Trials of the Desert Republic (IC)

[TwoBitWriter]

Brigham:

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It was enough food for the entire group for 4 days, so 24 units of food, also enough for one person to survive 24 days. The Generator would likely require a horse-drawn wagon or a truck to transport. It is possible for a few of you to lift it and carry it, but it would be far too tiring to carry any long distance. You do find it odd that, considering how the house is only about a day's travel from Kingman, that no one has previously found this basement. You are not sure how long the scorpions have been here though. Captain Duncan had mentioned at the briefing that a new nest had sprung up. If this was just a new nest, than it is extremely odd indeed.

Morgan does not seem to find anything of note, digging through refuse and other garbage to no avail.

The sun is now completely gone, and the house is dark. You hear a coyote howl somewhere out in the wilderness. Insects have now begun their nightly serenade and the Cicadas seem particularly thick in number.

[Serje]

Michael

"Well I've found nothing. Good find on the generator though, it'll do a lot of good when we get it back to town" he says, tipping his hat in Brigham's direction. He listens to the sound of the howl and the crickets for a little while, trying to guess how far away they are, and is very thankful that they found this piece of shelter. "Well anyways, I don't know about the rest of you, but I ain't goin' out back out in that. This place might be safe at the minute, but is it going to be safe the whole night? We gonna set up a watch at all or just risk it?"

[Vazzaroth]

Kent

Let's see... there's, what, six of us? 2 stay up at a time, we have 3 watches then?

Kent looks around to see how secure the place is. If there is anything to lock the door with, he does so. He then goes back to inspecting the eggs.

Untrained Knowledge check of whatever it takes (Unless it's streetwise...) to se if they are edible: Take 10+0 = 10

[TwoBitWriter]

(It's a survival check to determine if the eggs are edible. Feel free to roll it if you are interested.)

[Ipphli]

Bryan

Bryan comes back downstairs carrying the rifle, the bandolier across his chest. He glances at the others before focusing on Doc.
"I found a ranger upstairs. Rads got him before he locked himself in one of the rooms upstairs. Names Hatfield. Definitely not a nice way to go. But at least we know we're on the right track."

[Townopolis]

Morgan

After his fruitless searching, Morgan joined in the investigation of the eggs. Peering at them, prodding the yolk he spilled, daubing at it and sniffing, and going through a few other tests.

"I tend to get rest at dusk and wake with dawn. I'll take third watch"

survival - (1d20+5)[22]

[Serje]

Michael

"Three watches sound good to me, we'll all get a fair share of sleep and theres always two people to keep each other awake. If we're gonna do that I'll take the first watch anyways." He sees Kent and Morgan poking at the eggs and he can only assume they're checking to see if an omelette of them would be a treat for the taste buds or certain death. Wonder if I can help 'em out he thinks to himself as he goes over to them and starts poking and prodding as well.

Spoiler

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Survival - (1d20+6)[12]

[Penril]

Edmund

Alright, that's good work, guys and some very nice finds. Theres no point in dragging that generator around, Brigham, see if you can radio in to anyone in town and determine the likelyhood of them picking it up at some point. If not, make sure it's secure and well hidden and we'll have to pick it up later. Michael, take an inventory of what we have, ration out the food and see if you can find anything we can use to carry any extra stuff. Kent, Bryan, lets get a grave buried for our friend upstairs. Keep in vocal range and be careful out there, be as quick as you can. Morgan, you're on first watch after I've taken a look at that injury.

As the gang disbands about their duties, Edmund opens up his medkit and sees to Morgan, cleaning the wound, applying sutures and bandages.

((Treat Injury skill (1d20+11)[28] - (1d4)[4] hp restored))

[TwoBitWriter]

(Good to have you back, Penril. Hope everything is okay.)
(Brigham, normally the radios that you have been issued only have about a 1mile range. However, it is possible for you to modify your radio to increase its range and possibly contact Kingman Militia HQ. Thats the long way of saying, make a repair check roll.)

Radscorpion eggs are safe to eat, even if there is a fetus inside. However, they taste absolutely terrible and almost make you want to vomit.

You quickly bury Hatfield, speak a few hurried words, and then prepare to bed down for the night. Bryan thoughtfully tears off one of Hatfield's dogtags before covering him with a few feet of sand. Rocks are piled on the grave, both as a marker and hopefully as a deterent to the numerous desert scavengers. Of course, as loaded as Hatfield's body is with poison, it's as much a protection for those animals as anything else. You prepare to bed down for the rest of the night.

The night passes uneventfully, and despite the lingering smell of the radscorp's refuse you manage to get in a good night's sleep. Occasionally a coyote or other form of scavenger will approach the house, attracted by the scent of the dead scorpions but it isn't particularly difficult to scare them away.

The desert air turns brutally cold shortly after sunset, but you manage to light a small fire in the kitchen of the house. Since the kitchen is on the north side of the house, which faces away from the highway, you figure it should be safe enough. Besides, you are all wearing heavy jackets, which helps a bit. You are able to actually create a sensation close to comfort for your sleeping arrangements.

Dawn cracks and light pierces through the cold desert night. You all awake feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. The highway still snakes westward, but it will be another mile or so before you reach the next ridge with which you can obscure your movements from anyone who may be watching.

[Penril]

Edmund

Up and ready to face the day, Edmund prepares his equipment and stands outside in the frigid air, watching the sun pull itself lazily from its bed. He takes time to reflect on the mission ahead, no doubt today will be the real test of his skills.

[estradling]

Brigham

The young man spends the time he isn't sleeping fiddling with his radio trying to increase the range.

Spoiler

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Take a 20 on the repair roll (28) or if that isn't possible then take a 10 (18)
He has the proper kit for electronics and he has parts as needed

[TwoBitWriter]

Brigham

Spoiler

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After spending your entire watch fiddling with the radio, and using up one of your electrical parts, you are able to successfully modify it. After several tries on various frequencies you are able to contact radio ops back at Kingman HQ. The signal is very faint, and you are likely to lose it as you progress further away from the town, but you are able to inform the militia about the farm house, the radscorp nest, the generator, and the dead Ranger Hatfield. You are told that they will dispatch a patrol to confirm your report and retrieve the generator. You cut the transmission before you use up anymore of your battery power.

[estradling]

Brigham

In the morning he reports to Edmund, "I pushed the radio to it limits and I was barely able to raise HQ. They are sending a retrieval team for the generator."

The young man is packed up and ready to go

[Penril]

Edmund

"Good work, I knew you'd be the man for the job. We can rest assured now that the generator will be put to good use." Edmund scans the horizon and remarks, "We'll have to take care when we get to that ridge, be wary of ambushes. I'd like to get there before the sun gets too high, I don't want anyone passing out on me" he grins in an awkward filling-the-slience-with-a-bad-joke kind of way and resumes scanning the horizon, waiting for the others to emerge.

[Townopolis]

Morgan

After pulling himself out of bed and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Morgan helps himself to some breakfast before packing up, but he is soon ready to go. Once he's ready, he takes up a post leaning against the outside of the farmhouse and relaxes as he waits for Edmund to start their day.

[Ipphli]

Bryan

Bryan spends most of his shift looking over his new rifle. In the morning he quickly says his prayers before eating breakfast. He stretches a bit, then joins the others outside. He scans the area ahead as he awaits the others, ready to get this show on the road.

[Serje]

Michael

Michael wakes up rather late, he had spent a lot of the previous night attempting to follow Edmund's orders. He had failed however, he couldn't find anything in the house to help them carry their goods and he had no intention to go hunting through his new companions bags to find out how much they were carrying. He quickly gathers up his equipment, skipping any food for breakfast and goes out to meet the others.

"Mornin' all." he says in a lazy, sleepy drawl. He throws a quick salute to Edmund before reporting in, "Boss, I have no idea about anything you asked me last night. I'll be more than happy to ration out our food next chance we get, if its all left out for me, but at the moment I have no idea how much we got." A sheepish, nervous grin spreads across his face, "sorry boss..."

[Vazzaroth]

Kent

Kent sees Bryan with the new gun during the night, and asks him about it during the next day. Hey buddy, you know how to use one of those things? I knew a guy that used to have some artifacts like that, taught me all about them. Might help tip the battles in our favor... in the right hands. Kent raises an eyebrow at him.

[Penril]

Edmund

"Okay guys, same as yesterday, lets head up this way and see what's over that ridge."

Edmund heads off into the desert once more.

[TwoBitWriter]

The area to the North of the farmhouse is what is known as Box Canyon. The air is still slightly cool, but is heating up rapidly as the sun rises higher into the sky.
Your maps indicate that you will now be crossing an area known as Cook Canyon, and that snaking in front of the ridge that you are heading toward is the old Interstate Highway I-40. This is the western border of the DR, marked by an abandoned trailer park that you are now approaching. Soon you will officially be in No-Man's Land, territory that remains unclaimed by any of the Southwestern Powers.
Somewhere beyond that point is where Route 66 and I-40 meet. There is no cover between the Trailer Park and the western ridge of Cook Canyon and the land is completely flat, sandy, and almost completely devoid of plant life with the exception of the odd cactus or bush.

A hawk lazily circles overhead. You watch it as it suddenly swoops down and grabs a mouse, carrying it away to the south.
At noon, you halt for a short break and a few mouthfuls of water. Ahead you spot the old trailer park. There are no signs of life that you can see at first glance and you know that there are no DR citizens that live there as the area was deemed too far from Kingman proper and thus too difficult for the militia to protect.

[Townopolis]

Morgan

Morgan sips his water and nibbles on a ration from his pack as they rest. He scans the horizon lazily, grunting at the sight of the trailer park and clearing his mouth with a swig of water.

"Hey, just so we're all aware, when we hit the I-40 it's going to be crawling with bandits. We're going to want to hide ourselves as much as possible... and still expect to fight."

He pauses after saying this, then looks down at his food and takes another bite, chewing slowly so as to savor what little flavor there is.

[Ipphli]

Bryan

Bryan smiles at Kent's words that morning. "I know a little about them myself. Wish I had more ammo for it though. Still, you're right. Could be useful. Rather not have to use it though unless I have to."

At midday, Bryan scans the trailer park with his binoculars, careful to cover the lens so they don't reflect any sunlight. At Morgan's words he nods to himself, then shakes his head as he goes back to his meal.

[Serje]

Michael

Michael takes a leaf out of the others books and treats himself to one of his bland, tasteless rations. They'd only been away from town for a day and he already missed the 'luxuries' of life he enjoyed at home. This was the best they had anyway and so he tried his hardest to make the most of it.

Seeing the trailer park in the distance Michael takes a peek at it using his binoculars, not really putting much hope on spotting anything however. Giving up pretty soon he goes back to his meal and waits for somebody else to do the job better.

[Vazzaroth]

Kent

Kent takes the opportunity to sling his pack down and rummage through it for a moment. He pulls out a bottled, pink fruit drink and a small bag of melting chocolates. He begins to eat these things, thoroughly enjoying himself. As he finishes the candy, he realizes what the others are eating, and feels a little bad, but shrugs it off. When Michael takes his binocs out, Kent once again feels like he probably should have requisitioned some before he left, so he wouldn't be standing about uselessly like this.

((And with that, I have consumed my Cheer Food. +1 on rolls until we sleep.))

[TwoBitWriter]

None of you see any movement coming from the Trailer Park. Most of the trailers are broken down and rusted out. The desert has encroached on this once-inhabited area.

[estradling]

Brigham

Hearing Byran and Kent talk about the rifle and Byran's concern about ammo he speaks up, "If you keep the casing after you fire, I might be able to figure out a way to reload you."


When the trailer park comes in to view he says, "It might be worth checking out. The other group might have used it as shelter, or their might be supplies. At the very least it is a shaded area to take a rest break... Assuming it's clear."

[Ipphli]

Bryan

Bryan nods in agreement. "We might want to think about traveling at night now. Least the dark would provide some cover. I don't like thinking somebody eyeing me through the scope of their rifle out in the middle of nowhere like that."

[Serje]

Michael

Mike finishes his measly ration and stands up, stretching out his body which had started aching from sitting down for too long. "I think you might be right on that one Brigham, could be anything over there. I need a good walk, if nobody minds I think I'll go check it out."

Assuming there were no objections to his idea Mike picks up his bat from his pile of supplies, leaving the rest with everyone else, and starts walking over to the trailer park. It looked clear to him but he keeps a good grip on his bat just in case, his good eye looking around for anything that could be useful to the group.

Search - (1d20-1)[1]

[TwoBitWriter]

Aside from the odd tumbleweed blowing past you, there doesn't seem to be much here.
You know that in the past, before Kingman first attempted to settle this area, the DR army had used the park as an outpost ages ago when it had been in conflict with the SCC.

Most of the old trailers are still relatively intact, even after many years of rusting and baking in the hot desert sun. Since the area has been relatively deserted for some time, there may still be something worth finding here.

(Everyone who has not done so already can roll a search check)

[Penril]

Edmund

Searching ... (1d20+2)[9]