Current supplies:
Aviator's jacket that lets the wearer survive a fall from any height
Scavenged police uniform and tactical vest
Kitchen cutting knife
Hovercraft console compass
Several nails
Empty canteen
Wallet (formerly Slim's, who died on the hovercraft)
Slim's phylactory coin
1940s first aid kit (attached to vest) containing:
• 1 X Ammonia, Inhalant, Aromatic Ampuls, 1/3 cc (10 X)
• 1 X Boric Acid, Ointment, ½ Oz (2 X)
• 12 X Bandage, Gauze, Compressed, 3-in x 6 yds
• 6 X Bandage, Muslin, Triangular, Compressed, 37" x 37" x 52"
• 8 X Dressing, First Aid, Small
• 2 X Dressing, Gauze & Adhesive Plaster, 1-in x 3-in (16 X)
• 2 X Plaster, Adhesive, Surgical, 1-in x 5 yds, on Spool
• 1 X Scissors, Bandage, Lister, 7 ¼ in
• 1 X Tourniquet, Elastic, 2 1/8 –in x 5 ft
• 1 X Card, Pins, Safety, Large (12 X)
• 1 X Card, Pins, Safety, Medium (12 X)
• 1 X Container, Plastic, ½ Oz. + 20 X Tablets, Acetylsalicylic Acid, 5 Gr.
• 2 X Container, Plastic, ½ Oz. + 16 X Tablets, Sodium Bicarbonate & Peppermint
• 1 X Kit, First Aid, Eye Dressing, M-2
• 1 X Pencil, General Writing, Wood Cased Lead, Medium Soft, w/ Rubber, No. 2
• 1 X Book, Emergency Medical Tag containing 20 identical tags

rolled 9510 = 9510

continue following Romero, i guess.

Go forward

>>forward, follow Romero

As you eat up a few more miles on foot, a heavy fog starts rolling in from behind you. Before the mist gets too thick to see through, you can just make out the edge of a small town in front of the black shape of Romero.

A little more walking and you hear several faint moans in front of you.

zombies! climb a tree!

>>7515712

Take out gauze and a nail. Hide nail in gauze, walk towards the noises quietly.

rolled 32652 = 32652

Ah, these are obviously villagers coming to greet us with their strange local customs of holding their arms straight out and moaning. We should let them peacefully approach in the name of cultural acceptance and- wait, no, that's retarded.

Check compass, to gauge general level of freaky shit occurrence. Equip knife, and remember to aim for the head.

>>7515712
I find myself concerned that if there are indeed zombie ahead, whatever infected them may be contagious and airborne. We have no defense at all against such.

That said, I am unwilling to abandon this objective over such concerns. If we can still see Romero up ahead, we should hasten our pace to reach him; we could easily lose him in this mist and then we'll be in great difficulty.

hmmm
a PLAGUE doctor named ROMERO and unearthly MOANS in the FOG? yeah, so very zombies ahead, i hope alicia is a good runner, and these arent fast ones

>>7515776
>>7515759
>>7515748

You check your compass, and it shows that you're still oriented the same way as before being enveloped in the thick fog. You wrap a nail in a piece of gauze, and stow it for quick retrieval, before pulling out your knife.

You slowly advance, keeping an eye out for trees to climb. As you get closer, you see the source of the moaning. Four tiny men are standing around the rotting stump of a tree, one of whom is moaning in pain. A second look, and you see what they are--goblins, gremlins, bogies, people have a dozen names for them. They don't seem to notice you, and as you study them you see that each has their left hand nailed to the stump with a thick nail.

>>7515906
What do we know about the usual dispositions and capabilities of such creatures?

zombie gremlins, clearly we must stab them in the head

>>7515940
ZOMBAY GREMLINS LEAVE THIS PLACE!

walk up to them and say hello

>>What do we know about the usual dispositions and capabilities of such creatures?

Many people consider them pests due to their terrible hygiene and crude manners, not to mention their often rather vicious nature. They're usually thieves, cutthroats and knaves. They're carnivorous. They are also possessed of a strange code of honor, which includes keeping a promise at all costs--on the rare occasion that they ever give them.

>>zombies
They do not appear to be in any state of death or undeath.

>>7516020
Idea: Attempt to get them to promise to aid us to the best of their abilities in exchange for being set free. For, say, a week, after which time they will go their own way and hold no grudge against us.

Alternately, since they're nailed to the tree, we can ignore them and dash after Romero before we utterly lose track of him.

>>7516020
>>7516083

Indeed, extract a promise of service and loyalty in exchange for being set free and given medical care.

We may then be able to use them to locate Romero in the fog.

>>walk up to them and say hello

You walk up and greet them. They immediately begin beseeching you in a rather piteous manner, all at the same time, for their release. You're close enough to see that they're all armed with some crude weapon or another in their belts. The flesh on their hands around the nail looks like a third degree burn.

>>Attempt to get them to promise to aid us to the best of their abilities in exchange for being set free. For, say, a week, after which time they will go their own way and hold no grudge against us.
>>Indeed, extract a promise of service and loyalty in exchange for being set free and given medical care.

"I'll release you and patch you up, but you must promise to aid me to the best of your abilities for one week in exchange, after which time you will go their own way and hold no grudge against me."

The four go silent and look at you, look at each other, look at the nails, and seem to be furiously thinking. They spend several minutes repeating this process, before speaking in one joined voice: "We so swear, lady. Release us."

>>7516252

Release them.

It also appears that they are vulnerable to iron, as Fae-Folk myths go.
If we encounter hostile ones, our saved nails will likely be useful.

>>7516252
Fulfill our half of the bargain.

>>Release them.
>>Fulfill our half of the bargain.

You try yanking on the nearest of the nails, but it's driven in pretty solidly, and it's about an inch wide. Maybe there's a faster way?

we have a tourniquet, that has to have some beefy tensile strength, try to wrap the middle around a nail and pull on the ends for better leverage

>>7516386
If we can use any of our items- or their weapons- as some sort of lever or prybar which might give us the force needed to extract the nails, do that.

I don't really want to cut off their hands and then claim that they were "released". I'd feel like a total dick.

>>we have a tourniquet, that has to have some beefy tensile strength, try to wrap the middle around a nail and pull on the ends for better leverage
>>If we can use any of our items- or their weapons- as some sort of lever or prybar which might give us the force needed to extract the nails, do that.

You remember a few things you've learned about basic physics, and start applying them with the tourniquet as the means. The four goblins/gremlins/bogeys/whichever you want to call them babble at you as you work, each clamoring to be the next one released.

It takes a few minutes, but then you're done, and the four are prancing around with viciously wide little grins of glee.

You can add four thick nails to your inventory if you wish.

add them! ask the hobgobs their names

also do not reveal full name, if these really are of fey origin that can be badtimes

>>7516515

Keep the nails, of course.
Ask names.
Remember names.
Ask what skills they may have.

>>add them! ask the hobgobs their names
>>Ask names. Remember names.
"Smuckles, sweet lady."
"Oho, they calls me Planck."
"Higgs!"
"I's Constable, and I's in charge." Plank cracks him across the face with at that. "She the one in charge now!" The two go down scuffling, throwing some pretty nasty blows.

>>Keep the nails, of course.
You discreetly pack the nails away.

>>also do not reveal full name, if these really are of fey origin that can be badtimes
You only mention that you are Alicia.

>>Ask what skills they may have.
"We's good at evveryfing, good lady!" Higgs says with a broad beam.

designate constable as 2nd in command, ensure he has teh 2nd fanciest hat, ask them what's up with the fog and being nailed to a tree

>>7516730

Concurring.
Also-- physicist's names, eh? This could be fun.

>>7516670
Please instruct them not to fight or damage eachother during their time in our service.

>>7516780
limit that to just damage

>>designate constable as 2nd in command
"Constable will be the second in command." Constable lets out a "HA!" from the ground but he and Planck keep going at it with vigor.

>>ensure he has teh 2nd fanciest hat,
You aren't really sure which of their hats is most desirable. They all look unappealing.

>>ask them what's up with the fog
"The fog is when bad things come out, oh lady."
>>and being nailed to a tree
Smuckles wrings his hands and whines "It were a man in black wiv a big white beak, sweet lady. He sez we were vermin and disease spreaders. We weren't nothing against him."

>>Please instruct them not to fight or damage each other during their time in our service.
>>just damage
Higgs jumps to and runs over to the fighting pair, then starts kicking them apart, hard. "Lissen up! She sez not ter beat the stuffins out of each uvver! Knokkit off!" He looks to be kicking them as hard as they've been hitting each other, but he's trying.

>>7516896
Inquire as to where the man in black went.

Inquire as to what they can tell us about the surrounding area.

big white beak = old fashioned filter masks used by doctors during plagues, meaning that our friend Romero is the one that did the nailing.

>>Inquire as to where the man in black went.
He thinks hard for a moment, then points. A quick compass check shows it's North, the way you've been headed.

>>Inquire as to what they can tell us about the surrounding area.
"A lot! We lives here!" You get the sense that he's the sort that does better with pointed questions. Schoolteacher's intuition, maybe.

Random Knowledge http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/medico_peste.html

round up the gremlings and continue on after romero

>>7517057
>You get the sense that he's the sort that does better with pointed questions.
Joy.

Start walking north, gesturing for them to accompany you. Ask for information on the other people who live in the area, any dangers to be aware of, any recent events, what the bad things which come out in the fog are, and how they normally cope with said bad things.

>>7517127

Dangers to the life and health of a human, that is.
Also ask the name of the town we saw and his impression of the people who live there.

>>round up the gremlings and continue on after romero
>>Start walking north, gesturing for them to accompany you. Ask for information on
The now trio of brawling gremlins doesn't notice you leave at first, and Smuckles runs over to change that with several well applied hits and shouts. It doesn't take long after that until they're scurrying after you.

>>the other people who live in the area,
"We gots the gov'm'nt ovva there, the town ovva there, but we likes this place cause nobodys around, unless they's alone."

>>any dangers to be aware of, dangers to the life and health of a human, that is.
"Sharp rocks, bad weather, us... and th' fogtime."

>>any recent events,
They're more than happy to give you a blow-by-blow account of their recent successes in catching edible creatures, fighting with each other, and so forth. Barring the man you presume to be Romero passing through they don't recall anything out of the ordinary in the very recent past. Which seems to be all they care about.

>>what the bad things which come out in the fog are, and
At this, his descriptions and gestures are odd and outlandish to the point of hilarity ("Thiiiiiiis big!"), without being terribly concrete or clear about anything. "But don' worry, we letcha know if we sees 'em!"

>>how they normally cope with said bad things.
"We runs away quicklike and hides! Or jus hides!"

>>Also ask the name of the town we saw and his impression of the people who live there.
"They called it, er, Drezzen I think? Not really nobody livin there lady."

no one living there now? (because they all plagued to death) or no one really ever living there?

>>no one living there now? (because they all plagued to death) or no one really ever living there?
"I dun't think nobody been livin' there for a long time. Dunno if they got sicked though, but I dun't think so."

>>7517283

"You mentioned people alone-- have you met any interesting or powerful travelers? Perhaps someone from the Government?

You wouldn't happen to know anything about demons or sorcery, would you?"

>>"You mentioned people alone-- have you met any interesting or powerful travelers? Perhaps someone from the Government?
"We mets a couple tasty ones last week, din we boys! Not gov'm'nt though, oh no. When they comes out'v that big city there's always a lot of em."

>>You wouldn't happen to know anything about demons or sorcery, would you?"
"Theys bad news and wes to stay away from them and make a wide circle round. Tha's what my muther awways said."

>>7517493
"Are there many others of your race around?
How do you know your way around in the fog?
What do your names mean, and who gave them to you?
Where were you born?
What were your mother's names?"
(Just in-case.)

It may be prudent to continue on to the town; that may be Romero's destination.

You continue onward as you question the gremlins, until one of them, Constable you think it is, says it's two miles to the town, though how he knows in this pea soup thick fog is beyond you. As you progress to within a mile of the town, you start feeling uneasy.

"Good lady? Um, er, I think somethin's comin'. Somethin' bad."

Run Away and Hide! or just Hide!

[SO MANY QUESTIONS]

>>Are there many others of your race around?
"We's all ovver the place! Jes us four right round here though. Unless we got some new punks wanna try and push us off, ha!"

>>How do you know your way around in the fog?
"Um. We jus do. Inna dark too, no problem!"

>>What do your names mean, and who gave them to you?
"Names mean things? Our muthers gave'm to us, mine was a right crafty muther too."

>>Where were you born?
"Dunno, long time ago!"

>>What were your mother's names?
Apparently, goblin female names are incredibly long, or they've tacked on a bunch of honorariums, but each rattles off a good five or six solid seconds of name so fast it's hard to keep up.

Then this: >>7517573

>>7517573

Can we or they tell the direction it is coming from, or if it is a fog-born creature?

No No No! no talky no asky, just Hide! we do not stand about engaged in slackjawed lollygagging when we have been informed that a big scary fog monster is coming

Ask the four for more info, or take some immediate action?

Still waiting on consensus.

>>7517696
>>7517838

Slow night, this is.
Quickly ask where's it coming from, then follow the goblins into hiding.

it's coming from 'over there' and it's going to 'eat us' HIDE!

>>7517838
Let's leave. We're not so lucky as Paul, to have an arm to warn us when danger is coming. It would be foolish not to make use of what warnings we do have.

>>Slow night, this is.
I'll say.

Seconding asking where it's coming from. Let's not run right into it.

>>7518004
This, ask where it's coming from and run the fuck away in another direction.

>>Ask where it's coming from
The gremlins all point at once to your right.

>>Run and hide
You turn and begin sprinting to your left, hissing "Hide!" to the four. They scatter, one zipping along right at your feet. You spot a rather meager shrub. It looks to be about the best cover you'll see, but it's not all that much. Keep running, or stop and hide here? Alternatively, turn and run toward the town? And if that, what do you want to tell the goblin(s)?

Ask the Goblins if we should hide in town, if they think it's safe we do it.

This lone shrub reminds me all too much of "How not to be seen" keep running for another spot

[Connection issues, sorry for the delay. I think they're fixed now.]

>>Ask the Goblins if we should hide in town, if they think it's safe we do it.
The one goblin near you, Planck, responds as you dash along: "Hidin' in town's safe. Gettin' there might not be!"

>>This lone shrub reminds me all too much of "How not to be seen" keep running for another spot
You haven't seen much in the way of cover while you've walked these open hills. You could always dive down onto the regular ground and hope staying flat keeps you hidden. But running makes a lot of noise.

Hide behind the shrub.

shrub, grab your knife and one of them big-honkin nails

>>7518454
No, then we'll get blown up.

Go watch Something Completely Different.

>>Hide behind the shrub
>>shrub, grab your knife and one of them big-honkin nails

You decide getting into some sort of cover now is better than staying out in the open. You get down under the shrub and keep as much of it to the right as possible, pulling out your knife and a nail.

After a minute or two, you hear a rough snorting. A dark shape comes out of the fog, and unbidden, a palatable feeling of fear rises in the back of your head. It's a dog, blacker than pitch, with burning coals where its eyes should be. It swings its head from left to right, letting out several loud snorts.

Planck is quivering next to you.

Laying flat behind the shrub sounds fun.

>>7518405

Ask the goblins if they know anywhere better!

>>7518569

A doggie!
Doggies should have sensitive noses-- if he gets too close, or detects us, we can throw the contents of one ampule of Ammonia Inhalant at him and run for the town.
It may stun him for a bit!

rolled 27599 = 27599

>>7518591
noise = heard = death = bad.

stay quiet, stay low, and get the ammonia capsule ready to throw.

>>Laying flat behind the shrub sounds fun.
The dog fans from left to right, gradually getting nearer, swinging its head side to side. You lie flat, but from where you are you can see that it's leaving footprints seared into the ground where it's passed. No... those are handprints. And then you realize just how BIG this dog is--it must be as big as a pony.

>>Ask the goblins if they know anywhere better!
Just from watching him, Planck seems to be trying to make up his mind between digging a tunnel or fleeing. You start to whisper something to him as quietly as you can, and then hear a harsh, raucous blend of growling and laughing. The Black Dog is dashing forward to where you are.

>>Doggies should have sensitive noses-- if he gets too close, or detects us, we can throw the contents of one ampule of Ammonia Inhalant at him and run for the town. It may stun him for a bit!
You fling open your medical kit, scattering some of the supplies as you snatch an ammonia ampule and fling the contents at the Black Dog. You aim for the nose, and for a moment it looks like you might hit. But the ammonia goes past, not even a drop hitting its nose. It splashes instead into the dog's eye and the coal turns into a torch. The dog lets out a howl of rage as you dash for the town and hope the gremlins have the good sense to follow.

Haul ass to town.

>>7518752

Perhaps prepare another ampule for Nose-Striking, as well.

>>7518769
But we might scatter more of our supplies on the ground! I doubt we'll have the chance to get those back.

it's a barghest! if only we could find some running water, RUN!

>>Haul ass to town.

You sprint toward the town, but you've got about a mile to go. You can't decide whether to slow down enough to get out another ampule, and just keep running for the moment. Then behind you, you hear a scream of pain cut suddenly short.

Debating whether I should cut this session short and resume next weekend. Tonight is really crawling.

i say wrap it up till next week

>>7518904
Poor goblin!

>>7519100
>>7519158
This is probably best. *tear*

All right, packing it up for now. Guess I should have run it Friday night. Will try to run it next Friday but that weekend is sketchy--Saturday night is definitely out.

Since somebody archived it already, give the threads a vote if you've been enjoying the quest so far. If sup/tg/ is any indicator, last thread wasn't really enjoyed; tonight's didn't seem to garner much interest either. I'm going to try and figure out if there's something I need to change to get it back up to its previous levels of enjoyment. I'm hoping it's not that the quest has jumped the shark, but if it has there's really only one option.

Sorry everyone who wanted to continue tonight, or have a thread that was the usual length.

>>7519315
I guess I'll just hope for next Friday then.