This close to the equator, the night ran close to a full twelve hours - and Bichu was adament about not driving the boat until the sun came up.  With the gentle rocking of the boat and the slightly less intense temperatures of evening, everyone slept reasonably well.  A descent rest combined with Caduceus' magical aid had the whole team back in proper form by morning.  The mood on the boat wasn't exactly happy - there were still some obvious tensions, but at least the raging headaches weren't making everything worse.

The turns at watch had been stressful.  The darkness combined with the river mist made it difficult to see.  And the nearby and overhanging trees were alive with motion of various sorts.  Was that shadow a tree limb blown by the wind or a creature about to attack?  However, aside from one dead monkey who had aggravated White Duck one too many times, the night brought no casualties.

After a semi-palatable breakfast of beans, biscuits and coffee, Bichu unmoored the Golphino continued moving up-river, helpfully re-misted with the aid of a new spirit.  The primary topic of conversation among the runners was which animal Hairy most sounded like when he was sawing logs - which he spent most of the previous night doing, taking the longest to sleep off his injuries.

Speaking of longs, there seemed to be quite a few of them in the water around the boat.  Dr. Sanders was up front taking pictures of them.  White Duck glanced up at the wheelhouse to make sure Bicho saw the longs when suddenly there was a resounding crunch and Dr. Sanders reeled backward, away from the railing.  Kate raced to the side and looked over the side.  Whatever had hit the boat, it wasn't a log...unless logs in Amazonia have half-meter-long tusks, armored hides and a nasty disposition.  Whatever it was, it took another good-sized chunk out of the Golphino's side and the deck slowly started to list as the forward cabins began taking on water.

It took Hairy an additional 3.5 hours to heal his remaining box of physical.  There was enough downtime on the boat to do that in addition to him sleeping off his stun.  So everyone's condition monitors should be re-set.

Caduceus barely managed to stay upright as the boat jostled. "What. Are those?" he asked nobody in particular, referring to the tusked "logs" that were attacking. But even before he received an answer, Caduceus was busy conjuring a new river spirit to help them out. He figured he may need a tough one in order to help out with the whatever-they-were.

After taking a deep breath to calm his mind and connect to the proper domain, Caduceus reached out to the local spirits of the muddy riverbed below. "Come spirits. Heed my call. Make our aggressors fear the vessel they are attacking."

---

Caduceus is attempting to conjure a Force 5 River Spirit. (or higher)
13:20, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of (6+3)9,3,3,1,2,4.  Conjure Force 5 River Spirit.
One service gained and used. Caduceus wants it to use its Fear power to make the creatures afraid of the boat and flee from it.

Drain test vs medium stun.
13:23, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of 5,3,4,1,1,5.  Drain test.
Two successes means he takes one box of stun.

In reply to Caduceus (msg # 2):

"I like logs... logs burn. Even when they're half in water." 

Kate walked to the edge of the boat and looked over.  These are the first targets she's had that won't set a whole jungle on fire.  This could be the stress release she's been needing.

"Did you want help getting these things to move away?"

Duck, not exactly a firearms user, grabs a rail towards the middle of the boat, then a fistful of material on the back of Kate's shirt/top.

"Can't risk anyone falling off." he states simply, looking to any scientific personnel about, he barks out an order for them to stay in the middle of the boat and not lean off the sides.

Bichu charged out of the wheelhouse and ran onto the forward deck with a shotgun in one hand.  He paused momentarily to scream at the prone Sanders.  "You MORON!  You take pictures instead of telling me!?!"

He held up the weapon as if to swing it at the professor's head when the boat shuddered again.  He wheeled and raced to the guard-rail, leaned over and discharged a double shot-gun blast at the massive creature's back.  If one of you had taken that hit, you'd have been lucky not to be knocking on St. Peter's door.  However, the slugs barely seemed to penetrate the thing's heavily scaled back.  They did however attract its attention.  The creature bellowed and its head reared up, clearly exposing its mouth.

It had been a long time since grade 11 biology, but you were pretty sure you remembered something about flat teeth meaning plant-eaters and pointy teeth being carnivors.  This thing didn't look like it ate a lot of plants.

Dr. Fukuhara came charging up the stairs from below decks.  "We're SINKING!  My books - they're getting wet!"

At that moment, the waters roiled and a gigantic serpent - formed of the river itself - reared up.  Its massive fanged mouth opened and loomed over the scaly beast that had been attacking the boat.  The armored creature's bellow of anger changed to a cry of alarm.  Its head retreated down into the water and it began to charge out of the river - as did several more of the 'logs'.  Unfortunately the front of the Golfinhao was squarely between the now terrified beasts and the shore...

The boat tilted violently as the beasts shouldered it aside and made their way up the riverbank, toppling trees like they were toothpicks.

At this point, it was obvious how massive the creatures were.  At least 2 meters tall, with legs the size of an elephant's.  From toe to tail, the largest was almost 3.5 meters long.  The mouth was crocodile like, except for the massive tusks.  One of them alone would have been terrifying - but there were 8 - 3 still in the water and 5 bulldozing through the jungle.  On the plus side, the ones still in the water were moving away from the boat.  On the minus side, the boat was sinking fast and the place the team need to go was the shoreline where the remainder had just charged.

Bichu's head swiveled from side to side as he started spouting off a range of Portugese, Spanish and a few other languages no one recognized.  However, all of you were VERY sure your mother wouldn't have approved of the translations.  "Grab what you can and get to the shore!  We don't want to be in is drecking the water when she goes down!"

He didn't wait around to see how the runners or scientists responded.  He dashed down the stairs for his cabin, stepping over Fukuhara who'd been thrown to the bottom when the boat had been shoved out of the way seconds earlier.

Everyone roll Quickness TN 5.  No successes - you're in the water.  1 success and you're knocked prone and you need to resist 5L stun.  2 successes and you're fine.  You can spend extra successes to try to grab onto someone else.  Hairy, you can decide if you're above or below decks.  If below decks, you're resisting 6L stun because there's more stuff to drop on you, but you don't have to worry about falling overboard.

At the rate the boat is currently sinking, you've probably got about 30 seconds before it goes under (10 combat turns).

Dr. Sanders was already prone and managed to hang on.  Dr. Al-mansour is, to the best of your knowledge, still in his cabin.

What do you do?

Kate reels back from the side of the boat and falls on her back, completely stunned.

----
21:57, Today: Kate rolled 1 success using 3d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 2,(6+2)8,1.  Quickness to stay on her feet (with help).

21:54, Today: Kate failed (no successes) using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of 2,4,2,4,2,1.  Resist Stun.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:57, Sat 11 Jan 2020.

Hairy doesn't even spill the beans stacked on his toast.

"Y'all don't have like a traffic sensor for these things? Sheesh."

He puts down his breakfast and lumbers on down below to start grabbing scientists, under his arms if he has to, and whatever looks like the most expensive hardware if he has the space for it. It'd be better if the scientists can carry their own gear, but from the previous experience, they seem to have trouble just standing upright.

Quickness Test.
14:05, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 5,3,4,(6+2)8,1,1.  Quickness Test (TN 5+1).

---

Caduceus hit the railing hard as the boat jostled and had to strain his muscles pretty hard to keep from flipping over the edge. He fell back onto the deck exhausted from his sudden exertion, but at least the creatures were leaving. "What were those?" he asked Bichu as he worked to regain his footing.

Then Caduceus took note of just how fast they were sinking. "Are we going to make it to shore? Can you beach us?" he asked Bichu frantically. Caduceus did not like the idea of their only mode of transportation sinking under the river, but a part of his brain was already deciding witch possessions he should run for first.

---

Stun resistance roll coming soon:
17:22, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 3,2,4,(6+2)8,5,4.  Resist Stun with willpower

This message was last edited by the player at 23:23, Mon 13 Jan 2020.

The tossing of the boat tumbled runners, gear and scientists alike, dealing out more than a few bruises and strained limbs and leaving many of them stunned.  However, everyone managed to stay on board - which was a good thing, at least for now.

As Hairy got to the bottom of the stairs, he could see that Dr. Fukuhara had a nasty gash on his head but was pulling himself to his feet.  The expedition's lead made his way to his cabin where, miracle of miracles, he was actually grabbing rations and survival gear before rescuing any of his precious books.  Perhaps the man was capable of learning after all.

Ahead in one of the forward cabins, Hairy could hear Dr. Al-mansour pounding on the inside of his cabin door, hollering and alternating between asking (in most un-academic language) what the frag had just happened and demanding to be let out.  Apparently something was obstructing his door.

The samurai briefly considered whether the remainder of the trip might be more pleasant if he left the door closed.  On balance, he concluded the answer was a definite "yes".  He paused and listened a bit longer before deciding that the diminished paycheck probably wasn't worth it.  He wrenched the door open and watched with slight satisfaction as the stream of water pouring through the opening knocked the scientist squarely on his hoop.

It wasn't hard to decide that the most expensive and most useful piece of equipment down below was his LMG.  His cabin was aft, which at the moment meant 'not yet wet', so he headed there to grab that, his ammunition and a few 'medicinal' supplies.

9 CTs left before the boat goes down.  (And fewer before grabbing anything from below decks won't involve seeing how good you are at swimming and holding your breath...)  Tell me what you're doing.  Feel free to cover a few CTs worth of activity.

Not wanting to dwaddle, Caduceus hurried to where he had stowed his gear the evening prior. He then grabbed his precious feathers he had gathered when they were stopped near the boarder and added them to his supplies. Finally, he collected any convenient scientific gear that would not overburden his next spell, and strapped it to everything else.

Lastly, Caduceus added himself to the pile and clutched the Sustaining Spell Focus around his neck. "Come on Snake. Let's skedaddle," he muttered as he willed himself and supplies up off the deck of the boat. He had no urge to swim with the river spirits, helpful as they may have been.

---

Caduceus's goals:
1. Collect his own gear.
2. Collect his feathers from their hiding spot.
3. If he has time, collect some of the scientific equipment if it won't weigh down his Levitation.
4. Put on his pack with all the attached gear and cast Levitate on himself.
5. Up, up, and away! (and see if anyone else might still need help.)

Casting Force 2 Levitate with Sustaining Focus (TN 4+1 = 5)
Using 2 Spell pool Dice to cast, 4 for Drain. I am assuming this doesn't count as combat even though we are using combat turns. If it does, remove his last dice.
13:41, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 8d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of 4,1,4,3,5,2,2,1.  Cast Force 2 Levitate on self.
That should be enough to lift 100kg/220 lbs and move at a speed of 7 meters per turn. Might not be able to grab much extra gear, if any.

Medium Drain vs TN 1+2+1 = 4
13:46, Today: Caduceus rolled 7 successes using 10d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+2)8,3,4,2,1,5,(6+6+6+1)19,4,4,4.  Drain test.
I believe that should avoid causing Drain.

Kate shakes her head to clear some of the fog and runs downstairs to grab as much of her stuff and some of the equipment as possible.  It would be nice to vent at the things taking the ship down but not with her head in this condition.

Once she's on shore, she yells to Hairy to start chucking boxes at her to get as much stuff on dry land as fast as possible.

Hairy doesn't have his LMG; it's back on the airplane. "En Route" msg 149: Not seeing a lot of stuffer shacks around, Hairy relents, and stows the big gun with the airplane.

Hairy does grab his gun. He's not going to be too much use without that, and his 'medicinals', which are light and delicious. After that, he'll start with the most valuable stuff he can throw at Kate, and just get to hoisting. Once he feels like he got the really critical hardware (guessing at it based on what's fancy-looking), he'll move on to water.

Duck moves over to help Fukuhara up to prevent him from being trampled, having managed to keep his footing. He rushes downstairs to grab his pack of supplies and shouts out a warning for those belowdecks to move to the deck of the ship in the process.

The four runners scrambled to grab their weapons, gear and other supplies.  The professors tried to pile on what scientific equipment they could, but were quickly overruled by Bichu.  He swore, as he ripped a partially waterlogged piece of equipment from the hands of Dr. Saunders "You trogs might like eatin glass and metal, but there's no fraggin way I am.  Your expedition don't mean dreck if we don't survive long enough to get to a village."  He gestured to crates lashed to the deck.  "Grab whatever food and water you can carry."

As Dr. Fukuhara moved to follow the guide's instructions, Bichu waved his machete at the professor, unsettlingly close to the man's neck.  "And you! You tell your boss he owes me a new boat or ain't none of you leaving this jungle.  Understand?"

On shore, about 200 yards uphill through demolished brush, the creatures, whatever they were seemed to have overcome their panic.  Several of them turned to face the water.  They still seemed uncertain about moving back toward the river, but you weren't super-certain about how long that would last - or whether having a number of runner and professor-sized morsels standing on the shoreline would help in overcoming their fear.

Caducius floated easily over the deck.  Bichu moved forward to where the water was already starting to lap over the deck and straddled the railing.  I hope you lot can swim, because I'm not drecking carrying you..."  There was about a 5 meters of water between the boat and the shore.

"Why not just run her aground if she's lost anyway?" he asks Bichu, genuinely curious as to why the guide would rather let the boat sink with everyone's supplies on it over driving it up onto the shore.

"Maybe we're fucked either way but we may as well eat well."

Bichu eyed the distant creatures suspiciously for a second, then shrugged.  "Fine"

He moved off the railing toward the wheelhouse, only to stop as there was a sudden shudder through the ship and a grinding noise as the bow settled onto the river floor.

"And...done.  Now get off!"

The bow is the part that got torn open and got turned toward shore.  It's hit first.  By the time the whole boat settles, part of the wheelhouse will remain above the waterline, but probably not much else.  It's about 5 meters from shore.  Based on the shape of the shoreline, you figure you could probably touch the bottom after crossing about half that distance.  The creatures who stampeded onto shore are about 100 meters or so inland.  Those who moved off in the water are hard to see due to the mists and the fact that not much of them tends to extend above the water when they're swimming.

Hairy does a running jump to the shore and swims the rest of the way. Once he's on land, he dumps the stuff in his arms and will talk to the professor, "ya know, if he's threatening you, I can put 'im down for ya."

Caduceus searched for a rope he could use to tie the boat to a tree before it went completely under. Or at least an anchor he could lower. He didn't want the boat to go drifting downstream after it sunk. It was currently the focal point of their River Spirit friend's Fear effect. Their only real defense against the creatures that had attacked. Not to mention a rope could help the others traverse the water to shore.

"I would suggest climbing up a tree or something a soon as possible," Caduceus suggested to those wading through the water. "So long as those crocto-hippo-critters can't climb them. It could give us a bit of time to regain our wits and plan our next move."

Duck grabs his pack, hops off the boat, and wades to shore with a sad sigh.

"Damnit, my smokes got ruined." he says, almost too himself, after he takes out a wet pack of smokes from his vest pocket and tosses it atop the wheelhouse.

Finding a rope wasn't an issue.  There were several neatly coiled hanging on the gunnels.  One even had a floating ring attached.  White Duck tied one off to a railing and then floated to one of the still standing trees and tied the other end off there.

Hairy had no issue swimming to shore, though the splash from his canon-ball left Dr. Saunders spluttering and looking rather disheveled.  Bichu's dive was considerably more elegant.

White duck wasn't able to wade, but had no issue swimming.  The scientists managed just fine with the rope to hold onto and Kate brought up the rear.  As the group reached shore, the creature who had led the charge onto shore lifted its head and bellowed a challenge.

The guide looked up at Caduceus.  "If you've got more of that scary magic, this'd be a really good time..."

Duck confidently smirked, cracking his knuckles and positioning himself in an interceding position between the creature and the rest of the group. Truth was, he saw this in a comic book somewhere. Truth is, he wanted to try it out for himself. Truth was, this thing just cost him two cartons of real smokes, and few things truly dared to deprive Duck of his precious cigarettes.

He puffed out his chest, cracked his knuckles, widened his posture, and roared back a challenge to the leader of the pack, fully prepared to do battle, but hoping his probably unexpected retort was startling enough for the creature to back off.

10:31, Today: White Duck rolled 1 success using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 3,3,(6+2)8,2.  Intimidation/Verbal.

He keeps his eye on the creature, not backing down quite yet, calling over his shoulder to the rest of those gathered.
“Alright, I want you all to move as a group into the jungle. Stick together. I’m going to try and lead this thing away from y’all. Any chance you can make me fly Snakes? Might be a good idea just in case it can outrun me.”
This message was last edited by the player at 14:12, Tue 04 Feb 2020.

Kate watches as Duck exercises his macho, and thinks about letting a hippo eat him. She decides that losing her first chance to be useful would leave her far in everyone's debt.

"Hey, before you wade in there and get yourself turned into a snack for these things, should I soften then up for you? You know, give them a slight sunburn to make them easier to bruise?"

This message was deleted by the player at 14:10, Tue 04 Feb 2020.

Caduceus was already attempting to conjure a forest spirit when White Duck made his challenge to the creatures. He decided Duck would make a great focal point for some spiritual fear. But unlike Kate, Caduceus didn't bother asking for White Duck's permission.

Still, after his attempt at conjuring, he replied to Duck's request for levitation. "I can definitely try to float you, as long as I can see you. I'll be mostly useless while I do though."

---

Conjure Force 3 forest spirit:
13:25, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2,3,5,4,1.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Two services. One used to add Fear to White Duck, to help boost his intimidation and make the creatures flee. Second service saved for later.

Drain:
13:25, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2,3,5,4,1.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Caduceus takes another tick of Drain, bringing him up to three.

Levitate White Duck:
Feel free to roll this for him if it looks necessary. Caduceus himself will stay in the air high enough that the beasts can't reach him.

Drain:
This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Tue 04 Feb 2020.

Hairy pours the water out of his gun. Normally he'd prep it before going for a swim. Hopefully it'll fire, but he won't have time to be sure. Just in case, he preps a grenade too, but hangs tight. If they were complaining about gunfire being too loud, they won't much like this.

He does address the scientists, "alright ya slugs. Get some boxes and start walking. Come on, yeh love your gear so much, start carrying!"

White Duck's decision to challenge the enormous creatures seemed to come as a surprise to pretty much everyone.  Dr. Fukuhara jaw dropped as he stared first at Duck and then at the collection of beasts up the hill.  Dr. Al-mansour backed slowly away along the river.  Bichu did the same, his shotgun aimed midway between the creatures and adept, as though he was unsure which was the greater threat, muttering in Portuguese.  Caduceus wasn't to catch all of it, but rough translations included "balls for brains", "Trogs" and that he should have listened to his Aunt Olivia.  Dr. Saunders stood stock still as his fresh pair of pants rapidly took on the aspect of his previous pair.  Hairy absently wondered if the scientist had grabbed a spare set along with with the crate he was carrying from the Golphinhao

White Duck's initial challenge seemed to be lost in the foliage and was ignored by the beast as it continued to bellow.  However, as Caducius's spell wove itself around the runner, he hollered again.  This time he rose up from the ground, lifted by vines that held him and swayed slowly from side to side in a serpentine manner.  His second challenge echoed through the forest and this time the creatures noticed.  The largest of them reared up on his back legs and crashed down, sending a shudder through the ground that rattled the trees and left the runners and scientists who *weren't* being held in place by a set of vines struggling to stay upright.  On the plus side, at least the creatures hadn't yet charged them.

Bichu's voice was quiet but urgent.  "Back slowly along the river.  Don't run.  Keep your eyes facing the Macareu.  If you run, I'll shoot you myself."

None of you have animal handling.  Your read of the creatures wouldn't exactly say "intimidated", but perhaps uncertain.  Whether they're going to attack seems unclear.

Kate keeps her eyes on the monsters and starts prepping a fire blast, just in case they decide that we're too yummy looking to leave be.  Slowly she backs along the waterline, hoping that she can cast faster than they can charge.

With only light sarcasm in her voice, she yells, "Duck, this is your chance, wrestle them into submission!"

Duck rises up into the air, held aloft by the vines. After checking his height, he turns to Cadeuces.

"Eh, a little higher please? I'd rather not be at pinata height." he then looks over his shoulder to the rest of the group.

"Move it folks! Not sure how long I'll be able to keep this thing's attention!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

Duck doesn't really have a whole lot of control over the vines or his height.  He could get out of the vines if he wished, but it's the spirit that's controlling them.  He's up probably about 8 feet.  If a creature were right in front of him, he'd be a couple of feet above eye level.  As it is, the creatures are up a bit of an incline.  With the vines, you currently look a bit taller than they are, however, if they decided to come down the hill and eat you, they could certainly reach you.

Caduceus nervously hovered a little higher as he saw the creature, the Macareu as Bichu called it, reared up. When White duck asked for more height, Caduceus felt the request was more than reasonable. "I'll try to imbue you with levitation, but I'm going to try not to mess with the spirit's mojo unless it becomes necessary. I'll lift you higher and out of reach if it looks like the Macareu is going to rush you." Caduceus reached out with his magic and prodded at White Duck spiritually, looking for a proper handhold for his levitation spell. He was being extra careful with his casting, as Caduceus didn't want to pop any more blood vessels than he already had today.

---

Caduceus is casting Levitation on White Duck, but holding off on actually lifting him until it becomes necessary.

Casting Force 3 Levitation (TN 6) Using 6 dice (or subtract the last one if this counts as combat).
13:38, Today: Caduceus failed (no successes) using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 1,2,5,1,4,2.  Cast Levitation on White Duck.
Zero Successes. I will have to try again.

Medium Drain vs TN 5, using 12 die.
13:40, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 12d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of (6+5)11,5,2,3,2,2,5,1,2,(6+1)7,4,5.  Medium Drain.
No drain.

Attempt two, if there is time. Using same dice allocations.
13:41, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 2,2,4,(6+5)11,5,4.  Cast Levitation on White Duck, attempt 2.
I think that should be enough to lift him.

Drain test.
13:43, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 12d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of 4,5,5,4,5,3,1,3,3,(6+6+2)14,1,2.  Drain test.
No drain again, thank goodness.

Bichu, two of the runners and the scientists (one with a bit of prompting), slowly back along the water's edge into the cover of the untrampled trees.  It's not clear that they're any sturdier than the ones the Macareu had knocked down effortlessly only a minute or two earlier, but at least they blocked line-of-sight.  Hopefully "out of sight, out of mind" would carry the day.

Caduceus stayed, trying to use his magic to increase the odds of survival for the sole runner who had been brave (insane?) enough to try to stand up to the behemoths.  He felt like he was recovering from a massive hangover that he hadn't even had the chance to enjoy - and even better, the heat of the jungle had only started to kick in.  And no river boat breezes to cool off at night.  Fraggin awesome...

The alpha reared up again, shouting another challenge, it's feet again causing the ground to shake as its massive form crashed down.  It started to paw the ground, then appeared to be distracted by one of the other Macareu nuzzling its hind-quarters.  It turned and was, for at least a moment or to, distracted.

Caduceus used the opportunity to quickly float both himself and White Duck after the others into the thick jungle canopy.

Once out of sight, the group burst into a run, doing their best to put a good chunk of ground between themselves and the gator/hippo/dinosaur/whatever things.  The ground trembled a couple more times, then started to shudder in a rythmic manner.  Dr. Saunders paused and looked like he might turn around to go look, but one look at the face of the runners had him hurrying to catch up with his companions.

When they had gotten far enough that the tremors were no longer noticeable, Bichu called the group to a halt.  He pointed his machete first at Dr. Saunders, then Dr. Fukuhara.  "YOU cost me my ship, and YOU are fraggin well going to make sure it gets paid for."  He then waived his weapon at the whole group.  "The nearest village is two and a half days walk from here.  STAY on the fragging trail.  If you run off into the jungle, I ain't coming after you."

He turned and continued to stalk up the trail, slashing angrily at overhanging vines.

"Hey, some of this gear is fragging heavy. We wanna pull through and toss some things before we hike another ten miles? Or at least stash it and you can pick it up later?"

"And I could use a few minutes to recuperate. Re-center myself," Caduceus added as he floated along above. He found a good place to set down White Duck, then ended his levitation spell. "Of course only once we are far enough away from those... what did you call them? Macareu? I've already over exerted myself, and it would do me wonders if I could rest for a moment before conjuring forest spirits to protect us along the trail..."

"Yeah, I could use a break while you guys freshen up.  I'll keep an eye out for anything that looks hungry."

Kate looks around at somewhere she can get a view of the area and sets up a watch both across the area and up into the trees.

Bichu looked at his watch and shrugs.  He was obviously not thrilled with the notion of waiting, but Caduceus's magic was probably the only thing that had kept the group of them from being eaten, so it appears he wasn't in the mood to argue.  The group took a break and the snake shaman sat down against a tree, resting.

Kate kept watch while Hairy dug through their gear everyone was carrying and tried to figure out what they have that's actually worth carrying.  He thinned the equipment out somewhat, given that devices without power supplies, power supplies without devices, and various other unhelpful "grab it and run" choices meant that about 20% of what the group had brought along weren't actually functional.  In his estimate, the group probably had enough food for 4 days, more if they didn't mind being grumpy.  Water was a little more problematic, but they had decent odds of hitting a stream or two for refills.

The group continued along as the sun rose and turned the jungle back into a steam bath.  As the afternoon wore on, Dr. Al-Mansour seemed to be holding up okay, but Fukuhara and Sanders-especially Sanders were sweating like pigs.

Dr. Fukuhara stopped again, hands on his knees, breathing heavily.  You thought he was about to ask For another rest break when he suddenly raised one hand and pointed off to your left. "Is that <huFf> what I think <wheeze> it is?"

The team turned to look where he's pointing, guns and spells at the ready.  You hoped
you weren't too tired to take on whatever he'd spotted. Then you realize that the good doctor was pointing to a group of trees about twenty meters away. Wrapped around their trunks are several dark brown vines bearing the big, fuzzy fruits you saw in the in Flight
presentation.

"Gentlemen," Dr. Fukuhara says, "I give you actinidia amazo nensis."


Sorry for letting things go so long without posting.  Crazy month...

"So what do we know lives in those vines? Probably some giant... snake with human feet or like... a flower that makes your girlfriend break up with you?"

Hairy waves his gun at the tree, certain there's something about it that will be dangerous and hungry, but not yet sure which part of it is the issue.

Stun Recovery Test:
13:21, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5,1,(6+5)11,4,(6+5)11,1.  Recover from Stun.
Four successes means it takes 15 minutes per box of stun. Caduceus should be back to full health in only 45 minutes during their hour long break!

---

Caduceus had been grateful for the break and was feeling back in full spirits after their rest. When they moved out again, the snake shaman continued to hover along just above the group, since he wasn't nearly strong enough to carry all his gear with his muscles alone.

When Dr. Fukuhara stopped and pointed, Caduceus was as tense as the rest. But he visibly relaxed once he realized they had actually caught a lucky break. Still, Hairy's paranoia was contagious and Caduceus soon found himself caught up in it.

"I'll conjure a spirit to watch over us as we scout out danger in the area. Just give me a few moments." Caduceus reached out into the surrounding forest with his magic essence and asked for the forest's assistance once again. "Spirits of the forest, heed my call. Guard my companions from danger, Conceal them from prying eyes, and strike fear into those that intend them harm." He then did the same a second time, conjuring another spirit to help out the first, since it probably would have a hard time protecting everyone at once.

---

Conjuring a Force 3 Forest Spirit.
13:32, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,5,3,2,2.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Three services, used. Guard, Concealment, and Fear.

Drain.
13:39, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,3,2,3,5,2,(6+1)7.  Drain test.
No drain.

And Again:
13:39, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 1,3,3,5,4.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Four services, three used. Guard, Concealment, and Fear. One saved in reserve.

Drain.
13:40, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,2,1,4,5,(6+4)10,(6+2)8.  Drain test.
No Drain.

Duck wipes a fresh coat of sweat from his brow with the back of his machete-holding forearm, thankful that they found the fruits, but skeptical as all hell about the ease of bringing them back. His hands shook visibly from nicotine withdrawals, and despite rather grumpy and relatively silent in his brooding since the boat crashed, he was both relieved and skeptical as he approached the fruit tree, playing his usual role of forward scout and taking precautions to be quiet just in case these fruits had attracted any herbivores who might turn hostile over a team of scientists taking their pick of these amply forbidden fruits.

As before, Caduceus's spirits were more potent than he would have expected, but they were compliant and moved off to do his bidding.

Kate had to grab the back of the packs of Dr. Saunders and Dr. Al-Mansour to keep them from charging right up to the trees.  White Duck approached cautiously while Hairy and Caduceus provided over-watch.

There were no obvious threats.  A couple of snakes who where much more normal-sized, wingless and seemed to have no particular interest in Duck or Caduceus.  Birds of a variety of forms and a small troop of howler monkeys.  Some yelling and hand-waving managed to scare most of them away, though one obstinate howler merely climbed higher in the foliage, from which he emerged occasionally to throw feces or attempt to urinate on the party members.  After his third attempt, the vines of the tree coiled around him and the shape of a giant python manifested right in front of him and hissed in his face.  When the coils let him go, he shrieked and he went charging off to find the rest of his troop.

With the area secured, the scientists went to work - measuring, collecting and bagging samples of the fruits, the fines, the soil and everything else they could lay their hands on.  Meanwhile, the runners watched with wary amusement and kept a sharp eye out for anything that might stir up trouble.

It was reaching late afternoon when Bichu ambled over to runners.  "I'm gonna see if I can find somewhere nearby to make camp, seeing as it doesn't look like we're going to get too much further tonight"  It was evident that he was offering to allow one of you to accompany him, though he didn't seem super concerned with whether or not you said 'yes'.

As Duck watches over the eager group of scientists, he doesn’t allow himself a moment of relief. Instead, betting on at least one of them making a stupid mistake at some point, he approaches the tree and grabs a fruit for himself, then places it on a nearby stump of log and whacks it in half with his machete, collecting the seeds of the fruit just in case things go topsy turvy and the collected specimens end up rotting due to the heat and humidity of the jungle. To him, it didn’t make much sense for these scientists to want to try and cultivate this fruit by taking entire samples- the seeds, despite the largeness of the kiwi, would be smaller, easier to carry, and be much easier to sneak through customs. Besides, if any of these scientists got geeked, their samples may also be lost, and it was his job to ensure that at least some samplings made it back safely.

The outside of the fruit was a bit prickly, but the inside appeared blue and juicy with a slightly sweet smell.  The seeds were small and black and more than a bit slippery, but Duck was able to collect 30 or so from the single specimen.

Dr. Fukuhara looked over when he heard the 'thunk' of the machete.  He appeared about to criticize the wasting of samples, but thought better of it.  Instead he settled for a short warning "Don't eat any of it!".  Dr. Saunders looked up from studying the instrument he had plunged into the trunk of one of the trees and grinned.  "Indeed."

Apparently all it took to make a group of scientists happy was to let them play with their toys.  Looking over at Hairy who was busy stripping and reassembling his rifle, it dawned on Duck that perhaps scientists and runners weren't all that different after all...

White Duck thought one thing at that moment: he didn’t play with toys. Then he remembered he was carrying a pack of bladed throwing cards around.

“Hoooo-leee fuuuuck, I need a fucking cigarette.” He thought to himself, the preoccupation of his thoughts of getting his fix, at least externally, led to his normally somewhat erratic mindset to be focused on important details. He turned and nodded at the doctor, motioned him over when he had a moment, then turned around to face away from the group of busy scientists.

“Course not, doc. When you live with a talismonger, it’s very easy to get a hold of hallucinogens. There’s a time and a place, but uh, we’ve crashed out boat and have to walk through extremely dangerous territory. I want to congratulate you and your team on the find, but also tell you this is not over yet.” He fidgeted a bit, almost unnoticaeably, as his reflex to take a drag kicked in.

“Listen Doc, whenever you get a sec, there’s something we should discuss.”
This message was last edited by the player at 03:17, Wed 11 Mar 2020.

Kate doesn't like coincidence, those things never work out the way you think.  She sits back and lets the scientists and such harvest the plant and waits for something to go wrong.   She hears Duck cut one in half and watches him scoop out the seeds.  Gotta be poison, I mean, why else would they yell not to eat it?  Some kind of magic effect? It's worth that much cash? Nah, can't be cash or they'd be mad he's getting seeds.

She calls out, "Hey, Hairy, I"ll give you 5 to try a bite..." she says, grinning.  "Seriously, though, you think there's anything we can eat out here? Gonna be a long walk back"

For the most part, Caduceus hovered silently over the area as the scientists worked. He kept an eye on the astral to make sure nothing was creeping on them from the other plane, and he took advantage of his elevated position to get a different perspective than the others.

When Bichu headed off, Caduceus wasn't about to abandon the scientists to go help keep him safe. They weren't being paid to keep Bichu safe, plus the man seemed like he could take case of himself. Still, the snake shaman didn't want to send him off totally alone either. He called upon the spirits again in order to supply Bichu with a bit of extra protection.

First he called upon the spirit that still owed him one favor. "I am going to conjure another spirit to watch over Bichu, but I want you to keep loose tabs on them and inform me if they get into any trouble."  He then conjured another forest spirit and sent it Bichu's way. "Guard over Bichu and strike Fear into anything that intends him harm. Animals or hostile people. Even go so far as to fight it off if it comes to that. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it."

Lastly, Caduceus conjured one last Spirit in case any emergencies arose. "Thank you for your help. You are my secret backup in case anything unexpected comes up," he said with a wink.

---

Caduceus is basically just acting as a security guard while the scientists work. He isn't doing anything too noteworthy otherwise.

Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit
14:40, Tue 03 Mar: Caduceus rolled 3 5 successes using 5d6 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,2,1,4,5,(6+4)10,(6+2)8.  Drain test.
Dice roller glitched on me. I told it to roll 5, but it rolled 7. Three successes. Caduceus will have the spirit use Guard and Fear to protect Bichu, and to Attack anything that attacks or intends to attack the man.

Drain
13:56, Today: Caduceus rolled 7 successes using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 3,5,5,(6+5)11,(6+2)8,5,4.  Drain.
Can't have less drain than that!

Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit, again.
13:58, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 3,1,4,(6+6+6+4)22,5.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Four services, none used.

Drain
13:59, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 1,2,5,4,1,5,4.  Drain test.
No drain.

Hairy doesn't mind catching a piece of White Duck's exploration, to examine it for himself, sniffing it, feeling it in his hand. He'll keep a little piece of fruit and a seed for later experimentation.

Quick roll to see if I can tell anything about it. I'll avoid licking it yet--that's for when I'm off the clock.


14:21, Today: Hairy rolled 4 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 ((3,4,5,4,5)).

Dr. Fukuhara nodded absently at Duck's request to speak before going back to what he was doing and ignoring the runner completely.  Scientific inquiry apparently trumped any possibility of conversation.

In response to Kate's query, Bichu snorted disdainfully.  "All you think about is food, isn't it?

We have rations enough to last to the village, but you'll have to wait."

The summoned spirits studied Caduceus closely, again larger and more powerful than he'd expected for the effort expended.  One of them swayed in front of the runner's face for a few seconds before hissing "You make many demands..."  Its lidless eyes stared for a second longer, then it slithered off, apparently to do as commanded.

Seeing no interest in accompanying him, Bichu headed off down the trail.  The density of the tree-cover meant that, despite his elevated position, Caduceus wasn't able to follow the guide's movement more than a minute or so along the path before the man was swallowed by the jungle.  The shaman had to content himself with providing over-watch for the rest of the party.

Hairy inspected the seeds and fruit.  Aside from the sweet smell and slipperiness of the seeds, there was nothing obviously that interesting.  Certainly nothing that corresponded to any of the other 'interesting' plant life the ork was familiar with.  However, he pocketed a few bits for later investigation...

About 45 minutes later, Bichu returned.  "I found a decent site about 20 minutes from here.  Reasonably defensible.  No jaguar scat.  Even has water not too far.  We should move pretty soon - don't want to wander the jungle after dark."

The runners turned around to find Dr. Fukuhara standing there, an actual *smile* on his face.  "We are finished.  Let us pack and then lead us to where we are to sleep."

Caduceus continued to hover over the group as Bichu relayed his information. "That's good that we can leave now. The spirits I have conjured will disappear at sundown. It would be good if we were all hunkered down before then." The 'runner scanned the auras of the scientists to make sure nothing was "off" after handling potentially psychedelic kiwis. Then, after he remembered who was on his team, he scanned his fellow 'runners too. If any flags were raised, perhaps he could aid in overcoming any effects before they became a problem.

Regardless, a part of Caduceus's mind remained fixated on one of the last spirits he had conjured. "You make many demands..." The spirit was right, of course. Caduceus had asked a lot of the forest today, and had offered little in return. Perhaps he could change that. The last thing they needed was for the spirits to turn against them when their group needed the spirits most.

He called his last spirit forth and said to it, "You and your kin have kept us safe and secure all day, and now the day is coming to a close. Is there anything I can do within my power to help repay your aid?" All the stress from the day's excitement had caused Caduceus to lose sight of how truly wonderful this place was on a spiritual level. He would hate to become an unwelcome blight in this shaman's paradise.

"Bout how long a walk back to town?"

Hairy is fine bivouacking down. He'd prefer a site with some clear space around, to watch for any curious critters, and a nice, warm fire.

The scientists' auras looked normal enough.  They were physically tired, but pretty happy at the moment.  The runners less excited, but at least nothing had tried to eat them in the last 6 hours.  Well, other than mosquitoes, but even Kate had given up swatting at the annoying parasites.

Caduceus's spirit contemplated him a few minutes before responding to his question.  "What need the constrictor of an ant?"  Its tongue flicked once or twice more before it faded from view.

The area Bichu had found was probably as good as was likely to be found in a jungle environment - a place where stony ground left a good 40 meter clearing.  Not exactly awesome line of sight, but a good sight better than the average distance of 5-10 meters between trees.  A short distance away, a stream winding its way toward the river would provide a source of drinking water - or perhaps even a chance to clean up.

"Ayacucho is about 2 days hike, so long as the trail holds out."  His face twisted into a grimmace.  "We could have done it in about an hour by boat..."


Between them, the party had enough gear to put up 4 small shelters.  The scientists commandeered three.  Bichu declined the last, preferring a hammock he hung between a couple of trees.  The guide disappeared into the bush and returned with a trio of cat-sized lizards which he roasted over a small fire.  It wasn't quite the bonfire Hairy had envisioned, but the oppressive heat and humidity of the jungle didn't diminish much after the sun went down when there were no river breezes to cool things down.

However, the light was welcome and with food in their belly, most of the group gathered around the fire to talk.  Dr. Saunders produced a flask from somewhere, which he passed around.  Even Al-Mansour loosened up a little bit.  Who would have guessed he was into baseball...

Anything anyone wants to do before bedtime, or shall I advance to tomorrow?

Hairy is happy to figure out shifts. He doesn't plan to sleep too soundly that night, even when he's off, and he keeps his firearm at hand.

Kate volunteers for second shift and to keep the campfire burning.

Duck stays relatively vigilant throughout the night, making sure the scientists and the rest of his team have a good time, he knows the journey is less than halfway finished, and sees no solid cause to let his guard down and celebrate.

Caduceus conjured a couple more spirits to protect the camp once the sun went down, but was much less demanding this time. He made requests rather than orders. And he spent a good portion of his time before sleeping sitting in quiet meditation, attempting to connect more deeply with the wonderful auras of the Land surrounding them.

The shaman woke for the early morning watch, so that he might conjure more protective spirits as the sun rose.

To clarify - Duck are you planning not to sleep at all?  (There'll be a potential for stun penalties if you don't get any rest)

White Duck, Caduceus and Kate hit the hay, leaving Hairy to take first watch.  The scientists talked a bit longer before heading to their 'tents'.  A couple of them stayed up a little while, presumably journaling their findings or maybe writing home to momma.  Hairy didn't know and didn't much care.  Soon the crackling of the fire and the distant hooting of animals or the odd rustle of something in the bushes was the sole source of noise.  Well, that and the slapping...  The light of the fire might have kept the bigger predators at bay, but it seemed to attract flying insects - and a large portion of them were hungry.

A little after 1am, Hairy woke up Kate to take second watch.  It took a fair bit of poking to get her attention, at which point Hairy's heightened reactions were the only thing that kept him from getting a solid punch in the face.  The insects had settled down a bit by this point, though the jungle was still active.  Kate would have done pretty much anything for a bath.  Or a pizza.

About 4:30, she knudged Duck with her foot and threw a couple of rocks at Caduceus's sleeping floating form to get them up to take final watch.  As the sky started to turn a slightly lighter shade of dark, foreshadowing the coming sunrise, the level of activity in the jungle started to increase a bit.  Caduceus was about to start summoning a new set of spirits when suddenly a scream of sheer terror echoed through the camp.

The runners turned to see Dr. Sanders tear open the wall of his 'tent', flailing his arms wildly. He whirled around and then raced toward the small fire, his shallow breaths sounding like stifled screams.  As he came closer, the runners could see that his face was pale and covered with sweat. His left arm was a bloody mess from shoulder to elbow, and his right hand clutched Bicho's bloody machete as if his life depended on it. He stared at you, barely seeming to see you, and raised the machete above his head.

"Get ... it .. , off . . me .. ," he said between gasps, and slammed the blade deeply into the flesh of his arm.

Hairy knows the order of business here. Knives are for Duck. He pulls his gun clear and peeks in the tent for what is biting the scientists, ready to shoot first and leave questions to the academic review board in the other tents.

"What are you doing!" Caduceus yelled reactively as he saw Dr. Sanders appear to attack his own arm. He was already rushing over, deciding on which healing spell would need to be administered first. Was he tripping on some of that kiwi drug?

However, Caduceus knew better than anyone that not all enemies appeared on the physical plane. There was a real possibility that there actually was something on Dr. Sander's arm. Caduceus focused his sight on the astral plane and adjusted his strategy accordingly.

---

Initiative Roll:
21:39, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 1d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5.  Initiative, add 6.
Total of 11.

First thing, Caduceus is going to see what is going on with Sanders on the astral before deciding what else to do. Is there a hostile spirit or spell affecting him? Is his aura all drugged up?

Kate abruptly stops falling asleep and jumps up.  She tenses up and starts looking around.  Something is going to get burned, she's tired of holding back.
----------------------
09:54, Today: Kate rolled 1 success using 1d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 (((6+2)8)) +9 gives Initiative of 17).

07:01, Today: White Duck rolled 2 successes using 2d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 0 with rolls of 2,4.  Init. Reaction 6 gives an initiative result of 12.

Duck rushes in as quickly as possible to disarm the scientist and get the man some medical attention. Knowing it’s his job to keep the clients alive, he moves to disable but not seriously injure the man any further than the man has injured himself.

07:05, Today: White Duck rolled 4 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,(6+3)9,5,3,5,(6+3)9.  Unarmed Combat.

In some ways, the runners had been primed and waiting for this.  Their honed responses had them instinctively looking for threats.

Hairy's SMG was in his hand before his head left his bedroll.  He charged over to Dr. Saunder's 'tent', his smart-link recticle scanning for targets.  The lighting of the early dawn was dim, but more than sufficient for the orc's sensitive eyes.  Unfortunately there was nothing to shoot.  Hairy could see a few ants climbing around a few pieces of the purple kiwi sitting near the professor's bedroll, but no other motion or heat signatures.

Kate leaped to her feet, hands at the ready looking for a target to roast.  However, aside from a monkey sitting in a distant tree who was chittering and gesturing at Saunders, there were no obvious threats.

As White Duck raced toward the injured scientist, Dr. Saunders started waiving the machete madly in front of him, trying to defend himself from his 'attacker'.  Normally attacking someone wielding a 2.5 foot razor-sharp knife bare-handed wouldn't be a wise course of action.  But in this case, Saunders seemed to have trouble figuring out what direction the adept was coming from and the man was already suffering from blood loss.  Plus, Duck would put money on the fact that the scientist had never held a sword before in his life.

White Duck easily slipped past the swinging blade and delivered a precise blow to the scientist's wrist, kicking the blade away as it fell to the ground.  Saunders collapsed into a ball, clutching his mangled arm crying and muttering something under his breath.  "I didn't eat it, I didn't eat it...".

Saunder's aura was riot of color, but it wasn't totally obvious to Caduceus what was going on.  Other than that the man was confused and terrified.  That much was super obvious...

Bichu stood up, his shotgun at the ready as the other scientists crawled out of their tents.  "What's going on??"

Initiative of 23

EDIT: fixed formatting.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:39, Thu 16 Apr 2020.

"Can you hold him still?" Caduceus asked White Duck. "With all that blood loss, I should probably heal him as quickly as possible. If you know some sort of sleeper hold or something, I would suggest using it. His aura is going haywire with terror and confusion." He hoped inwardly that Sanders wasn't under the Fear and Confusion effects of a disgruntled forest spirit.

The shaman scanned the camp, glancing quickly at everyone on the astral. "Everyone else alright?"

---

Is everyone else accounted for? Does anyone else's aura look troubling at a glance? What sort of wound are we looking at in regards to target numbers for a Heal spell? Feel free to roll for me if it will expedite things. Especially if combat has ended. Snake shamans have penalties to casting during combat.

Duck takes a knee next to the man and tries his best to calm him down. “Hey omae, you’re alright. Best thing is they can make you a new arm. For now though, you need to calm down and let us heal you up. We’ll get you patched up, we’ll all make it home, and you’ll be back comfortably in no time.” Not accustomed to soothing anyone, Duck assists Cadeuces in his task whatever way he can, not really sure what to do about this, but highly suspect that something’s up with this fruit.

Saunders continued to mumble under his breath.  He didn't acknowledge Duck's questions, he just rocked back and forth as blood from his wound seeped into his clothes.  A monkey in a nearby tree hooted and gestured then scampered away.

Dr. Fukuhara joined Hairy, peering into the tent, then stood up and shook his head.  "Fool..."

Dr. Al-mansour walked over to the bloody machete and picked it up, examining it.  He pointed it at Bichu.  "This is yours, isn't it?  How did my friend come to have it in his tent?"  His voice was cold.

Bichu's response wasn't.  "Your imbecil FRIEND asked to BORROW it.  Why should I say 'no'?"  The guide's grip on his shotgun tightened and it was aimed pretty close to the goblinized professor's head.

Caduceus didn't need his astral vision to see they were both pissed.  No one else seemed to be any the worse for wear - beyond overtired and covered in insect bites.

"Please hold off on killing each other until I manage to stabilize our dunce-doctor here," he said to the other non-runners in their party. He trusted his companions to do what they could to help ensure everyone stayed alive. To White Duck and the injured scientist, Caduceus said, "Try not to move. This will take time."

With that, Caduceus rested his hands gently over Saunders' wounded arm and began to concentrate. His shamanic mask flared up, giving the shaman a distinctly serpentine appearance as his powerful magic flowed. He communed with Snake as he channeled his totem's power through himself and into his injured patient. "Snake. Counselor. Mistress of knowledge unknown. Please help this fool to shed his wounds so that we may more easily discover the secrets that led to their creation. There is knowledge to be gleaned here. Please aid us in uncovering the unknown." He continued to whisper similar sentiments to his totem until he felt he had done all he could to close Saunders' wound.

---

Casting Heal 6 on Dr. Saunders. Using 10 of 14 Dice for sorcery test.
22:18, Today: Caduceus rolled 7 successes using 10d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 4,3,3,(6+3)9,1,4,2,2,4,(6+1)7.  Cast Force 6 Heal.
It should take 5 or less rounds to heal him 5 or less boxes of health.

Drain Test vs. medium stun.
22:24, Today: Caduceus rolled 8 successes using 10d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,5,1,2,4,5,(6+1)7,4,4,5.  Drain test.
No drain.

Hairy inserts himself between the two. "You don't murder no one until we're off the job, got it?"

He's not (intentionally) flashing his gear, but his intent is clear.

Saunders seemed a bit freaked out by the shamanic mask, but he also seemed freaked out by quite a few other things that no-one else could see.  White Duck had no issue keeping the man from running though.

Caduceus's magic regenerated flesh and sealed closed the arm leaving not even a hint of a scar, but it didn't appear to do much to help the poor professor's mental state.

Dr. Almansour scowled and threw the blade on the ground, then stalked off to his tent and began gathering his things.  Bichu looked like he was going to say something further, but glanced at Hairy and started taking down his hammock, though his shotgun remained resting against a tree within easy reach.

Sorry all for not pushing things forward faster.

What's everyone doing next?

Hairy watches the two stalk off. He climbs into the tent and examines the fruit again (carefully! Covering his hands before he picks it up) looking for signs of it being consumed, or any sort of pollen or juice. He knows a few drugs that make an ill-prepared user crazy. Fruits are basically chemical water balloons.

He watches the bugs too. Roaches he knows. This place has way, way too many kinds of insects, to the point that he's wondering if someone is pranking him.

Caduceus let out a long breath of air as his spell took hold and became permanent. "Now what do we do with him?" the shaman wondered aloud to his fellow 'runners. To Dr. Saunders himself, Caduceus asked, "Do you know what happened, Dr. Saunders? Before your arm started bothering you? Did you eat some of your fruit? Or lick a toad?" Caduceus didn't really expect his inquiry to yield results, but figured he should at least ask. He could always try to probe the man's mind, too, but was unsure if it would yield any better results in Saunders' current state.

“We take him with us. We figure out what happened, then we calm everybody the hell down.” Says Duck, teaching absentmindedly for a smoke that wasn’t there. For such a low-paying fun, this has turned out to be a comedy of errors. He couldn’t wait to get home safe. The paycheck he was getting didn’t come close to justifying having to work with other teams. He moves off to Talk with Bicho, since Cadeuces was already asking questions of the injured scientist.

“Yo, hell of a day would be an understatement eh?” He says, smirking and hoping his attempt at some minor levity would crack the man’s shell.

Hairy swatted away the ants and grabbed a piece of the fruit, managing to avoid getting stung in the process.  Some of the fruit was definitely missing, but if there were human teeth-marks, the ant's foraging had erased any obvious evidence.  There was no sign of pollen, though there was definitely juice - which was a bit sticky.  He wondered belatedly how he was going to get it off his gloves...  Whatever the hallucinigen was, there were no smells or visual cues that he recognized.  On the other hand, nature had a bountiful supply of new and exciting compounds that had only multiplied since the coming of the Sixth World.

============

If Dr. Saunders heard Caduceus's questions, it wasn't obvious.  He continued to rock back and forth, clutching his now-healed arm - apparently oblivious that it was no longer injured.  With some gentle coaxing, the shaman was able to get the scientist to stand.  At least he no longer seemed to be in the mood to hack at anything...

============

Bichu snorted in response to White Duck's comments and sent a final glare in Dr. Al-mansour's direction, before he started taking down his hammock.  "We'd best get going.  We need to make the village.  Someone better keep an eye on loco and make sure none of the other dimwits eat anything they're not supposed to!"

Caduceus sighed. He did not really expect Saunders to give him any useful information, but he had hoped. "Well, I've never learned any detox magic, and I think you are well past the point of being aided by antidote magic..." The shaman looked him up and down with defeat in his eyes. "I suppose we'll have to heal you up with good old-fashioned Time."

Duck nods, then packs his things. He moves over to Cadeuces.

"Did you get any info out of him?" he asks, eyeing one of the bags of giant kiwi and keeping an eye on the perimeter as he talks.

"I don't think he ate any of the fruit, but it seems like it's still involved in what happened somehow. There any way you can get a peek at it in the astral and see if there's anything fishy about it?"

Hairy tosses the fruit back where he found it. "Probably just jungle fever. Yeh, I agree with Duck. We'd better get moving. I can drag him behind us if we need."

It won't take him long to pack up. He didn't exactly bring a change of clothes with the boat sinking.

"The doc going to be okay? We can restrain him..."

"We can't carry him the whole way back. If he's not going to be able to move, we have to wait here until he is."

Dr. Saunders seemed relatively compliant.  He continued to nurse his arm and mumble unintelligibly, but if pointed in a direction, he would walk under his own steam.

The other two scientists packed up their gear and got ready to move out.  The mood was significantly more somber and tension-filled than it had been the previous evening, though.

Anything more anyone wants to do before the party continues their hike?  How are you organizing yourselves?

Caduceus went about conjuring a forest spirit for the group soon after the sun finished rising. Only one this time, as he felt he had been asking too much of the forest lately. Unrelated, he felt sorry that he hadn't been able to do more for Saunders, but at the same time he did not feel sorry. Caduceus wasn't the expert on bad drug trips, and he had plenty of other responsibilities to occupy his time. As long as Saunders didn't wander off and get hurt, Caduceus would be able to sleep at night.

Once his spirit was present and he had asked it to Guard the scientists, Conceal the scientists, and Guard the 'runners, Caduceus hovered over the group as they moved. Both to help keep an eye on things from a higher vantage point, and so that he could avoid being slowed by the rough terrain.

---

Caduceus will take position hovering over the middle of the party as they hike.

Conjure a Force 3 Forest Spirit:
20:52, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 4,1,2,5,4,2.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Three services, all used. Guard, Guard, and Concealment

Drain:
20:52, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 2,4,2,3,1,1.  Drain test.
Two successes should mean no drain.

If Duck wants to be stealthy in front, Hairy is fine taking the rear. He doesn't have much of a plan, except to wear less. He's not too worried about the parasites growing in Saunders' blood or the ants eating his brain or whatever, except to make sure he has gel rounds loaded in his gun.

The group moved out, somewhat somberly.  Bichu took point and, given the daggers he occasionally still cast back at the scientists, that seemed as good a place to have him as any.  White Duck followed close behind and Kate herded the scientists along while Caduceus floated above.  Dr. Saunders wasn't super speedy, but he headed more or less the right direction, most of the time.  However, that slow pace only increased Bichu's frustration and the overall tension of the group.

At one point, Hairy thought something was shadowing them, but it was next to impossible to get a solid enough sense of what it was or where it was to get a proper bead on it.  However, by mid afternoon, it seemed to have disappeared - or at least moved far enough off they could no longer detect it.

The jungle heat continued to be miserable, and the runners sweat and general filth finally overcame the noxious odor of the bug repellent Julia had provided and everyone was covered with more than their fair share of bites and welts before Bichu finally called a halt beside a small stream that presumably snaked its way to the nearby Amazon.  The runners gratefully refilled their canteens, but at the guide's warning, resisted the temptation to try swimming.  "Candiru."

No one seemed in the mood for celebration and after a tasteless meal of Nutrisoy Everlast bars washed down by creek water, the scientists returned to their tents, Dr. Al-mansour assisting Dr. Saunders to get ready.

What is everyone's plan for the evening?

Kate settles in and keeps an eye on things until it's decided on watch order.  Too many surprises on this trip to get comfortable and, if she can't get comfortable, she might as well be watchful.  And what the hell was a Candiru, anyway?  She sat by the fire, watched and generally tried to get the fire to kill bugs near her.

After making camp, Caduceus checked closely on Dr. Saunders' aura to see if his condition might be getting better, worse, or remaining consistent. He then shared with the others what he had learned. And, as usual, after the sun set he made sure to call forth a new spirit to guard over them during the night.

As much as Caduceus loved the powerful spiritual energy of their surroundings, he was looking forward to reaching civilization again soon.

Duck makes an attempt to lighten the mood whilst keeping vigil. He knows now is not the time to relax, but a more relaxed atmosphere would probably benefit those hauling the fruit.

Hairy is fine doing the same watch schedule as the night prior. This time through though, he'll be peeking in the scientists' tents now and again to make sure they're not doing anything stupid like getting eaten by monsters.

So same watch order/process as last night?  Anyone else doing anything different?

In reply to DeusEx (msg # 84):

Kate is too wired to sleep, she's going to take first watch and see if she can calm down a bit before passing out.

After setting up his tent, Caduceus decided to do a little astral reconnaissance on their destination. "I'm going to fly ahead and take a little looksie at our destination. In astral space. I'll check the distance and make sure there are no deadly auras to avoid between here and there. Make sure nothing eats my body while I'm gone."

Caduceus then hovered in his tent, a mosquito net draped over himself, and began his trance for astral projection.

---

Caduceus is doing a quick astral jaunt before sleepy time. He is mostly checking on the distance to their destination, but also keeping an eye out for any obvious hazards in between. (rivers, forest fires, dragons, etc.) He also wants to actively avoid the attention of anything else flying around in astral space.

Did his examination of Saunders' aura reveal anything noteworthy?

Caduceus slips into the astral and takes a good thorough look at Dr. Saunders.  The initial excitement of almost cutting off his arm and generally being rather freaked out had faded somewhat, which made the aura slightly less chaotic than it had been first thing in the morning, though it was still quite a mess.  Mentally, the good doctor was pretty freaked out - and seemed to be responding to things that weren't visible to the shaman in either the physical or the astral space.  Whatever it was was purely inside the good professor's head.

However, as he continued to study the man as he faded off to sleep, he saw a faint hint in the man's aura that he'd witnessed before in some of the addicts who roamed Seattle's darker streets.  None of the darkness typically associated with street drugs was there, but there did seem to be some sort of compound or toxin there - presumably of natural origin given the challenge spotting it within the man's aura.

It was nearly impossible to follow the 'trail' the group had been following on their physical march to the valley.  The signatures of the plants and animal life were too vibrant to clearly see any open path.  However, the river was nearby and it was easy enough to follow it to the village.  It wasn't a huge place, maybe 40 people max, but there appeared to be a few boats in the harbor and presumably someone there would have a communication device.

It was easy enough to find wildlife - monkeys, birds, jungle cats and stranger things.  Some of which he certainly wouldn't want to meet on his own - and a few of which seemed to notice his passing on the astral.  However, none that seemed to be obviously stocking him or the camp.

I'll give you a chance to act on what you've learned before I advance the timeline to morning.

Caduceus let his fellow runners know about all he had learned of Dr. Saunders' condition. He gave Hairy especially detailed information about the effects the drug seemed to be having on Saunders, since Hairy seemed to be... well-versed in the subject.

He also shared his knowledge of what he had found out about the village they were headed to. But only with his fellow runners. That way it would be easier to know if they were being intentionally misled or misinformed about anything related to their destination, as unlikely as it may be. He had no reason to suspect they were currently being played, but Snakes do like to keep their information close to the chest.

"I'm better with stuff ya get on the street, but I guess it's close to a few things I've heard of. Mebbe I can put together a downer for next time he's tripping balls?"

Not sure if I roll biotech plus half of a background skill, or just the linked background skill, so I rolled twice:

21:44, Today: Hairy rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2,1,2,5,5.  Just drugs skills.

21:44, Today: Hairy rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,1,3,2,2,4.  biotech + 1/2 drugs skills.

Obviously I hope you rule I can only use the background skill, since it turned out better overall ;)

What materials are you using as ingredients/equipment in creating your concoction?

“It’s gotta be related to our cargo...” says Duck, playing with a small stick he’d found that was kind of shaped like a cigarette. Cadeuces notices a series of smaller sticks broken from a large one and somehow wedged into a nearby tree trunk. He flings the one in his hand swiftly into the tree itself, explaining the mystery of it with the swift flick of a wrist.

“Can’t be any other variable. The fruit made the guy crazy, but he didn’t eat any. People don’t usually deny things like that when they’re dying of blood loss, so, uh, what could it be?” He asks, grabbing a palmful of the kiwi seeds from his pocket. “I took these out earlier and my skin definitely came into contact with it. If it had hallucinogenic properties I probably would be out there thinking I could talk to jungle animals and going all Hearts of Darkness on you guys. Problem is I can’t do anything but walk through this fucking jungle with these idiots in tow who are making it like living on the set of a reality show with all the squabbling and beat up *some* of the weird monsters that attack us during the process. All for less than the price of a fancy car for each of us.” He sighs, reaching down into his palm and flinging a couple of the seeds into the tree.

I can’t wait to go home, and I’m going to tell anybody else that comes to me with the bright idea of flying to a foreign country and going on an expedition into unknown territory underequipped and the people responsible for making decisions terribly uninformed, I just hope they leave room for my fist, because I’m going to shove it into their stomachs and rip out their goddamned spines.”

In reply to DeusEx (msg # 90):

Without getting too fancy, a tranq patch and a medkit. I also have some scopolamine, but I'd prefer something cheaper. I imagine we have some tobacco and alcohol on hand as well. I don't want to knock the poor guy unconscious. Just make him pliable and safe.

In reply to White Duck (msg # 91):

"Nah man, lotsa stuff can trip out an old geezer like him. Maybe he got an old fruit, got some mold on. Maybe a critter bite. Maybe it's the stress of realizin' he's wasted all his time growing his balloon head and now he can't do nothin. Maybe some magical fragger. Maybe it's something in his pockets he brought along to calm his nerves. I mean, I brought enough blow to keep me going. Big balloon head, would be too shy to tell us 'bout it too. Really, best way, strip him naked, check for bug bites, then punch him in the stomach 'til he barfs and look what's in there. But pretty sure that would void any bonus."

Dr. Sanders had been willing to eat the ration bars passed to him and to drink whatever was offered - which was good, as each of the party had probably lost at least a couple of liters of sweat during the day's hike.  Waking him up to quaff Hairy's concoction proved to not be too difficult.  However, it didn't seem to have any noticeable effect on the man before he went back to sleep - and Caduceus didn't notice any change to the man's aura even after he'd been dozing for a bit.

Bichu watched the preparation and administration with a degree of curiosity, though the group sensed it was more about whether Hairy's mixture would kill the scientist than whether it would help him.

A spirit slithered out a Caduceus's command and agreed to keep watch over the party.  Everyone headed to bed, apparently more than willing to adhere to the warnings of "don't eat the fruit".  It stayed thoroughly wrapped in the backpacks used to carry it.  The scientists and Bichu all fell asleep almost immediately, exhausted from the exertion and being mentally on edge all day.  Those runners not taking first watch happily joined them, and not even the hum and repeated bites of mosquitoes kept them awake for long

PM

Hairy goes about his evening rounds, overriding privacy with a possessive curiosity, peeking in bags and chests, tents, flashing his flashlight on and off at shadows around camp. Now and again he gives a reassuring grunt and continues on. Finally he comes to Doctor Saunders' tent, lets himself in. His flashlight flickers on... and he backs out, bellowing loud enough to wake up the camp. "Hoi! Wake up! The doctor needs some uh... medical care. And probably a tarp. Oi, wake up!" He steps back into the tent to look at the doctor again. "Drek... I'm not cleaning that up."

Caduceus had been dreaming about walking through a field, where every blade of grass was a snake with a juicy secret. But every time he would reach out to grasp one, it would slither just out of reach. He was getting more and more frustrated until he finally figured out the trick to catching them. The trick was to-

And then he was stirred into the realm of the waking by Hairy's voice. The details of his dream were already slipping away. "Uh," he moaned as he rolled over and lifted himself into the air magically. He didn't feel like walking at the moment. In fact, he hadn't even bothered to open his eyes until he started moving toward the opening of his tent.

Unfortunately, Caduceus knew that in their camp when someone said "doctor" it likely meant "we probably need a spell cast." Still he was entirely willing to let the people with actual P.H.D.s to get their two creds in first if it looked like it was out of Caduceus's area of expertise. But to know that, he first had to take a look at the scene of the... mess? Based on Hairy's reaction, mess sounded like a good bet.

"What happened now?" Caduceus asked tiredly as he hovered over. He reluctantly took a look at the scene with both physical and astral sight.

Kate had finally fallen asleep, we knowing that her turn watching out wasn't making for restful sleep.  "Why didn't I stay in the city?  I could have slept well there".

Hearing the soft, gentle sounds of Hairy's voice ripping her out of sleep meant that the world was 3cm from ending again.

"What happened?  Who ate the bad thing and who needs to be told to stop that?"

She opened her eyes and started moving toward Hairy.

Duck was roused from his dreams of cigarettes by Hairy's call to action, immediately moving over to Dr Saunders' tent and taking a close, almost paranoid look around the perimeter of the jungle.

"Just the smell of them," he thought. "Raw, fresh tobacco and burned sticky ashes that cause others to complain about the way I smell." He moved into the confines of the tent, standing on his toes to see over Hairy's shoulder.

Hairy's call quickly had everyone up and headed towards Dr. Fukuhara's tent.  The scene this time was more gory.  The lead scientist's face and upper torso were riddled with holes - about 1 cm in diameter, each oozing blood which was soaking into his clothing.  Already you could see insects starting to crawl over what was evidently now a corpse.


Just as you're taking this in - thankful you haven't eaten anything recently you have to worry about keeping down, you hear the angry voice of Dr. Al-Mansour, "What did you do to him, you dog?!" Turning around, you see that the scientist has a pistol aimed directly at Bicho's heart.

Seems like a good time for some initiative rolls - and then tell me what you're doing :>

Caduceus recoiled and had to force himself not to look away completely from the grizzly scene before him. Although, ironically, veering his glance away just so happened to cause his eyes to pick up on a clue he otherwise might have missed before Dr. Al-Mansour decided to make a commotion.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Caduceus said to the doctor, even as he reflexively began sending out shamanic feelers to nearby spirits for aid. "How about we follow the trail of bloody dots leading out of the tent I spotted before we start making the situation 100 times worse, eh?"

The shaman could feel the tendrils of spiritual essence slithering around him, ready to heed his requests once they were given.

---

Initiative:
16:11, Today: Caduceus failed (no successes) using 1d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 3.  Initiative (add 6).
3+6 = 9 for initiative

Caduceus is using his turn to call a Force 3 Forest Spirit to his side.
16:21, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of (6+4)10,3,(6+2)8,2,4,(6+1)7.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
5 services!

Drain Test
16:22, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 2,(6+2)8,3,2,5,1.  Drain test.
No drain.

Hairy rolled 19 using 3d6+13 ((1,2,3)).

Hairy doesn't have a lot of patience for the pencil-neck acting out now that there's clearly a need for some sciencey work to be done. He steps in front of Al-Mansour and pushes his gun aside. "Hoi, shooting people is my job. Anyway, does he LOOK like a giant ant queen?"

13:34, Sun 30 Aug: White Duck rolled 13 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 3,4.

Seeing Hairy step in before he has the chance to, Duck quickly removes his hat, ready to throw it with unerring expertise at the hapless scientist.

"Woah, what the frag dude?! If you shoot our only knowledgeable guide out of this hell-jungle, then I'm going to pry that gun out of your hands and fucking *throw* it at you until you are dead, even if he survives the gunshot. Where the fuck was your gun when we were all being attacked by mantis-creatures and you all collectively shit your pants?!" the killer instinct in Duck was blazing at this point. If it didn't affect his already scant and diminished payout for this run, he would have not discussed this at all and instead thrown his machete.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:53, Thu 03 Sept 2020.

Kate holds back and tries to make sense of this, wondering "what would cause something to come in to the camp without warning?"  she starts looking at the trail leading away and follows it to the edge of camp gathering her essence, just in case whatever it is, is waiting just past the edge.

She has been little use on this journey and thinks it's time that changes but the use for fire around here is limited and that's what she's good at

Hairy quickly moved to put himself between the agitated professor and his target, doing his best to talk the man down with his supreme diplomatic skills - or at least intimidate him with his bulk.  White Duck's attention was laser focused on the man with the pistol, his hat ready to toss at a moment's notice.  Caduceus reached out to the spirits and there was a disturbance in the leaf-litter of the forest floor as one began to coalesce.

Only Kate was positioned to see the whole situation - and she watched in horror as Bichu leveled his shotgun in the direction of the irate scientist with a speed that indicated some sort of reaction enhancement.  He didn't seem super concerned with the fact that Hairy was in the way.

The subtle noise of the mage's sudden intake of breath and the sound butt of the shotgun hitting the shoulder of the guide was enough to trigger Hairy's heightened combat reflexes and he spun on the spot.  Unfortunately, he wasn't close enough to the weapon to block it and didn't have his gun in-hand...

The sound of the shot echoed through the jungle, followed by the guide's cry of rage.
"Die Troga scum!"


I gave WD a decent chance to hear and intervene, but the highest he got on his perception test was a 2.  Hairy heard something was going on, but given that he was facing the other way, he didn't really have a chance to intervene either, though he is currently providing partial cover.  Kate's initiative was too low to act before Bichu did and Caduceus was otherwise occupied.

Hairy, you've got a choice - you can dodge out of the way, but that pretty much guarantees that Dr. Al-Mansour is going to take a bullet.  Or you can take the shot and put your combat pool towards reducing the damage, presumably turning so that the bullet hits something less vital.  Give me a roll either way.  Everyone except Caduceus has one more action they can take this round.

"Seriously?" was all Caduceus was able to mutter, being as preoccupied as he was. Of all the people to snap, Bichu was the last one he had expected.

---

Does Caduceus recognize "Troga Scum" as anything significant? Caduceus has:
English - 3
Sperethiel - 2
Latin - 2
Portuguese - 2

"Troga" is a derogatory term for awakened metatypes, typically reserved for orcs and trolls, though sometimes used more generically.  It is more commonly by the  Latin American and Hispanic communities.  You're not aware of "scum" having any meaning than it's typical usage.

Hairy instinctively starts dodging to the side, his reaction enhancers engaging before his brain, but catches himself. He twists in his dodge, to try and grab the doctor first and drag them both to the ground.

Taking the shot! I was on watch, so I'm assuming I have some armor on. Probably the camo suit and the helmet, since it's cooler, and the helmet has vision modifications. But I defer to you.

And seeing that, Kate has had it with this jungle, these people and all the sh*t that she's had to deal with.  Shooting someone and using "Troga" at the same time has made this personal.

First thing that has to go is that gun but with her head in no condition to concentrate, that just doesn't happen.  She shakes off the drain and decides to move in close.
---
16:25, Today: Kate failed (no successes) using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 8 with rolls of 2,2,5,(6+1)7,2,3.

Drain: 20:12, Today: Kate rolled 4 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,1,5,(6+1)7,2,(6+3)9
This message was last edited by the player at 00:13, Sun 11 Oct 2020.

Drain?

Duck growls, rushing in without spouting out any expletives of his own. His job was the safety and security of the personnel conducting the research, and with one down already, he wasn't going to take any more chances. He dashes in after the blast, his expression cold and calm as he grabs the barrel of the middle of the guide's shotgun and forces it down, using his opponent's momentum to pull Bichu down, whose face is now being pulled towards the direction of a rising knee with force strong enough to wedge the guide's nose into his skull.

"Tiger Knee!" Duck shouts in some obscure reference that few alive past 2030 would understand. Hairy, however, would get it as a reference to a character in this old arcade game Duck had dragged him into a local retro-arcade to play during their off time. "To brush up on his combat techniques." Duck had explained. It seems uncannily juxtaposed for him to shout out some sort of catch phrase whilst trying to actually murder someone, but with many of the pale, slender man's quirks, it was difficult to figure out whether this was some attempt at gallows humor or some sort of serious mantra.


17:46, Today: White Duck rolled 4 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2,(6+5)11,(6+4)10,(6+1)7,2,(6+1)7.  Unarmed Combat 1 vs. Bichu. Not pulling the punch, 6S base base damage.

Sanders' eyes briefly flared with panic as Hairy wheeled to charge at him.  The pistol which he'd started to lower came back up as he desperately prepared to defend himself.  However when the shotgun blast echoed through the jungle, he seemed to comprehend that Hairy wasn't actually trying to kill him and he lowered the gun slightly before he was tackled.  He did, however let out a faint squeal as his small form was sandwiched between Hairy and the jungle floor.

Hairy had spent most of his watch alternating between wearing the helmet - to keep the blasted bugs at bay - and taking it off to avoid overheating and clean the condensation from the inside.  However, he had put it on again before doing rounds, the better to peer inside tents to make sure nothing was amiss.  That decision probably saved him from grievous injury.  Even still, the Bichu's slug managed to find its way through his armor and into the orc's shoulder.

Kate found the spell even harder to manipulate than it would have normally been.  The mana seemed sluggish and almost resistant, though at least it didn't make her drain any worse.

White Duck charged in with an attack that would have leveled most people, but it was evident that Bichu had the benefit of some sort of combat training.  As the now-tanned albino pulled the man's gun down and tried to slam his knee into the racist's face, the wiry guide shifted his momentum to the right.  Duck's knee came up along the side of the man's head as he rammed it into the adept's belly and fired a second shot with the gun now aimed dangerously close to Duck's leg.  Duck wisely decided to accept a cracked rib and focused his attention on avoiding the wrong end of the gun.

Hairy, WD you've both taken light physical wounds.  WD, he got 5 successes to your 4, you staged down his 4M damage to L and put your full pool into avoiding his shotgun blast to your leg.  I could have spent a karma to re-roll your failures to fully resist, but the odds weren't in your favor.

New round of initiative everyone.  Be sure to apply any modifiers from damage.  Caduceus, your spirit is ready to take orders.

When a tall intimidating spirit rose from the forest floor made of bark and dried leaves, Caduceus wasted no time in letting it know what he requested of it. "Great forest spirit, please lend your aid. Keep these two minds addled in Confusion and their bodies prone to Accidents until I request otherwise." He pointed to Bichu and Sanders. Caduceus spoke with calm, but if they could see his aura they would notice it was brimming with anger. He hated Bichu's use of such a word "Troga," but it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. However, the fact that Bichu acted on that word made Caduceus's blood boil. It was the kind of drek some people extremely close to him had to deal with on a daily basis. And to hear such hate here, in a spiritual haven of the world, made it all that much worse.

---

Initiative roll
21:36, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 1d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+6+2)14.  Initiative - Add 6.
Total = 12. Unfortunately initiative dice do not continue on if a 6 is rolled.

During the first initiative pass Caduceus will use two simple actions to use two of his five spirit services. Confusion and Accident on both Bichu and Sanders.

Hairy's focus is on his meal ticket. He hoists the doctor over his shoulder and books it into the jungle. Only once he's sure he's far enough Bichu isn't a threat, he'll throw Sanders into the underbrush and go back to help the team.

Kate feels that the Jungle doesn't want her to fire up, but she's not going to let Bichu get away with this level of stupid.  She starts pulling her strength in. Time to make a targetted attack

--

Kate rolled 2 successes using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,3,2,4. Initiative=13

PM

Pulling up all the magic she can fell around her, no matter how sluggish it feels, she tries to focus it in a tightly controlled narrow beam of fire straight at Bichu.  He may be able to dodge a kick, but let's see how he feels about flames.  As she releases the anger and frustration into it, she apologizes to the spirits in the area for using flames in their jungle.  It felt good to let it all go.


----
Kate pulls three dice from her pool to try to get some decent flames going
Kate rolled 2 successes using 9d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 ((4,4,(6+3)9,2,(6+6+2)14,4,3,2,5)).
Drain: Kate rolled 5 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 ((5,5,1,5,4,(6+2)8)).

Duck winces from the gunshot, instinctively pulling a hand down to his leg and scowling when he sees the blood, then something seems to click within him, the look in his eyes growing more distant, the presence that's there growing more angry, the pink and red hues of his naturally unpigmented eyes showing from behind the normally-controlled coloration.

"Why the frag does EVERY asshole that shoots at me seem to have a goddamn black belt?!" he asks, of no-one in particular, then doesn't allow Bichu any of the time to respond, instantly spinning on his heel in a solid rotation, a foot whipping out towards the man's skull, then again, following through, the same foot hurdling towards his stomach, and then another rotation, this time towards the side of his knee, each kick with the impact force of a sledgehammer, the air wooshing heavily around his foot with each kick.



07:56, Today: White Duck rolled 2 successes using 2d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 0 with rolls of 4,3.  Init? 2d6+6. 13 Total.

08:22, Wed 14 Oct: White Duck rolled 4 successes using 12d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5,3,1,1,3,(6+4)10,3,2,1,5,2,(6+6+4)16.  Unarmed combat vs Bichu 2

08:23, Wed 14 Oct: White Duck rolled 6 successes using 8d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,5,5,3,4,5,5,2.  Karma reroll.

Kate, what force and damage level are you using with your flamethrower?

She's frustrated and pissed so S6.  (she's not a killer by nature.)

Hairy was up and moving as soon as it was obvious that his teammates had the shooter occupied.  He unceremoniously heaved the scientist up from the ground and threw him over his shoulder an proceeded to book it.  The scientist didn't resist, whether that was because he was two stunned from the recent turn of events, or because he was too busy trying to get oxygen back into his lungs after having all of the air crushed out of him by the heavy orc.  Branches and vines smacked into the pair as Hairy charged deeper into the jungle.  Hairy's helmet gave him good protection, but he sensed that Dr. Al-mansour wasn't doing so well.  Quite frankly he wasn't doing so well either.  The helmet was hot enough at the best of times, but lumbering through the jungle lugging an extra 130+ pounds was NOT a great day to start the morning...

The smoke-like snake weaving in front of Caduceus divided in two, one half slithering in pursuit of Hairy, the other heading towards Bichu and Caduceus.

Bichu didn't see the change of White Duck's facial expression as he stood up from his initial attack and appeared to be trying to make a break for it.  He didn't get very far...

The adept spun like a tornado, his foot lashing out multiple times before his target even had a chance to fall.  At the same time, there was a roar as a white-hot stream of flame spewed from Kate's fingers incinerating the upper half of the man's body, flash-drying any sweat from his clothing and lighting him on fire.  Unfortunately, the blast squarely caught Bichu's sidearm, which quickly heated to a glowing red - and it began to cook off rounds, spraying shrapnel into the forest.

In a moment, it was over.  The guide's head was twisted at an awkward angle, his neck obviously broken, his broken femur jutting out grotesquely through a hole in the man's khakis.  Smoke rose from the man's blackened face and a few flames contained to lick at his remaining clothing, most incinerated to reveal charred flesh, blood seeping from the shrapnel wounds of his exploded Warhawk.

For a moment, the jungle was silent.

Dr. Saunders shuffled over from where he'd been sleeping and stopped near the tent containing the body of Dr. Fukuhara, though whether he picked up on the fact that his boss was no longer in charge wasn't obvious.  He certainly didn't seem the least bit phased by the recent violence - though presumably the noise of the fighting had led him to wake up in the first place.

Then, in the distance, Hairy, Caduceus and White Duck all heard a distant shout from the direction of the river - likely human.  Kate ws too focused on the satisfaction of finally getting to burn something, as challenging as that seems to be in this drecking jungle.  Though she was also now experiencing the onset of a nasty headache - and her daily walk through this god-forsaken land hadn't even started yet...


Your guide is *very* dead.  Hairy is a short distance deeper into the jungle, though hopefully not lost quite yet.  Dr. Fukuhara is dead.  Dr. Saunders is alive and in his (recently) usual confused state.  Dr. Al-mansour is also somewhat confused, hanging over Hairy's back and rather battered and bruised from various roots and other things that seem intent on smacking him in the head as he goes past.  Your payload of fruit is apparently still in backpacks in the scientist's tents.  And apparently there's someone else nearby.

Hairy, you've got light physical, moderate stun - from exertion
Kate - moderate stun from drain
White Duck - light physical
Caduceus - good shape.  It's like the jungle likes you or something...

What do you do now?

Duck seems to have the group's unfortunate situation in mind immediately as he lands, landing after his grounding foot had left the ground for a brief moment towards the end of his kick. He gets on his commlink immediately.
"Hairy, hold a moment."

He turns to the group's mage and its shaman.

"Don't suppose either of you folks have a way to encircle us in a wall of trees or anything? If not, grab a sack full of kiwis and let's fucking bounce. That's the military." he moves into Dr. Fukuhara's tent for a  moment, grabbing the deceased doctor's ID and sat-phone, snapping a quick picture of the corpse with his pocket secretary, and takes his own advice, moving into the dense jungle canopy after motioning for Dr. Saunders to follow him.

Kate has mixed emotions about what just happened.  While she didn't want to kill him, she really feels good at letting all the frustration go, even with the headache.

"If that's the military, we're completely fragged, I kinda let it all go with that shot."

Kate looks around.

"Clients dead, nobody who knows the way back and people in uniforms after us. You know, we could have stayed home and had the same outcome without the bugs"

Duck shakes his head and looks to Kate as he starts his trek into the forest.

“Look kid, I’m not rotting in some Amazonian prison and neither are you. We can move in parallel with the river and get outta here. It’s our only option. We have two personnel and our goods, that’s going to have to do. Now stop whining and let’s move.” He says as he heads into the brush to rejoin Hairy and follow the river far enough inland to not be easily spotted.

Over the comms, Caduceus added his own bits to the conversation as he floated over to grab any of his own gear he hadn't yet grabbed, and the container that had the scientists' fruit samples. "I can create illusions to conceal the area, but only if I am within line of sight. So it won't do us much good if we are leaving camp anyway. It might be needed later though. I can also give one or two of us magical Stealth if we find it necessary, but for now I think I will ask my spirit friend to help cover our exit."

To the forest spirit, he requested, "Can you please keep us concealed while within your territory? Starting with the least competent among us. And if you could, keep other people within your land full of Confusion and Fear so that they do not even get close enough to pick up our trail."

Back to the group he added, "I know the general distance and direction to the nearest town, thanks to my earlier astral trek. But I don't know if that would be the best direction to head in or not..." He floated between the forest's branches so as not to lose sight of the others. He occasionally shifted to astral sight whenever his normal vision failed him. He also kept his flashlight ready for emergencies.

---

Using up my last three spirit services. Concealment for the group, prioritizing the scientists, then hairy and Kate, then White Duck and Caduceus. Then continually use Confusion and Fear on anyone outside of the group who is within the spirit's territory (especially the camp area or their trail).

Hairy puts the good doctor down, and checks them both over for any injuries they missed in the chaos. "You good? Sounds like the team got that cut-rate guide sorted."

Hairy pulls off his helmet and mops his brow, then heads back (cautiously) to camp to grab the most important bags and haul ass back into the jungle.

Duck quickly dug through Dr. Fukuhara's pockets, his hearing tuned to the approaching force.  The id was easy to find, but there was no sat phone.  Belatedly, the adept remembered that all of the high-powered devices had been left back at the plane - at Bichu's instructions.  He quickly realized there wasn't a whole lot of time.  The approaching male voices - and one who seemed to be a female - would be on them in less than a minute, perhaps less if they made too much noise.

He grabbed the now bloodied backpack containing the fruit and swiped a few ants off it before checking on the rest of the team and making for the bush.

Caduceus conveyed his orders to his spirit and it faded off into the forest floor.  He floated easily through the jungle canopy as Kate, White Duck and Dr. Saunders moved below over tougher terrine.

---------

Hairy put down Dr. Al-Mansour.  The man had plenty of scratches and a couple of nasty bumps on his head, but otherwise seemed no worse for wear, though he still seemed a bit out of it.  It had been a rather shocking morning for an academic.  By the time he was done, White Duck made it clear over the radio that there wasn't time for him to come back to camp, but they'd grab what of his gear they could.  The branches continued to grab at Dr. Al Mansour as he led the man towards the mutually-coordinated rendezvous point.

As the group moved off the trail and into the jungle forest, it was evident that whatever the spirit was doing to help conceal them or to confuse their enemy, it wasn't enough.  There were shouts indicating that whoever it was was aware the team was there and were following not too far behind.

Hairy, you're not going to have time to get back and grab stuff before whoever's approaching from the river gets to your 'camp'.  I'm assuming that Duck will share that.  You can tell him and Kate what you want them to grab (assuming they can carry it).

With no real good option available to him at the moment, Caduceus veered his levitating body behind a tree and pressed his hand to the bark. He figured it would be a good idea to call another spirit before shots were fired this time.

Whispering, he called out to the forest once more. "I know I ask for a lot, but there is a lot at stake. Please, heed my call again. Great forest spirits, I beseech you."

---

Since Caduceus is having an easier time maneuvering, I figured it would be wise to have another spirit ready to assist when it becomes inevitably necessary.

Conjure a Force 3 Forest Spirit:
21:19, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 3,1,3,3,5.  Conjure Force 3 Forest Spirit.
Four services, 0 used.

Drain:
21:19, Today: Caduceus rolled 6 successes using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 3,2,(6+4)10,3,3,5,4.  Drain test.
No drain.

Hairy is pretty grouchy about the whole thing, and will share his thoughts over the radio as they march on. Maybe Hairy's thoughts about the weather and bugs and guides and boats and large bodies of water aren't very useful to Duck, but Hairy feels better.

He does direct the people in the camp to grab his pack. Since he was already on watch, most of his heavy gear is already on his back. His pack at camp is mostly chemicals and explosives. The former is light enough to carry, the latter can be rigged for a nasty and destructive surprise for whoever is following (in street slang, that's a 'gender reveal party').

How many scientists are we still protecting at this point? With how this is going, we might want to toss out the extra gear and just stow our scientists in our backpacks.

Kate grabs what of Harry's directed equipment she can and starts moving, one eye watching front and one watching behind.  She's had quite enough of surprises and wants four more eyes to watch every other direction.  She's tired, grumpy and ready to kill the first thing that tries to stop her from getting to a safe place. In her mind, the jungle spirits can go F*** themselves, she's going to use fire and lots of it.

"Looks like they'll catch up to us soon, be prepared. Keep moving, I'll hide behind and try to trail them until they attack. Unless Cad can do his levitation trick again." He looks to Cadeuces questioningly, ready to move into the brush if the shaman can't manage to pull them up above the treeline again.

Right now you have Dr. Saunders - not exactly of sound mind, but mobile.  Dr. Al-mansour is somewhat beat up, but all in one piece.  Dr. Fukuhara is full of holes.  IF you want his body, you'll have to lug it - and whoever carries it is going to get plenty messy as it's not clear the blood is finished leaking out quite yet.  Bichu is charcoal.  You could scoop up bits of him with a shovel and put him in a bag, but that's about the only way he'd be transportable.  Mental note - next time you go on an extended camping trip, probably best to bring body bags...

A black serpent, a good 10 inches in diameter reared up suddenly in front of Caduceus, it's head level with his own, it's eyes unreadable as it waited - hopefully for instructions, rather than deciding which part of him to eat first.

Kate grabbed the key chemical gear and prodded Dr. Saunders in front of her.  Hairy did the same with Dr. Al Mansour.  For once, the dour man didn't seem inclined to argue.

White Duck ghosted into the underbrush while Caduceus floated up into the canopy, watching for whoever was following.  They didn't have long to wait.  About 60 seconds behind Hairy came a pair of Amazonians dressed in armored vests and helmets, each carrying an SMG.  They were clearly following the trail left by the two orcs - and they were making better time.  It wouldn't take them long to catch up.

As they passed, one of the guards glanced up at the tree Caduceus was hiding in, but seemed distracted by something and glanced away before he noticed the Shaman.  Evidently his first spirit was still hard at work...

"Probably best to keep your own legs under you for the time being," Caduceus replied to White Duck over the coms. "Floating everyone would be difficult and tricky at the best of times."

Then, to the snakey forest spirit, he said, "Think you could give those two a fight for their lives for me? And any friends they might have? Probably best to attack at range if possible. But the most important part of my request is that you keep them occupied for as long as possible if they can't be defeated outright." Caduceus knew spirits didn't like to manifest physically if they didn't have to, but he also knew they were pretty difficult to harm with conventional weaponry. They were fast healers too. And spirits of the land were known to be quite strong physically.

After giving his requests, Caduceus floated higher into the canopy and went in the general direction of his allies. He did not like the fact that he had almost been spotted already.

---

Using 1 service to ask the spirit to attack the following Amazonians. Three services remaining.

Duck nods to himself, then subvocalizes to the rest of the team.

"Three marks, two together, one behind. Dispatching the rear, trying not to alert them." His skin has shifted to the same color of the tree behind him, his hair the same vibrant green as the foliage around him. The chameleon-like effect not complete enough to disguise him, but it wouldn't hurt. He hides expertly in the underbrush, waiting on the last solider to pass. He waits, quietly, barely breathing, like a spider waiting on a fly to buzz into its web. The rearguard, unfortunately, would be such a fly. When they pass, he stalks them quietly behind, then moves in with a tight grip around the neck, the muscles on his lean frame tightening like steel cables, a coiled snake wrapped around a bird.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:29, Fri 22 Jan 2021.

WD - No one can see you nod.  You also don't know Caduceus's plans with the spirit - all you know is that you don't get to float. :)

Right now, you're on the ground hiding in the bush.  Caduceus is up in the tree foliage somewhere nearby, but you don't have line-of-sight.  Hairy, Kate and the clients are a couple of hundred meters (30 seconds or so) further along the path.  The four of you have radio contact - I'm presuming you've got sub-vocal mics?

There are two soldiers who have just passed your point of concealment and are now between you and the rest of your party on the path.  There's at least one more person coming up along the path behind the soldiers, but they haven't got to you yet.  If you want to catch up with your party without encountering the soldiers, you'll have to go through the jungle alongside the path.  That's not impossible, but it'll be challenging to do so both quietly enough to not be detected and fast enough you'll get to your friends before the soldiers do.

I'll give you a chance to adjust your post if you like, then will share the results of Caduceus's spirit interaction.

Edited my post, thanks for the recap of the situation boss. Been a hell of a week.

The serpent turned in the direction Caduceus pointed and shimmered, then faded from site.

The shaman shifted his vision to the third soldier as he passed underfoot.  Even though he *knew* where White Duck was and what he intended, Caduceus didn't see a thing until suddenly the adept's arm was around the poor man's neck, squeezing it as remorselessly as a boa constrictor.

Unfortunately for White Duck, the guard's helmet and armored vest made it difficult to get his magic-enhanced arm squarely around the man's neck.  The soldier's muscular body quivered and struggled and his finger squeezed off first one burst, then two from the submachinegun, which in turn caused the jungle around the struggling pair to erupt with hoots and bird-calls.  Hairy and Kate could faintly hear it behind them.  From the shouts ahead of Duck, it was evident that the two guards between him and his party-mates had heard it too.

The adept's arm increased its pressure and the struggling slowed but did not quite cease.  He heard brief arguing ahead, then silence.



WD, I figured you'd throw everything into your first attack, given that you wanted to take the guard out without alerting his fellows, so I used your full combat pool.  Your initial roll wasn't so great.  I used your final point of karma to re-roll, but unfortunately for you, he staged it down from deadly and stayed conscious.  Your second attack was effective, but not quite enough to drop him.  If you *don't* think you would have used your last point of karma to try to take him out, let me know and I'll adjust his state accordingly.

Everyone, let me know what you want to do next.

Caduceus, this now counts as a combat situation.

Duck mutters "SSSsshhhh..." as he continues to try and silence the soldier, noting his body armor and trying to down his opponent quickly to move to cover, turning the man towards the source of the noises behind them to use as a human shield if things got hairier.

"I hate fighting," Caduceus mumbled to himself as the battle began. He also hated that he had sent a spirit to participate in the chaos, but it couldn't really be helped.

The shaman fished out the little flashlight he always carried in his pocket and prepared his next move. There wasn't a lot he could do to directly stop the enemies, but he could certainly assist his teammates. Over the subvocal microphones he said, "I'm going to put a spotlight on the two people 'Duck isn't strangling. Do what you gotta."

Of course Caduceus wasn't stupid enough to light up his flashlight while still holding it. He had magic for such things. Using his Magic Fingers spell, he floated his tiny flashlight over and down near the two soldiers and did his best to blind and illuminate them simultaneously, turning the light on from behind the safety of the tree branches.

---

Caduceus is trying to use Magic Fingers spell to shine his pocket flashlight in the enemies' eyes at a distance without them knowing where he is. His goal is to distract, blind, and provide light for Hairy and Kate's targeting purposes. He will place it so that he and his teammates won't get hit by accidental bullets if they decide to shoot at his flashlight.

Initiative
21:15, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 1d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+4)10.  Initiative (add 6).
Initiative = 12.

Casting Magic Fingers. Target = 6. Force 2. Using all 5 sorcery dice available to Caduceus during combat, and adding 2 spell pool dice.
21:20, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 7d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 2,3,2,2,5,1,(6+4)10.  Force 2 Magic Fingers.
One success means his magic fingers have an effective Strength and Quickness of 1. Hopefully that is still enough to point and activate a pocket flashlight.

Drain Test. Target number is 3 vs M stun. Four successes needed. Rolling 6 willpower dice and 4 spell pool dice.
21:23, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 10d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 2,3,1,2,2,1,5,4,5,3.  Drain test (medium).
No drain.

Clarification of situation.  Caduceus is up in the jungle foliage.  He can see White Duck and the soldier he's currently choking out.  He heard some shouting in Portuguese from up the trail, but he can't see the soldiers in question and, where he is right now, it'd be iffy whether he'd get a glimpse of them before they were within a few feet of Duck's location.  (Given they're carrying SMGs, it seems unlikely they'd get that close.)  The jungle is *thick*.  On the plus side, it's easy to float up and get good cover.  On the downside, it's next to impossible to see much when you're in good cover.

Based on the speed the soldiers were walking, they're probably up-trail 30 meters or so - which with the non-linear nature of the trail means "out of sight of WD", but probably where they could get a bead on him within a round, maybe two if they wanted to.  .  Kate and Hairy are probably up the trail around 120 meters, give or take, so longer for the guards to get to them - or them to get to the guards, provided they can convince their charges to run *towards* gunfire.  They would have to approach within 20 meters or so to have much chance of line-of-sight.  Running in the jungle is possible for those who aren't used to it, but you'll have to make an athletics test to not trip.  (Base TN=3)

Would Caduceus be able to float in the two soldiers' general direction without blowing his cover? I figured the spirit he sent to attack the enemies would help to narrow down the enemies' position. Either with the noise the spirit makes when it attacks, or with the noise the enemies make when they retaliate. If Caduceus needs to shine his flashlight around for a while like a search light, that's fine. It will still distract the enemies and draw their attention away from his allies' position. Caduceus would definitely mention to his teammates that his flashlight beam wasn't pointing at the enemies yet though.

Stealthily moving through the canopy is very hard.  There are leaves *everywhere*, so it's pretty much impossible to avoid hitting something and creating noise, making leaves shake and/or disturbing wildlife.  You could try, but there'd be a major penalty (-4 to your roll, then divide by 2).  You could go up through the canopy and move freely and then try to come down 'behind' where you think they are likely to be, but you don't know the trail well enough that that'd be super-easy either.  If you want to move undetected, your best bet is floating along the trail.  There, there are fewer (though not no) leafy obstructions and at least you have the benefit of not touching the ground.  You could also try floating close to ground level beside the trail.  There'd be a penalty to that - foliage is denser off-trail, but not as dense as in the canopy. (-4 penalty).

You're certainly correct that if the spirit is attacking the soldiers, being stealthy isn't so important.  In that case, you can crash through the trees however you like, though floating through the trees will be slower than floating along the path, just because you can't see where you're going and you'd rather not slam into a trunk, branch or unpleasant critter.

Right now, shining a flashlight won't distract anyone other than maybe WD.  No-one else is close enough to see it.  Keep in mind that it's day-time (around 7:30am) and so you've got light filtering through the canopy in all sorts of weird ways.  Your flashlight isn't super bright.  Imagine shining a flashlight at someone 20 meters away in a heavy forest.  If they're shooting right at you through a scope, it might impact their vision, but otherwise probably not so noticeable.

In terms of acting to help in targeting if/when Hairy and Kate make it to you, again, imagine how much a flashlight shining on someone from a distance would make a difference in the daytime under heavy tree-cover.  It might let them blind-fire through very light foliage, but they'd be blind-firing in your general direction, so probably not ideal...

I had been picturing all of this happening in the middle of the night. Hairy woke everyone up from sleeping, and I thought he had taken first watch. And not a ton of time had passed since waking up...

But if there is daylight, then yeah, using his flashlight would be useless. I'll just have Caduceus get as close as he dares flying near the trail, then still use his Magic Fingers to shake branches and stuff as distractions instead. And when he can see his targets, maybe shove a monkey off a branch on top of them, or chuck a beehive at them.
:-P

"Hairy, let's get these men under cover so we don't have to worry about him.  Then, maybe you and I can get a little closer to what Duck is seeing and not have to mow down half the jungle to apply a little damage to yet another group who don't think we should be here.  Make sense?"

Just once, Kate would have liked to have a night's sleep without something wanting on or all of them dead before, during or after that sleep.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:09, Wed 27 Jan 2021.

Reminder that you have two men - Dr. Saunders - who's still mumbling to himself and semi-catatonic and Dr. Al-Mansour who more or less has his faculties

In reply to DeusEx (msg # 144):

Fixed...

Hairy watches the two guards he can see, prepping his gun, but nods at Kate's suggestion. "Yeh, yeh. I can take 'em out, it would be pretty quiet. Or I can chuck a grenade somewhere, make it pretty loud, but far away. But let's get these two dopes safe first."

He scans the space near the road for somewhere they can hide out of sight and behind cover; behind a downed log or in a dip. He motions with one finger that the scientists need to keep their dumb traps shut as he helps to guide them to their spot, but won't spend too much time helping to cover them up if it sounds like his team needs help.

Hairy can't see any guards.  He can *hear* a couple of guards and has a sense of where they're moving.  You are in dense jungle on a path that barely qualifies to hold the name.  The guards are about 90 meters away.  You have clear-ish line-of-sight for around 5 meters and could likely detect motion and have partial line-of sight for about another 5 beyond that.  Tossing a grenade anywhere other than along the trail is probably not a super-bright move as it would almost certainly get way-laid by leaves, vines, and other assorted greenery, etc.  The only reason Hairy can hear them is he has some fine headgear.  (The plus thing is that once they can see you, they're in range of pretty much anything.  The con is that you *really* don't want your grenades to bounce short...)

Also, don't forget your modifiers in planning your actions.

However, I'll proceed with the action of "look for a safe place to ditch your clients"

Given that you're separate from each other, I'm going to describe most of what's happening in PMs.  Please describe what you're up to that your fellows can't see or hear in PMs as well.  And of course, feel free to share on your radio what you wish, keeping in mind that we're in 3-second rounds.

The cacophony of noise triggered by the automatic gunfire slowly settled down to the jungle's normal 'din' of buzzing bugs, birds greeting the morning and the odd monkey hooting for no particular reason you could discern.



"We hired you to PROTECT us.  Not that you've been doing a stellar job.  There is no way on God's green earth you're going to abandon the two of us in this ghastly place!!"

Now at least White Duck didn't have to feel guilty about being the only one to trigger a bunch of noise...


EDIT: fixed PM syntax
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:45, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

PM

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EDIT: fixed PM syntax
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:44, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

PM

In reply to DeusEx (msg # 153):

The jungle erupted again with noise as a pair of SMGs each let off a burst in close succession.  This was accompanied by excited shouts in Portuguese as well as a suppressed cry of pain over the coms.  "Mago!  Mate o mago!"  Then there was a cry of surprise "Cobra!" followed by a more excited "E o gato!".  Finally, there was an animal-like roar followed by a tremendous amount of crashing about amidst the trees and brush in the area around the middle of the group.




What's everyone doing next?

PM

PM

Caduceus winced over the comms and reported, "Got hit. Flying high. Conjuring."

PM

PM

PM

PM

PM

The gunfire resumed as numerous bursts peppered the trees, and potentially other things.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:42, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

"Gahh! They got me again!" Caduceus called over the comms. "Ugh, it hurts, but I should be fine. I'll try to find a good spot to heal or send in more spirits. I'm staying away myself though. How are the rest of you doing?"

PM

“Fraggin’ combat mage over here. Could use an assist.”

Pm

EDIT: moved radio traffic out of PM
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:30, Wed 07 Apr 2021.

Updated WD's post above

PM

PM

In reply to DeusEx (msg # 171):

PM

PM

The jungle was alive with the sounds of fully-automatic gunfire and a couple of explosions.  Sort of like the end of a typical shadowrun, except for the screeching of monkeys and calls of parakeets and other birds adding to the din.

PM

RM

PM

PM

PM

 "Conjuring an assist, Duck," Caduceus said over the coms.

Pm

PM

White Duck's voice came quietly over the comms.  "Affirmative. I’m injured. Sneaking back to the main group."

"God Damned Fragging Jungle!!!" White duck's yell echoed through the trees, briefly distracting from the continued bursts of gunfire further along the trail.  Apparently the 'sneaking' part of the plan had changed?


 And another explosion echoed through the jungle.

PM:
This message was last edited by the player at 17:45, Wed 05 May 2021.

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PMs

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 "Scanning for an advantage," Caduceus reported to his fellow runners. He then did his best to note any advantages he could to his teammates over the coms.

PM

PM

PM

There's another loud crashing noise, then some automatic weapon fire and shortly after that.



After both noises ceased, heavy weapons fire erupted from the direction of the river, splintering tree trunks in what appeared to be indiscriminate cover fire.  Most of the bullets hit trees before they get as far as you, but enough of them made it through that keeping low to the ground seemed like extremely good policy right then...

PM

PM

"My spirit buddy took one out. On the trail," Caduceus said over the coms.

PM

PM

"I see a lone boatman blasting the trees from the water," Caduceus reported. "Should I risk trying to take him out? Or distract him so we can retreat into the trees?"

"Take him out if you can do it without getting yourself fragged!

"I like boats. Can you mojo him?"

"I could try and Influence his actions," Caduceus confirmed. "Or I could create an illusion to distract them, or possibly conjure a powerful spirit and send it his way."

In reply to Caduceus (msg # 204):

I"m liking the powerful spirit option.  Kill the guy with the big gun!

Duck chimes in, having taken some time to get his bearings prior to getting back onto his headset. “Just one left on the boat? Sounds to me like we’ll be riding a boat back.”

Hairy will sneak as close as he's able and see if he can line up a shot. But mostly he's hanging back for the magic users to do their thing (and he can mop up).

"I'll see if the boatman likes drowning," Caduceus said, trying (and failing) to make the prospect of sending a river spirit at the guy into something humorous. As a follower of Snake, Caduceus tried to avoid violence as much as possible, but they were pretty desperate at the moment. A viper backed into a corner had little choice but to strike. And commandeering that boat would eliminate a major threat, give their group a potential way out of this accursed jungle, and possibly prevent anyone from going to get backup forces to cause them problems in the future. So the shaman reluctantly went to do what needed to be done. "Give me a minute."

Sorry for exceptionally slow response.  I had it in my head I was waiting for Caduceus and had forgotten he'd already made his response.  I'm going to move things along a bit.

The guard piloting the boat, who'd already been more than a bit unnerved by the lack of responsiveness of his comrades completely panicked when he heard the slosh of water and saw the giant river spirit bearing down on him - a spirit that was definitely more powerful than the Force 5 Caduceus had intended to summon.  The man opened the throttle wide in a hope to move away from the spirit, but it was already on the boat.  It relentlessly surrounded the man as he struggled and splashed, actively forcing water down his throat and into his lungs.  In about 5 seconds, he was out cold and a little more than that he was very definitely dead.

The snake shaman flew out in pursuit of the now unpiloted speeding boat and was able to slow it down before it made it too far out into the river and turn it around and bring it more or less back to the spot where it had been idling previously.  He also shut down the guns before they completely ran out of ammo.  He opted not to approach quite as close to shore as the vehicle had been previously because, frankly driving wasn't really his thing, much less piloting immense rivercraft, regardless of how slow the current was.  He could however, figure out how to lower the anchor, freeing himself to float off in search of White Duck.

Once he found the physical adept, there was no issue recognizing the source of the man's confusion and the troublesome spirit causing the effects was quickly banished.

With the gunfire ended, the jungle slowly returned to its muggy oppressiveness and the mosquitos resumed their annoyance, drawn in even more abundant numbers by the runners' recent exertion, sweat and general odor.  Dr. Al'mansour crept out from the tree he'd been hiding, drawing Dr. Saunders behind him.  He glanced down at the two dead guards, then holstered his weapon.  "Do you think there'll be more?"

You can all rejoin each other.  You've got a boat and one service left of a powerful river spirit.  Caduceus is in good shape, your clients are more or less ok - physically at least.  The rest of you feel like dreck.  What's your plan for what's next?

“Holy hell, we need to get the frag out of here.” Says Duck, massaging the back of his neck as if recuperating from a hangover. He finds Hairy and gives him a nod.

“Say, you got a smoke? Also, did you still manage to smuggle in those grenades or were they theirs? Would you happen to know where one might secure such items in the Seattle Metro area, perchance? I was obviously a decent pitcher in little league.” He smirks, then turns to Kate.

“Look, I’m throwing in ten kay extra for each of you out of my own stash for this incredibly shitty assignment. We can meet up at the shop for that.” He smiles apologetically, giving her a polite nod.

In reply to White Duck (msg # 210):

"We have a boat, a spirit to protect us, so we should be home free.  Why don't I feel relieved?"

Late climbs aboard the boat looking like she expects it to explode any second.

Caduceus was really more of a motorcycle guy rather than a boatman, but he still managed to get it from point A to point B. This time. He would be more than willing to pass the reigns off to someone else for the next leg of their journey. Which he assumed would be by boat.

"I agree, we should get out of here and back home as soon as possible. But we definitely need a plan." He gestured toward the boat. "I think we should take the boat, of course, even though there is a good chance it can be tracked somehow. Anyone know how to check for that? My spirit buddy can probably conceal us quite nicely if we find a spot along the shore to recover a bit. Nobody is at risk of bleeding out immediately, right? I can do some healing magic, but I will be much more effective after taking a breather for a while."

The shaman looked around the area, surveying the destruction. "I suggest we grab what we need from what is left of our camp, take anything useful these bodies have on them, and get the frag outa here. Pronto."

Hairy takes his time emerging from the jungle. He's been shot in the back too often to let his guard down early. But once he feels safe, he ushers the two scientists onto the boat.

Responding to Duck, he checks his pockets and hands over a few, slightly squashed ciggies. "Don't light 'em 'til you're ready to be out for a bit. I don't bother with weak drek. I like 'em with just a pinch of LSD to really mellow me out."

He pulls through his remaining grenade cache as well. "Yeh, the army base always has some 'nades just past their 'best buy' date. I got a contact who picks 'em up cheap. Don't mind sharing a few. Gas, defense, offense, knock-out. Whatcha need?"

Hairy does also check out the boat, to see if he can suss out how to drive the thing. He's been the wheelman more than once, and what's a boat except a car without wheels? He doesn't mind checking over the gun too, to see how hard it would be to fire manually. They might need to before they get out, and even if they don't, he'd enjoy sending some lead into the jungle before they fly back home.

I've heard a few discussions about what *should* be done, but wasn't clear what was *actually* being done.  So far, you've got a boat anchored about 3 meters off shore, in water that's presumably around that depth.  A few of you have made it to the boat, which involved some swimming and/or Caduceus giving you a hand by dropping a vine for you to grab.  Not clear whether you're all on board?  Who's doing what?  Ideas I've heard so far: search bodies, grab stuff from camp, get spirit to protect boat, check boat for tracking devices, drive boat somewhere else?  Say what you're doing and make rolls as a appropriate

The boat was probably about 20 years old, but well maintained.  The guns were relatively new and hooked up to a joystick type system.  Ammo was fed from below decks.  The boxes for the machine guns were close to dry, but Hairy found are a couple of full boxes in a closet he could chain in if need be.  The vehicle also had a center-mounted assault cannon.

You'd need a build & repair check to disconnect the weapons from their current mounts with a base time of 30 minutes using the limited tools aboard.  Note that the weapons are relying on their mounts for recoil-comp, so hand firing them is gonna result in a *really* sore shoulder.

"So what exactly happened here?" Caduceus asked as he worked. He hoped for a brief summary of events, since he hadn't actually seen most of the action.

Caduceus made sure that the fruits they had come all this way to collect made it aboard. (After first asking his spirit to keep the boat and its passengers Concealed.) However, he avoided touching any fruits directly. He knew it would be a shame if they came all this way just to leave their plant-prize behind. Even if they ended up having to ditch the scientists at some point, maybe they could still scrape up a small payment for the fruits alone.

Aside from that, Caduceus floated around to help gather the most expensive and important gear they could gather in a short time. Focusing first on any enemy mages, since they would likely have the things that Caduceus would consider to be "the good stuff." He also scanned for any enemy gear that had particularly strong emotional auras attached to them, since favorite gear tended to have better features.

He also kept an eye on the astral, just in case any enemy mages came floating by for a snoop. He asked Kate if she could help do the same too. After all, two sets of eyes were better than one.

---

Here is what Caduceus is doing.

Asking for a summary of events (ooc is fine)
Asking spirit to use Concealment on the boat/passengers.
Making sure they have the fruit they came for.
Grabbing gear essential for the trip home.
Grabbing any magic-related gear.
Grabbing expensive gear, prioritizing the lighter stuff first. (Scanning enemy gear for strong auras. Favorite gear is probably better, right?)
Keeping an eye out for astral threats. (Can Kate help with this too?)
Searching the boat/boatman last, since he can do that while they are on the move.

15:31, Today: Caduceus rolled 3 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 2,3,5,5,(6+3)9.  Aura Reading (Auras) - looking for magic gear.

15:32, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 3,4,3,3,4.  Aura Reading (Auras) - looking for enemy gear with a lot of emotional attachments.

15:35, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+5)11,(6+3)9,5,4,1,3.  Perception - keeping an eye out for threats, both physical and astral.

This place is hot and smells like an armpit. No time like the present to get things moving...


Hairy is:
1. Seeing if he can suss out the controls (using Car skill, definitely one success there:
((3,2,3,2,(6+5)11,2)).

2. Prepping weapons. He can get by on Gunnery, but prefers Heavy Weapons. I don't recall if you get a default b/r skill with the main skill. If not... he doesn't have any, and probably isn't bright enough to warrant trying.

3. Probably looking for a map or something? Someone else will need to do the map-reading. We need to get back a/the airport.

Someone else can worry about dressing the boat up so it doesn't look like a fragging gunboat.

The group quickly stripped the bodies.  White Duck's original guard was alive, though still unconscious.  The others were definitely dead.  The bodies don't have a lot.  Wallets, id and credsticks with denominations that'd be hard to transfer elsewhere.  All have helmets, armored vests, radios and heavy pistols and three have SMGs, though two of those are pretty much out of ammo.  No grenades (which is probably a good thing for you...)  Nothing magical on the shaman either.  Searching astrally for 'treasured posessions' netted you a couple of family photos and a clearly non-magical pipe, but nothing exciting.

You also grab the fruit and what of the scientific equipment you can salvage quickly.  It's hard to know if the boat operator might have radioed for help - or how long it might take to arrive, so getting away from the scene of the firefight seemed wise.  Dealing with an aerial drone, or worse yet, a T-bird, did not seem like a fun way to end the day.

Caduceus summoned yet another spirit, ordering it to conceal the boat, and the four runners and their ?employers? out on the river.  The good news was that it was wide and it was not hard to keep a decent distance from the trees given the width.  While Hairy wasn't exactly a skilled captain, he could manage that much at least.  And directions were easy - keep going up-river, avoid the Amazonian settlements and get yourselves back to Iquitos.  The only downside of travelling down the middle was that if something came along that could see through the mist that encompassed the boat, there was little chance of getting it under the canopy.  However, there was also no risk of running into logs - or things that looked liked logs.

Once Hairy had the boat out in the middle of the water, he turned the controls over to Caduceus and went to see what he could do about removing some of the heavy weapons so he could use them directly.  However, with the limited tools available, the movement of the boat, Hairy's nasty headache, and the fact that Hairy was far better at firing guns than trying to manage the hardware used to mount them.  Finally, he gave up and returned to the cabin.

Finally, the group had some time to catch up with each other.  It was quite clear that, by now, a jungle vacation was now in the "wouldn't wish on my worst enemy" category of everyone's bucket lists.

Apparently there had been a total of 5 guards - 3 regular troops, one shaman and one on the boat.  White Duck had taken out one of the guards, though not before he was able to get off a few shots.  He'd waited to ambush the final guard, not anticipating that she would be a magic user.  She'd hit him once with a nasty sleep spell, leading him to retreat into the woods, where he'd subsequently been accosted by a spirit whose confusion and accident powers had largely left him out of the remaining fight.

Caduceus had followed the other two up the trail where he'd floated into an ambush, and it was only the fact that he'd been floating and been able to zoom up into the trees that had kept him alive.  That plus the fact that the two guards furthest up the trail were a bit distracted by a pair of manifesting spirits - the one Caduceus had originally sent to chase the guards and another, presumably the shaman.  The two spirits had eliminated each other and, somehow, all of the services Caduceus had available had been used up.

Despite his escape above the trees, Caduceus had taken a few wounds that had significantly diminished his own capabilities.  He summoned a spirit, then focused on healing himself and was able to witness his second spirit finishing off the shaman.  Then he headed off and summoned yet another spirit to take care of the guard on the boat and get the boat back to shore.

Hairy and Kate had been furthest up the trail.  Their initial plan to hide the two remaining scientists in the woods so they could double back on the following soldiers hadn't gone over well with your 'clients', however with some negotiation in which Dr. Al-Mansour showed an unexpected degree of competence with a weapon and how to behave in a live fire situation, the group backtracked a little and, with a lot of heavy weapons fire, a few grenades and a few fireballs was able to take out the remaining.

Caduceus took the time to heal the physical damage of those who'd been shot.  However, the mental wounds and exhaustion would just take time

The group had been out on the river for about 1.5 hours.  Hairy has heard some voices coming from the radio.  Caduceus translated and confirmed that it was the group at Letcia checking to see what was up with the patrol boat.

<orange>What do you do?

Everyone's current states:
Caduceus - full health
White duck - medium stun
Kate - serious stun
Hairy - moderate stun
Dr. Saunders - full physical health, still loony but content to sit wherever asked
Dr. Al Mansour - full health

Sorry to take so long getting this out.<orange>

Kate needs rest.  Any more strain and she's going to have a problem even seeing straight.  So, unless someone starts shooting, she's going to recover.

"Hey, snakey, if you call up a spirit, can it speak Portuguese? Cuz I don't think any of us speak the local lingo. And can anyone look at the maps? See if there's like a detour river or something? I don' wanna hit these guys coming down the other way."

Caduceus headed into the cabin and listened to the radio.  A few of the words weren't clear, but the gist was yelling at 'Rodrigo' to stop smoking and get his hoop on the radio and report in.  Deciding that if he was going to fake reporting in, it might be a good idea as to what to say, the snake shaman headed to where he'd had Hairy dump the unconscious guard White Duck had taken out to see what he could get out of the man's head.

Mind probing someone who was unconscious had some pros and cons.  On the plus side, the victim was less likely to notice it had happened.  However, you had to get all the way into the deep thoughts to get anything useful.  Probing someone's dreams could sometimes be entertaining, but wasn't super useful.

Caduceus - what force do you want to cast the spell at and how are you allocating your pool?  Lower force means easier to resist, higher force means harder to avoid drain (base drain is [Force]S).  You need 3 net successes to get anything useful.

"I think I will be able to manage," Caduceus replied to Hairy in Portuguese, with a wink. Then in English, he said, "Let me poke around in our prisoner's mind for a bit though before I say anything over the radio. I'll say the radio-man was dealing with some diarrhea and/or smoking his favorite pipe or something to explain away the time. Whatever will make the most sense after I have a peek."

When his target was within sight, Caduceus narrowed his eyes at the man, staring at him intensely. Like a snake about to lunge at its unsuspecting victim. But instead of lashing out physically, Caduceus lashed out with his mind. His psychic fangs pierced the unconscious man's psyche and the snake shaman soon began to swallow his thoughts whole, absorbing the precious secrets hidden within.

---

I'll go with Force 6. I'll use 6 Sorcery Dice, 2 snake shaman dice, and 1 Spell Pool dice. For the Drain test I will use 6 Willpower dice and 5 Spell Pool dice. That is a total of 9 for the spell and 11 for the drain.

I'll use Physical Mask before talking on the radio as well, but let's see how this spell goes first before allocating those dice.

Initially, there was only darkness.  The surface thoughts there would normally be were absent, but after diving more deeply, he began to receive images, sights and sounds.  The most vivid were of a young woman named Agueda and a little girl, maybe two years of age, named Catia - his wife and daughter.  The soldier was clearly worried about seeing them again.  His last thoughts before dropping unconscious had been of them.

The team had been out on patrol, after reports of gunfire.  One of their primary responsibilities was keeping an eye out for rebels.  They'd found the remains of Bichu's boat and had been looking for signs of survivors or rebels when they'd heard the gunfire that morning.

Digging around, Caduceus was able to find the names of the dead guards and shaman.  A recent wedding - for one of the now dead guards gave him the name of the local captain and radio man.    The border patrol was relatively lax.  No passcodes or protocols.  He was out here because he'd pissed off his trainer who recommended shipping him out to 'nowhere'.  On the plus side, there wasn't much rebel activity out this way.

The boat was their primary way of managing river traffic.  The river was relatively narrow at Letecia, even so, neither the LMGs nor the rifles in the guard towers would have much luck hitting anything close to the far bank, which was still nearly 2km away.  The team did have the ability to call in air support, but that'd take about 20 minutes.

When he finished and released his hold on the guard's mind, the shaman had a sheen of sweat and had the beginnings of a headache forming behind his eyes.  He couldn't shake the image of Catia grinning up at him, holding out a little flower.

He could hear the voice on the radio again, the anger now tinged a bit with concern.

You've got light stun.  What do you do next?
EDIT: corrected drain and adjusted description to match
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:41, Tue 28 Sept 2021.

Caduceus wiped the sweat from his brow and did his best to swallow the lump in his throat. It was always rough when you were forced to face the reality that your enemies are people too. It also helped to reinforce his resolve to remain as pacifistic as possible when it came to ending peoples' lives. Such was the way of Snake. He tried his best not to let what he saw affect him emotionally too much though. After all, failure could mean that their team's own friends and families would end up with sad dents in their auras.

After taking a moment to compose himself and organize his thoughts, Caduceus pulled a small item from within his gear. A piece of chameleon skin pressed between two pieces of plexiglass. It was an Expendable Spell Focus usable with illusion spells. He figured now was the appropriate time to use it. He concentrated on the form of the drowned radio man, and channeled his magic to take on the man's form. His appearance, texture, voice, and even smell changed to become like the boatman. Only the voice was really necessary, but the rest would help him get into character.

Once transformed, Caduceus picked up the radio receiver. In the boatman's voice (pulled from the river spirit attack and Rodrigo's memories), he said in Portuguese, "[Radio Man] here [Captain]. Sorry for the delay. I had... stomach issues. I'll spare you the details. We found a campsite that we think probably belonged to the survivors of the sunken boat. Looks like a Macareu or two trashed their camp though and one or two of them ran off into the wilderness. [Dead guards and shaman] are working on tracking them down. Taking their sweet time though. I think Rodrigo even literally stopped to smell the flowers. Probably picking some for Agueda and Catia. They looked a lot like the ones they used in that wedding we all went to for [bride and groom]."

"My guess is it will still be another hour or so. I'll keep you posted if anything noteworthy happens. In the meantime, my pipe isn't going to smoke itself."

---

Casting Physical Mask on myself to look and sound like the radio man. I am using my expendable spell focus to give me 2 extra dice for the illusion spell. I don't think I want to risk going above Force 4 with this spell (+1 to drain and +1 for my light stun). I get 6 sorcery Dice, 6 spell pool dice, 2 snake dice, and 2 spell focus dice, for a total of 16 dice available. Target should be 5 (4 base, +1 stun). Drain target is probably 4 (1/2 force, +1 stun, +1 to drain) versus medium stun. If all of that sounds accurate, below is how I will allocate my dice.

Casting Dice: 12 (6 sorcery, 6 spell pool)
Drain Dice: 10 (6 willpower, 2 snake, 2 spell focus)

Keep in mind that your language skill is only a 2.  So you understand and can make yourself understood, but you're far from fluent.  Did you really want to communicate that elaborately?

He would definitely avoid using big words he doesn't know very well. Like, he would definitely avoid using the Portuguese version of antidisestablishmentarianism. But would he be able to say essentially the same information in a believable way, especially if he prepares his words before picking up the radio receiver? The most important thing is that he includes details that someone who isn't the radio man probably wouldn't know, so the captain believes he is really talking to the radio man.

I mostly only made my post so wordy so that I could get my intent across as a player without doing twenty back and forth conversation posts. If it makes more sense story wise, feel free to assume there was actually more back and forth with simpler dialogue of you want.I am not really sure how to adjust his words myself to accurately reflect Caduceus's lack of true fluency though.

Ah, so just some unfortunate touristas?  Not Aztlan desgraçados?  Ok.  Make sure the wreckage isn't blocking a waterway.  That Bichu shoulda known better.  Get back her soon.  Hard to monitor the border without your radar.

You rolled well, despite the headache.  So what's the plan now?  You're about a day's from the border, but with the engines on this thing you could probably do it in less if you didn't mind making some waves.  You've got a still unconscious guard and a few headaches all round.

“Well, seems like we should be able to ride this thing almost into town…” chimes in Duck, seeming worse for the wear, but relieved to be getting back to civilization.

“Take her downriver and then disembark before we get into town, then go from there?”

"Anything that gets us out of this place fast and with as few holes in us as possible.  This trip is my first, and hopefully last, trip to the jungle and I'm happy to do whatever gets us out of here five minutes sooner."

"Yeh. Never done too much swimming. Don't plan to start now."

Caduceus nodded. "It sounds like we are all in agreement then. Let's get the drek out of this beautiful murder-scape as quickly and safely as possible." Caduceus, unlike the others, would probably actually love to come back here some day. But as a legitimate vacation and not as a shadowrunner. Missions here were nightmares.

As they continued down the river, Caduceus did his best to keep their watercraft hidden with helpful spirit assistance. In the higher risk areas, he also augmented their defenses with some tech-affecting illusions as well. During downtime (when not recovering from drain) Caduceus familiarized himself with the boat controls. It was NOT like driving his motorcycle back home, but he hoped he could at least keep the thing from crashing if necessary.

When they neared Iquitos, Caduceus astrally projected ahead to scope things out and tell their rigger contact to get things warmed up. He didn't think they would be coming in hot, but did not want to wait a second longer to take off than they had to. He also asked to have all the gear they left in storage to be packed aboard the plane by the time they arrived.

As for their prisoner, Caduceus would be happy to leave him unconscious and under guard of spirits until the next sunrise/sunset. At which point he could find his own way back to civilization. However, he would ultimately let the others decide if they wanted to handle the prisoner differently.

The rigger jumped when Caduceus manifested in front of her "Drek mon.  Why you magic types always be sneakin' up on people like dat?!"

When the shaman filled her in on the situation, she winced.  "So you be comin' back with only half o' de clients then?  I'm glad I'm just gettin' paid for flyin' de plane...

I can keep de engine warm, but how ya plannin' to be dealin' with the customs man?  I'll not be flyin' with SAMs or drones on me tail."

She paused.  "You got the fruit, yah?"  On the shaman's nod, she continued "I'll be callin' Mr. J. an see if 'e can wire some cred ta oil de right palms.  'e may be takin' it outta yer cut, but at least we's gettin' ya home."

The two made arrangements for Caduceus to check in again when the group were ready to pass into the airport.

Slipping past the border was uneventful, though stressful.  The boat coasted silently at the pace of the river.  All lights off and conversation stifled as the concealing fog provided by the spirit would not necessarily conceal voices.  Eventually they'd made it far enough down-river that Hairy was comfortable starting up the motor again and the team made good time to Iquitos.

As planned, the group beached the patrol craft a little way up river and continued on foot.  A spirit would keep the craft concealed until sunset, so they had until then to get underway before questions started to get raised.

One more trek through the jungle.  But at least this wasn't Amazonian territory and it only lasted 30 minutes or so before you could see civilization.  Well, not *real* civilization.  Iqitos, despite being far larger than the tiny hamlet, was several orders of magnitude short of being a true metroplex.  Somehow, the runners found themselves longing for the smell of smog and the sting of acid rain.  At least an umbrella could keep the rain away, unlike these blasted insects.

The party of 5 was a bit large to flag down a ride and splitting up seemed ill-advised, so the group approached the airport on foot.  Caduceus made contact with the rigger again and was advised of when and whom to approach at customs, and they were breezed through with a knowing smile.

As the Skytruck lifted off, the runners felt an almost tangible relief that they were no longer touching South American soil. It'd been a hellish week, and they could literally feel the tension drain out of them as the plane gains altitude.

The precious fruit and the gear they'd "opted" not to take on the trip were safely stowed in the cargo hold.   As the engines droned, one by one the runners nodded off and slumped in their jump seats.

Some time later, a faint but annoying scratching sound awakened White Duck.  Slightly disoriented, he glanced around; everything looked okay in the cabin.  He turned around in his seat to try to discern the source of the scratching.  It was coming from behind the cargo door.

“Ah, fucking hell, what now?” Mutters Duck, instantaneously lighting up a cigarette once he’s on board, grateful for the recycled, hazy air and the stench of tobacco. He approached the cargo bay door closely, carefully, ready to rouse the others if there’s trouble. He barely cracked the door open, leaving it ready to slam shut just in case there was trouble, fully expecting there to be *something.* He didn’t have a chance to fully investigate the lead, but his postulations had him theorizing that the problem wasn’t the fruit, but whatever was *eating* it. He suspected that whatever it was had probably somehow made its way on board. Taking a deep inhale, he peeked through.

Caduceus's mind had already been threatening to wake up again when he noticed White Duck moving about. Begrudgingly, the shaman willed himself to full consciousness. He was not yet ready to bother getting out of his seat, but Caduceus did take a quick peek out the nearest window to check on the local cloud situation. It would be good to know exactly which types of sky spirits he could conjure up here.

"Check one two," Caduceus said over his subvocal mic. "Everything null persp back there White Duck?" The mage made sure his personal levitation was active, and he scanned the door that duck was headed toward (as well as the rest of the cabin) with his Astral Vision.

The adept carefully opened the door a crack and peered through into the darkness.  The scratching noise stopped.  Suddenly there was an enormous mass pushing on the door, curved hook-like legs scrabbling to make it through the opening and pushing the door wider.

White Duck reacted quickly shifting his body and shoving on the door to try to close it, catching the bodies of three creatures in the doorframe as he struggled to keep anything from getting through.  Unfortunately, one had been fast enough to charge through the expanded opening before the runner could close it.  The critter spun and skittered along the wall back towards the runner, greenish liquid dripping from its mandibles.

Caducius could get a better sense of what the creature looked like - and it wasn't pretty.  It was spider-like, almost 50 cm from head to back of its abdomen.  Numerous eyes on its head glowed a faint blue.  Each of its legs was tipped with some sort of claw - and the thing moved *quickly*.  Whatever it was, it sure as drek hadn't been the late Dr. Fukuhara's slide show on the way down...

White Duck currently has 3 of things pinned in the door and one that looks about to bite him somewhere or other.  He can hear numerous others scrambling about in the cargo area on the far side of the door.  Duck is probably strong enough he can keep the door pinned unless circumstances change, but isn't really free to attack without letting go of the door.  He also can't take advantage of his full combat pool while holding the door.

Caducius, you're strapped in and now *wide* awake.  Hairy and Kate are currently asleep, but can make a  body 5 test to be awake based overhearing Caduceus's question over the comms.  If you make the test, you can act next turn.  If not, I'm assuming things are going to get loud enough that you'll definitely be awake for the following turn without any rolls.  Getting unharnessed is a simple action.

Kate is unhappily woken from some much needed sleep by the comms.  She opens her eyes and unhooks herself from the chair.  "Somebody is going to pay for waking me up like this."  She gets her not happy body up from the chair and starts moving to the back. She grumbles, half to herself, "With the way things are going, we're going to knock this plane out of the air"


----

20:40, Today: Kate rolled 2 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 ((5,2,1,5,2)).

"Oh frag no!" Caduceus yelled as the spider-things came into view. This was not what he wanted to be dealing with on a plane. Not after what they had already been through in the jungle. After noticing one of the critters was going to try and bite White Duck, whom was the only person stopping more from getting into their compartment of the plane, Caduceus knew he had to act fast.

The critter looked to be fast and agile, so Caduceus opted to try and take away its mode of movement entirely. Without even unbuckling yet, the shaman began incanting his spell. "Snake, of land, city, and sea. Provide me the strings to make a puppet of the!" He wiggled his fingers, then pulled them apart tight, like he was pulling taught the stings of a marionette to hold it aloft. Across the plane, he attempted to levitate the spider-creature in a similar fashion. To hold it suspended so that its feet could find nothing to clamor along.

---

Initiative: 7

Attempting to cast Force 4 Levitate on the Spider-thing to keep it from being able to move anywhere. I have -1 to cast spells in combat. Does the -1 for elevation only apply to conjuring spirits, or to spells too? Feel free to make the rolls for me in whatever would be the most favorable combination, prioritizing successfully casting the spell without completely destroying my chance to negate the drain. I do have an Expendable spell Focus 2(Manipulation), if it seems necessary.

Levitate:
Type: P
Target: 4
Duration: S
Drain: +2(M)

"What the FRAG" Hairy's eyes flutter open to... spiders everywhere! "I thought we left this fragging jungle behind!"

He immediately starts slapping anything fuzzy and leggy close by him, and then hits the harness release button so he can go for where his guns are stowed...


Wakeup (yes)  2,4,5,3,4,5,2,2,3.
Initiative 23
09:53, Today: Hairy rolled 5 using 3d6 with the Shadowrun, Open Test ((3, 2, 5)).

Guns are in the cargo area, with the exception of side-arms

Duck braces his back against the door, seemingly incredibly creeped out by the passenger cabin’s uninvited guest.

“Frag this! Get the pilot to open the cargo bay doors! It’ll flush out anything not strapped down!” He exclaimed, kicking his legs out at the spider-thing in an awkward, dance-like attempt to keep the thing at bay.

“The corp’ll have to make due with the seeds I pocketed! I’ll pay y’all with my own money, I just wanna get back home!” He said, grunting as the cigarette fell from his lips and rolled onto the carpeted floor below for a few inches before being extinguished by his heel.

"What's flammable in the cargo hold and does anyone mind if the plane gets smokey?  I'm really drained but I want to go home now."

“Uhh no explosions or fireballs on an airborne plane please! That would probably get everyone killed! Damnit someone go poke the rigger!” He exclaims, wrestling between holding the door shut and kicking out at this spider-thing to keep it at bay.

Caduceus strained to cast his spell.  Up here, the mana felt sluggish like molasses and burned as his mind struggled to control it.  The spider creature struggled valiantly to stay connected to the ground, its clawed legs trying to dig into the stained carpet of the floor, trying desperately to get closer to the albino adapt, but Caduceus was able to tug it free of the ground.  It hung helplessly in the air, mere inches from White Duck's thrashing foot, mandibles biting furiously at at what it evidently wished was his flesh.

Your TN was 6 to cast (-1 from combat, -1 from being on the boundary of the manasphere).  Cast at force 5, as the spider had a chance to resist.  Threw all your pool at it.  You got 3 successes to the spider's 2, so that was (barely) enough.  Figured I'd save your fetish seeing as you had 2 karma.  Drain had 3 successes staging you down to light.
 Do you want to use karma to bring it down to nothing, and if so, how many are you willing to spend?

The rigger's voice came over the plane's speaker system even before White Duck could bark his order
What the FRAG did you guys bring on my ride!!  They're all over the drecking place!  DRECK!!  One of them's chewing on the wiring!  Put those buggers down fast or we're in trouble.

At Duck's suggestion, he responded Sounds good.  Your cargo...  Grab a mask when they drop.  There was a pause, then a slight whining noise which stopped abruptly At about the same time everyone's ears popped in the most painful manner they'd ever experienced.  Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling over the seats - just outside of White Duck's reach.  When your hearing recovered, you could hear the rigger letting out a stream of expletives.  Stupid little fragger chewed through the control cable.  Back's only open an inch or so.  If ya want it the rest of the way, you're gonna have to do it manually.  Controls near the door.  Better do something quick before they cut through something *really* important!

The loss of pressure started sucking the spider towards the door - and dangerously close to White Duck's leg before Caduceus compensated and moved it away.

Everyone is currently at a -1 penalty due to the ongoing depressurization (disorientation from air flying around, ears popping, etc.).  You've got about 2 turns before oxygen deprivation starts to be an issue.  (After 2 turns, make a body test against TN 4 to avoid taking one stun.  TN increases by 1 each turn after that.  Each turn with an oxygen mask reduces TN by 2.)

The spiders trapped in the door are still trying to pry it open.  White Duck and Hairy can hear others scrambling around in the cargo hold area - apparently some of them chewing on things that the rigger would really prefer were not chewed on.  Hairy said he wants his guns - is Duck going to let him through the door?  You've got one spider thing currently 'helpless', though still potentially dangerous.

If you stay at altitude and use the masks, you can presumably wait the spiders out until they asphyxiate, but there's a risk they'll damage something vital in the interim.  You didn't notice parachutes...  Given their massive size, maybe they have super-fast metabolisms and will die fast.  On the other hand, assuming they used to be in the fruit, there's weird paranormal drek going on and for all you know they breath sunlight...

You could also descend to where the decompression penalty goes away (for you and the spiders) and where spell-casting/summoning is easier.  Other ideas?  Tell me what you all want to do.  If Kate wants to cast a fireball into the cargo area she certainly could ;>

Realizing his beautiful gun is still packed safely in cargo, so as to avoid it possibly hurting someone, he reaches instead for a grenade and winds up for a toss. Hearing Duck's comment, he puts the grenade away again... "I'm really not having as much fun as I should right now..."

Relenting, Hairy unshoulders his SMG. He doesn't even switch it to explosive rounds... And unloads half the magazine of gel rounds into the monster at the door.


No idea what the TN is. I have 4 points of recoil compensation, bipod, and smartlink, and I assume this creature is too close to miss. I'm dumping my whole combat pool. And out of deference to the party poopers, I'll stick to gel rounds for now.

11:17, Today: Hairy rolled 7 successes using 12d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 ((2,(6+3)9,1,1,5,(6+5)11,5,4,1,(6+3)9,3,2)).

Does it look like these creatures have eyes and would be impacted by flash-paks?

The one you can see definitely has eyes - all glowing a faint blue.  As to whether flash-packs will work on them, only one way to find out.

Will post the results of your action once I hear what everyone else is doing.

I am willing to spend 2 more to try and get it down to 0.

---

Caduceus clenched his teeth as the situation seemed to be going from bad to worse. He was still trying to decide what to do as he held aloft the critter trying to get at White Duck. After Hairy shot it, the shaman nearly dropped his spell so that he might cast another, but he stopped himself. "If that thing's dead, maybe I can float it to the right button to push." He put on his air mask even as he spoke over the team's comms. "Any side doors we could open?" he yelled more loudly to their pilot while he tried to figure out how dead his levitated critter actually might be.

---

I doubt this is realistic, but would it be practical for Caduceus to try and use his dead (hopefully) spider-critter to activate the cargo doors? He would float it across the dangerous cargo bay to press it against a button or flip a switch. Alternatively, are there other doors they could open? Like maybe a passenger entrance?

Kate, you don't happen to have the ability to conjure fire elementals, do you?

Re: Caduceus' karma re-roll - I had previously rolled on the premise you might do that - and failed spectacularly, so I'm afraid the drain is unchanged.  I'm going to move along, assuming that WD is focused on holding the door closed.

The control is more of a lever than a 'button'.  (Un-protected buttons that cause the back of the plane to suddenly open were somehow seen as an unsafe design feature :>)  So no, you can't really float the spider in and try to hit the control.  Also, if you did want to float the spider in, you'd have to open the door first.

Caduceus put on his oxygen mask as he asked his question.  Unfortunately the answer wasn't that helpful.  "Just the one in your compartment.  But I'd rather you didn't jump out until you DEAL WITH THE FRAGGIN INFESTATION YOU DRECKERS BROUGHT ON MY PLANE!!"

Caduceus wasn't quite prepared for Hairy's action - or specifically the momentum that would be implied by the SMG gel rounds slamming into the spider.  The spider hit the wall of the plane right next to White Duck and the shaman struggled to move it away again before it could scramble along the wall and bite its fangs into the albino's leg.  However, he quickly realized that the thing was no longer trying to scramble anywhere.  It hung limply in the air.  Apparently gel rounds worked.

White Duck continued to struggle with the door, but seemed to be loosing the battle as the combined efforts of the spiders on the other side slowly started to pry it open, the glowing eyes of two spider heads appearing as they tried to force the door wider to admit the rest of their bodies.

Seeing two more show up is all Kate can stand.

"I really hope there's a fire extinguisher on this thing.  In case I miss."

Kate summons what little energy she has left after all they've been through and puts it all into her spell.  With a little luck she can fry one of these things before she passes out.  Flames dance from her fingertips arcing toward the bigger of the two.  With that, she slumps into her seat.

---
Kate casts flamethrower for Serious damage

Kate rolled 1 success using 10d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 ((3,3,(6+4)10,4,1,5,5,3,4,5)).

Drain: Kate rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 (((6+2)8,(6+6+1)13,5,3,1,4)).

"Eat light, motherfragger." Hairy pulls one of his flashpaks and sets it strobing. Hopefully with it shining from behind and the team and into the faces of the spiders, it'll impact them and not really him. Not that he cares. This isn't is first time lighting up the disco.

Once that's fired off, he'll aim at the spiders trying to open the hatch. With a mental flip, he shifts to regular rounds. Yeah, if he misses that means it'll be putting holes in their plane. But that just means he'd better not miss. (He'll shift to burst fire. Still using combat pool aggressively.)

Seeing Kate go all-in, Caduceus felt it was time for him to do the same. There was little his magic could do to directly assist, so he decided to call upon a friend who's magic hopefully could. Over their team's comms, he said, "Cashing in my chips for some spiritual assistance. Hopefully I can pay the toll..."

The shaman then closed his eyes and held his oxygen mask over his face with one hand while clutching his seat's armrest with the other. He reached out into the sky domain. The thin membrane at the edge of the world's manasphere. The spiritual energy was not thick up here, but it did exist. He hoped heartier spirits liked to drift these skies, because Caduceus was looking for some powerful assistance.

He reached out with his mind and tried to reel in a comet from where there appeared to be only empty sky. "Brothers and sisters of the outer realms, I request your presence. My situation appears dire. I need you to Confuse my enemies to help keep myself and my allies safe. Please."

---

Attempting to conjure a Force 6 Sky Spirit. I believe my conjuring and drain targets are both at +2 at the moment. (+1 for being high in the manasphere and +1 for light stun. I believe next round another +1 is added for low oxygen in the plane)

Conjure Force 6 Sky Spirit (TN 8)
21:17, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 8 with rolls of 4,1,5,(6+2)8,5,1.  Conjure Force 6 Sky Spirit.
1 Success! Using my one service to ask it to use Confusion on all of the spider critters at the earliest opportunity.

Drain test vs. moderate stun (TN 8)
21:18, Today: Caduceus rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 8 with rolls of (6+5)11,5,5,(6+1)7,3,5.  Drain test.
Bummer. Moderate Drain. I am now just one box away from having serious stun.

Hairy got his first burst off before anyone else had a chance to move, disintegrating the head of one of the spider creatures and punching a hole into the bulkhead behind - and quite possibly into cargo and or plane fuselage beyond.  Hopefully not into anything too important...

White Duck was next.  He was getting low on oxygen and was tired of trying to hold the door closed, so he opted for a bit of kick-i-poo as a roundhouse between the head and thorax of the one pinned at the bottom of the door separated the two spider body-parts with a satisfying crunch.

Kate went next a roar of flame erupted from her fingers, hitting the spider trying to get through the top right corner of the door.  There was less of this one exposed, mainly just legs.  However those got nicely incinerated and whatever was attached to them dropped to the cargo area floor with a keening noise.  White Duck didn't look super impressed as he had to crouch to avoid the flames - and as the heat conducted its way through the metal towards his hands.  He tried to re-seal the door, but there were still spider body parts in the way preventing it from closing completely - and he could hear more of the critters scrambling around on the outside of it.

Kate, however slumped in her chair, blood dribbling out of her nose beneath the oxygen mask which she struggled to hold in place over her face.  It was evident she didn't have a lot more left in her.

There was a sudden inrush of air in response to Caduceus's call and the coldness of the low-pressure coalesced into a misty constrictor, winding through the air.  Its lidless eyes stared into the shaman's for a moment or two before it departed, seeping around the edges of the doorframe and out of sight.

Hairy looked for something else to shoot, now that the three in the doorframe had been turned to gore and charcoal.  One of the critters obliged by forcing a couple of legs through the bullet holes he'd just punched in the aluminum door-frame.  He fired a second burst, pulverizing spider limbs and - hopefully - whatever had been connected to them on the other side.

The plane yawed suddenly to the left.  "WATCH WHAT THE HECK YOU'RE SHOOTING AT!!  And if you so much as light another match back there, I'm shutting off the oxygen and heading up to twenty-thousand and freezing all your hoops.  I'm carrying almost a thousand pounds of kerosene in this puppy.  And guess what.  LIGHTING IT IS A BAD FRAGGIN' IDEA!"


Caduceus is at 5 stun, Kate is at 6.  Duck will be at 1 due to no oxygen at the start of next turn.

There are currently spider body parts preventing the door from closing and there are definitely still critters on the other side.  Hard to tell exactly how many.  Also, the plane seems to be unhappy.  Whether that's because of bullets, fire, spiders chewing on things they shouldn't, a pissed-off rigger, or some combination is also hard to tell.

What's everyone doing next?

Duck continues to hold the door, looking for something to block it off, trying to grasp for a nearby oxygen mask if it’s available to him without fragging everyone over. He continues to hold the door if that’s the case. “Anyone wanna add some muscle to this door? Feels like lots of em!”

Caduceus mentally cringed as it eventually dawned on him that he was the one who should go into the cargo area and open the back door. White Duck or Hairy might have been more physically capable, but they couldn't float, and they probably wouldn't trust that his spirit was doing what he had requested of it. He unbuckled his belt and said over the coms, "You won't need to hold the door. I'm going to fly for the lever. My spirit friend should be confusing them, but please try to cover me as I go in."

The shaman took one big breath from his oxygen mask, held his breath, then began floating up and over the seats toward the door White Duck was holding.

---

My intent is to fly through the center of the cargo hold without touching any walls/ floor/ceiling, etc. Caduceus is trusting that his spirit is confusing as many spiders as possible (probably only 6), and hoping White Duck and Hairy can protect him at range from any others that may jump his way. If Caduceus gets pulled out of the plane, at least he can levitate, unlike the others.

Hairy grumbles to himself, "why even buy a plane if it can't take a few bullets..."

He switches back to gel rounds. At this point, he'll back up Caduceus, trying hard not to hit the poor fellow in the back of the head, relying instead on single shots and bursts to pick off specific enemies and make a path for Caduceus once the door opens.

Even as White Duck spoke, the skittering noise on the other side of the door changed, as many (all?) of the creatures moved away in different directions.  The adepts vision was starting to grow fuzzy as he prepared to open the door, Hairy with his pistol trained on the entrance and Caduceus floating - ready to go through.  The adapt silently mouthed a countdown, then pulled the door open...

A spider-thing that had ben clinging to the back of the door and started to skitter across the floor before being dropped by a well-placed burst of gel rounds which were evidently still enough to crack its carapace.

The area beyond was mostly dark.  Apparently at least some of the wires the ravenous creatures had been biting through involved the lighting.  There was one florescent that struggled to illuminate flickering on and off intermittently, just enough to play havoc with Hairy's low-light vision.  There were also sparks from a few wires that were still shorting, and there was a faint hint of starlight coming through the few windows and the 3-inch crack of the partially open loading ramp.

The depressurization had wreaked havoc on the cargo.  Boxes were scattered every which-way, several items plastered against the partially open crack.  Duck and Hairy could both hear occasional skittering, but it was hard to localize exactly where it was coming from.

The dwarf moved to the doorway and, with his super-amped reflexes quickly scanned the area.  Spotting movement, he let another burst go that resulted in a shriek as whatever it was dropped behind a pallet.  He waived for Caduceus to make his way to the switch, while he stayed close to the door.

White Duck took advantage of the break to sprint for one of the oxygen masks, taking deep breaths and feeling the fuzziness start to fade from his brain.

I am a *bad* GM.  No excuse for taking this long to respond.  Sorry all.

Hairy will hustle to his big gun first. There's no way he hauled his baby all the way from Seattle without using it even once. She'd never forgive him that.

Once his gun is properly secured, he'll search for a portable oxygen tank.

Caduceus wasted no time floating forward. He needed to complete his task before his breath ran out. For that reason he tried not to talk now that he was away from his oxygen mask. Although he wanted to say about a hundred different things in case he didn't make it back.

As the shaman floated over the scattered debris, he focused on avoiding any spiders that might leap at him and moved as quickly as possible to the equipment he needed to use. The only thing he might make a super slight detour for would be the case containing his super rare feathers. If it was convenient, he would scoop it up in a free hand, but if not then the shaman would simply hope it was wedged somewhere safe.

If he made it across the cargo hold with his life intact, Caduceus would waste no time and open the rear hatch.

After catching his breath, Duck took a moment to assess the situation unfolding around him. “God damn, can’t anything go right for us?” He asked himself. He took in another deep breath.

“Just a few weeks ago and I was in a hermetic circle in the back of my comic shop with these people. Now we’re all about to die because…bugs?” A slow and quiet exhale, internalized thoughts only taking fragments of seconds to pass.

“No…. No, it’s this *fragging* company that hired us.” He glanced over his shoulder to the remaining personnel, pondered giving into that killing urge again, but shook his head. Furious and in need of something to kill, almost completely oblivious to the whole clear and present danger of fighting, he started picking up things to throw, moving in and actively seeking out the demonic bug spiders that ruined his day and spoiled his first cigarette in weeks.

Aided by his low-light vision, Hairy was able to find the crate in which his gun was packed.  It had fallen over and was under a couple of others, uncomfortable close to the loading ramp.  He focused on moving crates and getting his baby out.

Finding the feathers was a *lot* harder.  The package they were in was small, everything was pretty jumbled and the rare flickers of light were far from useful.  However, as Cadusius neared the back, he spotted the edge of a zip-lock type bag lodged under a crate - a crate that had probably stopped the bag from being blown out the thin crack.  Now, there was no guarantee the bag contained the feathers, but he couldn't remember having seen any other similar bags in the cargo area...

A he neared the button that would open the rest of the ramp, he saw a spider clambering along the wall and the shaman suddenly realized something.  The air pressure between inside and outside had equalized.  The only thing that would cause the spiders to fall out the back now was gravity - and then only if the rigger went into a climb.  A climb that would almost certainly dump most of their cargo too.  And even then, the fragging creatures could probably hold onto the walls.

Just as he was about to say something, a pair of the creatures, perhaps noticing the ruckus of the moving crates leapt out at Hairy.  Both of them seemed a bit sluggish and confused, but it still took some fancy maneuvering on Hairy's part to avoid their fangs.  The big gun wasn't out yet, so if he was going to take care of these, he'd have to use the smaller one.

White Duck emerged into the rear in time to hear at least a portion of Hairy's extensive and colorful vocabulary.  There were too many crates between himself and the dwarf to provide any immediate aid.  However, he did spot a spider just hanging on one of the walls.  With the flickering light, if the thing had been trying to defend itself or had any awareness, he'd probably have missed.  However, somehow it didn't notice him and his card embedded itself deeply in the thing's abdomen and it dropped from the wall.

Kate sat, breathed oxygen and satisfied herself by thinking dark thoughts, visualizing their Mr. Johnson screaming as she slowly immolated one body part at a time...

What's everyone doing now?

Kate realizes, through her haze, that she does actually carry a gun in her backpack.  She carefully weighs her options.  One she could get it out and have a rough chance of hitting something that's not a co-worker.  Two, she could sit here and let the people that use guns regularly shoot things.  Three, she could attempt get up and punch something.

She looks around at the group, realizes that option 2 is probably going to get the least number of people killed.

Just in case, she yells, "hey guys, do you want me to start shooting things?  I have a gun"

Hairy responds, maybe to Kate, maybe to the spiders, hard to be sure; FRAAAAAGGGGG!!! He drops the big gun again and backs away, firing off bursts at anything with more than two legs. He'll make his way potentially towards an oxygen tank, but definitely AWAY from creep-crawlies.

Holding combat pool towards dodging. Using gel rounds, so not afraid to use them liberally, even recognizing they're mostly going to just put dents in crates.

Caduceus began floating back toward the front of the plane to get to an oxygen mask, leaving the bag of (potentially) feathers behind. They were not worth his life by any means. At least his spirit friend seemed to be doing a decent job at confusing the spiders. He hoped the spirit's range was vast, but figured they should probably try not to fly too far just in case.

As he moved, Caduceus expended some of his precious oxygen to call out to their pilot. "Hey pilot! Can you get us lower? And stay in this aerial domain/vicinity? Need oxygen. Opening hatch won't help now." The mage did little else except head for the masks and watch out for bug attacks.

Hairy was a bit slower than usual - but that was still faster than any human had a right to be.  His first burst slammed into the first spider-critter and it collapsed to the deck unmoving.  The second sluggishly tried to attack, but the orc easily sidestepped.  His second burst broke off a couple of limbs, though didn't seem to completely put it out of the fight.

Hairy and White Duck were both starting to feel a bit light-headed as they felt the plane angle down sharply.  White Duck made for the safety of the doorway back to the front cabin.  Hairy remained, staring around, waiting for the next attack, hoping it would come before he passed out...

Okay, time to head to an O2 tank... Running or rolling, whatever gets me there fastest!

Caduceus continued floating toward the nearest source of oxygen, knowing there was little he could hope to accomplish in his current state. He drifted quickly yet carefully, watching out for any spiders he might need to dodge.

Feeling the Oxygen go down and realizing recovery isn't going to happen without it, Kate tries to wander directly to the tanks and hook herself up to it.  Finding the closest safe part of floor, she settles down for a bit of rest

I'm going to fast forward things a bit, as I think everyone's pretty tired of this particular run...

Caduceus and Hairy both went looking for oxygen.  The rigger was able to direct them to a single canister.  They took turns huffing at it, at least until the aircraft got to a low enough altitude that oxygen wasn't much of an issue any longer.  Between Caduceus's astral vision and Hairy's low light, the pair was able to spot the remaining spider-creatures.  Hairy happily fired gel rounds at each one until they were oozing green goo - including the two who were caught in the crack of the open cargo door.  All told, there were 10 carcasses.

A thorough search of the cargo area revealed nothing else living.  Unfortunately, almost all of the 'kiwis' appeared to be gone - eaten through by these creatures before they metamorphosed into something many times larger.  In the space of minutes.  Fraggin' 6th world awakened bulldrek...

The aircraft limped back to Seattle.  There was a 'minor' issue getting the landing gear to deploy, but with some jimmying, a final adrenaline burst, and a second approach the plane is back on the ground in the good old UCAS.  Cold, dreary acid rain and smog never smelled so good.

After taxiing to a private hanger, the runners had to manually trigger the cargo door.  However, that was now a much simpler exercise.  As it opened, the two wedged spider-beast carcasses fell out onto the tarmac.

Mr. Johnson stood, waiting impatiently by a vehicle about 20 yards away, flanked by a couple of goons.  Charlotte, the rigger, had kindly radioed ahead to let him know you were coming, but had saved the 'good news' for you to deliver in person.  "My gig was just providing the ride.  Up to you to explain the rest of this mess.  Fixing this wiring and the bullet holes are gonna eat half my take as it is..."

“You’re not the only one fragged on this op. Maybe buy a scanner next time though? Lots of problems could have been avoided there.” He grumbles at the rigger’s complaint. When his feet hit the tarmac, he puts a fresh smoke into his mouth and walks right up to the Johnson. He reaches into his pocket as if to grab a lighter, but pulls out a handful of still-gooey kiwi seeds he’d fetched from one back in the jungle. THEN he goes for a light.

“Your hired guide and multiple others went crazy, the fruit played host to awakened spider-things that are probably to blame, that plus your peoples’ penchant for ignoring any orders we gave them to keep themselves safe.” He takes another deep drag of his cigarette, looking over his shoulder to the others gathering outside the plane.

“I’ve half a mind to feed you your own dick right now, but I’m a fragging *professional*. What I will do is tell you to frag off, as I’m paying the team out of my own pocket, full bonuses and all, to lose my number, and to advise you and any of your people not to set foot on our turf. You have the delegation skills of an unflushed turd, and you should take a long hard look in the mirror before you go to bed every night and try to come to terms with the fact that you hired the wrong scientists, the wrong guide, the wrong security, and the wrong rigger for this job, all presumably for the same peanut-pay I’m sure you were set on quibbling over and chastising us about as soon as we stepped off the plane.” He pats the man on his shoulder in a friendly manner, sort of like a parent consoling a child after they just struck out in baseball, taking a drag from his smoke and exhaling a plume without taking his hand away.

“I would be very careful about what you say when it comes to what you say to everyone else, dig?” He glances over his shoulder, looking to his disembarking team. “Payday’s on me for this one folks! Come see me at the shop!”

Turning back to the Johnson and patting him gently once more on the shoulder with an unyielding firmness not so well hidden behind the gesture, he lets go, gives the man a polite smile, hoists his bag over his shoulder, and exits.

After it was clear there were no more threats to their life, Caduceus had spent most of the remainder of the flight catching his breath and trying to recover from his magical exertions. It wasn't until they were taxiing on the runway that he got up and started packing some things away again. He collected all of his gear that he could, of course. Especially the briefcase containing his expensive feathers. He hoped against hope that they were still in decent condition. But Caduceus also attempted to collect a few specimens of the spider creatures they had defeated. He figured their corpses might be worth something to the appropriate buyer. He packed the least-gooified specimens into his refrigerated smuggling crates, added some body parts to his formaldehyde jars, and stuck a few more into any other place he could that wouldn't ooze onto everything he owned.

When they were parked, Caduceus floated out of the plane with his gear, still not relishing the thought of using any more sore muscles than necessary at the moment. When White Duck began his tirade, the mage remained silent. After all, Duck was only saying what Caduceus was already thinking. The mission had been a complete disaster, despite everyone on their team making it back home alive.

The shaman floated behind White Duck in silence, only shaking his head disapprovingly at the Johnson as he passed.

---

I unmarked two boxes of stun. I have three remaining. Here are the containers Caduceus will use to scavenge as many spider-bits as possible (minus whatever was lost/destroyed during the last battle). He'll collect whatever he feels he can reasonably get away with taking:

2x2x2 foot smuggling crate with refrigerated compartment (2 days)
2x2x2 foot smuggling crate with refrigerated compartment (2 days)
smuggling suitcase
smuggling briefcase
smuggling backpack
tackle box
duct tape
2 1-litre used pickle-jars full of formaldehyde, 1kg each

The feathers I mentioned:

quote:

You have 6 feathers, worth about ¥6k each provided you find the right buyer and don't do anything to degrade their quality or aura during the remainder of the trip.

After landing, Hairy intends to go and deal with the fixer, all professional-like, see if they can get any more money out for uh... whatever. But taking the time to check over his guns first costs him the initiative. Fortunately, Duck seems happy to pay the whole fee. An unusual negotiating tactic, but a win is a win! So he'll hang back and look intimidating, rather than put his foot in his mouth with Duck, who is apparently his new Johnson here...

Kate can't quite believe what's going on but she's still not in good enough shape to get involved.  She'll look like she's on the edge of lighting up when in reality, she's on the edge of a long sleep.

Duck's diatribe momentarily stuns the Johnson, and Duck has gone a good 20 feet, before there's any sort of response.  "Wait!!"  He paused, waiting for the runner to pause an turn, but continued regardless.  "Did you get the samples?  The fruit?  Where are they?"

Apparently the fruit was more top-of-mind than the state of his employees.

Still floating after White Duck, Caduceus called over his shoulder, "What do you think those seeds will grow into? Daisies?" He was going to leave it at that, but then also decided to add, "If you sort through all the spider-goop inside the plane, you might find some more. No guarantees though. But you'll have to that search yourself." Caduceus grinned at the thought of the Johnson combing through all that goo in futility.

The Johnson seemed to consider whether to ask his goons to intervene, but watching Hairy toting his baby seemed to convince him that perhaps this wasn't a battle he wanted to pursue.  Caduceus glanced over and saw the rigger leaning against the front landing gear, looking as though she wished she had popcorn.

Instead the Johnson gestured for the two body guards to 'secure' the plane.  He tentatively started up the ramp, stepping over the carcass of one of the spider-creatures.  As the team left, they heard the rigger heading up the ramp.  "For the record, I'm still expecting to be paid.  Plus extra for cleaning my rig..."

The group grabbed a piece of tarp to cover the heavy weapon and made their way back to the orc underground for a *badly* needed shower and drink at a certain comic book store.  (Not necessarily in that order)


KARMA!!!
5 base karma for the mission (survived, kept one of the scientists alive, actually brought back fruit.
3 karma for the duration of the run
2 bonus karma for putting up with unreasonably long gaps in playing and still showing up