Yarders of the Lambent Fields IC

[TwoBitWriter]

Picalah
Dawn, 24 degrees Celsius

The Clock of Kala towers over the eastern horizon, dominating the minuscule troubles of the small city in its wake. It is early in the morning, and Picalah begins to stir. Most of the activity from yarders stocking for the day's ranging into the fields. They roll their supplies and load them upon hulking Ferno Walkers and wave farewell to their loved ones.

At least, that's what is happening on the "old" areas of Picalah. Half of the city is now comprised of tents and other temporary structures. The "yarders" here all arrived within the past 90 days and are mostly comprised of the hopeful and desperate individuals who immigrated to the city after the numenera creature was discovered under the fields. The find that had made the discoverers rich and famous, but drew in people from every walk of life. For now, business is booming despite the troubles as demand for the Numenera and Dust of the fields have never been greater. New shops and other businesses to accommodate the needs of the immigrants.

You are all making your way from your respective homes to meet with Vukasen's uncle, Oryata, and your yarder group's primary agent and fence for your scavenging operations. An old woman's pet Seskii whines and paws at you as you pass. Overhead you hear the familiar cry of a Raster fly overhead, it's rider loaded down with a satchel of letters, bound toward city hall. A Populace Prior shouts to you as you pass, declaring you heathens to be smited by the gods for desecrating their sacred land. Street hawkers hold out steaming meats with enticing odors skewered on synth-sticks. "One shin a piece! C'mon, yarders, you need energy for a long day in the fields!"

A pair of young women pass by you quickly and fling their packs on the back of their Ferno Walker and coax it into movement. They are clearly inexperienced and are dressed inappropriately to the climate and do not appear to carry near enough water for a day in the fields.

Ahead you see the street corner where Oryata has his shop.

[DominoMasque]

Syl gives her ready smile to the others, "You know, if these dusters weren't all so short on shins we could probably pull a profit from rescuing them - they'll all run into trouble in their first few runs... or maybe we could charge for lessons - no wait they still have nothing to pay us with." she seems unconcerned that our own runs have hardly been profitable lately.

[tonberrian]

"Hey! You're not gonna get far looking like that! It's hot out there, you're gonna need some water if you don't want to die!" Roka shouts out at the underequipped duo. It's no skin off her back to warn the two.

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran

Aldeb, seeing what his friends were seeing, shakes his head in disgust.

"... and get some shading equipment! You cannot work in the sun all day!

Bleeding dusters. This is what it has come to. Ten years ago, we were called fools and treated like scavengers when we worked the Fields. Now every down-on-his-luck city rat treks to collect dust."

Picking up the pace, he nods to the others

"Perhaps we should hurry up. Even fools like these can clutter up the dust".

[Zero Prime]

Chase the Hunted, A Passionate Glaive who Shreds the World
^{Might Pool: 13 of 13 | Speed Pool: 14 of 14 | Intellect Pool: 7 of 7}

Chase shook his head as the other's yelled at the unequipped, unprepared women, "We can't be responsible for every duster with visions of shins dancin' in their heads," shrugged, "they ain't completely stupid, when their soft city skin starts to blister and peel they'll turn around," he shifted his gear as he headed out, "and tomorrow they'll be stronger for it." He walked ahead of the other's, shouldering his burden of the tools, nodded his agreement as Aldeb encouraged the other's to speed up.

"Yeah, let's get out there before Morle and his zealots get out there, stackin' a claim that ain't theirs for their Order. By the 8th, we could all be the Order of the frackin' shin, it don't mean nuthin'!"

[TwoBitWriter]

Oryata's Shop
Dawn, 25 degrees Celsius

You reach the street corner where Oryata keeps his shop of numenera salvage. The shop window contains a pair of cyphers for sale, both acquired from one of your previous expeditions and none of you felt consequential enough to keep. There are also some oddities of varying quality. This is just to attract the average shopper. Oryata is an experienced Wright and the interior of his shop reflects this, most of the wares he sells are the iotum and parts he salvages from your group's finds in the fields. He has no place for Dust and whenever you bring a load back from an unsuccessful expedition you tend to have to scramble to find another buyer. Oryata wants no part of it. He has always been in it for the numenera and his neverending quest to understand it.

From the street you can see him inside, back to the door. He has grimy yellow synth-oil coating his arms past his elbows with a few splotches on his chest and neck. He is currently disassembling a numenera arm you brought him the week before, carefully extracting what appears to be a glass vial filled with a verdigris liquid. His protective goggles cover his eyes but the rest of his face is pockmarked with tiny chemical burns where bits of the caustic material splashed him. A half-eaten sandwich lies only a few feet away and you note that it too was not spared from the synth-oil.

A metallic sphere floats past the window, the Gazer that Oryata had repaired and decided to keep as a sort of pet. It turns toward you and it's scarlet eye blinks though the deadly laser beam does not fire at you. It had been removed long before and, according to Oryata, had therefore been "tamed".

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran
Articulate Nano who Fuses Mind and Machine

"Fair Winds, Oryata"

says Aldeb, entering the shop, using the old Yarder expression his father was so fond of. From habit, he adjusts his hat, shirt and vest, to make sure that they are in order before proceeding in. A salesman must always look his professional best.

"We are just about ready to go for the run. By the Kala, between the dusters out there and the army camped, we will have to move fast."

[infoweasel]

Having lagged a few moments behind the group to trade a shin for somethingorother-on-a-stick from a street vendor, tearing off a mouthful as he jogs up to the rest of the group. Patting the once-deadly automaton affectionately, he greets it despite its lack of sapience. “Hey there, Lazey.” Smirking at the pun based nickname that his ‘uncle’ never actually uses, he follows up on Chase’s observation. “Enh, maybe. If they’re still alive tomorrow mebbe we can get some decent shins out of ‘em once they realize experienced guides are worth the price.”

Blowing the steam off his meat, the wisps of water vapor briefly form into a dragon-like beast before evaporating as he waves to his ‘uncle’ with a mouthful of spicy street food.

[DominoMasque]

Syl

"So any leads, before we head out? Or anything you want us to keep an eye out for?" Syl casually leans against one of the many tables, careful not to disturb the artefacts upon it.

[TwoBitWriter]

Oryata's Shop
Dawn, 26 degrees Celsius

Oryata holds up a single finger for silence as he continues to extract the glass jar filled with liquid iotum. He gingerly sets it on his desk and lets out a long-held sigh. "Been at that for days..." he mutters before standing and turning to your group. He removes his gloves and casually tosses them on to his work bench, nearly knocking the glass jar to the floor.

"I got bad news for you. I need you to range further out this time. The 'Lambent Order' has managed to finagle our claim out from under me. They managed to turn Spire's ear and pressure her to declare the entire site as a historical preserve. Morle's cronies have already set out to take over." Oryata is red in the face and he crosses his arms. "I don't know where you can go. Every site within thirty kilometers has been picked clean, not to mention the Numenera creature forty kilometers out. Everything around there is useless to us. Fifty should do it..."

He tilts his head toward the door to his junkyard out back. "Take Jasper," he says, meaning his Ferno Walker. "And plenty of water. I suspect you are going to be out there a while."

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran

Aldeb lets out a deep sigh. He starts clearing his glasses, a clear sign he is thinking

"It was bound to happen. The whole Fields will now become a tug-of-war between people who have never ventured out of the city's sights. What a joke.

But maybe it will be good for us. The Deeps are not for dusters, it takes real yarders to pull it off. And we fit the bill, if I say so myself."

He looks outside, brooding.

The Deeps and I have an open score. The bones of my father are still there.

"Better we start moving then. Water we will need, shade, rations for several days and tools. Oryata, can we ask of you for some basic supplies? Tents would be very useful, as would bedrolls and some basic rations. And if you have large flasks for water, that would be perfect"

[Zero Prime]

Chase the Hunted, A Passionate Glaive who Shreds the World
^{Might Pool: 13 of 13 | Speed Pool: 14 of 14 | Intellect Pool: 7 of 7}

Chase scoffed, "Lambent Order, frekking crulspew is what it is. That is OUR site, claimed and licensed by Spire, and these stiffneck's come in, claim it as a historical site, and shut down actual research and study, so we can all ...," he realized he was dangerously close to heresay, and didn't want to call attention to his concerns that the Lambent Order was a subsidiary of the Aeon Church, or the Amber Pope. He slammed his fist on the counter, hard, several small items jumped and clattered, threatening to fall over the edge to the hard packed earthen floor. He seemed not to notice as he continued, "Sorry, I am just, that really set's me ablaze, you know."

He reached into his cloak, withdrew a small pounch and tossed it to Oryata, "A down payment for our ranging supplies, you can put the rest on account, and take it from the sale of our salvage when we return. Let's just hope the Order doesn't close down the merchants for supplying us yarder's in the meantime."

OOC: The pouch contains Chase's last five shins.

[TwoBitWriter]

Oryata's Shop
Dawn, 26 degrees Celsius

Oryata catches the pouch and nods to Chase and Aldeb. "The Deeps it is. I've taken the liberty of loading Jasper with some supplies, Aldeb, though a few of you will have to share tents. I've even managed to get the water reclaimer working again though I recommend that only for emergencies. Who knows when it will die again?"

Spoiler: Artifact - Water Reclaimer

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An artifact that transforms any liquid poured inside into cool and refreshing potable water. It's tank has a 3-liter capacity. Depletion: 1-2 in 1d20. Requires the use of iotum to repair. Filling it with liquid does not count as a "use".

Spoiler: Supplies

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2 spare bedrolls, 3 two-person tents, 50' rope, First aid kit, Compass, 4 large clear synth bags, 4 minor glowglobes, 10 torches, 20 rations, 20 matchsticks, a 200 liter synth tank filled with water.

Edit: Altered the water reclaimer artifact description somewhat.

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran

"Oryata, you really do think of everything. We are ready to go?"

Alden throws Chase one shin, keeps one and gives his remaining two to Oryata.

"I say, we head straight out. Let's go for distance. The known fields are off-limits, thanks to the good people of the Lambent Order. So, it is to the unknown we must go."

[DominoMasque]

Syl

"Sure, no sense in waiting, it's not like I got the shins to stock up more'en I have already.". It strikes Syl that her companions are more... invested in the area, if it all dries up she's not so attached that she wouldn't just move on. Still she likes this crew, she'd rather stick with them while they can make a living here.

[tonberrian]

"That should be everything we need. We'll make a score out there, I know it!"

[TwoBitWriter]

The Lambent Fields
Late afternoon, 34 degrees Celsius

You spent the morning pressing your way past the clutter of dusters and amateur yarders sweeping the multi-colored Dust into any container they could. You cannot recall a time when you have seen the Fields so crowded.

But you are past that now. It will still be another day or so before you reach The Deeps and can begin searching for a new claim. For now you are 25 km out and the heat has grown intense. With no shade the sun bears down upon you mercilessly and the horizon sways with mirages swirling the Dust into a menagerie of dancing color. A few Numenera scraps litter the ground, but have long been picked over leaving only shells.

One such shell, a massive bronze edifice patterned with concentric hexagons that appear organic in nature, perhaps resembling some long-forgotten desert creature. Or the structure itself was the creature, but scholars, nanos, and yarders can only speculate. It must have contained something useful, because everything inside has been picked clean. Still, it provides sufficient shade from the sun and as long as you do not touch the metal directly, significantly cooler than sitting exposed.

You have stopped for a late lunch. Jasper is meandering around your little rest spot, purring in deep rumbles. However, the purring turns into a warning growl. You peek out from your shelter and see a pack of broken hounds loping in the distance. It is unclear if they have caught your scent or not, but they are clearly searching around.

[DominoMasque]

Syl readies her bow, "I doubt we can avoid them with Jasper with us. We either wait here and see if they move on, or try and pick as many of them off as we can before they reach us."

How many are there as far as we can tell?

[Zero Prime]

Chase looks over to his companions, slowly shouldering off his pach, "Guess here's where I earn my wage, yea?" He chuckled, "Frelling hounds will sniff us out, sooner rather than later. They can smell flesh as easily as a Yardbride can sniff out shins." He grasped his razor rings, twirling them slowly. "Templars taught me the best defense is a sudden, and overwhelming offense."

With that he surged forward, his form flickered for a moment, ground to this plane by Syl's presence, then a wave of light surrounded him, motes of flame drifting in his wake as he was suddenly in the middle of the pack, his form inhumanely fast, and nearly translucent, except for where it interacted with the hounds flesh. Causing it to flake off, dissipating into motes of ash as the dimensional energies shredded the hounds flesh on a molecular level.

OOC: Spending 1 Speed to activate Phase sprint, increased to 2 due to Syl's presence, reduced back to 1 due to Speed Edge. This let's me close to immediate range, activating Disrupting touch for 1 Might, and using Effort, reduced by 1 fir my Might edge.

Attack is with an Asset due to Light Weapon. (1d20)[8]. If successful the Hound suffers 5 damage that bypasses all armor.

Also, Yardbrude refers to men and women who provide intimate favors to Yarders. Phone post, so will pretty up formatting when I get home.

[DominoMasque]

"Blood and ash, give us a moment to prepare" Syl mutters as Chase momentarily disappears from view. Bow already in hand she lets of a shot, no sense leaving him unsupported.

Spoiler

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Shot with a level of speed effort to hit (1d20)[6] for 4 damage

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran
M 7/7 S 12/12 I 21/21

"By the Kala, wait one second!"

It was too late, Aldeb knew it even before the words left his mouth. Chase was like that. They should have had a plan for something like this.

Aldeb's fault.

Taking a look around, Aldeb considers climbing up the small pile of synth stones next to him. But no time for that now, Chase was in the thick of things. Waiting if any of the hounds are already hurt, Aldeb fires at it, or picks one at random. The hounds are too far away for Lighting the Motes. They can stay there.

Spoiler: OOC rolls

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Speed roll, eased because of light weapon. (1d20)[18] Dmg 2

This must have hit

[TwoBitWriter]

Crisis Mode Engaged!

The Broken Hounds had indeed detected your scent but were not yet aware of your presence. Chase's charge caught them by surprise. Before they can even howl he is among them, his Slicer dancing to and fro, his limbs blurring as they phase between realities. He cuts deep into one of the hounds, it yelps in agony but prepares to snap back before being shot through the heart by one of Aldeb's darts and falling dead at Chase's feet.

Syl's arrow is slightly awkward, but manages to strike its target, wounding the creature severely.

Vukasen also takes aim at the broken hounds with his crossbow, but misses.

Roka cracks her knuckles, hanging back to protect those standing back, waiting for the opportunity to attack.

Five of the hounds rally and encircle Chase, biting at him with their razor beaks (make a speed defense roll, target 12 with 8 points of Might damage on a failure). The remaining six break for Roka and the others and spend their turn entering into immediate range, but not able to attack this round.

[ProudGrognard]

Aldeb Aran
M:7/7 S:12/12 I:21/21

"By the vibrating buttocks of the Amber Pope!"

Aldeb swears vehemently as the broken hounds swarm over the others.

Next time, they should definitely have a plan.

He can't get caught in the middle of the pack. He will be torn apart. He tries to straddle the synth stone, to get out of reach, and then deal with the pack.

He puts on his working gloves and watches carefully for handles to go up.

[tonberrian]

Roka springs into action, a flurry of fists attacking at the hounds!

Spoiler: OOC

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Them coming into immediate range triggers my Wait action, so I'm going to attack them with my fists! (1d20)[6], and since they're a light weapon, the attack is eased. 5 damage if it hits.

And then I'll use my next turn's action to pummel them again! (1d20)[3], eased, 5 damage.

[TwoBitWriter]

Intrusion!

Roka, your blows strike true, but land awkwardly and you sprain your right wrist. Future attacks involving punches will be hindered until you make a recovery roll.

Spoiler: Intrusion XP

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You get 2 xp, one for you and one to give to another player

[DominoMasque]

SYL
M:10/10; S(1):10/12; I(1):15/15
Arrows: 10

Syl fires off another shot at the same target as they bound towards the group. Ready to switch to unarmed combat should Roka not keep them occupied.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d120)[64] for 4 damage. See OOC thread for actual attack roll (9) since I can't write numbers gud

[Zero Prime]

Chase the Hunted, A Passionate Glaive who Shreds the World
^{Might Pool: 10 of 13 | Speed Pool: 14 of 14 | Intellect Pool: 7 of 7}

The hounds surround Chase quickly, their slavering jaws clacking in anticipation of stripping flesh from bone. The beasts lunge, only to have Chase deftly duck, twist and slip between planes of reality, one such attack even goes through Chase's afterimage from his phase shift. However, it falls short of plowing into the rest of the pack.

OOC: Speed Defense Step 4 (Diff 12); Assets for Shield & Phase Shift; Skilled in Speed Defense (Trained without Armor); Step 1 (Diff 3). Will use the Misdirect Enabler [3 Speed>2 Speed due to Edge] on Defense Test. Speed Defense: (1d20)[10]; if missed Chase makes an unmodified Attack Test, (1d20)[1], which, if successful redirects the damage of the attack directed at him to an opponent of his chosing, a Broken Hound, duh! (1d20)[4], if that hits, 8 damage.

However, Misdirect is a Defense Enabler, and not an action. So he'll Phase Shift BACK to the Group, [1 Speed], and use Disrupting touch on the hound closest Aldeb. Attacking with Asset (Light Weapon) (1d20)[5]. If successful 3 Damage bypassing Armor, possibly 4 if attacking Aldeb, who is a friend more than just a companion, justifies making Chase angry.

... wow that was some **** dice, I did type d20 I swear! So, umm, this goes bad. He *did* make the defense test, misses the Misdirect, badly. We may want to narrate that 1 Intrusion before my missed attack shows up moving back to the group ... if I can after twobit writer's Intrusion.

[infoweasel]

Having grabbed his crossbow and popped off a shot in a hurry, Vukasen curses as he begins to reload, then sees the pack bearing down on him. "Well, frak," he comments to himself as the pack of beaked quadrapeds breaks off from Chase and begins to bear down on the rest of the group. With a sharp whistle, he shouts, "Syl! Aldeb! Cover over here!" With that, he snaps a finger and what appears to be a sizzling 10 foot squared energy 'cage', flickering beams of blue-white energy crisscrossing each other and giving off a steady hum of powerful energies. Hm. Did he remember to tell all the new folks that his 'summons' are just light and air? Aldeb should know, at least. He hopes.

[TwoBitWriter]

Crisis Mode!

Despite Aldeb's best efforts, he is unable to find purchase. He makes a little progress at first, but a bit of his wrist touches the extremely hot metal of the giant shell and he loses his grip, sliding back down to the ground.

Roka steels herself and is prepared when the first broken hound comes into range. She pushes its beak to the side, hammering into the creature with her fists. Then she prepares for a killing blow to the wounded beast, but it swings its hard beak back and her wrist is forced back painfully as she connects. The beast falls to the ground, however, and does not get back up.

Syl's second arrow also finds it home in the same hound's belly. it yelps in pain as its legs give out from under it, it rolls in the Dust, then falls still. Dead.

Vukasen thinks quickly and manifests his illusionary cage as three of the surviving hounds now target Roka, Aldeb, and Syl. They appear wary of the cage and are keeping their distance from it.

Chase is having a hard time against the five hounds encircling him. He dodges quickly through the savage series of bites and claws from the creature and attempts to phase in such a way as to cause the hounds to bite into each other. Unfortunately, one of the hounds leaps into Chase just as he attempts to phase shift away toward Aldeb. The creature somehow is caught up with Chase as he rips away, merging briefly with the Glaive's form. The pain is excruciating as Chase carries the beast with him and it tears way from him when they return to this dimension. Chase takes 2 might damage that ignores armor. His disrupting touch does connect with the broken hound menacing Aldeb, though it is not enough to kill it.

The four beasts that were previously surrounding Chase howl in frustration and move to immediate range with the rest of the party, but do not attack. Roka, Aldeb, Syl, and Chase are each attacked by a single broken hound (Chase by the one that he carried with him during his phase sprint)

[tonberrian]

Spoiler: OOC

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Defense is eased thanks to being Trained in speed defense while unarmed. Defense: (1d20)[20]
Attacking with a kick this time, spending effort to increase damage to 8, (1d20)[1]