On the search for treasure, your first tip was from the Society for Scientific Preservation. They want you to retrieve an old adding machine from an office building in the Finance District. The Finance District, as everyone knows, is no longer an operational borough of the city, after the event that the district council calls "The Great Nothing."

The Great Nothing was a night when the entire district was permanently flooded two stories high with water, due to a seventeen year long argument over which of twelve possible councils bore the responsibility for building a drainage system for their district. This debate ended abruptly after the councilmen all evacuated or drowned.

The council closed up the borough from all traffic, and insisted that nothing had happened at all, running a propaganda campaign that mocked the very notion that the district had ever had a drainage problem, and naming the day of the alleged flooding "The Great Nothing." To this day the public officials of the borough pretend that they still have citizens, and refuse to admit that anything abnormal has happened.

All of this is public knowledge, but the council still keeps their borough locked up tight. In order to scavenge the machine you need from this district, you have devised a fast route through the city sewers. Now you all stand outside the mouth of a tunnel that leads down there, making your final preparations for the trip.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
This is the first post of the first segment of the campaign. Once everyone has a character, we'll begin posting here.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 20:02, Mon 20 Apr 2020.

Bernard stared longingly at the entrance to the butcher shop, whimpering. Finally the butcher glares back at the mastiff.

"Hey! I'm serious! I don't want you anywhere near here until you pay up!"

Bernard sat up slowly, his tail lowered.

"But...but...I'm a dog!"

The butcher seemed unfazed that the dog was talking, but his grimace seemed to soften a bit.

"Listen, I don't make the rules. I just know that you and your buddies owe us big time. Go fetch that adding machine and you'll be on your way back to performing tricks for sausages!"

"Mmmmm SAUSAGES!" His tail started walking and he ran off in search of his friends.

River stood by the tunnel entrance, taking a deep breath as he waited for the others.  He took a look around, squinting from the light of the sun, still not used to the brightness of the outside.  It hadn't been long since he was bailed out of prison, but he was given no time to enjoy his new leash on life before he was tasked with paying off his debt to the great culinary and social power that is the Council for Tarts and Flans.

He leaned against a nearby wall, his brown hair in a mess, wearing a pair of ripped blue jeans and an old black sweater. He turned to the cockroach sitting on his shoulder, "Well, I guess this is it, Sticks.  The first step to freedom.  Like, actual freedom, not just another, slightly-less literal prison produced by the baking industry." Sticks, the cockroach, said nothing, like a cockroach does, but clearly was in agreeance.  The adding machine was the first thing they needed to start paying off the debt, and River was ready to make the journey through the underground and the Financial District in order to retrieve it.

Loomis scrambles down to the sewer opening, scowling the entire way. His recent diet of only bread has made him feel a bit bloated. He looks about.

"Hey there, gents. Ready for some hunting?"

"hello gents i see it's time to introduce myself! I am bio "the hero" wolf! And don't you forget it! I am the best chemist in all the land!" he says flamboyantly.

Chester frowned at his current state. Actually, it seemed to be a more permanent state, thanks to the accident on that tragic job. Why was he here? Why should he attempt to succeed? He would always come short of the completion of what he was trying to accomplish. Then again, the others seemed to be confident. If a guy with a cockroach ally couldn't succeed, who could?

Chester followed his bloated companion. He concentrated on not twisting his ankle. That seemed to be inevitable.

"what's with the cockroach? Friend of yours?"

River smiled and nodded. “Yeah, you know it!  Everyone, this is Sticks, he’s been a close friend of mine for years, helped me through a lot of rough times back in prison.  We’ve been through a lot together, and I don’t know where I’d be without him.” Sticks raises his little body up a little, as if welcoming the others. Or maybe he’s just being a bug, it’s kind of hard to tell.

River paused for a second, a small silence filling the air,, before he remembered something and continued. “Oh yeah, I guess I should probably introduce myself, too! My name is River, it’s a pleasure to meet you all!” His eyes went from one of his newfound allies to the next. He wasn’t quite sure what to think of them yet, but hey, we have the greatest chemist ever in the group!  That’s... probably impressive, right?

In reply to River (msg # 8):

He holds hes hand out for a shake of hands "nice to meet you"

River reaches out and shakes Bio’s hand, perhaps for just a little bit too long.

A large black dog strolls into the middle of the group and sits down.

"Hello friends!"

His tail wags as he extends a paw.

"My name is Bernard!"

In reply to David (msg # 11):

"wow! A talking dog! I'mma gonna pet him!" And so he does.

Loomis kneels down and puts out his palm, "Heythere, boy!"

He allows himself to be petted as hi lips curl to a smile, and happily shakes Loomis' man-paw.

"I'm ready to go! I am supposed to us help catch the metal thing so I can eat sausages again!"

In reply to David (msg # 14):

"alright! Let's go!"

Inside the tunnel, metal walkways on either side overlook a long channel of sewage. There is a door near the entrance on the left, and one further down on the right. A the end of the tunnel there appears to be a large room.

"I dunno, guys" began the apprehensive Chester as he feels one of the pistols at his side. "Are we supposed to just rush in, regardless of the danger? Open that door as if some fanged whatever wasn't behind it?"

The metallurgist swallowed.

"I'm all for getting the machine and getting out of debt. But the last time that I was in on something like this, it didn't go well."

Loomis hmmms to himself as he looks about, "I think we should move into the room ahead before venturing down side passages. What do you guys think?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:29, Thu 23 Apr 2020.

River looks towards Sticks for affirmation before he nods. "Yeah, makes sense to us, there could be anything behind those doors, may as well see what's right in front of us before we start meddling around.  I mean, we could try out this door right here so we don't have to loop back, but I have no idea which way leads where, so if we want to just keep moving forward for now that's fine, wherever the group wants to start works with us."

"i agree with Chester! Let's start with whats in front of us.

Bernard sniffs at the cracks to the side doors intently.

At the end of the tunnel is a room where the canal of sewer turns to the left. It seems to flow towards a floodgate, which is closed. There is a small elevated platform adjacent to the floodgate, with a large control panel consisting of three large levers. There is a door across from it that leads in the direction the canal flows. There is also a large metal door that continues past this room, in the same direction you've been moving so far, but it has no apparent handle. Lastly there is a small clear tube hanging down from the ceiling, above the canal.

River eyes the control panel next to the floodgate, the urge to pull on all of the levers in sequence growing within him.  He takes a couple of steps  towards the floodgate, looking back to make sure the group is still with him before moving forward, curious to explore but not daring to separate from the party to do so.

He stops as he counts the heads of his teammates, making sure they’re accounted for, when he spots Bernard smelling one of the side doors closer to the entrance, like the inquisitive, good boy he is.

“What is it boy? Do you smell something other than sewer?”  He wasn’t even sure if they could open those doors if they wanted to, but any information that the dog’s heightened senses could gather might just come in handy.

"What do you say we try some of those levers. They probably open some of these doors, if not the floodgate itself."

"From that door over there (points left with his paw) I smell old blood and a fireplace. From this other door here I smell FOOD and fresh paint."

He scratches at the door on the RIGHT.

"I think we should go where the food is! Maybe there are SAUSAGES!"

He drools.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:39, Sat 25 Apr 2020.

Chester scratched the back of his head at the dog's words.

"Ya know," he began, "I'm flexible. If a little food will make our friend happy, sure, let's go that way."

He glanced in other directions.

"I just hope we don't have to use our weapons. Bullets are expensive. I remember back in the day when... Well, never mind."

Chester took a woeful breath.

Loomis listens earnestly to the dog, "Is that the door with or without the handle?"

In reply to Chester (msg # 26):

"well if the dog wants it. I just hope there's no traps."

“Well, I like the sound of it more than the blood room, at least.  And don’t worry, Chester, I’m sure everything will be just fine.  It sounds like we’ve all seen some tough times, I’m sure we can handle anything this sewer has waiting for us!  I mean, there’s a lot of us, I doubt you’ll have to waste too many bullets when you’ve got backup like us with you!”

River smiled confidently, strutting over to the door that Bernard is scratching at.  He checked the handle, seeing if it was unlocked.

[I meant to say the room on the right had food and paint smells, I fixed it]