Alex squints his eye at the man, wary of him. But, he is intrigued at what this man has to say. "I'm Alex," is all he offers, waiting to see what this man has to say.

OOC: I like to think Alex is a man of few words. And he can act quickly, but I also like to think that when he gets to chance he likes to weigh his options and think before he acts (which will be hard for me to roleplay because I do not play like that usually-)

***

(Coaxoch, Aisling)

Just at the moment that Ash put fist to the face on the last goon menacing Coaxoch, the final guy stepped in, swinging a heavy chain with a sort of makeshift mace-head on the end of it...

...and then, swiftly, left the mortal coil with a bang. Looking on, the future comrades saw a man in aviator sunglasses with scars on his face and neck.

"Nasty business out here, isn't it? I got an offer you'll want to consider, special for folk like yourself."

***

(Aradia, Alex)

He smiled at Alex, but didn't comment. Instead, he started his pitch, and stepped forward real slow and friendly.

"So, the first part is this: two weeks of good, canned food. The sort of food you might go the rest of your life without seeing again. Better than anything you've got, better than the stuff they hand out."

Alex narrows his eyes at the stranger. He's been around long enough to know that if something sounds too good to be true, it almost always is. "And what's the catch?" Alex asks gruffly.

"Wait, that's it? Like.... you're giving us two weeks worth of canned food and that's your offer?" spoke Aradia, her elegant features a fusile mix of mild annoyance and disappointment. That was the sort of stuff she knew they fed to cats and gerbils. Better yet, it was the kind of stuff folk in this camp would kill you over - this dude was offering shitty animal food with the added bonus of a death-sentence.

"Well, I suppose it's only right that I stick around to hear the second part of the offer, and my half of this bargain... tell me, what do I do in exchange for this... prize?" she queried, quickly defusing her temper as she realised that if the mission was easy enough, this might not be too bad an offer. In a pinch, it'd serve as non-perishable sustenance. As for danger, Aradia was dangerous herself - her combat-magic could easily match the Witches of Wichita, never mind some half-starved gunslinger. And if she didn't need it, she could distribute the food to someone less fortunate. A starving child, perhaps. Or a stray dog, more appropriately.

"And yeah - what IS the catch?"

OOC - I'm gonna say this now, Aradia is a little bit of a bitch here and there. That being said though, it's part of her charm - she wasn't quite expecting to be conjured into the apocalypse-land and made to eat Milrat and Dog-Food.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:13, Wed 21 Sept 2022.

Coaxoch narrows his eyes as he glares suspiciously at the interloper. Then he feels his wound on his stomach, and decides to take this chance. Coaxoch nods at the stranger and sheaths his sword. Before he continues Coaxoch turns to the pugilist that assisted him in battle and hands her a piece of jerky and some bread. “Proper compensation for your assistance, desert rose.”

"I didn't do it for compensation... but I'll take the jerky."

Ash turns towards the stranger.

"So, what's this offer, huh?"

OOC: Actually, I should say that the guy wasn't lying--canned food is the best food you can find anywhere now. Of course, Aradia might not know yet.

(Alex, Aradia)

He smiled, waiting patiently for the initial response. When he was certain they had taken in the first part of his deal, he put a finger in the air like he was counting...then a second.

"And citizenship in Junkyard. The only hitch is you gotta do something for the community. If you're interested, just follow me."

***

(Coaxoch, Aisling)

This cowpoke drew the gun back and put it in his gun belt--holstered on the opposite side from his shooting hand.

"It's like this. Two weeks canned food--not bread made from toxic fields that'll give you cancer. Citizenship."

He clicked the holster shut and turned around. It was up to Coaxoch and Ash to follow.

OOC: Obviously, since this is the hook that gets your group together in the first place, if you say no, you have to reroll. Sorry, friends.

Aisling wasn't dumb. Well, not that dumb. She figured there was some strings attached. But she didn't really care about that, quite frankly.

"Well, fuck me. Lead the way, mystery man."

Alex gonna discreetly keep a hand on his gun, but he nods as he moves to follow. He doesn’t believe this man, but he is intrigued. Plus, better this man possibly hurt him than someone weaker. And this other stranger seems interesting as well, and he reasons she could help him if a fight broke out.

Aradia's eyes lock back onto the mystery-man, suddenly brimming with curiosity and interest. Citizenship was rare on its own. Citizenship being offered was even rarer.

"Well, now you could've mentioned that first and I'd have been interested.... Tell me more, will you?"

She skulked closer to Alex for a moment and whispered to him, straight into his ear like a hissing rattlesnake - "Is canned food really the best we can get out here? I thought MREs were the best stuff...."

OOC - Oh Aradia, my clueless little skulker....

Coaxoch is about to follow the two comrades out, however he has a duty to attend to. He goes up to the corpses on the ground, and sheaths they’re blade in their heart, muttering something under his breath, “See you at sundeath, Comrade”
This message was last edited by the player at 04:49, Tue 27 Sept 2022.

The posse, now just about to form for the first time, collected together inside the massive walls of Junktown. Inside, they passed by a variety of people--raggedy Sky Pirates, traders, gunmen like themselves, and a whole lot of regular folk quite unlike themselves.

The four found themselves across the table from a tall, lanky balding fellow who looked over each one closely.

“During the Harvest the Combine burrowed in some enormous digging machine under the Rockies and tried to flank Junkyard from the north up around Logan. Fortunately, we were alerted to this in time to react. The Sky Pirates dropped a bomb Doc Schwartz had squirreled away on them once they had assembled in the open."

Glasses went down on the table.

“After the Harvest, we’re a little short-handed, particularly in folks that know their way around the wastes. We need you to go to the site of this tunnel and determine if they left the Hellbore tunneler there, and if so, was it damaged in the strike. If it’s there, we need to know, just in case those ass hats in Denver get any more bright ideas."

Whiskey went in the glasses.

“Here’s a palmcorder complete with a map to where you need to go. Once there, use it to record the area, as well as get us some interior shots of the tunneler. Bring us back this proof and citizenship is all yours.”

The glasses went across the table.

OOC: fuck me

Aradia took the glass in her hand, giving it three twists and watching the gold liquid spin into a whirlpool. "How deadly is this... mission you need us for?"

She maintained eye-contact with the bald man, brushing a stray lock of red hair out of her face - "I would accept your offer on the spot, but there are three teenagers dependent on me - they need me to live so they can live, if you understand.... Speaking of which, do they receive this citizenship? Or do they get left out to rot in the caravan-park? Which, by the way, is in HORRIBLE condition...."


She raised the whiskey-glass in her hand and drank from it, coughing once after the glass was returned to the table.

"Fucking hell, what happened to your apple-juice?"


OOC: Absolute Aradia moment

Coaxoch takes a long hard look at his drink after hearing this agreement. Downs the drink then asks “When would we be starting?” Takes a moment to look around the table and asks a follow up question, “And why were me and my…. Compatriots chosen?”

Alex listens intently to the mission being offered to him. He has questions, but he waits to see if any of his compatriots have the same questions as he. After all, he doesn’t want to overwhelm this man with questions. So, he waits to hear the answers to the questions his compatriots have asked with great interest.

Ash smirked before grabbing the whiskey glass, downing it, and slamming it back on the table in what seemed like one swift motion.

"I appreciate the drink. I'm not the kind of gal to ask questions, I'm in."

She looks over to Aradia. "Disregard the questions thing, actually. You gonna finish that drink?"

In reply to Aisling Kelly (msg # 33):

Aradia speaks in a mildly disdainful voice - "Sure lady, the shitty apple-juice is all yours if you want it...."

Her expression changes slightly after passing over the drink to the tall blonde woman across the table, however - whoever she was, she was very tough-looking. And she was also rather attractive.

"By the way uhhhh.... you've got really nice.... uhhhh.... hair...."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:36, Fri 30 Sept 2022.

"Thanks."

She downs the rest of Aradia's drink in the same swift motion as before.

"I know."

When the whole posse's eyes came to alight upon the balding man again, they saw him leaning back, fingers pressed against his eyes. The man looked tired.

"Like I said just now, we need people who can make their way in the wastes, and you'd be leaving right away."

He turned to Aradia, and he said, "You've got friends? They can get in, as long as you're willing to agree to some extra work. As fer the danger, I can't really tell you that. You'd be headed out to find out if it's dangerous."

"Any more questions?"

"Nothing from me, no."

Aisling picks up the palmcorder offered to them for their job.

"Been a while since I've seen one of these... just uh... point and record, right? We've got this."

Coaxoch takes a look at the map on the table to see if he can recognize any of it. “I accept your contract”

Alex nods in satisfaction at what the man said. He’ll figure out soon enough what he wants to know. ”You got yerself a deal.”

OOC: this is how I’m justifying forgetting what questions Alex had … he’ll just not trust this man to tell him the truth-

Aradia keeps her intense gaze fixed on the bald man as he speaks, nodding in thought after he concludes talking. Her mouth purses, then relaxes, and then curves into a smile.

"Well, I suppose a deal is a deal then - extra work is nothing I can't handle..."

Quickly pausing and looking around the room, she then adds "I don't mean to be rude but... can I get a glass of something drinkable, please? Your apple-juice went off, I think..."

OOC: Sweet, clueless Aradia, you truly are a marvel of existence.

The man rubbed his temple a little bit.

"Alright. Well, you can see on there--if you don't got a car, it should take about four, five days to make it out there from here. Our man will escort you out, and uhhh...you, apple juice girl, you can show him where your friends are."

The newly-formed posse got a few minutes to chow down, then found themselves escorted out past the refugee camp, where they began their journey through the wastes.

Only time would tell what this posse would do and see out there in the world--what challenges they would overcome, and what end they would meet in the quiet, howling wastes...

OOC: Alright friends, it's time to begin using interludes, set over the course of your journey.

In between each Interlude, we'll have a bit of play as well. We'll get in one interlude per PC, and they work like this:

Interludes:

Interludes are tales the players tell in-character to roleplay, enhance a long travel scene, or reveal the secrets and backstories they've put so much effort into.

[Marshal's Note: If you go for a backstory Interlude, we'll have to do some additional discussion to ensure things fit the lore.]

When to Use These Rules: Interludes give players a way to get to know their characters, reveal some of their backstories, and even add to the world you’re all building together.

The Basics: Players tell a story from their character’s point of view and are rewarded with a Benny.

The details about the kind of story you'll be telling or framing are supplied by a card draw, but each suit offers the chance to tell one of these kinds of stories:

DOWNTIME: What the hero does when left alone. [Marshal's Note: Other people can get involved, depending on what you frame as happening in these Interludes.]

BACKSTORY: A tale of the character's past, told through her voice and narration. [Marshal's Note: this is a story told to the other characters!]

TREK: The story of an obstacle or challenge the party encountered on their trip.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:17, Tue 11 Oct 2022.

In reply to Marshal (msg # 41):

"In that case, allow me to lead the- Hey, who the hell do you think you're calling Apple-Juice Girl?"

As far as Aradia was concerned, it was he who offered the apple-juice - he's the Apple-Juice Man, and shame on him for pinning such a title on her.

"Well, in any case, call me Magical Girl if nicknames are in order - at least that's relevant to my skillset...."