When you're ready, take it away Alex. :)

OOC: Trek: How the party endured a trying hardship on the journey.

Alex trudges along with the group as they head to their destination. He's wary about the mission, but he knows it's important. Especially if they're serious about citizenship. However, as the group walked, they didn't get too far before things went awry.

A small tentacle burst through the ground. No, not a tentacle. It couldn't be, there's no creature that looks like that. Not on land, anyway. Whatever it is, Alex draws his weapon and fires upon it. He doesn't see in all the chaos what his comrades do, all he knows whatever it was leaves and returns to the earth. The ground is split apart, dust and dirt are everywhere, and Alex takes a quick swig of his water.

Alex comments, "That was odd. Wonder what kinda earth shake could cause that. I mean ... that tree root almost looked alive and like it was attacking us, ya know?" Alex chuckles to himself, not noticing if no one else joins in.

Unfortunately, due that weird earth quake and tree root that was flinging at the group before disappearing, there was a large gap in the ground that the group would have to get around. Alex hums to himself in thought, as he looks for a way to get around this gap without getting too close and adding unnecessary time to the trip. They already wasted time by fighting a tree root, after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:09, Wed 12 Oct 2022.

In reply to Alex (msg # 2):

"Well, you're probably right - it was moving like a damn whip and it was aiming for us...." replies Aradia, after a short while. She had a look on her face of sharp alertness - as if she was expecting whatever attacked to come back. That thing was resistant, even to the railgun-violent plasma-beams she fired into its bark-like skin. And if something was resistant to even HER firepower.... well.... that was a problem, indeed....

Her expression did change, however, as she decided there was no point in worrying on it - the threat was dead, and if they encountered another radiation-born abomination they could deal with that bridge when they came to it. For now, all she could do, all the team could do in her opinion, was remain positive and remain vigilant - a magician, a gunslinger, and two people who really liked to get up-close and violent could pack quite a punch whilst working together after all. And besides, getting a chance to wield her combat-magic and blast some things apart was fun, to an extent! As long as she didn't end up dead....

"There's always a chance that it was the only Lovecraftian horror we're gonna find out here! I suppose just one is better than more...."

OOC: Aradia knows who Lovecraft is? That's probably lost-literature these days....

Coaxoch approaches the newly formed crevice of earth. He looks deep into the dark abyss and feels the abyss stare back. He feels the dry air of the desert on his rough skin.

“These winds feel like they carry an ill omen. That has been the case for a few years now.”

Ooc: what can Coaxoch find in the gap, if anything.

Ash has been passing the time playing her harmonica, as she usually does. When the brief commotion happens, her playing stops suddenly with a harsh, sour note as she's taken by surprise.

"World keeps getting more hostile... now the trees hate us. Suppose it was our kind that bombed 'em to shit along with the rest of it, though."

The music from her harmonica resumes where it left off.

In reply to Aisling Kelly (msg # 5):

Aradia turns towards Aisling after that remark, a crimson glint to her eyes and a sharp note to her voice - "What do you mean our kind bombed them to shit?"

Her question trails off into the wind like a kite without a string.

"I mean really, don't get me wrong - I figured some form of.... apocalypse involving radiation or nuclear technology took place, but what do you mean bombed?"

OOC: Aradia IS somewhat clueless when it comes to the apocalypse - Bear in mind this is not the world she planned to awaken in. I'm going to enjoy playing up this cluelessness in the near future~

Coaxoch looked into the opening, and he saw that deep in the crevice, there was some kind of strange, dark, oily sludge running underground with some speed.

Quite uniquely among the posse, Coaxoch could see the signs of the disgusting toxic spirits running alongside this strange sludge.

The posse was blocked in their passage by the crevice, and found themselves quite incapable of moving forward without moving around the rather large crevice or finding a good way over it. They would have to choose between a significant delay and solving the problem of moving past the freshly-opened crevice.

OOC: I'll let the Interlude begin ending when y'all have gotten to know Alex better. >:)

Coaxoch takes a deep breath and steps back from the crevice about 15 feet. He gets into a running start position and starts to run at the crevice. It looks like he’s going to try to jump.

OOC: Roll an Athletics at -4 to the final result.

Alex, not looking at Coaxoch, says, "Alright what do you guys think, should we find a way over or just go arou-" looking up he sees as Coaxoch goes to jump. "Wait!"

OOC: to clarify, Alex will not try to stop Coaxoch, out of fear that he may accidentally kill him or something. But this do be a reaction so-

Ash watches Coaxoch the whole time he does this. She doesn't do anything to stop it.

"Oh, boy." She says.

OOC: So, with a higher roll of 6, your final result is a 2, which means you're not getting across.

Coaxoch sprinted, bounded...and he flew.

Then he fell from view.

As Alex rushed forward, he came to the edge, where he could see Coaxoch hanging on to a root sticking out of the other side some fifteen feet down.

He had a strong grip, but it was obvious that if they didn't work out a way around he would slip and fall into the muck--where, of course, Coaxoch's problem would be less the toxicity and more the lack of oxygen once under those currents.

As for Coaxoch, the landing was a painful one.

OOC: Coaxoch has injured himself, and is going to be at Fatigue 1 for the rest of the Interludes.

This will give you a -1 to all actions

Coaxoch attempts to climb back up to his team. He sees Alex look over the edge and laughs nervously.

“Heh, not quite going according to plan”

OOC: Sorry, wasn't clear: you're on the other side, and you can't climb up without assistance. :)

Aradia hadn't expected this strange, small man to actually attempt to shoot the gap.... for just a moment after he disappeared into the crevasse like a droplet into a bath, her composure fractured from alertness to mild terror.

"Coaxoch, are you.... are you okay down there!?"

OOC: Aradia is capable of caring for people!?

Aisling approaches the edge of the fissure and peers at Coaxoch on the other side.

"Yup, figured that might happen. Shit, man... what were you thinking, trying to jump that?"

Now that Coaxoch was in real danger, this meant Ash was obligated to help... in her mind, anyway.

"Fuck... how're we getting across? No way in hell we can walk around this before he slips in."

“Death….. needs me in this world yet!”
Coaxoch says as he struggles to climb up the side of her crevasse

In reply to Aisling Kelly (msg # 16):

"It's possible I might've had a spell in my book that would've helped here, if only I had more time to read tjis.... unless me firing a concentrated beam of arcane destruction out of my fingertips would help our cause here...."

Aradia looked a little down in this moment, almost a little worried, before dragging Alex into the conversation - "you don't.... happen to have any ideas here do you Alex? Like some past experience or something that's prepared you for this oddly specific and niche scenario?"

OOC: I should've taken Control Plants.

Alex stepped back, surveying the surroundings. He spotted in the distance an outcropping of land forming a cliff against the gap, and directed the posse to rush down to it. Some minutes later, the group was able to leap across, and then pull Coaxoch up on a rope.

OOC: Well, we lost a good hand in Finn, but we're through Interlude 1. Who'd like to do an interlude? My suggestion would be a story that you can tell everyone--not something that's close to your chest, but a sort of "yeah, I'm bad like that" anecdote that the others can react to and comment on as you're telling them.