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Lect and the tinkers you were hired to guard pile in behind Brother Antolitus' ward, the circle inscribed into the ground shimmering with white light as it activates. The group of shadows is gaining ground fast, and the undead dinosaur Mark blundered into isn't making it easy to establish a defensive line. While Mark and Anatoly back away, raking the monster with bullets, the giant once-reptile lunges forward and catches Anatoly in its jaws. The grizzled desert scout screams as he is lifted into the air, cruel fangs crunching into his bonus and crushing his flesh. The T-Rex begins shaking him from side to side as the ex-Prospector tries to wriggle out of the jaws despite already horrific injuries.

“We've got a man down!” Mark calls.

“Not yet!” Cael says, pointing. “He's not dead yet! If we act fast...”

> ”Wallace, now's the time for that rifle! Blast off a leg or something!” (d100 roll required.)
> “Brother Antolitus, can you channel the power of your god against that thing, try to drive it off?” (d100 roll required.)
> “No one's dying while I still draw breath!” (Use Banshee Scream, d100 roll required.)
> “There's no way he's living past that, focus fire the Rex down before we lose more!” (d100 roll required.)
> “Wait, I've got an idea...” (Other plan.)

Rolled 86

“No one's dying while I still draw breath!” (Use Banshee Scream, d100 roll required.)

>>33231204
> ”Wallace, now's the time for that rifle! Blast off a leg or something!” (d100 roll required.)
That rifle is a big one, and should be able to punch through a leg.

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Rolled 41, 76, 1, 42 = 160

>>33231223
>>33231454
Going with scream since you forgot to include a roll for the rifle.

"No one's dying while I still draw breath!" you shout, remembering the sight of Wallace's body, the sight of Eli's body, the burning caravan, the laughter of the shadows. Anger wells up in you like a magma surge until the only release it can find is in your voice. You open your mouth and scream, a wall of sound that slams into the T-Rex's body like a sledgehammer. The mammoth undead stumbles, opening its maw to roar and letting Anatoly fall out in the process. He hits the sand hard and rolls away, leaving a bloody trail behind him. Cael is immediately running for him while Mark and Sybil provide covering fire.

"Oh, that's impressive!" Lect calls from the safety of the ward, giving up a thumbs up.

"Shadows are almost on us!" Fatima calls, keeping her eyes on the tide of darkness rolling your way.

You blink, feeling suddenly drained at the expenditure of so much energy, but after a moment to collect yourself, you manage to banish any feeling of fatigue.

(Cont.)

>>33231772
>DAT nat1
Which one of our guys is going to nearly get killed with this?

With the higher statistical likelihood of nat1's and other failures with OP, maybe we should reduce the effects of crits?

Rolled 54, 7, 4, 12 = 77

>>33231772
Cael reaches Anatoly and grabs him under the arms, dragging him away while barely ducking under the clashing jaws of the T-Rex. Sybil's hand laser manages to burn several neat holes through the mammoth monster, distracting it enough for Cael to get away with Anatoly.

"Been saving this for a special occasion," Mark says, bracing his rifle and firing the underbarrel grenade launcher. A plume of smoke and there is suddenly an explosion on the T-Rex's skull, cracking it open and blasting away the rotted flesh on one side of its face. The great beast staggers in place, then shakes its partially shattered head and begins to stomp towards you.

"What's it take to kill one of these things?" Mark asks, falling back as he works the action on his launcher.

"Hey Black!" Fatima calls, turning to you. "Shadows have minds, right?"

"I've heard them talking at least once, so yes," you says, raising your rifle and popping off a few rounds at the T-Rex to little effect. "Why?"

"Going to try something, buy us a little time, maybe," Fatima says, turning to the oncoming shadow horde. Purple energy swirls around her head for a moment, lancing towards the foremost of the dark apparitions... Then she begins to shake violently, collapsing to the sands as she goes into some sort of seizure.

"Son of a bitch!" Wallace cries, looking at the downed woman. "What the hell was that?"

"Well whatever it was, tell her not to try it again if she wakes up!" Mark shouts. Marie looks from the T-Rex to the shadows and back again. She winces and begins to chant.

Charlie is firing at the T-Rex with single-minded precision, sending round after round into the beast's exposed brain-pan as his hands work the action on his bolt-rifle.

"All right, time for me to get my hands dirty," Wallace says, slamming his fists together. "You want me on the Rex or the shadows?"

>What do you do?

Wallace is probably better off on the T-rex.

We're not doing much damage to it, and the shadows should be easier to kill by us.

We can drain one, Cael can "Holy" one, etc.

>>33232068
Since the trex is corporeal undead, I think Wallace should try to take out its mobility, while we use the HMG against the shadows. We're able to Ghosttouch the HMG so it can hurt them, while such an ability is less useful against the shadows.

Also, Leo isn't doing anything and he's not behind a ward, so I think he should help Carl and Anatoly get to some cover.
I don't know if he will be of much use against a zombie trex, even if it is similar to a dragon.

>>33232162
Wait, correction. Leo should drag Fatima to some cover, and we could drain one of the shadows in order to be able to heal Anatoly or simply recharge.

Also, could the good Brother cast a spell to allow Leo's sword to damage the shadows?

>>33232211
"Ant, can you cast some kind of spell that would let Leo damage the shadows?" you shout.

"Aye, I can call upon Dunamon's power to bless his weapon! Uh, temporarily, of course!"

>>33232138
>>33232162
>>33232211
Please roll 8d100.

Rolled 30, 65, 81, 51, 17, 24, 26, 3 = 297

As you wish.

Rolled 16, 12, 9, 44, 7, 37, 30, 70 = 225

>>33232415

Rolled 70, 64, 15, 46, 90, 43, 62, 32 = 422

these rolls suck

>>33232741
And of course, mediocre rolls only when it doesn't count, and bad rolls when they do.

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>>33232576
"A true knight always saves a lady in distress!" Leo says, quite pleased with himself as he begins dragging Fatima behind the wagon. Antolitus stops him for a moment as he casts a spell over his sword.

Mark drops to a knee and begins reloading as Sybil's shots go wide against the Rex. Safe behind Brother Ant's wards, Edet and his tinkers plink away with their pistols at the zombie dinosaur, to no real effect.

Then an explosion shakes the area as Marie completes her chant and a fireball impacts just to the side of the shadow horde, the magical flame causing six of the creatures to burn up.

Wallace roars a battle cry and charges at the T-Rex, moving with surprising speed considering he is a ghost possessing a heavy suit of powered armor. You are not sure what he was planning, but whatever it was, it didn't work, the T-Rex lunging forward at the last second and swallowing him whole.

"This day, this fucking day..." you moan as you bring out the heavy machine gun you salvaged and brace it for firing. You take aim and pull down the trigger, the gun immediately jack-hammering your shoulder as a hail of lead spews forth from the barrel to shred apart the shadows in the front of their formation. Despite your lack of ability with the heavy weapon, your ghost-touch power combined with how closely packed the shadows are makes it an almost perfect selection for this battle. Shadow after shadow is struck by bullets imbued with your power, dispersing into clouds of smoke with high-pitched screeches. You rack up an impressive kill-count, but the sheer numbers of the enemy prove more than you can fell, and there are still five of the spectral apparitions left when you hear the worst sound you've heard in a long time. The 'click-click' of your gun going dry.
((Cont.))

>>33232882

The remaining five shadows split up as they finally reach melee range, one heading straight for the warding circle. The holy wards flare up as the creature impacts an invisible barrier between it and the cowering engineers behind it. The shadow howls maddeningly and claws at the air, trying to get past and failing.

The second shadow heads straight for Cael and Anatoly, but the suited healer drops to a knee and murmurs something, flinging a bolt of shimmering energy at the dark enemy that impacts it dead on. The shadow screams as it burns away to ash.

The third descends on Brother Antolitus, catching the cleric offguard with a sudden burst of speed. Brother Ant whirls around with his mace, but the shadow's claws suddenly extend by two feet, driving through the priest of Dunamon's belly. Ant staggers back, wheezing heavily, but not out of the fight yet as he begins to cast a healing spell.

Anatoly isn't so lucky. His attention taken up by the first attack, the fourth shadow slips around Cael and drives his claws into the old Prospector's chest. Anatoly gasps as the shadow chitters inhumanly, slowly pulling out something white and luminescent. Your Ghost-Walker training jolts to life as you realize its attempting to steal his soul.

You have little time to wonder about this however, as the final shadow is upon you, ripping the heavy gun from your hands and throwing you to the desert sands with supernatural strength. Its eyes burn with increased intensity as it stares at you, ready to pounce again.

What do you do?

Rip the energy out of the first shadow, then move over to the second, and take the energy from that one. Then heal Anatoly using the overflow.

>>33233077
Seconding. Maybe include yelling Leo to put his sword to use against the shadow attacking Antolitus.

Rolled 60, 33, 53, 51 = 197

>>33233077
>>33233114
Roll 3d100, please.

Rolled 48, 70, 65 = 183

>>33233178
Oh god we are so going to die here.

Rolled 65

>>33233227
That's actually not too bad

Rolled 48, 72, 80 = 200

roll

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>>33233227
>>33233178
"You really picked the wrong guy to tackle," you say as you jam your hands into the shadow's chest and begin to pull at his animating energy. The shadow hisses and struggles in your grasp, making no physical move, but instead concentrating on trying to drain your energy instead. The two of you become deadlocked, each trying to wrest the vital force from the other.

You hear a gasp of pain and look over to see another shadow laying into Brother Antolitus.

"Leo!" You shout, voice thick with tension. "Help Ant!"

Leo pops his head up from behind the wagon, where he had been placing Fatima. The young knight nods and comes charging around the wagon with sword held high.

"Glory and steel!" he shouts as his blessed blade cuts into the shadow attacking the priest. The creature shrieks in pain and recoils from the knight before lashing out with immaterial claws. Leo staggers back for a moment in pain, but his attack was all Brother Antolitus needed.

"To dust with you, foul thing!" the cleric shouts, holding up his holy symbol as a golden radiance pours from it. The light overpowers the shadow and consumes it until all that is left is its scream of pain.

Anatoly begins breathing harder and harder as the shadow slowly pulls his very soul from his body. Cael turns and begins chanting a spell, but he never manages to finish it. The shadow hammering at the wards had ceased its futile efforts and is now grappling with the silver haired healer, clawing and biting and disrupting his magic.

Three darts of brilliant blue weave through the air and slam into Anatoly's attacker, but the thing merely grunts at Marie's spell.

The T-Rex roars and stomps forward to resume its attack, then begins swaying unsteadily on its feet, giving a strangled moan as it stops in place.

With a final scream of exertion, you manage to drain the shadow of its energy, restoring your own and killing the creature... but it's too late.
(Cont.)

>>33233493
Anatoly lets out one long final breath as the shadow succeeds in pulling out what looks like a ghostly clone of him from his body. The ghost-Anatoly looks around in confusion as the shadow chitters with delight. Its form distends to form a huge, distended mouth, like a humanoid python as it intends to swallow the newborn ghost whole...

You might have a chance to stop it, but you'd better act fast! What do you do?

>>33233584
Goddammit!
Is it close enough to tackle?
How far away is it?
If its close enough to tackle, then we can do that.
Otherwise we can use the G36.

>>33233640
unless throwing our knife at it would have any effect. Shooting it would be our best choice.

>>33233640
A stabbing tackle would be nice if we're within range. otherwise, shoot the damn thing.

>>33233775
>>33233666
>>33233640
You unsling your assault rifle and quickly take aim.

Please roll 1d100.

Rolled 98

Desna, please.

Rolled 45

>>33233796
This was supposed to be a milk run! Why is this happening?

>>33233813
Desna be praised!

>>33233813
Your aim is true and a burst of ghost touched rounds splatter the shadow's head into bits of dark goo that burn away in short order. Cael and Marie take care of the other with a pair of spells.

Anatoly's ghost is left standing over his body. He grunts.

"Shit. Figured I'd end up like this," he says as you approach.

"I'm sorry," you say. "I... I tried to stop it."

"Yeah... yeah, you did," Anatoly says, continuing to look at his body.

"You know, this doesn't have to be the end," you say, reaching out your hand to the insubstantial scout. "You could still come with us. Wallace is a ghost too, underneath that armor."

"Life as a ghost ain't no life at all," Anatoly murmurs, looking up as his features begin to glow. "Naw, I'm done with this place."

"Are you sure?" you ask.

"Yeah," Anatoly says, looking down to face you for a moment. He finally takes your outstretched hand. "Lemme give you something before I go, though. A bit of advice." Anatoly pauses and looks you directly in the eyes. "This world is a terrible, terrible, place. I've traveled all over it. Anything that's good here is the exception, not the norm. Watch yourself, and watch those you care about. It's like the land itself has some malevolence lurking underneath it."

You nod, unsure of what to say, then you feel an odd tingling in the hand Anatoly's ghost is shaking.

You think you could anchor him without his will. You think you could STEAL his will if you chose.
You could also ease his transition to the next life.
Or you could simply say goodbye and do nothing.

What do you do?

>>33234016
Ease his passing. If we make him stay, he'll just be angry.

Dammit, this was supposed to be a milk run, and we've already lost a member, and one of the more useful ones too.

By steal, do you mean absorb his knowledge into us, or to force him to stay?

>>33234166
You could attempt to force him to stay, or go so far as to try to force him to stay as a ghost with no free will, bound to do your bidding.

As much as I'd like him to stay, forcing him to stay is a giant dick move.

Help him pass.

>>33234276
>>33234071
Roll a d100, please.

Rolled 44

>>33234430

>>33234589
"Well if the world here is so bad... then I wish you well in the next one," you say, gently reaching out with your essence and giving the few remaining ties Anatoly has to his body a nice, clean cut. The ghost pulses with a newfound radiance as he looks upward.

"Yeah... you too," he whispers before vanishing in a flash of light, holding your hand all the while. Your hand tingles again and you feel a scratching at the back of your mind, as if something is there that wasn't there before.

>Gained Survival Instincts: In the process of freeing Anatoly from ghosthood, you have absorbed remnants of his memories, giving you what amounts to a small amount of inherent knowledge about survival in the sands.

The T-Rex, still staggering in the sands behind the group finally gives out a pained moan and collapses, Wallace bursting from its gut in a shower of gore.

"What'd I miss?" he asks, looking around.

"We're a man down, and Thad here has been talking to no one," Mark says, gesturing. Sybil turns.

"Yeah, what the hell was that about?" she asks.

"Thaddeus can talk to ghosts," Marie says.

"No shit," Mark says, looking you over again. "I'm gonna start calling you Willis."

"Please don't," you quietly ask.

Cael quietly begins picking up the body, face solemn.

"I'll load him onto the cart. He should get a proper burial once we return to town," Cael says. "Everyone else OK?"

"Fine," you say, the taste of ash in your mouth. "Fatima's... having some sort of fit, though."

"I'll check on her then," Cael nods.

"She's right by the wagon anyway," you tell him. The healer nods again and begins carrying the corpse away. Lect, Edet, and his assistants finally step out of the warding circle.

"That was some damn fine work, son! Damn fine work!" Edet says, stilling shaking. "I thought we were dead men, never seen that many shadows in one place before."

"This job better be worth it," you say, voice hollow. "This was supposed to be easy money, and I've got a man down."

>>33234884
"Mr. Black, nothing in the desert here is easy," Edet says, putting a hand on your shoulder. "But we all manage the best we can. Your man Anatoly there would've known that if he was a Prospector."

You think on Anatoly's final words and sigh.

"I guess in a way, he did."

Brother Antolitus begins tending to the wounded while Cael sees to Fatima. Mark and Sybil check their weapons and return to their original positions in the caravan. Leo looks around anxiously, sword still out.

"Is it over already?" he asks.

>Move on.
>Talk to one of your crew.
>Talk to Edet.
>Other.

>>33234985
Wallace. You were inside the beast's stomach.

Anything salvagable from other people it may have attacked?

>Talk to Edet

>>33235029
"Wallace, you were... uh... inside that thing. See anything useful?" you ask. The ex-soldier shakes his head.

"Absolutely nothing you'd want," he replies. "Skull might make a nice mantlepiece, but I'm not going to be the one to sit here for an hour and clean it off."

"Right," you say, turning back to Edet. "How are we doing on progress, anyway? Along your exploration path?"

"Halfway done," Edet sighs. "Which means if we don't find something soon... Pardon me saying so, but your friend will have died for nothing."

"That's a really nice thing to say," you say, rolling your eyes. "He died defending YOU, you know."

"I know, and I'm not disparaging him, I'm just saying, if we walk out of this rich, it'll make his death a lot more meaningful than if we walk out of this paupers," Edet says, raising a six-fingered hand and tapping his nose. "Which outcome would you rather have?"

"All right, I've been meaning to ask, what is going on with your hands?" you ask, frowning. "Your pals have the same deal."

"All Raelians have six fingers," Edet scoffs. "We don't know how you humans manage with only five."

"You're not human?" you ask, blinking.

"Of course not!" Edet says. "My people were creating mercantile star-lanes when yours were still battling with sword and spear! We were known as the trade-princes of the cosmos until..." Edet bites his lip. "There... was a war that nearly destroyed us. In the process of fleeing part of said war... I may or may not have stepped through a malfunctioning portal gate only to find myself stranded here."

"You're in good company, it seems," you say. "Being stranded here seems all the rage."

"Yes, well," Edet sighs. "As I said, in this desert you manage the best you can. I doubt I'll find a way home, so me and mine are stuck trying to use our scientific knowledge to make a business for ourselves out here in the boonies. Uh, no offense."

"Not a native," you say, pausing. "At least... I'm pretty sure I'm not."

"...as you say."

>>33235291
Forgot to mention.
>Reloading your HMG has used up your extra ammunition.

>>33235416
Are people waiting for something?

>>33235833
Give a minute.
Or five.

>>33235833
Okay, let's ask everyone for a status check on ammunition, power cell status, their spell slots, and their mana levels.
Also, we absorbed from life force from the Shadow we Embraced; do we still have that extra energy?

>>33236584
You ask around and everyone reports that ammunition and spells are at a good level. The attack was vicious, but over shortly.

You still have the extra energy.

>>33236717
Can we bank the energy for now?

Actually, how's Wallace? As I recall, he needs infusions of energy every once in a while.

>>33236986
Yeah. We should strengthen Wallace while we have the extra energy.

>>33236986
Wallace has expended some of his energy boosting himself for that T-Rex assault, but he's fine. You can also bank the energy instead.

>Bank the energy.
>Give it to Wallace.
>After you decide this, will you move on or linger?

>>33237299
>Bank the energy.
>Move on
By banking it, we can either charge up Wallace later, or use it to heal someone in case they need it.

>>33237335
Bank it.

If Wallace has enough, we can save it for later.

>>33237451
>>33237335
You store the energy and give the order to move out, your caravan beginning to travel once more. With the loss of Anatoly, things are far more somber now, not to mention slower. Mark makes good use of his survival training, and you help with your newfound instincts, but the absence of the old veteran is still felt. There are a few encounters with the undead more, but nothing you do not crush with ease, and nothing that comes close to that fateful attack.

However, fortune decides to smile on you a day's travel further into the desert. With the sun hanging low in the sky, the ground suddenly begins to quake as the air tears itself apart in the distance, disgorging a flaming hulk of metal that you easily recognize as a spaceship.

"Crash!" you shout, pointing.

"Fresh salvage! Just got here! What a find!" Edet says, lighting up.

"We've got to hurry, there might be survivors," Cael says, frowning.

"I hope not, they might want some of the salvage," Edet says. Cael shoots him a glare.

"Well for whatever reason, we should hurry," Wallace says, motioning. "Come on!"

>Approach the crash site with speed.
>Hang bank, send someone to scout it out first.
>Other.

>>33238169
>Other.
Approach the crash site at our best speed, aiming for a point where we can overlook it and that some defensive advantages.
Have Sybil transform into her motorbike mode and speed ahead of us to scope out the wreck. Have her be careful and observe it from a distance as soon as she gets a little closer to it; there might still be active defense systems, or an on-going battle inside the ship.

>>33238169
At speed, we need to search for survivors.

>>33238415
"Sybil, use your bike and move out ahead of us, tell us what you see!" you shout, breaking into a run alongside everyone else. "We'll be there as soon as we can!"

"Got it!" Sybil says, swinging her Cyclone around and taking off on it. She reports back a little later, when you are nearly to the ship. Unfortunately, the best you can do for defensive advantages is trying to climb up the peak of a nearby dune for a vantage point.

"Looks clean," Sybil reports. "Small fires all over the hull, but nothing that looks dangerous or spreading. No signs of movement, either. Can't identify the ship, though."

"I don't sense any lifesigns..." Cael sighs, looking over the ruins. "I don't think anyone survived. If they did... it's very faint."

You turn towards the crash site and look it over. The ship's hull has taken significant damage, but it looks like the interior is relatively intact. A virtual goldmine for salvage.

>This was the 99 you rolled last thread.

"Well if there's nothing else to do, guess we'd better head down and see what we can find!" Edet says, rubbing his hands together. "Cover me, will you?"

"Leopard-class dropship," you finally murmur. "That's what it's called."

"It's a what now?" Mark asks, turning.

"It's called a Leopard dropship, but I can't remember anything else about it," you say, shaking your head. "Let's move out."

>Please roll 4d100.

Rolled 38, 34, 14, 9 = 95

LOOT LOOT.

Rolled 19, 4, 68, 29 = 120

>>33238871

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Rolled 19, 99, 21, 68 = 207

>>33238885
>>33238932
And yet, I'm not surprised.
We may as well have shot an albatross with the luck we have.

>>33238885
>Those rolls.
Despite a thorough search of the ship, you don't find much of immediate use. It looks like most of the crew that remained died on impact, and something killed a lot of them before the ship even made it down. Three mangled humanoid warmachines sit in the ship's cargo bay, looking in severe need of repair.

The ship is a wealth of salvage however, technological systems intact and ripe for removal and transport back to the city. Edet is positively giddy as he and his men remove ship-mounted weapons, sensor rigs, and power systems and load them into the wagons you brought.

"It's a damn shame we don't have more hauling space, there's so much we could take..." Edet says, with a happy sigh.

>You have Lect with you, you can make an additional roll to see if his trained eyes manage to scrape something extra from the ruins.

Rolled 32

roll

Rolled 71

>>33239253
Come on!

>>33239276
>>33239291
Okay, I want to invoke Fortune's Favor. Anyone agree?

Rolled 90

>>33239309
I'd rather not. This is just a loot roll.

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>>33239325
Even if we get to use this 90 for the loot?

Hah! But you're probably right. Fortune's Favor would have been better spent trying to save Anatoli.

Man, I can't believe that our 99 for a loot site actually netted us nothing in terms of loot. Sure, lots of salvage, but that's not for us.

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>>33239379
You still get a percentage of the money from salvage sales, which will be substantial with this site, this just means you don't get anything extra. You had the chance to get... quite a lot of good stuff.

The good news is that even with a 32, Lect manages to scavenge enough parts on site to repair a rechargeable laser rifle. He also manages to salvage five small power cells that he can modify to be compatible with most energy weapons.

>Gained Rechargeable Laser Rifle.
>Gained 5 Universal Small Power Cells.

>>33239569
What does it take to recharge the laser rifle?
How many shots can it get off before it needs to recharge?

>>33239587
Lect's rigged the rifle with a solar power cell so it recharges one burst a day, or you can use one of the power cells for a fast refill. It fires 30 bursts before needing a recharge.

>>33239705
Alright, anything else we can salvage? Such as the humanoid warmachines, or any personal effects from the dead crew or from their personal lockers in the living quarters?

>>33239809
Anything salvageable from the mecha is too big to transport with what you have, but when you bring up searching personal effects, Wallace nods and goes off to do so.

Roll another d100.

Rolled 34

>>33239958
Desna, we beseech you for aid!

>>33240033
Wallace turns up a few bits of jewelry, but nothing else.

Desna cannot hear you here, it seems.

>>33240160
Alright. Did any vehicles survive the crash?
What about powerloaders or cargo sleds?
Can Lect put together some kind of sled or cart that our power-armored team members can push/pull so that we can get more salvage out of this?

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>>33240160
>Desna cannot hear you here
Quite appropriate for one of your games.

>>33240225
That's actually a good idea that I didn't think of.

Roll 1d100.

Rolled 76

>>33240300
These rolls will be the death of us, you know?

>>33240364
Lect reports he can repair a loading sled in the cargo bay with what's on hand, but it'll take a long time to do. Doing so will extend your stay and puts you at risk of attack, but it will significantly increase your salvage haul, and gives you a vehicle that you can use for travel.

>Stay and repair the sled.
>Leave as soon as possible.

>>33240630
>Stay and repair the sled.
While he's doing that, have Mark, Wallace, and Sybil set up a perimeter, close off possible avenues of attack, and set up choke points. Weld shut doors if they can.

Have Brother Antolitus and Marie set up some wards to keep the Shadows at bay.

How's Fatima doing? And what was it that she was trying?

And finally, did we check for ammunition from the dead bodies, any usable guns or weapons?

>>33240733
Stopping here for the night. I'll pick up again around 8 tomorrow, with sporadic updates before then.

>>33241130
8AM or PM?

>>33241130
Probably for the best; whether we go now with our current haul, or stay longer and risk being attacked should be discussed at more length.

>>33241149
PM.

bump

Wait, this is the Long Night.

We've got lots of dead bodies here, bodies that have not been properly put to rest.

We should have Brother Antonitus and Leo get on that right the fuck now before they come back as ghouls or Shadows.

Afternoon bump

So, who should equip the laser rifle?
Not Leo, because he's probably better with a sword, and with Brother Antolitus giving his sword a blessing, more useful against the threats of the desert.

Wallace already has that huge rifle.
Maybe on Mark, to save on ammo?

Also, the picture is of a pulse laser rifle; is this the pulse laser version, or a normal laser rifle?
There is a significant difference in range and whether it fires in pulses or in a long continuous beam.

Rolled 61

Testing the dice seed today.

We should have that vehicle fixed. If we get to keep it, it should be well worth it, plus the overall bonus in scrap.

>>33251488
Pulse laser.

>>33247441
"Hey wait a minute... This is the Long Night, right?" you say, looking around. "Look at all the dead bodies of the crew, we've got to bury them before they reanimate!"

"Oh... oh shit, I didn't even think of that," Mark says, cursing under his breath. "All right, we'll have to get right on that."

"There is no suitable burial spot in these sands, but there are enough combustibles on board for me to build a sufficient pyre and sanctify it," Brother Antolitus says, bowing his head. "I will begin immediately."

"Leo, help him out, will you?" you ask, turning to the knight. He gives you a stiff bow.

"Of course! I am duty bound to help the clergy!" he replies, cheerfully going to aid the cleric in his grim task.

"I'd better help too," Cael says, getting up to join them. He pauses for a moment. "Yell if you need us."

>Good job on thinking ahead enough to avoid a nasty encounter.

>>33253437
>Ship of the Dead scenario averted
That's at least one brighter spot in this.

What's going on with Fatima? Has she come out of that trance yet?

>>33253437
>pulse laser
Unfortunately, that means that it won't be as effective as a welding/cutting torch as the regular version.
On the other hand, it acts more like a regular rifle with a three-round burst and so should be easier to switch to from a regular assault rifle.

Any other precautions we should take?

Sybil and Wallace can still set up a perimeter, and with Mark helping, block off some entrance hatches or close up openings in the hull to prevent us being flanked

Does Marie know any wards or protective circles she can get started on?

>>33256560
Or wait, are Sybil, Wallace, and Mark helping to collect the bodies for the pyre?
That might be more important.

>>33253727
"You all right?" you ask, taking a seat beside Fatima. The psychic soldier sits on a bench in the loading bay with her head in her hands, rubbing her temples.

"I've been better. Been worse, too," she says, looking up. "That was really stupid of me, I should've known better."

"What exactly did you try to do?" you ask. Fatima frowns.

"I know I can't affect undead with my standard powers... but I thought maybe if I tried something new, I might be able to do SOMETHING to them. I know my pistol does shit, so I got a little desperate. Seeing a horde of shadowy soul-eaters can do that to you."

"What did you try?" you ask, leaning forward.

"Just thought maybe if I tried a direct mental link it might hit whatever they use for brains..." Fatima winces. "It... didn't work. Found out something interesting, but... well, you saw the result."

"What exactly was that?"

"Not sure myself, but it felt like daggers of ice were being stuck into every inch of my body. Some kind of seizure or feedback," Fatima shudders. "I'm in no hurry to go through that again."

"So..." you pause, leaning back. "What did you find out?"

"Hivemind," Fatima says, rubbing her temples again. "I made very, very brief contact with the shadows. They're a hivemind, all connected to each other like some twisted phantom network."

"So... what one knows... they all know," you say, a feeling of foreboding touching you.

"I'd guess so. I'm not too clear on how it works, as I said I only made brief contact, and I get the feeling it was sheer dumb luck that I survived doing so," Fatima says, shaking her head. "We get back to town, I'm spending some of my share trying to find something I can use against them in a fight. I don't like being helpless."

>>33256599
Sybil is patrolling the area, Mark and Wallace are helping.

>>33256560
Marie does not, but Brother Ant does.

>>33257004
Brother Ant has two jobs, then: a consecrated pyre, and some wards to protect our flanks and maybe create some warded circles, create some choke points.

Oh! Ward the sled, Sybil's Cyclone, Mark's armor, and Leo's armor and sword.
Tey don't need to be permanent, just last us until we're safely back in the city.
Warding the sled makes it a safe fallback for the support people.

>>33257218
Brother Ant regrets to inform you that his wards only last a few minutes, same with his blessings. Give him two minutes warning to any combat and he can have everything ready, though.

It's looking like we're repairing the sled then, yes? Any other preparations to be made or anything you want to do in the downtime?

>>33257310
Can the Raelians help Lect? Or are they too busy salvaging?

>>33257527
They are too busy with their own salvage projects.

>>33258103
We recognized the ship.

Could we take a look and see if it stirs any memories or skills? Maybe we used to be a pilot of these things at one time or a soldier that dropped from one?

>>33258485
Roll a d100.

Rolled 44

>>33258722

Rolled 69

>>33258722

>>33258753
You think hard, but only manage to remember vague images of a huge and varied fleet massing in deep space.

If there is nothing else you want to do, five of you please roll 1d100.

Rolled 90

ok

>>33259037
Actually, there is one or two more things I want to get done.
Can our hand computer interface with the computer on the dropship? Could one of the Raelians do the interfacing?

>>33259037
Wallace can haunt non-living things; can he haunt one of the warmachines (they're battlemechs, aren't they)?

>>33259117
It has the capability, but you don't have the ability. Lect probably could, and if you manage to talk one of the Raelians into it, they might be able to as well.

>>33259137
He could, but they need serious repair. His ability to modify the things he haunts might allow him to ''jury-rig' one for a few minutes, but that's all, and it would be extremely taxing.

Yes, they are.

>>33259230
Alright, so, are any of the Raelians willing to try to hook up the computer, to see if there's anything valuable they can pull from the computer core?
Sensor readings of the rift as it opened, interesting information, schematics; a memory core can be a very useful thing.

>>33259294
You pull one of the Raelians aside.

"Hey, I've got a hand computer here," you say, showing him the device. "Could you hook it up to the ship's computer systems? There might be something valuable we could find."

"I doubt it on a bucket like this," the Raelian sighs. "I could, but I'm busy with salvaging the ship right now, computer included."

"Well doesn't it make more sense to see what's in the systems before you cut them up? There might be schematics, or readings of the rift as it opened," you say. The Raelian frowns.

"I don't know... we're pressed for time as it is..."

>You may try to convince the Raelian by writing out an argument or simply roll a d100 to leave it to Black's own instincts.

Rolled 89

Let's see what we can do?

Come on, you just plug in the serial port. . .

>>33259527
"Once you cut up the computer core, you're going to have a bitch of a time accessing the memory, if at all. Let me do some of the easier stuff to buy you the time to get something off of the computer core's memory. And with Lect's cargo sled, we're going to be able to get far more salvage than you were originally going to be able to take anyway."

>>33259593
>89
Well, okay then. Looks like we get something.

>>33259593
>>33259622
"Well, all right. You talked me into it," the Raelian says with a sigh as he puts down his tools. "I'll go see what I can find. You can help by unscrewing all the braces on this particle weapon mount. You know how to us- ah. Good. See you in a half-hour."

With that, the alien takes your computer and leaves you with the tedious but necessary work of being a wrench-monkey.

Please roll another d100.

Rolled 53

yes, sir

Rolled 90

>>33259742
Oh gods, we're all going to die! Something terrible will happen!

File: 1295553906610.jpg (50 KB, 234x234)

50 KB JPG

Rolled 12

>>33259787
>>33259794

>>33259787
It's easy enough work and there's something comforting in the simplicity of working with your hands after so much has happened to you. The time passes quickly and the Raelian returns, handing you back your hand-computer.

"It was a good idea, but there wasn't much of use. Pulled the latest files from the flight recorder if you want to see how they got here, but all their instruments were shot before the portal opened. I also found a schematic of the ship in their database, but you'd need an advanced industrial base to do anything with it... something the people of this planet sorely lack. Still, data's yours. Everything else wasn't really useful. Can I have my tools back now?"

You trade the alien his tools back for your computer, the salvager going right back to work, but after a second, he pauses. "Oh, there was one more thing. A cargo manifest. Might be of some help tracking down valuables on this boat."

"Thanks," you says, going off to look over your new files.

>Check the flight recorder.
>Check the schematic.
>Use the manifest and search the cargo bay one last time. This will take up the remainder of your time here.
>Other.

>>33260044
>Use the manifest and search the cargo bay one last time. This will take up the remainder of your time here.
We can look at the flight recorder and the schematic when we're safe. Right now, it's LOOTAN' TIME!

Rolled 8

Loot loot!

Desna be praised!

>>33260161
I'm really hoping that because it didn't say to roll, that this roll doesn't count.

Rolled 63

>>33260044
>>33260075
So wait, do we need to roll?

>>33260219
Well, I did forget to say to roll. Why don't I cut you a deal? I'll just apply that shit roll to something happening behind the scenes, and let you roll one last time.

Rolled 50

>>33260438
That's a horrible deal.
Whatever shit you cause to happen behind the scenes will inevitably cause us to lose or only break even on whatever loot we do get.

>>33260537
All right fine, just because your luck has been especially bad, I'll grant one last roll, but it'll be at -15 penalty.

Rolled 78

>>33260688
Are you still going to cause something terrible to happen to us where we can't see it until it's too late?

>>33260712
What kind of DM would he be if he didn't?

>>33260787
Versus a loot roll of 63, I'd rather give up on the loot than have an 8 waiting for us as an event.
That's what got us that zombie t-rex.

>>33260712
Does that sound like something I'd do?

78-15= 63.

After checking the cargo manifest and searching the bays thoroughly, you realize that there is less present than there should be. A second search reveals hidden compartments under some of the floor panels. These store a multitude of parts for the most part, but a smaller compartment appears to be an emergency armory, containing several personal defense weapons. There are enough to outfit each of your crew with a PDW and a small supply of ammunition, or you can just sell them later.

Lect informs you there are enough parts for him to tinker when you get back to town, he can make any number of things from them. You can choose to give them to Lect or just to sell them.

>90

Four more of you, please roll 1d100.

Rolled 12

>>33260901
Even if you weren't that kind of DM, and I wouldn't put it past you, the luck you bring to rolls is more than enough to screw us over.

Rolled 4

>>33260901
What a horrible night to have a curse.

Rolled 20

>>33260901
You are going to kill us with these rolls!

Rolled 84

>>33260979
Nope, but the board might. . .

Rolled 35, 79, 23, 22 = 159

>>33260948
>>33260962
>>33260979
90, 12, 4, 20
No, this is pretty much going to get us all killed.

>>33260948
>>33260962
>>33260979
>>33260997
Welp.

I honestly thought it'd be later in the game before this triggered.

>Gypsy's Curse: You must have done something very bad to someone that knew a lot about curses, or been especially foolhardy about ancient taboos. Regardless, you've come to believe that the tendency for things to go belly up around you is not a coincidence. A half-veiled memory in the depths of your mind makes you ironclad certain. You are cursed.

>90
Brother Antolitus successfully burns the bodies of the crew in a sacred pyre and has a short ceremony commending their souls to the afterlife. Two hours pass, and Sybil reports nothing on her patrols. Mark relieves her on guard duty while everyone else helps strip the ship of its most valuable parts. The unexpected discovery of some high end booze in the crew quarters bolsters morale, and the salvaging is going far smoother than projected.
>High morale applies for the rest of the session, granting a +5 bonus to all action-based rolls.

>Cont.

Rolled 60, 74, 57, 23 = 214

>>33261460
>I honestly thought it'd be later in the game before this triggered.
This is one of your games. It was bound to happen sooner rather than later.

>>33261460
>12
Mark tracks you down in the cargo bay with a grim face.

"I've got some bad news for you," he says, hooking a thumb outside. "I may not be as good a scout as our dearly departed Anatoly, but I know the signs. A sandstorm is rolling in, and it's going to hit us within the hour."

"Sandstorm?" you wince. "How bad?"

"Bad," Mark says. "If the wind doesn't shift, and I have no reason to believe it will, then we're going to be in the middle of it. Looks like a wall of brown out there."

"Well so long as we stay sheltered in the ship, it should be OK, right?" Cael asks. "It's far better it happening when we've got such good cover than out in the open, right?"

"Not necessarily," Fatima says, shaking her head. "If the storm is fierce enough, lasts long enough, it could bury the ruin in sand."

"So we dig our way out,"Leo says, putting down a barrel of fuel for Lect. "It's just sand, what's the worst it can do?"

"You know nothing of what the desert can do just with sand and wind," Fatima scowls.

"Okay, okay," you say, waving your hands. "No chance we can just leave?"

"It'll catch us outside and unprotected if we do, we're not clearing this wreck without eating sand," Mark replies, crossing his arms.

"Then it would seem we have no choice but to batten down the hatches and wait it out," you say.

"We still have a ways to go salvaging anyway," Edet notes. "This might not affect much at all, if it ends fast enough. If everyone restricts themselves to this loading bay, we should be all right. We just need to haul the main hatch shut until the storm is over, this part of the ship is almost completely intact."

"I'm more worried about the fact that this means no patrols, and no early warning," Mark says, shaking his head. "It'd be the perfect opportunity for something to attack."

"That works both ways, Mark, what's going to attack in the middle of a sandstorm?" Sybil asks, laughing. "It's not like the storm itself is after you!"

>What do you do?

>>33261596
I'm more worried about shadows. Those damn things can move through the sand.

Or a Bulette. It'd be just our luck for a bunch of land-sharks to be in the desert.

Better get everyone in the ship.

>>33261596
"Actually, Sybil, guys like me and Wallace, and Shadows and sandworms, aren't affected by sandstorms. And you're in power armor; you know how that kind of stuff can let you go through extreme environments.
"Anyway, let's see if the galley had any consumables and emergency rations. Close up the main hatch. Hell, if we're going to be here a while, maybe Edet and Lect can fix up one of those mechs over there by cannibalizing the other two."

>>33261596
>no early warning
Actually, what if we have ourselves and Wallace move around the ship in a patrol in our ghost forms?
Cael can use his psi powers to detect undead, so that'll give us early warning about Shadows and ghouls, and Fatima's telepathy still works on beasts and animals, so she can be on the psi lookout for bulettes and sandworms.

>>33261736
>move around the ship in a patrol in our ghost forms?
Of course, paired together, maybe even keeping a firm grip on each other's hand. Sure, holding hands does not speak of the heights of masculinity, but it beats losing sight of each other due to sand or a wall or something.

>>33261680
"Well... Okay, that's a fair point, but... hm. Huh. Yeah, all right," Sybil says, her bravado deflating.

"If we're here that long, sure," Edet says. "I've got my fingers crossed the storm will be over by then. I'll take a minute to jury rig something to get the hatch closed, though."

>>33261736
>>33261760
>>33261736

"Actually..." you begin to say. "With what I said earlier in mind, we can still patrol in ghost form. Wallace and me, I mean."

"Wallace and you?" Edet asks, arching an eyebrow. You wave him off.

"It's complicated. But we should be able to move around in the sandst-"

Charlie suddenly lets out a strangled cry and falls to a knee as a jolt of memory strikes you. Hard.
>Two of you roll 1d100, keep the better result.

Rolled 16

>>33261931
Oh no!

Rolled 72

MEMORIES!

>>33262018
You lose awareness of your surroundings as the memory overtakes your world. This wouldn't be the only time you walked through a sandstorm as a ghost.

You remember an ominous spire of obsidian surrounded by a maelstrom of howling wind. A wind that even the dead felt. You remember desperately pushing towards that tower, the wind trying to push you back all the way as you tried to scream over that terrible howl. That tower, which looked for all the world like a spear thrust into the sands, veins of dull black ichor around it.

You were not alone.

A small army is with you, trying to reach that tower in both mortal and ghostly form.

As you near it, the tower seems to shiver, and out of every entrance and window pours a sea of malevolent shadows, but these are more than just the coal-eyed phantoms you've seen here. Apparitions of every shape and grotesque description fly out to defend this black tower, from cold, stern, skeletal reapers to laughing corpses burning with sick, greenish flame.

Beyond the howling storm, you catch bare glimpses of other battles being fought, other armies clashing, then the memory condenses, your vision racing to the tower and up a myriad of passages and stairways to the very top, where a man in a ragged coat slowly turns to meet your gaze...

Then a single, clear note of music pierces the sky and everything falls to murk.

You wake up to see the concerned faces of Brother Antolitus, Cael, Fatima, and Marie look down on you.

"You all right?" Cael asks, looking you over. "You... gave out a strong burst of emotion, then collapsed for a minute. Charlie did the same."

>What do you say?

I remembered. . .

A tower. It came from the sands like a spear.

I think I could use a drink of water.

>>33262539
"I remember! I...remember...a tower, like an obsidian spear, thrust into the sands of a desert. I remember being part of an army trying to storm that tower. That there were Shadows defending it.
"And...wait, if you felt that, then it's likely anything around here that's psychically active also felt it. Do you or Fatima sense anything undead or alive approaching?"

I might just be paranoid, but given that we barely dodged a nightmare scenario earlier, I don't want to take the chances.

>>33262610
>>33262680
"Here you go," Cael says, putting a canteen to your lips. He frowns as you mention the possibility of something else sensing your emotional burst. When you are finished drinking, he screws the cap back on the canteen and stands. "No... but my sensitivity range is limited when not focused on it. I can try to enter a meditative trance, search around for a bit."

"I can try the same," Fatima nods.

"What about you?" Marie asks. "Are you all right now? Can you stand?"

"Yeah..." you say, getting up slowly. "I can."

"I think Charlie's coming to," Wallace says. You turn to see him bent over a slowly stirring Charlie. Your fellow amnesiac sits up, a blank expression on his face.

"You all right, Chuck?" Wallace asks. Charlie just heaves a sigh at the name.

>What do you do?

>>33262819
Did you remember anything, Charlie?

>>33262819
"Do you remember anything now? Maybe your name? And...it triggered when I mentioned going through the sandstorm; were you there too? Storming that black tower in the sands?"

>>33262852
>>33262941
"Yeah... yeah, I was," Charlie says, swallowing. Cael offers him the canteen, but he waves it away. "My... name? Yeah... yeah, I remember that now. Daniel. Daniel Waltz." He blinks and shakes his head. "It doesn't matter much to me, though. Call me what you like."

"Pardon me for interrupting, but did you want me to enter that trance?" Cael asks, putting the canteen back in his coat pocket. "I should get started now if you do."

>>33263055
Well, if your name is Daniel, I suppose we should refer to you as Daniel.

And Cael, probably a good idea.

>>33263055
Yes, please, Cael.

Dan, since that's your name, may as well call you that.

>>33263151
>>33263095
Daniel nods, but doesn't say anything.

"All right, please don't let anything mangle me while I'm zoning out," Cael says, sitting down on the floor in a lotus position and closing his eyes. His breathing begins to fade until you can barely tell he is.

"My trance isn't nearly so formal," Fatima says, taking a seat and putting her head in her hands before zoning out.

The dull roar of wind is audible in the background as Mark looks up.

"Storm's right on schedule," he says. You look over to the main hatch and note with relief it's been closed. A few emergency lights have been set up as well, providing illumination for where the portholes cannot reach. This proves wise, because in a few minutes, the light from the portholes dims considerably, the sun blocked by the blowing sand. The sound of the storm raking across the ship's hull echoes throughout the loading bay, providing an uneasy background noise for Lect and Edet's team to work in.

Leo paces nervously, fingering his sword while Mark checks his weapons. Brother Antolitus takes a seat by one of the portholes and looks out, hand drifting to his holy symbol.

Marie takes a seat under one of the emergency lights and opens one of her spellbooks, seeking escape in study.

There seems to be little left to do but wait until either one of your tranced team-mates reports something.

"Hey, Black," Wallace asks, nodding to the porthole. "Did you wanna do that ghost patrol or are we just leaving it to the psychic radar team?"

>>33263385
Yeah, let's do the ghost patrol.

Ask Leo to guard the four of us (Us, Wallace, Cael, Fatima) as we do our psychic patrols.

>>33263586
"Of course! I will protect you with my life!" Leo says, unsheathing his sword. "Er... but I hope it doesn't come to that."

"I'm right with you there, Leo," you sigh, laying down on the cold metal floor of the ship and willing your spirit to leave its earthly shell. Wallace sits down on one of the benches scattered around and locks his armor into position before exiting. It's the first time in a while Wallace has been outside the armor, and it's somewhat reassuring to see his glowing visage hasn't changed since last you saw it. You motion to him and the two of you step through the wall and into the raging sands blowing all around the wreck.

It isn't long before you feel something is wrong. The winds push at your ghostly form, very weak at first, but growing in intensity the longer you press on. You begin to feel the grains of sand pass through your incorporeal form, begin to feel a few slide across your insubstantial skin... as if they too were ghostly.

Wallace takes a few steps forward into the storm before turning and shouting to you.

"I thought we were supposed to be able to get through this unaffected?!" he asks.

"We are!" you reply. "Something's wrong!"

Though you can barely see in the whirling sands, you think you can start making out a shape forming just in front of you...

>What do you do?

>>33263970
"Contact! Wallace! Get over here!"
Prepare to fall back to the dropship and our bodies, keep our attention on the forming shape, ready to attack it with a Cold Embrace.
Can Wallace fight in his ghost form? Or is that something we still need to teach him?

>>33264052
Wallace can fight in his ghost form, yes.

>>33264233
And I think that'll wrap it up for tonight.

Next session probably will be Friday at 8, but might change. The padlist will be update with the time once it's final.

We need to decide, do we stay here and possibly fight whatever it is that's forming, or retreat first, then try again when we're better prepared?