least until you know how it spreads. Just some advice, I am not trying to tell you how to do your job." Stanley briefly looks at Trav and Smoke. "I don't know what the plan is, but I have to stay with Sereth and the others. If you encounter any problems or have some questions, just find me and I'll try to help."

A long pause, and he glances at the Traveller.

"Coincidence?"

'...Drains, disposal units, downloads, desserts...' Well, Smoke Alarm was hungry. Since the first berry hadn't been like sprinkles and made her unalive or sick or sleepy, she had another.

Running out of things beginning with 'D', Smoke Alarm trailed off to listen to the news. 'Caretakers!' she exclaimed at Stanley's words. But of course, the lizard-people had their own caretakers. There were caretakers everywhere, even nowhere.

'Could the cleaners have put sprinkles in the villagers' snacks and tapwater?'

Ensaven looks at Stanley and the others.  It almost makes Stanley chuckle, though he catches himself before he can give offense -- despite being an ancient three-eyed reptile-man, Ensaven's quizzical expression is easy for him to read.

"I need to go," he says.  "Any of you are welcome to come with me, if you think it may bear on your own investigation.  The village, Sukosonnan, is some hours away by talo. Otherwise--"  He looks over at Tchezari.  "Lance-bearer, I trust your judgment to oversee these people, as you see fit.  I am sure you are mindful of the responsibility that is placed on both of us."

His face impassive, he glanced at the others.

"I will go. Stanley, I think it might serve us well if you came as well. Make sure it is just a natural disease of some sort." A shrug. "You two, stay searching here." It was clear, just for a moment, that he was used to obedience; not reasoned debate.

Trav hrpmhs. "I hope not. Stan, you got the mauve box I gave you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:20, Wed 12 Nov 2014.

"Mebbe, babe. Let's head down there and check." Trav gave Sereth a look like like, Lizard, please. "Baby, I know you want me and La Blue Girl safe, but if you're running into leftover Dalek tech down there, you'll need me, and you'll always need your partner Smoke Alarm. Looks like we're all going. Right. Right?" She wants to respect Sereth, but she's The Traveller. Obedience wasn't really in her vocabulary.

"Has nothing to do with keeping you safe. Everything to do with a desire to make sure all bases are covered. If I wanted you kept -safe-, I wouldn't let you out of my sight." A shrug. "I didn't want to potentially waste valuable time searching down a lead that turned out to be nothing, and abandoning the search here, before we knew for sure."

'We're outlooking for Dalek tech leftovers here too, Traveller.' Smoke Alarm reminded Traveller. 'Mayhaps it's lost-and-found in both places, so we should lickety-split up. And you're best at eyespying tech and puters and mechinery, so you'll have the knowhow the dish. Anyhow, we have talkiphones.' Smoke Alarm agreed with Sereth's plan, not unsurprisingly. For one, a long journey by lizard-bike in the outside wasn't the Kangs idea of a fun time. For another, she'd always respected the Draconian, in her own way, ever since the Lucky Drifter.

"Okay." Stanley nods and begins to smile. "Unlike some of the things we encountered before, epidemiology actually is my area of expertise. So, I'd love to go to that village and find out what's going on."



"Um...maybe." Stanley feels around in his pockets to see if he has the box with him. He is a bit surprised to actually find it. "Oh. Yeah here it is."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:02, Thu 13 Nov 2014.

"All right, all right, you have a point. We'll keep it up here. Stan should have instruments in the box that should help him find any bad nanos or biowar agents. If you two boys need me down there, yell."

'Yell? You can earspy them from so faraway away?' Smoke Alarm inquired curiously.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:55, Fri 14 Nov 2014.

Tchezari indicates a pair of her troopers.  "Very well.  Lerssek.  Ranare.  You will escort 'Traveller' and 'Smoke Alarm' and keep watch over their actions.  Kolvasz and I shall accompany the others with Learned Ensaven, to Sukosonnan."

She indicates that Sereth and Stanley should follow her, and with Ensaven, leads them through a side gate of the fortress into a large corral with adjoining stables, as Vorvask scoots away.

Here a small collection of the lean reptilian "talo" are ambling and grazing on scattered leafy plants.  She rousts out a pair of plainly clothed Silurians from the stables and, under her direction, they start to saddle up a number of mounts for riding.  Well before they have finished, Vorvask arrives, teetering under a load of several heavy packs.  "Herbs and other supplies," Ensaven explains.

There are a few awkward minutes while Tchezari and Kolvasz attempt to help Stanley get himself situated on one of the riding animals -- he has had a little exposure to beasts of burden on his trips to remote areas of the Third World, but these are more spirited to those he has experience with, and besides, he's long out of practice.  Sereth has a little more familiarity with riding animals, from his traditional upbringing; however, he's well acquainted with the attitude it takes to master a beast, even if these are strange to him.

Finally, the group sets off, taking a beaten dirt road that switchbacks up out of the valley before it dips back into the jungle again and begins to wind its way south.

After Tchezari leads Sereth and Stanley off, the Silurian Lerssek from her "rideclaw" looks at Trav and Smoke Alarm.  "Sso... I sshall try to find you what accesss to the places of the keep and the domain you require, but I can make no promissess.  How do you wish to sstart?"

Not having the knowhow of things like the G9H Suspect Tracker used by the Caretakers, or whatever gadgets Traveller might use, and not knowing the outlook of the Dalek's mechnology, Smoke Alarm's approach would be room-by-room, tower-by-tower until they found what they it. As she'd said: a scavenger hunt for something lost-and-found. Of course, if they had teams of Blue and Red Kangs, they could search all the towers with all speed, and turn them upside down and inside out until they found what they outlooking for, or anything else of interest or possible use. 'Toppermost floor of the tallest tower?' she suggested to Traveller.

Even though it was cooler indoors, with no hair-conditioning, Smoke Alarm was still feeling very hot (not icehot at all!) after the long footing it through the great outdoors. Hot and sticky and making her blue run. A scavenger hunt through the towers and up and down all those stairs would probably make her hotter still. So she peeled off her patchy jacket and stuffed it in her pack, leaving her in a frayed, loose blue shirt.

Stanley eventually manages to stay in the saddle. He signals to the others that he is ready to go. "You're a good boy or girl, but I'm happy we have cars back home." he says to the talo, who had been very patient with him trying to get on its back.

The trip is going to take a couple of hours, so after looking at the scenery for a while, Stanley starts to question Ensaven.

"Excuse me, Ensaven?" Stanley begins "The village we are going to, Sukosannan was it? Have you ever been there before? What sort of village is it?"

In reply to Smoke Alarm (msg # 119):

"Talkiphone, Smoke. That's called a met-a-phor."

The sonic is out, but unfortunately, the range is limited. "If I was a Dalek factory, where would I hide? Come on, you one eyed bastards, you were never, ever that subtle." Trav is balancing on one foot, hat hanging off one hand and sonic in the other, playing some sort of weird hopscotch.

But the topmost floor of the topmost tower did make sense - it would be where a transmission antenna would be kept. "Yesss. I have it - we're looking for a big dish, probably round, that sends and gets radios signals or something like it. Good call, let's go. But we're not competing - if this was a real scavenger hunt, you'd win."

Smoke was puzzled. Or mayhaps puzzling. 'A talkiphone's met a four?'

With her jacket off, Smoke's arms were skinny and pale against her loose blue singlet (or possibly it was a t-shirt that had lost its arms). She had a small scar on her forearm, and a metallic blue bracelet around her wrist. It was also clear that Kangs either hadn't heard the idea of shaving armpits, or else they had and weren't interested. Certainly they knew about dyeing their hair, but hadn't thought to stop at the hair on their heads.

'What Dalek factory? We only eyespied a signal mayhaps came here. Mayhaps the signal was re-transmitted some place else. We only need to lost-and-found a dish or antenna thingey.'

'Toppermost floor of the tallest tower, pretty-please.' she said to Lerssek. They would also give her a good outlook over the castle and all the towers, and she might knowhow to outlook next.

She footed along with Traveller through the carrydoors. She remembered Traveller wanted to be a Kang, but she had a funny way of going about it. She wasn't so sure Trav would make a good Kang, or that she even wanted her to be a Kang. 'We're always competing. Teams of Kangs, red and blue and yellow and more, always playing the games, to be faster and cleverer, braver and bolder... You want to be a Kang still?'

"It is not large," Ensaven tells him as they ride along.  "There are perhaps thirty, forty families of the Young People.  They grow a little of this and that to sustain themselves, but much of what they send in tribute to Zhethvaton comes from what their fishing boats bring in and what the sea gives up to them"

At last the journey comes to a close.  The first locals that Stanley and Sereth spot are, as Ensaven hinted, working in a small fenced area that looks like it is growing an assortment of food crops -- bigger than the name "garden" might imply to Stanley but not a large-scale farm either.  There is some consternation among the two-eyed Silurians at the appearance of Stanley and Sereth, but Tchezari rides ahead and speaks briefly with them, apparently to calm them down.

They get a similar reaction when they reach the main village of Sukosannan.  The area has a bit of a marshy smell to it, though the coast here is not swampy lowland so much as it is cut by a number of inlets and deltas.  Sukosannan is built up on high ground, with dozens of sturdy-looking buildings of dark wood that looks to have been sealed with some kind of adhesive sap to keep out moisture: there are several piers extending out into the ocean here with small rigged boats that range up to twenty-five feet long.

Stanley notes a number of small children, gathering together with little four-footed lizards racing around them and snapping at each other, who peer at the newcomers with a mixture of fearfulness and fascination.  It's a reaction that he finds remarkably familiar from times when he has gone into a back-country place where he might be the first Englishman that the children have ever seen.

"I will take you up to the watch-tower.  It hass been a long time ssince Zhethvaton's domain worried about being attacked by rivalss, but we sstill maintain our guard carefully."

Lerssek leads them out from the leader's great audience room and into what seems to be the outer ring of the main keep's layout.  A narrow stairway spirals around a central column up to an open enclosed floor at the top, where a couple of lightly armored Silurians are sitting and occasionally checking the open-shuttered windows.  There is also a wooden ladder that goes up to a trapdoor in the ceiling, and when Smoke Alarm scurries up it (as she inevitably does) she finds that there is an open platform with a single guard looking around.  It does give a considerably better vantage on the fortress and the terraced fields around the valley.  (It also seems not to trigger Smoke Alarm's agoraphobia too badly, being up here: there is not the close random green on every side, and there is a reassuring geometry in the keep and the fields.)

As Trav scans, she notices that there are occasional minor spikes in background radiation, both as they pass through the hallways and once they are out on top of the tower.  This may or may not be significant, depending on what isotopes are causing it: this is, after all, a much younger Earth than the version that she usually comes to visit.

Sereth didn't deal with children on a regular basis; but again, greeting strangers he was in his element.

He watched carefully; alert, but not paranoid, and speaks quietly. "Where are the sick ones?"

Speaking to the people might have been his strong point; but dealing with illnesses, whatever the cause, was Stanley's; so he'd take a step back, only speaking if needed to get them to trust him.

'You have a tower just for outlooking!' Smoke Alarm exclaimed, impressed by both the wisdom and sheer cost in space of it. Kangs could live on the stairs and on the top floor and on the rooftop and no-one would ever get into their brainquarters. They could always be sound and safe.

She soon began her lost-and-found around the rooms and the rooftop, outlooking under chairs and tables, behind the furniture and out the windows, even climbing out for a better outlook. Her movements were quick, methodical, utterly chaotic, and she overturned all she could.

On the rooftop itself she gazed around the Silurian towers, getting the knowhow of the plans of the place. She wasn't so unbrave and unbold about being up here. She'd been on the rooftops of Paradise Towers after all, under all the twinkly bulbs in the lights-off sky. Here she was safely on a tower and all that scenery was so far away she didn't have to touch it or smell it or step in it, or worry about bird-dogs or bugs.

Tchezari and Ensaven are speaking with an older Silurian.  He steps hesitantly toward Sereth and Stanley.  "I am Juyison," he says.  "Come this way."

Juyison leads the group off toward a smaller cottage.  It's a single-room building with one smaller area partitioned off, where there is a small workbench and a cabinet containing a number of smallish pots and a collection of clean cloths.  The larger part of the building houses eight cots, five of which are occupied.  There are two adult males on the cots, one female, and two female children.  Going from cot to cot is another adult female, who is carrying a bowl from which there's an obvious smell of bile -- apparently someone has been sick in it.

"Shesalaa," says Juyison, holding up a hand to forestall her surprise, "Learned Ensaven has come to look in on the sick, as you requested.  And he has brought help of a very surprising nature...."

I skipped ahead a little bit.  Stanley, if you wanted to look around or do anything else out in the village at all, you can mention that as well as responding to this.

Smoke Alarm wasn't just outlooking for obvious antennas and dishes, of course — though a pair of rabbit-ears would have made it easy-peasy — nor just the dogs, dog-dishes, Daleks, doors, ducks, drains, disposal units, downloads, and desserts she'd earlier listed for Traveller. She outlooked for spy-eyes, picture-takers, and picture-spouts, and smaller things like hidden wires around the room, cutting marks and drill holes in the walls, and signs of altered and rebuilt architecture where there might be hide-ins for doors or vents or access hatches. The Silurians didn't have any electricky in their towers that she'd eyespied, so any sign of an electricky system had to have been put their by the Daleks or their cleaners. They used big rough bricks, so anything smaller and finer could be made by a cleaner's cutting blades. So Smoke Alarm outlooked for anything that didn't belong.


OOC: Search roll: 17
15:30, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 17 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 2,6. awareness(4) + ingenuity(3) + keen senses(2).

"Hello, my name is Stanley. I am not from around here, as you might have noticed, but I am a healer." Stanley introduces himself to Shesalaa. There is the risk that she is infected, but not yet showing symptoms. "You have been looking after the sick? I'll examine them in a moment, but first I'd like to know how you are feeling."

He turns to Sereth. "Just to be safe: don't touch anything and don't come any closer to the patients or Shesalaa. The same goes for everyone else, except learned Ensaven of course." He doesn't want to hijack Ensaven's investigation, but he has to quickly find out how this disease is being transmitted.

"Before we start examining the patients, I have a few questions. First of all, what are the symptoms? I noticed that vomiting is one of them. Also, I'd like to know who the first patient was and if there's a connection between them and the others. Did they eat the same food or are they family or something like that." He looks at Juyison, who he assumes is one of the elders of the village. "And why is this something you've never seen before?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:19, Mon 17 Nov 2014.

"Because it's from something new, Stanley." A pointed look.

He then turned to Ensaven, and frowned.

"Would you mind if I had a bit of a look around? I'm suspicious of this sickness, and I don't think Stanley is going to find anything in the usual ways."

Returning his glance to Stanley again. "Do you have to detect for unusual levels of radiation?"

Smoke Alarm is pretty well attuned to the distinctions between hand-made things, like her dog's-teeth necklace, and the products of higher technology.  So she starts to get a little frustrated, the more that her extensive search for the latter keeps coming up dry.

And she starts noticing less and less the things that would be tell-tale signs for things electricky, and more the ways that all the lizard-people were behaving.  It's harder to tell with them, of course, but a number of them seem to be acting specially pleased with themselves, and these tend to be the ones that are wearing different sorts of shiny silver and gold bangles.  Smoke Alarm isn't an expert on these things, because Kangs could make ice-hot bracelets and necklaces out of anything from copper light-wires to cut-up Fizz-Ade cans, but she has a vague sense that these sorts of decorations are supposed to be expensive and rare.

And there are definite "haves" and "have-nots" among the lizard-people when it comes to these things, and this doesn't always match up to the sorts of jobs they might be doing.  Some of those who are doing the hardest-working tasks have got new shinies that they seem to be proud of.

Juyison indicates the two adult males.  "These were the first that came to Shesalaa.  They are brothers, who work their own boat.  It was a few days after they came in that Kresenna, here," -- he indicates the female adult -- "came to see her with her nestlings."

"Stomach-sickness and just a listlessness were the first things they spoke of, when they first came to see me," says Shesalaa.  "As they have begun to find it harder to keep food down, they have gotten a little weaker, of course, but what made me send word to Learned Ensaven was when Dervedal, there, started to spit up blood when he was sick.  I have tried to keep myself and everything here as clean as I could, if course.  If you are a healer I expect you know that is not always easy."

Stanley's observations seem to tally with what Shesalaa tells him.  The Silurians in this village tend to have a pretty similar shade of green to their scales, but the patients here have a grayish sheen to them, and the fisher-folk brothers are worse than the others.

"As far as a connection," Shesalaa says, "I do not know that there is a close one, except that this is not the largest settlement--"

From her cot, Kresenna coughs and half-sits up.  "The fish," she says, a stricken expression on her face.  "Before they took sick.  Dervedal brought us some straight from his catch before they took the rest to the smoke-house to be preserved."

Stanley thinks for a moment. "Everything seems to point in the direction of the fish. I can think of at least one bacteria and a couple of viruses, that are often found in raw fish, that can cause these sort of symptoms...but that's in humans.... Sereth, radiation is definitely possible, but I think that some pathogen in the fish is more likely. A closer examination should tell me more."

"Keeping things clean is difficult, especially when dealing with sick people, but you did a good job Shesalaa." Stanley compliments her, as he walks up to the patients and starts examining them.

OOC:
Roll :(
23:08, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 16 using 2d6+10 with rolls of 3,3. Ingenuity(4)+Medicine(4)+AOE(Disease)(2).

This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 22:11, Tue 18 Nov 2014.

Stanley starts taking samples and running tests.  As he does so, Ensaven and Shesalaa both act to assist him as best they can, asking questions about his methods as they do.  For their part, they're able to fill him in on some of the areas where Silurian and human pathology diverge.  (They're closer together than Stanley expected, as Silurians fall into the evolutionary branch of warm-blooded reptiles, and he certainly has some advantages in methodology, when tied together with some of the knowledge he has picked up from his own relative future.)

The exotic diagnostic tools from Trav's kit turn up negative for the more far-out biowar agents that she had described to him.  The kicker, in the end, is when he's able to make a white cell comparison between blood samples from the ailing patients and the riders who came with them from the fortress -- radiation sickness looks like it is a very likely culprit.

Sereth keeps his face blank if/when Stanley reveals his findings. To be fair, the Draconian had been basing his guess less on the symptoms, and more on the fact they were hunting down potential Dalek-tech.

OOC: It's likely that the diagnostic kit can turn up signs of radiation poisoning in people but not general radiation sources in the environment.

If you want to have such a thing on you, one of the characters on the scene can spend a story point.  Alternately, it's possible that a really good tech roll from Trav could remotely reprogram one of your phone / comms to do this, since they inevitably would have a camera; however, a repurposing on that level would ultimately break the phone and you'd need to fix or replace it for its primary purpose.

OOC: Sereth will spend a story point. He knows about Daleks; that it makes sense that he would have insisted on bringing something along like that. He probably wouldn't have even said something; at least until Stanley does state that he thinks it's radiation sickness - then he'd probably comment that he might have something that might narrow the source down.

OOC: OK.  Go with that as you see fit.

Trav keeps up with the hop skotch. "Hm, maybe I should just be the best Traveller I can be then. Lead on, babe." She follows Smoke while scanning about, making sure to note the locations of the spikes for later.

Stanley can't help but look a bit surprised when the test indicates radiation sickness. He would have guessed something biological, but the tests don't lie. The patients all have a reduced WBC and the symptoms are also consistent with radiation sickness. So it wasn't the fish, though that could still be how they got exposed to the radiation.

Stanley looks up from the test. Even though he had kept the option open, his first guess had been wrong and Sereth's had been right. He sighs. "You were right Sereth, it appears to be radiation sickness. We'll have to remove the patients' clothing and wash the patients to stop any ongoing contamination. We have to find the source of the radiation to prevent more people from getting sick."

To his credit; Sereth didn't gloat. He just nodded.

"Dalek tech. I know a bit more about Daleks than you." A shrug; then he reached into his pocket, and withdrew a device. "This should help in tracking down the source of radiation. I took precautions."

Stanley and Sereth can both tell that while the Silurians have vaguely got the idea of certain things being poisonous or infectious, they've got little concept of radiation.

"You say that this 'radiation' is out somewhere in the village and even in the sick, still making other people fall ill?" Ensaven asks.  "And your... your little box can find it?  How does that work?"  He seems flustered.

Juyison gives Ensaven a bit of an impatient look.  "Explanations can likely wait."  He turns to Sereth.  "How can we go about finding what is causing this, and removing the threat to the village?"

The lizard people had no appliances at all, not even white-goods: no lightbulbs, no blenders, no washing machines, nothing. No electricky or miss-fix-its to make them work, she guessed. She eyespied no wires or switches or power points or anything. It must be very unfun for them, lots of hard yakka and no electricky bugs and gremlins to help them like they did for Kangs.

But the Silurians did have lots of shiny bling. In Smoke's experience, shiny bling was worn by lazybones who sat in big chairs, rather than those who wore raggedy clothes and ran around doing stuff like Kangs. It didn't seem to work the same way for these Silurians. Eyespying one raggedy Silurian with a shiny gold bangle, Smoke footed up and said 'Icehot bling! It's high fabshion.' she exclaimed, those she didn't really think it was icehot or high fabshion. 'Where you'd lost-and-found it?'

Lerssek has been doing his best to run interference between Smoke Alarm and any other Silurians she might come into casual contact with -- but he is not even in the same league as the Kang when it comes to seek-and-hide, and she spots her chance to talk to some ordinary lizard-people and takes it.

The Silurian she accosts is a smaller and scrawny looking one -- little bigger than Smoke Alarm -- and is carrying a heavy-looking woven basket full of rags and rubbish.  She has seen bigger bangles on other Silurians, but most of them were themselves bigger and creepier.  He maneuvers the basket between himself and Smoke Alarm, peering over it fearfully.  "Isss my brace-lett!" he hisses.  "You do not get, blue monsster!"



"Not ssteal!  Masster givess it!" he protests.  His accent is thick and hard for Smoke Alarm to make out, but she's clever enough to get it.  "Masster Rell-Va-Tenn!  Iss good masster.  Rich masster, rich masster now!  Givess brace-lett for good ssservant.  Givess... ffab-shion?"  For a moment as he tries out the word, he relaxes and cringes a little less.

Sereth slipped naturally into what he did.

"Stanley, you help them do whatever you can for the sick. Do whatever it takes to save as many as you can." He then turns to Juyison, thankful -someone- realised the importance of just -acting-, rather than standing around explaining. "Take me to the fish." He activated the device as he moved; there was a chance it was -not- where he expected. Just a slim chance.

If it wasn't clear before; it was devastatingly clear now - Sereth may not be as fast as Smoke; or as smart as the Traveller or even Stanley; but he was a leader, and whilst he had been willing to sit back whilst they were discussing what to do; now that action needed to be taken, he expected people to listen, and do what he said.

He may not be to the extent of a dictator; he might be willing to listen to reason, and arguments, but ultimately, he would do what needed to be done; and unless he heard a good argument, he expected others to do what he said too.

Juyison nods.  "Of course."  He starts off across the village.  Tchezari remains with Sereth and Juyison, while Ensaven and the other escort stay behind with Stanley.

Juyison leads Sereth to a sizable circular building set off a bit from its surrounding huts.  It has a conical roof with a surprisingly sophisticated-looking vent assembly on the top of it, and a smell of char and salt is very strong as Sereth approaches, checking the surroundings as he goes.

OOC: You can make an Awareness + Science roll, and we'll say your gadget gives the equivalent of Scan for radiation, so a +2 whenever you do that.

"Yeah, I'll get started right away." Stanley replies. "Good luck finding the source."

'I'm not a monster, I'm a Kang.' Smoke Alarm corrected the Silurian proudly. But something funky was going on here, she was sure. The lizard-person seemed more unbrave and unbold about where he'd gotten the bling than about blue monsters. And people who called themselves Masters didn't like giving away big shiny prezzies like that. 'Yeah, this is fabshion.' she said, indicating her ensemble and whirling her own bracelet around her wrist. Hers was made from a Blueberry Fizz-Ade can, handcrafted by talented Kang garbage-smiths. The coloured aluminium shined; the lightweight metal would be entirely unknown here. 'And this is icehot fabshion.' she said of the Silurian's own threadbare clothes. Meanwhile, she eyespied the bracelet closely.


OOC: I wasn't sure what skill to use to appraise or examine workmanship. Craft? Is the bracelet of this time or does it conceal technology? I rolled 13.
20:13, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 13 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 3,2. awareness(4) + craft(2) + keen senses(2).

Smoke's friendly manner seems to disarm the skittish servant enough that she can get close enough for a good look at the bangle.  It seems like it's ordinary enough for this time: there aren't any hidden electricky bits as far as she can tell, and it seems to have a hand-made rather than machine-made style to it.  She is surprised to see how pure the metals look, even above the unlikelihood of a person giving something like this away to someone like this Silurian, who seems like he's relatively close to being like Smoke Alarm as far as where he fits into this society.

Of course, Trav is letting Smoke Alarm take up all the attention. Yeah, these folks seemed to be peasants. She'd normally be trying to scare up some social change, but taking down empires wasn't the priority here. Instead, she walks around, and examines the place. Before the sonic, eyes and ears look for things out of place.

OOC:15:52, Thu 20 Nov 2014: The Traveller rolled 11 using 2d6+4 ((5,2)).
This message was last edited by the player at 20:53, Thu 20 Nov 2014.

As the Traveller tags after Smoke Alarm, she begins to get a little edgy at how perfectly ordinary (for a Bronze Age Silurian civilization) the keep, its environs and its people strike her -- there is virtually nothing that jumps out at her and screams as being out of place for the tech level and society.

Part of that edginess might be something more, however.  It's not even the seventh sense that ties a Time Lord to her place in the universe and continuum: it's the perfectly garden-variety paranoia that comes with unfriendly attention.  Quite apart from the scrutiny that she and Smoke Alarm are getting for being sapient apelike bipeds, she gets the sense that unseen observers are on their tail.

(While the Traveller knows that any feudal lord like Zhethvaton will employ covert watchers as well as the overt escorts assigned to them, this feels different -- more intent than the wary appraisal that Zhethvaton was giving them.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:55, Thu 20 Nov 2014.

OOC: I should just give up on ever rolling decently. Bleah.




10:55, Today: Sereth rolled 12 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 2,2. Awareness + Science + 2.

'Ooh.' Smoke Alarm said of the bracelet. Curious as a cat now, Smoke asked 'And how did Rich Master Rell-Va-Tenn get all these shinies and bling? Lost-and-found? Do you think he'd give me one?'

When Juyison opens up the building for Sereth, it's clear that this is a communal smokehouse and storage shed, holding racks and racks of dried fish and sea life.  "I am not sure exactly which part of this is Dervedal's catch...." he says worriedly.

As Sereth scans the contents of the building, the distinct sinking feeling that he got when Juyison first led him here is confirmed.  There's radioactive contamination here, all right, and it's dispersed throughout the stock of preserved fish: it's far from uniform, so perhaps only some of the fish was contaminated when it was first caught, but all of it seems to be thoroughly unsafe to eat now.  Worse, Sereth isn't exactly sure of how to dispose of it all safely.

There is one bright spot: when Juyison closes up the building again and Sereth makes some general scans of the surrounding area, it seems like the contamination is mostly contained in the building.  Radiation levels around the building and the village are slightly elevated, perhaps from particles dispersed when the fish was originally dried and smoked, but it's not at immediately hazardous levels.  (Although, given the choice, Sereth doesn't think that staying in the area permanently is a great idea.)

OOC: As you figured, not the greatest result.  Both you and Stanley know enough about radiation hazards that you could work out a plan for handling it.  It does seem logical that the initial catch was the main source of contamination.

Some likely rolls for dealing with aspects of the situation:

Devising a plan for handling the fish: Ingenuity + Science, and you could add the scanner bonus.

Getting the locals to put it into practice safely would correspond to Sereth's Presence+Convince as well as his various leadership bonuses.  Convincing the village to evacuate could be difficult.

Treating the affected people would use Stanley's Ingenuity + Medicine(Disease), and he could use his Empathy bonus.  Figure that saving the brothers at this point would be Hard(18) and the others Tricky(15) -- if he takes a day or two to work out the treatment plan and train the Silurians in it, he can make one roll to cover all of the treatment, potentially getting the most use out of one story point.

"Not know where Masster got it," protests the Silurian with the shiny.  "Think he has a ssmithy who made?  And I not know if he would give one to Blue Monsster Kang."  His anxiety level seems to have cranked back up again, talking about his master so much.

OOC: I feel like we're edging toward a Presence roll to keep the fellow talking or get him to go further with this.

OOC: One other thing about the situation in the village: Juyison would reiterate that this storehouse is mainly for their export back to the keep rather than local consumption, so there probably aren't a lot of other locals who are going to be getting sick with it.  It doesn't seem that they've sent off a shipment recently.

OOC: Wow. Lots to think about. I'm going to take some with this, and post over the weekend hopefully. It's my niece's birthday tomorrow though; so probably won't till the day after.

Smoke wondered why the Silurian got so unbrave and unbold when talking about this Rell-Va-Tenn. 'Is Rell-Va-Tenn a meanie-head? A muscle-brain? Is he a caretaker? You can tell us.' she urged him to talk more, but realised he was too unbrave now. Her Kangly instincts for trouble told her there was something off about all this, and wanted to have something to show-and-tell Traveller.

Before she thought about it, she raised her left arm and pulled off her own bracelet, fashioned from a cut and folded Blueberry Fizz-Ade can. Sunlight glittered off the strange blue and white metal, so light and fine. 'Swap you?' she offered, pointing at the gold bracelet. She'd be sad to lose it, Door Knob had made it for her. But in the end it was just shiny bling, she couldn't eat it or use it.


OOC: Rolled a 7. Yeah, not my best area. :) 7
16:18, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 7 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 2,2. presence(2) + convince(1).

I'll spend a Story Point to bump that up a level and offer a swap (which Smoke seems to do a lot of now). It feels mean to swap a gold bangle for an aluminium can one, but at this level of technology, aluminium might as well as mithril. :) I'll leave that as a mystery for archaeologists. :D

The Silurian's first reaction is to recoil, but his attention is caught by the unusual and shiny Fizz-Ade bracelet.

"I...."  He's plainly torn, looking from his own bracelet to Smoke Alarm's and back again.  Finally he gulps and pulls the bangle off his arm, proffering it to Smoke Alarm.  "Yess!  Deal!"

When the items change hands, he actually puts down his basket of rubbish and holds the Fizz-Ade jewelry in both hands, turning it over and over and taking in every detail of it.

OOC: Fortunately, you appear to be speaking to a really easily swayed Silurian.  I figured he would have low stats in the relevant areas but I did not expect him to roll snake-eyes.

Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Silurian Servant, rolled 5 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 1,1. Opposition to Smoke Alarm: Resolve(2) + Convince(1).

Stanley starts working on a treatment plan for the patients. The problem with radiation sickness is that there is very little you can do once the damage is done. Especially when you have to work with the limited medical facilities in this time period. He does have the mauve box and some supplies he brought, but those are not a replacement for a modern hospital. Blood transfusions are out of the question and the Silurians don't have antibiotics. They might not have modern medical knowledge or equipment, but he's certain that together with Ensaven and Shesalaa he can come up with a treatment plan that works with the knowledge and medicines they have here.

Ensaven is one of their healers, so Stan talks with him about the herbs and methods the Silurians use in case of infections. Infections are one of the greatest risks for the patients right now, so he tries to find out which ones might be safe to use. He also gets Ensaven to check the supplies and make sure they have enough of everything. With Shesalaa he discusses how the village should care for the patients. They should be monitored closely and hygiene is very important. Balanced and nutritious meals are also important to help them recover. He decides that it is best to keep the patients quarantined, at least for now, to prevent them from catching anything from the rest of the villagers.

Of course, Stanley can't do anything about the long-term effects. He tells Ensaven and Shesalaa some of the symptoms that could show up and that this could happen years later. He is also going to tell the patients about it, but he first he wants to them recover, before giving them more bad news. With the treatment plan ready, he lets Ensaven and Shesalaa explain it to the rest of the Silurians, before starting to treat the patients here.

OOC:
22:24, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 27 using 4d6+12 with rolls of 5,1,5,4. Ingenuity(4)+Medicine(4)+AOE(Disease)(2)+ Empathy(2)+SP(2d6).

OOC: The success and the scope of it is pretty well covered by the post.  For the Fantastic Success aspect of it: while it will take a while for the patients to start showing positive effects, Stanley's success is such that he can shortly get them all to be coherent enough to answer some questions, if you have some to ask, even the brothers who brought back the fish.

Smoke Alarm gently took the golden bangle and passed over her own, feeling a little unboldened by the swap. She watched the Silurian eyespy it for a while, before taking a closer eyespy at her new shiny. She was no expert, but it outlooked like something the lazybones in the big chair would wear. Better even. She eyespied it, she touched it, she listened to it, she licked it, and she even bit it, because that's what people did to gold metal bling on TV.

She show-and-telled the gold bangle to Traveller, expecting she'd just use her screwdriver on it instead.

'Do you like it?' she asked the Silurian. 'Mayhaps you can show-and-tell us how to find Master Rell-Va-Tenn? Which tower is his brainquarters in?'

Smoke Alarm's Silurian trading partner peers anxiously at her.  "Master Rell-Va-Tenn's... brain-quar-ters?  His rooms, his en-clave is on north-west side of keep.  Is not big secret...  But he would not talk to you on my say-so."

He starts to look more worried.  "I should empty bin in trash, get back.  Would get in trouble for lazy-making, not want."

When Trav scans Smoke Alarm's new acquisition, she finds the first real suspicious anomaly since they've been searching around the keep: the gold is incredibly low in impurities and stray atoms of heavy elements -- far below the ability of the Silurians' Level Two civilization, and even beyond what could be easily done in Stanley's time.  (Even though twenty-first century techniques can get gold to 99.9999 percent pure, this is orders of magnitude past that: it's only with the scanning capabilities of the sonic screwdriver that Trav can identify any trace impurity at all.)

OOC: Scanning the bangle seemed like an obvious step, and Trav's skill is high enough that that would be a gimme.

'Yeah, them.' Smoke confirmed on the matter of brainquarters. North west? Was that left hand or right hand? Never mind, Smoke could probably find it. 'Ta.'

She outlooked at the basket of rubbish, thinking things and hatching a plan. 'You do all the hard work, you're not a lazy-bones. Mayhaps I can have a helping-hand: you track-back and I'll empty the trash-bin and bring it back to Rell-Va-Tenn's enclave.' Smoke Alarm offered graciously, figuring she could save the Silurian rubbish-man the time she'd spent asking him questions. And have a good reason for getting into Rell-Va-Tenn's enclave if she had to.

He looked very thoughtful for a long moment.

"These fish. They need to be disposed of. If I'm entirely honest, you need to consider the long-term viability of living here; but for now, at least, you need to dispose of the fish. You probably should avoid fishing from that particular area as well." He took out the scanner again. "We need to be very careful about disposing of the fish though." He considered carefully.

OOC:
09:10, Today: Sereth rolled 15 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 3,4. Ingenuity + Science + Scanner.


09:12, Today: Sereth rolled 29 using 4d6+12 with rolls of 3,6,6,2. Presence + Leadership + VoA + SP.

I'm not trying to get them to decide to evacuate right here and now; what I'm trying to do is to get the idea in their head; to fester as it were. So then, after we've saved the village from the immediate danger, I can hopefully push the point a bit more successfully.

Sereth's explanations for disposing of the fish are, by necessity, basic.  The locals don't have the technology for putting together long-term containment vessels, so they'll have to settle for taking careful precautions for transport, moving the contaminated material to a suitable repository that won't connect to the local water table, and then sealing it up as best they can.  However, they do take his recommendations very seriously indeed.

As the work begins in conjunction with the beginning of the afflicted Silurians' treatment, Sereth notes that Stanley's knowledgeable handling of the medical situation is helping his own credibility enormously.  Shesalaa and Ensaven are clearly impressed by the information and techniques Stanley is passing on, and since the average Silurians hold their knowledge in such obvious esteem, the two travellers have gained a considerable amount of trust and respect
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:41, Tue 25 Nov 2014.

"I think that would be good thing," says the Silurian slowly.  "Here'sss how you take to trash pit, and here'sss how you take back to brain-quar-tersss."  He launches into a slightly rambling explanation of the navigational hurdles involved, and Smoke Alarm thinks she's got it.

He's just scurrying away, leaving Smoke Alarm holding the trash basket, when Lerssek comes into view.  He glances curiously at the departing servant, and then at Smoke Alarm.  "Thiss iss relevant to your ssearch?" he asks, indicating the basket.

OOC: When they're well enough, Sereth would like to find out from the fishermen who caught those fish, exactly where they caught those particular fish.

Smoke Alarm nodded through the Silurian's instructions, going 'Uh-huh.' when needed. She had been planning to just dump it all in an alley or a corner someplace, but figured she ought to dispose of it all properly now. 'Build high for happiness!' she said cheerily, giving the Silurian garbage-man the formal gesture of well-fare.

'Course!' Smoke Alarm answered Lerssek brightly, lifting up the garbage basket. 'It's a scavenger hunt. We scavenge! Mayhaps the cleaners dumped something. And we're sure to find them in waste disposal.' The industrious Kang started footing off to the trash-pit. She could eyespy the rubbish there before throwing it on the scrap-heap.

Lerssek gives the Traveller a quizzical look -- as quizzical as a Silurian can generally manage, anyway.  He and the other escort start to follow Smoke Alarm, though they glance back to make sure Trav (presently standing with the Silurian's gold bracelet in her hands) is following.

OOC: Smoke Alarm can roll for some eyespying once she gets there.  I continue to be interested in what she's hoping to find....  You'll find that the trash area is somewhat more sanitary than the classic midden heap, but not by a lot.

Anything else for Trav in relation to the bracelet?

When Stanley finally gives Sereth the thumbs-up to speak briefly to Dervedal and his brother, the pair of them quickly discover that contemporary Silurians aren't big on cartography or systematic navigation.  What they do get is that the area they were fishing is near a coastal lagoon called the Demons' Hole, about three days' north up the coast.  This is farther out than most of the village fishers range, as it takes an extended trip and starts to get close to the next coastal village's territory, but it's one where the two of them have frequently made big hauls.

(The name, they learn from Dervedal, comes from the reputation of the place as a occasional nesting ground for some sizable and dangerous aquatic reptiles, visli in the Silurian vernacular.)

OOC: Getting you this information takes you out by a day or so.

Whilst Sereth waited, he did send the Traveller a message.

"No need for alarm, have situation under control, but sickness is radiation sickness. Investigating where it came from. No need for your help at this stage; will keep you informed."

OOC: I'll pause for a bit then; as there's not a lot Sereth can do until he can get that information.

Text message back: "KK - pls forward readings so I can advise, otherwise, I'm sure you boys have it covered. Feel like we're being watched here, in a village that's a little too quiet. Will be sending you a live feed."

Trav does indeed run a sonic pass over it. "Hm, rather pretty. And very, very, very pure." She smiles at Smoke. As she leans in close, she whispers to Smoke, "Someone made this with a machine that shouldn't be here, these folks shouldn't have the know how to make this. Also, I'm getting the willies and hairs up my neck. Be on the eyespy for creepers and watchers. We're being watched, I think."

OOC: Also checking for the usual - artron radiation, tech base, residual radiation, other chemical composition, etc. Ingenuity+Science+Sonic?

Trav smiles apologetically as Smoke trots off to the trash pit. "Smoke Alarm loves looking for useful things where other folks throw things out. Who gave this to you again? It's lovely!" She holds the bracelet up to the sun."Let me go after her so she doesn't run too far off." Truth be told, Trav wants to check out that trash pit herself.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:22, Tue 25 Nov 2014.

OOC: Sure.  Roll 'em.

'Willies?' Smoke gasped in shock, then decided not to ask about that. 'I knowhow. It's handy-made, I think, but much shinier than the lazybones's. It's different.' she explained, pleased Trav agreed with her instincts. She hoped they turned out shape-ship and sound.

With the rubbish basket, she footed off to trash pit, following an even more twisty and turny route than suggested. Once at the waste disposal place, she outlooked for cleaners and other signs of mechinery. Then she tipped the rubbish on the floor and began poking through it, to see what she could eyespy. Shinies, techies, or just garbage?


OOC: Guardian, you seem to think I actually have a plan here. :)
09:54, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 18 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 4,5.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:03, Wed 26 Nov 2014.

The "trash pit" is a big open area which is outside the proper walls of the keep, but is itself enclosed, out between the keep and the slope that starts to stair-step up out of the valley with fields and growing things on it.  There are a number of working-class Silurians out there, who are turning over the trash with big forks and occasionally gathering up bunches of it in big sifting tubs to shake out dirt that they collect in big bushels.

There's quite a bit of a smell coming off it.  The Silurians look disturbed as Smoke Alarm starts clambering around on it, but the rider-guards that are trailing along after her warn them off from interfering.  An awful lot of it is like the contents of the tub Smoke Alarm has brought in: rags, material that used to be scale or animal skin or chips of rock.  There's one whole area that is smelly vegetable and food waste in a disgusting heap.

Smoke Alarm mentally crosses off that area and starts to pick around through the rest of it.  Though there are some bits like the little glinty rock shards that she thinks might be nice for making things out of, she has to admit that none of it seems particularly out of place.

That's when she sees it.  It's in among the rock bits, but it's too big and oddly shaped to be a rock: it's like a largish piece of curved shell with ragged edges, something that Smoke Alarm initially thinks might be nice for making a shin- or elbow-guard out of.  When she picks it up, she sees that it's gray with a bit of a sheen to it; it's surprisingly light for its thickness, but she can't bend it and she can't use any of the other rock bits to even make a mark on it: it's feels more plasticky than any sort of metal.

There wasn't even a method to her madness as Smoke Alarm went on her scavenger hunt around the Silurian towers. She didn't think twice about switching the search from the toppermost floor of the tallest outlook tower to the lowermost basement of the waste disposal facility. She followed her instincts and she followed her nose — quite literally at the dump — and the logic behind her investigation seemed to come from point-and-click adventure games. And it seemed to be paying off. Earth mathematicians developed random walk search algorithms, which jumped randomly around networks to obtain solutions, but they could do well to follow a Kang.

She had a keen sense for garbage, rubbish, trash, and scrap and what it could show-and-tell. Sadly, the Silurians weren't yet a consumerist culture, and couldn't afford to throw away a lot of interesting scrap, nor did they make a lot of interesting scrap in the first place. They didn't even have cleaners or recyclers or furnaces or mashers or crushers. Smoke didn't eyespy much of use or interest, but she eyespied all the other dumpster-divers at work, looking for the same as her. She wasn't likely to much else.

She was about to give up when she found the shell. After careful eyespying, she footed it with all speed over to Traveller, bearing the shell in her hands. 'Lost-and-found! It's plasticky! It's different!'


OOC: Anything specific out of Rell-Va-Tenn's trash?

The specific basket that Smoke Alarm dumps out doesn't contain anything particularly incriminating, although as a connoisseur of urban salvage, Smoke Alarm finds that it is certainly a higher grade of trash than the average.

OOC: Her search of the dump does go on for a while, incidentally.

OOC:12:18, Today: The Traveller rolled 24 using 2d6+16 with rolls of 3,5. Trav scans the gold.

Trav herself was an ordinate fan of junk yards and dumps, and kept her huge junk pile on the TARDIS. She remembers back before she ever changed her face when The Master made snide remarks about "the girl with the goggles who roots around in wrecked space ships", referring to her adventures on board the SDF-1 with Henry Gloval and Roy Fokker. And of course after she regenerated her biggest glee were Salvation Army shops and trash sites. But she had to play the straight girl to Smoke, and Smoke was the specialist at this stuff. Back in the day she'd be in there alongside of Smoke. She made a note to herself to make time for a shopping trip to some interesting junk planets.

Out comes an old pair of glasses. "Wow, that is different! I think that would look pretty in your hair, Smoke, once we clean the gunk off of it." She slides on the glasses, gets out a spray bottle of something, cleans off the gunk, and then examines it. She sonics not the plastic, but the glasses. It's an old pair of her specs, that's busted, that she's temporarily bringing her thick wire rims back online. Its no different than using the sonic, but she wants to *see* with her glasses.


OOC: Awareness+Technology+Sonic?

Trav's further examination of the bracelet shows her that not only is it nearly entirely pure gold, lacking significant amounts of the similar elements in the periodic table, but it's almost all gold-197, missing the normal distribution of its radioisotopes.  That, together with its abnormally uniform molecular makeup, suggests to her that it was isolated using some type of advanced nuclear dissociation process.

When she scans over Smoke Alarm's other find with her old specs, she can't help but swear aloud.  In appearance, the material isn't a variety she's familiar with, but once she starts examining its composition it jumps out at her -- complex superheavy metal alloys bonded by layers of polycarbide mesh, a medium-strength stealth laminate developed for use by scout units.

Dalekanium.

OOC: We'll skip the second roll since Trav would likely crush that too.

The piece of stuff that Smoke Alarm found is a bit larger than Trav's discussion seems to say -- it's in the ballpark of 10 x 15 cm².
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:28, Thu 27 Nov 2014.

When Stanley has a moment he goes to talk with the village elder Juyison. First he asks a couple of questions about life in the village, but what he really wants to know is Juyison's opinion of Lord Zhethvaton. He waits until he is fairly confident that no-one is eavesdropping on them.

"So Juyison, have you ever met Lord Zhethvaton? I'd like to hear what you think of him. What sort of person is he? Do you trust him?"

"Met him?" Juyison says.  "Yes, a number of times, though it is rare that I deal directly with him and not with one of his officers or agents.  He has greater concerns.  We have had peace for a long time, since his sire ruled... that was before I was the headman here, many season-turnings back."

He gives the sort of quizzical stiff shrug that Stanley saw out of Ensaven earlier.  "So I do not know very closely about what kind of person he is.  He is of the High People, and they are of an older kind than us here and are said to know many things.  I can say that he is serious about the tasks he oversees for the domain and he keeps well the guard that protect us against the great beasts and, it is said, tribes and domains beyond.  Rarely do we meet People from beyond the mountains or the southern marsh land, but from those we do we know that things can be harder in those lands."

Zuyison hesitates.  "Now, I can not speak as much about all those in his court.  Some of them, I do not know so much about their purposes and actions.  Some, I am sure, work only for their own advantage.  But keeping them to their tasks, too, is part of Zhethvaton's duty to us."

He seems surprised by the questions, but as best Stanley can tell, his answer seems genuine enough.

And swear she does. "Sweet FUCK." Good thing this is an HBO show.

She waves Smoke over. "Sweety, look at this."

She shows smoke the sample. "If you eyespy anything which looks or smells like this, let me know immediately. Ware eyestalks."

Text to Stan and Sereth on their phones shows a pic of the sample. It's Dalekanium. Sereth should know what that means. Working to date it now. Get ready. If we're lucky, there won't be any here.  She's also decided - she's rebuilding her old specs when she gets the time. They may have just saved their lives.

Sereth and Stan can probably figure out what Trav means.

OOC: Science/Tech roll to date the sample and check to see if it's been through the Time Vortex, and if it's been part of something recently powered?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Sat 29 Nov 2014.

OOC: Ingenuity + Science.

OOC: 14:57, Today: The Traveller rolled 22 using 2d6+16 with rolls of 2,4. Checking Dalekanium Sample: Ingenuity 8+Science 6+Sonic/Glasses(!) 2

Trav fiddles with the glasses, and snaps her Fedora and makes it into a scarf.



(That's for the glasses only - Trav is not flashing her cleavage now! ;) ))
This message was last edited by the player at 20:05, Sat 29 Nov 2014.

The scrap of armor is fairly well fizzing with artron energy and from the transmutation products of various high-energy sources, perhaps even particle dissemination weapons.  Whatever it came from has, in all likelihood, been definitely subjected to time travel, perhaps even exposure to raw time winds, not to mention unfriendly attention from very clever people.

The fact that it's a scrap of Dalek armor is in itself suggestive of the latter.  Apart from carrying such a clear signature of its history to those who know to look for it, the piece is more or less inert, not particularly hazardous in itself.

"I am sure he is a competent leader. The way Lord Zhethvaton treated us when we met him, made me a bit suspicious. Just a feeling, not anything concrete, so that's why I wanted to hear you opinion." Stanley shrugs and gets ready to leave.  "Oh well, it doesn't really matter and it is about time I get back to the patients. Have a good day, Juyison."

Trav is working with the makeshift link to her glasses, as it blows up an image on her Ipad. She's trying to determine if this is the armor found on a standard Dalek travel machine. The Daleks have standardized patterns for these things. She'd also like to know who was shooting at this peice of armor, so she could hug them.

"Smoke, where did you find this?"

Trav's antics with her technology are attracting a good deal of puzzled interest from the Silurians in the vicinity.

The material has a lower resonance profile than standard Dalek armor -- harder than normal to detect with standard sensors -- so Trav's bet is that it comes from a surveillance unit, rather than a main battle unit, let alone a special weapons Dalek.

Smoke Alarm hopped from foot to foot as she loitered and waited for Traveller to eyespy the weird shell-thing. She didn't think it would outlook icehot in her hair though; it was too big and round and it wasn't blue. Mayhaps it could be used to hold things or dig with. But it was definitely not handy-made by Silurians.

Then Traveller said a bad word, and Smoke Alarm crowded in to eyespy the results and the texts, wide-eyed and curious as a cat. 'Will do. Ware eyestalks and cleaners and Daleks.' she agreed. She tried smelling it as Trav said, but this point it only smelled of garbage.

'I lost-and-found it over there, in the rubbish heap. It was with all these rocks.' Smoke Alarm reported, pointing to the spot. 'Mayhaps it cameout with the rocks. Mayhaps there's more Dalek can I um?'

Dammnit. He did respond very quickly.

"Got it. Stanley has the sickness in hand; I'm trying to find out more about where it came from though. Let us know if you need help."

He scowled, but didn't want to alarm Stanley, just yet, whilst he's working on the patients.

Once he found out -where- the radiation came from, if it's not -too- far away, will mosey on over to have a closer examination.

When Sereth starts down this line of inquiry, he is able to talk it over with Ensaven.  From his earlier discussions, Sereth has gathered that Ensaven and a few of the like-minded Silurians have a pretty good handle on the scientific method.  However, their cartographical ability is atrocious.

"I am not aware of any trail or paths that could lead you to the Demons' Hole by land," Ensaven explains.  "Perhaps with Tchezari's help you could find it that way with some searching, but that would be an expedition of days in any case.  Going up the coast would be shorter, but much slower on land than by sea.  I believe you could find any number of fishers that could take you to it, though it is at least two days away even over water."

OOC: Note that with the social credit you've accumulated through your work helping organize the removal of the tainted fish, you shouldn't have any problem getting volunteers or Tchezari's cooperation.

Though he wasn't at home with such simple craft, time was of the essence.

"Well, it's best I get moving then. In the meantime, spread the word - until I find out what's going on, people are to avoid using that particular place for fishing. It's possible it won't be able to be used again for a very long time."

Just before he starts looking for people to take him, he drops in on Stanley.

"A word please Stanley. In private."

Assuming Stanley goes to him, he murmurs quietly.

"Word from the Traveller. Dalekanium's been found - which means, that she's on the right track; Dalek technology's in the area. I can't help but think this radiation sickness is connected as well - I am going up to the area where they found the fish, see if I can find anything more. My fears are growing though, even a single Dalek could destroy this place."

OOC: I'll see if I can find the best, healthy fisherman and go with him. I'm aware this will put me out of sync with the rest of the party by up to 4 days unless they have downtime.

When Sereth explains his plan to Stanley and the Silurian leaders, Juyison excuses himself, saying, "I will try to find you a volunteer."

The male he comes back with is lean and stringy when compared to most of the "Young People" Silurians; the sheen of his scales is slightly faded.  "I am Zet," he grunts, giving Sereth a slight bob of his head.  "I can get you up to the Demons' Hole and back in three days.  No trouble.  Plus what time it takes you to see what you have mind to see."  There's a rasp in his voice, suggesting his age.

"I will go as well.  If your craft can manage so many?" Tchezari asks with a sidelong look at Zet.  When he nods, she says, "I am responsible for you, after all.  If you expect to find danger there, you will be the better for another trained warrior... even if I do not have your knowledge, some things take very little understanding of nature."  Ensaven starts to speak up, but she cuts him off.  "You, Learned, are not going; you are far too valuable."

"Yes, come to that," Zet interjects.  "You say that you're thinking the source of this poison is up around the Demons' Hole.  How sure are you that just going up there isn't going to poison us?  I mean, I have lived a bit of a life by now, but I still have got some years in me.  Glad to help, but I am not keen on throwing it away."

OOC: Sereth is basically in sync with Stanley by the time the fishermen are well enough to talk with them, and at this time Stanley is free to let the Silurians take up the treatment.  He'd probably want to come back and check them before the group eventually leaves this time, of course.

"We're not going to go nearly as close as they are, and we're certainly not going to be eating any fish from there. If by some chance we do though, Stanley is certainly skilled enough to stop us dying considering he'll be prepared. I just want to be -certain- that is where it's coming from."

"I wouldn't allow Sereth or myself to go there if it was too dangerous." Stanley replies, trying to reassure the fisherman.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Mon 01 Dec 2014.

Trav holds the lump of polycarbon in her hand.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikata_ga_nai/"Shikata ga nai</a> she says, resignedly, as she puts the sample into a pouch and drops it into her bag. She smiles sheepishly to the crowd and moves a distance away, to get a bit of privacy, grabbing Smoke if she is nearby.

She shows Smoke a picture of a Dalek travel machine, and a Dalek recon unit. She toggles open the Ipad so that Sereth and Stan are also getting this. "Team, Smoke found a sample that most likely came from something that looks like this. If you see anything that resembles this, do not engage it or talk to it - run, and if you can't run, hide. Let me know immediately. We'll regroup and determine how we'll deal with it, but we're not equipped to deal with any real Daleks, head on. They're tough, they have a 1-shot delta wave weapon that can kill you, and probably have sensors that can tag you as time travellers. What's interesting about this sample, however, is the radiation that's on - it has artron energy, which comes from travel, but also residue from being shot at with weapons. Daleks had something called an emergency temporal shift - Smoke, that's a run-away through time - but whoever was shooting at the prior owner of this piece of armor may have followed. Also, this peice is still rather "hot"."


This message was lightly edited by the player at 05:00, Wed 03 Dec 2014.

'Pepper pots!' Smoke Alarm gasped in horror as she eyespied the pics of the Daleks, all put together and terrible. 'Cleaners! Eye-stalks and egg-whisks and sink-plungers. Daleks!' She knew what Daleks were. She was from the late 26th century, from the generation of humans after the Dalek Wars — the War, the one the Inbetweens had fought. Even though she'd been evacuated to Paradise Towers with the youngsters, the oldsters, and the Caretakers, sheltered and forgotten, she'd eyespied the pictures and videos, she'd seen the destruction they'd made, the horrors they'd left behind. Even Smoke Alarm had a deep fear of the Daleks. ''Ware Daleks. Be outlooking. Run with all speed, find hide-ins and fire-escapes. Take the stairs. Stay sound and safe.' she repeated down the line to Sereth and Stan.

'It's not hot.' she corrected Traveller, then pointed again to where she lost-and-found the piece. 'Someone put it on the scrap-heap. Mayhaps we'll find more.'

Zet leads Sereth, Stanley and Tchezari to show them his boat where it is moored along the beach.  It has a twenty-foot planked hull, sealed with hide, and is rigged with a lateen sail -- you get the impression he can get a fair catch into it when he's working it alone, though there's less room to spare when he gets his passengers aboard.

When everyone has wound up their outstanding business, Zet directs the others in pushing off from shore, and the travelers get on their way.  Even though Sereth is none too current on his wind sailing, it's easy for him to tell that Zet knows this little vessel and can work it like it's a part of him.

Zet steers them out from shore a little, but he follows the coastline as he heads north, staying at once within reach of land and at a safe distance from accidental grounding or encounters with wildlife.

"I mean to give you fair warning as we get close to the Hole," Zet tells Sereth.  "Other than that, I count on you to let me know if there's trouble with the poison, or any thing else you need."

OOC: What's the plan?  Sereth should figure on making another Awareness + Science + Scanner if it hinges on detecting radioactivity.

"Yes it is, baby, but with radiation. Someone was shooting at this guy. I hope it was a spider cleaner and not the real thing. It was also travelling through time. Be on the lookout!"

He spoke quietly, to Stanley, though not excluding anyone else at this point.

"I'll probably need to go a bit closer than anyone else. Need to establish what we're dealing with. Remember the Traveller's words."

As in - if there was a Dalek, a real Dalek - RUN. Do not worry about Sereth; just get the Silurians safe and sound.

OOC: Will use the scanner; whether I use a story point really depends on if I need to make separate scanning rolls for as we're approaching and when we're actually there. If one roll covers both; I'll use a story point now.

OOC: If you want you can make one roll that includes pinpointing an area of highest concentration, and making sure that you're not getting an unsafe dose.  Call it a Hard(18) check to pinpoint and the safety factor is tied in with that.

Note that this would be apart from any more general observation of the area by you or Stanley, which would either be Awareness + Skill (depending on what details are being looked for) or Awareness + Ingenuity if you don't have any specifics in mind.

OOC: In that case; using a story point.

ANd yowza, glad I did.


12:14, Today: Sereth rolled 18 using 4d6+8 with rolls of 4,1,3,2. Awareness + Science + Scanner + SP.

Also, looking around for tell-tale signs of Daleks; or travel capsules of any description, or basically anything that doesn't belong in this time period. But primary concern, and so of immediate concern, will be radiation levels.

Stanley nods silently. After seeing what they did to Kuvas, the conversation in the Tardis and the recent warning, he has gotten the message that Daleks are bad news. If Trav warns experienced warriors like Sereth and Smoke not to fight, he shouldn't even try and just run. He stares at the water whilst he wonders if he'd be able to leave Sereth behind.


OOC: Awareness(4)+Ingenuity(4)
17:49, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 18 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 4,6. Awareness(4) + Ingenuity(4).

Sereth periodically checks the radiation levels of the water as Zet sails them up the coast.  The level climbs slightly and steadily until Zet alerts the others that they are a couple of hours away from the Demons' Hole.  Then, the rate of increase starts rising more sharply.  It's still within safe levels for the short term, given the precautionary measures that Stanley has been able to apply.

Eventually the Hole itself comes into view.  It's a wide inlet screened off by a partial barrier reef, probably close to a couple of kilometers across.  Sereth first has Zet steer them around past the Hole on the northern side, while he takes readings.  They seem to indicate that the highest radiation source is diffused across the whole of the inlet.  Oddly, his readings don't track cleanly up and down as they traverse the mouth of the Hole: a plot of the readings would give minor local maximums on either side, as if there's a secondary source farther inland.

Everyone notices that the marshy smell of the coast is higher here.  A sandy beach goes around the Hole, and then a few hundred meters back, overgrowth starts to crop up; it looks like there's a ridge not far back of that.  Stanley, carefully watching the shoreline, notes a couple of things.  First, on the beach on the southern side of the Hole, there's a big, uneven mass of gray; from the avians circling above it he suspects it's a large carcass.  Second, he can see that there are smaller objects scattered across the sand that have a dull gray sheen to them.

It also looks like there are some stubby gray objects jutting up out of the surf around the perimeter of the Hole.  They look to be uneven in shape and less than a couple of meters tall.

So far, Zet has just steered the boat around outside of the reefs.  To make out more detail, it would be necessary to get in closer by land or sea.

'Outlook.' Smoke corrected, and footed back to where she had lost-and-found the Dalek scrap, in the heap of sparkly rocks. That had only been a piece of a Dalek cleaner, so mayhaps she'd find more of it here. But was the Dalek in the scrapheap, or had the Dalek scrap comeout here from some place else? It was hard to trackback rubbish to its bin. She had to burrow and outlook and eyespy for more parts, and hope the Dalek was actually unalive.

With the aid of a metal ladle as an improvised trowel, Smoke Alarm began to burrow into the scrapheap, outlooking for Dalek bits.


OOC: Search for more Dalek: 21
10:32, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 21 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 6,6. awareness(4) + ingenuity(3) + keen senses(2).

OOC: Sereth must hate you so much right now when he needs 4 dice to roll a 10. :)

On the outlook for additional Dalek shell, Smoke Alarm is completely unprepared for what she actually does find while digging through the trash.

She hits something with the unmistakable clink of metal on bone, just like whacking a dog on the noggin.  When she moves aside the bric-a-brac piled on top of it, she finds what looks like the whole skull of a two-eyed Silurian, maybe a bit bigger than her own head.  The skull is unusually clean -- like it had been picked clean by bugs and things for a long, long time, but there isn't even the amount of dirt that would normally cling to something that had been buried in the pile for so long.

Poking around nearby, Smoke Alarm turns up several more pieces of bone that look like they might have come from a person.  She doubts this is standard practice: she's been through quite a bit of the trash pit by now and these are the first remains like this she has found.

OOC: It's ultimately up to you whether you want to be startled and give away your discovery to those nearby or not.  You might roll Ingenuity + Resolve + Brave if you want to get a random idea of that.

Unalive! Smoke Alarm outlooked with horror into the empty eye-holes of the skellieton and nothing outlooked back. She knew skulls, from hazard signs and from the bones in the recycler, in a Rezzie's bin. Unalive. But she was brave and bold as a Kang could be, and she wasn't afraid. 'Trav!' she hissed, waving her friend over.

While Traveller footed over, Smoke inspected the skull then dug up a few more bones. It wasn't like a Rezzie skull or a Kang skull, being more like a lizard-person, with pointy teeth and long crests on top, and a little hole on top where a third eye might go. The bones were also very light and a hollow, like a bird's.

'Do Dalek cleaners have Silurians inside?' she wondered. 'Mayhaps like Kuvas the Mailman?'


OOC: I'll go with chance. :) Seems good.
13:05, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 15 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 3,4. ingenuity(3) + resolve(2) + Brave(2).

Trav trots over. "No. Those pepper pots are their travel machines. Real Daleks are these horrible squid things - actually, I've met nice squids. Daleks are just horrible." Trav inspects Smoke's find with the sonic, hoping to perform an examination before they have to reveal what they have found.

OOC: sonic to check the corpse for details - 11:35, Thu 04 Dec 2014: The Traveller rolled 17 using 2d6+10 ((4,3)). Awareness 2+Science 6+Sonic 2 - Sonic the corpse for details
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Thu 04 Dec 2014.

Stanley points out the dead animal to Zet and Sereth. "A bit obvious perhaps, but I don't suggest going near that thing if we don't have to. It could have eaten contaminated food and wandered around before dying, or it could have received a lethal dose there. Since we don't know we have to be careful."

"Zet, do you know what those grey things are? They look weird..." he looks at Sereth. "If the scans say it is safe enough I think we need to take a closer look at those things."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:42, Thu 04 Dec 2014.

He paused, looking at the Silurians.

"I agree, but.." He focused on Stanley. "You will give me your word, that if it's Daleks, you run. I will not have you dishonor me but some foolish notion that you can't leave me behind. I will escape as well if I can; but someone must warn the Traveller if it does come to that."

And there was no greater honor than dying defending those unable to defend themselves.

Stanley doesn't answer immediately. He has to think about this, because he doesn't want to make a promise he isn't going to keep. He doesn't want to promise Sereth that he'll abandon him,  it doesn't feel like something he should do. On the other hand, what could he do when facing Daleks? Sereth also has a point about needing someone to warn Trav.

He looks at Sereth. "I try to help people where I can and leaving someone to die doesn't fit with that. That's why I did consider lying about being okay with leaving you behind. However, I don't think I could fool an experienced diplomat like yourself and more importantly I don't want to betray your trust. You need to know that I'll run when I need to run. That's why I want you to know that I am not lying now...I don't like it, not at all, but I promise that I will run if we encounter Daleks. I'll run as fast as I can. You don't have to worry about me."

A nod.

"I don't expect you to like it. You're trained to always do your utmost to save lives. As am I; though we do it in different ways." A shrug. "I am hopeful that at worst; we find the evidence I fear, without them being around and active."

He then handed the scanner to Stanley.

"You can probably use it better than I can anyway; and have a better idea of when it's getting dangerously high."

OOC: Because your dice don't hate you...

The wiry Silurian shrugs.  "New to me.  At least they were not here, the last time I was in these parts."  He points at the big carcass.  "Mind, it was, hm, seasons ago.  Mostly because those come to the Hole every so often."


From the readings it looks like getting too intimate with the water in that area would be a bad move, but going in for a short look would be manageable.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:22, Thu 04 Dec 2014.

Trav is not hugely surprised to find that the skull has elevated levels of radioactivity.  She also confirms Smoke's impression: this skull wasn't cleaned off by natural decay processes, but seems to have been deliberately stripped of its flesh.

'Daleks are squiddies inside cleaners?' Smoke Alarm wondered, noting the fact for future reference. Mayhaps they had tenticles too, like Pool Cleaners, things they creepy-crawled down chutes and ducks and grabbed Kangs unawares. She shuddered, and tried to be brave and bold. 'Squids inside pepper pots? Sounds like a food.'

Part of Daleks and parts of people. Smoke Alarm examined the bones of signs of injury, like break and holes, or cut marks and scraps. The icky task of butchering rats and dogs for food had given her some familiarity with insides.


OOC: Examining the bones for signs of physical injuries: 16
10:08, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 16 using 2d6+7 with rolls of 5,4. awareness(4) + medicine(1) + keen senses(2).

Smoke Alarm's study of the bones turns up nothing that she would call a clear sign that the person had been made unalive in a to-do.  Of course, she hasn't exactly found all the piece that would make up a whole skullyton.  The most she can find are some marks at some of the bone-ends, that suggest that the bones had been separated apart at the joints, one by one.

Smoke Alarm shudders for a moment.  This reminds her of that awful day that they'd found Safety Rail, after those terrible Rezzies had been at her.

Absorbed in that realization, she doesn't notice that Lerssek has drifted up behind her and Trav.  "Do you mean to be searching here much longer..." he begins.  Then he stops and stares.  "What?  What is this?"

Right where a cleaver would go chop-chop, Smoke realised, eyespying the cut marks on the knobbly bits of the bone. She dropped the bone to the ground with a shudder, and felt sick right down to her tummy, like she'd eaten too much soylent green. She knewhow those marks were made, from butchering dogs and discovering the leftovers of the Rezzies. Poor Safety Rail, well and alive one day, all her insides outsides the next.

It was a long tick-tock before she answered Lerssek, outlooking up with haunted eyes and saying 'We lost-and-found these skelliebones. Someone was chop-chopped and made unalive.'

Trav steps aside respectfully. "Sir. We found some remains. I'm trying to determine how long this person has been dead, and what caused it, while not disturbing their remains. We don't know your customs and want to be respectful."

In reply to The Guardian (msg # 221):

OOC: Dalek delta wave weapons don't usually do this kind of thing, right? Delta wave weapons usually just destroy nervous systems and kill things dead (which also means that Time Lords can't regenerate out of them) Needless to say, Trav is working to identify this guy clean.

Lerssek looks searchingly at Trav and Smoke Alarm.  To Trav, who has some notion of the subtleties of Silurian expression, he's got the kind of look that says I am just a deputy range patroller and this is both outside my skill set and possibly my pay grade.

"Thiss iss not how the dead are disspossed of in civilized places," he says.  (While Smoke Alarm might have her own opinions of whether this fortress qualifies, it seems clear that Lerssek does.)  He looks around at the waste pit laborers who don't really seem to have twigged that anything is up, as yet.  "I... do not know how it might have come here.  I think we should alert the Massterss of Law, unlesss, you think you might be able to find the ansswer to what hass happened here."



OOC: Nope.

To expand on Trav's previous findings: she isn't turning up the kind of oddball energy residue on the remains that correspond to whatever happened to the piece of Dalekanium.  Her scanning isn't giving her evidence that ties them together apart from proximity.

If Trav and Smoke mean to keep a lid on this per Lerssek's suggestions, I'll want a Presence + Subterfuge "fly casual" roll; modifying traits don't immediately spring to mind, but feel free to convince me.

"Oh is that one of those visli ? The reason your people call this place Demon's Hole?" Stanley asks, looking at the dead creature with a bit more interest. Not enough to go investigate the corpse, because those other objects look even more interesting. "If you say those grey objects weren't there a while ago, I think they have something to do with the danger, the poison here."



Stanley is handed the scanner by Sereth and he double checks to make sure he knows how to operate it. "Let's take a closer look." He motions for Zet to move them closer to one of the gray objects. "As long as we don't stay here too long we should be okay. Look for anything out of the ordinary, I'll keep an eye on the radiation levels."

OOC: Let's see if the dice don't hate me...two fives, but also a two and a one.
00:40, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 21 using 4d6+8 with rolls of 2,5,5,1. Awareness(4) + Science(2) +Scanner(2)+SP.

As they show-and-telled Lerssek the skelliebones and he seemed a bit lost, Smoke Alarm got the idea that he was a kind of caretaker for the Silurians. That made sense. She was starting to slot this world into her understanding. 'It's not?' she wondered. In Paradise Towers, she was used to the unalive going down waste disposal shoots, into bins and recyclers. Everyone went on the scrap-heap in the end.

She pointed to the notches on the ends of the bones. 'Eyespy, someone went chop-chop on the Silurian. Mayhaps with a cleaver or a fire-axe. They took them a parts. Then they scraped the meat off. Outlooks like they was made into food.' Once she'd gotten over her sick feeling, the Kang was disturbingly matter-of-fact about the possible case of cannibalism. But there was a sharp edge of anger in her voice, as she remembered all the Kangs made unalive and made into pies and going into Rezzies. She wanted to stop-sign this Rezzie.


OOC: Today on CSI Siluria: "It outlooks like someone got the chop..." :D

If need be:
09:05, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 11 using 2d6+5 with rolls of 3,3. presence(2) + subterfuge(3).
You might apply Distinctive, −2 to go unnoticed or be forgotten. Just to make that roll worse. :)

Trav had a story ready, but Smoke's matter of factness kind of blew that apart. Well, may as well ride with it.

"Being that I'm not from here, I'll presume that this isn't the usual way that your folk deal with your dead. With your permission, we'll take records of this to present to the servants of your Lord and determine the right course of action. I'm sorry for your loss - this person no doubt had a family and those who cared for them. I do agree - your authorities should be informed at once."

Trav runs the sonic over the corpse, as she attempts the scan the bone marrow DNA and date the corpse and get gender, age at death, appearance and other details. She crinkles her nose, as the local ambient radiation is making the scan difficult ((OOC:Low roll))

OOC: This is a regular Ingenuity+Science+Sonic. Feeding results to the IPad. My last Subterfuge roll was kind of superceded by Smoke's dialogue, please ignore that.
21:58, Today: The Traveller rolled 20 using 2d6+16 with rolls of 2,2. Trav DNA and carbon dates Silurian Skeleton.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:02, Sat 06 Dec 2014.

Trav records her scans for later reference.  They may be useful for later comparisons with other Silurians, but at present they mainly confirm that this was an adult male of the "Young People".

Lerssek looks indecisive for a few moments, then finally nods his head.  "Come with me."

He leads them back inside the main keep.  Trav and Smoke Alarm can't shake the encroaching feeling that eyes are on them the whole time -- which is true, of course, but it feels like something beyond the Silurians obviously gawking at the funny ape creatures.

OOC: The Guardian, for the NPC Unknown Observer, rolled 14 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 4,2. Awareness (3) +  Subterfuge(3) + Keen Senses(2).

Now someone can come up with a perception roll.  If you want, Trav can just throw an assist to Smoke Alarm.

Zet brings the little craft into the inlet, now hugging the north-hand side of the semicircle.  As they come closer, Stanley's scans start to show pretty clearly that the highest concentration of radiation is in the water.  However, he does also confirm the secondary source, which is farther inland and at a higher elevation.

Zet steers along the beach, coming closer to the first of the objects.  Now Sereth and Stanley can both make out some of the scattered objects on the beach, and they're pretty clearly scraps of machined metal debris.

Zet finally moves the boat to ground it at a spot where it will be possible to get out onto dry ground, nearer to the object in the surf, and from this distance, there's a faint humming coming from it, audible over the ambient sound of the sea and the surrounding jungle.  It's clearly a piece of operating machinery, and it has a cobbled-together look to it -- looking at the next one down the beach, it is of a slightly different shape.  Now that they're able to make it out more clearly, it's roughly round like a pillar, and the most notable feature is a series of similar small cylinders arranged around its circumference.

When Zet gets down out of the boat to tie a line around a sturdy nearby stone, he crouches down at the water's edge to peer into the water.  He scoops up a handful of fine sand and watches it as he lets it sift down out of his fist into the water.  "Thought that when I brought us in," he says.  "Current is not right.  It looks like that thing there is changing the flow."

Wondering if she had mayhaps messed up whatever Traveller had planned about the skelliebones, Smoke Alarm footed after her and Lerssek back to the towers. She would be glad to get back near the reassuring straightness of the walls, the shelter of a ceiling overhead.

Then after a tick-tock she tracked back to pick up the rubbish basket that she had to return to Rell-Va-Tenn's en-cave before the garbage man got in a to-do.

Tracking back again gave her a second outlook at the Silurians around her, outlooking at them, outlooking away. Mayhaps they were eyespying or thought Kangs were icehot, Smoke thought. But her keen rat-like instincts bothered her. She felt like there were spy-eyes outlooking at her, eyespying her. Like Caretakers or Cleaners or hungry Rezzies, something that wanted to chase her down the carrydoors, catch her if they can, eat her up with sprinkles. The wary Kang spun around, outlooking back, then footed after Traveller with more speed.


OOC: The perception roll: 16
09:45, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 16 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 1,6. awareness(4) + ingenuity(3) + keen senses(2).

Trav has had it with this bullshit. While checking the the corpse, she also checks ambient background temperature of the surrounding area and motion based on light, feeding results back to her Ipad, using the same software she used to use in her glasses.

OOC: Sure. What do I need to do give Smoke a bonus?

OOC: I was just contemplating the standard +2 supporter bonus, so Smoke gets an 18.  This happens to bump her spot from a "Yes, But" Success to a Good success.

Smoke and Trav follow Lerssek into the keep.  He leads them up a flight of stairs, saying, "I am taking you to ssee the Law-Captain.  He oversseess ssuch matters on behalf of great Zhethvaton."

As he leads them down a side gallery, Smoke Alarm's Ware Caretakers! alarm starts to go off.  Through an open archway ahead, she sees three forms silhouetted against the wall and closing stealthily to cut off the exit.  Two of the shadow forms are holding long weapons in their hands.  Spears!

This is just as Trav's surreptitious scan picks up more movement converging on their position: it seems as if another pair of forms is moving in from behind them.

On the left gallery wall there is one closed door, on the side headed toward the interior of the keep.  The right wall is lined all the way down by narrow open window-slits covered only by shutters.

OOC: The Guardian, for the NPC Unknown Observer, rolled 13 using 2d6+7 with rolls of 5,1. Ambushing Smoke and Trav: Coordination(4) + Subterfuge(3)
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:26, Sun 07 Dec 2014.

'Mousetrap!' Smoke Alarm yelled in, well, alarm. She whirled around, instantly eyespying the fire-escapes. The Kang was ready to run. She only had to pick where to.


OOC: Holding for the Movers phase.

OOC:Is Trav using her pistol to create an opening considered an attack or a move?
Edit: Holding for the Talker's phase. If Trav can do anything, it's talk.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:50, Mon 08 Dec 2014.

OOC: Trick answer: it's the Doers phase.

Unless you're making an opening in people.

Stanley looks at Zet using the sand to study the water. He lacks the knowledge and experience to interpret the results, so he has to trust the Silurian's judgement. If he says the current isn't right, then it probably isn't. It might look normal, but you never know what's happening under the surface. Stanley does know that they don't want to get stuck here. "It doesn't prevent us from leaving, right?" he asks Zet, just to be safe.

"...why would that thing interfere with the water flow?" He turns his attention to the metal object and stares at it for a while. "I'm sorry, but I don't know much about this sort of technology, but it is not from around here. Maybe if we open it up, we could learn some more, but I don't think we should. It is humming, so that means it is still active or radioactive."

"The scanner indicates another source somewhere in the jungle." he says pointing in the approximate direction. "I think something big, some sort of ship, crashed in this region and that we'll find a lot more of those objects in the jungle. Zet, do we have enough supplies for a quick expedition inland?"

Zet just looks at Stanley when he says that, and Stanley gets the impression of Zet being immeasurably careful about how to reply.  Finally, with a palpably patient air, Zet shrugs and says, "We're fine."


Zet is more thoughtful about this question.  "A day or two," he answers.  "More if we stretch it out, but I do not crave to have to forage in these parts, and of course throwing the nets is right out."

The Silurians pinning Lerssek, Trav and Smoke Alarm come into view, before and behind them.  There are four of the Young People in all, shorter and not as rangy as Lerssek, but they're all carrying short spears at the ready.  Behind the pair in front is one of the High People, smaller and leaner than the others they've met so far.

"Sstand fasst and be ssilent, out-landerss," that one hisses.  "You are coming with uss."

OOC: This is kind of strange because of the relative positions when you detected these people, but this constitutes a Move and a Talk; the spearmen may or may not try to attack in the Fighting phase depending on what you do.

'Trav...' the jumpy Kang began, ready to run and have the Silurians catch her if they can. She was sure she could get to the fire-escapes, but didn't want to leave her friend behind.

"Coming with you? You mean to save us from the Allosaur. That is so cool of you! You know, giant raptor, as tall as that tree, lots of teeth, runs real fast? You guys are awesome! It's coming through those trees, over there!"

And this is some Traveller grade A bullshit coming down the line. As she lays down her line to the Eocenes, she quickly manipulates a sound file on her Ipad, directing the feed down to her left turbopistol, still holstered. The weapon works on the same technology as the sonic screwdriver, which means it can project convincing sounds very well. The guns can easily do ventriloquism.

If Trav's coding on the fly works out, then the Eocenes should be hearing some KTHOM, KTHOM, KTHOM behind them, followed by the distinctive roar of Godzilla. Hopefully, this will shock the bad guys enough so that they can make a break for it!

OOC: This might be an Subterfuge+Technology+Turbopistols+Charming, as Trav is trying to leverage her technology to assist her in doing a rather traditional Doctor style stunt. Also, Trav loves using her guns for non-violent shenanigans. What do you think boss?
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 17:12, Wed 10 Dec 2014.

"Yeah, we should only use the food and water we brought with us." Stanley agrees. "Two days should be enough. It's only a quick trip to see if we can find the secondary, and maybe the main, source of the poison."

OOC: Sure, you can run with that.  I will give you fair warning that these guys will get a boost to their roll because of your circumstances, being inside a keep inside the fortress.

Smoke Alarm had gotten used to Traveller's sound FX after she impersonated Davros back at the Mailman's brainquarters. So she wasn't made unbrave by the stomping and the roaring of this Alley-saur, no. But she didn't think the Silurians would be fooled-me-once by the trick. After all, (a) they were inside a castle, (b) there weren't any trees, and (c) allosaurs weren't raptors. She loitered jumpity for the comeout.

Zet shrugs and nods.  He climbs half in the boat and pulls out a small woven net sack with a sling harness; Stanley can see that it contains a number of hide water bladders, and packages of smoked and salted meat wrapped up in some sort of broad leaf with a slight astringent feel to it, which Stanley believes serves as a mild antibacterial that helps preserve it in the warm and humid climate.  He and Sereth have already scanned the supplies they set out with to make sure none of it is contaminated.

Zet hands over the pack.  "What's the plan, Learned Stanley?"

OOC:Dropping a personal SP, going from 3 to 2. 01:36, Thu 11 Dec 2014: The Traveller rolled 28 using 4d6+11 ((6,5,3,3)) Subterfuge 1+Technology 6+Charming 2+Turbopistols 2. Also expending 1 SP from Pistols, down to 5. Hey Smoke, help me out and give me a +2 boost and make this a 30?

Smoke Alarm may have heard may have gotten used to Trav's sound FX of Daleks and Davros, but the pistols were using a subsonic carrier wave to make it sound like something huge and terrifying was coming from outside. The fact that they're inside actually helps, since they can't see and imagination can only enhance the experience. The fact that the pistols are projecting sonic waves into the floor and stairs for a truly sensurround experience can only serve to make things more terrifying. She of course uses the roar of Toho's most famous star!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flHSCB3E0Yw

"Instead of catching me, you guys may want to not get caught yourselves. Whatever is out there sounds hungry!"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:44, Thu 11 Dec 2014.

'Alley-saurus! Run!' Smoke Alarm yelled suddenly, and didn't need any more encouragement for her first plan. She turned left and ran for the unguarded door, trying to get it open.


OOC: Assistance for Trav: 8. What do you need a 30 for anyway? :p
14:49, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 8 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 1,4. presence(2) + subterfuge(3)

"I really want to find that other source or find out what happened to the creatures behind this disaster." Stanley pauses, thinking that they don't actually want to encounter the Daleks. "The plan is for us three to go inland and search for anything that will lead us to the secondary source. We know roughly where it is, thanks to the scanning device. Maybe we could find somewhere high, climb a tree or something, and see the second site from there or maybe we'll get lucky and there's a trail of debris or burnt jungle to lead us there. We'll have to be careful, the Daleks might still be around. If we don't find anything we'll just leave. How does that sound?"

"Quite." He frowned. "With a secondary site, it is more and more likely you should steer clear of this area when it comes to your food-gathering efforts."

The Silurians hemming in Trav and Smoke Alarm fall back in shock and near-panic at the animal roar ringing through the hall.  It's debatable whether they really, really believe that they're being threatened by a huge dinosaur, or whether the noise trips some genetically wired race memory of ancient predators, or whether -- just maybe -- Ishiro Honda knew a lot more than he let on.

Nevertheless, their focus on the noise causes them to back rapidly away from their quarry.  Several of them flat-out drop their spears, and they have all thoroughly lost their composure.  Smoke Alarm has plenty of time to yank open the door, revealing an unoccupied hallway leading away and past a couple of winding stone stairways.

Rather less favorably for Trav and Smoke Alarm Lerssek also stands frozen, terrified and unable to move.

OOC:

The Guardian, for the NPC Lerssek, rolled 12 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 2,1. Resolve(3) + Subterfuge(2) + Allo-What? (4).
The Guardian, for the NPC Silurians, rolled 12 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 1,2. Resolve(3) + Subterfuge(2) + Allo-What? (4).

And it just doesn't matter.  The bad guys are stunned; your result is plenty to crack their resolve enough to get away.  You can get away from Lerssek as well if you want, or you can drag him after you.  Good luck calming him down. :)

Tchezari cocks her head at Stanley.  "That seems reasonable.... Do you wish to leave the boat abandoned?  Or should someone stay here with it?"

It was unclear, so I thought you might have forgotten you have two NPCs with you.

In any case, time for some more rolls.  These are just Normal difficulty.  I think navigating as has been described without getting turned around in the jungle would be Ingenuity + Survival, and you can take a +2 for the assistance of Tchezari or Zet and a +2 if you're also using the scanner.  Someone can also make an Awareness + Ingenuity for something else.

Oh, and rolling Coordination + Subterfuge probably wouldn't go amiss either.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:20, Fri 12 Dec 2014.

Smoke Alarm outlooked down the carrydoor and the stairways up and down, frantic and hunted. Which way? After their quick here-you-are-here and tour-guiding around the Silurian's castle-towers, she barely had the plans of these towers, she didn't have the knowhow of all the corners and floors. Which way? And where did she want to outgo? Find an exit to the outdoors, and risk the wide open parkland? Find a hide-in somewhere and loiter? Or simply run through and invade the Silurians' brain-quarters? 'Trav! Where to?' she called back, but eyespied that Lerssek was a statue, unbrave. 'Leave the slow-poke!' Was he even on their team?


OOC:
16:16, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 12 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 1,2. awareness(4) + ingenuity(3) + sense of direction(2).

Stanley looks at the boat then back at the group. "Well...the enemy isn't going to steal it and I think it is best we stick together. So let's leave the boat unguarded."

He takes another look at the scanner. "The scanner indicates something in approximately that direction. Let's see if we can find something in the jungle over there."

OOC:....oops, I did indeed forget about Tchezari.

Navigating roll:
00:25, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 18 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 5,4. Ingenuity(4)+Survival(1)+Assistance(2)+Scanner(2).

Stanley isn't that great at sneaking around :) (Coordination + Subterfuge):
00:27, Today: Stanley Newton rolled 11 using 2d6+4 with rolls of 1,6. Coordination (3)+Subterfuge(1).

Stanley, Sereth and the others hike for about an hour and a half, following Tchezari's suggestions about the terrain.  Stanley uses the scanner to guide them toward a vantage point where they might be able to locate the secondary source, while Sereth and Tchezari flank the group to watch for trouble.

They work their way to the top of a ridge that parallels the curve of the inlet.  From here they can see more of the debris scattered across the beach.  At a spot below a gap in the ridge, there's a more closely gathered cluster of wreckage where they can make out structural members and larger flat pieces.  It doesn't look much like a crashed derelict, though: it looks like pieces have been deliberately moved away and set aside from the bulk of the material.

When Stanley runs the scans from up here, however, that does not seem to be the other source they were picking up.  He finds that the secondary bearing points slightly down, toward a continuation of the same ridge partway round the inlet.  There, they can see a dark, jagged crevice part way up that slope -- well above sea level -- that seems to be where the higher radiation reading is coming from.

"Might be difficult to get to." Stanley observes the crevice again and sighs. "The second source is near that crevice, but that debris down there is bothering me more and more. Someone or something has moved things around. It must have happened after the crash...Could it be hunters from some other tribe?" he asks the Silurians.

"Because if it is not then it must be the Daleks. But why? Why would they move stuff around like that." Stanley looks worried. "Maybe we should call off this little expedition...or maybe we should check out that crevice and just don't go near the debris. Unless someone has objections, I think we should keep moving and preferably in the direction of the secondary source, without coming too close to other debris. It should be safe enough." Stanley suggest, though he doesn't sound as confident as he would like.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:04, Tue 16 Dec 2014.

"To hide." The Draconian speaks quietly. "Move around the debris; and underneath may lie their ships." A frown. "Despite it's difficulty, I feel we should investigate the crevice."

Tchezari and Zet exchange a look.  "No one should be in this country who does not follow Zhethvaton's rule," Tchezari says.  "True, this place is not much visited.  But my rideclaw is just one of many that watch over the land.  Foreigners who came in any numbers should have been seen."

"Easier to come unseen by sea," Zet points out.  "Still... a ship's crew would have left traces.  More so, if they did not think any would come here to seek them."

OOC: While I won't go so far as to have the NPCs contradict Stanley, getting to that cave really is not even tough enough to require any sort of roll to reach it.  Though you're perfectly free to declare other actions or precautions if you do.

"Okay, the crevice it is." Stanley states, having decided on their next goal. Even with the possibility of Daleks around, Sereth thinks that investigating the secondary source will be worth it. "We can rule out the Silurians, so we have to assume that there are still Daleks in this area. Stay alert everyone. Let's go!"

The group winds its way down toward the crevice in the ridge, about as carefully as they have been moving all along.  Suddenly, Tchezari lets out a "Ssssss!" and stops in her tracks.

When the others look at her, she points to a slope of packed earth near where they're walking.  Stanley and Sereth hadn't noticed at first, but when Tchezari points it out they can plainly see footprints on the ground -- bipedal, looking rather like prints from broad soft-toed boots that seem like they would match up neatly to the shape of a Silurian foot.  Prints can be found going in various directions: to the wreckage, to the beach, to the cave.

Zet cocks his head.  "Well," he says.  "That is surely a thing to think upon.   May be that we can not rule out People being involved after all...."

OOC: I thought I posted this before but I'm not deliberately ignoring Smoke Alarm & Trav, I'm just not clear on what they want to do at the moment.  You can definitely get away from the people that had you cornered, but Smoke seemed to be looking to Trav for ideas.

If you want to pick a type of destination from among those you laid out, I'll steer things accordingly.

OOC: I was waiting for Trav, but she hasn't been on in a while. No hurry on my account, I've been busy with other games.

OOC: Sorry, pick up at work. Will respond.

The Draconian paused.

"Be very careful. Daleks are known to... take slaves. Mindless automatons almost. They have no free will left; and are tasked with doing jobs that might endanger Dalek lives. They are seen as... expendable."

OOC:
08:52, Today: Sereth rolled 12 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 4,2. Ingenuity + knowledge.

Stanley lets out a sigh of relief and relaxes, when it becomes clear that there is no immediate danger. "Great. That's way better than Daleks. Way better...well,better for us at least, because those Silurians must have come in contact with the 'poison' here. Especially if they have been moving the debris."



"Really? Slaves?" Stanley asks shocked, suddenly not feeling as safe as he did a moment before. From what he has of how the Daleks treated others, he should take 'Mindless automaton' pretty literally. "And I thought we only had to deal with curious Silurians..."

He takes another look at the tracks. "I can't read tracks. Does anyone know how recent these are?"

Tchezari studies them.  "Prints do not last long in a low-lying area like this.  The ground is dry, or dry as this place gets, but we should assume they are recent.  Within days, may be."

Trav holds up her arms and acts like she's scared. She's letting herself fall into the hands of the the Eocene soldiers so that Smoke Alarm can do what she does best - hide, sneak, scurry and cause trouble.

"Quick! Where are we going? Something is out there and it sounds hungry!"

"Okay...recent. Good work, Tchezari!" Stanley thinks for a moment. "Does it matter for what we should do next? If we somehow find out that they are not under Dalek control, we'll tell them about the 'poison', but I don't think we should actively try to find them. As for now, I think we should just continue trying to reach the crevice. Unless we want to meet them, there's no point in staying here."

'Trav! Foot it!' Smoke Alarm urged her friend, but it seemed she wanted to be a slowpoke too, wanted to be caught and taken to the cleaners. Why would anyone want that? She had plans, right? Mayhaps she was waiting for the alley-saurus. 'Build high for happiness!' she farewelled, then darted through the door.

The Kang footed it down the carrydoor, skipping the first flight of stairs (too easy-peasy), and the second (they might guess she skipped the first), before taking the third. She took the steps two, three, four at a time, trying to get high. A Kang would often go for higher floors, to build high for happiness, to seek the great pool in the sky, to eyespy through windows and climb out onto roofs.

It takes a fair bit of time (by Kang escape standards, at least) before the Silurians collect themselves enough to recover from the surprise and get organized.  However, this is plenty of time for them to restrain Lerssek and the unresisting Trav.  There seems to be a substantial hubbub raised all throughout the nearby parts of the fortress at the racket.

The troopers are all looking to their High People leader for direction.  One says, "!  The blue ape has fled us!"

The three-eyed Silurian scowls, looking at the captives.  "Bring them!  We will have to find her, but we must secure these first.  Take their weapons."

After they take Lerssek's spear and shake Trav down for anything that looks dangerouse, they hustle Trav and Lerssek out of the hallway, back in the direction their leader's group came from, up two flights of steps and down a wide gallery.  Trav notices that they come to a  reinforced door leading through a thicker part of the fortification, that is flanked by soldiers in light armor.  Once they are passed through that doorway, the leader points to Lerssek.  "Take him and have him held," he snaps.  "Two of you bring the ape; I will bring her before the master."

OOC: The Silurians are going to at least try taking Trav's guns away, as they've seen crossbows are least and would at least theorize that they are weapons.  You can roll Ingenuity + Subterfuge against them to find out what else you're able to hide away, such as your sonic.

A few of the lizard-people in the area give Smoke Alarm surprised and curious glances, but everyone is preoccupied with figuring out how to respond to the big roaring noise that Trav made ring through the walls of the castle.  Smoke Alarm isn't impeded until the stairway tops out and leads into a wide corridor.  She notices that the floor here is tiled in a complicated pattern in green and blue and gold, and the walls are more elaborately ornamented.

She sees a trio of big two-eyes Silurians heading purposefully in her direction (but not particularly towards her, it seems).  She just recognizes the big guard-body from the throne room -- what was her name?  Nerry-tree?  Not-a-tray? -- when the Silurian sees her in turn.

The lizard woman puts a hand on the hilt of the kitchen-knife sticking up over her back, but does not loose it.  She points at Smoke Alarm.  "Little one," she says, "what are you doing running loose?"

Stanley, Sereth, and the others continue on and work their way up the slope to where the cave mouth opens up ahead of them.  Stanley has been taking radiation readings the whole time, and the level has crept up slightly as they approached, but it is still well within the safe zone at the entrance -- they were picking up more exposure just standing down on the beach.

They can tell that there is a slight flow of damp air coming out of the cave.  There isn't any light directly visible as they look into the cave, but there is a fair amount of echo: there is probably a substantial amount of empty space beyond.  As they stand and listen, they can tell that there is some source of steady noise far away in the blackness.  It's quite indistinct: whatever it is, must be getting swallowed up by space and distance, but it's not the ambient sound of echo or dripping water that they would expect.

Smoke Alarm skidded to a stop many steps away from Neratra, eyespying her suspiciously, 'waring her kitchen-knifes. Who was in on the mousetrap? Who would help her? 'I am running loose!' she answered boldly, finding Neratra had answered her own question. Her words were hot and angry. 'We gave our swear-words! No ball-games, no fly-posts, no outgoings without Lerssek. But your people set mousetraps for us! They chase me down the carrydoors, catch me if they can. They take Traveller and Lerssek to the cleaners. Rule-breakers!' she accused.

Neratra lets go of her sword and folds thickly muscled arms across her chest.  "Ssss.  They is not me and I do not think it is my people.  Who took Traveller and Rider Lerssek?  Can you show me where this happened?"

Incidentally, it would probably be good to agree on who has Smoke's bangle and the skull at the moment.  I think that got dropped between posts somewhere.

I was pondering whether it was worth offering a story point over that but I think it's kind  of neutral whether Smoke Alarm is carrying a piece of deceased Silurian.  Unless you want to get a story point by just having it be Very Suspicious Indeed.

'Four two-eyes with pointy sticks, and one three-eyes. In the little hall that way.' The Kang pointed directly through the walls and floors to the gallery they had been mouse-trapped in.


OOC: I think Smoke would be wearing the gold bangle. I assumed we left all the bones where we found them. I don't think Smoke would carry the skull with her for no reason. Though she might should still have the rubbish basket.

Lerssek did come with a companion, Ranare, who seems to have disappeared. Maybe he's guarding the crime-scene?

"The debris on the beach made a humming noise. Maybe there is a larger piece in there." Stanley suggests after they've stood there for a while, listening to the sound coming from the cave. "It doesn't sound like the Daleks or their slaves. Let's see what's inside... but maybe not all of us should go in. We need someone to warn us in case the Silurians or the Daleks come back."

Sereth frowned.

"Can't be me. I don't think we can hear that sound clearly enough to know -what- it is; and I don't trust it."

So saying, he moved quietly to the entrance, preparing to enter when they decided who, if any, were staying on guard.

Zet tilts his head and looks at Sereth.  "If you want a volunteer... Well, I am not ashamed to say, I did not last forty summers on a sea hiding visli and restaseki by being over-eager to poke my nose into hazard.  I can keep an eye on the boat from here--" he gestures down at the beach "--and most anything that turns up, I should see coming."

Neratra follows Smoke's pointing arm curiously, then says, "Come.  We will retrace your steps.  If anyone makes to bar our way, we will dissuade them."

Wary as a rat, Smoke Alarm eyespied Neratra, wondering if she was being tricksy to get her to trackback into the mousetrap. Which of these Silurians could she trust? She didn't know anyone. Ensaven had gone off with Sereth and Stanley, Lerssek was catched in the mousetrap with Traveller. Like a mouse, she was starting to feel very small and lost and unbrave.


OOC: Is Neratra being deceitful? I wasn't sure what to roll to sense a lie, but went with Awareness + Subterfuge and added Keen Senses for 18.
19:29, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 18 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 4,5. awareness(4) + subterfuge(3) + keen senses(2).

Smoke Alarm doesn't find it too easy to read what Neratra is thinking.  The lizard person carries herself like a caretaker, after all, and even Sereth's features and expressions are way easier for Smoke Alarm to interpret.  But she does not get a sense that there is anything behind what Neratra is saying, except for what she is saying: the Silurian is big and tough and though she has given the impression of being amused by the smaller Kang's efforts to be brave and bold (as a Kang should be) she has never seemed to be mean about it.  Smoke Alarm thinks, given that, that if Neratra meant to be a meany-pants she would not bother to be tricksy about it -- like Sereth, she comes across as a very direct sort of person.

Of course, it was Trav's intention to get caught all this time. Her Ipad and phone are pinging out telemetry to team's phones. While Trav of course hands over her pistols, the sonic is hidden away. She happily upends her bag with it's collection of junk - and whether or not a slinky, a Minmei doll, several comics, 12 USB drives, a lighter, rubber bands, 2 instaheat kronkburgers and several other items can be turned into weapons is left up to the imagination. Not to mention all those Jolly Ranchers!

"Okay, that's perfect. We won't be gone for long." Stanley picks up his stuff and gets ready to enter the cave. He looks back at Zet. "Thanks for volunteering, Zet....oh and if you think something really, really bad has happened to us, take the boat, go back and warn the one called The Traveller. She'll know what to do...."

He lights a torch and looks at Sereth. "We have light, supplies and the radiation levels are elevated but safe. I think we are ready for a little spelunking."

Neratra might be a caretaker, but she seemed brave and bold (though mayhaps not like a Kang) and not full of untruths. Smoke Alarm remembered her dare earlier. She decided to trust the lizard-lady. For now, anyhow.

'Push bar to open.' she agreed. 'Track back, all speed!' The Kang turned on her heels and raced back the way she'd comeout, expecting Neratra and the rest to play follow-the-leader.

As Trav dumps out her collection of atemporal bric-a-brac, she notices that the Silurian in charge can't hide his surprise and then his greed for the more obviously technological items.  The USB drives are swept up in his hands and he grabs for the iPad as well.

One of the guards picks up one of the instaheat burgers, sniffing at it experimentally.

"Put that down," the leader snaps.  "You!  Fetch Lord Rell-Va-Tenn!"  The guard hurries off.

Smoke Alarm's sense of direction leads her back unerringly to the gallery where her group was intercepted.  The general uproar seems to be abating in the absence of any further faux Allosaur bellows.

Then there's movement from down one end of the hallway, and as Smoke Alarm reacts to it (and Neratra and her associates do as well, the big guardswoman in an extravagant flourish of steel as she draws her blade) she sees the rider Ranare come into view.  He looks agitated, almost on the edge of panic.  "Ssmo-Ka-Larrm," he says in a breathy voice.  "Lerssek, Tra-Va-Larr -- where are they?"

Stanley, Sereth and Tchezari head further down into the cave, leaving Zet watching the entrance.  From the echoes of their footfalls they can tell that there is a lot of space down here, maybe enough that there's a flood risk at high tide.  They note as well that although the footing is occasionally treacherous, the passages are substantial in size and only rarely do they have to make any sort of complicated maneuver to proceed ahead.

The background noise gradually gets louder and resolves into a hum with a buzzing undercurrent.  Coming round a bend and shining the torch ahead to look for the twists in the passageway, Stanley notices that there is a bit of light coming around the crook in the tunnel ahead that isn't coming from their own light or a reflection off the walls.

Gone! They'd already taken Traveller to the cleaners. Smoke Alarm tried eyespying for a clue about where to, when Ranare cameout. 'We footed right into a mousetrap! They were catched and taken to the cleaners.' she complained angrily. She wished Traveller had followed, she wished she hadn't run off with all speed. Mayhaps if she'd stayed, she could have learned their plans, who they were, before running off.


OOC: Were the ones who took Traveller and Lerssek wearing a different uniform or something to Neratra and co.? Any distinguishing features?
14:35, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 14 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 1,4. awareness(4) + ingenuity(3) + keen senses(2).
This message was last edited by the player at 07:14, Wed 24 Dec 2014.

OOC: That roll's decent enough that the answer should probably be a yes: you can expand on the details yourself if you like.  I think the "Yes, but" will be adequately covered by the Kangish nature of Smoke's explanation. :)

Desperately, Smoke Alarm eyespied all around the hall, outlooking through the shuttered windows, peeking under the tapestry, lifting up the carpet, all to go lost-and-found for some kind of clue or mayhaps a secret passage. As she hared about, she gave a description of the Silurian caretakers to Neratra and Ranare, hoping they knew their colours. 'Four two-eyes with pointy sticks, and one three-eyes without. Two by two, hands of blue. Metally armoire. The other is yellow of colour, a cowardly cutlet. This high to enter.' She indicated the height of the Silurian who'd spoken, clearly the leader of the gang.

'He cameout this way.' she said, pointing to the archway ahead, the one they'd been outgoing to, reasoning what would have happened next. 'He must have outgone the same way, back to his brainquarters! Hide and seek!' The Kang pelted through the archway. That was the first step; she'd work out the rest later.

Good thing the Ipad has biometrics on it, and will only let whoever else has it play Angry Birds.  Trav puts the Ipad in front of the Tech-Greedy Silurian. "So, you like video games? This is Angry Birds. Look!" She's already locked down all her stuff so that even Smart People will have a hard time with it. In fact, over their phones, the team can hear hear and see Trav talking to the Silurian leader, even though on their end it's the 1st screen of everyone's favorite pig destroying game.

Trav hrms a bit. She honestly has no recollection of what is on those drives.

"Check this out. The pigs have stolen the bird's eggs! Now you have to get them back. Launch the birds, like this! See?"


OOC: Trav tries to make a new friend through the magic of Angry Birds
12:54, Today: The Traveller rolled 15 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 5,1. 2d6+Presence 3+Convince 2+Charming 2+Brave 2 - Make friends with Angry Birds.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:57, Sun 28 Dec 2014.

Now with four putatively friendly Silurians at her back, Smoke Alarm runs forward through the archway where the three-eyes lizard-person come from and zags left, since right would run back out toward the open courtyard in the direction of the trash pit.  The hallway in that direction serves as the ground floor for a number of stone staircases -- lots of outgoings.

As Neratra comes up at Smoke Alarm's back, she says, "Ssss.  These take one to the private enclaves of Lord Zhethvaton's high advisors and visiting vassals.  And that would tally with what you described.  Those would be the soldiers of Vizier Rell-Va-Tenn, if they were not concealing their true colors."

She looks pensive, and gives Smoke Alarm a long, measuring look.  "If you say that Rell-Va-Tenn's hand is behind this, you had best be right.  He has great power in my lord's court and could bring great vengeance against any who accused him falsely."

The Silurian's eyes all widen at the colored display and the noises.  He is transfixed for a few moments before he even tries to follow Trav's directions -- when he sees that the game responds to his actions, his eyes go wide.  Then he seems to catch himself, giving Trav a crafty look.  He snatches up the iPad, and when Trav reacts to that, the guards still holding her give her a gentle prod with their weapons.

"You stay here," he says.  "I will take this to my master.  I am certain he will want to speak with you shortly."

As he strides briskly away, barely concealing his excitement, the guardsman accidentally triggers the instaheat burger packaging, and drops it in alarm as the integrated microheater burbles out the Krazy Kronk^TM theme jingle.

Smoke Alarm hunted around the hallway for clues, outlooking down carrydoors and up the stairways, but she couldn't guess where Traveller had been taken to the cleaners. If only Traveller had thought to drop breadcrumbs on the floor like Hand Rail and Grate Well in the story of the Rezzie with the gingerbread apartment. Mayhaps she had and rats had comeout to eat the crumbs?

Feeling unbold and unbrave for her friend, Smoke tracked back to Neratra. Hearing her words, she exclaimed 'Rell-Va-Tenn!' Quickly she showed the trash basket and the gold bangle on her wrist to Neratra. 'Rell-Va-Tenn's the one with all the shiny bling. He's giving it away. He gave this to the garbage-man. I swapped it for my bangle and dumped the rubbish for him. Mayhaps Visier Rell-Va-Tenn wants it back?'

'But I only knowhow they dressed, their colours. I don't know who they are.' she stressed.

Neratra's eyes narrow almost to slits as she looks at the little gold bangle.

"If Rell-Va-Tenn is giving away such as this to drudges, he must have a great deal of it to throw around.  I am uncertain.  I am a little beyond what is my proper authority: by right I am charged only with my lord's safety in body.

"If Rell-Va-Tenn's servants refuse my request to search, then my only recourse is to force.  If I seek my lord's authority, then I think you would have to explain the events and the reason to him, and while I do not think you would fear that, it would give the culprit more time to spirit your friend away, or worse.

"What think you?"

Suddenly the Kang's odd behaviour and choices in her scavenger hunt earlier all made perfect sense. She'd won the game! Smoke tossed the rubbish-basket up in excitement and caught it again. 'Ha ha! I have to put this back in his en-cave for the garbage-man. We can gain entry, eyespy his apartment and brainquarters, and know if he tells untruths and has secrets. Mayhaps Traveller is there!'