Jack finds himself... not in the Shadow he'd planned to be in.

(Jack gets +1 xp.)

It looks post-apocalyptic, all right. Burnt and blackened steel skeletons of skyscrapers over there, check.

A pitted and potholed and badly cracked roadway, check.

Bones and skulls along the side of the road, check.

Buuuuuut...

Red cyclopean giant with festering boils up ahead using a large street sign as a club... that's new.

MAIN STREET and UNIVERSITY BLVD, the double-signpost says, and "RRRAAAAAAAAHHHH" the large mutant says.

He's about 12 feet tall and built like a small brick lighthouse. He drools and slams the street sign on the ground, badly denting UNIVERSITY and daring you to come at him.

There's a pretty seriously deep ditch on either side of you... Remnants of concrete suggests that the ditches were actually once sewers that have since collapsed into these trenches...

You could back up, but there's a lot of empty wrecks of cars back behind you... Might be a little tight in reverse...

"I think I took a wrong turn in Albuquerque," Jack jokes and stares at the giant for a second, debating whether he wants to go out there and test his mettle or just relocate. "You think a thing like that would work on their earth?" he considers the advantages of having some giants or trolls as he turns his head to stare out the back window of the truck and puts it in reverse and starts to back up.

The big orange truck swinging wide of the first wreck. The big powerful truck with its fancy metals hopefully still doing an admirable job of holding together.

"Feel free to shoot it!" he adds as he backs away, trying to swerve between the wrecks.

18:58, Today: Jack rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,4. Driving.

Alec looks at the mutant. "Wow. I hope he isn't the runt of the litter."

Alec nods to Jack, then leans out the window and fires at the creature with his 45. "I hope he isn't bulletproof."

21:21, Today: Alec rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,4.

(Alec gets 1 new xp.)

Alec misses the mutant, which comes stomping toward them at about the same speed that the truck is backing up.

However, the road (backward) starts to curve at this point.

Good news! You have made it past enough wrecks to see that there's an intersection up ahead! It's blocked by two large vans (like a postal truck thing, and a moving van, looks like?), but if you can keep maneuvering well enough to take the intersection off to the right when you get there, the road looks clearer...! Might be able to pick up speed! Only about 40 yards left to the intersection...!

Bad news: Smaller creatures are crawling up out of the ditches to the side. They're only about 4 feet tall, but they look vicious. Guess the noise up here must've gotten their attention down in what's left of the sewer or drainage tunnels or whatever.





"Foo!" they scream. "Foo! Foo! Foooo!"

One, with slightly smaller fangs in its mouth, has better pronunciation than the others:

"Foood!"

"Alec, change in tactics, shadow shift these things away, subtract them, clear the area, and we'll start the trek again fresh," Jack suggests. They have no reason to dwell here any longer than necessary, this is not their destination. So he keeps moving backwards, the truck moving along swiftly, his arm wrapped across the back of his cousin's seat as he drives the vehicle by looking out the rear window.

Driving: 23:25, Today: Jack rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,5.

(Alec,

Travel Through Shadow: roll plus your Perception modifier...

If you are riding a steed, or in a vehicle someone else is driving, you get +1.
If you're in a terrible hurry, -1

So, just your perception modifier (which is 0)...)
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:52, Fri 12 July 2019.

Jack manages to reach the intersection, but several of the food-wanting creatures swarm the truck and start clawing at it.

Although they're stronger than they look and their claws are quite sharp, they are unable so far to open the doors or break the windows.

But the ones trying to tear the hood open seem like they're about to succeed...

And the big mutant is still stomping along... he hasn't caught up yet, but hasn't really fallen behind either...

(Jack, don't post again until I see what Alec does next, whether that Travel Through Shadows or something else...)

Alec nods absently as he composes his mind for the change he wants to make. Start with something simple. Clouds, darker against the daylit sky...a bird coasts on the winds...echoes of a far away cry of some lonely animal...vines, growing up the sides of the buildings...cars rusted and skeletal-looking...only birds and grass...

21:01, Today: Alec rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,6.

His thumb gently caresses the .45 as he shifts through Shadow.

The road they were on changed. The street ahead was suddenly free of cars and other debris. It started to curve to the left.

The buildings, or what was left of them, were much closer now.

There were indeed lots of vines crawling up the sides of every vertical surface-- some smaller buildings, and what was probably a large car, were covered in ivy...

The cloud cover overhead was fairly heavy... a couple of vultures rode on thermals...

Some animal, a dog, perhaps, cried out in pain from a block away...

"Foo! Foo! Foooo!"

But while the cyclopean mutant was no longer chasing them-- nor were the other smaller creatures-- the four foo fighters who had actually managed to climb onto the truck were still clawing away at it.

And suddenly, they'd managed to open the hood. The wind popped it open the rest of the way...

(David, your vision forward is now obscured. Do you
--stop?
--Roll down the window and stick your head out (there's a foo fighter out there!)?
--Keep driving?
--Other?

Alec, what do you do? There's a foo fighter at your window as well, though so far they haven't grasped that glass should be more breakable than metal...)

Not about to weather damage to the truck longer than necessary, Jack locks up the brakes and as the car comes to a stop, he puts it in park and jumps out circling at a tactical angle for maximum efficiency, he draws his sword and lets the nearest Foo Fighter have a slash as he circles around towards the hood. Using one hand to cut at the goblin-like creatures while the other makes to push the hood down and keep their ride mobile.


15:16, Today: Jack rolled 3 using 1d10+1 with rolls of 2.
15:15, Today: Jack rolled 11 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 5,3.
15:13, Today: Jack rolled 10 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,5.

Stopping the vehicle. Tactics, rolled a 10. Taking +1 to hit, +1 damage going forward.

Hit for 3 damage.

Also concerned about the truck, Alec gets out with sheathed sword in one hand, and the ever-popular 45 in the other. He snaps a shot at the creature. It is close, and he can hardly miss at this range.

21:19, Today: Alec rolled 11 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,6.


"These things need to go back to whatever shithole they came from."

If the creature is still up, he fires at it again.

"Jack, is the truck okay?"

(Alec, since you (like Jack) chose the Combat option, you do 1d10 damage to everything/anything, with any kind of weapon, so just roll 1d10 for your damage.

(For future reference: what did we decide to do about attacking without a weapon? Did we say that's a -2 damage penalty, or did we decide anything, or what?))

"Foo! Fooooo!"

The foo fighters are delighted to have their prey where they can bite them.

(GM rolls dice...

11:37, Today: The GM rolled 9 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,5.
11:37, Today: The GM rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,5.
11:37, Today: The GM rolled 3 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,1.
11:37, Today: The GM rolled 2 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,1.)

Two foo fighters attack Jack, two attack Alec.

Their attacks are all unsuccessful, except for one that takes a bite out of Jack.

(Jack takes 3 damage (2 if I'm right that that jacket of his is armored), but gets-- before anything else-- to do a counter-attack on the one that bit 'im...)

Still fighting tactically, Jack circles his second opponent and as it comes in for a bit, he interposes his sword stabbing it neatly and cleanly through the torso--making it pay for the attack dearly. Withdrawing the blade smoothly, he cuts again, stepping sideways as he does so, laying a swift blow across its body.

12:58, Today: Jack rolled 7 using 1d10+1 with rolls of 6.
12:58, Today: Jack rolled 11 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 2,6.
12:57, Today: Jack rolled 11,1 using 1d10+1,1d6 with rolls of 10,1.  Critical Riposte.
12:57, Today: Jack rolled 13 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 6,4.

The riposte was a critical. If it's all to the same target, 20 damage to them so far. Obviously if one of them dies, switch targets.

The foo fighters are tough, but not remotely that tough. Jack's counterattack destroys the first creature, and the second is very badly wounded... he (is it a he? hope so, considering how ugly he is) doesn't look like he has a lot more fight left in him...

(Waiting on Alec before I post more... you hold off too, Jack.)

[Firearm damage]
23:47, Today: Alec rolled 5 using 1d10 with rolls of 5.

Quickly putting the gun in the back of his pants, he draws his blade and attacks with preternatural calmness.


23:48, Today: Alec rolled 7 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,2.

Lunging with a quick stab, he ducks under the attack of one and feels his blade score on the one he shot.


23:50, Today: Alec rolled 5 using 1d10+1 with rolls of 4.

These things don't seem terribly dangerous, but they are attacking, and their intentions are clear. So they have to die. Alec uses no banter, but quietly and calmly ducks the other attack while foo fighter number one is wounded multiple times.

(GM rolls dice)

Jack's one foo fighter attacks, and fails.

So does Alec's.

(Jack and Alec may each roll to attempt to counterattack their attackers once before anything else (if the roll is successful, roll damage too).)

The one that Alec just shot and stabbed is on its last legs, but unlike Jack's lone remaining attacker, Alec's decides to run for it, and scampers off toward a manhole cover...

Stepping into the attack that is thrown his way, Jack sidesteps and with a side-cut, whips his blade out in one single neat cut and neatly severs the head of the goblin-thing. Sending the head rolling across the ground. Turning then, he looks around at anything that might still be standing, and seeing nothing still a threat to him, he calmly walks back to the truck.

"I wonder what sort of world this is?" he asks as he walks, cleaning his blade with a bit of cloth which he casually discards on the road. "Lots of plant growth. Abandoned, perhaps? A dead world?" he asks and checks to make sure that the hood will stay shut. Testing it a few times with a hand.

20:52, Today: Jack rolled 8,6 using 1d10+1,1d6 with rolls of 7,6.
20:52, Today: Jack rolled 12 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 3,6.

Alec counterattacks the one that just swung at him.

22:32, Today: Alec rolled 12 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 5,6.

The sword crashes into the creature, cutting into it and knocking it off balance.

22:32, Today: Alec rolled 6 using 1d10+1 with rolls of 5.

(That was a free attack you got because the foo fighter got sloppy and let its guard down... now you may attack it again...)

Alec doesn't seem to give the foo fighter any respect and casually skewers him, her, it, whatever it is.


23:47, Today: Alec rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 2,5.  Attack.


23:48, Today: Alec rolled 6 using 1d10+1 with rolls of 5.  damage.

If it drops, Alec tickles its heart to ensure it is actually dead, if not, more stabbing is called for.

"Is the truck okay, Jack?"

The truck has in fact been damaged... a couple of important-looking wires have been pulled out... one, specifically, looks missing.

"Humans!" You hear. You look over to a spot farther down the street.

There, a manhole cover is open, and the remaining foo fighter is there-- dead.

Sticking their heads up out of the manhole are a couple of cloaked figures. "Fellow humans!" they call to you quietly. "Run! Quickly! This way! The truant officers are coming!"

Giving the interior of the hood a look over, Jack spots the missing wire and nods to himself. Of course. One of these might have it on them. That would be something to fix, soon as they knew the coast was clear.

"We could do it on foot, but I don't like giving up the ride unless I have to, let's see if these are worth their mettle," Jack says and steps to the truck, pulling out his sub machine gun. Hooking it under his arm, he starts toward the waiting cloaked figures at a trot, and then a run. Moving swiftly to join the sewer dwellers and learn what they are all about.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Sun 28 July 2019.

Alec wipes his weapon off on one of the corpses, then goes to follow Jack. He reaches into the truck and grabs the extra ammunition and the RPG. It didn't make sense to leave something behind that could be fired at them in a few minutes.

After doing this, he runs after Jack.

"Down here, pals! Hurry! The truant officers!"

("Pals?" you think, but it's not as odd as "the truant officers," so you roll with it for now.)

But do you go down the manhole? They slide down to make room for you...

The men under the hoods do look human, even on closer inspection... a bit pale, but if they live down there, it's not really surprising...

Sliding the last few feet, Jack drops into the manhole. Always willing to see where the Pattern brings him when he gets off track. Sometimes the strangest worlds were full of the most interesting things. He's well armed, armored, and still in good health. He could handle them if this was some sort of trap.

"We're not from around here, what are truant officers?" he asks of the pale men.

Wondering what the "truant officers" are, he wants to see them, but then Jack impulsively goes down the manhole cover. Jack is a good companion, and Alec will definitely have his back. So he goes after Jack into the opening as well.

Something about H.G. Wells and Morlocks crosses his mind as he descends into relative darkness.

No pun intended.

"Shhhhhhh!" warns one of the pale humans, and then he rushes back up the ladder and pulls the manhole shut. Then, quietly, he descends once more.

Even as he's descending again, you begin to hear hooves... Shod with horseshoes, specifically, if you're any judge.

Multiple horses... more than 4, definitely.

There's a bit of incoherent shouting-- sounds like someone's spotted the truck.

The horses draw even closer. "Never seen a thing quite like this before," says a very low, loud, gruff voice. "Looks almost new."

Something comes closer to the manhole. "And look at these dead creatures! Looks like... they attacked the vehicle... But were slain. Mostly with a sword..." Something very heavy jumps down with a thud to the ground. "But at least one shot with a gun. They can't have been very intelligent, from the size of the heads... Vicious-looking, though..."

The pale humans gesture you away from where you're standing, so that no one will see you if they open the manhole and look down...

Listening to those on the surface, Jack tilts his head slowly to the side in consideration and then glances in the direction of the pale men and heads in their direction. As he walks, he keeps his sub machine gun pointed back toward the base of the ladder beneath the manhole, and only as he gets closer does he shrug slightly at the recent turn of events.

He could still salvage this situation.

There's the sound of the manhole opening, and more light comes down. Then there's a grunt. "Huh. Don't see any of them down here..." says the same very deep, gruff, growly voice as before (or maybe it's not the same voice, maybe everyone up there sounds about the same).

The manhole cover is put back into place. "What now?" a voice asks.

"...Let's go back and report," says a voice (yeah, if it's not one guy doing all the talking, then they all sound pretty much the same).

There's some sounds that's probably a large person (of some kind) climbing back on their horse...

Your pale human hosts look vaguely relieved that the "truant officers" are about to leave...

Jack wonders if the giant that'd chased them would run into the horse riders and continues to move away from the manhole, knowing that this may just be a deception. He'll remain silent until the pale men give him the notion that it's safe to talk.

Alec follows Jack's lead and doesn't trust the Morlocks. He is ready to strike if any of them make a move against either of the Amberites.

He listens to the truant officers, paying more attention while they are talking because he is pretty sure that the Morlocks are not going to start anything while their enemies are close enough to hear.

Neither Jack nor Alec interferes with the "truant officers" leaving, and soon they can be heard riding back off.

One human silently climbs up the ladder, removes something that looks like a dental mirror-- a little round mirror on a small stick-- and sticks up through a hole in the manhole, and looks around, using it like a periscope.

When that turns up nothing, he carefully-- clearly with long practice-- lifts the manhole, and carefully looks around-- keeping his eyes carefully shaded all the while.

He apparently detects nothing amiss. He silently lowers the manhole back into place, and then slides down.

"It seems like they're really gone. Now that we can talk more freely-- who are you? You can talk-- but where are you from? How can your eyes stand to be out in the direct sunlight like that? What were those dangerous little creatures you were fighting? Where did you find a working vehicle? Did you build it yourselves? Where were you going when they made you stop? Do you need any help with anything...?"

"'It never hurts to be helpful...'" says the other human. It sounds like a quote. (Really, it sounds like he's quoting holy scripture...)

"I am Jack and this is Alec, we are Princes of a far off land where people can see just as well in the light," Jack begins by answering the simple matter of introducing them and beginning to build some level of rapport with the Morlocks. Letting the sub machine gun hang at his side, he looks them over, trying to see if he might have any use for them in case of attacks by the hook-handed assassins. He doesn't think so. "Those creatures are unknown to us, but beside the one that escaped with a wire, I do not think they will trouble us again."

Looking over the duo, he thinks for a moment.

"I need to find the one who took a wire from us, and can you tell me, what are your truant officers? We are not familiar with them, " he mentions.

"I am Whitey," says the taller pf the two humans.

"I am Petey," says the other.

"Truant Officers are..." Whitey looks at Petey, at a loss.

"They are Truant Officers..." agrees Petey. "They can talk, but they are not human. They are larger, stronger... hairier... They would want to take us to School..." They both shudder. "--IF they caught us. They have never caught us yet. They must never learn we exist, and can talk. The humans at their school cannot talk, are not smart."

"The four creatures you were fighting are dead," said Whitey. "When Truant Officers leave, they leave. If you are Sneaky, you may go back up to the street and search for your wire..."

"Was it a special wire?" Petey asks. "Or just a normal wire, for electricity? If you do not find your wire, we can perhaps take you to where there are other wires that perhaps you could replace it with...?"

Whitey nods. "It never hurts to be helpful," Whitey intones solemnly.

"I see," Jack decides and considers if there is anything he can do to improve the lot for these people, and after a moment of deliberation decides that there is not and the Truant Officers don't sound like they would be interested in following Jack and Alec. The two with their religious feelings however, might make good night watchmen, and they'd be thankful. "You two can come with us, you'll be made to watch for our fort at night, but it'll be safe, clean, and comfortable. You'll want something to keep the sun from you for a few days, since we'll be travelling and stopping during the day, can you manage that?"

Even as he talks to them, he starts back toward the spot where the tunnel goes up on to the street and lifts the manhole out of the way, quietly, and goes to check the bodies for the wire.

Leaving them to think about if they could come. He wasn't going to waste time explaining more, and he wasn't going to argue for their joining him. They'd be a wash of inconvenience, most likely, so if they decided to come, it was fine.

Jack seems to be building a rapport with the Morlocks. Alec wonders idly if the Truant Officers are really horrible or if the Morlocks are just wimpy. Then he realizes it doesn't really matter.

The idea that there could be more wires, whether it be cars in an underground garage or something similar sounds like a good idea.

When Jack goes up to check on the bodies, Alec waits on the ladder, with his head exposed, and looks for returning Truant officers or other hostiles, to keep Jack safe.

"Your... fort...?" says Whitey extra-quietly, in awe.

"Like... a... a Secret Hideout...?" Petey whispers in reverence.

"A fort!" Whitey says to Petey.

"Like a clubhouse!" Petey says to Whitey. Petey turns to you. "What kind of fort? Is it a tree fort? Or more like an old cave...? Or...?"

"I think we have to go on this adventure with Jack and Alec," Whitey says to Petey. "It's What Billy Would Do." They both nod vigorously at this.

"And they don't have Truant Officers there," says Petey, "because Jack and Alec didn't know about Truant Officers until now. So therein, truly, lies Summer Vacation..."



Good news: there really don't seem to be any more Truant Officers around on the surface.

Bad news: There's no sign of the missing wire.

The possibilities:

1. the critters tossed the wire somewhere that you just aren't finding it.

or:

2. the critter that pulled it: ate it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:31, Tue 06 Aug 2019.

"How far is it to where the other wires are?" Jack asks and walks around to the back of the truck. "Alec, have them tell you where to turn, I'll push. Petey, Whitey, tell Alec where to go, we will hurry," he suggests and grabs the back of the truck and once they are all piled in, he starts pushing the truck and running behind it.

"Mm, less than an episode, if we're Sneaky enough," says Petey...

You blink at an episode as a unit of time, but Whitey nods-- it clearly makes perfect sense to him...




"Ummm," says Whitey. "No... we meant, through the tunnels." He looks at Petey. "I don't think travelling on the surface would really help, would it?"

Whitey shakes his head. "No... might make it take a little longer, really..."

Alec, after reflecting on the fruitless search for the wire, looks at the dead potential wire thieves. "Wires won't dissolve in someone's stomach." He draws his blade and goes to cut open the first dead guy's stomach and then stops.

"Nobody in their right mind is going to eat a wire. Fuck it."

Then Jack gives him something more productive to do and he goes to get behind the wheel of the truck. When the two sidekicks start to protest, Alec turns around and looks at Jack.

"What do you think?"

"I guess if it gets us there quickly and back, I can go underground," Jack answers and stares down at his feet for a moment as he starts to push the truck. "Let's steer it into a back alley, in the meantime," he mentions. "Don't know how much others might scavenge," he decides. He'd rather not have to go for another extended walk just to get them another replacement vehicle. They'd dealt with that already.

While Alec steers them, Jack pushes and they coast back into a back alley as much out of sight of the street as possible. It's at this point that Jack looks to the pale duo.

"Okay boys, show us the best way to the wires. Assuming it matches the other cable here, it should look like this," Jack mentions and leads them over to the hood, popping it open and indicating the cable. "It's a battery cable."

Whitey and Petey squint and grimace. They reach out and feel the cable... It's clear that they really just can't see that well with the sun up, even in a side alley, even with their hoods up, even with clouds overhead. "Um, I'm sure you'll know it if and when we find one..." says Petey...

Whitey and Petey lead you back to the manhole, closing it behind you, and lead you confidently through a maze of tunnels. It's very dark, but Whitey and Petey can apparently see just fine.

But there seems to be some disagreement amongst them-- as the four of you walk, they're silently whispering to each other in increasingly frustrated tones.

Finally, at a tunnel cross-juncture, they stop. "Look, pals," Whitey says to you, "we need to be honest with you. There's a chance that where we were going to take you might have the kind of cable you need..." He points to the tunnel to the right. "But just a chance. But we can think of two places that're a lot more likely. The trouble is..."

"--The trouble is, it's a little more dangerous," says Petey. "There's a much better chance that we can find what you need in another room, this way..." he says, pointing straight ahead. "Say, better than 50%. But there's another tribe of humans like ourselves--"

"--Not neato-keen, like us," says Whitey. "They follow false episodes."

"They are not neato-keen," Petey agrees. "And straight ahead is right near the edge of their territory."

"But then there's another room with all kinds of electrical stuff," says Whitey, pointing to the tunnel on the left. "We think it's almost guaranteed to have what you need--"

"--guarantee void outside the 48--" they both intone in unison--

"--but it's right in the middle of their territory," Whitey finishes.

Petey and Whitey pull something out of their robes-- small crossbows. "We're willing to help you get to whichever room you want to try," says Petey. "It's What Billy Would Do. But it'll probably mean a fight. So what do you want to try...?"

"The safer one first," Jack answers the question and gestures for them to continue to lead the way. The dark leather of his jacket occasionally catching a bit of light and reflecting like a dark armored skin in the shadows of the tunnel. Moving along smoothly, he readies his sub machine gun and blade. "Hopefully we can do this without an issue," he asides. "If not, we shadow walk," he mentions to Alec quietly.

"Straight ahead, then," says Whitey. "Well, it's safer than the left-hand path, at least. Let's go... but pals, try to be as Sneaky as you can."


(Jack, Alec, each make a DEX roll for stealth please...)

Moving along quietly, Jack stays to the shadows though he isn't sure how well hiding in shadows works on these people who are so accustomed to the darkness. Slinking along making barely a sound save the slightest sounds of a scuffed shoe or the creak of the strap holding up his gun as he progresses along, he becomes one with the shadows.

18:29, Today: Jack rolled 11 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,4.

-1 because I'm a dolt who forgot his stats.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:50, Fri 09 Aug 2019.

Alec looks disappointed when they get to the tunnel again. He looks at the rocket launcher and does not want to leave something that could easily kill him and Jack just lying around. He looks the direction opposite where the truck is and fires the rocket in an arc that will give it the most elevation and therefore range. He brings the tube with him and descends into darkness. He doesn't really care where it hits, as long as it doesn't hit the truck.

Alec follows Jack and the Morlocks into the tunnel again. They get down the ladder and he leaves the tube behind and when Jack decides which direction to go, Alec walks ahead, stealthily, he hopes.


15:24, Today: Alec rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,6.

Not a great place to have a sword drawn, he keeps a knife in hand. Anything that jumps him will probably be inside of his sword range, so the precaution is a good one.

It isn't easy, but you do it.

Whitey and Petey quickly realize that compared to them, you can hardly see nor hear anything in the darkness, and so they stick close to you, putting a hand on your shoulder to stop and be still, and a gentle nudge forward when it's safe again.

You never saw anything. There was one point where you did hear something that might've been someone walking, but they quickly moved off elsewhere. After almost five minutes, the four of you started moving again.

Finally, you're led through a door, which Petey closes behind you.

Whitey flips a small, hidden switch and a small light bulb activates, and... looks like you're in a basement.

But not just any basement. It feels like it's the basement/inventory area of an auto parts store.

There's a set of stairs in the back, but they're unusuable, because they're caved in.

"Everything up on the surface was destroyed," Petey says quietly. "But as you can see, while people have taken many things from here, there are still quite a few things left. Let's search and see if we can find the kind of cable you need."

So you search...

(One of you do a check. Neither of you has a Perception bonus, so I don't think it matters who rolls the check...

7 or lower will be a failure. 8 and above will be a success.

No Aid nor other "helping" allowed on this check. You're all already helping search as well as you can...)

Guided through the darkness, Jack is keenly aware of the limitations of his eyes, and all the more aware of the reasoning he'd thought he might recruit the duo for night watchmen--with training, they'd be very good at night time raids and guerilla fighting. His gut told him that their natural vision would carry over to quite a few other shadows. There was something natural about their nature that seemed natural.

"Alec, keep watch?" Jack proposes. Of the two, Jack was certain he'd spent more time looking under the hood, so maybe that'd let him find the cable a bit more easily. Moving slowly, he searches as thoroughly as he can in the time crunch of the moment, but is keenly aware that they are surrounded by "the enemy" so he is trying to be quick as well. Shifting things aside,  he shakes his head a few times and comes up with some similar cables, but nothing that matches exactly.

When he doesn't come up with anything, he shakes his head and asks Petey and Whitey, "How far to the other room you were talking about?"

Rolled a 5.

Whitey and Petey exchange glances. "If you mean the room that's less likely than this to have what you need, not far. If you mean the one that's in enemy territory... Farther, but not very far. A little more than half the time it took to get here... But we'd have to move slower in order to... Hold on." They confer in whispers for a minute.

"...If we can silently take out a guard, it might not take very long at all. But getting out would be harder, if we do it that way..."

Alec waits near the doorway, using it for cover while he keeps watching. He is getting the idea that the first time he sees something will be once he is back up top again. So he listens. A furtive footstep, the clicking of a crossbow, the whisper of a blade. That is what he is awaiting. Hopefully, Jack will find the wire and they can get the hell out of the dark.

A thought is given to the tactical viability, and Jack ends up nodding his head. "We can do that," he decides and draws the knife from his belt. Looking to the duo, he quietly says, "Lead the way," and prepares to follow them again, ready to do some silent knifing.

Whitey and Petey turn off the light bulb, and then lead Jack and Alec from the room and through more tunnels and corridors.

There are actually two times, this time, where you hear footsteps not terribly far away, but each time it happens, your guides have you stop and wait carefully until the noise passes.

After several minutes, you reach a corner and stop.

Petey and Whitey help each of you peek slowly-- and briefly-- around the corner.

Around the corner, only about six feet away, under a light bulb, is a single human guard, his skin painted (badly) red, with warpaint on top of that, and feathers woven into his hair.

Safely hidden around your corner, Whitey holds up his small crossbow and shows it to you. He points at the tip of the wooden bolt, and shakes his head.

Meaning: It's poisoned or drugged.

Whitey then points a finger back and forth from himself, to you, to himself, to you...?

Petey raises an eyebrow, while putting a finger to his lips.

Meaning: Who will attempt to take the guard out-- silently? You? Or do you want to let Whitey and his doctored crossbow bolt try...?

There was no reason to think that Whitey and his crossbow would be more effective, but after a moment of consideration, Jack moves up and aims as strategic a blow as he can manage. Using his considerable strength to grab the guy around the throat to try to silence him while stabbing at him simultaneously. If anyone was going to be the reason for their problems, it would be him. He'd eventually teach, and perhaps trust Whitey and Petey to guard duties, to protecting family interests on Earth.

But now was not that time. Now was the time for Jack and Alec.

18:24, Today: Jack rolled 8 using 1d10+1 with rolls of 7.
18:23, Today: Jack rolled 9 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 5,1.
18:22, Today: Jack rolled 12 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 6,5.

Rolled 12 tactics, +1 damage, +1 to hit. Damage of 8, hit on 9.  Accidentally double clicked the attack roll. (Stupid phone.)

The guard is incapacitated. His exact physical condition is hard to say... he's:
1. definitely alive right now
2. prrrrobably not about to make a noise anytime soon
3. prrrrrrrrrobably dying fast.

Whitey and Petey pick up the guard's body... start to move it... then they squint at the floor, frown, and then they just move the guard's body around the corner into the darkness.

"If only he was wearing Sneaky robes like ours!" Whitey whispers. "But he's losing blood too fast... If we take him with us, anyone who comes this way could follow the trail of blood..."

(Alec, Jack, each of you roll INT please)

Int check: 16:56, Today: Jack rolled 9 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,4.

Alec watches as Jack takes out the guard.


22:59, Today: Alec rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,2.


He tries to keep an eye out for anything else but realizes that the guard is probably alive for now, maybe. He bears the guy no malice, and if he is to be killed, the kill would be Jack's. He knows that many of the Amberites got a little testy if you killed someone's "kill".

Since he was only bloodthirsty when combat was going on, whether the guard lived or died was of no concern to Alex.

(Alec gets 1 xp but takes -1 forward.)

It occurs to Jack that maybe one of his new pals could take his own ("Sneaky") robe off and use it to wrap around the guard and prevent any blood trail...

(Does he suggest it...?)

Jack looks at them as they start to drag the body and suggests, "Use your robe underneath him so that it doesn't leave a streak on the ground, we can get you a new robe when we get back to the fort," his voice quiet. He waits then for them to hide the body and gestures for them to lead the way to the second location where they might find the wire.

"Aww, but this is my Sneakiest robe..." Petey whispers, but he apparently knows a smart idea when he hears it, so he takes it off (underneath, he is wearing extremely threadbare jeans and a shirt and sneakers) and wraps the body in it. He and Whitey start to lift the body... but its weight would be nothing for a royal son of Amber... does one of you offer to help...?

Jack would have done it, if they hadn't sprung to like it was no thing. Seeing that they are having some effort involved, he goes over and grabs the body and walks it around the corner, following that arc they'd planned. "Let's go," he reiterates.

There is more moving cautiously, listening, stopping, waiting, starting... but not quite as much as before.

Soon, you go through another door... and are in darkness again.

"This used to be our territory," Petey whispers, "just a few years ago. That's how we know our way around so well. Then the false viewers drove us out."

He turns on a new light bulb.

The new basement-like area is between 10 and 20 percent bigger than the last one, and is much more obviously full of electrical wires and parts of all kinds. "Have to have a storage area like this," Whitey whispers, "so that you can still watch the show if a part wears out or otherwise breaks down. At least the false viewers and us are alike in that respect..."

(One of you (whomever does it first) do a Perception check for what you're looking for... this time, the number you will need for success will be MUCH lower...)

Once again, Jack moves forward with the Sneaky Petey and Sneaky Whitey. The two leading the way, the lean prince of Amber, son of Benedict, the sword at his side, his armored motorcycle jacket behind them. In their path he walks patiently, mirroring them as best he can, letting his eyes grow steadily more accustomed to the darkness. Walking into the next room for searching purposes, he quickly begins to go through all of the small bins and cases.

Moving things out of the way, pocketing a few things like spark-plugs that he thought might work, but not making a deal out of it. As he progresses, he looks over at the duo and Alec.

"We're going directly back to the truck," he mentions. "Regardless of what I find."

10:48, Today: Jack rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,4.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:51, Tue 20 Aug 2019.

It takes a few minutes longer than anyone would prefer because there's precious little organization to the things stored in the room, but then Jack suddenly finds exactly what he's looking for-- it should replace the missing cable perfectly, and fairly easily.

But two seconds later, Whitey turns off the lightbulb.

Darkness.

"Shhh--" Whitey (or Petey) says.

A few seconds later, several feet hurry by the door outside, and voices murmur to one another-- which, down here, is the equivalent of an enraged mob running and shouting.

When they have clearly gone for about 30 quiet seconds, Petey (or Whitey) whispers: "Time to go. But should it be back the way we came... or will they be expecting that, and we should maybe kind of go around and get to the surface another way...?"

Alec is still watching and turns to watch behind them when the light turns out and backlights him. He quickly closes one eye, knowing that it took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the dark and anything he can do to speed that up will be a good thing.

Jack searches for and hopefully finds what he is looking for, and Alec is more listening than watching since he has one eye shut until the light bulb is turned off again. He moves to the side of the doorway so he is not fully silhouetted and least has a little bit of cover, but he continues his watch.

Jack holds up the wire to show Alec and slides it into his jacket's interior-most pocket. Hearing the question from thinks for a second. These people were a quiet sort usually, since they were hiding from the Truancy Officers, whatever those are.  That they were yelling meant they'd found something, and the only something he can think of is the body.

But maybe not.

Stepping over to the door he puts his ear to it, trying to stretch himself to hear as much as possible.

(Perception check, please...)

14:23, Today: Jack rolled 5 using 2d6 ((2,3)).

(Jack gets 1 new XP, but takes -1 forward.)

Jack hears nothing.

Does that mean -1 on perception checks to do that thing?

(No, just that you take a one-time -1 penalty on your next roll, whatever it is.

Of course if your next roll turns out to be something you would normally get a +2 on, then you'll just get a +1 instead, if you see what I mean...)

Not hearing anything through the door, Jack points that they should go back the way that they'd come. Hopefully whoever was there wouldn't be hanging around waiting for someone to come back using the same route. Tactics dictated not to take the same route twice, but he was more concerned with speed in this case. Being located would be a death sentence, or at the least, a 'bad day' sentence.

He nods to Petey and Whitey and makes to follow them out and back the way they came.

"Back this way."

(New Agile rolls, please, for stealth, from each of you...)

Alec has his knife out. Again, there is better chance of running into someone in the darkness than there is of finding a somewhat lit area where a sword would make more sense.

14:00, Today: Alec rolled 8 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 1,5.

Moving with a fair amount of stealth, Alec tries to listen or smell for someone nearby, since the darkness is near total.

14:10, Today: Jack rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,5

As the four of you move, trying to rush and not make noise at the same time, there eventually comes a time when you hear noise from up ahead.

"What was that?" someone whispers loudly.

"Don't know. Might be one of our own patrols. Running Bear, Bloom, you go check it out. Holler if it's Apaches," says someone else.

They all move on... except for two sets of footsteps that come hurrying in your direction...

Jack makes a few gestures for everyone to find a spot to hide and wait for the incoming footsteps to materialize into people to stab. Finding a spot in the shadows, he tucks up and draws his best dagger again, its well-honed edge glinting only faintly in the darkness. Crouching down. His eyes focus intently.

Alec does the same thing Jack does. He finds some welcoming shadows and keeps the dagger at the ready. He has a pretty good idea where Jack is since the last thing he wants to do is stab Jack.

Anyone else...there would be different levels of problems if he did that. As for whoever was moving towards them, hopefully, a friend and not a foe.

Hm. There's not a ton of places to hide in the tunnels... but there are some.

(Each of you please give me a Perception check to find good spots to wait...)

11:13, Today: Jack rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,4.

20:10, Today: Alec rolled 4 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,3.

(Alec gets 1 new xp and takes -1 forward... and is a visible target of opportunity)

Two men come into the dimness... another guy made up to like a Native American, and a guy sort of dressed as a cowboy (maybe a cavalry officer, specifically...?)

They walk right past Jack, but their eyes must be as good as Whitey and Petey's, because they immediately attack Alec.

(GM rolls dice)

Both men hit, but the first man's blow (with a tomahawk) is very slight.

The second's (with a saber), less so.

(Alec takes 1 and 4 damage... but as I recall he's got a leather duster that absorbs 1 point of armor each time, so I guess he takes just 3... but that duster could stand to be repaired one of these days soon...)

The most important mistake the two men have made, though, is they jumped to attack Alec so fast, they forgot to yell "HEY" nor "INTRUDERS!" nor anything like that.

So now's your chance to try to take 'em down fast and silently.

(Alec gets a free counter-attack against the cowboy... and then, he can attack or do whatever he wants)
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:46, Thu 29 Aug 2019.

Alec goes after the cowboy


22:20, Today: Alec rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,4.

Then he takes a stab at the man with the tomahawk.


22:21, Today: Alec rolled 6 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,4.

OOC: Doh. Also, I have not been adding up my experience during the bogus journey, so I went back and counted up the three and added them in.

Stepping out of the shadows, Jack's movement from the shadows is detected at the last moment and caught with a hasty less-skilled defense, but the suddenness of it is enough to put him off his initial tactical tempo.

14:00, Today: Jack rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,4.

Tactics: +1 to attacks.

14:00, Today: Jack rolled 6 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 1,2.

(Alec gets 2 new xp. Jack gets 1.

GM rolls some dice

Alec takes 5 damage (armor already subtracted).

Jack takes 3 damage (armor already subtracted).)

Petey and Whitey fire their crossbows. One of them misses. One of them doesn't miss.

The guy with the tomahawk staggers back a few steps, clearly some combination of confused, stunned, drugged, and/or poisoned. He blinks slowly, uncomprehendingly.

"RUNNIN' BEAR! NOOOOO!" shouts the guy with the cavalry saber... He starts to move toward his ally, then turns back toward Alec, then considers that the more dangerous threat might be the guys with the crossbows... but by that time, you and your allies have time to act once more.

But-- "That's done it-- maybe we run for it--" says Whitey.

"--Yeah! I've got a great idea!" says Petey. "Come on, run, quick! Follow me!" he says, leading you back the way you've come...

Do you follow?

Since the one still standing turns his attention toward his fallen friend, Jack throws a quick cut at the man's spine, hoping to kill him with one quick blow. But manages only a glancing blow. Looking back toward Petey and Whitey, he keeps the sword up to ward off pursuit and then takes off in the direction of the pale young men.

Prepared to shoot if they follow.

15:42, Today: Jack rolled 10 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 4,3.
15:42, Today: Jack rolled 2 using 1d10 with rolls of 2.

Alec is bleeding freely at this point, and when Jack follows their two companions, he draws his blade and backs away as well, before following Jack.

He doesn't know why the four of them don't finish these two, but someone probably knows more than Alec does, so he follows Jack, keeping an ear out for pursuit.

Petey leads you down a few short tunnels until you come to... a ladder-- which is to say, rusty rungs set into the brick wall that lead up to another manhole. "Up! Up! Quick! This isn't where you came in, but who cares! We'll be helpless outside in the sunlight, but so will they-- and you two won't!"

Running with them to the porthole, Jack quickly scales the ladder with that supernatural strength.  Hauling himself to the surface with first a leap and then up on to the street, his shoes crunching on concrete as he moves swiftly along.

11:11, Today: Jack rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,1.

"Where was the spot where we left the truck?" Jack asks as he starts to head in the direction he thinks it is, just based on his internal compass.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:12, Tue 03 Sept 2019.

Alec goes up the ladder quickly. He wonders if he can find a rock that weights eighty pounds or so that he can drop on someone's head. He finds a piece of rubble and picks it up, then lifts it over his head for the extra bit of velocity. As soon as he hears something climbing the ladder he drops the rock.

He balances the rock on one hand for a moment and points...

22:22, Today: Alec rolled 11 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,6.

"That way, Jack."

...then returns to holding the rock unless someone closes the manhole cover.

The manhole cover is closed, and the four colleagues hurry in the direction Alec indicates, which turns out to be correct... but...

(New Perception check from each of you, please...)

Alec puts the rock down, gently, on top of the manhole cover. He draws his sword again and begins heading in the direction he is pretty sure the truck is in.

13:23, Today: Jack rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,4.

Jack may not have known which way to go to get back to the truck, but once Alec accurately pointed the way, it was Jack who stopped the group of 4 before they ran into a new problem...

Right before he would have walked out into the open again, Jack heard something, and silently warned his cousin and colleagues to stop.

Someone was where they had killed the little goblinoids...

APES!

Gorillas, specifically, with horses. (Big, healthy horses.)

Two gorillas, specifically, sporting machine guns.

The Truant Officers... Whitey mouths, horrified...

"Look, someone moved the vehicle. I don't care what Cyrus says, there's someone with a brain besides us around here," says one ape. "And I say we should stop ignoring the evidence. I'm gonna talk to Simon about it."

"Simon's just gonna say a lot of fancy talk and stall again," says the other ape.

"Not this time," snarls the first ape. "He's been looking for a way to get the advantage over his rivals, especially Andre. And little Oliver will love to make a big deal of this-- he's little, but he's annoying, and I've seen him influence Simon more than once before, like when Flavia was talking about allowing forays into the Off-Limits Territories."

"Yeah... Come on, Mikhail, it's eerie to hang around here," says the second ape. "Feels like we're being watched. Let's get back to the barracks."

"Oh... I suppose there's nothing more we can do here anyway..." Mikhail says with frustration...

It seems like the apes are about to ride off, if you don't do anything...

Alec leans over close to Jack. "A planet where apes evolved from men?"

Knowing that he could always come back for the apes if he desired conversation, Jack waited for the primitives to depart. Giving Alec only a brief nod in confirmation. Once the coast was clear, he moved to the vehicle and worked quickly to secure the wire.

The apes ride off noisily but quickly, and soon the truck is running again...

Jack opens the door and says, "Alec, you drive, I'll work shadow. Boys in the back, try to create some sort of dark area back there for yourselves."

"Wow, this is keen!" says Whitey.

"It's like when Billy and his dad made the soapbox racer!" agrees Petey.

Alec waits until their two minions were in the truck safely, and then he begins to drive, looking to avoid any obvious ambush points, and keeping the truck steady enough for Jack to make the changes as they go through the Shadows.

Knowing that concentration is important, he drives silently.

As soon as Alec starts driving, Jack starts to shift shadow stuff. Moving them toward a post-apocalyptic version of prime Earth. A world full of hard men and women, many he knew would be ready to fight for a better tomorrow.

12:40, Today: Jack rolled 9 using 2d6+2 ((1,6)).

(Travel Through Shadow: roll plus your Perception modifier.
10 or higher: you arrive where you meant to arrive or find what you meant to find.
7-9: you arrive at a place like your intention, but not the same thing.)

As Alec drives, the land dries out, gets more desert-y again, lots of sand... The road becomes more cracked, then a dry gravel road, then just a well-worn dirt road...

Hills and mountains rise... Clouds disappear... More sand.... Cacti...

The sun moves... it was perhaps the middle of the afternoon, but now it looks and feels more like mid-morning, the sun shining ever-so-slightly brighter than you're used to...

There's some sort of town up ahead... but it's all made of wood.

The gently blowing sand, and a tumbleweed, shows that Alec is driving into the wind-- those things, and the fact that the smell of horses hits your nostrils.

The most striking thing about the small town, however, is that it is surrounded by multiple concentric rings of coffins, each standing up on its smaller end, all facing the town.

And then... the truck's motor sputters.

And dies.

Either internal combustion doesn't work in this Shadow, or else it does, but what you've been using for fuel doesn't.

Or else it's something about the town, but that's (if that's even the case) surely magic, not science.

Either way, you roll to a halt less than 100 yards from the edge of the town.

"Wow!" says Petey. "It's like when Billy and his family went to the dude ranch!"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:38, Fri 13 Sept 2019.

They sit in silence for what seems like a week. Alec looks at the dashboard, but nothing suggests this should have happened.

He sits in silence a bit longer, listening for a telltale hissing or trying to detect a smell that would suggest the catastrophic failure of the truck. Neither is apparent.

He turns the key back and removes it from the ignition, then hands it back to Jack. "I guess we're here, wherever here is."

"This... isn't where you were trying to get to, huh?" says Petey. "I figured you were trying to get to 'after the world ends, but a different part of it.' But I guess this isn't the right part of 'after the world ends...'"

"I can understand how you got lost," says Whitey. "It sure is bright out there..."

"We could try again, but I suppose we might take a look around first, see if there's anything worth recruiting here," Jack proposes and looks over his shoulder at the duo. "I'm going to push the truck in to town, Alec, if you want to keep steering," and he slides from the seat and circles around to the back of the truck and starts pushing the vehicle along toward town. Moving it easily enough with his superlative Amberite strength, for the son of Benedict is strong even among the children of Amber.

His arms flexing as he pushes, he moves the vehicle a bit closer and then moves around to the windows and suggests, "Petey, Whitey, you'll need to walk the rest of the way, weapons at the ready, but don't point them at anyone unless we do."

"Okay, sure thing! This is exciting, a real adventure!" Petey enthuses. 

He and Whitey, each with a hand on an Amberite's shoulder so they don't get lost nor trip over anything in the bright sunlight, get out and walk with Jack and Alec up to one of the oldest persons visible in town-- a grizzled old prospector type, in very weathered old denim overalls and wearing a threadbare shirt under that. His boots are nearly-falling-apart old work boots.

"Hail there, newcomers. Whut brings you folks to Red Gulch? Yer horses break loose and run off...?"

"No," Petey says happily, "it runs on petrol! That means it burns fuel like a locomotive! Choo choo!"

The grizzled old fellow walks over to the truck, opens the gas door, sniffs. "Whoo-wee! I see what yer sayin' --You don't need horses, you need moonshine! Ol' Wildcat Russell's moonshine'd fuel this locomotive o' yours, I bet... Purt' near impossible t' get t' Ol' Wildcat these days, though..." He scratches his beard, thinking about it.


Meanwhile, there is another figure visible, carrying a tall, branched staff, down at the far end of the street. He has started slowly walking toward the group... The old prospector fellow has his back to him, doesn't seem aware of him yet...

"Alec, behind the wheel, start pulling us towards where gasoline combustion works," Jack suggests after getting a look at the locals, he waves them off. He doesn't feel like this place will be fruitful in their hunt for mercenaries, experts and soldiers. Just the wrong vibe. He felt like he'd be killing someone before long.

Once Alec is behind the wheel, Jack walks up to the front broad bumper and starts to push the vehicle back down the road the way they came, quickly picking up speed and eventually running.

Meanwhile, Alec steers the car in reverse until they are out of town, leaving whatever the locals might have done a moot point to be forgotten. A strange day, just one among many in their lives.

“Once we’re a bit out of town, I’ll start pushing you going forward, so it’s easier to steer, just get rid of the town,” he suggests.

And soon they do just that, reversing their course and setting forward again until suddenly the engine turns over, and Jack piles back into the truck once again.

---

Some time later, they find themselves rolling in to the ranch. Earth, Wyoming.